:-) [Reviews for this band are all over the place, although British Steel seems to be the ultimate favorite. I have that, plus Hell Bent for Leather (a/k/a Killing Machine) and Unleashed in the East, basically their 1978-1979 three album run. I will probably get around to posting those individually one day.]
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere [honorable mention]
:-) [De-shelved in 2020. Played it again twice 14 years after it came out, after having listened to it enough times to shelve it around 2006 and couldn't remember anything but "Crazy" and bits of a few others. Sounds good, but doesn't stick with me. I need some kind of grade for that. Could be a 7 (B+) but # [r&b] anyway.]
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Holy Modal Rounders - Good Taste is Timeless: 4 stars
I like this more than Christgau/Hull do. Also love the Hurley cover. Unfortunately, nice copies are going for unreasonable prices, and the Sundazed reissue on CD is mastered from a vinyl copy. Not doing that. I have an alert up on Discogs and will snag it if one comes up with a decent price. [Got a *sealed* copy of the original 1971 release on ebay for $37 shipped!]
Monday, September 28, 2020
Peter Stampfel and the Bottle Caps - Demo '84
:-| [Demos for the self-titled debut of this band, which I already own. Not sure why Christgau, Hull, and apparently Jeffrey Lewis think these are such a revelation. In any event, this is digital only. At least 4 listens.]
Youssou N'Dour - Best of 80's: 4 stars
This contains the albums Dikkaat and St-Louis (St. Louis I wonder?). Not findable at reasonable prices. May also not by A minus for each. They definitely average out to that though.
Sunday, September 27, 2020
Saturday, September 26, 2020
Youssou N'Dour - Mballax Dafay Wax: 4 stars
I gather this is in physical somewhere, but I can't find it anywhere. I assembled a Youtube playlist from N'Dour's official channel. "Pot pourri 1" is as good a track as he's ever done.
Friday, September 25, 2020
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway [honorable mention]
:-) [This is like their Tommy, which I also don't have. They might both be B pluses, but the long, double, spotty concept album is not my thing. Still, this is way better than I ever thought it might be.]
The Kinks - Everybody's in Show-Biz: 7 (B+)
I agree with Christgau that this is mainly notable for the second, live disc. Even so, at this grade, it would be # [live]. But the studio disc inspired me to go for it, especially since the label did the right thing and re-issued the original release as a standalone, remastered, single CD in 2022, with only a single bonus track, for those who didn't want the 2 CD "deluxe" set. After decades of listening, I'm calling this band (or more properly, Ray Davies) an acquired taste. Issued in 1972 - one of the greatest years in music.
Killing Joke - Killing Joke: 7 (B+)
US version with "Change" not available on CD or vinyl at reasonable prices.
NRBQ - At Yankee Stadium
:-| [Not generally a fan of the band, but I reviewed this because it is the users' favorite on Allmusic and Christgau gave it a B plus. I could try Kick Me Hard, which he also gave a B plus, but it rates much lower with Allmusic users, so I'll skip it.]
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
John Chibadura - The Best of: 4 stars
Physical copies non-existent, probably even in 1986. There also don't seem to be any reasonable substitutes. Too bad.
Chicago Farmer - Quarter Past Tonight: 8 (A-)
Would definitely get this in physical if it were even remotely available.
Monday, September 21, 2020
David Byrne - David Byrne [honorable mention]
:-) [A few standout tracks make this seem better than it is.]
Sunday, September 20, 2020
Jens Lekman - I Know What Love Isn't [honorable mention]
:-) [I guess I must have listened to this twice x3, because I have two entries. So I listened to it 6 times and upped from neutral to honorable mention at the end.]
Saturday, September 19, 2020
Glasvegas - Glasvegas
:-| [A full A from Christgau??? At least by year end he had downgraded to A-. De-shelved in 2020.]
Masters of Reality - Sunrise on the Sufferbus [honorable mention]
:-) [I'm pretty sure I owned this when it came out, because Christgau gave it an A minus originally, but later downgraded it to ***. I agree with his reassessment.]
Friday, September 18, 2020
Masters of Reality - Masters of Reality [honorable mention]
:-) [Chris Goss' vocals are the deal-breaker. Also, it's a little unoriginal. Almost bought the Delicious Vinyl reissue anyway, because of the Matt Dike connection, but I just can't justify it.]
Billy Nomates - Billy Nomates [honorable mention]
:-) [A couple outstanding tracks, but nothing anywhere near warranting the full A Christgau gives this. Trying to get his "A" count properly distributed, presumably.]
Black Sabbath - Paranoid: 7.5 (high B+)
I also considered picking up the comp Sold Our Soul, but it has 8 out of 17 tracks from this and the debut, both of which I have. Vol. 4 gets 4 tracks, Master of Reality gets 2 tracks, and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage each have only 1 track (and there's one non-album track rounding out the 17 tracks). There's a best of from 2000 on Sanctuary that might be a better option. Or maybe The Ultimate Collection (2016). They basically have the same track listing, minus 6 and 5 unique songs (out of 32 or 31), respectively. Because they have almost double the tracks of Sold our Soul, they put more from albums 3 through 6 on there. Here are the differences:
Ultimate
"Changes" - Vol. 4
"Rat Salad" - Paranoid
"Rock 'n' Roll Doctor" - Technical Ecstasy
"Behind the Wall of Sleep" - Black Sabbath
"It's Alright" - Technical Ecstasy
Best of
"Planet Caravan" - Black Sabbath
"Supernaut" - Vol. 4
"Don't Start (Too Late)" - Sabotage
"Heaven and Hell" - Heaven and Hell
"Turn Up the Night" - Mob Rules
"The Dark/Zero the Hero" - Born Again
Note that Ultimate has only tracks from the Ozzy albums..
Thursday, September 17, 2020
The Human Hearts - Day of the Tiles [EP] [honorable mention]
Digital only EP (6 tracks, ~22 minutes). Only half the songs were free on Bandcamp, and no other service has the other three, so I'm really reviewing only half the EP, but I can't imagine the other three songs are so good it would bump it above A minus, and it's digital only anyway.
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
No Age - Goons Be Gone [honorable mention]
:-) [I should probably restrict myself to this band's albums that are highest-rated on Pitchfork, but I've got a hodgepodge of them and will be keeping it that way for simplicity's sake. Not sure why Christgau rates them so highly.]
Monday, September 14, 2020
The Chi-Lites - Greatest Hits: 4 stars
This has virtually all of the songs that are on the 1972 Brunswick release that Christgau gave a full A, which has never been released in that exact format on CD, so I'm going with this. The 1972 release also overlaps with the album Give More Power to the People, which I also have. Between this and Give More Power, I'm only missing 2 songs: "Living In The Footsteps Of Another Man" and "A Lonely Man." I listened to those both three times and am okay without them.
Saturday, September 12, 2020
Manhattans - Greatest Hits: 3.5 stars
I originally got this because of their occasional characterization as Philly Soul. But, while they recorded in Philly at Sigma Sound, it was not with Gamble and/or Huff, and so their connection, while more than say, David Bowie recording Young Americans there, is not so close as to require inclusion of this in the collection. I see them more as Quiet Storm, or just plain old R&B, which I don't collect at B plus, particularly for a greatest hits. Compare The Chi-Lites. [De-shelved in 2020]
Friday, September 11, 2020
Thursday, September 10, 2020
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
Denim - Denim on Ice [honorable mention]
:-) [I'd listen to their other one, Back in Denim, if it were on Napster or Spotify.]
Sunday, September 6, 2020
Thursday, September 3, 2020
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Public Enemy - Revolverlution [honorable mention]
:-) [Unlistenable in many spots, but redeemed to honorable mention by a few great tracks. Probably would not buy this today, but I have it, and both Xgau and Hull gave it an A minus (?!?), so I'll keep it. Plus, I think I've got everything they've released physically.]
U2 - Rattle and Hum: 7 (B+)
Normally I would not get a mostly-live album at this grade, especially one of those mixed live/studio ones. But this one was recorded on The Joshua Tree tour, plus it has Dylan on it, and I already own it, so I'll keep it. Basically an adjunct to The Joshua Tree and a Dylan keepsake.
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
Felt - Poem of the River: 7 (B+)
Essentially an EP (6 songs at 26 minutes) selling for full price, so I will not be picking this up.
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