What an album. I see a huge future for this band, now that they seem to somewhat have broken into the mainstream. If they continue on this path, they will be remembered as one of the greats of this era for sure.
The production is amazing, the songwriting is memorable, the perfomances brilliant. I love the instrumentation and the melodies and just how unique it all sounds. "Taxes" and "Au Pays du Cocaine" are some damn beautiful songs, "100 Horses" on the other hand ... read more

This is one of these albums that I've listened to countless times and still haven't reviewed. Well, I recently got it on vinyl so I think a review would be appropriate. It's a great album but not the masterpiece many people make it out to be. It mostly sounds like what it is - a teenager noddling around and having some incredible ideas here and there. I think it's a little underbaked, to be honest. The transitions can feel rough and some sections just don't do anything ... read more

This is a really good album, but I always feel like it is missing that little something that makes you feel something. It's very slickly produced, as expected from Alan Parsons, but I feel like it is missing a little bit of emotion. There are nice moments, like the gorgeous "Nothing Left to Lose", but then there are moments like the two title tracks that seems a little forced. There are groovy moments like on the first two tracks, as well as side one's closer but those also ... read more

Definitely the weakest Gentle Giant album I've heard thus far. Though it shows the groups astounding musicianship, it's a mess. There are two great tracks here, the opener and "Why Not?", both of which work very well. But "Nothing At All" was giant (see what I did there) missed opportunity. The first 4.5 minutes are virtually flawless - it flows beautifully and has a great contrast between gorgeous harmonies and tasty blues riffs. But then they decided to ... read more

An engaging but watered-down effort from the avant-proggers. The songs feel simple in comparison to the two clever and incredibly tight albums that came before it. There are four songs that hold up to the aforementioned masterclasses in prog writing, those being the bookending tracks, as well as the title track and "Time to Kill" - they're just as groovy and clever as ever. But then there are the meandering "On Reflection" and "His Last Voyage", as well as the ... read more

This is very fun, but I do mostly enjoy it for its gimmick rather tha the music, to be completely honest. Two dudes in peculiar costumes playing microtonal math rock, that's certainly a mouthful. But don't get me wrong, there's some great music here. "Fabienk" stands out as a very catchy and groovy effort and "Yor Zarad" impresses with its hypnotising grooves. I don't get much from the closer, "Angor", as it doesn't really progress. ... read more

The missing Nektar reviews - #1
This is such a bland album. The songwriting is extremely basic and the songs just aren't engaging. The classic Nektar sound is missing to say the least. There's isn't really anything memorable either, it's just mediocre and forgettable.
The mixing work and performances are decent, Roye sounds better than you'd expect after a 20 year pause. One thing that bothers me, though, is how the guitar sounds like a sad fart.
The title track and ... read more

Genesis deep dive #10
Why couldn't their career end after We Can't Dance? It was a damn good album. But no, let's make another album that sucks ASS when one of core members is gone. That's right, Phil Collins left and they replaced them with Big Yahu on drums and some bloke on vocals. The bloke does a pretty good job but it doesn't even sound remotely like Genesis.
This is my first 40+ score and how nice that it is by my favorite band. The only good thing on the whole ... read more

Genesis deep dive #9
I am slowly realising that I may have an extreme bias going on. I might as well explain.
Genesis, first and foremost Collins era Genesis, was the band that shaped my childhood. This was because my grandma was a huge Phil Collins fan. Of course I didn't listen to the albums, but I had the "The Platinum Collection" compilation playing non-stop on my MP3-Player. I grew up with "Land of Confusion" (Which was my favorite), "No Son of Mine" and ... read more

Thank you @Evanium for recommending me this album!
Let's adress the elephant in the room first - the production. I don't mind it. I thought it was terrible when listening to it for the first time and it was also what turned me off to the group as a whole. After uprading my sound system, I can enjoy it (even though a huge treble boost is needed). The first 20 minutes of this album are absolutely thrilling - banger after banger after banger. But then "Mr. Beat" completely ... read more

What a holy experience this album is.
I listened to it so much a few years ago, it was actually one of the first album I properly got into. So why is the review only coming out now? I don't fucking know. I've been bumping this album a lot lately and have been enjoying it a ton. Now look, I love the hell out of Lateralus but it does have flaws. For one, it's definitely inconsistent. Like, the highs are astoudingly, astronomically high. "Lateralus" is just out of this ... read more

Genesis deep dive #8
It's pretty good, but you can notice a significant drop in quality from the self-titled album. The production has aged like milk - it's so 80s coated and has no soul. Mixing is good though, sounds punchy. The main problem here is the few tracks that really bring the average down. They're not bad, but don't hold up to the rest. For example, "In Too Deep" is extremely corny and unnecessary, so is "Throwing it All Away". "The ... read more

It's really cool for what it is but let's be fair here. The production is all-around garbage and it's a really repetitive album - it almost feels like some songs are repeated. For an album from Bahrain, you'd expect it to more of an original sound, but's it's pretty much just spiced Camel. Which is not a bad thing at all! I like the sound of this record, it's quite charming. The strong accent only add to the pretty mysterious and almost eerie vibe. Most of ... read more

Reviewing the 21 records I bought in bulk #1
I love the energy of this album. The songwriting is quite creative, each song sounds pretty unique and the overall sound is cohesive. The mixing is impressive, it sounds very clear yet very full, witch a lot of punch but also great dynamics - just something you really wanna turn up. I wanna shout-out the bassist who always plays so tastefully and seems to find the nicest lines all the time. The drumming and guitaring are also on point, I like the ... read more

Genesis deep dive #7
I don't care, it's a damn good album. 80's Genesis isn't that bad after all, we had Duke and now Shapes, both of which have a great selection of tracks. While the former has more stand-out tracks, this album is just consistent and all around enjoyable. Let's adress the elephant in the room, though. "Illegal Alien" is a great tune. It's catchy, memorable and everything a pop song should be. But yes, the lyrics are utterly dogshit. ... read more

Genesis deep dive #6
It's not bad. But it's just so disappointing. "Duke" gave me hope for the 80's Genesis but that hope is gone again. "Abacab" sounds pretty uninspired and tired; little passion. I appreciate the experimentation but it all sounds very dated. I'm not saying there is nothing good on here, but I can confidentally say that there is nothing great. The title track and "Dodo/Lurker" are both really good and "No Reply at ... read more

😮😮😮
Last sunday I got sick and while browsing AOTY in an effort to kill time, I came upon this album. The cover and genres really intrigued me and so I listened right away. I was NOT disappointed at all. This is brilliant!
If I had to describe it in one sentence, I'd call it dreamy and psychedelic grunge/alt-rock. I love the spacy vibes but I wouldn't call it proper space rock. The riffs are just incredible and so are the vocal melodies. They use a lot of unusual dissonant ... read more

God damn!!
I found this record for 8€ in a shop a while back and remembered listening to it and liking it. I of course was familiar with Gong's "Radio Gnome Invisible" Trilogy as well as Steve's debut solo album, but I wasn't expecting this album to be this good.
The vibe of this album is spectacular, I'd even compare it to Gong's "You" as it is the closest imo. It even has "Master Builder" ffs! And just like "You", the ... read more

Genesis deep dive #5
Surprisingly great! I mean, I saw the scores and whatnot but it really surprised me that Genesis would make the poppiest and simultaneously the best album in four years. After the slight identity crisis of "...And Then There Were Three..." the trio seems to have found its place and sounds confident. This is a pretty consistent album, there is no track I don't like or one that comes close to that status. "Cul-de-sac" is the closest, which just feels ... read more

FZ strikes again! Don't worry, the next Genesis review is coming soon...
Some of the songs on here are really amazing, but I just can't rate it higher because it's a damn inconsistent album. Of the five main songs, "Po-Jama People" is easily the worst. To be frank, it just bores me to pieces. Nothing really interesting about it. The solo is great though, can't deny that. Then we have the short filler songs that don't do much for me. "Can't Afford No ... read more