Reviews by theblanderman

Honestly I didn't know what to expect, but this album impresses me each time I come back to it. The first time I heard of Dr. John was when I saw him on the Top Chef hot sauce challenge. He seemed like a weird dude.
He seems to have gone full voodoo, not just putting on a persona of the Black NOLA community. He is also celebrated by his community for his work and music.
I really don't have any complaints and this stands out among the other albums of the time. 5/5

Finally, the long awaited final shit stain on this list of albums.
To its credit, the fact that it leans more toward rock-'n'-roll and blues rock is marginally better than the audience-pandering pop-rock dribble they'd fart out years later, but my gripes with this band remain:
I hate the singers voice, the guitar solos are basic and weak, there is no cohesion to the album and it sounds like a bunch of bad singles, I hate the singers voice.
Now I can sleep well, knowing I will die before I willingly listen to another KOL song or album. 1/5

A pretty good album from a group I had only heard of in passing. Some of the songs stood out, with Violence being the most interesting imo. Not bad. 3/5

I love that modern pop is included on this list. But my issue here is that this isn't a good album, it's GREAT singles surrounded by a number of filler tracks. Baby One More Time, Crazy, and Sometimes are so goddamn good, but if I ever have to hear Soda Pop again I'm gonna yeet myself off a building. Great tracks for a best singles of all time list, but doesn't quite meet the high expectations I had for this album. 2/5

I loved the album Rings Around the World. I thought it was unique and cutting edge and give it a glowing review.
This was like listening to nothing for 41 minutes. Generic uninteresting brit alt rock.
I think I'm especially annoyed because this represents the biggest issue with this list. That there appears to be no editing after the final albums were picked. For artists with undeniable worldwide impact and very musically diverse careers (Beatles, Radiohead, Dolly Parton, Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna, etc etc), sure, give them multiple great albums. I only need the ONE best super fuzzy animals album (if that). I don't need an awkward, identity-less debut.
I'm giving this a one on that principal, combined with the fact that I see no inherent value to this album or any of it's tracks. 1/5

What a goddamn earsore. I started out with an open mind but I was ready for this meandering, repetitive, nothing of an album to be over from by a few tracks in. I'm happy for folks who like Siouxsie And The Banshees, but it's not for me. 1/5

I had to break this down track by track to understand my thoughts:
1. "Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)" 5
2. "Hounds of Love" 5
3. "The Big Sky" 5
4. "Mother Stands for Comfort" 4
5. "Cloudbusting" 5
6. "And Dream of Sheep" 3
7. "Under Ice" 3
8. "Waking the Witch" 5
9. "Watching You Without Me" 3
10. "Jig of Life" 3
11. "Hello Earth" 4
12. "The Morning Fog" 3
Turns out I think Side A is close to perfect, but Side B I generally consider "mid". And Dream of Sheep" and "Under Ice" are way too slow and underwhelming to continue the story. Waking the Witch is so cool and unique. I found the Jig of Life and the Morning Fog to be the weakest tracks, which is too bad because the latter is the closer. All around my score averaged to a 4, which is still high given the relative weakness of the second half. 4/5

While it started off a bit slow, I really enjoyed the second half of the album. The closing track twisted is pretty funny. 3/5

A noisy nightmare of an album, and not in a good way. Very muddy and dark, with very little variation from track to track. Feels like just an amorphous blob of music. I did like some of the moments but this was not overall for me. 2/5

Fine overall, and relatively unique for 60s standards (musically at least, not so miluch thematically: "love love love love love"). 3/5
On second listen, I really can't get past how so many songs are about love and just how repetitive they are. My 4 year old were listening with me and even noticed: "this song is about love too??". Sorry Beatles, but give me yeat/charli xcx any day. 2.4/5 -> 2/5

So repetitive over lame psych instrumentals. Really not for me nor essential. 2/5

I really loved the song Witch and appreciated the early grunge sound throughout the album (very protomudhoneyesque), though got bored of all the covers and themes. Cool they covered motown/R&B hits though. 3/5

Some of these songs are pretty one-note. Not bad overall, but not anything which I'd return to. 2.7/5 -> 3/5

On first listen I kinda dug a few songs, but god on relisten it was such a chore to get through. The recording quality is poor, and it sounds like you went to your friend' roommate's singer/songwriter performance at a local café and his mom recorded it on her phone. Not something I'd return to for another hour, despite the pleasant moments. 2.4/5 -> 2/5

This pavement album has been pretty hyped up but it really doesn't do too much for me. Some good moments but also a bit forgettable. Not bad all and all. 3/5

I absolutely loved the first half of this album. Such a cool ethereal sound with unique samples which were sometimes challenging. The second half was nice enough but didnt keep up the momentum as much as I'd like. 4.3/5 -> 4/5

It's great to hear the first interesting live performance in awhile! He seems super charismatic and entertaining. Great to see the origin of a lot of Scott Walkers songs. Some songs got my attention less but Tango Funebre was awesome. 3.5/5 -> 4/5

A solid record. It starts off a bit stronger in my opinion, but is pleasant enough while it's on. 2.9/5 -> 3/5

While the majority of the music on this album isn't so bad, I hate the vocal effect that plagues every song, and cannot forgive the black keys for shitting out two of the worst car commercial songs of the the 21st century (Tighten Up & Howlin for You). 2/5

I had high hopes for this album that weren't met. The hits from this record are timeless, and can really display G&R peak lyrical and musical abilities (Sweet Child of Mine is the clearest standout) but so many other tracks are mindless, poorly written or just bloat the runtime. If this was a 35 min album comprised mostly of key tracks this score would have been higher. 3/5