A Moon Shaped Pool review

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Hope everyone's had a great holiday. Now here's something nice and cheerful to review (Sarcasm alert).

A Moon Shaped Pool is the ninth and most recent album by Radiohead, who are in my opinion currently the best band in the world. Having listened to it several times and heard several of its songs performed in Portugal, here are my thoughts.

Tracks:

1. Burn the Witch: 9/10 after the disappointing King of Limbs, this is an awesome comeback single. With a killer instrumental, a goosebump-raising chorus and possibly my favorite music video of all time, this reminds us just how good this band really is.

2. Daydreaming: 9/10 a powerful, melancholy and captivating song that packs a serious wallop with little more than a gentle piano instrumental and Thom Yorke's haunting vocal performance.

3. Decks Dark: 8/10 it certainly isn't cheerful, but it's a seriously affecting track that is subtle in the best way possible.

4. Desert Island Disk: 6/10 pretty tedious and lyrically the most pretentious yet. Then again, it's hardly bad; more highly underwhelming compared to the rest of the album.

5. Ful Stop: 8/10 simultaneously hugely intense and understated, this goes on a bit but it really is a banger.

6. Glass Eyes: 9/10 a quiet, short but beautiful song that should not be forgotten among the album's bigger songs.

7. Idenkit: 9/10 this is an album highlight for sure, with some great lyrics and the same quietly powerful music that flows through the album. The "Broken hearts, make it rain" section is brilliant.

8. The Numbers: 7/10 it's cool to see Thom Yorke writing an environmental song as it's an important topic for him. This is a nice song to listen to with some good moments, but it goes the motions somewhat.

9. Present Tense: 9/10 this borrows intelligently from Brazilian Samba music and is a hugely enjoyable track, as well as the only one which sounds even remotely upbeat.

10. Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief: 8/10 this is derivative of the rest of the album, so it's basically a summarizing of everything that's made this album awesome.

11. True Love Waits: 9/10 Radiohead's devastating live track finally gets a studio version. You'll want the tissues for this one.

Best song: Daydreaming
Worst song: Desert Island Disk

Summary: Definitely one of 2016's best albums. It gets better with every listen. Although it's a very quiet and understated album, there is so much meaning, and depth, and emotion running through every note and every lyric. It's as depressing as ever, but in an intelligent way. This album is a masterpiece of understatement and atmosphere, and it repeatedly packs a devastating wallop even when it's Radiohead's quietest album to date. This is definite proof that Radiohead have still got it and this is also a great album to send you to sleep; not because it's in any way boring, but because it's a very peaceful record, yet one which will also really make you contemplate life in a deep and meaningful way.

In terms of how these sounded live, obviously I wasn't in the audience so my opinion isn't entirely reliable but they mostly sounded pretty good. Burn the Witch was the one which worked the best since it's the loudest, although it sounds different from the studio version. Idenkit and Ful Stop also worked very well, although the other songs, since they are quieter, didn't necessarily blow the roof off. I have no memory at all of Desert Island Disk being played even though it apparently was, showing how forgettable that song is. Although it's my favorite on the album, Daydreaming, being just a piano and a vocalist, didn't work so well for me but probably did in the audience. Oddly, True Love Waits didn't appear despite being a live track for many years. Glass Eyes, Present Tense and Tinker... were also absent.



Final rating: 9/10

Wish You Were Here review

The 9th album by Pink Floyd. This is one of their most famous and acclaimed albums. Much of it is a tribute to Syd Barrett who'd had to leave the group several years earlier. This is the first album following the legendary Dark Side of the Moon.

Tracks:

1. Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V): 10/10 from the incredibly moving lyrics to the unbelievably brilliant instrumental work, everything about this composition is absolutely unreal. And even better, this is only the first half.

2. Welcome to the Machine: 8/10 a little too lyrically spare for its own good, but still a powerful and fascinating attack on the music industry.

3. Have a Cigar: 9/10 a brilliant rock track with terrific vocals, witty lyrics and an endlessly addictive and enjoyable instrumental.

4. Wish You Were Here: 9/10 Pink Floyd's most successful song doesn't represent what they do best, but this intensely moving and emotional song about alienation is still a minor masterpiece and the band do a very simple instrumental just as brilliantly as they do their hugely complicated ones.

5. Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX): 10/10 every word is meaningful, every note is flawless, every second is another rich kaleidoscope of psychedelic artistry. Pure musical heaven in every way.

Best song: Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-IX)
Worst song: Welcome to the Machine

Summary: It's almost as good as Dark Side. It's that awesome. This album has everything; it has amazing music, brilliant lyrics and not a single second is wasted. Everything comes together perfectly here and this is an album I can just listen to over and over. With emotion and thrills galore, this is not just Pink Floyd at their best, it's music at its best. It's a reminder of what music can do when such talented artists are allowed to flourish. This album cements Pink Floyd as possibly the greatest band of all time, or at the very least the best psychedelic one. A very nearly perfect record. Obviously, it's all about Wish You Were Here and Shine On You, but the songs is the middle are terrific as well. You won't want it to end.



Final rating: 10/10

Magical Mystery Tour review

The 9th album by The Beatles. This was the soundtrack for a widely maligned film the group did. Luckily, the album itself was better received and includes some of their best-known songs.

Tracks:

1. Magical Mystery Tour: 8/10 it can't help but feel like an inferior Sgt. Pepper's, but this is still a largely fun and charismatic opening.

2. The Fool on the Hill; 8/10 a touching, gentle and underrated entry into the band's phenomenal body of word.

3. Flying: 5/10 sadly one of the very few instrumental tracks The Beatles ever did remains one of their worst songs.

4. Blue Jay Way: 8/10 self-indulgent perhaps, but this song by the brilliant and underrated George Harrison is still a hypnotic psychedelic artwork,

5. Your Mother Should Know: 6/10 reasonably catchy, but lyrically lifeless.

6. I Am the Walrus: 10/10 nonsensical, preposterously entertaining and delightfully weird, this boots most psychedelic songs into a bin liner.

7. Hello Goodbye: 7/10 a catchy pop song, even if lyrical simplicity is taken way too far here.

8. Strawberry Fields Forever: 10/10 an utter psychedelic masterpiece filled with wonderful trippy imagery, nostalgia, pathos and aural wizardry. The ultimate John Lennon song? Quite possibly.

9. Penny Lane: 9/10 a beautifully uplifting and delightfully nostalgic song, this is an album highlight.

10. Baby You're a Rich Man: 7/10 nothing standout, but it improves upon repeat listens and is still catchy.

11. All You Need is Love: 9/10 thanks to a great instrumental and fantastic message, it's difficult to resist this one.

Best song: Strawberry Fields Forever
Worst song: Flying

Summary: This is a strange album. At times, it's absolutely amazing. It's got 2 of the best Beatles songs of them all, a couple of other classics and some very good ones in between. In between those great bits are some bits of filler which really drag the album down. There are definitely songs here which can be skipped, but most of the time it's a compelling work. Filled with lyrical genius, madness and musical artistry, this is another smashing record from The Beatles which is so enjoyable, energetic and different that even when the weaker songs come on you're unlikely to even notice.



Final rating: 8/10

Full Circle review

The 8th album by The Doors and their last before they officially disbanded. Like it's predecessor, it's usually ignored by both the band and fans of The Doors.

Track listing:

1. Get Up and Dance: 7/10 it may not be as weird as normal, but it's actually really fun.

2. 4 Billion Souls: 7/10 simplistic, but again genuinely quite enjoyable.

3. Verdilac: 6/10 it goes on a bit but the jazzy instrumental is quite cool.

4. Hardwood Floor: 6/10 bad lyrics, good tune.

5. Good Rocking: 6/10 unsophisticated and simplistic. Still, it's quite entertaining.

6. The Mosquito: 7/10 despite its nonsensical lyrics it's a very well-executed tune.

7. The Piano Bird: 7/10 still not the band at their best. However, it also avoids the annoying pretentiousness of much of the band's earlier work and is instead just a gentle, light bit of entertainment.

8. It Slipped My Mind: 6/10 a bit weak, but still enjoyable in an understated, vague kind of way.

9. The Peking King and the New York Queen: 8/10 a highly entertaining 6 minute jam with some pleasingly Morrison-esque lyrics.

Best song: The Peking King and the New York Queen
Worst song: Good Rocking

Summary: The band still struggles without Jim Morrison, as he really was such a huge part of the band. However, the 3 remaining members do an admirable job of trying to carry on without him. The songwriting is where the album falters and repeatedly goes into generic territory, and the absence of Morrison's brilliant voice is felt somewhat. Still, the remaining band members definitely still have it and still do very well on the instruments. Therefore, even if this album is fairly generic in certain ways, it's lifted right up with energetic, unique and genre-blending instrumentals. It's also a fun record to listen to, which is always good.



Final rating: 7/10

Diamond Dogs review

The 8th album by David Bowie. This was meant to be a concept album based on Orwell's 1984 but as Bowie was denied the rights, Diamond Dogs is instead his farewell to glam rock with a side of Orwell.

Tracks:

1. Future Legend: 8/10 a very interesting spoken introduction with a nice instrumental background.

2. Diamond Dogs: 8/10 even if the dark imagery doesn't always gel with the glam rock vibe, it's still a fascinating a brilliantly crafted song.

3. Sweet Thing: 9/10 even though I don't really know what it means, it's a chilling, haunting and hypnotic track boosted by all of Bowie's trademark sci-fi madness.

4. Candidate: 7/10 the middle part of the trio of songs is weaker but all the glam rock brilliance and weird and wonderful writing is still there.

5. Sweet Thing (Reprise): 9/10 by returning to the first song this closes the suite in style.

6. Rebel Rebel: 8/10 a more commercial song for David Bowie and not one of my absolute favorites, but it's still a really catchy and entertaining song that's easy to enjoy.

7. Rock N Roll with Me: 8/10 much more entertaining and sophisticated than the title suggests.

8. We are the Dead: 8/10 a good song although some won't get the 1984 references.

9. 1984: 9/10 a brilliant tribute to the novel and a great example of Bowie combining lighter and darker material, something he does very well.

10. Big Brother: 9/10 ditto.

11. Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family: 8/10 a weird but fascinating concluding track.

Best song: 1984
Worst song: Candidate

Summary: Overall, this is a fantastic farewell to glam rock for Bowie. It's got its peaks and troughs; the 1984 stuff works really well so it's a shame this couldn't have been a 1984 concept album like Bowie originally wanted. Some of the other songs are occasionally forgettable but never boring. This album is also a surprisingly effective mix of light and dark with fantastically catchy tracks like Rebel Rebel and thought-provoking, soulful ones like 1984. This one is really smashing and one of Bowie's better works.



Final rating: 9/10