Album cover is sick. Drums - awesome. Riffs - aggressive. Bass - check. Vocals - meh. Come off sounding more whiny than aggressive. I can't help but picture a 35 year old accountant at the airport mad cuz he didn't get on standby. "I NEEED TO BEEE IN CINCINAAATIIII FOR A WORKSHOP ON THE NEW TAX COOOOOODDDDEEEE."
A few extra points for the short length though.
First listen --- This album is face-meltingly awesome. AOTY candidate for sure.
----Two months later, still just as awesome.
---Four months later, still a 90.
Guess I should expand a little at this point. I tend to over-rate metal albums with high energy so I am reluctant to fully buy in, especially when I don't have another album to reference for the band. So I've been dragging my feet on this album, thinking it would fall off, but I've been listening for 4 months and I has ... read more
This album is straight up beautiful and brutal, and beautifully brutal all at the same time. All the intensity and variety of the last album but with added coherence and structure that was lacking in the previous offering. Strong album at first take.
Favorite tracks 1st listen: wreckage, waiting for stevie. Album deserves repeat listens.
...
After repeat listens my enthusiasm sank a bit. It's an OK album but doesn't have much to draw me in. Good background music.
First listen review:
I don't know...the songs feel a bit disjointed to me and I can't find the emotion in this album. I acknowledge the complexity of the music...there's a lot going on but at the same time I'm not vibing with it.
End of year update:
50------>73
Happy to say English Teacher grew on me. It definitely pays to revisit albums to get beyond first impressions. I can better appreciate the beauty in the complex song structure throughout after repeat listens. ... read more
Strong start for an all-time great band.
I love Queensryche. One of my top 5 favorite bands of all time and stuck with them until the split, through all of the good (and bad) albums. I decided to run through Queensryche's full catalog and record some notes/thoughts on each album, as it stands in 2024. I have always had mixed feelings about this first eponymous EP. I mean, Queen of the Ryche and The Lady Wore Black are all time hits for Queensryche and should be experienced by anyone interested ... read more
Total ear candy. Flow within and between tracks is impeccable. Perfect album for a long run.
album highlights: q prazer, saudade de voce, desapaixonar, night mare
Good, but not great, album. Knopfler's style always hits deep for me. Best I can explain is whenever I feel the need to imagine myself floating in peaceful, aqua blue lagoon, I throw on some Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler. The atmosphere he builds with his guitar abilities is unique in the aspect that it is always stress relieving for me. That said, the major weakness for me on this album is the lack of atmospheric instrumentals. It comes off more as an old country album from an aging crooner. ... read more
Going acoustic is a great direction for an aging, but still awesome band!
I have a soft spot for Crack the Sky. The almost famous band is still kicking, although age is increasingly becoming a liability here. John Palumbo looks and sounds like he's struggling. The struggle is worthwhile though, and I really like the choice to go full acoustic. The lighter sound still provides a platform for the intricate musical arrangements while also providing some respite for Palumbo, who can't really stand ... read more
It's ok but kind of makes me want to just listen to Madonna or Janet and skip the training wheels.
This is the worst Queensryche album released with Geoff Tate (or Todd La Torre). If you haven't listened before, I would recommend staying the course. Life is too short to waste listening to an album nobody wanted to make.
Listened through twice. Faded into the background both times. Nothing hooked me like I was hoping it would.
This album is a comprehensive examination of depression, in the key of soulful blues.
This album absolutely shot up in my ratings on repeated listens. So, first listen I was impressed, thought it was a good, straight southern blues/soul type album, but didn't scratch too deeply. I put it on repeat and really listened in again and, WOW, there is some depth to this record. Marcus King writes some hard hitting, and relatable lyrics with emotional depth that I haven't felt in a while. ... read more
This album is great. A little Depeche Mode and David Bowie mixed with more contemporary pop rock. Sounds a bit like some of the slower cuts from some Struts albums, or maybe he just looks like Luke Spiller...regardless, this was a real strong album, only falls off slightly in the middle portion.
Music is awesome, unique inspiring, 100/100. Vocals...meh 50/100. Just not feeling the vocal tone, a bit whiney. I get close to skipping just about every track until the instrumental portion, which freaking knocks it out of the park.
First listen - a floaty, non-substantial album, like eating a plain marshmallow. Sure, the marshmallow tastes ok, but there's nothing really memorable about the experience.
Like: Just for Fun, Ball
Dislike: Come on Donna, Caged Bird Free, Who Needs Rest, Cheryl
Nothing in this album stands out to me. Good background music at a coffee shop? I expected to like this more but nothing hooked me through two play throughs. Not a bad album by any means, but I'm thinking definitely overhyped.
End of year revisit: Nope, still not my jam.
I didn't hear part 1 last year but both parts are equally strong so it doesn't matter much anyway. I am a big fan, perfect for sifting through spreadsheets all day.
Hot and cold on this album. I like the uptempo blues rock feel of the album, which is a break from the most recent Crowes albums before the hiatus. The vocals, however, are BRUTAL! Robinson sounds winded and old on every song. I can't get the vocals outta my head, in a bad way...they are so pervasive on every song. At a time when they should probably be slowing things down as an aging band, they decided to go hard, and they were not fully prepared to do so in the end.
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Recent Review Comments
On Systematic - Somewhere in Between
"@llamaqwerty feel like it's pretty generic metal. Weak nu metal i guess. I saw these guys open for good bands a bunch back in the day and they never impressed me all that much, so went with the most generic typology i could think of at the time i reviewed it."
On By Storm - My Ghosts Go Ghost
"@OnsPascal Everyone digests music differently. Like I said, I respect the artistic merit here, just not for me, probably for the exact reason that you provide here. Doesn't mean I shouldn't share my thoughts."
On HomeSession3's review of Soen - Reliance
"@HomeSession3 nice review. Agree on a lot of points, and I like the straightforward alt-metal sound, but found it a bit conservative given their talent. I wish they would lean just a bit more into their prog roots and juice the instrumentals a bit."
On Systematic - Somewhere in Between
"@Kendrickgoatedg they were contemporaries... but yeah, pretty close in sound. I think they were trying to hit a nu metal version of soundgarden. Maybe a bit better musically but a bit generic."
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"@Killuah K Stan"
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On Andwella - World's End
"@parannemi Thanks! It's airways fun stumbling on an old hidden gem like this album. I felt like it needed someone to pay homage."
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On NTTR's review of VOLA - Friend of a Phantom
"You were spot on with the similar bands! Maybe a little Soen in there as well."
On Godspeed You! Black Emperor - "NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD"
"@Zackhy the last three minutes were awesome! I get that layering sounds too create the end stage of each song is a process and I respect that. I'm sure that my opinion would change drastically after seeing them live."
On 40 Watt Sun - Little Weight
"@Doofy Fair point. I will leave this one in the rotation for a bit to see if it grows on me."
On Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Wild God
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On Maggie Lindemann - HEADSPLIT
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On DiceBloke's review of (Hed) P.E. - DETOX
"the self-titled album is much better. The lyrics are still a liability but the music has a lot more originality and funk to it. There were some good musicians in the original line-up, but they're all gone by now. It is tough to put the self-titled album in any one genre, but this album is kind of a one-trick pony."
On DiceBloke's review of (Hed) P.E. - DETOX
"Lyrics have been a problem with this band for its whole existence."
On Inherus - Beholden
"I have to be honest with you, XsVrits...I don't know what you're trying to convey with your statement here."
On The Lemon Twigs - Everything Harmony
"Yeah, maybe t's not so much the harmonies as it is the actual lead vocals remind me of a mix of weird Al and Tiny Tim. The harmonies are actually decent, but that only exacerbates the weak lead vocals. Maybe that's my issue with it. I don't know, every time I turn this on to try to analyze it I just get a visceral reaction to something in the vocals."
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