Screamo surprised the hell out of me when it happened. I wasn’t as into post hardcore then as I am now, and I didn’t realize how long this type of music had been bubbling under the surface. I found it incredible that music that, in some ways, was so off-putting, could be so commercially viable. …
Category: Music
Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001) by Blink-182
Science this band is terrible. It’s a testament to the fact that we love the music we do due to the music we’re exposed to in our teens and early twenties that there are so many positive reviews of this album. There are plenty of totally okay, mediocre albums that get panned on Rate Your …
Essence (2001) by Lucinda Williams
Mostly, I’m much more of a fan of Williams’ aesthetic than I am of her songs. Mostly.
Poses (2001) by Rufus Wainwright
Someone called Wainwtright’s voice a “rich kid voice” and I laughed when I read it. Even though I’m Canadian and have been exposed to Wainwright more than most Americans or Brits, I still have a hard time dealing with his affect. As I wrote in my review of his first album, it’s hard to imagine …
Room for Squares (2001) by John Mayer
When I first heard “No Such Thing” it made no impression on me. I forgot about it. In fact, I didn’t realize it was John Mayer until this month. When I first heard “Your Body is a Wonderland,” my 20-year-old male self dismissed it as female fan pandering, but I was at least aware of …
Songs in A Minor (2001) by Alicia Keys
This is a pretty impressive record given Keys’ age, especially when she first started writing it, and her inexperience in the industry. It’s flawed, for sure, but I think it’s important to keep in mind how damn young she was.
Bodily Functions (2001) by Herbert
The 21st century really is the post genre century. The more and more I listen to music from this century, the more I find it hard to categorize, often individual songs but far more often with entire albums, that throw together things which do not make sense. Case in point, this record, which manages to …
Reasonable Doubt (1996) by Jay-Z
I have listened to hip hop for basically only six years, with somewhat increasing frequency. I feel like I am starting to get a grasp on the flow and technique of rap, and I’ve long felt like I know what I like when it comes to the production side. But I still find myself flummoxed …
Morningrise (1996) by Opeth
Yet again, I am moving through a band’s discography backwards. (In this case, starting in the middle and then moving backwards.) I don’t know whether it’s increased familiarity or the records themselves, but I find myself liking Opeth more the earlier I go in their history, which is definitely not the regular take.
Secrets (1996) by Toni Braxton
I swear I’d listened to at least one other Toni Braxton album before but I have no reviews so I must have given it up before I got to three listens. So I guess this is my first proper listen to a Toni Braxton album.
Upgrade & Afterlife (1996) by Gastr del Sol
I’m doing it again, coming at a band backwards. (For the nth time.) I’ve only ever heard Camoufleur, reputed to be Gastr del Sol’s most accessible album – a claim this one bears out.
One Chord to Another (1996) by Sloan
Wow, I really, really thought I had heard this record before. Sure, I know the hits, but I seem to know some of the deep cuts too, and I can’t figure out why since there was no review. Anyway…
Swansong (1996) by Carcass
Apparently the Carcass’ shtick, at least in their first iteration, was to change it up every record. And that’s too their credit, if indeed it’s true. (This is only my second Carcass record I believe.) I want to commend any band that doesn’t want to make the same record twice. I’d much rather listen to …
Load (1996) by Metallica
I must say that I couldn’t have cared less about this album when it came out, I was only vaguely aware of Metallica as the band responsible for those videos from The Black Album. (I did not know it was The Black Album.) I wasn’t aware that they were now playing the kind of music …
Solace (1991) by Sarah McLachlan
I’ve never heard McLachlan’s debut, but I have heard a few of her later albums. (Yes, going at another artist backwards. Yet again. I know.)
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991) by Van Halen
You know what’s worse than a normal Van Halen album? A 52 minute Van Halen album.
Slow, Deep and Hard (1991) by Type O Negative
There are many impressive things about this debut, and at least two pretty big problems but, on the whole, it’s the auspicious debut of a fully formed band.
Slave to the Grind (1991) by Skid Row
The first album from any genre to go #1 on the US album charts is often not what it “should” be. A genre usually has to percolate for a while before it becomes mainstream enough, especially something like “Heavy Metal,” which is not obviously appealing and perhaps deliberately unappealing to most people. But, supposedly this …
Back in the High Life (1986) by Steve Winwood
Traffic are one of those bands I want to love more than I actually do. They’re one of those bands who might have been All Time great had they just had a great songwriter. There are so many moments in their music that I get really excited about, but then the quality of the songs …
True Blue (1986) by Madonna
Much like Madonna’s first couple of albums, there’s rather a lot of relative musical diversity here, which makes it a lot easier for someone like me, who does not like dance pop, to appreciate what she’s doing.
Epicus Doomicus Metallicus (1986) by Candlemass
The search for the “beginning” of a particular genre can be really fraught with difficulties, from the sheer effort of figuring out which albums might be the best candidates, to the inevitable bickering over alternatives or whether or not the artist is close enough to that genre. Given that no genre was ever invented whole …
Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places (1981) by Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Coincidentally, I am listening to the first Dr. Buzzard record. (If you don’t know Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band was led by Kid and some of the same people.) Listening to this record, it’s clear that a lot has been learned since that previous band. Nearly everything is better here than on the Dr. Buzzard …
Duran Duran (1981)
Much like early U2 are the point at which British post punk and arena rock meet, early Duran Duran are the point at which British post punk meets pop.
Talk Talk Talk (1981) by The Psychedelic Furs
It should be to their credit that the Psychedelic Furs tried to distinguish themselves on this record more than they did on their debut but I’m not sure how much that works for me. It’s less a criticism (I think) than a manner of personal taste.
Legalize It (1976) by Peter Tosh
Peter Tosh is the best reggae songwriter I’ve heard. I understand this is a bit of a hot take, but I think it’s defensible. Or, maybe, what’s defensible is that Peter Tosh is my favourite reggae songwriter. But I’d rather the former be true.
Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band (1976)
I’m really not sure what to do with this strange record. It’s extremely critically acclaimed and had a minor hit. It’s also stuck in the distant past while trying, at least a little bit, to be contemporary. In many ways, it feels like a dress rehearsal for the sequel band, which I just happen to …
Hot on the Tracks (1976) by Commodres
I know very little about the Commodores, just a couple of their hits and what Lionel Richie became in the ’80s. So, from “Let’s Get Started,” I was very pleasantly surprised to hear a funk band rather than whatever the band who made “Easy” is.
A Night on the Town (1976) by Rod Stewart
Atlantic Crossing felt like the beginning of Stewart’s long decline from exciting rock and roll singer to raspy poor man’s Tony Bennett. But A Night on the Town finds him in a bit of a holding pattern. The problems of Atlantic Crossing are still here, as are some of the redeeming qualities of that album’s …
All Things in Time (1976) by Lou Rawls
This is my first Lou Rawls album, despite having heard the name many, many times. So basically all I knew was that it was soul.
Gettin’ Ready (1966) by The Temptations
This is one of the better Temptations albums, in part because of the qualify of the original material and in part because of the (slightly) contrasting styles of its two producers, which gives at least some variation.