Reviews by wotanmjolnir

It's nice to have politically angry albums that sound as chilled as this. Loved it.

Really, really good album. I'm biased because this was around during my late teens / early twenties but I never listened to the band at that time, and as such I don't really have any Rose tinted view of it - it's just a superb album.

Also, I don't get people hating on Billy Corgan's voice when there are plenty of other things to dislike about him

Like most people I knew nothing of Dexys Midnight Runners beyond Geno, Jocky Wilson Said and its legendary Top of the Pops performance, and of course Eileen and her spunky adventures. This album is better than I expected, but the horn arrangements are so overpowering that a lot of the tracks are a bit samey, and Kevin Rowland's delivery is ... interesting.

The 70s produced some of the greatest music ever made. Todd Rundgren was there, too.

Can someone wake me up when this is over, please?

There's nothing wrong with this, but I don't feel I'm ever likely to listen to it again. It was ... OK.

Attempting the Led Zeppelin approach to song writing, but without the charisma, chops, or outright bombast.

Now, for some reason, I feel the urge to buy a Toyota. And some Tampax.

What the fuck is happening?

This is perfectly pleasant, if not very exciting, and does feel like an incredibly long 36 minutes. Having said that it is certainly not worth stabbing myself twice in the chest over.

First thing to get out of the way - Neil Young's voice. I like Neil Young, but there is no denying that sometimes his voice sounds not unlike Richard Dreyfuss doing a Kermit impression, but most of the time it works.

Second thing - Neil Young's principles meaning that his work is not available on Spotify, making me fuck around with YouTube and it's shitty ads.

OK, beyond that this is a really good album. Some great stuff such as Southern Man, but also some less good, like Cripple Creek Ferry. The good hugely outweighs the leas good, and this is going to be one I keep coming back to. I do think Harvest is better, though.

I know A Tribe Called Quest are hugely respected and influential, but all I know of them is Can You Kick It.

This falls into the two tropes of hip-hop albums I don't like, being overlong and having interstitial skits, but it does it with a charm that is hard to resist. It's not one of my favourites, but it's OK.

I had Maggot Brain 4 days before this and didn't think much of it. This, though ... what an album. Stephen Hawking's medics should have had this on his rubbish laptop rather than the terrible synthetic and that little bugger would have been back on his feet in no time.

To quote notable 90s androgynous croon-metallers Extreme, if you don't like what you see here, get the funk out.

"Tone, Tone mate - are you ever going to change these stupid place-holder lyrics? We're in the studio tomorrow!"
"Ding dong deng deng dong."

I'm unsure if he's singing or he's simply shagged out after a nine hour struggle with a particularly recalcitrant and pointy shit. It's also nice that he clarifies he doesn't want to fuck his mum. I'm sure she'll be glad to hear it.

I thought my phone alarm was going off during Penetration. Wouldn't be the first time that happened, to be fair.

If the first or last track had been made by a bunch of public school boys from Hertfordshire it would be called overblown prog wankery.

It's OK.

It's 60s torch song stuff, which is fine, if a bit dull - but Son of a Preacher Man is outstanding. The Windmills Of Your Mind, however, is an entirely unnecessary cover - the sort of subtle Bossa Nova inflection really doesn't bring anything and makes me want to hear the Noel Harrison version.

This cover of Jerry St Clair's 'Brimfull od Asha' isn't a patch on the original.

More authentic than Kula Shaker. Not as good as Kula Shaker.

Woah. OK. This is an awful lot poppier than I expected, and that's not a bad thing. I grew up through the birth of grunge, and I knew who Bob Mould was but never listened to either Sugar or Husker Du. I think I missed out.

This is all very nice and pleasant, but a bit more variety or texture would be nice. I wonder how much of the shine from Nick Drake's star is down to him being the tragic hero of the British Folk Revival (cf. your Buckley of choice, perhaps). There is nothing not to like about his stuff, but after a while it does get a little boring.