Reviews by uls980

Pretty much same as the past Yes album. Would be higher if I was into prog music.

Roundabout and Long Distance Runaround being the standouts and classics here. South Side of the Sky and Heart of the Sunrise are solid cuts too, but there's a lot of short little interludes that really don't smoke much for me.

Firstly, I am objecting to this album's inclusion on the list for one reason, that it released too recently IMO. Feel like there should be a minimum of 5 years wait after an album releases before it gets added. Even in the rare case when an album comes out of the gate that's a clear instant classic (Nevermind, for example), waiting five years won't kill it. 99% of the time, there's no way you can judge an album's impact or influence on release.

And this album got added in the 2021 edition too, so went on immediately.

That said, still a great record, and Lana Del Rey definitely belongs on the list eventually. I slightly prefer Norman Fucking Rockwell!! as far as Lana albums go, but this still has great tracks. Breaking Up Slowly is great. Dance Till We Die has a fun little portion towards the end that breaks up the slow/chill vibe in a good way.

Not a ton to say about it though, it's just good.

Gonna be honest, wasn't a fan of this. Mostly it's issue is just being incredibly dated to my ears, and having a penchant for having fluff that doesn't really feel substantial. Stuff like Changes and Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914). That weird sound 60's music had that sounds like psychedelic ren faire music. Incredibly thin sounding. Just not my thing. Super simple piano lines that feel like they came out of a beginner's piano practice booklet as opposed to something I can actually sink my teeth into (A Rose For Emily).

This is everything I don't like about a lot of psychedelic 60's music.

Time of the Season is the only track on the album that really feels worthwhile and substantial to me. Stone cold classic song. Although Care of Cell 44 I thought was fairly solid.

Yeah. I know this is a widely regarded album, but not only is it dated, but its got that issue where the big hit sounds nothing like the rest of the album, and I just feel weirdly let down by it. You expect one sound, and you get another. And unfortunately that other sound is a sound I dislike.

Timeless, lush record. Every track is a winner on this one. Only track that I'm not super hot on is Save the Children. A little too on the nose for me, but still good music wise.

Don't got a ton to say about it, other than I appreciate that this album has two inductees on the "Marvin Gaye's Clueless Ass" playlist with What's Going On and What's Happening Brother.

Just some damn good blues, and the re-records on this are reminding me of this dudes influence.
Unfortunately, I'm just not a blues person. Good for sitting in a bar during a live performance, but not something I'd put on in the car or just to listen to.

3/5 out of context
1/5 based on context

Halfway through this album I was extremely confused as to why this album was rated so low. Music is solid, got a vibe to it, was enjoying it but not something I'd necessarily go back to. But looking up the context, yeah. Lyrics about grooming an underage girl. Fun. There's separating the art and the artist, and then there's the artist just straight up writing these lyrics. Maybe I'm missing context due to the language barrier, but my short time looking up the album doesn't seem to paint the plot of the album in negative light or some sort of cautionary tale, it's just straight up cool with it.

I guess the album was vaguely based on his relationship with Jane Birken (who was thankfully 22 at the time of meeting him, but still side eyeing that relationship with him being close to 20 years her senior), but still. Hard to not feel uncomfortable listening to this album.

I guess it influenced Portishead, so at least it did some good in having a part in making one of my all time favorite albums, Dummy?

Fantastic album that's just really not my speed. Superstition is a classic that feels slightly out of place on the album.

Couple other tracks I'm enjoying, You Got It Bad Girl and Lookin For Another Pure Love, but overall, just not my speed. Some songs just feel a tad long.

Perfect the whole way through, from the weird industrial jazz of Piggy to my favorite track Heresy. Closer is overplayed and a meme at this point but it's still the best track on the record being an emotional low point on a record that somehow manages to dig down further after that. A song that on any other album would be the most brutal song on the record lyrically, and here it's downright cheerful in comparison to some of the other tracks.

The Becoming somehow managing to keep finding ways to one up the anxiety when you thought it was taped out. Reptile with its scratching that bores into your brain. And the finale, Hurt, which has kinda been overshadowed by the Cash version at this point, but is still a fitting and poignant end to this brutal, despairing album.

Never listened to Joni Mitchell before, so didn't know what to expect, but wasn't necessarily expecting a fantastic jazz-tinged folk record. Incredibly dense for folk music, but still accessible.

Definitely gonna spin this a few more times to pick out some playlist stuff, but immediately my favorites are In France They Kiss On the Streets and Edith and the Kingpin.

You know an old record is great when you read that reviewers of the time thrashed it for being "too experimental", and then you listen to it and it doesn't really sound particularly experimental because it's influence is heard all over modern music (Bon Iver, Radiohead, Gorillaz). It just sounds like a damn good, classic record. It's funny because the one song they picked out as good, The Jungle Line, is easily the most experimental track on the record, and IMO one of the "weaker" cuts (still good).

Weird pull, but this album has Animal Crossing vibes. Would not be surprised to hear Totaka took influence from this album for the soundtrack to those games, haha.

Perfectly fine folk rock, would be good music to listen to while sitting in a cabin on a lake (which makes sense as I hear it's influence on Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago all over this record).

Mrs. Robinson and Hazy Shade of Winter being the standouts.

But overall, I'm just not a huge S&G fan. It's got its time and place to listen to for me, but not something I'd go back to regularly.

Not much to say, just a super fun album. Although hearing this makes it clear that Jamiroquai has a sound and sticks to it. Not the album with Canned Heat on it (Great use of that song in Napoleon Dynamite), but Canned Heat wouldn't sound out of place on this record despite that song being recorded 6 years later.

Dunno, but this album feels like a transition between old alt-rock Radiohead and experimental Radiohead, and it isn't working for me.
The lighter, airy-er tracks work (High and Dry, Fake Plastic Trees), but the more alt rock songs just sound dated. Also don't know if it's just me but I'm noticing a slight alt-country tinge to a lot of the music, and I'm not a huge fan of that either.
Overall though, decent.

Still not a huge Stones fan, although I liked this album as a whole better than Let It Bleed.

You can hear this album's influence everywhere, from La Grange by ZZ Top to Shania Twain.

Overall though, solid, just wasn't blown away.

I typically am not a huge fan of 80's pop and some of the sounds on this album are overplayed to me (but haven't aged like a ton of 80's pop), but this album is pristine and basically perfect. The songs are all so cohesive together. Extremely consistent sound through the whole thing.

Shocking that this reviewed poorly when it came out.

Last Chance on the Stairway and Save a Prayer are fantastic cuts, along with the two songs I've heard before, Rio and Hungry Like A Wolf.

Funny how not random true-random feels. Got Bowie's Heroes yesterday, and today Ziggy Stardust.

Anyways, went into this expecting a very easy 5/5 and while it's still a classic, surprised at myself for not liking it quite as much as I was expecting. Still a fantastic album with no bad songs, but mostly I just enjoy the big hits like Moonage Daydream, Ziggy Stardust, and Suffragette City. But this album has the classic Bowie acoustic guitar sound, so it's great.

Was super excited to get this when I saw it last night, but unfortunately was a lot different from what I was expecting.

I will give it praise, for an album that was composed on the spot in the studio, and lyrics being written as he was in front of the microphone, the album sounds insanely cohesive with a flow between the songs, to the point where halfway through I was curious if it was a concept/rock opera with a ton of time and thought put behind it.

That said, the biggest issue I have with this record is the production. It's a lot, raw, and its loud. I'm not a big fan of electronics that sound raw and grating, I prefer electronics to be a little more produced in sound (but not so much that it becomes soulless).
The first two tracks were the ones most heavily affected by that, so I didn't care much for them.
The next 3 tracks were solid, with Heroes (classic song) and Blackout being my favorites. Then the next couple tracks felt kinda like nothing tracks.

Honestly wasn't huge on the instrumentals either. They didn't feel fully fleshed out, but the detraction isn't necessarily from that fact as I don't think there was more to be done, it goes back to the album feeling like a rock opera. What the instrumentals are missing is a movie/story to be set to them.

Overall, solid record, just not really for me unfortunately, which is a bummer because I love Bowie and Heroes is a classic song.

My process of listening to this was initially thinking I'd give it a 3, halfway through struggling between 3 and 4, and by the end thinking I'd end up giving it a 5, but honestly don't think I can put it on the same level as an Abbey Road or TPAB, but it's a fun as hell record.

If a greaser from the 50's traveled forward to 1978 and made hipster new wave music. Some of best 80's pop rock I've ever heard, and the record was made in 78. Never really been a fan of male fronted new wave music, but this just hits right. Great pop songs, Costello's got a fantastic voice. What I imagine truly cool/hip music from that time sounds.

Hilariously I've only heard one Costello song prior to listening to this, Pump It Up (on Rock Band), and honestly that's probably the weakest song on the album.

Don't even think I can pick highlights, whole record is class.

Didn't realize I knew Lovefool until it came up, and yeah I understand why that was the big hit off the album. But while that is undeniably the best song on the album, I feel like the rest of the album is more interesting. Very unique sound, basically funneling a 60's sound through the 90's, with a fantastic vocalist and great lyrics.

Also, one of the most interesting covers of a song I've ever heard, covering Black Sabbath's Iron Man.

Was definitely looking forward to this once I learned it was post-hardcore.

Like if Nirvana and Sunnyday Real Estate had a kid who made post-hardcore music. Can definitely hear some Slint on here too.

Great record, only complaint is the songs tend to be too long. Coulda used a little cutting down (30 second feedback to start Super Unison was a bit much), but other than that, fantastic.

Not that I don't think this album should be on the list, but if we're only picking one SOAD album for the list, it should be Toxicity.

Anyways, I generally like System, just never really dug into them outside their big hits. This album is good, but I'm missing the melodies from their later stuff. And it feels more standard nu-metal compared to their later stuff, which I'm not as big as fan of.