Reviews by uls980

I can't remember if I've listened to this one before (I've definitely listened to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill), but not recognizing anything from it other than the big hit, Killing Me Softly.

But yeah, totally understand why this is a landmark in hip hop music. It just vibes and goes. Particularly the songs Ready or Not, The Score, and The Manifest, at least for me. The rest of the tracklist is no slouch either.

I will say, this would have been an easy five star all day every day if it weren't for the skits peppered throughout, particularly that Chinese Restaurant one. And it doesn't help that some of the skits are included in the same tracks as actual songs. Just really broke up the flow for me.

I can't really put my finger on it, but this feels aggressively OK for the most part. Part of it is expectations going in. Maybe it's just him losing cultural cache, or maybe he just was never culturally that big, but I can't really imagine Lenny Kravitz being important enough to be included on a list like this?

But a lot of this just feels derivative of stuff I've heard before. And when it's not good (Like the straight up porn music going on in Fear), it's a little off putting.

And holy cow did I not need Lenny's voice so forward in the mix in the beginning Does Anybody Out There Even Care? That made my skin crawl.

But yeah, I don't really know about this one. I think some preconceived notions are affecting my rating on this one, but yeah, I'm just not feeling it.

It's been a minute since I listened to What's Going On, but this one feels about the same quality. I might slightly prefer Let's Get It On simply because Save the Children was a bit on the nose for my tastes.

But don't got much else to say compared to What's Going On. Let's Get It On is also a timeless, lush record that's a delight to listen to. Only downside is there are no inductees for the "Marvin Gaye's Clueless Ass" playlist from this album. Sad, 2/10, would not listen again.

Listened to this before, but never latched onto it. Used to be a huge prog fan, but kinda fell off when I discovered punk music. Just kinda prefer music thats more to the point/not noodly.

That said, so far probably the best prog album I've gotten so far. Who knew the trick to making good Ren Faire type music is to funnel it through prog folk and not 60's psychedelic, haha. But yeah, definitely the folk aspect thats helping me out with this one.

Of course Aqualung and Locomotive Breath are great classics, but the rest is still fantastic.

There's a lot of really good, unique stuff going on here, particularly with the vocals being very R&B/soul inspired (definitely some Whitney Houston inspiration).

But I don't know if its the limitations of the genre, or if the band is just wearing their influences on their sleeves a bit too much, but the alt metal genre is just really letting all the unique stuff going on down. A lot of times I'm sitting here going "Oh, that sounds like Korn. Oh that sounds like Soundgarden. Oh that sounds like RHCP". It never really manages to standout out beyond the vocals for me. Songs like The Skank Heads are a dime a dozen for the genre, and it really feels like the band wasting their talents on stuff like that. Most of the rest of the album is at least less derivative than that song is, but not by a ton.

Decent enough album for the genre, but nothing that stands out on its own unfortunately, and nothing that manages to wow despite that.

OK, so a bluesier Dylan album. I can definitely see where people get the "Bob Dylan sucks at singing" from with this album, but again, he's always sounded like an 80 year old singing, only this time he was older when this album was made (55ish), so it still makes sense.

But yeah, bluesier stuff I'm burnt out on unless it's more alternative (See: The White Stripes). So I'm not super enamored with this one. But it's still solid.

Pretty good, unique punk music. Kinda got a Sleater-Kinney/Elvis Costello thing going if they were a little more hardcore punk. Some horns/ska stuff going on as well.

Will I go back to it, probably not, but it was an enjoyable listen.

Man, I guess I've been sleeping on Coldplay. I pretty much only knew them from their radio hits, and my general impression was a lot of boring fluff. There's a little bit of that here on the popular stuff like The Scientist and Clocks, even if they're still solid.

But you got stuff like Green Eyes with its bouncy country vibes are great. Definitely a little derivative of early Radiohead, but that's not a bad thing.

Overall, great record.

Some decent early punk music. Kinda sounds a little like Violent Femmes if they were voiced by Francis Black from The Pixies. However, both those bands are much better, and both manage to go without having racist lyrics (For the Love of Ivy). Maybe I'm missing something in the lyrics (for example, Dead Kennedy's do it in Holiday in Cambodia, but its use clearly has a point), but that lyric definitely caught me off guard.

So yeah. Perfectly fine punk music, with some questionable lyrics. But not enamored with it.

Started off good, aside from the really bad vocals in the first song. Next couple songs were solid aside from some random noises they'd add in repetitively. After that though, things started falling off a cliff a bit. Don't think I've ever had an album start off at a 4 but bumble its way to a 2 before.

Decent enough electronic music, but yeah, too many issues, and the music just isn't solid enough.

Listening to this, not a shock Kanye produced this, and not a shock its so damn good.

But Common is great here. Don't got a whole lot to say, but this album is chill as hell, got a very April/May Spring vibe.

Just a damn good hip hop record. Plus, with it sitting at a svelte 42 minutes, it doesn't wear out its welcome like a lot of hip hop albums did (such as My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye five years later).

I mean, it's Christmas music. It serves its purpose. But its not something I'm going to *listen* to, you know?

But yeah. Its fine.

You know, didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I am. Obviously the title of the album is way more provocative than the actual music. This album isn't going to bust a grape in a fruit fight, but the album isn't trying to Destroy Rock and Roll. Dunno why people hold it against the album, clearly its referencing the sermon sample in the title track, and samples rock and roll bands.

Anyways, yeah. Enjoying this quite a bit more than I thought I would. Kinda brings me back to the lately 2000's, early 2010's vibes with its sunny, airy electronic vibe. Quite a nostalgic sounding album.

Some songs veer a little too much on the dance side vs listening side for me (with at least one song that annoys me, that being guilty of love where the hook is just a rising synth riff that doesn't feel like it has a resolution), but I had a good time with it.

I mean, pretty much just see my White Blood Cells review. Incredibly influential and essential alt blues rock band. I've often complained about being burnt out on blues music, but what sets The White Stripes apart is the added dimension that the alt rock genre adds to it.

Obviously Seven Nation Army is one of the best openers of all time but this album is filled with fantastic songs like Ball and Biscuit, The Hardest Button to Button, and In the Cold, Cold Night.

Probably their best record, and all around a joy to listen to.

One of those albums that I desperately want to give a 5, but its just not quite there. The little interludes kinda break up the vibe for me, and some of the music is just slightly dated to me ears.

But its still a hell of a vibe with its breakbeat/trip hop leanings. I particularly love the tracks Building Steam With A Grain of Salt amd Changeling.

Probably one of the best (if not the best) records in the plunderphonics genre. I slightly prefer The Caretaker's Everywhere at the End of Time, but Endtroducing..... is a landmark in music.

I've listened to this album before, and loved it (knew it would be an instant 5* the second it popped up) probably a few times, but I've never really *listened* to it.

But damn is this thing perfect. You can probably credit this album/Sonic Youth for a good majority of the 90s alt rock bands on this list, along with a bunch more that aren't on the list, but are shockingly missing. Sleater-Kinney, Nirvana, Modest Mouse, Slint, even Portishead for their album Third, etc. Hell, the opening of Silver Rocket sounds like a riff that would be used in a dissonant black metal track, something Deathspell Omega would come up with (Cross the Breeze verges on dissonant black too, as well as my previous comparison to Portishead's Third).

What strikes me the most is the guitar tone and drumming on this album. Especially on songs like Teen Age Riot (probably the best song on the album, but thats not to discount the quality of the rest of the album. That song is just transcendant) and Cross the Breeze. The drummer really loves his 16th notes, and I appreciate that. Love how Cross the Breeze starts off with a more uplifting sound only to devolve immediately into a harsher, dark vibe.

And don't discount the bass, that is not always super prominent, but when it is, is always fantastic (see Teen Age Riot).

Total Trash where it takes the main riff and devolves it into a dissonant noise bastardization of itself. Honestly that's kinda a story on quite a few songs. Not only do they do some of the loud quiet loud, but they switch vibes up at the same time. Nice here, dissonant and dark there. Candle does the same thing.

But probably my favorite thing about this is how much drive it has. Obviously Teen Age Riot, but The Wonder is amazing for that with the anxiety it has while just MOVING.

So yeah. An absolute alt rock masterpiece that singlehandedly charted the course for alt rock through the 90s.

This is one of those albums where my immediate reaction was not good, but quickly found myself enjoying it. His singing honestly isn't great, but it works, and having Emmylou Harris backing is fantastic. Some of the more honky tonk stuff I'm not a fan of but songs like Brass Buttons are great.

Overall, decent record.

Easily Stevie's best, and that's saying something because the previous albums I've got were fantastic in their own right.

Pretty great that the album is basically just banger after banger for nearly two hours. Almost no fillers (Village Ghetto Land didn't really hit for me), classics in Sir Duke and I Wish, and my favorite discoveries on this one being Black Man and Another Star. Fantastic album, and definitely understand why its considered one of the best of all time.

I'm a huge fan of The Roots' album Things Fall Apart. Honestly one of my favorite albums of all time, and if it were up to me, I would have put that album on the list instead of this one.

Not to say Phrenology isn't good, it is. But it's not Things Fall Apart.
Mostly, I'm just not feeling most of this album. A lot of the instrumentals are really repetitive and I'm missing the heavy jazz vibes of Things Fall Apart.

That said, The Seed (2.0), Break You Off, and the beginning of Water is a great one-two-three punch on this record. Pussy Galore is also a really solid track, kinda feeling like they channeled an Eminem/Dre beat a little bit (While channeling it through The Roots' style), not something I was expecting from The Roots.

But yeah. I've heard this album a few years back, and I'm kinda understanding why I playlisted The Seed (2.0) and Break You Off and didn't really go back to it. Just not hitting me like the previous album did.

First of all, easily one of the best album covers of all time. Really encapsulates the beautiful, dreamyness of the music.

That said, generally this album isn't really my type of post-punk. It's a little too upbeat and happy for my tastes, but starting at Thorn of Crowns, the album really picks up for me, particularly with the song The Killing Moon.

So yeah, took a while for me to get into it, but once I did, it's a really great record.