I had ridiculous expectations for this one, counting the days down until I could listen to it. I was a big fan of Windswept Adan, and seeing how I had a penchant for preferring shorter albums to longer ones, I seriously thought this had a chance to overtake it. I expected it to be my likely aoty for 2025.

And it didn't disappoint. Aoty in February (unless something weird happens). Thank goodness for Ichiko Aoba.

Standouts here for me have to be COLORATURA, mazamun, FLAG, aurora, and ... read more

Its certainly not bad. The first half is actually fairly solid, and the second half has some nice moments. I like the guitar on Black Eyelashes, some of the vocals are nice, etc.

The primary knock I have against The Human Fear, however, is the fact that there are no standout tracks. Their debut had a rock solid track list and great highlights in Dark of the Matineé, Auf Achse, and 40’. YCHISMB wasn’t quite as good in my opinion, but songs like Outsiders and the first few ... read more

Few albums are this airtight and solid.

Opener "Don't Make Me a Target" kicks things off on a good note, and the rest of the album just extends that quality out to 36 minutes. I found the last 2 songs very slightly tapered off for me, but the change is so minute that it hardly matters in the long run.

The instrumentation has that classic indie rock sound, but it also ties in some more unique elements. It never tries to be this overly experimental album that throws out idea ... read more

90 -> 100 -> 91 -> 96

I went on a journey with this album.

First gave it a listen in January, and found the first half to drag down the album a bit, not quite clicking with Nude and 15 Step. However, I found the back half more than made up for it with Jigsaw and All I Need, so I spat out a 90 or so as the score.

Then after a few weeks, and after hearing this album be lauded by one of my friends as the single greatest thing to man since Indian food, I gave it another whirl one ... read more

Man this album is perfect to unwind with. It’s short, it never overstays its welcome, never gets bland or weird, and is SO soothing. What a brilliant, reflective album.

Pretty good! I actually like a lot of the less popular songs on this, like O My God, Miss Gradenko, Footsteps, etc. However everything past Synchronicity II is very uneven for me. Every Breath You Take sticks out like a sore thumb from a sonic perspective, it just sounds so different compared to the rest of the album. Tea in the Sahara felt like a bit of a slowdown for me. Tracks like King of Pain and Wrapped Around Your Finger stabilize it a bit, but the second half drags this album down ... read more

Genuinely ridiculous, this sounds so clean and polished from a production standpoint, and so unlike their usual sound. VERY excited for their new album if this is what they’re pursuing.

Not a bad showing from probably Coldplay's most famous album. Life in Technicolor and 42 (especially the second half's solo) are probably my favorites, with Viva la Vida and Violet Hill right behind them.

The only reason that this album doesn't score higher is because of songs like Strawberry Swing, Lovers in Japan/Reign in Love, and Lost! (to a lesser extent) that just didn't really click with me, and really killed some of the momentum. They aren't bad by any means, ... read more

Ah The Wall. The Wall! The Wall? The Wall.
I think if you asked me what records I've listened to that I have the most thoughts on, I'd probably say this one. There's a decent amount of stuff that contributes to my opinion on this, from the music, the context, everything. Of course, it's all just my take on this, and if your take differs, that's obviously okay.

Let's start with the background. It's no secret that on The Wall, Roger Waters assumed a ... read more

Wow. Talk about magical.

I decided to finally listen to Fishmans today. This was a very good decision that I made today.

I can throw any number of compliments I can at this album and still can't do it justice. It's 2 HOURS, and it only gets better as it goes on. I'm not even going to comment on LONG SEASON, I'm just filing it under S for "Should be impossible to ever conceive in this world".

What a stellar performance from everyone, especially Shinji (<3). ... read more

You absolutely nailed minimalism while keeping things fresh, and on top of that made an atmosphere to get lost in. Wonderful stuff. :D

Starts off fairly solidly and ends great on Outsiders but everything after Evil and a Heathen sans Outsiders didn't really do anything for me, and the album sorta just chugged along.

Outsiders is great though, easily a top 3 FF song for me, and is a big reason why the score is not a 6.

Nothing in this album overall is REALLY bad or anything; the quality is pretty passable.

You all should’ve seen my face when hearing Waking the Witch for the first time, I was FLOORED by that song on my first listen. One of the best unexpected moments in an album.

91 -> 100
One of those albums that's rock solid with basically no flaws and flows perfectly in a full listen. This grew so much on me, I kept coming back to it.

While all the tracks are amazing, the relative standouts for me are probably Pitch the Baby, Heaven or Las Vegas, I Wear Your Ring, and of course Frou-Frou Foxes (side note, awesome song name). Props to Cherry-Coloured Funk as well.

One of the most iconic 2000s albums. Rock solid in its consistency and has so many fun tracks. Only complaint from me is that it tapers off in the end a bit.

Also this cover rocks it fits the music and band perfectly.

Why are the alternate versions counted as part of the album? Like aren't they just- never mind.

This album's got Race for the Prize which is absolutely stellar, plus other songs like Spoonful and Disintegrate which are also great, but I think it's just a bit too long and a bit too bloated, there's a run of songs in the middle that didn't really grab my interest unfortunately, but this album is still pretty decent imo.

I think Yoshimi is just a bit more fun and ... read more

Pretty neat album, Bjork's voice is absolutely charismatic.
This album for some reason causes me to feel like I'm tasting strong fruity jam, and I have no clue why, but hey I'm not complaining.

Pretty solid overall, probably your best work. I really liked the atmosphere, it reminded me of Lavender Town’s theme from Pokemon Red/Blue.

Maybe one suggestion I could give is find a way to pierce the drone? Like sort of make something piercing and more abrasive to further contrast with the smooth drone throughout the song.

But overall I enjoyed this song, it’s got a really neat vibe to it.

I... wasn't expecting this. After A Momentary Lapse of Reason didn't really satisfy me, I was expecting this album to be much of the same. After all, it's 66 minutes, and another Pink Floyd album headed by Gilmour. I know some songs from this album like Keep Talking and What Do You Want from Me, but I still didn't expect the album to be anything great. At the very least, I expected it would be better than The Final Cut and on par with The Wall in my eyes, mainly because I really personally ... read more

Love to see the improvement. Massive step up from Hot Fuss in my eyes.

My favorite songs on here like the title track and When You Were Young can stand up to Hot Fuss' Mr. Brightside and Jenny was a Friend of Mine. However, that's not where the massive improvement mainly comes from.

The consistency here is MUCH better. While the album does kind of bore me in the middle, it's nowhere near as bad as my experience with Hot Fuss in its second half. Heck, this album even picks back up a bit with ... read more