2025 in 2025: Day 12

B-Sides - Bump of Chicken
I swear, Bump of Chicken are on a mission to make the most ludicrous b-sides on the planet. Then they decided to change things up and used a really great song as a b-side... And then went back to just being ridiculous. Including a song that is made up of hilariously budget midi sound about their love of... squid. And a song about enjoying festivals in Japan. Curses to Sailing Day being on an album that starts with Y!
Highlights: アルエ
4/10

B-Sides - Oasis

This is a collection of all the b-sides that didn't make the cut for The Masterplan. Which is... a lot of them. Except this only goes to 2005. I say "only", as to imply this 3 hour compilation is not enough? I couldn't bothered organising a tracklist for so many songs, so it is just chronological. Which is a fun way to track the de-evolution of Liam Gallagher's voice. Is there a studio version of I Will Believe out there? I know it sounds like a lot of other Oasis songs, like Step Out, but isn't that what Oasis do? Just make a bunch of songs that sound like their other songs? And that's why we like them! I feel like I want to hear a version of D'yer Wanna Be a Spaceman that has Liam on vocals. I'm not one to diss Noel's lead guitar playing, usually - I actually enjoy the simplicity and how fun his solos usually are to play - but his lead work on this live version of Bring It On Down is downright laughable. Whatever may well be the greatest Oasis song, or at least one of them. The quality of the b-sides drops off a bit around Be Here Now. There are a couple of good tracks during the Standing on the Shoulder of Giants period, but after that it all gets pretty same-samey. Even for Oasis. Also, Noel seems to sing the majority of these - I didn't do any sort of record-keeping on it, but I feel like that was the case. I'm missing a few from the end of the band. Maybe I'll get them one day? And maybe one day I'll actually organise these better; maybe just label each period like Definitely Maybe B-Sides or something? Or I'll just forget all about it...
Highlights: Whatever, Step Out, Carry Us All, Full On, Eyeball Tickler

6/10

B-Sides & Rarities - Deftones

This is mostly covers and acoustic-reworkings of songs from White Pony. I mean... I listened to it?
Highlights: Sinatra
5/10

B-Sides & Rarities - Whiskeytown
My feelings towards this guy have not and will not change. This fake southern drawl makes him even more insufferable. If it were possible to give 0 stars to a song, I would give it to Busted. Now all that said... there might be a few gems in here. Lots of song titles about rain; I Hope it Rains, It's Gonna Rain, The Rain Won't Help You. And then one called Set Your Fires; how am I supposed to do that if there is all this rain?
Highlights: Silver Wings, Houses on the Hill, It's Gonna Rain

5.5/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 101

2025 in 2025: Day 5

Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned - The Prodigy
Wake up, LOGMAN! If I were a pro-wrestler, Spitfire would be an awesome entrance song. Oh snap, I forgot Juliette Lewis did vocals on this song - the whole 2 lines. This whole album is hard-hitting electronic punk badassery. Which is really what you should expect from The Prodigy. But there's just something about this album that feels extra cool. Maybe it's the use of rappers like Kool Keith and Twista? Otherwise, it's pretty well just a Liam Howlett solo album. He and Liam Gallagher must have been married to the All Saints sisters at the time, because that would have surely made it easier to get him and Noel to come help make Shoot Down one blast of awesome to end the album.
Highlights: Spitfire, Wake Up Call, Get Up Get Off, Action Radar, Shoot Down
8.5/10

ALXD - [Alexandros]
When the opening riff of ワトリドリ kicked in, I was like 'Oooh I know this song, but I am not sure what it is...' and then the band kicked and I was like 'Oh snap!' Awesome song, awesome way to open an album. I've generally been a bit harsh on the rest of this album, but I think it's more the next few songs after that are not so great, because the rest of the album is very good, too. Clearly I need to listen to this more.
Highlights: ワトリドリ, Dog 3, Coming Summer
7.5/10

AMARANTHUS - Momoiro Clover Z
Bahahahaha I'm hilarious. MCZ are fun. This is actually just two songs from the album, because spending that much on an MCZ album would be insane. The mix on WE ARE BORN is fantastic (and it's an awesome song I kind of want to listen to again right now). And ゴリラパンチ is just fun. There's a 'metal mix' that is kinda cool, but omits my fav part at 2:08. And is really unnecessary, because the intro & verses have plenty heavy guitars as it is. Shiizz, I ain't afraid of you mofos. 
9/10

Ambitions - ONE OK ROCK
The volume just went UP! Massive guitar riffs, stadium drums, spacious keyboards, and bah gawd Taka's voice. Dude was at his absolute peak on this album. And that's saying something, because I still maintain that dude has the best voice in rock even today. We Are is the biggest and bestest anthem on the planet. The live version has a guitar solo and I kinda wish that was on this version, too. Argh I want to listen to that now. Luckily this album just keeps kicking ass, so I won't turn it off right now. Sure, it falls off a little in the middle. And I could certainly live without Avril Lavigne appearing. But at least her vocals have been super processed so she actually sounds like someone that can sing. I need more ONE OK ROCK.
Highlights: Bombs Away, Taking Off, We Are, Start Again, Take What You Want
8/10

America's Greatest Hero - Joey Scarbury
This is simply the theme from The Greatest American Hero, Believe It or Not. One of the greatest TV show themes of all-time. I should watch the show again, but I think I've been saying that for about 20 years.
8/10

American Beauty/American Psycho - Fall Out Boy
Wait - this album is now 10 years old?!? Time and life are going too quickly. It starts off kinda... meh. But then it gets kinda... sad. And then gets really... dark. Well, for FOB, anyways. Wait; I just read the title track samples Too Fast For Love by Mötley Crüe. How have I not noticed that before? Because that's the worst song on the album? Why am I asking all these questions of a 10 year-old? The 2nd half of the album is awesome when I'm in the right mood. I like some dark and angry emo pop punk, and this album provides that quite nicely. In part.
Highlights: Novocaine, Fourth of July, Favorite Record
7/10

American Gangster - Jay-Z
Oh my, what a change of pace. After a morning of head-crushing beats, amped-up anthems and edgy emo energy, Jay-Z hits me with the more relaxed grooves while he recounts life doing illegal things against a backdrop of 70s soul music. We even get Marvin Gaye and Beastie Boys sampled to great effect. Do people really think Lil Wayne is good? I keep seeing stuff online about him being the greatest ever, but I'm yet to find a single verse he's dropped that is actually good. Luckily Jay-Z is fire 90% of the time. And the tracks Diddy wrote/produced here are all killer - probably some of his best work, IMO.
Highlights: No Hook, Roc Boys (And the Winner Is...), American Gangster
7/10

American Idiot - Green Day
The last good album by Green Day? Which was such a bizarre return to form after Nimrod and Warning. As a teenager of the 90s, I never thought I'd see the day when these guys did a 9-minute song. Let alone 2 of them on one album. And they are actually the best songs on the album. This is the second punk song called Novocaine I've heard today. Solid album.
Highlights: Jesus of Suburbia, Homecoming, Whatsername
7.5/10

American Pie - Various Artists
I was never a fan of the movie, but this soundtrack is the most 1999 collection of 1999 music. 3EB, blink-182, Sugar Ray and even New Zealand singer Bic Runga somehow lucked her way into this. Twice! You Wanted More by Tonic was a classic busking jam for me. Still holds up remarkably well!
Highlights: New Girl - Third Eye Blind, You Wanted More - Tonic
7/10

Americana - The Offspring
I never listen to this, because I am have an immediate distaste for it due to the cheesy singles - Pretty Fly (For a White) is kinda lame, and Why Don't You Get a Job? is so incredibly awful I've already deleted it from my iTunes (thank Prime for that! I probably didn't even import it - I hate it that much). But I am trying to give it a fair re-evaluation, because there are some very typically good Offspring songs on here. Then they go and drop that parody of Feelings in the middle of the album and I go back to hating this nonsense.
Highlights: The Kids Aren't Alright, Not having to listen to Why Don't You Get a Job?
5/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 45