Reviews by thelastbaron

Just no. All Christmas music is negative 10 trillion stars.

Good songs for the most part with great performances. The one or two tracks emulating Bob Dylan bring this down to four stars.

Powerful voice, but the songs themselves are also great (Adele, take notes).

Yes, the skits are unpleasant, but the music is really good, and importantly, is not one-dimensional.

I didn't think I was gonna like this album based on "Soul" being in the title, but this isn't run-of-the-mill Goodfellas background music. There's some very interesting musical interpretations of rock and/or soul here, including some fairly intricate accoustic guitars. And of course, his voice is great.

First track is hot garbage but the rest of the album is really good yacht rock/lounge jazz.

I don't know if I'd ever listen to it again, but it's very soothing.

A lot of good stuff here, but the second half of the album drags a bit.

One of the most influential albums ever made, In the Court of the Crimson King essentially created a genre (progressive rock) out of thin air. On top of this influence, the album holds its own to this day. It's a potent mix of heavy riffs, bizarre folk, and weird jazz fusion, all while remaining chock-full of great melodies, memorable hooks, and astonishing virtuoso performances. Quite easily one of the top ten records ever made.

The music sounds like New Order playing an Amon Duul II album (post punk, electronica, and krautrock genre mix). A very engrossing experience. While there are no "bangers", the album as a whole has a great flow and really works as just that - the album as a single piece of art, rather than a collection of songs.

Fun album. Slide guitar in a punk record works surprisingly well.

Oh my god. His voice is just terrible. From the first few seconds of the album all the way through minute 90(!!!!!). His nasality and generally lazy vocal delivery quash any chance his lyrical ability had at shining through. Also, the harmonica is at a level beyond grating, and the entire first half of the album is painfully driveling accoustic folk. The second half of the album finally shows some energy, but no amount of average rock can save the travesty that is the first half of this record. Overall, this album is pure torture; a test of endurance that only the most masochistic person would put themselves through.

Very entertaining with good performances. 32 minute runtime helps as well.

Has the potential to be a great album, with lots of variety and great tracks. However there's a ton of filler and unnecessary interludes, and, at well over two hours in length, the album is far too long to thoroughly enjoy. 3 stars.

When they stray towards country, the music is atrocious (utterly predictable vocal lines, half-hearted musical arrangements). When they stick to rock, it's actually interesting, with a killer rhythm section. Unfortunately, there are a significant number of country tracks on this album, which really drags the final score down.

Sounds like The Beach Boys playing punk - which I'm not mad about. There's a lot of variety to the songs, including insertions of accoustic guitars and organ. Also, nice bass sound.

Great songwriting with memorable melodies even if some songs (anything Yoko-related) initiate a gag-reflex.

The music isn't just boring - it's a simple amalgamation of pre-set drumbeats and basslines, with nary a melodic lead apart from Adele's voice. And this is where the album really fails. While Adele has a strong voice, her vocal meoldy choices also feel like pre-sets. It's like she went with the first melody that came into her head and never tried actually writing anything. The result is a thoroughly boring and unimaginative album with no surprises.

The story behind the creation of this album is fascinating, and it unsurprisingly resulted in fascinating music. I was truly bummed out when the album ended. An easy 5 stars.

If you've ever wondered what a blues album would sound like with the reverb-drenched '80s production style, this album is your chance to experience that. In a word, the glossy production feels antithetical to the blues. The "perfect" production makes the music lose grit, and feel pre-packaged. However, the production does lend the album a unique sound.

As for the music, the performances, both from JLH and his guests, are excellent, and only a few of the songs overstay their welcome. That said, it's diffcult to give this album more than three stars given the plethora of much better blues albums out there.