"Campfire Songs" is a beautiful pack of pretty depressing songs. It's definitely not as noisy as AnCo's other records and the last two songs wear thin into tedium but it's still a huge step up from their lackluster sophomore album.
UPDATE (OS: 7.7): I'm beginning to see the stripped-back beauty of this record. This one's a grower, for sure.
Fav Tracks: Doggy, De Soto De Son, Queen In My Pictures, Two Corvettes
Least Fav Track: Moo Rah Rah Rain
Score:
8.5
Exceptional
"Hesitant Alien" shows that Gerard Way is a very capable solo artist with all the emotional resonance, passion, fantastic songwriting and great sense of melody that helped him define My Chemical Romance. He's also able to bend genres extremely well, if not mixed a bit messily, with the usual sound with pop rock, noise rock and lo-fi elements sprinkled in tastefully!
Fav Tracks: Brother, Millions, Maya The Psychic, Juarez, No Shows, Zero Zero, Action Cat, The Bureau
Least Fav Track: ... read more
While it’s a quite cheesy and inconsistent, “Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys” is My Chemical Romance’s poppiest, most danceable offering yet with a wacky post-apocalyptic concept, great production, catchy hooks and awesome vocals from Gerard Way. It’s a shame that it’s also their last record before they broke up (edit: or not! =D).
Fav Tracks: S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W, DESTROYA, The Kids from Yesterday, Vampire Money, Summertime, Party Poison, ... read more
The songwriting, vocals and production values are a HUGE step up from their debut! The riffs are great, the rest of the instrumentation is phenomenal, amazing production and Gerard Way’s lyrics and vocal performances give enough intensity to make “Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge” an all-around brilliant fucking rock album!
Fav Tracks: Helena (So Long & Goodnight), I’m Not Okay (I Promise), I Never Told You What I Do for a Living, You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us ... read more
"Add Violence" has a few great songs and the production is great. But it isn't nearly as hard hitting as other projects in Nine Inch Nails discography and the looped ending on "The Background World", while admirable, makes the track way too long.
Fav Tracks: Less Than, This Isn't the Place, Not Anymore
Least Fav Track: The Background World
Score:
7.3
Good
Trent Reznor and new member Atticus Ross deliver some of Nine Inch Nails' best material in a while! "Not the Actual Events" contains darker Industrial Rock sounds that Trent hasn't been able to return to since the 90's and Nine Inch Nails sound hasn't been this heavy and raw since "The Fragile"! Overall, after multiple listens, I legitimately think this is up their with their best releases!
Fav Tracks: The Idea of You, Burning Bright (Field on Fire), Branches / Bones, She's ... read more
"Aviary" is a beautifully orchestrated, written and sung album from Julia Holter. It's also unnecessarily bloated (90 minutes) but it's still very enjoyable.
Fav Tracks: I Shall Love 2, Turn the Light On, Voce Stimul, In Garden's Muteness, Underneath the Moon, Les Jeux to You, I Would Rather See, Words I Heard, Whether
Least Fav Track: Everyday Is an Emergency
Score:
8.4
Great
While it's a little bit too produced at times, "YOUNG & DANGEROUS" is still a fun glam rock album with great performances and awesome hooks (unlike a certain *cough* Led Zeppelin cover band *cough*).
Fav Tracks: Ashes (Part 2), Somebody New, Freak Like You, Fire (Part 1), Body Talks (Both), In Love With A Camera
Least Fav Track: Who Am I?
Score:
7.5
Very Good
Whenever he says "WHO" on Who Am I?, it sounds like Roblox lolz
Robyn’s voice is sexy and she brings more matured lyrics over the album’s immaculate production. I guess my only real criticism is that the lyrics don’t offer much.
Fav Tracks: Missing U, Because It’s In The Music, Ever Again, Honey, Human Being, Between The Lines
Least Fav Track: Baby Forgive Me
Score:
8.1
Great
I haven’t seen Luca Guadagnino’s remake of the horror classic “Suspiria” yet (damn you Amazon!) but it’s getting rather divisive reactions from critics. Still, there’s no denying that one of the best factors of the movie is Thom Yorke’s score. It’s a beautifully haunting dark ambient record that proves that Thom is still one of the greatest producers of our time. It also contains some of his best solo material to date!
Fav Tracks: Unmade, ... read more
Daughters’ self-titled album is a more accessible and catchy, yet more head-crushing and groovier beast than its predecessors. The scary guitar riffs, great writing and noise rock sound make this a greatly cohesive record for its short runtime.
Edit (A LOT LATER): Y'know, I could give this a 10. Pretty much everything about this album is literally 10 worthy for me nowadays. It's just there's a gigantic elephant in the room that's keeping me from giving it any higher of a score.
Fav ... read more
This is more like it! “Hell Songs” showcases Daughters’ huge amount of creativity, insane performances, dizzying guitar riffs, intense production and great songwriting all bunched together into one 23-minute mathcore album!
Fav Tracks: Recorded in a Pyramid, The Fuck Whisperer, Hyperventilationsystem, Providence By Gaslight, Fiery, Daughters Spelled Wrong, Feisty Snakewoman
Least Fav Track: X-Ray
Score:
9
Outstanding
Alright, that was a thing...
These tracks literally ended before I could even rate them. At least this is the only album that I got through with no ads on Spotify!
I liked the intense instrumentation and the song titles. But yeah.
UPDATE: Okay, I should be liking this but there's barely anything worth revisiting here. There's a lot of energy and intensity on display but the vocals suck and the album doesn't give me enough time to leave an impression.
Fav Tracks: The Ghost With the Most; Fur ... read more
(Absolutely fuck Alexis and his piece of shit behavior but I think the album still holds up regardless of the context. This album was just too important in shaping my music tastes.)
It’s a rarity that an individual like me would come across a recent album release that receives such high praise. That album is “You Won’t Get What You Want” by Daughters, a brutal, ten-ton punishment to the ears heightened by haunting atmosphere, powerful performances, excellent songwriting ... read more
“Post” is an astounding mix of the more mainstream approach of “Debut” and the experimentation that would later define Björk’s career! It’s another beautiful record filled with a consistent set of songs that have aged well today and, of course, Björk’s voice, which especially delights on her cover of “It’s Oh So Quiet”!
Fav Tracks: Hyper-Ballad, Enjoy, Army of Me, It’s Oh so Quiet, Possibly Maybe, I Miss You, Isobel, ... read more
A beautiful, versatile solo debut(ish) that showcases Björk’s talented songwriting and out-of-this-world vocals! It’s definitely not the most experimental album she’s produced but it absolutely succeeds as a pop album! It hasn’t aged particularly well, however.
Fav Tracks: Venus as a Boy, Human Behaviour, Violently Happy, Big Time Sensuality, Crying, There’s More to Life Than This, One Day
Least Fav Track: Aeroplane
Score:
9
Outstanding
Ha! You thought I was skipping this emo album? While stronger hooks could’ve benefited this album, “Last Building Burning” is a bold record from an already impressive post-hardcore band. Dylan Baldi’s (Basics?) barks, though an acquired taste for some, help this record pack even more of a punch!
Fav Tracks: So Right So Clean, Offer An End, Leave Him Now, Dissolution, Another Way Of Life
Least Fav Track: The Echo Of The World
Score:
8.4
Great
It’s hard to argue that MØ has a lot of talent. But “Forever Neverland” falls flat due to basic lyrics, messy production, bucketloads of filler and a watered-down radio pop formula. Not much MØ than that.
Fav Tracks: Sun In Our Eyes, Nostalgia, Red Wine
Least Fav Tracks: Blur, If It’s Over, I Want You, Imaginary Friend
Score:
4.3
Mediocre
The synthpop production is great and Lorely Rodriguez’s vocals and melodies are indeed catchy!
Fav Tracks: When I’m With Him, Trust Me Baby, Love For Me, I Don’t Even Smoke Weed, I’ve Got Love, Everything To Me
Least Fav Track: Again
Score:
8.3
Great
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