Reviews by tjehl

Elbow is one of those bands that manages to be praised universally by reviewers while flying just below the public’s radar. And that’s, to put it mildly, a shame.

Guy Garvey’s emotional and heartfelt vocals haunts every minute of the album and it’s as if his presence fills up the entire room.

The Seldom Seen Kid is both intimate and at times truly grandiose - and Elbow manages both equally perfect. It’s one of those albums where you just kick back and enjoy the entirety of the ride completely.

The debut album from mbv is not quite as strong as their later efforts, by there’s still plenty that works wonders and you can definitely see this as the pillar on which they build their future sound.

Especially Shields’ amazing and truly innovative guitar and Butcher’s dreamy vocal are highlights while Ó Cíosóig’s energetic, erratic and snare heavy drumming (I mean, “Nothing Much To Lose”?!) provides just the right amount of insanity to the front persons’ ethereal tones.

I played this at a level where my neighbors wouldn’t kill me. Maybe if I decided to fully turn up the volume, as is mvb etiquette, this would have received the last half star.

What an insane trip Daydream Nation is.
Sonic Youth grips my by the first notes of the extraordinary “Teen Age Riot” and doesn’t let go until after “Trilogy”.

Shelley’s drum and Gordon’s bass goes together perfectly and provides more than just the backbone of the songs, but it’s Moore’s and Ranaldo’s whirling, disorienting and unorthodox guitars that stands out as the main characters of the album.

Even after dozens of listens I’m still blown back by “‘Cross the Breeze”, “Eric’s Trip” and “Hey Joni”.

There’s simply no denying the greatness of this entire thing - even though they’re probably pushing the limit with the 70 minute runtime.

I doubt you’ll find a more accessible and groovy look into life in the inner cities, the African-American communities and political injustice in the 1970’s than this album.

The partnership of Scott-Heron and Jackson as as if blessed by a higher power. What a unique and fresh approach to the whole genre.

Scott-Heron proves his mastery of the spoken word on the entertaining “H2Ogate Blues” while I am truly moved by “Your Daddy Loves You”.

I’ve never listened to anything by Burke other than his 2002 release Don’t Give Up On Me - so traveling back almost 40 years from that is quite interesting.

Solomon Burke is a powerful singer and delivers a great performance on this record.
But while there are no bad tracks nothing ever sticks out as truly extraordinary either.

I don’t think that this would have been as out of the ordinary for 1964 as the person placing this album in this list would like us to believe. But nevertheless I feel entertained by Burke’s company.

Am I somehow not white enough for this album?

Rarely during the 70 minute playtime does Ryan Adams display any true emotions while at the same time trying his hardest to sound like he’s playing and singing with only half an interest in the songs.

There are highlights in the delightful “La Cienega Just Smiled” and “When the Stars Go Blue”, but songs that were obviously considered centerpieces, by length alone, like “Nobody Girl” falls flat through.

If this is Adams’ Gold I’m not looking forward to his coming silver and bronze albums that are to appear on this list.

I found myself thoroughly enjoying the album from start to finish. Unfortunately I couldn’t recall a single track half an hour later. And a full day later I barely remember listening to it.

Not half bad but not memorable either.

What the hell just attacked me?
I feel completely run over by the sheer amount of feedback, heavy bass and noise.

Hidden underneath it all is a palette of punk, hardcore and garage rock that works perfectly on itself; the overlaying elements of aggressive noise just further adds to the experience. Especially the guitars are extremely well mixed almost slapping you in your face every time a solo is about to start.

Towards the end I feel like more and more of the songs start blending together and I’m left wishing that this would have been cut to 11 songs.

Quite the thrilling ride nonetheless that left me exhausted and my ears pleading for some smooth jazz.

First of all. Shout out to D’Angelo for playing essentially all instruments himself and naming a sexy R&B song “Shit, Damn, Motherfucker”.

Apart from that this record really bored me. D’Angelo is obviously extremely talented but the songs are way to long and tends to just be mere repetitions after 2 minutes.

I enjoyed “When We Get By” and I didn’t hate the other songs. This just isn’t for me.

Such a weird album. And definitely one of the most off the mark The Who concept album.

A few of the radio interludes are quite fun but mostly it just feels distracting. At the same time the idea of writing songs as commercials often makes for not very interesting songs. In fact there’s only one really great song on side 1; but the fact that “I Can See For Miles” is as good as it is almost makes up for it.

With “I Can’t Reach You” and “Rael” on side 2 it’s a bit more approachable but even with the band’s heavenly musicianship most of the songs on this album is just forgettable or plain boring.

55 years after its release this sounds as incredible, fresh and progressive as ever.

What is there to say about Sgt. Pepper’s that hasn’t already been said a million times?

A landmark in music history.

I actually wasn’t that keen on this after the first listen. I somehow didn’t know what I was going into and simply wasn’t ready. But I had a feeling that I was missing something. So I gave it another listen.

And BANG. There it was. I was totally blown back the second time around. The grandiose orchestration, the wonderful songwriting and Hannon’s raw and honest emotions.

Especially the four songs starting with “Everybody Knows (Expect You)” and concluding with “If I Were You…” stands out as phenomenal.

How have I wasted 25 years not listening to this sooner?

Probably the most Irish-sounding band consisting almost solely of people born in England.

There’s a huge amount of simultaneous drunken charm, punk and folk to be found on this album and for the most parts you find yourself in excellent company when Spider Stacy gets going with the tin whistle. It all starts out great and the playfulness is equally present on “A Pair of Brown Eyes” and “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”.

At the same times I find myself losing focus along the way. Had this been a few songs shorter, I think I would have found myself entertained for the entirety of the ride. Unfortunately this is pushing the limit ever so slightly.

Finally! An album to convince this website that I don’t hate post-punk; only their shitty choices of the genre so far.

I simply can not praise the guitar playing of McGeoch enough. “Spellbound” easily ranks among the best guitar tracks of the 80’s and for the rest of the album there’s never a track where he doesn’t deliver something truly unique and interesting.

Siouxsie sounds as great and gloomy as ever and the songs seem as fresh today as they would have done more than 40 years ago.

An absolute masterpiece!

A truly legendary live album; not only because of its release just months before Duane Allmans tragic death.

The first side, consisting solely of covers is only fine and feels more like a warm up compared to the rest of the record. 'Cause this record doesn't really start until the songs start to break the 10-minute marker.

By "You Don't Love Me" there's no turning back and especially Duane Allman's guitar sound and the drumming of Johanson and Trucks is par excellence.

You can just feel the energy from the band in a way that was just uncapturable in a studio setting - somehow the fusion of blues, rock and jazz just didn't blend together anywhere but live.

The last 35 minutes in the company of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and the legendary rendition of "Whipping Post" just flies by.

They might not be as critically acclaimed as improvisers as the Grateful Dead.. But on At Filmore East they are just as fun.

This is not exactly as strong as some of their later albums; but it’s stills quite an impressive start!

Byrne is still in the progress of really finding himself, but you still get occasional glimpses of why he’s one of the greatest front figures in music; “Psycho Killer” is the perfect example of that.

The rest of the material is pretty solid as well but the distinct expressiveness of Talking Heads still needs that finish polish before they (only a few years later) emerges as a world class act.

I’m starting to repeat myself so I’ll let Byrne have the last word: “Say something once, why say it again?”

Pink Flag is by no way an easy listen.
The production is extremely raw and bleak. The songwriting is uncompromising and the length of most tracks forces you to be bombarded by new impressions almost every minute. What a ride!

I am not as blown away as I was the first time I listened to Pink Flag almost a decade ago; maybe I’ve just been exposed to more (and more extreme) punk since? Nevertheless there’s no denying the influence this would’ve had 45 (!) years ago - and still has to this day.

And while its the few longer songs that lingers after, it’s the shorter ones that truly binds it all together.

This is also the first appearance of “Strange” on this list. Already looking forward to listening to it again when Document appears.

There’s absolutely no denying the songwriting ability of Carole King. Tapestry is filled with hit after hit, the musicianship is excellent and King always feels extremely present in every song.

I don’t feel the same emotional connection with the songs and album in general as I do with Joni Mitchell’s outstanding Blue from the same year. There’s just something lacking here that makes me feel more like a bystander to a great experience than being included in the ride of the album itself.

With that said it’s hard to actually dislike anything about this and with both James Taylor and Mitchell featuring and songs like “I Feel the Earth Move” and “You’ve Got a Friend” it’s no wonder Tapestry is still considered a true classic.

When Odessa disappointed me earlier on this list I was sure that the pre-disco Bee Gees still had something great to offer. Surely, Odessa was just a failed concept?

Now I’m quite adamant that they don’t.

There’s absolutely no joy to be heard in neither the songwriting, singing or musicianship. Everything is rather dull and somehow uninspired. It’s not all bad, but I just don’t particularly care for any of it.

Starting with “When Do I” and culminating with “Lion In Winter” it’s as if the three brothers embarked on a quest to see who could deliver the most ridiculous vocal performance. I honestly burst out laughing at the vocals on “Lion In Winter”. How is this not a parody or sketch?

I was ready to really love the early 70’s Bee Gees. But I simply don’t think they want to be loved.

“Turn To Stone” is a great opener and “Across the Border” is a fun closing bit but im not terribly invested in side 1 as a whole.

Right out of the gate “Night in the city” makes it feel like there’s more on the line on side 2. It’s more progressive (as progressive as soft rock ever gets) and more experimental on whole.

Everything comes together on the excellent side 3, perfectly titled “Concerto For a Rainy Day” and “Mr. Blue Sky” is the culmination of everything Lynne tries to do with ELO.

In the end everything becomes a bit repetitive with a runtime of more than an hour, but there’s nothing I actively dislike on this record as well. A shorter runtime and this might have gotten an extra star!