Music That Doesn't Suck

I listen to most kinds of music. Diggin indie at the moment. From Jazz to NPR. From Rock to Pop. Metal rocks too, I love the music but hate the scream and growl vocals that are often associated with it. I am big on dance/electronic, pop, funk-rock, 80's ska (the second wave), disco, smooth fusion-jazz (Steely Dan, Chicago) and reggae (moreso poppy stuff like UB40 and Aswad) (if anybody knows any good bands, email me!) but have a pack of mp3's with you, I DON'T blind buy if I do indeed buy. Got XM satellite radio on January 31. Better playlists than Sirius and I am exposed to lots of music. I dug deep into disco and found out it indeed rules likewise with other stuff. Screw the naysayers. DISCO IS MORE HETERO THAN YOUR ARMPIT HAIR AND 80s ROCK! UB40 still rules as always! The had a very good album come out on the other side of the pond not long ago. Unfortunately, here it's a pricey import.

1. UB40 - the finest reggae around despite what the "Red Red Wine" haters and old school reggae lovers will say

2. Beatles - duh, creative, catchy and the best line of albums to boot. Consider the solo careers added too.

3. Porcupine Tree - good spaced out pop-rock in their later years. early years were spacey progressive rock that is out there.

Van Halen - GOOD 80s/90s rock (because most 80s rock sucks. The 80s was a pop decade.)

Genesis - both eras but moreso Collins. I just prefer the catchier later stuff. Phil Collins solo included.

Mastodon - aside from the irritating vocals (could be my biased opinion), great metal

Immortal - the best metal. I actually like the vocals and the music is superb.

Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch - don't talk shit about them until you heard ALL of their two albums

Radiohead - Different every album. Everything from dreamy pop to hard rock to electronica.

The Hollies - One of the best groups that no one under 30 really knows or maybe. Stop Stop Stop is awesome and I am trying to aquire the original album/LP it came off of.

Talking Heads - Essential 80s group although a couple of their great albums came out a nick into the 70's.

My top Albums of the 1990's

90's is definitely not my favorite music decade but this came from a thread on the IGN Music Lobby Board. Keep in mind, I said "My" so this is not concrete for anyone. I don't want to send anyone crying because their favorite album didn't make it.

Air - Moon Safari (1998)

Alice In Chains - Facelift (1990)

Delinquent Habits - s/t (1996)

Donald Fagan (of Steely Dan fame) - Kamakiriad (1993)

Faith No More - Angel Dust (1992)

Faith No More - King For A Day (1995)

Faith No More - Album of The Year (1997)

Filter - Title of Record (1999)

Green Day - Dookie (1994)

Marky Mark - Music (1992)

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (1991)

Porcupine Tree - Up The Downstair (1992)

Porcupine Tree - Signify (1996)

POD - Fundamental Elements of Southtown (1999)

Radiohead - The Bends (1995)

Stereolab - Dots and Loops (1997

UB40 - Guns In The Ghetto (1997)

UB40 - Labour of Love 3 (1998)

UB40 - Promises and Lies (1993)

The Verve - Urban Hymns (1997)

Porcupine Tree's Deadwing is the long-awaited new PTree release. A little early to give a good review on it (third day of listening) but I will say that the title track is one of the best PTree songs ever! SCORE: 96

The newest UB40 called 'Homegrown' is good but is their least greatest album yet next to Present Arms (their 1981 release). It's very poppy but not as great as Promises and Lies. It's an import. So it's costly to get. May not be worth it unless your hot on UB40, download or try out 30 sec clips first. SCORE: 70%

The newest Tears For Fears album is the first true TFF album in 15 years. Orzabal and Smith team up for the first album together since Sept 1989's 'Seeds of Love'. Anyway, the new album is called 'Everybody Loves A Happy Ending and it is a WINNER. The songs are slightly shorter and tighter than the old TFF but that doesn't mean a bad thing. The same mellow rock and pop you loved from the 80's. "Closest Thing To Heaven" ranks up with the 1980's TFF. There is just ONE track that is not GREAT, I forget which one but that's not important. It's surrounded by winners. SCORE 98%

Megadeth's The System Has Failed is a damn good album by a hit and miss group. I didn't think I would like this but musically (especially the guitar) it has impressed me. Good riffs. Dave Mustaine's vocals are still bad though but that's no suprise whatsoever. They have improved though. SCORE 80%

Gwen Stefani's new album is a winner too co-album of the year (with the new Tears For Fears) for 2004. Glossy production, catchy dance pop. It's not really like the No Doubt albums. If you're looking for more punk-ska, you won't find it here but you'll find a smooth, sexy album. Plus, she's one of (if not the hottest) chicks in music today. Screw Spears, screw the Simpson sisters, screw Aguilara (can't keep one goddamn hair color). The booklet rules too and album cover. The album I been looking for, for a while. A couple not so hot tracks will be found too but it's hard to find an album this perfect today, especially in the top 40. SCORE: 90%

Morrissey - Viva Hate - Nice mellow album that reminds me of softer 80s Phil Collins and Tears For Fears. Nothing super but solid. Score: 80%

James Brown - There It Is - The first James Brown album I heard was his '72 release. Not a big fan of it lyrically, too many repetitive drug themed songs. The music is great in spots including "Talking Loud..." but inconsistant. I love the horns in a couple songs though. Score: 60%

Mastodon - Leviathan - I hate most vocals in metal, the screams and growns, the non clean vocals so my opinion may not be clear in this. I don't like the vocals. The music is impressive though. Nice guitar and drums. I love the 12 minute guitar gem track contained within, some of the other songs are too short though. Very picky when it comes to metal but I'll give it a SCORE: 80%

WHAT? NO WEBN PIMPING HERE ANYMORE?

That's right. I could write alot on this. WEBN has been slipping for a while. A part of that can be blamed on the quality of new-rock is dropping. Another on the departure of Bob Garrett last year. Thirdly, the shrinking of classic rock heard on there. What happened to the Stones, Neil Young, deep cut Floyd, Bad Company, Steve Miller Band, Deep Purple, Hotel California, and more? But they possibly put the nail in the coffin for me was something very stupid that happened around May 29th. They moved into new offices in Kenwood, Ohio. Now, that's not so bad.

BUT. BUT, I don't know if they bought new equipment or what but their signature sound disappeared. That's right, the air/voice compression is gone. Maybe not totally gone but most of it is gone. The compression gave them the unique sound that is RARE to find on radio stations. Songs used to sound better, heavier drums, guitar that has more bite. A sound that is more ALIVE. Now they converted to a sound that is just like a CD. Wimpy. I hate the sound quality on CDs. No bite to them at all. That's why I quite buying CD's. I download MP3's and edit them and add compression with Cool Edit 2.0. I don't dislike WEBN but I'm not hot on them anymore. One could only take so much Linkin Park, Nirvana, and AFD-era Guns n Roses (heard the songs a million times). A few things save WEBN from being complete shit, a cool mascot (THE frog), cool liners and awesome DJ's. I heard every song on their stale playlist a million times. Want classic rock in Cincy? Think 92.5 The Fox. Want new rock? Think X97.7 (The former Future of Rock and Roll). Almost makes me sad. This was THE heritage rock station before the playlist was cut in half March to April 2002. Time flies. So much for being the 36 (37 in August) year old heritage rock station. They don't even play new stuff from older artists like Tom Petty ("The Last DJ") and Aerosmith (their newest album). They didn't even air the Top 500 Albums By Rolling Stone special. Sister stations WTUE in Dayton and WIOT in Toledo did. Instead, more Linkin Park and Puddle of Mudd! They're trying too hard to be like New Rock 97.3 which is just a mediocre station at best. Worst of all, 10-12 minutes of commercials an hour. Not as big a problem as their other worries though. I hope their program director or owner would do something about these problems and return WEBN to the status as everyones favorite HERITAGE rock station since 1967! Dump Clear Channel and make WEBN independent!

SOMEBODY (NOT SOME COMPANY) BUY WEBN PLEASE! Save this radio station from corporate hell!