Reviews by uls980

This one I'm struggling with, because I am appreciating that he's going in a more straight 90's alternative direction vs. his old janglepop/post-punk stuff with The Smiths.

But his voice, especially on the more rocking cuts, kinda gets drowned out, and I've never particularly been a fan of his vocals. This is one of his better vocal performances though.

Hold Onto Your Friends has an amazing melody as well.

One of those albums that live and die off the big hit. Not to say the rest of the album is bad, but there's a reason I've only really heard Sweet Dreams before. And what a song it is.

The rest of the tracklist generally lands on "too upbeat 80's for me", but its fine. That is, aside from This is the House. Awful song.

Honestly was not expecting jazz when I put this one on. Its got a very late night talk show/eating at sundown on the river in a European city vibe (think Van Gogh's Cafe Terrace at Night).

That said, not hugely into this type of jazz. Definitely a vibe that I can get into in certain scenarios, but not something I'd listen to outside that.

Just a damn solid record from Otis. Unfortunately not the one with Sitting on the Dock of the Bay, but it does have a great rendition of My Girl.

Not sure on it being included due to mostly being a covers album, but good nonetheless.

Had to actually go and relisten to Damn the Torpedoes to be able to accurately rate this album. And yeah, it basically confirmed what I was going to say.

S/T is a pretty decent album, but aside from Breakdown and American Girl, this album struggles due to Tom Petty still trying to find his sound. Tom and the Heartbreakers would eventually hone in on the sound he used for the two big singles from this album, especially once he got to albums like Damn the Torpedoes and Full Moon Fever, but unfortunately this album mostly doesn't hit on that sound.

Good album, but another case of right band/artist, wrong album. Damn the Torpedoes, Full Moon Fever, or Wildflowers would have been the right pick.

This is more the type of country that I'm likely to enjoy. Even still, it's kinda a sleepy record. Solid, but not something I'd really go back to.

Perfectly fine psychedelic pop/soul. Groovin' is a solid track.
Other than that, not really speaking to me.

Goddamn is this a great album.
Never heard it or anything off it before, but it's damn near flawless.

Especially the songs Revolution Blues and On the Beach.

But one of the annoying things I've noticed about this project is that, unless I have a history with an album, once you get onto like the 3rd or 4th album from the same artist, it starts getting really difficult to say anything new.

It's Neil Young. One of the greatest to ever do it. What more is there to say?

This one kinda flipped back and forth between being some great, Falloutcore-esque music, and more bluesy stuff that I'm not crazy for. So overall, just kinda middling for me, but still a good album.

It's always interesting to listen to nu-metal because I love metal music, especially the more extreme genres like death metal that this record borrows heavily from, so all the sounds I like are generally there. Yet I can't really get myself that enamored with this record despite that.

And I think its mostly due to presentation and how the band comes off. A lot of times with nu-metal, even if it sounds similar to what I like, it just comes off as juvenile and whiney (vs. a band like Death, who sounds like they actually have something to say). Slipknot are generally better in that regard compared to a Korn, Limp Bizkit, or Disturbed, but not by much.

Another thing generally hurting it is the drum production being so poppy and metallic (not in the sense of being pop or metal music, but in the sense of the onomatopoeia "pop" or a very metallic sound). This is a general problem with a lot of nu-metal, honestly. It clashes with the other instruments hard, really letting down Joey Jordinson's excellent playing.

Lastly, what's hurting this album in particular is the lack of anything that is catchy. The whole album is just blistering heavy, with no breather room for something more melodic, even when Corey Taylor sings clean). Like, later on Slipknot would go on to make better stuff with more of an ear for hooks and pop sensibilities like Psychosocial (one of my go-to karaoke songs - also check out the fantastic mashup with Justin Bieber's Baby: Psychosocial Baby), Duality (which can be sung to the tune of Dolly Parton's song Jolene, and vis versa), and Before I Forget (shoutout Guitar Hero 3).

That said, like I mentioned before, generally the sounds on this thing are the type of stuff I can get into, so it was a fairly pleasant and mildly enjoyable listen. Good headbang-ability to throw on in the background and go pick up groceries (which is how I actually listened to this, haha).

I do think nu-metal is a genre though that, to truly appreciate, you need nostalgia for (similar to two other genres from around the same time, pop punk and emo, although I generally can get into those more). Aside from some huge hits that I remember from high school, this genre does not do much for me.

Definitely a case of right band, wrong album for the 1001 IMO.

Just a great soul album. Think I prefer Marvin Gaye in general, but this is damn close with a few really fantastic hits. Gives me "Going to Cedar Point" vibes, similar to Chicago to me, although Al Green is much better than Chicago.

I think this is the only proper death metal album on the entire list? And even still, this album marks Sepultura's shift towards groove and nu-metal (Although only really in the drumming here and there, it's not immediate).

While I liked Roots, that album was a bit overstuffed, and I'm not a huge fan of groove metal (Roots Bloody Roots is a great song). This album was definitely more up my alley. Songs like Dead Embryonic Cells and Altered State are great (Although the whole album is fantastic).

Really sounds like if Metallica had a competent drummer and decided they wanted to be death metal instead of thrash (Although Arise does contain elements of thrash. It's not quite as heavy as something from Death for example).

Great album though, although I do question it's inclusion. Roots definitely belongs on as their definitive album, but picking this album over including something like Death's Human or Symbolic, or a Morbid Angel album, or an Entombed album?

Jazzy, pop country? Not a combination I would have expected to work, but it does. Still Thrives This Love and Constant Craving are great. And k.d. Lang has a great voice.

One of those albums that immediately put me in my place as far as expectations going in are concerned. Barely had a couple seconds to think that 70's soul isn't really my thing before So Many Sides of You barrels in as an absolute banger. Games is another fantastic cut from this thing.

Of course, there are some songs on here that aren't hitting too hard for me like Stand Up, but this album is just warm and full, with Womack's amazing vocals.

Don't know if I'm even surprised it's this good, but yeah.

You know, I appreciate how earnest this album is for what essentially is throwback 80's cock rock (I think it has a lot to do with the singers voice). In comparison to bands like Motley Crue, it doesn't sound like this band exudes STDs and heroin (despite Hawkins' drug use).

But yeah, it's a fairly fun album with the crowd pleaser in I Believe in a Thing Called Love.

My only real complaint is that this album in no way belongs on a list of 1001 Albums You Must Listen To. Hell, there aren't many glam/hair metal or rock albums from their heyday that belong within a country mile of this list, let alone one from 2003.

Never thought I'd be sitting here praising this album over his more well known, classic albums, yet here I am.

I'm still of the opinion that Bowie is somewhat of a singles artist vs albums artist, but this is a fairly consistently good album. Up there with Young Americans and Ziggy Stardust for me.

It does start off really shaky with The Next Day and Dirty Boys sounding like C-sides to some of his older work, but The Stars (Are Out Tonight) rights the ship, and the album generally stays interesting throughout with its alternative meets 50's diner vibe its got going on.

Where Are We Now? is a bit of a stumble, but it gets back on track after that.

So yeah, quite enjoyed this. Doesn't it belong on the list? Yeah, definitely not. Just because its a comeback for Bowie does not make it an "Album you must listen to", but it is a really solid listen.

Always liked Neil Young, but before this project, I only really knew Harvest along with a few other songs.

But what this project is doing is really cementing how fucking good Neil Young is. And while I never was big on his more country tinged stuff, it works really well on this album. Sail Away was a pretty nice surprise. Its funny because going into it, I was thinking Harvest was gonna be my favorite of his due to my familiarity with it. At this point, it might honestly be the weakest albums of his I've gotten so far (still great though).

And of course, the monumental My My, Hey Hey (Into the Blue), one of my favorite songs all time.

Just a damn good record.

This one's going to get me into a little bit of trouble, but I don't think this album is anywhere near the greatest metal album of all time like most people seem to think.

Hell, it isn't even close to Metallica's best album (That being ...And Justice for All, even with it's complete lack of bass).

Overall, it's a solid album. But the quality is a tad spotty for me.
It starts off very strong with Battery and Master of Puppets. Two absolutely fantastic songs. The Thing That Should Not Be is a decent track, but repetitive and let down big time by Lars' drumming (Which honestly lets basically every album of Metallica's down, so not really unique to Master of Puppets, but there's just so much sloppy and frustratingly simple drumming on this album. For once I want Lars to be able to come up with a fill that's more interesting than just walking the toms or a basic single stroke roll, and to play with feeling instead of just holding the drumsticks with a deathgrip).

It's frustrating because Lars' drumming makes up a huge aspect of Metallica and their sound. It's legitimately iconic, and they probably would not have been anywhere as big had he not been behind the kit making the music accessible. But I honestly feel like basically any other metal drummer could have done a better job and made every Metallica album better.

Anyways, I'll try not to bitch about Lars as much going forward but god is it difficult when drums are generally the thing I pay attention to the most when listening to music (Particularly metal, a genre that is replete with drummers who could vie for the crown of greatest drummer ever).

Onto the next song, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), which is another fantastic cut from the record. Great musicianship all around. I will say, when Metallica got past ...And Justice for All, I really felt like Kirk Hammet got extremely formulaic and repetitive with his guitar playing, but here it's just generally great, inspired riffs and playing all around. And Welcome Home/Disposable Heroes are great examples of that.

Not to mention, having Cliff Burton's bass playing to play off of helps a lot. Just great basswork here. Disposable Heroes, despite my praise of it though, I do have some small quibbles with, particularly with some of the odd phrasing from Hetfield, along with some of the cleaner rhythm guitar going on feeling a little at odds with the heavier riffs from Hammet.

Leper Messiah is probably the weakest track on the list barring The Thing That Should Not Be, and the biggest reason is again Lars, so many stilted little breakdowns and bad fills. There's some good in here, particularly when it speeds up and Hammet and Burton are allowed to really get heavy.

Orion is a fantastic instrumental. Not much else to say there, although would have liked a little more distortion on the rhythm guitar earlier in the song. and finally Damage Inc. is better than I remember, with one of the better performances from Lars on the album, honestly.

So yeah. I know I was far more negative on this album than my rating will suggest, because it really is a great album. Just in the grand scheme of Metallica's discography, thrash metal, and metal in generally, I honestly think this is one of the most overrated albums of all time. I do think my previous listen to this years ago is coloring my opinion of this album a bit, but I did enjoy it more this time around.

TL;DR: Great album. Wildly overrated. Lars' drumming is horrifically bad.

You know, wasn't looking forward to an album by a band named Klaxons (terrible band name).

But ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Kinda post-punk (but not really, maybe in that 2000's indie/garage rock way, but still not really) by way of noise rock, which I haven't really heard before.

Second half of the record was especially good.

Album's got a great vibe. Definitely gonna be going back to this.

Just a cool, vibe of an album. Sinatra feels like the 50's Elvis Costello. You will never be as cool as him. But yeah, smooth as hell, and a vibe.