I really like Beck. You might say I love Beck, or at least Beck’s mainstream records from ’90s and early ’00s. (I have slowly become less of a fan, over the years.) And I’d like to think I also really enjoy listening to musicians I enjoy having a great time, though I don’t know if …
Category: Music
When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He’ll Win the Whole Thing ‘fore He Enters the Ring There’s No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might so When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won’t Matter, Cuz You’ll Know That You’re Right (1999) by Fiona Apple
I could have sworn to you that I had heard this record before; I thought I had heard all of hers. But I went to check my old review and there was no review nor any rating. And that begs a question: did I listen to this and forget to review and or even rate …
Rainbow (1999) by Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey might be the best female pop singer of all time, if we go by technical ability. (I say ‘female’ not to perpetuate gender divisions but only to distinguish her from the man I consider the greatest popular music vocalist in history, who is not female.) It’s this record that has brought me to …
CrazySexyCool (1994) by TLC
I was 13 when this came out but I was already sort of aware of manufactured pop music. I already sort of got that the Monkees hadn’t evolved like the other bands I listened to, and I was sort of aware that some of the oldies music I listened wasn’t made the same way. I …
Wrong (1989) by NoMeansNo
I had no idea what I was getting into with this band, assuming they were just yet another pop punk band. So I was very pleasantly surprised by this record, which really gets in my wheelhouse at times. But I can’t love the record, because, well, I’ve listened to too many of the bands that …
The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989) by Ministry
“Thieves” gets things off to a pretty incredible start. Though this obviously isn’t the first industrial metal album, of even the first Ministry album to contain industrial metal, it still feels like this is pretty much as good as industrial metal got in the ’80s, with pummeling but mechanical-sounding guitars and all sorts of things …
Boomerang (1989) by The Creatures
Does the idea of a Siouxsie and the Banshees album with the music made up of almost entirely percussion sound appealing to you? Well, that’s probably the easiest way of explaining this Creatures record to someone who isn’t familiar with it (as I wasn’t). It’s got a similar vibe to their parent band except the …
Morbid Tales (1984) by Celtic Frost
This, Celtic Frost’s debut, is one of those “EPs in name only”, only that’s true of the US release, not the European release. In Europe it was in indeed an EP. In the US it was a short LP. Why bother mentioning this? Well, it’s classified everywhere as an EP, and these records usually get …
Like a Virgin (1984) by Madonna
I think I agree with the general consensus that this record isn’t quite up to the standards of her debut, even if the two most famous songs here are two of her most famous songs of the ’80s.
Treasure (1984) by Cocteau Twins
Every time I listen to an ’80s Cocteau Twins record I think “this will be the one where I’m convinced they’re not overly indebted to the Banshees”. So far, that hasn’t happened yet. Even on this, ostensibly their masterpiece.
Real to Real Cacophony (1979) by Simple Minds
How synthpop and the New Romantic movement evolved out of punk via post punk has always been one of the most confusing parts of recent popular music history, at least to me. But it’s records like this, caught somewhere in the middle (of punk and synthpop), that make that whole evolution a little more clear.
Heart Like a Wheel (1974) by Linda Ronstadt
Despite her relative commercial success, I don’t know much about Linda Ronstadt or her music, beyond “You’re No Good” and maybe the odd other hit song that I’ve heard through the ether – oh and backing vocal guest appearances on Neil Young albums and elsewhere. So I really wasn’t sure what to expect.
Country Life (1974) by Roxy Music
I have approached Roxy Music in a strange way – listened to their second album first, got really into it, and then listened to their last album and didn’t enjoy it. And I’ve jumped around ever since. And because of the way I feel about their earliest and later albums, I’ve approached the ones in …
Sheer Heart Attack (1974) by Queen
This is, by all accounts, the record where Queen really becomes Queen, taking their bizarre (insane, really) hybrid style and finally pairing it with enough quality songs that it no longer seems gimmicky. I’m not sure I entirely agree, but I get why people feel this way.
Autobahn (1975) by Kraftwerk
Though I might sound like a weird comparison, this record reminds me a lot of early, post-Barrett Pink Floyd albums, where they hadn’t figured out yet how to combine their three disparate impulses into a coherent whole that made musical sense. This record has the famous title track taking up one whole side of it. …
Scott 4 (1969) by Scott Engel
I think I just have to face it: the Scott Walker I like is the one who completely reinvented himself later in his life, demolishing his earlier image and creating some of the weirdness, most unique singer-songwriter albums I’ve ever heard. Try as I might, I don’t like the original version of him. This is …
Emergency & I (1999) by The Dismemberment Plan
Now this is right up my alley: indie rock that veers into post hardcore on occasion and also gets mathy.
Still Life (1999) by Opeth
Guys, I think I don’t like Opeth.
Geek the Girl (1994) by Lisa Germano
I knew nothing about this record going in and, frankly, nothing about Germano. The name maybe rung a bell, a teeny bit, but that’s all. So I had no idea what I was in for, which is maybe why I keep can’t help but compare her to other people.
Korn (1994)
So this is it. Where it all began. I must admit that, had I listened to this record when it came out, I would have hated it. Had I listened to it a few years later, during peak Nu Metal, I would have dismissed it. And I might have dismissed it later, too. I hope …
No Need to Argue (1994) by The Cranberries
There are so many ’90s alternative albums which I thought I ignored when they came out but I must have heard at some point. Like so many of those, when I put this on, I thought I just knew the singles. And then I remembered other songs. And I was confused. I don’t ever specifically …
Worst Case Scenario (1994) by dEUS
dEUS’s debut album is the kind of crazy alternative rock record I wish I had discovered when I was in my teens or 20s. It’s crazy to me that it isn’t better known, given how fun and interesting it is.
On Fire (1989) by Galaxie 500
Having heard Luna a bunch before this band, I found their debut, Today, a bit of a deja vu experience (with a lot more grime and feedback) but I tried to put that aside due to when that album was recorded. Listening to this roughly a year later, I still don’t know enough about the …
The Sensual World (1989) by Kate Bush
Kate Bush, ever the iconoclast, finds a good balance on this record between contemporary art pop – and all of the obsession with technology that entails – and folk music influences. In the vaguest sense this one sort of reminds of Peter Gabriel’s work, only they are incorporating very different forms of folk music and …
Make It Big (1984) by Wham!
I have paid virtually no attention to Wham! throughout my life. Yes, I was vaguely aware of their biggest hits because how could I not be? But I knew they were not for me and so I ignored them.
Turandot live at the Four Seasons Centre October 27, 2019
I’ve seen a number of operas in my life, but I’ve listened to far more on CD or digitally. This is the first time, that I can recall that I have seen an opera I’ve listened to much ahead of time or at least, one I’ve listened to as many times as Turandot. So this …
Damn the Torpedoes (1979) by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
This is the Tom Petty I like – full of attitude and spunk, with a touch of meanness or bitterness. Like basically everyone, he mellowed out significantly with age, which is the version of him I’m much more familiar with.
Tusk (1979) by Fleetwood Mac
The number of times I’ve heard that Tusk is “experimental” in my life…well, if I had a dollar, I still wouldn’t be able to afford a down-payment on a house in Toronto, or anything, but maybe I could lease a car or something. The problem with pop music fans telling you that some pop album …
Broken English (1979) by Marianne Faithful
Broken English is one of those records I heard so damn much about throughout my life that, by the time I listened to it decades after first hearing about, there was going to be a let down, it was inevitable. With multiple listens, the record is growing on me a bit, but it’s still worth …
Caught Up (1974) by Millie Jackson
For the most part, R&B doesn’t do high concept. The only thing I can really think of from the ’70s which is an exception is Funkadelic (and Parliament, too, I guess), where there is a concept, only it’s extremely nutty and kind of impenetrable. (Well, I can think of other albums which are built around …