Parliament: Mothership Connection
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
What can one expect from someone with legs wide apart on a spaceship? The album starts from the cover. And it ends (that is, continues…) where it began for people like the RHCP, who were more than happy to pay a huge tribute to Mr. George Clinton while on acid.
  • imasoulman
    27 jul 15
    the record begins with the cover, of course, iconographically alien but also musically: James Brown back from Pluto
  • imasoulman
    27 jul 15
    Is it just a coincidence that the RHCP had "Freaky Styley" produced by George Clinton...is it really just a coincidence...
  • Mr Funk
    27 jul 15
    George Clinton was truly out of his mind. This is a stratospheric album (Give Up The Funk is the epitome of funk music), even though I've always preferred the Funkadelic. Just think that with good old George played monsters like Bernie Worrell, Bootsy, Eddie Hazel, Maceo Parker, etc.
  • zooka
    28 jul 15
    I have practically worn out this album during my Parliament phase... their peak along with Funkentelechy vs Placebo Syndrome, I can never decide which one I prefer.
  • HOPELESS
    28 jul 15
    Kiedis declares that Eddie Hazel is in heaven playing next to Hendrix. Flea plays wearing the robes of Bootsy Collins. Clinton producing them. The band covering "Dr. Funkenstein." It must be just a coincidence... Who Said a Funk Band Can't Play Rock?
Paul Weller: Wild Wood
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
The album that a solo Clapton didn’t even come close to achieving.
  • G
    2 apr 15
    Beautiful... it always takes me away
  • imasoulman
    2 apr 15
    the Clapton soloistaaaaa? aside from the fact that I totally agree 120%, but come on, I really can't see any similarities with the Modfather even if I try.
  • Lao Tze
    2 apr 15
    Let's say I recently listened to 461 O.B., by far my favorite solo Clapton album, and I happened to think about the gap that can exist between a record like this and that one. Just in the way two Englishmen (re)use certain forms of American music, aside from the fact that there are covers and aside from the two different careers. But in general, in terms of the pieces... well. Hence the definition that may seem a bit strange.
  • imasoulman
    2 apr 15
    The "popular" flavor and the ease of instant writing of Paul Weller is such a characteristic and "English" trait that Clapton can only dream of it. The only close relative (if we really want to find one) might have been - perhaps - Steve Winwood: in my opinion, he would have managed to create a "Wild Wood".
  • Lao Tze
    3 apr 15
    To anyone who loves Traffic, I would play 'Wild Wood'.
  • hjhhjij
    3 apr 15
    Interesting "debate." It has nothing to do with anything, but it gave me the idea: I heard a lot of good things about Winwood's first soloist... Did I hear right?
  • Lao Tze
    3 apr 15
    this could be better said by imasoulman, hj, since I don't have it. And I only know Winwood's solo work well with 'Arc of a Diver', but certain synthetic sounds may not appeal to everyone.
  • imasoulman
    5 apr 15
    listen to both of them, the eponymous and Arc of a Diver. In the latter there will also be synthetic sounds that may be disturbing (not true for me, there's maximum discretion in their use), but the pop-soulful vein remains completely unaffected. Four stars to both.
  • hjhhjij
    5 apr 15
    Thanks, as usual.
  • Lao Tze
    6 apr 15
    In fact, I tend to make these clarifications about sound ever since I heard (but it’s better to cover my ears) that 'Seventeen Seconds' is ruined by electronics - aargh. 'Arc' is a nice album.
  • hjhhjij
    6 apr 15
    No, come can you say something like that about "Seventeen Seconds"? If the sounds are synthetic (?) at that level, then it's fantastic. I usually reserve that kind of comment for Battiato's mid-'80s albums; I can't stand the sounds...
Pavement: Slanted & Enchanted
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Not even forty minutes, but as weighty as at least 30 discographies. I love all of Pavement, from beginning to end and from the first to the last album. But if I had to choose a title for History, I would choose this one.
  • SilasLang
    16 apr 13
    I choose "Crookedrain", but this too... damn!
  • cappio al pollo
    16 apr 13
    I choose "Slanted and Enchanted," decidedly pure.
Peter Case: Peter Case
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Rece in the works - in the meantime, I vote for this songwriting masterpiece signed by the former Nerves and Plimsouls, featuring contributions from Roger McGuinn and Van Dyke Parks among others, along with an excellent cover of the Pogues. Great for those who remember it.
  • imasoulman
    14 jun 13
    Who remembers this??? I've been here and I've praised Peter in at least fifty scattered comments... come on, do the review on this great album (and who would have ever thought that David Geffen would give credit to someone like him?), because if you're waiting for me... ;) and then Satellite Beach is to be handed down to posterity.
  • Lao Tze
    15 jun 13
    ;-) but indeed you are an exception, if we exclude you and a few other souls it’s hard to find anyone around here who still talks about Plimsouls, Peter Case, Paul Collins Beat etc... in general, silence reigns.
Listened again after years. Same impression of a messy, confusing album, hindered by certain production choices that... meh. Yet, the few times I've read about it, I've always read great things. For me, a bad record. And it does not do justice at all to what Phil was with Thin Lizzy.
  • Matteo Tarchi
    17 dec 15
    If you, me, and the others had to make a list of all the albums that have been talked/written about wonderfully but the more you listen to them, the worse they get... well...
  • Lao Tze
    17 dec 15
    I'm going to seek out other opinions, especially on albums that I don't like. Out of curiosity.
Phil Manzanera: Diamond Head
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
Great debut with luxury names from Eno to Wetton, but not his best as a solo artist.
Phish: Junta
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
The Genesis intertwining with Zappa and jamming like the Grateful Dead, pulling out of the hat whimsical Pop-naif pieces worthy of the best solo Garcia.
Phish: Lawn Boy
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Demolished and cheerfully trampled are any possible gender conventions; what remains is the genius of Anastasio and the almost scornful nonchalance of a group that can do everything and its opposite - from a Zappa-esque jam to a two-minute jazzy prank. A monstrous record.
  • Mr. Money87
    1 mar 13
    Seriously beautiful! Monster group! I still slightly prefer A Picture of Nectar.
  • Lao Tze
    1 mar 13
    Me too, probably. I'm attached to this because it's how I met them, since I didn't know "Junta" yet.
Placebo: Without you I'm Nothing
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
I’ve left more than a few pieces of my life on this record; today it might sound almost ridiculous to say it, but I like it more than I did back then – and I like the previous one just the same. I don’t feel like an idiot, and why should I, in saying that in my opinion “My Sweet Prince” is a masterpiece.
  • Psychopathia
    5 dec 13
    but indeed it's a nice album. I liked it in '98 and I like it now. and the voice fits well too. after this, I probably won't like them anymore, but this one and the first one were not bad at all.
  • musicanidi
    5 dec 13
    EXCELLENT
  • GIANLUIGI67
    5 dec 13
    I’ve only heard the first one and various radio snippets of their subsequent works, but I don’t like them... I find their music a variation of the same song, and the voice contributes to the monotony. Over time, they annoy me... I don’t understand the success they’ve had...
  • Lao Tze
    5 dec 13
    Well, the radio passages of the subsequent works were to be avoided, like earplugs. Someone told me the latest isn’t even that bad, but I’ve avoided it regardless; it's hard to convince me... The first two were something else, but you have to like them or forget it. It’s a style that repeats itself, for sure, but what I like the most about P., even more than the voice, is Olsdal’s way of playing the bass. He often plays with harmonics; a bassist like that is perfect when paired with an essential guitarist like Molko.
  • pozzo
    6 dec 13
    Stunning album (just like the first one, which is also stunning)... it's well-known that they have lost a lot over time, but I still enjoy them through ups and downs. This, however, is a different story; intense, emotional, and visceral... one of my all-time favorite albums. Great job bringing it back and remembering it.
Pooh: Poohlover
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
The "commercial" Pooh from the subsequent albums are infinitely better than these who try to be serious and then fall into laughable things like "Straniero venuto dal tempo" and "Padre del fuoco del tuono bla bla," which speak for themselves. Aside from "Pierre" and the piece sung by D'Orazio ("Fare, Sfare..."), this album is an incredibly tedious trip.
  • Turbitt
    5 jan 20
    We are telepathic. You took the words right out of my mouth Lao... I appreciate the Pooh, but with very clear limits: for me they seriously exist from "Poohlover" in 1976 until "Oasi" in 1988. From then on, a few scattered tracks can be saved... here and there. Another sleep-inducing bomb (and with a sadness that borders on depression) is "Un po' Del Nostro Tempo Migliore" Even though everyone here praises it. For me, a "Stop" or a "Buona fortuna" is a thousand times better.
  • Turbitt
    5 jan 20
    Sorry, I meant AFTER Poohlover...
Primal Scream: Riot City Blues
CD Audio I have it ★★★
Well... honestly, the Swedish model in the "Country Girl" video (which is not the one by Neil Young) is far more memorable than this album... not bad, but way too conventional for them.
Primal Scream: Screamadelica
CD Audio I have it ★★★★
I don't feel like giving it my all. And not because I consider "Sonic Flower Groove" their highest point, but because it definitely has its weaknesses (the gospel-pop of "Movin' On Up," "Damaged" which sounds like Oasis ahead of its time, "Come Together" which is drawn out WAY too long and should have been saved for the end...). The absolute best part for me is "Inner Flight."
  • Psychopathia
    27 jun 14
    never loved it too much, to be honest. but since I listened to it 7/8 years after its release, I never understood what was so important about it back then. but don't listen to me, because I've never really appreciated much of anything by primal scream. de (dis)gustibus
  • SilasLang
    27 jun 14
    Instead, I give it my all. I love the Primals from this album, especially from 'Vanishing Point' and 'XTRMNTR'.
  • tia
    28 jun 14
    Flower sonic.. I'm listening to it right now... Beautiful and delicate, perfect for this lazy morning!! ..Listening to it again after such a long time, I find it very Byrdsian in the jingle jangle of the guitar... Anyway, it deserves five stars for me, just like screamadelica, as well as vanishing point... xtrmntr but also give up etc... and I can't remember the title anymore..
  • extro91
    28 jun 14
    I didn't expect this harassment from you. "Damaged the Oasis in advance" is a provocation on your part, come on. It's like saying that a philosopher from the '700 is a Nazi in advance... it's a sentence that makes no sense, plain and simple. Movin On Up is a great track as far as I'm concerned, and I'd love to hear Come Together even if it were longer. A bit like Funky Drummer by James Brown at 9 minutes. To me, it deserves the utmost.
  • Lao Tze
    28 jun 14
    Why the persistence? It's a catchy pop piece and also mediocre; if it had been done by the Gallaghers or any other lackluster Brit-pop band, it would be judged for what it is. Among other things, the guitar solo is almost identical to the one in Don't Look Back In Anger. I don't understand why I should throw out a provocation about an album I rate 4, then.
  • Lao Tze
    28 jun 14
    As far as I'm concerned, I can't give a 5 to a Blue Lines (for example) and a 5 to this one - I mean, a 5 to a perfect album that invented a new era and a 5 to an album that is not perfect at all, that's my personal judgment but the rating comes from that. It's a nice album that alternates between brilliant moments and others that are purely professional and even repetitive.
  • Lao Tze
    28 jun 14
    ---- in the sense that Damaged corresponds 99.9% to the standards of THAT brit-pop, not that the blame of the PS has been to inspire the Oasis, but to have made a piece that, whether you like it or not, is closer to that "philosophy" of pop than to that of Madchester or the early Stone Roses. It’s well known that the Stone Roses also inspired the Oasis - indeed.
  • extro91
    29 jun 14
    Yes, but by saying that it approaches a "philosophy," you're reiterating what you said before. That philosophy didn't exist yet. However, I understand your point a bit more, that's for sure. I also get it when you talk about "craft," even though I absolutely disagree that there are pieces that are purely craft. As for being repetitive, I would say no... there are pieces that completely disrupt the overall atmosphere of the album. For me, the pieces are not out of place. Honestly, I'm happy with how it ends, no matter how it ends. For me, it's an album without particular defects, assuming that perfect albums exist at all. And given that there are relevant ones, like it is for you, I take a historical approach and say: it had to be this way! ;-) The importance, then, is undeniable, and in fact, it seems to me that you agree on this too.
  • extro91
    29 jun 14
    How many times have I said PIECES?!
    The historicist*
  • Lao Tze
    30 jun 14
    It's not that they didn't exist yet... the Oasis didn't create anything out of nothing, be it in '94 or '95. At the core of it all is the first album by the Stone Roses, which was a turning point. From there, the English pop of the '90s began to take shape, with some artists taking the lesson in an original way, while others trivialized it because they lacked the flair to reach those heights. If the anachronism "Damaged-Oasis in advance" doesn't sit well, the definition "mediocre pop piece recorded in '91" fits, and in both cases, the judgment isn’t positive. A judgment that can be agreed with or not.
  • Lao Tze
    30 jun 14
    the importance... I repeat: surely, but not the whole record in the same way. Loaded was a stroke of genius in itself, so was the psychedelic house track, as were the two versions of Higher Than The Sun, I'm Coming Down... but for me it’s not that extraordinary from start to finish. It has never given me the same feeling that other masterpieces do. In general, I don't like them when they lean too much towards pop or those classic "rollingstonate" sounds like in some of their more recent albums. When Gillespie writes songs, he is a good songwriter, he knows how to create catchy tracks but he is not one of those pop geniuses who leave you in awe. I mean, he’s not an Andy Partridge. It’s not in that arena where he has excelled, I think that’s understandable even if one might disagree.
  • SilasLang
    30 jun 14
    But why are you all so encyclopedic, damn it? It's an amazing album...especially in '91 it was even more so. The rest is just nonsense found in music atlases written 10-20 years later...
  • extro91
    30 jun 14
    Yes, now I understand much better. I don't completely agree, but I have to say yes to some extent! Let me explain: while I consider Damaged a nice piece, they're definitely not my favorite Primal Scream. The best they've done is dive into tracks that you've mentioned in your last comment about that album. In fact, I don't know if it's the best, but it's certainly what resonates more with me (no coincidence that I love the underrated Vanishing Point). Also, I would never dare compare that little ditty called Country Girl to Damaged, just to be clear... but I believe that if there weren't this fluctuation between more or less pop tracks in Screamadelica, it might not be as cool in my opinion. And as long as the album dips into pop, I'm more than happy because I generally love the Madchester sound and grew up with MTV playing Britpop from morning till night and FIFA '98. So not Oasis, but Blur on repeat. Even though I hardly listen to them anymore. Blessed self-awareness!
  • extro91
    30 jun 14
    Well, Sila... in my opinion, encyclopedic knowledge is something else entirely! Here, we're mainly talking about preferences in the end.
  • shark
    30 jun 14
    hahaha...lol
  • Lao Tze
    30 jun 14
    But indeed, Silas... if one were to be encyclopedic, they would say that this is an absolutely essential album. Then maybe they wouldn't know why, but they would say it nonetheless. Because, like it or not, this is what - I think - you read around. Here we only ponder why an album like this doesn't flow for me like a Mezzanine, a Loveless, a Dummy... the first ones that come to mind. Eh. If not, I would have to give Sgt. Pepper a 5 regardless, but that's not the point.
  • Lao Tze
    30 jun 14
    Extro, as I mentioned in the definition, I prefer the Byrdsian PS of the first album, even though I think the critics have praised it less. It’s a matter of details; I’m not talking about nitpicking, but about details that separate a 4 from a 5. And the 4 goes to a great album; I won’t call it a masterpiece only because I reserve that word for others—it’s all subjective.
Pulp: This Is Hardcore
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
"Here comes the fear again, the end is near again..." (one of the least erotic albums ever).
  • madcat
    30 sep 15
    masterpiece, probably for me it's their peak
  • Lao Tze
    1 oct 15
    As always stated, with Different Class Jarvis Cocker reached his pop pinnacle. But with this, he has gone even further.
  • madcat
    1 oct 15
    I agree Lao, as you know I also love Different Class (and the previous His n Hers), top-notch levels.
Pulsar: Halloween
CD Audio I have it ★★★★★
Among the most beautiful French records of all time, without a shadow of a doubt. But ALL of their production deserves recognition, even the interstellar journeys of their early days that may sound naive today, but... when it comes to TRANSPORT, they truly transport you...
  • BARRACUDA BLUE
    4 sep 13
    What a wonderful album, every self-respecting progster should be familiar with it.
  • GIANLUIGI67
    4 sep 13
    beautiful, among the greatest French artists I would also mention the Dune Dün - Eros
  • GIANLUIGI67
    4 sep 13
    I really like the debut album by Pulsar, which I believe is self-titled.
  • GIANLUIGI67
    4 sep 13
    DUN...I slipped up an E. Great record that I'm rediscovering just these days.