Elliott Smith - Memory Lane
man, now i want a 'mental illness' round in the non-metal game. 9/10
Ayreon - Day Ten: Memories
lmao. jesus christ stop this. nobody over the age of 10 unironically likes ayreon. i simply refuse to believe it. 1/10
Michael Jackson - Remember the Time
grown on me big time since the first time i listened to it. not his best but still great. 8/10
Free - Remember
again they have more memorable songs than this, but the chorus at least is genuinely awesome. actually this whole thing is much better than it might initially seem. 8/10
Prince - Purple Rain
a pretty spectacular arrangement and delivery nearly hides the boring ballad at its centre, but not quite. i've actually only heard this a handful of times, prince ain't so big here and this song only got to number 6 (he only had one number 1 and that was in the mid-'90s). he has great songs but this ain't one of 'em. RIP anyways. 6/10
Steeleye Span - All Things Are Quite Silent
perfect music. 10/10
Porcupine Tree - She's Moved On
doesn't matter whether they're being a floyd knock-off or tool knock-off or whatever else, they're still a soulless radio-ready blandfest straining to appear as something deeper. points are mainly for a nice chorus. 4/10
The Offspring - The Kids Aren't Alright
the offspring's whole career was a process of perpetually selling out, from their '80s years of amateurishly but sometimes excellently riffing on the dead kennedys, the vandals, agent orange and social distortion, to their jumping on the nirvana bandwagon, to the mainstream breakthrough of SMASH and the accompanying misunderstood depressed teens version IXNAY, and then the even more goofy, light-hearted AMERICANA, the one which began my love affair with the band in my childhood, and so on. their best days were long behind them, but AMERICANA is the last of their albums that still largely works for me (some shitty singles aside), and this is one of the best songs on it. not gonna pretend to be remotely impartial though. 8/10
Defiance, Ohio - Oh, Susquehannah!
this is probably the whitest thing i've ever heard, and i've heard bon iver. whoever submitted this might like the burnt out depressed loser version, titus andronicus, but they're borderline unbearable too. 5/10
Dag Nasty - Never Go Back
hell yeah. never heard this before, but anything hardcore-related with tension and melody is totally my bag, and i can relate to the sentiment. chorus could be better perhaps, but a real nice pick. for lack of a better comparison right now, has a bit of a hot snakes vibe. 8/10
Johnny Shines - Sweet Home Chicago
not as haunting/soulful as my favourites but i just love this sound. sometimes it's music that journeys inward into the gut that's the most otherworldly. 8/10
Talking Heads - Memories Can't Wait
not a favourite heads song or anything but yeah, another nice pick here. probably would've sounded a lot more fresh in '79. 7/10
Scarlet Leaves - Images of Memories
oh hello. i was expecting ambient and then suddenly the dream pop comes in. this isn't very creative and it's pretty heavy-handed too, but slowdivey vocals and synths over an '80s beat is like candy to me. much atmospheres. almost goes full 'a sorcerer's pledge' at the end! 8/10
Regina Spektor - The Flowers
this is actually distractingly like the beatles' 'yesterday' and once i noticed that i can't unnotice it. i also imagine it needs album context, seems like it could work as part of a greater narrative, but as it stands there isn't a lot to it. 6/10
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere
cave occupying the midpoint between cohen and waits this time around. depressing as fuck. not super interesting instrumentally but *just* understated enough to land, and solid lyrically. i'm feelin' it. i think cave works better in playlist context than on his actual albums a lot of the time, so i haven't minded his heavy presence so far. 8/10
Larry Lurex - Goin' Back
freddie + great production values can elevate anything. 8/10