2025 in 2025: Day 139

Orion - Ryan Adams

I do not think he used a fake name for this one, right? And for good reason; it is probably a bit more solid than the ones he did that way. Clearly put more effort in. It is not metal like he claimed, but that suits me fine. More of a 70s prog rock concept album about battles in outer space. Some seriously great riffs all around.

Highlights: Fire and Ice, Imminent Galactic War, By Force, End of Days

6.5/10

The Other Side of the Coin - Ace Frehley

This is a bootleg of Ace Frehley demos from the 80s and 90s. Most are pretty much what you would expect from bootleg demos, but at least it has Back in to My Arms Again, which is from 1984 and he finally recorded a proper studio version 40 years later... and it is awful. The demo is a million times better. We will get to the modern version at the tail end of this marathon... Some of this stuff sounds like Ace was auditioning for Devo.

Highlights: Take Me to the City, Back in to My Arms Again, Into the Night

6/10

Otras Canciones - George Harrison

I really have no idea what this compilation is. Half the titles are just Titulo desconocido and all the songs are in poor quality. Some rare songs, some single versions, some songs repeated. Clearly a messy bootleg, this one!

Highlights: The sheer randomness

6/10

Our Secret Spot - the HIATUS

The tamest album from the Hiatus. It was released right before the ELLEGARDEN reunion tour started, so I get the feeling it was a bit rushed and maybe lacked a bit of effort. Between the Black and Grey was released a year later, so clearly my man had a lot going on. 

Highlights: Servant, Back on the Ground, Firefly / Life in Technicolor, Get Into Action

7/10

Our Version of Events - Emeli Sandé

This is just the song Next to Me. I ended up with this by chance, but that is good because it is a pretty cool song.

8/10

Out of Control - Peter Criss

For some reason, I remembered this being not so great. I even remembered my Kissathon II review as saying it was bad. I listened today, and I thought it was pretty good. Then I read my Kissathon II review, and I scored it about what I would now. Except I would be much less harsh on the production? So I would be less funny? Sounds about right.

Highlights: There's Nothing Better, My Life

6/10

Out of Here - Corduroy

An album that genuinely changed my life - it really altered how I approach funk guitar and my own playing in general. This and Jamiroquai's A Funk Odyssey were insanely influential at the time. As much as I dig their funk-jazz instrumentals and fake movie scores, adding vocals just took these guys to the next level for me. Adding beautiful melody lines and harmonies? Killer stuff. Not literally, or the 3,000 of us that bought this album would be long dead...

Highlights: Don't Wait For Monday, Practice What You Preach, Out of Here, The Diceman, Motorhead

9/10

Out of the Light - Brian May

The bonus disc for the Back to the Light reissue. Some instrumentals, some live songs, all good times. Hearing him and Slash go back to back like that kind of makes Slash sound bad. 

Highlights: Too Much Love Will Kill You [Guitar Version], 39/Let Your Heart Rule Your Head [Live], Too Much Love Will Kill You [Live], Driven By You [Cozy and Neil Version '93]

7/10

Out of the Vein - Third Eye Blind

This album rocks to hard... for the first half. It is just big powerful banger after big powerful banger, hook after hook, fist in the air and screaming along! Then the second half is all totally chilled out and kind of repetitive and less inspired? Except for Company. That song still goes kind of hard.

Highlights: Blinded, Forget Myself, My Hit and Run, Faster

8/10

Outside - David Bowie

Yes, I know the album title is actually 1.Outside. I will fix it later. But that is the least of this album's concerns. The whole thing is a mash of weird industrial and prog and electro crazy and should be listened to in the dark.

Highlights: We Prick You, Outside, Hallo Spaceboy, Strangers When We Meet

5/10

Outtakes and Demos - Queen

Another self-compiled collection of tracks from the Queen reissues. Quite interesting for the most part. I would like a proper version of Feelings Feelings if they have it somewhere. 

Highlights: Feeling Feelings [Take 10], Sail Away Sweet Sister  [Take 1 with Guide Vocal], Football Fight [Early Version - No Synths!], The Hero [Revisited Version]

6.5/10

The Overture & The Underscore - Sarah Blasko

About as lo-fi as a chill indie record could ask for. And without being all that negative or depressing. However, it is the darker songs that really shine on this album. Blasko often sings with a very breathey style, but I really dig when gets a bit more forceful. And her lyrics are genuinely topshelf.

Highlights: Beautiful Secrets, Don't U Eva, Sweetest November, Remorse

7/10

Oyster - Heather Nova

Talk about influential albums! So much emotion and passion wrapped up in acoustic songs, layered with beautiful harmonies, solid rhthym and very moody guitars. Honestly, when I was 20, this was the album I wanted to make.

Highlights: Walk This World, Walking Higher, Maybe An Angel, Doubled Up, Island

8.5/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 1248

FRE PALESTINE

2025 in 2025: Day 94

Hello Nasty - Beastie Boys

As much as I love Beastie Boys and their off-centre brand of music, this album is a bit long. However, it does start off with just killer hip-hop jam after hip-hop jam and it works so well. I have the remastered version so need to go back to my original CD and get the original version of The Grasshopper Unit, because the sample in the chorus is sorely missed here. 

Highlights: The Move, Just a Test, Intergalactic, The Grasshopper Unit (Keep Movin'), The Negotiation Limerick File

8/10

Hello Nasty (2009 Remastered Edition) - Beastie Boys

And this here is the bonus disc. The instrumentals are pretty rad, as are some of the remixes. I may be one of the few people that disagrees with the Beastie Boys themselves and still prefers the original version of Body Movin' to the Fatboy Slim remix (that is also pretty cool, though). 

Highlights: Dirty Dog, Switched On, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Piano Jam

7/10

HELLO WORLD - SCANDAL

This is a seriously solid album. Like, every song is the same amount of enjoyable pop punk fun. おやすみ is bordering on a taste of what is to come from them - slightly more adventurous. But yeah, just a great album.

Highlights: おやすみ, Place of life, Departure, Your song

8/10

Help! - The Beatles

This is The Beatles firing on all cylinders; Lennon writing some of the best pop songs of his life, Harrison finding his feet writing good songs, and McMarketing doing his thing, I guess. That cowbell in the chorus of I Need You is inspired and the volume pedal gives a great effect. Top stuff all around.

Highlights: Help!, You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, I Need You, Ticket to Ride, I've Just Seen a Face

9/10

Hexagonal - Lessang

Another random Korean hip-hop track in my collection - this one called 헤어지지 못하는 여자, 떠나가지 못하는 남자 (The Woman Who Can't Break Up, The Man Who Can't Leave). It is decidedly groovy. According to wikipedia, Lessang were successful despite being unattractive. As opposed to LOGMAN, who is unsuccessful despite being unattractive...

8/10

High Havoc - Corduroy

My favourite cool cats with their fake 60s spy thriller soundtrack. And honestly, it works on every level. Back in the day, I thought it would have been a great idea to actually complete the circle and write a heist movie with this album as the inspiration. But I think I only got as far as calling the movie High Havoc. Honestly, I would like to know which line they are wanting to catch at 10:28 from Shibuya. It may well be outdated information, so they are possibly going to confuse some tourists from the UK.

Highlights: High Havoc, London England, The Corduroy Orgasm Club, Something in My Eye, Very Yeah

9/10

High Times: Singles 1992-2006 - Jamiroquai

Let's keep the funk rolling! I had to buy this album when on a super discount so I could get these two new songs. Such is my completist attitude. Well worth it, because they are both super funky and super cool.

Highlights: Runaway, Radio

9/10

Hillbilly Joel - The Shit

The greatest punk band go country and still manage to keep almost every song under a minute, while also retaining the whistles and roosters crowing. Every song is about drinking and being drunk. Party with The Shit!

Highlights: Passed Out In AA - FUCK, Where's the Party?, Drunk and in Jail for Arson, Dear Burger King

7/10

Hip-Hop Lives - KRS-One & Marley Marl

The Teacher teaming up with an old rival to show the young rappers how it is done. Surprisingly solid album; KRS never stops evolving and delivers a pretty firm lyrical beatdown on the world. This album deserves way more love.

Highlights: I Was There, Rising to the Top, Kill a Rapper, This Is What It Is

8/10

Hip-Hop Breaker - DJ Reggie

I have had a fantastic day so far and then DJ Reggie comes along and just brings the whole day down. Well, except for his rapping about Robert Smith stealing someone's lipstick and Tina Turner being the "President of Party Town". Stepping on broken TV screens does not sound like a fun dance. Teen Wolf could have been a good song if he had kept the whole thing from being super loud and distorted. I need a break.

Highlights: Matlock Rock, TV Shows - The Movie

5/10

HIStory - Michael Jackson

MJ was clearly pretty angry on this album; a lot of frustration and sadness being vented about the way people and the environment are being treated. And that District Attorney that was out to get him - absolutely no one is buying you are not saying Tom Sneddon in the chorus, Michael. And we def lose points for having R. Kelly on here (very much removing this song after today). But there is so much other greatness going on that I will easily forgive MJ for that one. HIStory is still the most confusing song; the verses are so badass, but then that chorus is all glorious orchestration and choir of triumph. 

Highlights: They Don't Care About Us, Stranger in Moscow, Earth Song, 2 Bad, D.S.

7.5/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 775

FREE PALESTINE

2025 in 2025: Day 49

Cyberpunk - Billy Idol

Vince Neil stole Steve Stevens, so Billy Idol's only answer was to make a weird concept album and fuse his brand of rock with 90s electronica? The dude even decides to do some rapping on here. I'd make fun, but all these fake commercials and news bits feel kind of like he was inspired RoboCop. And Shock to the System is a genuinely brilliant song. There are a couple of other good songs, but mostly this is all very dated and long and kind of silly.

Highlights: Shock to the System, Power Junkie

5/10

Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill

This album doesn't have the glorious production or menacing darkness of Black Sunday. But what it does have is funky grooves and super cool rhymes. Sometimes when a group doesn't have lots of money to hide behind, they are forced to be very good - and Cypress Hill were very good. Probably still are?

Highlights: How I Could Just Kill a Man, Light Another, Real Estate, Stoned is the Way of the Walk, The Funky Cypress Hill Shit

7/10

D.I.S.C.O. - Ottawan

Sadly, this is simply the single song from the French duo. It is a testament to the power and glory of disco music. That intro alone is life.

10/10

Da Real World - Missy Elliott

So we finally made it to the D albums! I loves me some Missy Elliott, but her first couple of albums just kind of meander a little. How did I forget Slim Shady is on here? Man, he was so fun back in the day. A lot of guest appearances on this album. And some preaching from Missy? That's not a fun way to end an album...

Highlights: Busa Rhyme

5/10

Dad Man Cat - Corduroy

One of the grooviest albums of all time. Also coolest song titles of all time, like How to Steal the World, The Girl Who Was Death and Skirt Alert. These cats were the coolest. I still need to split the live tracks from each album and put them on their own - they all come from an actual live album that was released a million years ago, but I do not have.

Highlights: How to Steal the World, Frug in G Major, Pony Tail, Skirt Alert, Money Is

9/10

Daft Punk is Playing at My House [Single] - LCD Soundsystem

It is not that song, because I have that on the self-titled LCD Soundsystem album. This is purely Jump Into the Fire (Radio One Live Sessions). This is so much better than that terrible version I heard a couple of days ago on The Craft soundtrack.

8/10

Dakota [Single] - Stereophonics

Great song, this one. The remix is pretty naff, though. And the other demo song on here is fine.

Highlights: Dakota

6/10

Dance Your Asteroids Off to the Complete Star Wars Collection - Meco

Another Meco compilation, but this time it is purely Star Wars themes. Including the Ewok celebrations from Return of the Jedi. Some of these are edited versions and a whole lot of fake movie dialogue has been edited in. The "Yoda" is hilarious; sounds more like Kurgen from Highlander! Bah gawd Meco has even re-recorded the full Lapti Nek in the corniest way. "C3PO" is rapping in Ewok language about Star Wars characters and this might be the one moment saving the album from being deleted. Jar Jar Binks rapping about himself may be even funnier!

Highlights: Darth Vader's Theme/Yoda's Theme, The Battle in the Snow, Ewok Celebration

7/10

Dancing on the Ceiling - Lionel Richie

This is purely the title track, because it is an 80s dance classic and I will love it forever. The guitar solo is way cooler than it had any right to be.

10/10

Dancing With Myself (From the Motion Picture Mean Girls) [Single] - The Donnas

An awesome cover from an awesome movie. I'm not sure if I love this more than the original, but maybe I do, because The Donnas had such great attitude. I started the day with Billy Idol being weird and ending the day with a cover of one of his best songs. Full circle!

10/10

Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys (Deluxe Version) - My Chemical Romance

These dudes owe their producers at least 80% of everything they ever earned, because they managed to make Gerard Way sound like a great screamo-style singer, when he was in fact just an average bad singer. Also, they can only make 'concept albums'. All that said, this album has some outstanding pop-punk moments. Bulletproof Heart is the most Green Day song this side of Green Day - right down to the title! In fact, I would argue that almost every song on this album sounds like someone else. And of course they have the cliched girl talking in Japanese moment. Anyways, this album is great and there is genuinely not a bad song on it. 

Highlights: Bulletproof Heart, Sing, The Only Hope For Me Is You, Save Yourself I'll Hold Them Back, The Kids From Yesterday

8/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 384