Animals review

The 10th album by Pink Floyd. This is another concept album which mixes psychedelic rock and Orwell's Animal Farm and yet another Pink Floyd album with one of the best album covers ever.

Tracks:

1. Pigs on the Wing (Part One): 8/10 irrelevant to the rest of the album, but a pleasingly gentle, touching and soulful opening nonetheless.

2. Dogs: 10/10 another shattering, stunning psychedelic 15-minute-plus masterpiece from Pink Floyd, in terms of both its political lyrics and musical brilliance it's more epic than Lord of the Rings.

3. Pigs (Three Different Ones): 9/10 a superb political rant, although it might be a little too intense and angry for some. Still, the pig noises are hilarious.

4. Sheep: 8/10 although it's the weakest of the 3 main songs this is still a superb, haunting bit of storytelling and the music is as unreal as ever.

5. Pigs on the Wing (Part Two): 8/10 a nice and much-needed glimmer of hope at the end of a very angry album.

Best song: Dogs
Worst song: Pigs on the Wing (Parts One and Two)

Summary: It's yet another masterpiece naturally. The 2 bookends are highly pleasant and work well, but its all about the middle 3 songs. Dogs is a musical juggernaut, Pigs is blisteringly intense and Sheep is a hugely thought-provoking finale. The music is, as always, staggering and it is an exhilarating and enthralling album to listen thanks to its powerful universal themes and brilliant aural artwork. This can get a little too intense and cynical at times, so you need to be in the right mood for it. If you are in the right mood, it's a fantastic work with so much to say and so much rich enjoyment to offer.




Final rating: 9/10

The Beatles (The White Album) review

The 9th album by The Beatles. This is a massive double album with possibly the sparsest cover in history, although the band name will be enough to make anyone buy it. Despite tensions in the band it was still a big success.

Tracks:

1. Back in the USSR: 8/10 a very fun if lyrically confused bit of musical satire.

2. Dear Prudence: 9/10 a reliably artistic, melancholy, moving and musically brilliant song from John Lennon.

3. Glass Onion: 8/10 a nonsensical song, but that was the point. It's filled with fun references to previous songs and shows John Lennon being as delightfully cryptic as ever.

4. Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da: 5/10 this much maligned Beatles song is surprisingly catchy. Don't get me wrong though: it is pretty terrible.

5. Wild Honey Pie: 5/10 a pointless jam that's not as irritating as some seem to think.

6. The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill: 8/10 another fun, charming nonsense song in the vein of Yellow Submarine.

7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps: 10/10 a Beatles masterpiece by the ever-underrated George Harrison.

8. Happiness is a Warm Gun: 9/10 a confusing but catchy and delightfully ambitious rock song.

9. Martha My Dear: 8/10 a very pleasant tribute to Paul McCartney's dog.

10. I'm So Tired: 6/10 a fairly dreary if harmless bit of a filler.

11. Blackbird: 9/10 an utterly delightful and wonderful acoustic song which spreads so many good emotions and so much hope through its understated acoustic chords.

12. Piggies: 6/10 a perfectly fun song but Pink Floyd did a far better capitalist pigs song.

13. Rocky Raccoon: 5/10 a  catchy song which has interesting moments that don't go anywhere. Still, at least it's better than Lonesome Cowboy Bill.

14. Don't Pass Me By: 7/10 a surprisingly decent song from Ringo Starr which is definitely filler, but catchy filler nonetheless.

15. Why Don't We Do it in the Road?: 3/10 is this some sort of joke? Well, if it is, it really, really isn't at all funny.

16. I Will; 8/10 a nice and gently touching, if undemanding, love song.

17. Julia: 8/10 with poetic lyrics and a truly touching vibe this is a definite standout.

18. Birthday: 7/10 an expendable but fun and pleasingly heavy beginning to the second disc.

19. Yer Blues: 8/10 a fun blues song although it feels too sorry for itself.

20. Mother Nature's Son: 8/10 a delightful acoustic song by McCartney where the lyrical sparseness works this time.

21. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey: 8/10 the title is dynamic and hilarious and the song mostly follows suite, even if it is just a bit of silly fun.

22. Sexy Sadie: 8/10 it's already a pretty good song, but if you know the backstory it becomes very interesting indeed.

23. Helter Skelter: 9/10 a brilliantly fun and heavy rock song which goes far away from McCartney's normal ballads.

24. Long, Long, Long: 9/10 a wonderful, heartfelt song that proves once again there's more to the band than just Lennon and McCartney.

25. Revolution 1: 7/10 it works well as a bluesy rock song; it doesn't work as well as a piece of political commentary.

26. Honey Pie: 5/10 a harmless and mildly catchy song, but it is pretty tedious.

27. Savoy Truffle: 7/10 even if the lyrics are meaningless nonsense it's still fun.

28. Cry Baby Cry: 8/10 another strong track where it's great fun to try and work out what it means.

29. Revolution 9: 3/10 I respect that Lennon was trying to be artistic and experimental. That's never a bad thing. That doesn't make this song any less arrogant, indulgent and soul-crushingly boring though.

30. Good Night: 8/10 a mesmerizing orchestral finale that'll give you goosebumps.

Best song: While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Worst song: Revolution 9

Summary: This is a deeply flawed masterpiece. It's an uneven, preposterous and frequently silly and confused journey through many different songs, genres, vibes, moods and melodies that hits brilliant peaks and terrible lows alike. Mostly, however, this is a thrilling showcase of an amazing band pushing all the boundaries and really showing what music can actually do. Most of the songs on here are good and ironically the bad songs only make this an even more interesting record. On the whole, a very fine work with some of the best Beatles songs of all time on it.



Final rating: 8/10

Radiohead other tracks

The non-album tracks by Radiohead, all rated and reviewed. Different versions of the album tracks, demos and the remix album of The King of Limbs isn't included.

4 Minute Warning: 7/10 if the rest of the song doesn't live up to the opening it's still a satisfying and fittingly depressing end to the In Rainbows bonus disc.

A Reminder: 7/10 it's far from bad but it isn't very interesting either.

Banana Co: 9/10 although it's a bit confusing, it's another hugely enjoyable The Bends B-side.

Bangers + Mash: 8/10 interesting lyrics and some hugely powerful chords. Solid.

Bishop's Robes: 8/10 another wonderful mini horror story.

Coke Babies: 6/10 despite terrible lyrics the instrumental is pretty solid.

Cuttooth: 7/10 a sharp if endlessly moany track.

Down is the New Up: 8/10 despite only being a bonus track, it's still a representation of the band at their peak.

Faithless the Wonder Boy: 5/10 it's got some catchy guitar riffs. Unfortunately they fail to cover up the fact that this song is on the whole pretty naff.

Fast-Track: 7/10 although incredibly pretentious it's still an impressive piece of music.

Fog: 9/10 melancholy, understated and full of meaning this will leave you feeling surprisingly emotional.

Gagging Order: 8/10 this one hits pretty hard, ironically thanks to reducing the number of elements and stripping it back a bit.

Go Slowly: 8/10 an atmospheric instrumental and Thom Yorke moaning his head off. Classic Radiohead!

Harry Patch (In Memory Of): 8/10 although loud and portentous, this is still a stirring and moving anti-war song.

How Can You Be Sure?: 7/10 this boasts an effective acoustic guitar instrumental but suffers from an excess of sentimentality.

How I Made My Millions: 7/10 artistic but it reeks of laziness somewhat.

I am a Wicked Child: 7/10 this is one of their whiny ones that feels really sorry for themselves; still they take an already rock instrumental and add a lot of artistry to it.

I am Citizen Insane: 8/10 a creepy  and really cool electronic instrumental. Why can't they play stuff like this is clubs instead of Justin Bieber's 'Sorry' over and over again?

I Promise: 7/10 unreleased for over 20 years, it's finally here as a studio version. It's a pretty annoying song at times, but the typical feels are still there.

I Want None of This: 8/10 a haunting and beautifully understated, and sadly little-heard, piano track.

Ill Wind: 8/10 a very good bonus track that is unfortunately at the moment very hard to find.

India Rubber: 9/10 by trying to be an enjoyable song instead of an experimental piece of art, this is one of the better B-sides out there.

Inside My Head: 7/10 it's as enjoyable yet average as much of Pablo Honey.

Killer Cars: 7/10 lyrically a bit flat by Radiohead standards, but it's entertaining in a more commercial sort of way.

Kinetic: 7/10 this reminds one of The Tourist from OK Computer. Like that song, it's technically impressive but too sparse to truly satisfy.

Last Flowers: 8/10 it gets under your skin for sure, although it can get overwhelming.

Lewis (Mistreated): 8/10 a fiery guitar showcase with typically angst-filled lyrics.

Lift: 8/10 another lost classic released on the OK Computer remaster and another winner.

Lozenge of Love: 7/10 it provides a good listen without being massively interesting.

Lull: 7/10 this brings together much of what made OK Computer great without having enough emotion to bring it up to the standards of the album tracks.

Man of War: 8/10 unreleased on an album until now... was it worth the wait? Absolutely. A gorgeous, haunting and melancholy blast.

Maquiladora: 7/10 one of those Radiohead songs that are good, but not particularly memorable or striking.

Meeting in the Aisle: 8/10 the first ever Radiohead instrumental is far more successful than their later attempts such as Treefingers and Hunting Bears.

Melatonin: 8/10 this one is only short, but it's a lot more charismatic and memorable than some of the other B sides.

Million Dollar Question: 7/10 a decent but unmemorable one like many of the early ones.

MK 1: 7/10 not to be confused with that thoroughly tiresome band from The X Factor, this is an atmospheric and haunting yet beautiful one minute instrumental track.

MK 2: 7/10 very short but an interesting way to spend 53 seconds.

Molasses: 7/10 as good as ever. It's a little bit annoying though.

Paolo Alto: 8/10 an excellent dystopain track that could have come straight off OK Computer.

Paperbag Writer: 7/10 an eerie and atmospheric track short on originality but reasonably heavy on the feels.

Pearly: 7/10 a fairly generic rock track that still has the typical Radiohead weirdness and emotion.

Permanent Daylight: 7/10 this would have been better as an instrumental as the distorted verse doesn't add anything to the catchy guitar riffs.

Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2): 7/10 the very short part 1 is underwhelming; part 2 is better, although it's a bit overdone.

Pop is Dead: 6/10 a deeply, deeply mediocre early single for the band which Thom Yorke understandably hates.

Punchdrunk Lovesick Singalong: 9/10 as powerful and intentionally depressing as ever.

Spectre: 7/10 this would-be Bond song doesn't really feel like a Bond song, but it certainly would have been a better choice than Sam Smith's underwhelming, snail-paced and rhythmless 'Writing on the Wall'.

Staircase: 9/10 a typically sharp Radiohead song which is just as effective as many of their album tracks.

Stupid Car: 7/10 a very forgettable but better-than-expected early track.

Supercollider: 8/10 a fantastic beat propels this hypnotic, atmospheric and fascinating track, although perhaps for longer than it should.

Talk Show Host: 9/10 well-known for appearing in Romeo and Juliet (1996) and the only song here they played in Portugal, this one is easily one of their best B sides as thanks to its wonderfully subtle intensity and atmosphere.

The Amazing Sounds of Orgy: 8/10 a very interesting song, this is similar to other Radiohead songs but different enough to stand on its own.

The Butcher: 9/10 one of these days Radiohead really need to write a horror film or at the very least do a horror-themed rock opera.

The Daily Mail: 9/10 a haunting, gripping piano-based track which serves as a summation of the band's best elements and a reminder of how they can occasionally be portentous.

The Trickster: 9/10 even if it takes a couple of listens to get into it is a very good one.

These are My Dark Twisted Words: 7/10 it'll win awards for vocals and creating a haunting mood, if not for originality.

Trans-Atlantic Drawl: 8/10 the vocals are difficult to understand, but with Radiohead you just have to get used to that. It's got a mesmerizing beat which echoes Bodysnatchers and a terrific outro.

Up on the Ladder: 7/10 Doctor Who references and atmosphere aside this one is just a bit too overwhelming. It's still solid enough though.

Where Bluebirds Fly: 7/10 the lyrics are completely incomprehensible (Apparently it's Thom Yorke singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow) and the song becomes overwhelming. It still offers a memorable baseline though and there isn't a question of it being bad or musically weak.

Worrywot: 7/10 great instrumental, muted lyrics.

Yes I Am: 8/10 for a Pablo Honey B Side it's very good.

You Never Wash Up After Yourself: 7/10 short and insignificant but there's still emotion here, although definitely more thanks to the music then the slightly odd lyrics.

An American Prayer review

The 9th and final album by The Doors. 7 years after the death of Jim Morrison and 5 years after the other membes of the band broke up, the band reunited and recorded backing tracks to some of Jim Morrison's poetry, which was recorded several years earlier before he died.

Tracks:

1. Awake: 6/10 this starts out well before the formerly effective poetry descends into utter pretentiousness.

2. To Come of Age: 4/10 a load of pretentious nonsense.

3. The Poets Dreams: 7/10 this one's quite a bit better than the other 2 to be fair and here it seems to actually mean something.

4. World on Fire: 6/10 it does work, but only because it includes Roadhouse Blues and Riders on the Storm.

5. An American Prayer: 6/10 there are some good lines here but it's still pretentious and the backing tracks are completely halfhearted.

Best song: The Poets Dreams
Worst song: To Come of Age

Summary: Nah, this shouldn't have happened. The truth Morrison was a fantastic singer but a hit-and-miss writer. Some of his lyrics are awesome, but a lot of them are just saying meaningless psychedelic things for the sake of being arty. Without the organ and the other instrumental work to back up the writing here that's more evident than ever. This is a fairly disposable album that has some good moments and some good lyrics but is ultimately a load of pretentious writing backed up by the most halfhearted instrumentals in the history of the band.




Final rating: 5/10

Led Zeppelin other songs

The non-album tracks by Led Zeppelin all rated and reviewed. The unreleased songs and demos aren't included.

10 Ribs & All/Carrot Pod Pod: 8/10 a pretty cool reference mix with a nice piano emphasis.

Baby, Come on Home: 8/10 a pleasingly intense and gripping song, despite not being massively memorable.

Hey Hey What Can I Do: 8/10 the only non-album track ever released by the band while they were active was a big success thanks to its understated vibe and intelligent mix of quiet and loud.

Jennings Farm Blues: 7/10 a typically good but still typical mix of guitar instrumentals.

Key to the Highway/Trouble in Mind: 7/10 although it's a quiet and spare once, I still quite like it. Robert Plant's vocals always accommodate for the absence of heavy riffs anyway.

LA Drone: 6/10 a decent opening to their live DVD, although it's a bit too short.

La La: 7/10 a skilled albeit typical Led Zeppelin instrumental. They are terrific instrumentalists but we kind of already knew that.

Somethin' Else: 8/10 lyrically it's nothing special. Musically it's an absolute blast.

St Tristan's Sword: 7/10 another cool instrumental track, although it's not the band at their peak.

Sugar Mama: 8/10 although the lyrics are simplistic, when it comes to blues rock Led Zeppelin always, always deliver.

Sunshine Woman: 7/10 a pretty decent track with all 4 of them on form.

The Girl I Love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair: 8/10 with Jimmy Page unleashing full-on guitar heaven and Robert Plant singing with that unreal vocal, it's naturally a blast.

Travelling Riverside Blues: 7/10 a very decent, if slightly going-the-motions, track.

White Summer/Black Mountain Side: 8/10 Jimmy Page is a master guitarist and this track certainly shows that, although it's a bit too long.

The Clash other tracks

The non-album tracks by The Clash all rated and reviewed. To count, it has to been released on an album or a compilation and different versions of songs already reviewed (Aside from dub versions) aren't included.

1-2 Crush on You: 7/10 the lyrics are an odd choice, but it's a pretty fun song even if it's a tiny bit naff.

1977: 8/10 this early track has all the raw energy and ferocity of The Clash's debut.

Armagideon Time: 7/10 although it feels softer than many of the band's other similarly-themed songs, The Clash always do an interesting political rant.

Bankrobber: 8/10 a slow but intelligent reggae track that doesn't waste a second.

Capital Radio One: 8/10 another entertaining critique of the music industry that's crucially rooted in reality and feels genuine. All the references to London and British history are always great.

Capital Radio Two: 7/10 weaker but still solid.

City of the Dead: 8/10 it's admittedly formulaic but it still totally rocks.

Clash City Rockers: 7/10 not bad or anything but it's basically what we've heard from the band many times before.

Complete Control: 8/10 a hugely entertaining attack on the music industry.

Cool Confusion: 7/10 like the title suggests, the writing is confused but this is still a cool song.

Do it Now: 6/10 this bonus track from Cut the Crap is pretty disposable, but at least unlike most of the songs on the album it has energy.

Every Little Bit Hurts: 8/10 a slightly odd choice of song for the band, but they adapt and rise to the challenge remarkably well.

First Night Back in London: 7/10 a good beat lifts this up past uninspired lyrics.

Gates of the West: 6/10 fun enough but lacking in meaning.

Groovy Times: 6/10 this one's easy to enjoy although it is fairly mediocre.

Heart & Mind: 7/10 while not a standout, this is still a rarity you'll be happy to discover.

I Fought the Law: 9/10 an excellent cover song.

Jail Guitar Doors: 8/10 although not an album track, it packs a surprising amount of punch and could have come straight off one of their first 3 albums.

Justice Tonight/Kick it Over: 8/10 this dub-step version of Armagideon Time surpasses the original by a clear mile.

Kill Time: 7/10 a catchy and entertaining, if somewhat passionless, rarity.

Listen: 8/10 a short but fun instrumental.

Lonesome Me: 6/10 a fun if whiny song that doesn't really sound like The Clash.

Long Time Jerk: 6/10 it's a reasonably catchy song. It fails to be anything more than that though.

Midnight to Stevens: 7/10 an emotive and interesting-sounding song even if it doesn't stick in the memory.

Mustapha Dance: 8/10 as always, it's an interesting and highly entertaining dub-step transformation of one of the band's previous songs.

One Emotion: 7/10 it's simplistic for sure, but for a demo it's surprisingly fun.

Outside Broadcast: 5/10 the Radio Clash songs continue to be underwhelming and overly experimental. This is one radio station which needs to stop broadcasting.

Pressure Drop: 8/10 although the lyrics are lacking, the energy of the song more than makes up for it.

Radio 5: 6/10 like all the Radio songs, it's clever and experimental without being enjoyable.

Radio Clash: 6/10 while enjoyable on a superficial level, this remix of This is Radio Clash is too overdone to truly satisfy.

Robber Dub: 8/10 I do love The Clash doing their dub tracks.

Rockers Galore... UK Tour: 6/10 a harmless and inoffensive bit of nonsense.

Sex Mad Roar: 7/10 disposable but really quite fun.

Stop the World: 9/10 so, so underrated. A terrific psychedelic track even though the lyrics are hard to understand, though to be fair that was probably intentional.

The Beautiful People are Ugly too: 5/10 not to be confused with the Marilyn Manson song, especially as that song is miles better than this one despite its catchy moments.

The Magnificent Dance: 7/10 a well-played instrumental, although caged-in compared to many of the other instrumentals on this list.

The Man in Me: 5/10 Bob Dylan's lyrics are an asset, but the band don't back them up with any of their normal energy.

The Prisoner: 8/10 with plenty of darkly comic and brilliantly bitter lyrics and a typically energised instrumental this is a worthy B-Side to (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais.

This is Radio Clash: 7/10 this needs to learn a lot in the art of subtlety but at least it's audacious and lyrically interesting.

Time is Tight: 8/10 a fabulous instrumental.

Walk Evil Talk: 8/10 an excellent instrumental with a fascinating and, for a band like The Clash, unique blend of instruments, re-affirming that The Clash are so much more than just a punk band.

Where You Gonna Go (Soweto): 4/10 pretty lame and very badly recorded.

(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais: 9/10 despite being a somewhat depressing listen, this is a testament to the band's songwriting skill, versatility and general awesomeness.

Coda review

The 9th and sadly final album by Led Zeppelin, still one of the best bands of all time. This was released 2 years after they disbanded and is more of a compilation rather than a studio album of unused tracks from the band's storied career.

Tracks:

1. We're Gonna Groove: 7/10 an unremarkable track, yet it's still as pleasingly heavy as ever.

2. Poor Tom: 6/10 a very uninteresting piece of writing, but the music itself is OK.

3. I Can't Quit You Baby: 7/10 no better or worse than it was on Led Zeppelin I.

4. Walter's Walk: 7/10 a fairly typical rock song that provides a good time nonetheless.

5. Ozone Baby: 6/10 at best decent, at worst slightly lazy.

6. Darlene: 6/10 not that this is bad at all; more that you could literally hear this from any other rock band.

7. Bonzo's Montreux: 7/10 it's messier than Moby Dick due to being mixed with a bunch of other sounds but a reminder of how great a drummer the late John Bonham was.

8. Wearing and Tearing: 7/10 although it's lyrically confusing it's an energetic, ferocious and fittingly heavy final Led Zeppelin album track.

Best song: I Can't Quit You Baby
Worst song: Poor Tom

Summary: Led Zeppelin's final album is not the farewell you would hope for. It never shows the band at their best and none of the songs are anything more than decent (Aside from the one from their debut). What it does do, however, is remind us how explosive, powerful and ferocious Led Zeppelin truly were and testify to all of their individual skills as musicians. It's sad to reach the end of Led Zeppelin's discography but at least, unlike The Clash, their last album was perfectly OK.



Final rating: 6/10