Physical Graffiti review

The sixth and longest album from Led Zeppelin. This massive double album was a huge commercial success and contains a large variety of songs and musical styles.

Tracks:

1. Custard Pie: 7/10 low on substance and memorability but undeniably fun.

2. The Rover: 9/10 a truly mad and brilliantly written rock song full of amazing guitar playing and Robert Plant's typically wonderful vocals.

3. In My Time of Dying: 9/10 it's beautifully played and wonderfully, overwhelmingly heavy but was there any need for it to be 11 minutes?

4. Houses of the Holy: 9/10 here, the confusing lyrics only make the song more intriguing and fascinating, and it has some great guitar riffs.

5. Trampled Under Foot: 9/10 essentially just a series of sex metaphors, but they are supported by a fantastic instrumental and plenty of lyrical sharpness.

6. Kashmir: 10/10 an epic, insane and utterly exhilarating 8 minute odyssey into hard-rock heaven.

7. In the Light: 8/10 the unique instrumentals at the beggining and middle of the song, composed by John Paul Jones, is so completely brilliant that when it moves to the more typical Led Zeppelin instrumentals it's almost disappointing.

8. Bron-Yr-Aur: 8/10 a delightful acoustic guitar instrumental.

9. Down By the Seaside: 8/10 forgettable, but still an enjoyable and pleasant listen.

10. Ten Years Gone: 9/10 an excellent love song which is one of the most touching things Led Zeppelin have ever done and shows they're focused on more than just heavy guitar riffs.

11. Night Flight: 8/10 lyrical confusion doesn't make this any less entertaining.

12. The Wanton Song: 8/10 yet another sex song and a good one at that, with some awesome riffs.

13. Boogie With Stu: 9/10 a light and substance-free, yet also awesomely entertaining and criminally underrated song.

14. Black Country Woman: 5/10 an adequately-played but woefully forgettable song, which they were wise to hide so far back in the album.

15. Sick Again: 8/10 it's a bit confusing, but still makes for a highly enjoyable album ending.

Best song: Kashmir
Worst song: Black Country Woman

Summary: A truly superb album. A vast, ginormous epic circling through a diverse range of musical styles and sounds and delivering aural art during nearly every moment of its enormous 82 minute run-time, this is one of Led Zeppelin's best achievements. It's not quite as good as Led Zeppelin I or IV, but then again few albums are. There aren't any bad songs, and all in all it's just one artful, heavy and epic blast after another. Brilliant album title as well.




Final rating: 9/10

Relapse review

After a four-year hiatus due to his drug problems and writer's block, Eminem returned with Relapse, his 6th album overall. The album sees the long-awaited return of Slim Shady and focuses on Eminem' non-fictional relapse. Reviews have been pretty mixed, but it sold well.

Tracks:

1. Dr West (Skit): 8/10 both a very effective opener and a very alarming nightmare.

2. 3 a.m.: 8/10 a potentially repellent song concept (The song is from the POV of a serial killer) works since Eminem focuses on the psychological, internal fear instead of the violence and gives the song an appropiately serious tone.  

3. My Mom: 6/10 Eminem's assumption that people are sick of hearing about his mum is, for me, correct and he can't decide whether to talk about her or drugs during this song. Still, it has its moments.

4. Insane: 4/10 thoroughly tasteless, but worst of all too confusing to make you particularly disgusted.

5. Bagpipes From Baghdad: 6/10 it's gleefully shocking and well-written to some extent, but does it have to be quite so brutal?
 
6. Hello: 7/10 this one is again very intelligent and improves as it goes along. It just needs a little more restraint.

7. Tonya (Skit): 3/10 oh for crying out loud. This defines shock-for-shock's sake.

8. Same Song and Dance: 3/10 pass me the sick bags.

9. We Made You: 6/10 an inferior sequel to The Real Slim Shady but not entirely without hilarity.

10. Medicine Ball: 6/10 ditto.

11. Paul (Skit): 6/10 yet another Paul skit, although at least this one is better than some of the others.

12. Stay Wide Awake: 4/10 this song may be trying to explore dark themes (At least the chorus implies that) but there are far better- and less repellent- ways to explore this theme than just running through a group of hugely unpleasant rape scenarios. I know that because I've heard Eminem explore darker material in far better ways.

13. Old Time's Sake: 8/10 a far lighter and more enjoyable song than many on this album.

14. Must Be the Ganja: 6/10 it's as well-written as ever, but I've heard this kind of song too many times.

15. Mr Mathers (Skit): 8/10 the most hard-hitting Eminem skit yet.

16. Deja Vu: 8/10 a powerful and raw autobiographical account of Eminem's overdose.  

17. Beautiful: 8/10 aside from a corny hook, it's easy to see why this powerful exploration of depression is the most popular song from Relapse.

18. Crack a Bottle: 8/10 very formulaic, but that's not necessarily a bad thing as Eminem normally does this kind of song very well.

19. Steve Berman (Skit): 9/10 The best Steve Berman skit yet.

20. Underground: 8/10 this closing track shows Slim on explosive top form, although the lyrics can be confusing.

Best song: Deja Vu
Worst song: Same Song and Dance

Summary: Eminem's return is a decent one, although it's not his best work at all. It's a lot better than Encore for certain though. Eminem himself doesn't appear to regard this one very highly. It's a tough, edgy and dark album with some very powerful moments and crucially some very entertaining ones as well. There aren't any all-time classics here, it's not as effective as some of his other work and I certainly could have done with fewer songs about rape and violence, but overall it's a good thing Eminem is making music again.



Final rating: 7/10

Atom Heart Mother review

The fifth album by Pink Floyd, which contains only 5 songs; one of these is a massive 23 minute collection of instrumentals called the Atom Heart Mother Suite which begins the album.

Tracks:

1. Atom Heart Mother Suite: 8/10 overlong and more disjointed than some of Floyd's other instrumental pieces, yet still an endlessly innovative, insane and often terrifying musical juggernaut. A flawed masterpiece.

2. If: 9/10 abstract yet utterly affecting, this is a songwriting showcase for Roger Waters that benefits from a refreshingly simple and quiet instrumental.

3. Summer '68: 6/10 bland lyrics are propped up by an effective instrumental.

4. Fat Old Sun: 8/10 an effective and enjoyable tune, though far from one of Pink Floyd's best songs.

5. Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast: 4/10 what on earth were they thinking?! A boring instrumental. A guy eats breakfast. A boring instrumental. A guy carries on eating breakfast. A boring instrumental. A guy drives away in a car. It picks up at the end but still, what a stupid song.

Best song: If
Worst song: Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast

Summary: I'm not too fussed about this album. It has only 5 tracks, none of which are classics, and it lacks charisma much of the time, but it's Pink Floyd so it's certainly not bad. The opening 2 tracks are very good and even though it tails off after that Atom Heart Mother still provides an interesting and hypnotic musical experience that really could have come from outer space.



Final rating: 7/10

All Summer Long review

The 6th album by The Beach Boys and apparently, I'm delighted to hear, the last one which is focused on California beach culture.

Tracks:

1. I Get Around: 8/10 a lovely, cheerful and catchy little song. I already know this one since I've heard it playing many times at Thorpe Park.

2. All Summer Long: 6/10 this one plays it safe (Understatement) although it's hard not to smile at least a little bit.

3. Hushabye: 8/10 a lovely if repetitive song that'd actually serve as a great lullaby.

4. Little Honda: 7/10 cars and motorbikes are not good subject matter for a song, but this particular song is fine.

5. We'll Run Away: 8/10 this lovely and pleasingly simple song makes the theme of love far more touching than many far more complicated songs do.

6. Carl's Big Chance: 6/10 a nice though somewhat indifferent and forgettable instrumental.

7. Wendy: 8/10 another delightful love song.

8. Do You Remember: 8/10 a highly enjoyable tribute to 50s Rock and Roll.

9. Girls on the Beach: 8/10 low on substance, high on terrific harmonies and enjoyment.

10. Drive-In: 8/10 ditto.

11. Our Favorite Recording Sessions: 6/10 unnecessary but amusing.

12. Don't Back Down: 8/10 yes it's more surfing stuff, but by this point one just has to go with it. It's a fun surfing song anyway.

Best song: We'll Run Away
Worst song: Carl's Big Chance

Summary: The best Beach Boys album for a while, this record, full of warmth and joy and pleasingly not as car-crazy and surfing-obsessed as usual, is just loads and loads of joy. It's very, very happy and lacks cynicism, but as someone who loves and listens to far too much depressing music, that's no bad thing. This one is definitely one of the best of the early years of The Beach Boys, and it's back up into 4 star territory for the band.  



Final rating: 8/10

Bringing it All Back Home review

The 5th album by Bob Dylan. This one sees him moving away from protest songs, and it is divided into an electric side and an acoustic side.

Tracks:

1. Subterranean Homesick Blues: 10/10 this wonderfully abstract collection of brilliant metaphors and ingenious rhymes says more than 20 pages of facts in only 2 minutes. If this isn't genius, what is?

2. She Belongs to Me; 9/10 a brilliant character study.

3. Maggie's Farm: 9/10 another awesome protest song that, crucially, isn't completely depressing.

4. Love Minus Zero: 8/10 despite it's excessively abstract nature, it is still beautiful and borderline ingenious.

5. Outlaw Blues: 8/10 it's not really about anything, but who cares? It's still highly enjoyable.

6. On the Road Again: 8/10 even when Dylan has done this kind of song many times before, he's still never short of interesting metaphors and song structures.

7. Bob Dylan's 115th Dream: 9/10 an overextended but brilliant surreal short story that never fails to be interesting and amusing.

8. Mr Tambourine Man: 10/10 a beautiful, poetic song and one of Bob Dylan's masterpieces.

9. Gates of Eden: 8/10 this one is very random and very surreal, so it will be a bit of an acquired taste. Look past the obscure exterior and there is still plenty of great stuff here.

10. It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding): 10/10 a pessimistic, cynical, downbeat and absolutely brilliant musical rant.

11. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue: 8/10 a fairly typical Dylan song, but still an absolutely solid album closer.

Best song: Mr Tambourine Man
Worst song: On the Road Again

Summary: A truly wonderful album. Here, Bob Dylan delivers one brilliant musical poem after another in what is easily his best album yet, where listeners are spoiled for choice due to the presence of not 1, not 2 but 3 Bob Dylan masterpieces. An exceptionally powerful, often sad yet at the same time uplifting record, listening to this is a uniquely moving and wonderful experience.



Final rating: 10/10

War Heroes review

The third posthumous compliation album by Jimi Hendrix. It has more stuff from what would have been Hendrix's fourth album.

Tracks:

1. Bleeding Heart: 6/10 it's well-played for sure- like every Hendrix song. This one doesn't have enough energy.

2. Highway Chile: 8/10 this song was on Are You Experienced?. It's a very good one and well worth a listen.  

3. Tax Free: 8/10 an insane instrumental that shows Hendrix on top form.

4. Peter Gunn Catastrophe: 7/10 an efficient but forgettable guitar solo.

5. Stepping Stone: 8/10 while it's no classic, it's a very enjoyable rock song with a great outro.

6. Midnight: 7/10 as deliciously heavy as ever, yet without any lyrics or substance to back it up it soon just becomes background noise.

7. 3 Little Bears: 5/10 incredibly random and not in a good way, although it's kind of funny.

8. Beginning: 7/10 same as with Midnight pretty much.

9. Izabella: 7/10 it's perfectly decent but I'll forget it in 10 minutes.

Best song: Tax Free
Worst song: 3 Little Bears

Summary: This album lacks the feel-good factor. The guitar playing is fantastic and the album showcases a lot of it, but there's something missing here. There just isn't really any true substance and there are too many instrumentals. It's not reflective of Hendrix at his best, and it's a fairly obscure recording. It isn't available on Spotify or YouTube and tracking each song down on other albums was a bit annoying, especially since there wasn't anything massively compelling awaiting me. It's decent and an enjoyable listen, but it's a rarity which doesn't need to be discovered.




Final rating: 7/10

Arcade Fire albums ranked

The 4 studio albums of the fantastic Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire ranked. The EP isn't included since it isn't really a proper album, but if it was it'd be 5th place.

4. Reflektor: It's Arcade Fire's weakest album but it's certainly not bad. It's their Kid A moment and this one is hugely experimental and far quieter than any of the other albums. Experimentation is good much of the time and this, even if it took me 2 listens to like it, is a successful experiment overall. There is a sense of Arcade Fire losing their identity, some of the songs feel caged-in and muffled and Regine Chassagne doesn't get much to do. I feel that for the next album they do, it's be advisable not to go quite so far from what they did before, since at times this is both pretentious and portentous. Still, it's a fine record all the same. The instrumentals are delightfully unique and audacious, and like the other albums plenty of interesting themes are covered. Rather than being overwhelmingly stunning like the other 3, it's a quietly powerful work that slowly mesmerizes you with one audacious, beautifully played beat after another. Although, that hidden track was a waste of space.

3. Neon Bible: This is an excellent album with one of the best titles and album covers in recent memory. It's bigger, darker and more ambitious than its predecessor, though not quite as strong. It's a bit too cynical for its own good at times, and listening to all the songs in a row the album's epic music production and ceaselessly melancholy (And sometimes on the pretentious side) lyrics can become exhausting. Still, there's no denying this is a terrific work. It's an endlessly overwhelming work which uses the organ brilliantly and on a technical level it's somewhat masterful. It's use of instruments is truly astonishing, and the lyrics never cease to impress. With No Cars Go, Intervention and My Body is a Cage among many other Arcade Fire classics, we're spoiled for choice here.

2. The Suburbs: A glorious, titanic, superhuman juggernaut of an album that, with its breath-taking music and frequently tear-jerking lyrics, packs such a punch it makes being knocked out by an anvil look painless. A meditation of growing-up, the writing here is sheer poetry and the instrumentals could be the best Arcade Fire have ever done. At over an hour long, it's something of an odyssey and does get pretty exhausting at times. There are a few weaker ones (Wasted Hours I'm looking at you) although there aren't any actively bad ones. Starting out with the poetic, superbly written The Suburbs and then having the electrifying Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) as its penultimate track, it is really a roller coaster ride through many brilliant songs. Even the lesser ones are still interesting.

And the best is....

1. Funeral: It had to be Funeral. There isn't a single dull moment on this one. Rather than tying itself to one theme like the others do, this focuses on a variety of subjects and turns all of them into art. The music, whether it's the melancholy beauty of Tunnels, the heaviness of Power's Out, the soaring crescendo of Wake Up or even the much overlooked Haiti, never ceases to floor one in amazement with the brilliantly constructed tunes, amazing mixing and general uniqueness about it. This is one of my favorite albums of all time, and it's almost certainly the best album from the 2000s that weren't by Radiohead. While Radiohead are the defining band of the 21st century, Arcade Fire should not be forgotten. This is the closest they came to perfection. It's a bit depressing for its own good at times but without the self-indulgence of Reflektor, the repetition of Neon Bible and the over-length of The Suburbs, this is a modern classic, and thus far the greatest album Arcade Fire have produced. Long may they continue.  


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