Picture Book

Was never a fan. Boring.

Daryl Hall is nowhere on this list and this dude is?

Simply meh.

Er egentlig overrasket over hvor godt jeg synes det her var, da det er jo er sådan soul agtig sophisti-pop som jeg normalt bare ville synes var sådan lidt meh. Men der er virkelig mange gode og catchy sange på og jeg har faktisk lyttet en del til det i baggrunden, fordi det bare er godt? Det må jeg sgu indrømme. Synes det har en virkelig god stemning.

Perfectly fine and incredibly lame

Pretty good overall!

found this surprisingly nice to listen to. High quality. Never really to the point that a song will become a favorite, but much beter than I thought

I remember loving Simply Red in the 80s, but it didn’t hold up for me.

I was skeptical of this record when I that 80s pop synth bass first started on "Come to My Aid." Sometimes that electric piano mid-80s pop turns me off. I was too young and too Baptist to be aware of music like this when Picture Book was released in 1985. By the time I was forming my own music tastes a few years later, we were deliberately rejecting the slick production of me-generation top-40 soul. But by the time the toms kick in over the piano a few seconds into the song, my interest was piqued. Then, four songs in, I was treated to a surprise cover of Talking Heads' "Heaven," a personal favorite song of mine. "Even if this music is a little corny, at least Simply Red has good taste," I thought. This is like the blue-eyed soul of Culture Club with a dash of Prince. Not bad. By the time "Jericho" and "Money's Too Tight" came through, I had started to be impressed by the lovely production and arrangements on this album. When the album finished with "Picture Book," I became clearly aware that this pop album wasn't all about the hooks; it was all about the groove. I was sold after that. In addition to the excellent musicality of this album is the fact that Mick Hucknall can sing his ass off. Really. This dude wails out soul music with the skill of a trained vocalist and the passion and intensity left over from his early punk days. It would have been easy for me to dismiss Picture Book as an overproduced, slick, cold mid-80s release. Instead, it has become somewhat of a hidden gem for me, which seems a bit silly since it was a hit record when it came out. Four stars.

Holding Back The Years

Great to finally listen to because I’ve always found ‘Mick Hucknall’ to be a great punchline.

There are many reasons to dislike Manchester United, but their association with this pillock and his whining drivel is definitely a big one. This is timelessly awful. And what is it with these terrible covers of songs by credible artists?

Simply horrendous. I gave it a chance, and to be fair, some of the bass riffs aren’t bad (reminded me a little of chic in places) but the lackadaisical approach to drums, synths, percussion and banal singing was dire. The cover of ‘heaven’ in particular sucked any life and soul out of it, ironic for a band that tended to badge themselves as soul music.

espectacular, está lleno de clásicos que nunca supe identificar. el mejor disco para un domingo de recuperación post gripe

Amazed how good this was, what a voice even if he is a bit of a prick

I don't understand the hate. I mean, sure; it's rather bland and nothing I would put in my play list. But at least I didn't suffer it, like I did with other stuff in this list. 6/10

My mom loves this music (idk probably) Best Song: Holding Back the Years Rating: 4/10 Stars: 2

the absolute hate for this album is deeply concerning and makes me realize people don’t have the proper ears for music. a ginger that can resemble a soulful black woman is already insane in itself; the production meshes so well together also. this fucking bangs and I wish I was a fly on the wall during these recording jams. 11/10

Not really sure what I just listened to, but I hated it. I'm not sure if this album was supposed to be like ironic or satirical or intentionally funny? I dunno, but it wasn't really any of those things. It felt like someone trying really really hard to write a hit single and just sounding ridiculous. Mick Hucknall is a great singer and he's got a great voice. The band is exceptional. They perfectly hit that 80's sound, and yet, I hated it. Actually I just hate this style of music. Maybe it's on here because it sounds like your classic discount 80's middle school dance slow dance music. No idea what that one song about going to a ball was about. Actually, I know what it was about. It was about being exploited for money so you can make it big enough to join the "in-group" of rich socialites. Basically, Hollywood and the music industry. So I get it.....but man, it was not an enjoyable song to listen to. The highlights are that the band is great, but I wish they were playing a different type of music.

My god this is so cheesy. The song about heaven being a bar and the one about money are especially egregious. I couldn't wait for it to end.

Just can't seem to get used to those 80s sounds🤷

There’s something about this that I find a bit more palatable than a lot of other 80s albums in the same style. I think the singer helps a lot and there are some livelier cuts that keep things from getting too stale

It's hard to rate this one because I simply did not like it. Picture Book takes itself awfully seriously as a pastiche of soul records.

Relatively bland early 80s british. Sounds exactly how you thought it would. Could've been played at Sears in the 90s. That's actually where you heard these songs.

Didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. Very easy listening. Some singles that I've heard, and some songs I haven't. But overall a nice bit of easy listening. Some repetitiveness though, which knocked it down to 4.

My mom and I really enjoy listening to Simply Red. We attended the concert of him in 2022 - tho it was one of the worst concerts 😅 He was drunk and did not sign my concert ticket when I had opportunity to ask him. Nevertheless, I am a big fan of the album A New Flame - but it is not on the list. Anyway, Picture Book also has some great songs, especially i liked the extended versions

Catchy + enjoyable

Bland

Look at that precious smug jackass.

2026.03.05

Ei sieltä parhaimmasta päästä, mutta ei toki huonoimpiakaan mitä tämän haasteen aikana on tullut kuultua. Juuri ja juuri voin antaa tälle kolme tähteä.

Half of the songs are quirked up white boy funk (good), the other half are loungey ballads (bad). I almost granted extra credit for the soft socialism, but credit revoked for Hucknall's ardent Blair-ism.

This album is, surprisingly, much better than what I thought it would be. It's a very enjoyable and funny record, with some pretty nice songs. It's not a great album, nor a very interesting one, but, sometimes, music is listened for fun, as a form of entertainment (it is). And I've liked a lot listening to this album.

Nice enough, but it sounded way more dated than I expected

I've spent most of my life confusing this band with Simple Minds despite Simple Minds plea for a better memory of them. It's pretty good, and I can see why I was not a fan when I was a kid and this was popular.

Not my kind of thing, and I can never escape the knowledge of what a douchebag Mick Hucknall is. Holding Back The Years is absolutely terrific, though.

Strangely the most mediocre album I think I've ever heard. It sounds like a soundtrack to a bad '80s movie. I don't think I'll seek this album out again. 1.6 outta 5

funkyyyy // like a snack you randomly pick up without ever having it before, but end up liking

Not for me

Не поняла такой ненависти в коментах, в целом мне уже много такой музыки здесь показали и почему именно симпли ред здесь так обосрали мне кажется случайностью. Ладно. Я тоже устала слушать вот это всё

I gave this two shots. Simple Red (assuming that’s his name) has a fantastic singing voice, but these songs didn’t land with me at all. The cover of Heaven made me feel generally unpleasant.

Oh man, not sure I can listen to this objectively. I hated Simply Red back then. I probably like them a bit more now but, really, Mick Hucknall has such an annoying voice. Also we all know what he gets up to with rabbits. Bunny's Too Tight To Mention; Holding Back The Years.

A poppy 80s album that actually utilizes real drums and a variety of styles. One of the better 80s albums on this list, but the songwriting is not very memorable.

Pretty decent and listenable soul. I was not a fan of the brit pop elements, but they weren't bad.

Boring review for a boring album.

The cover alone raised suspicion for a bad album. Giant hat and douchey gaze. Album does not prove my suspicions wrong. It oozes pretense. Its an abomination of blue eyed sould mixed with the 80s synth. The best song was a talking heads cover.

Thoughts before listening: 80s pop rock, new wave band. I know they have a hit or two, but I can't remember what their popular songs are. I do recognize this cover which is a good indication the hits will actually be on this album. Review: I need to stop assuming ALL 80s pop records were new wave. This doesn't really fall in that category, with this being more of a jazzy, soulful sound although the production often leans into cheeseball 80s territory. I like their cover of "Heaven" by the Talking Heads, with them singing the lyrics over an old soul, Otis Redding style arrangement. The 80s production is really getting to me though. I do recognize "Holding Back the Years", but its just such a sappy song. This is really teetering over to the saccharine side of pop that I can't stand. This is a 2-star record, mainly cause they covered the Talking Heads.

Blind album and artist. I didn't like the main hit, but some of the deeper cuts were good.

There’s some musical talent and sophistication going on here. But I am not into this. They butchered “Heaven.” Shame on them.

"Picture Book" is an unfortunately unadventurous and bland pop record.

LOVEDDDDDD

Need to give it another listen. Wasn’t the most attentive but liked what I heard

Cool moody pop from the 80s. It's ok. 6/10

Now this was some soul for your ass!! I knew the hit I just never knew the person behind it. This further proves my theory about gingers and I’ll leave it there.

Not good then, still not good now.

Not my vibe, but could be dealers choice.

Polished late 80’s.

I need 10 hours of this

I have always liked his soulful voice, and the songs are good, but it's the covers that really stand out (other than the 1 radio hit).

God why.

Surprised by this one. Interesting mixture of music and made me a bit nostalgic. That being said it gave me some love

Can't say I've ever paid attention to Simply Red, outside of what I think is a very good song in If You Don't Know Me by Now. Hell, I even really like Sunrise too. Not sure if I've ever admitted that publicly and may come to a shock to those who know me. Anyway and obviously, those songs are not on this album. This genre of music is not something I would intentionally take a listen, but I think this guy is an excellent singer. The album itself was nice calming background music. I gave a few listens and even sampled some of his other stuff. Again, not my thing, but still found to be pretty good. I thought I would hate this album. Quite the opposite. Surprising myself, I found this album to be pretty good. 3

2.5 Before I get into my review, I have to give a shoutout to lovesonglady, a 73-year old woman whom I recently played NYT Crossplay with. Of course I had to ask her what her favorite particular love song is, and she replied saying anything by Simply Red (though I think Stars and If You Don’t Know Me by Now were both mentioned). Now, lovesonglady was incredibly sweet, enjoyable to chat with, and deadly with the tiles, but I’m having trouble seeing eye-to-eye with her on this one - though, to be fair, I’m sure she felt similarly about my response back (which was probably Bright Eyes) and was just being polite all the same. That to say, in spite of what I’m about to say about this album, I smiled when I saw it pop up for that reason. But yeah, this is suuuuch a generic soft rock-sounding pop album. Wikipedia classifies it sophisti-pop, a genre I’ve come to learn is as pretentious as it is boring… which tracks here. The opener, Come to My Aid, is admittedly kind of catchy, but I found very little else about this interesting. It’s never unpleasant on the ears, but it also has nothing to say nor much of an ambience to provide… unless background, Target music is your kind of vibe. I clicked through every song again just now as a sort of refresher for writing inspiration and still couldn’t tell you a single thought or feeling any one track gave me - for me, this is music at its most vanilla. Sorry lovesonglady, but this isn’t for me. That said, I’m sure your ladies' church choir group could do a rendition of anything here that I would appreciate over Sad Old Red’s.

Couple bops but overall tacky. I am bothered by the term Blue Eyed Soul, curious how it is/was viewed. If it needs a distinction it should just be called white soul or maybe just "bad" soul. "Blue eyed" seems to be implying subtly something other than the artists skin color.

Music that plays at the dentist, and you wonder who the fuck listens to this other than people at the dentist?

Wow, kind of fun play here I really love that this album shoots for a diverse set of tracks. Come To My Aid was my favorite. There are a few other good ones sprinkled in (Hold Back The Years). I can see why this did well in the 80s

Come to My Aid was a cool opener but rest of this was so cheesy. Moneys Too Tight sounded like a Flight of the Concords joke song.

I don’t understand all the hate. I thoroughly enjoyed this album.

This album is all the best parts of the 80s. The mixing and production is really excellent, writing is good, and vocals are well done. Some of the songs are instrumentally indistinguishable, but still so well made and groovy that it doesn't matter too much.

Simply Red falls into the bargain bin of Walmarts or forgotten in the annals of second hand stores. It’s not bad, but it definitely Picture Book definitely places Simply Red in the B or C tier of 80’s pop acts. Not inspired enough to truly break though, their songs will be enshrined in soundtracks for various corporate pharmacies and ‘adult’-oriented radio stations around the world. The highest possible 2!

This should be something I love, a little new wave, a little jazz influenced, great performances, and amazing production. But it just comes out like Muzak. It only gets two stars as there is nothing wrong with the album, it is just boring.

Listened to it. Don’t remember any of it

Such a quintessential 80s sound. Had a few good songs but didn't feel like it was straight bangers

It's almost remarkably corny at spots, but I still enjoyed it in spots.

this ended up being way more stylistically eclectic than I was expecting based off the single. doesn’t mean I enjoyed it, but good for them I guess? there’s way better albums among the 3-5 genres they try to execute here and I’m sure we’ll experience some of those at some point (Scritti Politti? Prefab Sprout?). this album features a lot of what I find distasteful about a lot of popular music from the 1980s (emotive vocals drenched in cheap reverb, dinky production values, lazy approximation of music from the southern hemisphere).

Glad that's over. One of the songs ripped off Layla riff at beginning and vocals ripping off Michael Jackson. 80s music video music. Nothing good to say about this album. Simply dead to me.

Everything about this album seems like it was designed in a lab to be a punchline in ‘Arrested Development.’ It’s kind of mind blowing that a song like “Holding Back the Years” was the number 1 song in America for a time. The Reagan years were even bleaker than I thought. Overall, fine, but no stand out songs for me, maybe the first one. Otherwise kinda meh.

Of course I know all the famous songs from this album. But I have never listened to the whole album. And it is definitely quite nice.

I remember this record getting a lot of attention when it came out. I didn't find it all that compelling then, but perhaps my tastes have broadened. Amazing vocals, really strong instrumentation, good songwriting. Overall, very good!

One really good song, others not so good. Great singer, tight production.

Growing up in the UK, in the 80s and 90s, Mick Hucknall was a figure of fun and derision. Simply Red were also hugely successful. I knew the hits before hearing the album, I'd be amazed if any Brit my age didn't but, because of their middle of the road beigeness and Hucknall's reputation, ever consider listening to a whole album. Now I have, I can see why Simply Red were both successful and mocked. This is music for people who don't really like music. A bit of soul, a bit of funk, a bit of synth and bit of rock all shoved into one package with a decent vocalist. It's like my mum's chilli con carne, whose sole spice comes from half a teaspoon of decade old cayenne pepper. Grindingly dull, but not quite awful enough to deserve a one.

Inoffensive album with 1-2 songs I might revisit at some point, but nothing I feel drawn to overall.

This album cover made me think that this was going to be knockoff Dexys Midnight Runners. And given that real Dexys Midnight Runners are awful, that scared me. Thankfully, it isn't knockoff Dexys Midnight Runners, but rather something more tolerable(if only just). It's ripoff American-style R&B made by white British guys without the talent of the American greats. It tries to groove, it tries to be soulful, but it doesn't do it well enough to get compelling. Vocals are important with this genre, and this guy can't even approach the heights of people like Marvin Gaye. Then there's the question: Why would I put this on when I could bump some Earth, Wind, & Fire? It doesn't do enough to answer this question, and suffers for it. Therefore, it's not essential listening- and that's before you get to the part about it being British guys ripping off American music like it's the friggin' 60s, man.

This one just sounded like a generic 80s pop album to me. Clean production, smooth vocals, and nothing that really stood out or felt unique. It wasn’t terrible, just kind of bland. By the time it ended, I couldn’t remember much about it besides the overall vibe.

Thinks pretty corney it get one extra star for holding back the years

3.5

Not for me.

This sounds someone was carrying an armful of disco tracks and bumped into someone carrying an armful of generic 80s White Boy Soul, and they all got mixed up and they just decided to not bother sorting them back out. It’s incoherent, and none of the songs are actually good. I’m especially annoyed that they took one of my favorite Talking Heads songs and made it Bad.

Love these guys so smooth

A veces me compraría el libro solo para leer porque ha metido ciertos discos. Y este es uno de ellos. ¿Qué aporta este disco a la historia de la música? Ni idea. No contiene grandes canciones inolvidables. No es innovador. Ni sus letras son trascendentes. No entiendo

Pleasant enough

Great voice, but the music is mostly bland.

I can't listen to Mick Hucknall's voice without thinking about his personality.

HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT FOR YOU. HATE. HATE

What a pleasant surprise! Picture Book is smooth, soulful, and (my favorite) funky. The album made for a delightful listen, from start to finish. Considering several songs were covers, the entire album flowed like all were original songs for Simply Red, a notable feat.

I had never heard of Simply Red, or heard a song by them before. They were pleasantly easy to listen to...a mix of bluesy funky soulful slow pop. While I didn't find anything super noteworthy about it, especially for a project like this, I enjoyed it well enough. A 2.-something that's worth rounding up to a 3, I guess!

I dont have a lot to say about this album today. I think I'm a little bit still in a mood, but I did enjoy listening to it :] Songs this made me listen to: Money Won't Pay by bo en

I listened to this album standing on a street corner and monitoring a traffic light. A quick glance at Simply Red's discography prior to starting this album has me expecting another Van Morrison-style singer-songwriter album, so imagine my amazed surprise at the immediately funky groove of Come to My Aid. This album just kept catching me off-guard in the best ways, with surprisingly layered lyrics like on Jericho, powerful message songs like Money's Too Tight, and weird artistic swings like Sad Old Red (adding crowd cheers to an introspective song about depression is an inspired choice which makes it that much more effective). I still know next to nothing about Simply Red, and while I will look more into them, it doesn't even feel like I need to; this album feels like it said everything which needed to be said in their favor. When I can't stop grimacing at just how funky a groove is, you're doing something right. Highlights: Come to My Aid, Sad Old Red, Heaven, Jericho, Money's Too Tight (To Mention), Red Book, Picture Book

Is it as bad as all the other reviews? I don't think so, but it is not good. I'm sad that Talking Heads let them cover "Heaven"...

The band goes crazy, I love a live recording.

Best Song: Holding Back the Years This might be a fraction better than their last album but still not really my thing. Holding Back the Years is alright but that could be nostalgia talking. I won't be listening again. 3/5.

Ja nice

There is music here, so I'm giving it a 2. But I literally never need to hear this.

There's the apocraphal tale of the first Sex Pistols gig where there were only 12 people in the audience, but all of them went off and started bands. One of them shouldn't have bothered. Poor 80s soul. Unpleasant Talking Heads cover. May have been important in terms of the British music scene at the time, but fourty years on it does nothing.

I could not have found this any less interesting. Which isn’t a capital crime but the “Heaven” cover was such a nothingburger that it hurt my feelings. One star.

There’s an obvious reason why I’ve never heard of this before.

This was okay. It's a pop rock record with an 80s sheen. Unfortunately the songs were not super engaging, and quality vocal hooks were significantly lacking. This could not be made up for even with the tight instrumentation and crisp and glossy production. 2.5/5

Simply Red... Holding back the years och allt däremellan. Härligt album, massor med låtar som jag hade kunnat tänka mig spela i ett ensembleformat. Härligt med lite saxofon, xylofon, skojiga trummor och tighta stämmor. Really enjoyed this one! (Sista 5 tracksen var basically bara replays, remasters och andra versioner, men skoj att lyssna på några av dem igen som en extra lite bonus) 7.5/10

2 out of 5 Better than I thought. I never listened to Simply Red in the 80s, but I am now liking some of their songs in this season of my life. Not too bad, but too long an album.

Did I like it? No. Would I listen again? Definitely not? Did I like any tracks? Holding Back the Years gets a point for the nostalgia. Overall, this was boring and certainly not a must listen. There is nothing innovative or inspirational. 1

Haven’t heard this for ages. Nice smooth music with a good groove. Sounds a bit dated now but still good to listen to.

Pretty good, I liked it a lot more than expected. All tracks are solid.

Hatte die negativ assoziiert, aber das war echt okay und angenehm.

2 Stars (5/15)

rock

A lot of groove here. Don’t know why there’s so much hate on it around here.

Review partly affected by a bad listen of the album but wasn't my favourite, 3rd song was a bit of a banger, but the rest not that exciting for me

Started off really strong - I loved "Come To My Aid" - nice variety of instruments, good (and varied) vocals, catchy, and just generally a jam. Unfortunate dip in the middle for me - I found "Heaven" and "Jericho" a bit dull. Very 80s, but I like the pop/jazz/blues vibe, it's extremely cheesy, but just pleasant to listen to. Highlights: - "Come To My Aid" - has a trumpet. Liked the vocal variety. - "Money's Too Tight" - bop. - "Holding Back The Years" - classic. Simply Red are a group I've always been aware of but never paid any attention to. I wouldn't even have known "Holding Back The Years" was one of their tracks despite having heard it thousands of times... Think I might have found another guilty pleasure. 4 with a couple of skips.

Standouts: - the last minute of Sad Old Red ugh blues I think I hate repetitive drums/bass riffs more than I hate repetitive guitar riffs when the singer shuts up and the trumpet takes over has been the highlight so far that was in the 2nd song and nothing happened in the rest of the album couldn't be more of a 2 if it tried kind of 2

It's a perfectly acceptable album and worth a listen. It's kind of fun, and he's got a good voice. There's lots of people on here with raging hate-boners for British musicians, but this is better than many other albums from the era that show up on here.

i really enjoyed this! really well produced, very groovy and a really chilled listen

Eh, maybe should’ve titled this one, “simply butt”. I dunno, there are way worse records on this project, but this one is pretty hard to get through. It’s like smooth jazz that I swear I’ve heard before in the grocery store about 40 years ago. It super sucks. 2/5

2.5

I'm not really sure why this is in this list? Its not exactly anything exciting, and that Heaven cover is really quite bad? Hucknall's voice however is so good he needs to be on a house track.

Tried to do go in with an open mind, despite Simply Red being one of my most hated bands since childhood, and got to their soporific cover of “Heaven” before realizing that there was nothing this album could do to be dissuade me from thinking they’re a truly awful band.

I remember when "Holding Back the Years" got radio play. The album isn't bad, but that's the only song that really got me. The whole thing felt like it was trying to figure out where it wanted to be. Blues? Rock? Pop? Pick a lane, buddy. My Rating: 2/5

these albums are killing me with mediocrity

Fun surprise.

God forbid a red head get a little motion.

Awful, dreary,whiny. Minus 5 stars

I always liked Simply Red, though I never owned a record. To realize that I know (and like) half of the songs from their debut album was a surprise for me.

Very good

- kasari kuuluu vahvasti, en tiiä miten tämmöne musa oikeesti kestää aikaa mut en mä ny ehkä koko albumillista jaksais kuunnella, iha cool

This album surprised me. Who knew a ginger from England could sing with such soul?

I bet his favourite colour is green. This album started off really cool, but then kinda dragged on. It’s not even that the album is too long, I think every song was just more of the same. This is a time piece for sure, that should stay in the time period it was released in.

Well produced but uninteresting 2.3

Great voice, but hearing that horrible bland 80's synth-pseudo funk arrangement of Come to my Aid I thought I'm going to fucking hate this album. Then he turns pure crooner on Sad Old Red and it's awesome, this is who this guy LIVES. The rest of the album he wanders around soul/jazz/r&B, soundling like an old diva on an old TV variety show - check his recent videos, it came to be. Big points for a truly weird cover of Talking Heads' Heaven, kind of love it.

An interesting combo of pop, rock, and jazz, Picture Book was an enjoyable listen that I may return to again. Nothing particularly stood out to me, but Simply Red has a sound that felt fairly unique to me and if I am ever craving that sound, I now know where to turn.

The vibe of this album is a bit weird/confusing and the album art is cursed, but I actually think the music is decent. I liked the first half of the album (up to Jericho) more than the second half. I enjoyed the saxophone solos in Sad Old Red and Heaven. People really seem to hate this and there are some funny bad reviews, but I honestly don't get why people are so negative about this. There have been so many worse albums on the list in my opinion. I may even listen to a few of these tracks again.

More mediocre britpop from the 1001 album gods. I found this uninspiring, and bland. Like the equivalent of unseasoned chicken and mashed potatoes. Palatable but no substance or spice to it, left me wanting more. There were hints of blues and jazz in here which were nice, but honestly were just kinda there at points, and weren't really tapped into all that much. Listened to this 2-3 times and I can't even recall any of the melodies or songs. -1 point for the weird chalk boy on the album cover, unsettling. 5/10

This list really does skew heavy to the New Wave/Brit pop doesn't it? It's a little lopsided and I feel like that is a major flaw and some of these albums are starting to drag on a bit. Oh well, in we go for today. I'm halfway through and I'm not sure if I've ever heard this before. I don't think I have but it all seems really familiar. Maybe it's just super generic? It all really sounds like it was included as the montage soundtrack for an 80s romantic comedy. I don't really get why this album is on here, there are tons of records that sound just like this. There were a couple songs here that I really liked, Picture Book and Sad Old Red are both great. I don't think I would listen to this again though. 2.75/5

Genuinely surprised by this, Hucknall has a deeply soulful voice and provides the songs with real emotion. Yeah it’s a bit 80’s in places and the later stuff left me cold but this is an authentically British album that truly loves soul and blues and pays deep homage to it

Pretty fun

I really liked this when it came out, pretty sure I have the CD somewhere. However it sounds so dated now. 2.5

Not for me, too soft rock for me.

First artist/album that I’ve never heard of at all

Not a 5 but I'll give it because its been a while. Money Too Tight always a banger, Holding Back Years forever a song that Del Boy listens when Rodney gets married. Rest of the album I heard for the first time and enjoyed most of it.

Fairly 80s

This is a pretty good album but not a very memorable one. While listening to it I enjoyed everything I heard, but nothing really stood out. I always appreciate a Talking Heads cover (as their number 1 fan), but I think Heaven was a weird song to pick. The original is basically a perfect song and making it a New Wave ballad just doesn't really work in this case. I think they could have chosen any other song and put an interesting spin on it. High 3.

Good debut by a band that would get even better. I played Holding Back the Years an absurd amount (great to sing along with) but I didn’t really know the album. Good songs on here but several misses, including a hideous cover of “Heaven”.. White soul/jazz vibe on several tracks. They would hit their stride with Men and Women, which I played FOREVER.

Ah that Bayern 3 Sound. Not bad but much of the same?

Whatever this is I’m rocking with it

Bonus points for being released on October 11!!

No. 70 I knew the most famous song, an album to enjoy.

Other than Holding Back The Years and Moneys Too Tight To Mention (a remake), not a lot of exceptional music on this album. Much told it sounds rather dated. Still love Mike’s voice.

Favourite Tracks: Come to My Aid, Holding Back the Years, Open Up the Red Box, Picture Book

This didn't show up in the way I expect the next one to show up. In fact, it never did until I clicked on History. Several have been that way. Good album, though. Holding Back the Years is still one of his greatest.

Good talking heads cover

Simply Dreadful.

I don't know why, but I thought that Simply Red sounds totally differently. But this was actually very entertaining. I liked it!

I thought this album slapped.

Holding Back The Years is good. The rest is fine

I don't know what to say about this album because it did not do anything for me. I listened to it but that is all I did.

First album I reviewed before the group came in. Still the same sentiment - very 80s but not totally my scene. Not an unenjoyable listen though.

I dont even remember it a day later

It was honestly pretty good and groovy. I probably will never listen to them again, but this was a good addition. Jericho was one of the creepiest songs I’ve heard before though…

Et bien! Il reste des albums intéressants dans cette liste! 996 albums, je pensais les avoir déjà tout épuisé, depuis le temps qu’on me donne des fillers à la pelle. J’aime beaucoup les avenues blues, new wave, rock et même musical hall que chaque musique amène, ça reste fresh comme disent-ils, là, les jeunes!

4.5

Made it through a few songs. If this is one of the 1001 albums to hear before you die, I’d rather die than hear this garbage again

First few songs were great. Then it got boring

Musica de los 80. Bien producida pero desfasada, alguna canción aguante el paso del tiempo pero el conjunto no.

heaven completely ruined

Mick’s voice is makes it worth a listen. Unfortunately haven’t listened since the eighties.

25/12/2025 It was good in places, weak in others. Probably went on too long. Spotify listeners: 8.9 million

Pre-listening thoughts: I remember these guys. I vividly remember Holding Back the Years and the little snippet of the song they’d play on late night TV advertisements for the compilation disc sets. I can’t recall anything else about them. Post-Listen: ugh. Holding Back the Years was … fine. Worse than I remembered? I couldn’t get into the album at all. I just don’t see this as an album people need to listen to. I won’t be returning.

50

obviously had heard the hits but didn't know what to expect turns out it's a nice sound

Perfectly acceptable 80-90s soft pop. I'm completely uninspired, but there's not much to dislike. More than any previous album I don't see why it's an album I have to have listened to?

Het zal wel weer jeugdsentiment zijn, en verkeerd, en er zal vast van alles niet goed zijn aan die knakker. Maar dit is weer zo'n gevalletje 'je herkent het meteen en niemand anders klinkt zo', en daar ben ik heel vatbaar voor. Vrolijke, commerciële pop (waarvan ik zou zweren dat het uit de nineties komt, maar het is uit 1985), met een funky jazzvibe en het unieke warme stemgeluid van de roodharige zanger uit de bandnaam. Lekkere livetrack ook, wat wil je nog meer. Vind d'r maar wat van.

Volle jaren '80 geluiden. Dus met enige terughoudendheid het album beluisterd. Maar eerlijk is eerlijk. Simply Red biedt wel meer dan. Het geheel is helemaal niet zo simpel. Het tweede nummer verrast me al flink. En dan, op de een of andere manier, is zo'n echt jaren '80 nummer als Money's too tight helemaal niet zo erg meer. Zelfs wel fijn. Hoe flikken ze dat toch?

Oei, bij het zien van dit album krijg ik meteen slechte vibes. Mick Hucknall is zo'n zanger die, typerend voor de 80s, iets teveel zijn stempel op de muziek wil drukken. Veel tierelantijntjes en overdreven zang, iemand volledig overtuigd van zijn eigen kunnen. Hij houdt zijn klep maar niet, overal moet hij doorheen biepbappen. Terwijl de muziek op de achtergrond degelijk in elkaar zit. Zolang het maar uptempo is, afgewisseld met wat swing en jazz. Al krijgen we natuurlijk ook de typische jaren 80 ballads en die zijn het verschrikkelijkst. Want dan gaat Mick helemaal uit zijn plaat. Hij steelt de show, maar voor mij niet op een positieve manier. Voor het grote publiek gelukkig voor hem wel, want er werden veel platen verkocht en Mick staat bekend om zijn vele vrouwelijke veroveringen. Jeroen Pauw is een amateur vergeleken bij ome Mick. Mij verovert hij niet met de muziek, al moet ik wel toegeven dat er wel degelijk kundigheid van uitgaat. Ik geef het 3 sterren, ondanks dat de zanger regelmatig op mijn zenuwen werkt.

Like it

I have been a little late on the albums but I am listening to this one now and I am really enjoying this so far

Is this yacht rock? I enjoyed Jericho.

Unique voice, good songs. Didn’t get the attention he deserved.

Simply outstanding album. 8/10

taki musicalowy buja ale nie najbardziej na świecie

Wow!

I don't like the bluesy soul sound.

Solid 80s pop and funk.

Great Covers of Heaven and Money's Too Tight To Mention, Come To My Aid and Holding Back The Years are standouts as well. 4 Great tracks, 4 Stars. Easy listening with not really a bad song here.

Conocia la cancion mas famosa, un album para disfrutar

Come to My Aid stood out right away. Never heard of this band, but actually liked it a lot. Soft pop that was just real easy to get through. I might just be getting old. 4/5

Picture Book is the debut album from the British band Simply Red. The band makes soulful pop, centered on the rich voice of singer/songwriter Mick Hucknall. Their work sounds like a modern rendition of 60's R&B, complete with a horn section and a consistent groove. They add pop elements - synthesizers and upbeat pacing - to create their version of pop/soul. The album's success was driven by the band's hit single, "Holding Back the Years," a ballad carried by Hucknall's voice. This collection of songs all have good grooves, talented players, and Hucknall's voice - even with all of this in their favor, they are not particularly interesting.

Love it, perfect cooking jams

čist okej. ima dobrih i manje dobrih momenata. ne znam šta svi seru po ovom tolko, okej je

Great album, but more soul and jazz than pop imo. But i am far from a music snob. the groove really carries this album from start to finish. It really holds up well given how old this album is.

Listenable and Mick is a good singer but it all feels very corporate, if that makes sense to say. Feels like all the rough edges have been sanded off for maximum appeal. Also bit weird that Mich Hucknall ranked ethnicities by coolness that one time.

Nice background static.

This would be a good album if it had a different singer and different percussionist and was basically by a different band entirely. A soul band with no soul, there's a reason Simply Red are a national punchline in the UK.

I don't know what I expected from this album, but Come To My Aid surprised me and it just went on from there. I kinda liked this album actually, but it was mostly background music for me and nothing I needed to pay attention to, despite some of the lyrics desperately trying to grab my attention. Honestly the album felt fine to me, but I also remember very little about it a day later, so that probably says something about the songs.

It was listenable I suppose

It can be easy to forget when so many huge, genuinely talented artists and bands came from that decade, but this album serves as an important reminder that the 80s had some real shit pop music as well. That said, I actually quite like No Direction, despite the bizarre gremlin fella doing backing vocals. What's that little guy up to these days? Did he ever manage to break out of Mick Hucknall's basement?

I'm honestly very confused by this. I don't really know what it's trying to be. Maybe it's my perspective, but the album feels like it has an identity issue. Or it hasn't properly mixed the genres that it's trying to mix. The 80s pop vibes and soul elements feel so separate from each other. I think the idea is there, but the execution is not. It just doesn't really sound that good. Maybe I'm in a pessimistic mood about this album because I'm tired, but it doesn't do anything for me. Favorite Song(s): Holding Back the Years

In high school, I just knew Simply Red as the guy who sang "Holding Back the Years," a monster hit at the time. This is the first I've heard the whole album. I gotta say I enjoyed the soulful sound. However, much of the album has that hopelessly dated 80's production and arranging style, "Money's Too Tight" being the biggest offender on that front. It suffers because of that. Nonetheless, this album has variety. Mick Hucknall's vocal performance is perfection and he sells every song, squeezing every ounce of soul he can find out of these songs. Tony Bowers bass work is terrific too. Favorites: "Sad Old Red," "Open Up the Red Box," "Come To My Aid (Survival Mix).

Certainly not an album I had to listen to but not the worst thing ever. I would be worried if someone said Simply Red was one of their favorite artists thiugh

mid af

This is mostly ok, I prefer the more upbeat funky tracks, with some of the ballads being a bit slow and uninteresting to me. Wouldn’t put back on again but in the background it’s fine. Not bad.

2/10. Why on earth is this on a top albums list?! This is objectively not good. It wasn’t even good for 1985. I can appreciate the singer’s voice but I would never listen to this album again. Never. The Good: amazing vocals The Bad: the lyrics, often unintentionally funny (which is not something I want in the music I listen to) Worst Song: Picture Book Best song: Holding Back the Years

Very 80s very easy listen

3/10 What have they done to my beloved Talking Heads!? The absolute monsters...

Didn't grab me in any real way. I had an alright time. Sometimes I like to look at the artist page and see what the most streamed song is just to see of i would even know that and I hadn't a clue. Even listening to it i wasn't sure if it was the "hit". If I had to pick the first song is the best one here. Not crazy or anything but the start was good. Good enough times but more interested in what's next

I liked this one a lot. Jazzy, funky, 80s pop with a great singer. I'm quite surprised at the top reviews on this one being so negative. Opening track was my favourite by far

I'm surprised to see so many low reviews. I went into this album only knowing Money's Too Tight To Mention, and Holding Back the Years (which is an incredible track). Mick Hucknall's voice is absolutely phenomenal, he has a lot of grit that he leans into on a lot of tracks here, but it's those famous high wails that really hit the mark and showcase his talent. The accompanying music is filled with great moments too perfectly fitting the vibe of each song.

Many songs are quite boring.

The album itself is average, at best. But listening to Mick Hucknall’s voice is totally worth the 45 minutes.

Cheesy and unremarkable 80's soul musak.

I like this! I have only been familiar with their radio hits.

Best Track - "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)"

Okay

A couple I remember from the radio. Listenable but boring.

Very pleasant!

Tämä on tismalleen sellasta musaa, joka soi MTV3:n ohjelmatietojen taustalla tai päivän päätteeksi vuonna 1993. Siitä siis pienet nostalgialisät.

Top

Ikke noe jeg vanligvis ville satt på, så var skeptisk til å starte med. Men endte opp med å like det ganske godt. Holding Back the Years er en jam! Runder ned i tilfellet her, men ligger nok rundt 3.5 et sted.

I'm surprised by how different Simply Red’s music is from some of the Manchester musicians I’m partially familiar with. It gave me a glimpse into the diversity of the city’s music scene. I knew “Money’s Too Tight (to Mention)” already, but I didn’t realize it was a cover until now.

Not bad, kind of gives daft punky vibes if they were less electric

deserves a relisten. the kind of sound that wont feel dated for a long time. 3.5

This is such a spread of genre, very impressive range on one album

Favorite tracks: Look at You Now, Money's Too Tight (To Mention), Come to My Aid This was... fine. That's all.

This is the stuff your mum and aunties all danced to in the eighties

I knew them only from the two hits that charted in the US -- Holding Back the Tears and Money's Too Tight to Mention. Those songs hold up completely, but I was charmed by the other songs. Really varied types of songs, plus a live song just plopped in the middle. Their version of Talking Head's Heaven is pretty good. This list has way too much UK stuff, but this is an example of one I'm glad I heard all the way through.

Had no expectations, but really good. Funky, poppy, fun.

3/5

Bro whatttttt 🤯💃

Picture Book was a surprise on many levels. Firstly, my brain must have confused Simply Red with Simple Minds. I was expecting 1980s synth pop. Instead, I hear a black woman singing soulful tunes that were more reminiscent of the late 1970s. The next surprise was that the singer was, in fact, a ginger man, not a black woman. You can imagine me flicking my fingers next to my temples, indicating a blown mind. I did dig the vibe of the album, but with one exception, the songs underwhelmed me--especially the "Heaven" cover. That one exception is the evocative "Holding Back the Years." At first, I did not remember I had heard it back in the day. But the "I'll keep holding on" line reminded me. Yes, it was a number one song, but I must have only heard it on the radio a few times and then it fell in the memory hole. Gladly, the memory hole has been excavated and a diamond was unearthed. I would probably rate this album at three and a half stars, but the fact that I love "Holding Back the Years" so much pushes Picture Book to four stars.

it's taken me multiple tries, over multiple months, to get through this album in one sitting / feel some salient way about it... it really isn't something i normally reach for genre-wise, but after listening to it so many times i can't help but like it. loved the talking heads cover, got "money's too tight" stuck in my head several times along with "YOU WON'T GO!! YOU WON'T GO!! YOU WON'T GO TO THE baAAALL" so... four outta five!! highlights - come to my aid, look at you now, heaven, jericho, money's too tight (to mention), holding back the years, open up the red box, no direction

Fångade mig inte, men samtidigt hyfsat svängigt

Extremt spretigt, men najs. Vet inte vad man kan förvänta sig av nästa låt och inget sticker ut men på nåt sätt är allt en härlig upplevelse o typ ingen dålig låt.

Lite jobbigt att lyssna på, på något sätt.

Nice

Meh

Picture Book is Simply Red's remarkably mature debut album. Opinions about the style may be divided, and the soft pop excursions are not to everyone's taste, but everything sounds really well thought out and produced – well, mature, as mentioned at the beginning. The new wave influence in Red's sophisty pop is (unfortunately) clearly audible, but so are the additional influences from soul, jazz, and blues. Add to that Mick Hucknall's truly great and unique voice. If it weren't for the pop numbers, which are a little too shallow and soft for my taste, I could definitely listen to this album over and over again for quite a while!

At one time I liked this album to some degree. In recent years I realized how bland it is, and at it's worst, Mick Hucknall's performance feels sanctimonious. Ended up skipping most of this and listened to the Durutti Column instead.

Agree with another rather that this is that Kmart and department store shit thy played in the 90s

Mostly generic Brit Pop, but at times this also sounded like a lounge act. Kind of like Genesis but not as good. Overall, it was ok, a barely passable 3/5

Like it

Classic 80s pop with some funk and soul

bleh

i think this was kind of an automatic 3 for me which is to say it was ok but i wouldn't go back at all

Better than I expected. It's at it's best with traditional instruments. The songs with 80s synth didn't hold up well.

Just plain garbage

The Good: We dumb things down by including pictures in our book! The Bad: The Pictures aren’t what we needed… The Ugly: We don’t like the color red… A couple of weird things have been going on lately, most importantly that, all of a sudden, a multitude of albums which previously were not to be found on Spotify are suddenly available—though I am still hoping to find “Goodbye Blue Sky” one of these days… This album had been missing from Spotify these past years, yet all of a sudden there it is, and I had been looking forward to finding the album again, as I had owned a vinyl copy when it originally came out in 85, because this was the album the cool kids, like me, listened to. Oh brother, what to say about being re-united with this album? I wish it hadn’t happened, as I wish I could have kept my nice memories of the “known” songs on this album. Boy oh boy, this is NOT what I recalled it to be. A couple of years ago, when I was going through a discovery phase while listening to all Talking Heads songs, I bumped into the song Heaven, which I knew from Simply Red… little did I know. Having heard the song today, comparing it to the original, I will place this album back into the dusty bin of old memories, while smiling recalling what my teenage self was thinking about this at the time… ignorant fucker… Sorry Red, you have a lovely voice, but this album did not stir up what I had hoped it would have… 2 1/2 * which I am upgrading just to be nice...

I despise that cover of Heaven, just no good at all. Rest of it was blah too

I've never listened to Simply Red before. Overall kind of meh and boring. I was surprised by the "Heaven" cover. It wasn't until "Holding Back the Years" that I was like, "Oh, it's _this_ song."

Very bland. Seems like AI made an 80s album

Très bon groove ; un timbre impressionnant, avec une belle couleur lumineuse et légèrement voilée, bon dans les rauques comme dans les nébuleuses plus aigues ; une maîtrise non moins impressionnante d'une variété de registre - pop, jazz, blues, soul, gospel - à la fois au sein-même des morceaux et de titres en titre. Ça se traduit par de belles partitions de guitare, saxo, batterie, avec toujours une harmonie au poil. C'est subjectivement pas ce qui me fait viber le plus intensément (un côté un peu théâtral / sentimental qui bien que très réussi me touche pas énormément), d'où un 3 alors que ça aurait bien pu exploser le 4, mais je reste très sensible à la qualité de la composition et des ambiances. Petit plus pour Jericho dont l'harmonie [clavier - basse - légère batterie - voix alternant entre chant et presque parlée - choeurs souls puis même rnb] m'a bien bluffée. De la pop soul riche en influences et en technique, avec un groove de zinzin. Ok je suis en train de la ré-écouter en écrivant le commentaire et les choeurs dans le dernier tiers me font basculer sur le 4.

c’est toujours bon signe pour ma perception subjective de l’album quand je connais un des morceaux (ce qui a été le cas ici avec Holding Back the Years). album écouté en lendemain de soirée, dans un train avec le paysage qui défilait, puis réécouté au calme posée en fin de journée, les deux expériences ont été excellentes. une mélodie un peu traînante et entraînante, qui ne tombe pas dans la lamentation; des petits sursauts de guitare électrique parsemés là où il faut (comme c’est le cas dans Jericho ou Red Box, par ex); un côté presque soul par endroits qui marche très bien; une voix qui donne du relief auquel on peut s’accrocher; on a envie de viber gentiment sur cet album. l’entrée en matière avec Come to my aid m’a directement faite accrocher au projet, puis ça a été une succession de découvertes incr. plusieurs morceaux sont directement partis dans ma playlist pour tout avouer, et je pense que prochaine fois que j’anime une soirée appart je laisse carrément tomber la playlist pour passer l’album entier. en conclusion, puisqu'il faut objectiver cette expérience d'écoute, on est pour moi sur un 4.85 pour lequel je suis obligée de faire tomber un 5!

Full disclosure at the outset - i can't stand Mick Hucknall! However, he is one fantastic singer, and this album covers bases of jazz, blues, soul and pop, all of which he sings brilliantly. Strongest tracks on the album are Holding Back The Years and Money's Too Tight To Mention, and song that is so hugely apt now - we're talking 'bout Donny, Donny! - and there's no let down on the unreleased tracks either, with Heaven being a standout. I can't hear Red Box without thinking of the 80s kids programme 'Don't You Open That Trap Door though. No 5 stars due to Mick, but a solid 4.

I wasn’t feeling it. Actually mildly annoyed that I was listening to this while organizing my basement, but then Holding Back the Years came on and I flashed back to my days as a line cook where the chef always had this shit on the playlist and then the PTSD kicked in.

lame boo boring corny (i'm running out of bad things to say about british artists)

ehh i could listen to it

Groupe connu de nom uniquement (il ne m'a pas marqué du tout à l'époque). Bonne surprise dans cet album : 'Sad Old Red' morceaux jazz avec un chorus de sax plutôt réussi. Beau chorus aussi dans 'Heaven', mais sur dans un morceau un peu moins intéressant. Le reste est variable. Je trouve que le son de synthé a mal vieilli, même si basse + guitare sont plutôt bien (Look at you now). Et quand le rythme diminue l'ennui guette (Jericho). Découverte mitigée donc, je ne suis pas sur de l'écouter une seconde fois. =>2/5

Simply Red? More like Simply Meh. This one's fine. It's a pretty generic 80s British pop album. I feel like I've gotten a few too many of those in the past few months. This one's kind of around Heaven 17 territory for me. It's got some weird things that don't work for me. Some slightly awkward instrumental moments, a vocal style that isn't my favorite, and a slight discordance in the album at large make this a listen that could've been better. Even the album's most popular song "Holding Back The Years" managed to slip past me a bit on my listen of the album. The song's good, but I genuinely wasn't sure if I'd heard it before today because it sounds like every other 80s sophisti-pop song ever. Uhh... there's a Talking Heads cover. I love Talking Heads. "Heaven" is one of my favorite songs of theirs. I didn't care for this cover. The sound of "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)" kind of annoyed me, but the lyrics being anti-Reagan made me appreciate the song a bit more. I don't see myself going back to this much, but it could've been a lot worse. Light 3/5.

Tentative Four but who's even counting

Liked it

This album covered quite a bit of ground and made for an enjoyable journey. Lead-off Come to My Aide had me worried ngl -- sounded like some super generic 80s crap. But Sad Old Red is a solid jazzy number. And Look at You Now takes a surprise left turn into yacht rock (or something in that area) and is an unexpected jam. Then she has a crack at Heaven by Talking Heads. Not a bad take by any means, but holds no candle to the original. Jericho taps into an R&B sound and I swear I've heard it sampled somewhere else. The title track closer taps into dub influences and is a solid enough way to close this one out. Not something I expect I'll be back to quickly, but fine enough. High 3.

This album had an interesting progression in sound. Sometimes jazzy, and sometimes Police-esque pop. High 3

Started out incredibly good with some funky stuff with Come to My Aid and Sad Old Red was a pretty nice jazzy number. The following songs were still pretty funky but not nearly as good. End of the album got slow and really 80s cheesy sounding so that knocked it down a bit. Still all around pretty solid and unexpected 4

Has some fun sounds in the first few songs but still super 80's sounding. Worse cover of Heaven, but at least it's different and the sax rules. There is some scary talking on No Direction which is fitting for Halloween but I don't like it. Actually really enjoying this reggae infused closer. I did enjoy some of the instrumentals but overall not my jam. Meh 3.

The hits are actually better than I remember, it does drag on though. I initially questioned this one’s inclusion but I’m fortune enough to have one edition of the book and the explanation is valid I suppose

Huh.. I liked this album more than I thought I want. Vocals are so 80's that it resonated with me. Didn't love it but didn't hate it.

Decent listen but didn’t really stand out

Now I know we all took the piss out of Simply Red something rotten when we were younger, but apart from the *hits* I’ve never listened to an actual album of theirs… so here goes… Well, first song is really not my thing. Second song is better, but I don’t like the live audience and the song isn’t really my taste. 3 & 4 less offensive to the ears. Track 5 back to being shit. Onto the hits… they’ve grown on me over the decades. Really wasn’t keen when they first came out in the 80’s but they have either worn me down or I’ve developed a warped nostalgia for these two. Out of the hits and tracks 8 and 9 don’t seem too bad, mind you that might just be because the start of the album was so terrible that these ones actually sound better … having just written that I’ve just hit a terrible midsection in No Direction (possibly a chorus) so have changed my mind and this track is as bad as the earlier ones. Final track limps things passed the finishing line. On the strength of the two hits this might manage a “2” but given the lacklustre and dismal other tracks I think it might be a 1 from me. Guess I’ll find out tomorrow how I’m feeling about when I get to submit a score. Not one I’ll ever listen to again in any case.

Simply Red are just not for me

Just as funky as it is 80s. Probably won’t kissed again

Nice

80s 80s 80s. maybe the embodiment of the music of that era? I did really enjoy though. Just solid all the way through.

Not really something I enjoyed too much. Not the type of music I usually listen to, so hard for me to say. Production sounds extremely clean. In my only listen through, there wasn't a whole lot that caught my ear or stood out to me. "Look at You Now" was probably my favorite track. Reminded me a little of Talking Heads.

Sure it fine but so overexposed back in the day. Swerved this entriely

Pretty meta tbh. Moneys too tight to mention. Good talking heads cover (Heaven). Fuck it we 4

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. It's got a bit of jazz and some retro synths, it's just a fun time. Favorite track: "Money's Too Tight (To Mention) - The Cutback Mix"

Ich mag die Stimme eigentlich nicht so, aber einige Lieder sind trotzdem ziemlich gut.

Moneys Too Tight To Mention Holding Back the Years (I don't like when they include alternate versions)

The album is almost a pleasant listen, also just because of his voice. But besides the three hits "Come To My Aid", "Money's Too Tight (To Mention)" and "Holding Back The Years" nothing really remarkable for me. 3,5

This was way better than I expected. I only knew the one hit song on this album before listening, but all of the other tracks were very good, and varied in their sound, and I just really enjoyed the whole time. I listened to it twice and still loved it. Five stars.

This seems to get a lot of hate for what it is - found it pretty mild and quite pleasing for the most of it. I would listen to it again.

Some of the best ‘80s music there is !

3/5

Álbum fantástico, cheio de pequenas surpresas.

Bad but not so bad

Highly reminiscent of piped music in a hotel lobby. The inoffensive nature almost scored it higher as a kneejerk reaction after Kollaps

Don't really understand why this would be considered on this list. Rather boring and each song blended into each other.

SIMPLY (bo)RED

Ikke for meg i det hele tatt.

Big variety in this

What's this?? A non-rock album?? Aaaand I hate it. This passing the muster for the list does not fill me with confidence for albums to come. Talking Heads cover was fairly upsetting and boy do I really hate Jericho. From there it somehow keeps getting worse. There's a redeeming moment or two (I don't hate Come to My Aid) but shit me I couldn't wait for it to be over. Saved a song: N RYM: N

At first, I took the "must hear before you die" criterion literally and panned albums that clearly didn't meet it. Then, after handing out 1 after 1, I came to realized that nearly ALL of the albums selected by this asshat don't meet that criterion, and that he had just scraping together a list of 1,001 albums (mostly British slop he'd heard the ONE single off of at some point in his life) just to sell a book. So, now I'm approaching this as just a challenge where (a rather poor) AI has randomly selected 1,001 albums to listen to. I hope focusing on the "what" and less the "why" will help me enjoy this experience more. All that said, this wasn't a very strong album. It's a single and some filler. Still, I didn't actively hate it, and it is of a reasonable length; and that's enough to score a C around here.

Started off ok, but it really didn’t build to anything. I question what was the innovation that put this album on any list you need to hear.

Not too bad.