Journey Complete!
Finisher #432 to complete the list
1089
Albums Rated
3.04
Average Rating
100%
Complete
Blue
Joni Mitchell
Favorite Album
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1970s
Favorite Decade
Reggae
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
171
5-Star Albums
108
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Idlewild
Everything But The Girl
|
5 | 2.57 | +2.43 |
|
Basket of Light
Pentangle
|
5 | 2.76 | +2.24 |
|
One World
John Martyn
|
5 | 2.82 | +2.18 |
|
Slayed?
Slade
|
5 | 2.88 | +2.12 |
|
Mott
Mott The Hoople
|
5 | 2.95 | +2.05 |
|
Talking With the Taxman About Poetry
Billy Bragg
|
5 | 2.97 | +2.03 |
|
Sail Away
Randy Newman
|
5 | 2.97 | +2.03 |
|
Signing Off
UB40
|
5 | 2.97 | +2.03 |
|
Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby
Terence Trent D'Arby
|
5 | 2.98 | +2.02 |
|
The Nightfly
Donald Fagen
|
5 | 3.01 | +1.99 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
OK Computer
Radiohead
|
1 | 4.1 | -3.1 |
|
The Bends
Radiohead
|
1 | 4.01 | -3.01 |
|
Doolittle
Pixies
|
1 | 3.75 | -2.75 |
|
White Blood Cells
The White Stripes
|
1 | 3.68 | -2.68 |
|
Ill Communication
Beastie Boys
|
1 | 3.65 | -2.65 |
|
Illmatic
Nas
|
1 | 3.61 | -2.61 |
|
Oracular Spectacular
MGMT
|
1 | 3.61 | -2.61 |
|
good kid, m.A.A.d city
Kendrick Lamar
|
1 | 3.61 | -2.61 |
|
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Wu-Tang Clan
|
1 | 3.61 | -2.61 |
|
To Pimp A Butterfly
Kendrick Lamar
|
1 | 3.61 | -2.61 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Bob Dylan | 7 | 4.86 |
| Beatles | 7 | 4.86 |
| Led Zeppelin | 5 | 5 |
| Stevie Wonder | 4 | 5 |
| Steely Dan | 4 | 4.75 |
| Marvin Gaye | 3 | 5 |
| Nick Drake | 3 | 5 |
| Creedence Clearwater Revival | 3 | 5 |
| David Bowie | 9 | 4.22 |
| Tom Waits | 5 | 4.4 |
| Bruce Springsteen | 5 | 4.4 |
| Neil Young | 4 | 4.5 |
| Bob Marley & The Wailers | 3 | 4.67 |
| Frank Sinatra | 3 | 4.67 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 3 | 4.67 |
| Queen | 3 | 4.67 |
| The Jam | 2 | 5 |
| Muddy Waters | 2 | 5 |
| Ali Farka Touré | 2 | 5 |
| John Martyn | 2 | 5 |
| Aretha Franklin | 2 | 5 |
| T. Rex | 2 | 5 |
| Genesis | 2 | 5 |
| AC/DC | 2 | 5 |
| The Police | 2 | 5 |
| R.E.M. | 4 | 4.25 |
| Joni Mitchell | 4 | 4.25 |
| Pink Floyd | 4 | 4.25 |
| Paul Simon | 3 | 4.33 |
| Aerosmith | 3 | 4.33 |
| Michael Jackson | 3 | 4.33 |
| The Stooges | 3 | 4.33 |
| The Velvet Underground | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Radiohead | 6 | 1.5 |
| My Bloody Valentine | 3 | 1 |
| Beastie Boys | 3 | 1.33 |
| Public Image Ltd. | 2 | 1 |
| Sepultura | 2 | 1 |
| Common | 2 | 1 |
| Kendrick Lamar | 2 | 1 |
| Björk | 4 | 1.75 |
| Pet Shop Boys | 3 | 1.67 |
| Pixies | 3 | 1.67 |
| Wilco | 2 | 1.5 |
| The Jesus And Mary Chain | 2 | 1.5 |
| Fiona Apple | 2 | 1.5 |
| Barry Adamson | 2 | 1.5 |
| Slipknot | 2 | 1.5 |
| Mudhoney | 2 | 1.5 |
| Can | 2 | 1.5 |
| Pere Ubu | 2 | 1.5 |
| M.I.A. | 2 | 1.5 |
| Missy Elliott | 2 | 1.5 |
| Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band | 2 | 1.5 |
| Metallica | 4 | 2 |
| The White Stripes | 3 | 2 |
| Tim Buckley | 3 | 2 |
| Blur | 3 | 2 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Big Star | 1, 5 |
| Billy Bragg | 5, 1 |
| Portishead | 5, 1 |
| Miles Davis | 5, 5, 2, 2 |
| Rush | 5, 2 |
5-Star Albums (171)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
The Gun Club
1/5
A right load of pretentious bollocks has been written about this band "there's never been music like this, before or since". Well good, because it's shit.
33 likes
Radiohead
1/5
No, sorry, don't like Radiohead. Don't understand all the hype at all. Media darling, whiney college kids. Kid A and OK Computer are always in the 'best albums ever' lists but I hate them and think they're shit.
30 likes
Jazmine Sullivan
1/5
Lost me in the first 10 seconds. I hate this style of music, I hate it's attitude, I hate it's vocal style - I hate everything about it.
18 likes
Thelonious Monk
1/5
Thank God that's over with. I feel inadequate just saying it, but really, what's it about? It seems to me to be the jazz equivalent of guitar shredding. No doubt technically amazing, but utterly useless to listen to. Music only to those actually playing it. Fret-wanking (or the sax/drum/piano version). Sorry, but the emperor's wearing no clothes.
15 likes
Def Leppard
2/5
Massively clichéd, ludicrous lyrics, teenage hair metal, pointless forgettable solos and generally indistinguishable from a dozen other 1980s middle of the road rock bands, (in this case from Sheffield but trying to sound like Americans). It's OK in small doses, just letting it wash over, but nothing stands out or grabs my attention; the songs aren't strong enough to transcend the limitations of the genre. Plastic rock.
13 likes
1-Star Albums (108)
All Ratings
The White Stripes
1/5
By the end it was barely listenable. Hated it. I can hear the good intentions and enthusiasm, but they didn't make up for the bad songs, awful and intrusive drumming, grating vocals, overbearing harsh sounding guitar. I appreciate the idea of a 'back to basics' stripped down sound, but get a producer for God's sake.
Ray Price
1/5
Curious amalgam of Frank Sinatra, Frank Ifield and Hank Williams, but considerably inferior to all three. Surely worst version of 'Wild side of life' ever recorded. Very annoying cheesy slide guitar all over everything. This would have been very popular in the early 50/60s but doesn't stand the test of time very well.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Words almost unnecessary. For a teenager, hearing this album for the first time was a life-changing experience. Their best album by a mile in my view.
The Young Rascals
2/5
Mostly innoffensive stuff. Occasionally some jarring, incongruous guitar arrangements, as might be expected from a rock band doing soul, but on the whole they are probably the blackest sounding white men I've heard. David Cassidy was obviously a fan, he covered 2 of their songs. An interesting historical footnote, but not sure why it would be on any list of essential albums.
Eminem
2/5
Don't know how to rate this album. I loathe rap - speaking doggerel very quickly over a drum machine beat and a sample of someone else's creativity is NOT music. It might be poetry, but if that's what you're after, try John Cooper Clarke to see how it should really be done. Having said that, Eminem is the best of a bad bunch. 'My name is' is obviously a cut above - but the competition isn't strong.
Rush
5/5
Heroic drumming - I would have sworn that was Phil Collins if I didn't already know it wasn't. Whoever it is, I bet he was great at maths in school - that's a guy who really knows how to count.
On reflection the vocals are also interesting - I have no idea what any of these songs was about because I couldn't decipher any of the lyrics, but they sounded quite earnest.
I absolutely loved lots of little individual sections on lots of tracks - in particular on 'Limelight' and 'The Camera Eye' and.. ..come to think of it, pretty much every track - but when you put the whole thing together it's just a mess. It shouldn't be that complicated: just decide what the sodding song is going to be, then play the damn thing! There's no need to try and cram 12 songs into every track. Yes, I know that's the nature of Prog Rock and it's almost 50 years too late to point out the absurdity of it now, but, come on, nobody really likes this, do they? It's mad. Great technicianship (as opposed to musicianship) and all that, but you can't whistle these tunes, can you? Well, there you are then. If you absolutely must listen to Prog then Genesis is the only sensible, musical, intelligent option available - and even so, you're on thin ice.
Oh god, after Led Zep II, this is easily the best so far. Streets ahead. I'll take this to a desert island over the White Stripes every time. I loved it. No, really I did, despite neither expecting nor wanting to.
Playing it again now. Maybe one day I'll understand some of it... but if I don't, there's still that heroic drumming... utterly brilliant.
Please sir, can I have some more?
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
Lots of 'too clever by half' but still brilliant lyrics, ridiculously affected but still pleasing vocal style, perfectly delivered but mostly unsatisfying and echoingly repetitive tunes/themes (big boys/good year for the roses, party girl/alison etc), oh yes and the coda to party girls is unforgivably stolen directly from Abbey Road's: \"1234567, all good children go to heaven...\" so overall I ended up just thinking, \"it's sort of good, but not for me, thanks. It's all a bit samey in a different sort of way. I would have stopped listening after 2 or 3 tracks but I didn't want to miss out on something good, but in the end there wasn't anything - except the singles, and the best song was written by Nick Lowe.
Haircut 100
2/5
Love the singles - the sound of (somebody's, not mine) youthful summers - happy, outdoor music to have in the background - but the three singles are head and shoulders above the rest, though I can't explain to myself why, given that all the songs sounded the same, especially the guitar sound - a sort of Nile Rodgers-type vibe going on - except not in the same league. The rest I can't remember. Why is this an important album? It clearly isn't, it's just pop music, good as singles but nothing else. What next - Boney M? Yes, all right, I loved them too, but I'm never going to sit and listen to any of their albums. Incidentally, I am still listening to Rush and getting worried that I may have contracted some sort of illness. Is there a support group? (no, not that sort, the psychological sort)
The Cars
4/5
What a fab opening riff - followed by another - then another. Three of my favourite songs in a row. Joy. I haven't heard this album since 1980. Sadly not all to that same high standard, but then they couldn't possibly be, and even the duff tracks are pretty good. Loved it. I was also prompted to put some of these onto my running playlist. To criticise, I felt the vocal melody lines weren't always as good as the guitar lines underneath them. I generally like Ric Ocasek's vocals and on some tracks he's perfect for the vibe of the track; when he's right, he's really right; but sometimes he takes the low road when the high road is just inviting him along. I can't help thinking that with a stronger singer, they could have taken over the world - but overall, it's still a great sound.
Van Morrison
5/5
I'm a fan of old grumpy-boots and I know this is generally accepted amongst the cognoscenti to be his magnum opus, but frankly I don't get it. I was hooked after 3 seconds of the opening bars but after that there was a long wait to hear anything approaching coherence. The influence reaches down the decades though - just try playing David Gray's version of Say Hello Wave Goodbye then Madame George (that's only one example from that album, there are loads). At least half of this album is effectively just a two-chord backing track with The Man wailing nonsense over the top. What a beautiful noise he makes, though. At 2:30am after a couple of spliffs it can't be beaten; at 5:30pm over fish fingers and beans, it just doesn't have the same effect, but still, what a voice. There are better albums in his catalogue, though. Checkout 'Dweller on the threshold' from the opera house live in Belfast rather than this. Of course I could be wrong; I'll just play it again to be sure. Oh wow, that opening track is fantastic..
Super Furry Animals
1/5
I hated almost every second of this - although I can't say every second because I couldn't bear to listen to it all. Appalling, jarring, deliberately mad dynamics, this was everything Milly said about Rush, but in a different genre and played less competently and maybe they actually were trying to be funny. The opening track has the worst percussion I've ever heard. Worse, even, than the White Stripes. I'm losing faith in the list - why is this in any way an important album? I don't expect to like lots of stuff but I can still appreciate why it might be significant - even though I may hate it - but this definitely isn't.
Marty Robbins
3/5
My earliest memories are of cowboy songs, so I found this both soothing and sad, a relic of a bygone age when a man's best friend was his horse. Do children still play cowboys and indians? No - and cowboys and native americans just isn't the same You can't even buy caps anymore. All the songs are familiar to me, even the ones that I hadn't heard before. Predictable themes, tunes, the solemn tone - you can almost sing along without knowing the song. Like hymns for the godless. I'll never listen to it again, but I don't need to, it's part of me.
Big Star
1/5
Just awful.
Tito Puente
2/5
Great as background party music but I can't remember anything at all from it. All the tracks blur into one. This isn't music to listen to, just to dance - which is fine, but I don't dance so that's no use to me, I'll take Samba Pa Ti instead, please. Mind you, it gave me a happy 5 minutes watching Jane dance to it in the kitchen.
The Kinks
2/5
Whilst the songs are all likeable, nostalgic little vignettes, the sound is mosty thin and reedy, lacking punch. with the obvious exception of Waterloo Sunset. As an example, compare the Kinks against the Jam's version of David Watts. I love all the Kinks singles right up to Come Dancing, but the album tracks don't enthuse me. Some of them would make great short stories, though.
John Lennon
5/5
I think I last listened to this album all the way through when I was about 12 years old (my best friend's older brother had a copy) and I'd forgotten how utterly, utterly brilliant it was and I want to apologise to the world for leaving it so long - I've played it 5 times today to try and make amends. It's just visceral and totally brilliant, the best thing I've heard so far. Can I give 6 stars? (also just noticed that Billy Bragg nicked the riff from 'Oh Yoko' for 'Waiting for the great leap forward'). I wrote loads more (twice) about this album but deleted it all - there was no need, you already knew it all anyway.
Justice
1/5
Never heard of this band before. "I'll just listen while I'm in the gym", I thought. Wham! First track couldn't have been more apt for the situation. It's great to workout to but I didn't even recognise the genre, never mind the track, so had to look them up to find out what sort of 'music' this is - but I was none the wiser, really. Eurobollocks maybe? Downhill all the way after the first track - I don't dance so this is hopeless. Confirmed all my prejudices about dance music though, so I'm glad I listened to it. Nul points from me.
Iggy Pop
4/5
How have I not heard this before? I loved Lust for Life, but this one had passed me by and it's great. Sister Midnight and Funtime ought to be mainstream rock classics. I guess Iggy just was too far out there to get the mainstream attention he deserves. Jane said 'you can hear Bowie all over this" and she was right, it's almost a Bowie album.
Tom Waits
4/5
I'm a fan and listen to his music every day, so I'm biased, but the songs are achingly melancholic (eg Johnsburg, Illinois) which (if you like that sort of thing - and I do) hit the spot every time. He is an acquired taste though;.some stuff is very odd (16 shells,,, which is largely about a guitar) but once you accept the strangeness, it's fabulous and occasionally very funny (Frank's wild years). I expect at least another three of his albums to make this list, and I for one, can hardly wait.
The Young Gods
3/5
Bizarre. I found this simultaneously repugnant and entrancing. Flitting from some sort of mad euro-thrash metal to the avant-garde (at times very much like Tom Waits - except in french, which really doesn't help). I must have played the whole album 4 or 5 times so far but I'm still no nearer to understanding what's going on. I don't even know if I like it or not. It just sits there, demanding to be played (again) and that way madness lies. I'm quite disturbed, both by it and how it makes me feel. I'm going to try never to play it again and to forget I ever heard it.
Def Leppard
2/5
Massively clichéd, ludicrous lyrics, teenage hair metal, pointless forgettable solos and generally indistinguishable from a dozen other 1980s middle of the road rock bands, (in this case from Sheffield but trying to sound like Americans). It's OK in small doses, just letting it wash over, but nothing stands out or grabs my attention; the songs aren't strong enough to transcend the limitations of the genre. Plastic rock.
Paul Simon
5/5
A masterpiece from a proper musical genius.
Nas
1/5
I ain't got time for this, know what I'm sayin'?
XTC
2/5
Shame, I really wanted to like this. XTC have done some brilliant stuff; 'Love on a farmboy's wages' is still one of my very favourite songs after 30 years and I play several of their other singles regularly. This album was entirely unknown to me and I'm disappointed - I was hoping to discover some new gems. Maybe it needs more time to grow but in comparison to the obvious immediacy of their other work, it seems pretty weak. Some occasional nice stuff, but only serving to highlight how poor the rest is.
Wilco
1/5
Had enough after 30 seconds but I persevered to the end. Was it worth it? Absolutely not. Awful, one-paced, plodding dirges. How did this ever get onto any list that also includes Graceland? Paul Simon should sue the curator.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
1/5
I appreciate this was a very important album, the dawn of shoegazing. It even got 'best debut album of 1985' in one list and makes lots of other lists put together by music journos of the time, trying to jump on the next bandwagon and not caring whether it sounds good just as long as it's new and hip. Admittedly it is strangely hypnotic and some of it is very good, but overall it just feels like a walI of sound fell on my head. A lot of it is also just unlistenable. 1985 must have been a really bad year for new artists.
Little Richard
5/5
Jethro Tull
4/5
Love Jethro Tull. It must be something about standing on one leg and sticking your tongue out, because I also love Loudon Wainright III. Locomotive Breath is just brilliant and very easy to play (badly). Sam likes this album, having discovered it for himself.
Chicago
1/5
This was not a good start to my day. Mindless meanderings, devoid of melody or direction. Some of it was reasonably innoffensive, and after a couple of tracks I was thinking, maybe 3 stars - but who thought 'Freeform guitar' or 'Poem 58' were worthy of inclusion on an album for sale to the public? It just made me cross. Complete rubbish.
Ghostface Killah
1/5
Fatboy Slim
1/5
The title is a dead giveaway. This might be OK if you are full of E's but otherwise it's just someone messing about in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Utter tripe.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
Pleasant pop, but nothing special.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
It's as if 'running away' and 'family affair' are by a different band. The rest of the album never gets close to that level. Some nice grooves, but too slow and ponderous - it needs an injection of energy.
10cc
3/5
Very clever and quirky - like an early 70s version of XTC. As usual, the singles stand out, though I've always liked 'The worst band in the world', too. Otherwise it just drifted past me.
Faust
1/5
I knew about this Krautrock band. A mate in school had The Faust Tapes and I remember him talking about it in 1973(ish) Consequently, I can say that this album is way too commercial - I prefer the hardcore early stuff. Lol.
The Gun Club
1/5
A right load of pretentious bollocks has been written about this band "there's never been music like this, before or since". Well good, because it's shit.
Pet Shop Boys
1/5
Don 't like the Pet Shop Boys.
B.B. King
4/5
I really love 12 bar blues, it's easily my favourite genre, but I don't like the big Chicago sound: saxophone, horns, piano and intrusive American crowds screaming at every little word. When he actually gets round to playing the guitar rather than playing the audience, he's pretty good. B.B.has produced some sublime moments, but not many of them are on display here. This is just cheesy showbiz. The thrill may be gone but it still beats the Pet Shop Boys hands down.
R.E.M.
5/5
A work of genius and after 30 years I still listen to it regularly. My favourite track has changed several times over the years. Starting with Nightswimming, then moving on to Everybody Hurts (once described by Peter Buck as an example of Michael Stipe "polishing a turd") but lately it's been the amazing and still prescient Ignoreland. And John Paul Jones arranged the strings. This is up there with Graceland and Led Zep II (of what we've heard so far) with a serious claim to be in the top 10 of best albums ever recorded.
Dr. John
3/5
It began to grow on me after the second play, but it's not really my type of thing. Reminds me of Screamin' Jay Hawkins/Captain Beefheart. Also very pleased and surprised to discover that 'I walk on gilded splinters' was a Dr John song - love Paul Weller's version from Stanley Road.
Happy Mondays
3/5
It's just average pop.
The Undertones
4/5
Enjoyed this way more than expected. Fergal Sharkey's voice is a bit marmite and I'm on the wrong side of that divide, but there's no denying the infectious energy. Interestingly and unusually for rock music, I think almost every song is in 2/4 time. In any event, all the same beat, and all the song lyrics are variations on either "it's not fair, he's got more than me" or "it's not fair, she doesn't love me" but nevertheless I still loved it. Avoided this sort of stuff like the plague in the 70s (along with all punk/new wave) but happy to discover I was wrong.
Thelonious Monk
1/5
Thank God that's over with. I feel inadequate just saying it, but really, what's it about? It seems to me to be the jazz equivalent of guitar shredding. No doubt technically amazing, but utterly useless to listen to. Music only to those actually playing it. Fret-wanking (or the sax/drum/piano version). Sorry, but the emperor's wearing no clothes.
Nico
2/5
Some music requires a completely flat emotionless delivery: gregorian chant for example, so perhaps she should have tried that. Apparently she was unhappy about having flute added to the production, but I bet the flautist was unhappier to have a mad german nihilist droning all over his lovely musings. Occasionally she lights upon suitable material - her versions of All Tomorrow's Parties and My Funny Valentine are both great, but this album is terrible. Music archeologists and Jackson Browne fans can find some interest in his early songwriting here, but this criminal version of These Days shouldn't have been allowed to go unpunished. Nico was culturally important because of those who she moved amongst and this album is similarly important because of its historical context and those involved with it, but on its own merits alone is utterly forgettable.
Guns N' Roses
3/5
Q: how many good songs makes a classic album?
A: 2, apparently (plus a couple of reasonably good songs)
Couldn't remember anything else from this. A very distinctive overall sound, but aside from the obvious contenders for classic status, the material is very weak and mostly just about saved by Slash's savage guitar. Admittedly a cut above the opposition, but that's not saying much. I love Sweet Child and Paradise city as much as anyone and have been trying unsuccessfully to play them for years, but as to the rest, if I never heard it again that would be fine with me.
Fast coming to the conclusion that there are very, very, very few albums that are consistently worth listening to.
Patti Smith
1/5
The music press loved her in the 70s, which was always a bad sign and I never saw the attraction. I remember seeing her doing Horses live on the OGWT and hated it (she also murdered Because the Night). Nothing on this album changes my opinion.
Janelle Monáe
1/5
Awful. Hated every second of it.
Alice Cooper
3/5
That's more like it. Not played this for more than 40 years.The vinyl version had a fold-out cover that made a desk. Intro guitar on My Stars was played by Dick Wagner, who was also lead guitar on Rock and roll animal/Lou Reed Live - brilliant. Not Alice Cooper's best, but a decent warm-up for Billion Dollar Babies.
Living Colour
2/5
Very interesting. Didn't especially like it, but interesting. Too much guitar pyrotechnics - 'shredding' at the cost of musicality, a pet hate of mine. Very clever but it sounds terrible.
Metallica
1/5
Absolutely not!
Travis
2/5
Soporific but not unpleasant. Good background music. Played it while working and it didn't interrupt my concentration at all. Feel like I'd heard all the songs before, even though I definitely haven't, they are just oddly familiar.
The Crusaders
3/5
Street Life is great, but the rest of the album just sounds like an extended instrumental break from that song. You could take any track and insert it into Street Life and it would fit perfectly.
The Sabres Of Paradise
1/5
Why? This isn't even music, it's just beats. How does this get on any list? I'm tired of this. Not interested in dance.
Beastie Boys
1/5
I get why The Beasties Boys should be on the list, but not this album. Licensed to Ill was the one. By this album it wasn't new anymore. Originally they were ground-breaking (though personally I'd have preferred it if they had just left the ground where it was) with sampling (including Led Zep riffs) and scratching etc. Swearing a lot in interviews and generally being badly behaved - standard teenager stuff which just screamed 'fake' to me at the time ("Mike D" turns out to be the son of a New York art dealer.. ffs). I hated hip hop and rap then and hate it even more now.
Kid Rock
4/5
OK. At last something genuinely interesting. Rap with guitars! I really liked this.
My Bloody Valentine
1/5
I'd been looking forward to this: I knew it would be on the list, and that it is highly regarded, so I was very disappointed to hate it and feel as if it is somehow my fault. Then Sam derided me for not liking it, so I took the pledge to play nothing else for the weekend to see if it would grow on me. By Sunday night I began to hear past the noise to the beauty beneath on a few traccks (still think it would be better without the noise though - a remix would definitely help). Still ddon't like it though.
Neil Young
4/5
It's Neil Young, so of course it's good. Not his best, but still pretty good. But if you've heard Unplugged, then this version of World on a String is disappointing. New Mama is great, not heard that before.
Traffic
2/5
The title track is wonderful, one of my favourite tunes for many years. The rest of the album is unremarkable and surprisingly different to the title track. Stevie Winwood is one of the great unsung heroes of rock music, but this is disappointing.
Anita Baker
2/5
Standard generic 80s sickly soul. Nothing memorable or worth noting.
George Jones
2/5
Good for comedy value. Cliched country, all male voices sound the same, it could be Garth Brooks or Waylon Jennings, I can't tell them apart, not unpleasant but just jaded. Modern (especially female, eg Moll Tuttle) country is way better these days.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Why this album? He's just coasting, there's no fire. All good songs as you'd expect, but this is NOT one his best - there are at least half a dozen Springsteen albums I can name without even pausing for breath that are better than this. It's not that it's bad music (it's fine and I enjoyed it) but it's terrible curation (yet again).
David Crosby
4/5
Loved this. No real songs, really, just a bunch of jams, but the vibe is perfect. Great guitar tone, too. Nonsense, but easy listening.
Dire Straits
4/5
Fantastic. A completely new guitar sound - Sultans of swing is absolutely the best single ever and the backdrop to my friday nights for a decade or so. Down to the waterline and Water of love are also still on my running playlist.
Jamiroquai
2/5
Possibly Manchester's best Stevie Wonder impersonator.
The Notorious B.I.G.
1/5
This makes me so angry I can hardly articulate it. Racist, mysoginist in the extreme, boastful, violent and just downright disrespectful all round. Oh yes, and it's also rubbbish musically.
Belle & Sebastian
2/5
Meh. It's OK, reminiscent of Lou Reed's Coney Island Baby period.
Gang Of Four
2/5
Distinctive discordant guitar and disjointed rhythmns - it sounds like they're playing The Jam's News of the World backwards. The bastard children of The Buzzcocks and Devo. Occasionally interesting but mostly annoying.
Fiona Apple
2/5
Meh. It's just average.
Ananda Shankar
1/5
Why? If I released an album of covers played on swanee whistle and kazoo, would that make the list?
I love a good raga as much as anyone, but this is just nonsense.
Radiohead
1/5
No, sorry, don't like Radiohead. Don't understand all the hype at all. Media darling, whiney college kids. Kid A and OK Computer are always in the 'best albums ever' lists but I hate them and think they're shit.
Gary Numan
4/5
At last! Something I like.
Elbow
4/5
Some lovely tunes. Not really my thing: file it with Coldplay, Snow Patrol etc. Generally very nice inoffensive AOR with the occasional standout track.
Charles Mingus
1/5
Don't understand freeform jazz. I've tried - I even went to a jazz club specially to try it. Had a great time but not because of the jazz.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Utterly brilliant. Probably my favourite of his albums, though it's hard to choose.
Wire
2/5
It's OK.
The Charlatans
2/5
Is this not Oasis in (slight) disguise? Same wall of guitar sound and production, vocal intonation and phrasing, guitar style - all that's missing is an obnoxious twat freeloading as a singer. I quite liked it but clearly the two bands are interchangeable. Occasionally detected a Rolling Stones influence.
Billy Bragg
5/5
Our greatest ever lyricist. Genius. His first 4 albums are all sensational. With some rare artists you can remember exactly where you were when you first heard them and Billy Bragg is one of those. But Train Train is an aberration - it must have been included on the album by mistake!
Public Image Ltd.
1/5
Other than the eponymous track, complete rubbish. If he hadn't been who he was, this would never have got published. Whining adolescent drivel. So bad it makes me cross.
Pixies
2/5
It's OK. Just average alt rock. I won't listen to it again and don't remember a single note of it.
Peter Tosh
4/5
Iree! Good stuff. Treading familiar ground, but still nice. Makes a giod companion piece to Bob Marley's Uprising.
Erykah Badu
2/5
Not for me. Not outright terrible, just a style I dislike.
Pulp
2/5
Some reasonable songs - Pulp were a sort of modern day Kinks, but (surprise!) I don't like them.
Beatles
5/5
What a mixture - some mad stuff in with the greats. Difficult to rate because this is all just a part of history. It's not their best album but includes some of their best songs. Obviously I love it but I'm torn. 4.5 would be about right, really. 4 isn't eniugh but 5 is too much. oh well..
Mylo
1/5
Not unpleasant as muzak supermarkets an lifts.
Paul McCartney and Wings
5/5
Wonderful
Rod Stewart
5/5
Brilliant. Proper rock from when Rod could sing and before it all went gooey (ie everything from Atlantic crossing onwards). Absolutely love The Faces. I haven't played Maggie May for decades because I thought I was bored of it, but the shit this list has put forward so far reminds me that I am so not. It is a world apart and brought a tear to my eye - and what a guitar solo! Mandolin wind, Reason to believe, Every picture... track after track top quality. Just wonderful, wonderful, music. Joy from start to finish. Get in, get up, get out!
Jane's Addiction
4/5
This one I get: a radically new sound in rock, clearly an important album. Also, I really like it.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
This needs no comment. Top 10 album of all time, without question.
Isaac Hayes
4/5
Oh yeah, baby, uhh!
Morrissey
4/5
Surprising a d almost funny. Take a Smiths album master tape, go to the mixing desk and slide every channel containing Johnny Marr's guitar parts down to zero. What you will be left with is this album. It's good, but it would have been so much better with him.
FKA twigs
2/5
This just washed over me. It sounds more like a film score rather than music to actually listen to. Weird ethereal voice effect.
Nightmares On Wax
1/5
Ridiculous. Why is this on the list? It's just muzak.
The Sonics
2/5
Sorry boys, The Beatles got there before you, and did it way, way better. Lots of screaming and faux excitement but the music behind it is flat as a pancake. I'm guessing these are Americans trying to emulate the Mersey sound. Whoever they are, it doesn't work. Just sounds like 10 alternate and inferior versions of Twist and Shout.
Barry Adamson
1/5
It's just a fake film score. I'm sure it would fit a film very well, but why must we hear it without the pictures? Who curated this list?
Wild Beasts
1/5
Awful. Hated it.
Bon Jovi
4/5
Ordinarily I'd ignore stuff like this - preposterous, overblown stadium rock. But my perspective has been damaged by the swathes of utter rubbish we've had forced on us lately. Consequently, this felt like a breath of fresh air. It gets 4 stars, principally for 'Wanted..' which is a real classic (though the live version is better).
Miles Davis
5/5
Wow! This, I really like. Great ambient music. Played this constantly all day, and despite the repetitive riffs, it never bores - always something new going on behind it. My only disappointment is not being able to make out John McLaughlin's guitar at all over the whole album. One of the greatest ever, and I can't hear him at all! Otherwise, flawless. Just wonderful.
Roxy Music
4/5
Wrong album. Stranded (the third Roxy Music album) is easily the best. But this is still very good - even avant garde in its day,
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
What a surprise - McLaren is an infuriating twat, but there's no denying that there's some good stuff on here. It's not Graceland but he was definitely onto something.
Sade
4/5
Smooth. My employer uses 'Your love is king' as its hold music. Customers have complained that, having had to wait so long, they can't enjoy the song any more. One customer said hearing the song outside of the work environment induced panic attacks.
Steely Dan
5/5
What a coincidence. I was playing Steely Dan to Sam last week - I chose Aja. This is great and I played it on rotation all day and the rest of the weekend. Fantastic production, these guys were perfectionists. Not unusual for them to change the whole band (they use session musicians, the 'band' was really just Donald Fagen and Walter Becker) from track to track. Songs from the seamy side hidden behind jaunty tunes. Brilliant.
SZA
2/5
Absolutely nothing special about this - nice enough, if you like that sort of thing. I don't. It's just offensive, passive racist rubbish.
Milton Nascimento
2/5
Nice background music for a restaurant, maybe. Don't remember anything about this - instantly forgotten.
Sonic Youth
3/5
Interesting. I liked some of the tracks, especially 'Dirty boots'. Other stuff, bordering on death metal, not so keen.
5/5
Another piece of music which is fixed in my memory to the place and time when I first heard it - in this case riding in my geography A level teacher's Alfasud on a field trip to Oxwich Bay (along with Beggars Banquet). A life-shaping experience.
Garbage
2/5
It's OK. Stupid Girl stands out a mile though.
Harry Nilsson
4/5
Really good. Not a bad track on it - some better than others, but consistently above average.
Electric Light Orchestra
4/5
For about a year they ruled the world. A string of singles from this album (including the sublime Wild west hero) meant it was impossible to go anywhere without hearing ELO playing. Places me forever in Coventry shopping precinct.
Lorde
2/5
Average whinge-pop.
Jeff Buckley
2/5
Sorry, but I just don't like his voice or music. Don't like his Dad's stuff either. I must be wrong because everyone seems to think they are both geniuses.
Richard Hawley
3/5
Joan Armatrading
4/5
When she's good, she's unbeatable. Down to zero has been in my personal top 10 for 40+ years and not likely to be shifted, and Love and affection is just completely perfect.
Tim Buckley
2/5
I can see why some would like this - his voice is very 'marmite' - I don't like it at all. The songs are aimless meanderings and I prefer a discernable melody.
Joni Mitchell
5/5
Elton John
4/5
5/5
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
Don McLean
4/5
Lovely guitar and some beautiful songs, though he rewrote Vincent (as Crossroads) and American Pie (as Everybody loves me, baby) - but it's still a great body of work.
My Bloody Valentine
1/5
Just awful. How did this get on any list?
The La's
4/5
Like it all. Not a bad track on it.
Tom Waits
4/5
Grew on me. At first it sounds like a rewrite of Rain Dogs by an old man past his peak (which to an extent is undeniably so) but there are some real gems: who are you is great. Jesus gonna be here (Blind boys of Alabama version) has been a favourite of mine for years without me knowing it was his song.. though their version is definitely better.
Billy Joel
5/5
I'd forgotten how brilliant this album is. Five absolute belters and the other four are bloody good, too. He said some nasty things about Christie Brinkley, but his music is wonderful.
The Who
3/5
I'm conflicted about The 'Oo. Daltrey must be the worst singer ever to become a rock Gos after Dylan. Townsend lurches from writing absolute classics to ridiculous nonsense. Most of this album falls into the latter. Sometimes I love them, but other times (like this) I just wonder what they were thinking.. Rock opera? Well if you must, Pete, but I'd prefer Who's Next instead, please.
Jane's Addiction
5/5
Loved this. A very clear identity, the guitar and vocal couldn't be mistaken for anyone else. More melodic than the previous album, this was a real surprise and very engaging. I want to give it 4.5 stars, it's better than 4 but not quite 5, but there's no option for that so sorry boys, you're demoted to 4. No I've changed my. mind - I really, really liked this 5 stars it is.
John Grant
5/5
Best new (to me) music I've heard in ages.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Some of the tracks are really good but I don't like Kevin Rowland's voice. Also reminds me of dancing on the tables in the Cellar Bar at B'ham Uni, which I prefer to forget.
4/5
Well it's got 3 fantastic songs - the rest are just OK. I'll probably never play it again though those 3 songs are regulars on my playlist already.
Willie Nelson
5/5
Fantastic! What a surprise - all classics, beautifully done.
Slint
2/5
Everything I said about Jah Wobble applies to this album, too, but even more, I think. Anyone could write this. It's not horrible, it's just nothing. There's no talent behind this that I can see. Practically random music. Choose a key, write some chords on pieces of paper then pick them out of a bowl. Get a competent guitarist to play them repeatedly in a variety of ways in the order they came out. Speak earnest sounding nonsense over it. There's your top 1001 album.
Bad Company
4/5
Great band, but wrong album again. Straightshooter is easily their best album. But the title track is magnificent and Paul Rodgers has the best voice in rock - one of the few men in history (and almost certainly the only white man) who really belongs in leather trousers.
The United States Of America
2/5
Everything I said about Jah Wobble applies to this album, too, but even more, I think. Anyone could write this. It's not horrible, it's just nothing. There's no talent behind this that I can see. Practically random music. Choose a key, write some chords on pieces of paper then pick them out of a bowl. Get a competent guitarist to play them repeatedly in a variety of ways in the order they came out. Speak earnest sounding nonsense over it. There's your top 1001 album.
Tom Waits
5/5
This is Bone Machine but written by a (slightly) younger man in his prime. Fantastic. When I first heard this in approx 1985, (my Dad played it to me) I didn't understand it at all, it was completely unintelligible to me and I hated it. 10 years later it was one of my favourite albums. Clap Hands - yep, a big round of applause from me.
The Who
3/5
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
2/5
It's all the very much the same: I have his later album, and 'Becoming More Like God' (my favourite track on it) is great, but it's the same as Visions of You on this album. Layers of sound and vocals over a bass riff which goes diddle-dee, diddle-dee, didddle-diddle-dum-dee. Very nice, but this is the sort of stuff anyone could write, with some studio time and session vocalists. I like it, but is it art? I think not.
I'm beginning to think (no, that's a lie - I've always thought) I can do better than at least 25% of the stuff we've had so far.
Primal Scream
3/5
How did they get away with this? 'Movin' on up' is so Rolling Stones you can hardly believe it isn't them. It's the 'Sympathy for the devil' rhythm track mixed with the 'You can't always get what you want' choir. But it's still great to listen to. 'Loaded' is George Michael's ''Freedom 90' shamelessly stolen (and also is the 'Sympathy for the devil' rhythm track. I can't believe they weren't sued to hell and back. Great to listen to but they stole if all..
Sebadoh
1/5
Not for me. Don't hate it, some might like it but not me.
Love
3/5
Quite pleasant, reminds me of the Moody Blues. Very 'of its time' and that was over 50 years ago. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but in this case, it shows its age.
Nirvana
3/5
Never understood the fuss about Nirvana. Some fairly good songs on this album (by the way, describing it as "unplugged" is stretching it somewhat. "A bit quieter" would be a better description) but all of them have exactly the same structure, so it all sounds very samey.
Stereo MC's
3/5
Rap, but without the bragadocio, misogyny, racism or swearing, but with some catchy hooks. Very nice, but somehow it feels a bit hollow. Maybe I'm getting unured to the loathsome rap culture. I hope not.
The Isley Brothers
4/5
Hard to fault, but James Taylor's original version of 'Don't let me be lonely tonight' is much better, as is The Doobie Brothers' original of 'Listen to the music'. But their versions are OK and the two singles are great.. The guitar on 'whose that lady' is just epic!
Beastie Boys
2/5
Groundbreaking back in the day and set a format very obviously copied by Run DMC, to greater effect. White middle class kids trying too hard to be from the 'hood. Notable for sampling and at least they had the taste to steal from Led Zep. But it's still tap and I hate it.
Nina Simone
4/5
Fabulous voice and wonderful songwriting.
Eels
4/5
Annoying dynamics - just when you start to get into the tune, it stops dead. Completely. Then starts off in another direction. But overall its really good, and the sound is unique, in a good way. Mixture of synth/guitar sound is unmistakable and appealing. I really like this, though you definitely have to be in the right mood. It isn't background music.
Van Halen
2/5
Ludicrously overblown, sterile, soulless, awful. Dave Lee Roth's vocals are like Mariah Carey's - fabulously technical and gifted, but emotionally dead.Like a pantomime dame. Van Halen's guitar wizardry also leaves me cold - I hate shredding. Play it slowly but with feeling please.
Marilyn Manson
2/5
Sexual assault may be the least of his crimes. I can see how a vulnerable teenager could believe these messages of hate and destruction, leading to terrible consequences. Vile disgusting music for depressives. Shame, as some of the riffs are pretty good - it's the lyrical content and vocal delivery that spoils it.
Tim Buckley
2/5
Still don't enjoy his music. It's beter than the previous album, but lyrically dubious and I don't like his voice.
Coldplay
2/5
Clocks is an outstanding song, but the rest of the album passed me by. I don't remember a single line, just a general irritation with Chris Martin's vocal style (octave jumping using falsetto)..
Meat Loaf
5/5
Epic! Paradise by the dashboard light is utterly brilliant. Nils Lofgren's guitar is piercing, the vocal delivery amazing and the arrangements are, well, epic.
k.d. lang
2/5
You can draw a line through Vera Lynn then Shirley Bassey to arrive at k.d.lang. From the 'big note' school of lounge room crooning. I tried to like it, but it's not for me. Constant Craving was OK for the first 70 million plays, but is just tiresome now.
Ian Dury
4/5
Lots of fun, clever (if occasionally dubious) lyrics, catchy tunes and superb musicianship. What's not to like?
Stevie Wonder
5/5
Absolutely brilliant. A masterpiece companion to Innervisions (all recorded pretty much in one go).
The Waterboys
2/5
Bits of it were OK, but folk music and rock drumming don't really mix. The singer also trying a bit to hard to sound like Bob Dylan. Some nice quiet nice songs, but not enough to save it.
Beatles
5/5
Everything from "once there was a way..." to "the love you take is equal to the love you make" is perfect (that's side 2 in old money). It's my favourite piece of The Beatles music and I'm apparently not alone - that was George Martin's favourite, too. Wonderful. Glorious. Desert island music for me.
Taylor Swift
4/5
I was surprised to really enjoy this. It's pure pop and very well done. All the songs blend into one happy sound and it's not something I would ever normally listen to (and probably never will again) but apart from clubs (obviously) it would make great factory/shop background music. No good for just sitting and listening to, it's music for doing things to.
Sonic Youth
3/5
Patchy. Some of it is excellent, whilst some of it is just noise, bordering on shoegaze. The good stuff I really like, the shoegazey stuff I really hate.
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
Distinctive voice and well written songs. I don't especially like it, but. I don't hate it either. It's a good album, just not to my taste.
Sufjan Stevens
4/5
Lovely. Sam introduced me to Sufjan Stevens a couple of years ago and it is just my sort of music. Indie-folk.
Yes
4/5
Surprised to actually like this. I've always believed I hated Yes, but apparently I don't. I seem to be a closet prog-rocker.
MGMT
1/5
Really couldn't be bothered to listen to all of this, it's very poor. I got as far as Kids, which is a good song, but not this version: but there's an amateur couple on Youtube who do an acoustic version 10 x better than this. Rubbish.
fIREHOSE
2/5
Mostly below average - except they slipped in a beautiful acoustic blues piece (VStapol) amongst the dross. I had to check it wasn't Spotify playing up. Complete personality shift for 2 minutes, then back to more dross. 2 stars just for the that track.
The Fall
3/5
Very much like early Stranglers. Some good riffs and rhythms going on under Mark E Smith's eccentric nonsense vocal delivery. Apparently they were John Peel's favourite band. Better than most of this week's drivel, though not really my cup of tea.
Marvin Gaye
5/5
Comment unnecessary. But I'll say it anyway: utterly brilliant.
Supergrass
2/5
I couldn't stand to listen past the 4th track, it's just terrible.
The Chemical Brothers
4/5
Brilliant for cycling to! No good to listen to, it's either dance or exercise
Spiritualized
2/5
Couldn't get past the second track. Does nothing for me at all.
Jazmine Sullivan
1/5
Lost me in the first 10 seconds. I hate this style of music, I hate it's attitude, I hate it's vocal style - I hate everything about it.
Elastica
3/5
Pretty good, but very 'Blur' - all discordant jerky guitar riffs. Justine was Damon's girlfriend at the time - I wonder who was influencing whom?
Ray Charles
3/5
Love the voice, don't care for the songs.
Happy Mondays
2/5
Terrible.
The Pogues
4/5
Great when you're drunk. Not so much when you're sober and don't drink anymore. It's good, but not for me.
The Slits
3/5
Wow - that is the sound of the Cellar Bar, B'ham Uni, 1979/80. Makes me feel there's something going on, but I'm not part of it.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Great poetic lyrics, and the melodies are pretty good, but combined with the deep bass, almost spoken delivery, the whole is less than the sum of its parts.
Maybe someone else should record his songs instead. Still the occasional gem: First We Take Manhattan being the obvious (which has been successfully recorded by others). Tower of Song could be a great upbeat rock song.
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
It's OK - some good riffs and tunes but I'll never listen to it or them again.
Paul Simon
4/5
Difficult to rate - he's a genius so I could listen to him noodling all day, but a lot of tracks lacked focus. The ones that had it were fantastic (Me and julio, mother and child...) but the rest were so-so.
Willie Nelson
3/5
Just OK country music, not such good tunes.
Van Morrison
4/5
Very good. Brown-eyed girl cunningly rewritten as Glad Tidings. He was obviously a huge influence on Loudon Wainwright, who stole Come Running for People in Love. Don't like all the songs but Into the Mystic is worth 4 stars all on its own.
Suicide
3/5
Hypnotic electronic riffs over disturbing and depressing lyrics. I could like the music but the vocal puts me off.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
5/5
Every one a winner. This music changed everything permanently and deserves 5 stars for that. It's dated now, but still hugely influential and important.
System Of A Down
3/5
What is this? Death punk metal? Jane's Addiction do it better.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Dreadful dirges. I don't think I like poetry.
Hawkwind
1/5
Terrible. I'm not listening to this. First 4 tracks were more than enough.
Aerosmith
4/5
Great if you're in the mood. The Stones with a sense of humour
The Who
2/5
Pete Townsend is either brilliant or bonkers, sometimes both together. Daltrey is the worst singer ever to front a leading rock band. Entwistle and Moon are utterly amazing virtuosos. Together they all did some great work, but some is very poor, there was never any consistency, with the exception of the incomparable Who's Next. One brilliant track on this album, one very good track and the rest is just filler.
Cypress Hill
2/5
"one of the best hip hop albums ever released". Repetitive, uninspired, looped and sampled with discernable musical input at all - it's hopeless doggerel chanted over snippets of other songs. This isn't music. What's the point? Why does half the world think rap is music? Amazing.
Goldie
1/5
Couldn't get to the end of the first track. Started OK with lush strings, then female voice but soon descended into mad, intrusive drumbeats so the music was lost. Also stops and starts and isn't cohesive at all. I think it's supposed to be dance music, though the constant stop start must make it very difficult to dance to. It got slowly worse. Not really music.
The The
2/5
Great drum intro as if about to launch into uptempo rock but then - in comes a downbeat voice followed by electronica of various incongruous sorts. None of the music matches the fabulous rock drumbeat. It's bonkers. Then track two: apparently it's a theme. A human drummer lays down a beat then a voice is introduced which doesn't quite match it, then electronic instruments join in. Eventually track 4 comes up with a decent melody. Voice sounds a lot like Lloyd Cole. I'd had enough by track 6. Don't like it.
Tangerine Dream
2/5
More ambient ''music'. It just sounds like somebody mucking about in the BBC Radiophonic workshop. Very nice as background, maybe as a filmscore, but not to be actively listened to.
Various Artists
2/5
Spector was a madman. I don't much like his 'wall of sound' and the music is all pure pop - fine for supermarkets and children, but gives the serious listener nothing worth keeping - except the occasional earworm. I've got Frostie the Snowman stuck in my head which is very annoying..
N.W.A.
3/5
Racist, misogynist, violent, hateful. Great beats and delivery, but whining about how hard it is in the 'hood gets tedious. This isn't improving things is it? Just stirring up more racist hatred. Stupid beyond belief.
The Triffids
2/5
Very 1980s vocal style (Lloyd Cole-y), not unpleasant but no stand-out songs- all same standard. Just an average band. Again, the same question keeps cropping up: why is this on the list. I can turn on the radio randomly and hear music like this. Why is this in anyway special? It's not actively bad, so I suppose that's a step up from the avalanche of dross that makes up at least half of this list.
Koffi Olomide
4/5
Happy music! I love this style of music - call it soukous or jit, it's impossible not to want to dance
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
Boring. Beat with rap over it. No melodies, it's just all the same.The best thing I can say is that it doesn't have quite as much swearing as most rap. Also it's intelligible - so all in all, it's the best rap album we've had so far.
Norah Jones
5/5
Fantastic. I'd forgotten how good this is. Intimate and soulful. Brilliant.
The Jam
5/5
Brilliant socially aware lyrics - 'That's entertainment' should be published separately and added to the National curriculum. I'd forgotten how good The Jam (well, Paul Weller) were.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
Rap for rockers. This is as good as rap gets (which isn't saying much). As usual it's all the same - it's a good rhythm but it gets tiresome. Walk this way is fantastic, but nothing else on the album comes close to it.
Madonna
3/5
Superior pop. Difficult to listen objectively to Madonna without being coloured by her ruthless pursuit of fame at any cost and deliberate religious and sexual provocation. She's either an empowering force for femininity or a spoilt brat, depending on your point of view. No denying that the pop is above average, but doubtless she has the means to obtain the best writers/producers. It just isn't authentic. I don't believe she cares about music at all, it's just a means to an end - fame. Look at me everyone, aren't I great?
Meh.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
5/5
Beautiful harmonies, great guitar sound, several outstanding tracks - helpless, our house, teach your children - don't always like the melodies, but the overall sound is always soothing. I played is on repeat all day and loved every second.
The Offspring
2/5
Very fast rock - like Motorhead with a different vocalist. They got through a lot of drummers and I'm not surprised.
OutKast
2/5
Some jaunty beatz and definitely better than most hip-hop/rap - bug that's not saying much. I don't like it.
John Prine
2/5
Still developing as a song writer, this is far from his best. Limp anti-vietnam war protest songs and barely comedic vignettes while still trying to sound like the New Bob Dylan. Unfortunately he succeeds in the latter and loses his own personalty for it. Loudon Wainwright was funnier, more observant and had better melodies.
Michael Jackson
5/5
Undeniably brilliant pop. I'll never listen to it again, but can't think of a reason to deny it 5 stars.
David Bowie
3/5
I don't understand this list. Every other Bowie album from Space Oddity to Low is better than this. It's Bowie, so of course it's great, but really? Why this album? This is his worst album of the 1970s - it's down there with Pin-ups. Earl Slick's guitar heroics on Stay are the highlight of the album, but there are much better versions of Stay and Wild is the Wind on the BBC sessions box set. I saw him on the Station to Station tour at Earl's Court and it was not his best performance - it wasn't a good time for him. There are good, even great, tracks on this album, but as a whole it's hopeless.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Springsteen's first 'pop' album. Some good tracks but this was the start of songs in the formulaic Lucky Town mould. Not my favourite album.
2Pac
1/5
Rap is not music.
Jeff Beck
2/5
Appalling. I love the blues, but I've heard many pub bands better than this. How could one of the world's best guitarists combine with one of the best voices ever to produce this? Bowie's version of Shapes of things is better - and that's on pretty much his worst album of the 1970s!! Flashes of brilliance in Blues Deluxe, but not enough.
Fiona Apple
1/5
Is this a joke? she's surely making this up as she goes along. Is it supposed to be art? Avant garde? Rubbish.
Public Enemy
3/5
As rap goes, this is a cut above. Not my thing, but I can see how it probably shook things up a bit at the time.
Frank Ocean
3/5
Innoffensive but nondescript. Why is this on the list? It's just a (very) average album. I'm told that Blond is much better.
Nirvana
2/5
At the risk of sounding like my Dad, this is mostly just a racket.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Breath of fresh air.
Richard Thompson
4/5
A new slant on electric folk
- a stunning guitarist.
The Clash
3/5
Not my thing, but it was a surprising album from a punk band: musically very competent and a broad range of styles. Definitely not your average punk band.
The Beach Boys
3/5
Naive but occasionally sweet. Reminds me of Paul McCartney's later Beatles contributions. but doesn't have any edge to it. Even the bluesy Student Demonstration Time just sounds like a protest song that bunch of 13 year olds might write. Weedy. No soul.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
4/5
At last, something different! Beautiful. To those who think Paul Simon exploited them, note that they had been together since the 1960s and recording from 1973 - yet no-one knew who they were outside of South Africa, until he brought them to worldwide attention practically overnight. Ask how exploited they feel about that.
Donovan
3/5
Some great stuff, but spare me the hippy dipshit nonsense please.
Slayer
1/5
Appalling rubbish. Can't tell one track from another. Mad guitar - very fast but out of rhythm and key. Who likes this stuff apart from sad 13 year old loners?
ABBA
5/5
Undeniably catchy pop. Not my thing, but I can see it has to deserve 5 stars. Not sure 'when I kissed the teacher' could be played in public these days...great tune though.
4 massive international hits, but a purely singles band. Who has ever heard an album track of theirs (unless they actually bought the album, obviously)? 'Dum dum diddle' - really? Practising for the next Eurovision Song Contest, obviously. 'Tiger' could easily have been a single, too.
Faith No More
3/5
Lenny Kravitz
2/5
Terrible. Has nobody noticed that his singing has pitch issues? The lyrics are lame? The music is samey and cliched?
Terence Trent D'Arby
5/5
Brilliant - what a voice! At least 7 world-class songs on this album. Shame he went nuts after it.
Talvin Singh
2/5
Meh. I want music to listen to. Dance music does nothing for me at all, it's just pointless if you don't dance.
Jurassic 5
2/5
Run of the mill rap. I hate rap.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Disappointing.
Isaac Hayes
4/5
Nice.Close to 5 stars.
Ozomatli
4/5
Excellent - shame the whole album isn't on spotify...
Fred Neil
3/5
Great voice, he sounds like the Righteous Brothers and he was hugely influential amongst the Greenwich Village cognoscenti - but although the songs are OK and obviously Everybody's talkin' is a fantastic song, but it isn't a great or even particularly good album.
Joy Division
2/5
My wife described this (before being told who it was) as "arty, pretentious shit with a vocalist who can't sing". Hard to argue, really. Dreadful dirges. It wasn't love that tore them apart. Occasional flashes of better to come, but this album doesn't belong on any list. Like the drumming, though - and Hooky's bass is clearly the driving melodic force.
Nick Drake
5/5
Utterly brilliant. I remember exactly where I was when I first heard Nick Drake: Gatwick Airport HMV. I went straight to the counter and said 'Who's this, it sounds a bit like John Martyn?' The sales assistant said 'It's Nick Drake, he was a friend of John Martyn'. I bought the album and I've been a fan ever since. This is his masterwork. 6 stars.
Soundgarden
2/5
What a racket!
The Mars Volta
2/5
Mad neo-prog rock. Quiet, spacey intros, then crash! In come the drums and guitars. All the same. Unlistenable racket.
Scott Walker
2/5
Very much chanson - big theatrical songs, clearly Jacques Brel influenced. I don't like this at all. Great voice but I loathe the material. I managed the first 6 songs, but that was more than enough.
Madonna
2/5
Aside from the title track and Express yourself, there is no music of any interest here, just vacuous fillers. Prince didn't do his reputation any favours appearing on this album, I'm surprised he allowed it to be released.
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
Some absolutely brilliant bibs (Statesboro Blues) early on in the set, but getting slowly off peak towards the back end, which was a shame - 5 stars for the first half, 2 stars for the second half
Orbital
2/5
Meh. I don't dislike ambient music, I just don't see the point. You can't sit and listen to it. You can't dance to it, unless you're on acid, and it's too intrusive for me to have on while working. It would be fine, but the voice samples are very annoying.
Minor Threat
2/5
Very shouty, fast guitar rock - sort of post-punk. Nothing special, why is it on this list?
The Stooges
5/5
I wasn't expecting this - it's brilliant! The title track owes a lot to white light/white heat, but wow! If you're in the mood for energy, the album title is about as descriptive as it gets. Iggy's bonkers but I love it. Compare this to yesterday's terrible Minor Threat album, why are they both on the list? The guitar is sensational throughout, way ahead of its time and very obviously influential. Why isn't James Williamson better known? This blows any punk album out of the water - and they got there first. Amazing. Note: play the Iggy 'violent' mix- Bowie's earlier mix sounds muffled and though still great, the Iggy mix is much rawer and more powerful.
Björk
2/5
Very irritating.
Femi Kuti
3/5
Infectious, high energy stuff with great African rhythms.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
This is where the silly voices started. Some world-class tracks, but too much filler.
Khaled
2/5
Oh good, I thought after the first track - bangra. I like bangra. But no, it got softer and softer until we get to an execrable version of Imagine. I won't be listening to any more of that.
Sepultura
1/5
Death metal - unlistenable rubbish.
Astor Piazzolla
2/5
This is a joke, right? Why am I listening to this? I'm sure it's great if you like the tango, but I'm really not interested at all.
Derek & The Dominos
2/5
The blues numbers are great, but I can't ignore his many flaws as a human being (a racist anti-vaxxer) so won't listen to his music any more.
Goldfrapp
2/5
Strangely ethereal warbling. Not unpleasant, but does nothing for me.
Mekons
1/5
Ridiculous.
Amy Winehouse
4/5
Desperately sad I don't like all the material, but the voice is incomparable.
Dolly Parton
4/5
Dolly is great. I prefer acoustic guitar-picking country in a bluegrass style (Molly Tuttle), rather than steel, but that's just how country music was at the time. The songs and delivery are really good.
Elvis Costello
4/5
Don't like most of it, but Alison and Red shoes are 2 of my favourite songs ever.
Common
1/5
It's just rap. I hate rap.
The Beach Boys
3/5
Cute teenage harmonies.
Taylor Swift
5/5
Brilliant. How have I never heard this before? I don't go for her pop stuff (though it is clearly very good) but these folky singer-songwriter tunes are great.
Deep Purple
2/5
I have this album on the original vinyl picture disk, never been played, and now I've listened to this, it never will be. I don't like the organ sound. It just isn't suited to rock music in my view. The vocal is too screamy and the lyrics sound very dated and cliched. I don't even like Smoke on the Water these days, I'm bored of it.
Coldplay
4/5
Very pleasant, once you get used to Chris Martin's octave-jumping falsetto style, which is irritating to begin with.
The Human League
5/5
Brilliant. Soooo 1980s but who cares? Catchy tunes, all excellent - not a bad track on the album.
Jefferson Airplane
3/5
White rabbit and Embryonic journey get 5 stars. The rest gets 2. Average 3.5 rounded down.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
Oh dear, more dance music. I really don't like dance music in general and the Pet Shop Boys in particular.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Tour de force production, scorching yet melodic guitar lines and memorable songs. Utterly brilliant. I haven't played this whole album at a single sitting for over 30 years, but it was a joy - and it's improved with age.
The Doors
4/5
Great stuff. I didn't know they did so much 12 bar blues.
Lou Reed
5/5
Brilliant. Bowie's backing vocals on Satellite of Love provide one of rock's priceless moments.
The Cure
4/5
I love the Cure. I had the chance to see them at B'ham Uni in 1980 and didn't take it, and have regretted it ever since.
Leonard Cohen
1/5
No, sorry, I'm not even going to listen to this. I've heard enough already.
Le Tigre
4/5
Another surprise. Never heard of this band, but really enjoyed listening. Infectious post-punk from what sounds like an all female group. Very likeable.
The Specials
4/5
James Taylor
4/5
Smooth, beautiful baritone, amazing and very individual guitar style. As laid back as it is possible to get.
The Undertones
4/5
We already had one Undertones album, two is probably unnecessary. But Teenage Kicks and Jimmy Jimmy are undeniably perfect. Enjoyed this way more than expected. Fergal Sharkey's voice is a bit marmite and I'm on the wrong side of that divide, but there's no denying the infectious energy. Interestingly and unusually for rock music, I think almost every song is in 2/4 time. In any event, all the same beat, and all the song lyrics are variations on either "it's not fair, he's got more than me" or "it's not fair, she doesn't love me" but nevertheless I still loved it. Avoided this sort of stuff like the plague in the 70s (along with all punk/new wave) but happy to discover I was wrong.
Dizzee Rascal
1/5
More rap? I hate rap, it hardly qualifies as music. This shouldn't be on any musical 'best of' list.
Parliament
4/5
It's silly, funny, and self-parodying, but the groove is infectious - plus it's very sexy music. Puts me back in teenage mid-seventies discos. Can hardly distinguish one track from another, they all have the same driving rhythm - it's just one long continuous stream of funk - but that's OK because I like it. They must have had a lot of fun playing it. Dig that crazy beat, man!
Frank Sinatra
4/5
Probably the best voice there has ever been. Not my sort of music, though.
Black Sabbath
2/5
Why this album? It isn't their best, or anywhere near it. Preposterous.
Lightning Bolt
1/5
Appalling rubbish.
Shivkumar Sharma
2/5
Not unpleasant just very dull.
Metallica
3/5
This sounds very much like a modern Black Sabbath. Metal played more competently. Technically excellent, musically hopeless - this is for teenage boys only.
Muddy Waters
5/5
12 bar blues is one of my favourite genres and though a bit tame by todays standards, this is the stuff - and standards is the right word.
Hole
1/5
A female version of Nirvana - but I don't like their music either. Too shouty, no idea what most of the lyrics are about, but I'm not really interested anyway.
Primal Scream
2/5
This is mostly just drum and bass with a bunch of electronic effects over the top. Nothing of any interest. Some nice grooves, but going nowhere. I'd had enough after a couple of minutes, but I persevered for half a dozen tracks, getting more and more bored until the vibe changed with Medication. At first it sounded pretty good, I soon realized it was basically just 'rocks off' with different lyrics, so I'm not impressed.
The Stooges
4/5
Proto-punk, great stuff. Hi energy (mostly) and competently played. Original version of No Fun interesting to hear, I only knew the Sex Pistols' version.
Depeche Mode
3/5
Personal Jesus is great. The rest doesn't come close. All electronic riffs and beats, trying to write another Personal Jesus, but unfortunately, they only managed it once.
Björk
2/5
Couldn't stand more than a minute of this - her voice irritates me (and I don't like the music either)
Bebel Gilberto
3/5
Cool, suave background music for a cocktail bar - the girl from Ipanema in a dozen samba variation. Very nice, but why is it on this list? It's background music.
Incubus
4/5
Surprised to really like this. The first impression was that it's just the usual metal thrashings, but it turns out to be s distinctive cut above. Good stuff.
Kanye West
3/5
As rap goes, this is very good, but I really don't like rap at all.
The Byrds
3/5
Jangly hippy guitar pop, but sounding a bit dated now.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Fantastic songs, but I don't like the production. Paul Simon sounds way better without:
a) Art Garfunkel
b) Strings and various wacky sounds
Manu Chao
2/5
No thanks.
Pink Floyd
5/5
I've played it so often.I think I could name this album from any 2 random seconds play, It is a masterpiece and possibly the greatest ever in the rock canon - certainly top 5 in any informed list.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Another masterpiece from rhe genius Paul Simon, marred only by the presence of Art Garfunkel..
Franz Ferdinand
3/5
Some good riffs but the melodies don't match up. Take Me Out is great - it's just a shame Led Zeppelin wrote it first (Trampled Underfoot)!
Queens of the Stone Age
2/5
Riff-driven metal, but the riffs aren't good enough. Too complex, jumping around a lot - a substitute for melody. A sort of prog-metal. I'd rather go back to fundamental pentatonics. Occasionally it comes close, but there are no classics here. Music for teenage boys only.
Rahul Dev Burman
2/5
It's just a soundtrack. Not of any interest whatsoever. Why is it on the list?
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
The opening track 'No action' sounds like an inferior reworking of 'Radio Radio' which is great, as are all the singles. The rest are all unmistakably Elvis Costello in up tempo mood - all jerky aggressive vocal lines and background organ. It's a hard listen.
Cheap Trick
3/5
Loads of enthusiasm, great guitar sound, proper rockers - but apart from I want you to want me and Goodnight, the songs weren't up to scratch. Shame, as they otherwise embody the true spirit of rock.
David Gray
5/5
Brilliant.
The Pogues
2/5
Don't care much for The Pogues in general and Shane McGowan in particular. Love traditional music, but not in a punk style. I like my traditional music traditional.
Janis Joplin
3/5
I don't much like her voice. Over-hyped in my view.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Absolutely love Joni Mitchell - Coyote is in my all time top 10 and Amelia isn't far behind.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Genius - I think - or possibly just a great conman. I can never quite decide whether the lyrics are amazinglt insightful and prescient, or just randomly spouted lines. There are so many of them, they are bound to hit a target some of the time.I'll go with genius.
Frank Zappa
2/5
Unintelligible to me. My ears aren't sophisticated enough to decypher this as music - it's just a technically competent jazz noise.
Metallica
2/5
Don't bother.
Arrested Development
2/5
The two singles are great. The rest of the album is dross.
Slipknot
1/5
Appalling rubbish. This can't really be described as music. For teenage sad loner boys only. Can I give no stars?
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
Very pleasant background music. Lots of african/south american rhythms, similar to Santana but without the blistering guitar. No idea why this would be on the list.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
2/5
My initial thought was: Aargh! Shoegaze again - what for? Happy to find it's much softer and more melodic than the previous impenetrable offering. Just like normal music, in fact. 'Some Candy talking' written in 10 different ways, plus a bit of the Beach Boys unexpectedly thrown in.
I like it - but not enough to ever play it again.
Blondie
5/5
5 fantastic singles on this album. The other tracks didn't excite me at all and it's not really my sort of music but undeniably a great album.
Pavement
3/5
Liked it.
The Prodigy
3/5
I love Firestarter, but there's only so many times you can put the same track on the same album.
JAY Z
1/5
The first discernable word on the album is "niggers" - it lost me at that point (about 20 seconds in). After that it's just spewing doggerel, not music, it seems to be political so why don't you just start a political party and run for office? 'Cos you definitely aren't a musician. I loathe rap. No stars.
Fugees
2/5
One of the albums responsible for the rise of rapping - and for that it deserves one star. A few tracks stand out - like Killing me softly/No woman no cry/Ready or not. I wonder why? Oh yes, that's right - they actually have melody. Remember that? It's called music. Too bad rap forgot that. A political speech/poetry/rant/bragadocio over a beat does not constitute music. Unfortunately all of the actual songs are covers, so this album contains almost nothing new at all.
Queen
5/5
Revolutionary rock.
The Flying Burrito Brothers
3/5
A sort of early Eagles, but softer.
Ali Farka Touré
5/5
Sensational guitarist, hypnotic rhythms and really interesting musically - time signatures, scales and use of intervals entirely different to western ears, but still recognisably the blues - Malian style.
I love this.
Lambchop
3/5
I found this just dull. It wafted past without leaving a mark.Apparently it's 'alternative country'.
Destiny's Child
2/5
Oh please. Can't I listen to pop after I die? Not before. I can't bear this . It's music for simpletons.
The Zombies
4/5
Pretty good, not earth-shaking but just good solid sixties rock, before Argent and Colin Blunstones personal success.
Roni Size
2/5
Brown paper bag would make very good telephone hold music.. ..and that's about it for me. Lots of strange noises, beats, electronica - nothing of any interest. Mad cat sounds like a modern version of The Waiting Room from The Lamb.. and that predates this by 45 years - so not as new as he'd like to think.
Finley Quaye
2/5
First three tracks so awful I couln't bear any more.
Prefab Sprout
3/5
When love breaks down is head and shoulders above the rest of the album. One hit wonder. A pleasant sound, all very very stylish but very much of its time.
Steely Dan
5/5
Wonderful musicianship. Dark lyrics obscured by jaunty tunes. Brilliant.
ZZ Top
5/5
Under pressure is so nearly a classic - the riff is sublime but the verses and lyrics ruin it - a real shame. With a little adjustment it could have been a massive hit. Same with I got the six. When they manage to match verse & lyrics to a riff, the result is spectacular - hence 3 huge singles on the album. Guitar is utterly magnificent all through the album. Billy Gibbons is an awesome riff machine and fab guitarist. The album has a distinctive sound which tore through 1983.
The Stranglers
5/5
I saw The Stranglers in 1977 and it was terrifying. Respectable looking men went into the toilets in suits to get changed and came out covered in lipstick and safety pins, unrecognisably different. JJ Burnel jumped into the crowd in the middle of a song and beat up someone, no idea why, but the band ignored it and kept on playing. He got back up on stage, plugged back in and resumed playing as if nothing had happened. The music was tremendously exciting, though I didn't like punk until 30 years later.
Arctic Monkeys
5/5
Excellent, a fresh take on the concept album. Don't much like the dischordant jerky guitars, but this was a ground breaking piece of work.
The Black Keys
3/5
ok
Beatles
5/5
Sublime. 6 stars.
Elliott Smith
3/5
Bits are really nice, but overall this is just average.
U2
4/5
Some of this is truly great (One) others less good but overall very good
Little Simz
1/5
I don't need to hear any more rap before I die, thanks. Despite the general lack of misogyny (which is not surprising from a female) I continue to be offended by the casual racism.
CHIC
5/5
Nile Rodgers is a guitar genius. Most of tbe songs on this album are more or less interchangeable, but he invented the new disco soynd so even though it's not what I would choose to listen to, it deserves 5 stars.
The Band
4/5
Good stuff - proper songwriting. I've had it up to the ears with 'artists' - how about some musicians for a change? This will do as a start.
The Cure
4/5
I like the Cure. It's not their best. but at this point anything that isn't complete rubbish will get 3 or4 stars because I'm so sick of this list pointlessly including terrible albums. Maybe if there was a brief explanation of WHY an album deserved to be on the list it would help.
Donald Fagen
5/5
Steely Dan with less guitar and more saxophone. Brilliant, I love Steely Dan.
Orange Juice
3/5
Standard 1980s pop, as seen on Top of the Pops week in, week out. Not special in any way.
Wilco
2/5
Guitar-based rock so I ought to like this, but it's utterly uninspiring. Poor songs. Like a college band that's just somehow got access to a recording studio and a producer. So it sounds like a bunch of perfectly competent musicians, playing nondescript songs very well. What on earth made anyone think there were enough adequate songs for a double album? The more I listen, the less I like it. I can go to any number of local pubs and hear songs as good or better than this.
Bobby Womack
4/5
What a fantastic voice and great songwriter.
Supergrass
3/5
Middle of the road guitar-based 'geezer' rock. It's OK but nothing special.
Randy Newman
4/5
Instantly recognisable. Distinctive voice, piano high in the mix. It's all pleasant and comforting, somehow familiar even on tracks never previously heard. There's nothing not to like, but it's not for me. Being so distinctive had its downsides - It all sounds like 'You've got a friend in me' from Monsters Inc.
David Bowie
5/5
Wonderful. The first single I ever bought was Life on Mars. Queen Bitch is a staple of my kitchen guitar sessions.
The Byrds
3/5
Country music, nothing special. It might have been important at the time, but it's nowhere near as good as the Eagles.
Pearl Jam
4/5
Jeremy was a revelation to me - I'd never heard Pearl Jam before - completely brilliant, so I was looking forward to this album. Disappointed to find this isn't the mix/version I'd heard and it's not as good. Some great tracks, though: Release is a standout. Eddie Vedder's vocals are amazing. As they say, 'it doesn't get Eddie Vedder than that'.
Queen
5/5
PJ Harvey
2/5
Meh. Liked some of it, disliked some of it. Not quite avant garde indie rock, but getting that way. A bit like Patti Smith, but sadly I'm nit keen on her music either.
Apparently this is the 143rd best album of all time, according to Roling Stone. Cancel my subscription please.
Screaming Trees
4/5
Pretty good - very similar to Pearl Jam.
Bauhaus
3/5
Similar vocal stlyle to the Sisters of Mercy. Not bad, but a bit dirgy - though an incongruous track about pancakes surprised me.
Beatles
5/5
Brilliant. I didn't realise before, but this is very much John Lennon's album. Only a couple of obvious McCartney tracks.
Kendrick Lamar
1/5
Take out all the niggas, bitches & muthafuckas, and what have you got left? I hate this stuff.
Talking Heads
3/5
All rhythm and percussion-based grooves, not so much melody - Once in a Lifetime excepted, there's nothing on here I would ever play again. Disappointing.
Raekwon
1/5
Rubbish.
Kacey Musgraves
5/5
Beautiful. Goes a bit too 'poppy' for me over the last few tracks, but the initial two thirds of this album is wonderful. Absolutely loved it - straight onto my playlist.
Run-D.M.C.
2/5
No sorry, it's better than modern rap, but that's not saying much.
Thundercat
3/5
First hip hop album I didn't actively hate. It was pleasnt and washed over me. Smooth and nice background - but no idea why it should be on this list. In the 70s this would be a below average soul album.
Underworld
1/5
Is this a joke? Why must I hear this before I die? I can load Fruity Loops or other programs onto my PC and make this for myself in 15 minutes. Mucking about with drum machines and computer orograms is not music.
Ute Lemper
2/5
A mix between chanson (which I don't like at all) and songs like they come from a musical (which I don't usually like). Very theatrical, as if part of some larger narrative. Maybe they would sound better if I was watching the full production, but not interesting to listen to in isolation. Just way too melodramatic and souless, with uninteresting melodies. Basically I don't like this at all.
Wu-Tang Clan
1/5
Offensive and puerile, but more importantly, as music it's just repetitive, uninventive and devoid of melody. Basically it's just words over rythym. Rap doesn't belong on this list, it isn' music - it should be in a separate poetry list.
The Replacements
2/5
Average semi-punk, reminded me of Eddie & The Hot Rods. Not my scene, man.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I love the Stones, but this was a huge diappointment. Tumbling Dice is my all-time favourite track, but the majority of this album is just a shambles - lots of half finished ideas in desperate need of a sober producer and an editor. It just sounds like a bunch of stoned musicians jamming - no focus, some great riffs but a stack of dodgy lyrics, poorly thought out fills, mad bridges, terrible weedy production and overdubbed backing vocals trying to shore up the lack of direction. 3 or 4 finished tracks: tumbling dice, happy, rip this joint - maybe sweet virginia - the rest are unfinished filler. All down the line is the next closest to a fully formulated track - it's telling to see what they subsequently played in concert. With less drugs, a little more work and a whole lot of focus this would have made a really good single album, but a double? You've got to be kidding. Madly self-indulgent. Great riffs and ideas - ZZ Top turned Shake your hips into La Grange, Bob Seger turned Stop breaking down into Fire down below - why didn't the Stones do it first? Clearly too out of it to care.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
Love the title track, and lots of other good stuff on the album but not these versions - the production/mix on this album is awful.
Mudhoney
1/5
Aimless thrash and feedback - rubbish.
Daft Punk
2/5
This is just dance music and it all sounds the same - nothing remotely memorable. Pointless if you don't dance. No melody, just a beat.Great if you're off your tits but otherwise useless - why is it on this list?
Whoever curated this list needs a rethink; ehy should I listen to this?
Adele
3/5
Big voice, big note balladeer. Very good if you like that sort of thing, but I don't.
Billy Bragg
1/5
Must be the worst opening bars to any album. Terrible drums, terrible singing, mad false accent, poor tune, just nothing to make me want to listen past the first 30 seconds. I loveBillyBragg. His first 4 albums wsre the soundtrack to my coming of age, but this is just awful. Hugely disappointing.Let's be kind and put it alk down to the inclusion of Wilco - I realky didn't like Wilco's own album and now they've ruined this one. Sorry Billy.
Aerosmith
4/5
Aerosmith are a great band - the Rolling Stones plus a sense of humour. They have some brilliant songs in their repertoire - but their albums are not great. This is solid rock, very good but not special - why is it on this list?
Marvin Gaye
5/5
Wonderful. Can't remember any of the songs/tunes, but it's just a beautiful noise, from start to finish. In that respect he's a bit like Van Morrison - it doesn't matter what he plays/sings, it's all just great.
The White Stripes
3/5
Better than the previous album, but still very plodding, which is largely a rest of the pedestrian drumming. Balk and biscuit is tge best track but its highly derivative of Voodoo Chile, so no marks there. I don't like 7 nation army either - just too plodding and one paced.
Johnny Cash
4/5
Three stonewall classics on this album and it's a landmark album anyway. This warrants inclusion on the list.
Tom Waits
5/5
Brilliant.
Iggy Pop
5/5
Great stuff. Slicker production than on Raw Power, but none the worse for that. Can hear Bowie in the backing vocals.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Wow! Wasn't sure on first hearing, but by the third play I was hooked. Well worth investing some time into this. Almost avant-garde but still proper musicality. Brilliant.
Hugh Masekela
2/5
Sounded like very impressive musicianship, but not to my liking - I prefer cool jazz, but this sounds more like a modern version of bebop.
Green Day
4/5
Very good, but I prefer Blink-182
The Doors
4/5
Excellent.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Didn't hold my attention at all. Not a single stand out track on the whole album. Not one of his better albums and definitely not worthy of being on this list.
Bonnie Raitt
3/5
Production is way too soft. This should be hard edged blues, not semi-pop. This just sounds like Shania Twain. Very disappointing - Bonnie Raitt can play mean blues, but this ain't it.
Emmylou Harris
4/5
Way better than I was expecting. Production clearly influenced by Alanis Morissette, and all the better for it.
The Smiths
5/5
Life changing, from a time before everyone realised Morrisey was a complete arse. I absolutely love this album - 'there is a light...' was the soundtrack to my new life in Birmingham with Jane.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Better than I expected. Poetry read over acoustic guitar, but nice.
Fats Domino
4/5
Addictive. Not really what I would choose to listen to, butI still played it back to back 5 times. Great stuff.
Adam & The Ants
4/5
They created a very distinctive sound - twin drummers. The range of material is a bit limited but it shook things up a bit. The singles are great but the other tracks aren't quite so good.
Alice Cooper
5/5
An absolute joy from start to finish. Great tunes, fab musicianship and a sense of humour. Brilliant. I played this album constantly when I was 13-14 but had forgotten how good it was. It's better than I remembdr it because now I understand and appreciate the humour as well as the music.
Dire Straits
5/5
I didn't think this was one of their better albums until I played it and realised it has half a dozen outstanding tracks on it. Still not my favourite (Making movies) but brilliant all the same.
R.E.M.
4/5
OK - but Stipes hasn't found his voice yet. This isn't a patch on later albums..
Portishead
5/5
How have I never heard this before? It's great. Very atmospheric. I really like it.
Can
1/5
Rubbish - mad 1970s hippy jamming, poorly execufed.
The Doors
4/5
Good stuff. The organ breaks are all a bit samey, but The End is a great track.
The B-52's
3/5
Meh.
The Who
3/5
I loved this as a teenager. It was televised too, and I thought Young Man Blues was just brilliant. Sadly my tastes have changed and The 'Oo don't really do it for me these days. They were great at the time though.
Brian Eno
2/5
I like Eno's ambient music, but the vocal tracks are just dross. Like listening to Station to station (my least favourite Bowie album) without the advantage of actually having Bowie on it. The instrumental elements have strong echoes of Low - I assume this album is from the same period. Overall, it's just a pile of nothing at all...
Lauryn Hill
3/5
This means nothing to me. Reading Wikipedia, you'd think she was the female Messiah, but the most memorable moment on the album is the blistering guitar break on Ex-factor, which is credited to Johari Newton but which sounds to me by like Carlos Santana (which, incidentally otherwise owes a lot to Stevie Wonders Past time Paradise). I think it's miscredited, because the next track (To Zion) is credited to Santana but doesn't sound anything like him.
The Afghan Whigs
2/5
Terrible. Don't like the drumming in particular - or the vocals, or the mix but most importantly the songs are poor.
Gorillaz
2/5
Just rubbish. Damon Allbarns sarcastic whining voice irritates me and the music is hopeless.
The Mamas & The Papas
4/5
I can't imagine a more groovy 1960s album. Lovely harmonies, it's Carnaby Street in musical form. Not my thing, but it's great.
Nick Drake
5/5
This is the second-best of Nick Drake's albums - the best being Pink Moon. If you've never heard. Nick Drake before, it's jaw droppingly good. Beautiful melodies, completely original guitar style, softly understated vocals all add up to wonderful songs. John Martyn fans will particularly love Nick Drake - they were friends and were on the same record label. Solid Air was written about him. Both turned out to be tragic figures and Nick Drake's story is especially sad. The cover photo on this album is hugely evocative - you can almost feel the pain and his internal struggle.
Peter Frampton
3/5
Good guitarist but the music has no 'edge' it's too fluffy - not rock enough.
The Who
5/5
The Go-Go's
3/5
Very bouncy, rock/pop.Better than expected.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Life changing.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Unable to listen as Joni removed all her music from Spotify. I'll take a guess on the rating based on my knowledge of her other albums.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
4/5
Not available to listen to so rated on knowledge of GSH's work.
Gil Scott-Heron
4/5
Not available to listen to so rated on knowledge of GSH's work.
Cocteau Twins
5/5
Absolutely loved this. What a surprise - struggling for adjectives, but I think 'bewitching' is close enough. Pearly dewdrops drops was a jaw-dropping moment for me, but that was 35 years ago and I never followed it up properly, so the Cocteau Twins just fell outside my radar. What a shame, because this is great. Loads of beautiful melodies to send shivers down the spine.
David Bowie
3/5
Apart from Low, I don't like the Berlin trilogy. Some good parts, but the dischordance grates on my nerves - like fingernails down a chalkboard.
New Order
4/5
Some great tracks (Sunrise) but overall not my kind of music. It's very good at what it is though, so if 80s electronic dance music with dodgy vocals is your thing, you'll absolutely love this!
Iron Maiden
2/5
Silly overblown hair metal.
The Flaming Lips
2/5
I don't like the music. Hard to say why. It's too light and airy, way too many strings in the arrangement - like mantovani with lyrics.
Eagles
5/5
A masterpiece.
Oasis
3/5
Not their best album - that would easily be What's the story morning glory'. Some great tracks on this but in retrospect it sounds a bit unsophisticated in both the production and arrangement..
Bill Evans Trio
3/5
Nice background music for a soirée. Why is it on this list?
Amy Winehouse
3/5
The music doesn't match the vocal ability. This is a really special talent, with an amazing range of qualities, power, inflection, emotion, soul, the whole box of tricks - too big to be contained in these songs. She's great, the album isn't. It's like a poster advert: can I see the whole show please?
Ray Charles
3/5
What a voice! The musical arrangements are dated and formal, not really matching the excitement of the vocal. When he lets rio, the backing is still very prim and proper, but that is probably a product of the time. A rock and roll backing would sound way better than the big band sound - but he can really sing! Later work starts to get this treatment and is way better for it.
The Modern Lovers
3/5
A one trick pony, but it's a good trick: Roadrunner is outstanding (though some versions are better than others and this album version is definitely not the best). The rest of the album seems to be trying to do it again with various amounts of success. She Cracked comes close.
Ella Fitzgerald
3/5
Beautiful voice but I'm simply not interested in this style of music.
Tracy Chapman
5/5
I saw Tracy Chapman when she first came to England, supporting John Martyn at Manchester Picadilly! Not long after, she was one of the biggest draws on the planet. Great stuff. An outstanding 'one album wonder'.
Foo Fighters
4/5
A really good album. Sort of metal but without the lead guitar shredding nonsense - liker skater punk on steroids. Musical, listenable, good stuff.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Another life changing moment for me - I remember exactly where I was when I first heard this. Wonderful.
The Flaming Lips
2/5
Dull and uninteresting to me.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
Marvellous - blistering distorted guitars, pounding, relentless rock and roll beat, soulful vocals and brilliant songwriting. I love John Fogerty.
The Streets
4/5
This is how rap should sound - musical. Tunes and soul as well as the words. Dry Your Eyes is heartbreakingly beautiful.
John Martyn
5/5
Genius. Small Hours is in my all time top ten tracks. The live version (I think I saw him perform it 6 times) of Big Muff was spellbinding, A very, very sad end to possibly the best British unsung hero of contemporary music (along with Roy Harper and Nick Drake).
Aerosmith
5/5
The Rolling Stones with added humour. When they get it right, it's brilliant. The unplugged version of Big Ten Inch is way better though, as is the Walk This Way collaboration with Run DMC. But these versions are still great - I've had this album on repeat all day and it's still growing on me.
David Bowie
5/5
Very unexpected. Some great material on this.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
2/5
Sorry, but once you've heard one salsa track, you've heard them all. This is just dance music, and I expect it's very good for dancing to - but I don't dance so it's no use to me. I prefer to listen to music.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
The title track is marvellous.In fact the whole album is very good, but as the title suggests, it's very dark.Very, very dark.Unless you are in the mood to contemplate infinity, it's a bit much. Fortunately I often am, so that's OK.
Sonic Youth
3/5
Sort of rock. Sort of heavy metal without the lead guitars. Sort of punk. Not bad, just not great either. Not something I'm ever likely to listen to again.
Public Enemy
4/5
Good stuff. As rap goes, this is a cut above. I'm told Kanye West is supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread, but I Don't Believe The Hype.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Sounds a lot like Al Green.
Queen
4/5
Very good. Just what you'd expect of Queen, with hints and echoes of what was coming.
1/5
Almost unlistenable. Every prog rock cliche squeezed into one album. Like Genesis on steroids, but without the benefit of melodies. Pointlessly mad time signatures, aimless faux avant-garde guitar rambling, just hopeless. It's a shame - in amongst the silly material, they occasionally came up with some real gems - but not on this album.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Wonderful voice but limited by average material and dated production.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Some good stuff - Solsbury Hill stands out. There are other, much better later versions of Humdrum and especially Here comes the flood. This album was just a rough draft of later finished articles.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Into your arms is not just the best song, it's the blueprint for all the other songs. I love it, but grew tired of the relentless low mood/tempo - I couldn't listen to the whole album in one go and had to put on some Blink182 to get some balance!
Public Enemy
3/5
Ha! Call this rap? Hardly a nigga, muthafucka or ho to be heard. Yes please, I'll take that.
Flamin' Groovies
3/5
A Rolling Stones tribute band. Pretty good, to be fair, but not very original.
Rage Against The Machine
3/5
White rap wiith guitar metal backing - pretty good, but not my thing. Better than most black rap.
Frank Black
2/5
First track was unlistenable. It got better but I still didn't like it.
Moby
2/5
Meh. All the same - a beat to start, some electronica gets added over it, then the vocals adds some sort of blues variation. But the blues does not mix well.with synths. The worst version of Run On I've ever heard - the Blind Boys of Alabama certainly don't need to worry, there's no competition here.
Neu!
5/5
Loved this. I don't usually go for Krautrock, but this is great. Could listen to it all day - brilliant as ambient music.
Cocteau Twins
4/5
An acquired taste, but I've acquired it, so that's fine. Not as accessible as Heaven or Las Vegas, but still really very good.
Japan
3/5
Exactly what I expected.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
3/5
I've never been a fan of Janis Joplin's voice. It's good solid rock but just doesn't do it for me. Very dated sound, lyrics etc. Very late 60s summer of love type stuff. I can't bear to listen to any more (got halway)
Funkadelic
5/5
Title track is a fantastic extended guitar solo, a bit like Santana - marred only by the spoken sections.
The xx
2/5
Very boring - nothing to grab my interest at all. Dull, unintersting, one paced, no dynamics...
2/5
Yes, OK we get it, everything's fucked up. Can't you just choose another subject? You know, variation? This is for sad 13 year old boys only.
Kraftwerk
3/5
I didn't think I liked Krautrock at all - then I heard NEU! 75 and loved it. But this.. ..meh. Perhaps I only like some Krautrock. I think NEU is slightly more up tempo - or maybe it's just better. I dunno, but this isn't anywhere near as good.
Thin Lizzy
5/5
Rock heaven. If I had only one wish, it's to have been playing guitar on stage with Robbo and Scott for the Cowboy Song - I would die happy. I love live albums and this is up there with Mott The Hoople.
Jimi Hendrix
2/5
Meh. A great guitarist but the songs are poor. I thought Little Wing was supposed to be a masterpiece? Vastly overhyped, it would get 2.5 stars if I could give it - but that option isn't available and I'm not prepared to round it up, so 2 it is.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
I prefer the later Stones albums, from Beggars Banquet/Let it bleed onwards - up to Tattoo You.(and missing out the awful Emotional Rescue, obvs). This is pretty good musically, but the subjects are dodgy, to say the least. I doubt it could be released now - it would be considered way too misogynistic and offensive.
Black Sabbath
5/5
What a surprise - I absolutely loved this! It's pretty tame as metal goes these days and I was only 10 so didn't appreciate it, but I imagine it must have caused a real stir at the time.
Aretha Franklin
5/5
Just fantastic. I could listen to this all day - in fact I just did.
Bad Brains
2/5
Nope. Not interesting to me at all. Didn't understand it or like it. Occasionally reasonable guitar riffs but vocal melody lines dull and vocal style not appealing.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
For those of us who grew up in the Seventies, this is an unmistakeable sound.
Talking Heads
4/5
It took a couple of plays to get into it, but I really like this album. The usual dsrk familiar anxiety-driven themes. Good stuff.
Rufus Wainwright
2/5
Agnus Dei sounded great, then The One You Love was OK but not exactly catchy, then Peach Trees and I started to think: these aren't so much 'songs' - it's just a series of vocal exercises. Great voice (sounds a lot like his Dad at times) I suppose, but I don't care for the material and couldn't bear to listen to it all.
Steely Dan
5/5
Brilliant. Michael McDonald on backing vocals! Sublime musicianship and intelligent lyrics. Includes three of the best songs ever written.
Morrissey
2/5
Music obscured by his abhorrent views and unpleasant personality. A lot of it I actively disliked, some of it seemed OK, but mostly it just passed me by.
David Bowie
2/5
Meh. More discordance, vocals almost declaimed rather than sung, and drums way too high in the mix. It feels like he's run out of ideas and new melodies so he's taken his chopped-up lyric-writing technique and applied it to the whole song structure. Apart from 'Where are we now' I didn't enjoy this much. I'm a huge fan of 1970s Bowie but haven't really liked anything between Let's Dance and Blackstar.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Excellent
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
Springsteen's finest.
Elliott Smith
2/5
Deadly dull - very disappointing. Apparently he is dearly beloved of Generation Z. They clearly haven't had the benefit of many superlative singer-songwriters (John Martyn, Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, Roy Harper, Judee Sill, Jackson Browne......)
Antony and the Johnsons
3/5
Very distinctive voice, reminicent of the Neville Brothers, but it's a double edged sword - the vocal is so distinctive that it overpowers the melody. So if you don't like the voice, the beauty of the song can't rescue it. Sadly, I don't care for the voice and had enough after 4 tracks. I couldn't listen to any more. I know lots will love it - clearly there's serious talent there, and it deserves at least 3 stars, but it's marmite music and I don't want to hear any more.
Jerry Lee Lewis
3/5
He was always the 'white Little Richard', but I played Good golly miss Molly back to back with Little Richard's version and Jerry Lee is tame by comparison. He was already past his best when this was recorded and he sounds a bit jaded - even Whole lotta shakin' is laboured - but Little Richard was always head and shoulders above him anyway.
The Beach Boys
4/5
Vastly overhyped. It's very good, but that's it.
Fela Kuti
4/5
I liked this.
Butthole Surfers
1/5
No need to listen to this before you die - just go ahead and die, it's not worth staying alive for. Possibly the worst album so far and I'm 459 albums in, so there's been some pretty stiff competition.
Cornershop
3/5
It takes about 10 seconds to fully appreciate the amazing novelty of pop music being fused with asian rhythms/instrumentation - then it dawns on you, that this example of the genre isn' actually very interesting musically. I didn't like Brimful of Asha in 1997 and I still don't like it now. I much prefer full-on bangra to this insipid hybrid. Occasionally comes close (We're in your corner) but never quite arrives. The problem with 'Funky days..' .is that it just isn't funky.
It's just average pop with an Asian twist.
Elvis Presley
4/5
Well obviously this tore up the world in 1956, so it deserves respect, but in today's terms it doesn't do it for me any more. I was a huge Elvis fan in the 70s, but don't listen to him these days. Perhaps I'm just bored of it - there are certainly no surprises here, it's exactly how you would expect an early Elvis album to sound. Gets 4 stars for it's contemporaneous importance.
Much like Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis versions of Little Richard songs should have been left to the man himself - no-one can sing gibberish like the Reverend Richard Penniman.
Crowded House
4/5
I think of the Finn brothers as the Australian Difford and Tillbrook.which isn't right but they definitely have shades of Squeeze about them. When they get it right, it's wonderful - and when they don't, it's still pretty good.
Van Halen
3/5
It's generally OK - run of the mill pop metal. Jump and Panama are standout tracks, the rest is just filler. Not my sort of guitar style. EVH's tapping technique was revolutionary and almost invented the 'shredding' movement - but I hate shredding. It might be technically brilliant, but it's musically dead in my view. I want to hear soul and feeling and a melodic quality - I'll take Angus Young over EVH every time.
The Stooges
4/5
Not in the mood when I listened to this. On reflection, maybe it was a mistake to play it back to back with Randy Newman. Clearly, it's very good, though a couple of the tracks sounded too much like Cream's 'Born under a bad sign'.
Randy Newman
5/5
Beautiful. Gentle and sweet, just perfect for cooking to. I loved this. Also had not previously known that 'Simon Smith..' and 'Leave your hat on' were his songs, not those of Georgie Fame and Tom Jones. My favourite was God's Song' - very moving.
3/5
No revelations. In fact, I struggled to find any originality - when they weren't trying to be U2 they were mostly being Queen, but there were echoes of Black Sabbath and even some Focus in there too. Not unpleasant, but it's just stadium rock - which probably sounds great to kids who haven't heard it all before - but I have, so there's nothing for me here.
Dr. Dre
1/5
Buena Vista Social Club
4/5
It's nice, but seems to be just generic Cuban music, the sort of thing you hear on film soundtracks (whenever 007 visits a Havanna bar etc) - nothing stands out. All very lovely, but what"s so special?
Frank Sinatra
5/5
Not what I'd normally choose to listen to, but what a marvellous voice - he could sing the telephone directory and make it sound great.
Beth Orton
4/5
Very nice, but washed over me. Nothing to make me sit up and listen, no standout songs, just consistently nice.
De La Soul
3/5
Rap from the time before it became foul mouthed, mysogynist, violent and unpleasant. This is relatively tuneful, albeit sampled from other people's music. Sampling was new at the time and seen as innovative by simpletons who couldn't spot that it was papering over a lack of creative talent. Hence, it isn't on Spotify yet because they don't have the necessary clearances. But I'll be generous, because at least they were pioneers in the genre.
Massive Attack
3/5
Sort of ambient bass-driven smooth soul. Very pleasant.
Pixies
1/5
If asked, I would describe this ad 'shouty punk', bordering on tbrash metal vocal styke. Horrible - hate it.
Radiohead
1/5
Out of tune art-rock. Music to slash your wrists to. Can't listen to this, it's rubbish.
Tortoise
2/5
I came across this review 'Will definitely be adding this to my “background music while I work” collection' and see what they meant, though I don't agree. I certainly couldn't stand to sit and listen to this as music - I'd have to be doing something and use it as background, and for that purpose some of it is OK. Clearly influencex by Kratrock. which I generally like. Most of this, I dislike.
SAULT
1/5
"Finally we reach the end". Yep, that's exactly how I feel about this album. Whinging set to a drumbeat. Where's the music?
The Black Crowes
5/5
The living spirit of rock: brilliant.
The Cure
4/5
Dark, gothic, excellent
Earth, Wind & Fire
4/5
The first 15 seconds tells you everything you need to know and you either like itor you don't. 70s funk. I dig it, baby, yeah!
Ice Cube
1/5
Great beats had Jane dancing in the kitchen, but the ridiculous mysoginy, bragadoccio and foul language is tedious in the extreme.
Johnny Cash
3/5
All sounds the same to me, apart from the title track which has always been a favourite of mine.
Funkadelic
4/5
Standard 70s funk - which means its great fun, obviously.
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
2/5
I cannot imagine why this would be on the kist. There must be at least a 1001 other singer songwriters from the 60s and 70s just like this. Run of the mill at best.
Fleet Foxes
4/5
Very nice. Not outstanding, but consistently pleasant.
Ash
4/5
Great for playing air guitar to. And I remember 'Girl from Mars'. Pretty good all round.
Prince
5/5
Genius.
Elton John
5/5
More genius. My favourite Elton John album, from the halcyon days of rock.
Moby Grape
3/5
Standard blues-based rock. It's my kind of music, but it's nothing special. No idea why it would be on this list, it's just average - which is fine, nothing wrong with that. But why is it on this list of supposedly important/soecial albums?
The Yardbirds
3/5
Lots of bands were doing similar work around this time: Manfred Mann, The Animals, Spencer Davies Group...
I like them all, but nothing stands out here. It's just generic 60s blues rock. Members from all of these bands went on to have highly successful careers and produced some memorable work. Albums like this show the roots from which they came, but the album itself is nothing special.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
I want to like it, I really do. It's mostly upbeat, except for the silly avant-garde guitar work - but I just don't like her voice. Sorry.
Röyksopp
3/5
This is just muzak, surely - why is it on the list? I played the whole album back-to-back four times and one track (So easy) has given me an earworm, but I wouldn't ever recognise the rest of the album if I heard it again.
The Prodigy
2/5
Who listens to this, apart from drug dealers? Great for dancing when you're off your tits, but otherwise useless.
Pere Ubu
1/5
It's getting silly now. This is almost unlistenable.
The Strokes
2/5
Don't like the jagged, dischordant guitar (Arctic Monkeys, Muse) or the silly 40s radio vocal effects.
Sisters Of Mercy
4/5
Dark, gothic, great beat and fab vocals. I love this stuff.
T. Rex
5/5
Genius. This is the first rock album I ever heard, and I remember it as if it were yesterday. Mambo sun is my all time top T Rex track.
The Jam
5/5
Wow! I sort of knew most of the tracks but have never played the whole album so had never associated the songs with each other. As a whole the effect is oretty stunning. Makes me want to go back to 1978 and hear for the first time in context.
Björk
1/5
I very much dislike her music and her squeaky voice - I find both very irritating.
Duran Duran
4/5
Undeniably great pop. Not my favourite genre, but 3 massive singles. They did appear to effectively rewrite 'Rio' at least 3 times on the album, but I still played it in full, back to back 4 times before I'd had enough. I doubt I will ever play it again, though.
Sigur Rós
2/5
If I ever take up yoga/meditation, this is what I'll have as ambient noise whilst doing it. Very nice - but not for actually listening to.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Great voice, don't like the material - it's just standard 1960s pop music.
Tina Turner
2/5
Show some resoect is an obvious 'Nutbush city limits' rewrite, poorly done. The album is a triumph of 1980s production over songwriting content. Hopelessly dated. Great voice, terrible productions.
Blur
2/5
I tried, but no thanks. I didn't enjoy it in the 1990s and I still don't. The out-of-kilter timings grate and Damon Albarn's sarcastic whine annoys me. Title track is great, but otherwise I don't know what all the fuss was about.
My Bloody Valentine
1/5
It's not enough to be making a different sound - it's still got be pleasant, so that people will want to listen to it. This is horrible and I don't want to hear it. I think there might be some reasonable melodies in there somewhere, but it's just lost in the wall of noise. I know some people think it's great, but I'm never going to be one of them. I don't care if it's 'art' - it sounds awful, so it isn't music.
Eurythmics
4/5
Properly talented songwriters and musicians. Not always my choice, but clealy a cut above.
Green Day
3/5
Ok. I generally like the genre and 'Boulevard of broken dreams' is good, but on the whole I prefer Blink-182.
The Temptations
4/5
Top quality sixties soul - not really my thing, but undeniably good stuff.
The Roots
1/5
Half an hour was as much of this mysogynistic tripe as I could stand.
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
Steve Croppers biting guitar is great, but otherwise nothing for me.
Everything But The Girl
5/5
What a relief! After what feels like weeks of rubbish, at last a lovely noise. No-one could possibly not like this, it's just so inoffensive. Slightly jazz-tinged, no standout tracks, they are all of an equal high quality. Marvellous saturday-morning music.
Klaxons
2/5
Not unpleasant, just average. Nothing special. I'll never play it again and probably wouldn't recognise it if I heard it again.
The Youngbloods
5/5
OMG! How have I never even heard of this band before? The first track was sensational. Second track not quite so good, but still worth listening to. Echoes of Nick Drake in 'Sunlight'. 'Quicksand' excellent. This is more like it.
Air
4/5
Sort of like Dark Side of the Moon without vocals. Nice, easy-listening semi-ambient, mostly instrumental music. Very pleasant.
Killing Joke
2/5
Didn't like it.
Tim Buckley
2/5
Can't bear his voice (or his sons) - it just grates. Lots of people love him, but I'm not one of them. Sorry.
Frank Sinatra
5/5
How does anyone come to have a voice like this? The songs are almost immaterial, it's like having liquid honey poured over you.
Muddy Waters
5/5
Oh mercy, this is the stuff! Fantastic.
Circle Jerks
2/5
It's just run-of-the-mill punk. Why must I hear this before I die? It's definitely nothing special.
Motörhead
4/5
Leaving aside the extremely dubious lyrics and general themes, this is brilliant. Admittedly they pretty much all sound the same - it's Ace of Spades rewritten 10 times, but I loved it. Played the whole album back to back solidly for almost 3 hours. However, it can't have five stars because of the rape/drugs/underage sex/general mysogyny.
John Coltrane
2/5
This is unintelligible to me, like all modern freeform jazz - I'm sure it's superb musicianship, but it just isn't what I want to listen to.
Joy Division
4/5
I really enjoyed this. Way better than the previous Joy Division album on this list (Closer). So much so that I had assumed (wrongly) it was the earlier of the two. This album is much more accomplished and the band sounds more confident. I wonder what went wrong with the second album? But apparently everyone else in rock-critic world has it the other way round, so I must be wrong again.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Unable to listen - not available on Spotify - rated on expectation only
Genesis
5/5
Absolutely bloody brilliant. Best album so far (over 500 albums in). This might even be better than 'The Lamb..' Superb musicianship, wonderful songwriting, and Peter Gabriel. I'll take this to my desert island, please.
Arcade Fire
4/5
Interesting coincidental juxtaposition: I played this immediately after Joy Division's 'Unknown Pleasures' and they could be the same band 28 years later. Obviously time has moved on, so the production is different and slicker, as is the musicianship, but the themes, melodic structures and lyrics all fit. If you like one, you'll definitely like the other - and I do.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
3/5
No swearing, no racism, no mysogyny, no violent bragadoccio. Hardly rap at all by todays standards. And all the better for it!
GZA
1/5
I loathe rap at the best of times, but this is ridiculous. No creativity at all. Every track is the same as if cooked from a set recipe:
1. Play a random film dialogue sample to start
2. Introduce a plodding beat
3. Add a short (max 5 notes) repeated backing
4. Talk rubbish over the top - include lots of swearing and bragging - just make sure it rhymes.
This is terrible.
Metallica
2/5
No thanks. Don't like the guitar sound.- distortion on the riffs. Most songs follow the same format: an intricate, melodic and delicate intro, then just when you begin to think it might be interesting and different, bang! In comes the distorted riff. Boring.
Fela Kuti
3/5
Likeable. All tracks basically the same: a short repeated, almost hypnotic (though strident) motif, with sort of shouted vocal over the top. In short doses, it's great but I couldn't listen to more than a fer in a row, it wears you down.
Kings of Leon
2/5
Love the music - unusual, interesting and engaging rock - but I dislike the vocal. Strange semi-Spanish accent very offputting.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
Disappointed. The previous Nick Cave album was fsbulous, but this was a damp squib.
Madness
2/5
The singles were fun but nothing else interest me on this album.
Stan Getz
2/5
OK, so it's samba music. So what? Why is this special?
Kanye West
1/5
Terrible.
Billie Holiday
3/5
Lovely voice, I suppose. Not interested to listen to more than half a song. Heard one, heard them all.
Soft Cell
2/5
Pop music, nothing special, az always with this hopeless list.
David Bowie
5/5
Brilliant.
Big Black
3/5
Unable to listen - not available on Spotify - rated on expectation only
Brian Eno
4/5
It is exactly what it says. Really nice, soft & gentle. Perfect background for working.
The Kinks
3/5
Title track is quaint, otherwise just average.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Unable to listen - not available on Spotify - rated on expectation only.
Barry Adamson
2/5
Meh. Some of it is listenable, but mostly washed over me. Voice (and some music) very similar to Nick Cave.
Pretenders
4/5
Better than expected. Shocked to discover 'Private lives' was Chrissie Hynde's song. Distinctive guitar sound,
Prince
3/5
Apart from the singles, there was nothing that caught my attention - just stereotypical 'Prince by numbers' - lots of elements that he later put together in a different order to make better songs.
Pixies
2/5
Not as shouty as the previous album, but I still don't like it.
Roxy Music
4/5
Very good, but not their best: Stranded its much better.
2/5
Can't stand Damon Albarn's whiny, sarcastic voice - like Graham Fellows'Jilted John, but without the humour. Also the odd/jerky timings and guitar and general dischordance gets on my nerves. It's just irritating.
The Louvin Brothers
3/5
This is stereotypical country music - it's exactly what you would expect of country music, if you weren't aware of modern styles in the genre. It's almost comical in its pathos. Twangy voices backed by twangy guitars.
John Martyn
5/5
A genuine life-changing experience for the 15 year-old me. The same night I listened to Jackson Browne (Running on empty) Brian Eno (Another green world), smoked dope, and drank rum & coke. John Martyn has been my guitar hero ever since and I saw him live, half a dozen times - he was always amazing and each performance was individually memorable. One of the saddest stories in rock.
TLC
2/5
Smooth production - so smooth it almost hides the absence of melody,. Cliche-ridden, vacuous.
Iron Butterfly
2/5
Archetypal late sixties rock, with a prominent organ sound. Don't like it. Like a much inferior Doors - but without the great gunes, poetry or Jim Morrison.
Cat Stevens
5/5
Excellent.
Hookworms
3/5
What is this? Sounds like speeded up Krautrock. I almost like it, but not quite.
ABBA
4/5
Superior pop music. A bit formulaic maybe, but still the occasional surprise - 'The day before you came' is different and a great song.
Pavement
1/5
The opening sounds like someone trying to play 'Alright Now' from memory but forgetting how it goes and coming up with something else by mistake. I couldn't take more than a minute of it before moving on. Same on subsequent tracks - eventually, I just hated it.
AC/DC
5/5
Words aren't enough. I love this band. I remember exactly where I was when I heard Bon Scott had died. They were never the same again - Back in Black was more successful (and I love it and saw them on the Hells Bells tour in 1980), but the Bon Scott material has never been equalled.
Rush
2/5
Supreme musicianship, but completely hopeless as music. All mad time signatures and pointless changes of direction every 10 seconds, it drives the listener nuts. For goodness sake just choose a melody and stick to it. Theres no need to try and shoehorn 30 different ideas into one song. This fulfills every prog rock stereotype and is a gift to detractors of the genre. It's practically self-parody.
Bee Gees
2/5
This is not good. I appreciate that it is very much of its time, but even so, it's barely listenable. They wouldn't have got a recording contract on the strength of this material in any decade but the sixties. There's the occasional familiar flash - echoes of 'Massechusetts' for example, but also a ridiculous rewrite of The Band's 'The Weight'. Laughably grandiose whilst seemingly lacking in self-awareness. So bad, it's almost funny.
David Ackles
2/5
I don't like the chanson style. This stuff belongs in a stage musical (and I don't generally like them, either).
Lupe Fiasco
1/5
I just can't stand to listen to this, it's awful. I don't like rap and the more I hear of it, the less I like it.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
Brilliant. This is one of the first albums I had - it was recorded on a reel-to-reel along with 'Green river' and I played them both constanrky. The guitar solo from 'Good golly miss molly' is still one of the most exciting things I've ever heard. John Fogerty's voice, guitar and songwriting never fail to thrill.
Korn
1/5
Is this 'death metal'? Whatever, it's for 13 year old boys, not for me.
Red Snapper
3/5
Interesting and OK at first, but it didn't go anywhere I wanted to follow. Some nice melodies, but too dance-oriented for my taste.
Mike Ladd
1/5
No thanks - it's just rap and weird noises - not of any interest to me at all.
Radiohead
2/5
Jane said "some of it's sort of nice, but mostly it's a bit of a racket" and "I can't tell it apart from Coldplay". I concur.
Kraftwerk
4/5
Thanks to this app, I have discovered that I like Krautrock. Kraftwerk aren't the best exponents (check out NEU! 75) but I like it.
Snoop Dogg
1/5
As the man said, "Niggaz talkin ' shit"
Yep, that just about covers it. I really don't like this stuff at all. It's just offensive.
The Divine Comedy
3/5
These songs sound like they belong in a musical stage show - sort of chanson. Not unpleasant, but not to my taste.
George Michael
5/5
I love this album. It's one of the best albums ever released, in my view, definitely top 20. This is a rare example, from this otherwise hopeless list, of an album that everyone actually should hear before they die. George Michael was the great white hope of soul, a wonderful voice and brilliant songwriter. The story of his life and tragic death will make an amazing film, one day.
Paul Weller
5/5
Excellent - several standout tracks. The sound of a man discovering electric guitars are fun - the dawn of a new guitar hero.
Black Sabbath
3/5
Great riffs, but vocal lines are unintersting and repetitive. Ozzy's voice is a bit thin so the combination is less than the sum of its parts.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
Awful. It's just random notes (mostly) in the same key. I tried, but 10 minutes as all I could take.
Silver Jews
3/5
It's a nice enough folky type noise but dark lyrics and occasionally dodgy vocals. Depressing, so great if that's the mood you're in, otherwise avoid.
The Monks
3/5
Sixties R&B, a sort of American version of Manfred Mann.
Drive Like Jehu
2/5
Terrible. Fast, frantic, shouty punk.
1/5
wtf? Bonkers. I hate experimental/avant garde 'music'. Great name though.
Keith Jarrett
5/5
Outstanding. Extemporised piano for an hour, apparently on a practice baby grand in poor condition because the roadies set up the wrong piano by mistake, not the concert grand he'd asked for.
You'd never know. Fabulous stuff.
Calexico
3/5
Not unpleasant, but instantly forgettable vaguely Mexican music.
Songhoy Blues
4/5
Malian blues, electric style. Excellent.
Heaven 17
2/5
Very 1980s. Drum machine, no memorable melodies, the usual synths but well below the standard of the Human League and OMD. The only track I liked was 'Let's all make bomb' but I"m not so keen on that any more. A poor album.
Waylon Jennings
2/5
Generic country music. I can't tell this from Merle Haggard. I know he's done some great stuff, but there's no evidence of it here.
Sparks
3/5
I was a big Sparks fan in the 70s (I saw them at Coventry Theatre in November 1975) and this was the first album I had of theirs. The two singles are wonderful and there are other flashes of brilliance (Complaints). The whole album brims with likeable eccentricity but it wasn't until they teamed up with Tony Visconti a year later for 'Indiscreet" that they really hit their stride and upped the quality.
Al Green
5/5
A beautiful noise. 'Let's stay together' and 'How can you mend a broken heart' stand out a mile, but it's all a very easy and pleasant listen.
Judas Priest
2/5
Ridiculous leather-clad lunacy. Very much in the same vein as Black Sabbath and , though Rob Halford's vocals are much stronger than Ozzy's - but the material is massively overblown nonsense, very similar to Iron Maiden.
The Police
5/5
I hadn't played this for 30 years! Good stuff. In between the usual filler tracks (Miss Gradenko, etc) there are some musical giants: Tea in the sahara, King of pain, Wrapped around your finger, Every breath you take.It has to get 5 stars, despite containing some rubbish.
The Chemical Brothers
1/5
Unless you are dancing, this is utterly pointless. You can't sit and listen to this, it's not really music.
James Brown
2/5
Absurdly theatrical - this was clearly an event to see, not to listen to. Musically, it's not much to remember. A really good rythym section and horns, but vocals are too busy with histrionics and playing to the audience to be bothered with melody.
Miriam Makeba
2/5
Meh. It's OK but I prefer Ladysmith Black Mambazo every time.
Elis Regina
2/5
Oh dear, I really don't enjoy this at all. I can tell she's good at what she does, but South American music leaves me cold - despite the rythyms, I find it dull and uninteresting. Sorry.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Great till Kevin Rowland starts singing. I love those horns, but I'd rather wait til the midnight hour and listen to the real ones...
3/5
Unable to listen - not available on Spotify. Rated on expectation.
The Fall
2/5
Gibberish lyrics spoken-sung over average punk music. It's often out of tune (if there even was one), almost avant garde. Nonsense. John Peel's favourite band, but definitely not mine.
Burning Spear
4/5
Generic reggae for the time. You could pretty much sing the lyrics to 'Get up, stand up' over any song on this album. However, I like reggae, so thats fine.
Mudhoney
2/5
Didn't like this. Too rough and raucous with no strong melodies, too shouty.
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
Not unpleasant, but just passed over me - until after the album finished, Spotify played 'The boy with the arab strap' which I really liked. So I played the whole album again and it started to grow on me.
DJ Shadow
5/5
I really liked this. Entirely made up of samples, with beats over the top, but the samples chosen are great, so it works. Sampling generally masks a lack of talent, but in this case, I'll let that pass. It's great to work to.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
No explanation necessary.
UB40
5/5
In 1979 I drank in the Castle & Falcon, Balsall Heath, Birmingham. I remember one night a guy burst in saying "look, my cousins have made it big!" and showing everyone who would listen a newspaper clipping. UB40 had a chart hit. This album is hugely evocative of that time. I bought it, and bought another copy for my girlfriend. I later worked in an unemployment benefit office and became very familiar with the UB40 which makes up the fantastic cover sleeve. This was easily the best UB40 album and though I love the band and they did lots of good stuff over the years, this was by far their artistic highpoint. It's brilliant.
Buffalo Springfield
4/5
Pretty good late 60s rock. Mr Soul is great, some of the tracks remind me of The Moody Blues. I'm a Stephen Stills and Neil Young fan, though Stills is more prevalent on this album, to my ears. Some of it is really good, some is just so-so.
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
I don't like this. It's nearly very good, but isn't. it's poor Nothing wrong exactly but I don't like the vocsls, lyrics, tone, earnestness, and tunes. Not for me.
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
Less aggressive, inoffensive rap - like Arrested Development. The trouble is, it's rap, not music.
Gotan Project
2/5
This is a cousin of hip hop: rather than writing music then adding a beat, it is clearly built by starting with a beat, then adding snippets of repetitive music phrases over it. It's tedious. It doesn't create a song, it's just an ambience masquerading as music. The ambience is reasonably pleasant, but I still hate it. Anyone with a computer could create this.
Shack
3/5
Decebt guitar based rock. Imagine Oasis if the Gallaghers were educated middle class boys - this is what they'd sould like.
The Monkees
2/5
Track 1 seems to be a rewrite of the Beatles 'Doctor Robert'. I steadily lost interest. Formulaic, fluffy sixties nonsense.
Dead Kennedys
1/5
Terrible thrash punk. Singer sounds like a cross between John Otway and John Lydon. Hopeless - how could this possibly be on the list?
Sarah Vaughan
4/5
Lovely voice, smooth piano jazz. If you like jazz, this is great, but it's just cocktail lounge background music to me.
Britney Spears
2/5
Vacuous tripe.
Leftfield
2/5
Great to workout to, but Icannot imagine any other time I'd ever want to hear this again.
Fleetwood Mac
2/5
Admittedly Rumours was a hard act to follow, but this was a real disappointment. Mediocre at best - absolutely no sign of the past promise. I hated it at the time and hate it more now. The title song is the best effort. It makes me cross just listening to this. I can't bear it.
Gillian Welch
5/5
Fantastic, I could listen to this all day. The guitar style is my favourite - is it bluegrass or Appalachian? Either way, it's hauntingly beautiful.
Beatles
5/5
The first Beatles album I bought.
Culture Club
3/5
Pretty good pop music.
Merle Haggard
3/5
Pretty good country music.
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
Brilliant. I see this album as a sort of 'electric Nebraska'.
Afrika Bambaataa
2/5
Meh. All sounds the same to me. Energetic, but not as good as the Bhundu Boys or Malian blues.
Paul McCartney
5/5
McCartneys first home-made album and it shows. Production is patchy and the drums in particular are plodding. But there are some wonderful highlights - Every night, Maybe I'm amazed, Junk, That would be something. Four-and-a-half stars.
Steve Earle
3/5
Pre-Copperhead Road. Enthusiastic and energetic but he's still got the Johnny Cash thing going on, not really developed his own style yet. Smiled to hear "My granddaddy..", "GI loan" and "turned out the lights" all feature somewhere on this album.
Sheryl Crow
5/5
Brilliant. Two of my all-time favourites (Leaving Las Vegas & Can't cry anymore) and the rest is good stuff, too - though the live acoustic versions are better.
Massive Attack
2/5
Very nice lift music.
The Teardrop Explodes
4/5
All sounds a bit like 'Reward', but that's a good thing.
Talking Heads
3/5
Instantly recognisable, but clearly an early work, before David Byrne figured out how to write catchy hooks. Not their best by a long way.
M.I.A.
1/5
She does much in life that is laudable, but this is not to my taste. It barely qualifies as music in my view - I hate it. Mucking about with rythyms and sequencers is not 'music'. And rap might be poetry, but it isn't music.
Van Morrison
3/5
Perfunctory - the first half dozen tracks sound as if he was just trying to get through them as quickly as possible. Not his best vocal performances.
Fairport Convention
4/5
Two really outstanding tracks, but it's all good. Richard Thompson's guitar work is fantastic.
The Bees
2/5
Flowed over me without touching at all. I wouldn't recognise a single bar if I heard it again tomorrow. No idea of even what genre it might be. Totally forgettable (and I already have).
Jane Weaver
3/5
Dreamy, aimless, forgettable. I didn't dislike it, but having played the whole album on repeat all day, I still don't remember a single tune.
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
This has a lot in common with Krautrock - repetitive beats and synths, with minimal variation. I want to dislike it, but actually quite like it.
Depeche Mode
3/5
Standard depeche mode. I quite like it, but it's nothing special.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Never heard the whole album before. Marvellous stuff.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
4/5
I like jazz, but the big band sound isn't my taste, I prefer the more intimate sound. If you like big bands, this is undoubtedly great.
The Dictators
2/5
Interesting - Alice Cooper meets The Tubes.Derivative, all quite good but not original.
The War On Drugs
5/5
Never heard of this band before, but I absolutely loved this. Springsteen/Dylan influence over spacey echoing rock guitar - brilliant.
2/5
Not quite complete rubbish, but close.
Rod Stewart
2/5
Appallingly bad. The song Gasoline alley is one of rock's finest moments, but the rest of the album is awful. Ron Wood's guitar is fab, and Rod's voice is wonderful, but his consistently poor choice of songs is a constant source of amazement to me. The title track aside, none of this collection even remotely suits his voice or vocal style. What a terrible waste of talent.
3/5
I find the pathos so overbearing that it's comical. And I'm not keen on steel guitars. No doubt it is a leading exponent of the the C&W genre, but it all sounds the same to me.
King Crimson
3/5
Mostly aimless noodling or random avant garde guitar thrashing. Occasionally some lovely melodies, but overall it just meanders along with no direction. The title track and 21st century schizoid man are brilliant, though.
U2
5/5
Despite featuring Bono, it is still very good. I didn't want to like it, but couldn't help myself.
The Last Shadow Puppets
2/5
Didn't like this at all - epic. baroque, chanson style 'majestic' songs, all done in the annoying Arctic Monkeys northern accent. Modern age Scott Walker stuff. Awful. Also the drumming is miltarily intrusive.
John Cale
2/5
No doubt its an important artistic statement, a commentary on politics and the state of the world, but sadly it isn't at all interesting to listen to. Way too much orchestration and not enough Lowell George, who apparently played guitar, though you'd never know. All too epic and baroque in a whimsical masquerade. Don't like it at all. Naive melodies. Hotted up around Macbeth, but still failed to capture any interest.
CHVRCHES
3/5
Synth pop with lots of hooks. It's superior pop, but instantly forgettable. This means nothing to me.
Method Man
1/5
More rap. The world already has too much. This is rubbish.
Violent Femmes
2/5
Folk-punk. Starts well, the guitar and acoustic bass sound is really interesting and catchy, but it all goes downhill very fast when the vocals arrive. Overtones of Lou Reed, but in a bad way.
Christina Aguilera
1/5
Terrible. It's as if the world has forgotten that songs are supposed to have a tune. Drum rythmns and expensive production don't make up for the obvious lack of decent songs. She clearly has a great voice, but this might just as well be a recording of vocal exercises.
The Boo Radleys
2/5
Bad production ideas, out of tune guitar. Some nice vocals. Generally poor songs with no direction or structure. Why does 'indie' have to be so contrary - jerky, atonal, dischordant etc just to be 'different'. I don't care about 'art', let's have some decent songs, please. Occasionally a normal tune appears, but not often enough. I couldn't listen any more after 8 tracks I'd had enough.
The Pretty Things
3/5
Very 1960s. Hippy-dippy psychadelia etc. It's very much of its time - so in context, it would have been a fine example of the genre. I just don't like it.
Carole King
5/5
No arguments about this one, it's a solid 5.
Pulp
4/5
Shame he can't sing, as he's a great frontman. Songs are a bit hit and miss, but at least they are songs with melodies. Not for me, but I can see there's something there for someone.
Mj Cole
4/5
Amazingky. I liked it. R&b with drum machine beats but also some decent hooks and tunes.
Def Leppard
2/5
Nope - and I don't like the real Van Halen either. Hair metal.
Marvin Gaye
5/5
Straight 5.
Manic Street Preachers
2/5
I'm not keen - too manic, too preachy.
Elvis Costello
3/5
Clever lyrics, interesting stories (reminds me of Billy Bragg) and he has a good voice - but I just don't like the music. 'King of America' had 3 standout brilliant tracks, but this doesn't seem to have any.
Jean-Michel Jarre
3/5
With the exception of Pt. 4 (the hit single), it's just muzak.
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
Excellent - his voice reminds me of Seal. Great melodies.
Radiohead
1/5
I couldn't get further than Paranoid Android. I hate this. Don't like the whiney voice. Miserable rubbish.
Miles Davis
5/5
Fantastic. This is the first cool jazz album that I have really 'got'. Loved it.
Basement Jaxx
2/5
More dance music - I don't dance so it's just pointless. This isn't music you can just listen to, it has next to no musical value.
The Associates
2/5
Very 1980s. It's just synth-pop, nothing interesting or special.
Iron Maiden
2/5
Played this several times in the background while working- one track stood out: 'Stone cold sweat', so I stopped to look what it was. Discovered it was actually a Thin Lizzy track which Spotify automatically recommended because the Iron Maiden album had finished! I think that tells you all you need to know. Silly overblown semi-operatic metal music.
The Verve
4/5
Proper music - written with the melody and music first, not just a computer beat with samples on a doggerel lyric. So although it's not all perfect, at least it starts from the right place - and some of it most certainly is perfect. Let's have more of this, please.
Cream
5/5
Three impossibly intrenchant characters, it's only surprising they lasted as long together as they did. Ginger Baker could start an argument in an empty room. Fantastic musicians, though.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
3/5
I generally like this stuff, but prefer the more guitar-based work of Ali Farka Toure. This is good, but a bit samey.
The Auteurs
2/5
Instrumentation is promising, good guitar lines, but spoiled by poor vocals and vocal melody lines.
American Music Club
3/5
Not available on Spotify, so rated on expectation only.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
A blastfrom the past. 40+ years since I last played this album in full and it still sounds better now than it was then. Fantastic.
Nitin Sawhney
3/5
We used to call this 'soft soul'. It's pleasant enough and interesting to the extent that it has an Indian/Asian influence, which is unusual. But it does nothing for me.
3/5
Disappointing. The first track (Cisco kid') was good and sounded promising, but it went slowly downhill from there and never got near the level of 'Me and baby brother' or 'Low rider' again. It's all there: great vibe. wonderful percussion, lots of funk but the material just isn't strong enough.
Bill Callahan
3/5
A nice background noise, but nothing grabbed my attention until a track called 'Outer space' - but then I found this wasn't on the album, but was actually a John Grant track recommended by Spotify (the album had ended)!
Madonna
2/5
This all just blurred into one. Vacuous dance-pop.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Just a bit too avant garde for me.
Q-Tip
2/5
No, I don't like hip-hop.
Beastie Boys
1/5
All the same rap rhythm, boring, unintelligible, no musical interest.
Todd Rundgren
2/5
Sam likes Todd Rungren, but I find it is either too light and fluffy or else madly prog-rock, almost avante garde.
The Police
5/5
Message in a bottle and Walking on the moon? Sublime - it ought to be a solid 5 star album, but then it also has some fillers (though on third play, I'm getting to like them too). I was a big Police fan and they produced alot of brilliant stuff, but suffered fron inconsistency. This really good and growing on me.
Elvis Presley
2/5
Other than Suspicious minds and In the ghetto, this is just standard Elvis country music filler. He's going through the motions, but there's nothing there of any interest.
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
'Change yr mind' sounds like Bowie, as if it was an unused song from the Heroes sessions. That must surely be Robert Fripp on guitar. Otherwise, nothing to report on this album. No idea how to describe it. There are guitars but it has an electronic feel. It's not rock or hip hop. Beyond that I really can't say what it is, but I'm not interested.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Paul Simon is a bona fide musical genius. Garfunkel was a nice voice, but an otherwise unnecessary appendage.
k.d. lang
2/5
Country & western music, which was a surprise - but I don't like it.
Sister Sledge
5/5
Disco. Not my genre, but I'm happy to acknowledge that Nile Rodgers is a genius (and a lovely man).
Radiohead
2/5
No. Just no. I hate this and all Radiohead art-rock whiney drivel. Too clever by half.
Django Django
3/5
Aimless meandering jungle-drum music. Like John Congas (which I loved) but without any musical interest for me. I played it in the kitchen while unloading the dishwasher etc, and after 10 minutes I forgot it was on. Just didn't catch my attention at all. Not unpleasant, just... well, just nothing.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
Liked it - folk guitar/fiddle country music.
David Bowie
5/5
The first rock album I ever bought with my own money. I like it more now than I did then - mostly because I appreciate Mike Garson's genius piano work now.
The National
4/5
Liked it. First song was really good - new folk with electronic hard edge
Blue Cheer
2/5
An average pub band. Why is this on the list?
Sabu
2/5
Jungle drums - it sounds like a soundtrack from 1970s Tarzan movies.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
4/5
My kind of music. I'm bored of Freebird but only because I've played it a million times. Gimme 3 steps and Down south jukin are also favourites of mine.
Bee Gees
3/5
Their version of 'How can you mend a broken heart' is so bad it's comical in comparison to Al Green's. But they did write it, so some credit is definitely due - just don't ever make me listen to it again, please.
I think it is generally the case that other artists versions of their songs are preferable.
I also noticed that the melody to the verses of 'Don't want to live inside' is very clearly identical to Neil Young's 'Helpless'.
I was losing concentration, then a song cane on that made me listen again: but it was an Eagles song recommended by Spotify - the album had finished. This is happening quite often - clearly Spotify curates much better than this list!
Fun Lovin' Criminals
4/5
Very good - and also very sly. Not samples, but songs written around othe bad's riffs, but then only using snippets of that rii - like about half the 'Smoke on the water' riff in 'Bombin the L' and the start of the riff from 'Sunshine of your love' in 'Crime and punishment', the bass line from Carole King's 'Too late baby' in 'I can't get with that'. I'm pretty sure there's some Led Zeppelin knocking around, too. Everything sounds vaguely familiar, I just can't quite call all the the sources to mind. I assume the title of the album is intended as a challenge to the original artists to find their music. But nevertheless I really enjoyed this. Listened to it several times. As rap goes, this is great.
Adele
2/5
I don't like this 'big note ballad' stuff - Celine Dion, KD Lang, Mariah Carey, etc - at times her voice is like fingernails down a blackboard. I wouldn't ever choose to listen to this. Millions think it's wonderful, mostly women, I suspect. To me, it's awful.
The Style Council
3/5
Some background music, but other than the two singles, no memorable tracks at all.
Missy Elliott
1/5
I loathe this rubbish.
R.E.M.
4/5
The opening bars could be mistaken for Pearl Jam. REM are just coming to their peak by this album. Several standout tracks as well as the singles - I like it.
Abdullah Ibrahim
3/5
I have a live 'smooth jazz' piano album of his which is lovely, but I'm not keen on this style of jazz. It's very good, marvellous musicianship etc, I just don't listen to it. Too much saxaphone, not enough piano.
3/5
Run-of-the-mill punk/indie rock. Fairly decent, not unpleasant but not a genre I like and nothing outstanding. As usual, when the album ended Spotify continued playing its similar recommendations and I didn't notice.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
I hadn't realised just how bluesy this album was - they obviously rocked, but the roots are plain to hear.
The Go-Betweens
4/5
Nice semi-acoustic rock, gentle and easy to listen to. No standout songs, but it's all pleasant to listen to.
The Libertines
4/5
Really likeable, catchy melodic punk - the gritty reality lyrical approach of the early Arctic Monkeys and the cockney tunesmith feel of Squeeze - but all on speed (unfortunately this isn't just a simile - it's the truth). I'm conflicted. The music is entertaining but Pete Doherty was such an arsehole, I struggle to separate the two
Super Furry Animals
3/5
Run-of-the-mill punk/indie rock. Fairly decent, not unpleasant but not a genre I like and nothing outstanding. As usual, when the album ended Spotify continued playing its similar recommendations and I didn't notice.
Baaba Maal
4/5
I like West African guitar music.
Ryan Adams
4/5
Took a few listens, but this is great. I already had 'Carolina' on my playlist, but there are 2 or 3 other tracks that will be added, now. The slow quiet stuff, singer-songwriter 'new folk' is much better than the up-tempo stuff, but it's all a beautiful noise.
The Clash
4/5
Pretty good in parts. I don't like punk rock generally, though this was good to exercise to.
Stephen Stills
3/5
Black Flag
1/5
Terrible death metal type stuff.
Napalm Death
1/5
No, I'm not listening to this - I've heard this band before. It's unbelivably terrible. For 13 year old boys only.
Buzzcocks
4/5
Distinctive, superior punk. Instantly and unmistakably recognisable as The Buzzcocks. The general Buzzcocks theme which runs through all their songs is a nasal whinging of 'boo-hoo, it's not fair' but it's none the worse for that. Punk isn't my thing, but if punk is your thing then this is clearly a cut above the rest.
Drive-By Truckers
3/5
This seems to be an attempt to rewrite 'Sweet home Alabama' a dozen times and failing every time. The general sound of the album is good - I love guitar music generally, but this just isn't good enough to hold my attention. Less emphasis on the concept and more on the individual songs would have helped. Southern Temperance and Blackberry smoke both do it better. Sorry guys, it was a worthy motive but the delivery isn't up to scratch.
Gene Clark
3/5
Quite pleasant. Nothing stand out, except that 'Life's greatest fool' is very similar to Neil Young's 'From Hank to Hendrix'.
Ryan Adams
4/5
Same as previous album - pretty good, with some really good moments. I'm generally happy to listen to this any time. 'New folk' (or whatever 'singer/songwriter' is called these days) is my favourite genre, though I'm told he's not a nice person - something to do with a previous relationship with Phoebe Bridgers, my son tells me.
The Vines
2/5
Didn't enjoy it. Sort of guitar-based indie rock, but I don't like the vocals, arrangements or melodies.
Animal Collective
1/5
More psychedelia... unlike Country Joe & The Fish, there was no blues evident at all - just sound effects.
I found this unlistenable.
Country Joe & The Fish
2/5
Electric psychedelic blues based rock.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
1/5
Too extreme - shouty vocals, lack of melody or coherent structure and generally awful.
I found this unlistenable.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Average indie rock. I'm not keen - nothing specific, lots of listeners will like this, I just don't. It's average 1980s indie, which isn't a genre I enjoy.
The Verve
3/5
More indie rock, but this is better than Echo & The Bunnymen, but sadly nowhere near as good as Urban Hymns.
Sleater-Kinney
1/5
Lost me in the first 10 seconds and never got me back. Dischordant, jerky guitar and shouty vocals with tune I can remember. Really not pleasant to listen to at all.
R.E.M.
4/5
REM haven't yet fully found tbeir voice. There are three stand-out tracks so it's not to be dismissed, but there is better to come.
Christine and the Queens
3/5
Like Sign o' the Times in a female french sccent. Quite nice.
Scissor Sisters
3/5
Generally OK modern disco music, but this version of Comfortably numb should be a criminal offence.
Incredible Bongo Band
2/5
This is a joke, right? It's got lots of good beats (obviously) but do I really need to hear it before I die? I don't think so - but unfortunately it's too late now because I already have.
808 State
2/5
More electronic dance music. You can't 'listen' to this. It's just for dancing. I could just about stand to exercise to it. Amazing what you can do with a Casio keyboard, sampler and drum machine. I reckon I could knock up something as good as this in an hour or two.
The Cult
5/5
Brilliant. At last! A decent album in this otherwise mediocre and uninspiring list and one which I've not heard before.
Imagine AC/DC jamming with the Rolling Stones...yeah, that's right. It rocks.
Love
2/5
Diddle-di-dee intros introducing teddible vocals. Not for me, thanks.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
Not as good as the Talking Book/Innervisions/Fulfillingness First Finale trilogy, but undeniably damn' good.
Weather Report
3/5
It's nice ambient music, but that'all (to me). I would never properly listen to this, but I'd have it as background for while I waz working etc.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
1/5
Unavailable - rated on previous knowledge.
The Magnetic Fields
4/5
Overall, it's a very pleasant noise. Only a few tracks actually caught my attention (Book of love), but in general it's music I like.
Morrissey
3/5
Nice melodies and Morrisey's vocals are great, but I'm tired of his whinging. His personal views no longer accord with mine and the subject matter no longer chimes with me.
William Orbit
3/5
Nice ambient music - but that's all. Great if you're stoned, otherwise, meh.
Mike Oldfield
5/5
A game-changing album. By coincidence I played it in full a couple of times last week, for probably the first time in over 40 years.
The Pharcyde
2/5
No thanks. More rap - it's of no interest to me at all.
3/5
Superior pop, but not to my taste.
Scott Walker
2/5
I don't like chanson.
LL Cool J
1/5
Oh really? More rap *sigh*? I hate it. This is a particularly vile example.
OutKast
2/5
You've just got to be kidding - more rap *sigh*? I hate it. This is getting ridiculous.
In fairness, some of this is just 'meh', but most of it is just plain offensive.
Motörhead
4/5
Standard Motorhead stuff - great in short doses to blow away the cobwebs, but not to listen to for very long. There almost no variation, so even in the gym, it gets repetitive very quickly.
Serge Gainsbourg
4/5
Strangely compelling. Reminds me of Jah Wobble - lots of catchy bass lines, with semi-spoken vocals over the top. The subject matter is extremely dodgy - a variation on the older man/underage girl sexual liaison a la Lolita - but this is not unexpected for Serge Gainsbourg.
Caetano Veloso
2/5
This is so '1970s tropicalia' that it's comical. Imagine the girl from ipanema on acid. I'm sure it was very popular in Brazil, but not for me, thanks.
Nine Inch Nails
1/5
Terrible. Mostly just shouty industrial metal noise. No discernable melodies.
The Soft Boys
3/5
The music is good in some parts and just OK in others, but there's little doubt that Robyn Hitchcock writes the daftest/funniest lyrics in rock, viz: 'All aboard Brenda's iron sledge - please don't call me Reg, it's not my name"
Where are all the prawns? Good question, Robyn.
2/5
So over-the-top, I assumed this was some sort of Spinal Tap or Jack Black-type satire on rock bands. The music is raucous and loud, which is usually a good thing, but in this case, not so much as the songs aren't very good. They just sound like an over enthusiastic garage band. "Alright!" "Get down!" "Let's rock!"
The Birthday Party
1/5
This is pretty nuch unlistenable, but I listened to it anyway, as a challenge to prove I could. It's unpleasant and unmusical - a kinder person might say avant garde, the sort of thing John Peel would probably have liked - but I'm not John Peel, so I hated it.
Nick Drake
5/5
I'm a bit cross that Nick Drake is so popular now. In 1992 at Gatwick Airport as I walked past HMV, I heard some familiar sounding music I loved but didn't recognise. I went and asked, remarking that it sounded like John Martyn. The guy said "It's Nick Drake, John Martyn wrote Solid Air about him". I bought the album there and then. That was Pink Moon and I've been a fan ever since. For about 10 years he was 'mine' but, inevitably, the rest of the world found him too and spoiled my secret. These days I cycle past his beautiful family home in Hampton-in-Arden regularly. Five Leaves Left ranks joint second with Bryter Layter - Pink Moon stands above them both and is one of the greatest achievements in rock. But all three are fantastic and I'd be happy just to listen to this forever - though I don't like some of the unnecessary orchestrations.
Cowboy Junkies
5/5
Great version of 'Sweet Jane' and another interesting take on 'Blue Moon'. I played this on repeat all day and never got bored. Soft, dreamy female vocals over a sort-of modern country-type backing. Loved it.
Everything But The Girl
4/5
Drum machine, with vocals mixed to be at the other end of the world. Lovely.
The Killers
3/5
I tried. I really did - but I just don't like it. Even Mr Brightside doesn't do it for me. I accept it must be a good album - everyone says so. But I don't ever need to hear it again.
Venom
1/5
Why must I hear this before I die? I can just wait 'til after I'm dead and listen to it during an eternity in hell.
Terrible vocal style and lyrics spoil what might otherwise have been some mediocre Motorhead tracks.
For teenage boys only.
Devendra Banhart
4/5
Very nice, gentle acoustic singer/songwriter material.
Deep Purple
3/5
Child in time is great.but parts of the 'Bloodsucker' riff perilously close to Whole Lotta Love.and 'flight of the rat' is Communication breakdown. Also, I don't like the organ - it doesn't belong.
Nirvana
3/5
I played this half a dozen times, but I still only like 'Smells like teen spirit' and 'Come as you are'. The rest, meh.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
No comment required. Second only to Led Zep II.
Doves
3/5
This was OK, bordering on good.
The Velvet Underground
5/5
Fantastic. All Tomorrow's Parties just wouldn't be the same without Nico's wooden emotionless delivery.
Throbbing Gristle
1/5
This isn't music. It's just sound effects. Completely pointless.
The Cramps
2/5
I can here The Shadows, Hank Mizell, Link Wray, and all sorts of other influences - but none of it helps. This is terrible.
Brian Wilson
3/5
I wanted this to be great, but it isn't. It's mostly pretty good and some of it is fantastic, but a lot of it just washes over. 'Heroes and villains' has always been one of my favourites, but there isn't another single other tune on the album I can remember, despite playing it on repeat all day.
Steely Dan
4/5
Faultless musicianship. Dark lyrical themes, set to jaunty tunes - very sly. I could listen to Steely Dan all day.
Eagles
4/5
That's more like it! Proper songs. I didn't like them all, but at least even the ones I didn't like were musical.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2/5
Pointless pop, just washes over.
Radiohead
2/5
Oh god, make it stop. Who thinks this is enjoyable to listen to? Awful, no discernable tunes. I hated it from start to finish.
5/5
Excellent. Desolation Row is stunning.
Sugar
3/5
Very disapointing. I'd only ever heard 'If I can't change your mind' before and it's been in my top 10 favourites for decades - but this album never got anywhere near that standard again.
Germs
2/5
Very disapointing. I'd only ever heard 'If I can't change your mind' before and it's been in my top 10 favourites for decades - but this album never got anywhere near that standard again.
Miles Davis
2/5
No sorry, this is a meaningless jumble to me. Great background music, but I can't actually 'listen' to it.
The Smiths
4/5
Pretty good. Amazingly (to me) I had never heard any of the songs on this album before. It's all tinted by Morrissey's increasingly unpleasant world view, but taken in the context of it's time, it was really good. Johnny Marr's guitar is, as always, fabulous.
Fugazi
2/5
Terrible. Sort of punk, but not very good.
Big Star
5/5
Amazing - I hated the Third/Sister Lovers album (1* rating!) but absolutely loved this! What happened in the meantime?
Christina Aguilera
4/5
Really enjoyed this. It's not my sort of music and I'll probably never play it again, but I had it on repeat all day and some of the tracks stuck to me. This girl can really belt them out. Clearly the songs have been specifically written to highlight the power of her voice, so they are very formulaic, but still insistent. Can't deny she's talented. I remember seeing her on stage at an Aretha Franklin tribute event along with half a dozen other 'big name' female vocalists. The Queen of Soul blew them all away except Christina - she was the only one able to compete with Aretha (who was in her 70s at the time!).
Mariah Carey
2/5
Fluffy nonsense. Didn't enjoy this at all. It was interesting to play Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey back-to-back: the difference in quality of songwriting stands out immediately, to the detriment of Mariah Carey. Her frequent use of breathy melisma is very irritating, and Aguilera's voice comes across as being much more powerful. I don't ever want to hear this again, it's hopeless in comparison.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
2/5
Sounds like a bunch of themes to BBC light entertainment programs. Not unpleasant, but not something to actively listen to either. OK to have on in the background as it doesn't disturb me while I'm working.
Alanis Morissette
5/5
Love this album. I'd forgotten how good it was. She was great in concert, too - I saw her at the NEC the year this album came out.
The Byrds
2/5
Very poor. This might have been new and interesting at the time: but just sounds lame now - psychadelia doesn't cut it anymore and the 'lead guitar' work is terrible. The traditional folk songs are especially poor renditiond.
Kanye West
3/5
As rap goes. this is pretty good. But that's not saying much - the competion is meagre.
Pere Ubu
2/5
Interesting - generally a sort of tedious punk rock. Not my scene, though flashes of decent rock.
PJ Harvey
2/5
Terrible - I don't enjoy her music at all. Sort of avant garde/punk/poetry a la Patty Smith (don't like her music either). Virtually unlistenable to me.
Slipknot
2/5
I imagine this must be what incels listen to. Amazingly, in amongst the darkness, there is a single glimmer of light: 'snuff'. How did that happen - is it a different band? A properly good rock track. In fairness, there is also 'vermilion' and 'til we die' but, although in the same vein, they just aren't as good. The rest of the album is virtually unlistenable - 13 year old boys (and incels) only.
George Harrison
4/5
Harrisons songwriting has always been patchy, but he written some gems, of which three are on this album. There is nearly a fourth: the riff to 'wah wah' would have made a fantastic song, but somehow the melody line and lyrics messed it up. A real shame. But on the whole it's all a nice noise.
Television
4/5
Really enjoyed this. I particularly like Tom Verlaine's quirky guitar style.
The Beau Brummels
2/5
Played this all the way through twice and don't remember a single note. It just didn't register at all. I have no idea what sort of music it is. Only became aware of the sound after the akbum ended and Spotify started selecting music for me.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
2/5
Not available on Spotify, so I played some of his other stuff, but it didn't make an impression on me.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
2/5
Typical mid-sixties pre-hippy type pop music. Guitar sounds like The Hollies. A sort of hard-edged Monkees, but not hard enough to be rock. It's just pop and nothing memorable musically.
The Psychedelic Furs
4/5
All in the same, very distinctive style. 'Pretty in pink' is easily the best, but 'All of this and nothing' is also excellent.
Bert Jansch
4/5
I don't much like his voice, but there's no denying his spectacular guitar skills. 'Angie' is the defining standard for folk/acoustic guitar afficianados. Needle of death is also great. Shame this album doesn't contain Black Waterside as well, then it would be worth 5 stars.
Supertramp
5/5
I bought this in 1974, it was one of the first I ever bought. Marvellous. The intro to 'School' was a revelation. 'Bloody well right' was my son's introduction to swearing in public. I love this album.
Missy Elliott
2/5
No, sorry. I don't like rap. I tried, really I did - but it's awful and I hate it.
Grizzly Bear
2/5
Is this jazz? The (intrusive) drumming certainly sounds like jazz, even if the vocals don't. But I don't like the melodies, arrangements, vocals, drums - in fact, there's nothing I liked apart from some occasional piano.
Dolly Parton
5/5
This is an unbelievably beautiful noise. I don't generally listen to conventional country music, I prefer the modern variety (Molly Tuttle for example), but a person would have to have a heart of stone not to be melted by the blend of these voices. It's just sublime. Like Sinatra, their talent elevates what might otherwise be average songs way beyond their normal standing. I could listen to this all day and just allow the shivers to run up and down my spine.
Beatles
4/5
Difficult to rate. It's The Beatles, so obviously it's great. At the time, it was sensational and changed the world, but to modern ears it's a little unsophisticated. Some tracks remain timeless, but a few are forgotten and sound like prototypes for the future. I want to give 4.5 stars - it's not quite a 5.
Einstürzende Neubauten
3/5
Very odd, avant garde music, largely consisting of an angry-sounding German man shouting over various semi-industrial noises. I was strangely fascinated, but ultimately disappointed - I was expecting Krautrock and didn't get it. There's a very funny rework of Je t'aime (moi non plus) though, called Jet'm.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
Along with Talking Book and Fulfillingness First Finale, Innervisions is part of what was effectively a single body of work, albeit a trilogy, all coming out of the same sessions and period imnediately post-adulthood, when he transitioned from 'Little Stevie' to the colossus of contempoary music we now recognise. I love these albums they are amongst the greatest ever rdleased.
Orbital
2/5
Meh. Samplers were new at the time, I suppose. Time becomes isn't music at all, though a fascinating listen. Otherwise, it's just the usual pointless dance trance trippy rave stuff. No-one would ever sit and listen to this, unless they'd been smoking dope/dropping acid/gobbling e's.
The Kinks
4/5
Enjoyed this more than I expected. The usual Ray Davies' story-telling, but some good tunes, in a mid-sixties style as you'd expect.
Syd Barrett
2/5
It's a pleasant enough sound, but he could just be making it up as he goes along. No permanence. If you like wacky lyrics, go for Robyn Hitchcock instead, he's funnier.
50 Cent
1/5
I hate rap. There's a track with Eminem which is OK because, basically, he's better.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
Do I really have to listen to this? As synth-pop goes, it's OK - but it's still just fluffy synth-pop. I would never choose to listen to this.
5/5
Brilliant. Their best album by far. It was all downhill after this peak.
Neneh Cherry
2/5
Meh. Early example of rapping. The best I can say is that it doesn't have the swearing or braggadocio of modern rap - but it's still awful and I still hate it. No tunes worth remembering.
Buck Owens
3/5
Odd to hear 'traditional' country music these days. Not unpleasant, but not interesting either.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
2/5
I don't like Souxsie's vocal delivery, it grates after a while. It's not really 'singing', it's more a sort of controlled shouting. Some tracks are very good, but I can't stand to listen to a whole album.
Small Faces
4/5
Really good. Steve Marriott has a fantastic voice and the interludes from 'Professor' Stanley Unwin were a special treat from the past.
Robert Wyatt
2/5
The first track is great and had me hooked in 10 seconds, but is the only recognisable 'song' on the album. It was all downhill after that. Mostly freeform jazz, it's aimless, tuneless meanderings. I lost patience with it - what's the point? There is nothing memorable or even reproducable - it couldn't ever be played the same twice, it's formless and the musicians are just making it up as they go. It makes me cross.
The Cardigans
2/5
This was just plain boring.
N.E.R.D
2/5
Passed me by unmoved. The first track sounded vaguely like some sort of James Brown tribute, but after that I don't remember anythin at all. I only 'woke up' when spotify started playing random artists after the album ended.
The Zutons
3/5
I liked this. Not brilliant, but reasonably enjoyable music. Shame 'Valerie' isn't on this album, that would definitely have been worth an extra star.
The Only Ones
3/5
It's OK, reasonably listenable punk/indie type rock - but there's an obvious reason why no-one has ever heard anything by this band other than 'Another girl, another planet'. It's a mile above anything else on the album.
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
The silly band name put me off them, but quite a bit of it was surprisingly listenable. I did some research and found 'Bohemian like you' which is better than anything on this album, but on the whole, it's still pretty good.
Youssou N'Dour
4/5
I like this. West African rythmns and music is sort of hypnotic.
Duke Ellington
3/5
Not of any interest to me, this sort of jazz (big band) isn't my taste. I only woke up when Spotify started playing John Coltrane and Junior Mance tracks.
Sepultura
1/5
Ridiculous death metal - for 13 year old boys and incels only. Frantic, toneless, pointless, souless guitar shredding, coupled with the usual silly gruff-shouted vocals. Predictable, non-musical - there just aren't enough words for how awful this is.
Ronnie Woods distinctive 'dirty' guitar sound is brilliant. Some rwally good songs here - 'Love Lives Here' from this 1971 album very obviously formed the basis of the Rolling Stones 'Fool to cry'.(released in 1976 - Ronnie toured with the Stones in 1975 and joined them in April 1976). Couple of Ronnie Lane vocals, which are good. The Faces embodied the spirit of rock n roll. A brilliant band.
Janet Jackson
2/5
If you like discos, it's great. Otherwise it's hopelessly overproduced music by marketing men. I can't really tell one track from another. The beats are brilliant, but that's all they really are: beats. No discernable tunes. Very much of the 1980s, but if you want real talent in this genre, try Prince's 1999 or Robert Palmer's Addicted to love.
Hüsker Dü
4/5
If you're in the mood for this sort of music, it's great. I would file it under 'melodic punk'. Similar to the Gin Blossoms, and of course the main songwriter went on to form Sugar and write the sublime 'If I can't change your mind', which pretty much gets 4 stars right there (but it would have got 4 stars anyway because I like this album a lot). It will definitely grow on you.
Common
1/5
I was just sinking into a coma, thinking how awful this was and oh god when will it end, when a really good track came on and woke me up again. So I checked and ...yep, the album had ended and it was Spotify suggesting tracks for me (in this case by Chance the Rapper). Nuff said, I think.
Dr. Octagon
2/5
Interesting - better than average rap. Sci-fi rap.
The Shamen
2/5
Played this end-to-end twice and don't remember a single note. It's electronic dance 'music' is all I know. Pointless unless you're actually dancing.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Bloody brilliant. If you want to understand what makes the Rolling Stones are so great, start here.
Elvis Presley
3/5
The usual med-period Elvis material. I loved this stuff as a teenager, but it does nothing for me now, except to bring on a faint nostalgia.
Grant Lee Buffalo
3/5
Pretty good rock music. Nothing stood out, though.
Ravi Shankar
3/5
Interesting, informative and OK as background music, but I much prefer Norah Jones!
John Lee Hooker
4/5
Very listenable blues - with Carlos Santana's guitar and Bonnie Raitt's voice lending themselves to the project, it couldn't go wrong. Good stuff.
Os Mutantes
2/5
Semi-psychadelic french pop/rock, the sort of stuff you get on the soundtrack of mid-sixties french cinema. Of no musical interest to me at all.
Minutemen
3/5
Interesting - I like the concept: lots of short songs, each about a minute long (hence the name). All pretty good, slightly on the punk/indie side of rock. The mystery is why I don't like it more than I do.
The KLF
3/5
Not available on Spotify.
Deee-Lite
2/5
Once you've heard 'Groove is in the heart', you've heard all you ever need to hear. It has wormed its way into the national psyche via adverts and TV. It's very good for what it is, but it's not for me, thanks.
Soul II Soul
3/5
Once you've heard 'Back to life', you've heard all you ever need to hear. It has wormed its way into the national psyche via adverts and TV. It's very good for what it is, but it's not for me, thanks.
Emmylou Harris
3/5
Great voice, nice tunes - I just don't like country music. I don't actively dislike this - it's a pleasant noise: good songs, beautifully sung - it's just not my genre. If this is your genre, then Emmylou is top notch.
Saint Etienne
2/5
Inoffensive background music. Bass lines with reasonable melodies over the top. One step up from muzak, but nothing to hold my interest. I don't remember any of it, except for the very poor version of 'Only love can break your heart' - if he heard this, I suspect Neil Young would be inclined to change his mind.
Jeru The Damaja
1/5
It's just more rap. Unbelievable - how did so much rap get onto this list? I definitely don't EVER need to hear any more rap before I die. I hate it more now than I did before starting this project. The more I hear, the more I hate it.
Rufus Wainwright
2/5
Sort of poppy chanson. Lots of big notes - it belongs in musical theatre. I don't enjoy this sort of music at all.
The The
3/5
Very 1980s production and vocal style - echoes of Lloyd Cole & The Commotions. It was very hip at the time, but I was already too old for this. You'd need to have been a teenager at the time for this to resonate. It's young, naive and jejunes. Great if you think you're the first generation to think like that - but some of us were already past that by then.
Dion
4/5
Very good, if you are in the mood.
The Damned
2/5
Not as bad as I expected, but still didn't like it.
Kate Bush
4/5
Wonderful stuff. Loved 'The big sky', that went straight onto my running playlist (the Hounds of love was already on it).
The Velvet Underground
4/5
Some great, some good, some variable - the usual Velvet's stuff. I like it a lot.
Arcade Fire
3/5
3 stars I suppose. Played the whole album twice in succession and don't remember a single note. I didn't hate it, but it just washed over me and the next thing I remember was Spotify playing me some of its curated content.
Julian Cope
4/5
I like Julian Cope. Distinctive voice and more melodic than many of his contemporaries. Nothing outstanding, just uniformly good.
Traffic
4/5
Not as good as I'd hoped, but Stevie Winwood is always worth listening to.
TV On The Radio
2/5
Don't like this at all. 'Experimental' music, bordering on the avant garde.
Paul Simon
4/5
I want to give it 4.5 stars - it has three of the best songs ever written - but the quality isn't consistent enough for 5 stars. It's still great, though.
The Residents
1/5
Atonal, experimental, semi avant garde 'music'. Awful.
Stereolab
2/5
I"m tired of listening to poor-to-mediocre albums, which seem to have no justification for being on this list of allegedly 'essential' albums. The curators taste is questionable, to say the least. This 'music' seems pointless to me - unless you're high and dancing. I'm sober and want something I can actually listen to.
M.I.A.
2/5
No musical interest to me at all. It all just sounds like inferior versions of 'Ico, ico'.
KISS
3/5
Everyone in rock wants to be outrageous - it's good for business. But despite the makeup and Gene Simmons' vile posturings, the music is tame, almost poppy soft rock. At its best, there are some catchy hooks, but in the main it's just average.
Stephen Stills
4/5
If you like blues rock ((which I do) this is a beautiful noise. No outstanding tracks, but just consistently good.
Nanci Griffith
3/5
Great voice. Not my genre, but good stuff if you like country music.
Jungle Brothers
2/5
It took just 3 seconds to recognise that I wouldn't like this - but in the interests of fairness I gave it 3 more minutes to be sure. Yep. I really don't like this. Early, 1980s rap music wasn't as absurdly racist, mysoginistic, violent, braggadocious, foul-mouthed and vile as modern rap, but it still wasn't much to listen to.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
Very good, I like this.
Steve Winwood
4/5
One of the great unsung heroes of rock music. Absurdly talented. First hit the charts as lead vocalist of the Spencer Davis Group at 18 years old. Then via Traffic and Blind Faith to solo work. He even played organ on Voodoo Chile!
Megadeth
2/5
More music for teenage boys and incels. Very similar to Iron Maiden - massively overblown, almost operatic vocal and furious guitars, played very very fast and with absolutely no musicality or feeling. It's just guitar as a competitive sport.
Hanoi Rocks
3/5
Interesting to hear this back to back with Megadeth. This is like a slowed down, more tuneful version and is much better for it. Still not to my taste but infinitely preferable to Megadeth/Iron Maiden.
Ice Cube
3/5
Violent, mysoginistic, vile and ridiculous lyrics over undeniably catchy beats and hooks.
I loathe this material, but other than Eminem, this is the best rap I've heard so far.
Joanna Newsom
3/5
Music is quite nice - the harp is lovely - but she sounds a bit like Melanie Saffka (a marmite voice). In some tracks it suits, but in others it can grate. In the end, I didn't want to listen to any more.
The Stone Roses
5/5
Ian Brown must be the worst singer ever to front a successful rock band, but nevertheless this is a fabulous album.
Alice In Chains
2/5
Run-of-the-mill metal. Why is this on the list? There's nothing remotely important or special about this.
Gram Parsons
3/5
Not keen on steel guitar country music. If you are a fan of the genre, this is top drawer material.
The Beta Band
2/5
I'm not sure what to make of this - it's all over the place, stylistically, veering from spacey futuristic sounds, through to folky-type sparse arrangements. Overall, I think 'interesting' is the best description. But not something I'd choose to listen to again.
Neil Young
5/5
Beautiful.
Turbonegro
4/5
Surprisingly, I really liked this. Fast and furious, butmelodic and engaging. Not keen on thecover of Suffragette City, I preferred their own material
Eric Clapton
3/5
Insipid. It's a shame because his guitar is great, but it's either toned down and 'clean' or else way down in the mix and the dr ums often overpower, especially in 'Motherless children'. There's just no sense of excitement at all.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
5/5
Wonderful.
Hot Chip
2/5
Not unpleasant, just nondescript. I wouldn't recognise any of this if I ever heard it again.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
Sublime.
The Sugarcubes
2/5
Don't like this at all. Bjork's voice grates on my nerves and, in this genre, The Sundays are way, way better.
Soft Machine
2/5
Bonkers 'experimental' music. Rock's equivalent of Stockhausen. Strangely listenable but not enjoyable.
Neil Young
5/5
A masterpiece.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2/5
Awful post-punk indie.
Teenage Fanclub
5/5
Amazing! I really liked this. Lots of guitar and very much in tbe same vein as Oasis, but less confrontational.
Gene Clark
2/5
Innoffensive but nothing to write home about. There are a lot of much better singer-songwriters out there.
Public Image Ltd.
1/5
This is John Lydon's monstrous prank - defying the world to call out the emperor's got no clothes. It's deliberately anti-music and it's just terrible.
G. Love & Special Sauce
2/5
If you like this style (sparse instrumentation, drums mixed high, semi-rap/hiphop) listen to Soul Coughing, they are much better at it.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
3/5
I've been listening to Ramblin' Jack for years and like it - mostly because the songs have historical significance for modern music.
ZZ Top
4/5
Four stars for 'Waitin' for the bus' and 'La Grange'. The rest is just filler.
Maxwell
3/5
Smooth, soft soul/r&b. Quite pleasant as background music, but nothing to make me sit up and listen.
The Saints
3/5
Ivgy Pop impersonators... but not bad at it...
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
4/5
Influenrial. Part 1 of 'All my love' clearly became ' Strange brew.
Bolan nicked the intro from 'Hideaway' for 'Beltane Walk'.
But I love 12 bar blues, so that's all fine.
'
Deerhunter
3/5
Vaguely psychadelic, dreamy rock/pop - a bit like a softer version of the War on Drugs played at half-speed.
I prefer the full speed version.
2/5
I have no interest in this at all. It's not horrible, it just means nothing to me.
Suzanne Vega
5/5
Seven of the tracks on this album have been on rotation in my mail playlist for almost 40 tears, now. Brilliant.
MC Solaar
2/5
I have no interest in this at all. It's not horrible, it just means nothing to me.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Genius.
Laibach
1/5
Appalling. Not pleasant to listen to.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
Other than 'Man out of time', this album just washed over me. I don't remember a single note, despite playing it in full, back to back three times.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
Nice grooves - if you like raving, it's perfect. Some of the tracks are OK to run to, so that's fine, tbough I wouldn't choose to listen to it.
Lucinda Williams
4/5
I wasn't sure at first, but after a very short time I really liked this. Played it all through at least 4 times, back-to-back. Several standout tracks and her voice sounds a lot like Sheryl Crow. Good stuff.
Talk Talk
3/5
This has special sentimental value - my wonderful wife had it on cassette which we played in her car. It's not normally my kind of music, but there aee three or four tracks that have stayed with me for years.
Arcade Fire
2/5
Meh. Sort of sounds like The Killers/Arctic Monkeys/Muse all combined - which is unfortunate as I don't like any of them, either.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
Average 1970s funk/soul.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
'When Peter Gabriel gets it right, he really gets it right. For example 'The lamb...' is Genesis' masterwork.
He has an amazing ability to put pictures and complex emotions into song.
On this album, he covers war, political assassination and imprisonment. Not just as protest songs, but as miniture sociological and psychological studies 'Family snapshot' deserves an Oscar - an amazing film-in-music.
'Biko' is another masterpiece.
'Games without frontiers' is wonderfully evocative.
Admittedly there are a couple of duff tracks (Not one of us, Lead a normal life, etc) overall this is great and worthy of 4.5 stars.
Robert Wyatt
3/5
Avant garde music, but weirdly compelling. Other Robert Wyatt albums are in the 'never the same twice' style, but this seems to have a small amount of structure. I was. at least, able to keep listening (had to stop listening to the last one, it was so awful). This is a big improvement - though still never coming close to mainztream music. On reflection, its similar in some respects to PIL's Metal Box - just much, much better and is actually listenable.
Brian Eno
2/5
Background music - of no .usical interest or importance whatsoever. Not unpleasant, just pointless.
The 13th Floor Elevators
3/5
Standard 1960s phsychadelic rock. Groovy, baby. Far out, man - but I don't really dig it.
CHIC
4/5
Top quality disco from Nile Rodgers.
Santana
5/5
I'd forgotten how good Carlos Santana was. I had this album 40 years ago but hadn't played it straight through for decades. A proper guitar god. There are tiny moments of unforgetable guitar beauty all over this album.
Ride
4/5
This was fantastic until the vocals came in, then it plummeted downhill... that's a shame, I was just thinking of adding it to my running playlist.
Backing, beat, bass, drums and guitars are really infectious - the vocals are just terrible.
But after half a dozen back to back plays, it grew on me. This is easiy the best shoegaze I've heard.
Cee Lo Green
3/5
'My kind of people' is the tune to 'Pass the duchy' reworked. Do Musical Youth know about this?
'Childz play' borrows heavily from Eminem's 'My name is', to say the least.
Otherwise it's all just OK - the only memorable track is Die trying.
Boards of Canada
2/5
Pointless muzak.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
3/5
It'sjust OK. Damon Albarn irks me and I'm not sure wht. Either it's bis whiney vocal style or his superclious facial expressions - either way, I'm not a fan. This album is just average.
White Denim
3/5
A very close approximation of late 60s/early 70s psychedelic rock - shades of the Byrds, Jethro Tull, etc - this sounds like it might have been recorded at Woodstock - except for the 40-odd year time lag!
Quicksilver Messenger Service
3/5
Late 60s/early 70s guitar jamming. Unfortunately I recently listened to Carlos Santana, so this never stood a chance.
Can
2/5
Yet more late 60s/early 70s pschedelic rock - except this time it's of the 'experimental' type - meaning it's rubbish.
Deep Purple
4/5
I never really like Deep Purple, so I was never going to rate this album highly. If you like Deep Purple, it's undeniably a great collection of their best material and live is always exciting. But it does nothing for me.
Sam Cooke
4/5
very dated an 'showbiz', but a fantastic voice and some top songs.
Lou Reed
4/5
Some of this album is sublime: Oh Jim and Sad song in particular. Lyrically very dark (surprise!) and typically Lou Reed, but not his most accessible album.
Sonic Youth
4/5
I didn't expect to enjoy this, but had it on repeat all day. Bubble gum, Starpower and Madonna, Sean and me, went straight onto my playlist.
PJ Harvey
4/5
I don't like this music much. The instrumentation is generally fine and often pleasant, so some tracks would otherwise be very good, but I really dislike her vocal style. I also find the vocal melodies don't match the underlying instrumentation. Also the lyrical structure is disjointed and doesn't match up. It seems to have been written as poetry then shoehorned into some music.
But it grew on me. Some tracks are OK once I got used to her voice - Written On The Forehead is just like The Who's 'Magic bus'.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Excellent - this is my sort of music - but not 5 star material. Several very enjoyable songs, but it's not his best work.
Suede
3/5
Liked it more than I expected. Some good stuff.
Rocket From The Crypt
3/5
Reminds me of Graham Parker & The Rumour, but not quite as good (and less saxaphone, obvs!). Sort of all right - but no thanks.
New Order
3/5
Some of this is quite infectious, mostly because of Hooky's driving melodious bass lines - but it's still lrimarily dance music, which just isn't my sort of music.
Cyndi Lauper
4/5
Some great songs and unusual voice, which is a bit 'marmite'. 'Time after time' is utterly faantastic, but 'When you were mine' doesn't compare well to the prince version.
Justin Timberlake
2/5
A triumph of production over content - another white boy desperately trying to be black. Only one tiny fragment of melody caught my attention, but that was because it was shared with the Rolling Stones' Paint It Black. Otherwise I could listen to this all day and not remember a single bar. I loathe this style of music.
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
Really liked this
George Michael
4/5
Fantastic voice and several really great songs. I wouldn't quite give this 5 stars, it's 4.5 really, but by comparison to the utter drivel that makes up two-thirds of this list, it's marvellous. Not as good as Listen Without Prejudice. Vol. 1, but very good.
The Byrds
3/5
Nice jangly guitar sound, but they all start to sound the same after a while. Other bands (or Bob Dylan) do better versions.
Beach House
3/5
Dream pop. Not unpleasant, but it just washes over me - no memorable hooks or melodies. Supermarket muzak.
Fairport Convention
4/5
Good, but often a bit too reliant on Sandy Denny's (fabulous) vocals, making the songs a bit one-paced and pedestrian. The best songs (Matty Groves) are when the band flexes their muscles and injects more rythmn
Grateful Dead
2/5
Aimless noodling. When they get around to actually playing a song, it's generally good - but unless you've got a spliff on the go, this album is completely pointless.
Mott The Hoople
5/5
Mott The Hoople were the living embodiment of rock and roll - and Ian Hunter still is. I love this band. Their Live album is criminally underrated and is easily in the top 5 live albums ever.
Yes
3/5
Prince
3/5
Blur
2/5
I really dislike Damon Albarn's whiney, sarcastic sounding vocal delivery. I just can't bear to listen - two minutes of the first track was enough for me.
The Adverts
3/5
Not bad ad punk goes, but nothing special. No reason for it to be on this list.
Kings of Leon
3/5
Meh.
Stan Getz
3/5
Lovely music for a sophisticated soiree, to be playing in the background while monsieur ambassador hands round the ferrero rocher...
Anthrax
2/5
Turgid, pompous overblown. No thanks.
The Thrills
2/5
Fluffy nonsense.
The Byrds
2/5
Average 60s psychadelic rock. Nothing remotely special.
Hole
4/5
I really enjoyed this, despite my general dislike of the grunge genre.
The Fall
3/5
Mark E Smith is the drunk nutter you see shuffling down the street mumbling to himself. But despite my disdain, The Fall does begin to grow on you, to the extent that, in small doses, I quite like it.
Ramones
3/5
Meh. I feel guilty just for thinking it, but it's a bit tedious. The songs are all the same, though mercifully short, but I don't get any sense of excitement from the music. I was expecting more after all the hype. Give me the Rolling Stones or Mott the Hoople over this every time.
Joan Baez
3/5
I find her voice a little too piercing rather than soothing, so she isn't a favourite, but I love folk music and there are some gems on here. It's interesting to hear snippets of tune and lyrics from other folk songs - not just English folk, but Scottish and even Spanish amongst others. A real trip through musical history.
Meat Puppets
2/5
Just terrible.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
2/5
Aimless, pointless musical meanderings - I hate the avant garde. There's some musicality there somewhere, but it never sticks around long enough.
Kraftwerk
3/5
Pretty good krautrock. Not as good as NEU, but competent, well produced and easy to listen to. Very good to have on in the background while working.
Queen Latifah
2/5
Tedious self-agrandising, plodding rap. Oh per-lease, why? I don't believe this list is curated at all - at least, not by a music lover.
Miles Davis
2/5
Sorry, but I just don't get this sort of jazz at all. It's not unpleasant, and the musicianship is excellent, but I could listen to it all day and not remember a single note.
Shuggie Otis
2/5
Oh dear. The massive over-production fails to disguise the lack of actual songs. It's just fluff. Strawberry Letter 23 is the only track with anything approaching a memorable hook or melody.
John Lennon
3/5
Some nice tunes - Working Class Hero is great, but the lyrical content is just too earnest, too therapeutic, too pretentious. I'm not a fan of the Yoko period.
The Everly Brothers
3/5
Dated
The Incredible String Band
2/5
Unlistenable. Vocalist struggling with the range and generally unpleasant. Mad music.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
5/5
Good stuff. 'Anything that's rock and roll' has been in my top five since 1978, and shows no sign of slipping. 'American girl' is up there too. Never played the whole album before, and it's all pretty good - it probably only deserves 4 stars, but the rest of this list has been so poor, it's easily 5 stars by comparison.
Spacemen 3
2/5
Really? Must I listen to this? It's sort of OK until the spoken (bad) lyrics start. After that it's just silly.
Music vedfs from Enoesque soundscapes through a sort of slowed down War on Drugs, to full-on Black Sabbath fuzz riffs - but all with ridiculous spoken lyrics over the top. Hopeless.
Marianne Faithfull
2/5
I don't like her voice. The music is well produced generally, but would be hugely improved by a proper rock vocalist and an enthusiastic drummer. As it stands, it's underpowered and plodding. Not bad - just nowhere near as good as it could be.
Ali Farka Touré
5/5
Fabulous. Really enjoyed this - I like West African guitar music and Ali Farke Toure is top of the list.
Linkin Park
4/5
Nu-metal: a sort of cross between metal and hip hop. It's. ery good and has clearly been very influential. 'In the end' is a standout, but it's all pretty good. Not what I'd normally listen to, but uneniably an important album.
Doves
2/5
Was this designed to wash over people? Apart from where the drums are way too high in tbe mix, there's nothing to attract attention. It's not unpleasant, I just struggled to pay attention - it's like a musical weather forecast.
Dagmar Krause
1/5
Not available on Spotify - what a relief! I loathe avant garde.
Beck
3/5
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
By turns it is either heatrical, childish, inappropriate, glam rock or brilliant.
The Divine Comedy
3/5
Some sly humour but the songs and delivery belong in a musical. It sounds very theatrical. Not to my taste.
The Avalanches
2/5
I read the 'About the Avalanches' section on Spotify which described them as "wholly original" - preposterous! It's all samples, which by definition means it isn't original. Be that as it may, I didn't enjoy any of this after the first couple of minutes. The sample used in the first track was nice and started out well, but the track didn't go anywhere- it just circled round and round. Great if you're off your tits at a rave and dancing, but hopeless to listen to as music. Completely pointless.
TV On The Radio
3/5
First track was OK, but it wrnt downhill after that. Not bad, just not good either. As usual with this list, it's just 'meh'.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
Didn't like this at all.
Simple Minds
3/5
This was one of three cassettes Jane had in her car when we first got together (the others were The Colour of Spring by Talk Talk and The Queen is Dead by The Smiths). I really liked the other two.
Skunk Anansie
3/5
Clit rock - screaming vitriol over jerky rock. Actually, it's not bad. The song structure is always very dynamic, veering between soft crooning and piercing screams.
There's nothing on here to rival 'Hedonism', but it's at least as good as most of the stuff on this list.
The Mothers Of Invention
3/5
Tom Tom Club
3/5
All based on repetitive synth-based grooves. A bit silly, but not unpleasant. Don't ever want or need to hear it again.
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
I really like the sound of this, the guitar-driven rock, it has all the ingredients to be great - except tunes. There just aren't any melodic hooks to hold on to. I like the vocal style. the backing vocals, the drums, bass and guitar - it's all there except the songs.
Jacques Brel
2/5
I don't like chanson when it's sung in English, so I definitely don't want to hear it in French. Love David Bowie's version of Amsterdam, but that's it for me - no more chanson.
Suede
3/5
Pretty good. Rockier than expected, but vocal style is a bit off-putting: Bowie style big high notes, without Bowies tunes and voice.
The Electric Prunes
3/5
Standard late sixties psychedelic rock.
Talking Heads
3/5
Meh. Best track 'Life during wartime' but even then, there's a much better version on 'Stop Making Sense'.
Jimmy Smith
3/5
Nice smooth jazzy blues - but not very interesting. Just background music.
Björk
2/5
Irritating.
Sinead O'Connor
3/5
Better than I remember it. The music is pretty good,, but the lyrics are tiresome.
Dirty Projectors
2/5
Not terrible, so on this list, that's worth 2 stars, buI never want to hear it again.
Sex Pistols
5/5
Can't give it anything but 5 stars - a genuinely essential album, even if you don't like it. Also has at least five (depending on your taste) fantastic songs.
Boston
4/5
I've been trying to play 'more than a feeling' for decades and am nearly there (in my head, anyway). Never heard the rest of the album before. It's all feelgood rock, couple of standouts - 'Smokin' (b side of the single) 'Longtime' and 'Hitch a ride', but it's all good. Solid 4 stars.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
1980s - meh.
Giant Sand
2/5
Meh. Coney island baby without Lou Reed or decent tunes and with horrible dischordant guitar solos.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
2/5
Never liked this - even when I was eight.The 'big band' blues style - on the surface it's authentic looking, but underneath it's just schmaltzy & showbiz. Similar to Chicago.
Neil Young
4/5
Not his best. I already have this album, but was disappointed by it and haven't played it for 20 years. Played it 2 or 3 times today and liked it more, but still not one of his best. I'll leave it another 20 years to see if it improves.
But it's still Neil Young, so 4 stars.
Robbie Williams
3/5
Smooth voice, but I don't like it much. Hearing 'She's the one' reminded me how much I like World Party, so I played that version and much preferred it. Wikipedia describes Robbie Williams as a singer-songwriter! Ha ha ha. No wonder there's no soul in the music - he sold it.
Gang Starr
2/5
Meh. D d d d d don't believe the hype...
Kendrick Lamar
1/5
offensive tripe
Roxy Music
3/5
Not their best, but pretty good.
Pink Floyd
2/5
This should not be on the list. It is nowhere near Pink Floyd's best. As a fan, I'm comfortable saying that it is of historical (almost archeological) interest only.
Eminem
4/5
Apparently much of the lyrical content and attitudes are 'unacceptable' these days (according to my millennial son), but I find him to be the best rapper I've heard - which admittedly isn't saying much. Given that the second word spoken on the appalling Kendrick Lamarr album was "nigger", I don't see what's so unacceptable about Eminem. It gets 4 stars, which is easily the highest possible rating for a rap/hiphop album.
Throwing Muses
2/5
Semi-punk, Lena Lovich vocal style. Nothing to recommend itself.
Dwight Yoakam
3/5
Standard twangy guitar, twangy voice country music, from the time immediately before Garth Crooks et al made country popular (and listenable). Standard, uninteresting fayre.
Liz Phair
4/5
lo-fi rock
Spiritualized
2/5
Tedious - of no interest at all.
Ms. Dynamite
2/5
More rap?? No thanks - I do NOT need to hear any more rap before I die. It isn't musically important.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
3/5
Pretty good synth-pop
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
Grunge. It's OK but no hooks or melodies to hold my attention. The overall guitar-heavy sound is good.
Kate Bush
3/5
A bit weird - I have no idea what the songs are about. But they are still interesting to listen to, though I doubt I'll ever listen to this again.
X-Ray Spex
4/5
As punk goes, this is very tuneful and accessible. Very enjoyable.
Genesis
5/5
Hallelujah! I had given up any expection of finding this album on the list (988 albums in) and the relief is palpable. This is one of the greatest achievements in rock. Utterly sublime from start to finish. It is so good that availability should be strictly limited to those capable of appreciating what is surely Peter Gabriel's finest hour (and that's really saying something). Mere words are inadequate and 5 stars aren't enough - just listen in awe.
Joe Ely
2/5
southern accent, steel guitar, the usual. First 10 seconds promising, but then it changes and is just run of the mill country
The Rolling Stones
2/5
No, no and thrice no! This should not be on the list. The Rolling Stones are famously 'tight but loose' but this is way too tight and insipid. They are still learning their trade. There's no excitement. Compare 'Can I get a witness' with Marvin Gaye's version - it's worlds apart. 'Carol' begins to come close but is still nowhere near their raucous, later live version. I love the Stones, but this shouldn't be here.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
A perfect album - it's a pity they couldn't repeat the trick.
Herbie Hancock
3/5
I listened to this 3 times back-to-back and don't remember a note of it after the first track. I only 'woke up' when Spotify started playing its suggested tracks after the akbum finished. It's vey pleasant, but entirely forgettable.
Tori Amos
4/5
The American Kate Bush with significant echoes appearing later in the work of Alanis Morissette. Entertaining and some good tunes ('China' in particular). I like it.
Solange
3/5
Smooth R&B with some occasional and pointless hiphop interjections. I played it several times and don't remember any of it. Only woke up when Spotify played some Sade - at which point the increase in quality was too obvious to ignore.
AC/DC
5/5
Brilliant. Thoroughly enjoyable and the second biggest selling album of all time, even though it's not their best, in my view. All their best stuff was from the Bon Scott period - I remember exactly where I was when I heard he had died. Brian Johnson is a lovely bloke and had a stronger voice, but Bon Scott was the spirit of rock.
Les Rythmes Digitales
2/5
Pretty good dance music, typical early nineties rave - no doubt great if you're off your tits, but not much use to actually listen to.
The Band
3/5
Pretty good, if a bit plodding. 'The Weight' stands out a mile above everything else.
Slade
5/5
Joyous glam-rock. I'd forgotten most of this album and it was a real treat to hear it again. Much underated, too - they really could rock. A solid 5 stars.
Tricky
2/5
Early hip hop, with next-to-no swearing - hardly a nigger or motherfucker to be heard. But heavy, semi-industrial beats are often too high in the mix, overwhelming whatever music might lie underneath. But it doesn't make much difference to me because I don't like this anyway. It's not terrible, just... meh.
Grateful Dead
3/5
Inoffensive ciuntry rock. I don't get The Grateful Dead - the albums show no signs of the extended, hard rockin', drug fuelled, guitar solos that their live gigs are famous for. This just seems lame.
Fishbone
4/5
An eclectic mix: ska, metal, rock, funk - it's all here, and pretty good too. Played it through fully half a dozen times and enjoyed it thoroughly. The final track 'Change' is the best and is very much in the style of George Michael.
Beck
3/5
Half a dozen attempts to rewrite 'Loser', all unsuccessful. Lots of pointless and incongruous noises added at the start/middle/end of tracks.
Baaba Maal
3/5
Not enough guitar - I especially like Weest African guitar and Baaba Maal should have fit that nicely, but doesn't - too loud, too singy, not bluesy enough.
Simply Red
3/5
The Temptations
3/5
interesting socially aware songs in amongst. the standard soul. The 12 minute version of Papa was a rolling stone' needs editing.
Holger Czukay
2/5
As avant-garde goes, this is listenable, but still of no interest. It's just background.
Louis Prima
5/5
Joyous - I could (and did) listen to this all day.
Kate Bush
4/5
Lovely. 'This woman's work, 'Love and anger', and the title track are standouts.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Meh. Bored of hearing this. It's very, very good pop, but not what I enjjoy.
D'Angelo
2/5
Dull, uninteresting sort of soft rap, with smooth type backing music.
Machito
3/5
Meh
New York Dolls
3/5
Very obviously the birthplace of punk. I expect they were great live, but this is a bit flat. If you like punk, this is great. If not, the riffs aren't up to much and it's just a bit flat - the excitement doesn't quite come through.
Carpenters
3/5
One of the great voices - like having honey poured over you. But it's a bit too saccharine so it's hard to listen to more than one or two tracks at a time.
David Holmes
2/5
Pointless voice samples begin every track. Then bass/drum rythmn starys, and that's about it. Dance music only.
Coldcut
1/5
Tedious acid/trance type dance 'music'.As a listening only experience, it's utterly useless.
Tears For Fears
4/5
Fabulous production, big sound - and some great tunes. If 'woman in chains' was on this album, it'd be five stars - but it isn't, so just 4 stars.
Jack White
2/5
I ought to like this - all the ingredients are there: rock genre, lots of guitar, riffs, etc - but I don't. The voice isn't strong enough and grates, the riffs are weedy and theres no power or resolution in the music. It's very formulaic.. I didn't like the White Stripes for the same reasons.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
I didn't get enough time for this to sink in - the songs grow with repeat plays. It may bebetter than I first thought.
The Coral
2/5
I especially don't like the plodding drumming.
Kelela
2/5
Run of the mill r&b.
Sonic Youth
4/5
Better than expected. Too much distortion on the production but otherwise very listenable, riff-based rock
3/5
Odd. Quite tuneful, but I couldn't bear to listen to it all. The silly voices and general frippery annoyed me. Shame- this could have been a really good album.
David Bowie
5/5
Superb. One of my favourite Bowie (and therefore favourite overall) albums.
Air
2/5
Electronic music, quite melodious but nothing special, just pleasant background music - like a film/TV soundtrack.
Beyoncé
1/5
I loathe this style of music.
LTJ Bukem
1/5
Pointless.
Ice T
2/5
Laughable.
The Icarus Line
2/5
Terrible. I knew within 5 seconds that this was going to be poor and so it proved to be. I really couldn't stand to listen any longer than about 30 seconds to any of the tracks, they were just too awful. Why exactly is this album on the list? Is it really one of the top 1001 albums ever recorded? Jesus, I hope not.
The Blue Nile
3/5
The wrong album choice for this list - it's not as good as Hats.
King Crimson
3/5
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
3/5
Clearly much influenced by Gil Scott-Heron and none the worse for that. Possibly the best hiphop I've heard so far, which admittedly isn't saying much, but if you really must listen to rap, start here. Makes me wonder why the real Gil Scott-Heron only makes one appearance on this list...
Digital Underground
3/5
Typical 80s/90s rap. Plodding and unsophisticated - on the other hand, there's no gratuitous bad language, mysogony, racism, or vuolent braggadocio and that makes a welcome change - so it gets an extra star for that. But I never want to listen to this, or any other rap, ever again..
Brian Eno
4/5
Not the ambient Eno I was expecting - this is rock (albeit slightly avant garde). I like it.
Morrissey
3/5
Same as all his other albums - what makes this special? He's hard to listen to, these days.I loved The Smiths, but without Johnny Marr's jangling guitar, it's just some right wing nutter whining. But that's OK - he doesn't care what anyone else thinks, because he knows he's right.
Ministry
2/5
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Brilliant.
Brian Eno
4/5
Very good Eno standard.
3/5
Not available on Spotify. Rated on other XtC msterial.
Goldfrapp
3/5
First track was OK, gentle melody, though the silly, affected voice annoyed me. After that, nothing caught my attention except the bizarre lyrics.
Death In Vegas
3/5
Electro-shoegaze. No thanks.Better than expected, but not good enough to be on this list (like at least 500 others)
The Beta Band
3/5
Middle of the road. Nice vocal production, but I'd had enough after three tracks.
Laura Nyro
2/5
Don't like this 'big voice' swinging 60s production stuff.
Guided By Voices
2/5
terrible. Disjointed, jagged, loose, lacking melody or focus.
3/5
It's OK. Some of it is listenable but in general Ray Davies either hits the bullseye or else missses completely. I love the sentiments, but just don't much like the tunes and his voice is a bit thin.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Meh.
Mercury Rev
2/5
Don't like this at all.
Johnny Cash
4/5
Some of his best performances. I don't like some (most) of the song choices, but Personal Jesus is a stroke of genius.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
Thiis is exactly the sort of prog-rock nonsense responsible for the punk rock backlash. It's barely listenable.
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
Always loved the first track: 'The Shining' but never heard the rest of the album before. Turns out I didn't miss anything.
Beck
3/5
Que 'Onda Guero was a good attempt at rewriting 'Loser', and 'Hell Yes' was pretty good - but otherwise nothing on here grabbed me.
Kings of Leon
3/5
Surprisingly good, but three tracks was enough.
Megadeth
2/5
Oh per-lease.. This is hopeless. No use for anyone but incels and 13 year old boyz
Girls Against Boys
2/5
I'd really prefer it if there was some decent music on the list. This just follows Megadeth and so all the same comments apply...
Peter Gabriel
5/5
Endlessly inventive with rhythm, melody, arranements and themes - a brilliant musician.
The Smiths
3/5
"Whether or not Strangeways, Here We Come ended the Smiths' brief career with their best album has been the subject of considerable debate for nearly a quarter century.."
Well I can easily solve that connundrum - no, it definitely isn't. No wonder they broke up. This isn't a patch on 'The Queen is Dead'.
However it is still The Smiths, so it can have 3 stars just for that.
Scritti Politti
3/5
Pleasant, breathy vocals. Can't really tell one track from another, but they're all quite nice, so that's OK.
The Lemonheads
3/5
It's sort of OK.Lad rock.
Otis Redding
4/5
Fantastic voice and some brilliant songs. Shame Sam Cooke had already done the definitive versions, which renders these versions inferior, though still great. Respect and I've been lovin' you too long are classics, as is My girl..
The xx
3/5
Not unpleasant, but washed over me.
Aimee Mann
3/5
Not bad, but not my taste.
Aphex Twin
3/5
Way too much rhythm to be ambient. I found it intrusive.
T. Rex
5/5
Brilliant. Thanks for reminding me about this forgotten album, which had been a major soundtrack to my teenage years. I love almost every track - and the Ballrooms of Mars is a masterpeice.
The whole album's lyrics should be published and put on the GCSE syllabus. 'The cosmic sea is like a bumblebee' - yes, of course it is Marc.
This album might be better than Electric Warrior and even if it isn't, it's pretty damn close. Five stars. 'One, two, and a bubbly bubbly boo boo boo...'
Aretha Franklin
5/5
Queen of soul.
The White Stripes
2/5
Not for me - I can't get past the squeaky voice and the terrible drumming.
The Specials
4/5
Good stuff, very upbeat.
Fever Ray
4/5
Strange but riveting. I loved this, once I relaxed into it.
Dennis Wilson
3/5
Started well but I soon lost interest.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
Superb. Not a bad track on the album. This genuinely needs to be heard before you die (finally!).
Magazine
2/5
Not interested.
The Darkness
3/5
Not interested.
Tom Waits
4/5
Really great idea - a kind of live concert, excelt it was plannned, by special invitation only and in a recording studio. Great performance and top class musicianship - but the songs aren't particularly memorable. I love Tom Waits, so I'm haappy listening to it, but it isn't one of his best in my view..
2/5
Not interested - I don't like PJ Harvey's music.
Lana Del Rey
4/5
A nice noise. Bit breathy in the vocal delivery and light on hooks, but nevertheless a very pleasant listen.
Dinosaur Jr.
2/5
Riff based rock, which is a good thing. But the riffs are poor, which is not so good.
a-ha
4/5
Very good pop - but I don't know why it's on this list.
Portishead
1/5
A meaningless jumble.
Pantera
1/5
Don't be silly. For incels and 13 year old boys only.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
3/5
Disco - not for me.
Solomon Burke
3/5
A great voice, but this is just a bunch of (unsuccessful) attempts to rewrite 'Stand by me'.
The Mothers Of Invention
2/5
I. don't get on with Zappa's music. I get it - the sarcasm and humour. He's just constantly taking the mickey out of mainstream and oip music, demonstrating how easy it is. But it quickly wears thin, because, great musician though he undoubtedly is, it's just not very pleasant or satisfying to listen to. I'd prefer him to just 'play it straight'. The first track could be a perfectly acceptable tune but he deliberately subverts it. It's just tedious.
Pentangle
5/5
Marvellohs. Better still, after it finished, Spotify curated a list of further songs for me, including Kevin Ayers, Roy Harper, Fotheringay, Sandy Denny, The Incredible String Band, Nic Jones, Steeleye Span, Fairport Covention and the amazing Anne Briggs. A whole day of absolute musical joy!
Stevie Wonder
5/5
Bob Dylan
4/5
Surprisingly listenable. A return to form.
Dexys Midnight Runners
2/5
Don't like Dexys.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
2/5
Good until the vocals begin...
Astrud Gilberto
3/5
Background music for a sophisticated 1970 pool party.
Skepta
2/5
I'm told this is 'grime'. Certainly sounds pretty shitty to me.
The Hives
3/5
Pretty good riff based punk/rock.