Reviews by theblanderman

Albums like this give me such an appreciation for this list. You listen to Darkdancer and can clearly hear the influences to 2000s euro dance music (Daft Punk, Justice) and see that it was inspired by Dare by The Human League (which itself was likely inspired by Kraftwerk). All of these artists and bands are on this list, and I feel like I have a much more complete view of some of these genres.
This album is really interesting and engaging. It's only downsides are that some of the songs are a tad repetitive and go a bit too long. Other than that it's fun and I appreciate it. 4/5

Bittersweet symphony can't make up for the fact that this album is 75mins of soulless, pandering softrock muzak. A proper waste of time. 1/5

good god, what a slog of an album. I get that this was a necessary stage in the bands growth but why is it here. There are far too many uncooked ideas floating around while the band found itself. Each track was incredibly derivative of the bands contemporaries, just watered down versions. The instrumental cinematic moments were OK, but pretty basic and just randomly tossed about in the second half of the album. no thank you. 1/5

Violator is a masterpiece. Every song is meticulously constructed - amazing electronics, swelling strings, great vocals. World in My Eyes is a great album opener to kick off with. I've been looking forward to getting this album since day 1 of this musical journey (and now am almost half way through). 5/5

Not a bad album all considered. Some pretty cutting edge themes and lyrics for the time (I'd imagine). Some WAP energy on some tracks.
Not the best, not horrible... Pretty good. 3/5

This is the direction that postgrunge should have gone - instead we ended up with creed and nickel back.
Really interesting songs and lyrics, a really powerful vocalist and some very catchy/standout bars. The ballads were a bit too many and dramatic for my taste. All around an enjoyable listen from a band I hadn't heard of before! 3.5/5 - > 4/5

I'm usually not into punk, but the hardcore elements if this, the ridiculous vocals, and the attention to detail on making some of the bass/guitar passages memorable was nice. The last song was a tedious listen which brought my rating down a bit. 2.7/5 - > 3/5

Most of these tracks just seem like filler alongside in-da-gadda-da-vida, though there is no denying the titular 17min track is outstanding. 3/5

This was a really good cool jazz album. Some big jazz hits on here and some chill moments. Not the most impressive or standout of all time but certainly very great. 4/5

I was pretty disappointed with this, honestly. I'm surprised because I typically enjoy older R&B. But the first song is mixed so badly it's basically unlistenable (only in the right ear and the vocals are too low in the mix). Run Charlie run has good intent but it's super repetitive. Papa was a rolling stone was long and didn't land the hook as well as I expected. The second half of the album was pretty forgettable. Some good vocals of course, but hopefully the Temptations have a more interesting album on this list. 2/5.

Not a bad listen, though some of it was pretty boring/wallpaper (and not in a fun, ambient way). Not offensive, just not a standout indie album. 3/5

A very OK dad-rock album. Not many high highs or low lows. Comfortably listenable. Neil Young was under utilized in the lineup. 3/5

Goddamn. I listened to this one from 5am-8am in my way to work, what a behemoth. I thought I listened to much of this before but soon realized I've mostly listened to songs off of disc 1.
It is absolutely masterful that they conceived of this many distinct songs with the same theme. At no point does it feel like there is repetition, and the tracklist is constantly engaging. Outstanding piece of musical history, though I think I'll only listen to it all the way through this one time. 5/5

I thought from the description I'd hate this album and wasn't far off. The instrumentation was actually better than I expected. But every song sounded like a mess and the fiddle was too much. Really the only song I enjoyed was Psycho Cupid. Not enough to save the album though. 1.4/5 -> 1/5

Other than the chorus in the first song and the well known second song, not a lot of memorable moments. Not a big fan. 2/5

Not bad, over 20 years old and still sounds modern. A lot of great features kept the track list fresh. Some tracks were forgettable and the intro / outtro tracks were a little silly for my taste. 3/5

I was pretty underwhelmed with this one - mostly made of forgettable tracks with eye-rolling lyrical clichés about love/peace etc. Easy going dad rock that hasn't aged too well. 2/5

I really wanted to like this more but found it pretty lackluster. The jazz and synthesizers were cool but there was a lot of meh moments throughout. It took me days to make it through so really didn't keep my attention well. 2.4/5 -> 2/5

Other than the song Taj Mahal, this album really didn't come off as distinct from skng to song. That straw in a cup noise was way too prevalent for me. Not the worst but kinda tedious nonetheless. 2/5

Shit bsginnung, shit middle and extra shitty end. Must be a bad album, and a waste of the longest 30 minus ever. 0/5