Music Review Thread

[Vince Lombardi]

Post reviews of albums that you really like and would recommend for others to check out.

If you need help figuring out a genre or some ideas for a review, allmusic.com is a great resource.

http://www.allmusic.com

Copy & paste this format:

Artist:
Album:
Genre:
Review:



I'll start it out with an oldie but a goodie.

Artist: Massive Attack
Album: Mezzanine
Genre: Trip-Hop
Review: One of the pioneering groups of the Trip-Hop genre, as well as one of the most innovative and influential. Their music is a mixture of many styles including dub, reggae, hip hop, and r&b. Their songs are dark, moody, hypnotic and will leave you feeling like you just walked out of a bar in Amsterdam. Great for a rainy day when you just feel like sitting around contemplating the meaning of life.

[TH3]

Post reviews of albums that you really like and would recommend for others to check out.

If you need help figuring out a genre or some ideas for a review, allmusic.com is a great resource.

http://www.allmusic.com

Copy & paste this format:

Artist:
Album:
Genre:
Review:



I'll start it out with an oldie but a goodie.

Artist: Massive Attack
Album: Mezzanine
Genre: Trip-Hop
Review: One of the pioneering groups of the Trip-Hop genre, as well as one of the most innovative and influential. Their music is a mixture of many styles including dub, reggae, hip hop, and r&b. Their songs are dark, moody, hypnotic and will leave you feeling like you just walked out of a bar in Amsterdam. Great for a rainy day when you just feel like sitting around contemplating the meaning of life.

creaters of the House theme which i love.. Teardrop is the song

[Vince Lombardi]

creaters of the House theme which i love

yea that's a cool song. ;)

[slightlyaraiderfan]

That's a really good album, nice review too.

[frogstomp]

Artist: Matthew Good
Album: Avalanche
Genre: Rock
Review: To lazy to write my own, here's one stolen from amazon:

If perfection was something that was truly attainable and not merely subjective, "Avalanche" would the the Webster's definition.

This is a man who's just rediscovered creative control and, like a kid at Christmas, can't wait to use it. Matt experiments with whatever pops into his head and the result is a surprisingly cohesive album. The album can be defined in general as a rebellion album, where Matt rebels against politics, the music industry, the current state of society... you name it. He's still pissed off but he's not trying to cram his thoughts down your throat. He's explaining in great detail the reasons why you should be pissed off too.

The album can be listened to from start to finish without a moment you'll regret. And there are some definite standout songs. "Pledge Of Allegiance" is a great opener and creates a soundscape with a delayed guitar that's very visual. You lose yourself in this song. "Weapon", the first single, is still an amazing song with a great combination of acoustic guitar and crunching electric guitar. "A Long Way Down" is an upbeat ballad with a beautiful chorus, "House Of Smoke And Mirrors" is an amazing closer with some impressive piano work, and "Double Life" is the most upbeat song of the bunch with two infectious guitar solos.

But wait, there's more. In fact the best two songs on this album are polar opposites. "While We Were Hunting Rabbits" is a powerful lament about the state of the music industry and has the type of ending that makes you say "That should be at the end of a movie!"

The other song, which somehow manages to top the previous, is "Near Fantastica". This song is a driving rock song with an incredibly loud chorus which will surprise you considering how toned down the rest of the album is. It has a rhythem guitar effect throughout the whole song which is really hard to describe but I guarantee it will have you coming back again and again.

[Paranoidmoonduck]

Artist: Shpongle
Album: Tales of the Inexpressible
Genre: Psychadelic Ambient Goa
Review: One of my favorite albums of all-time, Shpongle re-invented itself for this album, moving from pure tribal ambient to epic instrumentals taken from cultures all over the world. This album will gobble you up, emerse you in itself, and then spit you back out.

[snuff]

Artist: Nas
Album: Illmatic
Genre: Hip-hop
Review: Not by me but to good not to steal.
"Nasty Nas in ya area, about to cause mass hysteria.." "This rhythmatic explosion", "straight from the ****** dungeons of rap", "takin rappers to a new plateau, through rap slow". "Nas one quarter through life, some godly thing created", "Illmatic" "as ill as a convict who kills for phone time". "With more kicks than a baby in a mother’s stomach", "and groovy but smoother than moves by Villanova". "Visualizin the realism of life and actuality", "Nas is" "packin 'vocabulary spills' like a rasta in the weed spot". "Nas’ll rock it well, it ain’t hard to tell".

[rchrd]

A personal favourite

Artist: Nick Drake
Album: Pink Moon
Genre: Guitar/Folk
Review: Stolen...

A stark, solo 28-min adieu, Pink Moon was the last album Nick Drake lived to complete. That it proved to be his last album lends a suicidal urgency, and much has since been read into its staccato bleakness. But even before his previous album, Bryter Layter, was released, Nick had decided that the next one would be just him and a guitar--"no frills" he insisted. There is little comfort to be found in songs like "Know" or "Parasite" but, in an irony Nick would have appreciated, an American car commercial featuring the haunting title track recently alerted a huge new audience to his music. Digital remastering has enhanced the sound of all Nick's albums, but perhaps Pink Moon has benefited most: its aural environment, now all-enveloping, lending a pristine clarity to that matchless singing and playing. Sombre it may be, but it is a mistake to view Pink Moon as a tombstone--or, indeed, Nick Drake as a victim. Enjoy his music. He did. --Patrick Humphries

[frogstomp]

Haha, has anyone noticed all of Vince's threads die after like 10 posts?

(Just kidding, I love you Vince!)

But seriously.

[Paul]

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000089CJI.01._SCTHUMBZZZ_.jpg
Artist: The Postal Service
Album: Give Up
Genre: Indie
Recommended Songs: The District Sleeps Alone Tonight, Recycled Air
Review:

Give Up, the debut release by this indie supergroup composed of Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie and Jimmy Tamborello from Dntel, is a smart, quaint, and often transcendent little pop record. Lyrically it’s far breezier and happier (though not too happy) than anything Gibbard had written up to this point for Death Cab. The music is an elastic, very smart update of synth-pop and the melodies crystal clear, while the backing vocals courtesy of Jen Wood and Jenny Lewis are spartan and pretty. The songs stick in your head for days at a time. Forget the tags that have been thrown up against this music--Poptronica? New new new order? Please just enjoy this album. It just might be a classic--but of what exactly, we’re not quite sure. - Amazon.com

http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B00005JSHW.01._SCTHUMBZZZ_.jpg
Artist: The Shins
Album: Oh, Inverted World
Genre: Indie
Recommended Songs: New Slang!!
Review:

Something extraordinary is afoot in Albuquerque. The Shins' first big-time record, Oh, Inverted World, combines mysterious narratives with golden song structures, resulting in lavish and opulent indie pop. Touches of Neutral Milk Hotel's lyrical majesty and the nostalgic swirl of Echo and the Bunnymen abound. But the Shins' music--rich with acoustic guitars, flickering rhythms, and Casio-tone keyboards--is distinct and peculiar. Worry mixes with abstraction throughout, and while James Mercer sings, "You led no celibate life / No skirt while chemicals danced on your head / You stole the keys to this ride / And your fables are falling tonight," you may wonder if he's been routing through your fondest, most troubling memories. This vital album is easily among 2001's most distinguished recordings and one of the best Sub Pop releases to date. - Amazon.com