American II: Unchained by Johnny Cash: Country/Americana. This time around Cash is not only produce by Rick Rubin but he has a backing band of Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers. Not bad at all. The songs are a bit more rockabilly and bop along just fine. Again more covers and originals and all go along just fine. Cash’s run of being cool continues. TWH: Rusty Cage; Southern Accent; Mean Eyed Cat.
Grade: B
American Idiot by Green Day: Punk Rock. Everything you have heard about this album is true. It is bloated and overblown. They were ditching punk and becoming arena rock. However they needed to. Green Day changed the rulebook for punk rock with this album. Essentially a rewrite of the unreleased album ‘Hearts and Hand Grenades’ which was lost/stolen. They had been close to breaking up and this was their last ditch effort. It worked. The songs are catchy, they are heavy and they also appear to have some sort of message. It’s a great comeback album. End of. TWH: American Idiot; St. Jimmy; Letterbomb.
Grade: A
American I: American Recordings by Johnny Cash: Country/Americana. Cash had been out in the wilderness for years and had lost touch with a contemporary audience. Step in bearded wonder Rick Rubin by giving Cash the chance to just record his voice and guitar with a few originals and well chosen covers; the BOOM. His legend was re-ignited. TWH: The Beast In Me; Bird On A Wire; Tennesee Stud
Grade: B
American Cheese by Nerf Herder: Pop Punk. If you want deep and meaningful songs then don’t come here. Songs about getting dumped; Trekkies and masturbation are all present and correct. Probably perfect for my teenage self when this was originally obtained, however it hasn’t aged well. Though the obligatory catchy melodies are here it’s just not as good as pop punk can be. TWH: High Five Anxiety; Nervous Breakdown
Grade: E
Ambient 4: On Land by Brian Eno: Ambient. The fourth and final part of the ambient series, which is lucky as I thought I was heading into some sort of Rip Van Winkle ambient coma. This album has a slightly dark and sinister undertone to it. Most of the songs are named after places that Eno had actually been to or ones where he imagined what they were like. Personally if these pieces of music are the soundtracks to these places I’m glad I didn’t go with him to them. TWH: Lantern Marsh; Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hill);
Grade: B
Ambient 3: Days of Radiance by Brian Eno: Ambient. The third one in this series and from the first track we hear a difference in the instrumentation. This album sees Eno harness more of a producer role with the American Ambient musician Laraaji (alias of Edward Larry Gordon) performing most of the instrumental duties. The instruments used are mostly hammered dulcimer and a zither – acoustic instruments so obviously a break from the electronic soundscapes Eno was trying to create. They are split into variations of the same track and so the first three have similarities as do the last two. Hypnotic and, in some parts, it can be quite annoying, thus taking away the supposed ambience it is trying to create. TWH: The Dance #2; Meditation 1
Grade: D
Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror by Brian Eno: Ambient. Again this one follows the same lines as the previous album. More hushed piano, a little bit of electronic squelching and again, some more background music; however, with this one you can begin to hear its influence over modern bands. One of the songs sounds particularly like a Radiohead song; though we shouldn’t be that surprised. TWH: Above Chiangmai; Not Yet Remembered; Wind In Lonely Fences
Grade: B
Ambient 1: Music For Airports by Brian Eno: Ambient. Does exactly what it says on the tin. Plink plonk go the pianos; a keyboard that has some human voice effect hums quietly and an odd bass note gets plucked here and there. It’s meant to be music for airports and it works. Perfect background music…and that sometimes isn’t a bad thing. TWH 1/1; 2/1
Grade: B
The Alternative To Love by Brendan Benson: Power Pop. A songwriter in the vein of Matthew Sweet (but the songs are more tightly constructed); this is Benson’s third album. Again a challenge had been set as Benson’s previous effort was the great ‘Lapalco’, and he had to try and top that power pop masterpiece. The songs range from real rock stompers to more acoustic ballads. They however go up and down in quality – this isn’t to say though they are bad songs it’s just some aren’t as good as the others. TWH: Spit It Out; The Pledge; What I’m Looking For
Grade: B
Altered Beast by Matthew Sweet: Power Pop. Sweet has the difficulty on this album of following up his classic album ‘Girlfriend’. The songs stick to the power pop formula of catchy melodies, though most of the songs run on for too long; some editing was definitely needed here. Others have claimed that the songs are too eclectic, though this isn’t always a bad thing, it doesn’t help the overall feeling of this album. TWH Dinosaur Act; Ugly Truth; Someone To Pull The Trigger
Grade: C
Aloha From
Grade: C
Almost Killed Me by The Hold Steady: Classic Rock. This band is obviously in debt to the boss, and so they spin out songs that have recurring themes that feature on all of their ensuing albums. This being their debut they decide to keep the themes focused on the subjects of near death experiences; parties; drugs; drink and constant appearances of fictional characters called Charlemagne and Holly. The songs basically have all that is needed from the perfect bar band: wailing guitar, pounding drums, fat bass and a singer who sounds half cut whilst spitting out songs that could be entire novels. TWH: The Swish; Most People Are DJs; Knuckles
Grade: A
Alligator by The National: College Rock. The lyrics are strong though the music itself seems fairly weak. I know everybody goes mad over this album, and this group, but for my part I can’t really see why. Even the singer seems bored with what he is doing, so what effect is this going to have on the listener? Distinctly average. TWH: Karen; Daughters of the
Grade: D
All Your Summer Songs by Saturday Looks Good To Me: Indie Pop/Twee/Dream Pop. This album sounds like it was written for a soundtrack to a Noah Baumbach film. The songs flow along sounding more than a little like Galaxie 500, and this isn’t a bad thing. They ebb and flow and the mix of vocals is just right, and unlike most albums this gets stronger towards the end rather than dropping off in quality. TWH: Alcohol; Typing; Last Hour
Grade: D
All This Useless Beauty by Elvis Costello and The Attractions: Rock. Originally planned to be an album of songs written for other artists, this album is not bad. Songs rarely jump out though and if I’m honest only one or two are strong enough and are really worth noticing. TWH: Complicated Shadows; Shallow Grave
Grade: E
All This Sound Gas by The
Grade: D
All
Grade: A*
All Summer Long by The Beach Boys: Surf/Pop. An album that manages to make you feel nostalgic for an age where few of use were teenagers, yet alone even alive. Songs about driving around, going on dates and sneaking into drive-ins aplenty, though there are a couple of more darker ruminations that slither through the cracks…one song deals with a young couple wondering whether to elope or not. TWH: I Get Around; We’ll Run Away; Wendy
Grade: D
All Mod Cons by The Jam: Mod/Pop Punk: When Weller was an angry young man and thought he was going to be dropped by his record label, he made one last gasp attempt for success with this bitter and angry album. It worked. The lyrics are biting and songs stuffed full of jealousy, sarcasm, fear and a little bit of regret burst in your face like sour balloons. Though there is still evidence of Weller’s soulful and folk sides with a couple of songs. TWH: Billy Hunt; To Be Someone (Must Be A Wonderful Thing); Down In A Tube Station At Midnight.
Grade: A
All Killer No Filler by Sum 41: Pop/Punk. These are not dirty words. Pop Punk can be great (Ramones and Descendents to name a couple) and this album does exactly what it says on the tine. The tracks fly by in a blur of hormones and catchy melodies. Some of the lyrics are funny “the doctor told my mom she should’ve had an abortion”, and the guitar solos are great…the thing that makes this lot more enjoyable was their obsession with 80s hair metal. TWH: Fat Lip; In Too Deep; Motivation
Grade: B
All Hope Is Gone by Slipknot: Thrash/Metal. This is heavy, though not as heavy as their earlier albums. The songs blast by with multiple attacks of guitar and getting your teeth kick in drums and screaming vocals. However, they don’t forget to through in the odd poppy hook as well. TWH: Psychosocial; This Cold Black; Dead Memories
Grade: D
All Day by Girl Talk: Mashup. Only released at the tail end of last year, Girl Talk bring together classic rock riffs and modern R&B/Hip Hop songs. It’s a neat trick and some of the samples that are mashed together are brilliant and inspired. Beastie Boy’s Hey Ladies with Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life for one, but there are far too many to mention. Part of the fun of this album (if you are a muso like me) is trying to spot which songs are being used within each ‘song’ on the album. This album can be listened to on shuffle but for full effect you need the whole thing straight through…whilst at a party. If only clubs did mixes like this constantly. Of course, the only problem is, how quickly will this date? The songs are all classics, so never hopefully. TWH: Oh No; Get It Get It; Jump On Stage
Grade: B
All Around The World (EP) by Oasis: Indie Rock. Although when originally bought it was a single it is now classified as an EP as it contains 4 tracks (this is the same for all old Oasis stuff). This is slightly overblown, the title track is over 9 minutes long and the last track is what seems like a fairly bog standard run through of a Stones’ classic just with about 70 guitar tracks over it. The middle two tracks however are ace and worth searching out. TWH: The Fame; Flashbax
Grade: B
All-Time Quarterback by All-Time Quarterback: Lo-Fi/Indie Pop. Ben Gibbard’s vehicle before ‘Death Cab…’ The songs sound rough again: fuzzy guitars; keyboard bleeps; sometimes hard to distinguish vocals but much like GBV they are stuffed to the brim with pop melodies. You can hear the seeds of DCFC being sown here. TWH: Plans Get Complex;
Grade: B
Alien Lanes by Guided By Voices: Lo-Fi/Pop. At 28 tracks long you may think this album is over long. It’s not. Most tracks are around just over a minute long. The lyrics are cryptic and the music suitably fuzzy for a lo-fi recording, this is not to the detriment of the songs though. Weaned on a heavy diet of The Beatles, all the songs have some great pop melodies which you feel you could sing along to as soon as the first time you’ve heard them. TWH: A Salty Salute; As We Go Up, We Go Down; A Good Flying Bird
Grade: C
Grade: B
Album of the Year by The Good Life – Alt-Country/Rock. A particular warts and all album about a gradual break up over the course of, you guessed it, a year. Not so much airing your dirty laundry as rubbing the skid marks in the face of the public. Quite uncomfortable to listen to at times but the music is so lush or occasionally so spare you can’t help but listen. We all like to look at other people’s mistakes anyway. TWH: Album Of the Year; You’re Not You; Inmates
Grade: A
Album by Girls – Indie Rock/Pop. The lyrics are dark, very dark by the melodies of these songs are sunny and the pure pop craftsmanship is so good that you find yourself singing along. Almost feels like you’re laughing at a funeral and not caring. TWH: Lust For Life; Laura; Hellhole Ratrace
Grade: B
Aladdin Sane by David Bowie – Rock. Often viewed as a classic. Don’t be put off by Mr Bowie sporting a ginger mullet on the front cover. Many songs are great on here though a couple just seem a bit indulgent. He was trying to kill off the ‘glam’ tag he had been lumped with and couldn’t quite shake it. Yet. TWH: Watch That Man; Drive In Saturday; Jean Genie
Grade: B
Grade: D
The Airing of Grievances by Titus Andronicus – Indie Rock. The vocals are distorted beyond understandable, the amount of instruments sound as if they have been squeezed into the back of a mini, some songs have ten choruses others none. It’s messy, overambitious and brilliant. Though the lyrics that shine through seems fairly miserable (“My mom even thinks I’m an asshole”) the music just seems upbeat. A couple of songs seem fairly similar but you can’t hold that against this band. TWH: Fear and Loathing in
Grade: B
Aha Shake Heartbreak by Kings Of
Grade: A*
Aglio E Olio (EP) by Beastie Boys – Hardcore Punk. Not what most people expect for the B-Boys though lest we forget they started out as a hardcore group before going Hip/Hop for real success. If you like hardcore punk (and I do) it’s great (8 songs in 11 minutes), if you don’t you won’t; it’s as simple as that. TWH: Brand New; Square Wave In Unison; Soba Violence
Grade: C
The Age of the Understatement by The Last Shadow Puppets – Indie/Chamber Pop. Taking a break from Arctic Monkeys, Alex Turner teamed up with best mate Miles Kane and proceeded to produce an album in thrall to 60s Scott Walker and Bowie, with a dash of Beatles on the side. It’s wordy as would be expected with some fantastic lyrics but it is lacking in any really memorable tunes. TWH: The Age of the Understatement; My Mistakes Were Made For You, I Don’t Like You Anymore
Grade: D
The Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens – Indie Folk/Electronica. A strangely weighted album as the final song takes up over a third of the overall album’s time. It follows the usual Stevens’ trademarks. Whispered, feather light vocal, orchestras and finger picked guitar. However, there is a huge amount of electronica influences throughout this album, and some almost dance like influences in a couple of songs. It’s complex and heavy. An album that will reward with repeated listens…in fact the final 25 minute long song could be an album within itself. TWH: Futile Devices; Too Much; Now That I’m Older
Grade: B
Agaetis Byrjun by Sigur Ros – Post Rock. This was the Icelanders’ album that made them internationally recognised. Sounds pretentious when written down, but here goes; they have long droning songs which are sung in a made up language (Hopelandic). It’s very atmospheric and sounds like the kind of thing that could only be made from a band from
Grade: B
Aftermath by The Rolling Stones – Rock n’ Roll/Blues . This was the first album with entirely Mick and Keef composition. There are some classics on here but the album does feel overly long. It was seen as a major artistic break through for the band and here they have starting honing their song writing chops. However, there are a few that seem a bit like filler, as they obviously hadn’t quite hit the stride of every song being a classic just yet. TWH: Under My Thumb; Out Of Time; Mother’s Little Helper
Grade: B
After The Goldrush by Neil Young – Country/Singer-songwriter. One of the early albums in Mr. Young’s erratic career and also one of his best. The songs range from country tinged ballads to full out guitar assault rockers. Written when the hippy dream was beginning to collapse and suddenly raising the bar for every person with an acoustic guitar and voice. There’s not a bad song on it. Dreams being shattered have never sounded so good. TWH: Tell Me Why; Southern Man; Don’t Let It Bring You Down
Grade A*
Adrenaline by Deftones – Metal. The debut album by Deftones. They came out when that terrible Nu-metal genre was in full swing and thank god they were talented enough to stand out from the pack. The songs are loud and aggressive but they do have shades to them.
Grade: D
Adore by Smashing Pumpkins Electro/Goth/Alt-Rock. They had to follow a couple of massive rock albums and were feeling slightly stressed about it. Instead of giving people what they wanted (which isn’t always right) Corgan decided to go down a more electro route. The problem with this is though the songs are good, they seemingly lack any organic feeling to them even though most have some sort of acoustic guitar or piano within them. The songs feel cold and seem to lack any real ‘humaness’ to them. It’s a good album, but feels slightly one dimensional. Tracks worth hearing: Ava Adore; Appels and Oranjes; To Shelia
Grade: C
Acoustic Citsuoca Live at the Startime Pavillion (EP)by My Morning Jacket - Alt-country/Rock. Not much really happens here it’s nice and all but that’s it. It’s just six songs of Jim James doing his usual stuff with a crowd cheering. Nothing really stands out; probably only for real hardcore fans. Tracks worth hearing: The Bear
Grade: E
Acme by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Blues/Garage Rock. This album has a good mix of a few genres though can feel a little haphazard at times. The opening track feels like some old Stax/Motown number with the needle skipping (that’s a good thing) and much of the album just rocks. Jon Spencer does his best Elvis impersonation and constantly asks for us to ‘get down’. It is a great album to party to. You can dance, you can rock, you can do your best Elvis sneer. Have fun, cos that’s what Mr. Spencer wants you to do. Tracks worth hearing: Calvin; High Gear; Bernie
Grade: C
Achtung Baby by U2 – Alternative/Rock. This is their second biggest selling album. It re-invented U2 and always makes it into greatest albums ever lists. Not sure why though. There are some good parts to it but it still feels overblown and pompous even though they were apparently trying to take themselves less seriously. There’s a lot of fat on this album that could have been trimmed. Though it may have sounded fresh at the time I can’t help but think it sounds just a tad dated now. Tracks worth hearing: Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses; Zoo Station; The Fly
Grade: C
Absolution by Muse – Rock/Prog. Don’t fall for those lazy comparisons to Radiohead. This band are nothing like them. This was their third album. It is a mix of pomp orchestral power ballads, space rock and some heavy guitar riffs (my personal favourite). Some great songs which all have the theme of paranoia and being trapped throughout them. However, still feels a bit ‘all over the place’ and lots of the songs seem to run out of steam by the end leaving the listener feeling unsatisfied. Tracks worth hearing: Time Is Running Out; Stockholm Syndrome; Hysteria.
Grade: C
Grade: A*
Abattoir Blues by
Grade: A
Grade: D
