Reviews by therealab

Based on the band and album names I was expecting much worse. The pizza-themed lyrics notwithstanding, it has a kind of hair metal vibe that I like. These guys seem like goofballs, the Westminster Quarters part is confirmation of the pizza lyric suspicion. The music gets a 4, the lyrics get a 1. It's like dirty Norwegian Offspring. That's not fair, these guys are 100% better than Offspring. Back to Dungaree High is like a Ramones tribute band song. They're like the male Donnas.

I like modern funk bands, including Jamiroquai. This album is more funk/soul/R&B than their later output. Too Young to Die might as well be a Stevie Wonder song. I actually think I like the dancier Jamiroquai. Too many long songs. Some of their songs seem like they could be Flight of the Choncords-style comedy songs, the vamping at the beginning of Blow Your Mind for example. Give me a break with the ten minute song. Effective use of the digeridoo, a rare thing in popular music. They could be the backup band for the Beastie Boys.

What the fuck am I getting myself into? 3 hours and 15 minutes is a box set not an album. She has a lovely voice. Let's Call The Whole Thing Off is one of my favorite jazz standards. (I've Got) Beginner's Luck is really good. Oh, Lady Be Good is beautiful. Some of these lyrics are ridiculous. Just Another Rhumba's torturing of standard pronunciation to rhyme is ridiculous. How Long Has This Been Going On? is good as well. One disc of six done. My god, this is going to turn into torture. This is not meant to be listened to in one sitting. A third person self-reference in By Strauss. Someone to Watch Over Me is a great song. The Real American Folk Song is terrible, rags are not my cup of tea. The lyrics are like what a ten year old would write, My Cousin in Milwaukee is so bad. People in the early part of the 20th Century had a lot to contend with, but the Gershwins' lyrics might have been one of the worst. Disc two, done. I wonder if Nora Ephron or Gary Marshall just listened to this album and stole their movies from it...because I would believe they did. There's just too many songs. They could have made on amazing double album; four sides, six songs each. Instead, it's ten sides. Treat Me Rough is about rough sex and I'm here for a swinging, jazzy Closer. Two of the bigger songs in this back to back in They Can't Take That Away From Me and Embraceable You done well by a genius. There's a lot here and you realize that she's more talented in her way than the Gershwins' are in theirs. Her performance is spot on every song, even when the material leaves something to be desired. They close out the Ella portion of the album with I Got Rhythm which is way overrated. An album of showtunes and now a bunch of intermission filler and overtures. What is the point of tacking these on at the end? One on each side I get, but six in a row on their own record?

I don't really care for Cat Stevens but my favorite Cat Stevens song, Father and Son, is on this album. Wild World is the hit and is one of my least favorite of his songs. I am not loving this album. Miles From Nowhere is an improvement. Longer Boats is good too, kind of a hit or miss album. Father and Son is a great song though. It's not just a great Cat Stevens song, it's a great song. When the kid is basically pleading to be free....amazing.

From the first note, these guys feel like an early 90s Pixies knockoff. In the world after the Gaye family sued Robin Thicke and Pharrell for the vibe of Blurred Lines, Jupiter and Teardrop would have gotten these guys sued by David Bowie for the similarity of Jupiter and Teardrop to Moonage Daydream. I like this album in a very non-descript way. It's very "90s indie rock". There's an INXS/Achtung Baby feeling to some of this, particularly Dixie Drug Store. They are definitely pro-choice.

Sonic Youth is the Velvet Underground of the late 80s/early 90s. They weren't huge, but everyone who started a band in the 90s loved them. I don't know what it is about them...you can hear their influence in a lot of bands, but I just can't get into them. Critics love them too. Two minutes of guitar distortion does not a song make. I just can't get into this. I prefer the Pixies...and actual punk music. I guess Hot Wire My Heart is my favorite off this album. This is Nada Surf's favorite album.

Some French found sound...off to a good start. A shitty dance cover of Neil Young's Only Love Can Break Your Heart? Who wasn't asking for this? Why are so many of these albums so long?!? Wilson combines the organ lead in from Wilson Pickett's Hey Jude and some repeated found sound...this is like my worst nightmare. It's hard to imagine this improving enough to warrant anything above a 1 star rating. Stoned to Say the Least is the music from a rave scene directed by a person who has never been to one. Or the music from a detective thriller where the protagonist is walking through a club full of sexy youths to find the drugged out girl who holds the key to unraveling the mystery of who murdered his partner. Or it's almost 8 minutes of straight crap, YMMV. Nothing Can Stop Us is the best song on the album I guess. The poker dialogue from Etienne Gonna Die is the Dogs Playing Poker of found sound on an album. You may not hate me, but I hate your terrible album. Of course they're on the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack. Dilworth's Theme was apparently recorded in a London men's room, or loo as they would have it.

There is a lot of EDM on this list. Does Roger Troutman know these guys have his talkbox? I'd prefer Zapp to this. Every techno album is long. Dancehall Reggae has a soft spot in my heart and I'm kind of loving Jump 'N Shout. The album cover is the definition of nuts to butts. Same Old Show is catchy as hell. This is not an album you put on sitting around with friends....unless it's right before an orgy.

I love Baba O'Riley, my favorite Who song. I would guess more people believe the name of this song is Teenage Wasteland than Baba O'Riley. Famous quote from my dad upon hearing me say that, "Baba O'Riley. Who's Next. 1971." Everything is a little bit of a step back after an opening track like that. This is already my favorite Who album. The album tracks are classic Who, but I'm surprised I've never really heard any of them, even on "Deep Cut" weekends on classic rock stations. Closes with the other two hits, Behind Blue Eyes and Won't Get Fooled Again. Good album.

I just found Radiohead's favorite band. This is a Velvet Underground tribute band, the Greta Van Fleet of Velvet Underground. Even the lead singer sounds like he's imitating Lou Reed. That's not necessarily a knock on the quality of the album, but it doesn't feel that original. I kind of like the album though. Suicide is dragging a little bit.

Offspring sucks. I'm putting that out there so it's clear where I stand as the album starts. Pop punk is one of the worst parts of the 90s. Greenday sucks and Offspring rode their "punk" coattails to fame. Nothing like a stupid sketch to open an album. Nitro (Youth Energy) is better than I wanted to believe these guys were capable of. Bad Habit and Gotta Get Away were both big hits and they are terrible. The album tracks are superior to the hits. Could do without the updates from the opening sketch voiceover guy. Come Out and Play is terrible. I have no idea how this got popular. Pop punk and Nu Metal, if it weren't for hip hop and grunge the 90s would have been worse than the 80s. Self Esteem was the best of the singles, but that is a really low hurdle. Killboy Powerhead is as bad as the title. And the ska influenced What Happened to You? reminded me that ska had a comeback in the 90s too. What a terrible decade. A ten minute closing track? No thanks. And we get the bookend with the voice over guy again. The hidden hidden track. Three minutes of silence so you can't figure it out from hitting skip track...is there nothing the 90s didn't ruin? Five minutes of silence...unacceptable. Finished with a Middle Eastern instrumental of Come Out and Play. Was it worth the wait? It was not, Other Barry.

Why are all of these alternative R&B albums so long?!? That being said, I'm liking this so far. I'd say I like this album, don't love it. I'd bet the same critic picked this and the Janelle Monae album. Not loving LMK and I guess that's the hit. It reminds me of one of the tracks from the Andor score. I like this album, there's a lot of it though. Turn to Dust is a highlight, great song. A good album.

They sound like Jefferson Airplane with a male lead singer. Or maybe like The Doors trying to do pop instead of blues rock? I'm surprised that Tarantino hasn't included these guys on one of his soundtracks. I bet these guys got along great with the Grateful Dead. This is like the most nondescript 60s band ever. Some of these songs I'd swear were the Monkees. The Toonerville Trolley is by far the worst song on the album...another ragtime homage. Not good.

I may have never read anything more pretentious and self-serving than the (self-posted) artist bio on these guys. This is like low rent Arcade Fire. The length of these songs is depressing. An Ocean In Between the Waves sounds like the listened to Rod Stewart's Young Turks and loved it and wanted to cover it but didn't want to seem lame by covering Rod Stewart. The songs are all too long. Another 80s Rod Stewart-y track. I bet these guys idolize Bruce Springsteen.

Why is there so much NuMetal on this list? NuMetal objectively sucks. And these guys are mainly to blame for it becoming a thing. NuMetal is the anti-Reese's, two great tastes that DO NOT go great together (steps off NuMetal soapbox). Freak On a Leash was the song that did it. I can see why Fred Durst thought he could do this. What is with the weird mouth guitar bridge? Got the Life is like a shitty Nine Inch Nails cover. Wait a minute! Is Trent Reznor to blame for NuMetal? This might be the exact moment Ice Cube jumped the shark. They are better than Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit, all the names with the stupid K replacing other letters. Oh my god, Fred Durst is on this album. The song is like joke song between Jonathan Davis and Fred Durst and it sucks. There are no two less hard dudes in history than these two assholes on this song. I can confirm, NuMetal sucks. Closing with a bunch of longer songs when I'm already tired of this nonsense is not helping. Well, now I like the Pharcyde less. These dudes are horny in the least palatable way possible. Jonathan Davis has the same hairline and hairstyle as The Predator. Thanks for the stupid conversation, glad that could be memorialized. God, the lyrics to Earache My Eye are laughably bad.

I love Otis Redding, he died way too soon. I like him better than Sam Cooke as a performer. His version of A Change is Gonna Come is great. This is a great album. I love Soul music. He's a great interpreter of songs, his My Girl blows Smokey Robinson out of the water. I like (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, but it isn't better than the Stones. Closes with another classic in You Don't Miss Your Water.

I could do without the spoken word intro. So far so good on the actual songs. I always liked Kick, Push. It was the only song of his I knew. I'm not sure how I feel about this album. It's not bad, but there's nothing that makes we feel like it's better than just ok either. I love Jill Scott. Daydreamin' is the best song on the album. And The Cool is the worst. I bet Kanye loves this album. I think this project has definitely improved my ear and my musical knowledge because of course The Cool was produced by Kanye. The album is growing on me. The lyrics are just conscious enough not to feel militant. A 12 minute last song is a good way to get your album kicked down a full star. At least there's something going on the whole 12 minutes. I was expecting 1 minute of music, 8 minutes of silence and then 3 minutes of some dumb talking or a skit. 12 minutes of shoutouts is just as bad though. Shouting out people who you just like and had nothing to do with the album is even worse. In 4 minutes he ran out of album people and just starts calling out categories of people. Myspace?!? Come on man.

First off, RIP. The world lost an all-time great too early when he passed away. He created and perfected (on Voodoo) neosoul. The title track immediately becomes a prime contender for best first track from a debut album. This is the original neosoul album...and I loved it from the very start. Both neosoul and this album. He likes to compare things to food. Shit, Damn, Motherfucker is the album's wabi sabi moment and not just because of the (kind of) Oxford comma. Cruisin' is one of the better Smokey Robinson songs, who, admittedly, I do not love, and D'Angelo blows it out of the water. He could have done an album of covers and I would have loved it. His cover of Feel Like Makin' Love on Voodoo kills it too and I love Roberta Flack. When We Get By is right there with Lady and Brown Sugar as my favorite songs off the album. Lady is definitely the best one though. I love this song. Higher is a great closing song. Whoever he wrote the songs on this album about, despite their issues (Shit, Damn, Motherfucker) must have been an amazing woman. Not as good as Voodoo, but a great album and definitely a contender for the greatest debut album of all time.

Prog rock...and super long song lengths...to quote Han Solo, "I've got a bad feeling about this." Justified, totally justified. The saxophone parts are cool though. I Talk To The Wind is better, but that's not much of a bar to clear. Damnit...it's just Emerson, Lake and Palmer in disguise. It's so obvious on Epitaph that I'm embarrassed I didn't notice before. Now I can't unhear his voice. Why wouldn't you add a bunch of nonsense noises in the middle of a 12 minute long song? Nothing like random noises to enhance a song. Good lord, this is tedious. Ten minutes of gobbledegook. The Court of The Crimson King is the best song on the album.

Nothing about this feels right. This is like the Indian ripoff of the Shaft soundtrack. Or like an early 70s Bond movie score. It's worse than both of those. Five minutes of One Two Cha Cha Cha is five minutes too many. Annnnnd....some movie dialogue. This thing is pushing all the wrong buttons. I don't understand how this made the list. Countess' Caper now sounds more like a classic 30s/40s adventure film score. They just added an Indian touch to every style of Western soundtrack from the dawn of sound in films. This cannot be the best Bollywood soundtrack of all time. Romantic Theme sounds more like Creepy Theme.