Reviews by syrinx

About halfway through, this album is super boring. It's pretty much been the same song for the whole first side. It continues through the second half as well. I mean it's got some great guitar work, and great sounding guitars, but it's just not engaging at all. Pretty sure the drummer played one beat the entire album. It is super atmospheric, all the reviews saying to play it during a rainstorm or while driving through the woods are spot on. But that doesn't mean I would want to play this again. Even if it was raining or if I was driving through the woods. I was happy when it was over. 2/5

If you like shoegaze, this is it. I really like this album. I can't pick out any one specific song, the whole thing flows really well and plays better as a whole. But I love the instrumentation, the super saturated guitars, even the somewhat incoherent lyrics. I particularly like the songs with Bilinda Butcher on vocals, but I'm a sucker for a rock band with a female vocalist. I can certainly see how this album inspired a ton of kids to pick up instruments in the early 90s because this was unlike anything they had heard before.
I dig this album and would definitely buy it at the record shop and play it fairly regularly. Maybe not 5 stars from me but a solid 4/5.

This is...not for me. I mean I guess it's not bad, it's just uninteresting and I pretty much tuned it out completely. I'm not sure this is an album I needed to hear, 100% was on this list just because of Groove is in the Heart (which is oddly like 120% of the volume level of the rest of the album). I guess I don't actively dislike it so I'll give it a 2/5.

I wasn't really familiar with this at all until this morning. I had seen this album cover a bunch of times but never listened to the album. First thought I had after about 5 songs was 'god damn Stephen Bruner can play bass'. I like the instrumentation, although it is a little too digital for my taste. There's a lot going on and it is well done but I think the reliance on digital sounds was a little too much. You're obviously a good musician, play real instruments. But even the real instruments are so processed they sound like a synth.
I liked the more instrumental jazzy and funky songs more than the hip hop or what could even be called easy listening songs. The lyrics throughout are not great, but better than what you would get with a standard hip hop album I guess. But I was definitely ready to be done with this album before it was over. 2.75 and will round up to 3/5.

This album is so hard to rate. I mean it's amazing that this is a debut album when almost all the songs are still playing all the time on classic rock radio (for what that's worth). I feel like the music is undeniably good and different enough from the other similar bands of the time to be notable. However, having heard this album over and over, usually not by choice, I think I'm kind of over it. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I mostly don't want to hear the same songs over and over. I think the problem with this is that it was too popular and too commercially successful. And there are two problems with that - 1) it's massively overplayed even today, and 2) because it was such a strong debut record, they would never be able to live up to this with whatever they put out after. Maybe only November Rain was as good as any of this.
So I guess as far as a rating, I'd give it like a 3.5 and begrudgingly round up to 4/5.

Man this album was inescapable when it came out. The funny thing about it is that if you listen (closely) there are actually some pretty interesting things happening here. The not so funny thing about it is that it is that like all of this kind of music from this era (Fat Boy Slim and even Daft Punk I'd lump in with this among others), it is so repetitive it is hard to listen to for any length of time. But most of it is so simple you tune it out and it's sort of just paying in the background. It was a slog getting all the way through this album, I was ready to move on halfway through the second song. Generous 2/5.

This is so not for me. I hate this kind of sappy country music. It does nothing for me. I have nothing against any of these ladies, Dolly Parton is an absolute national treasure, but I just don't like this music at all. 2/5

First impression of the first song - wow this is different and I can't decide if I like it. The vocals are weird. 2 minutes in, this is great, I hope the rest of the album follows suit. Kind of disappointed with Over The Hill as it sort of transitioned from a really cool and unique style to straight up standard folk. Hopefully it reverts to the latter, we shall see. Well shit. It kind of goes back and forth a little, maybe swinging in the 'typical folk' direction more so than I'd like. Sometimes even swinging back and forth in the same song which is kind of interesting. I do really like this album, even with the typical folk stuff. I feel like there is enough here to make the album unique and something I'd want to listen to again and it does make me want to look up some of his other music. 4/5.

So I had heard Tainted Love and Where Did Our Love Go a million times of course but I can't say for sure that I had ever hear anything else by Soft Cell. After this album I kind of feel like they were a bit of a sleeper band that should be more famous than they were/are. I don't know what it is about this album, it's not something I would normally be into but I loved it. It's super fun. I suppose this is what you get when you mix disco with synth wave? It's really dated sounding but in more of a nostalgic and endearing way than being irritating. The second half falls off a little but, I don't know man, this is pretty much a banger. 4/5

It starts off a little slow but I'm not sure that's a bad thing. Kind of easing you in maybe? But for the most part it is a pretty subdued record. Sound-wise anyway. It seems to be a super personal album, the lyrics are fantastic as they are with most Velvet Underground. I think what sets this apart from similar albums from the same time period is just that this seems more experimental. I mean it may not be avant-garde, with the exception of The Murder Mystery, but you can definitely see them leaning in that direction and inspiring New Wave to follow.
All in all I like this album but not as much as some others from Velvet Underground or Lou Reed. I think this one would rate a 3.5/5 for me and I'll round down because it's just not quite there to give it a 4.

I've always thought of Surfer Rosa as my favorite Pixies album but damn if this one isn't edging in. It's such a great album. It's recorded well, played well, great compositions. I like that it has some darker songs and some more accessible, almost-pop songs. It holds up really well listening to it 35 years later.
It's weird, it's dark, it's uniquely Pixies. I love it. I think I rated Surfer Rosa as a 4/5 and I'll do the same here. Probably should have rated both as a 5 but here we are.

During the first six minutes I thought that maybe people were judging this a little too harshly, it was looking to be a cool jam album with some interesting arrangements. Then the rest of the album happens and it all just devolves into 6 or 7 people making random sounds that may or may not be in time and/or have anything to do with what the other people are doing. And mostly not. I don't get why people were so dedicated to this band. Actually, yes I do. Drugs. That's why. I'm sure The Dead thought this was incredible while they were whacked out of their minds on stage. But then you listen back to it and think "wow that's not even in tune". This album solidifies my contention that The Grateful Dead are the most overrated band of all time. 2/5 I guess because the first 6 minutes are cool and there are actually real instruments being played, poorly. And there are a few interesting parts here and there.

I enjoyed this album. It may not be mind-blowing in any sense but it is a solid funky jazz record and I wouldn't hesitate to pick it up and play it again. I had only heard a couple song from Shuggie Otis but liked what I heard so it was nice to see this pop up today. This is another album that falls in the category of 'play it in the background while doing other things' and it would make a perfect soundtrack for a Saturday morning. 3.5/5 but going to round down because it's just a little to generic funk to round up.

It's Abba. You know what you're getting going in. And I'm not really an Abba fan. It's maybe not as cheesy and bubblegummy as some of their more well know records but it's still not my kind of thing. 2/5

I remember hearing Garbage on the radio all the time back in middle school but I don't think I ever heard this whole album. So although I was pretty familiar with a lot of this, a lot of it was also brand new to me.
This record really holds up well. It's sort of hard to categorize - it's fairly solid 90s alt but there's a lot of trip hop, grunge, and even some pop in there. I think if I didn't know I would still guess that this was from mid 90s but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a new album by a new band. I'm not sure if that says more about Garbage or the music industry now, but either way, it's still a great album and although it might sound a little dated, its datedness is not to its detriment. 4/5

It's amazing how The Smiths can write so many different sounding songs and then when Morrissey starts to sing, it turns into the same song as all the others. I mean I like The Smiths but they're one of the bands that is only good in short bursts. This album is ok, not as good as The Queen Is Dead but still decent. If you like The Smiths anyway. I totally get how this could be insufferable for a lot of people and after more than one play through, I think I would be ready to move on.
I love that this album is more political and maybe a little more intelligent than their first album, it shows growth in that aspect for sure. Instrumentation is great as well. I think that the real strength of The Smiths is the lyrics and the big weakness is the vocals. That's sort of odd to think about - the words are great but the delivery leaves something to be desired. Morrissey has such a unique voice and I can't ever decide if I like it or not. I think I do but today it seems that I only like it for 15 minutes or so before I start to wish that someone else was singing. 3.5/5 rounding down.

I was a little surprised to see this album pop up. I already had Melancholy and I didn't think Smashing Pumpkins would get two albums on this list. I like this record a little better than Melancholy, I feel like it has more substance and a lot less filler. Still, I think Smashing Pumpkins are really more of a 'best of' band - their great songs are absolutely fantastic, the rest can be skipped and you don't miss much. That said, this is a really strong record and I like it a lot. Part of that is probably nostalgia, I was just a kid when this came out but when I got to middle school everyone loved the Pumpkins and we played their records all the time. I'd go with like 3.75/5 on this one and will round up.

I feel like the Beastie Boys made this as a satire but people actually liked it and then they were sort of stuck. As satire, this is brilliant. As music I would want to listen to, maybe not so brilliant. The funny thing to me is that you can see a lot of artists that used this album as an inspiration for their own work not knowing that this was pretty much poking fun at the genre. Shaping the genre with a mostly-satirical album is actually pretty funny in itself. Maybe they recorded this with a 'if you think it's satire then that's what it is but if you actually like it then we're serious' kind of mentality. I think that's actually pretty likely. I like this better than Paul's Boutique but not as much as Ill Communication so that puts it squarely at 3/5

I can't ever decide what I think of The Doors. Their great songs are great, all the rest fall off into mediocrity. I feel like Jim Morrison was bigger than The Doors and people liked the band just because of him. I don't get the reverence bordering on worship that he had though. Even when I was a kid 20 years after he died I knew people that thought he was some kind of prophet. I mean he was a good frontman, but I feel like had he not died, The Doors would have faded away into obscurity.
Anyway, this album is fine. It's got a couple great songs on it and a lot of filler. Honestly though, Jim Morrison is my least favorite part of the whole album. Probably the same can be said about all Doors albums. 3/5

If the color beige made an album this would be it. It's so boring and typical. And it goes on forever, a decent guitar part here and there does nothing to help it. And if you're judging by the cover, you know it's trash going in. "Hey photographer did you get my new belt from Hot Topic? I really want people to see the belt." I hate pretty much everything about this. 1/5