Reviews Supplemental

22 May 2015: DLC
Week 171: Today's first review
Week 172: Jefferson Airplane (done), Santana (scheduled for later), and today's second review

When I say "scheduled for later", I have a reason for that. See, I'd already gotten down ALL the RB and GH games months ago. And I want to have even numbers (so it fits within however many days perfectly), so I've skipped some albums in RB DLC so I can do them when they become either on a GH on-disc setlist or GH DLC.
I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING FOR ONCE

22 May 2015: Billy Joel/"Stormfront" (1989)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/03/julio-and-case-of-missing-doom-by.html

It was a strange choice to open with whatever this is rather than We Didn't Start the Fire, but whatever.
The first track goes on for about two minutes too long, which is a bummer.

Were the vocals on the chorus of We Didn't Start the Fire always this bad? The song would be much better without a chorus, really.
The already mediocre The Downeaster Alexa is let down further by the "ay yiy yiy oh" shit at the end.

If it weren't already bad enough, this album has PRO-ROMAN PROPAGANDA

bad album

22 May 2015: Blood, Sweat, and Tears/"Blood, Sweat, and Tears" (1968)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/02/julio-and-case-of-missing-touchdown-by.html

I'm going to hate this.

Starting with a filler jazz odyssey is absolutely BRILLIANT. FUCKING TOP-NOTCH TEN OUT OF TEN FUCKING BULLSHIT-ASS FUCKING-ASS YOU KNOW THE REST
Smiling Phases should have ended at the 1:30 mark. It doesn't have any reason to stick around for another three-and-a-half minutes.

I don't get the weird horse clops in And When I Die.
God Bless the Child is fine until the middle is all upbeat and weird and makes no fucking sense. I'm all for making a song your own, but this is ridiculous. It makes no sense and is incredibly self-indulgent in the worst possible way.

There is also a gigantic filler track near the end, which is nice.

Ah, I remember when BS&T's self titled was my favorite album. I still enjoy it, but I can imagine you not liking it. It's fun because it's basically more straight ahead jazz rock than Chicago while also essentially having no guitars on the album (I think More And More has the only guitar solo on the album iirc). Their biggest failure is that the jazz sections are just tacked on. I'd much rather hear full songs of the jazz solo sections.
But I think God Bless The Child is the best song on the album, probably the most cohesive song on the album even if it does turn into a latin samba for a while.

You might like Laura Nyro's debut album. She was the one who originally wrote And When I Die, I think it's more up your alley. That whole album is great.

I'll have to check that out when I'm done with Rock Band 3 DLC in a year or so.

23 May 2015: DLC
In addition to what I said yesterday, on week 172, there were also two DragonForce songs (done). Sorry.
Week 173: The J. Geils Band (done), Joy Division (NO), and today's first review
Week 174: Stevie-ass Nicks and her Fleet-ass-wood-ass Mac-ass BULLSHIT (no)
Week 175: Two "literally who"s (no), Mastodon (scheduled for later), plus both today's second review and tomorrow's first review

23 May 2015: Grand Funk Railroad/"Shinin' On" (1974)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/02/julio-and-case-of-missing-pastry-by.html

If not for Carry Me Through and Mr. Pretty Boy, this would be a really great album. Shame about those two tracks existing.

23 May 2015: Ohio Players/"Honey" (1975)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/02/julio-and-case-of-missing-footballers.html

The title track kind of sucks, but the album cover makes me understand why they did it.
I would have called this album Love Rollercoaster, and had a bunch of nude women on a rollercoaster, but that's just me.

This album could have been just Love Rollercoaster as a single and it would lose absolutely nothing.

24 May 2015: DLC
Week 176: Today's second review and tomorrow's first review

24 May 2015: Tommy Tutone/"Tommy Tutone 2" (1981)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/02/julio-and-case-of-missing-head-trauma.html

Let's talk about album construction.
Let's say you have a gigantic hit (like, say, Jenny), and then nothing but irredeemable filler*. Back in the 1981, you couldn't just hit the "skip track" button on your iTunes or whatever. You had to go through the entire fucking thing to get to the song you wanted.

This is why putting Jenny as the first track on the album was the best possible decision and I fully endorse it.
Even if I can't sing along with it because I always get the number confused with something else.

*This album somehow defies the odds and produces a few more good songs, surprisingly. I'm actually legitimately impressed.

24 May 2015: Roy Orbison/"Lonely and Blue" (1960)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/02/julio-and-case-of-missing-it-stopping.html

Roy Orbison's debut.
It's a real shame about Raindrops. A real fucking shame, since it's the only sub-terrific song on the album, and it's fucking BAD.

25 May 2015: DLC
Albums I've already reviewed:
Week 177: Faith No More (done), Loverboy (done), Phish (done), Stone Temple Pilots (done), and Culture Club (no)
Week 178: Foo Fighters (done), Lordi (no), and today's second review

25 May 2015: KISS/"Alive III" (1993)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/02/julio-and-case-of-missing-not-cold-legs.html

I don't know if the songs are actually from Alive III, but WHAT THE FUCK EVER

Right of the bat, I can tell you that this is better than either of the first two Alives. It's distinctly lacking in filler when compared with Alive and Alive II. Also, it has the band's best song, I Was Made for Lovin' You.
Spotify playing the O'Reilly Autoparts ad right after Paul said "and it goes like this" was brilliant.

Why is it that every single other version of Rock and Roll All Night is better than the famous one? The Alive IV version is still the best one, but we'll get to that one later.
Also that is the best version of the Star-Spangled Banner I've ever heard. Better than Hendrix, better than Nirvana.

The best KISS album.

25 May 2015: Run DMC/"King of Rock" (1985)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/02/julio-and-case-of-missing-meal-ticket.html

They say they rock the house, but I'm not hearing it. I could fall asleep right now.
Ironically, You Talk Too Much is about three minutes too long, and that's being generous. Take your own advice, please.

26 May 2015: DLC
Week 179: Peter Frampton (done) and today's first review
Week 180: Foreigner (done) and Lady Gaga (no)
Week 181: Ozzy Osbourne (done)
Week 182: Today's second review and tomorrow's first review

26 May 2015: Pantera/"Far Beyond Driven" (1994)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/02/julio-and-case-of-missing-shoulder-by.html

I can't say that Pantera have ever been one of my favourites. They're fine in small doses, I suppose. Unfortunately, this isn't a small dose.
I mean, it's a pretty good album, but I think it outstays its welcome a bit. They should have worked on making seven or eight great tracks rather than twelve pretty good ones. I'm Broken is great as it is, but that's about it.

26 May 2015: Bruno Mars/"Doo-Wops and Hooligans" (2010)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/02/julio-and-case-of-missing-oboe-by-elbows.html

His real name is Peter Hernandez. Ouch.
I've heard over half of this album without even trying. It's all fine. There is nothing here that makes me think "yes I love this" or "no I hate this". It's fine.

The best song here is The Other Side, and only because of Cee-Lo. You know, this whole album would be better if Cee-Lo were singing.

27 May 2015: DLC
Week 183: a-ha (done), Chumbawamba (no), today's second review, and tomorrow's first review

27 May 2015: Rise Against/"Endgame" (2011)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/02/julio-and-case-of-missing-quick-run-lv.html

Help is on the Way has a neat opening riff, but the song itself is nothing special. The riff is kind of wasted, to be honest.

This album sounds about the same as the others, I suppose, but it really feels worse in a lot of ways. It doesn't have that same spark the rest of them had. Phoned in, I suppose you'd say.

27 May 2015: Avenged Sevenfold/"Waking the Fallen" (2003)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/02/julio-and-case-of-missing-railroading.html

Before even listening to it, I can tell that this album is far too long.
Of course, my fears were proved unfounded when the album began with a filler intro track.

When this album came out, Avenged Sevenfold hadn't yet figured out their stylistic niche. Thus, this album is even more garbage than usual. Probably because I can't stand the harsh screamy vocals that won't let up on this album.

Surprisingly, the best song here is the nine-minute I Won't See You Tonight Part One. Part Two sucks, but whatever.

28 May 2015: DLC
Week 184: Maroon 5 (done) and today's second review

28 May 2015: Live/"Throwing Copper" (1994)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/02/julio-and-case-of-missing-seat-by-on.html

This album is too quiet. I really don't get why there isn't a standard for how loud an album should be. Some are really fucking loud for no good reason, then there's this shit where I have to turn the volume up to infinity and then go deaf when I try to do anything else.

"Our love is like water / Pinned down and abused for being strange"
What the FUCK does that even mean? How does the second sentence even apply to water? Compared to this, lines like "only time will tell if we stand the test of time" and "exit light enter night" sound like fucking 10/10 songwriting. I'm more coherent after staying awake for three days straight while having the Goddamn flu than this motherfucker.

White Discussion is probably one of the worst songs ever written, but it does have this gem:
"All this discussion, though politically correct, is dead beyond destruction, though it leaves me quite erect"
A bit too many "though"s, though. I'd probably replace the second "though" with an "and" or "but".


This is a good time to tally all of the ratings I've given in the GH/RB project so far:

5: 1
4.5: 8
4: 15
3.5: 33
3: 51
2.5: 51
2: 44
1.5: 31
1: 25
0.5: 19

28 May 2015: Puddle of Mudd/"Come Clean" (2001)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/02/julio-and-case-of-missing-february-by.html

29 May 2015: DLC
Week 185: Both of today's reviews

29 May 2015: Three Doors Down/"Away from the Sun" (2002)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/03/julio-and-case-of-missing-snake-on.html

Aside from When I'm Gone (the requisite hit) and arguably the title track, this album was phoned in as fuck.

29 May 2015: Poison/"Flesh and Blood" (1990)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/03/julio-and-case-of-missing-greed-by.html

Prior to today, I had reviewed two Poison albums. One was extremely mediocre, and the other was kind of bad. I hope this one is better. Spoilers: It's not.
Either way, this is likely the last of their albums I'll review. I really don't want to delve into what Bret Michaels has been up to in the twenty-first century.

Starting with anything but Unskinny Bop was a poor decision. Starting with whatever the fuck this is was a retarded decision.

30 May 2015: DLC
Week 186: Buffalo Springfield (done), R.E.M. (done), System of a Down (done), and today's first review
Week 187: A "literally who", today's second review, and tomorrow's first review

30 May 2015: The Vapours/"New Clear Days" (1980)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/03/julio-and-case-of-missing-effort-by.html

This FINALLY completes GHERT80s. I reconstructed the track listing (per Wikipedia) through a series of YouTube videos. I'm probably not going to do that for many more albums.
Despite having a huge hit in Turning Japanese, The Vapours only created two albums.

If you had asked me to identify the artist of most of these songs without any hints, I would have said Elvis Costello without hesitation.

30 May 2015: Erasure/"The Innocents" (1988)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/03/julio-and-case-of-missing-whatever-by.html

bad album

Because of how badly the Erasure album went (and because this one's a fucking DOUBLE ALBUM), I'm skipping Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

31 May 2015: DLC
Week 188: Soundgarden (done)
Week 189: Today's first review
Week 190: Heart (done), non-album singles (no), and today's second review

31 May 2015: Yes/"90125" (1983)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/03/julio-and-case-of-missing-hearts-by.html

Naming your album a five-digit number is a fucking stupid idea. I don't care if it's a zip code or some super-secret thing, it just makes it hard to remember. The last thing you want is for your album's name to be hard to remember.

Owner of a Lonely Heart is the best Yes song by miles. That isn't a knock against, like, Roundabout, but Owner of a Lonely Heart is a 10/10 in every possible way.

31 May 2015: Beastie Boys/"Hot Sauce Committee Part Two" (2011)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/03/julio-and-case-of-missing-night-away-by.htmlh

This album has an interesting history, but I'll just let you use Wikipedia for once.
Cliffnotes version:
>MCA died (R.I.P.)
>Hot Sauce Committee two-album project made into one album
>The one album was called "Part Two" for some reason, despite the fact that the material from it was originally intended to be Part One
>Part One (Two) doesn't exist

01 Jun 2015: "No. 5" by The Beatles

So, like, it's A Hard Day's Night.

01 Jun 2015: DLC
Week 191: Today's first review
Week 192: Fall Out Boy (done), Deep Purple (done)
Week 193: Incubus (done)
Week 194: Red Hot Chili Peppers (done)
Week 195: A "literally who" and today's second review

01 Jun 2015: Def Leppard/"High 'n' Dry" (1981)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/03/julio-and-case-of-missing-decapitation.html

Quality-wise, I hope this album doesn't leave me


Def Leppard were always one of those bands that I should have liked, in theory, but never really did, and I can't put my finger on why.
I'm so glad they followed the best song here with filler. So fucking glad.

01 Jun 2015: Cheap Trick/"At Budokan" (1978)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2015/03/julio-and-case-of-missing.html

This is one of "the" live albums, right? Along with, like, Alive, um, MTV Unplugged in New York, and, uh, Get Your Ya-Yas Out? How the West Was Won?
I don't see it.


I've always thought Need Your Love would be absolutely brilliant 10/10 if it were, like, half as long. It didn't need to be seven-and-a-half minutes. It certainly doesn't need to be fucking TEN.

People say that this is the "definitive" Cheap Trick album, but they're wrong. Heaven Tonight is just so much better.