Reviews by verbaljazz

Sometimes all you need is a singer and a guitar.

That blind horse wishes it were deaf instead because Rod Stewart's voice is...grating.

And Ronnie Lane...nothing distinctive vocally.

I once had a dream that I was explaining the lyrics to "Ted, Just Admit It..."

Perry Farrell has a unique voice and the point of view to lift Jane's Addiction from being a run-of-the-mill rock band into something more substantial.

Coldplay was once a great band until they consciously uncoupled into a punchline.

Now their concerts are where CEOs bring their side-pieces, appear on the kiss-cam, and have to do reputational damage control.

Astounding verbal fluidity over sampled music.

Another mediocre band making mediocre music.

You could not escape this album in the mid-90s. The influence it has is enormous.

But...

I just don't love it.

A poetry reading set to music.

Although I've never clicked with Nick Cave, I can understand and appreciate where this album came from. Grief needs an outlet.

A bloated, self-indulgent corpse of an album convinced of its own profundity.

I bought this when it came out because I had loved Siamese Dream and Gish, yet this one never struck a chord with me. It always felt too long with lyrics inspired by magnetic poetry kits.

Sounds like a band dreamed up after a 90s-era music industry marketing summit. Nothing stands out. Everything is by the book - distorted guitars, paint-by-numbers bass, ok drumming. Meh. With a different band, the singer could be great.

This is a desert island album and among the best 33 minutes of music ever recorded.

The classic quartet is at peak form here.

It is the sound of struggle, redemption and meaning. .

It sounds like someone playing around with different sounds/melodies with little to connect itself even within the songs themselves. The vocalizations don't serve the music at all.

A melange of propulsive guitars and questionable vocal technique. I could see listening to this while working out.

Can you be too much of a pretty boy for the world not to notice how good and deeply weird your music is? This is an unconventional pop record.

Duran Duran were immensely popular and the girls went gaga over them.

This album is so 80s coded - from the album cover to the sax solo in the title track.

The bass lines are fantastic.

Dance music for those on society's edge.

It's fine, but kind of blends together after a while. Pills and Thrills and Bellyaches at least has some better songs.

I heard a few of their songs on the radio around the time this came out. This album is an overall vibe with a few standouts.

Show tunes with shock value.

Sometimes a record, a good record at that, escapes your notice. An artist escapes your notice because you're drawn elsewhere. You can't absorb everything that pop culture puts in front of you, but when you hear something really good that has escaped your attention, you want that dopamine hit of finding that next good thing.

Having a bad singer is not necessarily a bad thing. Rock music is littered with dreadful singers who bring something to the material.

Perhaps the best noise-rock album about witchcraft I've ever listened to.