Hey all, just giving a head's up that this will be my final review (skip to below the line for my thoughts on the album) here. For some that will probably be good news, which requires no further comment. This is for those I do interact positively with here. Just wanted to say bye, good luck and thanks for the talk / recs.

Immersing myself in music while overcoming a bad workplace injury, a car crash, multiple surgeries, therapy, endless red tape and lots of physical pain this past year ... read more

This supplement to Glimmer of God isn't as strong as the album but does feature a handful of really great songs, which makes it all worthwhile.

GODISADJ - 10
Rock A Bye Baby - 9
Gospel - 7.5
Sin Sangre - 7
Witchcraft - 6
Prize Fighter - 10
White Lighter - 8
The Modern Death of Bad News - 6

I went into this with reservations because folk music tends to bore the ever living hell out of me almost without exception. In addition, I've grown EXTREMELY tired of the recent "indie folk" cycle of artists who aren't especially good at playing instruments... or writing... or holding out basic notes without their forced whiny monotonal voices warbling and cracking like they just hit puberty. Then "indie critics" trying to push this stuff like it's actually ... read more

Not sure what other folks were expecting but this was fine 80s synthpop and it doesn't deserve to be rated in the yellow. Of course it's of its time but there are two pretty widely acknowledged 80s classics here and its mostly fun, upbeat and catchy. The worst parts are when Jones tries to be more somber and serious but thankfully that doesn't happen a whole lot.

Things Can Only Get Better - 10
Life In One Day - 7
Dream Into Action - 6
No One Is To Blame - 10
Look Mama - ... read more

A very moody, laid back, dreamy and downcast take on R&B. This does a pretty remarkable job walking the art - entertainment tightrope, with the more experimental elements incorporated with tact and good taste. There's enough out of the box content to keep things interesting, yet this never goes to pretentious, overbearing, annoying levels with any of that and maintains its smooth and chill vibe throughout. The warm vocals also help this feel more human and less synthetic / artificial ... read more

I've been told for years that this is a must hear, and I guess it is if you're at all interested in the history and development of the rock genre as this went on to become a pretty influential work. It's an interesting album overall with some nice raw vocal delivery and decent instrumentation and writing, but I'd be lying if I didn't also admit I was surprised by how dialed back and mild a number of the tracks were, especially considering the garage and punk tags. Not ... read more

An "experimental" track that's really irritating and pretentious but its worst offense is perhaps that is also manages to be kinda boring. It's mostly a spoken word with Cale over abrasive noises then charli coming it during the last minute or so to talk then do some annoying atonal shrieking. The end.

I swear many diehard "fans" would pretend like a three minute recording of someone expelling gas and grunting while taking a shit was good if it had the right name ... read more

It's always cool whenever you vote and can see that it made a positive little ripple, like in this instance my 0 took the score from 89.4 to 89.1 so it was a satisfying vote that put a little smirk on my face. The person who gave this a perfect score with their hundred sock accounts to inflate the score prolly had a bigger smile than me tho.

There are millions of albums in existence. Do we really think this is the 87th best of them all after BEING RELEASED JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS? And ... read more

The band really struggle to forge their own identity here as every single song sounds like it could have been plucked right off an album by any number of other prominent, interchangeable indie pop-rock bands who've been around the past thirty or so years. Someone else threw down quite a few name drops already but I'd definitely also add twenty one pilots, Tame Impala and Glass Animals to the influence pot.

While this is light, vapid and completely disposable in the grand scheme of ... read more

I definitely agree with those who say this an archetypal Foo Fighters song. Meaning, it almost impressively manages to go straight down the middle in every possible way and comes off as neither excellent nor terrible in the process, just like 95% of their other stuff. It's tolerable and easy to listen to yet also safe and just plain forgettable.

The only thing Foo Fighters ever did that managed to really shock anyone was them spending many years spreading deadly HIV and AIDS denialism / ... read more

This didn't hit my radar back in early September but has recently (over two months after its initial release) popped up on the Billboard mainstream rock charts out of nowhere. Though probably not saying much since the state of Top 40 rock radio is pretty dreadful right now, this is a lot better than most of the other charting songs right now and has a nice solo at the end.

A very unoriginal and boring minimalist instrumental for people who land on the blander end of the personality spectrum, no doubt about it! If you just randomly listened to a fantasy, horror or sci-fi film score from the 80s, there's a 90% chance it would be far better and more interesting than this. Even the really low budget ones made using a cheap toy keyboard are probably also better.

There's nothing too mind-blowing here but it's fairly well written, smooth and enjoyable all the same, especially seeing how it's the 42nd (!!!) studio album for the band. The weathered vocal textures Robert Pollard has gained with age, over forty years in the biz and seemingly endless touring is nice.

I like some of the actual music and song compositions but she has one of those singing voices that isn't entirely to my liking. It's very overwrought and theatrical at times, kind of like she's trying to mimic Kate Bush but with a shriller edge that can be kinda grating. She also often tries to copy Enya on a few tracks, right down to the backing music. The songs with jazzier elements attempting to kick up the otherwise leisurely pacing came off a bit too awkward and chaotic. A ... read more

Plot twist: She's living a double life as conservative commentator Brett Cooper.

So this is a weird one for me. I'll start with a positive: It's not nearly as jerky, noisy and abrasive as some of her earlier stuff, which verged on headache inducing. That means this is a pretty easy to digest dance pop track that shouldn't offend anyone out there. However, it's also generic, forgettable and just completely unworthy of praise. People here are obviously giving her music ... read more

"Deeper and Deeper" and the title track highlight a passable late stage album filled with easy to listen to songs that are unfortunately also easy to forget.

I overall enjoyed Kat's previous album and, while this one's a step back quality-wise, it's not too bad. I like her deep / husky vocal tone and the 80s style synth pop with goth and industrial edges sounds about as good as anything else in this genre right now. I suppose one could slam it for being "dated" but that's kind of the whole point, so whatever.

One thing that perhaps doesn't work seamlessly is the feeling of whiplash going from extremely dark, ... read more

It's not that good either...

Even though some people seem to dislike her, I had no issue with Lovato. I only knew a few of her most popular songs, which are alright, and this was my very first full album listen of her work. Unfortunately, if this is really her at her absolute best as some critics are musing, I'll probably pass on the rest of her discography.

Even as far as turn-your-brain-off dance-pop is concerned, this misses the mark on most fronts. Things start promisingly with ... read more

So this was a real slog to get through. I had to listen to bits and pieces here and there spread over three days because listening to more than three songs in a row was just TOO BORING TO ENDURE. I suppose it's "pretty" and has a laid back "haunted" mood to it but nearly every single song is bland, slow and samey / difficult to differentiate. I often didn't know when one song ended and the next began. It's the epitome of something that should be rated yellow ... read more

I'm not sure why some are gazzing over this unoriginal instrumental. You can find identical-sounding stuff made 50 years ago that nobody here gives af about. It's not outright bad, just avg and extremely forgettable.