theklein25 reviews albums

[citizenerased]

Ha thanks for doing those klein.

FORTRESS is special

[theklein25]

The Rembrandts - The Rembrandts
Before there was Matchbox Twenty there was The Rembrandts. They quickly get down to business with their debut record by putting their best song Just the Way It Is. as the first song. It's got eveything I want in a pop song. Good drum beat that keeps it steady. A smooth guitar rhythm, and vocals that can hit the low to high notes to express how the singer is feelings. Having backup vocals that hit the high notes is a bonus. The first time you hear it you just kind of shrug it off. The second time and then the third time for sure this song becomes incredibly catchy. This definitely goes into my collection of pop rock love jams. Save Me is not bad. I like the repetitiveness of "save me" and the guitar could not be done any better to go along with this song. Show Me Your Love has great acoustics and singing. The song reminds me of a romantic comedy that has a scene in the great outdoors. It has a good old country feel to it with an alright chorus. I feel the emotion sort of. Then like a lot of pop rock albums the flame ends and the songs quickly start to go downhill. Burning Timber had some great guitar in it. If you look at pop rock in 1990 when this album album came out, and into the 2000s very little has seemed to change.

My rating: 6.5

BONUS:
The Rembrandts - I'll Be There For You (single)
The song just opens with such a powerful riff. The bass than makes a thud, there's some clapping, and then the drum build up and fall down sets up such a catchy chorus. The Rembrandts are killing it on the vocals, the 2 voices in this song make it so great. I really like the drumming throughout and the guitar solo that gets thrown in. More importantly the lines "I'll be there for you" are some of the most memorable words in a song and incredibly catchy. Just the way the song goes makes it identifiable in less than 2 seconds. It honestly does make one of the best themes for a show. Good job Friends.

My rating: 8.5

[rasooli]

Attack The Block Soundtrack
Dexter Gordon - Our Man in Paris

[Highly Refined Pirate]

[xanman86]

I made sure to get this since it was your favorite song of the year.

[jgafs]

The Strokes - Room on Fire
Room on Fire has a lot to live up to. No Strokes fan wants Is This It to be the only it. Their second album is less raw, but The Strokes take it a step further with all the guitars. What Ever Happened is one of the theme songs of my life. The guitar riffs are really special, while the track keeps thst raw indie flavor with Julian Casablancas just flat out doing what he does best and that' singing in his tone where you can't tell if he's upset or just a little drunk. That songs ends and then we get this thunderous bass that starts off Reptilia. Nick Valensi's work on the guitar is some his best stuff yet, while Albert Hammond, Jr provides the essentials to make it a signature Strokes song . The rhythm of it makes you move around, while Julian sings some great lyrics that are about chaos, and when he yells "Please don't slow me down", I love how the tempo picks in such a perfect manner. One of my favorite parts is when the guitar is the only thing going until it's joined by the bass and it all leads into the chorus . There's a reason this song made it on Guitar Hero. More good shit in Autmatic Stop with great lead and rhythm guitar throughout. 12:51 is easily my favorite off this album. My Friday night is often lonely. The guitar is so surf rock pop like. The singing is fun and the tone of it all makes it appropriate for all bitches. I love You Talk Way Too Much too. This song always goes off in my head when someone just says more than they should. The drum beats and strumming that set up the chorus is just too good. Then the lead guitar playing some high notes back into the second half which leads to some yelling by Casablancas is all too great. Not a huge fan of what comes after, the song Under Control is pretty boring, but at least The Way It Is has a lot of anger in it. I Can't Win sometimes feels like another outcome that affects my life. The guitar and bass are back on the level of what made the start to this album basically flawless. The main parts of this song are all so smooth and the transition throughout is great. Room on Fire doesn't disappoint me one bit. I don't want The Strokes to be predictable and keep a consistent sound, and I honestly believe that by staying outside the comfort zone they put out some amazing work

My rating: 8.25

Awesome. I agree that this album had the unenviable task of following up Is This It, but it did so admirably. It was an enjoyably different and solid record.

I still remember buying it the day it came out...It was Halloween weekend 2003 in NYC, and every hipster house party in Williamsburg was blasting it. Reminds me so much of my exciting salad days, way before skinny jeans and ray bans.

[theklein25]

awesome video. how was the show?

yeah man strokes r 1 of my favs. hoping their next album beats angles

[RotationSlimWang]

A Phil Spector Christmas.

[theklein25]

Sometimes I see myself as the real life Patrick Bateman only I don't have the balls to kill anyone

[RotationSlimWang]

A PHIL SPECTOR CHRISTMAS.

[bmack86]

A classic.

[SoulDischarge]

Luke - Christmas At Luke's Sex Shop

[xanman86]

awesome video. how was the show?

They were great! I made sure to be pretty close this time because I was really far back when I saw them last (Coachella 2009) and it was well worth it.

[Baby Sandwich]

A PHIL SPECTOR CHRISTMAS.

I think it's called "A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector"

[theklein25]

Snow: 12 Inches of Snow
The debut album gets off to a nice little start. Champion Sound is a pretty cool song. Drunken Styles is pretty terrible. The beat is very minimal. Snow will do his reggae thing but for some reason his voice is a little more rough, throws some, "boom boom booms" in there and makes some annoying squeals. Girl, I've Been Hurt is a lot smoother. Maybe the songs will finally get better. Informer starts off all thug. You got the horns and the low riders are rolling in. I picture Snow rapping next to some fine bitches with a car on each side bouncing up and down. Then there's the camera closing in and out of Snow. Every word sounds exactly the same, and it's nearly impossible to understand what he's saying. But he says "I lick you bum bum now" a lot, maybe that's an ass reference. He has a friend rap with him too. Not sure if that was a guy, a girl, or a 12 year old. The beat has 90's hip hop all over it. They don't, they actually get worse. This album is flat out boring, and alternation of the same 2 songs over and over. Snow relies on the same rhythm throughout. There's a reason no one talks about him because he's terrible and boring. Does Canada even like him? Artists like him remind me just how better 311 is.

My rating: 3.5

[Mugwog]

Snow: 12 Inches of Snow
The debut album gets off to a nice little start. Champion Sound is a pretty cool song. Drunken Styles is pretty terrible. The beat is very minimal. Snow will do his reggae thing but for some reason his voice is a little more rough, throws some, "boom boom booms" in there and makes some annoying squeals. Girl, I've Been Hurt is a lot smoother. Maybe the songs will finally get better. They don't, they actually get worse. This album is flat out boring, and alternation of the same 2 songs over and over. Snow relies on the same rhythm throughout. There's a reason no one talks about him because he's terrible and boring. Does Canada even like him? Artists like him remind me just how better 311 is.

My rating: 3.5

WAIT WAIT - YOU NEED TO REVIEW INFORMER IN DEPTH

[Boourns]

[Mugwog]

^ See there is significance to Snow, James Carrey performed a video inspired by him!

[theklein25]

Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
Before there was Fallout Boy, there was Jimmy Eat World. The difference is Jimmy Eat World holds a legacy that I don't see in a lot of other emo bands. Clarity is often overlooked because the band really took off at the start of the 21st Century, but Clarity is one of their best. Lucky Denver Mint is one of the early tracks to really get things going. The drums, guitar, and bass are all really electrifying, while Jim's vocals are so soft and calm. The rhythm from the bass is spectacular throughout and they really know how to time the energy swings. Believe in What You Want is the emo shoutout to classic rock. The guitar riffs throughout are truly special, and the vocals are amazing. It's one of the perfect rock songs out there to just break stuff to. Crush is one of the most explosive songs on this album, and shows off this bands ability to rock out and go all out. Just Watch the Fireworks is the softer side of Jimmy Eat World. The guitar is kind of like on a U2 Joshua Tree level, while the heart of the song is just a beautiful thing to listen to. The violin adds that enchantment feeling. Clarity is another one of the big rock out songs on this album. The bass really builds it up, while the guitar just goes through all these different dynamics, and they really make this song fun. Goodbye Sky Harbor is one really long song that never gets old. Your New Aesthetic is a song they still play often to this day. I think it's because the powerful guitar riffs are really enjoyed a lot by the fans, while Jim's voice has somewhat an angry tone to it, and the outro is just a full on jam session. You may not believe Jimmy Eat World could put out an album that could be looked back at in 20 years as "classic rock" but in reality this album successfully combined calm pop rock that is so soothing, and emo pop punk that makes you want to jam onto one record. No song sounds similar to another because the way they arranged the instruments makes this album so diverse.

My rating: 8.5

[xuclarockerx]

I LICK YOUR BUM BUM NOW

[theklein25]

WAIT WAIT - YOU NEED TO REVIEW INFORMER IN DEPTH

Updated my review to include informer, that review was pretty half ass in the first place.

[theklein25]

alright this was pretty hilarious

[Ray del Mundo]

Snow: 12 Inches of Snow
The debut album gets off to a nice little start. Champion Sound is a pretty cool song. Drunken Styles is pretty terrible. The beat is very minimal. Snow will do his reggae thing but for some reason his voice is a little more rough, throws some, "boom boom booms" in there and makes some annoying squeals. Girl, I've Been Hurt is a lot smoother. Maybe the songs will finally get better. Informer starts off all thug. You got the horns and the low riders are rolling in. I picture Snow rapping next to some fine bitches with a car on each side bouncing up and down. Then there's the camera closing in and out of Snow. Every word sounds exactly the same, and it's nearly impossible to understand what he's saying. But he says "I lick you bum bum now" a lot, maybe that's an ass reference. He has a friend rap with him too. Not sure if that was a guy, a girl, or a 12 year old. The beat has 90's hip hop all over it. They don't, they actually get worse. This album is flat out boring, and alternation of the same 2 songs over and over. Snow relies on the same rhythm throughout. There's a reason no one talks about him because he's terrible and boring. Does Canada even like him? Artists like him remind me just how better 311 is.

My rating: 3.5

No shout out to "Lady with the Red Dress On," "Hey Pretty Love," or "Lonely Monday Morning"?? So . . . disappointing.

[theklein25]

John Fahey - Of Rivers and Religion
The opening track Steamboat Gwine 'Round de Bend is a nice folk guitar song. The high notes are like life out on the farm. It sounds pretty simple but who knows. It transitions perfectly into Deep River which is composed of lower notes. Something about it has more emotional sounds to it. It kind of reminds me of the Civil War days. Dixie Pig Bar-B-Q Blues really goes above and beyond with the music. One guitar make it feel like we're going out for a nice little boat ride, while the banjo makes it feel like a horse ride. It's like an Italian mafia song. There's nice horns in Texas and Pacific Blues, while the guitar and banjo do it again. The guitar moves so fast in Funeral Song. It's the first song where it truly feels like he's going all out. He's probably hitting 5 different notes a second. I enjoy this song the most. Fahey is definitely a skilled guitar player.

My rating: 8

[theklein25]

Bill Orcutt - How the Thing Sings
I can truly say I've never heard anything like Bill Orcutt. How the Thing Sings starts off pretty chill and mysterious. Soon it honestly sounds like someone is tangled up in a bunch of guitar strings. At this point I honestly think he's improvising. The 3 minute mark is when things start to get very quiet. From there it's just all suspense. Visible Blosom has a unique arrangement to begin. The fingers are moving fast. He is making all kinds of different sounds, while retaining that heavy loose string feeling. He goes pretty crazy towards the end. Making a lot of pauses and then going hard for a few seconds. I think Till I Get Satisfied is about the same description I'd give Visible Blosom. Someone should teach this guy how to tune his guitar. Everything is sort of like the set up to A Line From Ol'Man River. Take everything you heard in the first 6 songs and now apply it to this finale. What's up with the occasional moaning. Strange but at least interesting record.

My rating: 6

[IceyHotshot]

lolol someone should teach him how to tune his guitar indeed

[theklein25]

Melissa Etheridge - Yes I Am
Yes I Am is more than just an album, it's a statement. I'm the Only One is just Etheridge belting out words. Her voice may be raspy, but she really hits those high notes, while the guitar adds a bluesy old school rock and roll feeling. If I Wanted To follows up with an energetic verse. The buildup in this song is nice and I dig the enthusiasm. Come to My Window starts off a lot calmer. A great use of acoustic guitar, and then second half gets electric and a lot more energetic. Etheridge shows off her voice once more. Silent Legacy was pretty cool. Awesome guitar work and drums and energy. Some of the best instrumentals I heard on this album. The solo is awesome, while the drums are smashing it up. All American Girl is where I realize she sounds kind of like the female version of Bruce Springstein at times. The song is very fast paced with huge guitar solo that was indeed baller. Yes I Am is solid, and I really like Talking to My Angel and how it ends the album on such a soft calm manner. I don't want to go too deep into her thoughts and emotions, but you could connect some of this stuff to her coming out and pre-struggles.

My rating: 7.5

[theklein25]

Huey Lewis and The News - Fore!
One of my favorite vocalists out there. Jacob's Ladder is such an explosive opener. The rumble by the bass and te drums sound so 80's but it's great. The piano and chorus are magical. I just want to pump my fist everytime Lewis sings, Higher and higher." The guitar solo thrown in here is just a bonus to an alrighty catchy tune. Stuck With You has a good ratio of background vocals to lead vocals. The keyboard solo is one of the best parts of this song. Everything else is a little corny. Whole Lotta Lovin would be a good song to chase someone with an axe to. I can feel the 50's vibe that I cannot help but dance to. The guitar is so good, and that harmonica solo is about as exciting as a Christopher Nolan Batman movie trailer. The horns in Doing It All for My Baby blow me away. That guitar solo to go along with the horns is a classic moment right there. Are David Lee Roth and Huey Lewis the same person, I bet they could switch roles. I know I like the funky vibe to start off I Know What I Like. This is one of those rock songs that can get stuck in your head so easily. The way Lewis sings this song is just too good. The guitar lines to start off Forest for the Trees just reminds me something that good old band Boston would do. This song is slowly escalating into just another singalong and you can sense it coming. One of my favorite Johnny Colla shines tracks. Hip to Be Square is by far the most unique song on this album. The keyboard is pretty crazy, while the saxophone and trumpet just go off. Apparently they got Joe Montanna to appear in this music video so mad props. Lewis makes a statement to all in that song to just be yourself. This is my favorite album of theirs by far. It just seems the most diverse and every song has me hooked.

My rating: 8.25

[bmack86]

John Fahey - Of Rivers and Religion
The opening track Steamboat Gwine 'Round de Bend is a nice folk guitar song. The high notes are like life out on the farm. It sounds pretty simple but who knows. It transitions perfectly into Deep River which is composed of lower notes. Something about it has more emotional sounds to it. It kind of reminds me of the Civil War days. Dixie Pig Bar-B-Q Blues really goes above and beyond with the music. One guitar make it feel like we're going out for a nice little boat ride, while the banjo makes it feel like a horse ride. It's like an Italian mafia song. There's nice horns in Texas and Pacific Blues, while the guitar and banjo do it again. The guitar moves so fast in Funeral Song. It's the first song where it truly feels like he's going all out. He's probably hitting 5 different notes a second. I enjoy this song the most. Fahey is definitely a skilled guitar player.

My rating: 8

Interesting. I've not heard this album yet. Glad it was good, but I'd still be interested in seeing your review for the one I asked for, John Fahey and his Orchestra - Old Time Love

[Spooks]

Klein, I can't wait for you to review new Blink EP which will be coming out next week!

Blink-182's Dogs Eating Dogs
Track Listing:
1) When I Was Young
2) Dogs Eating Dogs
3) Disaster
4) Boxing Day
5) Pretty Little Girl