It feels good going back all these years and seeing this album go from being the unwanted commercial flop that it was to being their most acclaimed work (at least here in AOTY and RYM).

Coming from the commercial success of “Infinity on High”, Fall Out Boy shifted towards a newer sound though a more ambitious collaborative effort with various artists – funnily enough, artists that you usually will not expect to see in the same album otherwise like Brendon Urie, Elvis ... read more

“Velocity : Design : Comfort” ’s even noisier and more batshit insane cousin.

For its short 30-minute runtime, Candy Claws’ debut effort delivers some of the most explosive and overstimulating music experiences I have had in a long while. Unlike the more mellow and dreamy atmosphere evoked in the band’s subsequent releases, this album is balls-to-the-wall in your face with some of the most aggressive guitar instrumental and unbridled distortion that you will hear. ... read more

The first three tracks are classic dad rock hits for good reason. Side 1 contains some of the most fun and catchiest guitar riffs you could find in a mainstream rock album. Unfortunately, I felt that the album's quality just peters out in Side 2 with subsequent songs feeling like a rehash of the first three tracks or just forgettable pop rock filler. Nevertheless, great debut record and a staple for classic rock.

Top favorite tracks:
1. "Peace of Mind"
2. "More Than a ... read more

Unwound's catalog is some of the most interesting displays of artistic evolution in music. The band continued to build around their raw post-hardcore and noise rock roots through elements like the juxtaposition of slow and fast tempo in “New Plastic Ideas”, the atmospheric instrumental in “The Future of What” and the use of electronic synthesizers in “Repetition”. All these elements that the band incorporated with each succeeding album culminated into one of ... read more

Very nostalgic listen for me since this is one of the first full-length albums I listened through my music discovery phase.

This album has all that 80s pop music cheese that may sound outdated to some today but goddamn does this thing slap. Some of the catchiest and fun pop music I listened to.

Top favorite tracks:
1. "Just What I Needed"
2. "Moving in Stereo"
3. "Good Times Roll"
4. "My Best Friend's Girl"
5. "Bye Bye Love"

For all the memetic circlejerk that this album garners, the attention and praise is absolutely warranted. Granted, the endless discourse surrounding this album is a testament to the effect it had on a lot of music fans whether it be a positive one or a negative one.

This album has always held a special place in my heart as it serves as my introduction to the stranger side of music. Featuring quirky instrumentation, lo-fi production, passionate vocal performances, and eccentric yet emotionally ... read more

I primarily owe this album to nostalgia and for first instilling the idea of “music as art” to middle schooler me.

Going back to it, however, the production has aged terribly with time with a clumsy fusion of electronic disco elements, baroque pop instruments, and standard pop punk.

I’m sure that the eccentric genre fusion did help this album stand out from its contemporaries at the time. Unfortunately, I also felt that this was also to its detriment as the album lacks a ... read more

This album has been such a nostalgic part of my music discovery journey, mainly, in the indie genre. Compared to its contemporary albums, the synth production in this album did not age well. The album really falls off in the second half for me but the first 5 tracks still do stand out as amazing tracks even for today's standards.

Score: 82 -> 73
Most favorite tracks: "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine", "Mr Brightside", "Smile Like You Mean It", "Somebody Told ... read more

This album took me a couple of listens to appreciate.

“Low” is easily one of Bowie’s most innovative works, which truly says something coming from a musician who is not afraid to take experimental risks with his music.

The first half of the album features an eccentric fusion of electronic and guitar-based rock, which makes for a beautifully chaotic string of short, catchy tracks. In contrast to the longer tracks in his previous output, “Station to Station”, the ... read more

As much people clown on Eagles as "boomer rock", this album has been an important part of my childhood. Even though the sound here has kinda worn off of me over the years, I can't really bring myself to dislike this thing. Part of it may be attributed to nostalgia but I still found myself jamming to some of the songs here.

Favorite tracks: the title track (as overplayed it is), New Kid in Town, Life in the Fast Lane, The Last Resort

Sweet Trip goes for a more accessible direction in this album by forgoing the glitch pop elements of their previous output, “Velocity : Design : Comfort”, in favor of a more traditional indie pop sound.

Initially, I was a bit disappointed with this departure but with every subsequent listen, I warmed up to this album’s shift in direction. Part of it is that the album’s softer sound helped emphasized the album’s passionate vocal performances and razor-sharp ... read more

I used to view live albums as nothing more than an inessential extension of an artist’s discography, with a quality that can vary greatly from being on par with to being inferior to studio outputs.

Of course, I do think that appeal for live albums comes from the joy of witnessing your favorite artist perform and banter firsthand, as well as being able to participate as the audience. But without the luxury of being there, I don’t see the appeal of listening to live performances in ... read more

From the foreboding album cover and cryptic title, I had no idea what to expect from this album other than it being an unnerving experience.

In some ways, I was right. Though what I did not expect was how the album would sound like.

First off, the album sounded so wrong. And I do not mean that in a bad way.

This album subverts the norms of traditional rock through strange time signatures to create this uncanny and unfamiliar atmosphere. The tracklist for this album features incredibly cold ... read more

This album feels like I am listening to a sketchy 73-minute-long TV ad, which promises a lifetime’s worth of comfort in an alternate dimension. And I love every single minute of it!

“Velocity : Design : Comfort” seamlessly fuses jarring glitch pop elements with the harshness of shoegaze to paint this chaotically dream-like atmosphere. These strange sonic fusions somehow work so damn well in the context of this album with how well these juxtaposed musical elements complement ... read more

This album has always intrigued me ever since I laid my eyes on it in the best all-time album charts in RYM and AOTY. On top of the abstract album cover, the strange title of this album piqued my curiosity. Initially, I suspected that this album would be like those “artsy” albums that music elitists like to overhype up as the second coming of Christ.

Boy was I wrong. This album is easily one of the most overwhelming music experiences I had in recent memory.

The tracklist for ... read more

The high regard for Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” is a prominently common sentiment within the music listening sphere nowadays that deeming it as a masterpiece can be considered as eye-rollingly cliched in a way. With that, let me challenge this notion by joining in on the bandwagon and say that this album does deserved the praise it gets.

The album would often be included so much alongside “OK Computer” and “Kid A” in some sort of Radiohead album ... read more

Listening to this album to me feels like being transported into some distant cold winter planet, devoid of life and company. While such imagery may evoke feelings of loneliness, this album feels so warm and intimate with its more stripped-back approach that feels so serene.

The instrumentation is nothing short of gorgeous and transcendental, with the perfect blend of lush strings and lo-fi electronic ambience which pairs so well with Bjork’s passionate vocal performances. The production ... read more