Reviews by tjehl

There was an entire year during the early years of high school where I didn't listen to anything but this and Demon Days. And while Demon Days still receives heavy rotation I don't listen to Gorillaz half as often as I used to.

2001 is quite late for Albarn to dive head first into trip hop. But the once leader of the past decades most prominent british music genre nevertheless resurfaces as strong as ever and ready to spearhead music for many years to come.

There's the obvious classics: "Tomorrow Comes Today", "Clint Eastwood", "Rock the House" and "19-2000" (the far superior Soulchild remix is unfortunately only available on the deluxe edition).

And while later Gorillaz records further developed the sound of this record, songs like "New Genius (Brother)", "Sound Check (Gravity)" and "Latin Simone (Que Pasa Contigo)" passes any Gorillaz vibe check.

The inclusion of the "Clint Eastwood" remix as the last track almost made this a 3 / 5. But the absolute insanity of being so proud of your own ability to write a riff in 5/4 that you name the song just that.. Well if that alone doesn't deserve a 4 nothing does.

This album contains a song about beautiful people written by one of music’s ugliest personalities.

There’s electronica that’s for me.
Then there’s electronica I don’t care for.
And then there’s this.
Am I simply not fashionable enough to understand this?

I almost skipped “My Mate Paul” when I checked the playtime for the third time and realized I still had 2 minutes 30 to go.

As background music at a trendy NYC club this would probably be fire. But at home this gets really tedious, really fast. Put it in a movie and count me in.

Firstly; big shoutout to 50 for not plastering this is skits and interludes. He’s got something to prove and demands for the name 50 Cent to be respected. I appreciate that.

I haven’t heard this album in it’s full length since… 6th-7th grade maybe. And I fully expected it to be horribly outdated, silly and maybe even just plain bad. And while some of the aspects of the album hasn’t aged that great and the strange balance of seriousness and fooling around is a bit crazy, i was a bit surprised that this is by no means a bad record. Quite the contrary.

Among the outdated things, some of the lyrics really hasn’t aged that great; “P.I.M.P.” and 50 rapping about a fax machine and a Subaru in “High All the Time”.

The production and beats are most certainly a personal preference; but somehow I actual came to enjoy the nostalgia of something sounding like it’s straight outta Los Santos Radio.

50 Cent you bona fide legend.
I feel a strong 3,5 / 5 on this.

I guess I like my Queen progressive, dark and more conceptual. Sure, I like the band’s Greatest Hits as much as the next person, but I’ve rarely enjoyed entire Queen studio records.

Queen II isn’t exactly an exception but it comes closer than many of their later efforts.

I’m hooked during the first tracks of the White Side until May and Taylor takes over vocal duty; then I quickly lose interest again.

Overall Black Side is way more interesting with “The March of the Black Queen” as the grandiose centerpiece setting the tone for many of the band’s later masterpieces; I mean, this is straight up the prototype for “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

In the end Queen’s 2nd effort doesn’t stand out as much as I would like it to.
As with most of their albums: A genuine but underwhelming effort from one of the most overwhelming bands of all time.

You might not expect a French/Spanish singer armed with an acoustic guitar, sound collages and the ability to sing in French, Spanish, English, Portuguese, Arabic and Greek (just to mention a few) to be one of the world’s foremost figures when it comes to progressive musical thinking challenging a variety of political and humanitarian causes globally.

Nevertheless, that’s exactly what Manu Chao is as he encapsulates the spirit of punk way more than most contemporary bands of the genre.

Recorded in Estudio Clandestino (basically his laptop) I’m amazed at how alive this album sounds. Being recorded on the go and whenever the opportunity and creativity allowed for it really works wonders for the songs.

Whether he sings of the King of Bongo, welcomes you to Mexico or challenges the state of the world in enough languages for at least a couple of world leaders to understand, time just flies by when you’re in the great company of Manu Chao.

You have to dig deep to find a 70's rock band with more theatricals and sick humour - even though they do their best to hide it behind very competent and serious musicianship.

Musically Alice Cooper is best on the great title track, the classic "No More Mr. Nice Guy" and the violently graphic and tongue in cheek "I Love the Dead".

At times I reach a point where the gimmicks and humour is almost overwhelming, especially on "Unfinished Sweet", but in the end Cooper wins you over by way of antics and simply just being one of rock's most iconic individuals.

What a show of power Kendrick Lamar enters the mainstream music scene with. That I’m able to call this my least favorite of TPAB, DAMN and Mr. Morale feels almost surreal, considering just how great good kid, m.A.A.d. city is.
Possibly the greatest album streak in hip hop-history!

Lamar is an extraordinary storyteller and matched with his unique vocal, masterful flow and ability to convey a full range of emotions, you are left with a rapper that easily ranks above the rest of the game.

It takes a few tracks, but by “The Art of Peer Pressure” it feels like Lamar has fully moved on from his earlier efforts and emerges as a fully developed artist. From there on there are no missteps.

By the time of the overwhelming masterpiece “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” I’m ready to just hand this a 5 star-rating. Maybe it’s knowing where Kendrick takes his sound from here or maybe it’s the few songs I’m not fully invested in, but i gently lower the 5 stars and saves it for Lamar for a later time.

Also includes the unlikely, but nonetheless extremely popular, party song “Swimming Pools (Drank)”.

It’s been possibly years since I last heard this, and I always remembered this as perhaps the greatest Rolling Stones album; maybe in part due to the almost universal consensus that Exile is one of the greatest albums ever made.

There’s no denying the fun and greatness of “Rocks Off”, “Let it Loose” and “Shine a Light”.
And while few other songs are as bad and boring as “Shake Your Hips”, “Casino Boogie” and “I Just Want to See His Face”, the rest is not particularly great or interesting either. Most of them are just… Kinda there.

I found this 2003 quote from Jagger concerning the record: “I'm not too sure how great the songs are, but put together it's a nice piece. However, when I listen to Exile it has some of the worst mixes I've ever heard.”

It’s harsh, but he’s not completely wrong.

I’ll never be the big Aerosmith fan. They’ve got a handful of bangers, but other than that I just don’t care that much for one of Boston’s horniest and most cocaine sounding bands - quite an achievement by the way.

For some reason I didn’t dislike this as much as I would’ve thought going into it. I don’t love it, but I most certainly don’t hate it.

“Young Lust” was a surprisingly strong opener almost sounding like the Toys in the Attic-era. “Janie’s Got a Gun” and “The Other Side” are highlights as well, the first being one of the band’s absolute greatest songs.

While most of the record still falls victim to many of the Aerosmith cliches I don’t enjoy, I wasn’t nearly as annoyed as expected. I actually rather enjoyed most of their antics.

Well done, Aerosmith.
I won’t give you a listen for the next many months. But quite well done, nevertheless.

Released in 1975; how is this Nelson’s 18th record?!

While I never grow tired of listening to Nelson’s timeless vocal, the same can not be said of the instrumentation. No one plays badly, and Bobbie Nelson’s piano and Jody Payne’s mandolin are especially beautiful - the mixing of the backing vocals are spot on as well.

But as everything goes on in almost the exact same tempo it all becomes rather dull in the end. I don’t get the big picture of the concept album that this should be either; but putting together an actual concept having only written under half of the songs yourself is everything but easy.

The first time I feel that the band puts something on the line is during the wonderful instrumental “Bandera”. And by then it’s already time to wave goodbye for now to the Red Headed Stranger.

I remember stumbling into this when I was about 14 - and I really liked it. But for some reason I never returned to it after I listened to my friend’s CD 2-3 times. And I think that might be the reason, that I don’t care that much for the record today - because this has all the elements of a 90’s record that require some nostalgic attachment for you to really appreciate it.

At times it’s quite fun and I like their jangley sound, but it often feels monotonous and without any true emotions. It’s a shame.

There’s no getting around it; Karen was an incredible singer and Richard really knows his way around arranging vocal harmonies.

The obvious highlights are the title track and “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” (both originally by Burt Bacharach). The cover of “Help” on the other hand adds very little new.

And while there’s no getting around the talent on this record, it just never actually moves me. In fact, I’m quite bored when we reach the end.

All respect to the Carpenter’s - it’s just not my jam.

While everything about this is wholeheartedly enjoyable, I might not be built for this much mamba.

The legendary Tito Puente and his band play their hearts out and I truly feel like being transported to the Americas during “El Cayuco” and “Llegó Miján”.

I’ve got nothing really bad to say about this; in the end I’ve just had enough mamba for the week.

I really need to get this off my chest before I dig into the album.
This would have been under an hour an, had it not been for the skits and “Last Call”. Just putting it out there.

I was pretty underwhelmed during the first songs, nostalgia telling me, that I should expect more. Then “All Falls Down” happens and my curiosity awakes.

Kanye’s strongest card is his productions and beats and while most of the album isn’t as experimental and progressive in its ideas as his later material, there are still tracks that ranks among his best in this.
I’m of course talking about the insanely great duo of “Jesus Walks” and “Never Let Me Down” (and the later on “Through the Wire” as well).

On the Pablo-track “I Love Kanye” West exclaims: “I miss the old Kanye”. Personally, with the exception of a few tracks, I actually prefer the newer Kanye.

I really want this to be good. But it just isn’t.

Let’s start of with the wrongs.

Only few of their early songs really benefit from the addition of a string orchestra and while some tracks off of Load and ReLoad benefit quite a bit, I still don’t really care about many of songs in the first place. Which might be why the second half of disc 1 seems so long. Just an overload of the (Re)Load-era.
Who’s honestly happy to see “Devil’s Dance” here?

Dishonorable shoutout to a hopeless rendition of “Fuel” by the way. Who got the idea of adding strings to that?

I also don’t enjoy the tone the often obvious autotune adds to Hetfield’s vocal. It always feels kinda off. Just listen to “Wherever I May Roam”. Jesus…

On the other hand the new song “No Leaf Clover” is among the best post-Black Album 90’s stuff Metallica did - absolutely incredible. The same goes for the S&M-rendition of “The Memory Remains” and “The Outlaw Torn”; possibly one of the most underrated Metallica songs ever.

Would I have loved to have been there? For sure. The atmosphere in the room must’ve been awesome. But listening to it at home? Except for a few tracks, I’d much rather listen to the original studio recordings once again.

Started listening to this in my car but quickly realized that it truly deserved being played on my actual hi-fi system instead. The production is insane!

I had absolutely no expectations going into this… If anything I wasn’t that hyped. But I genuinely really enjoyed both Baker’s incredible tone and range and the extreme smoothness of the production. Everything single detail stood out clear as day - especially the bass.

I probably enjoyed this way more than I should have; but what a voice and what a collection of musicians. I almost gave this a 4 due to the taste of red wine during my listen and the fact that it sounded incredible on my speakers. But on any given weekday I don’t think there’s quite enough memorable moments for it to actually deserve it.

This is just booming with variety!
I was okay with the first couple of songs, but starting at “Fall at Your Feet” things really started moving fast.

The chorus on “Tall Trees” is amazing, “Four Seasons In One Day” touches something Beatles-esque, the harmonica on “There Goes God” is just incredible and all of a sudden they hit you with vocal harmonies on the powerful “Fame Is”.

Australia (and NZ) are really capable of some great things musically.

While the rest of the world was falling head over heels over the White Stripes, I always had a harder time fully understanding the hype. I don't really care for Meg's simplistic drumming and Jack's heavily blues-inspired songwriting rarely hits me.

That's not to say that there isn't a lot of things I really appreciate about the band and Elephant in particular.
Jack's absurd guitar sound is as always a thrill (especially on "Ball and Biscuit") and there's a fair amount of great songs on this thing; not only counting the of course legendary "Seven Nation Army" and the banger "The Hardest Button to Button".

In the end it all feels a bit to sparse, even with White's ear for production. I get the idea of dropping the bass, but the lack of it makes an otherwise explosive chorus as the one on "Little Acorn" feel like it was ripped directly off an early demo.

A big 3. But a 3 nonetheless.

What a voice; absolutely surreal that it took 10 albums for her to finally strike some much deserved success.

It really sets the bar high opening with “Respect” and while the A-side continues to deliver solid songs, it’s not until Franklin herself gets songwriting credit on “Don’t Let Me Lose This Dream” and “Baby, Baby, Baby” that I can really sense her full presence accompanied beautifully by her sisters on backing vocals.

I would’ve liked for the drums and guitars to be a bit more present in the mix, which is heavily dominated by bass and the horn section. But with Franklin’s vocal in front, it doesn’t bother me that much.