Reviews by tjehl

Fear Of A Black Planet is one of those quintessential rap records and quite the step up from their sophomore album.

Chuck D delivers once again but the real surprise is that Flav is not only WAY less annoying… Most of the times he’s actually almost great!

The sampling is on another level and easily outsmarts not only their contemporaries but almost all other hip hop artists.

This being a Public Enemy record it is quite lyrically dense and you feel a bit exhausted after more than an over; even when I’m Chuck D’s capable grasp.

If just a few of the outros had been shortened or a skit or two been omitted this might have deserved a flat 5.

If you don’t think Christmas is quite stressful enough already, Spector might just have the cure for that.

Not only did this album resurrect Faithfull’s career - I’m sure it might just have saved her life as well.

Her raspy and emotional vocal suits the rock/punk/new wave aesthetics, but we have to reach “Guilt” before everything really starts paying off.

The following “The Ballad of Lucy Jordan” and the closing “Why’d Ya Do It” are the absolute highlights with the tom toms and the guitar sounding especially great.

There are highs and barely any lows on Broken English. But there’s a bit too many mids where I’m just not that invested.

This was the first Bowie album I ever owned.
Looking back, it might not be the obvious place to start the journey into this vast discography.

But it worked perfectly.

Low is packed with an emotional baggage so heavy, that at times it feels like an almost unbearable load.

Side one is great, delivering sharp and shorter songs at great pace - but it’s when the almost completely instrumental side two sets in that I drop whatever’s in my hand and dives head first into the world of Bowie.

I always forget the impact the end of Low leaves on me.

It might not be what you expect of a Bowie album - but if you went into this expecting a certain formula, you probably don’t know Bowie that well.

Tremendously beautiful and mellow output from the Boss.

It’s no secret that I’m not a huge Springsteen fan - even though he has arguably delivered his fair share of great hits.

The intimacy created on Nebraska shows a more delicate and extremely personal aspect of Springsteen’s exceptional songwriting skills and I always find myself almost spellbound listening to his storytelling on this.

Sometimes it pays off to take it down a notch and let the E Street Band sit back and relax.

It’s difficult to define the influence this album has had on rap. The two opening tracks alone are legendary.

Quite a few tracks unfortunately feels somehow dated today; and that’s without mentioning the deeply misogynistic lyrics.

There’s no doubt that N.W.A. is here to deliver a message. There is barely no messing around and I get the idea that no one showed up in the recording room in order to just have fun.

I sure didn’t have as much fun as I thought I would.

If The Beatles had an evil twin.

This is unbelievably noisy and aggressive for a 1965 release.

I do like the straightforwardness and early lo-fi/garage aesthetics of a lot of the songs. I can also hear many bands, especially the grunge sound, finding some inspiration in this.

I probably wouldn’t spin this record that often though.

Yet another great U2 album - a perfect transition to the 90’s.

Some of the tracks are among the greatest ever written by the band; “One”, “Mysterious Ways”, “Ultra Violet (Light My Way)”.. What a collection of songs.

The leaning into more industrial territory, especially on the drums, doesn’t sit that well with me though. I’ve always felt rather alienated by “Zoo Station” for example.

That being said, I don’t hate it. It just doesn’t hit me in the same way as the sound on The Joshua Tree does it - even though Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois once again did an awesome job producing this.

How can you not love an album that includes both “American Pie” and the incredibly beautiful “Vincent”? Aside from those stellar tracks this is packed with great folk songs reaching a climax on the haunting and breathtaking “The Grave”.

Equal parts shitty punk and prolific jazz band.
What a feat!

Exceeding 70 minutes I am amazed how fun this entire thing is. Time simply flies by in the company of Minutemen.

Sidenote: "Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing" might be the greatest song title ever.

I know how monumental this record is. I still can not fathom that is was released 1988.
This really paved the way for a lot of artists and genres throughout the 90’s and 00’s.

Still; there’s something I’ve never been able to put my finger on. Something that just doesn’t sit right with me. Farrell’s vocal somehow works. Navarro is great. And there are some incredible stuff on this.

As a whole I’m just not vibing as much as I would’ve hoped.

It’s not you, Jane. It’s me.

I never really known Tori Amos for anything but her name and a few songs. But if any of her other albums are just remotely like Little Earthquakes that’s a mistake.

Amos possesses an incredible vocal and an ability to write complex, intriguing and almost theatrical songs. Just listen to the breathtaking “Crucify” and “Precious Things”.

Jesus Christ, 1987 George Michael was one horny man.

The production is simply incredibly and crystal clear - both when it comes to the softer pop approaches and the more rock/funk inspired songs such as “Hard Day”.

I fully appreciate the songwriting and the mix of grand and breathy vocals.. It just rarely hits me emotionally.

I’ve always enjoyed the Barlow-led songs of Dinosaur Jr. I don’t enjoy him any less in Sebadoh.

Bubble And Scrapes ranges from the frantic and hysterical, “Fantastic Disaster” and “No Way Out”, to absolute pieces of beauty like “Soul and Fire” and “Think (Let Tomorrow Bee”.

Legendary debut by notorious New York proto-punkers. Tightly packed with interesting takes on the quickly evolving punk scene with “Personality Crisis” being the perfect opener for what’s to come.

Other highlights include the insane “Vietnamese Baby” with its heavy use of panning and “Frankenstein” being almost an epic.

The synergy between Sylvain Sylvain and Johnny Thunders is as if made to be and David Johansen delivers one powerful performance after another.

This might not be perfect. And there might be better musicians to be found in New York.
But this? This is just damn effective.

There are few, if any, voices as powerful, raw and at the front as Chuck D. The man is an absolute powerhouse, his technique is perfect and at times it seems as if he’s on a mission to include the entire dictionary on this album.

The beats are mostly insane as well and especially the idea to sample “Angel of Death” on “She Watch Chanel Zero?!” gets me every time.

But - and it’s a big but - if I have to listen to Flavor Flav yell “yeah, boyeeeee” one more time right now I will lose my shit.

Everything starts to blend a little too much for me on Side Black and my mind slowly starts drifting; I mean this is extremely dense lyrically.

But most of I I’m just tired to the bone of listening to Flavor Flav.

Who thinks this would’ve improved drastically with just half the amount it Flav?

This boyeeeeee!

This is pretty cool, Miles.

Pretty cool indeed.

There are some really great tracks on this; let’s get that out of the way straight ahead. “Mother’s Little Helper”, “Lady Jane”, “Under My Thumb” and “I Am Waiting” especially!

I appreciate that this is the first album containing only self-written material; but I can tell that they just aren’t capable of writing almost an hour of memorable music yet.
How is most of this written at the same time as “Paint It Black”? And how is this the version NOT containing that absolute masterpiece? I live to wonder.

I was contemplating giving this a 3 for a moment. But I think the Stones really suffered some sort of megalomania when they recorded the catastrophically long “Going Home”. I’m not a huge enough Rolling Stone or blues fan to enjoy that… Cause let’s face it: they are not exactly The Grateful Dead or Phish when it comes to improvisation.

Let’s get it out of the way: “There She Goes” is one of the greatest pop songs ever written.
Had the rest of the album been as good, I’m sure I would’ve heard this album earlier than this.

Unfortunately it isn’t.

I really love me some jangle rock and I was really into the first half, where especially the incredible backing vocals wowed me.

It all seems to slip toward the end and I really don’t care for “I.O.U” and “Failure” at all.

This isn’t bad; it’s just nowhere near as good as I’m sure it could have been.

Arguably one of the most 90’s-sounding records ever.

I’ve tried to get through Screamadelica earlier but never made it in one sitting. I’ve always opted out at some point. Now is the chance for Primal Scream to live up to the hype.

First of all - this actually contains more elements that I was genuinely interesting in and wanted more of. “Movin’ On Up”, “Higher Than the Sun” (the The Orb mix, that is) and Loaded are all great. And there are ideas of pure genius spread across most tracks from the kaleidoscopic track list.

The unfortunate part? The band rarely manages to catch their own ideas as they come flying towards them.

Releasing an album as a remix album from the get go? Interesting.

Does it work? No.

A great deal of songs greatly surpassing the 6 minute mark?
Not when it includes the ridiculous “Come Together”.

But at least I’m able to dance and throw a party to this 62 minute acid dance album, right?

Once again the answer will disappoint you.