2025 in 2025: Day 52

Decade of Decadence - Mötley Crüe

Album #400! The first Mötley Crüe compilation and it had an actual purpose; it is two songs from all of their studio albums up to this point in time. So if you were like me and only discovering them from Dr. Feelgood, this gives you a nice little taster of all their previous albums. And two is the perfect number, because there really are only two good songs on Girls, Girls, Girls. Live Wire and Piece of Your Action get remixed again to make them sound less budget. The massive outerspace reverb on the vocals might be a bit much, to be honest. They've also re-recorded Home Sweet Home. Controversial opinion; this version is better. The real piano sounds infinitely better than the tinny keyboards used in 1985, Vince's voice sounds much more polished, and Tommy's drums sound massive. Good production, yo! The whole thing is capped with new songs; Rock'n Roll Junkie is pretty awesome (ok, not technically new, but like you care) and Primal Scream is super awesome. Angela is actually pretty cool as well - fantastic hook in the chorus. Then we finish things off with the best rendition of a Sex Pistols song ever. This album is worth it just for the last 4 songs.

Highlights: Home Sweet Home '91, Primal Scream, Angela, Anarchy in the U.K.

10/10

Decadence - Head Automatica

Early 00s emo rock, but not actually emo and more groovy? Legit no idea how to explain it. There are very good songs, some not very good songs, and then a bunch of 'hey it's on in the background' kind of thing? It was cheap, so I'm cool with it. And I have probably listened to this album much more than one would expect.

Highlights: Dance Party Plus, Disco Hades II, I Shot William H. Macy

7/10

Def Jam 1985-2001: History of Hip Hop, Vol. 1 - Various Artists

I am not going to pretend this is anything more than Jay-Z killing it with Can I Get A... Like I said, he is killing it. First Jay-Z song I ever heard and I immediately knew he was the man. Ja Rule, however, can suck a phat one and I have also thought that since day one.

10/10

Definitely Maybe - Oasis

I still remember when this album came out; I heard Live Forever and thought it was a great song, but then Oasismania took over and I decided they were the worst band ever. I still think this album is overrated, but I at least can stop being edgy and thinking that song is anything but a fantastic pop rock song. I like when Oasis rock it out on songs like Bring It On Down, and Supersonic just oozes with attitude. You really need to be Liam Gallagher to pull that off properly.

Highlights: Live Forever, Supersonic, Bring It On Down, Slide Away 

8/10

+ (Deluxe Version) - Ed Sheeran

I have no idea how iTunes decided this comes next - are they ignoring the plus symbol and brackets? What does he mean someone should own a VHS player instead of a DVD player? And what has he got against blu-ray? 

Highlights: The a Team, You Need Me I Don't Need You, Give Me Love

6/10

Demolition - Ryan Adams

Well, at least they are not really demos? And mostly good songs? It is all just a bit mixed up. Starting to Hurt performed on Letterman was awesome - the second performance, not the original one in 2002. 

Highlights: Hallelujah, Desire, Cry On Demand, Chin Up Cheer Up

7/10

Desensitized - Drowning Pool

This is only the song Step Up. I think it was in some WWF songs pack that I downloaded at some point - strange to have this and not Bodies, which was infinitely more popular and I remember being used during the WCW Invasion nonsense. BUT this song is definitely better and totally sounds like something from a WWF show.

8/10

Destiny Fulfilled - Destiny's Child

Another 'one song' album. This time it is Lose My Breath. Totally badass song and probably the first (and only?) Destiny's Child song I liked. Before Beyoncé became this nonsense. Come at me, Beyhive! Shizz, I ain't afraid of you mofos!

8/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 407

2025 in 2025: Day 51

Daydream - Mariah Carey

Wasn't this, like, the peak of Mariah's popularity? Or was that earlier in life? I know that, at the time, I thought One Sweet Day was the worst possible musical combo in the universe. I think I was just trying to be edgy, because there is no way I thought this was the worst song ever even back then. And we all know Boyz II Men can sing awesome as hell. Oh, now we get Mariah singing a Journey ballad? That's a nice surprise. 

Highlights: One Sweet Day, Fantasy, Open Arms, Always Be My Baby

8/10

Daydreaming/Choose Me [Single] - BAND-MAID

Choose Me is awesome and I am super happy to get some more BAND-MAID.

10/10

Daylight - Needtobreathe

Christian pop-rock time! These guys were pretty popular when I was at church and stuff, but even then I waited until I found the CD for $1 before buying. And honestly, it is pretty decent. Lyrics are a bit preachy and self-important, but musically these songs are solid.

Highlights: Don't Wait for Daylight, Shine On, Haley, You Are Here, Lost

7/10

Dazed and Confused (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - Various Artists

Oooh yeah, one of the most important albums of my high school growth. Funnily enough, for all the killer songs in that movie, this soundtrack actually could have been even more awesome? But it still rocks. Hard. My CD is actually scratched badly, and so there are some skips and whatnot during some of the songs, so I am on a bit of a mission to replace the whole album with the original albums these all appeared on. I really should finish that off. Also, this version of Rock and Roll All Nite is just odd and I have to assume it was a re-record by the 80s lineup?

Highlights: Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo - Rick Derringer, School's Out - Alice Cooper, Tuesday's Gone - Lynyrd Skynyrd, Fox on the Run - Sweet, but yeah the whole album rocks my socks

9/10

De La Soul is Dead - De La Soul

Possibly their weirdest album. A whole bunch of songs that are barely songs and random skits about people being not good - which are generally fun. Who Do You Worship? is super hilarious. Then the last half of the album features a lot more solid old school hip-hop grooves and I go home happy. Pretty sure I've been singing the hook to Ring Ring Ring for 35 years now...

Highlights: Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey), Keepin' the Faith, A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturday", Let Let Me In

6.5/10

Dear Impossible Foggy Demo - Ryan Adams

I would ask what was going on and what I was thinking with this, but at this stage I think my Ryan Adams collection has more bad than good. Especially annoying when you realise half of these could have been if recorded properly.

Highlights: Sunflowers and Rain

4/10

The Death of WCW - Bryan Alvarez

This is an audio book. It is long. It is Bryan Alvarez reading me through the history and rise and fall of WCW. This is a nice timely recap, since I have been taking a break from WCW viewing these past few months and will be returning to it soon. Also, Alvarez is such a great person to listen to; his voice always accurately portrays his complete frustration and dissatisfaction with what he has had to watch.

Highlights: Lessons Not Learned

8/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 399

2025 in 2025: Day 50

Dangerous - Michael Jackson

Jam jam here comes the man! Never have truer words been spoken. MJ albums always open with an awesome song, and this may well be the most awesome. The whole first half is New Jack badassery, before it slows down with Heal the World, which feels a lot like 'We Are The World Part II'. I don't care what anyone says - Black or White is peak pop-rock-funk perfection. Damn Slash's guitar solo on Give In To Me is seriously great. I can totally picture some young MJ fans crying when they first heard his spoken word outro for Will You Be There. MJ fans were insane like kids these days have no idea. I cannot hear Gone Too Soon without thinking of Usher singing it at MJ's memorial... Vocals on Dangerous are awesome. Bah gawd this album is awesome.

Highlights: Jam, Black or White, Keep the Faith

9/10

Dare! - The Human League

This is only the hit song Don't You Want Me. Alexis Sayle throwing this in to his Dr. Martin's song on The Young Ones will always be iconic.

8/10

Dark Horse - George Harrison

Hari's On Tour sounds like it is from some sports program or something, like maybe a cricket show? This album gets a bad rap, but I always find it really consistent and super listenable. The wobble-board thing in It Is "He" is hilariously fun. If his voice had not been so destroyed, I think this album would have been quite different.

Highlights: So Sad, Dark Horse, Far East Man

7.5/10

Darkbreaker (Elizabethtown Sessions) - Ryan Adams

A whole bunch of unfinished songs? I was about to say that this version of Everyone Knows is quite good, but then it all fell apart. Two is not bad, either, though the studio version on Easy Tiger is definitely better. I was concerned that during my Ryan Adams marathon 10 years ago I may have bought in to the hype (and my own obsession with this dude) and pretended this 'album' was great, but NOPE! Even then I knew this was trash.

Highlights: Don't Get Sentimental on Me, Elizabeth

4/10

Darkest Days - Stabbing Westward

The kind of industrial metal that makes you want to dye your hair black, paint your fingernails, turn out the lights and do whatever goths do in the dark. I used to listen to this while playing the original Gran Turismo, so not totally dissimilar? This dude's voice was seriously unbeatable until Taka came along. Thing is, amongst the angry dark heavy goth metal are some fantastic hooks. And that coupled with Christopher Hall's awesome screaming has me sitting here enjoying this album immensely. 

Highlights: You Complete Me, Save Yourself, Sometime It Hurts, Desperate Now, Waking Up Beside You

8/10

David Live - David Bowie

My man Bowie had better performances, but this is still a pretty decent live album. The bluesy version of All The Young Dudes is pretty great. Earl Slick sure likes shredding up a storm all over this show.

Highlights: Moonage Daydream, All the Young Dudes, Big Brother, Time

6.5/10

Day and Age - The Killers

This was when I started losing interest in The Killers. They still had a big stack of goodwill with me for their debut album, but this album is definitely a bit of a drop-off point. Well, mostly the last half - the first half is quite fun, though very different to what they had released up to this point. Brandon Flowers is the opposite of Christopher Hall, in that his voice is weaker and just getting more annoying. And the lyrics are getting pretty naff, as well. Again, it is not all terrible, but this is certainly where they stopped living up to their name.

Highlights: Losing Touch, Human, Spaceman, Goodnight Travel Well

6.5/10

A Day at the Races - Queen

Let's end day 50 with my first proper Queen album! It's fun; some years ago I would have told you this was one of the best albums ever, but then in the lead up to listening now I was convinced it was kind of average (for a Queen album - which is still top tier). But listening now and it just owns. Seriously. It has everything: straight up rock classics (Tie Your Mother Down), beautiful ballads (You Take My Breath Away), poptastic fun (You and I), epic dark stuff (White Man), random Japanese (Teo Torriatte) and some of the best songs in the Queen catalogue (Somebody to Love). Is that solo in Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy just the funnest? Drowse is the worst Roger Taylor song, but otherwise this album is Queen at their best.

Highlights: All the songs I already mentioned and everything else too

9/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 392