Reviews by theblanderman

This album is good, but mostly due to it's hits. The sequencing of the album is abysmal - it sounds more akin to a collection of singles than a whole experience (The Power of Equality is about the most boring opening track). The hits are fantastic, of course, and make the album. All in all, could have been better, but the music is good across the board for the most part. 3/5.

This album really should not be on a list of this magnitude. it really listens as purely average psych rock with no standout tracks. It pales in comparison to it's contemporaries, and I have no interest in listening to it again. 2/5.

It's hard to put this experience into words - the songs were so familiar, yet so new. It sounded aged, but the song construction was flawless and timeless. Every song is distinct and range in the feelings they evoke. This is a really impressive album that I'm glad to have discovered through this process, and am excited to continue to throw this on for years to come. (As well as buy on vinyl ASAP)
5/5

This album wasn't bad. Some of the tracks are corny and some a bit out-of-touch, but a pleasant enough listen. 3/5.

This album holds a special place in my music library, Brian Eno's discography, and music history. It's an imperfect album (hence the 4), but that's part of what is so great about it. It represents the messy and uncertain transition between Eno's art pop Warm Jets era and his ambient work on Discreet Music and Music for Airports (an easy 5/5).
While this album boldly displays a chaotic transition between two drastically different musical eras, it stands on its own as a unique album. The only things going against this album are that some of the instrumental cuts weren't as flushed out as they could be 4.4/5.

That album was solid! Good funky grooves, great drums, the songs in Spanish were great, the ones in English were ok. All in all, a very impressive album by Santana!

I remember throbbing gristle being one of those joke bands people mentioned in highschool. Needless to say they've stood up to their reputation. All in all a unique listen. 3/5.

I'm a fan of Curtis typically, but this album was uninteresting. If I wanted to hear a movie soundtrack I'd put on the movie so I could see the context. 2.4/5 -> 2/5.

I gotta say this one surprised me. The number of genres/styles The Young Rascals hit in 34 minutes is impressive: funk, bassa nova, doo wap, french waltz, R&B, the list goes on. I was initially dissuaded by how similar the themes of love were across the tracklist but they varied that toward the end of the album. All in all, especially compared to their pre-prog rock contemporaries, they made something pretty cool here. 4/5.

What an uninteresting, boring, waste of time. The songs on this album sound like 1) a knock off of the song highway to hell, 2) a car commercial, and/or 3) a diary excerpt of a very horny gremlin. The average guitar solos are NOT enough to redeem this album. Not a good listen. 1/5

Talk talk is one of those bands I can't really get into. The music is good, but the vocals are too underwhelming and washed out. That is the case with Laughing Stock also the case with this album. 3/5

This album was alright. The final song was especially good. Many of the tracks are a bit forgettable but I want to keep trying the listen to this one. 3.3/5 -> 3/5.

Not a bad album. The songs blend together and aren't super distinct but they have a nice, indie sound. I likely won't listen to it again but all in all not bad. 3/5.

What a painfully average rock/blues-adjacent album. It sounds like muzak playing in the background of a JC Penny or a Hooters. Other than a few artistic gleams, overall generic. 2.4/5 -> 2/5.

This album did not meet my expectations that were set by it's wikipedia entry (#1 on several lists for 2016 over Blackstar and A Moon Shaped Pool).
For what it is, it is a fine hip-hop album from the UK. It's well made and there are some earworms in the tracklist. The album didn't flow in an interesting or cohesive way, it just sounded like an assembly of tracks. Skepta's voice and flows are alright. 3/5.

Gorillaz is a good, but flawed album. It is clear that Damon Albarn wanted to move in a different artistic direction than Blur, but this album didn't uncover a unique personality for Gorillaz. A number of songs were interesting and catchy, others were wallpaper. Clint Eastwood is great to this day. All in all, a good album. 3/5.

PThis album put me on a fence. 80s soft rock hasn't classically been something I listen to or enjoy. But every song on this album was good and fit the album. Paul experimented with styles outside of his typical Simon & Garfunkel wheelhouse and I appreciate that. Some lyrics are definitely cheesy and haven't aged well, and some songs are less interesting than others, but overall I'm leaning closer to a 4 than a 3.
3.6/5 -> 4/5.

Finally, something that is unique and stands out on this list! I can't believe this came out in 2003, it has a very modern appeal and I can see how this band may have influenced later groups like Death Grips, LustSickPuppy, etc. I love abrasive music like this so glad it was on the list.
The drumming is phenomenal, as well as the noisy glitch sounds.
My only qualm is that there could have been a little more variety in the songs (thinking of Sunbather as a perfect example). Other than this, a great album I'll listen to again, and I'll look into Lightning Bolt more. 4/5.

I grew up with this album, but I'm not ignorant of it's many flaws. A ton of the songs are repetitive and rely too heavily on their samples. This makes some songs unlistenable (looking at you "Find My Baby"). Three of the big hits are pretty great: Porcelain, Run On, and Natural Blues. South Side isn't my favorite, the simplistic lyrics, short little verses, and Gwen Stefani feature stinks of generic soulless radio fodder for the time
A number of the other songs are pretty good, but now that years have passed, on relisten, this record scores below the 50th percentile for me. 2.4/5 -> 2/5.

This album had some highs for sure - a lot of big hits from the early 2000s. It was pretty funky and jazzy, too. There are a few weaknesses. Though it is a double album, the album is bloated at 1 hour and 20 minutes. Length isn't necessarily an issue, but there needs to be variety to keep the audience engaged. I think this was accomplished musically on this album, with jazz, strings, soul, funk, hip-hop coming together well. Christina's vocal delivery is just identical on every track which is grating given the length. Also the fact that she is so rooted in her inspirations on this album makes the whole thing come off as a bit derivative.
There are a few notable stinkers on the album as well, with Thank You and Nasty Naughty Boy coming to mind.
All in all a good album but would give a 3.4/5 given the above considerations. Rounded down: 3/5.