I really wanted to like this album. Avant-garde jazz and black metal are a fascinating combination of genres. However, I don't know what I was expecting, given that I don't particularly like either of those genres. To be fair, there were moments on this record where I was buying what Imperial Triumphant was selling. Those moments were rare though, and usually in the first half of the album (and more jazz-influenced than metal). I didn't enjoy this project. The eclectic genre-blend created a ... read more

This wasn't a bad album, although it did sound a bit poppy at times. Beyond that, the themes get a bit repetitive, especially towards the end. Also, this album doesn't really distinguish Ciara from other artists and sounds like it was designed solely for radio play. Not a bad album though, it was pleasant to the ears, but it doesn't accomplish much.

This was a strong consistent album. Sure, the themes are a bit repetitive and cycled throughout this album. Sure, it sounds a bit too poppy and could have been made by any number of pop artists, but this was still a good project. I think its brevity made me enjoy it more. If I had to spend more than 20 minutes on this I would probably have become sick of it, but seven tracks are just enough for Half Alive to develop his themes without boring me. Not once on here does the quality drop off, it's ... read more

Wow, what an album this was. 23 tracks spread out over 70 minutes can lead to a lot of negatives. A few of those apply here, but Hüsker Dü was able to mitigate a few of them. So yeah, this album was super long, there's no way around it. It's tough to make a compelling album this long; likewise, the energy on here waxes and wanes. This wasn't a very consistent project, with a lot of songs sounding like they came from different albums. However, the variety in the tracks actually created ... read more

Wow, what a great album this was. It totally blew my expectations out of the water. I came into this thinking, "an 80-minute punk album? That can't be good". To my surprise, it was indeed, good. There's a plot here, and everything feels connected. Whether this is by traditional transitions or just similar styles, everything is coherent. It's hard to find the right amount of variability when your project is this long, but Fucked Up nailed it. Nothing was too varied so that it didn't ... read more

This was a decent album, but it felt as though it lost its momentum halfway through. There were some interesting and creative moments here, and everything felt very serene. However, it did start feeling a bit repetitive towards the end. The art-pop or sophisticated pop wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything I hadn't heard before. It didn't really wow me, although I can respect it and its vision. There's also a massive variety in track quality, some tracks are clearly standouts while others are ... read more

I was really surprised at just how good this was. It wasn't amazing by any standards, but this is a very solid project, especially coming off of just hearing PX3. This sounds a lot more energetic and charismatic than the 3rd installment did. Although a short project, this covered more themes and had more variation than the 3rd one. Which turned out to be a good thing, as this project easily carried me from cover to cover without getting bored. In fact, I was enjoying it. There are some ... read more

Although not a terrible album, Mendes' S/T LP shows a lack of development from the pop star. When you think of Shawn Mendes' sound, this is what you're thinking of. It's very poppy, and women-centric, which aren't necessarily bad qualities, however, it just felt dull and repetitive after a while. Considering that the last project I'd heard from Mendes was also the same thing, it just left me disappointed at the lack of growth. I think Mendes gets too much hate. I mean I understand it with what ... read more

Although I somewhat enjoyed this album, it wasn't really my cup of tea. However, I enjoyed that almost all of these songs flowed together. I also enjoyed the instrumentation, and how easily Agalloch carried energy from one moment to the next. But I really didn't enjoy the vocals. Whether it was the raspy whispering or the dampened screams, it turned me away from this album on almost every occasion. This could have been an amazing album, although the songs might be a bit long, I found the longer ... read more

Although rough around the edges at times, this was a pretty solid record. It flowed pretty well, and there was even a seamless transition on here. However, this album wasn't necessarily my style. Although I can respect it, hearing a whole album filled with vocals like this kinda puts me off. To give SMTB credit though, there were quite a few experimental tracks on here that helped switch things up, even though the vocals remained pretty unchanged throughout. Overall, this was decent, but not ... read more

This was really pretty good for an EDM album. All of the tracks on here flowed super well together, and in the end, this felt like a coherent album. That alone already sets this apart from most EDM projects I've heard. However, this project also dabbled with experimental aspects, especially towards the beginning, that felt very unique. I'd be lying though if I said it kept this unique feel throughout. Towards the end, things started feeling a tad bit repetitive, and it was losing the energy it ... read more

This was a decent album, and although heavier than I was expecting, I still somewhat enjoyed it. There were a lot of beautiful moments on here, and the instrumentation is fire. However, there was a little bit too much screaming on here for me to fully enjoy it. I think that this album flows pretty well though, and it's coherent enough to truly be considered an album. Although a solid album, it seems a little bit basic, or at the very least, it's hard to distinguish this from a few other ... read more

This was actually surprisingly good. Well, the album itself wasn't good, but it was mediocre, and that was more than what I was expecting. There is a lot of energy on here, and it doesn't slow down until passed the halfway mark. Sure, this energy may be repetitive, but I genuinely thought that at 61 minutes long it would be a lot more repetitive. The beats on here are pretty good actually, and they aren't even that repetitive. There's some slight experimentation on the beats, and it helps make ... read more

I remember hearing this album for the first time when I was 14. I liked like four songs, and they were all towards the end of this project. I had just listened to Atrocity Exhibition, and I had fallen in love with the wonky but energetic beats. I never revisited this album in full until now, but in that time, my taste has developed a lot. Brown is his truest self on this record, his most personable. I really enjoyed a lot of the songs on the first half of this album. Although the beats aren't ... read more

What an experience this was, and conflicting at that. There were like three songs on here that really took me back to when I was 10. They were always on the radio, and I have a few vivid memories of walking down the NJ boardwalk with Mr. Brown in the background. However, the rest of this album sucked. All of the songs sounded different (although they pretty much all include most of the poppy-electronic clichés of the early 10s), yet they were still the same song, sometimes with a few ... read more

I didn't think this was a bad album, but I didn't think it was as great as everyone was claiming. To be fair though, I did not listen to this on repeat. This album just felt very pointy to me, in a bad way. The vocals standout out a lot here, and when trying my best to listen to the background instrumentals, I thought that they should be in the foreground rather than the vocals. Not to completely discredit the vocals though, there were moments when I thought they were good, and there are also ... read more

Although not a bad album, this is very repetitive. It's pretty easy to make a mediocre R&B project, but it's tough to make a good R&B album. PND ended up creating a mediocre project with PX3. There are some standout moments on here though, and some really compelling and unique beats. However, the themes and vocals change very little (with a couple of exceptions) over the 65-minute run time. I wasn't necessarily bored throughout the duration of this, but with the gems few and far ... read more

Let me preface this by saying that the production is absolutely amazing here. I loved the softer ambiance on here, particularly the absolutely amazing piano work. However, I don't think it works with this album. Sure, on some tracks it works very very well, but as a whole, I think the hardcore hip hop atmosphere, and especially Gunn's voice, don't work the best on this project. This is a much more laid-back and relaxed project than some of Gunn's other work. Moving to the vocals and lyrics, ... read more

Yeah, this album was pretty mid, but solid nonetheless. I loved the instrumentation on here, especially the guitar. Almost every track had pretty good song progression, and although offputting at first, I warmed up to the vocals towards the end. At first, I thought that the vocals stood in stark juxtaposition with the actual music. Like, his voice just didn't match the atmosphere. But towards the end, I saw how they fit together. None of the songs on here are bad, I'd even go as far as to say ... read more

Although not necessarily a bad album, this really didn't appeal to me too much. There are a few good beats, and the tones on some of the songs were surprisingly good. However, this still had a huge pop feel to it. This also isn't inherently bad, but mainstream k-pop just isn't my genre. There's quite a bit of variation for such a short project, and I think that's a big plus. Overall, this wasn't a bad album, but k-pop in general just isn't too enjoyable for me.