2020 Catch-up #2
An amazing EP plus some generic songs.
One of my biggest concerns when I decided to start catching up with the big releases of this year was that I just wouldn't understand the hype around some of these albums. SAWAYAMA was one of those main albums that I was really anxious going into, thinking that it just wouldn't be for me. But after the first few tracks, I realized that this really was something special. It was just banger after banger; amazing performances coupled with ... read more
2020 Catch-up #1
And I see I'm already off to a fantastic start.
So, am I missing something? Like, was there a memo that I missed? Maybe Everybody decided to move April 1st to October 30th without telling me? If so, I think the joke has gone on long enough, because it wasn't funny to begin with, and it doesn't even make sense.
I'm honestly really fucking confused as to why this is as divisive as it is? I mean, when the most notable moment of your album is a fucking Babymetal feature, then ... read more
Yeah, the 1968 Lumpy Gravy is good and all, but the original Capitol version proves that just because an album is more experimental than it originally was doesn't necessarily mean that it's a better version.
I know that the stupidly avant-garde Verve release of the album ended up being one of Frank Zappa's favourites of his own work, but come on. The difference in quality between the two versions is night and day for pretty much everyone else. One's an album of phenomenal orchestral work ... read more
I'm just gonna say it; I don't care for Meat Loaf. Not in the slightest. I know, I listen to more classic rock than I probably should, and this album being one of the best-selling of all time, I really should like this. But I don't. This is what I imagine people who don't like Queen hear when they listen to A Night At The Opera. Just over-the-top, cheesy, operatic rock, with a singer who undeniably has all the talent but is honestly incredibly grating, and instrumentals that leave absolutely no ... read more
Remember back in my review for Dead Lotus that I wrote way back in January (and that I know nobody read) when I said I was thinking of going through Merzbow's discography? Well, it was this album that convinced me otherwise. I have to admit, I actually love Merzbow's work. At this point, I must have heard upwards of thirty of his albums, and despite them all pretty much being harsh noise with not much of a reason, I actually enjoy them. Hell, at this point I may even consider him a favourite ... read more
If there was one word to describe Lumpy Gravy, it would be "weird". A second word would be "experimental". Seriously, if you thought that anything Zappa had done with The Mothers was either of those things, then nothing would prepare you for this avant-garde beyond belief sound collage.
Honestly, as much as I respect Lumpy Gravy for how off-the-walls and unconventional it is, I can't help but feel like it goes a little too far in its weirdness. And that is honestly solely ... read more
A complete satirization of U.S. politics, hippie culture, and popular music at the time, Frank Zappa and The Mothers make what is far and away their best effort up to this point in their discography, as well as making an album that no other artist would have had the balls to make at the time.
An experimental gem. While this may not be as groundbreaking as, say, the same year's White Light/White Heat by The Velvet Underground (who actually gets a shoutout in this very album, albeit censored by ... read more
A collection of outtakes from Miles' electric period, spanning from 1969 to 1972. Here, Miles proves that even his scrapped material is more than worth the listen, even if it is noticeably and undeniably weaker than most of the other stuff released under his name around this time.
By 1974, Davis had all but retired from making music in the studio, instead focusing on his live performances. So to make up for the lack in studio output, he started releasing big compilation albums comprising a ton ... read more
It's time for a rare singles review on my main account! I don't even care, this band means too much for me to just write a half-assed review on my singles account. SOAD were the first metal band I ever fell in love with, and one of the few bands that I listened to in my childhood that have stuck with me to this day. So hearing new music from them after many years of maybes, cancelled albums, creative differences, etcetera, finally hearing them come together to have their voices heard on a ... read more
The Mothers' sophomore album shows much more of their experimental side thank Freak Out did, and as a result ends up being a little more consistently interesting. But where Freak Out excelled at making catchy tunes that would be stuck in your head for days to come, Absolutely Free more aims to be a great full-album experience that will make you want to return way more than any other album in The Mothers' '60s output.
Absolutely Free consists of thirteen tracks which make up two suites; ... read more
After an unintentional two month break, I'm finally back to grinding Miles Davis' discography. On The Corner has been an album that I've been anticipating for a while since I started binging his work. I mean, diving into his discography already being familiar with four of his major classics, two of which being some of my highest rated albums ever, and the fact that those two in particular are apart of his fusion years, I knew that his other two big studio fusion albums would leave some sort of ... read more
Implicit Doom has finally released this album after many delays, and it definitely proves to be his strongest to date. After I had heard the Graffiti single, I had hopes for this thing which I thought wouldn't be fulfilled, especially after hearing the other two singles which honestly felt like a bit of step backwards. But hearing the album in full, I'm pleasantly surprised. Despite it still having a couple of moments that I'm really not a fan of, Doom's Black Album leans closer to the quality ... read more
With You Must Be Certain Of The Devil, Galás sounds more accessible than ever. Taking a more gothic rock and blues-oriented approach, instrumental-wise, it sounds almost unrecognizable from anything that came before it. Hell, if it wasn't for her twisted but insanely talented vocals, you probably wouldn't even think this was made by the same person who's responsible for The Litanies Of Satan and The Divine Punishment. So, how successful was her attempt at making a much more accessible ... read more
Diamanda Galás second album of her Masque Of The Red Death trilogy shows her taking a vastly different approach to music than any of her three previous albums did. Where those three albums mainly stuck with a cappella, only rarely adding any sort of instrumentals, and the few times where the instrumentals were brought to the forefront was when she decided to experiment with power electronics, Saint Of The Pit shows her delving more into a traditional style of music, with instrumentals ... read more
Oh wow, I was not expecting something of this quality from an AOTY user. I've really been loving everything that I've heard from Flamingooooo's ambient output, and this new EP is no exception. Pretty much every track on this thing is really pleasant, really relaxing, and just some really solid ambient music. Yugen is home to some of their best stuff yet, and in general it's one of the strongest AOTY albums that I've heard.
I was honestly hoping to like this more than I did, but it certainly wasn't bad by any means. I just think this was a mixed bag. I loved AZIZ's songs, and I also thought that Isabella James, CRAZYF1R3, and Alkaline Pink provided some pretty damn strong tracks as well. I also liked Malneezy's second song quite a bit. Everything else, though, just felt very mid in comparison, with some songs being decent at best, and some others (though very few) being poor.
The title says it all.
I'm gonna be honest, I'm actually a little disappointed. I've known of this album for some time now, and that's because I stumbled across the opening track, Rattlers Echo, which ended up being by far one of the most unsettling songs I've ever heard. It was definitely deserving of being placed on an album titled "Constantly Terrified". It's by far one of the most intense and genuinely disturbing noise songs you'll ever hear. So surely the rest of the album would ... read more
Oh, hey, look! Puscifer released a new album. Okay, moving on.
...what, you wanted an actual review? For a Puscifer album? Of course you don't.
It's just another Puscifer album. I don't care what anyone says, Puscifer has always been well below anything Maynard has ever done. I fucking love MJK, and he's easily one of my favourite vocalists in the entirety of metal, with his work all throughout Tool's discography and those first two A Perfect Circle being fucking amazing. But Puscifer have ... read more
Emperor's final album shows them continuing with that weird mixture of technical progressive metal and symphonic black metal that they introduced in IX Equilibrium, but at this point they've strayed so far from the band that they were that they're pretty much completely unrecognizable. Not that it's all bad, but it certainly isn't all good either.
I will say that this is a better album than Equilibrium, and there really is no contest. But just because it is easily the better of Emperor's prog ... read more
You know what? I'm fucking doing it. I've been putting it off for way too long. It's been months since I started familiarizing myself with Zappa's music, and at this point I've heard a... fair amount of albums of his (I would say a big amount, but considering the size of his discography I haven't even scratched the surface), but I knew that I would need to do a proper deep dive into his discography, and I'm starting now. All 100+ albums. And unlike some of my other stupidly large discography ... read more
Create an account to rate and review albums.
Recent Review Comments
On Doja Cat - Demons
"Damn, forgot about this certified banger of a review.
Demons is still my pick for best Dostoevsky btw"
On Boris - Performing "PINK" in Its Entirety - Live at Shindaita Fever 20160924
"@DevGPluto I heard. It really is the best time to be a Boris fan"
On Boris - Performing "PINK" in Its Entirety - Live at Shindaita Fever 20160924
"@roundcircle unlikely to happen unfortunately. there's just too many recced songs for me to sift through at this point"
On Les Rallizes Dénudés - Wilderness of false flowers_1976
"@Eomann it is a certified banger for sure"
On Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell
"@FeendishlyJam I believe I meant that Meat Loaf is grating and that people who dislike Queen generally make the argument that Freddie is grating"
On System of a Down - Hypnotize
"@ClayDJs03 "hate" was waaay too strong a word for me to have used back then. Honestly quite surprised I did lol. The only SOAD song I ever really "hated" was Old School Hollywood. But anyway, as far as some of the tracks I used to dislike, I guess I sorta just lightened up. She's Like Heroin is still probably bottom 5 SOAD, and Kill Rock 'n Roll is a bop even if it's silly. The others I listed as least favs I honestly don't really know why I did. Two of them are some of the most memorable on the album, and Stealing Society, though one of the most forgettable in their discog, is a banger.
The album itself is still my least fav SOAD. Too many tracks that are just blatantly forgettable or simply filler, and it's such a drop from Mezmerize."
On Whitehouse - Quality Time.
"@EpicenterofCool yeah, they added my reviews to their bandcamp albums a few years ago. It was really cool of them"
On Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop
"@BMS unfortunately Samurai Champloo is one of the classic anime I haven't yet seen, but I hope it's as good as I've heard"
On Ramin Djawadi - House of the Dragon: Season 2
"And Helaena being a dreamer was one of the worst decisions in this show so far lol. It's blatantly them making an "out" so they can do whatever with her character and have it make sense, i.e. her not grieving her son, and eventually killing herself, "because I saw it in a dream.""
On Ramin Djawadi - House of the Dragon: Season 2
"@ClayDJs03 I think (unfortunately) you hit the nail on the head with the writers wanting to double down on the misogyny, which is a shame considering George generally does a great job of tackling the subject in his books, even in the Dance of Dragons. All this whitewashing has ironically done the opposite of their intention; removing the agency of literal Queens, having the men in their lives make the hard decisions that come with war and having the women fight against it and act like they had no say in the matter, to me, that's way more misogynistic than, y'know, having your women characters actually make impulsive, emotional, even catastrophic decisions. Rhaenyra especially is so pathetic this season after that final shot in S1."
On Ramin Djawadi - House of the Dragon: Season 2
"And yeah, that was the very moment in the finale I noped out lmao. Them meeting not once, but TWICE is such a tumblr fanfic moment that I can't believe made it past LITERAL PROFESSIONAL SCREENWRITERS. "Yeah, just have disputing Queens sail across the sea during wartime, not face any troubles along the way, and safely face their adversary and make their way back home in the span of a single day. That makes perfect sense." And Alicent selling out her son... Jesus fuck, idk how they managed to butcher such incredible characters in such a short time. They did NOT care and it shows."
On Ramin Djawadi - House of the Dragon: Season 2
"@ClayDJs03 Yeah, liking it as a book fan is sheer lunacy lmao. Of course the brutality is toned down, but also distancing Rhaenyra's participation. It gets hard to view her as the grief-stricken mother and LITERAL QUEEN that she's supposed to be when the impulsive decisions that make her so compelling in the books are trivialized down to "actually it was the men in her life who made those decisions. She's rational actually." And like you mention, the horrors inflicted on Helaena are so minimalized, but then after the fact they don't even give her a storyline dealing with the grief. I legitimately believe B&C was handled awfully, not just the event itself, but the entire lead-up and stream of consequences afterwards no longer making sense."
On Ramin Djawadi - House of the Dragon: Season 2
"@ClayDJs03 That blog was so vindicating, the contents and HBO's response so bemusing. Helaena killing herself for the lols will certainly be a choice. (I was also so glad he spent the whole post trashing Blood & Cheese. I felt crazy, being the only person I know (even fellow book fans) legitimately thinking that was executed well and not a bastardization on the level of GOT's S5 and 6 portrayal of Dorne and the Iron Islands.)"
On Andrei's review of Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
"it's moments like these that make me wonder if Andrei has ever drank Powerade Zero"
On XXXTENTACION - Bad Vibes Forever
"@Archerycraft18 i don't really have any sort of justification. a 0.5/10 is still a 0 to me"
On Eomann's review of Les Rallizes Dénudés - Double Heads: Legendary Live Yaneura Shibuya, Tokyo 1980-1981
"Beautiful review! A banger of a write-up for a banger of a record"
On Dead Kennedys - Bedtime for Democracy
"@molochthagod lol. lmao even."
On XXXTENTACION - The Fall
"@zzile "point out that its your opinion" - you're on a music reviewing site. Any takes had pertaining music is implied to be the opinion of the take haver. If you need every single criticism to be prefaced with "this is just MY opinion," that says more about your insecurity of your own takes than it does the reviewer.
"state what you consider the obvious, get likes and peace out" - fat load of good that did me. 4 likes in 5 years!
"your ass knows nothing about the way i review albums" - the irony. Let me point out once more; this is a 5 year old review you're seething on. If you wanna give constructive criticism, at least look at what else the reviewer has posted since (never mind the fact you should learn to be a bit more respectful)"
On XXXTENTACION - The Fall
"@zzile I know next to nothing about X the person, all I know is he made dogshit music. This is one of the most straightforward reviews I've ever written, and I still get Mr. Armchair Psychoanalyst out here trying to find some deep rooted bias I have to explain why I dislike the album"
On XXXTENTACION - The Fall
"@zzile bro's seething over a 5 year old review"
On 파란노을 [Parannoul] - After the Night
"@Eomann bro needs to get on those Swans lives and Dark Magus ASAP"
On Eminem - Music to Be Murdered By
"every time i get a comment on this review, i'm reminded by how sensitive the average nemnem fan is"
On Opeth - Blackwater Park
"@ScottShelby I return to Still Life more often nowadays so there's that; Death's later albums are a no brainer, some of my fav metal records of all time; I'm also a sucker for Atheist's Unquestionable Presence. I've been slacking on metal a lot recently tho, so there's prob a few more that just haven't sprung to mind atm."
On Green Day - American Idiot
"oooooooh, I see. It completely flew over my head that this is a concept album. This changes everything! So THAT'S why half the songs are mediocre! OK, now I can enjoy these outstanding concept album lyrics!
She's an extraordinary girl in an ordinary world ♫"
Advertisement