Reviews by tjehl

Really excited to see an African album from the 60’s on this list. Miriam Makeba is a great singer and her incorporation of Xhosa musical traditions brings this debut album to life.

But what the fuck is “One More Dance”? This train wreck of a song almost makes the entire album collapse. It’s one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever listened to. Who in their right mind allowed that to happen!?

Jeff Beck, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Keith Moon, Nicky Hopkins… The list of legendary musicians appearing on this debut album is legendary in itself.

The product not so much.

Red Snapper?

More like Bread Frapper… Or something.

I don’t particularly care.

For a group named after Wudang there sure is a lot of Shaolin references on this defining hip hop release.

Spearheaded by RZA the legendary Wu-Tang Clan are among the most notorious hip hop groups out there - and when listening to their debut album you can understand why. Every single member brings their a-game and deliver punches that reach far wider than the genre itself.

A few misses along the way and some dated lyrics here and there (this is 90’s hip hop) but the influence of Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) is hard to ignore.

Opening with “Running Up That Hill (Deal With God)”, easily one of the best songs ever written, immediately puts a record on course to a 5/5.

On the rest of side A, Hounds of Love, Kate Bush once again delivers some of the most intricate and intelligent pop ever written while remaining fully accessible.

The true masterpiece, though, is side B - The Ninth Wave. A story in seven parts where Bush demands full attention in order to fully grasp what she’s trying to accomplish. But when you sound as mesmerizing as her it’s an easy task.

How the hell did Pavement go directly from this to Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain?

I actually had to go back and listen the other album, just to be sure I wasn’t temporarily deaf when handing it a 4/5 when it showed up on this list earlier.

I wasn’t though. Slanted And Enchanted just isn’t good.

Whenever I think of country, Haggard’s voice is one of the first to pop up.
Iconic, warm and with an emotional depth to it. He’s really all you want in a country singer.

This quintessential American sound brings back memories of cruising down the lonesome highway, heading West towards the sunset, an arm around my girl, evergreen upon evergreen bursting from the stereo.

Memories that aren’t mine, to be honest. But memories that live well within the music of Merle Haggard.

Following the success of Different Class, Jarvis Cocker pulls Pulp in an all new direction on This Is Hardcore. It’s bleaker, bolder and more daring. It’s as if we’re experiencing Cocker’s midlife crisis and the end of britpop firsthand.

On “Dishes” JC (the non-Judean one) comes as close as possible to comparing himself to Jesus Christ. A move that, considering the other JC’s popularity, must have been quite huge for Jesus.

I was close to handing this a 5/5.
But having to sit through the droning ending, that is 1/7 of the album, never sits well with me.

It always takes some time for Marquee Moon to fully open itself up to me.

I’m never fully invested on Side A (with the exception of the behemoth that is the title track). I like the sound but I have the feeling that I’m not allowed to enter Verlaine’s universe - at least not yet.

Side B is the complete opposite and I lose myself in every second of it. Maybe it’s because “Marquee Moon” opened everything up just moments before?

This is one impressive debut that helped pave the way for so many bands to come.

I ended up being pleasantly surprised with this.

I wasn’t enjoying the first three songs but then “Countess’ Caper” and “Naag Devta” turns up to the party.

I might actually go watch to movie after listening to this.

You can hear that this album was recorded in the span of five years. There’s absolutely no cohesion musically or production wise.

It says “Story of Soul” in the top right of the cover.
I first read it as “Story of Sad”.
I feel the latter is more appropriate.

I went into this record with high expectations. I’m quite aware of The Afghan Whigs but never really dived into them.

I like the raw production and shift in intensity. The layers are somewhat intricate and Greg Dulli explores multiple genres on this, his defining work of art.

On paper I love this.
But in reality I leave disappointed.
It’s hard to put my finger on what it is exactly.

Is it the vocals?
Is it the lyrics?
Maybe it’s the feeling of emotional distance on an album that’s supposed to be all felling?

Maybe it’s just me.
But I don’t care half as much about this as I expected I would.

This review contains 21 words.
The same amount as the minutes of this insane sole record by Minor Threat.
Fuck yes.

A work of immense beauty.
In many ways a straightforward pop album - but it’s never that simple when John Cale is involved.

Paris 1919 is one of the more accessible albums in Cale’s discography. And yet it’s hugely innovative and challenging at times.

An absolute genius, this man is.

Hole is obviously a better band when they get others to write their material.
Especially the Corgan-written title track and “Malibu” are instant classics.

When Hole take the reins themselves toward the end they threat to bring everything crashing down on “Boys on the Radio” and “Heaven Tonight”.

In conclusion I will, somehow reluctantly, say that…. Hole is actually pretty cool.

The Bends is not one of Radiohead’s greatest albums. And it’s still a 5/5.

This band is just plain ridiculous.

Blue Lines is way ahead of Protection in terms of quality. But while I adore trip hop there’s just something about Massive Attack that I never quite get.

The reggae feel of “One Love” and “Five Man Army” does nothing for me.

It’s really only on “Safe From Harm”, “Unfinished Sympathy” and “Hymn Of the Big Wheel” that Massive Attack proves their true potential. But boy oh boy, what a potential!

I love the adventurous, complex and experimental sound of Grizzly Bear.
Rossen and Droste’s vocals blend perfectly and their songwriting never fails to leave you emotionally overloaded.

Veckatimest drags on just a bit too long (maybe just a song length) and I lose some interest halfway through the record; only to be regained at the end.

But how can you not feel joy at the end, when a record features a track like “Two Weeks”? What a masterpiece!

My favorite jazz fusion turned hardcore punk band.

There’s some really great songs on I Against I.

There’s some really weird and borderline terrible stuff on it as well.

This is just all over the place.
But it never fails to entertain.

The first truly evol record in the Sonic Youth discography.

EVOL is gritty, discordant, eerie - but most of at it’s dark. It’s just really, really dark. And Kim Gordon is standing at the center of it all omitting a strange, seductive light.

I believe Ranaldo to be a genius and one of the most innovative rock guitarists in the game, but he comes close to bring Side A to a full stop with his only lead song on the album, “In the Kingdom #19”.

Luckily Sonic Youth picks it up again on Side B and ends on a high with “Expressway To Yr. Skull”.

This right here is where Sonic Youth embarked on their road to greatness.