2025 in 2025: Day 135

Northern Star - Melanie C

My favourite Spice Girl goes solo and it is fairly mixed, but still very pop; a bit of dance-pop, a little bit of R&B, but also kind of alt. rock pop styles, if that makes sense? It all kind of under-delivers, but there are some really great moments. I still can not believe that this is the only album of hers that I actually have!

Highlights: Northern Star, Never Be the Same Again, Ga Ga, Go!

7/10

Not Fade Away: The Complete Studio Recordings and More - Buddy Holly

Things kick off with a home recording from 1949 that is more listenable than an MCR demo from 2019. Then it is on to his recordings with Bob and, again, it has been cleaned up so well it makes it an interesting listen. It is all very country and Buddy just sings harmony for the most part. Down the Line kicks off the real rock'n roll era. How is the 1955 recording of You And I Are Through actually worse than the recording in 1954? Once we get to 1956, it is non-stop rock'n roll awesomeness. It is actually quite amazing what Buddy Holly achieved in that year alone - he may have recorded more awesome songs that year than Elvis! And the year closes with the garage tapes? Bah gawd, those are the greatest home recordings in the history of music. 1957 may have been even better? And 1958 may be even better than that?!? After the apartment recordings close off everything recorded during his lifetime, it is on to the overdubbed versions and I will always find a lot of fun in some of the Fireballs recordings. Most of them, even - they kind of work for some, but others it just feels unnecessary. There are so many more of these songs than I remember; I always think it was like maybe 15 or 20 songs, but there is like 50 of them! It almost feels like every demo or home recording got The Fireballs treatment. This is quite possibly the best box set I have and will ever own.

Highlights: Rave On, Oh Boy!, Down the Line, I'm Gonna Set My Foot Down, Rock Around with Ollie Vee, It's So Easy, Not Fade Away, Crying Waiting Hoping [Fireballs Version], The Garage Tapes, The Apartment Tapes

9/10

Imagine if I had left these discs as separate albums - I could have deleted 5 other albums, like those NZ music compilations! Also, somewhere in all these Fireball versions was my 15,000th song. How am I only just reaching that now? How am I supposed to listen to another 10,000 in a third of the time?!?

Not Over You [Single] - Gavin DeGraw

Funnily enough, I heard this playing in the supermarket the other day. Dude has such a great voice. Why do I not that first album of his? Might be because he's a MAGA clown? Might be...

8/10

Not Shy - ITZY

Party time. Teen girls do not care what you think of them at all, so they are going to dance and since as much as they want, I guess?

Highlights: Don't Give a What, Not Shy, Be in Love, iD

8/10

NOTHING FROM NOTHING - Ayumi Hamasaki

Classic 90s hip-hop makes for a most lowkey debut for the Empress of J-Pop. She does sound like an annoying teenager here, but that kind of tracks considering she was only 17. I wonder what happened to the other dudes on this...

Highlights: Gut it-pez, NOTHING FROM NOTHING (Album Version), LIMIT, NOTHING FROM NOTHING (Single Version)

8/10

Now What - Lisa Marie Presley

The sophomore and final album from Elvis' daughter. The fact she collaborated with Linda Perry for most of it and a song features Pink should give an indication of the style of music here. Very radio pop rock. 

Highlights: I'll Figure it Out, Thanx, Now What, Turbulence

6.5/10

The Nylon Curtain - Billy Joel

A very political outing from Mr. Joel, covering things like the recession and the Vietnam war. Still channeling The Beatles pretty hard for the most part, too. 

Highlights: Goodnight Saigon, Allentown, She's Right on Time, Pressure

7.5/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 1197

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2025 in 2025: Day 107

Kill Bill Vol. 1 - Various Artists

This is, in fact, only Battle Without Honor or Humanity by Tomoyasu Hotei. It is a very, very cool instrumental track.

10/10

KILL MY DOUBT - ITZY

There is a song on this EP called Psychic Lover, which I can only assume is an ode to one of the greatest Japanese rock bands. For sure.

Highlights: Kill Shot, CAKE

7/10

KiLLER BiSH - BiSH

The major label debut with still a strong alt. idol flavour, and the intent is loud and clear from the opening track; get ready for destruction! Lots of madness and screaming with KiLLER hooks. Helluva consistent album, this one.

Highlights: DEADMAN, summertime, Throw away, 本当本気

8/10

A Kind of Magic - Queen

This is the album that made me buy all the 2011 reissues; I had the 1991 remaster most of my life and it was so terribly compressed it was almost unlistenable once I got proper ears. I always get in my head that this album is not that great, but it really is only 2 songs. The rest is absolute perfect examples of Queen; big rock, massive ballad, triumphant pop.

Highlights: One Vision, Friends Will Be Friends, Gimme The Prize (Kurgan's Theme), A Kind of Magic

8/10

KiND PEOPLE / リズム - BiSH

Oooh a double-dose of BiSH this morning. The most average of 'rock' songs with an awesomely massive power ballady-type thing.

Highlights: リズム 

7.5/10

King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime - Faith No More

This was such a departure compared to Angel Dust. Less keyboards. No rapping. No "gay disco". Much less fun. Even Mike Patton's vocal stylings are way different. I remember a friend of mine at the time of release wondering if he had been replaced. It varies between wannabe thrash metal and lounge jazz and just straight-up schlock before ending with some almost gospel.

Highlights: Ricochet, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, Cuckoo for Caca, Just a Man

7/10

King of Rock - Run-D.M.C.

This is certainly not my favourite Run-D.M.C. album, but they sure have some killer rhymes going on. Because I have the bonus tracks, I will add that the Beastie Boys version of Slow and Low is actually superior. Somehow.

Highlights: King of Rock, Can You Rock It Like This, Darryl and Joe (Krush-Groove 3), You Talk Too Much

8/10

KINGDOM - SPYAIR

More epic rock. Less memorable than anything on their BEST album, which probably makes sense? It still rocks. Genuinely need more SPYAIR.

Highlights: Don't Look Back, Brand New Days, RAGE OF DUST, スクランブル

7/10

Kingdom Come - Jay-Z

This album is best enjoyed by ignoring everything Jay-Z is rapping about. Because it is all so much more vapid than usual; like, the dude always raps about being rich and what not, but it just feels even more egregious here. Particularly when he raps about being friends with Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow. Boy, that line has aged poorly.  I would say the same about this album, but I do not believe it was even considered good back in 2006.

Highlights: Beach Chair, Kingdom Come, Do You Wanna Ride, Show Me What You Got

6/10

Kinky - Kinky

I love Kinky, but this album is their least memorable and outside of the absolutely brilliant Cornman, there is nothing that sticks. I will say, though, that it is consistently groovy overall. Probably because 90% of the songs sound the same.

Highlights: Cornman, Ejercicio #16, Tonos Rosa, 

6.5/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 928

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2025 in 2025: Day 102

Invincible - Michael Jackson

The production on this album is super badass and it is pretty much MJ at his most R&B. It was always going to be in the shadow of all his previous works, unless he had released another masterpiece. Which he didn't? Some great songs, though, which showed he still had it.

Highlights: Hearbreaker, Break of Dawn, 2000 Watts, Threatened, That scream of "Slash!" right before the guitar solo in Privacy

7.5/10

Iris - Goo Goo Dolls

This is purely the b-side I Don't Want to Know - it is a Fleetwood Mac cover. I have Iris on Dizzy Up the Girl and have zero interest in ever listening to the edited single version.

8/10

Issues - KoЯn

Bagpipes. Weird interludes. Rattling bass. Bad singing and stupid lyrics. It is a classic KoЯn album! The last half of this is all jangly guitars in the verses.

Highlights: Falling Away From Me, Beg For Me, Somebody Someone, Let's Get This Party Started

5.5/10

It's Better to Travel - Swing Out Sister

This is purely that 80s smash hit Breakout. Not to be confused with the Frehley's Comet rocker. No Eric Carr on drums, here!

8/10

It's My Sin - Jan Hellriegel

90s West-Auckland rock. Some seriously giant reverb all over this. That chorus in The Way I Feel is tops.

Highlights: The Way I Feel, No Idea, It's My Sin

6/10

It's Raining Men - The Weather Girls

This is just the song. And what a song!

9/10

IT'z ICY - ITZY

ICY is the song of the Summer. Not just 2019 - I am talking EVERY Summer. It is fun having the remix of DALLA DALLA since that is the only ITZY single I do not have. Which is silly, because that is a great song.

Highlights: ICY, DALLA DALLA (DallasK Remix), WANT IT? (Imad Royal Remix)

7.5/10

IT'z ME - ITZY

The video for Wannabe is dope. But we are not here to talk about music videos. What am I? MTV?

Highlights: Wannabe, Nobody Like You, That's a No No, 24Hrs

7.5/10

iTunes Festival: London 2013 - Justin Timberlake

I think this was one of those free Xmas gifts from Apple or something. It is actually pretty decent - the band are tight and funky. The recording sounds like it was sourced from a video.

Highlights: Sexyback, Take Back the Night

7/10

IV - Ryan Adams

This is the follow up to III, which I am sure is quite logical. It is a bit more rocking. Kind of like the Rock N Roll album, but less messy and with better singing? That bridge in Icebreaker is perfection. I would rate the song Star Wars higher if it was not about Star Wars and how much he loves it. I knew there was a reason I think he is a clown!

Highlights: No, Numbers, Icebreaker, P.S., Kill the Lights

7/10

IV - Cypress Hill

Much like III, the music here is quite sparse and less powerful, while the lyrics and vocals are VERY angry. I wonder how much of it comes down to the mix or mastering. Sen Dog gets his nu-metal on with Lightning Strikes and it makes me want to track down his short-lived nu-metal band, because they were actually pretty decent. 

Highlights: Tequila Sunrise, Checkmate, Nothin' to Lose, Lightning Strikes

7/10

Ixnay on the Hombre - The Offspring

The first major label release and it is still pretty rad. Certainly a lot better than anything they put out afterwards! Pretty funny going from a group that promotes the use of marijuana, to a group that sings about drugs being bad. 

Highlights: Leave It Behind, Gone Away, Amazed, Change the World

7/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 876

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2025 in 2025: Day 47

The Craft: Music from the Motion Picture - Various Artists

This is a whole bunch of 90s artists covering a bunch of 'classic' songs. Luckily for me, this includes a few of my favourite artists! We get Our Lady Peace doing a fairly standard remake of The Beatles' epic Tomorrow Never Knows, Letters to Cleo doing a song by The Cars, and then crap like Tripping Daisy completely ruining Jump Into the Fire. Bah gawd the LCD Soundsystem cover is a million times better, as is the original. But the real highlights are Heather Nova covering Peter Gabriel's I Have the Touch and some band called Love Spit Love performing the theme from Charmed! Yes, that is how I best knew the song and this version; it wasn't until many years later that someone told me it was actually a song by The Smiths. I like this version. I like Charmed. I have been meaning to watch that again - I never actually watched seasons 7 and 8...

Highlights: I Have the Touch - Heather Nova, How Soon Is Now? - Love Spit Love, Tomorrow Never Knows - Our Lady Peace

6/10

Crazy in Love - ITZY

This may be the most inconsistent ITZY release; there are some killer songs - and some that are right up there with the best of their songs - but there are also some of their worst songs on here. Or at least one bad song and a few weak ones. But yeah, those good songs are awesome. LOVE is a perfect ballad and Chillin' Chillin' is the most fun you can have - and hilariously both songs are exactly 3:30. Fun!

Highlights: LOCO, Sooo LUCKY, LOVE is, Chillin' Chillin'

7/10

Crazy Nights - Kiss

I'm not sure I need to write about this again? Maybe I do? Crazy Crazy Nights always hits hard. This album is just 80s good fun and makes me want to get a hot chocolate. It's cold, okay?

Highlights: Crazy Crazy Nights, Reason to Live, Turn on the Night

8/10

Crazy World - Scorpions

This is only the song Wind of Change. It is probably the only Scorpions song I have ever heard. Maybe I should hear more someday...

8/10

Creatures of the Night (40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) - Kiss

This is two discs of demos and rarities from the Creatures of the Night sessions. Because listening to a bunch of Kiss demos has always worked out so well for me... but actually, these are not so bad. Things kick off with the *exclusive* tracks from Killers. I like them more than I apparently did during Kissathon II. Then it is demos for a song from Lick It Up, a song Peter Criss recorded on Let Me Rock You, the songs that appeared earlier/on Killers, a bunch of Gene's solo nonsense, a couple of songs recorded during the making of The Elder? And a Bryan Adams song. So anything BUT a song that actually was recorded for Creatures of the Night. I would actually complain, but I'll damned if the demo for Not For the Innocent isn't a million times better than how it actually ended up on Lick It Up; Paul singing the chorus is soooo much better! Also, It's My Life is here in demo form. And that song is awesome. Even without Ace doing some vocals. So this is not a total loss, although Chrome Goes Into Motion does sound legit like Spinal Tap. Then we are on to outtakes? So actual Creatures of the Night songs. Mostly. And mostly pointless. Unless you want to hear some bad guitar playing while Paul fumbles his way through I Still Love You a couple of times. At least the drums in the Saint And Sinner outtakes are massive. Gene's mouth-guitar solos are kind of fun, too. 

Highlights: Rock and Roll Hell [Take 2], I'm a Legend Tonight, Nowhere to Run, Not for the Innocent [Demo], It's My Life [Demo]

6.5/10

Creatures of the Night (1985 Remix) - Kiss

Ha! The last track on the Creatures of the Night (40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition) was the 1985 remix of Creatures of the Night. The first track on this album is the same song. So between the outtakes and then having this song repeated, I'm a little over this already. I wrote about this version of the album before and I stand by what I said. I definitely prefer this tracklisting. One day I might remove this album and just rework the tracklisting of the 'proper' version. One day...

Highlights: The better tracklisting

8/10

Creatures of the Night (Remaster) - Kiss

There was a noticeable volume jump to this from the 1985 remix, so I moved to turn it down. But then I decided I've been listening to this album for a while now and I want to hear it loud. It is much better. Also, the original mix is better than the 1985 mix. 

Highlights: Keep Me Comin', Rock and Roll Hell, I Love it Loud

9/10

Criss (Special Limited Edition EP) - Peter Criss

The Cat is a pretty fun song. The nursery rhymes are odd and mocking Gene and Paul always wins points with me. Did he end it with him hissing at people or something? This dude singing on Show Me is okay, I guess. He made a Queen reference, I think, so he also wins points with me. I seem to like him more than I did during Kissathon II. Like might not be the right word, but I was certainly harsh then.

Highlights: The Cat, Beth (Acoustic)

6.5/10

Criss Cat #1 - Peter Criss

Oh, that album title is not correct. This has been a fairly Kiss heavy day, which is at least proving easy for me to write about! Blue Moon Over Brooklyn is nowhere near as bad as I wrote initially. Or maybe it is just relative to how awful Peter Criss got later in his career? I also wrote that Down with the Sun is an instrumental? There are a lot of vocals - perhaps I was just referring to the music side of the song? Because the outro section is really good. Genuinely solid album!
Highlights: Bad Attitude, Walk the Line, Good Times, Down with the Sun

7/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 363

2025 in 2025: Day 36

CHECK-IN - PASSPO☆
We've talked about this fantastic album before, so I'll spare you a minute of my gushing for PASSPO☆. And I'm busy, so don't have time to write about something I've already written about. Even if it is PASSPO☆. I'm sorry, PASSPO☆, for ignoring you! Needless to say, I am at least enjoying listening to PASSPO☆ in the morning.
Highlights: 少女飛行, キス=スキ, マテリアルGirl, ハカナ
8/10

CHECKMATE - ITZY
ITZY may well be the most consistent K-pop group since BTS. Somehow they have become my fav girls group, that is for sure.
Highlights: SNEAKERS, RACER, WHAT I WANT, DOMINO
7.5/10

CHESHIRE - ITZY
The bonus of all these fun pop songs is it is making my morning go quick and I can save my nonsense writing for more involved work. The down side is they go really quick before I can even think of what to say!
Highlights: Cheshire, Boys Like You
7/10

Chess (The Original Recording) - Various Artists
Quick rant; I bought some songs on iTunes a number of years ago, and then a couple of years it was re-released as an extended & remastered version. I used that version to complete the rest of the album, but iTunes would not let me purchase the songs I already had. So I'm left with a mix of songs from both versions - and ALL my favs are not remastered or anything. It is annoying, because the difference when listening to the album in full is quite noticeable. ANYWAYS this is possibly my favourite musical of all time, purely based on how amazing some of these songs are. What do you expect from ABBA's king songwriters? Sure, the whole thing is super 80s production and instrumentation, but that's part of what makes it so awesome. This album is also one of the reasons I fell in love with Elaine Page when I was like 5 years-old. Murray Head's performance is so spot on; his voice is clearly struggling with the range at times, but that adds to the character and passion in the songs. But the real show stealers on this are the musicians; Per Lindvall's fills in Nobody's Side add so much drama and tension, and Lasse Wellander's guitar solos are absolute perfection. Also, adding the bonus tracks helps - Press Conference should be before The Russian and Molokov, because it ties in to what they talk about in that track.
Highlights: Opening Ceremony, The American and Florence/Nobody's Side, The Deal (No Deal), Pity the Child
8/10

Chief Boot Knocka - Sir Mix-A-Lot
Haha good fun. Sir Mix-A-lot is not someone that pretends to be making anything other than big bass thumping booty shaking music to make your sub get a serious workout. I should know; my older brother and his friends would crank this while they cruised and you could hear their cars for streets away. 
Highlights: Sleepin' Wit My Fonk, Take My Stash, Put 'Em on the Glass
6/10

Chinese Democracy - Guns N' Roses
Was this the most expensive album ever made? Ten years and I think $14 million definitely put it up there in terms of anticipated albums. And bombs. But it isn't nearly as bad as people would have you believe. The problem was, it was never going to meet the hype and satisfy people - and make money. No matter what. Sure, it has its flaws (Buckethead on lead guitar, Axl's vocals being not so great), but there are some great jams on here. Certainly not a tough listen.
Highlights: Better, There Was a Time, Madagascar
6.5/10

Chisel: The Best Of Cold Chisel - Cold Chisel
This was a compilation that came out in the 90s and was my first real exposure to Cold Chisel; we grew up listening to Jimmy Barnes, but hadn't really heard much of Cold Chisel outside of the occasional hit. I've kept this in rotation for the live version of Bow River, because I'm too lazy to get the live album it is from. Though I should, because that is a great live album. Also, this version of Khe Sanh doesn't seem to be available anywhere else, and it is actually the version I prefer.
Highlights: Bow River (Live), Khe Sanh (US Remix)
8/10

The Chocolate Invasion - Prince
Prince released a lot of music in 2004. He released a lot of music all the time. And he recorded even more, apparently. This is a whole lot of funky sultry jams that he released only for his fan club or something. It's relatively fun, if not a little underwhelming. But hey, it's Prince.
Highlights: Judas Smile, Vavoom, High, U Make My Sun Shine
7/10

Chocolate Love - Girls' Generation
Appears to simply be the single - and a different version, at that. I might have to check out the original version, maybe?
7/10

Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water - Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit really are a guilty pleasure for me; I was a massive fan back in 2000, being an angry young white dude and all that, and then decided they were garbage - like most of the world did. Nowadays I can embrace that they are completely terrible, but it in a fun way. Like a bad movie or something, but not bad like Once Upon a Time in America, more bad like College Kickboxers. This album is particularly angry and heavy. And angry. Like, if you are into big loud guitars and drums and you just want to swear at everyone all the time, then this is the album for you! Bonus points for being advertised at WrestleMania. And thus my personal Chocolate trilogy is complete.
Highlights: Hot Dog, Full Nelson, My Way, Livin' It Up, Getcha Groove On, Boiler
6.5/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 297

2025 in 2025: Day 27

Boogie Wonderland: The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire - Earth, Wind & Fire

This right here is over 2 hours of funky disco tunes and soulful ballads. It may surprise you to find that I enjoy the disco songs more than the ballads. And the disco songs are mostly fantastic. There's also random guitar shredding on a few songs, which is hilarious. On Your Face is most recogniseable to me as being sampled for MC Hammer's song. This album is a serious groove for the full 2 hours.

Highlights: September, Saturday Nite

7/10

BORN PINK - BLACKPINK

Pink Venom is such a weird track; everything except the chorus is awesome, but man that chorus is dumb. The rest of these songs kind of suffer from that problem where you think the song is going to go somewhere awesome, but then doesn't, so it kind of falls just short of being special. Still pretty solid, though. So this is all my BLACKPINK done before we even finish a couple of months? BLACKPINK are no longer in my area?

Highlights: Pink Venom, Shut Down, Yeah Yeah Yeah, Tally

7/10

Born This Way - Lady Gaga

As with most Gaga albums, the opening track is pure FIRE. Actually, a whole bunch of songs of this album are straight-up awesomeness. Some average songs sprinkled in, as well. Judas has the same problem as Pink Venom, though the chorus isn't quite as dumb, just a let down from how badass the rest of the song is. Well, apart from the gawdawful lyrics. There's really a lot of talk about Jesus on this album, as well. I have always felt that maybe the album is a bit too long. It's 17 songs. No interludes or skits. 17 actual songs. Sure, I'm part of the problem by buying the deluxe edition, but the extra songs from that are actually worth it - there were a couple of others I would cut instead of them. But not Brian May. He should be on every song. Also, why is there no uncensored version of this album available? It was insulting that I wasn't able to get The Fame Monster on CD in uncensored form, but not even iTunes carries Born This Way with bad language. Wild.

Highlights: Marry The Night, Government Hooker, Hair, Yoü And I, The Edge of Glory

8/10

Born This Way [Special Edition] - Lady Gaga

This is the bonus disc that came with the special edition of the album. It is merely remixes of a bunch of the songs. And they are mostly decent. If you want to get your dance on to some Lady Gaga, you could do much worse.

Highlights: Born This Way (Country Road Version)

6/10

BORN TO BE - ITZY

Talk about a poptastic day! One of the strongest releases from ITZY. And I say this as a total long-term fan that has been listening to them for a total of maybe 9 months. Crown On My Head is awesome and all, but the live version with the band was about 10 times more awesome. I even appreciate that gif that iTunes does for the album cover. Flawless release.

Highlights: Crown On My Head, Escalator

8.5/10

Born to Die - Lana Del Rey

I remember the massive hype on this album when it was first released. A beautiful woman singing dark and moody songs about murder and death and mafia gangsters and all sorts of American classics. Of course people were going to go nuts about her. So if that is your jam, then this album is tops. What I find most interesting is her way of changing her voice to give different characters for each song. It's all very dramatic.

Highlights: Off to the Races, This is What Makes Us Girls, Lolita

7/10

Boston - Boston

Obviously the opening track is super legendary and awesome, but the rest of this album is super rockin' and awesome as well. A whole lot of harmonising guitar solos! I recall listening to this in high school a fair bit - perfect summer vibes. Because we spent high school listening to and pushing 70s rock. You got a problem with that? Shiizz, I ain't afraid of you mofos!

Highlights: More Than a Feeling, Piece of Mind, Rock & Roll Band, Let Me Take You Home Tonight

8/10

Bounce - Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi is angry about 9/11. Me too; that was the date of the Montreal Screwjob and we must never forget such treachery. This album features some of the absolute heaviest of Bon Jovi songs - it also completely goes from awesome to awful super quick. JBJ's attempt at Sprinsteen storytelling is kind of cringe to me. Richie Sambora's playing and singing on this album is awesome, but even he can't save some of these ballads from being absolute dreck. BUT the good songs are VERY good. The Distance is one of their very best power ballads. I could very easily listen to this album again. Well, half of it. They should have stuck with this producer.

Highlights: Everyday, The Distance, Misunderstood, Bounce

6/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 224