Reviews by wyattnew

Thought about giving an extra star because of the Terry Wogan namedrop, but it probably doesn't deserve *that* high praise.

Really really really pushing a 5 but just too front-loaded.

I absolutely adore the use of the electric piano (higher/lighter) synth taking the melody accompanied by the lower string-like synth on chords. Like around 8:30 of Chameleon.

I'd listen to Down in a Hole and Rooster again. The rest are pretty rough.

This one is challenging.

It took me about a song and a half to realize I had listened to this album before in a previous album listening project. I had given it a 5.4/10, which at first I thought would be way too low, but may have been just right.

The first two songs are easily the most captivating of the whole album, especially the excellent opener. While I am so impressed with her songwriting, there weren't really any songs that emotionally resonated with me or that I would be quick to listen to again. Perhaps part of that is because I tend to like abstract lyrics, but the delivery here was often too quick and incoherent to appreciate.

Ultimately, I think this deserves to be on this list, but I can't say I loved it or even *really* liked it. Several good songs and one great track, but most others I found myself waiting eagerly for them to end. Maybe I'm just not smart enough for this.

Wow, what a pleasant surprise! Love the literary references (Rebecca is my favorite book and Gatsby is probably top 3) and the overall cozy atmosphere. Will definitely have to check out folklore now.

Stirring, comforting, mysterious, magical. Easily my favorite album so far.

Sacred Attention singlehandedly saving this from being an easy 1.

Really like the line "I am here to say what's done is done / Serving shark's fin soup for everyone" though lmao

A couple of catchy songs, but it took me probably 8 attempts to make it through the full album. Physically impossible to listen to while sober.

I think it's too frontloaded to scrape a 5 (other than Paper Planes lmao). But it's so fucking good.

Several songs that I really responded to, but also quite a bit of filler. Loved all of the instrumental breaks/solos.

Wasn't expecting to like this so much. Not sure why it resonated with me so much, but I loved it. Great songwriting and overall sound.

Really enjoyed the cover of Mona. The rest was forgettable. At least, I hope I'll be able to forget it.

Gimme Shelter is probably the best song I've heard on any album so far, and I have no idea how I've gone almost 25 years without ever hearing it before. Ultimately though, the album as a whole isn't anything I'll be rushing to revisit anytime soon.

Unlike my ranking partner, I think the songs I responded to were the slower ones that showcased the steel guitar (and the instrumental). A lot of the songs ran together and didn't have much of their own identity.

I was immediately gripped by the brass section and became more and more disappointed as I realized how little it would be featured on the rest of the album.

12-bar blues doesn't do as much for me as free-form jazz does, but this is something special. Love both his vocal tone and the instrumentation. Was kind of limping towards the finish line, but the closing song brought it back to a 4 for me.

Lmao I feel dumb but I never realized that the Talking with T-Bird theme from RHAP is a parody of Free Bird

Great laid-back sound and orchestration (especially the brass). However, I'm unable to rate it any higher because of the unintelligible lyrics and the grating falsetto throughout.

Challenging at times but captivating and effortless. A great example of an album I never would have even heard of before this project.

The second half is more rock influenced and stronger than the first half, but overall it's very fun and light-hearted.