Reviews by tipula

I've always had an attitude about this record because I think the title is dumb. But let's do this anyway! Because I have to!

So the problem for me with the Smashing Pumpkins is that Billy Corgan's voice is so distinctive and the music so consistent from track to track that at some point it all dissolves into an indistinguishable Smashing Pumpkin slurry. This record isn't terrible - while the music is samey, it's at least samey grungey rock jams with a compelling bassline, and there were some proggy bits here and there. But still, there is no reason in the world for an emo Smashing Pumpkins album to be 2 discs long.

3 stars

This is one of my favorite albums. There's something about so much of Radiohead’s material that just hits it exactly for me - tense, complex, precise, rhythmic music with vague but interesting lyrics. They're my "comfort music," and for some reason I started listening to this particular record a lot more during the pandemic, working insane amounts of overtime at my little desk at home while wailing along with “Hail to the Thief.”

I'm sure I've sustained hearing damage from "Sit Down, Stand Up." First I turn it up when the bass comes in. Then a bit louder when the drums come in. And then louder, and the raindrops, and the raindrops, and the raindrops, and the raindrops, and the raindrops, and the raindrops, and the raindrops, and the raindrops, and the raindrops, and the raindrops, and the raindrops, and the

This dumb, relentless thing was my absolute favorite record when I was 14 years old; I listened to it so incessantly at the time that I can still sing along with it all these decades later. For a couple months in 1972, between that and the original soundtrack of "Jesus Christ Superstar" I probably heard Ian Gillan singing more than anyone else on the planet.

Anyway sure, the lyrics are dumb, but the guitar and bass are pretty fun - I can see why then-me loved it. "Nobody's gonna take my head, I got speed inside my brain"? That's right sir, you do you.

OK then, wow. The drum and bass and rapping on this are absolutely relentless and irresistible on this album. The “bitches” stuff is a bit much and is why I bumped this back to 4 stars from the 5 I was considering after the first couple tracks. But then there are other moments that are incredibly funny, and a lot of anger that is real. I am amused that this m-f'ing record has been enshrined in the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.

I started off saying "ok we'll just listen to the first 3 tracks of this for now," but ha no I just played the whole thing through. A record quite deserving of its accolades.

4 stars

This is a great record - I especially love when songs have a sound-off of all the countries of the Americas like the first track.

I suppose it's smoother than what I usually listen to, but the syncopation and way the vocals and music flow together and in opposition to each other make this incredibly enjoyable, especially when they start improvising at the end of each song. I wish there was more Spanish-language music on this project, since I love so many of those genres.

5 stars

I had no idea that there was a late-80s John Lee Hooker album; that was a surprise.

His voice and guitar were amazing, even this late in his life. I liked the collaborations with Santana and Los Lobos and such well enough, but I think what I liked best on here were the songs where it was just him, or him and a harmonica, at the end of the album. Those felt very intimate, like sitting on the porch of an evening and listening to him play. Makes me want to listen to one of his albums from the 50s or early 60s.

Oh hey i remember this song, the title track. (One of the reviews reminds me that "Connected" was used in that fabulously ridiculous 90s film "Hackers," which I was subjected to earlier this year. And when that song came on I said "oh hey I remember this song.")

If I'm going to listen to dumb lyrics, they should accompany fun electronic dance music like this. That's my rule and I'm sticking with it.

Favorite track: All Night Long

4 stars

I really liked most of this album, especially the first two tracks. There's an excellent blistering guitar and solid rhythm section. The only downside was that I thought that some of the lyrics, which I assume were supposed to sound badass, instead were kind of goofy, like I wanted to pat him on the head like "yeah you're a big badass guy, aren't you!" But I have other records with goofy lyrics, so that's ok.

4

Early 70s singer-songwriter country rock with a guitar and harmonica just isn't a genre that I relate to easily. I'm sorry to say that my experience of this album was largely about hoping it would end soon.

The guitar-playing here is nice, though too often eclipsed by the vocals. It's a good record for people who like records like this.

3 stars

This was the first David Bowie album I ever bought, which I did despite not really being into Bowie, because Brian Eno was on it (I was one of those "Eno is God" people in 1977). I've gained far more appreciation for Bowie since then, but "Low" is still my favorite album by him. It was my introduction to krautrock, and to so much of the kind of music I like to listen to now.

I have a copy of this record on my phone, so I played it in the car on the way to a waterfront park this morning, husband and me singing along together with "Sound and Vision" and enjoying the whole album once again.

5 stars

Of course I heard this record countless times when it first came out, but never bought a copy and therefore haven't heard much more than just "Get it On" and "Jeepster" in the interim. Oh, except for "Cosmic Dancer," which someone played on the radio the other day.

This album is a solid example of the glam period. There are great people in the band here (Flo and Eddie! Rick Wakeman! Ian McDonald!), so that makes it a bit more interesting. But I'm reminded of why I never bought a copy - I don't really like it very much. I think a lot of that is about the vocals; I guess if you like the way Bolan sings then that's great, but if not then that's a whole lot of what you're hearing.

Most interesting track: Planet Queen

3 stars

Well I certainly remember the absurdity of "Buffalo Gals" from when it was on the radio at the time, but had no idea it had this whole-ass mess of an album attached to it.

I've always had a slightly jaded attitude about McLaren, like he was fashion punk instead of real political punk, which isn't helping. And I'd feel a little more charitable if the samples from various musicians had been attributed; it feels a little tone-deaf right now.

But when I pretend to have no idea about the context of this record? I have to say it's a pretty fun listen.

4/5

"There is no devil, it's just god when he's drunk" Great stuff. It's a little silly to listen to this at 8:00 in the morning like I am right now - I should be sitting in a bar somewhere with a nice cocktail, but anyway, it's a wonderful record. His lyrics and vocals are so evocative, and that bar blues band is so tight. One or two of the slower songs on this have always gone on long enough to try my patience, but still, nobody's like Tom Waits.

4/5

Grizzly Bear is yet another band that I remember hearing on the radio but never followed up on.

This is an interesting album; some tracks spare but not boring, some multilayered & intense with hails of swelling melodic stuff. The vocals sometimes remind me of the guy in Dirty Projectors, but the music is much less experimental than that, of course. I think this could grow on me with a second listen; at the moment it just feels like interesting background music. But who knows what the future will bring.

Singing along with the title track here!

I am not a big soul music person, but of course I remember a lot of this record from back in the day. There's something about the how it all works together with his vocals that's appealing, especially the subtle guitar and the horn section.

I could have done without the Bee Gees cover, but otherwise this was a fine example of early 70s soul music.

3 stars; high end of 3.

Welp I was hoping that a band named after gigantic murderous postapocalyptic plants would be my kind of thing, but ah ha ha ha no

This is like U2 minus any of the things that are appealing to me about U2. Like if U2 decided that they wanted to expand to an even more mainstream audience and told the producer "please make us sound more like Neil Diamond."

I liked the title track (a minute or so of creepy piano that ends with a phrase that reminds me of Bowie's "Moss Garden”), so I’ll give it 2 stars.

This record has "Family Affair," which of course I remember from the radio. But the rest of it was new to me, a great album of spaced-out funk. I'll definitely listen to this one again.

Woo, it's another band from the 2000s that I never got into; let's find out why.

In the boppy tracks, I like the synths happening in the background. I also like the slower, more restrained track "Skeletons," with the insistent beat growing more intense in the background as the song continues.

Good songs, though I don't think it's super original material; I'm getting that "I like the bands that they borrowed this stuff from" feeling from this. Which is ok! I don't have a huge urge to listen to this album again anytime soon, but I never felt like I wanted to turn it off either, so it has that going for it.

Fave track probably "Skeletons"

4 stars

Ah, now you can have your Beatles: the Velvets are the late-60s music that I like best. This whole thing is a beautiful, chaotic mess, a lot like my favorite tracks on the banana album (Black Angel's Death Song, etc). I'm sure people have said that "Sister Ray" goes on a bit long; well, ok it does go on a bit long. But I think it's an appropriate ending to this remarkable album.

You gotta feel a little bad for Waldo, though.

5 stars

I have this record, but haven't listened to it in quite a while. Now I remember why I liked it so much at the time; I had recently come back from traveling in India and was obsessed with various kinds of South Asian music. And this record has all those great beats, except all interpreted through the lens of hip-hop. Great stuff.