Reviews by uhhhellurr

a bit presumptuous title for an album, especially something that is not particularly mindblowing, even at the time. that being said, it is a fun enough album and, although a bit samey throughout, doesn't ever get boring. if you like that brand of early 00s garage rock revival, you'll probably have a decent enough time.

didn't know what to expect from this one. my dad is a fan of theirs since the 60s but i really only was aware of them from their big song 'get together' (not present on this album). this album is really all over the place. i kind of loved that about it, it's very eclectic. partially psych rock, partially country rock, partially jazz rock? really interesting combination. sometimes this album really cooks. it almost sounds like a moby grape or another band in that sort of psych-country realm from the time. other times this album sort of drags (particularly in the jazzier sections. although an intriguing twist, the jazz-ish sections here are not particularly great and are just sort of... there). i still think the better parts of the album outweigh the more boring parts, but only barely so.

not my favorite, but not my least favorite. suzanne vega has a nice voice and i think she is a pretty alright songwriter, but the album really did not leave a big impression on me. there's nothing bad here, but there's nothing that was very remarkable to me. pleasant, but only so. yeah, not totally my thing.

really fun punk album. fast, aggressive, the purest example of raucous. it ends just as soon as it starts, which i love. hard to say a lot about an album with so little, but it is really great and a nice little hit of punk aggression. would ride this ride again.

solid album. i really like beck's style and here it's got a nice sort of mid-00s indie feel with a teeny bit of hip hop mixed in at points. he makes interesting music and i do appreciate it, but here the bulk of the songs were good, not great. the highlights for me were 'e-pro,' 'girl,' and 'go it alone.'

i really thought i was gonna have a hot take on this album here. this album really comes out swinging with the first two tracks and i was like "there's no way this album gets as bad as people on here are rating it." well, i don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be, but it's definitely a really middling late 90s pop album. it's nostalgic as hell and pretty fun to listen to for that reason, but i don't think i would say it's great. britney is one of the tragic figures of the pop music industry and her importance should not be understated - on top of that, she has a great singing voice and max martin's stuff on here is pretty good. but really most of this feels like filler.

sam cooke is one of my all time favorite singers but i had never heard this recording before, or really any live recording of his. he has such a great, iconic voice and i love his songs. the energy on this one was fantastic and live his voice has a gruffness that his studio recordings do not have, which i really liked. the selection of songs here is really great and it was a blast to listen to!

solid album. i am a fan of this era of rap and i thought that raekwon was really good on this one, as well as all of the guest rappers. you can definitely feel how this one influenced a lot of rap music that came after it. i liked the production, but thought that maybe it could have been a little bit more. a lot of times it felt a bit subdued for the bombastic rapping that was happening over the beats, but i enjoyed this one well enough despite that.

really nice mid-60s folk album. i had known of bert jansch, but never listened to an album from him, so i'm very glad i finally had the chance to. a little reminiscent of his contemporaries (bob dylan, paul simon, donovan) but very much his own thing. the production is very classically a folk production - just a man and his guitar - and the songwriting and guitar playing is really nice. my favorite song was 'needle of death' but i really think you can't go wrong with anything on here if you're into 60s folk. i also really liked his version of 'angie' which I knew from the Simon and Garfunkel version. perhaps it's not a mind-blowing album, but i enjoyed it and would like to explore his music further.

solid early rap album. there's something about this era of rap that i really enjoy, the beats are antiquated, yet punchy and fun. the rapping is also pretty solid, although nothing out of the ordinary for the time. i especially enjoyed the title track, but also the track 'renegades of funk' as well.

fun rootsy album. lucinda has a compelling voice and her songwriting is very evocative. everything here is very nice to listen to. i did enjoy it, however, there wasn't anything here that i was absolutely over the moon for. it's a good album, but didn't really give me anything that made me feel it was a great album.

there's something about garbage that is fun in a nostalgic way. their music is very quintessentially 90s and i kind of love that about it. that being said, there wasn't a ton here that stood out to me. there's nothing bad, but nothing that elevated it to the level of amazing for me either. good, not great.

this is such a great album. from front to back, it's melodramatic. it's fun music for depressed people. this album holds a really special place in my heart and to me is a showcase of the smiths at their best. of course, morrissey is morrissey, for better or worse. but the rest of the band is so great on here as well.

kinda fun but kinda amateurish in sound. i liked the instrumentation better than the vocals, which left something to be desired. even the instrumentals i felt i would have liked better if they had more oomph. the album threads the needle between punk and metal and i think that's an interesting area to explore, but i feel like the execution of doing so was not my favorite.

i'm a little confused about this one being on the list. i am a big stones fan but i have to admit, this one is one of their most unremarkable albums. and i can't blame them! they're kids! they're playing covers of their favorite r&b and blues songs. a lot of early british invasion albums are like this (even the beatles). that being said, outside of the fact that it is the first album by one of the most famous rock bands of all time, it really is a nothing album. a lot of the covers are fine, some of them are even good! some of them are not so good. there are a few originals but they pale in comparison to the songs they would be writing in a year's time. it's interesting to see where they started from as compared to where i know they will be in a handful of years from this album, but that doesn't mean this is a very compelling listen. important for one of the premiere rock bands, sure, but an album you must hear before you die? probably not

i can't say i've listened to a lot of bobby womack's stuff but i am familiar with some of his 70s output. this album is obviously a little bit different from 'across 110th street' but it's interesting to see how his music has evolved. it's pretty nice to listen to, very smooth, but honestly very middle of the road. the opening track, 'so many sides of you' sounds like a knock-off of stevie wonder's 'master blaster.' the rest of the album feels a bit run of the mill. this sort of 80s smooth r&b is not really my thing, but i can see why people liked it.

i've always felt a bit indifferent to zz top and through this project, i think indifference is where i top out with them. this album was fine. perfectly bluesy. a little rough around the edges. nothing super remarkable. the highlight here by a wide margin is radio staple 'la grange.' nothing here was bad but to me it was a bit of a nothing album otherwise.

really solid album. i was really into this album a decade plus ago, so it was nice to revisit it after some time. it's really aggressive but also has this beautiful sneering attitude that i love. listening to it makes me feel like i am some english dickhead even though i am american. it's like i'm some douche in the corner of a party sneering at all the people having a good time. it's a beautiful feeling. it's not my favorite album of theirs, but it's a romp of a time.

i really liked this one! it's a good new orleans swing record. really fun and energetic. you can tell it would have been a great party record in the 1950s. louis' energy here is infectious and the entire band follows suit. some songs are sung by keely smith, who also does a good job but i feel like her solo songs are the more ballady, less fun songs. regardless, the album is a really joyful listen.

another album that i cannot be unbiased about. i adore this album. not only was it extremely groundbreaking at the time, the songwriting and the musicianship here is great. i don't expect everyone will like this. the vocals here are a bit rough around the edges, the sound is very laid back. but i love it. robbie robertson's songwriting is great, but also all of them are great and underrated musicians in their own right. it doesn't get much better than this!