Epinions Recent Reviews for the_musician

The Best Album of 2004

Wed, 8 Dec 2004 04:52:05 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - Probably the album that took the longest amount of time to ever be completed (34 years!), Brian Wilson presents SMiLE was worth the wait. For those who don't know, Brian Wilson was the main songwriter and creative genius behind The Beach Boys and...

It's Just Begun, Baby Blue...

Fri, 3 Dec 2004 17:54:40 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - It was in 1965 when Bob Dylan first laid foot upon pop culture's road less travelled. As he had sung before, the times were indeed a-changin', and the new eclecticism of youthful music listeners and musicians opened up many previously unavailable avenues...

Timelessly Purple

Sat, 6 Nov 2004 01:19:47 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - Consider the following, generation y: if you had been born 20 years earlier, chances are you would have considered Prince to be one of the – if not the – coolest pop culture icons in the history of film and music. Most teenagers nowadays react...

It May Not Come For Free, But It's Worth It

Sat, 6 Nov 2004 01:06:35 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - The main strength of the British garage/two-step act Mike Skinner aka the Streets is his ability to capture an entire youth culture in music. While 2002’s brilliant Original Pirate Material provided disconnected snapshots of British youth culture...

Problems with the Passion

Sat, 13 Mar 2004 15:21:36 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - Before I actually review Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ, I want to make sure that we all understand that this is a review of the movie, and not of Christ himself. Many people in the media have been using the film as a doorway to start theological...

Forgotten Folk...

Sun, 29 Feb 2004 23:13:12 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - Another side of Bob Dylan, his fourth career album and the second released in the musically and culturally influential year of 1964, is unfortunately a forgotten album. Viewing Dylan’s career in hindsight, the album is positioned between a rock and a...

Dylan Starts A-Swimmin'

Mon, 9 Feb 2004 16:43:41 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - Firstly, it must be said that The Times They Are A-Changin’ is in many ways a reactionary record. The 1963 release The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan was a major catalyst of the folk explosion, and the album’s ambition and influence was still growing at a...

Don't Think Twice, Get This Album

Sun, 1 Feb 2004 17:13:00 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - With the 1962 self-titled release, Bob Dylan established himself as a significant icon within folk circles around New York. The album introduced his unique style of singing and playing, as well as his reoccurring sense of social activism, awareness,...

The Plan Failed Miserably, In More Ways Than One

Sun, 18 Jan 2004 22:50:00 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - I'll keep this one nice and focused. Plan 9 is the worst movie ever made. This is not only held true by me, but also by the American Film Institute. Many people throw the term “worst *blank* ever” around with hyperbole, but Plan 9 is literally the...

The Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins

Sun, 11 Jan 2004 16:57:56 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - **This review is going to be the first of many Dylan reviews that I'll be doing over the next while. I’m planning to review all sixteen albums or so that I own, and I should be doing one every one or two weeks unless I get too swamped with my...

No Talent, Just Bad

Wed, 31 Dec 2003 18:21:43 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - I was in downtown Ottawa not too recently shopping through the used CD stores with some friends. I always try to take advantage of the used CD stores of different locations that I do not frequent because I find that my own local ones have been plundered...

Ammunition in the Class War

Fri, 13 Jun 2003 19:40:24 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - I've been trying to think of a good opening to this review, but I'm just speechless. How can I accur...

The Hamlet That Was 34 Years Old

Thu, 12 Dec 2002 19:16:39 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - There are very few superstar actors today who are actually worth the title of super. As we find ourselves in the days of Adam Sandler and Pauly Shore, you must wonder how people who are seemingly untalented (or at least are consistent with uninspired...

What's Behind That Hill

Sat, 7 Dec 2002 21:08:17 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician -

An ongoing tradition for me is going for a jog every Saturday morning. I leave at around the same time every day, I always take the same path, I always end up wearing the same scrappy clothes, and I listen to the same album as I run every day...

Hell, I'd Even Pay To See This Again

Wed, 21 Aug 2002 02:27:21 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician -

The summer movie season has been a summer less easy to forget than your usual summer movie season, at least for a critic like me. I usually never find the incentive to actually go see movies in the theater, because of all the obvious drawbacks...

The Neil Young Sampler

Tue, 20 Aug 2002 16:29:59 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician -

Neil Young must have been going through some sort of bizarre identity crisis back in the late eighties. Prior to the unusual 1989 release Freedom was the absolutely strange This Note's For You, which is a self proclaimed 'power swing' album where...

Everything Is 20/20 In Hindsight (If I Was A Music Exec. W/O Part Two)

Tue, 25 Jun 2002 18:41:41 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician -

Weezer's 1996 release Pinkerton was a disaster. At least that's the way it seemed when it first came out. The Blue Album painted them in a frame that no one in the media or public was eager to let them leave anytime soon, and when Weezer did...

Ruth Buzzi Better Watch Her Back

Sat, 23 Mar 2002 19:57:24 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician -

The most successful comedies of all time tend to be those which spend a lot of effort on making sure that everyone will enjoy them. Whether your eight or eighty, you'll enjoy about 20% of the jokes which make everyone happy and keep them that...

The Second Coming

Sat, 2 Mar 2002 18:25:47 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician -

Neil Young, who was always semi-famous for playing an essential role with both Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, and Nash, but he truly became a household name in 1971 when he released the solo album Harvest. The album which blended...

Dancing Days Are Here Again

Mon, 4 Feb 2002 21:54:10 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - Released in 1973, Houses of the Holy continued the Led Zeppelin winning streak to five albums in a row. Unfortunately, because it was released after the brilliant Zeppelin IV and before the transitional, unusual, and compelling Physical Graffiti, it is...

Bigger, Badder, And A Whole Lotta Love

Mon, 3 Dec 2001 21:41:02 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - With Led Zeppelin's popularity blossoming in America in late 1969, there was a large demand for another album to help calm the hysterical masses. Zeppelin II was therefore made with relatively no recording or production time because they were on the road...

Boo!

Mon, 12 Nov 2001 21:39:51 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician -

I rarely go to see movies in theaters anymore because I feel that nine bucks (not including food) is way too much for a couple of hours of entertainment that, if I wait two months, I can see in the luxury of my own house. Call me a cheapskate if...

Hitting A Hole In One On Your Very First Shot

Sat, 3 Nov 2001 17:12:39 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician - Along with my personal discovery of classic rock about two years ago, I came upon Led Zeppelin and I wasn't quite sure who or what they were. Sure, I'd heard the name before (who hasn't?) and I knew of songs like "Stairway To Heaven", but I couldn't say...

The Who's Other Rock Opera

Fri, 19 Oct 2001 19:24:56 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician -

Tommy was the sole album that gave the Who superstar success and allowed them to break away from pop culture expectations. Sure, they were popular with the likes of "My Generation" and "The Kids Are Alright", but Tommy proved to the world that the...

The Last Great Gangsta Rap Album

Wed, 10 Oct 2001 21:12:52 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author the_musician -

With the release of "Life After Death" in 1997, Christopher Wallace aka the Notorious BIG destroyed all ideas that suggested he was just another one-album-hit-wonder. In the past (the nineties especially), unknown rappers would come out with...