EDIT: 85 ---> 90

This album is amazing. Still my favorite of the year so far. Also, R.I.P. Asha Bhosle. Forever a legend.

(ORIGINAL REVIEW)

This is my first Gorillaz album, and I have to say, they did a great job with this one.

The addition of Indian classical instruments like the Sitar, Santoor and Tabla really do add to the meditative, almost serene vibe of this album, though I wish they played a bit of a bigger role in some of the songs on the first half of the album. Thankfully, the ... read more

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the album with by far the most effort put into it when it comes to the album cover and promotion: truly the greatest album cover of all time, only rivaled by Yuno Miles' ALBUM.

I had postponed this album for so long because of other projects I had more immediate interest in, and my first question after pressing play was:

Why didn't I do this sooner?

Brat is, to put it simply, a fantastic pop album. It has everything you could possibly want in a ... read more

EDIT 3: 90 ---> 85, because it has grew off me just a bit.
EDIT 2: 94 ---> 90 due to my rating overhaul.
EDIT: 85 ---> 94, and potentially will grow on me even further.

This album has grown on me...quite a lot.

If you like long songs, you'll REALLY enjoy Introspective, however if you don't, you probably won't.

This album has a fantastic atmosphere, and while it does sound retro and of its time, it has also aged very well, and you can certainly listen to this album and ... read more

Has Converge still got it? Short Answer: yes.

Long Answer: Abso-fucking-lutely. Converge are still going strong with their eleventh studio album Love Is Not Enough, and while this is very different from the previous albums I've heard from them, it's still a great record in its own right, possibly their most accessible.

You still have that speed and tightness in the instrumentation, except you notice it's a bit more relaxed now. Jacob and Nate's vocal synergy and even their ... read more

EDIT: 95 ---> 100

This album is perfect. As good as this style of metalcore gets.

(ORIGINAL REVIEW)

Remember Jane Doe and Axe To Fall? Great, now combine the best aspects of both of those albums, and the result should be possibly Converge at their absolute finest.

This album takes the polish in the production, as well as more melodic elements of Axe To Fall, and amplifies them. But on the other hand, it takes the sheer fury and relentless rage Jane Doe provides, and amplifies that too. ... read more

I will say, in Korn's "Headless" era, where Brian "Head" Welch was not in the band, this album is hands down the strongest one in the entire run from Take A Look in the Mirror to The Path of Totality.

Yeah, Korn were still not super confident with this album, but I feel like that insecurity...kinda works in this album. The production is still handled by The Matrix, which is a good thing. This album is also much more cohesive, which is a great thing.

The intro is ... read more

Take A Look in the Mirror was not great, but I mean, it was at least somewhat listenable.

This album is the prime example of a clusterfuck. The band went for a more pop-adjacent sound, produced by The Matrix. That is actually not the problem, far from it. If anything, this is WAY better produced than the album before it, though still nowhere near Untouchables-level quality.

My problem with this album is...literally everything else. The melodies, the awkward instrumentation, some of the ... read more

Honestly, I genuinely feel like this album gets WAY too much hate.

Is this Korn's best album? No, far from it actually. But to be completely honest, it's not their worst either.

The fusion with dubstep is an acquired taste, but to be honest, I think it works, and it works well as an experiment. The ugliness of Dubstep meshes really well with Korn's "ugly" tone, and the result is surprisingly complete.

I think the Skrillex songs are by far the best: Chaos Lives in ... read more

Now, you might be thinking: There ain't no way Eminem could possibly top The Marshall Mathers LP.

And you'd be right. But The Eminem Show comes really close, the difference is legit miniscule quality-wise.

Eminem's WAY more aggressive here: he's ferocious and out for blood, and you can certainly see that in the delivery, as clearly seen in songs like Soldier, and the pump-up anthem Till I Collapse, which is still, one of the most successful songs ever to never have been ... read more

I'm not gonna be the first one to say: this album is overhyped.

I'm not against Kendrick making a laid back, more fun album. I feel like he has more than earned it with just how prominent of an artist he has become in the modern rap scene, with some amazing, sometimes generational albums.

However, I really feel like he kind of fumbled it here with the execution. The beats and production are excellent, but I just can't get past his accent. He sounds like a Teletubby.

I get the ... read more

Usually I don't care about remix albums, but what Linkin Park did with Reanimation is different.

This could very well be its own album. The songs are not just remixed: they're Re-Animated. Muddier, trippier, darker versions of pre-existing songs with some amazing collabs make this a great listen, even if you're not too huge into Remix albums.

Being completely transparent: most of the songs don't hold a candle to the originals. However, some do, and there is certified gold ... read more

The return of Adam Gontier into Three Days Grace, and keeping Matt Walst in; Three Days Grace 2X, as they call it, have received a lot of hype with their eighth album Alienation.

Then the singles came out. Then the album. And I can say, with full confidence, this is an album.

I would be lying if I said I didn't have a fun time with some of the songs here. Mayday is a brilliant lead single which is a lot of fun, and Apologies is a nicer, slightly softer song that works well enough. Kill ... read more

After the immensely raw Self Titled debut by Korn, there was some anticipation regarding their sophomore album, and to be honest, I think they lived up to it with Life is Peachy.

This is similar in many ways with that raw energy, but is slightly more polished, with a more uptempo and lighthearted vibe, although some songs are still very emotionally raw. This album feels like a bridge to connect the debut with the more polished sound Korn would pursue further in their career.

The slap bass by ... read more

A year after Eminem dropped Relapse, to rather mixed reception, Recovery was a FAR more serious, straightforward and motivational record.

Eminem is much more furious here, and the energy is present in a lot of the songs here, right from the opener Cold Wind Blows, continuing on with songs like Won't Back Down and Not Afraid. No Love has a fantastic dichotomy of Wayne's poetic verses with Eminem absolutely tearing the roof down with one of his best verses by far. Cinderella Man is the ... read more

The final album of a short-lived band, In Utero takes Nirvana's grunge prowess, and adds a bit of experimental noise-rock flair to it.

This album is diverse, fluid and cohesive. But above all, it's amazing. You have the much softer songs like Serve the Servants, Heart-Shaped Box, R### Me, Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle, Dumb, Pennyroyal Tea and my personal favorite: All Apologies, which range from dark to emotional, especially All Apologies, which just hits so hard ... read more

Collision Course is, well...an EP. And it has songs on it.

To be completely fair, as forced as this collab is, half of it works. The Lying From You, Faint and Points of Authority/One Step Closer mashups are awesome and I think those are by far the best parts of this EP. JAY-Z's rap verses work really well with the rock instrumentation these songs provide and it's awesome.

However, the other half is lame. Numb/Encore is a pretty big downgrade over the original, Big ... read more

I am not a fan of Follow the Leader.

Don't get me wrong, it is iconic and has some really great songs like the singles: Freak On a Leash and Got the Life, which fuses nu-metal with a disco vibe to make by far one of their best songs, alongside some other great ones sprinkled here and there, but man, has this album aged poorly as a whole.

This released near the pinnacle of the nu-metal movement in the late 90s, and I will not deny its importance in bringing Korn into the mainstream with ... read more

The Self Titled Three Days Grace album is great, don't get me wrong, but I feel Three Days Grace truly started becoming distinct from the crowd with One-X.

Even though this is very much a butt rock album, it works amazingly and has many iconic and memorable songs that are still worth coming back to.

The production got a significant boost, and the introduction of Barry Stock was a great addition, since the riffs have become noticeably more memorable and interesting. Adam has also become a ... read more

In 2004, we saw the introduction of a rapper and hip-hop artist that would change the scope of mainstream hip-hop forever.

The College Dropout is Kanye's first album, of course, but at the same time, it still stands tall as one of his most iconic and generational efforts. This was back when Kanye was respected a lot, and at the time, he was absolutely unstoppable.

You've got artist-defining songs like the confident We Don't Care, All Falls Down, School Spirit and Spaceship, ... read more

I'll just be direct here: this album sucks.

Korn tried to go back to an older sound reminiscent of the Self Titled and Life is Peachy era of themselves, but A: it sounds nothing like that, and B: it sounds terrible.

Let's start with the good: Uber-Time/Oildale is amazing. By a landslide the only great song in the album actually worth replaying over and over. I will also save Pop a Pill and the closer Holding All These Lies. These aren't the best songs ever, but they work, and I ... read more