Album Rating: 5.0

HELLMODE

Album Rating: 4.0

This is now the HELLMODE thread, it is written

Album Rating: 3.0 | Sound Off

Pass

Album Rating: 4.5

Neek you’ve 3’d the wrong album. HELLMODE is the 3 smh.

Album Rating: 5.0

lovin HELLMODE on this Saturday morning

Album Rating: 5.0

i think SKA DREAM is a real LP whys it a Compilation here

Album Rating: 3.5

HELLMODE is the 3 of all time this is the 3.6 of all time, but there's such a step between them that maybe the gap should be bigger

Album Rating: 5.0

nobody's released a 5/5 album since ska dream

Album Rating: 4.0

You’re not wrong

Album Rating: 5.0

that's what i like to hear

Album Rating: 4.0

I think that I’m ready to admit to myself that Ska Dream is my favorite solo Rosenstock album, which is a weird realization. Also, it doesn’t have a review? What?

Album Rating: 4.0

It’s an absolute tragedy. It’s different enough that it deserves it own review.

Yeah, Ska Dream and No Dream are distinct enough to where I think it absolutely warrants its own takes .

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah, it really is its own album through and through. I can't take away the fact that this was my favorite album of his when it came out, but I basically always choose to listen to Ska Dream over this now. It's like literally the only time I can think of an artist re-recording an album of the same songs and improving them the second time around. Truly an anomaly.

I was so skeptical when he announced and subsequently teased it for a while, but it's like the most inspired execution of the concept. Both are different vibes and as somewhat of a Jeff superfan I think both are essential imo The songs themselves have a really strong skeleton enough to be able to be morphed around

Album Rating: 4.0

The rap verse on SKrAm is kind of silly, but I love it completely and unironically now. I think the album overall works because it doesn't take itself to seriously, but also has just super solidly constructed songs throughout. It's fun while still being extremely unique and technically experimental in its own way. I can't think of any ska albums that sound quite like it. I guess it's his most BTMI-like album overall, and that might be why I love it the most. This one reminded me the most of BTMI until Ska Dream came out.



Then Hellmode kind of slowed that hype for me. I think he can make something this good or better again based on the consistency of his career, but I felt like his streak would never end.

I became a massive fan around Vacation's release and I think a big part of his charm is throwing himself completely and being willing to show the cracks and warts of his playing and his voice and just generally goofy ideas. His solo career has largely sanded those edges down, which isn't a criticism but the vibe is a lot different. I'm one of those guys that thinks Worry. is among his best, so I am obviously a fan. But I've found stuff like Post- and HELLMODE to largely be variations on a theme that kinda lack the urgency and earnestness to really stand out in his sea of quality.

NO DREAM (and Ska Dream by extension) is a nice peak between those two releases and I think he was able to find an angle to latch onto by really ameliorating on his success and the sorta malaise (and subsequent guilt) of it in a way that he had never really done. While I am not the biggest fan of Post- and HELLMODE, I do still think he's as capable as he ever was of producing excellent material, his approach to songwriting and releasing music just kinda necessitates that not all of them are gonna be winners.

Album Rating: 4.0

I actually think Post- is over hated. To me, it was just barely his worst album before Hellmode. I think some of his best cuts are on that album. I think that We Cool? shows a side of Jeff's songwriting that proves he can continue to switch up his sound, aka he doesn't have to recapture the magic of BTMI forever. It's so interesting that Worry. is a favorite for so many people that started listening to Jeff's stuff after BTMI. The reason that I loved the 8-track supersong on that album is because it covered so many facets of his career (even in projects outside of BTMI).



Post- then kind of went back to the We Cool philosophy of having his own sound as a solo artist. Then, he let himself get weird with No Dream. I guess it's kind of weird to have Ska Dream as a favorite if it reminds me the most of BTMI while I also think that Jeff does not have to write in that style forever.



Hellmode sometimes feels like it's trying to be its own thing and recapture the magic of previous albums, but it is noticeably not quite there imo. I think all of his solo albums up until Hellmode are basically 4/5, so I am maybe splitting hairs. I just appreciate the tangible feeling of noncomplacency I get from each. They are all going for something different.



I dig your takes though. Haha. I haven't been able to type out this many Rosenstock opinions in a while. I'm pretty sure I heard Vacation like a year after it came out, but Jeff has been my favorite artist consistently since then.

Right back at ya.

I do love me some Jeff discourse. Particularly stuff that is able to critique his stuff and examine it beyond the surface level of "haha he's a sad boy just like me" that has unfortunately infected his fanbase the last few years with him really blowing up.

I don't necessarily dislike Post- and think it has a lot of really fun and cute songs, but coming so soon after Worry just felt like an obvious step down. HELLMODE kinda has the same thing going, just further down the road so the returns are even more diminished.

We Cool? and I Look Like Shit worked because to me they were a function of him truly trying to set out and differentiate himself into more of an indie-rocker than a messy tumblr punk musician and it was refreshing to hear him change things up. Worry. was just an incredible lefthook for him to actualize into this pop-punk, ska Abbey Road that came out of nowhere. Post- and HELLMODE just don't have any obvious signifiers that I can point to as his inspiration, which is hardly the most damning criticism but it is definitely a step down compared to his other, masterful works