Reviews by wyeager

No thanks.

What a delightful surprise! 80s is generally not my genre but The The is distinct.

Heck yes. Weird hippy Americana jazz stuff is my jam.

Big love for Fleet harmonies. This album has been in heavy evening rotation for years.

Peak '60s. This is the music my parents got high to while my grandparents downstairs worried about the fate of the next generation. I love it even if the \"electric jug\" is waaaaay overused.

The perfect album for living in student housing.

Oh my! Funky when he wants to be, soulful when he wants to be, highest highs and most excellent grooves. Shuggie Otis doesn't blow my socks off but there's nothin' in here I don't love.

Impossible to separate this music from where it sits so deeply in my marrow. CSN harmonies are those against which I judge all others. Almost Cut My Hair, Teach Your Children, Helpless, Woodstock, and Our House are songs I've been humming while I do the dishes for the last few decades.

I can't truly forgive the way they pronounce "migraine" but that only slightly diminishes my enjoyment of this album. Gang of Four rocks hard without trying to do too much. I love how the instruments make space for each other, bouncing back and forth in a head bobbing polyrhythm.

Barf. These are the worst Bond theme songs by far. The movie soundtrack background music is great but that Scott guy needs to shut the fuck up.

I am here for everything Michael Kiwanuka does. The way he uses percussion to build energy, his haunting voice, it's all gold.

I recognize the immense talent and production value but . . . the Beach Boys I like are the hit singles. When they aren't singing about surfing they're singing about who-fucking-cares.

I dig the tunes but can't handle Morrissey. An instrumental version of this album would be the shit. Or maybe just someone else to do the singing.

My aural palette isn't sophisticated enough to distinguish any particular Bossa Nova song from The Girl from Ipanema. That said, I always love the grove. This album could play on repeat in every elevator and supermarket for the rest of time and I'd be happy.

This album strikes a perfect rock/punk/pop balance for me. Melodic but also grungy, like Nirvana filtered through some happymaking drugs. Aptly titled Soma is a standout, makes me want to jump back and forth with a grin on my face. And Last Nite is one of those songs that puts my awe up to 11 with how much they do with so little.

Female singer-songwriter? Yep. William likes it. Not a lot of variation in her sound but it's a sound I can grove to all day.

TIL that Muddy Waters' given name is McKinley Morganfield. Huh!

Difficult to put aside my deeply ingrained feelings for this music enough to give it an objective listen. I was shocked to discover that it was recorded in 1977 and not 1950.

I don't know how to critique this. Every track puts my entire nervous system in sympathetic resonance (this is a good thing). I'm going to put it on again.

I just want to know how much of Richard Hawley's own funds went to recording and publishing this album? I've listened to it three times today and the repetition has not helped it any. Though it may have been innovative 40 years earlier in 2005 this music has nothing to offer. Even worse -- though #metoo came many years later -- by the time this album was recorded lines like "you belong to me, you belong to me" should have been a distant and unfortunate memory. Born Under a Bad Sign makes me wonder if Hawley is just trolling the blues-influenced British rockers who came before (waaaay before) him. The album's silver lining is some nice slide guitar on tracks like Darlin' Wait for Me. Unfortunately, the lining gilds a piece of dry toast.

I have very mixed feelings. Parts of this album (e.g., Mothers Talk) are too "Rick Astley" for me to enjoy unironically. Other parts are too sappy for me to take seriously (e.g., I Believe). On the other hand, Everybody Wants To Rule The World is deservedly eternal and the opening to Head Over Heels (also, closing notes to Broken) make me feel like I'm heading out on an amazing adventure. Shout is also a banger. The 80's synth-pop vibe is something I had to grow to appreciate; I have to get past ingrained bias against traditional wood and metal instruments. That said, I've listened to it four times today and have zero regrets. 4/5.

Like a delicious three-ingredient stew, Nirvana are masters of doing a lot with very little. Every song has an iconic hook and takes me on a journey from calm to LET'S GO over and over again. I've been quoting lines from Serve the Servants and Heart Shaped Box for nearly thirty years. In Utero holds up.