Rate the last Album you Listened to...

[blackmoses]

The Cure 10/10 The Cure is just Fantastic!


Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik 10/10 Chili Peppers are the best!!!!


By the Way - 10/10 Fantastic Red Hot chili Peppers are amazing!


Pump - 9/10 Great, but not good enough for a ten.


Woodstock 94 - 6.5/10 This is good not great.

[captainofbeef]

My rating for those CD's.
The Cure-s/t, 7/10
BSSM-RHCP, 10/10
By the Way- RHCP 8-10
Pump-Aerosmith, 9/10
Woodstcok 94, 5/10. Why would you buy that? You should have bought one of the CD's for the early Woodstocks.

[blackmoses]

They didn't have any of the early Woodstocks or I would of bought them. And the Woodstock I got was pretty bad, but some poeple were good.

[PTAhole]

My ratings for those:
The Cure- Self-Titled- 8/10 (good, not great)
Red Hot Chili Peppers- Blood Sugar Sex Magik- 10/10 (One of the best ever)
Red Hot Chili Peppers- By the Way- 8/10 (This is good. Just because it is Chili Peppers doesn't mean it is a ten)
Aerosmith- Pump- 9/10 (Fantastic album, but not their best.)
Haven't heard Woodstock '94, but have seen a few performances from it.

[criterionmaster]

Queen - Greatest Hits (the one I just bought) 10/10

I love Queen!

[captainofbeef]

Led Zeppelin IV- Led Zeppelin

10/10
This album is probably the weakest Zep album out of the first six. Yet, it is still absolutly PERFECT!!! No flaws whatsoever. Just Zeppelin being Zeppelin. Their are the rockers like Black Dog, Rock and Roll, Four Sticks, and Misty Mountain Hop. Then there are the acid dripping songs, The Battle of Evermore and When the Levee Breaks, then the ballads, the better of the two being Goin to California. You know the other one. Stairway is impossibly overrated. It is an excellent song, a 10/10 in my book. But it is not even one of the top 25 best Zep songs. I love this album and this band. They are essential in every way.

[blackmoses]

Back in Black - AC/DC 10/10!!
Amazing.

[PTAhole]

Finally, you rate something right.

[blackmoses]

Nice

[Nomansvally]

I just listened to one of my very favorite albums of all time:

Porcupine Tree - Signify

I rate this album 5/5 of course!

Highly recommended, they play psychedelia/space rock - very Pink Floydish, but their heavy riffs will remind you of a mix between Audioslave and TOOL. And if you want to hear what thats all about check out their two newest albums In Absentia (2001) and Deadwing (2005) !

[captainofbeef]

Porcupine Tree are an awesome band!!!

[criterionmaster]

Black Sabbath - Paranoid 10/10!

Quite possible my favorite album ever. And with only 8 songs!! Every second of this is a work of art. I am fucking stunned.

[captainofbeef]

You better be. That CD is a fucking masterpiece. Just wait till you hear their self-titled and Master of Reality. Those will blow you away even more!

[PTAhole]

While I love those, I like Paranoid just a little better.

[Nomansvally]

I like Master of Reality, it's my favorite Sabbbath album for sure!

[captainofbeef]

Lots of stuff in the past few days, so I will abandon the usual format.
Stand Up- Dave Matthews Band
8/10
Their weakest album. Some good tracks here, but there are some that I don't really care for.

Busted Stuff- Dave Matthews Band
10/10
I will never understand why the wouldn't want to keep this material. It is a hundred times better than what is one Everyday. Raven and Bartender are the two best tracks here.

Crash- Dave Matthews Band
10/10
Their hit record and for a reason. All of the songs on this record are excellently written and played. They are not too jammy but they do still have some of the jam band aspect to them. Best songs are #41 and Tripping Billies

Remember Two Things- Dave Matthews Band
9.5/10
Great first album for these guys. Really gives you a picture of what the band sounded in their early days. I take off the .5 for some very unfocused producing and the fairly average version of Minarets.

The Seeger Sessions- Bruce Springsteen
10/10
A excellent offering from the Boss. He succeeds at everything he does musically. This sounded even better in concert, the band is just spectacular.

Devils and Dust- Bruce Springsteen
10/10
Nebraska for the new ages. Bruce sings about the down and out people of the world perfectly. The stories he tells are just told perfectly. But like Nebrask, not everything is sad. All the Way Home and Long Time Coming are superb songs that are a little bit happier

Born to Run- Bruce Springsteen
10/10
No matter what he does, I will alwyas prefer Bruce when he is with the E Street Band. This is probably one of my top 5 favorite albums of all time. Their is just not a weak moment on this record. It kicks off brilliantly with Thunder Road and it end with the best Bruce song ever, Jungleland.

[captainofbeef]

Wish You Were Here-Pink Floyd

10/10
My favorite Floyd album. Darkside gets all the credit but I think this is truly Floyd's masterpiece. The songs here fit together perfectly and never sound overindulgent or boring. Wish You Were Here is a beautiful song and may be the best song that Floyd ever recorded. The Shine on You Crazy Diamond suite is also beautiful and perfectly exectued for how long it is.

[PTAhole]

Finally, someone agrees with me. WYWH is easily the best Floyd album. A lot of people that say DSotM don't even listen to them beyond it. And anyone that thinks the Wall is their best is an idiot.

[captainofbeef]

Ya, even though DSOTM is a masterpiece, it is not the only album that Floyd recorded, and it is certainly not better than WYWH. The Wall is superb also, but it is overlong and has too much filler IMO.

[PTAhole]

Ratings for Nirvana albums....

Bleach- 6.5/10 (pretty much sucks.)
Nevermind- 7.5/10 (an improvement, but very overrated.)
Incesticide- 8.5/10
In Utero- 10/10 (Their best)
Unplugged- 10/10 (Great live album.)

[captainofbeef]

Bleach 7/10
Nevermind 9/10
Incesticide 8/10
In Utero 9.5/10
Unplugged 10/10

[agentknight]

Anathema - A Fine Day to Exit



A Fine Day to Exit is truly one of the most beautiful albums I have ever heard. For those of you who do not know, Anathema were one of the bands that pioneered doom metal back in the early 90s, but have since evolved their style into a kind of alternative/progressive rock.

The opener, "Pressure," reminds me of Coldplay and OK Computer-era Radiohead. The piano and guitar stomp along in a strong 4/4 beat that leads into a soaring and uplifting chorus. "Release" is a gorgeous song, followed by "Looking Outside Inside" which reminds me of earlier albums, particularly Judgement. The first two minutes are harmless, but it unexpectedly launches into a fast and epic second half. "Leave No Trace" is peaceful and calm, yet leads into the guitar driven "Underworld," the only song that really uses distortion to powerful effect. The first line of the next track "Barriers" describes the song perfectly: "floating with nowhere to go." This track really demonstrates the power that 3/4 can have.

The album really reaches its peak in the final three songs. "Panic" borders on punk. It's very fast and out of place, yet somewhat restrained. The verses are delivered in a quick, urgent voice while the drum kit has the life beaten out of it. After a short ambient transition, the album's centrepiece "A Fine Day to Exit" begins. This one song contains one of the most beautiful melodies I have ever heard. This is THE Anathema song you have to hear. Well, this or "Judgement." It's one of the only songs on the album that truly sound progressive (along with Release), as it starts from a quiet yet haunting verse and snowballs into an incredible rage. After almost seven minutes of absolute sonic heaven, the album finally dulls down with the beautiful closer "Temporary Peace," which contains a sad, yet uplifting melody, assisted by female backing vocals and aching lyrics such as "I swear I never knew how it couldn't be, all the waves are washing over all that hurts inside of me..." and eventually becomes nothing more than the sound of the sea, a sound which sums up the album better than you could imagine.

Anathema may not have the recognition they deserve, but that does not prevent this album from being absolutely essential, particularly if you like bands such as Radiohead and Sigur Ros. There's a sort of contant powerful ambience on this album. It could lull you to sleep, yet it could also blow you away. There's fury, sadness, melancholy and finally, in the closer, it reaches what the lyrics describe as "a sort of temporary peace."

10/10

[captainofbeef]

Lots lately.

Dave Matthews Band- Live at Red Rocks
10/10
An excellent live album, probably the best versions of Warehouse and Recently are in this set.

David Bowie- Hunky Dory
10/10
Classic Bowie with my favorite Bowie song, Life on Mars? I think I still like Ziggy Stardust a little bit more though

Neil Young- Ragged Glory
10/10
Neil in the stage that I like him best in. Loud, distorted electrics backer by an equally thunderous Crazy Horse. This album invented grunge.

T-Rex- Electric Warrior
9.5/10
Fabulous glam rock. Marc Bolan was truly a genious. Bang a Gong (Get it On) and Jeepster are the highlights here

Jane's Addiction- Ritual de lo Habitual
10/10
The essential Jane's Addiction album. It has the hard, funky rock that we know and love, but it also has the epics, Three Days and ...Then She Did. Very un-Jane like, but just as good as the other tracks.

Bob Dylan- Highway 61 Revisited
10/10
Dylan's best album. His band is spectacular and lyrically he was never better. Full of classics like Like A Rolling Stone and Ballad of a Thin Man.

[PTAhole]

I'd put Blonde on Blonde and Blood on the Tracks above Highway 61 Revisited, but that's just me.

[captainofbeef]

Blode on Blond? LOL!!

[PTAhole]

Oops. Corrected.

[captainofbeef]

Jagged Little Pill- Alanis Morrisette

9/10
Its is such a testament to Alanis' skill as an artist that this album still sounds relevant today when all of the other popular records released in the 90's sound cheesy and dated. Alanis' voice is like a drug. There is a misstep or two but the rest of the album outweighs the mistakes.

[criterionmaster]

I forgot to post how many times I listened to that. It is still one of the best I love it. Thank God someone else agrees.

[PTAhole]

I kinda dig that album. It's got some great songs on it, but I don't know, I think it's overrated. 8/10 at the highest!

[agentknight]

Anathema – Judgement



Anathema are known for writing sad, achingly beautiful songs, and if this is their greatest strength, Judgement is clearly their masterpiece. Each song resonates with such a heartbreaking sadness that listening to the album in its entirety leaves me physically drained afterwards. And then, of course, I want to go back to the start and listen to it all over again.

Yes, this is some of the most depressing music that Anathema has ever written, but almost all of the tracks have a lingering thread of hope that the listener must grab onto. Compare it to a rollercoaster: it climbs steeply before dropping suddenly, and as we plunge sharply downwards every muscle in our body is frozen – we are absolutely terrified. Then the slope becomes less and less steep, and we inexplicably feel that the thrill of the wall has induced an overwhelming sense of positivism. Listening to Judgement is like riding that rollercoaster: we are taken up to the incredible musical heights that the album reaches, tossed around like crash test dummies, and when the music begins to fade we are washed with an undeniable sense of optimism.

Then there are the individual moments. Consider the refrain of “One Last Goodbye,” a piece of music so well constructed and so passionately performed that we must feel enlightened that such beauty, such passion is being blasted right into our ears. Consider, also, the second half of the title track which may just be the ultimate spiritual release of the album. The grief and sadness that marked tracks 1-7 and the beginning of 8 is released in the rapid, repetitive fit of rage that is the second half of Judgement. At this point, the album moves into territory that hints towards their next album, 2001s masterful A Fine Day to Exit.

In my opinion, the album reaches its ultimate height in tracks 5 and 6, the first being “Make it Right (F.F.S.),” a song that begins with a Cobain-esque riff that soon becomes an epic and truly outstanding track with fuzzy guitar and layers on synths, a la Porcupine Tree; the second being the aforementioned “One Last Goodbye,” which is one of the most beautiful, most epic and most heartfelt songs I have ever had the pleasure of hearing.

Judgement is also distinctly Anathema. It contains all of their favorite melodies and harmonies, but instead of being used as the basis of songs as in their previous albums they are subtly slipped into intros and interludes, even hard to miss if we’re not making attention.

The bottom line is, Judgement is about as perfect as an album gets. To put it into context, if A Fine Day To Exit was the aural equivalent of lying on the beach and letting the waves lap against your before the tide envelops you entirely, Judgement is being plunged 100 meters underwater and struggling to reach the surface before realizing the inevitable and sinking to the bottom of the cold ocean into the darkness below. Great stuff.

10/10