2025 in 2025: Day 54

Devil's Playground - Billy Idol

Billy and Steve are back together making fun hard rock again! Man, Billy's voice on this is cranking! Did he just admit he drinks and drives all the time? The innuendoes in Yellin' at the Xmas Tree are quite funny. 

Highlights: Super Overdrive, Rat Race, Yellin' at the Xmas Tree, Cherie, Summer Running

7/10

Diamond Hoo Ha - Supergrass

This is one of those albums that gets going and a few tracks in you are thinking to yourself 'hotdamn this is a great album!' and then the rest of it is just okay and not nearly as awesome as it started. Supergrass were awesome, but this was not their most consistent album. The highlights, though, are seriously fab.

Highlights: Rebel In You, Diamond Hoo Ha Man, Bad Blood, 345, Butterfly

7/10

Diamonds and Pearls - Prince & The New Power Generation

Prince does New Jack - like MJ did! And just like MJ before him, Prince kills it. He also delivers some not so awesome songs, as well. Whenever I hear a song like Cream, I find it so confounding that I hated it so much when I was young. That song is pop-funk perfection. 

Highlights: Diamonds and Pearls, Cream, Jughead, Gett Off, Live 4 Love

8/10

Diamonds and Pearls (Super Deluxe Edition) - Prince

Prince opens the album admitting to date rape? Then he moves on to (hilarious) fat-shaming. Prince is going to get cancelled if he isn't careful. While there are some uncovered gems to be found here, a lot of these feel quite unfinished; we get a few songs that ended up being further refined and recorded for the album, some demos or songs that get demoed again later in the set, and also some random extended versions. I'm not overly complaining, because I will always take a big collection of Prince very happily. It's just that after how awesome the Sign O' The Times Super Deluxe Edition was, this first disc of Vault Tracks kind of felt like a step down. But then discs II & III are mostly great and full of Prince being Prince; there's a big extended funky jam, gorgeous ballads, and preachy songs about God's love. Can we get another Super Deluxe Edition of a Prince album in my lifetime, please?

Highlights: Diamonds and Pearls (Long Version), Something Funky (This House Comes), The Voice, The Last Dance (Bang Pow Zoom and the Whole Nine)

7/10

Diamonds and Pearls: Promo Mixes and B-Sides - Prince & The New Power Generation

Horny Pony sounds like Prince was having a big ol' barrel of fun. And I actually dig these dance remixes, as well. I genuinely do not get all the hate for Tony M's rapping - I think the dude was solid.

Highlights: Horny Pony, Do Your Dance, Diamonds and Pearls (Edit), Gett Off (Damn Near 10 Minutes)

8/10

It was a very diamond day!

"Albums" listened to so far: 418

2025 in 2025: Day 13

B-Sides & Rarities CD 8 - The Cure
How fitting the 13th day begins with The Cure. And a messed up collection; I found online some 10 disc collection of b-sides and rarities and Robert Smith collaborations, but when I looked through it all, I really only needed the last few discs. And even then, not all of it. AND THEN my plan was to listen through the songs a few times and decide what to keep - then organise it into a proper single album. Yet, here we are! One of the main reasons I grabbed these is for the vinyl-only tracks for the self-titled album (I do have the album on vinyl, so I don't feel like too much of a jerk downloading them - not my fault The Cure didn't find a way for me to listen to these at work). The dance collabs are kinda fun, too. 

Highlights: Truth Goodness and Beauty, Love

6.5/10

B-Sides & Rarities CD 9 - The Cure

The next disc features all the singles and remixes from the 4:13 Dream album. Outside of the b-sides, I don't think these are necessary in life. I sure as hell don't ever need to hear Jared Leto insert himself into a Cure song.

Highlights: Not In Love, Without You

5/10

B-Sides & Rarities CD 10 - The Cure

And the final CD is more collaborations and a couple of cover songs. Which makes sense, considering The Cure released NOTHING in the last 15 years - until finally dropping a new album at the end of last year. There is a weird re-recording of Taking Off called The Dragon Hunter's Song, which is just the same song with new lyrics about Dungeons and Dragons or something. The McCartney covers are kind of fun, admittedly.

Highlights: Hello Goodbye, J'aurai Tout Essaye

6/10

B-Sides: 1990-2000 - Pearl Jam

I'm not sure if I labelled this thinking I would continue collecting their work, or if I was pointedly drawing a line in the sand for where I stopped having an interest in Pearl Jam. Hilariously, I've never done anything with the track-numbering, so everything is just per being ripped from the original CD singles - which means everything is just in a jumble. Which is probably a good way to listen to this? The fun thing here is I can't even remember the last time I listened to some of these songs - I had even forgot Alone existed! Totally rocked out when that opening riff kicked in. I also forgot how awesome a song Oceans is - I mean, according my iTunes, I have never listened to it before, right? This version with the added drums is equally awesome. Funny story time: about 24 years-ago, I saw that douche-burger Eddie Vedder in concert and he fucked up Soon Forget, and then blamed it on me for clapping (called me "fucking annoying"). He's right - I am! But also, he fucks this song up live all the time and this version they released is the gawddam proof! Yellow Ledbetter is not as great as I remember - the guitaring in it, however, is. 

Highlights: I Got ID, Alone, Oceans [Remix], Yellow Ledbetter

6/10

BABY ACTION - SCANDAL

Early SCANDAL is fun, but so different to what they do now; a bit more idol nonsense mixed with happy pop-punk. It's mostly fun. Nothing Earth-shattering and nothing terrible.

Highlights: Pride, アップルたちの伝言, 東京スカイスクレイパー
6.5/10

Back From Hell - Run-DMC

This was one of those albums that took a while to grow on me. I can't really pin down why. But what's important is that I did come around. And boy have I! This album is a massive departure from anything they had done before; more of the New Jack Swing thing going on, more Jam Master Jay on the mic, and a LOT more aggression. Lyrically, they are taking no prisoners here. But there are also some seriously kickin' jams; Faces and Pause are just New Jack Swing in full effect. Sure there's some really odd stuff on here like P Upon a Tree, and the thug stuff gets a bit old - and its crazy considering Pause is like an anti-gangster anthem, and this may not be that real 'classic' Run-DMC. but when I am in the right mood, this album is 100% my jam.

Highlights: What's It All About, Pause, Word is Born, Not Just Another Groove

7.5/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 107