Drum machine ear cancer. The 'WORST' album of the year so far by a country mile. The most annoying person you know is gonna LOVE defending this. Kill me in advance.

Absolutely unremarkable. Makes $$$4U look like D'Angelo in comparison.

A VAST improvement over $ome $exy $ongs. There were beats that actually had personality and, dare I say, were kinda HYPE? Some switches here and there too, I mean they weren't all winners and relied too heavily on chipmunked soul samples for my personal taste, but like, good job producers, you masked Drake's mediocrity pretty well with some dynamism. Not that he was downright boring on EVERY song - that would be a tad disengenuous, he's clearly more energized this time around - ... read more

a bit Too $hort tbh

I REALLY wanted to like this. I don't go into albums expecting to hate them, quite the contrary in fact. Above all, I wanna be impressed by artists that I've overlooked before, and I'm so disappointed that this record didn't do that for me. I haven't been a huge fan of J Cole, but I wanted to change that. I never listened to a full album of his before (minus that beef ep but that doesn't count), only the hits that I did enjoy somewhat. I would consider him someone ... read more

So many insane ideas coming from all directions… I’m gonna need some time to give a score I’m confident in, but a solid 7/10 should suffice for now.

Numerous parts of this remind me of Brockhampton, with Rocky’s sample-based cloud trap influences coming in and blending with the voice-pitching r&b you’d find right at home on “Saturation”. But also throw in a bunch of genre blending and odd experimentation, and you have yourself (what I doubt will ... read more

This feels like a lot of ideas being thrown at a wall. Some were suspiciously Jane Remover-shaped and 100 gecs-coded, those last two songs in particular also reminded me of the ballads on "brat" quite a bit. I just thought the execution was shaky and a bit off at times, and for this new wave of digi-rage-edm-hyperpop core of music, creating a succinct 40 minute project is a tall task to rise to. Even if there were some bangers that I'll probably return for, I can't imagine ... read more

My first listen of the new year! And it kinda sucks!

The Stick to Your Guns guy sounded decent on that one song, the rest was boring bad cheeseburger metal with hilariously shallow writing, even for a genre not really known for its meticulously crafted lyricism.

If Queens of the Stone Age albums were John Carpenter films, "...Like Clockwork" would probably be "The Thing", and "Songs for the Deaf" would most likely follow as "Halloween".

"Era Vulgaris" is "They Live".

i have work tomorrow why am i up late listening to this bullshit music 😭😭😭

Edit (81->85): A longer time with this thing, alongside more listens, made me appreciate it wayyyyy more. Still not one of my top albums of the year, but those first 4 songs, as well as F.I.C.O, are absolutely spectacular. Damn near flawless! And the rest is consistently good from there, still a bit hit or miss when it comes to the guest verses and production, but when both of the Clipse boys are on point and spitting fire in their natural habitat, not much compares. The passage of time has ... read more

this score has no bearing on how much I relate to this, nope none whatsoever

but like also THIS IS SO FUCKING RAW even if I wasn't having dysphoria rn I'd STILL LOVE THIS THING

Honestly that first song put me off a bit, "Speed Trial", because I remember listening to some Elliot Smith in the past, it's been a while since then and I thought I remembered it sounding great, but idk I didn't really like how his voice hugged the rest of that first song (if that makes any sense), and the melody... all of it felt a bit off and I worried I wasn't gonna resonate with the rest of the record...

WELP

Yeah the rest of it is fucking awesome. Feels like a ... read more

GOD this thing is smooth. Some of the best production I've heard in recent memory, it's truly an achievement! I wish I was more enamored by the story that was being told honestly, but in terms of the storytelling itself, it's fairly well-executed. Reminds me of Yaelokre in quaint nursery rhyme structure and imagery, BCNR because long songs n' british, with some freeform rap that ties it all together. It's so listenable I can imagine just absorbing this on repeat without ... read more

wow. just like, woah man. i am now snug as a bug in a rug type shit. you feel me agent brody banks? cozy as CAN BE ass album man. Chet, my man, you put me to sleep, and I love ya for it. Not the biggest jazzie (jazz fans for all you nincompoops out there) but hey i can hang with the jazzies (once again referring to jazz fans for all you nincompoopers out n' about) one in awhile. Still feels like im getting filled on a prescription at walgreens, and you got someone cultured running the ... read more

Good ol' Eddie's voice gets on my nerves a bit here, and honestly most of the deep cuts aren't super memorable compared to the 4 songs you already know from this thing (which are all great, even if "Even Flow" is overplayed the other 3 still hit hard). I was just never a huge Pearl Jam fan I guess, even if I find myself enjoying stuff in the same lane every now and then. But I will say, there were some unexpected bangers in that well of relative obscurity, like damn ... read more

Very feel-good stuff. Definitely lifted my mood by quite a bit, the jazz rock is strong with this one for sure. I can just picture this playing during like a 40 minute elevator ride to the top floor of a luxury high rise building, as you ascend higher and higher the view of the ground becomes gradually more distorted ever so slightly by the glass's refraction. The clouds begin to soar all around you and shit, and yeah that sounds about right. Made my daniel quite steely indeed or something ... read more

man wtf glaive

like I knew he had potential... I have somewhat of an embarrassing nostalgia for "cypress grove", it got me through a lot of tough shit during the pandemic, and I've been bumping it on and off for a while after that all simmered down. I did that thing where I tunnel visioned it for a while and only listened to it on repeat for like a month or so. And now, in present day, it's been a while since I've even thought about that EP, and I guess I burned myself ... read more

god the Cameron Winter stan accounts aren't gonna shut up about this shit for WEEKS

Has some really discordant and chaotic moments that the lead-up singles made me learn to love, namely with "Trinidad" and its extreme sonic whiplash, but on first listen I didn't find every song to be as distinct as I was expecting. You've got some bangers like the title track and "Long Island City Here I Come", which kicks serious ass in their own rights and have that exact ... read more

First full album I've heard from these guys, and I enjoyed it for the most part. Peaks a bit early, and the vocals really make or break each song. But at a brisk 30 minutes, it doesn't even risk overstaying its welcome, allowing for a blisteringly-paced battering of melancholic hardship.