Stream of Consciousness & Music Reviews

     From Out of Nowhere is (at the time of writing) the final album from ELO. This is the last album that I have left to review that I had already known before starting this blog, making it the last item from the backlog (remember that, from over 3 years ago?). In a way, this being the last Electric Light Orchestra album and the last album from my original backlog feels fitting, as the whole album feels like a goodbye. The overarching theme that purveys most of the songs is one of finality and leaving something or someone, and maybe it's just because this album holds a bit of nostalgia for me and the fact that I'm at the precipice of an uncertain time in my life at the moment, but it really hit me hard. I'll say that I cried at multiple points throughout the album and not expound too much on it, as I feel this is a personal experience that most other people won't necessarily have listening, but it's my review so it earns a mention. From Out of Nowhere continues the...

      Tres Hombres is ZZ Top's breakout album from 1973 and it's ok. The signature hard rock sound that the band is known for is largely absent (with a couple exceptions, notably the well known single La Grange) and the album much more heavily focuses on being southern rock. As far as southern rock goes, it's fine when stood next to other notable bands. The few instances of their hard rock sound shining through really just made me wanna listen to Eliminator again, where it's the main focus and great. Unfortunately, a lot of this album has a slower pace and lighter instrumentation that doesn't gel the best with that style. I will say, Billy Gibbons' guitarwork is still on point here and easily the best aspect of the music; the solos and odd riffs that pop up are the real standout of the whole thing. All in all, I'd say that I did like Tres Hombres but much prefer their later work, although this is still a fine album.     Highlights: Jesus Just Left Chicago, ...

      The sole album from duo Madvillain, Madvillainy is pretty darn good. Speaking as someone who's not very familiar with Madlib or MF DOOM's other works, Madvillainy is constructed excellently. Madlib's sampling is phenomenal and really creates a distinctive atmosphere for the album; from old cartoons to hip hop and jazz beats, each track contributes to the overarching feel and story around the villainous duo that was really fun to get invested in. And on top of that to enhance it is DOOM, who's flow and lyricism I enjoyed a lot. How the lyrics are structured is perfectly suited for DOOM's flow and how he performs them. And I want to spotlight DOOM's excellent wordplay. The way that phrases can get rhymed with or continued into different ideas sometimes is amazing, I don't really know how to describe it. I wish that there was more that I could say but I've run through everything about the album that I liked, which is pretty much everything I have to s...

       Soulside Eclipse I, the artist's second album, is a departure from their first album, Forgotten Conquest. Where that one focused on ambient droning synths, Soulside Eclipse I takes on a more complex composition, now being a self described symphonic black metal work. And while this album retains the same proficiency at creating tone and atmosphere, I was left wanting a little more. The melodies and loops are still good but I feel like they lose a little bit of the charm that it had when it was purely a synth-focused effort; the more complex tracks make me wish it had a little more to offer. That being said, what it does offer is still good and an enjoyable listen, if a tad unengaging (I found myself getting distracted a few times while listening, but that may just as well be a fault of mine rather than of the album). The pacing and structure of the album are good, gradually getting darker and more dramatic the deeper in you get, and it has a nice feel listening...

      This album is pretty good. I don't have too terribly much to say on it specifically other than that I liked it. The timbre and instrumentation is pretty thin throughout a good chunk of the album (especially the beginning) but it does grow, and has a surprising amount of variety in the styles it goes for. I think that it's able to play around with its identity pretty well and I can see a lot of how influential it would become through them. The pseudo-story of the album, being about the titular Ziggy Stardust and Spiders from Mars, kept me engaged throughout the runtime of the album and is nicely complemented by the overall focus on acoustic guitar and occasional electric modulations. Close call on the number rating here, but I think I liked the album well enough for it to earn it's score.     Highlights: Soul Love, Moonage Daydream, Starman, Lady Stardust, Ziggy Stardust, Suffragette City, Rock 'n' Roll Suicide. Rating: 5/6

      Obligatory "I'm still not very familiar with a lot of metal and have only listened to a small amount of it". With that, I think I'm mostly neutral on From Mars to Sirius. For most of the album I was just kinda sitting there listening to it, not really getting into it too much but also not actively disliking it. There are good parts, like some of the guitar riffs are pretty good and I enjoyed the lyrics of most of the songs, and other parts I didn't care for, namely the vocals. To put it bluntly, I think that I just don't like screamed vocals. It sounds atonal and bland to me. From what I've read, it's to convey more emotions strongly, but in my opinion screaming narrows your emotional range a lot when singing and as a result the vocals just sort of sound the same across the entire album (at least during the parts where the singer is screaming, which is the vast majority of the vocals). I understand a lot of people are probably able to read more n...

      Days of Future Passed is incredible. This concept album cataloguing the course of a day with each song representing a different section of a day, each with their own moods and meanings, is fantastic. The big thing with this album that makes me like it so much is its composition (I feel like I've been saying that a lot recently). Much of the album is purely orchestral and is really just a legitimate classical work for a considerable portion of the runtime. There are, of course, times when it takes on a rock sound that you would expect from a 60's English rock band, and it does indeed occasionally get moody as the band's name would have you believe, but for the most part it's just a very good work of classical music, with the theming of the album being centered around a day reminiscent of some other pre-existing classical pieces like The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. I would recommend this album in the same way that I would recommend actual classical pieces ...

    Queen's third album, Sheer Heart Attack, marks their real rise to breakthrough fame and a start toward the pop/glam rock sound that the band is most known for. Oddly enough though, the album also has a surprising amount of focus on a hard rock style in a number of the songs, like the opener Brighton Rock. The sound works well for the band, with Roger Taylor's impressive guitar skills nailing the intended effect. In addition to that though, the album also has quite a few tracks that go in wildly different directions (similar to its follow-up, Night at the Opera), which I think work well in the view of the album as a whole. I think that that's one thing that this album does very well, which is how each song is able to complement the others. Where one song may be lacking in one aspect or another or leave you wanting a little more from it, another is there to swoop you away and assail your thoughts. It's really nice and takes full advantage of its extensive 13-track set...

     I don't know too much about jazz other than a passing familiarity, so forgive me if I'm ill-informed in how I speak about it. Illuminations is a collaborative album between Alice Coltrane and Carlos Santana and I like it a lot! Once again, I'm not very familiar with Coltrane or Santana's other works (although I do know of Santana in general) but this is an excellent showing and very promising for their other respective works if they are anything like this. The purely instrumental jazz is composed beautifully, with the different layers of a wide array of instruments, from classic brass and wind, to a prominent Wurlitzer, that build on each other wonderfully. The soundscape that the music develops is captivating and manages to hold you as it progresses and unfurls itself, really creating a rich atmosphere that I loved being in. The range of the tones that it's able to convey is great as well, managing to at times be dramatic, energetic, moody and more, and it all...

    Being one of the founding pieces of music for prog rock, King Crimson's debut work is great. The elements of the genre are already fully laid out and well done here, including the usual long interludes and instrumentals, experimental instrumentation (shoutout to the mellotron), and only having 5 tracks. The aspects of the album that I want to highlight here are Peter Sinfield's lyrics and Greg Lake's vocals, which are both absolutely phenomenal and go together amazingly well, being the perfect encapsulation of a haunting and wistful spirit that I love. They're what give the album its identity and strengthen all the underlying elements. For the most part this album is just a really strong showing of why I love prog rock. Every element is on point and everything works so well together. Although, I would be remissed to not mention my biggest problem with the album, Moonchild. The 12 minute long song is really just a 2 minute long song followed by very abstract and s...

      Brain Salad Surgery. What to say about this album? I'm genuinely struggling. Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's 4h album (and coincidentally the follow-up to Trilogy, the only other ELP album I've listened to) is widely regarded as a true standout in the world of prog rock. In a certain sense, I would agree. The technicality and prowess demonstrated on the album is very impressive, especially for 1973. Emerson's keyboard and the synth are spectacular here, using novel timbres and displaying a lot of skill; with the way that they're able to convey a wordless story through a good chunk of the album is very impressive and probably my favorite aspect of it. The thing that I don't think I can avoid is compare it to Trilogy, which is both a good and bad thing. My main problem with Trilogy was how unfocused it was, never really having a solid identity or sound that it settled on or could come back to throughout and felt disjointed between the various styles and sounds i...

      14 years after the initial revival of ELO with 2001's Zoom is 2015's Alone in the Universe. The one thing I kept thinking while listening through this album is "this is what Zoom was trying to be". AITU is much more successful at the revitalization of the band (now properly Jeff Lynne's ELO) than its predecessor, with a better sound and overall identity. One of my biggest complaints with Zoom was how a majority of the album blended together and a lot of the songs weren't distinct enough from each other which resulted in the album feeling muddled with same-ness. Alone in the Universe is thankfully free from that issue, with most of the songs having their own unique sound and identify while still remaining cohesive as a unit, now with an underlying more acoustic, almost sort of folk-rock sound tying it together. This album marks a proper return to the ELO tradition of trying out unique styles between songs that's been a staple of the band since 1974, w...

      I'm afraid that I don't have all too much to say today. Jethro Tull's Aqualung is a pretty standard 70's British rock album that's well made and fine to listen to. It's pretty similar to how I feel about what I've heard from Led Zeppelin: it's ok, not bad in any way, but just feels a little empty and indistinct. I will say, the songs do have elements of folk rock to give it a bit more identity, and the frequent use of flute (both as a backing instrument and for multiple solos) was cool and well done, and helped the album to stand out a bit. The composition and lyricism were good, although not too catchy aside from a few key moments (i.e. the hook of the title track) and the instrumentation was a little too ambient for my liking; I think I would have liked it a bit more if it was more involved and kept some of the heavier and groovier sections going for longer. I think that the whole work could have used just a little more focus to help it feel tigh...

      Super Ghostbusters is an excellent psychological exploration of insanity, humor, and copyright violation. The artist utilizes a low quality instrumentation and unorthodox vocal timing and technique, combined with comedic lyrics, to create a real atmosphere that puts you into a maddening headspace that I can only assume the creator was in during the creation of the album. The variety in tempo and occasionally instrumentation between songs helps to differentiate the otherwise pretty samey tracks, although a lot of them do sort of blend together at times but that's mostly due to the midi used in most (if not all) of the songs. The vocalist's tone and accent contribute to the overall humorous nature of the music, crafting outlandish and funny scenarios that enrapture the mind and stimulate the diaphragm. The runtime of the album is almost perfect, sitting at a nice 20 minutes so that it doesn't overstay its welcome (although depending on your sense of humor th...

      This album has "it"; no clue what "it" is, but Fragile has got it. One of prog rock band Yes' most well known albums really earns its reputation, with its rich sound and inventive style that present a remarkable listening experience. The creativity shown throughout each track is astounding, with each song seemingly having its own completely unique identity while all still remaining a cohesive unit. Although I described Yes as prog rock earlier (as they are most known and classified as) the music is able to really break away from the title through its eclectic mix of styles and timbres while still maintaining everything together in a satisfying track progression (which somehow is pretty emblematic of prog, huh?). The main unifying factor is the composition, which I think every member had a hand in somewhere, and it is amazing. The overall atmosphere of the album is incredible, with it being one of the best examples of auditory storytelling I've heard, b...

      Steely Dan's first album is pretty summative of what Steely Dan is known for: soft rock infused with Latin rhythms that anyone can get into. The bands mix of Latin rock and jazz creates a relaxing yet energetic sound that you can't help but just groove to. The band showcases a good deal of technical prowess in the studio, both in composition and performance, as well as mixing/editing that makes the songs take on a wholly unique feel that I've not heard anywhere else. The sort of Latin percussion and strings that you expect are paired up with more "electric" sounding components that combine beautifully, such as the multiple guitar solos that are given a sort of rough, almost compressed timbre that goes oddly well with the backing instruments. Another area of note in the album are the lyrics/themes of the songs, which all have a similar theming along the lines of mistakes, regrets, and other sorts of "that's just how life is" that I don't kno...