Reviews Supplemental

13 Jul 2014: Black Sabbath/"Cross Purposes" (1994)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/07/shocking-developments-by-shockers.html

After making one of their best albums with Dio, the band welcomes back Tony Martin.

Psychophobia and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle have great riffs, if you're into that.

There are no super-standouts on this album, but it's still very good. I guess that's good enough for me.

14 Jul 2014: Gnarls Barkley/"St. Elsewhere" (2006)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/05/freeing-people-of-marshall-islands-by.html

Where do I begin? With Crazy, like the album should have.
Crazy is perfect. It's one of those songs that couldn't be better if it tried. Perfect execution of the concept on all levels.

The rest of the album is high-concept, poor execution. Shame.

14 Jul 2014: Billy Joel/"Glass Houses" (1980)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/05/success-at-business-by-opposite-of-that.html

I've been having a rough day (air conditioner broke and it's super-hot, hurt my leg on the nightstand, accidentally took two allergy pills instead of Advil, and now I can't take anything for this headache because I don't want to kill myself accidentally, and a bunch of other small things), so I'm doing something that's not too taxing.

The album opens with You May be Right, which is played, like, a lot. I like it, like, a lot. I'm always down for Billy Joel in the car.
Don't Ask Me Why is really good. Don't ask me why.

It's Still Rock and Roll is also played a lot. It's also super-good. I like how bare it is.
All for Leyna may be the best Billy Joel song, certainly top three. It's sung with a passion and anger that Billy Joel rarely, if ever, taps into.


Honestly, I'm legitimately impressed with this album. Unlike the other Billy Joel albums I've listened to, this one doesn't have any boring tracks on it.

14 Jul 2014: Coldplay/"Parachutes" (2000)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/05/wallet-twenty-three-by-man-of-many.html

Coldplay's first album, and the last one I have to review.

The album starts with Don't Panic, which has a weird effect on Martin's voice that I don't like.
Yellow is the standout, and the hit, and you know.

The title track is marred by the constant sound of fingers sliding across guitar strings. That is a horrible sound.


So, like, it's a Coldplay album. It's fine.

14 Jul 2014: KISS/"Unmasked" (1980)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/10/do-not-touch-that-dial-guys-by-frog.html

This was officially the "last studio album to feature Peter Criss". That's bullshit, though, since he didn't do anything for the album.
The title of the album means literally nothing, by the way.

Unmemorable, kind of mediocre. No stand-outs. Can't say I expected anything else.

15 Jul 2014: Cheap Trick/"Cheap Trick" (1977)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/05/herr-doctor-mario-by-rx-drugs.html

This album has a "side one" and a "side A". Oh boy.

Hot Love begins side A. That riff is the highlight. The rest of the song is the lowlight.
ELO Kiddies begins side one. It's a stronger opener, for sure. Their "clever" idea backfired.

Overall, this is a boring album.

16 Jul 2014: .38 Special/"Special Forces" (1982)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/05/better-dead-than-shredd-by-reds.html

I don't know why I haven't ever reviewed an album from these guys. Maybe it's because Wild-Eyed Southern Boys has dropped off the face of the Earth?

Caught Up in You is great, but you probably knew that.


This album was better and more consistent than I'd thought it would be. I expected a boring ballad or two, but nope.

16 Jul 2014: Colin Blunstone/"One Year" (1971)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/delaying-operation-by-toad.html

The guy from The Zombies. I'm fucking determined to find another Begin Here.
This is not it. It is, however, the most pretentious bullshit I've listened to since The Resistance.
Each side of the album begins with a good song, to trick you into thinking it won't be so bad. BUT FUCK YOU IT'S TIME FOR PRETENSION

17 Jul 2014: Elvis Costello/"Trust" (1981)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/hatred-toward-everything-by-rages.html

Following Get Happy, this album is called Trust. If it's good, I'll trust Mr. Costello enough to do another.
Fortunately, it is. Nothing too notable, I guess, but I'm just shit at reviewing things.

17 Jul 2014: The Black Crowes/"Before the Frost... Until the Freeze" (2009)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/i-love-you-so-dont-feel-bad-forever-by.html

This is two albums slapped together. Their latest two, you know.

I Ain't Hiding reminds me of The Rolling Stones. In a good way, of course.
Aimless Peacock is shit. It's just shit.

Despite reviewing them together, I'm going to rate them separately on RYM. Mostly because Before the Frost is so much better than Until the Freeze.

Before the Frost is a great rock album. The band's best since By Your Side, for sure.
Until the Freeze is just a decent whatever it is. Not the band's worst, but not stellar, either.

18 Jul 2014: Blue Murder/"Blue Murder" (1989)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/van-halen-by-luxury-sedans.html

This a supergroup featuring John Sykes and some other people. Purple recommended me this forever ago, and I wasn't able to find a download. Here we are, finally.

This album features the infamous Jelly Roll. I can certainly see how it got to where it did.


If I had heard this when I was 14, I'd probably call it the best glam metal album in history. Shame Skid Row got there first.

18 Jul 2014: Skid Row/"Slave to the Grind" (1991)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/birthday-by-birth-days.html

Coincidentally, this review I copied over is the same day the album came out, twelve years later. It was also my twentieth birthday.
I hate myself.

When I first heard and loved Skid Row, they were a great glam metal band. The epitome of glam metal, if you will. The riffs, the vocals, they were both perfect.
Then I heard the title track to this album, and it wasn't that. What the fuck was Sebby doing? Let's see how it goes five years later.

The title track is shit. It's just shit. It has no charm at all. It's just shit.
I don't get Quicksand Jesus. It's out of place and not very good.

Get the Fuck Out is totally the highlight, though. It's so edgy. In unrelated news, did you know that they actually created a punctuation mark for sarcasm? It's just never used.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony_punctuation

This album flashes between decent, horrible, and boring. Overall, I was about right.

18 Jul 2014: KISS/"Music from the Elder" (1981)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/11/leading-by-fields-of-men.html

OH BOY
This album was made as a companion to a movie that was never released.

The Order is probably going to be the best thing here. It's really good for reasons I can't explain.
Dark Light has this really neat riff/groove/thing. It's neat as shit. Shame about the vocals, though.

I'm sure this all would have worked in context. Shame that context doesn't exist, and this is not a good album because of it.

thank you for reminding me jelly roll exists

what a great reminisce

19 Jul 2014: Sonic Youth/"Rather Ripped" (2006)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/all-fall-down-by-none-fall-up.html

After FINALLY finding another cheap Guitar Hero guitar (three of them for a buck each), I got back to SNAE. I liked Incinerate in it, so I decided to give Sonic Youth another chance. This is the album with Incinerate on it.
The SNAE review will be up tomorrow, maybe. I'm not finished with the game yet.

Incinerate is legitimately a good song. I was very surprised when I heard it, since I was expecting to hate it. I hated Daydream Nation, after all. The mellow vocals and that guitar are just great.
This album manages to follow a slow, thoughtful song about the Rapture with a song called Sleepin' Around, and not have it sound out of place.

Pink Steam would be great if they just got rid of the entire first half of the song.


Overall, though, this was a pretty good album. No major complaints. I'll probably even do another sometime.

19 Jul 2014: Johnny Cash/"With His Hot and Blue Guitar!" (1957)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/games-pot-by-pots-of-games.html

Another SNAE want. I reviewed At Folsom Prison, but I want to do a studio album. This was apparently his first album, and it's one of his highest-rated on RYM. It sounded like a perfect place to start.
This version has like a million bonus tracks (16) and still clocks in at about an hour.

The Rock Island Line starts off really slow, but as Cash says "picks up speed and picks up speed", the music does just that. It's a simple but effective thing I liked.
I Walk the Line is just a classic, as is Folsom Prison Blues. I can't believe Cash was able to bust out two of his most acclaimed, memorable, and best songs on his first album.

Seriously, this is great. This is everything I wanted from a Johnny Cash album.

20 Jul 2014: David Bowie/"Lodger" (1979)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/07/interest-is-wayning-by-bruce-and-waynes.html

This album's only, like, half and hour long somehow. Lodger is the first album after his "classic" period (which ended with "Heroes"), so we'll see how it goes.

African Night Flight is like some weird African-ass Bowie-ass I don't even know. I like it, despite the fact that it sounds exactly like something I shouldn't like.
Yassassin just kind of trods along at its own pace, and it's really neat.

I don't get Repetition. I really just don't get it.

Overall, a very good album with some interesting sounds. I'm pleasantly surprised.

20 Jul 2014: Willie Nelson/"Shotgun Willie" (1973)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-lives-of-innocent-people-by-are-all.html

COUNTRY MUSICCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
RYM says this album is good, and I'm hoping I agree.

Whiskey River was in GTA V. It's super-good.
Unfortunately, there's not much to the album other than that. It's good, but it's not great.

21 Jul 2014: Michael Jackson/"Off the Wall" (1979)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-garden-of-aiding-by-cellphone-auto.html

This is Michael Jackson's first classic album, and the 300th album I've rated from the 1970s.

Rock with You is a classic. It's perfectly-paced, and it's just great all around.
Aside from that, it's kind of unremarkable. I mean, it's good, but there's nothing to talk about because I am SHIT at talking about music.

22 Jul 2014: K.T. Tunstall/"Eye to the Telescope" (2004)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/misplacing-my-favourite-soft-drink-diet.html

After liking both of her songs that I've heard, and seeing that they're both on this album, I decided "why not"?

I'll be honest. I have nothing to say about vocal-heavy pop music. It's good, but that's about all I can say.

22 Jul 2014: Yellowcard/"One for the Kids" (2001)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/holding-playstation-in-your-hands-like.html

For Agnew. R.I.P.
Yellowcard are basically a generic mid-2000s rock band. Only, they have violins. This makes them the best at what they do.

The album starts with Starstruck, which has a neat little opening riff.
Sureshot's violins elevate it from "good" to "great". I fucking love violins.


Not the best Yellowcard album, but certainly not the worst.

23 Jul 2014: Supergrass/"Diamond Hooha" (2008)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/is-tonight-really-night-by-captain.html

During the first round of reviews, I'd gotten through every Supergrass album but this one. I couldn't find a download, but Spotify's got me covered.

The title track sounds like they're trying to be The White Stripes. I guess that's one way to go about it.

The album certainly picks up by the end. If you're going to go out, this is the sort of album you want to go out on.

24 Jul 2014: Rush/"2112" (1976)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/series-of-champions-by-pepsi-cola.html

The title track was in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, and I just played it. I figured now would be a great time to listen to the rest of the album.

The title track is probably the best thing Rush ever did. It might have been the context, but I enjoyed it a lot.
A Passage to Bangkok is exactly what I want in my Rush songs.


This album is pretty much the best thing Rush have ever done. It's, like, super-good. Can't wait for 2113.

24 Jul 2014: The Rolling Stones/"Metamorphosis" (1975)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2013/06/grand-glaciers-by-glacial-gathering.html

This album has sixteen songs, but the total runtime is only 47 minutes. Sounds good.
Apparently, it's just outtakes and shit, but whatever. Like, I get it. None of these songs are among the band's best. But, holy shit, they're a lot fucking better than some of the shit that gets onto their regular albums.

>reviewing rush

the years have been hard on a jakey

I expect a Rumours review tomorrow