All About Chemistry - Semisonic
Almost 25 years ago, my brother moved overseas and left me a whole bunch of his stuff - including half of his CD collection. This was one of those CDs. And this is the first time I've ever actually listened to it! It's a fairly harmless piece of early-2000s radio rock. Nothing out of the ordinary here.
Highlights:
6/10
All Bad Things - Mötley Crüe
This was Mötley Crüe's farewell single. When they embarked on their final concert tour... before recording more songs and then going back on tour and then recording more songs and going back on tour. 80s rockers retire like they are pro-wrestlers. The funniest part of this song is that it opens with Nikki Sixx stating they "would rather just break up than be bland", but then this song is exactly that.
4/10
All My Life - Billy Joel
This was kind of in the same vein; Billy Joel kind of retired from releasing music in the 90s, and this was his first release since then, something like 15 years later. It's about what you'd expect from an older Billy Joel writing a love song. A very easy breezy piano ballad.
5/10
All Night Carnival - Various Artists
So there is this song called One Night Carnival by a group called Kishidan. And for the 20th anniversary of that single, their record label put together this album of other artists performing the song. It just so happens that their record label is Avex Tracks - home to some of the biggest artists in Japan. So you get 11 different artists like Ayumi Hamasaki, BiSH and Momoiro Clover Z giving their take on the same song. It's quite fun getting to hear all these different artists all on the same album... doing the same song. And that part can get a bit old. Because deep down, it is the same song 11 times. That said, some of them really do make this sound like a somewhat different song - the WANIMA version in particular. Because WANIMA are awesome.
Highlights: Ayumi Hamasaki, BiSH, WANIMA
7/10
All The Young Dudes - David Bowie
Well, my iTunes says this is Mott The Hoople, but this is definitely David Bowie singing. And it's a different version to the one found on the Aladdin Sane reissue. So I have no idea what version this is, right now. Clearly I have decided to start 2025 by failing at my musical knowledge. But this is the best studio version I have of the song. And this is a great song.
9/10
All Things Must Pass - George Harrison
This is quite likely the best solo album released by a Beatle. Folksy rock songs, ruminations on religion and love, Hare Krishna chanting, instrumental jams. This album has everything. Even a huge stack of reverb and Psycho Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound". I'm somewhat embarrassed that I do not have the 50th anniversary edition with the new remix (Harrison's son finally and went and did what his Father had been interested in doing, and stripped all that Spector stuff out), because I am genuinely interested to hear how it sounds, but I just don't drop all my money on albums I already own anymore - I save that for overpriced boxes of kung fu movies. And these Beatles-adjacent box sets have been getting more and more expensive. Wah-Wah is my favourite diss track of all-time (Euphoria is now a very close second). I dig the extra tracks on this, as well - apart from the 2000 version of My Sweet Lord. Also, people don't talk enough about Klaus Voorman's bass playing. Between this and Plastic Ono Band, the dude was awesome and had so much groove. Eric Clapton is also tolerable here. I'm not 100% convinced there isn't some type of modernisation going on with Out of the Blue, but it might be just the 5 hours of fake live Kiss I listened to yesterday. I'm sure George Harrison wasn't like that. And "moderinastion" is a hell of a word to throw at something released 25 years ago. I've written a lot, because this is a long album.
Highlights:
9/10
Allegiance - Firewind
I believe this was given to me by the guitarist in my short-lived rock band 15 years ago. I may have listened to it once? It's starting off like some sort of modern Iron Maiden. Wait - was that a dueling guitar and keyboard solo? I get why that dude liked this and gave it to me. Shred shred shred. Actually, with the dramatic vocals and the keyboards and the shredding (and the shredding keyboards?) it all sounds like a less-pop Psychic Lover! It's fun. Like most metal, I get pretty bored fairly easily, but still fun for what it is.
Highlights:
7/10
Aloha From Hawaii [12 January 1973] - Elvis Presley
This is the dress rehearsal concert from two days before the live broadcast. Okay, so this is a weird confession; I've seen this on my old DVD numerous times. However, I bought the Aloha From Hawaii boxset (both concerts on blu-ray and CD) a few months ago and... have yet to the listen to the CDs. Until now! Darn Elvis for being an unprofessional goof and messing up the lyrics to Burning Love - this could have been the best version ever! He also fumbles is his way through part of My Way. Shiz, Elvis ain't afraid of you mofos!
Highlights:
6.5/10
Aloha From Hawaii [14 January 1973] - Elvis Presley
Now it is time for the exact same concert just two days later! You see, Elvis performed and recorded the concert on the 12th as a backup in case they had any satellite issues on the 14th. It also meant they could make more money - as well as money for the children's benefit they were supporting with these shows. So the setlist is pretty much the same, just with a few extra songs (which are well worth it IMO). At least he remembers the words to Burning Love this time, though he does come close to messing it up still. In Elvis On Tour, the dude actually had to read the lyrics on stage. Normally Elvis made everything his own, but that was never the case when he covered The Beatles - his version of Something is just average no matter the night. Anyways, all I can say is this concert is OK to listen to, but much more enjoyable to watch, because you can see Elvis was having fun and that really lifts an otherwise average performance. Shiz, Elvis ain't afraid of you mofos!
Highlights:
7/10
"Albums" listened to so far: 35
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