Jerk Music Critic: Rush, Moving Pictures

Quite possibly one of the finest progressive rock albums ever recorded, and certainly the best work by the Toronto trio of their discography. Part of it is the level of restraint: compared to their prior output Neil Peart didn't go too crazy with the lyrics or nuts with the themes, Geddy Lee didn't shriek too loud and Alex Lifeson just kept on doing what he does. But most of it is the level of skill: from the very first note of the dazzling synthesizers on "Tom Sawyer" all the way to the reggae-esque "Vital Signs," the recording is flawless, the music is fascinating and the depth of production is enthralling. I rank "Tom Sawyer" highest because of its unmistakable mix of pounding synth and crashing guitars, and the band thoughtfully picked that highest of high points to lead off with, but "Red Barchetta" positively wraps you up in the lyrics with its breathless storybook denouement, and the amazing long instrumental intro of "The Camera Eye" sets you right in the middle of the thematic action. There are relative low points — "Witch Hunt" gets a little tedious, even if its political overtones are a timeless warning to any generation, and both "Limelight" and "Vital Signs" are technically accomplished but noticeably more ordinary than the rest — but they are indeed just relative and don't really drag the album down any. Combine that with an amazing triple visual pun from the art department and you have something Canada can be rightfully prouder of than Kraft Dinner. And I really like Kraft Dinner. Probably Tom Sawyer would too. (Content: no concerns.)

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Express Yourself

The Jerk Music Critic is a collection of amateur music reviews I wrote largely non-professionally between the 1990s and today. Some of these reviews are contemporary and some are retrospective, and a few are rather dated, but all are intended to be free-standing and permanent records of my completely worthless musical opinion. They are presented in no particular order and "new" reviews that occur may actually be simply prior ones I've only now transcribed. Older reviews have been edited to hopefully remove inaccuracies later revealed, as well as add brief content advisories (see "Smash the PMRC") and, where reissues exist with different tracks, brief commentaries on these later additions (the actual star review was not altered).

If you're looking for a specific artist, or just interested to see what I really liked (or really didn't), "When I Break Down" indexes reviews by artist and by number of stars awarded (see "Star Chart" for an explanation).

As we move deeper into the Internet music age where the album format might seem hopelessly antiquated, there is still some artistic value in the LP to those artists who still take advantage of it, and some of these recordings can only be properly appreciated in that context. I hope you enjoy these reviews and recommendations, and don't take them too seriously. — Cameron Kaiser

Star Chart

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An instant classic. Substantially advances/d the state of the art, either technologically, stylistically, or (preferentially) both, and is outstanding music besides. Buy it.

🌟🌟🌟🌟
A excellent album. Nearly every song is a gem; nearly every piece is a winner. Falls short of 5 stars for want of that certain special something, but the difference is in impact, not in musical quality. Buy it.

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Solid. Mostly good songs with a few clinkers. Salvageable with a good playlist. Buy it cheap.

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Mixed. Some good songs stand out, but not enough to make it listenable as a whole. Buy the good songs on iTunes.

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Bad. One or two tracks of even decent quality. Buy the good songs cheap on iTunes.

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How did this get released?

Smash the PMRC

I don't advocate for censorship or unnuanced black and white stickers, but I do advocate for parents being able to raise kids in the way they see fit, which might include introducing albums of controversial yet artistic merit at a point in their child's life when they can better appreciate it. The content summaries are intended to be a very general guide, reflective of only my own personal sensibilities and mine alone, and do not substitute in any way for a parent actually sitting down and listening to the album themselves. If you excessively rely on my content advisories, then I'm the one raising your kid, and you really don't want that.