Reviews by zmzamarripa

This has everything that I love in music: long song structures, fantastic production, multiple layers as well as just being odd. But this doesn't do anything for me. Often times it seemingly layering just do it without a care as to if it sounds good or not.
I can see how someone would love this and I can see how this would be a critics wet dream, waxing poetically about how brilliant this is and if you don't think so you're not cool or smart enough to get it.
There does come a point about halfway through where its clear that they are just rehashing the same thing repeatedly and it becomes exhausting.
2/5, would not purposely listen to again.

Art is subjective....
I find it hard to believe something so derivative can be so highly regarded. Julians voice gets on my nerves. I don't subscribe to the NY City is the be all end all of art and music notion that permeates all of the glowing critiques of this allude to.
I don't think this is all its cracked up to be and in all honesty thought this was overrated crap when it came out. My opinion 25 years later has not changed after giving it an honest listen.

I understand the appeal I just don't like it.
That being said I don't think this is bad, it's just not for me.

I can appreciate the obvious influence this would have on later music but it doesn't mean I enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy the 200 "WHAAAAAAAAA" screamed into the microphone. At least this is poorly recorded.

This isn't bad and it has its place in the progression of garage rock/punk but I don't think anyone that's not REALLY into those genres and wants to go for a deep dive needs to hear this before they die.

I had to go back to see just how many Bowie records I have reviewed thus far... this will be the seventh.

Look, I am a Bowie fan but are we doing his entire discography? I doubt it as his later discography is often dismissed which is a shame. As a complete album I happen to think 1. Outside (The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle) is better than this.

All of that being said there is a very repetitive theme in all of my reviews of the Bowie albums suggested thus far, I might as well copy and paste one of them....

"I LOVE David Bowie.
That doesn't mean I'm not honest with myself when it comes to his albums. Just like most of his catalogue there are 1 or 2 GREAT songs on here and a couple of fantastic sections in other songs that are otherwise good to poor. Very uneven throughout. The great vastly outweighs the bad though because when Bowie is on he's genius."

3 stars.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this album, in fact its got moments of absolute brilliance.
It does however (for me) lack the hooks that OK Computer has in spades. And that is fine, they are different records for a different place and time. While it is admittedly pretty damn great I don't feel the need to come back and pour over it the way I do with other Radiohead albums. A couple of these tracks are amongst their best work.
Solid 4 star album.

17 million copies sold worldwide. Surely 17 MILLION people can't be wrong, can they?

Look, I am not saying they are wrong. I'm just saying 17 million people clearly have poor, boring taste.

I actually gave this album a full three spins to give it a fair shake. Nope, not for me. 'Yellow' makes me unreasonably angry listening to that whining voice. The good news is there are 9 other songs on this album. The bad news is none of them are any better. Then again none of them are worse either... so theres that.

I can't really knock it. You either like this kind of music or you don't. Porcelain is great, the rest just kind of exists. It does get repetitive after a bit.

I wonder what someone finds in this that holds so much sway in their lives that it ends up on a list like this.

The early 80s Casio keyboard beats.... you know what, I am not going to put a lot into this. This isn't for me. 2 star the fuck out of this.

Here is how old I am:

When I finally started asking for my own collection of music my mom got me hooked up with the Columbia House special where you order 1 record full price and get like 8 more for a penny each. This album was on my first order. I still own this copy, on vinyl!

10 year old me had real hit or miss musical taste but this one is still fantastic.
There are NO skippers on this album and maybe its youthful emotional connection but this is one of the albums I will award 5 stars until the day I die.

Not as good as the two prior albums and better than anything that followed.
I personally preferred the frenetic/prog feel of Master of Puppets and ...And Justice for All quite a bit more than this.

Three stars as this doesn't excite me when I hear any of these songs the way I do with their earlier work. Here is the catch, this is a solid 3.7 but in no way is it a 4.

Listening notes... I cant stand Paul Simon but I am going to give this a go anyway.

Mother and Child Reunion: Yep, still hate it. I cant put my finger on it but this song annoys the ever loving shit out of me.
Duncan: "and I was born in the boredom and a chowder"... ugh.
Everything Put Together Falls Apart: What an enthralling listen. This is a prime example of what it is I dislike about Mr. Simon. Everything sounds like a reach, emotionally fake acting with a guitar and a voice that displeases me.
Run That Body Down: see above.
Armistice Day: Yay, Paul Simon cosplays the blues.
Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard: I hated this song from the first time I heard it as a kid in the backseat of my parents car.... still do.
Peace Like a River: See Armistice Day.
Papa Hobo: More cosplay struggle.
Hobo Blues: I hope you can hear my eyes rolling into the base of my skull.
Paranoia Blues: Welp, this isn't getting any better.
Congratulations: Fuckin balls.

Suffice it to say actively listening to this album in full didn't really help change my long term distaste for Paul Simon. This isn't the worst thing I have heard on this list but that's not really saying much.
2 stars.

This is a classic for a reason. The only real knock on the album is LL just annoys the fuck out of me. I grew up in the MTV era and anytime his songs come on all I can see is him incessantly licking his lips, flexing and over emoting everything.

I was going to write a long diatribe about how having world class musicians perform mediocre songs........

You know what, fuck that. I don't need to ever hear this again. Someone put this on the list because they thought it would make them cool. It doesnt.

Sounds quite a bit like all of the other bands in this genre from the time frame. Absolutely nothing here is remarkable.

This is the definition of 2.5 stars. I will go 3 because its not bad, it just exists.

After hearing the first couple of singles I knew this was a pretty damn good band. The video for 'Rocket' came on MTV (way back when they played music videos and it wasn't all the same genre and at the 2:11 mark there was this chord progression that screamed metal, shoegaze, pop you name it. I was hooked. As soon as the video was over I drove down to my local record store and bought the CD.

What I found out after the first listen is that FOR ME there isn't a single skipper, in fact the non singles are in my opinion superior.

If I was only allowed to pick 10 albums to listen to for the rest of my life this makes that list.

Raw, emotional, political. Sparse yet dense sonically. This is a group and album that are aptly named. Its not a perfect album (which is what 5 stars means) with a couple of clumsy songs in there but its damn close. Truly something that reflects a place and time, I don't know that you could get away with releasing this today and it being a hit which is a shame.

This hits harder if you listen to it sporadically.

Cool background music.
I cant see myself sitting down with the LP and really pouring over everything and actively listening beyond the this. I'm sure this is great if you are at a live DJ set and everyone is dancing. Granted, this is better than a lot of what has been suggested in this genre thus far as well as out.
I don't dislike it, I don't feel the need to ever purposely listen to this again either. 2.5 rounded up to 3 as a 2 would imply its bad, it isn't.

I don't actively dislike it but I don't feel the need or want to ever listen to that again.

I kept waiting for something to happen, then..... nothing happened.

I love multi influenced non genre conforming music. I also have the unpopular opinion that Queen is vastly overrated. Don't get me wrong, there are songs that I absolutely love... the majority however falls flat for me.
I cant deny their influence and appreciate how talented they are as musicians.