Appropriate title. Shallow and empty. You won't be drowning in it, that's for sure.

Some decent hooks, though.

Title single should've been a bigger dance hit, but for my money, "Your Magician" has the better groove going for it. All told, fine for what it is.

Some of the "bigger" songs on this are catchy and infectious, obviously, and their grief over the death of Joe Cole looms large across the record in ways that make it creatively compelling and emotionally impactful, but... I don't know.

I don't find this album very... Dirty. It isn't as messy or as gritty as even their other relatively "safe" indie-rock stuff from this period, and it suffers a little for it. It cribs a lot of notes from the people who cribbed ... read more

Wanes in the middle, but the range of genre influences and the up-to-form beat-making lend themselves to some real gems in the Miss E catalogue.

A very Peaches-style call to action. As with any good protest chant, this is catchy as all hell, and righteously angry.

It does, in fact, hit hard. And if nothing else, I appreciate that she's always going to be willing to punch back the way she always has been.

Layer on layer on layer on layer on layer on layer on layer on layer on layer on layer on layer on layer for its own sake before a/the artistic vision, and to sometimes disasterous, occasionally admirable results. eg. "Natural Causes" is functionally unlistenable, musically.

I appreciate the effort, but I can't be doing with this. It was actively unpleasant.

Same act that did "Currents" shat this one out. The bar is just too high for you to get away with something so washed out and wimpy, even if it isn't *technically* the worst album ever made.

Sure, this was all assembled by two producers, but be real: Cat, Belinda, and Jessibel have the kind of chemistry and charisma that you can't just invent.

They sell stupid ditties and stupider skits with all the verve in the world, putting skanks, fugly boys, and sloppy operators to rights and celebrating their own stardom with the kind of earnestness that you can't help but find charming. These hip-hop and electroclash beats pack a *punch* and get you throwing ass, but these ladies ... read more

I think it is undeniable that this is Peaches' best record. Sure, it follows the same basic formula: shock-jockette feminism, full of fucking and flavoured with filth, all piled on top immensely sleazy electroclash basslines and delivered with extreme confidence and a wickedly catchy flow.

Only the problem with Peaches is that this is rarely executed on consistently across her other albums before this one. There are too many misfires or duds, and it all falters after a handful of real ... read more

Repetitive, redundant, and derivative. If that isn't bad enough, 50 minutes long, 21 tracks. You just can't do that when you're already spreading your insufferable shtick so thin.

Boobies, tatas, and a whole lot of bbno$ dropping his own name like he's Jason Derulo. At least I believed Jason Derulo when he said it, though. Yuck.

you wanna guess... the colour of my tonguederwear

I vastly preferred this to her debut effort. Something about her jagged-by-necessity vocal styling really clicked here in a way that I didn't find before, and more than ever I feel like I'm listening to a series of heartfelt unsent drunk voice-notes set to some really quite solid pop-rock tunez. The way she conveys a melody is undeniably magnetic, and her storytelling feels raw, embittered, and unsatisfied in ways that I find sentimentally very relatable.

I hope she gets through all ... read more

When the pieces match up to Pink's puzzle, the results are *electric*. But that is unfortunately not a guarantee.

Requires two listens, because you'll be too thrown by the off-centredness and the sickly-sweetness to really get it the first time.

But this really is a work of art. If you aren't a little bit teary-eyed by the conclusion of "NOW THAT YOU'VE GONE", I don't trust you. The things you can do with a load of refashioned doo-wop, mid-century pop standards, and some heart.

"I'll see you there, some day, that place in time.

It's a deal, for sure."

That this record is as iconic a landmark as it is makes it all the more infuriating that she's making country music that'd make Faith Hill look positively experimental. I loathe it so much.

What You Waiting For? remains one of the most exhilarating pop hits of the decade. Hollaback Girl is infectiously irritating but with an eye firmly aware of the stupidity of it all. Tracks like "Cool" balance the whole affair with proof that Stefani can make something genuinely ... read more

This album managed to (entirely unintentionally) provoke a billionaire into slipping and falling in a pile of her own sparkly excrement, winning the fight by default. If this is any indicator, the cultural impact feels like it will only be further cemented and intensified as time passes.

Oh, and it's a fantastic album. A club smoking area put to song. Production is sharp and wastes no air whatsoever. What else can you really ask for? Bumpin' that from an 85 to a 92.

I find Jewel the performer quite charming, but Jewel the lyricist an absolute bore with aspirations to depth that she just can't back up in any meaningful capacity. It's a lot of thin-on-the-ground social lectures about spirituality, materialism, homophobia, slut-shaming, addiction, and so on that are just so clunkily handled and lacking in any kind of finesse or care.

The sense I get on this record is of a girl who spent much of her life being told that she was insightful and wise ... read more

"When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing 'Fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right." might not ... read more

"Why", in which Yoko Ono's screeching vocals come in over harsh electrical guitar riffs almost indistinguishable from them, is an absolute musical triumph. "Why Not" makes for a hazy experience, where her whines and whimpers actually go some way to complementing the overall composition of the piece, and "Greenfield Morning..." has these fantastical layers that resemble an endless parade of shiny patterns in an old View-Master against a light-show.

The first ... read more

what happened to SHAME?