Reviews by tjehl

I genuinely love Slipknot. Let’s just get that out the way.

The live theatricals, the antics, the excessive and monstrous percussions, the energy and the wall of sound provided by the sampling and scratching. It’s all too much - and it’s great.

But the thing I love most about the Iowa nonet is their blend of aggressiveness and melodic choruses. And I’m missing a lot of that on their eponymous debut album.
It’s mainly just aggressiveness and then some.

It starts of strong with everything from “(sic)” until “Spit It Out”. Everything I like about the group is present in almost every moment of that part of the album.

Then “Tattered & Torn” kicks in and I lose my focus somehow. I need those strong melodies in order to not get overwhelmed by the hate and anger of the songs. And a lot of the time it’s not present enough on the second part of the record.

This is a great blueprint of the monster that Slipknot was to become. But they weren’t quite there yet.

It would still be worth a listen because of, if nothing else, the percussive overload. Anyone saying that it’s just a gimmick is lying to themselves.

Reviewing The Chronic is not as easy as it may seem just after finishing a record filled to the brim with some of the best beats and hooks hip-hop has ever delivered.

The positives:

The beats are beyond terrific. Dre never fails to deliver and it's astounding how many classics fills up The Chronic.

I'm especially surprised at how awesome Snoop Doggy Dogg is as well. Not that I should be. It's not my first time listening to this, but I somehow always forget just how good he is in particular.

The skits are kept to a minimum as well - something I always appreciate in a rap album.

Then there's the negative:

The amount of misogyny, homophobia and unsettling violence is - maybe not shocking the era of hip-hop taking into consideration - but at least unnerving.

Times are a-changing and yada yada yada.. But still.
At times it feels like a party dedicated to degrading women and shooting people.

Robert Christgau negatively described The Chronic "sociopathic easy-listening". I tend to agree.

For that reason it's quite an accomplishment that I after listening were able to take a step back and come to the conclusion that I enjoyed it 90 % of the time.

Maybe I should feel somehow bad about it?
But I don't.

This is a review of the original UK release of Hendrix’ legendary debut album.

Jimi plays a mean guitar as always and Mitch Mitchell plays an even meaner set of drums. One of the greatest drum performances of the 60’s.

I understand “Can You See Me”. But as to why they decided to include the twelve-bar blues “Red House” and the plain boring “Remember” over the singles “Hey Joe”, “Purple Haze” and “The Wind Cries Mary” will never cease to amaze me.

I’ll give the US version a 5/5 rating.
This is slightly worse.

If you were ever in doubt about whether Morrissey or Marr was the true genius in The Smiths.

There are very few songs I love on Morrissey’s debut album, “Every Day Is Like Sunday” and “Angel Angel Down We Go Together”. The majority of the other songs I simply don’t care much about.

But then there’s also absolute dog shit like “Little Man, What Now?” and “I Don’t Mind If You Forget Me”.

Not a huge The Smiths fan; definitely not a Morrissey fan either.

Easily one of the greatest debut albums ever.
R.E.M. emerge on the music scene with a sound that came to define entire genres and influence many of the biggest bands of the 90’s.

Mike Mills’ bass lines are innovative and melodic, almost taking on the traditional role of the guitar. Bill Berry’s drumming is extremely tight and playful. Peter Buck’s guitar is wonderfully expressive. And Michael Stipe is just a once in a lifetime singer - even when mumbling his way through anything but the choruses.

“Radio Free Europe”, “Pilgrimage”, “Talk About the Passion” and “9-9” are some of the absolute highlights of Murmur. And by “Perfect Circle” it’s hard not to tear up - just a bit.

I generally like the overall vibe on Soul Mining.
There’s also a couple of really killer tracks.
And Matt Johnson is undoubtedly a genius.

But in the end this simply becomes too monotonous and I am never completely hooked.

What a voice. What an absolutely stunning voice.

The atmosphere on this live album is sublime. You can hear every clink of glasses, every laugh and even the microphone stand fall over at some point. It’s almost like you can smell the dense cigarette smoke that must’ve filled the air.

The only thing missing from this being a five star experience is being there yourself.

This is a semi-bumpy ride.
The first side is quite forgettable but still shines on tracks like “Orange Skies” and “The Castle”.

Then there’s the B-side - entirely made up of one single 19-minute song. Where on Earth did that suddenly appear from?

An absolute beast of a track. Luckily it takes up half the album and completely overshadows the somewhat lackluster first half.

I could probably have lived a good life without listening to this. But I’m glad I don’t have to.

I was never completely blown away by this, but I quickly fell into a trance-like state where only Callahan’s voice and compositions existed.

The songs are rather sparse, emotional, a bit droning and often gives off a feeling of existential dread.

This had somehow avoided me until now but I’m certain I’ll look into more releases from his hand.

Selling England By the Pound will probably always feel like a first love to me.
I have listened to this countless times, own multiple editions and never grow tired of anything about it.

It contains everything I love about the Peter Gabriel-era.
Amazing prog-suites in "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight", "Firth of Fifth", "The Cinema Show" and the monster that it "The Battle of Epping Forest".
Beautiful classical inspired pieces like "After the Ordeal" and enough British references to scare off almost anyone.

This is also Hackett, Rutherford and Collins at the absolute height of their career, delivering one awe-inspiring performance after another.

I know many people insist on The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway being the better Genesis record. But they are wrong. Plain and simple.

I was surprisingly happy about Pyromania when it appeared on this list. I found it quite fun and charming.

With Hysteria Def Leppard removes most of the fun, cuts down on the charm and for some reason most of the songs far exceed their allowed runtime. Who the hell thought of all these intros, outros and frustratingly long middle sections?

There are still some highlights in "Rocket" (minus the outro), "Armageddon It" and its catchy chorus (minus the length) and of course the amazing title track.

But the length is just plain silly and the charm, which is normally where Def Leppard is strongest to me, quickly wears off.

Imagine the nightmares this must have caused back in 1984. Who was ready for this?!

Almost 40 years after its release Treasure still sounds completely otherworldly. An ethereal journey from start to finish.

Glad this isn’t the only Cocteau Twins album on this list!

Endtroducing… contains a song called “Why Hip-Hop Sucks In ‘96”.

Endtroducing… sure as hell isn’t why.

Peak Marc Bolan. Even better than the follow-up, The Slider, containing more than a handful of really great tracks - and then of course the anthem that it “Get It In”.

As with most T. Rex records I start to lose interest toward the end as the songs slowly start blending together; simply just an effect of the Bolan signature sound and tempo. I really enjoyed this nonetheless.

It’s hard to fathom that this was released in ‘67. It’s even more unfathomable to what extent The Velvet Underground & Nico influenced not only future bands but future genres altogether.

Lulling you into a state of false safety with “Sunday Morning” everything involves into a state of frenzy the further the album progresses. In the end you don’t even know what hits you as “The Black Angel’s Death Song” and “European Son” collapses into sonic dismay.

I’m not always sure that this record wants for me to stay. But long ago I firmly decided against it’s possible wishes.

The 80’s saw progressive rock groups exploring radio friendly material, leaving the 20+ minutes suites and incorporating more elements from pop music.

Yes - 90125.
Genesis - Invisible Touch.
Pink Floyd - …
Maybe not Pink Floyd.

For Rush that album was Moving Pictures.
A perfect collection of songs that I am nowhere near growing tired of.
I begin smiling at Pearts first beat on “Tom Sawyer”. And that feeling doesn’t leave me until “Vital Signs” has faded completely.

Did I really need 3 hours of Ella Fitzgerald on a Thursday night? Apparently, yes.

This is really 1999. And somehow I just dig it.

This isn't quite nu metal, not quite funk, not quite rock. Incubus' breakthrough album sits somewhere in between it all.

Mike Einziger's riffs are interesting, José Pasillas' is on fire - but it's Brandon Boyd's vocal that impresses me the most. Not when he semi-raps on "Pardon Me" but his understanding of melody just hits me.

There are some incredible songs on this that turns the nostalgia all the way up for me. Of course there's also stuff like "Battlestar Scalatchtica" whis is horrible and dumb - and I don't care that much for the turntables in general.

I never noticed that this was almost 50 minutes long.
And that's something.

Jerry Lee Lewis stint to this German club sees him hitting the piano almost as violently as he was hitting his underage cousin-wife.

Bet let’s try to set that aside for a while and focus on the music.

JLL is in the zone on this live recording and the band plays focused and almost aggressively fast-paced. The main character delivers a powerful vocal performance and it’s evident from the cheering and shouting that the audience got exactly what they came for.

Almost 60 years after I don’t feel half the effect that those people did back in the club. But I can’t help to admire the sheer force of entertainment that is Jerry Lee Lewis either.

Did I mention that he married his 13 year old cousin?

While there is no denying Booker T (the non-wrestling one) & M.G.’s excellent work on Otis Blue, it is Otis Redding himself that steals the entire show.

Otis Redding possessed a voice like very few before or after his untimely death.
Powerful, emotional, raw, pained and in total control. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

For me personally, songs like “Shake” and “Rock Me Baby” keeps this from being the perfect album it is often made to be.
But looking at the rest of the track list I am almost inclined to ignore those songs and just go with it. Almost.