straf's (Totally awesomer than G's) Review Thread

[straf]

I'm working on a review right now.

I've been going places 'n all of that, but all that's over now, so there'll be a more steady release of these things.

[straf]

Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell

Released in 1977
Track Listing
Bat Out of Hell
You Took the Words Right out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)
Heaven Can Wait
All Revved Up with No Place to Go
Two out of Three Ain't Bad
Paradise by the Dashboard Light
For Crying Out Loud

Thanks to the great Jim Steinman, Bat Out Of Hell comes off as a very theatrical album, which is very fitting for Meat Loaf since he's an actor and all. It's probably the most theatrical album out there, if you don't want to count The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway as an album but as a statement. It has some weird story(I think...) about some kid crashing his motorcycle into something then screwing a Catholic girl or something like that. Actually, it probably doesn't have a story, but it wants you to think that it does.

Meat Loaf is a competent singer, and he has a very competent backing band. Ol' Steinman is a competent arranger, and that pretty much sums up this entire album. It's competent. It has some weird arrangements, sure, but this album isn't anything amazing like lots of people say. Of course, it's still good, but ol' Meat's too pretentious and self-indulgent and the arrangements are too show-offy to really pack that punch that it intends. Yeah. It intends to be great and it intends to be serious. Intends. That doesn't mean that it is. Of course, Meat's giving it a serious effort. Good for him. But I much prefer the self-parody of Bat Out Of Hell II.

(Didn't mean to ramble endlessly again. This review wasn't all that good. Sorry. :l)

Interesting cuts include: Bat Out Of Hell, Paradise By The Dashboard Light

C+

[Zilla2112]

New review! YAYZ!

[straf]

Put on some brown pants -- you're gonna need 'em! -- because we're starting the Velvet Underground section! :D

The Velvet Underground - & Nico

Released in 1967
Track Listing
Sunday Morning
I'm Waiting for the Man
Femme Fatale
Venus in Furs
Run Run Run
All Tomorrow's Parties
Heroin
There She Goes Again
I'll Be Your Mirror
The Black Angel's Death Song
European Son

If you've ever seen any Best Albums list ever, you've probably seen this little infamous piece of musical history. With good reason too, seeing as it created a new genre(after their use of feedback and distortion was twisted some) and started the whole "music with no holds barred" movement. Yup. They wrote about anything and everything and made it sound good too. From drugs to whores to masochism to homosexual lifestyles. Everything. Content doesn't represent content though, and to tell the truth, most critics like it for its very controversial lyric work. No normal sane person back in the 60's would ever think of slapping & Nico on their record player more than once -- if at all -- and that's exactly what happened. But it was so amazing, though(after you got used to its abnormal phrasings and arrangements) that, as the saying goes, "those who did listen to ol' VU started a band". Yeah.

Enough background, though. What does this album sound like? What does it make you feel? Honestly, it sounds like a bunch of guys got together in a basement and started jamming. Somewhere in the middle, it seems as if someone remembered that they just happened to have brought a tape-recorder along and flipped it on. Seeing as it was being recorded in Andy Warhol's weird factory-thing, that was either what was intended or what actually happened. It's a rough album, and far from conventional.

& Nico is, obviously, a joint effort of the band and German model/vocalist Nico. They try and juggle the singing position between her and the pretentious Lou Reed, but ol' Lou ends up taking most of the spotlight. He tries to take a Dylan-esque approach at his singing(as in, he sings like he doesn't care. Wheezy yet full of himself. Like he knows he can't sing but wants to flaunt that fact.) but it goes well with the drug-addled atmosphere that is presented to you throughout & Nico. As for Nico herself, she sings very German. Cold and reserved, yet oddly pretty.

Now, the Velvet Underground aren't exactly known for writing real music and that's completely evident here. While it opens with two listenable songs, it soon rips that away from your ears and throws some loud, droning Indian-esque music at you. You have to remember though, this is an Art band. Otherwise, that Warhol fellow wouldn't have anything to do with them. We get several of these Indian-influenced, feedback-filled pieces three more times during the course of this album. The other songs -- while still not quite standard -- almost seem like little taunts thrown at you. Like... "You want this but instead we'll give you vicious guitar sex". Not that that's bad. Not at all.

& Nico definitely stands out among other albums. It's a pretty ballsy debut, if you ask me. Then again, hasn't everything Lou Reed has done been pretty ballsy?

Interesting cuts include: Sunday Morning, Femme Fatale, Venus In Furs, Run Run Run, Heroin, There She Goes Again, The Black Angels Death Song

A+

[straf]

The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat

Released in 1968
Track Listing
White Light/White Heat
The Gift
Lady Godiva's Operation
Here She Comes Now
I Heard Her Call My Name
Sister Ray

I know what you're thinking. From looking at the six-song-long tracklist, you're probably wondering which of these is the really long and boring one. Well, I'll tell you now: There is a seventeen-minute long song("Sister Ray") but it's the showpiece and it's far from boring. While WL/WH isn't produced by Andy Warhol like & Nico, it's just as experimental and it completely embraces the whole distortion thing that songs like "Run Run Run" and "Heroin" only barely incorporated. There's no Indian pieces though, but it still should be known that this album isn't quite as listenable as & Nico. In fact, it's quite earsplitting. There's so much feedback and distortion that you'd wonder if someone wasn't dropping pins on the guitar strings and smashing amps somewhere in the studio.

This album is rock-n-roll to the core. It's very gritty and very loud. It's very pounding and very, very unconventional. I would also like to point out that there's only really five songs on this album. The Gift is actually one long narrative. As for the rest, it's something you'd expect to hear from a drunk Steppenwolf who forgot how to work his equipment. Again, this doesn't make the album bad.

After you shake off your initial headache, you'll find that the arrangements would be quite pleasant if it didn't sound like they were being played with a power drill. You'll notice that it's almost Protopunk(and is, by bare definition). If you'd like to have an idea of how unfriendly this sounds, it only charted as 199 on the Billboard's Top 200. (>.>) But since people today have been conditioned to be able to listen to unfriendly music, you can hear how quirky the arrangements are. Like... In "Lady Godiva's Operation", all the band members are making mock surgery noises. You'd really just have to listen to it. WL/WH is one of those albums that escapes description. I did what I could. >.>

Interesting cuts include: White Light/White Heat, Lady Godiva's Operation, I Heard Her Call My Name, Sister Ray

B-

[straf]

The Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground

Released in 1969
Track Listing
Candy Says
What Goes On
Some Kinda Love
Pale Blue Eyes
Jesus
Beginning to See the Light
I'm Set Free
That's the Story of My Life
The Murder Mystery
After Hours

To a lot of you, this album will come as a big surprise. It's not completely abrasive as the Underground's first two albums. In fact, it's quite soft and inviting, which is a massive turn from the insane, distorted mock-sex that they threw at you before. It sounds like a nice, front-porch jam session.

Almost all of the songs on Velvet Underground could be described of ballads. It has a very stripped feel, and you almost feel cheated. With the sole exception of "The Murder Mystery", there are no forays of weird, but "The Murder Mystery" isn't a song; it's a narrative bit much like the previous albums' "The Gift". There's some excursions into rock-n-roll too, and it's a nice throwback to stuff like "Run Run Run" and "I'm Waiting For The Man".

Consider this album to be the Underground's lullaby album. Try listening to it while trying to sleep. I promise you that that'll be the best sleep you'll ever have if you're comfortable.

The only gripes that I really have with this is that Lou Reed gets a bit over-zealous with his love songs. He puts together a nice formula for them, but they can get boring after twenty or so consecutive listens. Other than that though, this album is completely beautiful and belongs in everyone's music library, no questions asked. You may want to space out your listens, though. It's flaws -- though very few -- will begin to show through. While it won't really mar your listening experience, finally noticing that one little off-note in "Beginning To See The Light" and then noticing it every time after is rather annoying. Try to find it, it took me forever.

Interesting cuts include: Candy Says, What Goes On, Pale Blue Eyes, Jesus, After Hours.

A+

[straf]

Loving the feedback, guys! >_<b

[richarddjames]

your reviews are good but you don't review anything i listen to fairly/oftenly ;_;

[straf]

And what exactly DO you listen to oftenly?

[Virus]

Oct 23, 2010 16:19:26 GMT -5 straf said:

Loving the feedback, guys! >_<b

straf could i make a review and post in this thread? i just wanna see if i could make an album review

[straf]

If you want to.

[straf]

Looks fine to me. Needs more opinion, though.

I put it in the index. >.>b

So I guess that other people can contribute stuff too if they wannoo. <.<

[Crash]

Bob Rock produced it, not Rick Rubin. He did Death Magnetic.

I'd like to see you review Megadeth's "The System Has Failed."

[Virus]

Oct 23, 2010 18:47:03 GMT -5 Crash said:

Bob Rock produced it, not Rick Rubin. He did Death Magnetic.

I'd like to see you review Megadeth's "The System Has Failed."

Fixed

[Jack White]

I love how all the Velvet Undergruond albums got 10/10
I can understand & Nico getting 10/10 but all of them?