Great records take time. Right Johnny Marr?

What makes a great record?
               What makes a great record review?
   Who cares?

1 free ride:   This record stinks.
2 free rides: This record is okay.
3 free rides: This record is pretty damn good.
4 free rides: This record is great.
5 free rides: This record is a work of genius.

Johnny Marr "The Messenger" 3.5 free rides. Better than pretty damn good but not great.
Johnny Marr is best known as the guitarist of the legendary band The Smiths.  I was never a fan of that band but man alive this album has made me a fan of the man.  His guitar playing and layering is quite remarkable all over this record.  Two songs are possibly the best two back to back songs I have heard in years.  "Upstarts" and "Lockdown" are so good they will make playlists all over the world.  It's saying quite a lot for a guy who has been playing for so many years to put out possibly the most promising album of his career at this stage in the game.  Highlights: "Upstarts", "Lockdown", and "I Want The Heartbeat".

Youth Lagoon "Wondrous Bughouse" 2 free rides.  This is ok but... zzzzz...
Much like the album cover the music inside is a little psychedelic, a little childlike, and only a little interesting.  Youth Lagoon is a one-man project spewing forth from the head of Trevor Powers.  Trevor shows much talent in finding and layering interesting sounds but shows some weakness as a songwriter.  There are not a lot of hooks on this record.  I can see how some will like this but it's just making me sleepy.  Highlights: "Dropia".

Suuns "Images du Futur" 2 free rides.  Good but needs something.
I don't know anything about this band and this record is really not making me want to do any research on them at all.  "Images du Futur" is the perfect title for these songs.  Moody, different, but for the most part it doesn't really come together and make sense.  Suuns needs to stop listening to Radiohead and crank up some classic AC/DC records.  A few righteous riffs wouldn't hurt this record.
Highlights: "Mirror Mirror" and "Holocene City".

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