‘Crashing’ is right- though I wouldn’t call this Converge’s heaviest, it nevertheless is unafraid to knock you flat on your ass with its relentlessness. Comparatively maybe a bit messy compared to just how sharp Converge would refine their blade from here, but the band’s signature style was pretty much locked in here either way
Feeling like a near-perfect bridge between modern pop and eclectic electro-nostalgia a la OwlCity and the like, Heap’s Speak for Yourself delivers earworm pop banger after banger, while featuring production that’s daring on every corner. Stunning
Punk Rock had already gone through its major commercial upbringing as well as artistic beatdown with London Calling, leaving this record feeling like a throwback. A fun one though
Starts out with easily Motörhead’s best and most anthemic moment, before slowly getting worse and worse as the album progresses. Jailbait is, well, the scourge of the record’s existence- but honestly, the other tracks around it are shockingly nearly as bad. Could’ve been a classic project but has just too many total duds
A star-studded step-up from the rabble-rousers' rough-n-tumble debut. Though it may start with the record's best cut and doesn't *quite* hit the same peak again, the record is still astoundingly heavy for the average metal palette of the period. The production still feels decidedly 'rough', but in a way that actually lends credence to the band's direction unlike their debut
Splendidly beautiful. The piano is far from Mingus’ ‘primary instrument’, which can actually be relatively easily heard by listening closely for the occasional flubbed note, a happenstance which you’d be hard-pressed to find on any of Mingus’ more ‘accomplished’ choice of instruments. However, this doesn’t result in a set of pieces of ever consider ‘shoddy’- far from it. This set of piano ballads and reflections sits quietly as one of ... read more
Though it’s far from Mingus’ last stand, this record (which I like to refer to as ‘Pentamingus’) does feel like the end of an era of sorts for his discography- specifically the frenetic avant-garde jazz that defined him to this point. Yet another unimpeachable set of timeless jazz
Mingus’ grand voyage into Latin-Jazz. Tijuana Moods, as the text at the cover’s top states, is unique in Mingus’ discography as it’s intended to evoke very specific imagery, that being of a rambunctious stay in ‘Mexico’s border town’. Mission accomplished. Tracks like Dizzy Moods, Ysabel’s Table Dance, and Los Mariachis are some of the most vivid in Mingus’ entire discography
One of the weaker Mingus offerings to this point, as none of the four compositions here feel essential. That said- still strokes of brilliance to be found, for sure
The cover and general presentation of this one may have you thinking this is an off-kilter Mingus project, but there's still gold to be found here. The opener is among Mingus' best 60s-starts, and tracks like Things Ain't What They Used to Be are terribly underrated among his larger canon. Definitely a record that may be somewhat 'forgettable' among his best works, but still has more than enough pieces of quality to make it worth your Mingus-must-haves if you ask me
One of Mingus' most joyously ecstatic offerings- a bold statement referring to one of Jazz's most consistently 'boisterous' auteurs, but just listen to this rendition of Moanin' or that closer and you'll see what I mean. A deceptively simple release that is absolutely anything but
Entitled The Clown, but there’s nothing funny at all about how well-composed this is. A perfect blend of riveting Avant-Garde and incredibly smooth, approachable jazz- all traits that can be applied to a majority of Mingus’ works, though something about The Clown feels particularly swinging in a palpable way
Assuredly one of jazz’s earliest avant-garde colossuses. Even before entering the 60s, Mingus was blowing minds with mid-50s warblers such as this. Sure, the edges may end up more smoothed out on future works- but the ‘Mingus Spirit’, AKA ‘Melt-Your-Mind Jazz’ was in full swing already here
It's pleasant enough- to the point that it can fill just about any space as a perfectly suitable wallpaper. But, man- wallpaper is such a pain to deal with
At times feels like teetering toward some really competent technique and instrumentation, a la some of Megadeth’s prior works. And then you hear the intro to a song like Sweating Bullets and you remember that the band peaked unequivocally with Rust In Peace (what a peak it was, too)
An incredibly awkward slump between Megadeth’s two classic records, simply put
Though Mustaine’s vocals still very much sound like they’re going through a ‘growing pains’ period (that doesn’t ever really go away in Megadeth’s discography, funnily enough), the instrumentation and general songwriting here is a very apparent several leagues above the band’s debut. Tracks like Peace Sells, Good Mourning/Black Friday, and Bad Omen are rippers
Create an account to rate and review albums.
Recent Review Comments
On Jalen Ngonda - Doctrine of Love
"@Shayden 100% agree, it’s a throwback record done right"
On 2Pac - Me Against The World
"@Cloudboy019 yeah I def get what you mean. Pac’s cadence and energy is so infectious for me I was able to look past the production being relatively ‘one-note’, even though like you said it is excellent production. That’s an excellent analogy"
On 2Pac - Me Against The World
"@Cloudboy019 that's a fair critique, I will say flow is not Pac's strongsuit, though a lot of people would probably disagree with that. The production is pretty much perfect here imo but it is definitely uniform across the record so I could see it growing stale if G-Funk adjacent stuff isn't as much your bag"
On David Bowie - David Bowie [Space Oddity]
"@usur_disc350 I’ll admit I’ve not revisited this much at all in the last couple years, but I’ll definitely stand by it having several great cuts beyond the title track"
On usur_disc350's review of McKinley Dixon - Magic, Alive!
"Honestly, really well put. I still have this rated pretty highly but I'd say I feel similarly, there's a sheen over this style of 'indie rap' that's starting to feel like the sheen that's covered a large bulk of indie rock the past decade (post-Mac if you will), it's a sheen of homogenization. Hadn't really put much thought to it until now but I think this absolutely hits the nail on the head, and is probably why despite there being so much 'good' hip-hop nowadays, the bulk of it feels like one big swirl of sameness. Excellent take"
On susquatch - Water Plant
"@Rileone it is yeah but it’s also definitely math rock too"
On Faith Evans & The Notorious B.I.G. - The King & I
"@TheTrillTrolla that’s actually very informative, thank you!"
On Doofy's review of The The - Infected
"I prefer Soul Mining a shade, but I’ll agree that this record should be considered as far closer in quality than most. Nearly everything that makes Soul Mining so excellent is found here too, excellent production and songwriting especially"
On Clifford Brown & Max Roach - Clifford Brown & Max Roach
"@HomeSession3 holy shit what a story! Thank you for sharing, that certainly sounds like one of those life-defining moments, for you and Roach. Live Jazz may be the definitive form of live performing for the reasons you said- it makes the frail jolt to life"
On My New Band Believe - My New Band Believe
"@Trazyn I hate saying ‘annoying’ bc that’s reductive, there are def moments where the lyricism along with the vocal style felt really contrived and grating to me though. Overall it’s certainly not an ‘annoying’ album, just nothing particularly new for Windmill. I would say I’m annoyed with the windmill scene in general nowadays"
On Tangerine Dream - Rubycon
"@Litebill931 thank you much! I have to stop myself from over-writing a lot of the time lol"
On 𝒩𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓉's review of Slayyyter - WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA
"First review of this project that’s really made me want to check it out- seriously excellent write-up"
On XTC - Drums and Wires
"@sher12308 you’re totally right! Major goof on my part, I’ll edit that, appreciate the call-out"
On King Krule - 6 Feet Beneath the Moon
"@yusukeYYH thank you so much! His music is this really intriguing blend of abstract and extremely vivid"
On Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
"@ScaredDog6163 yeah for sure! I appreciate the compliment! Jeff Buckley is a perfect example of why 90s rock really shouldn’t be funneled into those two ‘categories’ I listed because he blends so many styles and sounds (a major reason why Grace is one of the most majestic albums of all time). I’m the same as you in that there’s very little I truly dislike that I listen to- it makes it a lot easier to be encouraged to check out more stuff! Let me know when you’ve got those reviews typed out, I’d love to check em out!"
On Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
"Sorry for the long winded answer, hope that helps! If you need help finding some specific bands lmk too and I can try and throw you some based on what you currently rock with 🤘"
On Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
"The other main strain in my mind is Slacker Rock (the kind I tend to prefer a bit). This is your Pavements, Built to Spills, Weezers, etc. This style of rock tended to ‘look forward’ whereas grunge took influence from a lot of its contemporaries in many ways.
In terms of what I’d do for a deep dive now- honestly, I’d determine which strain you like more and start with the big bands before digging deeper, maybe even trying out some of the influences/ similar bands. For instance, if you really fw Weezer I’d recommend other Geek/Wacky Rock bands like Cake or Grandaddy. Same goes for, say, AIC- you could check out other alternative metal bands for instance."
On Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)
"@ScaredDog6163 for sure! I went on a pretty big 90s rock binge a couple years back and it’s definitely a vast canyon. This is a wildly simplified answer, but imo there are two *main* streams of 90s rock. The first is what most people think of , being Grunge. These are your Nirvanas and Pearl Jams and basically what the average person will probably think of when they think of ‘90s rock’- and it’s great! Grunge pulls a lot from heavier influences depending on the band, such as Punk and Noise Rock for Nirvana or even Metal with bands like Alice In Chains."
On The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme
"@Zubb autism + long commutes to work goes a long way lmao"
On Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic
"@Iam_AKne thank you so much! It’s become something of a passion of mine for sure. The kind words go a long way, I’d love to have my own site or something one day"
On Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic
"@Iam_AKne no I’m not, it’s funny you ask because in high school I had plans to maybe become a writer but it never panned out"
On Johnny Blue Skies - Mutiny After Midnight
"Unless you find a rip somewhere or dish out thirty bucks it’s impossible for the time being unfortunately, it is an absolute blast of a record though no doubt, one of his best easily"
On Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic
"@Iam_AKne thank you much! I have fun with them lol"
On Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage Acts II & III
"@ScottShelby that does look interesting, I’ll try and get to it later today, thanks again for all the recs! You’re the Zappa guy so it’s been helpful as a total Zappa novice"
On Frank Zappa - Joe's Garage Acts II & III
"@ScottShelby honestly, having sampled a handful of tracks from his studio records to follow from here I think I’m going to bow out for the time being on his discography, I’d prefer to end it on a high note. Someday I’ll eventually go the whole distance but I think I’d honestly just get burned out going through a series of just messy subpar records tbh"
Advertisement