Reviews by ultraclear

Love when one of these is an album that I already recreationally listen to, though I am also the kind of werido that prefers the album version of some of these songs. OhSees rule.

This guy came up a couple times on the main list, where everyone said his stuff sounded like porno music. Gotta say, I liked the porno music better than the "heartfelt divorce album" that's going on here.

Good & moody, but I liked what was going on in this one less than Lateralus. Little bit too much metal of the era, not enough weird basslines

I have zero appetite for more of this kind of bullshit after living with the main list for three whole years

Never actually sat down to listen to TOOL before.

I'm into it, kind of falls in between "weight lifting music for intellectuals" and "stoner sludgy," depending on the song.

Back before "eclectic mix" albums were irredeemably nerd-coded. Kinda coming across like a clunkier NiN

Wow, what a fun pull! Posing a very important question of “hey if what makes ska fun is the latin influence, why not check out the uncut version?”

He was on a real hot streak during the 2010s. Not quite what I was expecting, it's baseline R&B, but he's bringing in a lot of old-timey funk influences. Kinda sounds Diet Prince at points. In conversation with different things than I thought it'd be.

It’s extremely funny that they decided to sex up the album cover that much. I went in expecting something at least a little bit raucous from the brass band, but they somehow got trumpets to make smooth patio music.

ohhhh man. Haven't thought about these guys in a minute.

I like Nightwish probably more than they deserve. This one's weird, because it's both the first album I'd grab to explain their whole deal, and it's catching them at an awkward stage, moving from "sneaking Mozart-style arpeggios to an audience that thinks it doesn't like classical music" to them trying out more poppy and folky sounds.

I had high hopes when they hired a bagpipes guy full-time, but they've never quite been able to overcome the Muse disease that makes them sideline their more creative ideas in service of Deep and Epic Thoughts. Also doesn't help that their audio mixing is mediocre, which is really not what you want when your arrangements lean on the "symphony" of Symphonic Metal.

Anyway, makes me a little sad that the top reviews are all "wow this sucks," because I'm kinda charmed by the goofy aspects of the band... but also I don't really have a pitch to bring a general audience around on them. "Imaginaerum" would probably hit for some of the rock opera fans in the crowd.

Was not expecting from the artist name that this was going to be funky jazz fusion! Rare music that's good for both working and cooking

Great stuff, falls along the ranks of “stuff I might have underrated before I learned to like Radiohead,” which tbf is basically post-rock in a nutshell

9 years since it released! Their full discography's so big that I tend to underrate this one, but it still fucking rips. Sounds like it's being played by a swarm of angry bees.

Great pick from the submitter, the garage rock sound's a good entry point to King Gizzard's stuff

Bugs me that it's basically a coin toss whether I'll like one of the audience favorites. Gave it a couple listens, and there's definitely stuff I liked in it, but I can't access whatever gets people enthusiastic about it

The original list and user submissions are both trying their hardest to convince me that Franz Ferdinand was the only good rock band to ever come out of Scotland

I never listened to much emo back when it was big. This is the first one I've heard that I unabashedly love. They absolutely nailed the alchemy on this, way more verve than any of their peers

The trick is that I don't understand what British prog guys are saying, either

Punk doesn't always have a ton of syncopation, and for some reason that started bugging me on this one by the time it ended. Very marching

Familiar with this guy from a couple of prog album remasters he did. Wish I had a better vocabulary for it, but this kind of has the same vibe as the Todd Rundgren stuff from the main list. Something about Producer guys and their musical sensibilities

Endless respect to the submitter for putting theater kid stuff onto the list. I remember the Hamilton fans liking the Broadway show of this, but it didn't break Musical Theatre Containment in the same way.

This was pretty fun, but tbh I think I'd have been more impressed by it if I hadn't gotten that Decemberists album last week, in terms of theatric rock opera fare.