Reviews by thelastbaron

Each song is a little too repetitive, and the album goes on about 20 minutes too long, but the bass sound is nice and the melodies are actually pretty good.

3.0/5.0: Good

This album was the first ever album dubbed "ambient" music, so it's inclusion on the list is an absolute must. The music itself achieves exactly what it it says on the tin, and it holds re-listen value as background music. That said, this is a struggle if you're trying to actively listen.

3.5/5.0: Very Good

Another incredibly lifeless Neil Young album. What do people see in this? The music has no heart and is completely predictable, relying on a single motif that just repeats endlessly without any development whatsoever. Furthermore, it commits the twin sins of harmonica and steel guitar (in places). His voice is mediocre at best, and his lyrics range from whining to moronic. This album is uninspired, unchallenging, humdrum slop.

0.5/5.0: Unlistenable

She obviously has a great voice, but the whole thing feels a little by rote - about what you'd expect from a 60s album focusing on the vocalist.

3.0/5.0: Good

Not as good as his later albums, but he still has an incredible voice and his penchant for bizarre lyrics is present and intriguing. The instrumentation, while a little cheesy, is enjoyable.

4.5/5.0: Excellent

Vocals are atrocious, but the music is SIGNIFICANTLY better than the crap served up on "Only By The Night". It's just basic southern rock, but it at least has some character.

2.5/5.0: Mixed

Lots of variety, good lyrics, great production, and a focus on the music/melodies. It does get a tad boring towards the end, but mostly this is great.

4.0/5.0: Great

Really enjoyed the bizarreness of what is essentially psychedelic cockney knees-up music, which is something I've never heard before and probably never will again. Deserves to be on the list for its uniqueness alone. I thought the spoken word actually fit the music well, but I totally get being annoyed by it.

4.0/5.0: Great

There's a review on here that says this album is basically a collection of songs imitating other artists. I was skeptical at first, but it turns out that that is exactly what this is. Everybody from Robert Johnson, to Elvis, to Chuck Berry, to The Rolling Stones are imitated here. It's OK for what it is, but I'll stick to listening to the other artists.

2.5/5.0: Mixed

I always give extra points to albums with a lot of variety and good instrumentation, and this has both of those things in spades. It's a tad long, a tad boring, and the album cover is atrocious, but it's still a great album.

4.0/5.0: Great

Outside of opera, Ella has the best voice of all-time and the combination of her flawless vocals with great instrumentation almost makes up for the corny lyrics and enormous album length (well over 3 hours). Unfortunately, I can't give 5 stars to an album that simply doesn't fit the brief of "album", which makes me wonder why this one is even on the list. It's a collection of songs that is not intended to be listened to in one setting. If they'd just picked a shorter Ella album it would easily be in the running for top ten album on this list.

4.0/5.0: Great

Essential album from an essential band. The variety on this is pretty impressive, especially considering how tight (31 minutes) the record is. Obviously, this is mostly hardcore punk, but there's a lot of metal, funk, and reggae moments on this as well. The combination of these very different genres is well done and makes for a unique listening experience.

5.0/5.0: Iconic

Some of the piano parts are actually pretty good/interesting, but mostly this feels like a template for all of the overwrought and stomach-churningly sappy pop that unfortunately became popular in subsequent years.

1.5/5.0: Bad

There's better jazz from the 60s, there's better rock from the sixties, there's better jazz/rock from the 60s. This is OK, but I wouldn't go back to it.

2.5/5.0: Mixed

Like a lot of country music, the slow songs are at a level that's so awful it's difficult to qualify just how bad they are. However, some of the tracks that are a little faster do have some great instrumentals. As for Dwight's voice, it's a quintessential country whine to the point of sounding like a parody.

2.0/5.0: Disappointing

I usually don't care about lyrics because music should be about the music, but the lyrics on this album really drag it down in Kid Rock-esque fashion. The music is actually pretty innovative. There's a lot of really cool things going on with the guitars, but those cringey, cringey, lyrics (and the half-baked vocal delivery) crush any chance this had of being good. Also, the album is about twice as long as it should be.

2.0/5.0: Disappointing

Yeah, this is pretty terrible over-produced crappy pop, just like the other The xx album on this list.

1.0/5.0: Embarrassing

This has a few very good tracks but A LOT of filler. In particular, the slower songs really drag and add nothing to the album. Somewhere in here there's a snappy, upbeat 35 minute indie/electronica album, but unfortunately the bloat was not cut out.

2.0/5.0: Disappointing

This is the kind of album I signed up to this list for. Pretty incredible this came out in 1960. While it uses some 50s/60s contemporary elements (barbershop quartet choruses, etc.), and a lot of traditional sounds, it's very forward looking in that the rhythms and vocal arrangements became a staple of a lot post punk and new wave music more than 20 years later. She also has an incredible voice. That said, not every song is enjoyable, and some of them are a downright struggle to get through (see "One More Dance").

3.0/5.0: Good

This was a Radiohead album I had never listened to, but I really enjoyed it. Lots of variety and plenty of very interesting ideas on this. It's a little long, but it's so vibey that the time passed quickly.

4.0/5.0: Great