small times for formidable people

666 by Aphrodite's Child (1971)
some prog album by some greek band that is based on some book about some religion
It is two discs long, which is tiresome. I started it last night and am finishing it now. Needless to say, i won't be commenting on every song
The instruments are nice, the drums really give the thing a nice feel, the keyboards are nice and sometimes go synthy, and the singing is decent but not common
let's start with some highlights from side one:
The album has two songs that are shorter than 30 seconds, and they start and end the first disc. why
A lot of the tunes are like "hmm that's nice" but not very memorable. Very few stood out, but they all sound nice. A lot of the songs are prog in the sense that Money by Pink Floyd is prog; they use weird time signatures but use pretty standard riffs and jams and it all sounds great for the most part. Unforunately, they do a lot of weird spoken chantings and quotations from the Bible throughout. all of the songs are based on the book of Revelation.
The Battle of the Locusts / Do It were far and away the best songs on side one. Two separate songs that transition into each other that jam so hard. Then there's a filler song between Do It and the next best song on that side called The Beast mmm
iirc, Babylon was good as well.
The Four Horseman is super catchy and has a lovely melody mmm
The only song I didn't like was Seven Bowls. Just a bit too ambient and chanty for me.
and now onto disc two
filler first song that transitioned perfectly into the second, which i liked
third song is just alright, followed by some ambience.
∞ is very.......different. i'm fairly certain it's a woman chanting while also being stimulated to climax with little to no backing instruments. why
Hic and Nunc, wow one of the better songs. beautiful gang vocals and it sounds like it's being done live wowow
Pretty much every song is less than 3 minutes up to this point, however, this song is 20 minutes long. let's see how this goes...actually it's not bad. Pretty good background music, nice instruments, yeah, ends kind of bad though
Last song!? Will it end this magnum opus well!? a slow ballad so far, it had better build It doesn't really, but it sounds good regardless.

Highlights: Babylon, The Battle of the Locusts, Do It, The Four Horsemen, The Beast, Hic and Nunc
Lowlights: Seven Bowls, The System, Ofis, ∞

huh

Innerspeaker by Tame Impala (2010)
this is one of my favorite albums ever
think john lennon on vocals with super reverb and super groovy guitar work. That's what this is.
There's only two songs I could even begin to consider lowlights, so I will
one is the third song called Alter Ego. The verses can be a bit obnoxious on some listens, but perfectly okay others.
the other is the song Runway, Houses, City, Clouds, which is like 7 minutes long and kind of lame for 4 minutes and then grand for the last 3.
for good measure, i'll make the last song a lowlight too since it kind of ends the album lamely.
and now Highlights
The song Jeremy's Storm is super wow, a nice laid back instrumental that sounds super grand.
second favorite song is called Bold Arrow of Time which has some of the nicest vocal/guitar synergy on the album. I can't really describe it, except for good.
Lucidity has the best vocal melody on the album and some nice guitar song
Solitude is Bliss has the best drums and a great riff/progression/thing on the verses. mmm what a song
Expectation has some interesting keys work, but kind of gets long after a while. good in general though

highlights: Jeremy's Storm, Bold Arrow of Time, Lucidity, Solitude is Bliss, Expectation
lowlights: Runway, Houses, City, Clouds, Alter Ego, I Don't Really Mind

Black Foliage: Animation Music Vol. 1 by The Olivia Tremor Control (1999)
An interesting album, it sounds years behind its time. A good friend likened it to if the Beach Boys and the Beatles had a baby I would say this album is more like a mix of Magical Mystery Tour and Odyssey and Oracle but to each his own and they're all pretty much the same bands anyway. a certain subsect of the internet loves this band because mr. mangum was in it for a while i guess
The songs sure are great. They utilize a lot of weird sounds and throw them in all over tunes. They have great harmonies, fuzz bass, and they use tons of instruments.
They also use a lot of like 10 second or less songs, more as quick interludes while also leaving the songs independent of themselves. They're pretty filler if you listen on shuffle, but they make the album quite nice flowwise.

The album is kind of long, so let's just look at some highlights:
starts with a filler tune, however the first "real" song is great. So catchy and nice.
hideaway was great as well.
wasn't a super fan of A Sleepy Company. kind of weird progression
Grass Cannons was kind of the same way, interesting instrument choices.
ugh this format of reviewing gets old after a while, None of the songs so far are bad, infact quite the opposite. Just some are more opposite than others those that are great are GREAT, the others are a bit too ambient and strange
I Have Been Floated is super amazing. This album is real good so far. REAL GOOD.
There are five Black Foliages that are all pretty lacklustre and pretty fillerish
The Bark and Below It is an 11 minute ambient noise solo, kind of in the way of the end of Moonchild by King Crimson. lowlight
California Demise 3 has the best harmonies on sir album. it's also a good change from the past few tunes
Another Set of Bees in the Museum is pretty dark. Almost out of place on the album.
finally made it to the end. pretty alright last song. not super great, but not bad by any stretch of

Highlights: A Peculiar Noise Called "Train Conductor", Hideaway, A New Day, I Have Been Floated, California Demise 3,
Lowlights:Black Foliage (Animations 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5), The Bark and Below It

Gonna do this now because HEY WHY NOT

In The Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson (1969)
Considered the first "prog" album, or at least the most influential. I suppose
With only 5 songs, having 3 highlights and 3 lowlights might be impossible
Starts with my favorite King Crimson song that I know of. Rock those saxes saxmen
I Talk to the Wind is pretty alright. Nice soothing song.
Epitaph is so nice. The Mellotron bass sound is just astounding. Certainly a powerful song, if anything.
Moonchild is weird. Beginning is pretty alright, but lacklustre compared to the rest of the album. Ends with like 6 minutes of incoherent tittering on every instrument imaginable. Not great
The album track ends the album and is pretty okay. It doesn't have many memorable features for me aside from the interesting vocals. They try to make sounds to match the story the vocals are telling, and it works sometimes and not so much others. I have to make it a low light :'(
so yeah nice album, certainly one of my favorites.

Highlights: 21st Century Schizoid Man, Epitaph
Lowlights: Moonchild, In The Court of the Crimson King

The Protomen by The Protomen (2006)
what a strange but in a good way album
a concept album based on megaman (roughly)
I found the lyrics online and read along, which improves the experience tenfold since the booklet contains descriptions of what is going on during the instrumental interludes
for my taste, i found the album a bit heavy and slightly too punkish. However, the instrumentation is nice as long as they don't have too high of gain on sir guitars vocals leave a bit to be desired
also, they utilize 8bit sounds into it all, which makes it sound NICE
My favorite songs were the first three; the synth bass on the first song is orgasmic at worst, second song is an instrumental but a nice one.
third tune is what i imagine Steampunk sounds like. pretty great indeed
4th tune is pretty uninteresting, sounds like they took a mediocre 8bit melody from a megaman game and put boring drums to it
songs 5 - 7 all kind of blend together, as they are super minor and relatively heavy and the spoken word and the lyrics hmmm pretty sad not lowlights but certainly not highlights
actually i'll make song 7 a lowlight since the lyrics are about Wily's robots killing all the humans and the humans chanting "WE ARE THE DEAD". why wily why :'(
Last song is pretty groovy, basically it's just riffing while the vocalman names villians from Megaman, ending with the yelling of MEGAMAAAAN

Highlights: Hope Rides Alone, Funeral for a Son, Unrest in the House of Light
Lowlights: The Will of One, Sons of Fate

steampunk is an aesthetic style not a musical genre

Steampunk music is even less defined, as Caroline Sullivan says in The Guardian: "Internet debates rage about exactly what constitutes the steampunk sound."[42] This range of steampunk musical styles can be heard in the work of various steampunk artists, from the industrial dance/world music of Abney Park,[51] the inventor/singer-songwriter creations of Thomas Truax,[42][54] the Carnatic influenced music of Sunday Driver,[55] the "industrial hip-hop opera" of Doctor Steel,[56][57] the darkwave and progressive rock sounds of Vernian Process,[58][59] the Unextraordinary Gentlemen,[60] the electronic sounds of The Wet-Glass RO,[61][62] Darcy James Argue's 18-piece big band Secret Society and the musical storytelling of Escape the Clouds.[63]

having not heard any of these bands, I would imagine song three to sound like them

the "steampunk genre" is basically "music set to steampunk shit"
you know

if people were running around in 1890's attire but covered in gears and brass tubes in a slo-mo action sequence, this music would certainly be an appropriate choice for backing music

that is better
i will not consider steampunk a genre until we have steam-powered instruments

Deep Purple in Rock by Deep Purple (1970)
One of the first albums I ever owned wow
first studio album to feature sir gillan on vocals wow
roger glover yeah woo
this was the point at which the band decided they wanted to be HEAVY which i mean i suppose you can hear. it's certainly more riff based and the bass is more prominent in this album than that of their previous ones.
starts with BALLS OUT noise. then goes into this neat song called Speed King. rock it team purple. call and response guitar/organ duel? must be the best song
There was a time when I loved Bloodsucker. That love has diminished significantly, but it is still quite alright it's a bit too slow anymore
Child in Time hmmmm certainly a tune. The intro (aka everything before the immense solo section) is alright and can be a bit annoying on some days (especially if i can't match his highs ) but the solo section wowowowowowowow ending ugh
record flip already? oh wow
I actually really like Flight of the Rat. the verses are a bit cheesy, but the solo section has some nice sounds and the progressions as the song progresses get better and better. also there's that one section where the drums go jazzy and lordy man does neat percussive things on sir organ mmm shame it only lasts like 20 seconds oh well
Into the Fire hmm Pretty alright tune a bit too slow for me, but it's certainly the heaviest song on sir album. I find the riff a bit obnoxious, but could just be me the solos really aren't that great either
Living Wreck hmm another tune I used to love, mostly for the organ screams. another tune that's just a little too slow for me. It's like Into the Fire, but slightly faster and groovier. the lyrics are kind of strange. also nice organ solo at the end shame it gets FADED OUT
Hard Lovin' Man mmm this song kind of sticks out for its lack of melody and very strange progression. it's almost borderline prog Lordyman has said this song contains some of his favorite improv work, which might be because he really experiments with electronics on this one. also dat gong crash and dat overdubbed guitar harmony solo

Highlights: Speed King, Child in Time, Flight of the Rat, Hard Lovin' Man
Lowlights: Into the Fire, Living Wreck

The United States of America by The United States of America (1968)
Supposedly this album is good and laid the grounds for future experimental albums so um let's give this a try
starts with layered strange circus sounds, which fits the title of the song well they put interesting effects on the female's vocals hmm very weird stuff the panning and sounds that surround you really give it a nice feel, but the tune isn't anything special. I have a feeling this will reign true for the rest of the album :'(
wow song two has some super good bass. the weird soloing guitar kind of ruins the moment though i'm not sure if i like this woman's voice, it's certainly less powerful than other females of the time but it's alright nice synthy stuff here as well weird ending
I think weird synthy stuff is the draw here, the sounds are a bit much sometimes. Third song is called Cloud Song and it's very kind of trance-y i think there's some harp buried in the mix along with I think african drums. it's kind of a boring song, nothing special, but not hard to sit through either.
Hmm, I like this song. Nice tune, nice effects, certainly some of the better vocals, shame it's about drug use but i could certainly take drugs to this song
Ugh, this song is super cheesy and there's a guy on vocals hmm he's not too great either lowlight for sure also it has a massive title grrr
Where is Yesterday is a pretty dark tune, but the bass makes it grooves hard. Also, the guy singer redeems himself
ow Coming Down starts with HIGH and LOUD notes on some instrument then they fade away when the drums come in. Otherwise nice tune indeed, nice violins
oh boy politics "Love Song for the Dead Che" huh it's super slow and reverby, for a slow tune this is certainly good. although it certainly stands out as not-experimental at all
Stranded in Time sounds like a Eleanor Rigby clone, however the progression and string arrangement is much better I think. Vocals worse though also they go back to the normal band at some point, where as rigby does not pretty great tune though hmm so many highlights
Last song is 6:41 so buckle down. Starts groovy, has a nice distorted violin solo about a minute and a half in. There's a middle section that's super cheesy and kind of lame. fuzz bass out of nowhere, a new section of layered noise like the begining of the first song, ends with neat violin and strange spoken word clips
pretty strange ending indeed
yeah not bad, certainly a different album than most from the 60s in that it's way more experimental, and the synth work is very strange

Highlights: Hard Coming Love, The Garden of Earthly Delights, Where is Yesterday, Stranded in Time
Lowlights: I Wouldn't Leave My Wooden Wife For You Sugar, Love Song for the Dead Che, Cloud Song

lordy mama did i seriously not review today

Electric Ladyland by J. Hendrix and Co. (1968)
wow
so yeah probably my favorite hendrix album features such hits as
the instrumentation is as to be expected, but it has organ
Hendrix and Mitchell are at their peaks here i suppose, way to go them
too many songs to comment on all of them, so let's just hit the highlights
let's start with lowlights
some weird noise conglomarate (hmm) on the first song? oh dear
noise solos? sure (i'm looking at you Moon Turn The Tides :S)
and actual songs that get a lowlight position are Come On (for being boring) and Voodoo Chile for being long and rather uneventful
best songs in order:
Burning of the Midnight Lamp (not sure why but this is my fave j. hendrix song must be the PANNING )
Gypsy Eyes for being super groovy and nice
All Along The Watchtower (probably would be higher if not for the fact that it's old)
and Voodoo Child (slight return) for being a nice way to close out the career of the otherwise unknown band
i won't highlight 1983, but it's a great tune (for about 6 minutes) and it's slowly gone from "AMAZING" to "pretty great"
so yeah

Highlights: Burning of the Midnight Lamp, Gypsy Eyes, All Along The Watchtower, Voodoo Child (Slight Return), Crosstown Traffic
Lowlights: Moon Turn The Tides...Gently Gently Away, ...And The Gods Made Love, Come On (Let The Good Times Roll), Voodoo Chile

electric ladyland came out in 1968

oh wow sure enough

that's what I get for not looking up the album before reviewing for once

The Story of Simon Simopath by not-Nirvana (1967)
a masterpiece of grunge and alt rock that would set the stage for future acts for generations to come
but seriously, this is considered one of the first albums that tells a narrated story throughout the entire album.
it's about a kid who wants to fly really bad. He has no friends and I guess he goes to a mental hospital and then he grows up and works in an office and marries a woman. what an uninteresting story but a story that applies to a lot of people's actual life style
there's quite a bit of baroque pop going on here, along with amazing orchestration. way to go
the album opens strongly and on a dramatic high point. Definitely one of the better on the album
BTW There aren't any bad songs on the album some of are the better than others
yeah i don't really have much more to say and CBA so

highlights: Wings of Love, Lonely Boy, In The Courtyard of the Stars, 1999
lowlights: You Were Just The One, Take This Hand, Satellite Jockey

Tango in the Night by Fleetwood Mac (1987)
I hadn't heard this album in a while and thought I should do a fleetwood mac album so it's almost like new!!!
For not usually liking stereotypical-80s sounding things, I don't mind this album. Although, it's overproduced as anything you can think of
Starts with one of my favorites, Big Love, however it would be improved incredibly when done live
Seven Wonders is alright. Nicksy sounds awfully strange and it has a really weird synth sound, i used to like it more than I do now. catchy chorus though
Everywhere is so nice. those harmonies and that catchyness mmmm not to mention that incredible starting piano lick
Caroline is kind or weird. Who knew Bucko could do strange songs amirite kind of a lame song due to the phrasing of the verses, nice choruses though (what a theme)
Tango in the Night, definitely my favorite tune on sir album, mostly for that kind of harp sound that is made, nice progression, the heaviness, wow tangooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo that solo
Mystified is, um, well it's a pretty normal McVie song. nothing great, nothing awful
Little Lies is a pretty normal McVie song as well, but it's good not to mention it has harmonies
Family Man is super cheesy, even for this album, but, surprisingly, in a good way
Welcome to the Room...Sara it's not listenable so don't even bother
Isn't It Midnight is a standard rocker. which comes as a shock on this album. But it's quite good and I love the chorus and the lows wow
When I See You Again is....pretty lame really. Saved by Bucko at the end but it's hardly worth getting there.
I won't get much comment on the last song. I must confess that I used to hate hate hate the song but now I don't in quite the opposite way i'm tempted to make it a highlight actually

Highlights: Tango in the Night, Big Love, Little Lies, Isn't it Midnight, Everywhere
Lowlights: Welcome to the Room...Sara, Caroline, When I See You Again, Mystified

Father, Son, Holy Ghost by Girls (2011)
wow a modern album. Good Rock albums don't really happen though, but this one is a marvelous exception
my one massive fault with the album is the lead singer's voice. The guitar work, the backing vocals and harmonies are grand, and they use some nice organ sounds (mostly just chords though ) They really know how to do slow songs, but their "fast" songs are great as well.
First song is pretty nifty. plus it's called Honey Bunny. it has differing sections and marvelous drums.
Other highlights are Vomit, which is pretty just alright for a while, but it has such an amazing outro. Think Great Gig In The Sky mixed with Eclipse and slightly better
Just a Song has this nice acoustic solo intro, and it's slow and kind of sad sounding but I just love it. If only the guy had a bit better voice though
My Ma has a marvelous progression as well, and is another example of how well they can do slower, ballad like tunes.
Die is super riffin', and the riff is nearly identical to the end of Knights of Cydonia, but it's only for the first half, and then it turns into a slow song with a nice solo over top. I'm fairly certain it's instrumental.
Saying I Love You was pretty cheesy, and I remember thinking "oh um" when it started. Gotta make it a lowlight, but it's still not too bad.
Forgiveness is WAY too long, and it never changes. a slow acoustic ballad that's not too interesting. It has a nice solo, but it takes way too long to get there.
last Lowlight goes to Alex, which is kind of annoying to listen to. nice drumming, but it's not my style at all.
Unfortunately, songs like Alex and Die really don't fit on the album, since they're quite hard and rockin' compared to the mostly soft songs that fill up the rest of the album. It's kind of strange. Guy's voice is very offputting and you can hear his mouth noises all over the place, but the guitars are so nice.

Highlights: Honey Bunny, Vomit, Just a Song, My Ma, Die
Lowlights: Saying I Love You, Forgiveness, Alex

The Roar of '74 by Buddy Rich (1973 wow i know)
let's break down the best jazz album ever recorded
Basically, Buddy Rich is one of the greatest drummers on this side of the milky way, but you would never know by listening to this album. He stays relatively tame throughout, getting a few solos here and there and not really doing anything extraordinary. for the extraordinary, we look to the saxes wow
the guitar work is pretty groovy as well, getting pretty much a solo song with Big Mac and featured elsewhere on the first half of the record.
For the most part, the songs stay high-paced, with there really only being two slow songs. One is meant to be a ballad, while the other is a fairly lame (in comparison to the rest of the album) blues thingy. Both of these songs get lowlights
My highlights start with Big Mac, which is kind of a guitar feature song. It has amazing other instruments as well, just so you know
Time Check starts side 2 of the album and is far and away my favorite song on the album. Super high intensity, and there's this one building chord change and sax note that gives me goosebumps every time
Backwoods Sideman is probably the best melody on the album, and the sax solos are the best on the albums, not to mention a double sax solo section/duel (which i guess was kind of unusual in its day)
Waltz of the Mushroom Hunters is almost progressive. Great not-instrument usage, along with a keyboard solo it's got this kind of weird end part where trumpets play licks in near unison, then drums play something in response with no backing instruments kind of strange however the other sections are super wow and definitely deserving of a HIGHLIGHT
so yeah i don't think any of you fellows care about jazz at all, but this is one of my higher recommended jazz albums if you ever feel like venturing that way

Highlights: Big Mac, Time Check, Backwoods Sideman, Waltz of the Mushroom Hunters
Lowlights: Prelude to a Kiss, Senator Sam

Feb 1 hmmmmmmmmm

The Papas and The Mamas by The Mamas and The Papas (1968)
I think this is technically the last M&P Album ever, but it features their two best songs!!
I've only ever listened to their debut and their greatest hits, and the not-big songs on this album are beyond psychedelic. Like, this album is kind of weird, man.
Starts with a woman singing an acapella thingy for 30 seconds which isn't very good.
However, it goes directly into Safe in my Garden, which I consider the best M&P song hooray
Meditation Mama is pretty much only the one guy on vocals (women do the oohs and ahhs), with warbly-panned keyboards I think. Kind of a boring song, much too slow, it might grow on me over time. It kind of reminds me of The Grateful Dead.
For The Love of Ivy sounds like something they would have done on their first album. Pretty poppy sounding, the vocals are kind of panned annoyingly. But a nice tune indeed.
I had only heard a live version of Dream a Little Dream of Me before this, which is MUCH better than this version. This one sounds like it was made in the 80s. I mean, did they even have that keyboard sound at the time? wow not a fan of this version at all. the cheesy wind chimes aren't helping. there's a nice string section section that helps, but it's not enough.
Mansions is very dark. Very un-M&P sounding until the acoustic starts. and then it's amazing. More warbly-keyboards in the background hmm
Gemini Childe starts with acapella singing again grrr, but what's this, it turns into an actual song with distorted guitar who knew they knew what that was. This song sounds like it was made by, like, The United States of America or early Pink Floyd or something, very not-M&P sounding, but good all the same.
Nothing's Too Good For My Little Girl is the epitome of cheesy. Slow ballad, lame drums, bad lyrics, piano riffing is the only good part
Oh boy more weird keyboard sounds. Too Late has the exact same drums as the previous song, but it's slightly faster and has a better progression. Bass solo? oh wow the end of this is nice and groovy.
Twelve-Thirty is my second favorite M&P song. One of the best choruses the band has made, and the piano riffing is great in conjunction with the simple bass lines mmm plus those harmonies wow
More distorted guitars?? must be the greatest song. Kind of a weird progression and nothing spectacular. it actually has a solo, but a lame one.
Last song is weird. it goes fine until they start including studio chatter in the middle. then silence, followed by an acapella key change back into the song. that acapella key change is grandiose to be sure, and then it goes into Cass cadenzaing over chords by the rest of the group. Kind of weird.

Highlights: Safe in my Garden, Twelve-Thirty (Young Girls are Coming to the Canyon), Too Late, For The Love of Ivy, Mansions
Lowlights: The Right Somebody to Love, Nothing's Too Good For My Little Girl, Dream a Little Dream of Me, Meditation Mama (Transcendental Woman Travels)

Queen II by Queen (1974)
This is one of (if not my absolute) favorite queen album. I wonder why hmmmmm
I'd love to go into detail, but I have not the time so:
The March of the Black Queen certainly gets top spot on the album. Way to go Mercury.
Second best song is attached to the end of march of etc. those not-falsetto highs wow
The second half of the album is all done by Mercury, and it is certainly better than the first half, all composed by May except for one song by Taylor.
However, May's Father to Son is quite amazing as well and definitely best on the first half.
Lowlights go to Seven Seas of Rhye, which I have never understood why people enjoy the song so much. it's alright, I guess, but quite lacklustre compared to some of the other songs.
Second lowlight goes to Taylor's tune The Loser in the End, which is about how great mothers are. wow
Just for completeness, I'll make Nevermore, the worst song on Mercury's side, a lowlight as well

Highlights: The March of the Black Queen, Funny How Love Is, Ogre Battle, Father to Son
Lowlights: Seven Seas of Rhye, Loser in the End, Nevermore, Procession

Live At Pompeii by Pink Floyd (1972)
Wow
This really isn't an album. It's kind of a soundtrack to a movie, but it's a movie in which they play songs live and it sounds amazing so why shouldn't it be an album!!!
but yeah i love this thing
starts with ambient noise, wow
Then it does a magnificent version of Echoes wowowowowowow it's 10 minutes long and only does the first half aka the parts up until squealing noise, and the jamming and guitar solos and drumming mmm definitely better than the original shame about the vocals though could be better but still the other instruments wow
they have kind of interesting "interviews" that happen throughout with demo versions of songs that would later appear on DSOTM in '74. the songs have a more dated feel than their finished versions, and I really like them
This also holds the best version of Careful With That Axe Eugene. I got goosebumps upon first hearing and it continues to have similar effects on me
A Saucerful of Secrets is kind of weird, like the original. This one gets to the good part faster and the good part is more good, but it's still not as neat as it could be
This version of One of These Days is nice, but not as good as the studio version. Still, amazing.
Madamoiselle Knobs is the definition of filler. It's pretty much just Seamus from Meddle, but half the length and double the dog sounds
Set The Controls For The Heart of The Sun is pretty nice. I think I actually prefer this version over the studio version.
Echoes Pt. 2 is just the screechy part. 13 minutes long, and only the last like 4 min are amazing.
and that's the album. wow. for the most part, this thing is instrumental, with maybe two songs having vocals (echoes and set the controls for the etc.) really, I recommend this to all pink floyd fans, it's the perfect blend of early-mid and mid career pink floyd

Highlights: Careful With That Axe Eugene, Echoes Pt. 1, One of these Days, Interviews 1 - 3
Lowlights: Echoes Pt. 2, Madamoiselle Knobs, A Saucerful of Secrets

Bat Out Of Hell by Meatloaf (1977)
So yeah, this guy named Jim Steinman wrote these songs and was insecure about his voice so he hired some fat singer to sing them in his stead. what a decision
This guy named Todd Rundgren decided to help them out by playing guitar on the album and doing all the studio magic throughout wow
Then they got a bunch of session musicians to fill the rest of the holes and wow we have the sum of all this in this pretty fantastic album
Starts with the bombastic-fantastic title track. ten minutes of catchiness and solos and uptempo and downtempo sections and wow certainly a composition worth noting
Second song used to be one of my favorites, but it has slightly declined in my mind since i've started realizing how Springsteen-y it sounds. Tambourine/Snare but seriously a nice tune regardless, kind of drags on due to it's unchanging-ness
Third Tune is easily worst on the album, as it's slow also it hardly changes and the singing isn't too great
All Revved Up is kind of weird, sometimes I like it and others it's a bit too cheesy for me. Ends great though. who knew playing the exact same verse/chorus but at like 125% speed would work so well?
Two Outta Three Ain't Bad was the song that got me to buy the album in the first place. I really like it, but I could see people saying it's too slow/boring
Paradise by the Etc. is certainly a highlight. the sexual innuendos abound and the baseball section makes me rigid and the ending is just funny, way to go steinman meatloaf
The album ends with my favorite song, For Crying Out Loud. It's broken up into three sections, with the first being super slow and beautiful (something the other slow songs don't achieve), then it starts another slow verse, but the second chorus is WOW. that chorus is one of my favorite moments in music ever. shame it goes on to do another slow verse and chorus to end the song, it would be 100% better if they had ended the song on that amazing chorus but no sir steinman HAS to make all of his songs 6+ minutes long
regardless, the highlights of the album are the guitar work by sir rundgren and the piano riffin' which i would assume is done by steinman but hard to say for sure. The singing is pretty great, but it can be a bit much sometimes. Also, the funny lyrics are pretty nice

Highlights: For Crying Out Loud, Bat Out Of Hell, Paradise by the Dashboard Light, Two Outta Three Ain't Bad
Lowlights: Heaven Can Wait, All Revved Up With No Place To Go

Starsailor by Tim Buckley (1970)
So, before this album, Sir Buckley was supposedly a folky/bluesy singer that did groovy things and people loved him to death and then this album was released and suddenly all of his fans hated him and he ran out of money and died (kind of)
this album is also considered great because it utilizes using the voice as an instrument, which is quite clear
Get ready for the avant-garde free-jazz greatness
Come Here Woman is quite interesting. It has some very dark and brooding organ work in the background, and then suddenly the drums groove and the vocals soar and the guitar is an incoherent mess and it just works
When he's not shrieking and being artsy, sir Buckley has a nice voice. This occurs throughout song two, entitled I Woke Up. This one also has a not-instrument solo, so there's that. Relatively slow, and only just alright.
Monterey actually has a fairly standard progression ow8 the verses but the rest of the song wow. His wailing is relatively in tune and kind of matches the music
Moulin Rouge is sung in french and completely fails to mesh with the rest of the album. I mean, it's just so NORMAL. Nice not-instrument and drums though, and it sounds nice, even for the kind of cheesy atmosphere it makes.
Song to the Siren is about the only lasting achievement this album has, as it has been covered by some people wow. A nice slow ballad with super reverb guitar and nice powerful, not-high vocals, not to mention the choir in the background. nice little pretty ditty
Jungle Fire is my favorite on the album. Not sure why, it starts very strangely and then changes randomly to this amazing, super groovy jam for the last half. I wish i knew why I love this tune, but alas, to question life is to
The title track is super ambient and it's just super reverbed vocals layered and layered and layered and there's no direction.
Healing Festival has some neat sax work, and some nice dissonance. Kind of a scary song, really. Think the strange section of Whole Lotta Love combined with the squealy last half of Echoes, but with a haunting vocal line hmm what an interesting imagination
Last song oh boy, and with "border" in the title you know it's going to be spanish sounding. Hmm, I really enjoy this song. The part where he mocks an old mexican lady is hilarious, and the guitar solo is fantastic.
If you like the last half of Moonchild but with high pitched shrieking vocals and uptempo drums, you might like this album

Highlights: Jungle Fire, Come Here Woman, Monterey, Down By The Borderline
Lowlights: Star Sailor, Healing Festival, I Woke Up

Infinity by Journey (1978)
Hmm, picking lowlights will be difficult here
For what it is, there are no bad songs on this album. The songs flow, some are even relatively progressive, and seeing as this is steve perry's debut on the singing stage, he does amazing.
Highlights certainly go to Feeling That Way/Anytime, which may as well be one song since they flow into each other so nicely. Also features mr. Rolie the keyboard man aka lead singer of Santana on some lead parts so wow
Winds of March and Patiently are also quite grand, and they do some of the best jamming here. The differentiation between parts is so clean it's like wow
I suppose the last song is a lowlight, as it doesn't really go anywhere. If they ended it on a high or crescendo'd to a great ending, it would certainly be a highlight but alas
other lowlights (meaning pretty great indeed) go to La Do Da which is relatively bland and Somethin' To Hide which stays too soft until the end which is grand, but they show they can do better slow songs elsewhere
so yeah that's about it

Highlights: Feeling That Way, Anytime, Winds of March, Patiently, Lights
Lowlights: Opened The Door, La Do Da, Somethin' to Hide