I was a bit tempted to give this a 100. I remember the last time I gave the Butthole Surfers a 100 was L.A.T from the 80's. Still love it but there was something that made it an unfortunate dropout. A false god, if you will. But this, I think depending how I feel on certain tracks, this album teeters from a 95 to 100. And that is mainly due to how this record feels like a middle ground between there usual weirdness that I love from my rock acts and just slaps. I still need to go through the rest of there catalogue, and this one sounds like it has the most bops. Or in a rock context, the most ragers. I feel like there are some users that might love this a lot. Maybe Purplepash? But this was a highlight for 1993 and a damn shame this is the book end for the year. Grade:95
(2)
Chief, I don't think the Santana album will be that bad. Right?
(3)
BEA's Top 110 of 1993
(82) Cracker-Kerosene Hat
(84) Blue Rodeo-Five Days In July
(85) Sugar-Beaster
(87) Kingston Wall-II
(92) Heroes Del Silencio-El Espiritu Del Vino
(94) Elements Of Crime-Weibes Papier
(95) Adorabale-Against Perfection
(97) Seefeel-Quique (R)
(99) New Order-Republic
(101) Candlebox-Selftitled
Purplepashranker, rater, & music list makerProfile Western Australia
I was a bit tempted to give this a 100. I remember the last time I gave the Butthole Surfers a 100 was L.A.T from the 80's. Still love it but there was something that made it an unfortunate dropout. A false god, if you will. But this, I think depending how I feel on certain tracks, this album teeters from a 95 to 100. And that is mainly due to how this record feels like a middle ground between there usual weirdness that I love from my rock acts and just slaps. I still need to go through the rest of there catalogue, and this one sounds like it has the most bops. Or in a rock context, the most ragers. I feel like there are some users that might love this a lot. Maybe Purplepash? But this was a highlight for 1993 and a damn shame this is the book end for the year. Grade:95
I haven't heard it but probably. Their self titled is in my decade chart, and Locust Abortion Technician is also great.
baystateoftheartNeil Young as a butternut squashProfile Massachusetts
The obvious place to start this review is by gushing about the beats. They're great - prime Pete Rock, and smooth as butter. They set the tone for this album. The obvious thing to say next is that the rapping is rather pedestrian throughout much of the album. None of the members of InI have gone on to successful solo careers. But the thing is, the rapping here is almost always average in a smooth way that fits and accentuates the beats, instead of detracting from them. And there are some genuinely strong verses here and there. Center Of Attention alternates between good and great, but enough of its 68 minutes are great to earn the record a 4/5.
3. Hip-Hop Medalists (slightly modified For Black History Month)
1981 bronze: Deuce - Kurtis Blow
1982 silver: Live Convention 82 - Various Artists
1983 bronze: Players - Too $hort
1984 bronze: Fat Boys - Fat Boys
1985 silver: The Album - Mantronix
2007 silver: Volume 9: Negative Thoughts - DJ Sound
2009 gold: The LP - Large Professor
2014 bronze: Piñata Beats - Madlib
2020 silver: Visions Of Bodies Being Burned - Clipping.
2021 silver: Tyron - Slowthai _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
They went for the Belle & Sebastian sound with loads of soaring ballads, orchestral parts and consistently sad sounding songs. Which, compared to the more upbeat and overall varied previous album, was a disappointment. And I like the Belle & Sebastian shtick, but there's some variations of twee pop that I enjoy better. Also, many bands who go for that sound just can't do it as well as B&S (including post 90s B&S themselves)
This proved to be... not 100% correct. Had a lot of fun with this 2006 B&S album. It's close to their best work, easily digestible while also having a lot of replay value. I must have played it 5 times during the last few days. And the key is imo the slight but noticeable change in approach. It's much more reliant on typical indie tropes than jangly twee pop, which is my main concern with some of their other 00s work, but then it also adds some blues, pop and rock flavours which make this whole album stand out from the crowd of similar bands. Some of the songs sound like they were pulled right from that 70s "dad rock" core, aka bluesy folk rock. And it works so well! I mean The Blues Are Still Blue sounds like a knock-off Rolling Stones band from 1971, and that's a compliment. A lot of uptempo songs, some of their best songwriting to date and multiple standout songs. Even the slower Mornington Crescent was fantastic. Apart from those two, Act of the Apostle, Another Sunny Day and Funny Little Frog are great as well. So... all the singles basically. 8 or 8.5/10
(2)
Clipping was one of my favourite albums last year, give it a shot
(3)
baystateoftheart 1990s/2000s charts mashup && "Whatever" list
The Magnetic Fields - The Charm Of The Highway Strip
--------------------------------------
Shub Niggurah - Les Morts Vont Vite
Midori - Aratamemashite, hajimemashite, Midori desu.
Charlie Morrow - America Lament
Meridian Brothers - Desesperanza
Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes - Paix
MIKE - Weight of the World
The Ruins of Beverast - The Thule Grimoires
Laurie Anderson - Bright Red
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Gesang der Jünglinge & Kontakte _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
If there was any complaint I would have with this album, it would be where on a personal level wished songs like the opener or Imperial had a little more progression to make the ride more fascinating. But even then, that ride was still fascinating to begin with. It was at least almost 4 years since I heard this. And I'm shocked that I haven't revisit this as much as I should. Musically and texturely, this is what I strive for. And even those songs where I wish there was a little more bite, were still quite hypnotic and feels like it does more compare to the electronic peers of 1993. Also might have to go through the bonus stuff from the redux version. Clique is so good. Grade is a 90 but is on that light to decent range. Possible 95 if the bonus tracks are as good as this. Also I would totally recommend Sweet Trip's 1998 if you really enjoy Quique.
(2)
Led, The Magnetic Fields
(3)
BEA's Top 110 of 1993
(82) Cracker-Kerosene Hat
(84) Blue Rodeo-Five Days In July
(85) Sugar-Beaster
(87) Kingston Wall-II
(93) Heroes Del Silencio-El Espiritu Del Vino
(94) Duran Duran-The Wedding Album
(95) Elements Of Crime-Weibes Papier
(96) Adorabale-Against Perfection
(100) New Order-Republic
(102) Candlebox-Selftitled
(103) Phil Colins-Both Sides
This one's on my shortlist, I'll give it a try. Promising review.
(1)
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
The Charm Of The Highway Strip by The Magnetic Fields
Much like The Wayward Bus, there's some serious 60s psych worship here. But there's much more folk and country/Americana involved, so the overall sound's different. It was about as good as Bus, it has pretty much the same strengths and weaknesses too. I guess this was still a progression of their general sound, it's less cluttered and the vocals are way up front (that's certainly a Merritt hehe). Although the selling point of The Wayward Bus IS the cluttered and dense psychedelic pop sound. Anyways I liked this one marginally less, mostly because the highlights weren't really there. It was a nice album though 7.5/10
(2)
New Order
(3)
Shub Niggurah - Les Morts Vont Vite
Midori - Aratamemashite, hajimemashite, Midori desu.
Charlie Morrow - America Lament
Meridian Brothers - Desesperanza
Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes - Paix
MIKE - Weight of the World
The Ruins of Beverast - The Thule Grimoires
Laurie Anderson - Bright Red
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Gesang der Jünglinge & Kontakte
Deftones - Adrenaline _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
So this is my third album from New Order. Do want to go through there discography at some point. Think there 1985 album was excellent. And then there is their 2001 album Get Ready. Love that one immensely, and would be a high contender for 2001 and the 2000's. Grade wise that's a 100. Now this I would say is a little better than the 85 album but I wouldn't say it was one of those shockers for 1993 where it impressed me a lot. I think compared to Get Ready, Republic doesn't have that certain energy that the majority of Get Ready. But it does have a lot of the qualities of New Order where I still love the vocals of Benard Sumner to how compositionally these songs remain pretty entertaining.
Grade:90
(2)
Led, Deftones
(3)
BEA's Top 110 of 1993
(82) Cracker-Kerosene Hat
(84) Blue Rodeo-Five Days In July
(85) Sugar-Beaster
(87) Kingston Wall-II
(93) Heroes Del Silencio-El Espiritu Del Vino
(94) Duran Duran-The Wedding Album
(95) Elements Of Crime-Weibes Papier
(96) Adorabale-Against Perfection
(102) Candlebox-Selftitled
(103) Phil Colins-Both Sides
RoundTheBendI miss the comfort in being sadProfile Ground Control
Another great one Chief. You often find non-pretentious lesser known works that speak to me. It's interesting how I can label it like that, and the next bloke labels it the opposite (just speaking to the subjectivity of it all and why is it some works speak to me more... why... I don't know... haha). I'll just say this is aptly named.
2. I suppose if you are aiming for the top 100, take it from the top: (82) Cracker-Kerosene Hat
3. Top 100: Chief
5. The Power And The Glory by Gentle Giant
6. Temple IV by Roy Montgomery
9. Romanworld by Romanthony
10. Läther by Frank Zappa
11. The Purist by Byron Stingily
13. The Way Of Eiheiji - Zen Buddhist Ceremony by Rev. Tetsuya Inoue
15. Undercurrent by Bill Evans & Jim Hall
18. Joplin: Treemonisha by Gunther Schuller / Houston Grand Opera Orchestra & Chorus
20. As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls by Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays
21. Wind by Gigi Masin
Purplepashranker, rater, & music list makerProfile Western Australia
The beats were enjoyably funky, the rapping is fine, and the lyrics are mostly positive or didn't bother me (a couple of questionable moments but not much compared to a lot of others). Nothing really wrong with this but for some reason I wasn't feeling at as much as maybe it deserves. Possibly because I have been listening to so much quality hip hop through the hip hop tourney lately so it's unfortunate timing to compare. I admit I did feel it get a bit samey as it went along, which is why Who Can Get Busy Like This Man ... was a breath of fresh air and one of my favourite moments on the album. So a solid album that gets a light 7/10 from me, and comes in at 53/63 for 1990.
RTB I thought Wind was fairly good, especially since I usually find it hard to like electronic ambient. See what you think.
Probably the last round for 1990 for me. I'm going to finish off with RoundTheBend but there is only six I haven't rated (some of which I've heard before but it's been a very long time) so I'll top it up with the BEA overall for 1990 (again including unrated albums I've already heard as it it the second run through for the overall). Feel free to choose from either.
Top 18 Music Albums of 1990 by RoundTheBend/BEA Best Albums of 1990 (5 picks left)
4. Allegria (1990) by Gipsy Kings
5. Mixed Up by The Cure
7. The Caution Horses by Cowboy Junkies
9. X by INXS
10. Flood by They Might Be Giants
16. The Rhythm Of The Saints by Paul Simon
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
13. The Good Son by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
18. Shake Your Money Maker by The Black Crowes
25. Behaviour by Pet Shop Boys
26. Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 by George Michael
1.
Steven Wilson - The Future Bites
Can't say I've ever been a far of his most acclaimed work either as a solo project or within a band - not that I've given him a fair chance, 2 or 3 hasty listens to each of them at most, I could barely recognise them if I stumbled on any of them. In this case, however, it seems that ignorance is bliss indeed, since the reactions of everyone who is well-versed in his discography range from mild dislike to almost hate. I have to say I found it decent. I mean, when you get vibes reminiscent of 2nd Law era Muse - for example in Eminent Sleaze - and they aren't even the worst part of the album, then you know something is wrong. On the other hand, there were some highly enjoyable moments/tracks, like King Ghost or Personal Shopper that balance it out. Overall, less prog and more pop/synth/electronic - that's fine by me.
3.
Best 2021 albums based on BEA rankings
1. Drunk Tank Pink - Shame
2. Heaux Tales - Jazmine Sullivan
3. J.T. - Steve Earle & The Dukes
4. The Future Bites - Steven Wilson
5. Vertigo Days - The Notwist
6. Magic Mirror - Pearl Charles
7. South Loop Summer - Hospital Bracelet
8. Tyron - Slowthai
9, As The Love Continues - Mogwai
10. The Last Exit - Still Corners
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Purplepash
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LedZep
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