2025 in 2025: Day 166

Some Time in New York City - John Lennon & Yoko Ono

Controversial opinion: this is John Lennon's best solo album. Even more controversial opinion: Woman is the N**** of the World is a great song. Maybe using the N word so much was not his best idea, but it should not have been removed from the reissue. Which is a shame, because I was interested in hearing a full remix of this album. Anyways, the overt political nature of the album is what endears it to me. After this he had the FBI following him, Yoko left, and Lennon stopped being involved in anything that meant anything. 

Highlights: Angela, We're All Water, Woman is the N**** of the World, New York City

8/10

Somebody That I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra) - Gotye

I have never known Gotye. But Kimbra is somebody that I met? She is very cool and an amazing artist - genuinely the best to come out of New Zealand in a VERY long time.

8/10

Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell

I sometimes wonder if there is any song more 80s than this. My immediate thoughts when I hear it are Tubbs miming along in a strip club and having the time of his life. I need to watch Miami Vice again...

9/10

Something to Be - Rob Thomas

I can actually understand why this did not get released as Matchbox Twenty - even though I believe he is the chief songwriter for the group, this sounds far more pop radio with heavy influences from somewhere. I hesitate to say R&B, but there is something quite unlike the usual pop rock that would get from his pop rock band. And, honestly, it works.

Highlights: This is How a Heart Breaks, Something to Be, Streetcorner Symphony, Problem Girl

7/10

Sometimes I Sit and Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit - Courtney Barnett

I have never heard a woman "sing" in such a monotone fashion - it is almost spoken word, except some of it is kind of shouting? This may be the most Australian album ever.

Highlights: I did enjoy the references to Melbourne

4/10

Somewhere in England - George Harrison

I think this album is the one where his record company rejected half of it and made him replace a bunch of songs. I am not sure they made the right call. The only real noteworthy aspect here is the song featuring the surviving Beatles in remembrance of the recently murdered John Lennon.

Highlights: All Those Years Ago, Teardrops, Save the World

6.5/10

Song Destroyer - DJ Reggie

More of this? In fairness, it actually randomly features an instrumental piece that I am fairly certain is on an actual Ryan Adams & The Cardinals song in part. I am not sure what it is doing between a rap about going to a Rascal Flatts concert and a rap about... I do not even know.

Highlights: Moonlighting

4/10

A Song for ×× - Ayumi Hamasaki

I may choose to ignore how terrible Ayu's voice is on this album. Instead we can focus on how horribly dated the music sounds - it does not even sound like it is from 1999, more like 1989. But, that does mean the guitar riffs sound like they are from 1989, and thus are awesome? Because that is what saves this album; despite the production being outdated, the music of the whole thing is actually really great. Which is why I would have been on board for a full re-recording in like 2005-2010 when Ayu's voice was awesome. And, thus, some of the live versions of the title track are genuinely more definitive.

Highlights: Depend on you, A Song for ××, FRIEND II, For My Dear...

7/10

Songs - Regina Spektor

Her first couple of albums were just her on a piano, basically doing hipster rap over little piano licks. It runs that line between 'is it actually clever or is it just a hipster being satirical about what people think is clever songwriting?'

Highlights: Consequence of Sounds

5/10

Songs About Jane - Maroon 5

This album is such a far cry from what they do now - much more in a funk rock kind of vibe. Songs like Harder to Breathe and This Love were kind of a little off the curve at the time. And I probably did not appreciate how great a singer Adam Levine is. 

Highlights: Harder to Breathe, This Love, She Will Be Loved

7/10

Songs From the Big Chair - Tears For Fears

I only have a couple of songs from this album. Especially embarrassing, considering this has been issued in deluxe editions multiple times.

Highlights: Everybody Wants to Rule the World, Head Over Heels

9/10

Songs in the Attic - Billy Joel

How many live albums does this man need? I would guess this is in New York, because he gets a big pop any time he mentions anything relating to that. 

Highlights: Captain Jack, Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)

6.5/10

Songs of a Lost World - The Cure

Returning after forever with the most Cure sounding album possible was not on my bingo card for 2024. Because I do not play bingo. I do, however play The Cure albums and vibe out to the sprawling intros and how this album truly works as one piece of art.

Highlights: Endsong, Alone, Drone:Nodrone, All I Ever Am

8/10

Songs to Learn & Sing - Echo & The Bunnymen

I only have the song The Killing Moon. I do not know if I have even heard another song by this band - this was purely because I had been watching Donnie Darko. I should watch that again.

7.5/10

The Sorrowjoy - Heather Nova

Another solo track; it is a spoken-word album that I was never able to track down on CD, but she released this song, The Singing State, for free somewhere some time...

6/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 1565

FREE PALESTINE

2025 in 2025: Day 75

Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand

A whole bunch of super cool riffs. These dudes were the kings of the mid-00s indie rock sound... for about 6 months.

Highlights: Jazqueline, Take Me Out, Auf Achse, Michael

8/10

Freaks (Radio Edit) [Single] - Timmy Trumpet & Savage

Savage has such a rad voice. And this song is still surprisingly enjoyable.

8/10

The Freddie Mercury Album - Freddie Mercury

What better way to cash in on a rock legend's death by releasing a compilation of solo songs and remixes a year after his passing? I still remember when The Great Pretender was released and people were shook at seeing Freddie without his moustache again. 

Highlights: In My Defence (Ron Nevison Mix), Barcelona, The Great Pretender, Time (Nile Rodgers Mix), Mr. Bad Guy (Brian Malouf Mix)

8/10

FREE URSELF [Single] - Prince

I won the gamble on this one.

9/10

The Freedom Sessions - Sarah McLachlan

Very chilled - even by Sarah McLachlan standards. Mostly acoustic versions of songs that I will listen to next week? So let's see what I think of them then!

Highlights: Mary, Good Enough, Ice Cream, Ol' 55

6.5/10

Frehley's Comet - Frehley's Comet

It feels like forever since I had some Kiss, so getting some Ace is a very welcome kick after the chill-ness of most of this morning's playlist. I don't think I mentioned this last time, but the original version of Into the Night was actually in an episode of Miami Vice. They should have used the Frehley's Comet version to make the show even more perfect.

Highlights: Rock Soldiers, Into The Night, Calling to You, Stranger in a Strange Land

8/10

Freight Train Heart - Jimmy Barnes

Fun fact: American Idol's Randy Jackson played bass on half of this album - I'm guessing it was when he was part of Journey, because they played on half of this album as well. They killed it. Bah gawd Driving Wheels just has the most driving rhythm section and kicks lots of butt. This whole album does, actually. 

Highlights: Driving Wheels, Last Frontier, Walk On, Seven Days

9/10

The Freightwhaler Sessions - Freight Whaler

How does it work having the name spelt two different ways? We are unable to agree on the spelling? Are DRA fans just annoying like that? This is actually... very good.

Highlights: Bar Lights, The Ghosts are Out Tonight, Sometimes That's Hard to Do

7.5/10

Friction, Baby - Better Than Ezra

I used to have this album, but then traded it in, because it is not very good. But I kept one song - Desperately Wanting. Because it IS very good.

9/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 616

2025 in 2025: Day 20

The Best of Dark Horse - George Harrison

A George Harrison compilation of his 80s output plus two new songs. What's not to like? Especially when the new songs are very good - it is a shame that they have not been released elsewhere, even with all the reissues. Otherwise this album would be 100% redundant in my collection. Now it's only 80% redundant. But it at least gives me a good indication of how much better the reissues sound.
Highlights: Got My Mind Set on You, Cheer Down

8/10

Best of Geto Boys & Scarface - Geto Boys & Scarface

As one would imagine, this is simply Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta. Damn It Feels Good to Listen to This Song.

9/10

The Best of Gloria Gaynor - Gloria Gaynor

This is purely I Will Survive. Stone cold disco anthem. 

9/10

The Best of Meco - Meco

Possibly the best collection of Meco's tunes. As it should be, I guess. But since I have every other Meco album, this should really be redundant. Hahaha like I care. I'll gladly have more disco movie themes. This Empire Strikes Back medley is about the coolest thing from Star Wars ever. Then there is the strangest departure from everything with Werewolf (Loose in London), which sounds like Queen. In every possible way (just with a worse singer).

Highlights: Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band, Empire Strikes Back (Medley), Star Wars (Medley), The Asteroid Field

8.5/10

The Best of Miami Vice - Jan Hammer

The 2004 remix of the Miami Vice theme is just terrible compared to the original version. Almost everything else sounds just like it did in the show. It doesn't quite compare to the songs used in the show, but this is generally a good little capsule from one of the greatest television shows of all time. And nobody does midi guitar like Jan Hammer.

Highlights: Lombard Trial, Airport Swap, Runaround

7/10

The Best of New Order - New Order

I've stuck with this for many years instead of getting the early albums, but I need to change that once I'm finished with this mission. Because when New Order were on, they were unbeatable. When they were bad, they were very very BAD. Like, Run Pt 2 just makes me laugh with that blatant rip-off of One Night Love Affair. And they were clearly hitting the E in Ibiza too hard when writing songs like Fine Time. 

Highlights: True Faith, Regret, Bizarre Love Triangle, Vanishing Point

8/10

The Best of Patrick Hernandez: Born to Be Alive - Patrick Hernandez

Okay, so this is only the song Born to Be Alive - which is another stone cold funky disco jam. I've never heard anything else from the man, which is odd to think about, considering disco is what fuels my heart.

9/10

The Best of The Trammps - The Trammps

Today is a disco day! Not only does this album feature a whole slew of disco good times, it even has the full 11 minute version of Disco Inferno - which I think features the smoothest disco strings and funky guitar solo and makes me want to get down and boogie. That's really the main groove of this entire album; LOGMAN wants to go back to wearing flares and burning up the dancefloor. This is one of those albums that I would just hit on repeat right now if I didn't have another 22,000 songs to listen to...

Highlights: Hold Back the Night, Disco Party, Disco Inferno

8/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 168

SMASHES, THRASHES AND HITS (1988)

Kiss found themselves stranded in the mannequin graveyard...

Oh hey, another Kiss compilation!

This time we get two new songs: Let's Put the X in Sex is everything you expect from an 80s Kiss track where Paul Stanley is strutting around singing about making sweet love to some young woman, while (You Make Me) Rock Hard is... pretty much exactly the same.

Def Slam Poetry right here.

Then it's on to the 'hits'. Except most are remixed. Easily the worst version of Love Gun on the planet; like, it's Love Gun so it is still better than anything you or I will ever write (unless you are Ryan Adams or Brian May. In which case, "Hi!" and "ZOMG why are you reading this?!?!") but this remix makes it sound stupid. Almost as much as the remix of I Love It Loud makes it sound gutless and pathetic. I would really like to know what they were thinking with that one. Perhaps you can find out for me, Brian May?

Then comes the Deuce remix, which is even more bizarre. The 80s songs haven't been remixed at all, so Lick It Up and Heaven's on Fire sound just the same. They should have remixed those as well just for the fun of it; maybe add some phaser to the vocals, bit distortion and delay on the drums and then just add in some funk guitar. Because that wouldn't have been worse than what they are doing to the classic 70s tracks here. Oh, and then Eric Carr finally gets to do some vocals by making the most boring version of Beth possible. I'm not blaming him at all, but bah gawd what was the point of this album? Did people think this sounded cool in 1988? I've watched every episode of Miami Vice and I can safely answer that with a no.

I'm totally deleting these tracks out of my iTunes when I get home.


Highlights:
The songs that are awesome still being awesome

Lowlights:
Listening to awesome songs get ruined by stupid remixing



Verdict =  4 Smoking Les Paul Guitars