This summer, I have set out to listen more albums from beginning to end, something I don't particularly do in the modern streaming era. So! Here is a page where I will be putting some brief, informal reviews of all of the albums I listened to this summer. I envision to have this page wholly written up before the end of this August! The numerical ratings are very much based on my personal taste; please do not treat me as any sort of authority here!
Looking for something specific here? Remember to use Ctrl+F! Additionally, please note that these are organised by release date.
If you think of an album I might like, please email me at phlegethon77@gmail.com!
Top Track: You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)
Bottom Track: Land of Make Believe
7.5/10
I was already familiar with Warwick's very splendid and beautiful version of "(They Long To Be) Close To You," and—boy howdy!—am I glad that I decided to listen to the entire thing : ). Warwick's voice is downright angelic. There isn't a single song here that I truly dislike. "People," "Last One to be Loved," "You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)," and "Wishin' & Hopin'" are all especial standouts to me. "Get Rid of Him" is a very fun track that I simply must mention.
Top Track: The Morning Fog
Bottom Track: Hello Earth
9/10
I think it is deeply uncontroversial to call Hounds of Love genius. I had previously only heard "Running Up That Hill" and "Cloudbusting" off of this, but the album as a whole is striking and effective. Affective, even! Bush has a very distinct and very powerful voice in her lyricism alone. As someone who writes prose and poetry, I am frankly in awe of her. I love the choices made in instrumentation throughout this album. I wish I knew more proper music theory to comment more on the, well, musical aspects of the music. Even the songs I don't especially like (e.g. "Mother Stands For Comfort," "Hello Earth") are still interesting to me.
Top Track: Viento
Bottom Track: Mátenme porque me muero
9/10
*Note that "La negra Tomasa" and "Perdí mi ojo de venado" are not on the original 1988 release of the album; they were added in 1993 when the album was released on CD
This is one of the most quintessentially eighties albums I have listened to. My god, it's splendid! If you love gothic rock, which I do, you will love this. If you just love eighties music in general, you will still have a great time here, though maybe a little less of one. My Spanish certainly isn't the best, but the lyrics are still striking to me despite this : ). "Perdí mi ojo de venado," "Cuéntame tu vida," "La bestia humana," "Te estoy mirando," "Nunca me voy a transformar en ti," and "Viento" are all especially great, thought I quite like this album as a whole (if that wasn't clear by me listing practically half of the album here!).
Top Track: Stratford-on-Guy
Bottom Track: Canary
8/10
Top Track: Winter
Bottom Track: Another Tear
8/10
How very splendid and beautiful! This is their debut album, and they came out of the gate with, in my uneducated opinion, a very strong album. It opens on the frankly stunning title track, a melancholy and ethereal instrumental that I have already begun to put in heavy rotation. "Bio Vital" is another track that I feel should be noted. This sort of music is very nostalgic to me, reminding me of when my cousin and I would play free weird flash games on our grandparents' computer. This itself was not the soundtrack to those things, but music in this vein certainly was. Dream-like, a little bizarre in instrumentation, evocative. I eat this kind of thing up. I love my, as my friends sometimes call it, "pretentious goth shit" <3.
Top Track: Twin Human Highway Flares
Bottom Track: US Mill
9/10
This is my second favourite Mountain Goats album, only beaten out by Zopilote Machine. I am simply a sucker for Darnielle's love songs, which are in abundance here (e.g. "Evening in Stalingrad," "Snow Owl," "Twin Human Highway Flares"). They're very loving and sweet, but there's always an edge, sometimes somber, sometimes resentful, sometimes just odd. I don't know. It simply appeals to me. I also have to mention "Original Air-Blue Gown" here. Simply stunning. Makes me feel like the world has simply stopped moving. My god, my god, my god.
Top Track: It Ain't Me Babe
Bottom Track: Love Is Just A Four-Letter Word
7/10
This compilation album of Baez's Dylan covers is a lovely piece of listening. I have a personal fondness for Baez's voice. I quite like "Love Minus Zero/No Limit," "It Ain't Me Babe," "One Too Many Mornings," "Boots of Spanish Leather," and "Farewell, Angelina." I don't have much to say on this album. I wish the g-slur was used less in music.
Top Track: Every You Every Me
Bottom Track: Brick Shithouse
8.5/10
Top Track: Wings of Heaven
Bottom Track: Light In Extension
6/10
Top Track: Cedar Swamp
Bottom Track: The Little Devils
7.5/10
This compilation album is a very lovely one. Ritchie's voice has an especially lovely sweetness and clarity that greatly complements her (Appalachian) dulcimer. Learning that Ritchie was an inspiration to Baez and Dylan is not even remotely surprising to me. I need to listen to more folk music and more of Ritchie's work. I heartily recommend "Skin & Bones," "My Boy Willie," "O Jonny's on the Water," and "Cedar Swamp" particularly, though the album as a whole is lovely.
Top Track: Please Eat
Bottom Track: He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)
8.5/10
Top Track: Angels of Porn II
Bottom Track: American Tradition
9/10
Top Track: Stench of the Unburied
Bottom Track: Rage of Travers
6.5/10
Top Track: Beautiful & Bad
Bottom Track: Lemonade
5.5/10
Top Track: Going Invisible 2
Bottom Track: Waylon Jennings Live!
6/10
Top Track: Their Gods Do Not Have Surgeons
Bottom Track: Exegetic Chains
7.5/10
All hail the mysterious gap! This album is something of a throwback for The Mountain Goats, much more in the style of the older releases. It's just Darnielle recording on a boombox again. Even lyrically, this feels like an older Mountain Goats album. I love this one very dearly. It's short; it's thoughtful; it's a little wild. There's not a single track I can really say I dislike here. The spoken bits at the beginnings of multiple tracks are charming to me, really. "Their Gods Do Not Have Surgeons" is one of my favourite songs, period. I will also specifically note "For the Snakes," "The Wooded Hills Along the Black Sea," "Aulon Raid," and "January 31, 438." : )
Top Track: music for indigo
Bottom Track: mostly chimes
7.5/10
Top Track: PERPETUAL FLAME OF CENTRALIA
Bottom Track: REPENT NOW CONFESS NOW
8.5/10