David Bowie revisited part 25/27

I'm just going to say it; I like Reality, and I'm tired of pretending that it's a weak album in any way, shape or form just because it isn't quite as good as Heathen.

For an album that was initially thought to be his final album (but would eventually just be the start of an extended hiatus from music), I can kinda understand why this may have upset fans back in 2003, but today, I really don't know why we act as if this is a weak album. It may not be without ... read more

David Bowie revisited part 24/27

Bowie's first release of the 2000s shows us exactly what we've really been wanting from him for the longest time. Not that pop shit he did in the '80s, not the electronica and alt rock that he'd experimented with in the '90s, but straightforward art rock with focus on the lyrics. And what we get is perhaps the first truly essential release in his discography since 1983's Let's Dance.

Now, that doesn't mean this album is perfect or even one of his best efforts, ... read more

Swans revisited part 22/22

Third-best Swans album.

Honestly, all three albums from the trilogy are amazing in their own right, with each of them easily being some of the best things that Swans ever did. And to me, each and every one of them makes the top five best Swans albums list. Each of these monstrously long albums capture that atmosphere that Swans and only Swans have ever been able to properly perfect, making the two hours pass right by as if you were listening to any other, much ... read more

David Bowie revisited part 23/27

The biggest grower in Bowie's discography... but also one that really can't be saved from its own mediocrity.

Without making a predictable joke about the title, Hours is mostly just a very underwhelming and uninspired listen no matter how you look at it. By the time you've reached this point in Bowie's discography, you already know full well that one of the main reasons you find yourself coming back to his work so often is because of that seemingly never ... read more

Swans revisited part 21/22

To Be Kind will always have a special place in my heart. Not only was it my first Swans album, but it was also my first steps into experimental music in general. Hell, if I hadn't listened to this album when I did, my taste could have been the complete opposite of what it is today. But that first listen was definitely unlike any other listen since then. I still remember listening to this album for the first time over two years ago now and absolutely despising this ... read more

David Bowie revisited part 22/27

If Outside was Bowie's return to making acceptable rock music, then Earthling is his return to making genuinely great music. Finding inspiration in the new drum and bass and industrial scenes, it becomes abundantly clear that he has found his creativity again, and isn't holding himself back with overblown concepts this time round. Earthling also marks the point where he would start to get a bit more consistent again. While this whole period from Earthling ... read more

Swans revisited part 20/22

We've finally made it to THAT point in Swans' discography: the trilogy. By far my favourite run of albums in their discography, definitely one of the fan-favourite moments, and maybe even one of the greatest trilogy of albums ever made. Over the course of three albums, Gira and co. would do nothing but make near-perfect masterpieces back-to-back, all of which staying around the two hour mark, making them some of the most intimidating monstrosities any music nerd will ... read more

David Bowie revisited part 21/27

The proper comeback album after many poor albums, but still, Outside isn't all that great.

I feel like Outside is one of those albums that you should listen to only once, because it seems that it's always that first listen that everyone praises this album for. But once you get past the initial shock of Bowie making an album that is genuinely well-crafted and ambitious, and come to understand the concept the record goes for in a very scattered and convoluted ... read more

Swans revisited part 19/22

Fourteen years after their breakup, M. Gira brings together a new lineup and revives the dead Swans. The result is probably their most critically acclaimed run, but starting with a very lackluster comeback.

Honestly, My Father is an album that fails to really intrigue me the same way any other Swans album does, and it's also one that I just can't get a solid opinion on. While I don't think this is one of the worst albums in their lengthy discography, I also don't ... read more

David Bowie revisited part 20/27

Bowie's supposed comeback after the complete trainwreck that was his '80s pop period and the mixed-quality albums he made leading his hard rock, proto-grunge supergroup Tin Machine. But let's be real here, the only comeback here is him coming back to making solo albums. I feel like the only reason why this gets a pass from so many people is solely because it follows Never Let Me Down, which is an extraordinary low from the guy who made so many albums with so ... read more

Swans revisited part 18/22

Swans' final statement to the world... or at least for a time.

Over the course of two-and-a-half hours, with two discs worth of material, Swans show us once again why they are one of the best live artists ever, performing plenty of songs from their Great Annihilator and Soundtracks For The Blind era, as well as songs that would end up being released on subsequent solo records, and doing so expertly. The capture the atmosphere of one of their records perfectly, ... read more

David Bowie revisited part 19/27

No, David, when everyone said that they wanted to hear you make a rock album again, they didn't mean they wanted you to make the most generic pop rock album ever with Tonight's production. They meant that they wanted you to go back to what you did best. Y'know, a sound similar to that of the '70s, where you actually pushed the medium forward.

Yeah, there really is no defending this, is there? I mean, I know that in the past you could have defended this by ... read more

Swans revisited part 17/22

This album right here is the main reason as to why I decided to go back and rewrite a ton of my older reviews. For over a year now I've known that I needed to rewrite my review for this album, both because my opinion on it heightened a hell of a lot and because my original review was, to be perfectly honest, shit. But the problem has always been that this is one album that you just cannot do justice by writing a review for. Or at least for me it's just downright ... read more

David Bowie revisited part 18/27

Tonight? More like: Loving The Alien plus eight more songs that you'll wish you never wasted your time listening to.

Yeah, the mid '80s didn't do Bowie any favors. After making what was supposed to be a one-off pop album in Let's Dance, he got greedy and continued with the exact same sound, but this time he rarely gives it all with his vocals to make any of the songs all that memorable, and he's also lacking Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitar saving these songs from ... read more

Swans revisited part 16/22

"It'S jUsT a CoNdEnSeD aNd WoRsE vErSiOn Of SoUnDtRaCkS!!" Shh... It's a fucking great EP that shouldn't be ignored just because it is a precursor to such a phenomenal album and is filled with alternate versions of songs from that album plus others from this period of Swans' career.

Die Tür Ist Zu is basically a teaser for the monolith that would be released some time later, and as such it does have a lot of similarities to that album. I think ... read more

David Bowie revisited part 17/27

The beginning of the end for Bowie. Or maybe that was Scary Monsters? Either way, this was definitely the first crack in his already lengthy output, and let's be real here, it isn't even that bad. This is one album that I personally am not crazy over, but I certainly don't hate and I understand completely why it seems to have a following heralding it as one of Bowie's best efforts even though, objectively speaking, it's pretty fucking far from it. Nevertheless, ... read more

The Beatles revisited part 16/16

Quite possibly the best greatest hits album of all time.

Honestly, there really isn't much to say about this. It is just a greatest hits compilation, after all, but I wanted my Beatles revisited series to have a better ending than Let It Be. And at the end of the day, 1 or the other two greatest hits compilations (the Red Album and Blue Album) are probably the absolute best ending to any binge through their catalog unless you skip over Let It Be. It's just so ... read more

Swans revisited part 15/22

The Great Annihilator is often seen as the definitive gateway point into Swans' large catalog, and it's also by far one of their most popular releases, for good reason. While I will always look at Children Of God as the best of their more "accessible" releases just because it's the only one that still maintains that heaviness that makes them them, Great Annihilator is undoubtedly a very close second in my eyes. But even though this is one of the more ... read more

David Bowie revisited part 16/27

As the '80s hit, Bowie continues to get more mainstream, going for a new wave sound, but still keeping some of that experimentation that he's known for. The results is easily the best album he made in this decade, as well as it being arguably his last truly great album. But one things for certain; this was definitely his last great classic (yes, I see Let's Dance as a classic. It may not be an outstanding album, but it's still by far one of his most well-known ... read more

The Beatles revisited part 15/16

This album shows that not every single song The Beatles made in their later career had to be druggy psychedelic rock tracks or have overblown orchestral production.

Let's be honest here; Let It Be... Naked is the definitive version of Let It Be. It's the far superior version. You can't even try to argue against it, because it's literally what it is. You listen to this once and you can't listen to the original 1970 album again because this has the more fitting ... read more