I’d actually only heard of The Sonics because LCD Soundsystem referenced them in a song I really liked about 15 years ago (I still do, but I did 15 years ago too). I had some vague idea that they were an 80s, avant-garde, electronic band, so now I feel like a bit of a fool. Absolutely loved this album, or more specifically I absolutely loved the songs that weren’t covers. The covers were still good but I much preferred their original stuff. I spent a lot of my teenage years in the back rooms of various dodgy North London pubs watching Billy Childish gigs without ever thinking to explore the origins of his sound. I wish I’d done a bit more investigation. This album was recorded more than a decade before punk broke, but it still sounds raw and vital over half a century later. Loved it. Five stars for the original stuff and four for the covers.

I’m a big PJ Harvey fan but I don’t think I’d listened to this album for a few years years. Still sounds brilliant. There’s a rawness about her voice that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on songs like Sheela-na-gig. It’s hard to judge it on its own, without taking into account the body of work that came after this (and several even better albums) but it’s got to be a solid four plus stars for me.

A friend once mentioned that they thought Neil Young’s voice sounds like Kermit the Frog. Annoyingly it’s been my first though every time I’ve listened to him since. I now imagine Neil sitting on a wall with his guitar, while his little green legs dangle over the edge, singing about the perils of heroin addiction. This is probably my favourite Neil Young album.

Aside from a few half decent songs I’d always discounted the Eagles as boring, middle of the road, country-rock. On the evidence of this album I was probably right to do so. Title track drags the album up to 2 stars.

Never heard of him before (though I guess I’ve probably heard his songs without knowing who it was). Had a bit of a French Leonard Cohen vibe going at points. I felt a bit like I was starring in a Wes Anderson film while I was listening to this. I liked the feeling.

I’m old enough that teenage me bought their debut single ‘Caught by the Fuzz’ on “Cassingle” the week it came out, because the NME told me to. (A ‘cassingle’ is a portmanteau of the words ‘cassette’ and ‘single’ that the record industry tried to make a thing for a while. You can google what a cassette is). I remember the NME review saying something about it being the sort of song where you’d find the CD (or cassingle) down the back of your sofa in a few years time and it would still sound great. I think they were implying that Supergrass would be a bit of a one-hit wonder so they didn’t really get that bit right, but they were spot on about the song still sounding good 25 years later. My opinion of this album is probably too influenced by the memory of teenage hormones and youthful naivety to be particularly objective, but I love it and it was a great journey down memory lane. On a side note, about a year and a half ago I saw Gaz Coombes play a free gig near my house, at the opening of a small bridge that doesn’t go anywhere (true story). He’s still great so I’d definitely recommend going and seeing him play, if there are any small, pointless bridges being opened within walking distance of your house.

Before listening to this I only really knew Isaac Hayes thanks to his chocolate salty balls, the theme from Shaft and his dalliance with Scientology. I really enjoyed his version of ‘Walk on By’ and thought I was going to love the album, but the next three tracks were a bit less interesting. Didn’t love it, but it might have piqued my interest enough to go and check out some of his other stuff. Would probably have given it a 2.5 stars if I could.

Decent album but not really my thing. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood for a bit of classic rock. Preferred it to Supertramp though.

For me, Spiritualized sit in an otherwise empty musical box in my head marked “The Verve meets Flaming Lips”. The only album of theirs I’d ever owned was ‘Ladies and Gentleman...” which if I’m honest with myself I bought as much for its critical acclaim and its giant pill packet packaging as I did the music. Don’t get me wrong - I like the music. It just never really manages to hold my attention as much as I feel they deserve. By chance they were one of the last bands I saw live before Covid put a stop to all that, but I think I got lured away half way through by the smells wafting over from a Lebanese food van. I enjoyed this album but I know in my heart of hearts I probably won’t be going back to it very often.

Stereolab form part of the holy trinity of my favourite bands beginning with the letter S (alongside Sonic Youth and Sebadoh for anyone who’s interested). It’s therefore quite hard to review this one objectively as I know it so well. It’s not my favourite Stereolab album though (that’s probably Dots and Loops) so I’ll give it 4 stars.

This album came out around the time I started at university and was the soundtrack to plenty of student house parties (okay, mostly nights spent on my own in my university room). Despite that element of nostalgia, listening back now it all feels a bit thin. You can see glimpses of where he started to take the whole Big Beat thing mainstream, but I think, for my money, others were probably doing it in more interesting ways. At the time I preferred label mates ‘Lo Fidelity Allstars’ but now I’m a bit nervous of going back and finding out they weren’t as good as I thought they were at the time. Maybe it’s best to leave some albums in the past. It’s a two and a half stars album for me, but I’ll give it an extra half for the sake of nostalgia.

I’m a big PJ Harvey fan but I don’t think I’d listened to this album for a few years years. Still sounds brilliant. There’s a rawness about her voice that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on songs like Sheela-na-gig. It’s hard to judge it on its own, without taking into account the body of work that came after this (and several even better albums) but it’s got to be a solid four plus stars for me.

By some bizarre coincidence I once spotted Rick Wakeman from Yes on the platform at Colchester train station, whilst simultaneously feeling very fragile because my left eye had weirdly puffed up to the point where I could barely see out of it (thankfully I could still see Rick out of my other eye). You might think that this was an unmistakable sign from the universe that I should have thoroughly enjoyed this album, but it didn’t really do it for me. I’m just not a fan of prog I guess.

The Jesus and Mary Chain feel like a real musical blind spot for me. I did a pretty deep dive into various Scottish indie bands in my late teens/early twenties (The Vaselines, Teenage Fanclub, Eugenius, Arab Strap, The Delgados, Belle and Sebastian, Mogwai, Prolapse, Magoo, Telstar Ponies etc. etc.) Somehow J.A.M.C. got missed off my list and now I feel like a fool. Loved this album and given it was released in 1987 I can see how they influenced a load of my favourite bands. Really liked it. Will now be digging into their back catalogue properly (and probably pretending I always liked them).

Dinosaur Jr. were buddies with all my favourite bands growing up (Sonic Youth wrote ‘Teenage Riot’ about J Mascis) but I was never really a big fan of J Mascis’s voice back in the day. I found it a bit too whiny for my tastes. However, I stumbled across one of his solo albums about five years ago and it became my surprise album of the year. I’d not gone back to the Dinosaur stuff until now though. I enjoyed this album far more listening back to it with a bit of distance and also feeling like I can appreciate his voice a bit more after listening to his solo stuff. More variation than I’d remembered too. On a slightly related note, I used to play bass (badly) in a band a few years back and we would end each gig with a different cover. By chance, the last song at the last gig we ever played was ‘Freakscene’ by Dinosaur Jr. so, as fate would have it, it’s a song from this album that will ring forever in the ears of the tiny handful of friends and relatives who were present. For that reason, I’m bumping this up from a three and a half to a four.

Never even heard of this album. Way more psychedelic than I was expecting given my knowledge of Pink Floyd doesn’t go much beyond Dark Side of the Moon. I imagine it was pretty mind bending at the time but a lot of it just feels a bit silly now. Pleased it wasn’t the prog rock I’d expected but probably won’t be listening to it again (unless I ever get a desire to hear a song about gnomes).

I’d always thought that McCartney’s solo stuff was mostly pretty naff and middle of the road. Listening to this album hasn’t changed my mind.

I’d actually only heard of The Sonics because LCD Soundsystem referenced them in a song I really liked about 15 years ago (I still do, but I did 15 years ago too). I had some vague idea that they were an 80s, avant-garde, electronic band, so now I feel like a bit of a fool. Absolutely loved this album, or more specifically I absolutely loved the songs that weren’t covers. The covers were still good but I much preferred their original stuff. I spent a lot of my teenage years in the back rooms of various dodgy North London pubs watching Billy Childish gigs without ever thinking to explore the origins of his sound. I wish I’d done a bit more investigation. This album was recorded more than a decade before punk broke, but it still sounds raw and vital over half a century later. Loved it. Five stars for the original stuff and four for the covers.

Love a bit of Dylan. The fact that this almost sounds like a greatest hits album for one of the most influential and important musicians of all time means it would feel a bit churlish to give it less than five stars. Still, I’m nothing if not a bit churlish so I’m giving 4 stars as some of the songs can drag on a bit. Great album though.

Pet Shop Boys have weirdly popped up quite a bit for me this week, having just finished watching ‘It’s a Sin’ (which I thought was great) and choosing to put on some of their stuff as a result. I don’t think I’d ever actually listened to an album of theirs in full before but they’re one of those bands who I feel like I just absorbed by osmosis throughout my childhood. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. There’s something quite Bowie-esque about it in places and although I could see that Neil Tennants nasal tones might not be everyone’s cup of tea I really like his voice. Apparently Jonny Marr plays on a couple of the tracks too.

Not their best, but can’t argue with this for a debut album.

A friend once mentioned that they thought Neil Young’s voice sounds like Kermit the Frog. Annoyingly it’s been my first though every time I’ve listened to him since. I now imagine Neil sitting on a wall with his guitar, while his little green legs dangle over the edge, singing about the perils of heroin addiction. This is probably my favourite Neil Young album.

Aside from a few half decent songs I’d always discounted the Eagles as boring, middle of the road, country-rock. On the evidence of this album I was probably right to do so. Title track drags the album up to 2 stars.

Don’t mind a bit of Ella. Usually around Christmas time when I’m feeling nostalgic for a time I never actually knew (like some sort of festive Brexiteer). Don’t love Gershwin so much though so this only gets two stars from me.

It’s Abbey Road, innit?

Some good songs but quality is a bit inconsistent.

If you haven’t seen the documentary ‘We Jam Econo’ about the Minutemen it’s well worth a watch. Massively influential and underrated band. Also covered off in ‘Our Band Could Be Your Life’ which is a brilliant book if you like a bit of alternative rock. Growing up on this sort of stuff might well be why I struggle so much with prog. Why write a sprawling, 15 minute long song when you can get it all done in about 45 seconds? Brilliant album.

Not really my thing

I like the Jam and I don’t mind the Style Council but Paul Weller’s solo stuff has always just felt a bit naff to me. Don’t mind a couple of tracks on here but not really an album I’d ever choose to put on (unless maybe I was having some sort of ‘dad rock’ themed party).

Never heard of him before (though I guess I’ve probably heard his songs without knowing who it was). Had a bit of a French Leonard Cohen vibe going at points. I felt a bit like I was starring in a Wes Anderson film while I was listening to this. I liked the feeling.

I only know two Tom Waits albums and this wasn’t one of them. Some good tracks in here but found it a bit challenging at times. Probably needs some repeat listens to dig into the lyrics a bit. A quick google told me that Spin magazine once voted this the greatest album of all time. Not sure I’d go that far, but there was enough in there that I reckon I should probably give it a second listen.

Love a bit of Jay-Z

Some classics on here. Not really my thing but it’s solid album.

Iggy’s always been a bit of a hero. Some great songs on here and the Bowie presence is obviously strong. Not my favourite of Iggy’s work but still a very solid album.

Megadeath were the first metal band I ever discovered and I probably watched the video for Symphony of Destruction (that I’d taped off MTV) hundreds of times. I don’t think I ever went as far as buying any of their stuff though. Didn’t love this album but it sent me off to go and re-listen to symphony of destruction which I still quite enjoyed, for old times’ sake. Won’t be putting this album on again but it’s put me in the mood to go and listen to a bit of Tool.

This felt like Beck’s big breakthrough album when it came out and he suddenly seemed to become pretty mainstream. I didn’t really mind it but I thought it was weaker than his previous stuff. I assumed he was on the wain (read diverging from my own tastes), but his next album, Mutations, went on to become one of my top ten albums of all time. Listening back, I still don’t absolutely love it, but it’s a decent album.

Blast from the past. Remember it being a bit better if I’m honest.

From a quick glance at the album cover I was initially expecting some nihilistic punk quartet. Probably as far from that as it’s possible to get. Quite enjoyed it, although it’s more at the Tom and Jerry soundtrack end of the jazz spectrum than I’d normally go for.

Great album!

Not quite sure how these guys had passed me by until now. Coming to it 30 years late it obviously sounds pretty old school but you can see the influence they had on loads of people who came after them, including some of my favourite artists like Jurassic 5. Enjoyed it, but probably enjoy what it led to more.

I do love a bit of Morrissey (although definitely not the far right, slightly racist bit). This is a pretty solid solo album. Obviously not as good as The Smiths, but much closer to it than Jonny Marr’s solo stuff.

I’d love to sit in a pub with James Murphy and just talk about obscure music but I know if I ever got the chance I’d instantly find myself massively out of my musical depth and feel deeply ashamed for having only the most superficial knowledge about anything. I love LCD Soundsystem. Was gutted when they split up but was really pleased to see them come back and then bring out this cracking album. I probably prefer their first album to this one but I think that’s only because it just sounded so different and exciting when I first heard it. You could make a strong case for this being objectively a better album than their first album but as we don’t have to rank them I guess I’ll just stop agonising over it, give it four stars and move on with my life.

Think I might have found my new favourite Neil Young album.