ALBUM REVIEW: Tourist History by Two Door Cinema Club

Two Door Cinema Club are the most underrated band ever fight me

Tourist History is the debut studio album from Northern Irish indie rock band Two Door Cinema Club. It is named after their hometown's reputation as a tourist attraction (Bangor for those quizzers out there). I just really like Two Door Cinema Club and I went into this having already favourited four songs from the album. At the end of this, I favourited the whole album. Let's see what I think: Two Door Cinema Club is the pinnacle of indie rock. I know I might be exaggerating at points, but I honestly believe that Two Door Cinema Club have always been far and ahead of an incredible band and their music is just incredible as well. It really hits you when the first four songs of the album are ones that you haven't favourited, yet you somehow remember them and they're still just as brilliant as how I remember them. The singles "Something Good Can Work", "I Can Talk", "Undercover Martyn" and "What You Know" are absolute classics and I still listen to them by choice today. It's a great guitar, great vocals and overall, it is just really catchy. I found myself playing air guitar way too much during this review session. Overall, I am in love with Tourist History and you should be too.

Devil's Score: 10

ALBUM REVIEW: October by U2

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

October is the second studio album from Irish rock band U2. I dislike U2, and you probably do too (huh, I'm a poet and I didn't recognise until now). Let's just jump into this. Bland. It's really bland, to be honest. I'm looking at my score guide and it's clearly "Pretty Meh". There's some "highlights" and definitely some "lowlights". All in all, I'd say to skip this album because of 1. It's U2 and 2. It's bland as fuck.

Devil's Score: 5

ALBUM REVIEW: Paranoid by Black Sabbath

duuuuuh duuuuh duh duh duh duhduhduhduhduh duh duh duh

Paranoid is the second studio album from English rock band Black Sabbath. I'll be honest, I haven't done a review in 8 days because I've been kind of unsure about how Black Sabbath was going to be (let's not target the procrastination here). Let's get on with the review anyway. Iron Man is a great song and has that iconic guitar riff which I tried to replicate in my witty subheader (I do hope you enjoy). However, a general feel of the album is that it drags. A lot of the songs feel similar to the point that I actually felt Iron Man played twice but I think it might have been in the same song, I have no clue at this point. This could factor into my general disdain for metal, however, in general, it has good songs but not enough pizzazz.

Devil's Score: 6

ALBUM REVIEW: Clarity (Deluxe) by Zedd

ooooh EDM

Clarity was the debut studio album of Russian-German producer Zedd, released in 2012. Two of the songs from this album are ones that I remember from the radio, and those are the eponymous single with Foxes and Stay The Night with Hayley Williams. Now with the review. I had to look at my guide to truly ascertain what score I should give this album and I think I've hit it. A lot of the songs are pretty good and entertaining. However, there are some point where the album drags and some of the songs aren't up to par or not something that I'd listen to again. One song in particular, "Epos", drags like a motherfucker. All in all, it's a good album but I've seen better EDM.

Devil's Score: 7

ALBUM REVIEW: Every Kind Of People by Nick Knowles

good ol Biffy Clyro

For the context of this review, during this year's (that year being 2018) series of "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!", participant Nick Knowles revealed that he had recorded an album after meeting Biffy Clyro at a party. This led to a lot of memes and for Tag to recommend this to me back on November 21st. That's how backed up I am (This was reviewed in early December). Anyway, the music! It's quite poor. Like the music production is good, but Nick Knowles just shouldn't really be a musician. Keep to DIY SOS mate. It just gets really boring and the choice of songs really don't help it with its dragging problems. Listen to it for the memes, and then dump it into a fire.

Devil's Score: 3

ALBUM REVIEW: amo by Bring Me The Horizon

new release time

amo is the sixth studio album from British rock band Bring Me The Horizon, and before I do this review I must warn fans of Bring Me The Horizon: You are gonna hate this album and all it stands for. For the people who aren't fans or haven't heard of them yet: You're gonna really like this album. Let me break it down. Bring Me The Horizon debuted as a deathcore band but slowly moved towards Metalcore in the later albums. When it hit That's The Spirit (which has bangers), it started moving away from the more aggressive style and into something more mainstream. amo marks probably one of the biggest shifts for the artist and a shift that has been felt hard by fans. In my opinion, I like all of the songs, I think they're pretty good. I don't love them all though, some of them aren't perfect but most of them are really good. Songs like "MANTRA", "medicine" and "wonderful life" are highlights of this album and if I have to be honest, lowlights are "sugar honey ice & tea" and "why you gotta kick me when i'm down?". Overall if you're a Bring Me The Horizon fan, give it a listen out of loyalty but you're probably not gonna enjoy it. For anyone else, I'd suggest having a try of it because this is probably the path BMTH are taking.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: Spongebob's Greatest Hits by Spongebob Squarepants

did 2001 really have these poor spongebob songs?

Spongebob's Greatest Hits is a compilation album of the "greatest hits" of the Nickelodeon cartoon series Spongebob Squarepants before 2001. Firstly, WHERE THE FUCK IS SWEET VICTORY I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL KILL A BITCH. Secondly, some of these songs were terrible. How can you give me some of the best songs like "F.U.N. Song", "Campfire Song Song" and "Ripped Pants" at the very start and then give me "Where's Gary?" and "My Tighty Whiteys" straight after. Also WHAT THE FUCK IS THE GOOFY GOOBER SONG IN THIS??? It's like someone asked a low rate DJ to take the song and remix it for a club. It makes zero sense. Highlights are the start of the album, "Stadium Rave" (the song when the Jellyfish live in Spongebob's house), "Goofy Goober Rock" (despite the lack of scat singing) and "The Best Day Ever". Overall, there are good songs on there, but some of the songs are utterly shite. I think this score is slightly boosted by nostalgia, but the nostalgic songs were good.

Devil's Score: 6

ALBUM REVIEW: I_CON by De Staat

I_CON... more like CON_I go now?

I_CON is the third studio album from Dutch alternative rock band De Staat. If we use this album to test out the brand new Devil's Empirical Score Guide™ (Editor's Note: Yeah I no longer have the Devil's Empirical Score Guide™), I'd put this as "shows promise". The first song absolutely subverted my expectations. To start your album off with a 19 second clip of your guitarist screwing up the opening of the song in an acoustic manner to transition perfectly into the actual song and then unload rock music on me. At that point, it had set me up good and ready to take it in.... then it went and it went and it went. It took a decline after the opening song, which I have seen before. Despite some good songs that were in the album later, the damage had already been made, what with there being some odd songs that didn't sound right and that dreaded dragging feeling. All in all, the first song is actually really good, but the curtain doesn't match the drapes.

Devil's Score: 6

ALBUM REVIEW: A Night At The Opera by Queen

ah, bohemian rhapsody... mwah

A Night At The Opera was the fourth studio album by legendary rock band Queen, released in 1975. To say this sounded like a very experimental album is an understatement. At first, I thought that Bohemian Rhapsody was going to be the only stand out of this album, but I was proven wrong. With the variety of instruments and genres, Queen had spent so much money on producing this album, being the most expensive album to produce at the time. For personal opinion, the album starts and ends really well. "Death On Two Legs" had me surprised as I didn't expect much from the undercard of a Queen album, and even though the album ends with a minute long guitar cover of "God Save The Queen", the prior song is the legendary "Bohemian Rhapsody". There were some songs in the album that didn't really take my fancy, sometimes sounding a bit too odd, but songs like "You're My Best Friend", "'39" and "Sweet Lady" make this album for me. Overall, this album was an experimental album done right: great songs and no confusing decisions.


Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: Cassini (5th Anniversary Remaster) by Sithu Aye

and the Sithu Aye trilogy is complete

Cassini was Sithu Aye's first studio release when it was brought to people's ears in 2011. In 2016, the remaster was released, and in my opinion, it's really good. The guitar shredding is still great and it's really mesmerizing how it's kind of meshed guitar with space. It's pretty sick. Despite that, this album did give a feeling of drag. At times, I felt like it was going on for a long time and at points, I had zoned out. Overall though, the majority is great.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: Senpai EP II: The Noticing by Sithu Aye

okay, maybe it is slightly weeby

So, I decided to do some more background check on the artist. Sithu Aye is a Scottish-Burmese guitarist who normally deals with prog metal. Now that's out of the way, The Noticing. It's a great EP yet again. There's something about the shredding of a guitar, but it hits me. It really does. The names of the songs crack me up and each song is just amazing. This EP does clock in at 22 minutes, 9 minutes longer than the previous, but it's still a great EP.

Devil's Score: 9

ALBUM REVIEW: Senpai - EP by Sithu Aye

biggest expectation subversion ever

When I first saw the name Sithu Aye, I thought "oh jeez it's gonna be one of those boring foreign music artists who drags on for over an hour". Then I realised what Senpai - EP would mean and thought "okay maybe it will be something like Moshi Moshi". AND THEN MY BOY FUCKING PULLS A FUCKING GUITAR EP ON ME. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was when the opening track "Oh Shit, I'm Late For School!" played and I realised that I was gonna get Polyphia vibes all over again. Literally, the whole EP is an amazing collection of guitar and I wholly suggest you listen. I mean, it's only 13 minutes long.

Devil's Score: 9

ALBUM REVIEW: All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell by PVRIS

the next best thing since Paramore

PVRIS is an American rock band spearheaded by female vocalist Lynn Gunn. AWKOHAWNOH is the second studio album from the 7-year-old band. I was aware of PVRIS before this review, but I hadn't listened to much of them, mainly due to lethargy on my part, however, this album is really good. The lead single "Heaven" is one I somehow recognise and it's a really good song. The vocals have emotion in them, the music is catchy and it's great. In fact, for most of this album, the music is actually really good and didn't drag. I remember checking how long I've got left and it was on the second to the last song. Basically, this album is catchy rock that doesn't drag at all. Great stuff.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: Late Registration by Kanye West

an album does not two hit singles save

Late Registration is the second studio album from the man now known as Ye. Honestly, I'll admit that I do love "Touch The Sky" and "Gold Digger" as they are just jams. Now on to the rest of it. I found most of it very boring and I just didn't really like much of it. Don't get me wrong, it's good rapping, but there's something missing. It doesn't feel like the album clicks together, and comparing this to his previous album The College Dropout, this massively disappoints me. All in all, songs didn't really stand out apart from the hit singles and it left me feeling deflated.

Devil's Score: 6

ALBUM REVIEW: The Incredible True Story by Logic

okay, under pressure wasn't a fluke

When Keith and Koli both suggested Logic albums in tandem, I was annoyed. After listening to YSIV, I had put myself on the "Fuck Logic" train, the train that I now regret getting on after listening to the two Logic albums I was suggested. While Under Pressure was a pretty good album, I found The Incredible True Story (TITS for short) great. Firstly, there's still the dialogue and scenes which do overwhelm sometimes, but the space theme and comedy did make me chuckle at times and I didn't find them irritating. The songs are actually great. You would not believe how many times I got lost into the music. All in all, The Incredible True Story is the best Logic album that I have listened to, and I think it deserves a shot score.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: Under Pressure by Logic

well, there goes my "Fuck Logic" merch deal

Under Pressure was the first studio album from American rapper Logic. Previously on the series, I made the bold statement "Fuck Logic". Today, I must rescind that statement and replace it with "Fuck Today's Logic". I found this album actually really good, despite the robotic commentary between each track. Somehow he managed to pull off the dialogue better in this album, which is extremely nice, and the intro was 3 minutes this time, which was extremely pleasant to hear. Overall, I was bopping to it hard, but certain features give it an average score.

Devil's Score: 7

ALBUM REVIEW: Apocalyptic Love by Slash

this slashed into my free time... get it?

Apocalyptic Love is a 2012 album from former Guns 'n' Roses guitarist Slash. To say this album dragged on is an understatement, at many times, I had to check how long it was until the album ended, only to see that there were like 5 more tracks left. Perhaps it was that I was trying to focus during this album review, but it felt irritating at some points and just didn't really help me enjoy the music. All in all, it's good rock but not for me.

Devil's Score: 6

ALBUM REVIEW: Soul Punk by Patrick Stump

fall out boy? more like... soul out boy!

Soul Punk was the solo project of Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump during their hiatus between 2010 and 2012. He wrote, produced and played every instrument for this album and if you listen to this album, you can realise how great an artist Patrick Stump is. To move from the pop-punk style of Fall Out Boy to something more soulful was never going to be impossible for Stump, who naturally has a soulful voice, but the way this is put together is great. So many of the songs are great to listen to and a lot of them had me bopping in my chair. "This City" stands as one of my favourites from this album and for a pure solo project to be this great, I applaud Patrick Stump for his efforts. Even though this album may have bombed commercially, it should stand as an amazing passion project.

Devil's Score: 9

ALBUM REVIEW: Black Holes And Revelations by Muse

i do love a bit of Muse

The 5th studio release from rock band Muse, Black Holes And Revelations may be one of my favourite Muse albums. Starlight, Supermassive Black Hole and Knights of Cydonia are absolute classic Muse songs, and the rest of the album is amazing rock music that is extremely unique. Not all of it is great, and I wouldn't put it up there with my best albums, but it still is a stellar album with some absolute banging singles.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: Metallic Butterfly by Princess Nokia

this shit bangs

I will admit that Metallic Butterfly is better than A Girl Cried Red. Princess Nokia is an NYC rapper who expanded and re-released this 2014 mixtape this year with Rough Trade Records. The opening is slightly too arty for me, but when it gets into the music, it's pretty great. I noticed the quality improve specifically at "Biohazard Butterfly", the 5th track on the mixtape. The rap is actually really good, but the music production on this is actually really impressive and is one of my favourite parts of the album. All in all, I'd suggest having a listen to this re-release, even if you're a bit mainstream.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: Staying At Tamara's by George Ezra

oh I love a bit of George Ezra

The fact that this album was released in March of this year and I still haven't got round to listening to it all is amazing, and it comes to a bigger surprise when I listen and recognise songs that are on there but I completely forgot were from this year, for example, "Don't Matter Now". I will say that I enjoyed Wanted On Voyage a bit more than this, despite this having the two bangers that are "Shotgun" and "Paradise". George Ezra is just an amazing musician and the amount of success he's had this year is surely deserved. The whole album is really beautiful and I have no regrets in giving it the upcoming score.

Devil's Score: 9

ALBUM REVIEW: Atrocity Exhibition by Danny Brown

well, the album title is right

Atrocity Exhibition is the sixth studio release from Detroit rapper Danny Brown. In his Spotify About page, it says about his vivid, vulgar and side-splitting rhymes, however all I find them are irritating. His flow sounds like a rat in human form, an annoying nasal voice trying to go quick. In addition, I listened to the first song "Downward Spiral" and it made me contemplate never listening to the rest of this album. Parts of the album are okay, especially the Kendrick Lamar feature (you'll be hearing this a lot probably). Like literally, Danny Brown just annoys me and I seriously cannot listen to any more of it because even though I get why some people might like it, I really do not like it.

Devil's Score: 3

(EDITOR'S NOTE: okay, Ain't It Funny isn't that bad in retrospective)

ALBUM REVIEW: Oxnard by Anderson .Paak

Oxnard is the third studio album solely released by Californian artist Anderson .Paak. I've reviewed an album by the artist before (Malibu got an 8/10), so I had some expectations going into it. I will say that the Kendrick Lamar feature on "Tints" was great, and so was Snoop Dogg's feature on "Anywhere". As for the solo work from Anderson, there were some good parts but at times I found myself a bit impatient with the music and didn't enjoy it that much. Nevertheless, it was a good album and I'd suggest having a listen to "Tints".

Devil's Score: 7

ALBUM REVIEW: Am I A Girl? by Poppy

i'm howtobasic poppy

Poppy is an interesting character. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, I had actually listened to Poppy prior to this album review. Part of my Discover Weekly Gems playlist with Kira was "Lowlife", which was on Poppy's Bubblebath EP, and of course, I had seen her bizarre and astounding YouTube channel. Now, with the album, it is pretty fire. Each song brings a new style with it, and her voice is really perfect for the music business. Like a lot of the songs are very distinct from each other and they don't really blend into one song if you understand me. There's a very artistic vibe coming from Am I A Girl? which isn't really unexpected. I will say that I love Poppy's collaboration with Diplo "Time Is Up", as it's just a general great song, "The Rapture Ball", which has one of the best fucking chorus instrumentals, and "Am I A Girl?", which goes so fucking heavy in the chorus and completely surprised me. Overall, it is a great album that has a slow start but really hits its stride once you hit the middle and through to the end, where somehow it gets more metal as you reach the end. ...oh yeah, take a shot.

Devil's Score: 8

ALBUM REVIEW: DiCaprio 2 by JID

this ain't it chief

JID is a hip-hop artist from East Atlanta. This is his second studio album and I did not enjoy it. JID has a voice that kind of irritated me in a sense like I really did not enjoy sitting through this one. The ad-libs are kinda meh and the interludes are kinda shitty. I know this may be a controversial opinion, but I didn't enjoy it. It had some merit, but Nah.

Devil's Score: 4