Average album that seems to be produced with the intent to check demographic boxes more than achieve an artistic vision. This might as well be a compilation album. As an aside, Antonoff-produced songs hit either homeruns (please please please) or strike out looking in the worst way (Sharpest Tool, Slim Pickins, Lie to Girls)....swinging for the fences is much more exciting than playing it safe, but a 25% hit rate is not great.

Hits:
Please Please Please - Interesting production, has a 70s ... read more

Holeee sheeeeet! So this was the album I didn't know I was waiting for all year...good to know.

I don't see how I can rate this lower than 100. The dreamy vocals are perfectly paired with chaotic and unpredictable music (in the best possible way) to create a texture unlike anything I've ever heard. This is such a cathartic listening experience. I haven't experienced this level of euphoria since listening to Dark Side of the Moon or Wish You Were Here for the first time. ... read more

First listen: I was pure hype for Greif and this is an album that is absolutely worthy of a close listen...but I'm left feeling kind of like I did listening to the last Z&A album. This is so tough to digest; musically, this band explores genre mixing in such a unique way. The innovation is 100/100, but I think there's still something lacking that would make this a truly cohesive album. I'm going to weigh the innovation of the album more than the cohesiveness at this point, ... read more

"What if American slaves had embraced Satan instead of Jesus?" An interesting premise for a music project.

Listening to Devil is Fine in anticipation of Z&A's upcoming 2024 release, Greif. The thing I like most about Z&A is how atmospheric the music is, regardless of the proportion of folk to metal on each individual song. This offering is not as fused as subsequent albums, Devil is Fine (the song) is basically folk with a tiny bit of guitar tremolo, but it might be the ... read more

First album serves as a template of more impactful albums of the 90s (i.e. Ignition, Smash, Ixnay on the Hombre) but more often than not sounds like a poor man's version of the Dead Kennedys. It's a decent straightforward punk album and worth a spin on a deep dive into the Offspring discography. Favorite tracks are probably Beheaded and Tehran, but they all kinda blends together

Ahh yes, the Freshmen album. Obviously that's why any of us are here rating Villains at all. I haven't thought about this album for a while so I threw it on this morning while working. Honestly it comes off as a replication of REM's sound. Not terrible by any means but not a ton to discuss here. The musicianship and production are fine, but I'm not going to champion this album as some sort of hidden gem. It is a vehicle for one great song. The rest is good background music.

Clumsy is a criminally under-appreciated 90s alternative album.

I rescued a Clumsy CD from the used bin somewhere back in the early 2000s when a favorite hobby of mine was to pick CDs at random and play album roulette. I don't know if I had heard of Our Lady Peace prior to picking up that album, or if it was the album cover of a claymation Nicholas Cage holding onto a trapeze with his mouth, but I took home the album nonetheless (I still think it's Nick Cage clay puppet TBH). ... read more

Atomic disappointment (just kidding, Lit has such a low bar that it's tough to disappoint). It's a bland as fuck mediocre album.

Reviewing Lit's discography is a challenge with dubious rewards. They are a chameleon band with no clear pathway to develop or mature their signature sound because a signature sound doesn't exist. As such it is tough to compare albums and inevitably rank them, which is the ultimate goal of this pointless exercise to which I've subjected ... read more

People of the Sun, Bulls on Parade, and Down Rodeo are legendary tracks. The mid section drops this from being a 100 for me. Snakecharmer and Tire Me especially are average RATM songs. Don't get me wrong, average RATM is still better than just about everybody (so like 8/10s). But alas, still average RATM. Back end (without a face - year of the boomerang) is awesome. I don't know, I really want to give this album a 100 but I need to start feeling something from the mid album tracks ... read more

Don't typecast Lit the way the music producers want you to, there's more to this band than sugary pop punk.

Even though I owned several Lit albums back in the early 2000s, I absolutely typecasted them as a one album wonder so to speak, with A Place in the Sun being that one album. A recent re-listen of Lit's first album, Tripping the Light Fantastic, reset my expectations for this band and their surprisingly versatile album catalog. This is a challenging album for me to review ... read more

Dusty Notes (the song) hooked me immediately with the little mariachi thing going on in the background. Gotta spin this one again, I really enjoyed the album as it floated in and out of my attention range while I was working.

John Bush Anthrax > Belladonna Anthrax

I love how music reviewers are always just flatly guessing on Metallica albums. There's not a reviewer I trust when it comes to new Metallica album releases. I don't have much to add that hasn't been said about St. Anger. I will say that the cardinal sin of this album isn't the snare, nor the personal soap opera drama, nor napster, no, the cardinal sin of this album is bloat. Nobody wants to listen to 75 minutes of this bullshit. That said, St. Anger (the song) is a worthy ... read more

I initially rated this a 79 but didn't write any notes. Not sure why I gave it a 79 TBH. It is good for background music but I just hear Porcupine Tree with less energy. Put it Right is a slog, then the song dies at 4:00, right when I thought we were going to get a tempo change, or something interesting. Rubicon is probably the track they should've opened with. Honestly, I don't think this is an album worth thinking too much about. Serves as perfectly neutral background music.

This album is an underrated gem of the 90s, and I have chronically underestimated it.

I'm working through Lit's discography and decided to jump back to the beginning before reviewing any more recent albums. This was actually the second Lit album I purchased after 'A Place in the Sun' so I would say I was about 18 when hearing it for the first time. Released in 1997, 'Tripping the Light Fantastic' has some good grunge vibes to it, even more than the pop punk ... read more

So I just reviewed Tastes Like Gold and referenced this album so thought I should get my hate on record. FUCK. THIS. ALBUM. Seriously, what the fucking fuck, Lit? Who thought mainstream pop country was the way to go? NOOOOO LIt, you sing rock, grunge, and pop punk songs, and you do that fairly well. A turn to straightforward rock (or other rock sub genres) is understandable, but please never, ever, ever pull this bullshit again.

Hits: there are no hits but I'll give them 15 for playing ... read more

I missed this when it was released. Chalk it up to Lit chasing me off with that terrible pop country album, which left me thinking they completely lost the plot. Not so fast, this isn't a return to form as much as a new direction into more straightforward rock. Wait a minute...I don't think this band has a form to return to, they are a chameleon band. Some hits and some definite misses in here, but a vast improvement over the last album. Go Lit go!

Hits: Yeah Yeah Yeah, Mouth Shut, ... read more

Edge of the Ocean is xanax in a song.

Circus of Doom rips, front to back. Noora Louhimo has some epic pipes. Juuso, Pyry, Eero, Janne, and Joona back her up with some of the most solid power metal I've heard in a while. I got a chance to see this band live, and the sound definitely transfers well to the live scene and is definitely worth the meager ticket price.

This will eventually end up rated in the 90s when I can get over the fact that I love a power metal album as much as I do.

Amateur version of SeeYouSpaceCowboy mixed with nintendocore.

Not for me. Pass.