Before:

After: 

Also, that second picture was AFTER I got it fixed from the first cut, which was horrible

I had this great, long, detailed review that I was halfway done with but it ended up getting deleted so I’m keeping it brief

Grade: C+
Contra is a very interesting album, as it has many different sounds and styles, yet is very approachable. The album is very light, clean, and fun to listen to. I felt it was missing some consistency throughout the album, meaning that it was too superficial-sounding even though the lyrics were interesting enough. I did like the use of different instruments but I think they crammed too many in a single song when it was unnecessary.

Grade: A
The Moon and Antarctica is terrific album that shows what Modest Mouse is all about in one hour. Every single track was it’s own entity but they all melded together to form small contrasting movements which keep an ethereal theme throughout them. The album keeps you at the edge of your seat the entire time, changing the sound from song to song, yet keeping the same tone. The use of vocal and instrumental layering in the second set of songs was extremely well done, with Isaac Brock haunting you with his poetry of the afterlife. The album also uses it’s fair share of backwards instrumentals and electrical-acoustic transitions, as well as twangy, distorted riffs that add gritty sound whenever needed. The Moon and Antarctica is by no means a “classic rock” album, but it is definitely a great one.

Grade: A-

Hospice is an awesome album. The vocals were just so beautiful and intimate. At times there was more empty noise than I think there should have been, but great producing and instrumental parts on every other part of the album. The lyrics were such a treat to listen to. I would have liked a wider variety of songs but all of the tracks really fit with the album’s general theme. It has all these great little details throughout the whole album. I found it hard to listen to the whole album all the way through, but what I mean by that is I felt there just wasn’t enough contrast from track to track so after a while it just felt like I was just listening to one really long song. I really did enjoy as a whole though

Grade: B+
Hail to the Thief is an excellent album that pushes the boundaries Radiohead had set in it’s previous albums. A combination of all that Radiohead had done, this album is a stepping stone of sorts. While the tracks themselves are great with pleasing beats and lyrics, the content of the album was just the beginning of where the band was going next. Some tracks like A Wolf At The Door had an elegant, warm sound while others had a mixture of complex, emotional, and fast-paced feels to them. Everything in this album made sense and sounded great, and at times, almost heart-breaking. I would call it a “filler” album, because I felt it was just the band dumping all of their ideas at the time and re-creating their sound again. It was a necessary thing to make so they could move on to In Rainbows. It’s not my favorite album of theirs but it definitely receives plenty of recognition.