Reviews by urthstripe321

Mixed feelings on this record. It's way too long but when it hits, it really hits. "Porcelain", "Heart", "Bodyrock", etc., these are electronica classics for a reason. Even the B-sides have real gems. And although there's some filler, this is one of the great "mood" records out there. Over the course of the hour, it builds a world and fully envelops you in it. Which is almost as necessary in the world of electronica as being full of bangers.

I think I like this better than 21 but also.... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. A talented voice at the service of insipid ballads. No thanks.

Afrobeat is never gonna be my favorite jazz or jazz adjacent genre, but this was funky, dance-y, and plenty jammy enough to while away an hour or so of my afternoon. It's good, probably even great, just other stuff I'd rather listen to.

Got Graceland and then this a few days later. Doesn't SEEM very random! This is nice, any one with ears can tell this is good music made by talented by people. Just not something I'm ever going to turn. Glad I had a chance to sit down with it for a bit though.

Never really gave this one a real listen, always listened to the debut and Raw Power because this one didn't have any "hits". But damn, this is sick. First 3 tracks and like a 3 punch combo to the stomach, then it gets a bit sleazy with the sax (and there's nothing wrong with that). Do prefer the first 3 tracks to the back 4, but this is all some pretty great garage rock.

Well, it essentially established an entirely new genre so definitely belongs on the list. Has the basis of what Massive Attack would go on to perfect in Mezzanine. Still sounds plenty good, and very cool, just some dated production and a couple songs that don't really go anywhere.

I would argue that Fever To Tell is the best front-to-back album of the NYC indie rock revival of the early 2000s, and this kind of loses all the brash abrasiveness of that record to go dance-y. I was disappointed then, and I'm still kind of disappointed now. There are good songs (Zero, Soft Shock, Skeletons), but becoming another example of the "I hear you and your band are selling your guitars and buying turntables" line from Losing My Edge will never not hurt me a bit.

Marvin Gaye Is Going Through It, the album. Doesn't really do anything for me until Falling In Love Again, and that is far too late.

Pristine pop songwriting marred by annoying ass 80s music production trends. I don't always hate gated reverb, I just mostly do.

Must admit I've never even heard of this album. Not the early 90s sound I'm looking for, to be quite honest. Good on him for exploring global sounds and all that, but the kind of mish mash of non-western music filtered through western sensibilities is one of my least favorite UK music trends. Definitely my bias here, but I think US acts do cribbing from so-called world music a lot better.

Still somewhat refreshing to have a band that so unabashedly wanted to be the world's biggest rockstars from the very beginning. And they were able to write the tunes to back it up, not just tuneful, but big enough to fill the arenas and stadiums they were surely dreaming of. If you believe it, you can achieve it and all that, with all the drama and soap opera antics you would expect. It's almost too perfect. And now they get to go on their victory lap. Good on ya, lads.

Still cool after all these years.

A restless goofball who could write the hell out of a tune. Too unfocused to a masterpiece, but that wasn't Nilsson's deal. Still a great listen.

More textured than Exit Planet Dust, but that also means it loses a little of the visceral quality that made that record stand out. Still, a fantastic big beat record, goes down like a smooth beer and flies right on by despites its hour long runtime.

The first album on this project that I almost gave up on. As someone who already struggles with Bruce, an hour plus of late period Bruce is not really something I'm really dying to devote my attention to. It's not that it's bad, it just is so aggressively what it is, and it's not for me. And there's so much of it. Sorry, Boss.

Rush.. cool band, a little too wanky, little too theatrical for me, but I can't deny their chops. This is probably their most accessible record, and I can definitely access them, they just don't particularly move me one way or the other. Do I hate it when they pop up on an oldies station? No. Am I particularly begging to hear Tom Sawyer again? Not really.

My dad had this on cassette and I wore it the fuck out in middle school. A true key text in the development of my music taste. I guess if Side 1 was ALL bangers, it probably would've killed somebody. It is funny that one of the seminal records in hard rock/metal history has such a chill song in the midst of three of the hardest songs of all time, but the boys had range, what can I say. Side 2 is barely a step down, which is an incredible feat. Any fears that they couldn't possibly follow up Iron Man when you flip over the record is allayed by the absolutely sick riffs in Electric Funeral. What a great fucking record.

Jack White's solo stuff has never really hit for me until No Name although it's all been generally fine. This record is no different. A good listen that kinda fades from my memory when it's over. Only Sixteen Saltines digs its hooks in me, really.

More of a east coast hardcore person than west coast because it's tough for me to give LA credit for anything, but this is a great, quick and dirty punk record. Also... The Decline of Western Civilization is a fantastic movie and everyone reading this should go watch it immediately.

Yo La Tengo is my favorite band of all time. They would not exist without this record, so....

May not have the same catchy tunes as their debut, but the boundary pushing here is exhilarating. Just absolutely incredible this came out in 1968.