Reviews by theblanderman

Relatively unremarkable album with a few standout tracks and many that have become very dated. 2/5

My god this is in need of auditory viagra - might have been the softest soft-rock I've ever heard. It's like they thought Discipline era King Crimson and the Police were far too experimental. I wanted to rate this a 1 because it sickens me that this is in the 1001 list where there are >10 million albums in existence, but the ambient bits warmed me up a tad at the very end. 1.5/5 -> 2/5

It's taken me days to fully absorb this one. Very impressive listen that has a pull to it. This will be in my rotation for the year for sure. 5/5

I was expecting more from this, but it was o.k. Really just that. Kinda felt empty and not in a good way. Some decent songs here though. 2.5/5 - > 3/5

My hopes were up a bit after the last album I got from Madonna on this like (like a prayer) and how critics generally praised this release. Honestly, I found it pretty mundane, and derivative of other artists in the 90s electronic and trip hop space I'd rather be listening to. Some good moments (especially in the beginning) but all around a pretty drab listen. 2/5

An exceptionally dull album. Some nice instrumentals here and there, but generally this could be made by anyone. 2/5

I promised my wife I'd give this album a 1 because James Taylor's voice has always creeped her out. She describes his shallow weak vocals as "singing like he doesn't have a throat" (I don't disagree). The instrumentals were passable most of the time, but otherwise found this dull with his singing being what pulled it down further. 1.4/5 - > 1/5

I usually don't like post punk, but that kept it pretty interesting. Some electronics mixed in and performative vocals kept it listenable. Not bad. 2.6/5 - > 3/5

I can't in good consciousness say I enjoyed this marathon of an album, but I have respect for the impact it had on the Drum & Bass genre and it didn't sound awful. 2/5

This one took a few listens for me to warm up to it. Originally I thought her voice was jarring and I really didn't like the song Birdsong, but after a few listens her voice was unique and I appreciated every song (except birdsong). 3.5/5 - > 4/5

A pretty good prog album. No songs that left me speechless, but pleasant to listen to. 3/5

Wow, this was not good. Definitely sang like a number of B sides after the songs Tony Dancer and Levon. A weird country twang, inconsistent and forgettable songs and a weird reflection on folks who are Native American from an englishman? Really disappointing album put here for the singles. 1/5

Had to chew on this one for a few days. It's a little bit of a spotty album, with some areas being very lush and invigorating and other moments being relatively uninteresting trip-hop. The spoken word bits are OK. I like the chanting. All around an interesting experience. 3/5

Pretty good! Our house stuck out like a sore thumb a bit but many of the songs were interesting and generally well crafted. Just a tad boring now and again. 3/5

This really warmed up to me throughout the end of the first listen and into the second. They have great musical talent and the singers voice is animated and interesting. Some really great songs on here and some that fade a bit, but I'm generally impressed. 3.7/5 - > 4/5

A pretty OK album. It's pretty forgettable outside of that beautiful flue in Orange Skies. Not enough to round it up. 2.4/5 - > 2/5

A very lyrically dense and impressive pop album. I really enjoyed the instrumentals and Joni's voice. Some songs went on a bit too long but it was all around good. 4/5

This was a beautiful album. She has such a beautiful voice and the piano is phenomenal. 4.5/5 - > 5/5

Not super impressive. Pretty basic for the time with no memorable tracks, other than the tracks with tasteless lyrics. His voice is sometimes good but not enough to keep this afloat. 2.4/5 - > 2/5

Hey, I like the band Air as much as the next guy, but a mostly instrumental movie soundtrack from the year 2000 does not really qualify as one of the 1001 albums to listen to imo. Some songs are OK of course, but this is one of the bands weaker and more forgettable works. 2/5