That segway from the first song, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band to With a little help from my friends is foreshadowing that this album will be special. After hearing thru so many different genres that followed this in the 70s and 80s such as psychedelic, prog, World, and avant-garde this album may not sound too innovative, but when I stop to think that this is the OG that started it all, it's influence and importance comes into perspective. There are 13 songs on this album, 12 are killer and deserve 5 stars, with only Being the benefit of Mr Kite being a miss, but the album closes with a Sgt Pepper's reprise with another brilliant segway into their best song ever IMO, A Day in the Life and then to top it off this fricking masterpiece of a record ends with perhaps the most incredible ending notes of any song, EVER. So it makes up for Mr Kite, and how! So I'm happy to give my first 5 star rating to this album.

My fav Van Morrison album, it flits and dances around like a butterfly on a sunny spring day. Although he sings like he's got a mouthful of cotton balls, it works with the soulful music and it still holds up really well considering its over 50 years old. The only miss is Slim Slow Slider which sounds like an afterthought to the 7 brilliant songs that preceded it, so I give it a 4.5 and round it up to a 5 because its a sunny Spring day.

IMO Stevie is at his best when he does the funky soul numbers. Superstition is one of his most iconic songs, with killer guitar hooks and I love his funky snarling voice. But this album is marred by syrupy maudlin commercial tracks meant to sell records such as You are the sunshine, You and I, Looking for another pure love, and I believe. Yuck. If it had more Superstition it would be a 4 but the dreck pulls it down unfortunately

What an incredible debut from a totally unique and groundbreaking artist. There was never anything like Bjork before, and there will never be another Bjork

I still really don't like this group. Although this album sounds more psychadelic/spacey a la Flaming Lips and is better than Fuzzy Logic, I still find the lead vocalist's singing to be annoying and I could barely make it thru the entire album.

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Another "acquired taste" but at least its better than Billy Bragg

Another acquired taste, but better than say Billy Bragg. Nice jazz influences here

I find it difficult to rate albums on their musical merits alone and ignore the dated sound or if you don't like the genre

I hope the choices improve soon

Nuanced, layered, complex

skilled performance, well written but annoying AF to listen to 3/5

This is the first album I ever bought. Some classic power rock anthems here. This is really the Phil Lynott show. 3/5

Noisy and angry

Sounds like just another Oasis, but with an even more annoying lead singer

Hugely influential dance group, probably second only to Kraftwerk, but this isn't their best.

So twee and light. But beneath those delightful melodies lurks some sharp satire and hipster angst.

This old school hip hop is certainly more accessible than the stuff we hear today, album has a few nice tunes such as Ready or Not but most of it sounds meh now.

I can't believe this was released in 98! This was so influential when it came out, I was into Sophia Coppola's films at the time also, particularly Virgin Suicides so this really hit the spot. The way they were able to blend groovy sounds from the 60s and 70s into this new \"chill out\" sound was really innovative and this album holds up surprisingly well today.

From the first few notes and the pounding drums of Race for the Prize you know this album has chops. The Lips toned it down from their harsher punkier origins for this album and introduced some very nice catchy melodies. This album was a harbinger of even greater things to come.

I'm not a Gershwin fan nor this era of big band sound, but I must say that no one has a voice as silky smooth as Ella.

Although from 1980 (OMG 40 yrs old!) this holds up pretty well against other albums eg Pulp's Hardcore which I couldn't get thru. This album has the hallmark early goth/new wave sound that was prevalent in the day and they did it better than anyone else. Not their best but a sign of even greater things to come

Ground breaking in its day I'm sure, but all of the songs sound the same

Superbly produced album with expert musicmanship. I read a long time ago that Deacon Blues has the best lyrics ever and I can't argue with Learn to work the saxophone (I) I play just what I feel Drink Scotch whiskey all night long And die behind the wheel They got a name for the winners in the world (I) I want a name when I lose They call Alabama the Crimson Tide Call me Deacon Blues The rest of the album is not as brilliant, but it is still pretty darned good so it gets a 4/5 from me

I've never been a Black Sabbath fan, but when listening to this album I can understand the appeal. This is a pretty seminal recording of early heavy metal with some pretty kick ass tracks that stand up well 50 yrs later. I finally know what those metal heads were going on about now.

The the intro to Stay with the funky guitar riffs by Earl Slick and Carlos Alomar is probably the most scintillating minute I've ever heard. Bowie's Berlin era albums are some of my favs, and you can hear the Eno and Kraftwerk influences here. Station to Station, TVC15 and Wild is the Wind are brilliant, but one of my least favourite Bowie songs -Golden years is on here so its doesn't quite get a perfect score from me

If Krautrock and fringe rock had a baby it would be Stereolab. Most of the hipster indie groups today were influenced by Stereolab in some form, whether they realize it or not. Love the pulsating beat of Les Yper sound, tres chic

Bittersweet symphony is good, and they show some potential there. But I found the rest of the album to be a meh version of Oasis, who I don't even like.

If the Red hot chili peppers and the Beastie Boys got amped up with some coke at a backyard bbq... I listen to most of my music while at my desk working and this was a bit too angry for me to focus on spreadsheets

And I thought Rage at the Machine was angry. I guess I like post-punk if its a bit more melodic like the Clash, Gang of Four, The Stranglers etc.

Although this sounds good on speakers, maaan it must have been something to see JB's energy live on stage. I bet this concert was legendary

I was never a fan of CCR or hillybilly music so I went into this with some trepidation. However, I was pleasantly surprised, Ramble Tamble had a nice jangly geetar and I was surprised at the number of classic hits I recognized - Looking out my back door, Who'll stop the rain and Up around the bend, but my favourite was the groovy vintage 10 speed with chrome forks and clip on pedals on the cover. If there were half stars I'd give it 3.5, but I'll round it up for its historical significance

Did I think it was good? Yes Did I like it? No. Its hard to separate personal bias when rating an album but I'm trying. I give it a 3 for these reasons

Not a fan of glam rock.

Loving the cool funky ghetto vibe on this album which ushered in the Blaxpoitation films of the 70s. Supercool.

Like listening to a chick flick, not that there's anything wrong with that.

From angry white punks of The Fall to the other extreme, angry black gangstas from the 'hood. Again, if we could rate half stars I'd give this a 3.5 but given that this is the OG Grandaddy of gangsta rap I'll round it up to 4

This starts out great with Playground Love, it imbues such a languid chill-out mood, but then it kinda drifts off into a pretty typical movie score. The soundtrack to this movie is actually much better with classics by 10CC, Todd Rundgren, Al Green, and Sloan. Lovely film too.

Cheap Chilis

Another album that I would never be exposed to were it not for this website. I think the songs that Rod sings on are vastly superior to the ones featuring Ronnie Lane. Stay with me is most definitely the killer track here with a raucous bluesy guitars and piano.

This must have been an absolutely electrifying live concert. So much energy!

When i was 10 yrs old I heard the opening lines.. Sitting on a park bench Eyeing little girls with bad intent Snot's running down his nose Greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes.... and then with all those tempo changes and crazy instruments, I mean a flute??!!! I knew this was something special. This gets 4 stars because of four iconic songs, Aqualung, Cross eyed Mary and Locomotive Breath

Was a bit apprehensive after getting yet another Fela Kuti album but this one is very different, much less frenetic Afro-beat and more Afro-jazz, it meanders at a more relaxed pace and has a more serious political tone.

Melancholy pop about fun topics such as unrequited love, suicide and mental illness is usually a downer, but Eels does a great job here on their debut album. Their sound becomes more fully formed in their later releases but this is solid effort. You can hear the late 90s lofi influences here ... Sparklehorse, Mercury Rev, Yo La Tengo etc, it was a pretty good time for the indie music scene IMO.

Queen was my favourite group when I was in High School. They certainly had style and flair, plus some pretty darned good musicmanship and of course the inimitable Freddie.

Breezy summery songs for the early 80s. I'm surprised at how many of these songs I recall, I must have played Fantastic Day a thousand times in my yute when hanging out with my Uni girlfriend. I really could use the half star rating system here, so my 3.5 becomes a 4 purely for nostalgic reasons.

The Wiki for this ground-breaking album is interesting. I knew that this was the 19 year old Oldfield's debut album but I didn't realize that it put Virgin Records on the map. Also Branson wanted vocals so that he could release a single, Oldfield was pissed at this so he got drunk and started to grunting nonsense which explains the Piltdown Man garble on side 2. If I heard this album today I would think it was gimmicky and silly, but back in 73 it was a tour-de-force and hugely innovative. This is another album that I must have listened to a thousand times.

This album starts out brilliantly with a hommage to the Peter Gunn theme with Planet Claire, legs are a' moving and head is a' bopping. Funky, punky, kitchy and so much fun. To this day Rock Lobster still gets everyone on the dancefloor.

Not very offensive, but not very memorable either. Just a bunch of very similar sounding ez listening Brit pop songs from the 80s.

the Wiki for this album is very interesting, I didn't realize that it was spawned from so much conflict, chaos, drug addition and talk of suicide. I also like Rolling Stone's description that its closer to progressive rock than punk or grunge

I guess this is a bit of a let down after Elvis' simply brilliant debut album - My aim is true. The songs are pleasant enough but don't have the same bite, so this is only a 3 from me.

This beautifully melancholic record grows on you. The Way to blue is mournful but lovely and River man is Drake at his best. If you're in the mood for chill folky music you can't go wrong with this record.

When I first came to Canada in 1973 Led Zep was all the rage with the stoner crowd at school and I never really understood the attraction and I never was too enthusiastic their sound. So almost 50 yrs later I'm forced to listen to this album and I can confirm that I still don't know what the big deal is. Kashmir is good, but apart from that it doesn't really turn my crank

Rikki is of course the best song on this album, years later when I was listening to Horace Silver’s 1965 Songs for my father I realized that they cribbed the opening riffs from it. Major disappointment. Any major dude is also good, but the rest of the album doesn’t quite live up to those two songs

Roots Reggae and Dub are my favourite types of Reggae as you can really settle into the hypnotic groove. This record starts off great with Marcus Garvey but it after that it gets a bit preachy and one note sounding.

How to rate something that I couldn't listen to for more than 3 songs? Its not necessarily bad, just not to my taste. Trying to be as objective as possible

I'm done with glam rock

I agree with MG's assessment. Black guys rocking out is a nice change of pace, but it gets tiresome pretty quick.

This is some dark Krautrock. Again you have to be in the mood and I wasn't.

starts off with a bang with the nonsense dadaist lyrics of I Zimbra... Gadji beri bimba clandridi Lauli lonni cadori gadjam A bim beri glassala glandride E glassala tuffm I zimbra. Like, how does Byrne come up with this brilliant shit? Life during Wartime is also one of their best singles with a funky jerky African rhythm. I like how their sound is evolving with the Eno collaboration also. This is a great album, but not their best, I would rank Remain in Light, 77 ahead of this, so it gets a sold 4 from me.

Ugh

According to Wiki Nas is a brilliant poet lyricist and this is one of the greatest and most influential hip hop albums of all time. I think I would have appreciated more if I had listened more carefully and not just had it playing in the background while I worked. The lyrics may have been great but the beats were just ok.

This is an astonishing debut album. Totally new and original sound, Art Punk is an apt description. Killer songs include Don’t worry about the government, no compassion, pulled up and of course, one of their very best Psycho Killer. I really wish they have half stars as this is a clear 4.5 for me. Yes it’s very good but not quite perfect. I’ll reserve that for another talking heads album, so to differentiate it this gets a really high 4

The first song IGY is pleasant enough, Steely Dan lite. But I wasn't engaged for the rest of the album because all the songs sounded the same to me.

This sound did not date well.

This album was really out there, psychadelic Brazilian folk music and I hear influences from the Mamas and the Papas, Zappa and Beatles. This one is quite dense and very inventive so I think it will get even better with repeated listenings.

Boy here's another album that didn't age well. I guess in the early 80s after Punk had run its course this was a bridge and precursor to New Wave. Thankfully it was a mercifully short bridge. Back then cultural appropriation wasn't a thing, but Adam and the Ants did it in spades with Burundi drums and Native American costumes, what a hot mess. Back in the 80s it may have been novel, but its too gimmicky for me now.

Although this album is pretty inoffensive, nothing much on it grabbed me.

I have an aversion to HUGE stadium rock groups that take themselves too seriously and songs that are overplayed so I have to check my bias when rating this album and pretend that I'm listening to it for the first time instead of the kazillionth. So on that basis I must acknowledge that there a quite a few good songs on this album. The Edge's guitar on Zoo Station and Until the end of the world are notable and I grudgingly acknowledge that One is a pretty good song.

Maggie May is wonderful for sure. Yup there with his best

Sandy Denny truly has a transcendental voice and the band wisely lets her take centre stage with most of the instruments playing lo-key in the background. The only song I didn't like was Cajun woman. In case you're interested, my rating criteria is: 1 Star - I hated it, 2 Stars - it has good qualities, but overall I'm indifferent, 3 Stars - its a very good album, respect, but I probably wouldn't play it again; 4 Stars - Love it, definitely on my repeat list; 5 Stars - An iconic album, every song is perfect, without any weak songs.

I'm getting a whole lot of Thurston Moore vibes here.

Pretty aggressive sound, Wiki says that if you feel Iike getting slapped upside the head while dancing all night this is the album for you. I feel like I just got slapped upside the head.

I can see how this slickly produced album went on to influence popular acts in the 70s and 80s such as Whitney Huston, Lionel Ritchie et al. Most of it was too mainstream for me, but the 70s jazz fusion of Contusion surprised me and I had no idea that Eminem sampled Pastime Paradise!

This failed to grab me and I lost interest fairly quickly

I still really don't like this group. Although this album sounds more psychadelic/spacey a la Flaming Lips and is better than Fuzzy Logic, I still find the lead vocalist's singing to be annoying and I could barely make it thru the entire album.

With Bowie's help Iggy punches out some raucous, raunchy rock with Lust for life. The Passenger is also a classic song. Turn blue is an interesting.... well turn, but it almost sounds like a fish out of water on this album. Overall a solid effort.

Some great samples, innovative beats and witty lyrics on this album. I really like some of their singles but after awhile their in yo face style can be a bit grating.

Oh Lordy, I did try to get through this but the only song that I could listen to in its entirety was Sinister Purpose, probably because it had less of Fogerty's singing. I know they sold a whack of records back in '69 but this is just not my cup of tea

Debut album from a band that I've never heard of. Its pretty good early 90's alternative rock with some good driving guitar melodies. They were nominated for a Mercury prize, but it seems that they were a one-hit wonder?

1001 forces you to listen to records that you'd never willingly subject yourself to. I've never actually listened to Iron Maiden in my life and I'm happy to say I didn't miss anything. I can handle some metal, but this is just Pop Metal with some corny guitar riffs in a formulaic style. Meh.

I didn't realize that Cream was regarded as the World's first Super group given its all-star line up: Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce. That much talent and ego usually means that they self-destruct and true to form Cream didn't last too long. There are some real classics on this album so it gets a solid 7/10

That segway from the first song, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band to With a little help from my friends is foreshadowing that this album will be special. After hearing thru so many different genres that followed this in the 70s and 80s such as psychedelic, prog, World, and avant-garde this album may not sound too innovative, but when I stop to think that this is the OG that started it all, it's influence and importance comes into perspective. There are 13 songs on this album, 12 are killer and deserve 5 stars, with only Being the benefit of Mr Kite being a miss, but the album closes with a Sgt Pepper's reprise with another brilliant segway into their best song ever IMO, A Day in the Life and then to top it off this fricking masterpiece of a record ends with perhaps the most incredible ending notes of any song, EVER. So it makes up for Mr Kite, and how! So I'm happy to give my first 5 star rating to this album.

This is a landmark free jazz album, simply brilliant musicianship and improvisation, very different from Ah Um but still very good

Theres one good song on this album, Mother and Child reunion, but it’s guilty of massive cultural appropriation. The fact that it was made back in 72 before cultural appropriation was a thing allows it to slide though. Funny how attitudes and times change. Anyways the rest of the album didn’t grab me and I wouldn’t listen to it again so this gets two stars

I remember how huge Tainted Love was on the dance floor with its bleepy innovative beats. Sex Dwarf is also good but Say Hello Wave Goodbye is an underrated and excellent song that really showcases Marc Almond's voice.

I may have had more tolerance to listen to this when I was younger. Not my jam

Interesting trivia... apart from Levon Helm, all members of the Band were Canadian, most notably Robbie Robertson. The Weight is greight, and the organ intro to Chest Fever is pretty epic.

I was pleasantly surprised by this. Folk with a hint of prog with some fine arrangements

Excellent songwriting and impassioned singing. I can hear how she influenced female singers that followed her eg Sarah McLachlan with her soulful, wavering singing style.

I was never a fan of the Britpop sound, and after trying to listen to this its confirmed. I couldn’t listen to any of the songs all the way though without being thoroughly bored

I remember almost 40 years ago (OMG!) first listening to this album and being completely blown away by it. So much that I wrote a letter to the band gushing about how brilliant it was. That was a first (and last) for me. Back then I would have given it 5 stars instantly. Listening to it again now I find that some of the singles such as Promised you a miracle didn’t age too well and I cringe a bit at the overly pretentious lyrics and Jim Kerr’s 80s “New Romantic” singing style. However there are some real gems on this and I really like the more atmospheric and moody pieces such as Someone Somewhere, Big Sleep, Somebody up there and Hunter and the Hunted. It’s good to hear that the deep and propulsive bass and drums throughout the album still hit the spot.

After the relative softer edge of Ziggy Stardust Bowie really rocks out with this album. I don't think it achieves the same heights as Ziggy, but it has some great tracks including Jean Genie and Panic in Detroit. I prefer Bowie's other phases: Mod/ Space oddity, and his experimental Berlin stage but this is still a pretty solid effort.

An unholy, noisy mess. Daft Punk did it better. I gave it 1.5 stars but rounded it up because its a nice sunny day today.

The Boys sound sooo soft and smooth on this album, this is perfect music for shopping at a luxury department store as you sashay through the aisles, if that's your thing. There's nothing offensive on this album, but nothing inspiring either.

I was really excited when this popped up this morning, but on closer inspection I saw it was recorded at San Quentin and not the legendary Folsom Prison. The Spotify version has a lot of "heavy" country filler from other artists that weren't my jam, so I've excluded them from this rating. But even then this was disappointing as it didn't seem to have much passion or energy and the editing of the songs to be frank, really sucks. The cover art is really iconic though!

For me Karen O’s wonderful voice has always been the most notable thing about this band. She can rock out with the best of them and then completely soften her tough edge with mellower songs like Little Shadow and Skeleton.

El Paso was nice for the novelty of listening to a ballad from a byegone era. But listening to 13 other songs that sound virtually identical to it gets old pretty fast

Yikes, another reminder that I’m getting old and certain things just don’t age well. New Gold Dream is of similar vintage but it sounds way fresher and more innovative than this. I really liked Poppies in the field back in the day, but the driving beat that I recalled now sounds muffled and uninspired. The synth keyboard also sounds lame. It was a struggle to get thru the 17 songs on this album

Oh boy, if there ever was a polarizing album... Fans of his earlier phases, Be-bop, Hard-bop and Modal will probably hate this. But what you have to respect about Miles is that he's always pushing the boundaries and charting new territory, too bad if its out of your comfort zone. Get uncomfortable mofos! I think this would have been a cracker single album but it drags a bit as a double, so I would give it a 3 +1 for its influence on jazz/rock fusion and just because Miles is the OG badass mofo. If you like this check out the album Miles from India, a compilation of Miles' music mostly performed by excellent Indian musicians.

Scorching driving guitars and wicked bass from Lemmy. I think to appreciate this you'd need to be banging your head in a room smoking some weed, the folks talking between the song are certainly high on something. Can hear the early origins of prog metal here. The first half dozen songs were great, but after that it got very repetitive.

Probably the greatest post-punk band ever. This album has so many great singles, Pictures of You, Lovesong, Fascination Street, Disintegration, but the other tracks are also really really strong. Standouts for me are the strings on Lullaby, the guitar hook and sad lament on Untitled, the Wall of sound on Plainsong, the Thunderous drums in Closedown and their classic gothy dark sound in Deep Water and Pray for rain. I'd give this album a 9/10 but on the 5 star scale its not quite "perfection" so I must sadly round it down to a 4.

Thundercat where have you been all my life? Never heard of this band and its great! Nice prog-soul grooves with some excellent musicmanship.

This ain’t Harvest as Neil goes full grungy garage on this record. Definitely not dinner music. Not my fav Neil Young but he still shows his brilliance

When I come around is good. The rest is meh. Not a fan.

I was never a fan of Brit pop. After listening to this I can confirm that I'm still not a fan.

Killer debut album by Jimi, with very little filler. Innovative mix of blues and psychedelic rock, believe the hype!

Too sugary for me. Not a fan.

I liked Seen your video the best, probably because it was mostly instrumental - good driving post punk music. The rest was not very exciting

My fav Van Morrison album, it flits and dances around like a butterfly on a sunny spring day. Although he sings like he's got a mouthful of cotton balls, it works with the soulful music and it still holds up really well considering its over 50 years old. The only miss is Slim Slow Slider which sounds like an afterthought to the 7 brilliant songs that preceded it, so I give it a 4.5 and round it up to a 5 because its a sunny Spring day.

Starts off with a bang with Shining Star, mellows out with That's the way of the world, gets funky with Happy Feelin' so hey I'm thinking this album has some bangers, could be a classic, could it be 4 stars? But then it gets weighed down by the saccharine goop of All about love. But then Reasons shows that slow soul songs can still have redeeming qualities. The rest is ok, so overall this is a 3 from me.

I never liked the Seattle Grunge sound and I find Eddie Vedder’s voice annoying. I also found all of the songs on this album repetitive

Gotta love fashion and style maven Bowie for his chameleon-like changes every few albums. The only other musician that I can think of that does it as well is Neil Young and he's a bloody legend also. However, in this "Soul" phase apart from the wonderful single Young Americans and the lovely song Right, this album has quite a few misses, especially the execrable Fame. Gawd I hate that song. So some great, some bad, some ok means this is 3 stars from me.

Iconic psychedelic funk album. All killah no fillah

Gotta admit that Relax is a pretty iconic 80s dance tune that I played about a kazillion times back in the day. Also Despite the goofy narration over War, the bass line has chops and there are some good covers of Born to run and San Jose. But overall this is like watching the original Lethal Weapon or Diehard movies, it’s pretty dated and doesn’t hold up well today

Very cool Indian Indie sound, kinda like Talvin Singh blended with Thievery Corporation. I can see this album being very influential in Raga Rock

After A night at the opera hit like an atom bomb in the early 70s I quickly gobbled up their earlier albums: Queen, Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack and I was a huge fan of their bombastic glam/prog/metal sound with tons of vocal over-dubs. You can hear them starting to gain traction in this album and there are some real gems including Father to son, Ogre Battle, White Queen and Fairy Feller. But the best was yet to come

Just as gloomy as I remember it, but still a pretty seminal piece of goth/post punk music considering that it was released just after Ian Curtis committed suicide. Did I mention that it was gloomy? The graphics and photo on the album cover are one of my all time favourites though.

Fun album that must have been pretty daring and controversial in its day. Some real classics here. A great soundtrack to a mafia movie.

Many, many, short snippets of lo-fi songs sounds like an interesting idea for an album so I tried really hard to like this, but as soon as I got into a groove with anything it abruptly ended. Many with no fadeouts, just a slammed door. This was a frustrating listen for me.

This Brazilian pop album is pleasant enough, Regina has a lovely voice and range but I don’t think it is up to the high standards of David Byrne’s Lauka Bop label where complies a killer record featuring seminal Brazilian artists like Caetano Veloso, Jorge Ben, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento etc. Now that is a banger of a Brazilian record.

Wonderfully quirky and inventive. I think The Dirty Projectors and Grizzly Bear were two of the best indie acts of the early 2000s. Like any offbeat and complex works it’ll take a few lessons to grow on me but then it’s gonna stick for a long time, unlike the formulaic pop on mainstream radio

There were a couple of songs that I thought were fine but this one failed to hold my attention. I see lots of folks complaining about his monotonous voice and I can’t disagree

I was surprised to read in Wiki that his debut album, Astral Weeks was a commercial flop because it's my fav Van Morrison album. Van went back to the drawing board and wrote more commercial sounding songs for this album and completely knocks it out of the park with the first 5 songs. It flags a bit with Come Running and These Dreams, but he closes it out nicely with Everyone and Glad tidings. I don't think this is as strong as the seminal Astral Weeks but this is still a very strong effort.

I was really looking forward to discovering some gems here because I like some good ol' soul and funk but I found this boring and repetitive and not very imaginative. I mean they probably say the "F" word on this record more times than the other "F" word was uttered in the movie Scarface. George Clinton should have done better.

An unholy mess

This is a new listen for me, sad music that can make you happy. Nice melancholy vibe that can get under your skin.

I had too much to drink is a classic but the rest was meh

One of the most memorable scenes in the movie Almost Famous was when the band and groupies were singing Tiny Dancer on the team bus. Just a brilliant song by Elton John. Levon also shows off his excellent vocal range and Bernie Taupin’s song writing skills. This album isn’t their best but it’s still a very strong effort

This was a difficult one to rate for me. I recognize the huge historical significance that this early super group has wrought, but some songs with the Glorious Harmonies, in particular Carry on just grate on me. There are a lot of standout songs though like Almost cut my hair and all the Neil Young songs that pull it way up.

When it comes to the Goth/dance sound this pales in comparison to the Cure and New Order. I found the vocals annoying and the drums way too amped. Not a fan.

I've read the glowing reviews and I've listened to this 3-4 times now thinking huh, WTF am I missing? But I still don't get it. I suppose it was highly innovative for its time but I just don't like the glorious harmonies, corny arrangements and sappy lyrics. Many others give it a 5 calling it a masterpiece but this is not Sgt Pepper, DSOTM or Ziggy Stardust. I give it a 1, +1 for its production values.

One of Kate’s very best and also of the 80s IMO. Her voice has never been more powerful, crystalline, clear and pure. And her writing is simply in a class of its own. The brilliant singles from this album speak for themselves but the experimental Side B is also a revelation. I’d give this a 4.5 but since I was so hard on Pet Sounds yesterday I’ll round this up to a 5

Best listened to while violently slamming into others in a mosh pit. First few songs are ok but it gets boring fast due to lack of variety

Someone mentioned that the Fleet Foxes are kinda like a blend of CSNY and Beach Boys, both of who I don't like, specifically because of their \"glorious harmonies\". I know many of their fans will think this is blasphemous as their harmonies are their calling card. I didn't mind the instrumental songs and I can appreciate the strong production and musicmanship throughout and also the nice Flemish woodblock cover so I'll give this a 3

This sounds like a soundtrack from the Matrix and similar to that series it hasn’t aged very well and sounds dated. The beats and loops are incessantly driving and propulsive but there simply isn’t enough variety in tempo or mood. Kraftwerk and Aphex Twin did it much better. Apparently they mix it up near the end of the album but I fell asleep by song 6, too little too late for me.

Well she has a good singing voice but her campy, bouncy jazzy pop style was really grating and annoying to me. I couldn’t get thru this one

Now this is how you do synth-pop proper! Not like that Chemical Bros crap I just listened to. How do you sleep, Tonite are standouts.

Solid American bluesy rock and roll here. It flags a bit with Move it down the line which includes cliched riffs and lyrics like “big wheels keep on turning” 🙄 but its saved by the excellent single La Grange with the signature ZZ Top geetar sound. I like how they mixed up the tempo and mood with Sheik also.

It’s Interesting how polarizing this band is. Their musicianship is good, the production by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno is certainly good but after hearing the singles from this album for the gazillionth time and Bono acting like a douche I’ve put up a mental wall against them. But I’m trying to be objective here in rating this album so I’ll bump it up to a 3.

An interesting turn for OMD as they abandon their electro dance roots for a darker more experimental sound. Some of it works well but some leaves me cold

I tried, I really tried but I find his vocals really annoying. I respect him as a poet but as a musician he just doesn’t do it for me, too much of the same wailing In his songs made this impossible for me to get through.

This album didn’t seem like much to write home about. Nothing that struck me as being outstanding. There have been many comparisons to the Beatles and I just think the Beatles did it way better

EBTG basically pioneered the English downtempo drum and bass sound and everyone but EBTG were influenced by their lounging in the coffee shop style. Although this doesn't have anything as good as their big hit Missing you, the first three songs set the mood nicely. However I found my attention lagging for the rest of the album as the drum and bass in every song started to meld together.

This album is hard for me to enjoy. But I will give it a knowing nod for its groundbreaking post punk sound that influenced many bands that followed in the 80s. I used to think HK Garden was catchy and cute but it’s faux Asian melodies are now cringe worthy. It’s funny how mores change so much over time. Just like my musical tastes.

You really need to be at a rave, sweating and high on acid to be into this music. Sitting at home reading the paper it was a bit too high NRG and it got really repetitive. It’s better than Chemical Bros but not as good as say Daft Punk or the OGs Kraftwerk

Not my jam. Not into his vocals and the incessant horns. Their best with Come on Eileen was yet to come.

Astonishing that this debut album has so many solid, solid tracks. This is probably the only mainstream easy-listening jazz/pop album that I'll ever admit to liking. I was also surprised that its from 1984, I thought it was from the 90s, so that cheezy sax didn't date it too much.

Streets of your town is very well written and pleasant, the rest of the album was meh. Nothing offensive here, but nothing inspiring either.

Some of Beck’s mellower songs are incredible, with tremendous writing and vocals. But those songs are not on this album. I just couldn’t get into this record and I am not a fan

I respect Cash for his ability to connect with the audience and his showmanship but I’m not a fan of Country and this is pretty Deep South Country. Respect and Acknowledgement, but I wouldn’t seek it out to be honest

My kid brother is huge Pavement fan, but I could never catch the contagion like him. Pavement's jangly guitar and jerky vocals have some charming appeal though. I found 5-4 Unity to be the most interesting song with its Brubeck-esque tempo, Range life, Gold songs and Silence Kid are also good.

I can’t believe this is on the list. G&R epitomize the cliched overblown 80s hair band. Every song sounds the same and his voice is annoying AF

This debut album is pleasant enough. Good early indie music with a nice vibe that foreshadows even better things to come from this band. However it gets repetitive very soon.

Just three guys on acoustic instruments playing their hearts out and it shows. Classic organic lo-fi punk with some great hooks, eg Add it up, Blister in the Sun and Go daddy go.

There’s not much for me to add here as there’s no question that this is an iconic pop/rock album. Dreams and Go your own way are probably two of the best pop tracks ever written, but IMO You make loving fun is right up there with them. The album isn’t perfect though and I would argue that it shouldn’t be ranked higher than DSOTM, Wish you were here, Ziggy Stardust or Sgt Peppers so it gets a 4 from me

First time hearing these guys, gotta giving them credit for pushing the envelope here. Quite experimental for its time, with musique concrète influences from Stockhausen and early Zappa. I also hear some Stereolab in some tracks. Although very interesting, overall its not very engaging and I can't say I loved any particular song or would seek it out again.

I must have worn out my original copy of this album I played it so much in the 80s. It’s a big improvement over their prior release with some real cracking tracks including 2 great cover songs. Plus it’s also got Come on Eileen which is a classic. I’d give this a solid 3.5, but round up to 4 for old times sakes.

I tend to avoid over hyped bands so I’ve never actually listened to this album. Must concede that there are some good tracks here, but Plant’s piercing screams are a bit much, especially when he does his “ooooooohhhh, baaaaby!” yell. Better than I expected though and these boys do indeed have talent so it gets a passing grade from me.

I was surprised to read that this is the only Tangerine Dream album on this list because I think their later work is better, eg Stratosfear, Cyclone and Force Majeure but I guess it’s because this album was highly influential and important in the annals of Krautrock and electronic music with the early use of sequencers. Also it’s interesting that along with Mike Oldfield, TD was one of the first bands that Richard Branson signed to his fledgling Virgin Records label.

Couldn’t get through this. Not a fan

Nice little gem here from Mercury Rev. They're often compared to a mellower Flaming Lips which is understandable. Some great post rock, psychadelic song-writing and melodies here and Holes, Goddess on a hiway and Opus 40 are highlights.

This is one of those bands that get real annoying fast. Must be the U2 and Coldplay effect. This album is 3 hrs long, (eye roll) but I could only get thru a few songs before I threw in the towel.

The Time of the season is pretty much a perfect pop song, beautiful vocals and instrumental solos. Just perfect. The remainder of the album though doesn't live up to the same standard. I hear lots of early Kinks, Beatles and Beach Boys, but most of it is pretty homogenous and nothing really stands out. But the Time of the Season, wow!

I got sick of all the Brit Pop bands in the 90s (yes, you Oasis) so I tuned them out and missed out on this band. The scorching guitars in the first song grabbed my attention and I was intrigued for the rest of the ride. I read that they were a bunch of 17 yr olds that made this, impressive. Great driving guitars with a melodic vocal overlay. They did it way better than Oasis and Blur IMO. I also hear some Dinosaur Jr, Ramones and Buzzcocks here, but hey if you have to steal, might as well be from the best. This is a FUN record!

I tried, but I just couldn’t complete this homework assignment

This album is a huge leap from Murmer which I recently rated a 3. Much more mature writing and performances here with quite a few very solid songs.

If Blondie got together with the Sex Pistols this would be their lovechild. Kudos for their audacity and energy. Poly Styrene is a great front-woman and the cheap sounding sax is a refreshing change.

I can't say I'm a fan of big band and crooning ballads, which basically describes both sides of this record. I prefer Charles' later material where he gets more rock n' roll

Highly influential album due to their innovative use of the 808 drum machine but it didn’t age well and most of it is a noisy unholy mess. The best track is Pacific 202.

Brilliant corners is simply a brilliant album. Monk's style may be off putting for some with his crunchy dissonant, off kilter dissonant piano playing, but therein also lies his genius. Allstar band. Highlight for me is Bemsha Swing.

The title song is iconic. The rest is meh

Nice sixties crooning with some good arrangements and vocals. This harkens back to an era when the lyrics were nice, the singing was nice and everyone looked nice. Overall a nice album.

Coldplay without being annoying and cloying. Doves are a good indie Brit band with some pretty decent songs, particularly There goes the fear. This is a strong 2.5 but I'll round it up because its a nice day again.

Horrible pseudo multi-cultural rave music. Truly execrable.

Simply could not get into this. I’m getting tired of Brit pop

These guys invented chill.

I try and try but I just can’t do Bob Dylan 🤷‍♂️ His voice is annoying and that damned harmonica, sheesh

I grew up listening to Kraftwerk and it shaped my musical taste profoundly. They were so innovative in the 70s that this sound must have blown everyone’s mind. However the irony is that because they were so influential that you hear this style almost everywhere now so the their unique groundbreaking sound is lost on most new listeners. This album is great but I think Man Machine and Computer World are better so it only gets a 4 from me.

A lot has been said about this album so I don’t need to repeat it. I would say that Meddle, DSOTM, Animals and The Wall are all excellent but Wish you were here may just edge out the others, ever so slightly.

Some tracks sound embarrassingly dated but Holding back the years and Moneys too tight manage to hold up well. Credit to Mick Hucknall for his strong vocals and for a good effort for a debut album.

This is a perhaps the most iconic solo piano album ever. It was interesting to read on Wiki about all the screw-ups that preceded this concert, very impressive that he was able to pull it off despite all the adversity. My only complaint is Jarrett's trademark moaning and wailing while he plays which is a bit distracting. Favourite track for me is Pt II, C.

In the movies you see the Americans torturing their POWs by blasting death metal at them while they’re chained up in the dark. Pretty sure this would be effective as a torture device as it makes me want to slit my wrists.

As an intro to Indian Sitar music this is great, I mean who is more qualified than Ravi Shankar? But is it really his best work and is it a seminal album in this genre? I'm not an expert on Indian music but I suspect there are more iconic albums in this genre that could have been on this list.

The songs start off fine with pleasant instrumentals but then his Gawdawful voice comes in and it’s like nails against the blackboard for me. He may be a good poet but his singing and phrasing are not my cup of tea. Like a rolling stone and Ballad of a thin man are slightly more bearable.

I’m not a huge fan of blues, but when combined with rock like this its much more accessible to me. This must have been a legendary concert to see live with those long guitar jam sessions but when listening to it at low volume at home while reading the Saturday paper I think most of it got lost in translation. I’m sure this is a you had to be there situation.

This was a nice surprise find for me. The vocals were a bit offbeat but that’s ok, others hate it but i don’t mind them at all. Reminds me a lot of Cocorosie with the quirky falsetto. I think this will grow on me with repeated listenings

Starts off great with the opening track -Yes, cool guitar hooks and impassioned vocals. But it goes downhill fast afterwards, all the songs sounds the same and just a Green Day knock off. Also the news audio clips before the songs doesn’t add anything and is just gimmicky.

I really like Killing Joke’s single - Love like blood it’s propulsive and has great guitar and bass hooks. Most of this album doesn’t come close to this benchmark and all of the songs sound pretty much the same to me. The exceptions are Requiem, Wardance and Change but it just isn’t enough for me to seek this out to listen to unfortunately.

I’m not a fan of country or Billy Bragg but because it features Wilco I have it a go. Turns out it was a pleasant surprise. The background story of this album is quite interesting also. California Stars and song featuring Natalie Merchant were very nice.

IMO Stevie is at his best when he does the funky soul numbers. Superstition is one of his most iconic songs, with killer guitar hooks and I love his funky snarling voice. But this album is marred by syrupy maudlin commercial tracks meant to sell records such as You are the sunshine, You and I, Looking for another pure love, and I believe. Yuck. If it had more Superstition it would be a 4 but the dreck pulls it down unfortunately

I really struggled to get through this album, the only thing that excited or interested me was the sign showing that rooms at this hotel were $2.50, which is mind boggling! But for the music, I was totally dis-engaged and it did not resonate with me at all.

I groaned when this came up today as it was the second Doors album in as many days. But to my surprise it was much better than Morrison hotel. Even more impressive is the fact that this was their debut album. Morrison’s powerful voice and Manzarek’s keyboard playing are standouts. The highlight for me are the organ and guitar solos in Light my fire. The only song that I really didn’t like is the Bertold Brecht / Kurt Weill inspired Whisky Bottle.

Most of this sounds pretty much the same and the production values are really rough, much like the group and the music so I guess that's fitting. I'll boost this up by one star given its influence on the punk genre, but this isn't something that I'll seek out in the future.

the first thing that comes to mind is "Impassioned singing". Very wide range of styles here and he was a huge talent that was taken too soon, but I'm not a fan of some of his more maudlin material. This may grow on me with repeated listenings but it doesn't move me as much as many others have mentioned.

Perfectly bookended by Hey,Hey… and My, My … Neil never fails to disappoint or astonish with his huge range and ability to change like a chameleon. Powderfinger is one of my fav Young songs with a blistering guitar. Interestingly when Neil sings country/folk and plays his harmonica I I love it. But when that Dylan guy does the same thing it drives me crazy. Go figure.

Very pleasant African pop that makes you wanna shake your booty. Nice rhythms and good vocals. But I would reach for some Miriam & Amadou or Fela Kuti before this

Raucous honky tonk rock n roll. But a double album was a bit too much for me. The songs seemed to run together with a very similar sound. Shake your hips and Sweet Virginia were the exceptions and the ones I liked best. I’ve always thought that I respect the Stones but I just don’t love them and this still holds true.

I was a heavy listener of Japan in the late 70s so I've tried to get past my early fan bias. Now I also have to get past the silly hair, makeup and New Romantic costumes. Actually it wasn't as bad as I expected with some songs holding up pretty good eg All Tomorrow's Parties. Kudos to them for being such early pioneers in the Synth-Pop genre and influencing groups such as Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, ABC, Human League etc. But is there anything gloomier sounding than David Sylvain’s voice?

I was hoping this album would feature their cover of Brian Eno's "Third Uncle" as its my fav Bauhaus song, but no such luck. Unfortunately this album didn't have anything to hook me and I think The Cure and Joy Division were much better at the Dance/Goth thingy. I also penalize it for sounding so dated today.

Raw, nasty, visceral energy. I wouldn't know that Bowie produced this if I didn't see it in Wiki. Although this was highly influential proto-punk its not my jam.

I'm not a fan of metal but this album is one of the few that I can listen to in its entirety. Smoke on the water and Highway Superstar are iconic head-banger tracks of course, but I also enjoyed Lazy and Space Truckin' and especially the amped up organ which gives them a very distinctive sound. The background story on Smoke is interesting - how some idiot with a flare gun at a Frank Zappa concert burned their concert venue down. This is a solid 3.5 for me, but I'll round it up because its iconic and still rocks 50 years later.

Ahh classic Roxy with Eno and Manzanera before they sold out and started playing elevator music. The guitar solo after “but you blew my mind” In Every home a heartache and then the fade out/ reprise is a highlight for me. This was Roxy near its best, if this album had my fav track Both Ends Burning I would have given it a 5

Give these guys credit for creating a distinctive chill, mellow folk/pop genre. If you’re in the mood for this on a rainy Sunday afternoon, this album fits the bill perfectly.

From reading the reviews I see that you either love or hate Depeche Mode. Personally I find them a bit too pretentious, the brooding lyrics and the lead vocalist’s dis-embodied robotic voice is annoying. Other bands eg Kraftwerk can do electronic and not have it come off sounding so contrived and emotionless.

Better than expected. Starts off with a bang with Apache, this may be an interesting trip. In-a-gadda-da-vida may also actually be better than the original. However Satisfaction isn’t. Overall feeling groovy, more so than when I was listening to Simon & Garfunkel recently. Drags a bit by the end but a novel idea

The singles from this album are pretty iconic and seared into our collective sub-conscious. I’m not a huge fan of Big Beats but I prefer this to its peers such as Chemical Bros or The Prodigy. I got bored with a few of the other tracks because they were so repetitive but this music was made to be danced to at a rave and not while having your morning coffee. Props for being so influential 20 yrs ago though

This was a pretty ok album. For grunge it was better than average though and I prefer them to say Soundgarden or Pearl Garden, probably because they’re not as overplayed. Lousy cover art though.

Sadly his third album was his last. We’ll never know what other brilliant songs he could have given us. Watchtower, Voodoo Child and Crosstown traffic are all very solid songs and rank amongst his very best. His cover of Watchtower is actually much better than Dylan’s original. How do you like dem apples Bob?

She has a truly lovely voice, but the arrangements and song writing are nothing to write home about.

This is certainly an iconic jazz album but I think his earlier work eg Giant steps, Ole, My favourite things and the monumental Blue Train are better.

I enjoy reading the 5 star and 1 star reviews for each album just to see the contrasts of how some folks will absolutely love it while others will detest the same album. The difference in musical taste for folks is fascinating. Bjork is certainly one of the more polarizing artists out there. I really respect her talent for painting impressionistic soundscapes with her songs, but a the same time her singing style can be very unsettling. So I'm not in the 5 star or 1 star camp, I'm pretty much in the middle, I love her AND I hate her.

This album is a bit frustrating for me because it has one absolutely brilliant masterpiece - Jesus etc, but its pulled down by a bunch of mediocre-good songs. Jesus etc probably ranks as one of my all-time favourite songs by ANY band and its on par with Wilco's other masterpiece Impossible Germany. Jesus starts out with some lovely violin-viola strings and a melancholic string guitar solo around mid-way but what really pulls the song together is Jeff Tweedy's bobbing vocals that paints a very bitter-sweet background. The rest of the album is merely good. You can hear Jim O'Rourke's influence in the mixing with lots of experimental loops and ambient background noise, but it doesn't quite make for a consistent or coherent album, so that gets a one star deduction from me.

I’m a huge fan of Kate Bush but I think this is one of her weakest albums. There aren’t any bad songs, but no absolute knockouts either. This is probably her most commercially appealing work which is also probably why I’m not as enthusiastic about it. I would give this a 3.5 but round up because I’m not sure if her iconic albums like Never Forever, The Dreaming, Hounds of Love or Aerial will show up on this list

It’s incredible that Bowie released this Swan Song when he was 69 yrs old and only days before he died from cancer. What a prolific genius he was. Wiki mentions the jazz influence but I don’t hear any, but it’s definitely his darkest and most experimental album.

Pretty raw Brit Punk/Indie that sounds all the same so by the fourth song I was getting bored. Would it kill them to throw a bit of variety in there?

When I was growing up in Jamaica as a boy Bob Marley and Peter Tosh were a big deal, homegrown talent that were international stars. I was quite young so I didn’t quite get the hype. Listening to Tosh now I still don’t quite get the hype. It’s fairly pleasant sounding roots reggae but there’s nothing here to get excited about either.

Initially I thought the songs on this album were too frenetic and whimsical, with too many ideas crammed into each song. But then it seemed to settle down or maybe I got used to the pace. I recognize Wall Street shuffle from back in the day when Toronto Alt-rock station CFNY used to have it on heavy rotation and I appreciate the very witty lyrics. Creme and Godley obviously had loads of talent and that was going to become more evident in their later albums: eg The Original Soundtrack (with I’m not in love and Life is a minestrone), Deceptive Bends and Bloody Tourists that features my fav 10CC song, Dreadlock Holiday. This album is a solid 3 from me

I remember listening to my crappy AM radio in bed many years ago when I was 13 yrs old and the DJ introduced this new song by Queen that was really “different”. I was only a kid but I realized that nothing was gonna be the same after Bohemian Rhapsody. That song changed my perception of music and it opened the door to prog, art rock and opera. BR is a 600 lb gorilla of a song and there are also a few other great tracks on this album but it just misses out on a perfect 5 score because there are a few clangers on it. I get that they wanted to be experimental and whimsical but the album is not 100% cohesive. But that 600 lb Gorilla though!

They saved the best for first. Nile Rogers plays some mean guitar licks and Bernard Edwards also lays down some great bass tracks on the first song - Good Times. I must admit that this is a pretty iconic disco anthem. But after this it just got hella repetitive, like very very very repetitive.

I’m not a fan of grunge but their jangly, discordant sound appealed to me. After a first listen I liked it better than their peers eg Pavement, Dinosaur Jr. Very similar to the Eels too in their softer songs. I also like how they slow down/ speed up the tempo for some songs.

this starts of with Elton's magnum opus - Funeral for a friend/love lies bleeding which in my opinion is one of his very best. The album also has some killer songs: Bennie, Candle in the wind and Saturday night. If he had released this as a single LP and left out some of the filler crap such as Jamaica jerk off and Roy Rogers this album would deserve serious consideration to be a 5 star album.

I’m not a huge fan of punk but this is amongst the best punk albums I’ve heard. These guys can actually play their instruments and write greats songs with hooks. Their cover of Junior Murvin’s Police and Thieves has always been a favourite of mine and shows their range

Very nice dance music but the brassy horns and similar tempo for all the songs got old real quick

Prog post-punk, heavy shoegaze. I’ve had Teenage riot on heavy rotation for years because I just cant get enough of Thurston Moore’s scintillating guitar shredding. The rest of the album is very solid as well if you’re in the mood for some NOIZE!

What impresses me most about this album is how Moby mixes so many disparate styles: American gospel, blues, found music, hip hop and electronica in one record and it all still sounds so cohesive. Its over 20 yrs old but the songs still sound pretty fresh, testament to just how good this album is

I like some of the Magnetic Fields' other songs so I really tried to give this a chance. But this is a classic case of quantity over quality. After about 10 songs they get so monotonous and the voices are so freaking annoying I really couldn't continue. This is a cute gimmick that has gone badly off the rails.

Give Boy George credit for being a trans gender pioneer and having a sweet pop voice. But this album is just too sachrinne sweet for me and not my jam.

I like this new direction that they take in this album, some really good classic 60s music here with Out of time, Sweet lady Jane and my fav, Under my thumb. Interesting that the UK version that I listened to on Youtube didn't have Paint it Black. I'll assume that song is on this LP which would elevate this to a 4 star record.

I assume I have Daniel Lanois to thank for getting Dylan to ditch his wretched harmonica and annoying AF singing style on this album. Merci beaucoup Danny Boy! Frank Zappa also nails it in his brilliant Dylan parody in “Flakes”, if you’ve heard it you’ll know what I mean. Although this is more listenable than his 29 other previous albums I’m still not a fan. I know this is Bob Fucking Dylan so I made the effort to listen to the entire album. But that’s my point, it shouldn’t be an effort to listen to.

Cute pop album, Lovefool is a fun breezy song with nice hooks. Their cover of Iron Man is also an interesting take. If you’re in the mood for some Euro pop this one should fit the bill. This is a 2.5 star album, that I’ll round up.

I’m so done with 90s Brit-pop. They all sound like cheap Oasis knock offs and this was the least inspiring one yet.

Quite pleasant with nothing too offensive, but nothing overly exciting either. Marlene is a nice song though. A respectable debut album.

This one is so familiar and so good that I didn’t have to listen to it in order to rate it, but I played it anyways. Consistently excellent throughout, with no filler. One of the all time greatest albums IMO

I'm a huge fan of Electronica, but BoC simply leaves me cold. Their music is just devoid of any emotion and feeling. I'd much rather listen to say, Aphex Twin instead for an example of music in this genre that can move you without being so pretentious.

If I was a disenfranchised young white kid living in the suburbs I might be able to relate and get into this more but all I hear is a ton of guitar and a whiney punk pop voice for an hour

What an incredible debut from a totally unique and groundbreaking artist. There was never anything like Bjork before, and there will never be another Bjork

I have 4 different pressings of this album on vinyl and two on CD so I may be biased. So What (sorry) happens when you assemble a crack all-star ensemble led by Miles at his technical and artistic peak? You get an iconic, genre defining album for the ages of course. I'm pretty miserly about handing out 5 star ratings and have only given out a few so far, but this is a no-brainer for me.

Some folks have complained about Martyn's mumbling, drunken singing style, which sounds like a hybrid of Nick Drake and Tom Waits, but its quite distinctive and I like it. He's a master songwriter and guitar player too. My fav track is Small Hours with the looping guitar feedback.

Although I love Neil Young, these guys just rub me the wrong way. So without Neil, CSN is a chore. It's just excruciating for me to listen to their hillybilly harmonies and I couldn’t listen to the entire album

I’m not a fan of hip hop but this is probably my favourite hip hop album because the Boys show their range and mix it up with punk, jazz, funk and classical influences to keep it interesting. This is a really fun and creative album. And Sabotage absolutely rocks!

This is a very low key, subtle and melancholic album that needs careful and repeated listening to be appreciated. I can see how Emo and Shoegaze were influenced by the VU so these guys were way ahead of their time.

I recognize a few of these songs from the 80s ie Underwater moonlight and I got the hots but they really didn’t do much for me back then and they certainly don’t excite me now either. Just not my jam, Waaay to long so I couldn’t get thru it all.

This was much better than expected. I really liked the Kraut rock influence of the driving guitars on Regular John, and just when it starts to get samey sounding they really mix it up with I was a teenage hand model. Very creative writing and arrangements for a debut album and their post grunge sound is much more appealing to me than the bigger and more popular Grunge bands out there.

This was a more accessible hip hop album for me because the rapping is relatively subdued and the instrumental music is more melodic. I think if I could read the lyrics to follow along I would appreciate this record much more though because Common has a lot to say thru his musical poetry, although it does get a bit preachy at times.

Jumping Jack Flash was an interesting start, but when Light my fire came on it started to sound gimmicky and was cringe worthy. I actually like the traditional Indian songs better than the cheesy covers of Western Rock songs. Not sure that this record belongs on this list though.

This seminal album is by the OG of Electronica. There are some great hooks and melodies buried in these tracks and many of them have gone on to become classics. I think the title is misleading though as its more Electronica Lite rather than Ambient music

Talk about polarizing groups, lots of 5 and 1 stars here. Ok the single Hotel California is a 800 lb monster gorilla, one of the best rock singles ever, nuff said. But the remainder of the album is over-wrought Dad rock that hasn't aged well. This gets 3 stars only because of the gorilla.

Bloo’y brill’iant innit! This album was on heavy rotation in the late 70’s by CFNY in Toronto and it still sounds fresh today. Love the jazz and funk influences overlaying the punk and Drury’s cockney accent singing very witty lyrics. Hit me with your rhythm stick isn’t here but other great songs such as Wake up and make love, Sex and Drugs, and Clever Trever are pretty damned great

I love these groups that are hard to categorize, I would say they are Chamber/Folk/Rock. I particularly like them in their later albums when they become more minimalistic, similar to Glass or Nyman, but always very melodic and fairly accessible. This was a great debut by the Penguins, and I really enjoyed The Sound of someone you love and when it becomes very dissonant at around the 7 min mark. I'm glad they got recognized by 1,001.

I've actually never listened to the entire album because so many of the tracks from it are widely available. I found a lot of filler, but also a lot of nice gems. Revolution 1 is a nice alt version. Revolution 9 is an interesting avant garde track that is sure to raise a few eyebrows. I had to check twice that Good Night was by them because its sounded so different, Wiki informs me that the vocals are by Ringo and he can actually sing! Long, long, long and Yer Blues are good. But despite the filler there's a lot of killer. The strength of this album is the fact that its all over the map but it still hangs together quite well.

Very unforgettable but mercifully short

This was fairly nice 60’s pop album and she covers a few nice soul songs quite well. She indeed has a good voice but I started to lose interest after about half an hour as it needs more variety. 2.5 out of 5

In the early 80s when punk was fading and new wave synth pop was ascending, we got this brilliant post-punk debut album by the The. It perfectly captures the zeitgeist of the era: angsty despair, fear and paranoia, but held together by deep danceable percussion and bass beats. Pretty much every song on this album is killer, the singles are well known but my favourite has to be Giant, especially how it ends with its astonishing tribal percussion and chanting. This is one of my absolute favourite albums from this era, right up there with the best material produced by The Cure and that's saying a lot.

When there are a 1,001 albums to listen to you irnevitably get some gems and some dreck. This is the latter unfortunately.

Back in 97 this drum and bass album may have been very influential and innovative but 2 hrs of it, really? I could only listen to a few tracks before boredom set in.

The harmonies are well done and performed but a cappella music just isn’t my jam.

The issue with listening to highly influential and groundbreaking music is that you need to put yourself back to the period that it came out to appreciate just how new and innovative it was back in the day because folks would copy this new style so it gets lost in history. Fats was in this category. So although I wouldn’t seek this out to listen to it, I recognize it for being groundbreaking

I guess his single Short People soured me on Randy Newman. I simply don’t like his singing style, and this record doesn’t change my mind

This album has not aged well. Everything about it just reeks of Americana and is clichéd.

This album struck a wrong chord with me, a Scottish musician with Ghanaian roots playing pseudo reggae with a fake Jamaican accent. I was born in Jamaica so I just found it to be so wrong from the get go. This was a big miss for me

I imagine if Sade’s dog died and she was tripping on downers she would sound like this. Most of the album is one note, very dark and moody, but hey if that note works why not stick with it eh? However The best songs IMO are the ones that deviate from the formula a bit: Glory Box and Sour times. They could lose the fake scratched vinyl sound though, it really dates the album. However it’s definitely well produced and performed, this record ain’t no Dummy.

This was too raw and unfinished for my taste, he sounded like he slapped together these songs while high, or performed them stoned, or all of the above.

This album is noisy AF but surprisingly listenable. I think Kool Thing is equal to Daydream Nation's Teen Age Riot, and the rest of this album is pretty solid also. Getting your head and bashed by a wall of guitar sound is offset nicely by Kim Gordon's laid back vocals eg on Tunic. According to Wiki, at one point Moore's amplifier overheated and exploded but they were fascinated by the results so they kept it for Scooter and Jinx. That's the stuff of legend.

When she started to sing I immediately got turned off by her voice. I really dislike this genre of commercial music that sounds like its being sung by a 14 yr old girl. I suppose the great majority of listeners like it and it sells tons, but its not for me. Its good to see some newer albums on this list but I cannot fathom why this particular album made it.

Wiki informs me that Vincebus Eruptum means "Controlled chaos" in Latin. I also see that the band is a trio with only one guitarist but it sounded like a dozen guitars to me. The album sounds like it was recorded in someone's basement with no production values and with the mics buried deep in the Marshall amps. I must give it a knowing nod though, the thunderous blues guitar signals some pretty epic sounding proto-metal. Many have mentioned that they hear Black Sabbath and Cream , but I also hear Deep Purple which was formed around the same time. So despite the crudeness of the recording I'll bump my rating up to a 3 because of its provenance and influence on things to come.

This is a solid album with some fine songs, but it doesn’t have any knock out punches that we got on his debut album Are you experienced or his 3rd release Electric Ladyland. She’s so fine and Exp seem out of place and result in an uneven effort.

At first I was hesitant to listen to this because I'm not a fan of Folk or Country, but I was pleasantly surprised. This album was made in 1974 but it's held up really well and sounds like it could have been made yesterday. The only dated thing about it is the cheesy Art Deco design of the album cover. Excellent songwriting and performances are highly evident here and I actually listened to this record twice this morning. I particularly like the Strength of Strings, which was subsequently covered by This Mortal Coil. This one takes a few listenings to appreciate which is always the case for really good music with depth and subtle nuance.

The Canadian Bob Dylan. I intensely dislike Dylan so you know where this is going. I know Cohen is greatly revered and has influenced many great artists so I think if I was to read and ponder his lyrics I would appreciate him more. But Gawd he has such a dreary maudlin whiny voice that I can’t even go there. You mean people actually seek out this music and claim they enjoy it? He only gets 2 stars for his lyrical poetry. Major deductions for his one note sad boy delivery.

The two bookends on this album are arguably the Stones' best songs ever so 'nuff said about them. Then there's a few solid Tier 2 songs on the album, Monkey Man, Let it Bleed and Midnight Rambler which are pretty damned good. Unfortunately the rest of the album is essentially filler. Also I'm not sure how I feel about some blokes from London appropriating Blues that was originally done by Blacks in the American south. I have mixed feelings about this as they certainly gave this genre a huge worldwide audience, but they also sold a shit-ton more records than the OGs. Oh well, I guess that's show biz. I think overall this is a 3.5 star album but the sheer weight of the book-ends elevates this to a 4.

Reminds me of the Pogues and Dexy’s. I’m bewildered by two comments that say that they sound like the Talking Heads though, huh?? I just can’t relate to country or punk so this is not my jam.

I didn't really need to listen to this seminal electronic album from the 70s because I think I've already listened to it a thousand times over the past 45 years. But it never gets old for me so it was a nice refresher over breakfast. Some of the early moog effects such as the laser beam pew pew and ocean sounds are cringe-worthy today, but back in the day this was a really groundbreaking futuristic sound. Along with his peers such as Mike Oldfield and Tangerine Dream, Jarre was on the forefront of electronic music and would go on to influence numerous other electronic bands and what you kids know as EDM. Jarre's sound evolved over the next few albums and his best work was yet to come with Equinoxe, Zoolook and the Concert in China but the ground-breaking influence of this album cannot be denied.

Ich bin ein Berliner. This is the pinnacle of Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy. It was a master stroke to have Fripp and Eno collaborate on this album. It starts off with a few weak songs but the title track is perhaps the best song of his stellar career, and surpassed only by the alt version sung in German. The 2nd side is very Eno influenced and the sense of Cold War angst and foreboding is palpable. In my view A sign of a true genius is an artist that can radically change their style over time to reflect or even lead the zeitgeist of the times. Bowie is one such chameleon, others that come to mind are Miles Davis and Neil Young.

This was a fun listen and The Message is still one of the all-time greatest rap songs, its held up remarkably well after all these years.

I tend to push back against Classic rock hits that have become over played monster hits, eg Layla, Stairway to Heaven, Freebird. But when I think about it, this isn’t the fault of the band, it’s the radio stations that are to blame for over playing a great song so much that it becomes a cliche. When I heard these songs for the first time I was blown away at their epicness. But decades later they’re considered washed up Dad Rock has beens, again it isn’t the fault of the songwriter, they did their job which was to craft a giant hit. This album seems disconnected from Layla, it’s mostly Blues Rock (as interpreted by some English blokes again) and then the aforementioned 800 lb gorilla. I found most of the Blues to be uninspired, Hendrix or even Blue Cheer did it way better IMO. So this gets 3 stars simply from the gorilla song

I’m only familiar with their Woodstock era hit All together, so this record was a pleasant surprise for me. It’s really well written and performed, especially the drumming. I especially like the musical numbers that flit from psychedelic folk to prog to jazz such as Francis Drake and Trillium. I think if I was exposed more to this back in 1969 I would have really dug it man.

I now realize that 60s psychadelic rock with lots of vocal harmonies is not for me. The only saving grace on this album for me was I can see for miles. I can also here some foreshadowing of Tommy on Rael but I’m not a fan of the Who in this guise

This album bore 5 singles and three of them were monster hits for Bob so there’s that. But apart from those singles I found the songs to be too preachy and political and basically complaining about the same thing, ad nauseum, so it gets tiresome after awhile. However, there were those monster hits that must be acknowledged.

This was a challenging listen, very off the wall vocals, dissonant and unsettling so it was very difficult to enjoy.

Well that was certainly an impressive onslaught of guitars and noise. I think they even outdid the noise meisters Sonic Youth on this album. However, I prefer their latter day work that is more melodic, check out J Mascis' later solo works like his cover of Fade Into You or the beautiful ditties such as Me Again or Wide Awake for a completely different sound.

Most of the songs start out with some cool beats and hooks but then they seem to keep going on forever and overstay their welcome. If they mixed it up a bit and threw in some variety this album would have been far better. When the last song, NY I love you came on the change of pace was a blessed relief but alas it came too late.

I thought Frankie was way ahead of the curve and pushing boundaries with a title like Swingin’ lovers! But unfortunately not, it was just boring Vegas type tunes for Grandpa. I’ve never understood his appeal and I guess I never will

Many reviewers have complained that all the songs sound the same and I can’t disagree. This is fast becoming one of my pet peeves. I understand that bands have a signature sound but can they not mix it up a bit? They just sound like amped up Chili Peppers.

I never could understand all the hype about Nirvana and Cobain, but since the band and this album are so highly rated on 1,001 I figured it deserved a good listen. Well, I still don’t get all the hype. I also think you need to be a fan to like hearing them do stripped down versions of their hits because I think the studio versions are better. The best song on this album IMO is The Man Who Sold The World, and that’s Bowie song, so take that for what is worth.

The beauty of 1,001 is that it exposes you to artists that you probably would never listen to in your lifetime. Good or bad, its always educational. The other day it was Frank Sinatra, today its Napalm Death. I have to give these guys credit for their commitment to the craft. They've certainly carved out a unique niche for themselves with grindcore. This was an absolute and brutal assault on the senses but that's their point innit? I'd love to meet someone who listens to this for recreational purposes though, just to understand what's going through their head.

Methinks the 1,001 algorithms are have a bit of fun by giving me Napalm Death and Isaac Hayes back to back. But hey, variety is the spice of life and Hayes' Hot buttered soul album is one of my all-time favourite soul albums. Side A truly deserves the over-used and cliche'd adjective Epic. His cover of Burt Bacharach's Walk on by is a magnificent psychadelic trip and those string and vocal arrangements! As an aside, the Stranglers' cover of this same song is very different and equally good IMO as they give Bacharach's light pop song some real edge. Side B flails a bit, and gets a bit self-indulgent, so this baby gets a minor deduction and just misses perfection.

I’m not a fan of Big Band Jazz but I appreciate these well arranged songs and expert musicianship. This band is toight! Halfway thru it all sort of blends together and when the tempo slows down I got to catch my breath and enjoy Lil Darling. But those loud brassy horns don’t do it for me.

I managed to listen to the entire album and I confirmed that I'm just not a fan of Paul Simon's brand of folk/pop/rock. Something about his voice and his style just doesn't work for me.

This was fine, but in think White Lines was a better effort.

It takes great talent to sample from so many sources and then stitch them together into a(semi) coherent whole. So I must give them credit for that. I thought Since you left me and Psychiatrist were excellent, and I may have enjoyed the disco dance beats more, say 20 yrs ago when this first came out. My reference album for sampled music is still KLF’s seminal “Chill out” though. But this was still a pretty good effort

GSH has such a sweet voice, even when he’s simply speaking it’s mellifluous. I agree that Pieces of a man is a superior album and should have been on this list instead. I also prefer his last album, I’m not here to this. But his influence and artistry cannot be denied.

this was a tepid listen, easy listening pop jazz is not my jam.

Interestingly I've never owned or sat down to listen to the All-time best selling album, but since there was a shit-ton of top-10 singles from it I recognize most of the songs. I've tried to separate the artist from a pretty freaky human with peculiar proclivities for sleeping with young boys (PYT takes on a whole new meaning now) so I can say this is a pretty dog-gone good album. The production (by Quincy Jones), writing and performances are all top drawer. He read the room right and sensed that disco was on the way out so he included harder pop/rock songs and having Eddie Van-Halen do a guitar solo on Beat it was a stroke of genius and Billie Jean is a killer song no matter how you cut it. And then there's also the massive influence he had on the growth of MTV and music videos and dance choreography, even fashion, remember that red leather jacket and the glove? There are a few lame-ass songs on the album though and because of that it doesn't get a perfect score.

An interesting attempt at a rock opera concept album, but I think it wears out its welcome and got very repetitive fast and could have been shortened to just one album. I look forward to hearing their later efforts which are much better eg Quadrophenia

When I saw the clean Simple album cover I thought this was a modern EDM or electronic band. Wrong! Frenetic and very very samey. The pace didn’t let up and sound different until around the 10th song but by then I had tuned out. I think the Ramones did it much better

Let’s get it on is a great soul song. Full stop. Marvin found huge success with his OG hit What's going on two years prior and you can’t help but notice that he’s milking that theme for all that it’s worth. I found the rest of the album to be quite uninspiring. The lyrics are quite banal, for fun I tried counting how many times he sang the phrase “oooh Baby” but I lost count. An entire album about ballin’ is a bit much for me.

Since I'm a white collar Canadian I'm certainly not the demographic that Springsteen is targeting so its hard for me to relate to his songs about racing big V8s, working on the farm, and general Murican mythology. But I must say that this album is a landmark achievement in American Rock. Wiki tells me that he spent over 14 months in the studio recording this album, and over 6 months on the song Born To Run alone! Well he certainly got his "wall of sound" effect with standout performances by Roy Bittan on piano and Clarence Clemons on Sax. Bruce's gruff voice is in itself another instrument able to convey tremendous passion and emotion. There are many really solid songs on this album, but the highlight for me is Jungle Land with multiple tempo and mood changes. But his mic drop moment comes at the 8:38 mark when the piano builds to an incredible crescendo and he howls with incredible passion.... and that's why they call him The Boss. This could have been a 5 star album but it falters a bit with Night and She's the one, so there's a minor deduction for that.

Fun, irreverent West Coast hip hop that sounds like a cross between Frank Zappa's sophomoric lyrics and the Beastie Boys. I like this more laid back rap style that doesn't take itself so seriously, yes Gangsta Rap I'm looking at you. Sure, it was misogynistic and sophomoric, but it was a fun listen. My favourite track was Passing me by, its such a classic song and has also been sampled tons of times over the years, testament to how cool it is. I had to Google the lyrics of the songs and read along to appreciate their wit

Mama always told me that if you can’t say anything nice…. And seeing that this album was completed only 17 days before his death, I’ll bite my tongue. Suffice to say I’m still not a Leonard Cohen fan.

I just finished watching the series The Vietnam War in HD on Prime and that war ends in 1975 so this album which was also recorded in 75 fits right in with my mood. Lots of folks complain about Young’s voice but I think ol’ Shakey’s voice is part of his charm and distinguishes him from the rest. I’m Canadian so we naturally think he’s a national treasure and although I’m a big fan, I didn’t think there wasn’t any brilliant standout tracks on this record. I know it was written right after the death of two friends so it reflects a lot of grief and sadness, but I think he has many better records.

I’ll separate the music producer genius from the piece of shit here. There are only two Christmas albums that I can stand listening to, this one and Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown Christmas. I must say the Wall of Sound here is amazing. Reading Wiki its also incredible how many other artists that he influenced. I love Veronica Bennett’s (the Ronnettes) voice. This is a classic Christmas record for a reason, but I did get creeped out when we got a personal message from Spector at the end of the record though.

It’s hard to believe I used to love this band, I must have listened to this record a thousand times when it first released. I even had a nice Patrick Nagel print hanging in my bedroom. But now I find Simon Lebon’s voice annoying AF and the arrangements very cheesy, esp that 80’s sax, ugh. They only song that I still like is Save a prayer because it’s the least formulaic sounding. The other new wave pop groups of the era did better work and don’t sound nearly as dated now, eg OMD, The Cure, Tears for Fears, The The etc.

This was much better than expected. I was never a fan of Janis Joplin but after listening to this full album I have a much better appreciation of her now. Summertime and Piece of my Heart are a wicked one-two punch and Ball and Chain is the knockout. I’m not crazy about the Robert Crumb artwork but I guess it’s iconic and emblematic of those hazy hippie days. After listening to this for the second time my 3 gets raised to a 4.

This was neither entertaining nor enjoyable. The most interesting song was the last one: Pas Mal, but it was too little too late, I already tuned out.

I remember seeing a video of them playing live years ago, crazy kinetic energy, I bet they would be super fun live. Ma and Pa is a really fun song and the best one on the album. But their adoption of so many styles in one album makes it less cohesive and somewhat gimmicky eg the Van Halen like cover of Freddie’s Dead and the EWF-esque Boning in the Boneyard.

She undoubtedly has a lovely voice. But the album wasn’t very inspiring, it was quite boring actually.

I’ve never been a fan of Shoegaze but since this album is so well regarded I made the effort to listen to it once again. Nope, still don’t like it. This takes the Wall of Sound concept to an entirely new level. One of my pet peeves is albums where every song sounds the same and this one is massively guilty. The only song that has any discernible melody was Soon, but it was the last song and once again it was too little, too late.

This just gives me bad memories from High School, especially Brian Johnson’s voice. Eg the intro to Hell’s Bells is alright, especially at a Basketball game, but when he starts singing I just have to shut it down. Sheesh.

This is a fun listen. I’ve had a few of their songs appear on my Spotify playlists, but listening to this entire album gives me a better appreciation for them. This early shoegaze is not as annoying as My Bloody Valentine because it’s more melodic and you can actually hear what they’re singing. There are so many influences here, or were they the influencers? I’m too lazy to check the timelines. I hear Weezer, Foo Fighters, Oasis, Beatles and Beach Boys harmonies. A lot of great indie rock here, particularly the Concept and Star Sign,

This was a surprisingly stripped down album from Drake, much different from the post punk sound that I’m accustomed to from him. Stuff that you would expect him to play at a friend’s funeral, and that is exactly what he actually did. This album allows his powerful voice to shine and his lyrics are even more poignant. However I found 52 minutes of basically the same mood and tempo to be a bit much.

Silly me, I got confused and thought the American Ryan Adams was the same person as the Canadian Bryan Adams. In my defense, I think its understandable given the similarities in their names and the generic formulaic rock that they both produce. Someone on this site aptly described Ryan as a smoother Bruce Springsteen and a less intelligent Neil Young. I'm not much for alt-Country Rock but this was a bit better than expected and I liked his less mainstream songs like Sylvia Plath and La Cienega. The rest was mostly forgettable though.

Malcolm McLaren is a certified genius. Kudos to him for capturing the zeitgeist of the era so well and creating and marketing a Boy Band for angry, disenfranchised and rebellious teens. They could barely play their instruments but it didn’t matter, this was all part of their schtick. Bands such as the Ramones or the Stooges actually has more talent. And coming up with Pro-wrestling like stage names like Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious was another stroke of marketing genius. And like the saying goes, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. The semi controversial album name, “bollocks” getting banned by the BBC, mocking the beloved Queen, the wild hair and costume all added fuel to the fire and the the kids loved and lapped it all up. They were probably a handful to manage though, so poor Malcolm could only squeeze one studio album out of them before they self-destructed. And the album wasn’t half bad, it had a few memorable singles and it sold millions. This gets one star for the content and two for its huge influence on music and culture.

When Julian Cope was with the Teardrop Explodes they released Poppies in the Field which I really like so I was interested in hearing his solo work here. This album has some very interesting tracks, but as many here have complained this album is too long, and on Spotify we have the "Deluxe" extended edition which is even frigging longer! I couldn't maintain my attention for the duration of this Deluxe edition so it eventually was relegated to background music. If the filler had been culled this would have been a really great album. Safesurfer for example is a killer track.

Hazey Jane II is probably my favourite Nick Drake song. When listening to it I picture myself driving a convertible along the seaside on a sunny day with my long hair flowing in the wind, haha. The rest of the album is fine, very chill folk

This band is like the Fight Club movie, you either love it or you don’t. I’ve tried really hard to like this venerated post punk band but after every listen I still find them just ok. I would rather listen to some Sonic Youth or Pumpkins if I was in the mood for this genre. But I must admit that Frank Black is a great guitarist and he’s a great frontman with lots of energy. Like most folks on this site I think Where is my mind is the best track here, and Vamos was a bit experimental and a nice change of pace, but the rest of the album fails to move me much.

I was reading that they rejigged folk songs into this new genre of 60’s pop with harmonies. Quite impressive. Another interesting tidbit from Wiki was that the album cover showing the toilet was actually banned for being offensive! Wow. I find this flavour of vocal harmonies much more palatable than what the Beach Boys were doing. Wong Kar Wei used California Dreaming to brilliant effect in his Chungking Express, that song really made that film, it wouldn’t be the same without that song

Brian Eno and David Byrne are both certified musical geniuses in my book, so one would expect something really special when they collab on an album. They (mostly) deliver here with truly innovative (for its time) samples from obscure songs and exorcisms and add atmospheric African beats and rhythms. Some of it is brilliant like Jezebel, but some falls flat unfortunately. This album went on to influence a host of others that also sampled arcane audio recordings and imbue their sound with African grooves. Of note was KLF who did a bang up job with their seminal Chill Out album. This album sags a bit in spots so it’s a 3.5 to me but I’ll round up because of its groundbreaking sound and influence

If my kids ever want to embarrass me they’d just need to pull this album out and point to the silly hair, costumes and corny songs. Hard to believe I used to listen to this (incessantly) when I was younger. In the 80’s if you didn’t listen to Punk, this was your scene. There are a few songs with good hooks and the production by legendary producer Trevor Horn is pretty slick. But I gave Duran Duran’s Rio two stars so to be fair this get a deuce also.

Timeless album that certainly doesn't sound like its from 1984, and holds up really well today. I like how compact this album is, only 4 songs, no fat. I also like the joyous vibe from this album, really chill guitar especially on Pitche Mi and the brass isn't in your face like some of his contemporaries, eg Hugh Masakela and Fela Kuti.

This is nice proto-pop-punk, pretty accessible to the masses with decent energy and catchy melodies. These guys remind me of a blend of the Buzzcocks and the Ramones. Lead singer Feargal Sharkey went on to do more commercial material with the Assembly and Yazoo. Google "Never Never" by The Assembly if you want to hear how far he strayed from his punk roots. But the Undertones straddles the angry sound of the Sex Pistols and the more accessible pop punk that was yet to come.

I don't get all the hate for this, I found it to be quite good, but then again I'm a big fan of film scores/soundtracks. A really good soundtrack can elevate a crappy movie eg Gladiator. Some of my favourite albums of all-time are by the OG of film scores his-self, Ennio Morricone, and Hans Zimmer also made quite a few epic soundtracks in his early days, before he started turning out rubbish like Batman, Inception, Interstellar etc. When listening to Moss Side Story I can almost see a noirish detective movie with lots of shadows, wet streets and tension filled chases down dark alleys and stairs. Its too bad the film never got made.

Giant Steps - I immediately thought of John Coltrane's seminal album by the same name. Then I read the description, nope its not jazz its Shoegaze and Brit-Pop, yuk! I'm not a fan of those genres so I was expecting the worst. But what a nice surprise it turned out to be, this is a really good album. A lot of it is derivative from other bands but it all sounds very cohesive. Lazarus, White Noise, Wish I was skinny are all great, I can definitely favourite this on Spotify for future listenings.

I thought I would like this more since I'm a fan of the sad boy indie emo sound from groups like Sparklehorse, Sufjan Stevens, Grandaddy, Red house painters etc, but this didn't do much for me unfortunately. I tried really hard to like it but after the second time listening to it I found it to be inoffensive but still very meh.

I’m really done with Shoegaze. It seems that every other album that comes up is either Shoegaze or Brit-pop so this band is collateral damage.

Surfer Rosa was a fine debut album and they got even better with this their second. They released three solid singles from this album, and IMO Monkey is the best song in their canon. Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn’t live up to the same standard as the three singles so I “like” this album, which indicates a three star rating, but I don’t “love” it which would have bumped them up to four stars in my book.

Ok so notwithstanding the fact that the title track has been grossly overplayed it’s still a classic. Is not Don’s fault that everyone overplayed it amirite? It’s also one of the most annoying earworms ever, again that’s not Don’s fault. The song has some wonderful tempo changes throughout and I like the clever references to other bands: Byrds/eight miles high, Jack Flash/The Devil, Sargeants/Helter Skelter. The rest of the album is another matter though. Boring sleepy time sachrine that brings its overall score way down.

The colour palette on the album cover describes the music within very well, bland like oatmeal. And boy do they ever sound like a MOR knock off of Radiohead. I think I would still live a fruitful and rewarding life if I died without hearing this record too.

I wonder what Joy Division member Ian Curtis would think if he were alive to hear what his post punk group had morphed into? I was actually a big fan of early New Order and I think they made some of the best dance music in the early 80s. Blue Monday and their earlier albums like Movement, Substance, Low Life, Power Corruption and Lies etc were on heavy rotation for me back in the day. I really hope some of their earlier material appear on this list because I really lost interest in the band when this album came out. It seems that they completely lost their bearings after spending 4 months partying on Ibiza. Hell they even got caught stealing from John Denver’s Leaving on a Jetplane. Apart from Round & Round this album doesn’t appeal to me as it deviates too far from their post punk synth sound to appeal to a very commercial radio listener

She undoubtedly has lovely voice and I like her sense of humour and unflappability when she messed up her lines on Willow Weep for me. Also she gave a nice shout-out to her contemporary Ella Fitzgerald doing some scatting along the way. Her backing trio basically stays out of the way so the spotlight can shine on her which is fine. However, the material that she sings is pretty piss boring and not very cutting edge. 1957 was one of the greatest years in Jazz history and there was some really innovative jazz released that year, eg Thelonius Monk - Brilliant Corners, Miles - Round about Midnight, Cookin', and Walkin', Sonny Rollins - Way out West, Charles Mingus - The clown etc., I hope those albums appear on this list because I'd much rather listen to them than this middle of the road stuff.

I was a bit put off to learn that Otis only penned 3 out of the eleven songs so this is basically a cover album. He does a credible job covering them though and puts a nice spin on most of them. And today I learned that he wrote Respect. Aretha so totally owns that song that like many others I thought it was her baby. Go figure. This is a good album though.

This was a big departure from their debut ska album which I really like. Their debut had some killas like Rudy, Ghost Town and Gangsters and it really put them on the map along with the other big Brit ska band Madness. This album has a few fun songs though, and I think I'd like Enjoy Yourself to be played at my funeral (with a marching brass band N'awlins style). But I'm getting ahead of myself. Unfortunately there are a few duds on this album also so it only gets a 2.5, but I'll round up since I've been pretty miserly lately.