Can't Buy A Thrill is definitely more rock oriented in its sound than the songs that helped me get 'introduced' to Steely Dan (which tbf were more sophisti-pop and were from Donald Fagen's The Nightfly and China Crisis songs that Walter Becker produced). However, that doesn't mean i didn't like it. In fact, i quite loved some of it, especially (and perhaps unsurprisingly) the two best known songs: Do It Again and Reelin' In The Years. But also Fire In the ... read more

The Year Of The Cat is simply an amazing album. Using nice folk influences with more orchestrated and almost proggy arrangements, it builds a very nice and original feeling sound for itself. The vocals are pleasant, the Alan Parsons production is wonderful, just absolutely class. The title track is a classic of course, but also very good are songs like Lord Grenville, On The Border and One Stage Before.

Hergest Ridge is essentially, like Tubular Bells, one big piece of music on two sides of a single record and in two parts. It's an amazing instrumental prog record, that's pretty much all I can say. I'm stunned every listen by its beauty.

Crises is a great album, with a similar 'build up' to its predecessor, Five Miles Out. Both albums start with side 1 containing just 1 song, a 20-ish minute long prog song. In both cases, it goes hard. And then side 2 has some shorter more commercial song usually. Well Five Miles Out had one of 13 minutes, but you get the idea. Mike Oldfield does it here again too, to great success might i add.

Crises is a good opener and then side two contains Moonlight Shadow and Foreign Affair, ... read more

For me, QE2 lacks something that a lot of other Mike Oldfield albums seem to have and that is something a little more grandiose feeling than this. I don't mean that everything has to be bombastic, but the man excels at making long songs, songs with something more memorable to them than this. Even on Five Miles Out's b-side and some of the songs on Crises, the album had a little more to offer than what QE2 does for me.

For me, it just feels a bit splintered. There's quite a few ... read more

The other day i got more interested again in checking out some of the prog albums i meant to (re-)listen to a while ago, thanks to a Manfred Mann's Earth Band record i bought at a record fair and also me rediscovering just how good Influences by Mark King is. So checking out Mike Oldfield is part of that now. Good beginning here.

I started with Five Miles Out because it seemed interested and luckily it sounded as good as it seemed interesting. It's a great experience of an album, ... read more

It's not the band's finest offering, but to say Manfred Mann's Earth Band created a crime of sorts here, a boring and annoyingly bad album, would be just jumping onto the low score wagon if you ask me. There's a few really good songs here, with Lies (Through The Eighties), For You, Stranded and Heart On The Street being absolutely great if you ask me.

Now, what happens between those tracks can be a bit finnicky though. Side A ends on Adolescent Dream and Fritz The Blank, ... read more

Synthpop and new wave in the earlier stages of the genres had some good oddball albums and moments, that really pushed the genres forward before they became overproduced and even more commercial. From what i heard other bands and artists say, this is one such album. Dalek I Love You never really got the attention, but they did make superb music and had links to other bigger acts such as OMD and The Teardrop Explodes. Their second and last album, this one, is quite a good listen too. ... read more

The second King album is actually quite a nice surprise. Although i've heard the band formed from the ashes of a post-punk band, i've never heard any of the stuff from that time, so i can't comment. However, some of the riffs and writing here does indicate such a background and it's a cool effect and sound to have. I thought this one might be a bit hit or miss like how i remember the band's debut sounding, but this was actually really cool.

Sure, some duds, but the ... read more

The second Arbeid Adelt! release i gave a listen is almost equally short as the previous one. But it is definitely better and more consistent. More songs you could return to check out because of how good they were, a bit less disjointed of a listening experience. Especially the second half is good.

A decent more minimal sounding new wave record, very synthdriven, very odd sounding. Arbeid Adelt!, hailing from Belgium, have a lot of potential to do something cool but on a rather short record of 25-ish minutes and with just 7 songs, it's more difficult to say if the band truly delivers. There's some good more manic energy moments, but as a whole? Eh...

The main shame here is that none of the earlier work on non-album singles was included. Although it's admirable they wanna ... read more

Bros surprised me a bit with their debut, because i didn't register before how good it was. Sure, they can sing well, the songs are well written, but instrumentally and everything, i never realised how good that was too. The little waltz-y brief switch up for the key change in When Will I Be Famous? is brilliant, somehow the chorus of Ten Out Of Ten and most of Cat Among The Pigeons sound oddly ethereal too. Working with people also working with Pet Shop Boys, actual synth geniuses, likely ... read more

Son Mieux's newest album explores the time setting of a full day, 24 hours. And lyrically, with some good songs and neat transitions, it cycles through one. On Spotify, the album is roughly 2 small 1 second cuts away from being able to work as a constant sonic loop, so that's cool as well. As for the music, there's some really good songs here. It's Only Love, Tonight, Six String Serenade, Morning, When Tomorrow Comes 11:11, Have A Little Faith... They all steal the show in a ... read more

March isn't as good, as energetic or as innovative sounding as the earlier Lene Lovich records. Part of that is the clunkier sounding production on some of the songs, which make the album feel a bit more low budget and improvised and like someone's first encounter with synths. This is oddly charming in a way, but it can make or break some songs. It made Rage for me, it broke stuff like Shadow Walk and Make Believe. As a whole, it's not a bad album, but definitely not her best. ... read more

Urban Dance Squad is a band i got to know through my dad, who was and still is a massive fan. This, their debut, contains their only real hit (Deeper Shade Of Soul), which is an absolute banger. But through their mix of rock and hip hop, which was innovative back in 1989 and still sounds fresh to me due to the good riffs and real instruments replacing samples, you get more highlights than just the hit. Fast Lane is a great opener, while songs like Famous When You're Dead and Man On The ... read more

Shpritsz and most of Herman Brood's records have a place with a real legacy and cultural relevance within Dutch music history. A self-destructive rock 'n roll legend, that's what you'll likely get as description. It's a weird position to hold. Anyway, Shpritsz itself is a very high energy record, showing off why Herman Brood got to that position to begin with. However, there's a few clear highlights, only a few and then the rest just sort of carries on based on the ... read more

John Hiatt's big album is best when he gets some more bluesy vibes going out of it or some more distorted guitar. Preferably, both. And it does happen a few times, such as on Alone In The Dark, which is a good sign early on that this could be an amazing record. The thing is, sometimes the momentum gets kinda halted and i don't know why. There's no real bad songs on here, but some of the highlights just stand out so much more, you'd almost start thinking there are bad songs ... read more

I think In The Army Now is a solid Status Quo album, but the joy it brings is mostly delivered through its singles. Rollin' Home, In The Army Now, Dreamin' and Red Sky are absolutely great songs. Apart from that, i only really added In Your Eyes to my highlights. Most of the remaining tracks are okay-ish, but nothing too memorable usually. Not to me, at least.

So for a while i'd known about Square Rooms and i knew it was some 80s hit that landed largely in France in Germany. Cool. But for my birthay, i got a fun book on one hit wonders and with a passage about the song and artist, i decided to check out the debut album with the hit on it. Not much too see, sadly. Or hear, i suppose, technicalities, sentiment stays the same.

Al Corley isn't a particularly great singer. He's not a particularly good songwriter either. I thought first ... read more

I stumbled upon this record a few times now and decided today 'fuck it, it's the 80s, my expertise area, let's check it out'. I knew some songs from their title but not much more. Turns out Baby Talk had been a big hit here and not much else by her. Upon listening to the album, i can sort of see it? It's not bad, it's an okay dance record, but it's just okay. It almost feels like a collection of extended mixes, which at times make the album a bit ... read more