Reviews by syrinx

This is one of those classic albums everyone needs to have that I haven't actually heard all the way through. Glad to finally be remedying that today.
I mean, yes, this is definitely a dad rock standard. But it's still great, though I much prefer a live album that is all from one show rather than different songs from different shows cobbled together. I guess that's a little more rare for a multitude of reasons. I never really thought of Peter Frampton as such a good guitar player either. I mean I've heard plenty of Frampton but I guess I never really paid attention.
I like this album and would certainly buy it in the record shop if I saw it, though I don't think I'd make a special trip just to look for it. Plus I feel like I've seen this album in every record shop I've ever been to so I don't think it's exactly a rarity these days. 4/5

Man this record is kind of the epitome of early 90s light pop rock. Light and jangly. Bright and brittle. It's very REM sounding to me most of the time. Maybe like if you added 10% of Oasis to REM, that's what this would be. I feel like The La's would definitely fall in the one hit wonder category - I don't think I've ever heard much else from them and certainly not a whole album. But as for There She Goes, damned if I don't have an odd attachment to that song for some reason. I've just always loved it. It's not really strong enough to carry the whole record but it is a great song for sure. The rest of the record is just fine, nothing to write home about but not a bad one to throw on now and then. 3/5

Ok I am immediately confused by this. So it's a jazz/rock/hip hop record from a band that included Pharrell Williams and features Lenny Kravitz and has someone on the cover giving the Vulcan salute? And the band is called NERD. I can't decide if this is going to be a joke or genius.
So after the whole album I still don't know what to think. It's not a joke but not entirely serious either. I don't hate it, but I wouldn't listen to it again. It's got some cool parts here and there but I don't really know what they were trying to accomplish or if they did accomplish what they were trying to do. I think they did, but I still don't know quite what that was. So I'd give it like a 2.75/5 because I wouldn't call it good but I do think it is worth listening to once.

Trash music from a trash person. 1/5 And isn't it hilarious that US republicans now have to pretend to like this shit?

What a great voice. Super cheesy 80s production. This sort of adult contemporary genre doesn't really even exist anymore does it? Yes she has an amazing voice, but the whole album sounds like a soundtrack for the romantic side plot of an 80s buddy cop movie. It's a shame that this is so stereotypically 80s cheese. 3/5

This isn't as bad as I expected. It's got some redeeming qualities here and there but is pretty bland. It all sounds sort of mildly familiar but I think that's because there is just so much out there that sounds exactly like this. I don't have much else to say about this one, it is aggressively inoffensive to the point of beige-ness. 2/5

Remember back when this came out and it was called techno? Yeah it isn't any better now than it was then. One song in and I can already rate this 1/5. Gonna be a long 2 hours. This album has no business being on this list.

I don't think I'd ever actually heard a whole Marvin Gaye album until I got What's Going On a while back. That's still the only time I've listened to a whole record of his all the way through until today.
I mean I guess everyone deals with life's troubles in their own way. If you're a painter and your dog dies you might paint a portrait or stick him in the background of a few paintings. If you're Marvin Gaye you deal with your divorce by writing an album about it. It would be interesting to hear an album from the perspective of his ex wife....
I wonder how many people bought this record for some baby-making-music like they would expect from Marvin Gaye, got home and opened a bottle of wine, dimmed the lights, threw the record on, and then totally had their evening ruined by an album about getting divorced. Kind of funny thinking about it that way. But really, most people in that situation probably aren't really paying attention to the lyrics much anyway.
It's a fine album, not one I would listen to again. I think I'll stick with the known hits from Marvin Gaye and call it a day. 3/5

This album is just straight up boring. Every song is super slow and dragging. There isn't anything that keeps your attention at all. Her voice is great but even that doesn't make it worth listening to. The last song is 15 minutes with a tempo about 55 and no variation in the entire 15 minutes. It was very difficult to make it through this record. I won't be coming back to this one ever again. 1/5

The best ting about this record is that you can tell he was only going to get better. I'm not saying this was bad, but I feel like it's clearly a first album. Once he grew and matured a little more, he produced way better music and I think that's was sort of forecasted listening to this album. The whole time I was listening to this one I just kept thinking, 'if this was the first time I'd heard Lenny Kravitz back in 1989 I would be really excited about having new music from him and seeing where he goes.' A good album but looking back it really now just foreshadows how much better his later music became. 3/5

Leonard Cohen is really good at the creepy, dark and brooding, sad guy stuff. And what a lyricist. He's not someone that I would listen to often but I do enjoy him when he comes up. The problem that I have with him is that it's actually a little hard to just throw on a Leonard Cohen album and listen to the whole thing. I don't want to say that it's boring, that's not the right word at all. It's something you really have to pay attention to and focus on. At least for me. And while I like this record, I can't see myself running out to buy it, or any other of his records for that matter. 3/5

I'm not really sure what to think of this. I mean it's one thing to have fun with your music but they take 'we don't take ourselves seriously' to a whole new level. The Worst Band In The World was hilarious. But I'm not really sure who this is for. I mean it's good music but it's just so silly for the most part it's kind of hard to take it seriously. They do sound a lot like Queen sometimes but then you listen to the lyrics and it's more like something from Dr. Demento. There's a lot going on throughout this whole record. I think that's where the Queen comparisons come in too - lots of layers, movements, harmonies and layered vocals, differing styles. It's really well done but sort of odd at the same time. 3/5

Hey look! Britpop for a change! Actually I don't know this at all. Though the band does seem vaguely familiar to me. Let's jump in.
Ok so it's not quite as Britpop-y as I thought. A song and a half in and it's good solid vaguely glam/art rock. I dig it so far. I get the Bowie comparisons, I feel like those are a little bit of a stretch in some cases but dead on in others. About two thirds through, this album is really holding up, I like it a lot. It's not the same as every other record coming out in the mid 90s, the production is good, instrumentation is good, vocals are good, lyrics are good. I really enjoyed some of the guitar work in this one. Not super complex but lots of feeling and tone is excellent. It's a super solid album and I'll explore more from Suede for sure. 5/5

I wish I hadn't read all the comments about this sounding like the background music at an early 2000s wine bar. Not because it ruined the album for me, but because that is so dead on that I'm wondering if I would have come to that same conclusion on my own. But who doesn't like a good wine bar? I'm not sure I would want to listen to the music playing in one all the time but it serves its purpose I suppose. Nothing more to say about this one, really. 2.5/5

Man if you don't like Bjork already, this is gonna be a tough one for you. I love Bjork and though this is not my favorite thing she's done, I do like it still. But more than that I appreciate what she did with this - I feel like this is much more of an artistic endeavor than just another album. The whole concept of wanting to make a record that is almost entirely human vocals is pretty interesting in and of itself, but when the person exploring that idea is Bjork, you know it's going to get really weird and special. So would I listen to this again? Yes but probably not often. You really have to be in the right mood for it. 9 times out of 10 I would go for a different record from Bjork. But I do think it is a great achievement and very well accomplished what she was trying to do. 3.75/5

I didn't realize there were so many people who hate The Police until I started reading some of the reviews here. Why the hate? Sure Sting is probably an egotistical ass. Did they sell out and become a pop band? I don't think so. That may be a part of it but I think they evolved and just got into different music than they made on the first record or two. That's not really a bad thing. I mean they only released 5 albums and are still one of the top 120 artists on Spotify 40 years later. That's got to count for something. Or maybe that does prove they sold out and became a pop band...
By the time they got to this album, they really were a different band than the one that released Outlandos D'Amour. I prefer their 'older' stuff but this record is still pretty solid. Synchronicity II is fantastic, one of their best lyrically I think. Dickish as he may be, I do feel like Sting doesn't get enough credit for his ability as a lyricist. And Every Breath You Take is so misunderstood. It wasn't meant to be a sweet love song, it was meant to be more sinister and examine a dark part of humanity. Yes, it's creepy but that's the point. It's weird when people play that song at their weddings, it's like they never actually listened to it. King of Pain is great as well, I think the 'hits' on this record are justifiably regarded as such.
Overall I really like this record. Maybe not my favorite of The Police but I would happily listen to this any day of the week. 4/5

This one has to be a nostalgic thing for the author of the books. Remember how when you were little your family had that handful of movies on VHS that your family loved watched all the time but nobody else really cared about them or had even heard of them? Yeah that's got to be how this is. Even the Wikipedia page just says basically 'this is an album that came out. It's in the 1001 Albums book' and leaves it at that. So needless to say I have never heard of this album or band like 99% of everyone else doing this project.
This album really does sound more like a soundtrack for a sci fi movie from the early 2000s. It plays in the background and doesn't grab your attention at all. I guess it isn't bad if you like this kind of music. I wouldn't call it trip hop, its much more electronica than that. I think it would be a great idea to replace this with a more deserving album though and I wonder if this record made the cut for more than one edition of the book. 2/5

The Byrds are not a band I really ever liked much to begin with; a twangy country version is going to be a struggle. I mean I guess it's cool that this was one of the first records in what would become a new genre, but like, I hate that genre. And I'm kind of getting tired of all these albums from 1966-1969. It seems that short space of time is disproportionally represented here. Of late at least.
It's pretty much what I expected, 'country rock' is not what I would call it though I can see how that genre came out of this. This is a straight up country album. Christian Life is hilarious. Unless it's serious and then it's not so funny so I hope it was tongue-in-cheek. If it was meant in jest, I would guess it went over the heads of most of the Christians anyway. But I really hate this album. Not the fault of The Byrds, I just hate this kind of music. The recording, instrumentation, vocals, etc. are all fine but goddam I can't stand it. Today is another day I have to remember that this list is 1001 albums to hear before you die, not 1001 albums you want to hear before you die. Was it an important album that deserves to be on this list? Yes I suppose so. But I hate it. A lot. 1/5

Apparently I've previously saved two Doves songs on Spotify, though not from this record. I don't remember either of those and this one is completely unfamiliar to me too. Not really sure what to expect given the (shitty) album cover, but I'm guessing British pop/rock, gotta play the odds with this list...
Well what do you know - British pop/rock. It sounds vaguely familiar but I don't think it is unique enough to say that I recognize it - it sounds like pretty much everything in the pop rock genre from the early 2000s. Now after reading a couple reviews - yeah Coldplay for sure. I feel like the world needs less Coldplay, not more. But this is fine I suppose. It didn't really grab my attention much and was mostly just playing in the background. I guess there is a place for music like this but it's not really my thing. I'm not even all the way through the record and I can't recall how any of the prior songs went. That's not exactly a great thing. 2.5/5

Man, I haven't heard this in a long time. Remember the straight edge kids? Are they still around? A lot of them were kind of dicks with how militant they were about anyone doing anything they thought was bad for them. It was basically just an ethos based on judging other people. I guess that is tangentially related to this record. I know Fugazi isn't technically one of those hardcore/straight edge bands but Ian MacKaye started the whole thing so it kind of followed him here. I wonder how many of the straight edge kids I knew in high school and college have had DUIs now. Probably a lot of them.
It had been years since I listened to Fugazi. I remember liking them back in the day, still holds up pretty well. I do however think that a better vocalist would have done wonders for them. I get that the whole point is that you don't need to be perfect and all that but the vocals really took me out of an otherwise great album. The instrumentation is really good but Ian's vocals seem to fight with what the band is doing. I don't remember that being the case back in the day when I listened to Fugazi, maybe his voice got better or maybe I'm just picking up on it now. Regardless, it makes the album a little harder to listen to. I bet these guys would have been really fun to see live back in the 90s. A lot of energy in the music for sure.
3.25/5