Perfect single

And here we are, you know who she is, and everybody was clearly expecting something exceptional... I think, she delivered.

More than a review, these are my notes (I am running terrible short of time):
Positive things
Short and incredibly cohesive record (I will always appreciate a short direct and effective experience)
Beautifully crafted (all the ride makes sense, the tracks are well organized, and when something step a bit out of the general mood, it was placed in the extremes, which to my ... read more

Or you take risks and challenge yourself or you become AC/DC

Music history is flooded with examples of bands deciding to do “something” different than whatever they were successfully doing in their previous albums. And in that regard, Idles left curve has nothing special.

Interestingly enough, every time a band decides to risk and change, there is always a significant amount of square heads that immediately reject the change. In Idles case, even before listening the full album ... read more

Radiohead for Blink 182 junkies

I will be brief in this one.
Can I see the appeal in this project? YES
Do I think it is superb? That depends

Let's me put it in this way, I think the biggest achievement of this project is the same issue that makes it irrelevant.

The biggest thing Yorke et al have done for the musical landscape up to this day, was to create a new sound, something unparalleled, special and CLEARLY recognizable. Something that you can hear and immediately say “this is ... read more

What is killing you buddy is not the American dream, is that you totally lost your fucking edge.
 
Do you remember when having a Che Guevara t-shirt was kind of cool and revolutionary?. Well, Che Guevara image means nothing nowadays, it is like the McDonald´s clown, just an advertising product. That´s what has happened to GD music… it was good, believe me, it was really GOOD, now it is not, now it is just a friendly bunch of rhythms perfectly crafted for mass ... read more

I don’t know guys, I see a lot of “yeah, not bad for the beginning of the year” and also some “Paramore but not as good”, fuck people! This is a very solid album, period.

Some sort of “Savages” but spicier and more danceable. Vocals are top notch for this type of music, rhythm base delivers 100% and most of the tracks are build in a smart (maybe a bit predictable yes) way to crush it all after a couple of minutes.

Ps. And yeah… I miss Savages

ALBUMS I DID NOT SAY ANYTHING WHEN THEY WERE RELEASED BUT I FEEL I NEED TO SAY SOMETHING BEFORE THE YEAR ENDS

No, it is not a great album. Yes, it has some really good passages.

Blur is not an easy band to grab, people talk about the "blur sound" like if it was something super well defined and I am sorry to say that imo with some obvious sonical frame (inside of what we should probably call indie rock/pop) blur has been a very unease musical beast. As an example, in their nineties ... read more

ALBUMS I DID NOT SAY ANYTHING WHEN THEY WERE RELEASED BUT I FEEL I NEED TO SAY SOMETHING BEFORE THE YEAR ENDS

I must admit what happened to me with this new FF album was that I was first overwhelmed with the hype around it and second kind of lost with the outstanding positive reviews arriving from all over the places. People (and communities) who have been hating FF for so long now were praising them as if suddenly FF became a different band. And we all know the reasons why... tragic indeed, ... read more

Best Iron Maiden album.

How many bands keep improving at their seventh release? Not many

This is the case for Seventh son…here the band keep looking for the best way to incorporate new ideas to their formula without loosing their signature. And yes, they were incredible successful in this attempt.

Seventh son… is inspired by the novel Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card, which basically serves as a general idea to develop the plot for the album (check the book anyway because is ... read more

It is difficult to be super objective with The Beatles but I will do my best.
Brief summary: I love the song, I don't know if I am loving what they did with the original track.

Probably as most of you I was moved (and I am still) with John vocals. To hear him "alive" after all these years is a thing, no question about it. I clearly miss the guy and his unique sensitivity. I really love the way he approaches to this subtle atmospheres (this song reminds me to Julia or maybe Oh My ... read more

A couple of notes here.

I am always worried when a classic band release a late career album. It is always a question of, are they going to just copy and paste whatever they have been doing for the last XX years? Is it going to sound soulless? Are they going to try to sound "fresh" following some sort of a new/current type of popular sound? plus the unavoidable question in this particular case, is the singer going to be capable to decently deliver? and finally the most common around ... read more

I can see people is kind of deciding they are back (from who knows where) and the dark times are gone. Be excited because the second coming is here... sorry but if all that crap is just based in this song, you are delusional.

This song is a copy of a copy of a copy, rhythm, drums, vocals even the lyrics is a copy of something better they have done before. yes, it sounds like American Idiot, so guess what? elections are coming and this is the perfect opportunity to resucite some old glories. I ... read more

I am not even sure if this was disappointing or not.

I like the band, I have enjoyed way too much his early stuff to come here and say "this is the worst band ever¨, sorry I can't do that.
But the thing is that I think the real problem here is we were expecting too much from this guys. The idea was always fun and extremely simple, but even as simple as it was these guys managed themselves to create a very recognizable musical signature. Actually I must say, they invented a sound on ... read more

Bowie for believers.

Yes, this is not your traditional "Ch ch ch changes" David Bowie, what it is happening here it is a bit more complex and requires for you to keep an open mind.

The main reason is because here is when Bowie really twisted wherever he was doing to this point, here is when He kind of went beyond his own clichés. And, as it happens most of the time in life, it was because he was falling apart. California was killing Bowie, his Young American era was too much. ... read more

It was one of my favorites from this album since the beginning but I just noticed the harmonica here it is the same (or incredibly similar) to the one he used on “Low’s” “A New Career In a New Town”. Fuck!
In 1977 he was using the song as a way to “ celebrate” he was leaving USA to start working on France. In Blackstar he took the same harmonica to say “now I am going with no return”… a new career in a new town.
Nothing was a ... read more

I don’t know the background of this band, but the music is kind of I was expecting from Slowdive but I did not get from them.
Nice atmospheres, a lot of different textures, interesting work on the drums and beautiful vocals.
The formula works extremely well the first half of the record but to the last third it tends to fall a bit flat.
Besides that, this is a really enjoyable ride, I would highly recommend this to any music enthusiast.

Wow! I mean, really WOW.
I did not see this coming. I am probably as surprised as I am happy to see the Stones still have a couple of tricks to play.
Gaga is perfect, impossible not to think in Merry Clayton hearing her. Jagger delivery is spotless and Stevie adds a HUGE amount of atmosphere to this track.
I have to listen to it putting attention to the rhythm section but this really blew me away.
Honestly, right into my soty playlist, no question about it.

Come on guys! you should try to hold your hate a little bit. It is going to be good for your soul (believe me).

I agree that naming “Atomic… “ a song and then started it with a drum line very reminiscent of Blondie’s “Call Me”, plus yelling “I’m Free!” in the chorus, which again is very reminiscent (if not a robbery lol) of “Call me!!!” is kind of an awful idea.

Clapping section and one or two additional cliches (like the ... read more

Yes, it is eclectic, kind of bold at times and for sure dynamic... so... what is the issue with this guy? Why is he not all over the place and finally, why is nobody really taking him seriously?

Short answer: because it is all about the pyrotechnia and almost nothing about the music.

Long answer: This is the type of album that sounds like a greatest hits album, or maybe like a crazy shity playlist. It is all over the place, sounds to a huge bunch of things you have already listened to ... read more

Not bad, not great... just good enough to keep the faith alive.
I don't like to use the argument "they are eighty year old and XX years into their musical journey" to justify mediocrity. Fortunately this is not a mediocre song so no need to go there.

Let's start with the positive's: great production, very spacious, especially at the beginning with the way you can hear the drums around you. Not sure with the choice of keeping most of the instruments right in the middle, I kind of like ... read more