Dodo's Album Reviews

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. I am now announcing that I am quitting this blog for multiple reasons: 1. It's blocking my musical journey. Due to me being forced to listen to the same artists without much else, I feel like my exploration is being hindered by this blog. 2. I am wasting my precious time for nothing. Nobody reads these posts, nobody reads blogs these days, they need short and snappy videos, which leads me to... 3. I will be making YouTube shorts, instead of writing these reviews, as they will reach a much wider audience, and won't need as much work. Thank you for respecting my choice, and I will see on YT...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing Metallica's sophomore release, Ride The Lightning. For this album, the band decided to go for more progressive instrumentation and less of the speedy tracks from their debut . What came out of those sessions was my favourite Metallica album... We start with Fight Fire With Fire, which at first seems to be an acoustic ballad, before it descends into chaos. The guitars are fast and atonal, the drums are hard hitting and the vocals are so raspy and cruel. Then, at the 2:37 minute mark, we hit a solo that sounds so frantic and dirty, it's amazing. This is one of the best openers I've heard. Next we have my favourite Metallica song, the title track. It's menacing in it's oppressing sound, and not it's speed, as it is on the slower side of thrash. Also, that iconic opening riff at the beginning is pure joy to my ears. Around the 3 minute mark we also hit one of my favourite solos from Metallica. It...

Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing Kanye's sophomore release, Late Registration. After the success that was The College Dropout , Kanye said "Eh, why not make a career out of this rap thing?" After a weird opening skit, we start with Heard 'Em Say, featuring Marron 5 vocalist, Adam Levine, who, somehow really works on this track, especially the soft, but jazzy instrumental. Touch The Sky is one of the more bombastic songs on here. The brassy instrumental works very well with the lyrical content, and is overall another great song. eyyy gold digger The skits on this album are pretty fire. Next we have Drive Slow, which is another one of the mellower songs on here. It's slow, and simple, another track I really liked. My Way Home is similiar to the previous track, only this time with a pitched down vocal sample. Cra ck Music is a bit of a lesser song, not because of the themes, but I really didn't surprise me in anyway. Roses is an...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing the debut studio album from Kendrick Lamar, Section.80. We all know this man, for sure, and given his recent reappearance in the public spotlight, I thought, why not review his modest batch of albums? So let's check out his debut. After a short spoken word segment, we get into F*ck Your Ethnicity, where we see Kendrick setting his first impression as someone who seeks equality, not caring about what colour you are. Hol' Up is one of the relaxed songs, with a very smooth instrumental and a smooth flow. The bars are clean, and the hook is very catchy. Next we have A.D.H.D., talking about how drugs have been a massive problem in people's attention spans. The instrumental is also very clean. The production on here is very well done. No Make-Up is a favourite of mine, especially the message. Women should stop putting on so much make up, they look much better without it. The instrumental is, once again very wel...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing the debut studio album from Metallica, Kill 'Em All. I pretty sure you know who Metallica is. World famous legendary thrash group, so let's see just see how thrashy their first album was. We open with the fast and aggressive, Hit The Lights, which has become one of my favourite metal songs ever. The fast drumming, the yelling and those solos, ohhh, those solos. Pure ear candy. Next we have The Four Horsemen, one of the band's more well known songs from this album. It's also the band's first 7 minute long song, and it well deserves that length. The guitar work, the vocals and the drumming are all great. Motorbreath is one of the lesser songs on here. Not quite as memorable as some of the other cuts on here. Jump In The Fire is another high energy song, and whilst not as fast as the opener, it still has a very catchy hook, and the solo at the middle is stellar. Next we have (Anesthesia) Pulling Teet...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing Kanye West's debut studio album, The College Dropout. After working as a producer for many big MCs at the time, we finally released his first hip hop album. Let's see what this fresh mind has to offer. The Intro skit features a man that sounds like he's constantly running out of breath, and then, we open with We Don't Care. At first, I found the song a bit off putting, however, with repeat listens, I started to enjoy it more and more. The production is also super clean. After a short interlude, we move onto All Falls Down, featuring a sample from Lauryn Hill. I love Kanye's flow on here, as if it dances around the singing in the sample. I'll Fly Away is a jazzy interlude, which leads us into my favourite song on the album, Spaceship. The smooth soul instrumental is amazing, and Kanye's bars describing how fed up he is with is job keeps me intrigued all the way through. Jesus Walks, as the ...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today I will be reviewing the self-titled debut from rap super duo, Kids See Ghosts. This duo is comprises of Kanye and Kid Cudi. On this album, we see the group discussing topics of mental health and other similiar themes. One of the main accomplishments this album has under it's belt is a perfect 10 out of 10 from Anthony Fantano, the melon man himself. So will I give the same score to this album? Let's see... We open with Feel The Love, where Cudi shouts out that he can still feel the love. After a short verse from Pusha T, we see Kanye pretending to be gun, screaming throughout the chorus. This sets the tone for the rest of album, as a beautiful and triumphant Friday evening. At least, that's the vibe the album gives me. Fire focuses around a Western sounding sample. The song has much more menacing, yet groovy sound. The hook from Cudi is very catchy as well. It's short, but it's very memorable. 4th Dimension features a...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing Death Grips' latest LP, at the time of writing this, Year Of The Snitch. After Bottomless Pit, I was hoping to see more catchy, but glitchy and distorted music from the group on this next album. That's wasn't quite what I got... We open with Death Grips Is Online, which is one of the better cuts. It features a guitar filling the soundscape. Whilst the chorus isn't the most interesting, the verse are some the group's best and dirtiest sounding. Flies is... oh no... NO NOT THE NLDW SPARSE MIXES. The song sounds empty, the drums are bland, the synths are boring. No, not again. Oh, nevermind, Black Paint is fat, dirty and distorted, that's what I like. The vocals are buried under the mix. The guitar is great, and the bass is super heavy. And then we return to the empty mixes with Linda's In Custody. The song is boring, the hook is bland. The synths sound so cheap, but at least the vocals are ...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing the latest Radiohead album at the time  of writing this post, A Moon Shaped Pool. This album was released after Thom Yorke's divorce, and the band's producer, Nigel Godrich, losing his father. Thus, the album is somewhat of a mass exodus, where the band let's out all of it's mournful emotions out onto a musical canvas. Let's see how that turned out. We open with Burn The Witch, which revolves around a string arrangement and synth bass. Thom's comes in with the vocals, however they are incredibly reverberated, similiar to a The Weeknd vocal mix. Slowly, the song spirals into a powerful crescendo, as the strings start becoming more and more dissonant. Next we have Daydreaming, which is one of Radiohead's saddest songs ever released. It revolves around a soft piano arpeggio. The whole song features many background effects, similiar to chimes and over reversed effects. The whole song mainly re...

Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing the collaboration between Kanye West and Jay Z, Watch The Throne. First of all, I will first be reviewing Kanye's side projects, and at the time of writing this post, I am two weeks away from reviewing Kanye's discography. Anyway, Watch The Throne is a collaboration between these two rap giants, but instead of being something like Bad Meets Evil, where Eminem and Royce da 5'9'', would show off theirtechnical skills, here we see Kanye and Jay rap together as a super duo. Let's see what this record has to offer. We open with No Church In The Wild, a moody opener, filled with pounding drums and some amazing synths. This song doesn't have a very complex instrumental, but it still goes hard. Lyrically, the song mostly talks about the place in which Kanye and Jay are, as being two incredibly powerful people in the business industry. Next we have Lift Off, featuring Beyonce, but I gotta say, her ho...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing Bottomless Pit. Not The Bottomless Pit, just Bottomless Pit. We open with Giving Bad People Good Ideas. It starts off with a woman singing the song title. And then... the song literally explodes. The guitars, the drums, the synths, they all clash together, with Ride barely piercing through the mix. Amazing opener. Next we have Hot Head, which opens very glitchy and noisy, only to move into a much slower section, filled with arps and Ride amongst the synths. Then moving back into the glitchy first section. And then once more, back to the slow part. Spikes is one of the grooviest songs on here. The bass on here is amazing, and the drums are some of my favourites. They hit especially hard here. The hook is also one of the catchiest. It would have fit in very nicely on The Money Store. Warping is one of the slowest Death Grips songs I've heard, but the cowbell chorus adds some great energy to the song, making it soun...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing The King Of Limbs. This album is often considered one of the two worst Radiohead albums, alongside Pablo Honey . Anthony Fantano even said it's his least favourite Radiohead album. Why? Because this album focuses around repetitive loops. Is it really that bad? No. We start with Bloom, mainly revolving around a slow 5/4 breakbeat drum loop. It goes on for the entirety of the song, and whilst most will say it gets very repetitive, I find quite entrancing. Than Thom comes in with the vocals, and I just love the way the beat and the singing blend into one another. Around the middle, we find a serene string section, which spirals into a crescendo, before returning to the beat. Must say, this is one of my favourite openers from Radiohead. Next we have Morning Mr. Magpie, which revolves around a catchy bassline. This is one of the groovier songs on here. The synth pads that slowly come in also give this song some variet...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing the debut album of super duo Silk Sonic, An Evening With Silk Sonic. This duo is comprised of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, and together, they worked on this throwback to the 70s R&B era. Usually, I wouldn't be inclined to check out some of these more mainstream artists, but after seeing the hype and listening to the singles, I aid why not give it a try. We open with the intro, setting the mood for the rest of the record. And then, Leave The Door Open is officially the smoothest song of 2021. This song is just a throwback to the 70s. The vocal harmonies are so soothing, the bass is just amazing, and so is the ear candy. Great opener. Fly As Me is the grooviest song on here. The bass work is dirty, but catchy. The vocals, again, are great. The organs also create a very unique atmosphere, filling the soundscapes. Next we have After Last Night, which is the sexiest song on this whole album. The whole song is sl...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing the second half of The Powers That B, Jenny Death. After the band's supposed break-up and a mediocre instrumental album , they released NOTW 's sister, and the second disc of the group's double album. Let's see how this album sounds. Immediately, we are hit with classic Death Grips action. I Break Mirrors With My Face In The United States is an energetic noise-fest, filled with Ride screaming his lungs out. The drumming is top notch, and the bass is heavier than ever. Inanimate Sensation is one the band's longer songs, with the leading element in this track being a weird riser formed out of Ride's voice. The drumming is great, and the synths are especially diverse. Turned Off features guitars in the beginning, before being distorted beyond recognition once the drums come in. As usual, more of your usual Death Grips soundscapes. Why A B!tch Gotta Lie starts pretty odd and off-putting, featuring...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing Radiohead's seventh studio album, In Rainbows. After being released from their record label after their six album contract, Radiohead decided to go solo and release their next album themselves, as a pay-what-you-want, which would become the groundwork for sites like Bandcamp. So let's see how this album sounds. Right off the bat, full of energy, we start with 15 Step. The drums are clean and punchy, the guitar is hard panned to the left ear, which creates a very odd atmosphere. The whole song sounds so joyful and full of life, at least for Radiohead standards. Next we have Bodysnatchers, the most energetic song on this album. The guitars are heavily distorted and create a wall of sound that Thom and the rest of the instruments barely manage to pierce through. Another great song. But then, immediately contrasting with the previous track, we find Nude. The verse mainly consist of just Thom's vocals, light d...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing the last studio album from Nirvana, In Utero. After the success of Nevermind , Kurt Cobain wanted to go for a less polished sound, and feature much noisier and abrasive songs on here. We open with Serve The Servants. Not much to say here, just your usual catchy grunge tune. I must say that I really like the occasional dissonant guitar squeals. Scentless Apprentice is one of the noisier songs on here. But the highlight here is definetly the singing. Kurt screams like he never usually does. They way he just yells into the microphone is ear-piercing, but amazing at the same time. i think we all know heart shaped box. and the controversial, rape me. Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle is more the usual grunge. Not much else to comment on here. It's not bad by any mean, but I've heard much cooler grunge songs. Dumb is definetly one of my favourite tracks on here. I love the melancholic feel, and accom...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing the first half of Death Grips' double album, N!ggas On The Moon. On this first disc, the group collaborated with the legendary, Bjork. She provided the vocal samples that appear all over the record. We open with Up My Sleeves. Right off the bat, we are greeted to classic Death Grips noise. Ride is chanting, the drums sound powerful, the wall of synths penetrate through the mix, and the vocal chops here create a completely different vibe for the song. Usually, I don't enjoy vocal samples on a DG song, that's why I didn't enjoy Hustle Bones from The Money Store quite as much as the other tracks on there. Still, an amazing opener. Billy Not Really brings us a much more energetic song. The vocal samples form most of the main melody. The drums sound strong, Ride is screaming as usual. Yeah, this is a good song. Especially the vocals from Bjork, they just add a different dimension to the sound. Black Quart...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing Radiohead's most political album, Hail To The Thief. This was the last record Radiohead would release under EMI's 6 album deal. Let's see how they would end their contract... We start with the moody 2+2=5. We open with some quiet guitar plucks, and Thom's usual voice. But then, it suddenly turns into a full on rock song. Then we get into a strummed guitar section, with some very paranoid sounding vocals. A very chaotic opener, but it sets the tone for the rest of the record. Next we have Sit Down. Stand Up, which opens with a quiet drum machine, xylophone-like plucks and atmospheric strings. The song is very quiet and ambiental for the first half. Then the Everything In It's Right Place vocals come in, with the weird pitch shifted effects. Slowly we spiral into another chaotic crescendo, similiar to the opener. The percussion goes crazy and Thom just keeps repeating "the raindrops". Sail...

  Happy Halloween everyone! Today, I will be reviewing Nirvana's sophomore release, Nevermind. After there rough, but acceptable debut , I was curious as to how the band would improve. These guys aren't legendary for no reason. Listening to this album, we see improvements on all fronts from the band. Plus, Dave Grohl is now on drums. Anyway, let's see what they have too offer on here... and we start with smells like teen spirit. very nice. then in bloom. very nice. come as you are. breed. and lithium. yeah the beginning of this album goes hard. Then we take a break from the hard rock with Polly, probably the band's darkest song. It only features an acoustic guitar and Kurt's raspy voice. The song is a tribute to a 14 year old who was kidnapped and tortured, the lyrics reflecting the perspective of the kidnapper. It's haunting, yet hard hitting. Territorial Pissings sounds like a more aggressive pop punk song. Kurt screams at the top of his lungs on here. Combine...

  Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Today, I will be reviewing the instrumental album by Death Grips, Fashion Week. Released after the group's supposed break-up, this record features no Ride. It is, as I just mentioned, an instrumental hip hop album. Let's see what it has to offer... And immediately, we are greeted to Runaway J. It features some acid like synths, high pitched chords and industrial sounding percussion. Not bad, but neither anything special. Runway E, on the other hand, is heavy, and had it been a bit more lo-fi, it would have fit very nicely on the legendary Money Store . The percussion sounds dirty and aggressive, the song glitches at points, the bass is heavy and distorted, great track. Runway N is just annoying. The happy sounding synth lead sticks to my brain, and I do not like that. The drums aren't anything special either. Runway n (2) sounds like a more synthetic version of the more rock influenced songs from Exmilitary . The lead synth is so d...