Epinions Recent Reviews for sandford

Standout songs from HNIA's creative peak

Wed, 12 Mar 2003 18:18:27 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - Warren (now "Warn") Defever, the genre-melding maestro behind Livonia, Mich., odd-rockers His Name is Alive, is so obsessed with transforming his band's style with each new album that recordings made just three years apart sound like they came from...

Well, at least we'll always have "Bewilderbeast"

Thu, 27 Feb 2003 16:05:36 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - After releasing several lo-fi, darkly fascinating EPs in the late 1990s, Badly Drawn Boy did something few other artists have been able to do: He thrust upon curious listeners an album so richly textured, catchy, packed with ideas and sounds and...

More of a tomb than a ballpark

Mon, 18 Mar 2002 19:18:46 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - When Baltimore's Camden Yards opened in 1991, it ushered in a new era of beautiful major-league ballparks that mix classical designs with ultra-modern amenities. After Baltimore's crown jewel dazzled the baseball world, similarly stunning parks opened...

A halfway-decent pop album

Tue, 8 Jan 2002 13:59:41 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - 10,000 Maniacs’ formula for pop success in the late ’80s and early ’90s was Natalie Merchant’s velvety voice and politically charged lyrics, as well as great songwriting by late guitarist Rob Buck, keyboardist Dennis Drew and Merchant.

But...

Work conditions, not meat, are true horror

Tue, 8 Jan 2002 13:56:02 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - Although “The Jungle” is most famous for its horrifying revelations about the meat-packing industry in early 1900s Chicago – the book prompted a horrified U.S. government to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act soon after its publication – shocking readers...

Anti-rock? Who cares? It's outstanding.

Fri, 4 Jan 2002 11:12:34 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - After hailing Radiohead’s 1997 opus “OK Computer” as perhaps the best rock album ever, many fans were eager for more of the layered production, dramatic mood shifts, hummable melodies, sleighbells and compelling lyrics that lifted that album far above...

Poor production mars good songs

Mon, 17 Dec 2001 11:35:10 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - Many of rock’s greatest songwriters had humble beginnings.

Rock’s best songwriting duo was turning out instant-gratification smilepop such as “Help!” and “Can’t Buy me Love” before the likes of “Norwegian Wood” and “She’s Leaving Home” were...

Pink Floyd lacked identity, consistency

Mon, 17 Dec 2001 11:28:30 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - Although “Atom Heart Mother” treads lightly on ground Pink Floyd would saturate just a few years later, it’s as schizophrenic as the band’s then-recently booted leader, acid-fried Syd Barrett. The album’s bookends, a long, epic instrumental written...

B-sides better than most of Amnesiac

Mon, 17 Dec 2001 11:24:11 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - One might assume that the B-sides off a B-sides album wouldn’t be worth the disc they’re burned to, but as usual, Radiohead’s music has defied convention.

In fact, “Knives Out” single B-sides “Worry Wort” and “Fog” are better than several...

Not up to Spiritualized standards

Mon, 17 Dec 2001 11:11:27 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - When Spiritualized mastermind Jason “J. Spaceman” Pierce fired his band between his 1997 and 2001 releases, it made music-biz headlines but raised few eyebrows. After all, Pierce, quiet and sensitive but never a candidate to win an English...

The best thing going in Athens, Ga.

Sat, 15 Dec 2001 19:39:57 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - “A Celebratory Arm Gesture” may well describe Zachary Gresham’s fist pump upon hearing a rough mix of these songs and realizing he’d easily trumped 2000’s excellent debut album “Voice Brother and Sister.”

Summer Hymns is the latest in a line...

Best indie album ever? Could be.

Fri, 14 Dec 2001 13:41:41 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - "Made in Canada" are the only words you’ll find on the case containing one of the best indie rock albums ever recorded. Too bad, as “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” should carry a warning: “Play this disc at least twice before making any judgments.” I...

"Surf's Up" started the band's slow decline

Sat, 11 Aug 2001 18:58:51 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - “Surf's Up” marked the beginning of three unfortunate trends that would haunt The Beach Boys for the rest of their album-making careers: 1.) Brian Wilson’s lack of involvement, 2.) sporadic production by Dennis Wilson, and 3.) the band’s subsequent need...

'Please recycle' doesn't mean do this

Fri, 10 Aug 2001 17:58:54 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - After releasing the wilting "Tone Soul Evolution" in 1997, The Apples in stereo lit a stick of dynamite with 1999's spotty-but-satisfying "Her Wallpaper Reverie." The fuse flared into in-your-face power pop on 2000's "The Discovery of a World Inside the...

Once again, R.E.M. scores with great B-sides

Sun, 15 Jul 2001 20:33:50 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - During their creative explosion of the early 1990s, R.E.M. got into the habit of putting outstanding B-sides on their singles. In fact, import box sets exist of the singles released for both “Out of Time” and “Automatic for the People,” the latter of...

Hindsight is 20-20, and this album deserved more respect

Sun, 15 Jul 2001 13:12:30 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - "It’s automatic when I talk with old friends that conversations turn to girls we knew when their hair was soft and long and the beach was the place to go …"

So sings Mike Love in The Beach Boys’ 1969 hit “Do it Again,” a mid-tempo...

"Mmmm Mmmm" good, but could be better

Sun, 15 Jul 2001 08:40:08 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - Crash Test Dummies burst onto the lite-alternative scene in early 1994 on the strength of their hit “Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm,” a catchy and lyrically droll song derided by some critics for its silly story line and simple chorus, which consisted of the title...

God Only Knows how Brian does this

Wed, 4 Jul 2001 16:23:52 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - “There he is!” an audience member jubilantly shouts amid whoops and cheers as Brian Wilson takes the stage.

Then a tape rolls of a 22- or 23-year-old Brian instructing session musicians way back in the early 1960s on how to play “The...

More "Debut" material? Keep it coming.

Wed, 4 Jul 2001 01:50:20 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - "Big Time Sensuality" is perhaps the most danceable track from Bjork's outstanding, early 90s debut solo album, "Debut." The song features a driving beat, good percussion and vocal eminations from Bjork ranging from grunts to growls to statements such as...

Merchant, Stipe and a classic song: Oh my!

Mon, 2 Jul 2001 22:17:24 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - It’s ironic that the weakest song released as a single from “Our Time in Eden” has the strongest B-sides (though the limited-release “These Are Days” three-song single is a close second). “Few and Far Between” sounds at first like a late-1980s Phil...

Single includes acoustic, bluegrass and nostalgia

Mon, 2 Jul 2001 21:52:57 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - “You Happy Puppet” is one of the stronger songs from “Blind Man’s Zoo,” which isn’t saying much considering the 1989 disappointing follow up to the superb “In My Tribe” was average at best.

“Gun Shy,” an “In My Tribe” song, is nearly acoustic...

Better than most of “Blind Man’s Zoo”

Mon, 2 Jul 2001 21:23:53 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - “Candy Everybody Wants” was the biggest hit single off 1992’s outstanding “Our Time in Eden” and deserves B-sides this good. In past reviews I have criticized some artists for releasing weak material as B-sides; the Maniacs deserve a heap of praise for...

Play this and ask friends to guess who it is

Mon, 2 Jul 2001 19:46:23 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - Evolution. It’s a scary thing. When The Beach Boys went from the light, easy sounds and lyrics of “The Beach Boys Today!” and “Summer Days (and Summer Nights!)” to the darker, much more complex sonic masterpiece known as “Pet Sounds,” the public wasn’t...

Ladybug Transistor and heavy guitars? What?

Sat, 30 Jun 2001 03:17:00 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - Bandleader Gary Olson's backing band on this CD is almost entirely different from what now comprises The Ladybug Transistor, and he wasn't sure where he was going as a songwriter back in 1995, when he assembled this album at his Brooklyn, N.Y.-based home...

Great potatoes; now where's the beef?

Sat, 30 Jun 2001 01:40:56 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author sandford - What a difference pianos, flutes, horns, violins, double-tracked, boy-girl vocals and various other often-ignored pop gadgets can make.

Without them, "The Albermarle Sound" would be a throwaway album. With them, it's lush, calming and worthy...