Reviews by uls980

Absolutely classic album. Dunno if I'd have put Killers on the list, but this one is essential.

Honestly better than I was expecting, and I was expecting it to be very good. But what I also was expecting is it to sound a but dated. And a song or two do, with its more 80s metal sound, but the album is just great hits after great hits.

Particularly Children of the Damned and Hallowed Be Thy Name (and of course, the title track and Run to the Hills).

Going in, was not excited for another EDM record, but this one surprised. Not all of it hit for me, but Lush 3.1, LUSH 3-2, and HALCYON+ON+ON were all great.

Honestly, probably gonna give it a 4 purely for surprising me.

Honestly wasn't expecting much from this. Remember listening to it years ago, and not liking it.

But enjoying it quite a bit this go around. Some songs have a kinda twee, Led Zeppelin-esque indie rock vibe to them that I like, particularly a song like Temecula Sunrise or The Bride.

Stillness is the Move is probably my favorite.

Dark Side of the Moon for people who aren't depressed.

Pretty solid album, although I like the darker vibes of Virgin Suicides. A tad dated, especially with the 70s funk stuff going on a bit.

The final two songs are easily the best (and shocker, they're the ones that are giving the most DSotM vibes).

Any Curtis Mayfield is good Curtis Mayfield, although I would have loved Curtis to be on the list as well.

But yeah, great album as always. Chill, a little funky, full of soul. I especially like the songs Billy Jack and Hard Times.

Like if Nick Cave were a theater kid and more traditionally inclined with his music as opposed to his post-punk/punk blues type stuff.

Gonna admit, I don't understand the hate for this one. Sub 2.5 seems really low. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not hugely enamored with this either, but yeah, its solid.

Definitely occupies a unique spot on the list. Dunno if I'd put it on the list, but at least it seemed to influence Elton John and Elvis Costello.

Pleasant enough music, but this is just way too understated for me.

The music is secondary to the vocals. Really the only time it picks up is with Mbube (The Lion King song) and Iya Guduza.

Everything else just doesn't really do much for me. The laughing in One More Dance by Charles Coleman was really annoying as well.

Feel like the name of the game on this one is the harmonies between Dolly, Linda, and Emmylou.

Not everything on this album is for me (Some of the more ballady stuff is a little slow for my tastes, and there's at least one song - Telling Me Lies - that trades out country for a more 80's pop ballad sound that I really don't care for). But when this album is hitting, it is HITTING.

Songs like The Pain of Loving You, Rosewood Casket, and Wildflowers are fantastic.

Trying to be objective given the circumstances of generating this album is tough, but I did give the previous Dolly album I got (Coat of Many Colors) a four as well months ago. So I don't think anything external is influencing my score here. It's just a really good record.

Weird one, even for Tom Waits' standards.

I was definitely expecting more of the same of what I got. Experimental blues. But what I'm getting is a kinda diner jazz, spoken word thing that I'm honestly enjoying. It's hard to kinda pick out any specific songs as they all kinda lead into eachother and just vibe through the whole thing. There's definitely a throughline to the whole album.

My only complaint really would be that because there's that throughline, the variation isn't really there, and at over an hour long, it does kinda outstay it's welcome a tad.

But the live audience is a pretty fun touch as well. Definitely prefer some of Waits' other stuff, but this one is a fun one.

I definitely feel like the hate for RHCP in recent years has gotten really performative, similar to the hate for Nickelback, Coldplay, Kesha, and Imagine Dragons (not saying any of those are good, although Coldplay is pretty solid, and Kesha has some banger tunes. Glad she got a bit of a reappraisal).

I understand not liking them (and this album does have some stuff I won't defend), but the way people talk about them, you'd think Keidis personally stole their puppy and killed their car.

But yeah, this is a pretty good album, held up massively by the singles. Some decent deep cuts like This Velvet Glove and Road Trippin' (although mostly for the instrumentals). But then you got some unforgivably bad lyrics from Keidis on songs like Get On Top, I Like Dirt, Purple Stain, and Right On Time. Also just terrible singing from him on Porcelain. No defending that shit.

But yeah, with Around the World, Parallel Universe, Californication, Otherside, and Scar Tissue, a lot can be forgiven on this album. Just a murderer's row of some of RHCPs best songs.

Feel like if you cut this album down to a trim 38 to 42ish minutes, this could be a particularly great album. As it stands, its just pretty good, even with some atrocious songs on it.

Lastly, I get Rick Rubin is great with getting amazing performances out of bands, but at some point that man needs to answer for his crimes against listeners ears for constantly brickwalling every album he produces.

I'll give The Notorious Byrd Brothers one thing. With the exception of Change is Now and Space Oddity, which suck, the rest of the album is actually pretty solid as far as psych rocks albums go. Still not my thing, so it'll only get a 3, but its got some interesting, intricate stuff.

And did not expect an interpolation of Dave Brubeck's Take Five on Tribal Gathering.

I'd definitely remove a Byrds album or two from the list, but this one is definitely essential.

Honestly liking this more than I was expecting.

Just barely scraped by getting a 4* on this one with the strength of Dunning Dry and Cowgirl in the Sand. The harder, more folk rock sound you get from Young, similar to songs like Southern Man, Revolution Blues, etc.

Still a solid album, but probably the "weakest" of his I've gotten on the list.

The best songs on this album are the ones that sound nothing like the rest of it. So Stolen Car and (my favorite off of it) Stars All Seem to Weep. I especially like the trip-hop/g-funk of the latter.

The rest of the album is kinda boring and forgettable, although with a lot of Joni Mitchell worship going on, but I'd just rather listen to Joni.

Solid album though.

This one's perfectly fine, but I honestly am not in the mood for an hour and a half long live Van Morrison.

Some of this is solid, and the performances/recording are great, but then some of it kinda sounds like a whimpy Stevie Ray Vaughan.

So yeah. Its fine.

This is some Mad Men-ass montage music, or the music that plays during dancing/drinking scenes (Mad Men-Core, if you well, which is like 75% of the scenes in the show).

Solid jazz though. Not my normal type of jazz. I like jazz that feels more cocktail bar as opposed to dance jazz, but that's not really relevant to my rating. Good stuff.

I've been holding off on listening to this outside the generator because I wanted to go into it with somewhat fresh ears. Back in the day, I played this album into the ground, so I'm very familiar with it, especially the singles I have in my playlist.

But what I really want to check out this time is the deeper cuts like Let Me Drown, My Wave, Mailman, Limo Wreck, Fresh Tendrils, and 4th of July (among others).

While I generally am loathe to get psychedelic albums from the generator, this album uses the genre in a fantastic way to add a dark eeriness to the music. Stuff like Mailman is just uncomfortable in a good way.

Or Limo Wreck and 4th of July with it's more doom metal offerings.

And obviously, the hits are hitting. Spoonman being one of the few 7/4 songs to get big. The Day I Tried to Live being one of my favorite lyrical songs from Cornell. Black Hole Sun being the quintessential Soundgarden song.

Overall, this is just a classic, amazing album, and one that stands as one of the best rock albums of all time.

Honestly I think this is my favorite Tom Waits album so far (Only have Nighthawks at the Diner left).
Just a damn good experimental blues rock album. Earth Died Screaming, Dirt in the Ground, and Goin' Out West being the highlights. Love his really rough, Louis Armstrong like voice on some of these tracks.

Oof, did not enjoy this one.
Kinda feels like a weak version of Huey Louis and the News. Also reminds me of Steely Dan, in that the production is so soulless and pristine.

While You See a Chance is a fine single, but beyond that this is just boring 80's rock. No song called Spanish Dancer should lack Spanish sounding music. Absolute malpractice.

Was pretty excited to get this, and it did not disappoint. Still going to give it a three, since some of the production isn't really my taste (the more stripped back stuff, like on Work It, even though thats a great song, is what I'm not huge on).

When its more R&B and more full of a sound is where I'm liking it, such as on Bring the Pain, Nothing Out There For Me, and Can You Hear Me.

And Missy has a great flow. Good stuff.

Pretty interesting album overall. Weirdly feels like an album Dimery would leave off the list, and yet here we are. Feels a little too 00's alt rock for Dimery I feel.

Some of the drumming is giving me Massive Attack vibes, but with post-rockish instrumentations in some spots. Definitely a bit of a vibe.

The vocals aren't my favorite with the falsettos. Not really meshing well with the music where I would prefer those vocals more in R&B as opposed to alt rock.

Unfortunately, a lot of this album is a little too vibey for me, so what I thought was a 4*, is a 3*.