The first side of this album is perfect. Computer World is a great introduction with that iconic synth line and the mechanical listing of things in society that computers became an integral part of. Pocket Calculator is so catchy, I love the lyrics about calculating stuff too, charmingly nerdy 😄. Numbers is very rhythmically satisfying and taught me how to count to 8 in German. Computer World 2 is a great combo of the previous song and its namesake, always loved both the transition into this ... read more

I took some liberty to merge some of the interlude tracks with the songs they feel like they belong with, didn’t feel right to rank them separately.

But yeah, what an album. No other music that I know of quite gives me the strange nuclear dystopia feeling that this does. I love the transitions between tracks here. Ohm Sweet Home, Airwaves, and Transistor are so emotional for electronic music. Of course Radioactivity is a classic with those synth choirs. Antenna is cool with its ... read more

I respect this album a lot. Its long runtime turned me away from it for a while, but finally gave it a good chance recently. I finally get the concept of the wall being about distancing yourself from others mentally. I think this album does a really good job of exploring this through Pink.

You see how he both his mother and school are very restrictive on him, building an initial wall. But he has empty spaces within that wall which he tries to fill with drugs and lust. I guess somehow that ... read more

Bleh.

Ranked
1. Angela - 80
2. Sisters, O Sisters - 65
3. Born In A Prison - 65
4. The Luck Of The Irish - 60
5. Attica State - 50
6. John Sinclair - 50
7. New York City - 40
8. Sunday Bloody Sunday - 40
9. We’re All Water - 35
10. Woman Is The N****r Of The World - 15

100 - Masterpiece
90 - Amazing
80 - Great
70 - Good
60 - Okay
50 - Mid
40 - Ehh
30 - Bad
20 - Terrible
10 - Awful
0 - Abysmal

Album score calculated by taking average of mean and median of track scores.

Similar to his first album for me outside of the clear standout of Imagine and a few other highlights… pretty repetitive songs, this time with tracks like Crippled Inside and It’s So Hard that sound pretty generic…

At least Gimme Some Truth is pretty great with the guitar contributions from Harrison. Jealous Guy and How? have their beauty to them as well. Not my favorite album otherwise…

Ranked
1. Imagine - 100
2. Gimme Some Truth - 85
3. How? - 85
4. Jealous Guy - ... read more

Wish I liked this more than I did, given I usually really like the songs Lennon made in The Beatles. A lot of the songs just have repetitive lyrics and instrumentals, making them kinda boring to me. There are some highlights though, like the guitar in Hold On, the piano in Remember, the bass in I Found Out, and the sadness of the other three in the top five. Could be better though.

Ranked
1. Mother - 90
2. I Found Out - 85
3. Isolation - 85
4. My Mummy’s Dead - 80
5. Remember - 80
6. ... read more

How does a band make an album as incredible as Close to the Edge… and then top it?? This track-listing is so similar to Close to the Edge, so it just makes sense to compare them. Given that I didn’t really review Close to the Edge in its review (lol), this seems like a good time to talk about both.

I don’t know if I can choose a favorite between Gates of Delirium and Close to the Edge, they are both so great in their own ways. Of course Close to the Edge is ... read more

Bro… Oh! Is too beautiful 😢

Most of the rest of the album is catchy grunge tunes with some excellent guitar highlights such as in Glorious. Great stuff.

The fight between this and Bossanova was close, but it seems that Pod has come out on top. With how stacked the top songs in Bossanova are, I wasn’t sure if it was right…But I think this album just has less weaker songs, making for a slightly more cohesive experience. An amazing debut from The Breeders.

Ranked
1. Oh! - ... read more

For how long it is, it’s awesome that it’s so consistently amazing! Speedy Marie is one of the most beautiful songs I know. Fazer Eyes and White Noise Maker are beautiful as well. Thalassocracy is so full of… angst? Is that the right word for it? Such a satisfying song for being so short. Both Headache and I Could Stay Here Forever are wonderfully existential love songs, I like how the latter one is a bit psychedelic. The keyboard is great in Superabound, and it describes the ... read more

Think I like Spooning Good Singing Gum more than most, the guitar on it is great, even if it might make it the black sheep of the album. The other ones in the top four have excellent singing from Fraser, and beautiful, nostalgic instrumentals. The guitar is the highlight yet again on Cico Buff, and Blue Bell Knoll has such a great climactic ending.

Overall a very consistent album with amazing atmosphere. Probably within my top three of the Cocteau Twins.

Ranked
1. A Kissed Out Red Floatboat ... read more

Both the aggressive punkiness and the beautiful moments are on point here. No complaints.

Ranked
1. Softly - 100
2. I Got Heaven - 100
3. Of Her - 100
4. Loud Bark - 100
5. Nothing Like - 100
6. Split Me Open - 100
7. Sometimes - 95
8. I Don’t Know You - 90
9. OK? OK! OK? OK! - 90
10. Aching - 90

100 - Masterpiece
90 - Amazing
80 - Great
70 - Good
60 - Okay
50 - Mid
40 - Ehh
30 - Bad
20 - Terrible
10 - Awful
0 - Abysmal

Album score calculated by taking average of mean and median of ... read more

Odd choice to make another spooky album not too long after a spooky album in your discography when you aren’t a spooky band, but who am I to judge? Especially if it results in their best album since Trompe le Monde. This was the first Pixies album I heard the day it was released, and needless to say, I was happy with what we got.

This album harkens back to some of the beautiful soundscapes we got in Bossanova with tracks like Mercy Me, Primrose, and Chicken. They go back to their punky ... read more

Small downgrade from the last, lost the cohesive theme that Beneath the Eyrie had. At least You’re Such a Sadducee is peak. The album was better than I remember too, has some great moments I forgot about.

Ranked
1. You’re Such a Sadducee - 100
2. Thunder and Lightning - 95
3. Haunted House - 90
4. Get Simulated - 85
5. The Lord Has Come Back Today - 85
6. Vault of Heaven - 85
7. Pagan Man - 85
8. Doggerel - 80
9. Who’s More Sorry Now? - 80
10. Nomatterday - 80
11. Dregs of ... read more

Hey, a new-Pixies album I like about as much as Come On Pilgrim, not too shabby. I think concentrating on a spooky theme really helps to make this feel more cohesive. There’s even some extra songs from this session that didn’t make the album such as Mal de Mer, Caught in a Dream, and Under the Marigold. If these replaced some of the lesser tracks, we could really be talking about something close to the quality of a full classic Pixies album. As is though, a step in the right ... read more

I always thought this was my least favorite of the new-Pixies albums, but no, it beats Indie Cindy I guess. It makes sense though. Although it doesn’t reach the heights of Indie Cindy, it doesn’t reach its lows either, and is overall the more consistent album.

All I Think About Now would have been rated higher if it didn’t remind me of Where Is My Mind? so much.

Ranked
1. Bel Esprit - 90
2. All the Saints - 90
3. Plaster of Paris - 85
4. All I Think About Now - 85
5. Classic ... read more

A solid comeback. Of course after over 20 years, the band aren’t exactly the same…

The low-points are lower on here than in previous releases. The “Cover your breath, cover your teeth” vocals are a questionable decision in Bagboy, and I don’t like the AC/DC direction they took in Blue Eyed Hexe. Silver Snail is a bit slow too.

I do like that this album is trying different things though. If they just tried to copy their old sound as it was, it would be boring, ... read more

Ah, Pixies’ raw debut… the guitar is the big highlight for me on this record. It just sounds so visceral, the production by Steve Albini probably had something to do with that (RIP). Songs like Something Against You, River Euphrates, and Oh My Golly! get me so hyped up. The melodies are also great on tracks like Where Is My Mind?, Gigantic, and Brick Is Red.

Unfortunately both I’m Amazed and Vamos have versions I like more from different places, which is why these versions ... read more

A good change of pace for the Pixies. It may not be my favorite from them, but I like that we got an album from them in their prime exploring a more beautiful side of their sound. Compared to Doolittle and Trompe le Monde, it just has a larger ratio of tracks that aren’t peak Pixies in my eyes. It’s still Pixies in their prime though, an amazing album.

Ranked
1. The Happening - 100
2. Dig for Fire - 100
3. Velouria - 100
4. Ana - 100
5. Havalina - 100
6. All Over the World - 100
7. ... read more

My favorite Pixies album. I love the raw sound on this. Tracks like Planet of Sound and Subbacultcha are noise rock masterpieces. On the other hand, parts such as the organ in Bird Dream, vocal-synth (?) in the end of Alec Eiffel, and of course Motorway to Roswell are all beautiful. Lovely Day and Space are so groovy as well.

As someone who’s suffered through long distance relationships, Letter to Memphis touches my soul. Head On does as well, an excellent cover of the Jesus and Mary ... read more

Cool mix of accordion, organ, and piano. I find it more engaging than a lot of the other music that was coming out around this time. The organ is the highlight for me, makes it sound retro-futuristic in a way I really enjoy.

Ranked
1. Waltz In A-Flat - 95
2. Coppelia Waltz - 85
3. Rosenkavalier Waltz - 85
4. The Sleeping Beauty Waltz - 80
5. Waltz Serenade - 80
6. Two Hearts In Three-Quarter Time - 80

100 - Masterpiece
90 - Amazing
80 - Great
70 - Good
60 - Okay
50 - Mid
40 - Ehh
30 - Bad
20 ... read more