[MB.]

I'll edit in a review if I have time but score-wise it's a 9.5

[Doogle]

I never thought she had it in her given how strong Idler Wheel was but somehow she managed to take the best elements of that album, with experimental sounds she began to explore with songs like Hot Knife and perfect them. But not perfecting them in a way that sounds polished and finished because that would go against the very essence of Miss Apple. Instead, she doubled down on her anger and anxieties and poured it all into this album which showcases the very best of Fiona Apple’s songwriting. A couple of months have passed since the album release but it’s worth noting how important it was for an anticipated album like this coming at a time where the entire world stopped. Fiona had a lot of people’s attention and she decided to use that to be more outspoken than ever before. The messy production compliments the rawness of the lyrics well and it’s surprisingly digestible for an album with dog noises and Björk esque dolphin impersonations. Fiona knew exactly how to follow up her past work but you can tell she released this with no regard for how it would be received. An effortless attempt and I would die for her. For me it’s the perfect album. No skips, incomparable storytelling and bops like Rack of His make this a joy from start to finish.

10/10

Highlights: Under The Table, Rack of His, For Her, Drumset

(I’ve not written anything proper in ages I’d like to delve properly into what I like about particular tracks but I’m not Pitchfork and I kinda fear the judgement so hope this will suffice!)

[Marsh.]

Doogle Scott clocked me for saying I liked Drumset.

[Shaun]

OK, after 11 reviews Fiona Apple ends up with an aggregate score of 82, indicating universal acclaim!

People can still submit reviews for previous rounds and I might wedge them into the actual score if they didn't get that many reviews.

Onto album 4, then... and I can't remember what I said the original five would be I'm tempted to opt for something that I know TiBB would pan but that seems counter-intuitive if the point of the game is to find stuff we enjoy.

Okay, kinda major album release a month or so ago: we're reviewing Notes On A Conditional Form by The 1975. The band's fourth LP, it currently has mixed reviews and is most likely polarising due to frontman Matt Healy (Denise Welsh's son, no less!) and his weird tirades. I believe he's currently in hiding for promoting his song in relation to the BLM movement. Hmm. Anyway. This album has 22 tracks and is 80 minutes long so I guess I'm testing everyone's limits and attention spans.

[Smithy]

Originally Posted by Shaun

I'm tempted to opt for something that I know TiBB would pan but that seems counter-intuitive

we're reviewing Notes On A Conditional Form by The 1975.

[Jessica.]

I might have to listen in two halves

[Jake.]

not 80 minutes

[Samm]

[Jessica.]

I just started the album Oh no

[DouglasS]

This is a good album

[Jordan.]

I wanna start by saying I do like this band and probably consider myself a 'casual fan' so aren't just gonna trash them for the sake of it, however I really struggle to enjoy their albums for the most part. It seems for every great song they make they add about 5 filler or just outright tedious instrumental tracks that do nothing but make the albums feel disjointed and a chore to get through. It's disappointing because I was quite looking forward to this based on the singles they had put out, Me & You Together song being one of my favourites of the year but when I saw the tracklist and runtime length I immediately knew it was gonna be a rough ride. Also for an album that definitely isn't lacking in content I struggled to find any real standouts outside of the singles. I really hope in future they just put their focus onto making 10-12 solid & coherent songs that they're more than capable of and stop doing TOO MUCH and ruining the overall quality in the process.

Highlights - Me & You Together Song, Jesus Christ 2005, Guys, People, If You're Too shy

5/10

[Jake.]

Notes On a Conditional Yawn Review

From the albums opener, this was just a mess from the off. Every other track felt like an unnecessary interlude, the different mix of genres didn’t blend well at all and the whole thing was easily double the running time it should have been.

There’re a few which stood out but other than that, it just felt non-coherent and silly So far, I’ve listened to every album at least 3 times but you can get to **** if you think I’m going to spend another 160 minutes of my existence listening to this again. I don’t know if it’s just a case of too much going on, but the end result is pretty flat.

Tracks I Might Keep: People, Nothing Revealed / Everything Denied, If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know), What I Should Say, Guys

Album Rating: 3.5/10

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

Can we start doing old albums instead of just new releases and can liz phair’s exile in guyville be first

[Shaun]

no and no!

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

Trash!

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

Arca and haim next week?

[Samm]

sawayama will be coming yes?

[Nicky91]

Gigaton next

[Tom4784]

Notes on a Conditional Form

Matt Healy needs to learn, understand and implement one thing into his work and that thing is editing. I think I've said this about most albums in this thread so far but this album is the biggest offender of simply being too long for no good reason. There's plenty of songs and interludes that add little to the album and serve no purpose other than to be skipped on future listens.

The first half of the album is meandering, pretentious and a plain bore to get through and it just goes on forever. The first time I listened to the album when it came out, it was enough to almost make me give up on the album but the second half manages to pull things back with a string of mostly good songs that I immediately added to my liked songs playlist on Spotify.

Honestly, if you got rid of the first half of the album then I'd score it way higher but that first half was just plain painful. I'm not going to spotlight songs I did like since that would be most of the second half while the songs I despised were all in the first half.

Too much of something is often a bad thing and that's where this album went wrong, when it's good, it's great but I don't think the album works as a body of work all together since it's just a ball ache to listen to all together. In order to make a good album great, sometimes you have to trim the fat and I hope the mixed response to this album teaches the 1975 that as I did really enjoy their other albums.

I'm gonna give this album a 5/10 simply because the songs I do like, I like them a lot but there's just too much filler and needless **** that it dilutes the album completely into something that's just mediocre. This is the album equivalent of Joslyn Fox falling on a rack in Claire's boutique.

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

I really enjoyed their last album but i’m not even bothering with this one bc of the poor reception and the fact that it’s like an hour and a half long like who has the time

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by Fetch The Bolt Cutters

I really enjoyed their last album but i’m not even bothering with this one bc of the poor reception and the fact that it’s like an hour and a half long like who has the time

The second half is good but the first half is just mind bogglingly bad.

[Smithy]

Genuine suggestions for the next one

Fine Line - Harry Styles
Ungodly Hour - Chloe x Halle
Dedicated (Side B) - Carly Rae
I’m Your Empress Of - Empress Of
Sawayama - Rina Sawayama

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Smithy

Fine Line - Harry Styles

A lovely 2019 suggestion! Fag!

[Smithy]

(I will get around to this one either this evening or in the next couple of days)

[Shaun]

Sawayama will be one eventually yes, and I think I will do a "live" release for next week's with HAIM releasing.

Other already released ones that are definitely being used: Grimes, Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, Perfume Genius, Chloe x Halle, Rina Sawayama and Tame Impala
And other yet-to-be-released ones that are definitely being used: Lana Del Rey, Katy Perry, Drake

There are 27 weeks left of the year for this to be "a thing" and whilst it may be optimistic to still be going at the end of December, I think 27 albums on top of what we've already done is fair enough. I've named 11 of them, so that still leaves 16 up for suggestions. I have some, but I've pretty much just dictated 15 already.