Reviews Supplemental

15 Oct 2014: Tony Iommi/"Iommi" (2000)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/10/whats-doing-guy-by-guys.html

Iommi's first real solo album features ten songs with ten different guest vocalists, ranging from "literally who" to "holy shit".

So, why did Iommi get a literally who called "Skin" to guest on a song when this person is absolutely horrible? I can't tell if it's a man or woman, but I can certainly tell that this person has no redeeming qualities as a singperson.
The very next track redeems it, as it guest stars Dave Grohl and Brian May. Dave sounds great, as usual. There should be an entire album of Grohl, Iommi, and May.

The song with Corgan drags on for a bit too long. It could probably do with being half as long.
The song with Ozzy and Bill Ward sounds like a Sabbath song, so that's nice.

The album ends with Billy Idol's song. It's surprisingly really fucking good.

Overall, this album isn't, like, the greatest thing ever, but it's really good. Grohl's and Idol's songs being the standouts, of course.

15 Oct 2014: Madonna/"Madonna" (1983)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/10/themed-parks-by-parks-party.html

The album open with Lucky Star. It's like, I get it. It doesn't need to be over five minutes long. I wasn't very impressed after two.
Borderline doesn't need to be seven fucking minutes. Jesus Christ.

Burning Up has this really annoying backing track that's louder than Madonna herself.
Holiday is great. Legitimately great.

The closing track, Everybody, is awful. Completely and utterly irredeemable. Annoying breathing, and Madonna's voice even sounds awful.

This album would be great if every single song was half as long, and Everybody was thrown in the garbage where it belongs.

16 Oct 2014: Gerry Rafferty/"Night Owl" (1979)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/10/try-to-do-by-hands-of.html

After reviewing his last album (the one with Baker Street) and giving it a 4.5, I decided to do this one. Yes.
Nobody whose name rhymes with "wary" could be a bad guy. Gerry, Barry, Gary, Larry, Terry, Perry, Mary, Carrie, Harry, Jerry. R.I.P.

The Way That You do It plays like a country song. The pace and content of the lyrics just give off that vibe.

This album doesn't have any real huge stand-outs like the last one, but it's a very good and enjoyable album.

16 Oct 2014: Gerard Way/"Hesitant Alien" (2014)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/09/julio-and-case-of-missing-vault-by-safe.html

IT'S A JAM-PACKED GERRY JAMBOREE
My Chemical Romance broke up last year, but Gerard is still making music. This is that.

At times, this album sounds like a natural continuation of Danger Days. At others, it's actually good.
Like, there's absolutely nothing I can talk about here. It's not unique enough or generic enough to talk much about. It just is. Listen to Millions if you really want to know how it is.

17 Oct 2014: David Bowie/"Never Let Me Down" (1987)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/wallet-one-by-man-of-many-wallets.html

Taken as a sentence, "David Bowie never let me down" is just false. Completely and totally false, even before this let-down of an album.

Day-In, Day-Out was pretty good for the first three minutes or so, but five-and-a-half is stretching it.
Time Will Crawl is aptly-named, because it really starts to drag on after two minutes. Luckily for us, it's only double that.

Beat of Your Drum would be decent if it weren't FIVE FUCKING MINUTES LONG
Glass Spider features David Bowie trying to be Jim Morrison. Look, no one else in the world can pull off a not-song. That's Morrison's thing.

This album is Bowie's worst since Diamond Dogs, and that's saying something.

17 Oct 2014: a-ha/"Hunting High and Low" (1985)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/10/why-am-by-i-best.html

This album begins about as strongly as any album could, with an absolute classic, Take on Me.
Good thing, too, since every other song is painfully boring.

18 Oct 2014: Carole King/"Rhymes and Reasons" (1972)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/faith-for-best-of-by-you.html

This is such an okay album, it hurts. None of the songs stand out, and it's just good. Nothing more, really.

18 Oct 2014: Franz Ferdinand/"Blood" (2009)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/ropes-to-cope-by-pope.html

I found myself curious about this one. It's an album entirely made up of remixes from Tonight. If the band put out an entire album of remixes, it's gotta be good, right? Right?

The first two remixes are pretty good. They retain important and recognisable features from the originals, but they still feel different enough to make their existence make sense.
The next four are completely and utterly pretentious. They capture none of the original spirit, and are just boring.

The remix of Ulysses gets good after about four minutes, but it's really not worth suffering through those four minutes when you could just listen to the original. Feel the Envy is about the same way, but half as long.
Then the last track is filler.

GREAT ALBUM GUYS

19 Oct 2014: U2/"Zooropa" (1993)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/holding-gun-that-killed-mick-jagger-by.html

Following the success of Achtung Baby, this happened. U2 made a filler track that lasted over six minutes, and named the album after it. If this wasn't bad enough, it leads off the proceedings.
Lemon might just be one of the worst songs I've ever heard.

22 Aug 2015 EDIT: I don't know what happened, but I fucking LOVE Lemon now.

The entire album is filler, and it ends in a song featuring Johnny Cash. That song is filler, too, somehow. The alarm sound at the end is the most interesting thing about the album, aside from fucking Lemon.

FUCK THIS ALBUM JESUS CHRIST

19 Oct 2014: Weird Al/"Bad Hair Day" (1996)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/low-ride-by-lowes-home-improvement.html

Opening with Amish Paradise is a bit gutsy, since it's one of the man's best songs. It's just perfect. Like, how even does he even? Even?
Everything You Know is Wrong is great, especially the line "just forget the words and sing along". It sums up the song pretty well, really. And that last verse is just perfect.

Cavity Search just doesn't work. It really doesn't. Not even an "oy vey" can save it.
Callin' in Sick is even worse. When Al's style parodies work, they're amazing. When they don't, they crash hard. This is a very hard crash. It has absolutely nothing going for it.

LUCKILY, it's followed by the polka. Beginning with Loser was just the best move. Sex-Type Thing was done perfectly. Closer would be better if Al'd actually said "fuck", but whatever. Bang and Blame is a bit of a lowpoint. It really adds nothing, and isn't really as famous/memorable as the rest. Ending on Basket Case is an interesting choice, since the line "do you have the time to listen to me whine about nothing and everything all at once" would be a great intro. But ending on a big, happy chorus of "or am I just stoned" was better than I could have imagined.

Since You've Been Gone is an original, but the tune sounds so familiar somehow. Hmm. "I feel almost as bad as I did when you were still here" was the best way to end it. I legitimately wasn't expecting it.
Gump is, like, the best thing ever. If you had asked me several years ago, I would have said the same thing. Like the last song, the ending completely makes the song, but moreso. Like, sure, the song itself is absolutely perfect. But ending on "and that's all I have to say about that" just sells the entire song. I need to see that movie again.

Syndicated Inc. is yet another song about television. Just, stop. Please. Honestly, television references date themselves quickly.
Phony Calls isn't very good. It's rather boring, really. It also has a clip from The Simpsons in the middle, which is really jarring, no matter how much music they put behind it.

The Night Santa Went Crazy wouldn't work if the melody weren't so good. Like, you'd listen to this song for the melody rather than the lyrics, which is kind of the wrong way to go about it when it's Weird Al, right?

Not Al's best, not his worst. You know.

20 Oct 2014: Audioslave/"Revelations" (2006)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/handing-lot-to-me-by-feet.html

This is Audioslave's third and final album. I thought I might as well.

The album opens with the title track and its really neat riff. And that guitar solo? REALLY FUCKING NEATO
One in the Same and Sound of a Gun are only notable for their "pls put this in Guitar Hero" solos.

This album just seems phoned in. It doesn't do anything new or particularly interesting. It's pretty good, but that's about it. I'm glad RATM and Soundgarden both got back together after this.

20 Oct 2014: Carly Rae Jepsen/"Curiosity" (2012)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/holding-you-with-me-today-by-pelvic.html

This EP has two tracks from Kiss (the title track and, well), but also has four new ones. A pretty good marketing tactic, I guess.

The EP opens with Call Me Maybe. Call Me Maybe is a perfect song. There is not a single flaw. It's catchy, well-sung, lyrically brilliant, and even thought-provoking. How could she miss someone "so bad" if he hadn't yet come into her life? A question for a smarter man than I, that's for sure.
Curiosity is a great follow-up. It's nowhere near as brilliant as Call Me Maybe, but it's still catchy. That's a quality people like, or so I've heard.

The rest of the songs sound like songs that didn't make the album because they weren't that good. Any one of them would have been better than Guitar String/Wedding Ring, but whatever.
Absolutely pointless EP, really.

20 Oct 2014: Weezer/"Christmas with" (2008)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/bring-it-on-to-place-by-pushes.html

"we have pushed for the bringing for many long years and we are proud to say that it will soon be brought" - me, 2013

Speaking of pointless EPs, here we are. Note that this is completely different from the Christmas CD I reviewed last month. This one has no originals, and is entirely covers of classic Christmas songs.

From this, I have learned that "O Holy Night" and "Silent Night" are different songs.
Otherwise, competent versions of songs you've heard a million times. Nothing new, nothing exciting.

21 Oct 2014: 311/"Transistor" (1997)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/wanting-to-keep-things-right-by-door-in.html

A song from this album was featured in Guitar Hero: World Tour, so here we are.
This album is a whopping twenty-one tracks that last a total of about an hour. Oh boy.

The first two tracks have this weird reggae thing going on. As soon as I got used to it, the third track was a Beastie Boys song. Oy vey.
Then there's Beautiful Disaster, which has a bit of the reggae feel, but is a bit different. Just fucking decide what you want to do.

The album is about twice as long as it needs to be. The musical whiplash becomes routine after a while, and you begin to notice that the album really has the same two songs over and over, plus Beautiful Disaster.
It's not bad, but it's not great.

21 Oct 2014: The Black Keys/"The Moan" (2004)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/decided-to-have-small-lunch-by-lunge.html

Two new tracks, an alternate version of a song from their first album, and one track directly taken from their first album. Sounds good.

The Moan has a really nice guitar part, which is good, because that's most of the song.
This version of Heavy Soul isn't as good as the original. I can see why they chose that one.

No Fun is a cover of a The Stooges song. It's probably better than the original.
Have Love, Will Travel is the direct-from-album song. It's the best one here, actually.

So, yeah. Not their best, but still better than any of the garbage they released after Attack and Release.

22 Oct 2014: Deep Purple/"The Battle Rages On" (1993)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-favourite-garden-by-garden-of-sound.html

This is the first and only album of the second reunion of Deep Purple Mk. II, and is the last album Mk. II ever recorded, and that won't be changing unless we discover the secrets of necromancy. R.I.P. Jon Lord

Beginning with the title track was a great decision. It sounds like the band never missed a beat (or had a different incarnation) since The House of Blue Light.
There's also a cover of KISS's Lick it Up. It's so different, it doesn't even sound like the same song. Like, if they didn't share the same name, I would never have recognised it. They changed the lyrics, the melody, all the instrumentation, I mean, shit. It's like a whole different song.

A Twist in the Tale has a GREAT riff that I'm sure I've heard before. Hmm.
Solitaire doesn't sound at all like a Deep Purple song, and is pretty bad, really.

This album is very good, aside from Solitaire. A good send-off to Mk. II, I'd say.

22 Oct 2014: KISS/"Carnival of Souls" (1997)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/07/julio-and-case-of-missing-reasonable.html

This was not originally intended for release. It was recorded a couple of years prior to 1997, but was shelved due to something else that I'll explain during the next KISS review.
But the songs leaked and got put on bootleg shit, and, never ones to pass up a money-making opportunity, KISS just released it officially. As a result, it's rather unpolished.

The album opens with Hate, which sounds like a generic metal song. Pass.
Rain would probably be better if the instrumentation was more KISS-like, and it had harmonies or something.

Childhood's End is so boring and repetitive and boring and repetitive and boring also
A few tracks play like KISS wanted to be Alice in Chains for whatever reason.

The worst KISS album.

23 Oct 2014: David Bowie/"1966" (1988)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/12/realise-your-realisation-by-realise.html

This is a short collection of six songs Bowie released as singles in 1966, released in 1988. Calling it now: Bowie's best release of the 1980s.

Bowie's voice is not suited to this type of music. If John Lennon had sung these songs, it would have worked pretty well. Hell, Revolver would have been a better album for it.
The exception is Good Morning Girl, which sounds like a The Zombies song. And I Say to Myself could go either way.

Well, I wasn't far off. Scary Monsters was a bit better, but 1966 is far better than Bowie's last three albums.

23 Oct 2014: Rainbow/"Bent Out of Shape" (1983)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/taking-over-all-of-places-by-place.html

The third and final Rainbow album to feature Joe Lynn Turner. His first album with the band was garbage, but the second was great.

It takes until the eighth track for Blackmore to give us one of those riffs. That's a bit ridiculous.
The album features two filler instrumentals, as well. Seriously, what the fuck?

Other than that, the album is a bit unremarkable. I had higher expectations, honestly.

24 Oct 2014: Them/"The Angry Young Them" (1965)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/broken-people-by-breakers.html

Before Van Morrison did Brown-Eyed Girl or whatever, he was in Them. Them are best known for their hit song, Gloria.

The album opens with some weird filler track. Perfect.
Aside from Gloria, this album can be summed up as uninspired, boring, and pointless. Even Gloria isn't really that great.

24 Oct 2014: Ozzy Osbourne/"Speak of the Devil" (1982)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/okay-with-what-has-happened-tgo-my.html

After Randy Rhoads's death, Ozzy had to do an album of Black Sabbath covers for contractual reasons. As in, the album had to be Black Sabbath covers. This is the only Ozzy album to feature guitarist Brad Gillis.
Ozzy's voice is obviously different between his Black Sabbath and solo years, so this should be interesting, at least.

What the fuck is Brad doing to the Symptom of the Universe guitar solo? His terrible version of it disracts from the fact that Ozzy's vocal wasn't great.
I think his vocal on Snowblind is at least as good as the original, if not better, which is nice. Well, the "don't you think I know what I'm doin'" part throws "better" out the window. It's not bad, but it's shaky as fuck.

Black Sabbath doesn't lose nearly as much effect live as I thought it would. I'm actually really impressed that Ozzy managed it.
As always, War Pigs is great. This time, the ending isn't absolute garbage, which is nice.

I can't decide if The Wizard is annoying or cool.
N.I.B. sounds a lot less sinister here, especially with the "come on"s and "wooh"s.

I've never liked Sweet Leaf, and this album has not changed my mind.
The way they made Iron Man lead into Children of the Grave was pretty neat.

Overall, this is a very good collection of covers. Nothing to displace the originals, but still worth listening to.

25 Oct 2014: Motley Crue/"New Tattoo" (2000)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/bonefinger-coming-by-bones.html

Looking at my list of shit to review, I remembered that I am one album from completing the Motley Crue studio discography. Let's get this over with.
Vince Neil is back (finally), and there's none of that John Corabi bullshit. A return to the good old days, if those ever existed.

I don't know why Vince came back if THIS was what came of it. Like, shit. Uninspired, to say the least. There is literally nothing here that stands out.

25 Oct 2014: Jethro Tull/"Stand Up" (1969)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/going-back-to-where-i-belong-by.html

This is an album that I'd tried to download many, many times before. So here we are, two years later.

You know a band is good when they can hold my attention through a flute-based instrumental.
Aside from that, there's not much worth noting. It's a nice collection of songs, but nothing else really stood out to me.

26 Oct 2014: Gotye/"Like Drawing Blood" (2006)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/hatred-towards-people-who-make-birthday.html

In the first wave of reviews, I reviewed and enjoyed his latest album (the one with Somebody That I Used to Know on it), and had wanted to do this one. WELL HERE WE ARE

"Hello my name is Gotye and I want to be Radiohead but I'm not very good at it"

26 Oct 2014: KISS/"Unplugged" (1996)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/08/julio-and-case-of-missing-goodbye-by.html

When KISS were asked to be on MTV Unplugged, Stanley and Simmons asked Frehley and Criss if they wanted to come back for the show. They agreed for some reason, and it went over so well that they decided to get the original line-up back together. This was released before Carnival of Souls, but recorded after.

Plaster Caster sounds a lot better unplu-that is totally an electric guitar why is it even here get out of here you
Sure Know Something is absolutely brilliant unplugged.

2,000 Man is absolutely horrible. It goes on forever and never ends.
Was Beth always this boring?

The album ends with Rock and Roll All Night, which is about the same as ever.

The best KISS album, despite some poor choices.