We moved into a house that wasn't landscaped maintained, and I have also failed at maintaining it this year. I do not like landscaping and have a few weeks here with time to attack this mess. Any suggestions for either 1) pruning, 2) ripping or 3) planting new?
I'm all for ripping out all the grasses, don't care for them, and leaving a couple of the big front and side bushes, but ripping all else and re-mulching.
Other tips for maintaining any of this if I leave any? When/how to prune these annoying grasses, bushes, etc.?

Front yard - These grasses have taken over and spread insane, also thistle is everywhere no matter how much I pull. I do not like the rose bush and again more grass types..Also a couple of small pokey bushes.

AC Side - this has always been a lame mess and now has weed and grass creeping up inbetween the grasses and a few flowers

Back corner (with HD yard bags) - Don't care for any of this and no one ever sees it. Thistle is insane here.

Side with 2 bushes - the purple-y pokey bush is fine, low maintenance. The other one is a mess with scraggily branches.

Black fence side - This is my other sore spot along with the front. I hate all of these. This does provide some neighbor privacy. There are 2 small reddish leaf tree things that are dead/dying I'm going to rip for sure. Along with a bunch of other bushes in disrepair. (3 pictures)

https://goo.gl/photos/mHr3tCUf...

If I could maintain these and know what I was doing, I might be more happy with it, but right now it's a mess and I'd be happy just having mulch.
Also, is it worth doing multiple layers of weedblock before mulching? I hear mixed opinions on weedblock, if it works or not, obviously deteriorates over time, but does just mulch really block weeds from growing?
Thanks!

It is overwhelming to me and it doesn't sound like you enjoy gardening.

You may not cotton to this, but I would hire a landscape design person to come out ...take a look what you got there..advise what you should lose and what you should keep....because it is all hidden in the overgrown stuff. Explain what you are interested and willing and able to do yourself. (or not ) and take it from there. The design person can also do a design for you that you can follow step by step at your pace. You can ask about prices. Some charge by the job ..some by the hour.

I can't get your photos to load.

Could you post them here?

I understand how it feels to be at a loss, and not know where to start.

Would help... If you were to define how you would like to use the yard, and how much neighborhood regulations define what the yard is required to be.

Personally, my yard is a butterfly habitat... All natural area, nothing mowed... And whenever anyone offers to help weed my veggie garden... I politely decline, as there are no weeds out there...
There's a bad tendency to kill anything that we didn't purchase...
And thats the worst kind of gardening anyone can do if they care at all about pollinators and other critters..... everybody needs pollinators... If they want to eat.

So... Rather than worry about bushes that I didn't like....
I think I'd be looking for what I wanted to replace them with.... And leave well enough alone until I found the perfect plant(s).

Re mulch...
Layer after layer of landscape fabric sounds messy.

Yes, a thick layer of mulch prevents seeds from germinating. Landscape fabric usually just means that the worst offenders grow.
When nutsedge and bermuda grass colonize the bed... That landscape fabric makes it very difficult to remove...

Please reconsider your goals for the yard, and then come back and talk to us about how you would prefer to spend your time.
With some pictures to look at, we might be able to help you get there.