Reviews Supplemental

17 Sep 2014: Rick Springfield/"Working Class Dog" (1981)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/never-stop-stopping-by-stoppers.html

Rick Springfield and his only song appear here.

Speaking of Rick Springfield's only song, Jessie's Girl has always bothered me. Why is there a man named "Jessie"? "Jessie" is a girl's name. The song's not about lesbians, because "Jessie" is referred to as a "him".
fuck you rick

The songs that don't exist all sound the same, and are just okay.

17 Sep 2014: Buffalo Springfield/"Buffalo Springfield" (1966)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/patio-furniture-by-pat-on-patio.html

Featuring their one song, For What it's Worth. Neil Young, Stephen Stills, you know. No Crosby or Nash, but what can you do?

So, like. This kind of music is the hardest to review. There's nothing bad to take about, there's nothing amazing to talk about, and there's nothing to joke about. It's a very good album. It does nothing wrong. Great review, right?

18 Sep 2014: David Bowie/"Let's Dance" (1983)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/fruits-of-your-labour-by-use-that-as.html

Featuring Stevie Ray Vaughan on lead guitar, or so I've heard.
If you've heard the title track, you know what you're getting into.

I'm not entirely sure I understand the whole "church on time" bit of Modern Love.
China Girl was co-written by Iggy Pop, and it shows. It's far too long, it's repetitive as shit, and it ends up being boring.

The title track grooves pretty hard. In a "just listening" context, it's just the right length. It drags on forever in Rock Band, though.
Without You is horrible. It sounds like someone who can't sing is trying to do just that. Bowie, you cannot hit those high notes. Stop trying.

The backing vocals on Shake It are awful.

Overall, not a very good album. Modern Love and the title track are basically the only songs worth it.

18 Sep 2014: Chicago/"Chicago: Skipped Numbers are Edgy" (1972)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/bonnet-and-clydesdales-by-horses-who.html

The follow-up to Chicago III, featuring everyone's favourite, Saturday in the Park.

Could an album be so jazzy that it just loops around and becomes retarded? I love these long, boring sections in nearly every song, let me fucking tell you.
The O'Reilly Auto Parts ad between the two parts of Dialogue is classy as fuck.
O
O
O
O'REILLY
AUTO PARTS
OW

Of course, the second part of Dialogue is wholly unnecessary, since it just retreads ground that the first part trod much better. I used a dictionary to make sure I got the correct past tense of "tread", so don't say "trod? really?", because "trod" is correct.

Then we get to Saturday in the Park. Probably the best Chicago song. Best on this album, for sure. It's actually memorable and good, unlike most of this generic jazz-ass bullshit-ass bullshit.


Honestly, I'm glad I chose this album. If a single album is this shit, God only knows how fucking horrible their usual double album-ass output is.

19 Sep 2014: Megadeth/"Supercollider" (2013)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/games-of-games-by-games.html

The third Broderick album.
What's there to really say about Megadeth after Friedman left? Well, the third Poland album was neat. Everything else is just kind of there. For every neat song like Moto Psycho, you get a dozen Return to Hangars. Uninspired bullshit, really. Is Mustaine ever going to get his second wind? I kind of gave up that hope after The Hardest Part of Letting Go.

The title track has this weird chorus that would fit in a Katy Parry song without anyone raising an eyebrow.
Beginning of Sorrow's chorus is also oddly un-metal. I don't know why.

The Blackest Crow is the best song here. It's got this country music-ass guitar in addition to the standard metal bullshit. It's more inspired than anything else the band has done in the last ten years.
The album ends on a pointless cover of Cold Sweat. I don't know why it's there, but it's fine.

This is a much better album than Thirteen, but that isn't saying much. It's the same uninspired Megadeth shit we've been getting since United Abominations. It's probably the best since The System Has Failed, but you know.

19 Sep 2014: Chickenfoot/"Chickenfoot" (2009)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/wrapping-up-douches-by-another-runner.html

Van Halen + RHCP + Satch = ???

From the word go, Hagar sounds awful. It's like he aged fifty years in only twenty.
Years and years of research have finally yielded fruit. Oh Yeah is the single most generic rock song ever created. It's so perfect in its genericness. The riff is pretty good, though.

Hell, this entire album might be the most generic ever. Great job, guys.

20 Sep 2014: Judas Priest/"Painkiller' (1990)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/bullets-by-proofs.html

The album begins with the title track, which is about the best thing they could do. By that I meant its placement, but the song itself is, too. Those drums, those guitars, those VOCALS HOLY SHIT
Honestly, in spite of everything I may have said about Iron Maiden or Megadeth or whoever, Painkiller as a song is the epitome of heavy metal. Six minutes and none of it feels wasted. Everything about this song is perfect.

Well, thinking about it now, maybe beginning with the epitome of metal sets the bar a little high. Hell Patrol does an admirable job of following Painkiller, but it's just not Painkiller.
All Guns Blazing starts off with just Halford screaming, and it's all the better for it. It's so cheesy and stupid. Whenever I hear this song, I remember this YouTube video where a guy filmed himself lifting a toilet's lid up and down in-time with the vocals of this song. It was just so perfect, and now it's gone. R.I.P. toilet video

Between the Hammer and the Anvil has a Power Rangers-ass guitar solo. GO GO POWER RANGERS

This is Judas Priest's best album, and one of the best of the genre. Pretty fucking great, really.

20 Sep 2014: Queens of the Stone Age/"Complication" (2004)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/dying-to-have-by-dyers.html

A short EP by everyone's favourite Josh Homme-fronted band. It's five b-sides and a remix.

The first track is a The Kinks cover. It works in a way I'd never expected when I was told "Queens of the Stone Age are covering The Kinks".
The second track takes a long time to get going, but the speed-up is pretty sweet, and everything after it is great.

Next is a remix of No One Knows that was featured in SSX 3. It's got this really empty, desolate feel. I usually hate remixes like this, but it works very well, actually. It should have ended the EP, especially since it's followed by something completely different that is kind of unwanted after the remix.

Overall, this EP is a bit disappointing. There's nothing of any consequence here, aside from the No One Knows remix. Shame.

21 Sep 2014: U2/"War" (1983)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/rides-by-riding-lawnmowers.html

Forget about everything you may think about Bono. This was U2's third album, before the whole Bono thing. Not before Bono was a guy, but before he was a "thing".

The album begins with one of U2's classics, Sunday Bloody Sunday. It deserves any praise it might get. You can tell that Bono gives a shit here. This was before he didn't, after all.
Two Hearts Beat as One has a pretty neat riff. Nice job, The Edge. I also like the skipping. It's neat.


So, I've made fun of U2 in the past. I've even done a review where I exclusively referred to them as Coldplay. This album, however, is 100% deserving of the hype and praise. It's their best, by a mile. It's sincere, musically interesting, and most of all, enjoyable.

21 Sep 2014: Golden Earring/"Cut" (1982)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/finally-here-by-dk-crew.html

The guys who did Radar Love, sans Radar Love.

The album begins with a new wave song. Admirable, really, especially because it's done well.
Twilight Zone is what all one-hit wonders strive for: the mythical second hit. It's definitely the band's best song. You can do a lot A LOT worse than being known for Twilight Zone and Radar Love.

Overall, the album's not great. It's a lot better than the one with Radar Love on it, though.

22 Sep 2014: John Fogerty/"Centrefield" (1985)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/nights-filled-with-longer-hours-by.html

I'd wanted to do his self-titled, but I GUESS IT DOESN'T EXIST
I guess I'll do the next album after that, which was released a whole ten years later.

Wow, Fogerty doesn't even sound like himself. It sounds like they got whoever to do an impression of him. The things he does when he sings are present, the techniques, the way his voice shakes when he holds a note, but the voice behind them is WAY too high to be John Fogerty.
I can't get past it. It just doesn't work. This "John Fogerty"'s voice is just not right. It doesn't work. Why is it like this? What happened?

22 Sep 2014: Paul McCartney/"Unplugged" (1991)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/losing-my-mind-by-mind-mound.html

I was going to do the last of his regular albums, Memory Almost Full, but I GUESS IT DOESN'T EXIST
I'm going to listen to a Paul McCartney album today, dammit.

Covers, songs by The Beatles, songs from Paul's solo career, a song Paul wrote when he was 14, this baby's got it all. Unless you want songs by Wings. Then you're FUCKED.
I would have liked the album to have both Blackbird and Bluebird, but that's just a dream for now. Maybe when I review Wings Over America.

The cover art is great. Maybe not on its own, but when put together with Choba B CCCP, it's great.

I think that this version of Here, There, and Everywhere is better than the one on Revolver. If the song had been recorded like this in 1966, oh man.
She's a Woman is the first unexpected, left-field choice. Paul wrote a shitload of songs in The Beatles alone that are obvious as shit for this sort of thing, so a song like She's a Woman that's got a more hoarse vocal and is more uptempo is just completely unexpected. It works extremely well, though. Honestly, it's the best thing here. Probably because of how unexpected and different it is.

High-Heeled Sneakers is another absolutely "what" choice, even for a cover. And again, it's one of the best here.
Ain't No Sunshine is fucking bullshit. I was looking forward to hearing Paul McCartney sing Ain't No Sunshine, and... HE DOESN'T
WOW I SURE LOVE HEARING BACKING MUSICIAN SING THIS SONG

Ending on Junk was an interesting choice, to say the least. A bad choice, to be completely honest. Junk is a great song, but it's a middle song, not a finale. You know what song should have ended the album? Hey Jude. Where is Hey Jude, anyway?
AND IT'S INSTRUMENTAL HOLY SHIT WOW

23 Sep 2014: Julian Casablancas + The Voidz/"Tyranny" (2014)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/09/julio-and-case-of-missing.html

Came out today, on CD and cassette tape. I tell stupid jokes a lot, but that wasn't one of them.
Julian Casablancas is the guy from The Strokes, in case you forgot. Their last album was absolutely horrible, in case you forgot.

This album is just weird "whatever the fuck Julian feels like" bullshit, but it's more enjoyable than anything he's done since Phrazes for the Young, Under Cover of Darkness notwithstanding.
Like, shit. It's kind of enjoyable. It's neat, if nothing else. After the piles of shit that were Angles and Comedown Machine, I'm grateful.

23 Sep 2014: Alice in Chains/"MTV Unplugged" (1996)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/walls-inside-walls-by-walls.html

After yesterday's McCartney Unplugged, I remembered that I never reviewed this one. Alice in Chains's performance is, like, legendary and shit. Second only to Nirvana's.
Alice in Chains did the same thing Nirvana did and, rather than doing THE HITS, they just did songs that would fit the format. No covers, though.

And it works. Unlike Nirvana, this album has the best versions of all of these songs. Especially Down in a Hole. I mean, shit. Frogs is still boring filler, though. The song they wrote just for the show, The Killer is Me, isn't too great. Should have just ended after Over Now.

24 Sep 2014: KISS/"Hot in the Shade" (1989)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/05/julio-and-case-of-missing-netherworld.html

I haven't reviewed a KISS album in over a week. Is that even legal?
KISS closed off the '80s with their longest album ever, clocking in at just under an hour.

Despite the sheer volume of content, there's nothing to it. "Uninspired" isn't even the half of it. They didn't try at all, and made something that's neither bad nor good. It's just there.

24 Sep 2014: Rod Stewart/"Unplugged and Seated" (1993)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/having-to-have-by-halves.html

YES YES YES
NEVER GOING TO STOP

Rod Stewart is here with his collection of hits inside and outside of The Faces.
Opening with Hot Legs was a poor decision. Why open with filler? It's not like the man is lacking in A-material. Open with Maggie May or Young Turks or whatever, then go for the filler.

Naturally, the opening filler is followed by a classic, Tonight's the Night. After the last song, we definitely needed reassurance that everything is gonna be all right. Shame that Rod is drowned out by his backing vocalists.
From the name, I assumed Handrags and Gladrags would be filler, but BOY WAS I WRONG

Stay with Me being the fourteenth song was a bad move. Rod's voice is all tired and shit. Shame, because it's the best song he was ever involved with.

Other than that, it's about what you'd expect. Good performances, good songs, you know.

25 Sep 2014: Audioslave/"Out of Exile" (2005)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/hello-to-guys-by-men.html

Their debut, which is supposedly their best album, was remarkably average. But let's continue anyway.

Be Yourself is the only Audioslave song I really like. It's actually memorable, for one.
Add Doesn't Remind Me to that list. That guitar solo, wow.

Drown Me Slowly might not be as memorable as the other two, but the solo's pretty fucking sweet.

This album was much better than I was expecting somehow. Morello and Cornell brought it, I guess.

25 Sep 2014: Weezer/"Christmas CD" (2000)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/rounding-out-day-by-squares.html

I know it's a bit late, but I'm ready for a Weezeriffic Christmas RIGHT THE FUCK NOW

The EP opens with The Christmas Song. It's a sad song about being alone on Christmas. Stood up on Christmas, even. The guitars, despite the distortion, sound like they belong in a Christmas song. The entire song is just brilliant. It plays like a Christmasier version of any given song from Pinkerton.
And then there's Christmas Celebration, which sounds like any given song from The Green Album. Holy shit.

THIS EP IS THE PERFECT BRIDGE BETWEEN PINKERTON AND THE GREEN ALBUM
IT'S LIKE
WOAH

26 Sep 2014: Weezer/"The Blue Album" (1994) REVISITED MOTHERFUCKERS
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.in/2010/08/feeling-way-i-do-about-you-now-by-could.html

You'll still get your two shitty reviews later, don't worry.

The album begins with My Name is Jonas. That acoustic guitar part is just perfect, and makes the song really memorable. Even without it, though, I'm sure the song would still be great. The "the workers are going home" bits are just right in how they sound. Not too sloppy, but not too perfect.
No One Else is just kind of there. It's nice, but not the best follow-up to My Name is Jonas. I tend to get it confused with No Other One from Pinkerton, which is a much better song. Not a fair comparison, since Pinkerton is fucking perfect, but still.

The World Has Turned and Left Me Here is mostly notable for that opening electric/acoustic mishmash. It's not a very remarkable song otherwise, but it's nice.
Buddy Holly isn't very notable on paper, but the execution is pretty sweet. The little trills and the "whassamatter" part sell the whole thing, really. I'm glad it's the shortest song on the album, though.

Undone has a very memorable intro guitar line. When I was reviewing Black Sabbath's 13, I couldn't get it out of my head that one of Iommi's riffs was this song exactly. The entire song is pretty much exactly why people like Weezer and still put up with their shit, hoping against hope that their NEXT album will be the big one that returns to The Blue Album and Pinkerton. Hell, I'd settle for The Green Album and Maladroit. October 7, mark your calendar.

Surf Wax America is pretty much what The Green Album wanted to be. It's fun, it's catchy, it's fucking great. "You take your car to work; I'll take my board, and when you're out of fuel, I'm still afloat" is a pretty great line, which it would have to be for how much it's sung.
Then it's followed by Say it Ain't So, which was an odd choice. We go from a fun song about surfing to a slow jam about alcoholism and its effects on a family. Despite the mood whiplash, it works. The opening riff is great and memorable without being overbearing, and the song picks up at exactly the right moments.

Not much to say about In the Garage or Holiday. They're not filler by any means, but they're just nice. Nothing spectacular.
The album ends on Only in Dreams, which clocks in at an astounding eight minutes. At best, it's just kind of there. You pretty much get it right away. If it ended at 3:30, no one would mind. It's at least twice as long as it should be, but it doesn't really matter. It's not the worst example of "wayyyyyyyyyyy too long" syndrome I've heard. It's probably the least offensive example, really.

The Blue Album was an incredible debut. It and Pinkerton are 100% five-star albums. Pinkerton is much better (untouchably so), but you can't hold things to that standard, or the rating system would collapse and you'd have just 1s and 2s.
The Blue Album is better than the sum of its parts, and deserves all the praise it gets.

26 Sep 2014: Sonic Youth/"The Eternal" (2009)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/calling-call-by-callers.html

Whenever I think about Sonic Youth, I always think I should review more of their albums. Then there's this one that opens with a Kim Gordon song and I just think "why do I even bother".

Let me just get through this: I like Thurston Moore. He's got a very cool voice, and I'd probably love Sonic Youth if it was just him. I don't like Kim Gordon. Her voice is so completely the opposite of Thurston's that it really bugs me that it's the same band. If Sonic Youth was just Kim, I'd never give them a second thought and never listen to them again.

The album starts out really boring with no sense of purpose. Once track nine hits, though, we get into the kind of music I came here for. Shame about the eight tracks before that, and tracks eleven and twelve. You know what? Fuck this album.

26 Sep 2014: John Lennon and Yoko Ono/"Double Fantasy" (1980)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/hello-to-hells-by-hells-mels.html

This album review will be completely different than any other. Rather than listening to the whole album, I will skip half of it. There's absolutely no point to listening to Yoko Ono wail for half an hour.
To be completely fair, I will still rate it a half-star, as that is the highest possible rating that I could see anything where Yoko Ono sings getting.

Starting now, let's pretend that the Yoko half doesn't exist.


26 Sep 2014: John Lennon/"Double Fantasy" (1980)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/hello-to-hells-by-hells-mels.html

The last thing John Lennon released in his lifetime. His final EP, as it were.

Just Like Starting Over opens the EP. It's pretty unremarkable, really. It's neat, but I've come to expect more from John.
Cleanup Time is only notable because it totally sounds like John just burped mid-line and they left it in

Watching the Wheels was a decent hit. It's probably the best song yet, so good job?
Dear Yoko is a better version of Oh Yoko from Imagine, so that's nice.


An unremarkable collection of songs from John Lennon. Real shame about everything that happened. Three stars, and I think I'm being generous.

27 Sep 2014: Jimmy Eat World/"Futures" (2004)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/09/delight-in-delights-by-delightful.html

Guitars, vocals, drums, bass(?), this baby's got it all. Plus it has a few songs that were in games from my childhood, so that's nice.

So, Pain is pretty much the only thing here worth coming for. Pain is great, but the rest is, like, you hear one song and you've heard them all.

27 Sep 2014: Queen/"Flash Gordon" (1980)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/10/clocks-fare-well-by-timeguys.html

The only original line-up Queen album that I haven't reviewed. I have no idea what the fuck I'm getting into.

The album begins with dialogue from the film(?), then cuts to Flash's Theme in the same track. Flash's Theme itself is pretty neat, but the minute of dialogue is kind of retarded. Like, I really, really like the main theme.
Football Fight not only has the best name in the history of music, but it's also pretty sweet. Brian May's guitar-playing is perfect as always.


So, yeah, this album is full of filler bullshit, but I had more fun than I probably should have.

28 Sep 2014: The Rolling Stones/"The Rolling Stones" (1964)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/10/never-knowing-nothing-by-know-somethings.html

The Rolling Stones's first album. All but three of the twelve songs are covers. Two of the three non-covers? Filler. THE ROLLING STONES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY, FOLKS

Other than that, we've got a bunch of pretty good versions of classics, but nothing super-amazing. Humble beginnings, I guess.
Ending on Walkin' the Dog was a horrible move, since Aerosmith did it so much better just nine years later
Don't these people have any foresight

28 Sep 2014: Rick Astley/"Whenever You Need Somebody" (1987)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/10/embearassed-by-hit-new-television.html

The album begins with Never Gonna Give You Up. To be totally honest, it's not a good opener. It doesn't feel at all like an opener. A second or third track, definitely.
What else is there to say about this song? From pop hit in the '80s to meme in the twenty-first century, it's covered two whole generations of youths. There has to be something to be said about this.

The second track is the one that should have opened the album, the title track. It feels much more like an opener, and it's a better song. Two songs in a row that open with the same drum fill is a bit silly, though. P.S. The girl in the music video is my waifu
Then there's Together Forever. By opening with three near-perfect hits, Rick has set up impossible expectations for the rest of the album. It should have closed the album, as it is its best song. It's especially jarring because track four is pure filler.

Slipping Away is more than a bit groovy. Big fan, actually.


The album never again hits the highs of its first three tracks, but the rest is still great. It's a great album, but I kind of wish the opening trio had been spread out. On the other hand, this album has the second-best opening trio in the history of music I've heard (discounting compilations), after The Beatles' Help!.