Reviews by tjehl

Last time Elvis appeared on this list it prompted a 1 star review. That is not the case with From Elvis In Memphis. At all.

Elvis sounds absolutely incredible on this record. His powerful vocal performances on “Only the Strong Survive”, “Long Black Limousine” and of course “In the Ghetto” blew me back.

But even with Elvis delivering one great performance after the other, this wouldn’t have been nearly as good as it is if not for The Memphis Boys - ditching RCA Studios for this one was a genius decision.
The band is just incredible and especially Gene Chrisman’s drumming left me stunned.

I was ready to dismiss Elvis’ discography and stick to the hits after Elvis Is Back!
God, was I in the wrong.

The Byrds were able to write some mighty fine pop tunes; "So You Want to Be a Rock 'N' Roll", "Rennaisance Fair", "My Back Pages" and more. Jangly, pretty and solid. But nothing groundbreaking og breathtaking.

When they try something new and different, as on "C.T.A. - 102", The Byrds seem to break their wings.

Younger Than Yesterday is fine, it's short and there are plenty of great tunes. It's just not remarkable.

The priests have the same feelings toward guitars as most people at a party have when someone strikes the first chord of Wonderwall.

My feelings toward this album is the exact opposite of that.

Def Leppard is by no means big art.
But it sure is helluva catchy and it leaves you smiling. Imagine putting on Side B for the first time and “Foolin’” is the first thing on?
Good times!

Pyromania is also the birthplace of the legendary Gunter Glieben Glauchen Globen.

So there’s also that.

Time flies when you’re having fun.
And Ice T is just extremely good fun.

He manages what most rappers don’t; to deliver serious messages while maintaining his humor. Hell, I even enjoyed the skits.

Ice T truly is the O.G.

My French is so good that I immediately, upon seeing the MC in the name, knew that this was hip hop. The lyrics? Not so much.

This is an extremely strong record. Solaar’s flow is great, the jazzy beats are catchy and there’s something about the French language and hip hop that’s a match made in heaven.

Hip hop made for looking cool, smoking and drinking red wine.

I’m doing neither but I like it no less.

There’s no guitarist quite like Hendrix. A virtuoso with a sound unlike anyone else.

Electric Ladyland opens strong with a brilliant Side A with “Voodoo Chile” as the centerpiece. But then it dawns on me, why it’s been so long since I last revisited this album.

Side B is almost completely unnecessary taken into consideration that this is almost an hour and 15 long. “Gypsy Eyes” is good but it might have been wiser to cut the side all together to avoid the sense of fatigue towards the end.

Hendrix picks up the pace again on “1983…” and more or less keeps everything interesting from there on out.
Everything is forgotten when “All Along the Watchtower” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” kicks in though.

Especially the first of the two final songs is an absolute masterpiece and easily one of greatest covers of all time. It sounds almost surreal, like nothing else on the record. I’ve heard it countless times and every time I hear it it still sounds fresh, new and exciting.

What a way to end what turned out to be his final album alive.

A lot have already been said about this.
So I won’t waste too much time.

Everything about this record is just Pink Floyd at their best - which automatically makes The Dark Side of the Moon peak rock as well.

I could listen to the four songs starting with “Us and them” and ending on “Eclipse” for the rest of the year and never grow tired of it - absolutely, astoundingly beautiful.

Also, the 30 quid spent on Clare Torry might be the wisest money ever spent.

Brothers shares some of the same problems I found with The White Stripes’ Elephant. It’s too long and I find myself losing interest in the similarity of the bluesy garage rock.

There are undoubtedly some great tunes on this, the streak of “Ten Cent Pistol”, “Sinister Kid” and “The Go Getter” for example, and Auerbach’s vocal and guitar playing is really good - I just need more variation. It gets a bit too monotonous and the songs almost blend together after a while.

Brothers is in no way a bad album.
It just doesn’t live up to the hype.

Apparently, Win Butler shares the same feelings towards the USA as he does consent.

That being said, Neon Bible is an incredibly strong record that showcases almost everything that makes Arcade Fire a great band.

I’m not hooked on “Black Mirror” but soon after the album really takes off and with the exception of the Régine Chassagne-led part of “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” (a part I actively dislike) the band almost hits just around the mark.

Especially the grandiose “Intervention”, “Ocean of Noise”, the closing “My Body Is a Cage” and of course the song that inspired White Lies to write their entire discography, “No Cars Go”, are extremely well written and shows just why Arcade Fire receives the praise they do.

I’m in shock. Where did Baaba Maal emerge from? And how am I only hearing of him this moment?

With Djam Leelii Maal and Mansour Seck have created one of the most hauntingly beautiful albums I’ve ever heard coming out of Africa.

Maal’s vocal is both powerful and full of emotional range while Seck’s guitar playing will haunt my ears for days - not to mention the effect kora and balafon has on this record!

Djam Leelii might easily end up in the top 5 of African records for me.. Until I’m sure I’m going to dive deeper into Baaba Maal’s discography and look forward to the March release of his upcoming album, Being.

It’s not only a wild musical trip Todd Rundgren provides us with A Wizard, A True Star. I dare not even consider the trip the man must have been on himself making this.

The first half simply flies by in a flash of drug induced creativity and you’re never allowed the chance to even stop and think if this might not be for you.

It’s only really when Medley hits that I fully snap back to reality. From there I lose some of my initial interest and also start becoming a bit dizzy from the many impressions so far.

Then “Just One Victory” ends it all and Rundgren manages to pull himself out of his maniacal frenzy and produce one of the greatest pop songs of the early 70’s.

What a way to end a thrilling yet somewhat disturbing ride.

Only ever heard of Laura Nyro in the context of Monterey. Her voice is quite incredible ranging from the beautiful and emotional to an almost screeching high pitch.

The band delivers one heck of a performance, and their ability to rapidly and precisely change tempo and incorporate multiple genres almost makes this seem like Captain Beefheart gone jazz pop.

This might grow on me in the future but after just one listen there are too many loose ends, that I don’t know how to tie yet.

SOMETHING ABOUT LISTENING TO BEASTIE BOYS MAKES YOU WANT TO WRITE THE REVIEW IN ALL-CAPS. I will abstain from it, though - mainly because I’m afraid I am not the first to make that joke.

Beastie Boys paints a vivid tapestry through their work of sampling more songs than I dare guess. You could spend a week just trying to decipher the specific samples of each song.

The B-Boys balances on the edge of insanity. They might even cross it on the brilliant “B-Boys Bouillabaisse”.

But who cares? This is pure fun.

An absolute masterclass in heavy metal.
The power that Bruce Dickinson brought to the band on this, his first album, can not be understated.

Harris is to no surprise an absolute beast and Burr does an outstanding job on his last record with the band.

Side A is great, but it’s side B that really steals the show. “The Number of the Beast”, “Run to the Hills” and “Hallowed Be Thy Name” is one of the greatest collection of metal tracks on such short space ever.

It’s a shame that they ended up including “Gangland” instead of the FAR superior “Total Eclipse”.

Still, The Number of the Beast is an insane record. And it’s not even Iron Maiden’s best.
It might not even be their second best!

I fully understand, why someone would fall completely in love with New Order.
Their sound is haunting, desperate and still quite danceable at times - a feat.

This is the album, where New Order emerges as a complete band after Joy Division. I find myself fully emerged in the sound and I’m almost lulled into a trance.

Then it’s all over. And I have a hard time pinpointing standout tracks. It’s all just kind of there.

When I’m in the mood this is easily a 4.
But in general I think this grading is more true to my gut feeling.

The start of Eliminator is like being run over by a V8 engine. At this point ZZ Top began using synths and drum machine more heavily, and the result is an extremely tight and tempo filled album.

Most of Eliminator is just pure fun with the band fully acknowledging that they are here to party, show off and have a good time - and nothing else.

My interest fades away on the way too long “I Need You Tonight” and side B isn’t as exciting as the beginning either. But this is nonetheless still extremely fun to rock along to.

Listening to Sigur Rós feels like you’ve been granted access to a world where you were never meant to set foot.

I started writing down songs to highlight, but quickly stopped as I became aware of the fact I was just listing the tracklist one by one.

Ágætis Byrjun might easily be one of my all-time favorite albums and I feel completely overwhelmed every time I listen to it.
Nothing’s meant to sound this good.

Somehow Sigur Rós just do.

I honestly don’t know how, but this worked to some extent. Not the The Rolling Stones and the Doors covers; those were absolutely horrific.

But I was quite impressed with “Snow Flower”, “Sagar (The Ocean)” and “Dance Indra”. I don’t know exactly why, it just worked.

That being said, I hope we’re not getting another sitar album the next month.

“I’d like to hear some British music, please.”

“Absolutely. What genre and age could I interest you in?”

“Why not all of them?”