Halibooty Reviews 60 Albums, 6 At a Time

[Sweat]

What was your favorite song off Funeral? <3

I don't know, when I do this, I mainly base the album off as a whole, I don't focus on individual song titles

[Burgerpants]

COMING UP

Justice - ✝

Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space

Tool - Lateralus

HYYYYYYYYYYYYPE

[Sweat]

HYYYYYYYYYYYYPE

Well here is your HYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYPE finally being fulfilled. I've got to say, this round of albums has been my favorite so far in this project. One eight, two nines and THREE tens.

 

 

 

6. David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars [1972]

Rating: 8/10

We're already coming off strong, aren't we? Yeah, before listening to this, I had a relative closed-mindedness to David Bowie. I wasn't the biggest fan of the songs I listened to from him, so listening to a whole album of his was gonna be a journey. And I have to say, I really liked it! It actually kinda reminded me of Queen in its overall feel, and you guys should know how much I love Queen. Plus, who could possibly dislike David Bowie's voice? This album is a classic for a reason, and I recommend it to everyone.

 

5. The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium [2003]

Rating: 9/10

Everybody loves to have an obsession with classic prog rock like Pink Floyd and King Crimson, but modern prog rock can be really great too! This album is the perfect example. This album has a lot of energy to it than anyone can appreciate. This would be a 10 if the album didn't get a bit tedious and same-sounding every once in a while, but overall, I highly recommend the album to anyone who wants to explore the more modern incarnations of progressive rock.

 

4. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space [1997]

Rating: 9/10

Like I've said before, good neo-psychadelia bands carve out their own signature sound, and this album definitely had it's own unique sound. I'm still not sure I'll be putting "space rock" in my music genre vocabulary, but that doesn't matter. What matters right now is that this album is just awesome. You'd think by the album cover that it'd be boring, but it really is not. Speaking of the cover, the packaging for this album is something to appreciate too. The physical copy of the album is meant to resemble a prescription drug package, which for some odd reason, I just find really cool.

 

3. Joanna Newsom - Ys [2006]

Rating: 10/10

I did not expect to adore this album as much as I did. I thought from the packaging and the way it was described on Wikipedia (I need to stop trusting Wikipedia when it comes to this type of stuff), that I'd like but not love it, but I was dead wrong in every possible way. Yeah, Newsom's vocals are a bit eccentric, but it doesn't take too long to get used to it. Once you get past that, this album consists of nothing but purely beautiful music. The harp isn't an instrument I expected to love so much because of this album, but I did. I can accept that this album really isn't for everyone, but for people who might be interested in this type of music, it's definitely a must-listen.

 

2. Justice - † [2007]

Rating: 10/10

Talk about an album that I loved every single second on. I've already heard D.A.N.C.E. before listening to the full album because, well, D.A.N.C.E. is one of the best dance songs of all time. I was surprised by how different from D.A.N.C.E. this whole album was, though. This album was just harsh, but in the best way you can possibly make it. I don't really know how to describe this album other than just being an absolute must-listen album for virtually everyone. If you like the song D.A.N.C.E., you'll get something different from this album, but don't even think about taking that as a bad thing.

 

1. Tool - Lateralus [2001]

Rating: 10/10

I'm just gonna be upfront with you guys, I was never a metal person. I've tried listening to multiple metal albums of different subgenres, but I just can't really find anything ultimately intriguing about it that I'd be willing to listen to all the time. Well, with Lateralus, I found a metal subgenre that was just for me... prog metal! ... I'm not sure what you guys will think about this, but here goes. I loved every single minute of this album. Even in the quieter parts, the album still kept me interested. And with the quiet parts, the louder parts were even more rewarding. I really can't say much about this album, these guys are really talented and this album is a must-listen for everyone, even people who aren't exactly big fans of metal.

 

 

Top 10 Albums So Far...

10. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating in Space

9. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

8. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

7. Joanna Newsom - Ys

6. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

5. Arcade Fire - Funeral

4. Justice - †

3. Tool - Lateralus

2. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

1. Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun

 

Bottom 10 Albums So Far...

10. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven

9. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted

8. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium

7. Television - Marquee Moon

6. Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

5. Beck - Odelay

4. The Clash - London Calling

3. Slint - Spiderland

2. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

1. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

 

COMING UP

Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica

Beach House - Bloom

Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy

White Stripes - Elephant

The Strokes - Is This It

Gorillaz - Demon Days

[Katniss]

COMING UP

Modest Mouse - The Moon and Antarctica

Beach House - Bloom

Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy

White Stripes - Elephant

The Strokes - Is This It

Gorillaz - Demon Days

 

[CyanideFishbone]

Hell yeah the mars volta. Be sure to check out At The Drive-In.

[Sweat]

I hope you don't mind that the Modest Mouse album that I chose to listen to instead is Lonesome Crowded West. Moon & Antarctica wasn't at the library today and there was a very simple solution right under my nose.

[CyanideFishbone]

Have fun listening to Demon Days. Great band and record. 

[Sweat]

Finally time for Part VI

 

 

6. Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy [1985]

Rating: 6/10

Man, I really wanted to like this one, but I just was not feeling it. I mean, I like noise pop or noise pop-related stuff, Loveless comes immediately to mind, but this just was not incredibly enjoyable to me. Maybe it's because the vocals were a bit weaksauce, or the album was a bit repetitive, but I couldn't really find anything I particularly really liked in it. I guess it's a slightly above average album, but that's honestly it.

 

5. Beach House - Bloom [2012]

Rating: 7/10

Here's another album I really wanted to love, but I didn't find as much in it as I expected. Yes, the album has beautiful instrumentals, but the album's flaws get in the way. The vocals are pretty annoying and the album in general is just really repetitive and generic. I can give it a 7 because I appreciate how pretty the album sounds and it takes talent to do it, but in quality, I didn't find anything genuinely spectacular like I expected.

 

4. Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West [1997]

Rating: 9/10

Like I said, I'm sorry that I changed Modest Mouse albums, but this album was still awesome. A lot of you have probably only listened to Float On, but let me tell you, this album is so not Float On that it's not very easy to word it. I was hooked immediately just by the first 10 seconds, as Teeth Like God's Shoeshine is probably the most perfect way they could have possibly started the album. I would give it a 10/10 if it weren't for the fact that it got a little repetitive every once in a while, but for the most part, this album is incredible, ranging from hardcore punk rock-ish songs to softer more, you could say, mainstream stuff.

 

3. The Strokes - Is This It [2001]

Rating: 9/10

Pop rock at its finest, ladies and gentlemen. I don't think I can describe this album better than it just being cool. It was a really cool, kickass album. I expected this album to be good, but not as good as it was, admittedly. The album blew me away, especially with songs like Last Nite. If the album were more songs like Last Nite, it would probably be a 10/10, but the album did have some less fun songs that kinda stalled me honestly, but otherwise, an all-out amazing album that I'd suggest to everyone whether they're into more mainstream stuff or not.

 

2. White Stripes - Elephant [2003]

Rating: 10/10

Holy crap, what an album. Honestly, I couldn't praise this enough. Like I said, Is This It had some weaker parts in it, but when this album gets softer, it's so much better and I can't put my finger on why. Of course, the album starts off well what is probably THE most well-known riff of the past two decades and because Seven Nation Army is a song I'm convinced everybody has listened to at least once, it's definitely a good starter for the album. The album just switches between ligter songs and a lot more rock-like stuff in such a great way, that I can't really describe this album other than nearly perfect. I easily recommend it.

 

1. Gorillaz - Demon Days [2005]

Rating: 10/10

I'm going to go ahead and be honest with myself, I didn't expect this album to be a masterpiece. I knew it was gonna be good, but I guess me being jaded because of the more overdone songs from this album kinda lowed my expectations, I thought it was maybe gonna be a 7 or 8. HOLY CRAP I WAS SO WRONG. That intro made me love the album instantly, and the album just carried on with it, and all I thought when I finished the album was that it was easily a top-ten album for me. I can't even put in words, how much I loved every single second of this album, it just needs to be listened to so you can understand it. It's an amazing mix of rock, rap and pop that fits all together.

 

Top 10 Albums So Far...

10. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

9. Joanna Newsom - Ys

8. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

7. Arcade Fire - Funeral

6. The White Stripes - Elephant

5. Justice - †

4. Tool - Lateralus

3. Gorillaz - Demon Days

2. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois 

1. Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun

 

Bottom 10 Albums So Far...

10. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium

9. Television - Marquee Moon

8. Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

7. Beck - Odelay

6. Beach House - Bloom

5. The Clash - London Calling

4. Slint - Spiderland

3. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

2. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

1. Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy

 

COMING UP

BLUR - PARKLIFE

THE WHO - WHO'S NEXT

LOVE - FOREVER CHANGES

LOU REED - TRANSFORMER

MADVILLAIN - MADVILLAINY

FLYING LOTUS - COSMOGRAMMA

[Sweat]

BREAKING NEWS (kinda...)

 

My project has officially been extended to 60 albums! I found 18 more that I would love to listen to at the local library, so I added 18 more albums to the plan! I hope you guys enjoy the news.

[CyanideFishbone]

Only saying, but you know what De-Loused In The Comatorium is about right? It's basically an ode to Julio Venegas, a friend of Cedric Bixler (Lead vocalist of At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta)'s who commited suicide. While the album is a concept album and deals with a character named "Cerpin Taxt" who is based off of Venegas, who also had a song which was a tribute to him, "Ebroglio" off of At The Drive-In's first record, Acrobatic Tenement (which you should check out on your review. Great record)

[Sweat]

Only saying, but you know what De-Loused In The Comatorium is about right? It's basically an ode to Julio Venegas, a friend of Cedric Bixler (Lead vocalist of At The Drive-In and The Mars Volta)'s who commited suicide. While the album is a concept album and deals with a character named "Cerpin Taxt" who is based off of Venegas, who also had a song which was a tribute to him, "Ebroglio" off of At The Drive-In's first record, Acrobatic Tenement (which you should check out on your review. Great record)

Yes, I already know about De-Loused's concept, you didn't need to spell it out for me, but thanks I guess.

[CyanideFishbone]

Yes, I already know about De-Loused's concept, you didn't need to spell it out for me, but thanks I guess.

I was just saying, and you should definaintly check out an At The Drive-In record. Such an amazing and underrated group.

[Sweat]

Now for another addition!

 

 

6. Love - Forever Changes [1967]

Rating: 7/10

This album was definitely good, and for anyone who knows, Alone Again Or is one of the most untouchably perfect songs of the decade, but the album didn't give me an incredibly huge reaction as a whole. While some of the songs were just awesome, a handful of them were kind of weaksauce and made the album about one rating lower than it could have been. In general, I still enjoyed the album and baroque pop is always appreciated in my eyes, but the album didn't do anything spectacular that I can fully remember.

 

5. The Who - Who's Next [1971]

Rating: 9/10

This album, man. I don't really know what I have to say about it when it comes to specific critique, but this album definitely deserves its praise.  Hard rock in the 60s and 70s in hindsight wasn't as hard as hard rock today can be, but let me tell you, the rock in this album was certainly hard. It's nearly impossible to be bored by the album. It's definitely an album worth listening more than once.

 

4. Blur - Parklife [1994]

Rating: 9/10

Now, while the subject of Britpop is right there, let me say right now that I'm not the biggest fan of Oasis. I've tried listening to multiple songs of theirs both hard and soft, and I can't really say I like them too much. Because of this, I was kind of afraid of how much better or worse Blur would be, and let me say, I was the opposite of disappointed. I was hooked right away from its first track, Girls and Boys. The album kept building up on catchy song after catchy song, and let me say, I finally got Blur once the album was finished. This album is definitely worth a listen for fans of pop rock.

 

3. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma [2010]

Rating: 9/10

This album is easily one of the most various albums I've ever covered in this reviewing project so far, but I'm not gonna pretend like I got it right away. It took me a little bit to get hooked, but once I did around the 3rd song in, I realized that this album is an absolute masterpiece. I don't know what style of song I like more from the album, whether it's the glitchier somewhat experimental stuff, or the more jazzy super chill stuff, but by now, I don't even remotely care. This album took my breath away, and I'll definitely checking out Flying Lotus more in the future.

 

2. Lou Reed - Transformer [1972]

Rating: 10/10

This album was one I don't have too many words for, but I'll make it quick. I really, really loved this album, and I can like almost every single song from the album, especially Perfect Day which is a song which I'll probably be listening to for the rest of my life. Admittedly, the album didn't hook me at first, but the sheer emotion and perfect production single-handedly made me fall in love with the album. I can listen to this thing on loop 5 times in a row and I still couldn't possibly get enough of Lou Reed's vocals and the instrumentals fitting perfectly together.

 

1. Madvillain - Madvillainy [2004]

Rating: 10/10

Look guys, I'm really sorry that this is the only hip hop album in this whole project (unless you count Cosmogramma) but in case you don't know, my special limit for this is that it has to be available at my local library, just a fun way to put a little twist on this project. Of course, virtually none of the hip hop albums available (except for this and Cosmogramma) were intriguing in the slightest. I had tons of hip hop albums I wanted to review, including Enter the Wu-Tang, Low End Theory, Illmatic, really any Kanye album, et cetera. Luckily I found this one which I heard an absolute crapload of good things about, so I felt like it was my duty to check it out and review it. And look here, I did, and let me say, it was nothing short of incredible. MF Doom's rapping is worth nothing but praise, and Madlib's production work with these fancy news reports and stuff blend in with the rapping in a way that I don't think I've ever heard before. I honestly probably shouldn't say much more as I'm not incredibly knowledgable hip hop and I may start to talk out of my butt, but I VERY highly recommend this album to basically everyone, possibly even people who aren't that into hip hop. It's that incredible of an album.

 

Top 10 Albums So Far...

10. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

9. Arcade Fire - Funeral

8. The White Stripes - Elephant

7. Lou Reed - Transformer

6. Justice - †

5. Madvillain - Madvillainy

4. Tool - Lateralus

3. Gorillaz - Demon Days

2. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois 

1. Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun

 

Bottom 10 Albums So Far...

10. Television - Marquee Moon

9. Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

8. Love - Forever Changes

7. Beck - Odelay

6. Beach House - Bloom

5. The Clash - London Calling

4. Slint - Spiderland

3. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

2. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

1. Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy

 

COMING UP

FLEET FOXES - FLEET FOXES

GOTYE - MAKING MIRRORS

BATTLES - MIRRORED

ROLLING STONES - LET IT BLEED

DAFT PUNK - ALIVE 2007

LED ZEPPELIN - LED ZEPPELIN IV

[Katniss]

idk if Fleet Foxes are gonna be your taste, but I think they're simply lovely <3

 

And dang, your library has a good selection of albums

[CyanideFishbone]

Yes Doolittle. Great record. And as I said, I really want you to check out an At The Drive-In record. I recommend to try out Relationship Of Command first, as it's the best out of the 3. Then go on to Acrobatic Tenement and In/Casino/Out. 

[Sweat]

Yes Doolittle. Great record. And as I said, I really want you to check out an At The Drive-In record. I recommend to try out Relationship Of Command first, as it's the best out of the 3. Then go on to Acrobatic Tenement and In/Casino/Out. 

Sorry, I accidentally put Doolittle in there, I was meant to put Led Zeppelin IV

[CyanideFishbone]

Sorry, I accidentally put Doolittle in there, I was meant to put Led Zeppelin IV

Still both great records

[Wumbo]

IV is some of the best stuff Zeppelin has to offer. Enjoy the fuck out of that album, man.

[Elastic Dawg]

Awww sheeot, good looks on Spiritualized. I fuckin' love J. Spaceman. Peep some Spacemen 3, too, though a good chunk of their stuff is primarily enjoyable under the influence of certain substances. I got a boner for Psychocandy too, but I definitely agree it's repetitive. But it's such a nice sound. "Taste the Floor" is my shit.

[Sweat]

Well time to embarrass myself again by reviewing albums!

 

 

6. Daft Punk - Alive 2007 [2007]

Rating: 8/10

I don't think it's an understatement to say that Daft Punk is one of the most critically acclaimed artists of the last couple of decades. Now, I've already listened to all of their studio albums before this besides Homework, and I liked them all. I really like Human After All, sorry to the people who dislike that album, and I know you guys exist. So of course, I felt just about obligated to listen to their critically well-received live album. Yes, I definitely really liked it, but if I were to be completely honest with myself, it's only an eight because I'd rather listen to the studio albums on their own without the song mixed together. That doesn't mean the songs mixed together is a bad thing, as they definitely did in a kickass way.

 

5. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV [1971]

Rating: 8/10

Because I'm a massive pleb and this project's purpose is to make me less pleb, you can probably guess right now that the one song I heard from this album already before I listened in full was Stairway to Heaven. I mean, who hasn't listened to that song either willingly or not? Now I'm not gonna pretend to be this contrarian, I actually really love that song. Because that song is so awesome, I expected the album to be just as awesome. To be fair, Stairway to Heaven is the best song from the album, but still, this album was, in fact, awesome! The album starts great immediately with Black Dog, which is basically the 2nd most well-known song from this band. This was pretty much exactly what I thought the album would sound like, great hard rock mixed with blues.

 

4. The Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed [1969]

Rating: 9/10

You know, while I listened to that one quintessential Led Zeppelin song before I listened to IV so I kinda expected stuff similar, I have never listened to a single Rolling Stones song, at least consciously. This was completely new for me. Like Led Zeppelin IV, this is one of those quintessential blues rock albums, and I honestly liked this one more. The songs in this one were a lot catchier and admittedly much more worth constant relistening, especially Brown Sugar. This album is an easy recommend for people who want to get into classic rock.

 

3. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes [2008]

Rating: 9/10

You know, indie folk albums can go in more than one direction. They can be simple acoustic albums, ambitious baroque pop or occasionally it can turn out to be more rock than folk. Yeah, I was told that maybe I wouldn't like this album, but that turned out to be extremely untrue. I expected this album to just be some light baroque pop and whatever, but I didn't get that. The album was pretty all around. My only small problem with it is that it's pretty hard to tell the difference between a lot of the songs on here. Otherwise, this was some of the best folk rock I've heard.

 

2. Gotye - Making Mirrors [2011]

Rating: 9/10

Now a main theme in a lot of these albums in particular is that they have a song that I know and love which convinced me to listen to the rest of the album to see if the rest of it is just as good. With this album, the very obvious one is Somebody That I Used to Know, the song that absolutely dominated the Hot 100 about a year after the song got released. Admittedly, I really like the song, but I don't love it. The subject matter and execution is great, but I'm just not a huge fan. I heard that there are like 6 songs on the album better than the one huge hit, so I went ahead and got the CD at the library and took a listen... people are right. This album was basically nothing but either catchy, beautiful songs or those combined. Eyes Wide Open is the most notable example, and arguably the most well-known song from the album next to Somebody That I Used to Know. If this album doesn't turn out to be considered a classic in 20 years, I'd be very surprised.

 

1. Battles - Mirrored [2007]

Rating: 10/10

Considering I wasn't the biggest fan of Spiderland, and it honestly got less interesting to me after I posted that set of reviews (no joke, it's like a 3/10 for me now that I relistened to it a few times), I feel like I got off on the wrong foot with this fancy genre called 'math rock.' While Spiderland was tedious and barely made risks, at least in my perspective, this album was a lot more varied. I've already heard the lead song Atlas before listening to the full album, and I absolutely love that song so I expected the rest of the album to be great too. Well, I was right. I was very right. I was extremely right. This album was just awesome, but I don't know how to describe it. Every song has a little different perk, and let me tell you, I can barely explain how great it is, you guys go ahead and listen for yourself.

 

Top 10 Albums So Far...

10. Arcade Fire - Funeral

9. The White Stripes - Elephant

8. Lou Reed - Transformer

7. Battles - Mirrored

6. Justice - †

5. Madvillain - Madvillainy

4. Tool - Lateralus

3. Gorillaz - Demon Days

2. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois 

1. Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun

 

Bottom 10 Albums So Far...

10. Television - Marquee Moon

9. Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

8. Love - Forever Changes

7. Beck - Odelay

6. Beach House - Bloom

5. The Clash - London Calling

4. Slint - Spiderland

3. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

2. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

1. Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy

 

 

COMING UP

PIXIES - DOOLITTLE

FLEETWOOD MAC - RUMOURS

DEAFHEAVEN - SUNBATHER

MOBY - PLAY

WIRE - PINK FLAG

PANDA BEAR - PERSON PITCH