I have avoided Billy Joel albums my entire life. I wasn’t sure why until I listened to this record. Read More
Aja (1977) by Steely Dan
This is my second Steely Dan album and, once again, I find I have the same problem with the band: these guys don’t like the same things I like, beyond stellar musicianship. Read More
Diesel and Dust (1987) by Midnight Oil
My whole life I’ve sort of wondered why “Beds are Burning” was a hit (it topped our chart when I was 6). I never liked the song but I never listened to lyrics. Read More
Bad (1987) by Michael Jackson
1987 and Music.
1987, Contemporary R and B, Dance Pop, Funk, Music, Pop, Pop Rock, Pop Soul, and Synth Funk.
1987, Contemporary R and B, Dance Pop, Funk, Music, Pop, Pop Rock, Pop Soul, and Synth Funk.
I grew up with “Fat” and have a hard time separating the real song, the title track of this record, from its parody. But I haven’t listened to “Fat” in so long. Listening to Bad for the first time (and to the remaster, no less), I can’t help but wonder, “does “Fat” sound this terrible too?” Read More
Hysteria (1987) by Def Leppard
I have had a hard time finding this album online; Google Play doesn’t have a license for the early Def Leppard stuff (just their later, better stuff!!) and YouTube is missing a bunch of songs. So I probably shouldn’t review it. But I can and I will. Read More
Pacific Ocean Blue (1977) by Dennis Wilson
Full disclosure: I did not want to listen to this. I don’t love The Beach Boys and have generally been annoyed by the Brian Wilson-worship that has bubbled to the surface over the last few decades. Of all the likely listeners of this record, one would expect me to be among the least fair. Read More
Your Arsenal (1992) by Morrissey
1992 and Music.
1992, Alternative, Alternative Rock, Glam Rock, Jangle Pop, Music, Pop Rock, Rock, and Rockabilly Revival.
1992, Alternative, Alternative Rock, Glam Rock, Jangle Pop, Music, Pop Rock, Rock, and Rockabilly Revival.
I hate Morrissey, both personally, as I find him an objectionable human being and cannot understand why anyone would find him charming, and musically, as I find The Smiths really underwhelming and Morrissey’s solo music (that I’ve heard) to be hilariously middlebrow for someone so full of attitude. Morrissey talks a lot about a certain type of music and then makes music very different from that. He basically doesn’t walk his own talk. And his music is boring. Read More
OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 – 2017 by Radiohead
I don’t normally review reissue editions of albums, whether or not I like them. And I wouldn’t review this either only I am going to record a podcast episode about OK Computer shortly and I was advised to listen to the rarities disk. So here goes… Read More
Imperial Bedroom (1982) by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Though I haven’t heard the couple previous albums to this one, this still feels like a pretty big stylistic left turn for Costello. The production and arrangements are both noticeably different from the first Attractions record (or his first few solo albums). It’s a brave move (if it is indeed a move) as he could easily have just put out a new set of songs without deliberate messing with his style. Read More
Avalon (1982) by Roxy Music
I prefer the original, bonkers Roxy Music. That’s much more my cup of tea. In fact, you might say I love that version of the band. And so I was expecting to hate this, without really knowing what it sounded like. Read More
Love Gun (1977) by KISS
I absolutely hated Destroyer, KISS’s most famous and ostensibly best record, so I had really low expectations for this record. Maybe that’s why I don’t hate it, but I think there are other reasons. Read More
Easy Does it (1970) by Al Kooper
By the time Kooper released this double album in 1970 he had put out 6 albums (including this one) in something like 2 years. Yes, two of those were partially improvised, but Kooper was the prime creative force of all of them. So it should come as no surprise that this record feels like it doesn’t have enough content for its length. Some of the covers are good (and sometimes they are quite idiosyncratic) but Kooper’s songs themselves are not great. He’s pulled back on his artsiness on this record but he doesn’t have enough good songs and just seems Read More
I Stand Alone (1968) by Al Kooper
When I was younger, I was utterly fascinated by Kooper’s career: how he went from a successful songwriter to a less successful session guitarist to one of the best rock keyboardists of his era (or, perhaps, ever) and the major creative force behind some interesting ventures in the late 60s. But, for whatever reason, it took me ages to get around to his solo stuff. Read More
Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (1987) by The Cure
This is a record with a couple of The Cure’s best singles and a few other decent songs and way too much other stuff. It’s crazy that Smith claims to have written another record worth of songs for this album. Isn’t it long enough already? Read More
Sign O the Times (1987) by Prince
Someone described this record as Prince’s White Album. This is only the second Prince album I’ve ever heard (I know, I know) but I still think that’s pretty apt. There’s a range of music here that is kind of incredible, especially given how much of the record he made himself. Read More
Hotel California (1976) by Eagles
Who is this record for? Clearly, it’s for a lot of people, as it sound somewhere between 20 and 30 million copies. But listening to it, I don’t know who it’s for. The rock tracks feel like they appeal to one group of people, and the sappy, over-produced soft rock ballads to another group. It’s amazing that this record, of all records, has become this successful. Read More
Recovering the Satellites (1996) by Counting Crows
The idea that Counting Crows (and this record) are “alternative” has to be one of the reasons “alternative rock” went from meaning something to being the designation for mainstream rock music in the 90s. Read More
Night Moves (1976) by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
For much of my life I have had a hatred for “boomer nostalgia” – movies and music that lionize growing up in the 50s and 60s as if it was just the bees knees. I am getting to an age where I am finally able to better understand the appeal of such nostalgia – I’m likely a sucker for some nostalgia for growing up in the 80s and the 90s – but I still think that art that relies on a such a strong emotional pull to a particular generation probably can never be truly great art. Truly great art Read More
Face to Face (1966) by The Kinks
I have come to the early Kinks records backwards, listening to their late 60s classics before these earlier records and so my experience of them is coloured by being far more familiar with Davies’ mature songs than his early songs, leading to me listening to his early songs and thinking they are not as good (shock of all shocks). Read More
Electric Warrior (1971) by T Rex
I understand why this was such a big deal and why people continue to celebrate it: at the very apex of complicated, weird rock music, Bolan went out and put out 11 straight-ahead, catchy rock signs performed by a band with two guitars, bass and drums, with an image that was pretty unique. It made a big impression on a lot of people. As a record, I think it holds up pretty well – Bolan is a decent songwriter with a really strong knack for melody. I am not one who loves supposedly “disposable” music, but I don’t particularly find Read More
Pretenders II (1981)
I have no idea why, but I’ve never had any interest in listening to The Pretenders. I don’t know what it was exactly but they never seemed like a band I should listen to. Maybe a little too mainstream rock for their own good, or something like that. So imagine my surprise when I hear this album and I actually like it. I like Hynde as a songwriter more often than not (something I was not expecting) and, on the whole, the record is grittier than I was expecting (and is much more “rock” than some much other 80s rock). Read More
Boston (1976)
It is incredible to me the amount of time and energy that has been devoted to the foundational myth of this very boring, very average American arena rock band. To read wikipedia, or to listen to any classic rock radio station in the ’90s, you’d think this record was some kind of miracle of musical creativity or genius the way people feel they need to repeat the story of Scholz and these songs.(And, of course, the supposedly really great guitar sound.) It’s bizarre. And, after you’ve heard it more than once, the story is as boring and generic as their Read More
Bella Donna (1981) by Stevie Nicks
I prefer Nicks’ songs to many of her bandmates’. But I still don’t absolutely love her songs (there are a few I really like, but not a ton). The advantage she has over a lot of her contemporaries (at least on this record) is that she and her producer have not yet realized it’s the ’80s. The result is that the sound of this album hasn’t dated like so much ’80s soft rock and pop and that makes it a lot more likable than some contemporary mainstream music. But this is still not music I’ve ever going to return to. Read More
Yardbirds aka Roger The Engineer (1966)
1966 and Music.
1966, Blues Rock, British Blues, Garage Rock, Mod, Music, Pop Rock, and Psychedelic Rock.
1966, Blues Rock, British Blues, Garage Rock, Mod, Music, Pop Rock, and Psychedelic Rock.
The Yardbirds’ third album is definitely away from straight-ahead British blues towards psychedelia and even heavy metal (the intro to “Ever Since the World Began” almost sounds like a psychedelic Sabbath). And for that, it should be celebrated. And Beck does some (relatively) interesting things with his guitar, some of which likely don’t have much precedent in rock music (like that sustained note on that one song). But the songs are pretty weak. There’s a reason you don’t hear these on the radio. There’s quite a lot of filler – well played filler but filler nonetheless. For example “Hot House Read More
New York City You’re a Woman (1971) by Al Kooper
Al Kooper fascinates me. He had a bizarre career: writing a hit pop song, becoming Dylan’s keyboardist, turning into a jazz rock pioneer and then having a career as a record producer. But despite my fascination, this is the first proper solo album of his I’ve heard. Maybe I’m disappointed because I was expecting something very different. Maybe I’m disappointed because, much like Kooper does here, I have mythologized his life a little too much. I don’t know. Reviews I have read compare this to Elton John around the same period. I have no idea if that’s apt or not Read More
Fly Like an Eagle (1976) by Steve Miller Band
This is my first Steve Miller record, and I don’t get it. It makes sense that it’s his most popular, as there are 3 radio hits here. But it’s oddly constructed. It’s book-ended by tracks that try to sound futuristic (a ’70s attempt at it), with lots of ARP. As if Miller had just found out about this instrument the Who and the Floyd were fooling around with in 1970. But in the middle is straight ahead roots rock and roots pop, some okay covers and some completely unnecessary ones. But at least they don’t date themselves like his ARP Read More
Songs for Beginners (1971) by Graham Nash
Graham Nash is my least favourite member of CSNY. Crosby is a great singer and an interesting guitarist. Stephen Stills is a good singer, a good guitarist and had interesting musical ideas. Neil Young is my favourite songwriter and one of the most unique guitar players in rock. Nash appears to pale in to comparison. But though Nash’s lyrics are often full of mindless hippiness and pseudo-profundity, they have aged far better than Crosby’s bizarre “hippy paranoia” and his “did I just blow your mind?!?!” persona, and better than Still’s blustery self-righteousness (all the more hypocritical for his real life Read More
Ram (1971) by Paul and Linda McCartney
This album got bad reviews when it was released. However, time has been kind to it and some people now view it as one of his best. I can see both sides. I understand what people are saying when they view it as “the first indie pop album” (in content, not in concept, as McCartney, the best selling artist in history, is the last person who could ever release an indie album…). I prefer to think of it as the first “bedroom” pop album, only McCartney was that record, and this one has a band. The problem is that it Read More
Every Picture Tells a Story (1971) by Rod Stewart
Though it’s hard for us to imagine now, at one point Rod Stewart was a vital, dare I say ‘cool,’ performer. He was involved in two of the great bands of the late ’60s and early ’70s and I have always heard good things about his early solo records. This one – his first big hit, to my knowledge – is the first one I’ve heard. It’s much easier to separate The Jeff Beck Group and The Faces from what Rod Stewart has become, but it feels harder with his solo stuff. I mean, he’s the driving creative force now, Read More
4 Way Strett (1971) by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
1971 and Music.
1971, Country Rock, Folk Rock, Live Music, Music, Pop Rock, Rock, and Singer Songwriter.
1971, Country Rock, Folk Rock, Live Music, Music, Pop Rock, Rock, and Singer Songwriter.
When I was young, I was told by various reviews that this was one of the great classic rock live albums of the early ’70s and I was enticed by the talk of guitar duels. Read More