Reviews by thelofistorm

Ooh! Yusuf! I’ll take it!

I had AP US History exams today so I didn’t get to this for a second, but I like this album enough. Yusuf’s voice is alright, and the songs are invariably well-recorded. The songs are pretty boring at times though. “Hard Headed Woman” isn’t really all that great, and “Sad Liza” isn’t well-written enough to justify how boring of an arrangement it is. That’s kind of the album’s problem. It’s pleasant, but it’s not really like something that is that nice to listen to. It’s too boring. Obviously the highs are incredible, but I can’t believe how invariable inoffensive it all is! It doesn’t feel personal in any way, and that really pisses me off. It doesn’t feel as if our dear singer is a real person, as much as he is just some vessel for these more often than not unimpressive folksongs. Thankfully, on songs like “Longer Boats” and “Into White,” this problem is less existent. Actually the B-side is waaaaaay better than the A-side. I don’t know though. The songs don’t really go anywhere. I can’t say I really love it.
6.7/10

Well, I’ll take something interesting any day. I'm not the biggest Can fan, but I liked their first two albums enough. Very well sequenced and nice to listen to. This is good too. "Cool in the Pool" is a nice little song. A good opener, and way better than you'd expect it to be based on what it is. Very like mentally stimulating. And then of course I'm a sucker for a 13-minute krautrock song so I love "Oh Lord, Give Us More Money." I mean it's so nice to listen to. Weird obviously but very nice as a little bit of background stuff, and when he starts raving about "GIVE US MOOOOORRRREEEE MONEYYYYYY!!!! HAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!" I really vibed with it. I also really like the throughline of weird samples across this whole album, it gives the entire thing a nice little air of extra weirdness which really helps to transport you somewhere, which I appreciate in an album. "Persian Love" is... kinda wack honestly. I appreciate what it goes for but it's just kinda not there. The last song is fine. I think the big problem is there's just not much personal expression here. The music's awesome, but there's so little behind it. Y'know? That being said I do love parts of it.
7.2/10

Well, if there’s one thing I do know it’s that this guy was just awful. Incestual murderer rapist pedophile racist… I mean this guy’s worse than Phil Spector! And that’s hard to achieve! I hate this guy and I don’t even know him! But can he perform? Well… welllll…. Yes he can. This album is incredible. Obviously from his performance I don’t doubt that he’s just the worst guy ever, but it’s certainly just something else. He has a gravitas that feels so awful, but that entire attitude is kind of what makes it feel so authentic. Like he’s just an awful guy, singing like an awful guy would, and it’s really fucking good because that’s just how it goes sometimes. Because just listen to those keys! Listen to the way he’s singing! I hate him! There’s nothing about this man I like! Except for every single song on this live album! And that’s just how it goes sometimes.
9.1/10

REAL MAN SHIT!!!! YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

I personally gave up on being a real man when I realized I was actually a girl, but you know what, I can still listen to some HARD SOUTHERN ROCK without any qualms. Especially when “Sharp-Dressed Man” is in the conversation.

Well, I for one very much like the production here, and the attitude of it all. Very much this dancey, southern, glammy hedonism vibe. It’s kind of also the album’s downfall, though, because it’s just a bunch of really really awesome, bitchin’ songs that really just don’t have a lot of conflict. “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs…” all 10/10 songs. But they never really go anywhere other than “FUCK YEAHHHHH!!!” And I think that’s the only real problem. As for the positives, I LOVE the guitar tones here. Same with the drum machines, which are surprisingly well-used here. Vocals are a little weak, or maybe just a little bit low in the mix, but they get the job done. I also feel like the album, while it could’ve been shorter (maybe try cutting “TV Dinners?”), is a pretty good length. Pretty cool closer, pretty cool album.
7.8/10

Finally I actually get around to listening to nirvana. I'll say, it's interesting to listen to the swan song first. The album opens with one of the best lines I've ever heard, that being "teenage angst has paid off well, now I'm bored and old," off of the song "Serve The Servants." It's an excellent, bombastic opener that moves into the angry, screamy "Scentless Apprentice." Very well produced so far (of course it fucking is, it's Albini). It also really beats you over the head with how dark it is; the drums work with the guitar to make something insanely noisy and weirdly macabre for such a "classic 90s rock band" y'know? "Heart-Shaped Box" is obviously superb, no notes. "Rape Me" frankly is kinda wack. Like I get it, but I can't really follow the "plot" of the song, and it just does't really do much for me. I don't fuck with it too much. "Frances Farmer..." is incredible, however, so it's all good. "Dumb" is actually incredible as well, maybe my favorite song so far. "Very Ape," though short, is really awesome. "Milk It" is pretty cool too. Pretty much all the songs from then on are great. “All Apologies” is definitely my favorite. I will say though, this album really doesn’t live up to its legend. Like, it’s one thing for an album to have a legend of being a certain way, like how (depending on how much of an ass you are) you might say that either “The Moon and Antarctica” or “Good News For People Who Love Bad News” would be the point in which Modest Mouse sold out (they never sold out in fact, but that’s beside the point). But when an album has built up some mythology of being one of the best albums of all time, such as this one has, and it turns out to be… pretty cool at best, I can’t help but rate it worse based on the fact that I feel underwhelmed. None of these songs changed my life, or even really defined my day interestingly. I really like a lot of these songs. I think Kurt Cobain is a really awesome and super interesting dude. But… perfect? Among the best of all time? Worth buying on a CD? Well, that last one, maybe. But my point is… this is pretty awesome and not much more.
8.5/10

oooooh. oooooooooooooooooooh. I was excited for this. And I was right to be. This is insanely good. I mean- oh my fuck. I’ve never been a gigantic metal fan, but this is easily the best evidence that I should be one. This is just so incredible. The imagery, the riffs… it immerses you deeply into this incredibly hellish world, in a way that’s genuinely affecting and foreboding. It might get old if it were longer but it just isn’t! It’s just- it’s perfect. It is PERFECT.
10/10

Probably the most shockingly appropriate album I’ll ever get on this list. As of right now I have more than 1000 different albums to get, and yet I get this one, the day after I watch “No Direction Home.” And by the way, that was a HUGE part of my day. I was sick so I stayed home from school, and spent most of the afternoon watching that movie, and it’s now one of the longest movies I’ve ever watched. Additionally I just listened to Desire, one of the only well-known Bob albums I hadn’t listened to yet (great album btw). All this to say it’s insane that I got this album when I did. And now on to whether it’s good.

Well, “Love Sick” certainly sets the tone. Meandering, 5 minutes and change, but shockingly direct. It feels as if Bob is looking you in the face as he unsteadily growls the lyrics. “Dirt Road Blues” picks up the pace in terms of tempo, but Bob’s gravelly vocals ground it in the maintaining dark atmosphere. This continues throughout the A-side. Then on the B-side it continues, though the general quality drops a bit (not personally the biggest fan of "'Til I Fell In Love With You"). Now's also a good time to talk about how the whole thing is seemingly about his 1992 divorce from Carolyn Dennis, and uhh, you can tell it's a breakup album. It's kinda crazy how down he seems about this. Anyway "Not Dark Yet" closes out the first disc as easily the best song of the B-side. Just real simple, easy, depressive Americana. Good stuff. And then "Cold Irons Bound" comes in and it's just as depressive, and it's long and bluesy and real good. After that there's a couple of songs that are just okay frankly. But then we have "Highlands," and... what. the. fuck. 16 minutes. I had to scroll down 3 times just to get to the bottom of the song's lyrics. It's crazy. Anyway the song's great too. I won't get into it but it's awesome. I'm too tired to really get into this album as a whole but it's super good.
9.5/10

the Justin Bieber interpolation song album! You know... he had that one song... you knowww...

Anyway this album is cool. Starting with "Your New Cuckoo," a song with great vocals, great production, and a really awesome riff, and then moving to "Been It," which I like a lot (the chorus is wonderful). "Heartbreaker" and "Happy Meal II" are both cute, but "Never Recover" is fucking insane. Sounds like an Alvvays song, but it happens to also be really well-written (which Alvvays songs are, but like the writing stands out here). "Step On Me" is really good too, and then "Lovefool" is obviously a huge fucking home run. From there we have "Losers" which is a pretty alright song. "Iron Man" as a song is pretty tight too, and I'm told it's a cover of Black Sabbath's seminal metal song of the same name. It's pretty cool. My only real problem with any of this is that the lulls are sooooooooo apparent, and they kind of become drawbacks for me. It's all pretty good, but the experience it adds up to can tend to be taken away from by the inconsistency of the song quality sometimes. It's still pretty awesome though.
7.9/10

I really expected this to be some twee type album. Then I looked it up and found out it was... new wave art pop somehow connected to talking heads? I thought it was interesting as a concept I guess. The first minute or so sounds like proto-LCD Soundsystem, without any of the commentary on party culture or anything. It's so interesting. In fact "interesting" is one of the most said words about this album when you go to "reviews." Words.... hmm. Anyway that first track left a big impression on me, and then “Genius of Love” left a similar impression on me. I was dancing in the hallway! I guess the better word for it would be groovin, but same difference. The entire album has this vibe where you can just groove peacefully to it. Just very peaceful, wholesome, repetitive grooviness. Favorites in general include "Wordy Rappinghood," "Genius of Love," "L'Elephant," and "On, on, on, on." Very kooky. Very fun. Very entertaining.
8.3/10

It’s so… polite. His voice is great but the songs aren’t really there and it’s not interesting whatsoever. I only listened to the first installment because believe me, I’m not fixin to spin 74 straight minutes of the most nothing music ever. Also, is this even country? I really want to know. I don’t hear any country sounds here, other than the occasional choir that sounds vaguely country-ish. It’s also like the same song over and over again. I like some of them but it’s all so samey that I can’t really pick out any songs without knowing deep down that they’re all the exact FUCKING same.
5.7/10

Islamic spirituals??? Interesting. Whatever. Actually. Really awesome. “Allah Hoo” has the same melody as one of my favorite Jewish spirituals, that being “hallelu.” Though a bit repetitive it’s incredibly beautiful, and I have a definite soft spot for songs of divine devotion, especially when they’re as passionate as this. This guy’s voice… it’s beautiful, and powerful, and resounding. The song structures across the album are really nice and interesting as well, and keep me looking forward to the next song. It’s actually a really dynamic album, which I didn’t at all expect. Each song is beautiful, and I really enjoy it as a whole, as well as song to song.
8.5/10

Yay!!!! I love this album!! My parents’ first dance at their wedding was to “O Grande Amor” and to this day this album’s a personal favorite. It HAS been a second since I listened to it though so I’m glad I got it! And this music... the best way I can personally describe it is music to walk through Garfield Park Conservatory to. "Girl From Ipanema" is a positively essential song of all time. If you were assembling, say, 1001 SONGS that you should listen to until you die, that would be HIGH on the list, at least for me. Simply one of the most incredible songs of all time, due to the 4 distinct moments (João's first verse, Astrud's second verse, Stan's incredible saxophone solo, and Antonio's piano), all of which being undeniably essential moments in the jazz canon. After it ends, there is little time to reflect on what you've just heard before being thrust into "Doralice," which is pretty much "Girl From Ipanema"-lite, though let's be real, that's what this entire album is. Other high points include "Para machucar meu coração," "Só danço samba," and, of course, "O grande amor." Breathtaking.
9.7/10

perhaps the best hip-hop album ever made. It’s either this or Miseducation and you can quote me on that. Every single song is perfect and you can quote me on that too. 9 emcees and every single one is at peak performance. Some of the best beats ever made, most iconic moments in all of hip hop. Honestly like every single part of modern hip hop culture can be traced in some way to this album. I mean what do I fuckin say? It’s a top 10 album of all time. It’s enter the fuckin Wu-tang.
10/10

Gorgeous album. Armatrading’s vocals are incredible, and it’s very well produced. Additionally, there’s some absolutely breathtaking songs, most notably “Down To Zero,” which grows to be one of the best folk/rock songs I’ve ever heard. Additionally, “Help Yourself” ends up sounding like a folkier version of a Florence and the Machine song, which I like a lot. I think one of my favorite parts of this album is the way it blends funk rock sensibilities with folk rock, something that many others who’ve listened to this have pointed out. Songs like “Join The Boys” (ESPECIALLY that one, the conviction in her voice is so strong and beautiful), and “People” (back to back INSANE solos) bring such a wonderful vibe to the whole thing. The guitar sounds super super great on “Like Fire,” and “Tall In The Saddle” really closes the album out well. Very very good.
9.2/10

…

Oh…

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Well, this is my third time writing this for some reason. Anyway this is the Stones’ first album that a lot of people really pay attention to, due to the fact that it has “Mommy’s Little Helper” on it (which I love, as does my dad) as well as featuring the classic “Paint It, Black” on the American version, which also removes the tedious 11-minute “Going Home.” This album’s also interesting because it has some sort of concept, I suppose in the same way that an album like Aesop Rock’s “Labor Days” has a concept, though that’s one of the best albums of all time and this… I’m getting ahead of myself. It’s basically just endless pessimism as a concept I’m pretty sure. And that’s all well and good, but that basically makes them the evil version of early Beatles, because they take just as much from much better and more capable Black artists as the Beatles used to, but it’s so much less competent (which in most cases is saying something because some of that shit wasn’t good at all). As I mentioned, “Mother’s Little Helper” is superb, but it falls off fast from there, and there’s not much else interesting on the album. It’s just a slog of Mick Jagger trying to be interesting and instead being boring if not grating. I don’t know. It gets to you after a while, how nothing this album is without its highs. Still not bad though.
6.9/10

What the fuck?? Wait, no… I think this actually supposed to be good. Lemme check the genres. Oh shit, 15 minute hardcore album. Good shit. Again, I’m a punk artist sort of, so this is kinda my wheelhouse. I mean hip-hop’s more my wheelhouse if anything, but… okay I’ll shut up now. Anyway, the big problem with listening to this album today is that I have to listen to an album called "GROUP SEX." By the band "CIRCLE JERKS." At SCHOOL. It's fine though. Some general standouts though:
The first song is awesome. I like how they open it with 3 seconds of complete silence, on a 15 minute album.
The transitions between songs are really cool too. It makes it feel like one long song that just happens to switch hooks every minute or so.
Back against the wall is crazy good. One of the best performances here hands down.
The transition between "Don't Care" and "Live Fast Die Young" is astounding.
speaking of "Live Fast Die Young," that song's insane.
"What's Your Problem" is great too.
As a whole this album's ethos seems to be what you'd more or less expect: it's kinda like the sex pistols but weirder and more believable. More obviously affected by the influence of capitalism as a whole (especially on "Red Tape," but you can see the disdain in every song). All this to be said, it's really fucking good.
9.0/10

Well, I do love me some muddy waters. And this shit… it’s real good. Now obviously I know muddy waters. I’m a Chicagoan. I know mannish boy. I know the legend. It would be wholly remiss if I did not. But I’d never listened to a whole album of his material. And it’s a great time!! The guy is simply an incredible performer, absolutely electric. You can just feel the rawness of the recordings through the speakers. It transports you, it’s beautiful. It’s also incredibly well-produced. Everything about it overwhelms you, from the insane guitars to the striking harmonica, to Mr. Morganfield’s incredible vocals somehow cutting through all of it. I mean, what’s not to absolutely adore?
9.2/10

Oh hey! My mom likes this band! And I see why she likes them now that I'm listening to this album for myself. While much alt-rock of this time was much more, for lack of a better term, basic-sounding, this really does something interesting with its sound and influences it takes from. A lot of obvious dance-ey moments that I really appreciate, really noisy and lo-fi too, and really well-rounded. Obviously "Only Happy When It Rains" is a classic, but songs like "Supervixen," "As Heaven Is Wide," "Not My Idea," "Stupid Girl," and a few others all stand out as really great songs off of this album. Overall this album really stands out among the albums I've heard on here as a great example of great 90's music that uses its influences in ways that I really love and appreciate!
8.3/10

Ooooookay. OOOOOkay then. It’s a bittersweet fucking symphony and that’s just fucking life I fucking guess. That's no way to start a review but whatever. Let's get into it. So like 10, 11 years ago, I heard “Bitter Sweet Symphony” for the first time, and I thought it was tight. I still do. Great little song. I distinctly remember my dad telling me about the story behind it too, how the verve won an award for it and everything, and then legally got told it wasn’t their song, and then had to turn down an award or speech or something… and it was like a cautionary tale. Crushing stuff. Again, the song’s tight though, and that’s what matters. “Sonnet” is better than I remember it being too. Just a good old fashioned dope rock jam. Though “The Rolling People” is kinda a dud, it’s redeemed by the greatness of “The Drugs Don’t Work,” which is kinda of the best kind of sad sentimental britpop ballad. Kinda like preceding Coldplay’s best material by just a little bit, and that’s really how I interpret this whole album. It’s like if Oasis and Coldplay had a middleman. Or actually, it’s more that this is the middleman between Oasis and Coldplay. Much much more psychedelic than anything Coldplay ever made, which definitely lines up more with Oasis, but its best moments are its sensitive moments, which are much more reminiscent of Coldplay, and much more common than anything on an Oasis record. That being said, we all know the more outright psychedelic stuff here isn’t great, right? Like that’s not just me? This album is at its best when the psychedelia is a more marginal, background part of the song, because the sensitive sides of these songs really find some good stuff, as I previously mentioned. And can I just say, the length isn't as much of a problem as I thought it was going to be. As I began to go through the last leg of the album, I really began to realize that, uhh, none of these songs really needed to be taken out. It's a really interesting moment to realize that, hey, this is actually really great music all the way through! And that's really how this album feels. Even at over an hour it's great, and has a lot of really good songs to hear all throughout. Great album.
8.9/10

One thing that you’ll learn in this life, is that there’s two kinds of psychedelic soul. There’s the kind that happened before Neo-soul, and there’s the kind that happened after it. The former is sly and the family stone, and the latter is thundercat. Ya dig? Now let’s get into this album, which is obviously the former. I wasn't too confident in this one after hearing the pretty disappointing "Heard It Though The Grapevine" cover, but then was promptly proved wrong with the next song, "Runaway Child Running Wild" and can I just say that I was not aware of the ball that these brothers had. A funky, frantic exploration of a child's journey through running away from home... holy shit it's incredible. More than incredible, it's one of the most perfect songs I've ever heard. Every part of it moves perfectly together, in such an interesting way! It rivals the great funk and soul songs of the 60s and 70s perfectly. It's SO good. And the rest of the project just rides that afterglow, with some pleasant shorter songs. The big problem the entire time is... I'm sorry. Mr. Eddie Kendricks, your falsetto is not at all your strong suit. And you sing falsetto on most of these songs. However "Hey Girl" is positively beautiful, and "Why Did She Have To..." is a beautiful number as well, with some genuinely crushing lyrics for the time. The entire B-side is just really consistent soul numbers, and honestly that combined with “Runaway Child” makes this album a standout in the journey. Hell, without the falsetto in a couple of these songs, this is an easy 10.
9.5/10