Ashes & Fire - Ryan Adams
It is kind of hard to rate this stuff these days; this is a bit of a reminder that some of this is very good, however everything about the guy is so disingenuous and off-putting. The piano sound on the title track is perfection. And that solo on Do I Wait is awesome. I actually enjoy Adams' acoustic sound on this album. Was this the last album he made where his singing wasn't awful? Hmmm maybe not - his voice seems to be starting to be crap here, particularly on Save Me. That'll teach him to use song titles from Queen. I think I was pretty harsh on this album back during the marathon and I've possibly only listened to it once since then (about 8 years ago), but it seems to be better than I remember. In places.
Highlights: Ashes & Fire, Do I Wait, Chains of Love, Lucky Now
7/10
Ashes & Fire Bonus Tracks - Ryan Adams
The solo on Star Sign is quite good. Very quite good. Weird; I went back and looked at my marathon notes, and I said Darkness was on here. But I've deleted it? I only have 2 other versions instead. That's still more than a normal person should have, but still.
Highlights: Star Sign
6.5/10
The Ashes of Chikara - Various Artists
Chikara were a pro-wrestling promotion based in the USA that kind of based everything on a mix of Lucha Libre and comic book storytelling, pretty much aimed and children and dorks. So it was the best pro-wrestling promotion ever. They did a big story where the promotion was bought by some bad people and shut down, and then spent a year doing youtube and social media campaigns to bring it back, which culminated in the movie The Ashes of Chikara. And this is the soundtrack to that movie. Got it? It is mostly instrumental pieces mixed with some classic 80s artists like Wang Chung and Stan Bush. Oh, and a cover of Believe it or Not. I used to walk to work every day and this album was pretty much the perfect length for my walk. I totally forgot about Whatever Makes You Feel Superior - bah gawd this song is MY JAM! Sadly, dear reader, Chikara closed down for real a few years ago. Life imitating art and all that.
Highlights: Whatever Makes You Feel Superior - Toehider, From the Ashes - Stan Bush
6.5/10
ASTEROID - INKYMAP
I completely discovered this band by accident - was looking for a gig to attend in 広島 and saw something with like 6 bands for under 3000円. INKYMAP were second from the top. They rocked. I bought this album from their merch table (the bass player told me I should, and who am I to argue?). I think they may have just released it or something... anyways, they've since become one of my favourite bands. Definitely one of the best punk rock bands going in Japan today.
Highlights: 白銀の夜に, The Delight, マタアウヒマデ
8/10
Astronaut - Duran Duran
Oooh reunion-era Duran Duran! This is the most harmless dancey Duran Duran album you could possibly ask for. Possibly a bit long? Like, if you're going to make a relatively uninteresting album, you could at least keep it around 40 minutes.
Highlights: (Reach Up for the) Sunrise, Nice, Finest Hour
6/10
Asylum - Kiss
I... actually like this album. Mostly. It's still not the raucous fun of early Kiss, and things only got better from here (until after the reunion), but this album really was the turning point. Bah gawd, does Bruce Kulick shred up a storm on this thing! Having him join the Animalize tour was clearly a bad influence. Gene's singing is garbage. He needed to bring these songs down by like 4 or 5 semi-tones. Or Paul should have sung them. If Trial By Fire had a better chorus, it would be one of the best songs on the album - the verses and whatnot all have a real classic Kiss vibe to them.
Highlights: King of the Mountain, Who Wants to Be Lonely, Tears are Falling
6.5/10
At Her Very Best And All The Greatest Hits - Yazz
This is purely the single The Only Way is Up. As much of a music nerd as I am (and love 80s music), I have no idea of any other songs by Yazz that could make a greatest hits compilation. I couldn't even make a greatest hits EP.
7/10
At the BBC - Queen
Finally some Queen! I knew it would be some time before I got to them, so I went on a bit of a listen to some albums before starting the iTunes marathon. This album is them "live" at the BBC studios in 1973, so it is far from complete - pretty sure they appeared another 3 or 4 times. Queen have made this album completely redundant by releasing all the complete BBC stuff in a box set, and then again by releasing all the BBC tracks as part of the big box sets they have been releasing. But this is what I was given, so it will do until I can muster up the energy to re-purchase my Queen collection. With all the overdubs and whatnot, it all sounds pretty much exactly the same as the studio recordings. So it's kind of like a 'best of the first album', with very minor differences. Notably Freddie Mercury messing up his overdubs on Keep Yourself Alive (as in, one track sings different lyrics to the other track).
Highlights: Keep Yourself Alive, Liar
7/10
ATE - Stray Kids
LOGMAN joins the 21st Century! Would you believe I actually went to a Stray Kids concert late last year? No joke. It was awesome. And so is this... mini-album?
Highlights: MOUNTAINS, JJAM, Stray Kids
8/10
Atlas - Kinky
Truly an international day here at LOGMAN radio; first some Japanese, then some Korean, and now Spanish! That guitar riff in Presidente always rocks my world. I kind of feel like guitar is a bit more prominent on this album compared to some others, because there are some cool riffs all over the show. The middle loses a bit of steam, but there is not a bad song on this album. Just solid grooves, funky beats, bizarre lyrics, and all-around good vibes. There has to be something to say about a band that does not make slow songs or ballads.
Highlights: Presidente, Minotauro, María José
8/10
Audio Out - Amiel
This is an album that actually influenced me a bit; Josh Abrahams' production and how they worked to shape her songs really made me rethink how I was approaching what I was working on at the time. It didn't really help me, but that's because I'm me. I wish they could have done a follow up to this; Amiel did make a second album, but with a different producer... and then it was scrapped before release and she's disappeared since. At least I can still enjoy her singing "Dolphinarium" on Micallef Tonight!
Highlights: Clair De Lune, Missing the Music, Games We Play
7.5/10
Audioslave - Audioslave
I've never thought too much of this album. Which is strange; I had a lot of love for Chris Cornell and I certainly enjoyed Rage Against the Machine. And the music is still pretty decent; Tom Morello does his weird solos (some are amazing, like in What You Are and Like a Stone), Tim C's bass is beasty and Brad Wilk is as solid as always. But Cornell on this... I don't know. His voice his rough and the melodies aren't that interesting.
Highlights: the bass tone, a couple of guitar solos, and accepting this album just ain't for me
4/10
"Albums" listened to so far: 87
