Average Rating: 4.46 Rating Variance: 0.29 Objectivity Score: 38% (Poorly Balanced)
Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name5.0 classicGenesis A Trick of the TailGenesis Invisible TouchGenesis Wind & WutheringGenesis The Lamb Lies Down on BroadwayNaked City Naked CityThe Beatles The BeatlesThe Beatles RevolverThe Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric LadylandThe Jimi Hendrix Experience Axis: Bold as LoveThe Jimi Hendrix Experience Are You Experienced4.5 superbJimi Hendrix First Rays of the New Rising SunJoe Satriani Surfing With The AlienKing Crimson In the Court of the Crimson KingMetallica ...And Justice for AllMetallica Kill 'Em AllThe Beatles Rubber SoulWhat is considered by many to be their breakthrough album (in terms of songwriting, they were already popular enough!) Rubber Soul delivers on all fronts of the Rock and Roll scene. To be specific, I'm talking about the UK version of this album (I've Just Seen A Face would never feel right on this one... but maybe that's just me). So the album begins with one of the Beatles most classic songs, Drive My Car which is a great rocker driven by some very solid guitar lines, and then we get launched into their first foray into Indian music, with the sitar line on Norwegian Wood. It works perfectly. This basically represents the whole album - each track just works perfectly, and is so definitively Beatles. Even what most consider one of their weakest efforts, What Goes On, was my favourite song of theirs for a while. The album also contains what was their longest song at the time, and only their third or fourth song over 3 minutes, You Won't See Me, which showed that their songwriting was developing and maturing from the pop tunes of Please Please Me and such. Of course, who could forget arguably Lennon's finest moment, In My Life, which is an emotionally driven song that just ticks all the boxes. It's also one of Ringo's most memorable beats. The album once again showcases their songwriting maturity with their first non-love song (if you don't count Help!), Nowhere Man, which John claimed to have written about himself at the time. George also chips in with the lovely sounding If I Needed Someone with it's jangly guitar tone that so defined this albums sound, as well as the fuzz bass driven Think For Yourself, which is snappy and straight to the point (and is almost the forerunner to Taxman which would come out the next year). Rubber Soul could be the Beatles record that holds up the most today, but of course that is arguable. It was more than anything a sign of things to come, and although it might not be completely perfect (some questionable lines in Run For Your Life, who can forget), it showed that the Beatles were more or less the biggest and best band in the world at that point... and the best was yet to come!4.0 excellentJimi Hendrix Valleys of NeptuneObviously an album filled with studio jam sessions, this posthumous release perhaps showcases some of Hendrix's finest guitar playing. This mostly blues oriented LP contains, in my opinion, superior versions of two previous Hendrix classics: Stone Free and Fire, both of which were made into more uptempo numbers (how this could be done with such a punchy song as Fire remains a mystery!) with a much better production value. The long instrumental versions of Red House and Sunshine of Your Love are examples of where Hendrix really shows us the goods, with monster guitar playing proving he was probably the best guitarist to have ever lived. Though this album is truly a great listen, it is as I said an album of jams, so if you're looking for well structured songs, this might not be for you. And such is the minor downfall of this album, some of the songs are very similar. But, there isn't really a moment where you wish you were listening to something else. One of his best posthumous releases.Paul McCartney RamPhil Collins Face ValueSteven Wilson Hand. Cannot. Erase.Before listening to this album I had heard a lot of the works of Steven Wilson - apparently epic and moody progressive rock, this guy is supposed to be today's genius of music. And although I liked the album and every track on it, I couldn't help but feel a little underwhelmed by it. Although there were many pretty moments and solos that were undeniably fantastic, there were times where the songs began to drag - a prime suspect was the longest song on the album, a 13 minute epic titled Ancestral... there's nothing wrong with the song, but not every progressive song needs to be over 10 minutes. The definite highlight of the album for me were the songs Home Invasion/Regret #9 - from what I can remember, Regret #9 was an extended instrumental passage with long keyboard and guitar solos - these were really extraordinary and I can't fault them. But then there were what seemed like filler songs: Transience, the title track itself - they were alright, but I wouldn't feel the need to listen again. So, as a first time Wilson listener, I think the music is great... but maybe a little bit overhyped.That Handsome Devil That Handsome Devil EPI'm gonna say this straight away: I do not like That Handsome Devil's vocals, or at least I don't understand why it needs to be so eccentric - the last two tracks on this EP showcase that the vocalist can sing, for lack of a better word, normally! But vocals aside, I thought that this EP was pretty strong, and that the music was almost always super jazzy and really nice, as evidenced from the opening track. Dating Tips is surely the blunder of this set of songs, what with pretty annoying lyrics and a silly tone, but it could be a lot worse. The last two songs were my favourites for sure, what with the intensity of James Dean and the nice laid back vibe of Miss America (these also happen to be the songs with the least vocal accentuation, unsurprisingly). So as for how it could be improved, I would obviously say to sing like the last two tracks for every track... if not, at least I can get down to the jazzy music.The Mothers of Invention Freak Out!I think I listened to this album as I was doing other things, but this didn't detract from giving it any attention... The first side of the album (or two I suppose) felt like your traditional rock you would hear from the mid-sixties, so it was good but nothing too spectacular - not that that's a bad thing. The main reason I give this a 4 is because of the final few tracks, from Help I'm a Rock onwards - these songs were pretty fascinating and unusual, especially for 1966. TROTSOMM is like a premonition to Revolution 9, an acquired taste but I can't stop listening to it.The Mothers of Invention Weasels Ripped My FleshMaybe the Mothers at their jazziest, but not their most experimental. I loved pretty much all the tracks on the album, although this was another case of me having the album on as background music. Going into this I had heard Eric Dolphy, so I thought I knew what I was in for, but instead was pleasantly surprised to find countless catchy melodies (Oh No) as well as songs such as Gas Mask and the notorious, but somehow fascinating title track as the closer. There aren't many dull moments on this album, showcasing how Zappa was truly ahead of his time (excuse the cliche)!3.5 greatThe Strokes AnglesSo what we have here, in my opinion, is an album of filler tracks, none of which are bad, but few of which are outstanding. The album starts with its two strongest tracks, Machu Picchu and Under the Cover of Darkness, both of which are exciting to listen to and well produced. However, after these two admittedly great tracks, the album drops off and the rest of the songs are pretty forgettable, I found. Often I couldn't pick out any technical flaws but none of the songs really had me gripped or surprised. So, a solid effort with a great opening, but too cookie cutter in the middle. 3.0 goodWeen Pure GuavaI think Ween is a band I just don't really get... This was more or less my introduction to the band after hearing Push Th' Little Daisies, which fortunately was in the bottom two songs of the album (I was hoping it would be the worst but I can't say I liked Mourning Glory whatsoever... bite me).So what I got from this is that Ween is a joke artist - if they're not, then they did a good job of making it seem like they are. Almost all of the songs had some form of bizarre vocals on top of a solid instrumental, which I suppose is the appeal for some. Probably my favourite song on the album (although the only 'song' is really Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)) is Tender Situation, which I could listen to over and over, so it gets points there. For some reason I'm fond of Poop Ship Destroyer as well, don't ask why.Though Ween probably isn't for me, I can appreciate the appeal of total amateurism as a joke, which is sort of charming. Either that, or a lot of drugs. Could be the latter.
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