Reviews by uncle_ducky

One of my absolute favorite bands when I was a teenager. I saw them on the Roll the Bones tour in 1991 at 15 years old. My love for them burned hot but it was short lived. I haven’t felt the need to revisit them. Hearing it now was like riding a bike. I remember every twist and turn. What a truly amazing album.

One of the infinite reasons this is a five star album:
Bicycle horn at the end of You Still Believe Me.

This one is tough because there are so many great songs but holy guacamole is this too long. Does every sing need to be so long? These aren’t Prog Rock songs. I bet if they’d whittled down some of the longer songs and left out most of side 4, we’d have a perfect album. The fact that they had to put in outtakes from previous albums to make this a true double album was the wrong direction. Edit boys.

This is the good stuff. Where sixties folk rock met psychedelic rock is my happy place. I want to hear it all. They are all expert song writers and they are getting a bit experimental here.

I was in my junior year of high school when this came out. Among my friend group, who were already into the punk scene, this band was a joke. This is the kind of punk rock you listen to while getting dropped off at the mall by your mom and heading straight to Hot Topic. In what universe is this an album that must be heard before you die? Is it because it brought punk to the mainstream? Is that supposed to be applauded? Plus, his voice is like nails on a chalkboard. Boo this album! Boo!

I like this album. It’s a fun synth pop album. Not every song is memorable but there are enough hooks to keep me coming back.

Never understood why they got so huge. I’ve heard the Beatles comparisons but they really don’t stand up. Where’s the great harmonies, the catchy choruses, the witty lyrics? It’s dumbed down college frat party Beatles.

Is there a reason (other than it was popular at the time) that this needs to be on this list? It’s an okay hard rock album.

I’ve had Metallica Black Album, Rust In Peace from Megadeth, Among the Living by Anthrax and now this. I’m guessing I haven’t peaked but I wonder if we get any modern metal or anything outside of the Big Four of Thrash. Obituary for Death Metal or Darkthrone for Black Metal? Anyway, this is an amazing album.

As someone who loved Warp Records in the 2000s, this came as a disappointment. I guess I’m more in the Squarepusher/Aphex Twin camp. I do like J Dilla and RJD2 which this kind of reminded me of but not as much. Using live instruments is a cool novelty but I don’t think it elevates the music much and unless you read that or have seen them perform, I doubt many people would notice.

This will be hard to judge. I’ve never been a vocals guy and this is 100% a vocal record. The music is only here to be a bed for her singing. I appreciate their craft but I will never listen to this again.

Despite living 70s rock, folk and prog, this band never clicked with me. There are other bands in each of these genres that do it better. It’s not a bad album at all, I just don’t think it needs to be on this list.

I love this album. There are a lot of very smart people that have broken down why this is an important album but for me it’s just so listenable. Maybe there is some deeper reason why I find this album so mesmerizing. All I know is that when the album ends, I just want to hear it again.

It’s a great chill out album. The music there but doesn’t get in the way. I’m not a lyric guy but the vocals nestle right into those beats. Neo-soul is not my genre but I can see myself returning to this some late night.

I’ve never in my fifty years listened to a salsa album. I’ve heard songs here and there of course. This is such a fun album. The beginning of the album really threw me. I thought, “Oh, this is some disco/salsa fusion thing” but it really isn’t. It does throw in a lot of unexpected songwriting choices that make it so interesting. I can’t say I’ll be coming back to this but I really enjoyed my time with it.

Just the best. No skips. Such a consistently great band. Other than maybe Naked and True Stories, a straight 5-star career.

I’m not a country music fan but some albums rise above for me. This one is the perfect melding of country and 70s rock that I really dig.

Even without Free Bird, this album is great.

“Hey uh, were ya gonna check out the sand bar while you're down there?"
"Uh, what's the Sand Bar?"
"Ah, it's a place that lets 16-year-old kids drink."
"Ah, cool."
"Ya hey, guess who's gonna be there?"
"Uh, who?"
"My favorite cover band, Crystal Shit."
"Wow."
"Yeah, they do a Doors show, you'd be really impressed, in fact, it goes a little like this:

It’s fun. What’s there not to get. Unlike most of today’s music, these albums were written to create a great live performance. And these guys were getting a kick out of freaking out the hippies. We only get half the experience when we only get to hear the record.