Reviews by zmzamarripa

I can absolutely see how this would be the baby steps that would lead to industrial/noise/electronic hectic art that would be something I would love. That doesnt mean this is something I would want to listen to more than once.
I wish 2.5 was an option as 2 would imply its bad and 3 would mean its good. This is neither.

I love Dolly and I own more Linda Ronstadt records that anyone I know and somehow I have never heard this.

Pleasantly surprised and a lovely album. I dont see myself running out and buying this but I would smile if I heard any of it being played anywhere especially 'Making Plans' and 'Wildflowers'.

Genuinely one of my favorite albums of all time.

The immense scope of this is everything that I love about "alternative" music, there is something for every mood and emotion. But wait, theres more! In an era where most groups were trying to sound polishedly unpolished here is a guy that actually wanted to make something that sounds great.

Sure you could make the argument that because of the big swings that there are a couple of misses (for me the misses most people reference aren't misses at all) and we could go on and on about his voice though it suits his compositions here.

The real gems in this album aren't the singles. This is record that rewards actually sitting down and actively listening. The more you really listen the more you seem to find as time goes on.

5 stars all day every day and twice on Sundays.

The Temptations!!!!!!
Easily one of my favorite soul/r&b/vocal groups of all time. That being said I am not delusional when it comes to my life long adoration of the Temps. You don't need to listen to this album in its entirety before you die, an argument could be made that you dont need to listen to any of their discography as COMPLETE album. 'Best of' compilations exist for a reason.

Now, specifically this album: Its a jump to the more psychadelic R&B of the time. Cloud Nine is fantastic, the rest of the album is anywhere from good to OK though it is always nice to hear a Paul Williams lead (Hey Girl and Dont Let Him Take Your Love From Me).... I love that mans voice.

Anyhoo. 3 stars.

Alrighty! Never heard of Julian Cope, I always enjoy listening to something new. Lets keep running notes.

Pristeen - "I went down on Pristeen, now how much does it take, to go down on someone, someone that you hate." Well at least the final minute of the song he figures out how to make his flat tire voice be louder and more annoying. Not a solid start.
Double Vegetation - Not gonna lie, I'm diggint the bad 80s movie bar band sound. The cheese ball arrangement and production is fun, it almost makes up for the god aweful lyrics and vocal delivery. And no, nothing will convince me this is incredible metephorical poetry.
East Easy Rider - Who decided the production twist would be to push his vocals even further forward into the mix? The bad 80s movie bar band fun has worn off.
Promised Land - Well I wish this song was 3 minutes and 39 seconds shorter.
Hanging Out And Hung Up On The Line - "Well the blues had a baby and the bastard couldn't sing
So the priest holds the candle and the parents kiss the ring
Someone shouted "Let's keep the afterbirth and throw the kid away" LOL good news is the arrangement isnt interesting at all so you get to really lean into the vocal phenomenon that is Julian Cope and stew over these types of lyrics.
Safesurfer - This actually has some of the best bits of the album in it. Some fun synth, a couple of well placed piano chords and an actually catchy melody part. Trouble is this needed someone to put those things together and make this a 3 minute focused song not the meandering 8 plus minutes of hoping it would end.
If You Loved Me At All - Whatever the fuck that sound is he is making right off the bat I hope to never hear again. Fucking balls, Im not even half way through this album...
Ok, no more running notes, this doesnt need a dissertation. Suffice it to say I did not enjoy this anymore as it went on.

Things like this baffle me. How does this end up on a list of albums you must hear before you die? Who is honestly listening to this on a daily basis because its become such a core part of their musical identity? If I was at a friends house (a good friend, the kind you can be honest with and not just be polite) and this was playing I would probably say something to the effect of "dude what the fuck is this?" and then laugh thinking they were playing it just to get a reaction out of me.

Far from the worst thing I have heard on this journey and yet just as far from anything I would actually want to listen to again.
2 stars.

Yeah, this isnt bad but I really dont need to hear this ever again.

I always find myself torn when it comes to Tomathan.
There are songs that I can genuinely get into and others that actually piss me off and its always the presentation of his voice.

Lets take a look at these songs in order:
Heartattack and Vine - nice! I actually like this, his voice isnt overbearing the positive qualities of the song.
In Shades - though I am not a fan of the organ sound this is nice, bluesy atmosphere. No vocals!
Saving All My Love for You - Vocal delivery ruins what would be a fantastic song. He really leaned into the cartoon grown on this and it blows. The string arrangement is beautiful. If the vocal aim was to sound like a bullfrog being unwillingly sodomized it has been achieved, good god.
Downtown - Unless youre Booker T just stop with the god damn organ.
Jersey Girl - This feels like a Bruce Springsteen parody.
'Tilll the Money Runs Out - Much like a large portion of Toms discography, this would work great in a small snippet for the opening of a gritty crime show.
On the Nickel - Jesus...
Mr. Siegal - Christ...
Ruby's Arms - Well its worlds better than the last two.

Just like the rest of his catalogue I always come out wishing he wrote all these songs for someone else to perform. This could be a 3 or 4 start album with anyone else on earth singing these songs, but its not.

I am probably in the minority of people that DONT think this is a 5 star album. Its REALLY close but its bloated. Again, probably unpopular opinions but In My Time of Dying, Kashmir and In the Light could use a couple of minutes being trimmed off. There are also a couple of ho hum tunes in here as well.

That being said some of the Heavy Balloons best work is on here. Ten Years Gone and Bron-Yr-Aur are some of my favorites not just from Led but from any artist.

4 stars, this || close to being 5.

I catch the influence of King Crimson in some of my favorite artists but that doesn't neccessarily mean that I actually enjoy any of their work. While I appreciate the unbelievable talent that every member has on their instruments it always feels like a not very well thought out tossed salad. Yeah, yeah... thats the point.

Thing is even if the elements that actually work are spaced out and only a few seconds long those bits and peices are brilliant. I just wish they put those gems together to make one beatiful peice of jewelery instead of the equivalent of "fuck it, throw it all out there and something will stick. Once that sticks we will ignore it and go in a completely different direction."

Again, I know thats the point. It isn't supposed to fit in a neat commercially viable pile of loveliness. This as well as all of their work is interesting though. A large portion of the albums on this list don't have that going for them.

Pleasantly surprised. I like the instrumentals more than the songs with lyrics but that is pretty normal for me.

This isnt groundbreaking for me in any way, my jaw didnt hit the floor and my head didnt explode but I enjoyed it. I can see myself coming back to listen to it a few more times maybe throw a few songs into a liked category and explore their catalogue a little. I could just as easily see myself forgetting that this group exists in 3 years.

That being said it might be the recency bias of the last 10-15 albums ive encountered on this list that were running anywhere from watery shit to meh.

Solid 3 stars.

Pretty simply, I don't care if I ever hear any of this again. There is a very good chance that if I ever did I wouldn't recognize it and at no point would I be whipping out my phone to see if shazzam could find it because I wanted it in my collection.

That being said, I don't dislike it at all.
The dreaded 2.5 strikes again.

Looking back I never realized how thin sound this is production wise. I looked it up and I understand why it sounds the way it does but that doesn't make it more enjoyable.

Ahyhoo, much like the rest of the U2 discography this has a couple of absolutely stellar singles and then quality drops off a cliff.

3 stars.

I dont care how influential anyone tells me this is, it blows.

I forgot how nice this album is, I know I still have the CD somewhere.
3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

This isnt bad its just boring.
I dont live in a world where I could ever imagine thinking to myself 'I cant wait to go home and put this on the stereo."
Nice background music.

I have a love hate relationship with this album. I went straight away to the local record store the first time I heard 'Time to Pretend' and while I love half of this album the other half is eh.
I feel the same way I do about David Bowie records, there are tremendous highs, some great segments in ok at best songs and a couple of real stinkers.
My brain says this is a 3 star, uneven album but my heart says the singles drag this into 4 star territory.

Nice! I havent heard this in a long time.

Good production/beats, tasteful samples, tallented MCs that aren't mumbling or incorrently just saying random sentences that are unrelated to one another or make a coherent thought.

THIS is hip hop. Vivid example of the state of the genre by and large currently being utter shit.

Solid 4 stars.

I 100% see how this was influential to a lot of the artists I love, that doesnt mean I particularly enjoyed this.
This truly does feel like a case of 'Sparks learned to walk so ______________ could run.'

And once again the riduculous 5 star rating system rears its ugly head. 2 stars would imply this is bad, 3 stars would imply its good. It is neither.
2.5

Here is how old I am....
I remember going down the the local record store to buy this CD when 'Scooby Snacks' starting getting play on the local college radio station. My impression back then was that there were a few good songs and the rest was anywhere from OK to boring.

Times change, tastes change, maturity levels change. So many variables in the experience of life over the last 30 years may have changed the way I remember this as admittedly I havent listened to the entire ablum in probably 29 of those years.

Nope, just as I remembered it. Its fun, different and feels repetative after a bit. This is one of those albums people SHOULD hear, they dont need to.

3 stars.

The thing with Ray for me has always been his voice, I dont care for it.

That being said I have always appreciated his arrangements and the musicians and production quality of his work. Everything that should sound intimate and clean is and everything that is supposed to sound scuttled and messy like youre in a creaky floored dance hall sounds like it.

This is a nice take on some standards from genres you wouldnt (at the time) think someone like Ray would be covering. The success of how well this is done is that today this blend doesnt sound jarring, its a part of the musical lexicon that seems natural.

While this wouldnt be in my own personal 1001 I can one hundred percent see why it would be in someone elses.