BitterJalapenoJr
Jalapeno
Contributor

Reviews 30
Soundoffs 2
Album Ratings 1346
Objectivity 70%

Last Active 01-06-23 10:12 pm
Joined 07-09-21

Review Comments 1,027

 Lists
01.22.24 Chilli Man's 90s Travels 12.31.23 A mildly spicy 2023
10.18.23 Hidden/Forgotten Gems vol. 1: Alternati 08.21.23 Jalapeno's 5 Purge
02.27.23 Autechre: Expanded Challenge02.02.23 IDM/Electronic discovery
12.16.22 Jalapeno's 2022 Picks11.18.22 Jalapeno's 101 discography challenge

Jalapeno's 5 Purge

Just over two years ago, I joined Sputnik. My rating system was non-existent and is probably still very rudimentary. I eagerly began to dish out high ratings to nostalgia-heavy albums and more recent discoveries towards which I was showing recency bias. Regarding albums I’ve heard since joining, only three have received a 5. Below is an alphabetical (by artist) list of all my current 5s. All await serious re-evaluation and potential demotion. There’s a lot of typical, eye-rolling 5s along with some I’ll undoubtedly get a ribbing for. Demotions will not necessarily mean I enjoy the album any less, just that for whatever reason, I cannot give it a perfect score. Comments, roasts, and all that shite is more than welcome.
1Artificial Brain
Artificial Brain
2Autechre
Confield
3Black Sabbath
Master of Reality
4blink-182
Blink-182


I’m an unabashed fanboy of blink and will be for life. All material from early demos to this will always remain important to me. This being the first time blink ventured into relative maturity, some fans felt alienated but I wasn't one of them. A door was even open for new fans and collaborators. To Robert Smith's surprise and Mark Hoppus' delight, Smith felt the material worthy of his contributions - something which would have been ludicrous on previous releases. Responding positively to the band's request, Smith created a strong point with lyrical and vocal input on "All of This". However, I accept that stylistic development and nostalgia cannot prevent me from looking past personal weak spots in the back half: the incredibly poor lyrics (even by blink standards) of "Go", the overly sickly "Always" and the proto-AvA ballad "I'm Lost Without You".

Result: PURGED
New Rating: 4.5
5blink-182
Dude Ranch
6Boards of Canada
Music Has the Right to Children
7Camel
Mirage


University life in the late 00s was a time of poorly constructed joints, even poorer exam results and well crafted progressive rock. An initial obsession with Pink Floyd and King Crimson led to me to plunder Torrent sites to obtain discographies of prog bands from far and wide. Camel stood out from its peers by projecting a less arrogant and more earnest approach to prog, thus the first four albums entered regular rotation. Still a very enjoyable listen, full of quality guitar work and superb drumming but it doesn't boast the addictive properties it used to. Maybe I'm not stoned enough these days...

Result: PURGED
New rating: 4
8Crowbar
Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form
9Descendents
Everything Sucks
10Dinosaur Jr.
You're Living All Over Me
11Dinosaur Jr.
Without a Sound
12Fleetwood Mac
Rumours
13Genesis
Selling England by the Pound
14Gorguts
Obscura


First listen in a good while and the very first on the Sennheiser HD660s - still blows me away to fuck just like it always did and even more so on these headphones. Still sounds like the cutting edge of tech death despite being 25 years old. An unmatched and timeless masterpiece of dissonant bliss.

Result: SURVIVED
15Gorguts
Colored Sands
16Green Day
Dookie
17Green Day
Insomniac
18Herbie Hancock
Head Hunters
19Jethro Tull
Thick as a Brick


The deliberately OTT, fabricated concept album in protest of earlier work being labelled as such was as a massive leap forward from the already adventurous Aqualung, both stylistically and structurally. Thick as a Brick was fucking mental and still is. Calm acoustic/wild electric guitar licks, and flamboyant flute arrangements, bolstered by half nonsensical, half genius lyrics delivered in Anderson's whimsical vocal style create a true progressive folk monster. Peak Tull and easily in my top 5 70s prog albums.

Result: SURVIVED m
20King Crimson
In the Court of the Crimson King
21King Crimson
Red
22Lagwagon
Let's Talk About Feelings
23Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin IV
24Love
Forever Changes
25Mastodon
Leviathan
26Mastodon
Crack the Skye
27 Meshuggah
Re-Nothing
28Meshuggah
obZen
29Neil Young
On the Beach
30Neurosis
Through Silver in Blood
31Oasis
(What's the Story) Morning Glory?
32Pink Floyd
Animals
33Pink Floyd
The Dark Side of the Moon
34Pink Floyd
Wish You Were Here
35Pixies
Doolittle
36Red Hot Chili Peppers
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
37Reuben
In Nothing We Trust
38Rush
Hemispheres
39Steely Dan
Aja
40Stereolab
Dots and Loops


I deeply immersed myself in the Stereolab discography while working from home during the Covid-19 lockdown which pre-dates my Sput days - I was glad to see some other 'lab lovers when I joined *cough* Trif, Demon, Johnny *cough*. Although I enjoy all their work, Dots and Loops is a clear magnum opus from a personal perspective. The vocal interplay is beatiful, the mix of lounge, electronica and avant-pop is executed in stunning fashion and the production is simply delicious. To top it off, there is an almost endless range of situations in which this album is perfect to enjoy: winter mornings, summer evening parties, cleaning the flat, chilling by yourself, working, driving, etc etc. It's a masterpiece.

Result: SURVIVED
41Sum 41
All Killer No Filler
42Supergrass
I Should Coco
43The Beatles
Revolver
44The Beatles
Abbey Road
45The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
46The Smashing Pumpkins
Siamese Dream
47Therapy?
Troublegum
48Wishbone Ash
Argus
49Yes
The Yes Album
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