Album Reviews

He said so perfectly what I have always thought. I LOVE Michael's reviewing style (professional, informative and FUN), however, Liu is just childish. Probably because he is a CHILD. DEFINITELY doesnt understand the "arguably wise" GIFT that Michael has bestowed upon him. All the attention he has gotten will fuel the fire of arrogance and the sense of self importance which i feel might be detrimental to his development as a QUALITY young man in the future.

And btw, just because he can write above his age bracket doesnt mean anything. I could as well in my youth. But, its not so much HOW you write, its more WHAT you write that is in question. I dont see how anybody could think he would wow anyone with his wisdom. He doesnt have any yet.... I dont know, I just think this is damaging his developing character.

Any way we could check the ages of the people who get worked up by Malachi?

Great job hooking those older fish, Malachi.

I recently met a 13 year old record collector who I referred here just because of Malachi and the inclusiveness of this place.

She's a big John Denver fan...SHE SAYS HE IS THE GREATEST ARTIST OF ALL TIME, BY THE WAY. So, you may not get along, but keep an eye out, she's way cool.

;-D

Keep up the fine hyperbolic work, Malachi, but be warned...

You are stuck with Kanye, now. If, in 5 years, you have found another greatest artist of all time, you won't have credibility. You only get to play the "greatest artist, living or dead, of all time, unarguably" one time, then you gotta ride that horse....even beyond Old Town Road.

Cheers, man.

___

Thread drift: are you a Yeezy sneaker-head, at all? I think they look pretty darned good, actually. Perhaps not the greatest shoes of all time, unarguably, but not bad!

marketer of all time.

No matter your (likely misguided) opinion of him

Stopped reading after that. Some kid telling me my opinion is likely misguided doesn't encourage me to read a word more. Grow up and accept that people who have a different opinion to yours aren't misguided.

Dear Michael, These reviews are just embarrassing and painful to read. Give us all a break and invite Malachi to take a break for a couple of years. I do not enjoy adding to the criticism of a 14 year old kid, but these entries really diminish the quality of your site. The tone is just arrogant and immature--even Malachi will thank you in a couple of years if you shut this down for a while.

Can I just suggest to some of the commentators here to take a good long look at themselves before writing some of the mean-spirited comments regarding Malachi. If you find his articles not to your taste, don't read them. Simple. Obviously Malachi provides a different perspective versus some of the reader's tastes, but he shares no less of a passion for the subject matter and diversity of opinion and content should be welcomed. Like a lot of the commentators here, I don't agree with Malachi's reverence for Kanye but I can very much relate to the intensity and passion he has for some of the artists and know well enough that those relationships which (I'm sure we have all had with artists) often mature or fade away with passing years, life phases and evolving tastes. Its obviously silly to label any artist the greatest of all time, but that's youth for you. Try and encourage expression and passion for the subject rather than silencing the youth shamelessly and bitterly as if they have nothing to contribute.

.... I appreciate the thoroughness of ML's details about recording and packaging elements, sound quality, and other facets and variables, as well as his interest in and awareness of artistic minutiae and marketing. I think Kanye can be as brilliant as he is erratic, and that a clear-headed appreciation of his artistic virtues is often clouded by the self-indulgences of his public persona. I know I have done a 180 spin on his albums more than once!

Why do some people get so worked up about reviews?
Music and art are totally subjective. I know what I like, try to be open minded about other opinions, and refuse to get all upset about what anyone else thinks.
It's rather strange to see all these "grownups" sounding like little kids here. It's not like Malachi is going to break into your place, steal all your LPs and replace them with Kanye...

And we wonder why our hobby and this industry is dying a slow death.

The hostility toward a young, fellow audiophile who has different tastes than you is unbelievable. I appreciate Michael's foresight to bring in a young voice and talented writer. Malachi, I don't agree but I love the perspective. What a horrific little microcosm of our current world and the inability to be open minded to other points of view. I thought music lovers would have been a bit better. Keep it up Malachi.

Mid 50s white male writing from the other side of the world.
Your country is burning to the ground both literally and morally. Your youth are acting like animals... dragging people from their cars and kicking the shit out of them. Looting what they think is rightfully theirs. The youth brought up by irreligious progressive liberal parents. Can you imagine these kids being brought up on an LP like this?

Hold the selfies, put the 'Gram away. Get your family, y'all hold hands and pray.
When you got daughters, always keep 'em safe. Watch out for vipers, don't let them indoctrinate

Lifelike, this is what your life like, try to live your life right
People really know you, push your buttons like type write
This is like a movie, but it's really very lifelike
Every single night right, every single fight, right?
I was looking at the 'Gram and I don't even like likes
I was screamin' at my Dad, he told me, "It ain't Christ-like"

I am not religious, but Kanye is born again and this record is needed more than ever. We live in clown world where 'men' can now mensturate and breastfeed and 'women' can break records deadlifting weights previously unheard of in women's sports. University professors can be sacked for teaching kids that there are alternate points of view to what's now being preached. What a godforsaken world we are now living in.

Jesus Is King is up there with 2013s punk masterpiece Yeezus. Kanye owns his autotune like Frampton owned the vocoder. He is a free thinker that is rightfully appalled that you can be beaten up for wearing a red cap. That is reason in itself to rebel against the progressives. And he knows it better than anyone. Is he a genius?... that's a big call and way too soon to even ask. But he has made 2 masterpieces IMHO.

The big question for me is where to file this LP: Next to Yeezus in my Punk section, or Rap, or Electronic, or nuzzled up next to The Soul Stirrers in the Gospel section?

...but this type of garbage is testing the limits.

Is what I'd say if I were 90. When this sort of disagreement arises it's helpful to concentrate on areas of general agreement. I would humbly submit that most of us would admit:

1 - At age 14, our tastes in music and our debating skills had a long way to go.
2 - Mr. Lui provides a useful service insofar as he gives an understandable description of the music under review, which in turn allows the reader to decide whether or not a given record might be his or her cup of tea.
3 - Some music is recognizably excellent (we can probably all agree on Count Basie for example) and some things are clearly crapola (the person whose work engendered this discussion leaps to mind) but in between those extremes there's a wealth of good music. I can't defend my disdain for Mahler but I won't question someone else's enthusiasm for his music.
4 - This website doesn't cost anyone a plug nickel so in the absence of offensive speech or ad hominem attacks perhaps we can just skip the bits we don't like?

I don't buy the argument that thrusting a child like Greta Thunberg to the forefront of the climate movement is some kind of age-inappropriate thougtcrime, so I'm not going to complain about doing the same in vinyl audiophilia.

Having said that:

1) My feelings about Kanye West are mixed and complicated, but the idea tha out-of-context tabloid hot takes are the only possible source of stuff that makes this genius-slash-hot mess look bad is pure fanaticism. My primary source of Kanye coverage in recent years has been the New York Times, where Jon Caramanica reports exhaustively on every new KW initiative with the loving sttention due to someone he clearly believes is akin to a reincarnation of Michelangelo. Mainly I try to pay close attention to the direct, unfiltered stuff Kanye West releases, says, and does, much of it brilliant (and some of it unwell). To me he’s a major artist, a sometimes great artist, and sometimes a cruel, self-subverting Britney-wearing-no-underwear kind of sad artist.

2) My real problem with this young reviewer is that at 14 he seems to have a vinyl-buying budget vastly outstripping mine at 64. That's just wrong.

And should be a mandatory listen upon waking daily, Malachai included of course until "said" affliction subsides sufficiently.

Coheed and Cambria's "You've Got Spirit Kid"

IMO Mr. West is not the greatest of all time. In fact he's not in the first 100. Sales figures usually have little to do with talent or the actual worth of the music. That's certainly the case here.

When I was 14 I thought everything new that I heard was the next best thing to sliced bread. As I've matured and learned I now realize that most of those feelings were because "whatever" was something new and different. IOW my experience didn't have enough scope to make the sort of pronunciations Malachi regularly makes.

I truly believe that as Malachi becomes a little more mature his enthusiasm for acts like Kanye will be tempered b y some experience.

FWIW: I have two of Kanye's releases. They are The College Dropout and Late registration. Neither gets much if any play in my house. I was and am extremely disappointed at what I bought. I seriously doubt if his latest will get bought by me, let alone being on any of my playlists.

One person's rock is another person's diamond. Which is to say that where a particular musician or writer falls within music history's pecking order is always open to debate, and differing opinions. Which is why I think the use of the word "indisputably" as used in this context is misplaced. Grass grows. It is a fact. It is not disputable. Whether Kanye is the greatest music artist since the discovery of fire is opinion, and therefore is disputable.

The Beatles or Stones in 1965? I'm not aware of anyone who crowned them among the greatest music artists of all time based upon their output through 1965. And, yes, they branched out into lunchboxes. Why is John Coltrane so revered? Because there is barely a saxophone musician playing jazz today who has not been influenced by him. We're still listening fifty years later. Coltrane in 1965? Important, yes. But not the jazz icon he is today.

An argument for them being among the greatest of all time is, in part, their influences on musicians not alive when they were creating their music, or the number of music artists from other music genres who pay homage by recording, for example, Beatles music. Like fine whiskey (or whisky, if you prefer), it is the benefit of time which often clarifies, and perhaps defines, greatness.

Will Kanye's music be relevant to listeners and other musicians forty years from now? Maybe. Will Kanye be known in forty years for his music, or because his name is on some trinkets? Who knows? One of the problems I notice in youth (my kids included) is that they are not aware of the effects of time. On everything. They lack patience. They are the center of the universe. Let's have this conversation in thirty years. Make that twenty five. I have a better chance of being around.

Malachi,

Ok not currently a fan of Kanye but ready to purchase one of his LP’s based on your enthusiasm. At my local record store, Plaid room records, These 3 are available:

-Jesus is King
-808s & Heartbreak
-Late Registration

Wondering which of these 3 Kanye LP’s you recommend and why?

Regards,
Kevin L Westerbeck