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Site DiaryMay 25, 2007New Reviews: Alice Cooper: Billion Dollar Babies (1973) (9.4)
Alright, I'm basically caught up with the updates finally except for the three reviews I wrote yesterday and today. I had an e-mail today from someone wondering what's the deal with my rating system, but his return e-mail address was bouncing back my response. I will point this person to the rating explanation page that you can access on top of the main page. I've been thinking about doing a complete overhaul of these reviews and converting the scores to a 15-point rating. This would mean the scores won't be so mathematically derived. The track reviews would still remain the same except those scores would be converted to an A-F rating... The album and artist ratings wouldn't exist anymore... The problem with doing that is I have so many reviews that I'm going to have to be pretty dedicated about it and not give up halfway through or nothing will make sense. But I'm still considering it since my rating system seems stupid to some people. --M.L. May 24, 2007New Reviews: Tyrannosaurus Rex: My People Were Fair... (1968) (8.8)
Rewrite: The Kinks: The Village Green Preservation Society (1968) (9.6) n/c I still have more to update, but this'll have to do for now. I don't want to spoil my energy for the Gary Numan review I must write tonight for fear that I'll never write it at all. (I'm going to pump myself up, baby!!!) Thanks everybody for visiting this site. My schedule tomorrow is crystal clear so maybe there will be an update tomorrow. --M.L. May 21, 2007New Reviews: Crosby, Stills and Nash: Crosby, Stills and Nash (1969) (8.5)
OK, here are the first CSN and related reviews. I did major touch ups on the Deja Vu and CSN reviews just today... So, I think that's enough of an update for now. You all don't want these reviews all added in huge clumps anyway, do you??? So, I have an interview on Thursday for a part-time job, so please wish me luck!!! --M.L. May 20, 2007New Reviews: Can: Delay 1968 (1981) (8.5)
Rewrites: The Byrds: Fifth Dimension (1966) (9.3) +.3
Hi! I did a lot of reviewing this weekend, and this is only a small sample of it --- I actually finished a review of Yes' triple live album Yessongs, which I'll probably spend the next few days recovering from. I am updating my "playlist status" on my message board, so check it out if you're interested. Um... OK, I'll see you again soon, hopefully! May 17, 2007New Reviews: The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds (1966) (10)
Rewrites: Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan (1962) (7.9) +.7
I decided to be nicer to Madonna for once... Am I losing my style? Mh!!! I taught two class sessions --- my first time ever --- on Monday and Tuesday, and I didn't do much reviewing the weekend previously until now. Well, teaching was an interesting experience. I think it went very successfully though I'm not too good at getting control of the classroom! (I think I'm a slow learner there.) Also last weekend, I was watching The Angry Video Game Nerd on YouTube, and like a former alcoholic, that got me back in the mood for playing those old school video games. I played Super Mario 2 (with an emulator that lets me save it wherever I want to --- so I'm cheating) ..... I know that's a monumental waste of time, but --- that's difficult to shake off. That's such a nostalgic game for me --- when I was eight or so, I saved my allowance FOREVER to get that thing. My parents only gave me $1 a month, so it took quite awhile to save $22. (I still remember the price!!! I also remember getting angry that I had to pay tax, which was a whole extra month of saving.) I'm going to re-write a Byrds review now ...... No, you will not tempt me, Mario!!!!! By the way, I am probably going to start three new pages soon: T.Rex, Can and Blue Nile. I put it past the committee, and it's looking good. --M.L. May 8, 2007New Reviews: ZZ Top: Tres Hombres (1973) (8.6)
Rewrites: Brian Eno: Another Green World (1975) (9.2) -.2
OK, for the rewrites, I've added the changes in score beside the update---if anyone's actually interested. n/c just means 'no change.' I'm happy that my cold is mostly over. It didn't really amount to anything. It's a girly cold. I helped supervise a field trip last week to a park, and I did it again today (with a different group of kids). Last week, it was as though someone let the dogs out, but these kids today were quite civilized. I seem to have missed out on having 666 reviews (my next update is likely to have more than one new review). It's silly to do that on purpose! --M.L. May 7, 2007New Reviews: Yes: Close to the Edge (1972) (8.9)
Not the update I was planning! But maybe it's best that I update this gradually instead of in big clumps. I finally got around to reviewing Pet Sounds today. You'll probably see it here sometime this week. I could not write even somewhat decent track reviews on those, and I'm not even going to try to make better ones. It's easy to see why Brian Wilson had a mental breakdown... So this cold seems to be a persistently half-hearted buggar. It's no better now than it was yesterday. All day today I was in a really strange mood... Like I was in a daze. Last night, I slept all the way through without waking up, which I probably only do once a year. I had a vivid semi-lucid dream... It was really weird... Well you're not interested in any of that. See ya! --M.L. May 6, 2007New Reviews: Rush: Permanent Waves (1980) (8.8)
I had more albums for an update (that I was planning for tomorrow actually). But then I thought --- if I have a brand new album to add, why not do it right away so that, for one brief moment, this Web site could be relevant? So I did it. It seems like every time I tell somebody that I don't get sick very often, I get sick the following day. This happened three times in recent history. And I've only gotten sick four times since 2003 (two mild cases, two severe cases). On Friday, I was just telling someone about my lucky immune system. Saturday evening, my throat started getting scratchy. Either this is proof that God exists and he's telling me not to be so prideful, or those freaking New Age nutzos are right, and I'm making myself sick because I'm thinking about it. Actually that conversation rose out of the fact that everyone in my family was sick, and I had yet to catch it. ... Hello! I'm last but not least!! (But those two previous occasions were just weird --- nobody was sick.) Anyway, it's still just a mild scratchiness. I am *hoping* that it doesn't get any worse than that. It's been very consistent all day. Anyway, that gave me reason to just sit on my ass all day with a blanket listening and writing music reviews. Not that I wouldn't have done that anyway, but .... um ...... maybe I wouldn't have....... I have a rather large update. As long as I'm feeling OK, I'm guessing it'll be tomorrow. I'm also contemplating starting some new pages. For a weird reason I'm getting interested in early Neil Young music ........... --M.L. May 4, 2007New Reviews: Alice Cooper: Killer (1971) (9.7)
Good update, but no rewrites! I went through these reviews pretty quickly considering I was somehow able to write them before and after going to the high school I'm volunteering at. I even did some of this in between lunch breaks. I'm usually not able to do that. Anyway, I hope these are OK with you!!! What I have coming up is: Rush, Yes, Nancy Sinatra definitely --- and probably later is ZZ Top, ABBA (rewrite), Kinks (rewrite), another Rush, The Association, Brian Eno (rewrite), Frank Zappa and Elton John. Thank you for reading these things... --M.L. May 1, 2007New Reviews: Paul McCartney: London Town (1978) (8.5)
Rewrites: Brian Eno: Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) (1974) (9.3)
Hello!!!! Update!!!! I still have that new Bowie update although I almost think my old one is actually better than the new one. We'll see. I'm not going to change the score at all! The score! The first Kinks album increased by 1.0, and the second Kinks album increased by 0.2. The Eno album score didn't change at all, but I do hope the review is better. The next update will probably include Alice Cooper, Madonna and the Association. Who knows what else... --M.L. April 28, 2007New Reviews: Eurythmics: We Too Are One (1989) (7.9)
Rewrites: The Byrds: Turn! Turn! Turn! (1965) (8.1) A nice update today, I think, but the album quality I reviewed seem on the lower-end this time! I reviewed Stack-O-Tracks out of sync in the Beach Boys' discography, because that's on the same CD twofer as Party. Anyway, I don't think you'll care. I didn't really review it, anyway -- I just tossed that off like the record company did! My next update will probably have that first ZZ Top review. I was in the middle of writing it when I decided to take a break and make this update. I also have some more rewrites for you. I meant to put up my new, more worshiping review of Heathen, but I forgot. Maybe tomorrow! I also have new rewrites of the first Kinks album and Brian Eno's sophomore album in the can. I hate doing these Web pages!! I did enough damage for today. These will come later. --M.L. April 24, 2007New Reviews: Elton John: Too Low For Zero (1983) (8.6)
I formulated some conclusions in that Association review that I could amend. I just started listening to their follow-up right now, and it seems pretty good so far. I can't tell at this point. My update was lazy today considering I wrote more reviews. I just finished reviewing Madonna's Who's That Girl (which isn't a rewrite for once) and it was so bad that I'm feeling cranky right now. I am supposed to update with reviews that don't have artist pages sometime (like CSN(Y)... Renaissance... Os Mutantes...) but I seem to be having trouble keeping up with the pages I do have. Anyway, I promised someone I would review ZZ Top (that seems like such an odd request by the way, but he's been persistent ... I'm such a pushover) so I will be starting that new page. It might take a few weeks. Or it might not. I have no freaking clue! I still want to be pretty big with the rewrites. I think I'm a little better at this than I used to be. (It's arguable if I'm good at this though.) --M.L. April 22, 2007New Reviews: The Beach Boys: Summer Days & Summer Nights (1965) (9.3)
Re-Written Reviews: Brian Eno: Here Come the Warm Jets (1973) (9.3)
So here's the score: Here Come the Warm Jets increased by .1 --- Mr. Tambourine Man decreased by .1 --- Touch increased by .3 --- True Blue increased by a whopping .9. (I'll still have you note, I hate that album's guts.) I had a sizable update today! Tomorrow might bring more wonders. Who knows if I'll have the energy........ --M.L. April 21, 2007New Reviews: Pat Benatar: Seven the Hard Way (1985) (6.9) Re-Written Reviews: Roxy Music: Roxy Music (1972) (9.1) Well, I gave that Roxy Music album quite a promotion points-wise. That was an incredibly early review, and I tended to score things a bit low. (Likewise, maybe I'm scoring everything too high now! A Madonna review actually got demoted by .2 points though... hmmm....) Anyway, sorry about the recent non-activity although I've certainly had much longer pauses than two weeks. I am now volunteering at a high school in my efforts to become a science teacher. I'm fulfilling one of the prerequisites for admittance into the grad program at the University of Washington. I really have to go above and beyond everything considering that's one of the top graduate programs for education in the country --- so I'm trying to be a genuine help in that class even though I would easily fulfill the requirements by just sitting on my bottom the whole time! Actually, I feel very good about this direction. The fact that I'm assisting a rowdy public high school freshman class isn't even phasing me. If anything, it's energizing me. If this isn't a calling, then nothing is. I know I had the desire to be a teacher since I was in elementary school, but that's not a very hip thing to admit to yourself. (My poor parents, though --- I'm going to spend another two years mooching off of them for stuff. Though I'm not getting free education this time! I'm expected to rack up quite a significant tuition debt here. College is freaking expensive!) Anyway I hope that I'll be more active in submitting reviews. Over the past week, I was busy adjusting to my new schedule. Also, my gerbil died last Saturday morning, which upset me greatly. He was old, but as good of a friend that a gerbil can get. It'll seem ridiculous to you, but this pet actually liked me especially after his friend died 11 months before. I don't care what you think about that dammit!!!! I can say it's official: I cannot get a job to save my life. Nothing. Not even Sears will hire me. I hit the bottom of the barrel. I give up. --M.L. April 9, 2007New Reviews: Kate Bush: The Red Shoes (1993) (8.8)
Re-Written Reviews: Madonna: Like a Virgin (1984) (6.3) Hello! I actually wrote a review of Philip Glass' 1000 Airplanes on the Roof today ....... Granted, it's probably not a very useful one, but I did it! Who knows when that's going to go on this site, though... hmm.... --M.L. April 7, 2007New Reviews: Nancy Sinatra: How Does That Grab You? (1966) (8.6)
Re-Written Reviews: The Byrds: The Notorious Byrd Brothers (1968) (8.5)
Movie Reviews: Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) A
Whew... Big update today. I have already rewritten a few other reviews and I'm looking to just re-do the entire Byrds and Madonna pages. Luckily I'm soon going to be volunteering in a high school ... I have to do that in order to get accepted into graduate school. It's not a job, but I'll finally be doing something that's generally good for society. Well, there'll probably be another update soon. Maybe some new artist pages as well... --M.L. April 5, 2007New Reviews: Earth, Wind & Fire: That's the Way of the World (1975) (9.3)
Movie Reviews: Duck Soup (1933) A+
Hello! I had forgotten I wrote those Earth, Wind & Fire reviews, so here they are. I apparently skipped over one of them (I sure remember listening to it), so I'll fill in that discography gap soon. I have more reviews in the can ... look for them later! Music Babble is back up, and it's weird today in a completely different respect... Oh, I almost forgot. I am writing full-length movie reviews now. They're separate from this main site, but I'll post the updates here. April 4, 2007I have a new message board! I've been thinking about getting one for some time now, but I was never too sure anyone would actually post on it. Well, I'm still not sure anyone's going to post on it, but I've decided to start one anyway. I was a Music Babble addict, and it's been miserable the past few weeks. Tonight, it died a clinical death. Who knows what's going to happen to it. So, if you would like to talk to me in a forum setting about anything, then feel free to stop by. It's members only, but it's pretty easy to become a member. I have the link posted on the front page. (I won't keep that announcement message for too long. The link will go on the front page in a similar fashion eventually.) About the reviews. I've still been writing them (not quite as much as I was doing in early March), and I'll update the site sometime soon. For the people who sent me the Clearwater CD, I have received it and I've been listening to it. It's quite good; I'll have a review of it before too long. Also, I did rewrite that Byrds review a reader requested a month or so ago completely, so look forward to that soon. OK, thanks for reading, everybody. --M.L. March 16, 2007New Reviews: Yes: Fragile (1972) (9.5)
It's official. My job search is over. I'm going back to college. Yes, I gave up quickly, but my Plan B was becoming more appealing than Plan A as time progressed. (Talk to me in January, and I would have told you that I was too sick of college to go back. That sentiment has decreased significantly with time.) I'm going to start doing the paperwork Monday as well as getting a timelime ready ... I have a lot of standardized tests to take. I'll probably be ready to start taking classes again by the summer quarter (...they have 'quarters' here ... freaking West Coast people!!) I was actually planning on reviewing more than this, but I got distracted with You Tube videos... uguguguuggghhhh... --M.L. March 14, 2007New Reviews: The Beach Boys: Today! (1965) (9.0) I'm also in the middle of reviewing Tropico by Pat Benatar, but I always have to get my 6 o'clock fix of Seinfeld. I plan on having a two or three album update tomorrow unless one of my job prospects calls me. (I'm pretty disillusioned that it's taking me so long to find a job ... Why did I go to college for 5.5 years and work for my college newspaper for 4.5 years, again?????? Well, it was kind of fun at least.) Anyway, I'm planning on being a little more active in reviewing for the next two days at least. Here's my updated playlist: Tropico by Pat Benatar, The One Thing by Michael Bolton, Love it to Death by Alice Cooper, Fragile by Yes, The Weirdness by The Stooges, London Town by Paul McCartney, Renaissance by The Association, Summer Days & Summer Nights by The Beach Boys, Plays Live by Peter Gabriel, Wincing the Night Away by The Shins, How Does That Grab You? by Nancy Sinatra and The Red Shoes by Kate Bush. ...... Yeah, I'm going to have to shorten this list!!! I'm still planning on not starting any new artist pages until I hit 800 reviews just to motivate me to completing these incomplete discographies. Once that's over, I'm going to start reviewing more of the prominent independent artists like ... um ... Sufjan Stevens, for example. March 10, 2007New Reviews: Frank Zappa: Burnt Weeny Sandwich (1970) (9.4)
I just added Renaissance by the Association to the playlist. We went to a travel store in downtown Edmonds today, and it was incredibly crowded. Afterward, I tried Indian food for the first time. .......... oh yeah... --M.L. March 9, 2007New Reviews: Booker T. and the MGs: And Now! (1966) (8.6) Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey!!!!!!!! I only reviewed one album today. Oh well. But it was a good one. Here's my playlist. Who knows what I'll do when, though... But at least my knuckles are feeling better! Burnt Weeny Sandwich by Frank Zappa, 21 at 33 by Elton John, Today! by The Beach Boys, Tropico by Pat Benatar, The One Thing by Michael Bolton, Love it to Death by Alice Cooper, Fragile by Yes, The Weirdness by The Stooges and London Town by Paul McCartney. I also made a new page for general site comments (linked at the top of this page) that aren't specifically related to a review or, if they do, they're extremely profanity laden. I also have a new search box up there, but it might be a few days before it's functional. (It has to index my site ... which is very text-heavy!!!!!!) --M.L. March 8, 2007New Reviews: The Association: And Then...Along Comes (1966) (8.3) Rewrites & Re-scores: Booker T. and the MGs: Soul Dressing (1965) (8.1) Hey, I actually did stuff today besides sitting around with this awesome laptop and write reviews! I visited the University of Washington. It had the definite feel of a college campus ... I know that feel, and it was just like home. But those buildings are soooooo huge and the sidewalks are soooooo wide compared to Wichita State University that I felt like an ant! Just to completely confuse me, there's even a building that looks exactly like Clinton Hall except it's about four times larger. ....... Geez............ I could imagine a University of Washington student visiting Wichita State would be concerned about stomping on everything! (Never mind that Clinton Hall is falling apart, anyway.) So yeah ... I did no reviewing today. These two were done late last night. All that incessant typing was taking its toll on my knuckles, anyway. About the rewrite, I was in the middle of reviewing And Now! by Booker T. and the MGs when I read what I wrote two years ago about their previous album Soul Dressing. I re-listened to it and re-wrote the review completely. I promised somebody I would also re-listen to The Notorious Byrd Brothers, and I still plan on it. Also, dear David Andino who doesn't give me an e-mail address, I like that Yes album just fine! --M.L. March 7, 2007New Reviews: The Mahavishnu Orchestra: Visions of the Emerald Beyond (1974) (8.7)
Live Album Review:
I've decided to resume posting site comments. I got the comment form back up, too! I'm leaving it to my discretion, though. My current playlist is the same from yesterday, except I added Tropico by Pat Benatar. (That is a good album ... It has a real shot of beating that 8.3 I gave to Crimes of Passion!!!!) March 6, 2007New Reviews: The Beach Boys: All Summer Long (1964) (8.6)
Rewrites & Re-scores Nancy Sinatra: Boots (1966) (7.1) Reviewing the 8mm and Shawn Colvin albums last night back to back was EXHAUSTING................ geesh............... They're both absolutely tasteful and well-crafted, but .............. zzzzzzzzzz. It's hopefully a coincidence that they had the same score! (So did that Alice Cooper album, but for pretty much the opposite reason.) I was also inspired to re-look at my Nancy Sinatra review after I saw what somebody posted on Music Babble. That album hit me on a bad day! Some of the mean comments were unwarranted. I changed the scoring, so now I hope it's a little more reflective of the work (which I still don't think is so great). Anyway, we might see some more Nancy reviews sometime ............................................... I certainly have the time. Since I assume that you all are dying to know what's on my playlist, here it is ... Visions of the Emerald Forest by The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd, Live From Earth by Pat Benatar, And Now! by Booker T. and the MG's, And Then...Along Comes by The Association, Journeys to Glory by Spandau Ballet, Burnt Weeny Sandwich by Frank Zappa, 21 at 33 by Elton John and Today! by The Beach Boys. This promises to be a grand old time. March 5, 2007New Reviews: Alice Cooper: Pretties For You (1969) (8.2)
Rewrites & Re-scores: ABBA: ABBA (1975) (7.8)
So, if anyone knows of a job in the Seattle area, that would be great! Even I think reviewing five albums in a 24 hour period is a little excessive ... plus I had time to do other things ... I will do anything ... for reals. I decided not to do the Kylie albums back to back! Unless something interesting happens, look for the next one tomorrow as well as the Shawn Colvin album, Songs to Live and Die by by 8mm and Victim of Love by Elton John. If I really don't have a life, look for All Summer Long by The Beach Boys, Easy Action by Alice Cooper, Visions of the Emerald Beyond by The Mahavishnu Orchestra (an awesome album) and Atom Heart Mother by Pink Floyd. March 4, 2007Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life (1976) (9.4) I think I must have attempted to review this album a half dozen times over the course of the last year, and it finally came together! I've decided that I am going to limit starting new artist pages until I have 800 reviews. (Exceptions would be albums I get through the mail.) I have too many very incomplete artist pages here ... most of which don't have to be as such. I'm also going through some of these reviews and beefing them up. I'll report any major changes to this page. It looks like my next reviews will probably be The Beach Boys "Shut Down Vol. 2," Paul McCartney's "Wings at the Speed of Sound," Arabesque's "Arabesque VII" (promises to be a fun review ... but there's only one left after that!), the next two Kylie Minogue albums (these ones are entertaining), Alice Cooper's first album and Shawn Colvin's latest album. ... Well, that's what I have on my playlist right now! I'm also going to try to get that e-mail form back up, but ... I make no promises. --M.L. March 3, 2007 Fetish Chicken: Volume = Talent (2006) (7.1)
...Because everyone in the world was waiting for me to review Kylie Minogue. ... I also reviewed a very independent band who mailed me their album. It was pretty good considering that they didn't have a fancy studio to work with, and I don't always enjoy heavy metal. March 2, 2007I wasted this whole day writing reviews of every song on Bender Magazine's 50 worst songs ever made. I enjoyed the experience more than I should have.February 28, 2007New Reviews: The Beach Boys: Surfer Girl (1963) (7.8)
The moment you've been waiting for is here ... a brand new Michael Bolton review. ... Plus, a moment nobody was waiting for. A Nancy Sinatra review. I don't think I'll be reviewing anymore Nancy Sinatra albums, but ... I could. I have a job interview tomorrow! Wish me luck! --M.L. February 27, 2007Tacky Tigers update!!!
New Reviews: Kate Bush: The Sensual World (1989) (9.2)
It's been awhile. I've had these reviews for awhile. I do know it's odd that I like Hemispheres so much more than A Farewell to Kings. Maybe that's another reason I should be committed. Well ... there they are. Read them and hate them! Also, I'm not updating reader comments anymore. I haven't done them for awhile anyway. But please continue to e-mail me your thoughts! --M.L. October 8, 2006New Reviews: The Beach Boys: Surfin' USA (1962) (7.9)
Things got a little busier than expected, so these'll be my only updates for now. I might have time for some more tomorrow, but don't count on it. It probably won't happen. I have fall break this weekend, but I still haven't gotten too far finishing my reviews for midi-contest.com. October 5, 2006New Reviews: Joni Mitchell: Mingus (1979) (9.1)
I already wrote reviews of the first two Beach Boys albums, but I ran out of time to upload them! I'll probably do that tomorrow along with a few other reviews. October 3, 2006New Review: Rolling Stones live in Wichita, Kan. Oct. 1, 2006 I hope to update this site even more soon. I still have some reviews that I haven't uploaded yet, and I also plan to start reviewing some early Beach Boys albums. Until then... September 30, 2006New Reviews: Kate Bush: Hounds of Love (1985) (9.7)
Great news! I'm going to see The Rolling Stones tomorrow!!!!!!!! A live review should be posted on Oct. 2. August 8, 2006New Review: Yes: The Yes Album (1971) (8.8) August 5, 2006New Artist Page: New Reivews: Oingo Boingo: Only a Lad (1981) (9.5)
------------------------------------------------------ August 4, 2006New Artist Page: New Reivews: Earth Wind and Fire: The Need of Love (1972) (8.7)
------------------------------------------------------ August 3, 2006 Artist Pages Added: Reviews Added: Earth Wind and Fire: Earth Wind and Fire (1971) (9.0) Hey, I updated with a music review! What do you know? --M.L. July 31, 2006 OK, there's no more music reviews. But I did make what could be considered an album. (And yes, I do have much improving yet, but ... maybe I'll get there if I try hard enough.) ----- May 15, 2006 NEW SITE LAUNCHED: DON IGNACIO'S MOVIE REVIEWS!!!! ...actually, it's an old site, but moved to a different location and with nearly 400 new reviews (and a lot more on the way, because I still have a pretty big word document with the most recent things I've seen). The reviews are touched up, but I still wish to go through and heavily edit some of them. Nevertheless, this is *finally* finished ... I've been talking about uploading these reviews for about three years probably. I'm also working on cross-referencing actors and directors on this site, but this is obviously a big task, and it'll probably be years before it's even close to being done. I'll probably do my first "formal update" of the movie site sometime later. Oh, and music reviews. Yes, I haven't forgotten that I do those as well. --M.L. Reviews Added: Frank Zappa: Hot Rats (1969) (9.4) Rewritten Reviews: David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1972) (9.8)
New Page: --March 23, 2006 After I wrote and posted my long-past-due ratings explanation page (which ... really wasn't that direly needed, but I figured I needed one just for reference) I thought about a statement I made in there about some of my earliest reviews not really being accurate, because my frame of reference changed. The earliest reviews I wrote that were still on this site were the early David Bowie reviews--the first three of which were grossly underrated. (For the record, they weren't actually underrated using the system I was originally planning to use.) So I actually sat down, relistened to the tracks and rewrote them. (But, since you may know, I know these songs by heart anyway, so it wasn't exactly a labor. The big change in the rewrites was shifting David Bowie's 1967 debut album from the dismally low score of a 3.0 to the much more fair and accurate rating of a 7.7. You see, David Bowie's debut was the VERY FIRST album that I reviewed using this point scale. I was also wanting to be one of those cranky bastard reviewers, but ... I'm not really like that. Also changed were Space Oddity from a 7.2 to an 8.5, and The Man Who Sold the World from a 5.1 to a 7.0. I also totally rewrote my reviews for Hunky Dory and Space Oddity, because they were both rather poorly written. (You can argue about how they're written now but anything would be better than the way they were done before!) Although, each of their original ratings were basically accurate. (They only increased by a tenth of a point each ... which is such a tiny increment that it doesn't really mean anything.) I will also rewrite the reviews of Aladdin Sane, Pin-Ups, Diamond Dogs and Young Americans eventually. However, they aren't in such dire need. I do think I'll probably increase the score of Young Americans by quite a bit, though, because I feel I've underrated it. I don't think I'm going to do a whole lot more rewrites, though. There are some other albums that probably deserve a re-look, but not as much as those early Bowie albums. I was trying to be funny in those reviews, and it didn't work. Since I claim to be a big fan of it all, I figured I'd might as well try to be more thoughtful than goofy. Oh, I'll tell you what else I've been listening to so you might know what to expect on the next update (whenever that might be), since my review queue is busted. The next album I will review is Savage by the Eurythmics, Hounds of Love by Kate Bush, Farewell Angelina by Joan Baez, v.2.0 by La Peste and Going Deaf for a Living by Fischer-Z. I think there'll probably be other, previously-reviewed albums included in the next update. (Oh, and I hope no one was actually expecting a review of Journey's Trial by Fire to be uploaded. This one was deleted from the harddrive and I apparently didn't save it with the others. I really don't want to review it again ... it's a late Journey album ... it sucked and nobody will care.) Last thing: I also uploaded all the reader comments I've gotten. Sorry that it took so long. My only excuse is that I am a lazy bastard and I should be punished! Please start sending me comments again if you wish. I made a personal oath that I will try harder to upload these in a timely fashion. --M.L. Artist Pages Added: Reviews Added: Kate Bush: The Dreaming (1982) (10plus)
--March 23, 2006 Yay! Another update! What's strange about this particular update (it seems) is that one of these reviews were just written this afternoon. I would really like to get rid of my old habit of having a review "queue." Anyway, there are an uncharacteristically high number of fantastic albums included in this update. Firstly, and most importantly, the fourth album to receive a 10plus is here. ... Really, I knew that one would be a 10plus scoring album from the moment I listened to it ... and as I reviewed it, there was nothing stopping me. Also, this Moose album is fantastic. I actually reviewed this last fall and never uploaded it due to inactivity. It caught me by surprise as I chose it "randomly" to review. This is an album everyone should hear. An archival La Peste album is here also. This is a good album if you like punk music that's also accessible. ...The other items in this update require no introduction, because they're famous! Well, my spring break is nearing a close. Friday, I have to do school work (which requires me driving three hours to a far off Kansas town). Saturday, I'll undoubtedly be doing physics homework and whatnot. So ... hopefully, I can keep up a *level* of reviewing during the school year. I feel somewhat revitalized now, but ... that feeling's been known to die after I get all bogged down. Why school must interfere with the more important task of music reviewing is beyond me. --M.L. Artist Pages Added: Reviews Added: Dead Kennedys: FrankenChrist (1985) (9.5)
--March 19, 2006 ...Wow, that was a 14-album update, and ... they all scored in a very limited range. So many low-8 albums on here!!! Hmmm... I wrote some of these back last Fall and some of them were written just today. Weird. And, I had to do rewrites of the first Yes album, "Ummagumma," "Uncle Meat" and "Much Afraid," because along with some of my movie reviews, I had forgotten to transfer them onto a CD before erasing my hard drive! Especially with albums such as "Uncle Meat" and "Ummagumma," they're difficult enough to analyze the first time! Nevertheless, I actually enjoyed going through them again. Reviewing them again was like fitting back into a pair of boots that you've already broken in. It was more comfortable and less frustrating than I expected. Anyway, I'm still on my Spring Break. I like the fact that I'm working on my site vigorously again. It's a shame that I have a job so I can't update this as frequently as I have in the past (and I admit I lost interest in it for awhile) but I'm really enjoying myself right now. I'm going to review a rather obscure punk-rock band called La Peste next. I'm now under the persuasion to upload these reviews immediately so that I don't keep on losing them, so if I actually write this tonight, I'll have it uploaded tomorrow along with hopefully the two next Kate Bush albums and an excellent album I reviewed last fall called "High Ball Me" by Moose (and others, too). --M.L. ----- |