Reviews by uls980

"Humanity Still Producing New Art As Though Megadeth’s ‘Rust In Peace’ Doesn’t Already Exist" - The Onion, August 3rd, 2015

(I recognize I'm not original in referencing The Onion article, but its honestly the best review of the album and while I'll add my thoughts, they're honestly pointless when that article exists)

That headline is a joke, but it's honestly not far from the truth. Rust in Peace really is close to the pinnacle of thrash metal from the 80's. In my mind, the only albums competing with it are ...And Justice For All, Reign in Blood, and maybe Master of Puppets (I'll have to listen to it again, but I remember thinking the second half of the album did fall in quality), with Reign in Blood being the only one that actually gives it a run for it's money in my opinion.

Of course, there are other great thrash bands like Coroner but they never got big enough to be on the same level with the likes of a Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax.

But yeah, this album is just a riff and solo machine. Trying to find another album that comes even close to this thing off the top of my head feels like a fool's endeavor. Every song just crushes, particularly stuff like Holy Wars...The Punishment Due, Hangar 18, Lucretia, Tornado of Souls, and Rust in Peace...Polaris (Which is 2/3 of the track list, and the other 1/3 is still great). The soloing on songs like Holy Wars, Hangar 18, and Tornado of Souls is close second to none, every riff is a winner, the drumming is frantic but great. It's just insane.

And while Dave Mustaine isn't the greatest singer, his nasally, high pitched tone works extremely well with the music and lyrical topics (Usually conspiracies, politics, and whatnot). And the album is just damn fun compared to Slayer's ultra serious-ness and Metallica's more every-man blandness (And I don't necessarily say that as a dig at them. It works well for them. They're the Mario of thrash metal).

Just an all around masterpiece of the thrash genre. Honestly might be my favorite thrash album, but at the absolute worst, it's top 3, and it's not close.

Fifth Beatles album, and just as solid as the majority of them that I've gotten.
Most of this album I'm not super familiar with, but basically everything is great. Still in kind of a transitional period between their older pop sound vs the sound that will come on albums like Sgt. Peppers or Abbey Road.

The songs that are more pop aren't quite catching me, but the evolutionary songs on this one like Nowhere Man (One of my favorite Beatles song) and In My Life are just fantastic. Of course, it still has a great pop hit in Drive My Car.

So far, my ranking of the Beatles albums I've gotten would go:

1) Abbey Road (5/5)
2) Rubber Soul (4/5)
3) Sgt. Peppers (4/5)
4) The Beatles (4/5)
5) With the Beatles (3/5)

Just two left. Guessing both of those get 4's just from my general knowledge and experience with them.

This one was a pretty good album. Honestly got no complaints with it other than I just don't think I'll ever go back to it.

I don't know if I just started noticing it in the second half, but the first half definitely felt like a 90's take on the Beatles, with the second half still having that quality, but also taking on a kind of Yoshimi-era Flaming Lips sound (Fragile Happiness very much feels like a Yoshimi song). Honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Flaming Lips were influenced by this album on Yoshimi.

But yeah, good album. Just not really something I'd find myself going back to.

Fun to listen to this one because, while I am familiar with it, I am definitely more of a fan of their later output (Californication through Stadium Arcadium, along with a single here or their from their later stuff).

What this album has going for it over the later albums is, I think, the deeper cuts (Stuff like Funky Monks, Mellowship Slinky in B Major, Naked in the Rain, etc.) are generally stronger than those on a Californication or By the Way. Whereas the singles on those albums are much stronger than the ones here (Although the singles are still great classics here).

There are a few spots I'm not super enamored with. Most of Sir Psycho Sexy isn't particularly great (Hilarious playing this on Rock Band and having like 80% of the lyrics censored), especially at 8 minutes long (Although some of the instrumental is fantastic), and the track list is very long, sitting at over an hour and thirteen minutes. This is an album that could have used at least 20 minutes cut out of it, even if the vast majority of the material is really good.

But the instrumentals is where this album really shines, especially with Chad Smith's drumming and John Frusciante's guitar playing (Not to mention Flea always being amazing), and this album is just some great 90's alt funk.

Overall, classic album that is one of the Chili Peppers more consistent offerings.

This one is just too "nice" for me? Vaguely Beatles-esque, more modern production, but sounds like a kinda modern indie "cute" experimentalism?

Yeah, not really for me.

This one came dangerously close to being time and place music, similar to a lot of the samba, bossa nova, and Indian music I've gotten.

But it has a kinda, chill cocktail jazz vibe to it that I'm really enjoying. Great album, if a little repettitive.

This one started off kinda interesting for me, with some slight psychedelic rock (Which normally I wouldn't be into, but for some reason was enjoying here).

But whether is just lost steam or I wasn't paying much attention, the rest of the tracklist didn't really wow me. It was fine, but not attention grabbing.

Blues rock. Blues. Ni fu ni fa.

But seriously, this does nothing for me. It's perfectly fine, just, yeah.

I think I mentioned it in my Want One review, but this just sounds like a discount (If fine) OK Computer from Radiohead.

It's fine, but still not really wowing me. Like all the quiet chill parts of Radiohead without the more upbeat or urgent stuff like a Paranoid Android.

I feel bad because I think my average rating for hip hop is pretty low compared to how I think I enjoy the genre. But that's a factor of this list having a lot of old-school hip hop prior to gangsta rap (Which is about when I started enjoying hip hop with the more intricate and complex rhyme schemes that flow better).

And unfortunately, this is still that old-school flow with the more sparse, early 90's sound. So yeah, just not really doing much for me.

Honestly think I'm preferring A Song For You.

This one really only has (They Long to Be) Close To You as far as stuff that really interests me. Everything else is fine, but not really doing much for me. Too easy listening.

Previously I got Bayou Country, which is a solid album, but lacked a bit with some overly long tracks and cuts that aren't as catchy as some of their biggest hits.

This album though has a ton of great stuff on it such as Travelin' Band, Lookin' Out My Back Door, Run Through the Jungle, Up Around the Bend, Who'll Stop the Rain, and I Heard It Through the Grapevine.

Just a great record.

So this one is feeling more like Rain Dogs compared to Heartattack & Vine, so I'm enjoying it more than H&V.

But this one is a little more vibey/chill, which is hampering it for me. It's definitely got indie movie soundtrack vibes.

So yeah, solid album. Better than H&V, but not as good as Rain Dogs.

Gonna be honest, didn't really pay attention much while listening to this one, but what I did hear didn't wow me either. Decent and interesting punk music, but not really what I'm looking for.

Oh man. I've always heard this album's great, but I've never been a big R&B fan.

But listening to it now. I get it. It's incredibly smooth. A little jazzy at times with songs like Where Do We Go, a lot of soul and R&B. Just a great vibe throughout the whole thing.

Definitely an album I'll go back to and pick apart.

It might not be quite as good as his stuff in the White Stripes, but it's still really good.

Interesting to see how he adapts to the more intricate drumming without Meg White (Not to say Meg White isn't great. She's an all timer, just he style is very simplistic, which is what The White Stripes needed). A lot more intricate on the guitar and other instruments.

Very good album though.

Another album that, while being very good, just doesn't strike me personally. Fun Irish/Scottish folk rock though.

Also a really inoffensive album to me. Some New Orleans blues type stuff, but generally it's just too vibey and not catchy for my ears (Which is weird to say since I usually like vibey music, but when it comes to blues, I'd like some drive).

Pretty inoffensive, chill, and jazzy electronic music, but it's definitely giving me Instagram/Tiktok parody music vibes that I'm not feeling.

Not a fault of the album itself, but unfortunately can't shake that association.

Wasn't super pumped when this one came up, considering I wasn't that huge on Dog Man Star.

But I'm finding I like this one a bit more than Dog Man Star (Although, difficult to remember what that one sounded like considering I got it on the generator over a year ago). I vaguely remember it being a pretty calm album compared to this one (My memory is very shoddy in this instance - so I'm likely very wrong) and sounding very Bowie.

This one sounds a little less Bowie and a little more like the other britpop bands of the time (Oasis and Blur) which is why I think I'm enjoying it a little more this time.

But yeah, solid album. Probably not something I'll go back to, but I do enjoy it.