Reviews by zmzamarripa

I don't understand the glazing of Winwood or any of his projects.
I find this to be on the better than average band of this time frame and genre. Sure, Steve has a distinctive voice but it doesn't save an album where he doesn't sing all of the songs and nothing here is really all that memorable. If you've heard a jammy/folky late 60s band once you've heard this.
3 stars.

You could go on and on about how this and that or you could just sum it up simply.
Its not a masterpiece unless it holds some emotional space in your life, it is however an incredibly solid album with only a couple of clunky moments.
IMO Mr. Brownstone and Rocket Queen are better than any of the singles.
About as close to 5 stars as you can get without quite getting there.

I will be in the minority here but this is my rating and these are my opinions:

Talking Heads are an overrated ,mid tier group put in a bigger spotlight due to how enigmatic David Byrne is and that they came from NYC during a time that the nation was ultra fixated on everything going on there.

That is not to say there isn't merit in their work, I just don't think its the genius stroke others do.

This album is a clear example as to why a 5 star system is flawed.
If this were a 10 star system 5 would indicate its average, it just exists, it isn't bad but it isn't great either. A 6 is a perfect rating for this on a 10 star system.

Clearly a gifted, distinctive vocalist that much like Adele I can't quite put my finger on why I don't enjoy them.
Other than Holding Back the Years this album is a testament to its times, dated sounding and the quality plummets once you get past the single. It sounds like half of the instrumentation was created on a Casio keyboard every kid had in 1985.

I can think of 15 albums from 1985 better than this off the top of my head. I understand that everyone has wildly different taste in music but I would like to sit down with the person that decided that THIS album was one of 1001 albums you MUST hear before you die.

1 solid single doesn't save this.

I feel like I have heard all of this before, just better.
I also don't particularly care for his voice.
What is it about this that makes it something everyone should hear before they die? NO IDEA
2 stars.

This is nice though it does feel repetitive half way through.
I don't see myself revisiting this purposely in the future but I wouldn't be mad if it showed up on a shuffle algorithm.
Solid 3 stars.

Much like most of Neils work there usually 2 good to great songs and a bunch of filler.

3 stars. Cinnamon Girl is a great song and it sounds like the precursor to what was good in the garage/grunge movement.

I understand that this was incredibly influential, it doesn't mean I enjoyed it.
This is however much better than quite a bit of the psychedelic movement.

3 stars since 2.5 isn't an option.

Nice early 80s synthy pop. There really isn't much more to be said.

I can't think of a reason people need to hear this before they die.

This is just my opinion but Rock Lobster blows, worst song on the record honestly. The rest of the album wasn't bad though I don't feel the need to revisit this ever again.

How this is on a list of albums you MUST hear before you die is beyond my comprehension.

As time has gone by this has grown on me considerably. I still think OK Computer is a better album overall but this has moments of absolute beauty.

I'm sure everyone is writing essays as to why its the greatest or worst thing they have ever heard. I will do the opposite.

This is a very solid 4 star album. Perhaps challenging upon first listen especially if you were familiar with Radiohead prior to this.

No need to go into great depth here. I do not like the warbly voice that every now and again hits the yodel note. The compositions I feel like I have heard a million times already just with better singers and more interesting lyrics.
This isn't terrible by any means, I just don't care for it.
2 stars.

I don't really need to hear this ever again. I get that the point is not to hold my attention and make me feel anything emotional except for possibly calm but that also means I find it boring. I also get that this "invented" a genre, I find this genre to be boring background music.

That being said this isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination.
3 stars.

Of all of the Grateful Dead discography this is in my opinion their best work and Jerry Garcia was an underrated guitarist.

Here is my favorite part about the Dead:

2 stars

This has all the elements of something I SHOULD love, a clearly gifted vocalist, interesting musical choices, phenomenal recording mixing and engineering, throw in some good 'ol fashioned depresso esspresso and I should be fully on board.

For whatever reason this elicits zero emotional response from me. That doesn't mean this isn't good work, it clearly is... it just doesn't resonate with me.

Unfortunately this review is going to be tainted by having a Frank Black solo album yesterday as his works become tedious and repetitive to me usually about halfway through an album. That is definitely the case with this album.

I acknowledge the influential span this has/had on an entire music scene. That being said... save for a chorus here and there or an iconic bit here and there or (rarely) a complete song here and there I don't ever purposely listen to the Pixies. In fact the more time that passes in between listens the more I can actually appreciate them. This album much like their entire discography has 2 good songs and bits and pieces here and there of good stuff but as a whole its a mess. Granted being a mess is what is intended here.

3 stars simply because Where is My Mind is on this saving it from being a 2.25.

not really a lot to say about this other than it is a lot like listening to the Pixies... all over the place quality wise and as different as every song is at some point they all sound the same. The only problem is this doesn't have the charm that the Pixies as a creative group somehow crammed into their mess.

This isn't bad but I don't really ever want to hear it again either.

I would 2.49 star this if it were possible.

Willie is a phenomenal songwriter and arranger. I also believe he is an underrated guitarist, sure he's not a technical shredder but his taste and delicate touches are what sets him apart from others.

What is interesting about this however is that none of these songs were written by Mr. Nelson. His arrangements and performances of these pop standards not only do the originals justice but they bring to life a new perspective that lets these songs stand on their own whether you are familiar with them or not.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would going into it and while this isn't my preferred genre I won't discount the fact that this is very good work just simply because country/western isn't what I prefer to listen to. What I can say for a fact is I would rather listen to this than any of the faux country, designer clothes, butt rock being passed off as country these days.

4 stars.

Absolutely no one needs to hear this before they die.

That being said this isn't bad, I can't see myself ever purposely playing this but I'm also not rushing to turn it off if it's playing in the background.

This feels like a throw in with the "bet you Yanks haven't heard this before" vibe.
I can’t 2.5 this so I’ll go 3 , 2 would imply this is bad.

This is the album that got me into Depeche Mode. Up this point in my young life I didn't realize that electronic pop could be dark, ominous and completely appealing to a young kid that at the time was really into harder rock and metal. There are perfect pop elements slipped in there as well with HUGE sing along choruses.
Now in my 50's I appreciate all the twists and turns and growing living breathing sounds created by synthesizers and human growth you can hear in the entire discography. I own the album on cassette, cd, vinyl and even have the 101 dvd set.
This is the 4 star stepping stone to the next three albums that are all 5 stars.