Reviews by theblanderman

A pretty good album, certainly for it's time. A number of tracks stood out. Some were unexciting.
All in all I'd give this a 2.7 rounded. 3/5.

This album has not aged well. I respect it for the impact that it had, but I am not a fan. The beats are paper thin, and their back and forth style is silly. 2/5.

I like some of the smash hits off of "You've Come a Long Way, Baby" as much as the next guy, but this album is a stinker.
Talk about plain, muzak-esque electronic music. This album is souless, void of unique elements, and to top it off way too long. I will not be listening to this again. 1/5.

The music on this album is good, but the vocals and lyrics aren't that great. I've tried to listen to it a number of times in my life and it never sticks, unlike Yoshimi.
It also feels like a very long album. 3/5.

I've listened to a lot of prog and prog-adjacent music in my day. This album was o.k. I've listened to it before but it is pretty forgettable. For example, I had only listened to Gentle Giant's "The Power and the Glory" once, yet immediately recognized the sample of "Proclamation" in Travis Scott's "Hyaena".
The same sticking power can't be said of this album. Still good, but middle of the road prog that is slightly elevated by the ethereal second half of the album. 3/5.

This album has not stood the test of time well. It's raw garage appeal is apparent, but by no means is this album in the top 1000. Good enough "vibe", but that's about it. 2/5.

I initially was unimpressed by how all over the place this album was compared to Ziggy, however after looking it's recording process up it makes sense. David Bowie constructed lyrics for most of the songs on the fly in a studio just meters from the Berlin wall. Robert Fripp apparently finished all of the guitar work for this album in 3 days. Now that I have that context I'll need to register.
I'm glad that I listened to this and that I took the time to review it's history. Still not my favorite Bowie record but I'm excited to revisit soon. 4/5.

A very classic mambo sound. Solid "vibe" of an album, but essentially wallpaper at this point. Would give this a 2.5 but must round. 3/5.

This album is in desperate need of a remaster. Lo-fi is one thing, but this sounds like garbage with how compressed the audio is. Virtually unlistenable.
The music itself was ok - the vignette style keeps things interesting at least, though no songs stuck out. 2/5.

That was a very underwhelming listen. Very few songs were interesting or memorable, other than All I Wanna Do (of course) and We Do What We Can. Even this albums contemporaries significantly outclass it (Natalie Imbruglia - "Left of the Middle" comes to mind). A few good songs and an overall positive "vibe" elevates this score from the bottom. 2/5.

I listened to this album growing up, but haven't put it on for a number of years. My thoughts were about the same - the tracks on the first half of this album are damn-near flawless. Unique, groovy, catchy. But the second half has some pretty mid tracks (scarecrow, farewell ride, rental car, emergency exit). On top of that, the album doesn't have a feeling of cohesion between tracks, other than maybe some slide guitar and sun-kissed guitar giving a "western" feel. I'd probably rate this a 3.5/5, so I'll round up. 4/5.

I'd tried to listen to Rain Dogs a number of times before and I could never get into the Tom Waits character on that album. Maybe it's that the clean studio recording didn't match the character? Whatever the reason, I have never taken it seriously.
I was initially disappointed when I saw this album as my album of the day because of this preconceived notion. I must say, the live nature if this album gave validity to the TW character, and I really enjoyed the music and stories. I feel that time hasn't smiled too kindly on the references etc. as many went over my head. But all in all, I'll probably listen to this again. 4/5

That was a pleasant listen. It's always fun to listen to an album for the first time and recognize most of the tracks from the radio in my childhood. Same happened with the album Diamond Life by Sade. This album had a few dips in the middle, but otherwise was solid. 4/5

This album is a solid folk album. Most of the songs are pretty pleasant. Some haven't aged well (Man Needs a Maid - not just the lyrics, but also how over the top and melodramatic the song is). All in all: not bad, not excellent. 3/5

I had the misfortune of listening to Ray's "Modern Western" album before this and disliked it immensely. This album has much more character, talent and personality. The songs do all suffer from similar themes, but they are distinct enough. The first and last song are great openers and closers. 3/5

This album is great: it has a unique sound, I love the music and the vocals, and the first and last song are really good. The content of the lyrics seems to be great. I love the album art. My only gripe is that it's a bit bloated toward the middle of the album (this may lesson on future listens). All in all a good listen and this will stay in my rotation. 4/10

It's pretty impressive that an album this experimental gained the popularity that it did. I enjoyed most of the songs: the bass was funky, I liked the repetitious elements, the droning sections, and the vocals. Though I found the album to not have much of an identity or personality. It felt like the songs were just clumped together with a few singles mixed in. Both the opener and closer were weak. 3/5

This album is good. Part way through it seemed like it was dependent on it's singles a bit, however You See Me Crying was a great closer and wrapped up the experience well. 3/5

I did not enjoy listening to this album. 1.25 hours of the same love some repeated over and over. Ray has limitless talent but it didn't shine through on this album. 1/5

This album started strong but by mid-way through the songs lost their luster and listening felt like a chore. Not terrible but certainly not enjoyable. 2/5