Reviews by uls980

While I think Quadrophenia is their best record, this is easily them at their peak and most trimmed/muscular. The first album of theirs that I would say contains the sound they are known for and what I refer to as "dinosaur rock". Rock that is massive, hard hitting, and feels like its been around since the universe came into creation. Not a wasted second on this album with even the non-singles like Love Ain't for Keeping and Getting In Tune holding their own with the mega-hits from this record.

Special shoutout to the Entwistle cut on this album, My Wife, probably my favorite non-hit of theirs.

But yeah, perfect record with some of the most essential hits of rock history with Baba O'Riley, Behind Blue Eyes, and Won't Get Fooled Again, and some other fantastic cuts like Bargain and Going Mobile.

Again, some really great funk music that just isn't my thing. I do like the prog soul touches, and the little jazz flourishes, but I just am not a funk guy. A lot of the songs are also a tad long for my tastes, even if they're great all the way through.

I feel like, individually all the ideas on this record are fantastic. My only issue is that they tend to be dragged out for minutes on end in a slow build up, with no changes (no choruses, bridges, etc). I want the music to change up, give me a hook or something, and it just refuses to do so. So what I'm left with is a 9 minute long song that has the same beat/vibe that just keeps getting stuff added to it. And it ends up dragging for me.

This album did not start off great for me, mainly due to the singer. Honestly can't really get into his voice. But it evened out by Bloodsport, and the album was generally good the rest of the way through.

Shout out to the songs The Wait for its very Beastie Boys-Sabotage-esque riff (honestly you could sing Sabotage over it, and it'd work) as well as the Ministry-Thieves-esque riff to Change. Probably the two highlights off the record and proof that this is influential (since those riffs were basically lifted for Sabotage and Thieves, lol).

You know, I went into this expecting not to like it since I don't really like Velvet Underground and Nico. That experimental psychedelic sound isn't for me. But the whole time I was listening to this though, I was enjoying it and wondering why it was reminding me of something. Mostly I was thinking "Does this sound like 90's pacific northwest music, like The Spinanes", which it does... but halfway through That's the Story of My Life it hit me. This sounds a lot like Belle and Sebastian. So yeah. This album honestly sounds way ahead of its time, which is why I'm enjoying it.

Great record.

The fourth Costello album I've gotten for this project, and probably the best one I've gotten other than This Years Model. Hookier than Armed Forces and Imperial bedroom, but still with a bit of an issue with writing good choruses (Sometimes even when there is a chorus, it doesn't feel like it, which is weird for pop/rock music to me).

I mention this in every review, but Costello still manages to be the coolest artist on this list 20 years into his career.

But yeah, while This Years Model is still superior, this is the best I've gotten from him since then. Think I'll still give it the three though, but just barely. There are a couple songs here or there that are just not doing it for me, particularly the more ballady or hookless songs.

Honestly not what I was expecting from this. For some reason I was thinking LL Cool J was more around the late 90's/early 2000's, so was expecting more complex rhyme schemes.

As it stands, this is just not working for me. It's that old school, style of rapping that I don't really care for. The instrumentals are solid, but not particularly standing out to me either.

Good album. Some classics, but as before with psychedelic music, its just not my thing.

Is it really a live album if you need to overdub part of it to make it presentable (claimed to be as much as 25% overdubbed)?

I don't know if it's suggestion or what I'm actually hearing, but I feel like I can definitely tell that this thing isn't 100% live. Some of it has an overly glossy production that really pulls the punch out of it (sometimes it feels like it was recorded in an empty room), particularly the first half of the record.

Musically, the album's fine. Cuts like Massacre, The Boys Are Back In Town (classic), and Warrior are great. But on other tracks, its just lacking punch.

But yeah. I'm already not enamored with live albums (I've always argued they shouldn't be on the list as they're a glorified greatest hits/compilation - but I doubt I'd win that argument), and knowing that this album is possibly significantly overdubbed doesn't help.

Fun album, but I'm not crazy for it, mostly for the production. Live? Partially. Dangerous? Absolutely not.

Listening to this album, I'm downright shocked this thing is rated less than a 3. I can generally get a vibe of what the rating will be for an album while listening to it. Absolutely floored at it being 2.77, was not expecting that. It should honestly be up around 3.2 minimum. Maybe it's trying to do too much, and that's why people are bouncing off it, yet it feels cohesive anyway, and I'm not seeing complaints about that specifically. Mostly just people accusing it of being too long and pretentious.

Every song on this album (or almost everything, Pristeen kinda sucks) has something awesome going on. Sure, its long, but it's class. From the Bowie/Pink Floyd vibes of Safesurfer to the 90's as hell groove of If You Loved Me At All to the very REM sounding Drive, She Said to the Chili Peppers-esque East Easy Rider to [Insert the next sound Julien tackles on every song on this album], with a somewhat Nick Cave/Depeche Mode singing type voice.

It's just a fantastic, varied, something-for-everyone album. Probably not something I'm gonna go back to, but still a great record.

So I accidentally listened to this album on shuffle, haha. So can't point out any specific songs in this review.

But overall, like most electronic music, its fine (tm). Nothing bad, but nothing that particularly jumps out to me. It's perfectly decent background music if you're looking for sci-fi type sounds.

Until, and even at the start of Moonlight Mile, I was strongly feeling this review would be "Like every other Stones album, great singles, don't care about the rest because I'm just not down for the bluesy stuff".

But Midnight Mile managed to right itself pretty quick after a shakey start. And there are some pretty solid deep cuts like Sway as well. Just slightly the best Stones album I've gotten so far.

Honestly never been big on Jane's Addiction. Didn't care for Nothing's Shocking when I listened to it years ago. Mostly because of Perry Ferrell's vocals. Just this sharp, high voice that cuts through everything and isn't pleasant to me.

That's not to say the rest of the band aren't good though. Dave Navarro's guitar work is great and Stephen Perkins' drumming I really enjoy. But musically, it never quite coalesces into something I enjoy, especially with Perry's vocals cutting through everything.

Pretty much the whole track list is just fine for me, although Three Days in particular is great. Honestly, I prefer the back half of the track list starting at that song, but the rest aren't quite as good as Three Days for me.

So yeah. Solid record, but I'm just not enamored with it.

Honestly don't got a ton to say. Just a fantastic slice of classic speed metal. Songs like Ace of Space and (We Are) The Road Crew are fantastic.

Album does get a little repetitive, but that's not a bad thing with a band like Motorhead. If Motorhead didn't sound like Motorhead, that'd be a huge problem. Some bands you don't want them having music that all sounds the same. But some you do. AC/DC is another example of that. I want every AC/DC song to sound like Back in Black. And Motorhead is the same, every song should sound like Ace of Spades.

But anyways, yeah. Amazing record. I probably wouldn't have given it a five anyways, but having a song like Jailbait makes it easy to not give the five. What's with 70's and 80's bands having a pathological need to make a song about wanting to get with underage girls? Embarrassing and gross.

I remember liking The Fat of the Land the first time listening to it, but being a little more reserved listening to it for this project.

The opposites happened for this one. Liking it quite a bit on a second listen. Will say that it does get a little less interesting/simpler later in the track list, but I do enjoy the dark vibe of it. I'll have to listen to it again and listen to The Fat of the Land again, but for right now, I think I prefer it.

Queen's best album, no doubt. I will say the more straight forward rock tracks are generally the weak points on this album (I'm In Love With My Car, Sweet Lady, Love of My Life). But then you got the epics like Bohemian Rhapsody and The Phophet's Spmg which are fantastic. Along with those, you got the silly cuts like Seaside Rendezvous and Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon. Special shout to Death on Two Legs though. At one point my favorite Queen song, and one that just goes hard.

Divorced Dad-Core: Country Edition

There's definitely a sexist double standard when I sit here and praise/sing along with country songs by women who talk about killing their exes, but then recoil at Dwight here doing the same, but the recognition of that double standard does not make it better for me. Bro, she cheated on you. Just cut her loose and move on. You don't need to kill her execution style, you fucking psycho.

But yeah, on top of the awful, misogynistic lyrics, you got bog-standard, stereotypical country music with the twangiest of the twanged out vocals. I've heard the music from this album a billion times before. About the only redeeming thing on this is the slight Mexican influences in the instrumentation, but thats not enough to save it from getting the 1 for me.

Honestly don't got a ton to say other than this album has a ton of nostalgia for me. It's the soundtrack to going to Cedar Point as a kid, since the first time I went with my family, my dad had the greatest hits playing in the car on the way there. Songs like Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is, Beginnings, Questions 67 amd 68, and I'm A Man are fantastic. Couple tracks on here that could have been cut, particularly Free Form Guitar, but yeah.

Of Zeppelin's "heavy hitters" (everything up to this album), honestly this is one of my "least" favorite of theirs, although that's not saying a ton since its still great. My only real complaint is the length of it. While nothing on it is bad or even just fine, its all great, sometimes you can have too much of a good thing, and it drags. Second half does change things up a bit with an extended string if chiller songs, so thats welcome, but still not enough to stop it from wearing me out by the end.

As a side note, its kinda funny that while after this album is where Zeppelin kinda took a step back, they still managed to have my two favorite songs from them on those later albums (Fool in the Rain and Achilles Last Stand. Two killer Bonham tracks).

Fuck me, another two hour long drum and bass album. It sounds fine, and I kinda actually enjoy it, but again, two goddamn hours of music that all sounds the same.

Take your 3 and leave me alone.