The Beatles - Revolver
60

Credit where it's due, it's an ambitious start. Eleanor Rigby and Here, There and Everywhere, is genuinely excellent song writing. But Yellow Submarine? It's a nursery rhyme, not a song, on what it is a supposedly a landmark record. I find that extraordinary, and not in a good way. And Tomorrow Never Knows? Lennon lying on the floor, droning over a tape loop, and I am expected to treat this as visionary? The world has gone mad. 6/10

Arthur Verocai - Arthur Verocai
87

Jazz sounds incredibly bland to me normally. Mix in some MPB, Bossa Nova and Baroque Pop though and you've got yourself a cocktail. This is a lovely, but brief album. Probably you won't find much better at this length, only really Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies comes to mind as better but also so brief. Some of the instrumentation is excellent, Na Boca Do Sol for example, and I also liked the saxophone in Karina.

MARINA - PRINCESS OF POWER
100

Re-review. Fuck it, I'm nailing my colours to the mast on this one. YOU'RE ALL WRONG.

I was at the Princess of Power tour in Manchester last night and it was so very palpable that she had come of age as an artist in this album and this performance.

Everything from this record was sodding delightful.

I don't care if the average user rating is 66. I don't care if my average follow score is 58. This album was her realising herself as a person. It's a 100.

Kim Petras - Detour
80

This is more refined than expected from Kim Petras, but refinement alone no longer feels radical in a genre this saturated. It's enjoyable, polished hyperpop. However, it's not original or sonically divergent enough to justify a top score. A laudable effort, but not an AOTY contender.

Luis Miguel - Romance
90

I don't speak any Spanish but I felt this album completely. Luis Miguel commits unashamedly to passion and to emotion. He doesn't stop to ask whether he is too much. No, he declares it boldy. This is excellent melodic sophistipop. I am fully behind it.

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
77

There's not enough fire. There's not enough conviction. The melody is okay, but it's just too nice. This sounds hesitant; declare it and go fully.

万能青年旅店 [Omnipotent Youth Society] - 万能青年旅店 [Omnipotent Youth Society]
90

This is a very controlled, but melodic folk album. Each track has excellent direction, you can hear each song improving as you listen to it. The symmetry and repetition of the notes feels great, you can tap your fingers in sync. The enjoyment is contained, it's calm, the artist is in control, his voice is measured. Even though it's a folk album, I would have liked a few crazier moments. If it had subverted that expectation then it would have been a perfect album.

椎名林檎 [Ringo Sheena] - 勝訴ストリップ [Winning Strip]
98

I don't normally enjoy noisy, dense music. However, the music production here is insanely good. What has been layered over the density sounds incredible. The artist's vocals are superb too, she has great range.

It's a versatile album, sometimes it sounds like rock, sometimes it feels like dance, sometimes it's an outpouring of emotion. It's pronounced, but it's all synthesised brilliantly and the tracks hang together coherently.

There was one track that I ... read more

Café Tacvba - Re
89

I wanted to give this a perfect score. It's wacky, rhythmic, and entertaining, these are terrific qualities. It's also quite different, which I like. Unfortunately, there's a few tracks that are better skipped. I also didn't like one of the vocalists that much, and it wasn't the most cohesive album I have ever heard. However, it was certainly worth the hour I spent listening to it and on the whole it was very enjoyable.

Magazine - The Correct Use of Soap
78

I really liked the instrumentals on this. Unfortunately, the vocals didn't move much out the same range and the music goes at the same pace the whole time. It's a lovely, relaxed and punkish sound overall but 30 minutes would have been perfect, certainly not an hour due to the lack of variety and tempo. Still, it was likeable and I did listen fondly.

Nas - Illmatic
77

A couple of tracks had really good beats but other than that, it was unremarkable. On balance it was not the most riveting musical experience of my life.

Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
31

This is one of the most boring albums I have ever reviewed. The vocals are uninteresting. There is no tempo, no melody, rhythm, no nothing. The kindest thing I can say is that I could imagine it as the background music in a science museum. How this has a user score of 87 I'll never know, it's atrocious.

Slint - Spiderland
90

I found the pace a little slow. I was hoping it would explode each track but it didn't, not until the final song. Overall though, it absolutely works as a very good and cohesive album experience, the final song ties all the ends together. Well worth the 39 minutes.

Natalia Lafourcade - Hasta la raíz
100

Good momentum. Clean and warm acoustics. Consistent melody and forward drive.

Emotional, but contained and clear. It's not explosive, it doesn't need to be, the melodies do the work.

I went in with low expectations since I didn’t rate her other popular album much. This exceeded all expectations.

Full marks for top-tier rhythm and melody.

Marisa Monte - Infinito Particular
75

Of the three highest user rated albums on this site by this artist, this was comofrtably my least favourite. The whole album was played at the same pace, which was slow. Her voice didn't move out of the same range. Some lovely sounds again but it lacked a little variety. Although I thought it very likely I would like this, I was a little underwhelmed this time. Nice, but not for me.

Marisa Monte - Verde, Anil, Amarelo, Cor-de-Rosa e Carvão
96

This album is packed with lovely, gentle, uplifting rhythms and melodies. I'm really impressed with the two albums I've listened to by her so far, her music is fantastic.

Milton Nascimento - Clube da Esquina 2
95

I listened to this on a car journey with my toddler. I asked him when it was done if he liked the music. He shook his head and replied only one word: strange.

Milton Nascimento - Minas
95

A little cooler in tone than Clube Da Esquina but another terrific album from Milton Nascimento. He creates a universe and you step into it. His compositions are elite. God-tier artist.

杏里 [Anri] - Timely!!
83

Fun genre. Fantastic album cover. Unfortunately, I'm not too fond of the artist's voice when it goes high.

George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
98

I put this off for ages as it was two hours long and I really haven't liked The Beatles or their discography that much. I am glad I was finally in the mood to listen to this and ignored my reservations because this was absolutely brilliant, one of the best albums I've heard in ages.

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Recent Review Comments
On MARINA - PRINCESS OF POWER
"@HomeSession3 She is only a little older than me, so we have been listening to her since she was a new artist. My friends and I agreed that her progression was incredible, and it was beautiful to see her realisation on stage. She has definitely still got it, her performance was exceptional 👏"
On Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
"@MiNeAn I never got around to reviewing it but I listened to that already and I liked it"
On zygote's review of Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
"Yeppppp and if you ever feel like listening again, give the reissue a go, the sound quality is much better and you can hear more nuance in the melodies than the original 😄 one of my favourite albums, and I feel the same about a couple of tracks"
On Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
"@MiNeAn dunno, a bit of atmosphere, tension, melody, texture, progression or something, nothing happened"
On Nas - Illmatic
"@broker I liked the lyrics I could hear not withstanding a few dated tropes. I suppose I just like my music a little more rhythmic/melodic/bouncy. That said, I didn't dislike this. I loved NY State of Mind, that was a banger, when I was listening to that I thought I might love the whole thing."
On zygote's review of Silvana Estrada - Marchita
"I liked this one a lot too. I was thinking in the car the other day, you love your folk so there's a chance you might like Clube de Esquina or Acabou Chorare, they've really landed for me and I've listened to them loads recently. I also really enjoyed a lot of that album by George Harrison but it was very long"
On Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
"@ar9ui 0 is fair, it has destroyed my overall enjoyment of the album and now has zero replay value"
On spoonfeed's review of The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
"😂 We oldies like music too"
On Milton Nascimento - Clube da Esquina
"@DarkHorse I have Molagre dos Peixes on my to listen list, but I'll investigate the others too, thank you for sharing more detail 😄 It's the melody, rhythm and percussion of Brazilian music that I like so much. My favourite so far has been Jorge Ben, A Tabua de Esmerelda"
On regalitooo's review of Harry Styles - Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.
"Yeaaah, say how you feel 😁😂"
On julessReviews's review of Talking Heads - Remain in Light
"Agreed, I preferred Speaking in Tongues for being for funky all the way through!!"
On zygote's review of Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
"Ahhhh I understand this angle completely. Glad to read that some tracks have made it into your rotation and that overall you enjoyed it despite some parts you were less fond. I love how relaxing it is but without sacrificing tempo. I imagine how vocals might be offputting depending on preference 👍"
On regalitooo's review of Elliott Smith - Either/Or
"Really liked this album!"
On zygote's review of Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
"Nooooo 😅 Have you listened to Skeleton? It was on the taster but didn't make the final album for some reason. In my opinion it's as good if not better than the best tracks on the album and should've made the final cut!"
On rubyjanesand's review of HAIM - Days Are Gone
"Some corking tracks on this album!"
On By Storm - My Ghosts Go Ghost
"@jognwiliam I heard what I heard 😁"
On By Storm - My Ghosts Go Ghost
"@airis_latte 😂 What's that got to do with it"
On Nujabes - Modal Soul
"@zigote Yes it was right up my street!! Thank you for the recommendation 👍"
On zygote's review of Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
"@zigote there's method in the madness. No worries and no expectations 😁"
On zygote's review of Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
"Thank you for the recommendation you sent me Zigote, it looks great. I have sent back the album that tempted me to listen to this album in the first place, but which I thought was brill!"
On DJZorrit's review of Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
"I also prefer this to Remain in Light and LOVED Stop Making Sense - the quality of it is insane for a live album"
On pearlfm's review of Depeche Mode - Violator
"@pearlfm I love it! But I started off with the very best of Depeche Mode compilation many years ago, it was a nice introduction"
On pearlfm's review of Depeche Mode - Violator
"Ouch 😂"
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