Reviews by uls980

Another good album from Beck, although not as fantastic as Sea Change. More of a vibes album rather than one that impacts you, despite kinda continuing the feel of Sea Change, just with a southern/western vibe. Dunno if anything is particularly hitting me from this. Doesn't seem to have the emotional punches that its predecessor had.

Although I do remember E-Pro from playing it in Rock Band 2.

Ultimately though, this feels like an album that could be dropped from the list. Sea Change covers this era of Beck well, and you got Odelay for the 90s stuff. Feeling somewhere between a 3 and 4, but don't think it'll be something I go back to much, so I'll stick with a 3 for now.

Generally I'm not a huge fan of ska (unless it's ska punk like Streetlight Manifesto, only ska band where I like whole albums). Thought I was gonna get a treat with this one leading off with Gangsters, with its very gothic ska, Scooby-Doo ass vibe. Unfortunately the rest of the record is just regular-old ska. Maybe some other stuff thrown in like a little ska punk here and there. Not that it's bad, but it's not something that wows me either.

So yeah. Gangsters is easily the best track on the record with the rest being decent ska.

I will say as a side note, being produced by Elvis Costello tracks. I'd be curious to see the listing of how many albums artists appeared on in any capacity on the list. If so, throw another Costello album on due to this, lol. Bowie's definitely much higher with guest spots and production spots probably all over the list.

There's some musical ideas on here that hit for me, but almost across the board the vocals are doing it in for me, both male and female. The vocals are operating on a very B-52s wavelength, but without it being entertaining and fun.

I'm finding for me to like post-punk, it needs to have goth or new wave influences in it. When it's just sitting in a purely punk side, it always comes off as irritating, overly full of itself, and nauseating. It doesn't have the drive or joy that punk does, and doesn't have the melancholy of new wave or goth. It always feels like they just took punk, and removed an essential component, while adding grating dissonance.

That said, like I said, there are some ideas that hit, particularly the song L.A. where that hits in a more goth/new wave direction. And you can definitely hear this album's influence, whether its Sleater-Kinney (three days in a row I've mentioned them. You'd think they're the only band I've listened to), Sonic Youth, or Gorillaz.

But it's gonna be a no from me, dawg. There's nothing here that entertains me, quite a bit that annoys me, and at over an hour long, it's too much.

Side note, sad I couldn't keep the 4-streak going. But I did get five 4s in a row!

*Man listens to Sleater-Kinney once*

Man, this sounds like Sleater-Kinney. Mostly I joke, because I said the same with Elastica yesterday, but the guitar tone and style is giving me some SK vibes as well, just with some more standard late 90's/early 00's alt rock vibes. Similar to what I said about Aimee Mann's record, but some of this record could easily slot into an episode of Buffy.

But yeah, this is a great record. Not much specific to talk about it, but I'm liking it more than Let England Shake (which I gave a 4) because of the aforementioned SK-isms. Really cool Thom Yorke feature on This Mess We're In.

When I saw the genre listing, wasn't thinking much of it. Surprised me to find this album has more in common with the Seattle riot grrrl/punk scene compared to bands I'd more associate with brit pop and post-punk.

The bass work is fantastic, and between that and the guitar, its got a deep and weird Sleater-Kinney vibe to it. Really liking stuff like Car Song, S.O.F.T., and Hold Me Now.

Didn't think the British had PNW grunge/punk in them, yet here we are.

Really great gothic folk. Love how dark and macabre it is. Definitely think it is a tad front loaded. Not that anything is bad, just a song like The Kindness of Strangers didn't hit me as hard, being more of a "sweet" ballad when the rest of the album stuck strongly to the really heavy and dark gothic folk vibes. O'Malley's Bar is a tad long, but great itself. Love when Nick Cave is in this mode. Up Jumped the Devil from Tender Prey operates on the same wavelength, just more horror than gothic folk.

Make that two albums that have surprised me vs. what I expected. Going into this, I only knew her work on Velvet Underground and Nico, which I do not care for at all with it's psychedelia (albeit experimental). Was not expecting experimental folk.

Really beautiful and melancholic stuff here. Still some of the psychedelic stuff I would normally dislike (Winter Song - almost ren faire vibe), but am quite enjoying it here. There's just a richness here that the fast majority of psychedelic music doesn't have. Can't remember where or who mentioned it in this sub, but someone said something to the effect of "Psychedelic music from that time was a mile wide and puddle deep. So many bands that had one great song but couldn't keep it up through a whole album", and I agree with that, but Chelsea Girl is the exception to that. While not the whole album hits on those sounds, when it does, its fantastic.

Definitely gonna check out her later stuff eventually, especially since it sounds like she moved in a post-punk/goth rock direction, which is interesting coming from where she started.

Man, goes to show preconceived notions can be wrong. Not that I thought this would be bad, but of the little I know of The Clash, I was expecting just standard old-school punk, similar to Ramones or The Sex Pistols, just better. And it being a double (although a short double), I thought that would wear thin past the 30 minute mark.

But almost immediately, they go off the rails and launch into a bunch of different styles and genres, whether its surf punk, new wave, post-punk, reggae, ska, etc.

Just all around fantastic stuff. Great little licks, production ideas, added instruments everywhere to really flesh it out. Even on the punk songs like Clampdowm which does sound like a song that wouldn't be out of a place on a Ramones record, there's guitar licks, cowbells, synths and whatnot that'd never get in a hypothetical Ramones version.

I will say, it still does run a tad long, but great album.

Pretty solid new wave/post-punk record. But it's very 50/50 for me. Kinda switches off between stereotypical, upbeat 80's music that I'm not a big fan of (Glittering Prize), and more melancholic post-punk in the vein of The Cure, which I like quite a bit (Somewhere Someone In Summertime). But its kinda in that "When I have The Cure, I'll just listen to The Cure" situation. Just goes to reinforce my theory that good 80's music needs a darker, melancholic, somber edge to it. If it's just upbeat, its not going to be good.

Solid, but not anything special for me.

Tough to really explain my thoughts on this one, but fIREHOSE feels like one of those "Your favorite band's favorite band" bands. Like, they are hitting on a lot of good ideas in this record, but none of them really coalesce into good music? And your favorite band was able to take what they heard from fIREHOSE and repackage it into good music. Like I don't know if they were influenced by fIREHOSE, but some of Fromohio reminds me of Sunny Day Real Estate, just without the emo? A touch southern rock or country meets late 80's indie rock.

It's tough to describe though, but I always went up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as a kid for vacation, and this music reminds me of the feeling of crossing the Mackinac Bridge on the way home from vacation and you get into the lower peninsula where the grass is just more brown, its hotter, and you don't see the lakes anymore. Just a vibe of returning back to life after having a great time. Weird analogy, but that's what popped into my head. Dry, hot music that while isn't sad, just makes me sad.

Started off great, ended great with Layla. Lots of overly long blues songs that kinda bored me (despite Clapton stuffing those songs to the brim with good stuff). Was thinking initially I'd rate higher, but then the bluesier stuff kicked in.

You know, I'm starting to think the author of the book kinda sucks at picking albums from the year 2000 or later. This isn't a criticism of evermore (I actually quite like it), it's more that I just get the feeling that the author is out of his element when it comes to modern music. Putting on Queens of the Stone Age's S/T over Songs For the Deaf? System of A Down instead of Toxicity? Then it's putting albums on WAY too early before the album had a chance to gain influence, especially when there's much better picks from the same artists. Fetch the Bolt Cutters over When the Pawn...? Chemtrails Over the Country Club over Norman Fucking Rockwell!!? It's like the author either understands a band should be on the list, but doesn't listen to the band, or he wants to be ahead of the game with declaring an album an instant classic, and whiffs every time.

evermore definitely falls into the second category with albums getting on way too early. Sometimes an album comes along that is quite clearly an instant classic (I'd argue Chappell Roan's The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is that), but evermore is not that. Hell, it's not even Taylor Swift's best folk album from that same period, that would be folklore. And I don't even think folklore necessarily should get onto the list itself (Although I'd hear argument), despite it being what I think is her best album.

That said, evermore is a fantastic, cozy little winter album. The best thing Taylor Swift ever did was hunker down, write lyrics that focused more on telling a story instead of continuing to rehash her relationships, and make these folk albums. Not to say that what she was doing before wasn't good, just this is a breath of fresh air that she needed. Compared to folklore however, this one I think tends to fall into a little bit of repetitiveness with a lot of the songs kinda just carrying on the same vibe without trying to evolve or crescendo. It doesn't have the emotional gut punch of a song like exile (feat. Bon Iver). But I do like it a lot. Songs like no body, no crime (feat. HAIM) with it's very Carrie Underwood Before He Cheats vibe and coney island (feat. The National) really stand out for me (And I swear the songs with features aren't the only good songs on these albums, cardigan, the next great american dynasty, and invisible string all from folklore are great as well. From evermore, long story short has a great drive to it, and generally the rest are all solid).

Overall, great album, just not a great pick for this list. There are better picks from her discography (folklore), and it feels like way too soon to be adding this to the list anyways.

Normally I would complain about an album that made me sit through two hours of music. Anything more than 50 minutes is usually pushing it for me, with 60 minutes being an absolute maximum.

However, not so for Mellon Collie. This album has absolutely no filler, which is insane for an album of this length. The only other double/triple LPs I can name off the top of my head that come close or equal to the quality of this one are George Harrison's All Things Must Pass (Gave it a 4/5) and The Who's Quadrophenia (Would give it a 5/5 if it were on the list).

All this to say, I'm VERY skeptical of any album that thinks it can sustain quality over 50 minutes. And yet Mellon Collie could probably have a THIRD LP on it and still be great.

Anyways, Mellon Collie. Absolutely a vibes album, and one of the best to ever do it. You basically have two types of songs. You have the Tonight, Tonights which exemplify the accompanying art of the record (Whether it's the album art or Tonight, Tonight's music video in all its A Trip to the Moon early 1900's glory), and you have the metal/noise rock songs. And all of it is perfect.

The two LPs are pretty front loaded with the best tracks on the record (Tonight, Tonight, Jellybelly, Zero, Here is No Why, Bullet With Butterfly Wings; Bodies, In the Arms of Sleep, and 1979), but don't let that fool you, the rest are still insane. The Smashing Pumpkins knew when to add little flourishes and sounds to elevate everything on this. You could cut this double LP up in just about any way to make a single LP, and still have a banger of an album.

Went into this knowing it'd get a 4 at least. Only thing is, was the length justified to get it to 5? And the answer is more than yes. If anything, like I said, they could have added more and I wouldn't have gotten bored.

You know, while it's definitely a solid, pretty pleasant listen, I don't really see what this album particularly brings vs artists from similar genres (Acid jazz - Jamiroquai, trip hop - Massive Attack/Portishead, hip hop - everyone). Can definitely hear a little influence this album had, particularly on the first two Gorillaz albums.

At an hour long it's a bit long especially given that it kinda rides the same vibe throughout.

But yeah, probably didn't need to hear this one before I died. Solid, but nothing special, and doesn't feel particularly influential or well known enough. Definitely an album that'll have it's die hard defenders though.

Not really a fan of electronic music, but all things considered this is pretty solid stuff. Kinda at the intersection of pump up club bangers and Tony Hawk-esque skateboarding soundtrack.

Recognized Kool Keith on Diesel Power, which is cool.

Overall though, not really something I'd go back to, but was a pretty good listen. Had a good time being transported back to the late 90s.

My fourth S&G album (counting Graceland by Simon), and 200th album of this project!

Out of the S&G albums proper on this list, probably my least favorite of the three (gave both the others a 3 as well). Not much really stood out to me aside from Baby Driver (love the movie the song inspired as well). But everything else is pretty solid. The title track, I swear I'm more familiar with a cover of it but I can't figure what version that is. None of the covers (or original) I'm finding on Spotify are as bombastic as I remember.

But yeah, good album. Couple great tracks. Weakest of the three S&G albums on the list, but they're all some flavor of 3 to me. But better than Graceland which I gave a 2.

My previous experience with Lou Reed has basically been limited to the albums Velvet Underground & Nico and Lulu with Metallica, and I can't say I enjoyed those ones (although I should go back to Lulu just out of curiosity, it's been years so I don't really remember it).

Couple that with seeing the psychedelic rock tag on the generator along with hearing it's a "challenging" '70s album (generally, I struggle with those. Gave Talking Heads' Fear of Music and Iggy Pop's The Idiot both 1s), and I wasn't having high hopes for this one.

Lucky for me, this doesn't really sound like either of those albums, nor does it sound psychedelic (although I get why the tag is there). To me it sounds closer to if David Bowie and Frank Zappa worked together.

Feel like the highlight of the album to me is the drumming. If I'm not mistaken I think I hear double bass in there at some points? Great drum tone and sound.

Really feels a lot like Pink Floyd's The Wall, just cut down to a manageable length.

As for it being challenging, perhaps, but it manages to have some good hooks and can be pretty upbeat when it wants to, despite the dark subject matter, whereas with some of the other "challenging" '70s albums I've heard, it feels like they are allergic to hooks and catchiness.

Think my standout track might be Oh Jim.

Maybe not an album I'd go back to, but it is really good. Shocked this got savaged in reviews when it first came out.

Third Beatles album (fourth if you count All Things Must Pass by Harrison), and I'm pretty sure I've listened to this before, but am not recognizing some of the deeper cuts.

Will say, being a double album, this one probably could have used some pruning. It's a weird dichotomy between some of the best work they ever did in their career (While My Guitar Gently Weeps is probably the best song of their career, along with other fantastic tracks like Back in the USSR, Ob-La-Di, Helter Skelter, and Revolution) with some really weird, nothing tracks (Wild Honey Pie, really?) and decent but not especially great tracks in the context of the Beatles (Rocky Raccoon).

Definitely hearing them going heavy on the "proper" British Royalty sound they'd have from time to time with this record (Piggies), along with a slight American 50's diner-esque sound.

Still, some great deeper cuts like Martha My Dear and Blackbird. The Beatles really have a knack for making weird, gimmick songs legit. Ob-La-Di, Martha My Dear, a lot of the great Ringo songs (not just on this record). This is definitely a McCartney/Harrison record where Lennon's contributions weren't quite as strong (aside from Revolution).

But yeah. Great album, just inconsistent. Runs the gamut from greatest of all time to puzzling why specific songs were included. This would be a 5/5 if it were cut down to a single album about 60 mins instead of the 93 it actually is.

Absolute classic album.
Every song is a gem.

Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
The Stranger
Just the Way You Are
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Only The Good Die Young
She's Always A Woman

All fantastic. Staple of classic rock radio in my childhood.

Will say, still giving it just a 4 because, despite it being a perfect album, it's just not one that hits me like the ones that I have ranked 5s.

Surprised this album is from 1993, feels like something that could easily slot into the late 90s as music that would get picked as a track for a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode. At points almost verges on Shania Twain type country, but never fully commits, and it adds a nice twang to some of the songs without being too much while also maintaining that 90's more upbeat alt sound.

Not quite sure how I feel about it though. I like it, but I don't know if I like it enough to go back to it in the future. Maybe if I'm looking for that specific late 90s vibe. Will say at 52 minutes, it's probably a tad on the long side, and could have used a song or two being cut.

Side note after I wrote the review: Apparently she was actually on an episode of Buffy, performing her songs. I called it, lol.