ChuggaChugga

I used to love this album. I had a nostalgic kick of the hit singles of the era I was born into. But I'm a new person. And this has not held up at all. It's so offensively pop. They made horrible lyrics that are too simple and mean nothing, like the stupid song "Sweetness". The production is also terrible. It's so clean and indistinct that the middling guitar tones hid good song ideas and good guitar work on songs like "The Middle". As middle school as the ... read more

Knowing that The Argument would come down the pipe, this record makes a little sense. Since this doesn’t rock as hard as their earlier material, the guys go for a more subdued soundscape that still has some rock undertones. The way the songs are a little slower really brings out a new side of their menacing riffage that is a good change for the band. I think the band were transitioning from the punkier sound to this more textured style, so the songs are not the strongest. The songs really ... read more

For a debut album, Smashing Pumpkins were quite oiled up and well stretched in the recording process. Their sound and unique dynamic were already fleshed out, resulting in an electrifying set of performances. As well as psychedelic paths no other alt band back then were doing. Let’s not gloss over the production. It’s great. Captures perfectly what the band about aesthetically and musically, as well as not being over produced like Siamese. Sounds good without being flawless: my type ... read more

A friend showed me “Is This Thing On?”, which showed me how pop-punk in the 90s was blantantly birthed out of post-hardcore. It’s not a style I’m familiar with or heard a lot growing up, so this felt new to me and quite late 90s. But as I decided to dig deeper, this album really got on my nerves. There were too many songs with bad vocals. Dude is either buried in the mix or the signing was low effort. Also his songwriting as a lyricist was not there either. There were ... read more