The Flaming Lips With Neon Indian- The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips- The Flaming Lips With Neon Indian

Rating: 10

"Take Your Legs and Run, Into The Death Rays of The Sun"

Best Song: Is David Bowie Dying?

Worst Song: Alan's Theremin

Track Listing:

   Side One:

1. Is David Bowie Dying?

2. Alan's Theremin

3. You Don't Respond

   Side Two:

4. Do You Want New Wave Or Do You Want The Truth Part Two

*What's Wrong With A Bonus One For Today?

     ...Ahhh, now that's a whole lot better. Only an overlong song brings this one down, but 2 out of the 4 songs are up to the Lip's Standards! The first really good one is "Is David Bowie Dying?" which is a really creepy but really, really good. It's got three parts, a main theme, a break and a reprise, and all three are executed greatly. The other great song is "You Don't Respond," which is not as sinister sounding as "Bowie," but is really good in its own way. I especially like the fuzzy guitar in it.

     There's also a song that, while really cool, gets a bit annoying even though it's only 3 minutes. That is "Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want The Truth Part Two," The jam that goes on in the beginning in the left channel is major cool, but when the noises start invading the rest of it, I really don't like it that much. The beginning saves it.

     The only song that I actually "dislike," is the 8 minute "Alan's Theremin," which begins with a nice electro-part, with some Flaming Lips providing the background, but then it quickly becomes annoying, repetitive, and it goes on for 8 minutes! It takes up nearly half the EP, so it is kind of a waste of time. The rest of the EP is pretty good, and the only way you can get it is for free on the internet, so go out and get it!

Two Blobs F***ing- The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips- Two Blobs F***ing

Rating: 6

"Garbage Cans"

Best Songs: Two Blobs

Worst Song: Two Blobs

Track List:

1. Two Blobs F***ing

     This is the first in a series of reviews I shall be doing of the Flaming Lips 2011 outputs (Yes I shall be doing Seven Skies H3 24 hour song).

     So. Two Blobs F***ing. The February 2011 output. It's one song in 12 different youtube videos meant to all be played at the same time, Zaireeka Style. The bad thing is, with 12 different sources, the song is wayyy wayyy too chaotic, and is mostly just chaotic noise, but the story is pretty interesting. Some of the 12 different parts are good, but some are just meaningless. So I really can't give that high of a grade to it because the song isn't that good, and there's not that much to back it up, as there is no other songs.

     Not much else I can say about it, so on Thursday, expect The Flaming Lips With Neon Indian! 

Lark's Tongues in Aspic- King Crimson

King Crimson- Lark's Tongues in Aspic (1973)

Rating: 11

"And I Swear I Like Your People, The Boys in The Band"

Best Song: Lark's Tongues in Aspic Part 1 & 2

Worst Song: Book Of Saturday

Track Listing:

1. Lark's Tongues In Aspic Part 1

2. Book of Saturday

3. Exiles

4. Easy Money

5. The Talking Drum

6. Lark's Tongues In Aspic Part 2

     This is the first album in the trilogy of "Wetton/Bruford/Fripp/Cross" lineup, and this one includes a second percussionist, the strange Jamie Muir, who was only on this album. This is also the last album in the trilogy I have to review, so I pretty much went backwards! Most people either put this as the best or second best of the trilogy, but I have to put this as the worst, unfortunately. 1/3 of it is great, but 2/3 of it is just good. Fripp and Cross are the stars on this album, as Wetton wasn't a confident singer yet, and Bruford, while great, needed a bit to round out his style to the Crimson sound. Jamie is fit for the sound, and probably is better than Bruford on this one.

     The album kicks off with "Lark's Tongues in Aspic Pt. 1," which is one of the greatest songs they ever did, but is not as good as "Fracture" or "Starless". It however, does have their most epic and heavy riff about 3 minutes in. The only part of the song I could live without is the David Cross by himself solo section. On this album, he's always better when other people are playing, so that section in the middle could be better. But that's the only complaint. The next song, "Book of Saturday," is not so great, but not bad, and really, no song on this album is bad, just only the title tracks are Really Great. "Book of Saturday" is just a generic ballad with no real parts that stand out. And no, the guitar that's backwards does not stand out.

     The album then goes into "Exiles," which is slightly overlong, but good. Then "Easy Money," which is the best of the 4 songs in the middle, comes on and is pretty good, but very similar to Pink Floyd's "Money." The last song of the middle songs is "The Talking Drums," which is really really intense, but a bit long. A bunch of guitar feedback signals the other best song, which is the second part of the title track. It's a three part epic song, that makes me want to just yell "RAWK!", but I don't, cause if I do, the neighbors will probably get mad. So I don't do that. Now, as a special bonus, here's me trying to type the lyrics of "Book of Saturday" in time with his singing:

"if i onyls contnmd r for get thie  gam eevety ynbruin trokr ny olyou e kajkfbghtn rsnvjayh mr t ne the po rpndmmmifeios and  js 5to al t y,me dunw. you c-kayn the bkacs oifd poband to foab viaketn thr eponbngbs n bt9ikm n mtheb b an jrkemn e kjkj gklkn   jb ay ikm mthen   m gnafn ylmjgbajke  nfsouuuunnnnnnnnnnddddddddd *backwards solo* *David Cross Crying About How Bad This Song Is Through A Violin!* oooooooooooooooo  dooodododoodododooododoododoodododoododoododododooododdoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo *More Crying* *Backwards* onnyj  tinteh th aspleppe on jni ll th4 onbgi cojbkshe oikosize jaksthbgrkuio krjjto flljen and oyesdyreretsay dtheyee  as duhbcm jrthjemm sids skjrngnedrtnsisimt thdebrma and oss the sanht dejannlasys ahair ajfbjajmaking swwrt xsixteen. ooooooooooooooo do yki mik ylin   book of sytauhtkd,atys nand i have o schoooseoo *Ppirf*"

I really like my cats

*Dedicated to Mark Prindle (The Jukebox FORK)

Starless And Bible Black- King Crimson

King Crimson- Starless and Bible Black (1973)

Rating: 12

"The Worthy Captain and His Squad of Troopers, Standing Fast"

Best Song: Fracture

Worst Song: Trio

     This has to be one of the most underrated albums I have ever reviewed. On every site I look at for reviews, it got 7/16, 4/10, 4/10, and 7/10. It's a really good album! Most people tend to talk about the fact that 5/8 songs are live, and that 4/5 of those are improvisations. But the King Crimson improvs are some of the best music they ever did. All of the improvisations (except for one) are great and it's really hard to believe they actually improvised on it. But let's do a track by track analysis.

     The album kicks off with a song called "The Great Deciever", which is a great song driven by an awesome electric violin line and an awesome bassline! The lyrics are funny, and the singing is top notch. The next song, "Lament," is not as good, but has two cool sections. The first one is quiet, but the second part is regular rockin' Crimson, lead by a cool bassline. The next song is the instrumental improv, "We'll Let You Know," which is the best improvisation on the album. Once again, the bass is amazing. And when the drum comes in... wow.

     The 4th song is called "The Night Watch," and it's pretty good, just a bit soft. The next song, "Trio," is waayyy too soft. It's frankly just a boring song. Then side one closes out with "The Mincer", which is really creepy, but is made even creepier by the random cutout. Then side 2 opens up with the final improvisation of the album, which is the title track. While it's not my favorite, its still pretty good!

      All of these songs however, do not compare to "Fracture," This is easily in my top 5 Crimson songs, and one of the greatest Heavy prog songs ever. It's 11 minutes, but not overlong in the slightest! The main guitar part is awesome, made awesome by the octave power of the guitar-bass playing the same thing. The violin's pretty great too! But wow, that bass. That amazing bass. John Wetton was a heck of a bass player.

     Overall, this album is vastly underrated, and if you don't have it, go pick it up as soon as possible!

Red- King Crimson

King Crimson- Red (1974)

Rating: 15

"Sundown/dazzling day/Gold through my eyes/But my eyes turned within/Only see"

Best Song: Starless

Worst Song: Fallen Angel

       Christmas morning. I opened up a moderately small present to reveal the 2012 5.1 edition of Larks Tongue's in Aspic and the 2009 5.1 edition of... this. Wow, where do I start? I've never been a fan of King Crimson. I only liked their first album. But then I saw the 5.1 remasters, and I decided to give them a try. I had already heard Larks Tongues in Aspic, and that had scared me half to death. But I had never heard Red.
       So I popped this baby into my DVD player and started it up. Immediately, I was hit by an amazing wall of distortion that was the title track. Everything in the mix was distorted even the bass. There were seemingly billions of Guitars yelling around me, and then there was a cello, and then the song ended. Needless to say, I was blown away, and decided nothing on the album could be better than that wall of noise.
       Sadly, when the next song, "Fallen Angel" came on, I thought it was great, but it really wasn't as good as the last. Then came on an absolutely amazing song called "One More Red Nightmare," This was even better than "Red," and had me wondering what could be better than that. "Providence," was pretty good, but not as good as the last song. It was no question, the weirdest, but I still really liked it.
       Then... "Starless" came on. If you haven't heard that song, drop absolutely everything you're doing and listen to it right now. That has to be one of the top 6 songs that I have ever heard. The pacing is fantastic, and I have absolutely zero complaints about it. It is the greatest heavy prog song of all time.
       Overall, this is an amazing album. Go out and buy it today!

Kid A by Radiohead

Kid A by Radiohead (2000)

Rating: 15

Best Song: Idioteque

Worst Song: In Limbo

     Here it is, one of the greatest albums of all time. It's among my 15 favorite albums, and in my opinion is the best album of the 2000s. Now, I really don't have much to say about Kid A that hasn't already been said, so I'll just make this quick. First of all, this is the album where Radiohead began to go experimental. At first, some people were confused, but as time went on, it seems that this album has been accepted as one of the all time greats. However, it's not as acclaimed as OK Computer (Though I'm not a huge fan of the album, although it's pretty good).

     This album is best listened to in it's entirety, where you get to experience the perfect pacing of the album. The only song I don't love is "Morning Bell", which seems to drag a bit for me, but the rest of the album is absolutely perfect. Yes, even the ambient song "Treefingers" because of the amazing atmosphere and imagery it creates.

     The best song on it is definitely "Idioteque." This song's got it all, great lyrics, great hooks, great bass, etc. It's just a really awesome song. It's fun to dance to as well. Another great song is "How To Disappear Completely," which is an absolutely beautiful song about handling hard times and depression. "The National Anthem," another highlight, is a song I didn't like at first, but as my appreciation for jazz music grows, the more I end up liking this song. Oh and the opening is amazing as well.

     All in all, this is one of the greatest albums of all time. Pick it up today; You need it.

Please Please Me by The Beatles

Please Please Me (1962)- Beatles #1
Rating: 10
Best Song: I Saw Her Standing There
Worst Song: Boys 

     Ahhh, the debut album of the most known band in the entire world. I actually like it, but in the end, it's generic 60s pop, but in the spirit of most of my reviews, let's do a little history on the Beatles. The Beatles formed in 1960, and the band members were bassist Paul Mcartney, guitarist John Lennon, guitarist George Harrison, and then drummer Pete Best. Back then, they were a pretty unknown Liverpool band, playing in clubs and such for money. Then one day, they went to Germany and played there, Pete met a girl, and stayed in Germany. This left the Beatles without a drummer, so they found Richard Starkey (Better known as Ringo Starr) and he became the drummer.
     They became a big hit eventually, with several #1 hit singles, but they needed to get a full-length LP out sooner or later, so they went in and recorded Please Please Me, which had several of their singles. Obvious highlights are "I Saw Her Standing There", "Love Me Do", and "Twist And Shout",  but there are lesser known ones that are good like "Anna (Go to Him)". The rest ranges from okay to good, so there aren't any complaints, but this is not the best effort from them, even though it's a solid debut. Sorry, not much to say this time.

Pink Floyd- A Saucerful of Secrets

A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)- Pink Floyd #2
Rating: 9
Best Song: Set The Controls for The Heart of The Sun
Worst Song: A Saucerful of Secrets      Here we have what is one of the most overrated Floyd albums in the world. While you may think, "Not many people know this album!", what I mean is that among Floyd Fans (Myself included), the majority hold this as one of the best Floyd album, but everytime I hear it, it sounds ok, some good, but not amazing. The best song is the awesome, "Set The Controls For The Heart of The Sun," as it shows Mr. Roger Waters at his early best.
     The opener, "Let There Be More Light" sounds kind of generic, even though I swear I've never heard anything like it. It confuses me to this day. On some days it reminds me of The Doors. Then "Remember A Day," I cannot stand, as I've never been a fan of Richard Wright's vocals, and this is no exception. "Corporal Clegg" comes after "Set", and gets my vote as the second best song, even though it's a bit silly. Then we have the Ambient/Noise/Rock/Space Rock/Exploding/Noodling/SFGERTTHG title track which I don't like AT ALL. It's not one of their better long songs. The next Rick Wright song, "See-Saw" is a break from the Ambient/Noise/Rock/Space Rock/Exploding/Noodling/SFGERTTHG of the last one, so I actually quite like it when listening to the album in its entirety.
     And then we come to the infamous ending track; Yes, it's Syd Barrett's final song with Pink Floyd before he was kicked out of Floyd for drug issues and insanity, "Jugband Blues". Unfortunately, I do not like it as much as other people like it, but there's nothing wrong with it. It almost becomes Ambient/Noise/Rock/Space Rock/Exploding/Noodling/SFGERTTHG, but Barrett had enough sense not to end it the same freaky way they ended Piper
     In the end, this isn't a bad Pink Floyd album, it just isn't a really good one. half the album is good, but the rest is okay to one terrible Ambient/Noise/Rock/Space Rock/Exploding/Noodling/SFGERTTHG.

Pink Floyd- The Piper At The Gates of Dawn

The Piper At The Gates of Dawn (1967)- Pink Floyd #1
Rating: 12
Best Song: Interstellar Overdrive
Worst Song: Scarecrow

     ...And so begins the saga of my favorite band of all time: Pink Floyd. I used to be a Dark-Side through Wall fan, so most of Pink Floyd's albums were ones I didn't like. I loved the "Prog" sound of the most famous albums, so when I picked this up on my birthday 6 months ago, I hated it. I also love The Beatles, and yes, Sgt. Pepper was an album during the psychedelia period, but not many songs on it were really "Psychadelic." This one, however is psychadelic at it's max potential. However, it really grew on me.
     The lyrical content of this album is different from the rest of the discography because of one man: Syd Barrett. Syd was the lead of Pink Floyd from the time they formed in 1965, until the time when he went insane in 1968 and was replaced by the then session guitarist David Gilmour. He was kicked because of drug problems and mental issues.
     You can almost feel him falling apart in these songs. The lyrics are kiddish, but have a Barrett twist to them. The guitar playing is very good, but very loose. The standout songs are: "Astronomy Domine", known as one of the first space rock songs, "Interstellar Overdrive" one if the first prog instrumentals of all time, and "Bike", a demented almost nursery rhyme.
     Some of the songs however, like "The Gnome" and "Scarecrow", are not very good, and seem to be thrown together by Syd. Roger Waters, the future lead of Floyd wrote a song, "Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk". It's so dumb, but I kind of like it. Overall, it's one of the most solid debut albums I have heard. Sadly, Syd Barrett was kicked out right after this album, and only had one more song to contribute to Floyd, which appeared on the next album, which already showed a stylistic change...

Brian Eno- Another Green World

Another Green World (1975)- Brian Eno 3

Rating: 12

"In The Blue, August Moon"

Best Song: St. Elmo's Fire

Worst Song: Little Fishes

Feb 2013 Update: Wow This Grew on Me. Read my review of it when I gave it a 7.5, but now I really enjoy most of it

     Ok, let's start with a moderately obscure album. This is an album by former Roxy Music band member Brian Eno. Him and Roxy band leader Bryan Ferry made a more experimental version of Glam Rock in the first two Roxy albums. Brian Eno left in 1973 to pursue a solo career, and he went on to become a producer for popular bands such as U2, The Talking Heads, David Bowie, and Devo.
     His first two albums, Here Come The Warm Jets and Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) were released in 1973 and 1974 to moderate critical acclaim. At some point, I'll review those, but first I'll have to pick those ones up and give them a few more listens. Anyway, Warm Jets was more of a Glam Rock music album then what he would become in the 80s. Tiger Mountain showed signs of a coming change, but it was still a ways off until he finally became and pioneered a new Genre: Ambient.
     Enough about Brian's history, let's get on to the album! This albums is a combination of almost soft rock and ambient, but he had still not completed his full ambient "transformation" so the ambient isn't in full force (Except for a few songs, and I'll get to that later)
     The album opens up with a song called "Sky Saw" which is a combination of some softer glam rock and his strange, but signature synths. Then "Over Fire Island" is almost the same idea, just a bit more boring. The third song, however is one of the best songs he would record and probably the greatest combination of Ambient/Soft Rock he'd ever record. The next two songs, "In Dark Trees" and "The Big Ship" are part of what I call "The Ambient Duo" as these songs are very ambient and mood setting. The tree one gives you feelings of paranoia and somebody watching you, while "The Big Ship" feels like a ship slowly coming over the horizon line and landing in a dock.
     "I'll Come Running" is a nice song, but not a standout, and the title track is a relative throwaway that kind of sums up the album in 1:30. The second half of the album is not great, but still okay, as most of the tracks here are ambient and the ones that are not are moderately boring. While nothing is particularly "bad", only "St. Elmo's Fire" stands out among the 14 songs. Still, it's a nice listen, and if you want to start listening to ambient, the ambients on here are a good starting point.