2025 in 2025: Day 175

Their Greatest Hits: The Record - Bee Gees

I am not against the 60s hits at all - they are generally decent little pop numbers, and some of them are brilliant songs - but once this hits the latter end of disc one (the mid-70s), it is GAME ON! 

Highlights: Nights on Broadway, If I Can't Have You, You Should Be Dancing, More Than a Woman, Night Fever, You Win Again, Alone, For Whom the Bell Tolls

8/10

There's Only Now - Eskobar

This purely the song Someone New - a collaboration with Heather Nova. And this is peak Heather Nova awesomeness.

9/10

These Days - Bon Jovi

This is Richie Sambora at his most bluesiest - and the album peaks in places because of it. It also has fairly boring lows, but it is actually a better album than I remember. Or those great songs are greater than I remember...

Highlights: Something for the Pain, These Days, Something to Believe In, Hey God

7.5/10

These Days Tour '95 (Live) - Bon Jovi

JBJ giving a fairly average performance. Luckily this is only a short live EP; a few Slippery When Wet classics, their "current" single, and a bad cover.

Highlights: Wild in the Streets

6/10

Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind

An alt rock pop masterpiece. I think some people like to call this "Power Pop" or something, because there is some serious emotion in here that absolutely NO ONE can match. Kevin Cadogan's riffs and licks are what really elevated the songs - something that was seriously lacking on every album after (except for maybe Dopamine).

Highlights: Motorcycle Drive By, The Background, Graduate, God of Wine, Narcolepsy, Losing a Whole Year, Semi-Charmed Life

9/10

Thirty Three & 1/3 - George Harrison

Bah gawd that is some funkyass bass in Woman Don't You Cry For Me. This album always surprises me, because it is mostly very enjoyable and has a bit more soul to it.

Highlights: Woman Don't You Cry For Me, Beautiful Girl, This Song, It's What You Value

7/10

This Is Happening - LCD Soundsystem

Not quite as pretentious as Sound of Silver? Maybe actually more pretentious? Either way, the peaks are high, but not as consistent as their previous albums. A bit more cruising through the indie hipster electro vibes. Nancy Whang is still the winner - her "ONE TOUCH!" is a standout.

Highlights: Dance Yrself Clean, One Touch, Home, Drunk Girls

8/10

This is Not a Test! - Missy Elliott

Solid and consistent album; pretty straight-up no nonsense hip-hop all the way through, featuring some decent collabs and MASSIVE beats.

Highlights: Wake Up, Pass That Dutch, Is This Our Last Time, Pump It Up, Spelling Bee

8/10

This Is Shit - The Shit

A little less... insane than the usual offering from The Shit. But it is still great fun and fast-paced. I am not sure Chuck Norris genuinely endorsed this album...

Highlights: Us vs. Cops, WW3 is Suicide, Rats, Totally Speechless

6.5/10

This Is... - Icona Pop

I Love It is the sexy bitch jam of every summer. The Jay-Z references/homage is pretty darn hilarious, though. Has pop music really stopped evolving? Because this album sounds like it could have been released last year.

Highlights: I Love It, All Night, Just Another Night, Girlfriend

7/10

Those Weren't The Days - Whiskeytown

You know, today has been so upbeat and mostly fun... and then getting immediately hit with the downers on this album is just a bit jarring. Once things finally pick up a bit, it gets more enjoyable for sure. I feel like I have heard some of these songs in different forms numerous times throughout the marathon now...

Highlights: The Rain Won't Help You When It's Over, Believe, 10 Seconds Til the End of the World, Empty Baseball Park

6/10

A Thousand Suns - Linkin Park

Artistically speaking, this is LP's greatest achievement. Ironically, my computer started asking me questions about the Oppenheimer movie just as the quote from him was playing to start the album. Chester really brought it this album. Like, holy hell did he bring it. They all did, but that was the perfect ending. And even though half of these tracks are just interludes, it ties together perfectly (and the songs just kill). My day needed more people referencing Jay-Z's The Blueprint²!

Highlights: Waiting for the End, The Messenger, The Catalyst, When They Come for Me, Iridescent

9/10

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge - My Chemical Romance

Was the concept on this album they are hitmen or something? Or just angry emo teenagers? Either way, it works; the heavier guitars and big screaming makes for a more fun musical experience. Legit an almost perfect album of pop punk hooks.

Highlights: Helena, Thank You For the Venom, I'm Not Okay (I Promise), I Never Told You What I Do For a Living

8/10

Three Dollar Bill, Y'all - Limp Bizkit

I do not have the full album, thankfully. I am not even sure how I ended up with half the album. It is all much more nu-metal and rough than anything that would follow.

Highlights: Counterfeit, Faith

6/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 1700

FREE PALESTINE

2025 in 2025: Day 153

Reality - David Bowie

This was yet another 'Bowie is back to his great self!' releases in the early 00s. And this time... they were right! Except Bowie sounds like he is actually having a blast making this album. That hook in Never Get Old might be his best chorus in years.

Highlights: Pablo Picasso, Never Get Old, Reality, New Killer Star

8/10

Reanimation - Linkin Park

A remix album when they had only put out one album sure seemed ambitious... but I will be damned if it does not work. For the most part. Bringing a bunch of badass MCs to add their badass MC skills certainly helps. Less nu metal and more electro hip-hop.

Highlights: 1stp Klosr, Enth E Nd, PPr:Kut

7/10

Reasonable Doubt - Jay-Z

Jay-Z sounds so different with low budget production. Still got mad flow, but I wonder if this album was done the way he did all his others? The skits and interludes are pretty lame.

Highlights: Brooklyn's Finest, Ain't No, Bring It On, Regrets

7/10

Rebel Yell - Billy Idol

I find it almost impossible to listen to this album and not focus on the awesome work of Steve Stevens. Really, they should be credited as Billy Idol and Steve Stevens. 

Highlights: Rebel Yell, Crank Call, (Do Not) Stand in the Shadows, Blue Highway

8/10

Rebirth - SS501

It has been a while since I have had some random K-Pop. This is Love Like This and it is super dance idol boys singing to some girl. I know that, because every verse starts with "Hey girl..."

6/10

Rebloom - SeeYa

And now for some super dance girl idol K-Pop instead? This song is His Voice. 

6/10

Reckless - Bryan Adams

I may forever call Into the Fire my favourite BA album, but Reckless is just so full of hits and legendary songs, it is hard to deny its greatness. I am not sure 80s pop rock gets any more perfect than this.

Highlights: One Night Love Affair, Heaven, Run to You, It's Only Love, Summer of '69

10/10

The Reckoning - Needtobreathe

I find the lyrics on this album much less holier than thou, however musically it much less captivating. Some of it is really just super middle of the road. Still some flashes of greatness in there, though.

Highlights: Keep Your Eyes Open, Oohs and Ahhs, Drive All Night, The Reckoning

7/10

Red Carpet Massacre - Duran Duran

The reunion lasted all of an album before these dudes went back to chasing trends, hooking up with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. Which I have zero problem with.

Highlights: Red Carpet Massacre, Falling Down, Dirty Great Monster

6.5/10

Red Star - Third Eye Blind

I love it when 3EB get all upbeat and get those big hooks going. Add in some full on anti-right commentary and critiscm and LOGMAN remembers why he liked them so much.

Highlights: Non-Dairy Creamer, Red Star

8/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 1400

FREE PALESTINE

2025 in 2025: Day 125

mimosa - Ayumi Hamasaki

Ayu's most recent single. Nothing groundbreaking, but very good. Still Ayu.

8/10

Mind Games - John Lennon

This albums is very low key, but lyrically still very protesty and freedom for the people. Just less angsty than Sometime in New York City. Almost like Lennon is tired and his energy a bit drained since the last album flopped. And he was drinking and partying a lot. Probably that. 

Highlights: Mind Games, I Know (I Know), Meat City, Out of the Blue

7/10

Minor Earth Major Sky - a-ha

Interesting how these guys always seemed to grow and adapt their sound to be more in step with what was happening in pop music; this certainly sounds like something from around 2000, without sounding too terrible. 

Highlights: Velvet, The Sun Never Shone That Day, Barely Hanging On

6.5/10

Holy moly we are just following up yesterday hilariously well!

Minutes to Midnight - Linkin Park

Not a lot of Mike Shinoda on this one. And the album is boring. Coincidence? Musically, it does have good moments. It is just having it all rely on Chester Bennington do his thing just does not give the songs any dynamics. The proof is in the only two songs that feature Shinoda doing his thing, too, and they are easily the best songs on the album.

Highlights: Bleed It Out, Shadow of the Day, What I've Done

6/10

The Miracle - Queen

This album has it all; dance bops, simple pop, ballads, synth bass, computer drums... and in there are two of their biggest straight rock songs ever. Brian May's tone on this album is absolute perfection. I do have the box set and am looking forward to listening to the various outtakes and what not - I have already heard the version of Breakthru on there with the real drums and bass and it sounds awesome - but I still have like 900 albums in here to get through... so maybe in 2026...

Highlights: I Want It All, Was It All Worth It, Breakthru, The Miracle

8.5/10

Miracle Driving - JUDY AND MARY

Fairly standard JAM offering, though much less punk than usual. But still enjoyable.

Highlights: Miracle Night Driving, Kyoto, Platinum, ステレオぜんかい

7/10

A Mirage in the Sun - MONOEYES

I was going to say something about this being their weakest album, but it really is not. Or all their albums are great and I just sometimes pretend otherwise? The end three songs here are absolute perfection - like the ending of a PASSPO☆ album. These dudes actually released a new album a couple of weeks ago. Shame I will have to wait three more months to check it out...

Highlights: 明日公園で, Wish it Was Snowing Out, Remember Me, グラニート

8/10

MIRROR - SCANDAL

While I do miss the angsty punk vibes from their previous couple of albums, the newfound creativity on display throughout this album more than makes up for it. I should learn some of these riffs for the next time I get to demo Mami's signature strat. That thing is art!

Highlights: MIRROR, eternal, 彼女はWave, アイボリー

8/10

Mirrorball - Sarah McLachlan

For those keeping score at home, this makes THREE live albums from Sarah McLachlan in my collection. Insert a gif of Tim Robinson saying "What the hell?" from I Think You Should Leave here. In fairness, the previous two were EPs and this is a full on long album. And it is long. And it is very good. The songs generally have a bit of an extra kick going on, although I am not sure any of them needed shredding guitar solos.

Highlights: Sweet Surrender, Ice Cream, Wait, Do What You Have to Do

7/10

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill

Ms. Hill gets a lot of flack, but she also gets away with a lot. A LOT. People give her more leeway than she probably deserves, but the reason for that is this album is a gawdam masterpiece. Two parts hip-hop, two parts R&B, one part reggae, one part gospel, three parts soul. All parts brilliant.

Highlights: Ex-Factor, Zion, Doo Wop (That Thing), Can't Take My Eyes Off of You

9/10

Miss-E... So Addictive - Missy Elliott

Oooh yeah we are just hitting all my hip-hop bumps today! This may not be Missy's best work, but there are still some killer tracks. This is her and Timberland starting to find their groove between between making artsy creative hip-hop and getting some hooks. Missy's rhymes are badass, though. And she sure does not have patience for fools. 

Highlights: Get Ur Freak On, One Minute Man (Remix), Dog in Heat, Old School Joint, Step Off

7/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 1099

FREE PALESTINE

2025 in 2025: Day 124

Memorial Address - Ayumi Hamasaki

Could this EP be any more Ayu? It just needs one of her angry heavy Linkin Park style tracks, otherwise it has everything else you would expect; fun pop, funky grooves, big rock ballads. Absolutely awesome.

Highlights: Memorial Address, HANABI ～episode II～, ourselves

9/10

Memorial Beach - a-ha

I hesitate to use the word dark here, but this is more artsy and blues-rock than their previous work. Like, they've clearly been listening to some grunge, but it has not totally overtaken their complete sound. And it really works for me! This album makes me appreciate their all-around musicianship.

Highlights: Move to Memphis, Cold as Stone, Between Your Mama and Yourself, Lie Down in the Darkness

7/10

Merry Christmas - Mariah Carey

Ms. Carey could sing to me the full screenplay of Avatar and the ingredients of a tin of baked beans and I am sure I would sit there all doe-eyed. Merry Christmas!

Highlights: All I Want for Christmas is You

6.5/10

Messin' with the Boys - Cherie & Marie Currie

I did briefly mention The Currie sisters many years ago. The performance in that video is the stuff! This album is so far removed from The Runaways - like a Peter Criss album is to a Kiss album. The reissue is certainly overkill and unnecessary. The world does not need 1288 versions of Cherry Bomb!

Highlights: Since You've Been Gone, Messin' with the Boys, Elaine, This Time

7/10 for the original album, 6/10 for the reissue

Meteora - Linkin Park

Sometimes you just feel like a bit of angry LP doing the angry LP thing. There is something comforting about it, I think. Any album where Mike Shinoda raps lots gets my approval. More on that tomorrow...

Highlights: Lying from You, Nobody's Listening, Numb, Figure.09

7.5/10

Midnite Vultures - Beck

Weird noises, silly lyrics, some funky basslines and the occasional actual hooks. I can appreciate his attempt to make a silly Prince album - and in parts it totally works. But, like, I have Prince. And Flight of the Conchords doing silly Prince.

Highlights: Milk & Honey, Mixed Bizness, Debra, Sexx Laws

6/10

Mike + the Mechanics - Mike + the Mechanics

This is only the song All I Need is a Miracle. It is some sort of 80s staple.

7/10

Milk and Honey - John Lennon/Yoko Ono

If ever an album out there needed to be re-recorded it would be this. Normally I am somewhat against that sort of thing, but in this case I wholeheartedly support it. Hell, bring in McCartney if you must and have him record some backing vocals; the songs being unfinished means Lennon's vocal performances are less than what he was aiming for. There are some pretty decent songs here. They just needed to be... finished.

Highlights: Nobody Told Me, I'm Stepping Out, Grow Old with Me

6.5/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 1088

FREE PALESTINE

2025 in 2025: Day 117

Live: Medianrum Forumassago, Milan 03-11-2010 - Prince

This an example of a very listenable audience recording. It is not perfect by any stretch, but certainly gives a decent account of what the show was like. And this show is Prince tearing up the sky with his telecaster. The man is clearly in a groove, because it is not until song five that he actually plays one of his own tracks. And his playing has all the feel and funk you could imagine. 

Highlights:

8/10

Live: Omaha to Osaka - L7

Having a marching band perform a medley of L7 songs is definitely a way to start a live show. Not sure what their beef with Dave Mustaine and Megadeth was. Sure, Crush 'Em was not the best entrance theme for Goldberg, but that is no reason to keep ripping on the dude in Omaha. They sure did not have anything to say about him in Osaka. Instead they.. .bitch about people asking for Shitlist. Rude. You played that for the clowns in Omaha! I guess that was their prize for not going to see Megadeth!

Highlights: Deathwish, Drama, Non-Existent Patricia, Shitlist, Fast and Frightening

7/10

Live: Palalottomatica, Rome 02-11-2010 - Prince

Hilarious that this comes after the concert that happened the day after. Now I am confused! The sound quality is not as good as the Milan show, but the setlist is slightly different; much less covers, a couple of 90s cuts, and a bit less jamming. Purple Rain is not quite the guitar solo masterclass as it would be the next night, but it is still extremely awesome. 

Highlights: Purple Rain, Peach, Controversy/Le Freak/Sexy Dancer, Shhh!

7.5/10

The Living Dead - BUMP OF CHICKEN

My usual points about these dudes still remains, but this album is a little different in vibes; it is much less rocking and a bit more chill. The acoustic guitar is quite prominent, but without the album not feeling like an indie rock album. Actually, that is the vibe! Much more indie. 

Highlights: LAMP, K, 続・くだらない唄, リリィ

7/10

The Living End - The Living End

When I hear Green Day albums from the late 90s/early 00s like Nimrod and Warning, I think this is what they though they sounded like. But they did not. Because that stuff was weaksauce and this is ferocious skiffle rockabilly punk rock and it absolutely stomps hard. Awesome songs and VERY good musicians. Sure, the 2nd half is just kind of okay, but that first half is so amazing you forget you are listening to some young Aussie dudes. Apparently, the dude from this band is also in a rockabilly group with Jimmy Barnes. Holy moly!

Highlights: Growing Up (Falling Down), Monday, Save the Day, Second Solution, West End Riot, All Torn Down

8/10

Living in the city - SCANDAL

Their drummer must have slept in and missed the session? Because this is modern-era SCANDAL with a big beat behind those soundscape guitars. And it is great.

8/10

Living in the Material World - George Harrison

This is much of a straight up pop album, compared to his first solo effort. Lyrically, it is very focused on spirituality. And getting sued.

Highlights: Be Here Now, Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth), The Day The World Get's Round, Living in the Material World

7.5/10

Living Things - Linkin Park

This is pretty quick fire. But also lacking in any real substance or anything memorable. It follows a bit of the vibe of Ten Thousand Suns by having a whole lot of similar sounding songs. Except those were awesome and there were all those weird interludes to mix it.

Highlights: Burn it Down, Powerless

6/10

London Calling - The Clash

Not quite as diverse as some of their other albums, but the mindset and attitude remains the same. This marathon has definitely made me appreciate The Clash even more.

Highlights: London Calling, Death or Glory, Train in Vain, Rudie Can't Fail

7.5/10

Long Plays 83-87 - Pseudo Echo

This is purely Funky Town. The greatest cover song ever. I do not need to know if Pseudo Echo ever made any other music, because this song should fund them many houses for eternity.

10/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 125

FREE PALESTINE

2025 in 2025: Day 97

hours... - David Bowie

This album gets a bad rap. Or at least it used to? But the 'heavier' songs are definitely worth the price of admission.

Highlights: The Pretty Things are Going to Hell, Something in the Air, Survive, New Angels of Promise

7/10

hours... [Bonus Disc] - David Bowie

This disc is so weirdly constructed; it is great having all the different versions (I especially needed all three versions of The Pretty Things are Going to Hell from Stigmata, so thanks for that!), but they are all sequenced by song. So having four versions of Seven back to back that progressively get worse was certainly a choice. 

Highlights: The Pretty Things are Going to Hell [Edit], Seven [Marius De Vries Mix], New Angels of Promise [Omikron: The Nomad Soul Version], The Dreamers [Omikron: The Nomad Soul Longer Version]

6/10

Hozier - Hozier

This was not as bad as I was expecting it to be. I am fairly certain this dude just has one melody and he has put it to different musical backgrounds. It is kind of like a male Florence + the Machine.

Highlights: Take Me to Church, Jackie and Wilson

6/10

Human Clay - Creed

Who needs some generic jock-rock? That riff on What If is pretty darn great. They are like the Nirvana of radio rock; jangly clean guitars on the verses and then big distortion in the chorus. With the occasional triumphant bridge.

Highlights: What If, Faceless Man, Higher, Inside Us All

6.5/10

Hungry for Stink - L7

And now for some dirty budget punk rock. And I am happy for it. They are almost not as angry on this album. Except for Fuel My Fire, which is all sorts of awesome. The rest ticks along nicely.

Highlights: Fuel My Fire, The Bomb, Riding with a Movie Star

6.5/10

Hunting High and Low - a-ha

Could this day be any more diverse? While I do not find the whole thing all that impressive, and it certainly sounds dated in parts, the singles from this album are absolutely perfect.

Highlights: Take On Me, The Sun Always Shines on T.V.

6.5/10

The Hustle - Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony

Like most of my random disco collection, this is purely the one song. And it is a groove. Get down with your bad self!

10/10

Hybrid Theory - Linkin Park

Is this the best album I have listened to today? I always ALWAYS forget how good this album is until I listen to it. Have I mentioned I saw them live on tour for this album? Right before they got big; small venue, cost was very little, and afterwards they hung around signing autographs and just generally being cool guys. Made me a fan.

Highlights: Papercut ,In the End, Forgotten, A Place For My Head

8/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 808

FREE PALESTINE

2025 in 2025: Day 39

The College Dropout - Kanye West

I haven't listened to this in forever and I forgot how much Kanye thought he was some sort of prophet or something; this album is all about his love for Jesus and how he is here to preach to us all about Jesus. But also preach to us about how awesome he is, so that should have been a warning right there. I also forgot that Kanye was always a dirty dude. Song-wise, I think this might be his most accessible album? Most consistent? Feels like there are skits between every song, though. The dude stumbling over his lines in the School Spirit skit is hilarious. And what is up with the censoring on this album? One minute a word is fine, but in the next song, that same word is not allowed? I have no hesitation saying Two Words is the best song Kanye has ever done. I seem to have a lot of songs where Freeway appears and kicks some butt.

Highlights: Never Let Me Down, Two Words, School Spirit

8/10

Collision Course - Jay-Z & Linkin Park

Is this the greatest mash-up album of all time? Mike Shinoda genuinely seems like the coolest dude and the fact he put this together is proof. The Jigga What/Faint transition is totally smooth. The funniest part of the making of to me was Jay-Z telling Chester Bennington to just be himself, and then during the live performance Chester is trying to act all hip-hop and it just comes across as incredibly cringe and try-hard. Dude should have listened Jay-Z and maybe he wouldn't have killed himself. 

Highlights: Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Lying from You, Numb/Encore

9/10

COLORFUL POP - E-Girls

I picked this up for as cheap as I could find, purely for the song A S A P; it is used as the ending song for possibly the funniest movie I have ever seen, and it is so fun there I needed it in my collection. The rest of the album is just... somewhat disposable? There is a Bananarama cover, so that's something...

Highlights: A S A P, I'm sure I liked this album more when I first got it?

5.5/10

colors - mol-74

This is some super chill indie pop rock. Very lo-fi, very easy to listen to. Not really much else going on?

Highlights: yellow, fears

7/10

Colours - Ayumi Hamasaki

Ayu spells words correctly! I genuinely love this album; it's just about as dancey and poppy as Ayu could possibly be. No interludes. Just 10 tracks of great music. The extreme EDM parts make me think this is what she really wanted for Party Queen, but I don't know. But I do know that Pray is one of her greatest ballads. 

Highlights: Pray, NOW & 4EVA, XOXO, Terminal

8/10

Combat Rock - The Clash

This album is so far removed from where The Clash started, I can't even begin to explain it properly. One of the most interesting aspects to them as a band, to me, is how much they deviated from the normal 'punk rock' style once they got big; they could have easily kept doing the same sort of music, but instead they veered off and just soaked up inspiration from everywhere. All while still expressing the same anti-authority left-wing punk ideologies in their lyrics. Musically, this album doesn't do a lot for me, but I respect what they were doing.

Highlights: Should I Stay or Should I Go?, Rock The Casbah, Overpowered By Funk

6/10

Come And See - Manbreak

Late 90s UK white dudes thinking they are hard rap-rock gangsters. Something like that, anyways. You would think with a comment like that I think this is lame, but no - I actually dig this album, it is just fun to make fun of that whole Britpop scene. In fact, it might be the weather or the fact I just had a nice strong cacao + matcha drink, but this album is exponentially better than I remembered. Clearly I should listen to this a lot more.

Highlights: Morning, News of the World, Round and Round, Cut Ups

7/10

COME BACK TO 19 - The Tomboys

Huh, I just found that The Tomboys split about 6 months ago. That's a shame, but they had been together for like 11 years, so it happens. This is probably their catchiest collection of tunes. It's the shortest, that is certain. 

Highlights: Please Remember Me, Dream Box, Theme of THE TOMBOYS

7/10

Come Pick Me Up (alternate take) - Ryan Adams

I think this was some RSD release, that then got released on iTunes. It is two songs in vastly inferior versions - including the cliched punk ending to Come Pick Me Up. I'm fairly sick of that song, anyways, so this does nothing for me. I would prefer more Tomboys fun...

Highlights: it was short

4/10

Come With Us - The Chemical Brothers

Now these are songs I could never get sick of! I actually used the name Star Guitar for any electronic music I made - which was mostly remixes of my own music. I know nothing about making good electronic music. Luckily, The Chemical Brothers know all about making good electronic music. And this album is 10 tracks of the finest electronic music possible. There are some hard-hitting house style beats and some glorious chillout jams and it is all so sooo good. I know it is a DJ thing, but I have always loved the way these dudes transition so seamlessly to each new track. Shout out to Richard Ashcroft for keeping the Britpop connection alive and delivering the coolest vocals.

Highlights: Galaxy Bounce, The Test, My Elastic Eye, Star Guitar

9/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 330