Journey Complete!
Finisher #427 to complete the list
View User Albums Summary1089
Albums Rated
3.79
Average Rating
100%
Complete
Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin
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1950s
Favorite Decade
Funk
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Top Origin
Enthusiast
Rater Style ?
378
5-Star Albums
59
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
D.O.A. the Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle
|
5 | 1.88 | +3.12 |
|
Duck Stab/Buster & Glen
The Residents
|
5 | 2.03 | +2.97 |
|
Wonderful Rainbow
Lightning Bolt
|
5 | 2.28 | +2.72 |
|
Trout Mask Replica
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
|
5 | 2.29 | +2.71 |
|
Rock Bottom
Robert Wyatt
|
5 | 2.39 | +2.61 |
|
Cupid & Psyche 85
Scritti Politti
|
5 | 2.39 | +2.61 |
|
Locust Abortion Technician
Butthole Surfers
|
5 | 2.39 | +2.61 |
|
Metal Box
Public Image Ltd.
|
5 | 2.41 | +2.59 |
|
Public Image: First Issue
Public Image Ltd.
|
5 | 2.42 | +2.58 |
|
Third
Soft Machine
|
5 | 2.43 | +2.57 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Rumours
Fleetwood Mac
|
1 | 4.46 | -3.46 |
|
The Stranger
Billy Joel
|
1 | 3.85 | -2.85 |
|
In Rainbows
Radiohead
|
1 | 3.84 | -2.84 |
|
Live At The Harlem Square Club
Sam Cooke
|
1 | 3.77 | -2.77 |
|
Brothers In Arms
Dire Straits
|
1 | 3.74 | -2.74 |
|
Dire Straits
Dire Straits
|
1 | 3.72 | -2.72 |
|
Oracular Spectacular
MGMT
|
1 | 3.61 | -2.61 |
|
Funeral
Arcade Fire
|
1 | 3.56 | -2.56 |
|
1984
Van Halen
|
1 | 3.51 | -2.51 |
|
Illinois
Sufjan Stevens
|
1 | 3.5 | -2.5 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Led Zeppelin | 5 | 5 |
| Brian Eno | 5 | 5 |
| Bob Dylan | 7 | 4.71 |
| Leonard Cohen | 5 | 4.6 |
| Stevie Wonder | 4 | 4.75 |
| Neil Young | 4 | 4.75 |
| Kanye West | 3 | 5 |
| Public Enemy | 3 | 5 |
| The Fall | 3 | 5 |
| The Velvet Underground | 3 | 5 |
| Bob Marley & The Wailers | 3 | 5 |
| Jimi Hendrix | 3 | 5 |
| Kraftwerk | 3 | 5 |
| David Bowie | 9 | 4.22 |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 5 | 4.4 |
| Sonic Youth | 5 | 4.4 |
| Miles Davis | 4 | 4.5 |
| PJ Harvey | 4 | 4.5 |
| Neil Young & Crazy Horse | 3 | 4.67 |
| The Cure | 3 | 4.67 |
| Prince | 3 | 4.67 |
| Nirvana | 3 | 4.67 |
| Pixies | 3 | 4.67 |
| Paul Simon | 3 | 4.67 |
| Creedence Clearwater Revival | 3 | 4.67 |
| The White Stripes | 3 | 4.67 |
| Beatles | 7 | 4.14 |
| Fela Kuti | 2 | 5 |
| Siouxsie And The Banshees | 2 | 5 |
| Dusty Springfield | 2 | 5 |
| Todd Rundgren | 2 | 5 |
| Orbital | 2 | 5 |
| The Clash | 2 | 5 |
| CHIC | 2 | 5 |
| Cocteau Twins | 2 | 5 |
| Lou Reed | 2 | 5 |
| Spiritualized | 2 | 5 |
| Common | 2 | 5 |
| Motörhead | 2 | 5 |
| Primal Scream | 2 | 5 |
| Can | 2 | 5 |
| King Crimson | 2 | 5 |
| Kendrick Lamar | 2 | 5 |
| Super Furry Animals | 2 | 5 |
| Elliott Smith | 2 | 5 |
| Love | 2 | 5 |
| Ali Farka Touré | 2 | 5 |
| Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band | 2 | 5 |
| Scott Walker | 2 | 5 |
| Doves | 2 | 5 |
| Public Image Ltd. | 2 | 5 |
| Sly & The Family Stone | 2 | 5 |
| Joni Mitchell | 4 | 4.25 |
| The Rolling Stones | 6 | 4 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 3 | 4.33 |
| Nick Drake | 3 | 4.33 |
| The Stooges | 3 | 4.33 |
| Michael Jackson | 3 | 4.33 |
| Marvin Gaye | 3 | 4.33 |
| Kate Bush | 3 | 4.33 |
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Dire Straits | 2 | 1 |
| Elvis Costello | 2 | 1 |
| Eminem | 2 | 1 |
| Coldplay | 2 | 1 |
| Rod Stewart | 2 | 1.5 |
| The Mothers Of Invention | 2 | 1.5 |
| Happy Mondays | 2 | 1.5 |
| Morrissey | 4 | 2.25 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Genesis | 5, 1 |
| Dexys Midnight Runners | 1, 4, 5 |
| Radiohead | 1, 5, 4, 5, 2, 4 |
| Oasis | 2, 5 |
| Ice Cube | 2, 5 |
5-Star Albums (378)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Sufjan Stevens
1/5
Honestly just the blandest thing I've ever heard. If a yogurt made a sound this would be it.
58 likes
Gil Scott-Heron
5/5
Really enjoyable. Reminds you how little has changed in politics since the 70s.
(Could not find on Spotify, YouTube link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnkDjMDD3JQ)
56 likes
Dinosaur Jr.
5/5
If I had a time machine, my priority would be making my 16-year-old self listen to this absolutely masterful recording. After that I'd go back and kill Hitler etc.
38 likes
Lightning Bolt
5/5
Ridiculously fun and energetic, a missing link between metal and dance. Like throwing a box of firecrackers into a bonfire. One of the best discoveries I've made here, I just wish I'd been into them at the time.
37 likes
Elvis Presley
1/5
I've come to the conclusion that I really hate Elvis.
21 likes
1-Star Albums (59)
All Ratings
Franz Ferdinand
2/5
Pretty much different variations of the same song over and over again. Mixing is very flat. Got bored.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
Hugh Masekela
4/5
Perky jazz. Very NYC.
David Bowie
2/5
Wanted to like it more but it's a bit too indulgent and tuneless.
Louis Prima
5/5
Joyful!
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Really enjoyed this. Mrs Robinson still sounds fresh. Was not expecting synths!
Fela Kuti
5/5
Flamboyant and beautifully produced. Joyous.
Jefferson Airplane
5/5
Enjoyable. Wish I hadn't listened to the album with bonus tracks though as it's far too long.
The 13th Floor Elevators
3/5
Very samey, hated that sound effect they used on most songs.
The Roots
4/5
My flatmate at uni was a big fan of this, but I have only a vague recollection of it. Enjoyable, though, very raw and aggressive in places, in a good way.
Isaac Hayes
4/5
Occasionally very cheesy and soap opera-like, but fun and funky nonetheless.
2/5
Aggressive, noisy, raw. To start with. Slides into mediocre lager rock which is alternately boring and annoying.
U2
2/5
I want to like U2, they just make it so difficult sometimes! After an epic start it nosedives into Bono at his most indulgently awful, punctuated by a few decent singles.
Slayer
4/5
A silly but perfectly formed blast of death metal. It sounds like there are too many lyrics for each song. Can't believe it came out in 86, it still sounds fresh.
Alice Cooper
4/5
A carnival of musical styles that has much more range than the lead single suggests.
Metallica
3/5
Bouncy, fun, silly.
Buffalo Springfield
4/5
Perfectly formed psych-folk-pop.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
On a Neil Young trip at the moment! He seems to be one of the few artists whose live performances live up to the recorded versions.
System Of A Down
5/5
What I love about SOAD is that the vitriol is coming from a genuine place. They're not just overgrown teenagers ranting against their parents.
Charles Mingus
5/5
Debauched jazz; runs the gamut of emotions while being sonically perfect. Fuckin a.
Ice Cube
2/5
Production and assembly is great, and it's a (rightly) angry album, but the shameless sexism is not a good look now.
Parliament
5/5
So much funk. Very ahead of its time.
Badly Drawn Boy
2/5
Oh my god this goes on forever. He's not a great lyricist, is he? Will this ever ennnnd...
Adam & The Ants
5/5
Punky, upbeat glam pop, definitely an influence on Supergrass and Franz Ferdinand. Irresistible.
Tina Turner
4/5
The height of 80s slick production contrasts perfectly with her powerful voice. I wasn't keen on the covers though.
Buena Vista Social Club
2/5
Hmm yeah, kind of not really my thing. I remember it being very fashionable to like this though. Maybe I need to see the film.
Sufjan Stevens
1/5
Honestly just the blandest thing I've ever heard. If a yogurt made a sound this would be it.
The Cure
4/5
The Cure before they discovered the playfulness that gave them hit singles.
2/5
Boring 80s pop
Talvin Singh
3/5
Very much of its time, still quite fun though.
Nitin Sawhney
2/5
Very late-90s; watery.
Sugar
5/5
Solid
James Brown
4/5
Short, sharp bursts of funk. I'm generally not a fan of live albums, but this one's worth a listen just to hear the sheer amount of fervour Brown generated.
The Byrds
4/5
Great country music for Lego building with my son on a Saturday morning.
Tito Puente
3/5
A nice sound, but it gets a bit samey after a while.
Nick Drake
4/5
Very chilled out folk, occasionally dark and deep.
4/5
Dour
Jorge Ben Jor
4/5
Great fun
Mercury Rev
4/5
Very Tim Burton-esque soundscapes. Their formula wears a little thin in the middle, but the album is better than I remember it.
4/5
Finally! I've found a U2 album that doesn't make me want to stab my ears out.
Johnny Cash
4/5
Incredibly entertaining.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
I always assumed this came out in the 80s, but it makes sense in the mid-70s, exactly halfway between Dylan's folk heroism and swaggering stadium rock. Born to Run is a terrific ode to the small towns where the American dream has come to die.
Jeff Beck
4/5
Jazz-blues, blues-jazz. Definitely an influence on Led Zep. Annoying bonus tracks on Spotify.
Jimmy Smith
5/5
Lovely jazz, less showy than Miles Davis.
The Pogues
4/5
Bouncy folk-rock with an charming roughness. But I had to skip Fairytale; I've heard that song far too many times and I hate how overexposed it is. It's probably the weakest track on the album as well.
Venom
2/5
I was enjoying this until I got to "Teacher's Pet," which made me barf. Scarier than all the naff black metal stuff.
Talking Heads
5/5
Loved every minute of this.
James Taylor
3/5
A bit too chill for me. Prefer Nick Drake if I'm going down that route.
Björk
3/5
Bjork at her most Bjorkish. Wears a bit thin in places, no real standout tracks, and it was about this time that Goldfrapp took it to a more interesting place.
Suede
2/5
Some decent singles, but his voice is still way too annoying.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
4/5
Sweaty. Basically lots of different versions of Two Tribes (no bad thing!) and some utterly redundant cover versions which ruin the tone of the album and stretch it out too much.
Mike Oldfield
4/5
Knew the theme from \"The Exorcist,\" but wondered how Mike would fill 50 minutes of record. But he does and it works well, with surprising range and depth.
Iron Butterfly
5/5
Doors-esque psych-rock. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida is a sleazy, slinky classic.
Portishead
4/5
Very well-produced with a distinctive, unique sound. Sags a bit in the middle, but the dour, haunting singles make up for it. Much better than the town it's named after.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Pretty good, but very much of its time.
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
I'm beginning to realise that Belle and Sebastian aren't quite as twee as I first thought. I liked this, but I get the feeling there are better B&S albums.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Not bad! Couldn't find any stand-out tracks though.
Joni Mitchell
5/5
I was sort of dreading this after her more folksy albums, but it's kind of perfect. The sort of thing Air were trying to do, minus the tongue-in-cheekness.
Depeche Mode
5/5
Absolutely perfect in terms of consistency of tone, never outstays its welcome.
Yes
5/5
Slightly farty prog rock. Great fun.
Aerosmith
3/5
Puerile, cheesy, and raucous. Love in an Elevator is fantastic though.
Arcade Fire
1/5
Not sure if music from this period is bad or if I just didn't like it. But I did not enjoy this one bit; bland, pretentious, and needy. The early-00s equivalent of easy listening.
Prince
5/5
Exactly what the future sounded like from the perspective of 1982. Technically impressive and ridiculously sexy.
Wilco
2/5
Another not-great album from the early-00s. Schmaltzy and overwrought.
Bob Dylan
5/5
Definitely growing on me, it has a whimsical charm.
Roni Size
3/5
I remember this sounding like the future when it came out. It still sounds fresh, but time has tamed it. Runs out of steam and becomes irritating in places.
UB40
2/5
A bit dull.
Kanye West
5/5
So much texture, enthusiasm, and charisma. Moves so fast, freewheeling and joyously so. Made me smile so much.
Van Morrison
2/5
Surprisingly croonerific. Not all albums from this era are that good.
Slipknot
4/5
I remember my muso mates turning their noses up when they saw my copy of "Iowa." They were wrong. "All Hope is Gone" is better than "Iowa;" less childish and more range. What sets Slipknot apart is the contrast between the crunching, wall-of-sound death metal and the smoother, more melodic elements. A bit corny and overlong, but enjoyable nonetheless.
The Stooges
5/5
A weird, spidery album that delves further into the late-night freakiness that Lou Reed initially tapped. Love it.
Dwight Yoakam
1/5
In which Dwight advocates killing unfaithful women. Maybe they'd have more respect if you weren't such a murderous shithead, Dwight.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
5/5
Women were so much better at punk than men.
Wild Beasts
3/5
Somewhere between Radiohead and MGMT. A nice sound and great vocals, but I couldn't find any standout tracks.
Metallica
4/5
A match made in heaven — or hell. Metallica's overblown songs meet Kamen's OTT orchestration. Ridiculous fun and hugely impressive technically and logistically, hits its grunty nadir with "For Whom the Bell Tolls."
TV On The Radio
3/5
TV on the Radio were one of the more interesting bands of this era, and I liked that the indie genre became a bit more diverse. But this album seemed to have quite a lot of filler.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
5/5
Just wow. Every verse is a surprise, but it also manages to work in some tender moments. The best CSN&Y album I've heard. So far.
Gil Scott-Heron
5/5
Really enjoyable. Reminds you how little has changed in politics since the 70s.
(Could not find on Spotify, YouTube link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnkDjMDD3JQ)
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
I find Elvis Costello a little annoying. This was ok.
Rocket From The Crypt
5/5
Loved the singles from this at the time, but I never had the album. They were so different to everyone else at the time, the kind of rock and roll Primal Scream road tripped, but with a hint of ska. Loses a bit of momentum after the first three tracks, but still one-of-a-kind.
Dizzee Rascal
4/5
So talented! Every song sounds like a blueprint for Bonkers, but without its overexposure and catchiness.
Solomon Burke
4/5
Fun
fIREHOSE
3/5
Angular post-punk, probably very influential but it felt a little slight to me. One track sounds like Seinfeld slap-bass made into a song.
Great title! Dull and predictable album.
The Smashing Pumpkins
2/5
What a slog. The Smashing Pumpkins barely have enough material for one song, let alone a 2-hour plus album.
The Beach Boys
5/5
Went for the stereo version. So many good songs it's hard to pick a highlight. Beautiful, genre-bending music that was way ahead of its time but also nostalgic.
Pavement
5/5
Grunge was a reaction against stadium rock, and this is a reaction against grunge: small-scale, personal, lo-fi; with an air of reluctant self-pity replacing anger.
Amy Winehouse
2/5
Terrific voice, but the songs all start to sound the same after a while. It's a shame we never got to hear her doing more experimental and interesting stuff. And we missed out on a Bond theme!
The Doors
3/5
I like the way he rhymes "friend" with "end" and "fire" with "fire."
Various Artists
4/5
Probably should have listened to this before Christmas! Good though, a nice change from the heavy rotation Christmas songs of the 70s/80s/90s.
Dire Straits
1/5
One star for the "Money for Nothing" intro. The rest is insipid, cringeworthy music for 80s dads to listen to in their Ford Cortinas. Not sure why a band from Newcastle are trying to sound like they're from Nevada too.
Beatles
3/5
My favourite Beatles album is "The Best of the Beatles" (from the ages of 7-11 it actually was because it was the only one we had on tape). I was excited for "The White Album," and the crescendo of "Back in the USSR" followed by the melancholy crush of "Dear Prudence" (my favourite Beatles song) is a hell of a way to open an album and set its tone. But there are some duff tracks here too: "Ob-La-Di" and "Piggies" have dated awfully, and I'm sad to say I found the whole thing more irritating than enjoyable.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
3/5
50% decent hip-hop with a touch of trip-hop, 50% utter cringe wannabe gangster. It gets a star for being a welcome antidote to the bland indie that dominated UK airwaves at the time.
The Auteurs
1/5
Ushered in a new era of bland, limp-wristed, badly sung indie. Too many songs about stars. Did not like one bit.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
5/5
Love it. Boundary pushing indie pop; jaded romance.
Elbow
4/5
I never got on with Elbow's first album, and it out me off listening to their later stuff. But this is phenomenal and I wish I'd given them a second chance at the time. The only track I don't like is "One Day Like This," which EE used as its hold music and I'll forever associate with stressful calls.
Ray Price
4/5
Feeling ill, so I'm listening to this and reading Dickens. Somehow they go together!
Dr. Dre
3/5
One of those albums that seems a lot scarier than it is.
The Doors
4/5
My knowledge of The Doors is embarrassingly poor, but this seems like a step away from psych-rock and towards noodley blues.
Dusty Springfield
5/5
Wonderful, mournful 60s blue-eyed soul. You Don't Own Me is chilling and perfect.
Megadeth
5/5
Razor-sharp, unpretentious heavy metal.
Shivkumar Sharma
5/5
I'm guessing there probably wasn't much like this when it came out, and it still sounds fresh and vibrant. Occasionally gets a bit Muzaky, but I don't think this detracts from the album overall.
Sonic Youth
5/5
Just the most lost-sounding album in the world; distant vocals amid swirling guitars. Occasionally a little too discordant, but impressive and influential overall.
Harry Nilsson
5/5
What an unexpected delight. I love the way "Without You," probably the definitive modern love song, is followed by the playful absurdity of "Coconut," then "Jump Into the Fire" takes us on a psych-rock odyssey. And it does all this without ever losing its focus or missing a beat.
Gotan Project
4/5
Jazzy trip-hop with a distinctly Parisian twist. Has not dated nearly as badly as other music of this era, moves along nicely, but it is too long.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Not quite as coherent as III, but it makes up for it in the heavenly heights the songs hit.
The Smiths
3/5
Big Mouth Strikes Again is probably The Smiths' best song (and yes, that includes How Soon Is Now?), but Frankly Mr Shankly is probably their worst.
Todd Rundgren
5/5
When I first listened to this about 10 years ago I wanted to like it more, but found it too schizophrenic and irritating. On relistening Rundgren's genius really shines through. I love the fact that it doesn't sit still and changes direction so many times, but still manages to work in some decent tunes.
The Byrds
4/5
Groovy.
Michael Jackson
4/5
If you can't listen to this without at least tapping your foot, you're not alive and probably a zombie or vampire.
N.W.A.
3/5
Love the diversity of the samples, the bravura of the production. I think the way it pushed things forwards just about overcomes the nasty, dated lyrics.
The Beach Boys
4/5
It's like someone put The Beach Boys in a blender, then baked it. Love the texture.
Aretha Franklin
5/5
60s music was really good, wasn't it? This is powerful but effeminate without ever being cloying.
Orbital
5/5
Exactly what my brain needed on a stressful Wednesday morning. Orbital are at their best when they're doing more chilled-out stuff.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
My Dad had this on vinyl, so it got some heavy rotation when I was about five. Now, the tentpole tracks (Born in the USA, Cover Me and Dancing in the Dark) lack the punch I remember, but I'm on Fire is an absolute masterpiece; Springsteen baring a vulnerable heart underneath his gruff exterior.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Listened to Sticky Fingers a lot at uni. It makes you feel dirty just by listening — and it's all the better for it. The remastered edition on Spotify is a bit unnecessary, I prefer the heroin-fuelled rawness of the original recording.
Nirvana
5/5
Not usually a fan of live albums, but this one is essential. Its acoustic nature strips Kurt of his electrified anger and softens Nirvana's rough edges, revealing something more tender. The covers, in particular "Man Who Saved the World," fit in perfectly too.
Brian Eno
5/5
One of Eno's best collaborations, with David Byrne and the entire continent of Africa adding a vital funk injection.
Depeche Mode
4/5
Stirring.
Gary Numan
4/5
There's something very sweet about Gary Numan, he was a musician who was unafraid to embrace his inner nerd. This album is a little underwhelming, probably because other artists have remixed and amped up his songs.
Tori Amos
3/5
A less weird Kate Bush. Some decent tunes, especially Little Earthquakes, but there are some boring ballads too.
KISS
5/5
I've always been put off KISS by the way they look. But I realised that this is quite judgemental of me and these poor people must have suffered throughout their lives due to their unusual facial pigmentation, incredible hair, and malformed feet. Anyway, this album is decent; well-rounded and nicely paced with tight production. And it doesn't sound like I expected a KISS album to sound.
Joan Baez
5/5
My Mum played a lot of Baez when I was growing up, but, being 10, I never really saw the appeal. This album really clicked for me, though; it's very straightforward, but her pitch-perfect voice and skills as a guitarist elevate it to stratospheric levels. What's more is that it has a level of authenticity and sincerity that's sorely missed in modern music.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Girl From Ipanema is very good, it feels bright and sunny. Lost interest after that though.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
Started listening to this yesterday, found it nightmarishly horrible and had to switch it off, but I was not in a great place. Picked it up again today and enjoyed it a lot more; despite Sinatra's reputation, there is something heartfelt and sincere about his songs and the way he sings them. I like the way it tells a story as well.
Pixies
5/5
A confession from someone who considers themselves a Pixies fan: I only ever had their "Death to the Pixies" compilation, and I always thought it was enough. Then I saw them live in Cardiff in 2016 and did not enjoy them one bit, there was no audience engagement or energy. But this album has reaffirmed my love of Pixies; it's nice to hear the classics from "Death to..." alongside some songs I've never heard before, all of which are good.
Janis Joplin
4/5
Somehow I'd never heard her before, but she's got a unique voice paired with intelligent lyrics.
5/5
I'd heard this before, thanks to The KLF and Primal Scream. It really is phenomenal, lightning in a jar energy. Wish I'd been there, dude.
Crowded House
1/5
Given my recent Talk Talk revelation, I thought I might like this a bit more. But I didn't. Bland, unchallenging, meaningless music.
Elvis Costello
1/5
Sorry, I just don't see the attractions.
Sam Cooke
1/5
I'm always wary of albums with the tracklisting on the cover, but this one's pretty good. Read the Wikipedia page and the guy was a scumbag. Next.
Jacques Brel
4/5
No fucking clue what he's singing about, which is a good thing as I didn't get distracted by the lyrics. Technically impressive for a live album too.
Queen
2/5
Try as I might, I always find Queen more irritating than interesting.
The Pharcyde
2/5
Promising to start with, but overlong and occasionally horribly misogynistic in a "hey I'm playing a character" way, which seems even worse.
Bert Jansch
4/5
Relaxing and soothing; could have been recorded any time between 1965 and now.
Jane's Addiction
4/5
Liked this a lot, feels (and looks) like a very 90s alt-rock album even though it was recorded in the 80s.
Big Star
4/5
Enjoyable gentle rock.
The Cars
5/5
Dynamic, engaging pop rock. Well ahead of its time. One of my new favourite bands.
Genesis
5/5
God I wish I still did drugs
John Lee Hooker
3/5
Unexceptional blues rock
Beatles
4/5
Easy to see why they were such a hit: a set of punchy pop tunes that wouldn't upset your mum too much. I think I prefer this to their more experimental work.
Ministry
3/5
Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
I'm old enough to remember when this came out, and was absolutely everywhere, and I absolutely hated it at the time. Listening to the whole album reveals it's not too bad; it has a certain ADHD energy and Kleidis is a surprisingly sharp lyricist. But every song relies on the same formula, which wears a bit thin, and it's far too long.
Paul Simon
5/5
I enjoyed this more than the Simon and Garfunkel albums I've heard; more meaty diversity and texturally superior.
Jerry Lee Lewis
4/5
A machine gun of hits.
Taylor Swift
2/5
Interesting to start with but soon became almost soporifically boring. Just platitudes set to music.
Aphex Twin
4/5
The standout tracks just about overcome some horrible midi sounds.
R.E.M.
4/5
So it's not "Coming in Jamaica."
Gorillaz
4/5
I had an annoying, unidentifiable song permanently lodged in my head from 2013 - 2019. It turns out it's "Rock the House." Good to have some closure. I like the album otherwise, a nice halfway house between trip and hip hop. "19-2000" is a forgotten gem.
The La's
4/5
A lot more depth and breadth than I was expecting from "There She Goes" and Cast's output. A northern REM.
The Clash
5/5
Somehow, I'd never listened to this. Really liked it; raw punk, but with cerebral credibility.
Steely Dan
4/5
Funky folk by funky folk. Reminds me of Alan Parsons.
The Who
2/5
I like the concept, but parts of this have dated awfully, especially the "humourous" bits.
The Louvin Brothers
4/5
Decent.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
I did listen to this, but I forgot to review it. The singles are good, from what I remember.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
4/5
"Dreamin'" is so, so bad. But "The Message" is so, so good.
Solange
4/5
Not what I expected, soul with a hip-hop edge. Much more subdued and subtle than her sister's more bombastic work.
Aerosmith
3/5
Steady rock. Not quite as flamboyant or emotional as their later work
Eric Clapton
3/5
Nicely laid-back songwriting from a racist prick.
LL Cool J
5/5
Loved this. Eastside rap was a lot more cosmopolitan than west, and I preferred its sound. Mama Said Knock You Out still sounds great, while Milky Cereal is great fun.
The Saints
5/5
My expectations were low, but this album is stunning. Sounds as if it could have been recorded in 2001, alongside The Strokes et al.
Jeff Buckley
2/5
Never really got this. His cover of "Hallelujah" is heavenly, but the rest is messy and unfocused. It's better in its quieter moments, the louder bits are sub "Pablo Honey"-era Radiohead.
Van Morrison
4/5
Decent 70s chill.
Beach House
1/5
This kind of music seems to be in a no-man's land between classic and modern. At the time of writing, it's cringeworthy heartfelt saccharine pop-folk without a hint of irony or authenticity.
Herbie Hancock
5/5
Irresistible jazz with an electronic edge. Groundbreaking and essential.
The National
4/5
Better than most other albums of this era, less whimsical and more muscular.
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
5/5
A halfway house between The Clash and Rage Against the Machine, that refocuses hip-hop's anger against the establishment and corporations. Still as relevant today as it was 30 (!?) years ago.
Muddy Waters
3/5
Decent, but I'm getting a bit bored of blues/folk live albums.
The Cure
5/5
An interesting album, at least 17 years ahead of its time.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
3/5
Decent but not essential.
David Crosby
5/5
Good lord this made me want to drink beer in the sun.
Talking Heads
4/5
Great fun.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
5/5
Astonished by how much I enjoyed this, it was never not interesting. Still not sure if they're racist though.
The Prodigy
3/5
I had this at the time; I sold it (when that was a thing!) because The Prodigy just felt like one-trick ponies, with very little muscle behind their aggressive sound. Now, the singles (Smack My Bitch Up, Firestarter) just feel quaint and cute and kind of funny. But I was surprised at the depth of the rest of the album, there are some decent tracks on here, especially the Crispian Mills collab. Which is something I never thought I'd say!
Otis Redding
5/5
So many hits here. Unbelievably good.
Miles Davis
3/5
Made me feel uneasy, but I'm not sure if it was because I was feeling uneasy anyway.
Björk
3/5
Indulgent and slightly irritating. Not entirely convinced that this list needs more than one Bjork album.
Van Halen
3/5
The cover of "You Really Got Me" got me, wasn't quite so keen on the rest though.
Eminem
1/5
Remember when it was funny to pretend to be a wife-beating, drug-addled psychopath? No, me neither.
CHIC
5/5
So smooth and enjoyable to listen to. Love the way each track builds the elements.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
I was listening to this yesterday and I thought it sounded very familiar. Checked my Spotify history and it turned out I'd listened to it the day before without realising it! It was a stressful day. Still a good album though.
The Allman Brothers Band
5/5
Loved this, especially its more psychedelic odysseys, which reminded me of Circle and Pharaoh Overlord.
The Police
3/5
Reminded me of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts a little bit. Sting really fancies himself though.
Fever Ray
3/5
Interesting music that just about covers up the terrible lyrical content.
Shuggie Otis
4/5
Loved this
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Probably my favourite album of all time. Still holds up, so completely alive
Songhoy Blues
5/5
Ah, this was brilliant. So laid-back and enjoyable.
Missy Elliott
4/5
Nice to hear a female voice in hip-hop. Occasionally discordant and a little too long, but I liked it, especially the first track.
The xx
4/5
One of the most incredible musical moments of my life was hearing "Intro" echo across Glastonbury's fields at the close of the 2013 festival. It was a fitting coda for a weekend of excess. The rest of the album can't quite match the lofty heights of "Intro," but it the XX certainly had a unique sound and pushed things forwards a little bit.
Rod Stewart
1/5
Not really a fan.
Madonna
4/5
The title track is a mainline injection of pure late-80s nostalgia; neon socks and fake Wayfarers. The rest never hits those lofty heights, but it's enjoyable and slickly produced.
Bauhaus
4/5
Not as gothy as I thought it would be. Still a unique voice and sound though.
Deep Purple
3/5
So Täp
Carole King
4/5
Just so many hits here! What a great album.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
I don't think famous means what Leonard Cohen thinks it means.
The Divine Comedy
2/5
I think their greatest hits would have been a better option here. It includes the Father Ted theme song.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
His best album. Into Your Arms is just the prettiest song.
Cocteau Twins
5/5
Great stuff
George Michael
3/5
Faith is great, but Father Figure is the real highlight here, such an awe-inspiring love song. The rest is a bit hit-and-miss.
Bruce Springsteen
1/5
This list really doesn't need this much Springsteen!
Elvis Presley
1/5
I've come to the conclusion that I really hate Elvis.
Nico
4/5
Interesting, but I don't feel it adds much to her output with The Velvet Underground.
Cornershop
4/5
A bit overlong, but still an interesting album. It has more in common with Beastie Boys/Money Mark than their Britpop neighbours.
Public Enemy
5/5
Probably the best Public Enemy album.
Jamiroquai
1/5
The fuck is JK worth $70m for producing this dirge. Some bloke singing over a thrift shop jazz record. If you want to stop the Emergency on Planet Earth, stop landing your fucking helicopter on wildlife.
Pere Ubu
4/5
Ranty, arty music.
Pink Floyd
2/5
This isn't an album, it's a fucking ordeal.
Basement Jaxx
4/5
I bought this when it came out, at the time house music seemed adventurous and mysterious, but Basement Jaxx gave it a geekier and more accessible edge. I think because Felix wears glasses.
There are some duff tracks, but there's just enough intelligence and sophistication here to elevate it above the standard Ibiza floor fillers.
Miles Davis
5/5
Astonishing
Brian Eno
5/5
Still great
Dexys Midnight Runners
1/5
I hate "Come on Eileen," but I was expecting to be pleasantly surprised by this album. I wasn't.
ABBA
5/5
I love the way Abba have gone from brilliant in the 70s, to cheesy in the 90s, and back up to brilliant now. Every song is perfectly written and flawlessly executed.
Tim Buckley
4/5
Surprisingly varied
The Sugarcubes
5/5
As much as I like Bjork's solo work, this indie pop is a better match for her fiery vocals. An absolute treasure.
Machito
5/5
So enthusiastic and light and breezy.
3/5
The Beatles: 50% the greatest songs of all time, 50% chintzy whimsy that makes you want to thrust chopsticks into your earholes.
Tom Waits
1/5
So very, very 90s. A man screeching over a drum.
Bill Evans Trio
3/5
People in the 60s clearly didn't know how to clap properly.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Not really my cup of tea, but enjoyable nonetheless.
The Temptations
3/5
Many tracks missing on Spotify, but what I heard was decent.
Sisters Of Mercy
5/5
Love the way the tracks merge into one another, perfectly executed.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
To be honest, I wasn't expecting to be a huge fan of this based on the overplayed "Superstition" and "You Are The Sunshine of my Life," but it really is an incredible album, flowing between moods and genres with ease. It sounds great and his voice is terrific.
M.I.A.
2/5
I had to wade through almost an hour of boring indulgence before I got to "Paper Planes," and even that song is basically a cover.
Soundgarden
4/5
The NME always put me off Soundgarden, presumably because they weren't British and ugly and terrible. But I feel like I missed out now, I love the range of Cornell's voice and the power of the production. It does outstay its welcome a bit though.
Bon Jovi
2/5
For the past 35 years, I honestly thought that the lyrics we're "shot through the heart, and you're too late, you need lovin', and band-aid." I thought this was very clever and ironic because, obviously, a band-aid wouldn't do anything for a bleeding heart. But it turns out I was wrong, and this album sucks.
Sepultura
2/5
I remember this being a thing. Not overly keen though, there's little variety.
Billie Holiday
5/5
Like being wrapped in a blanket. Wonderful.
Johnny Cash
3/5
Pretty good. "The Man Comes Around" is a total rip-off of "The Claw" by Ten Benson though.
The The
4/5
Very good, terrific in places, but I still prefer Talk Talk in terms of London bands with repeating-word names.
Dead Kennedys
4/5
Good, very Sex Pistols, completely unsurprisingly.
Deee-Lite
2/5
Groove is in the Heart is a great song, full of life and musically diverse. The rest of the album is the opposite of this; moribund, repetitive, and completely absent of ideas. It's forgivable as the genre was still finding its feet, but I don't think this album should be on the list.
The Crusaders
5/5
They're having such a great time and I just want to be there with them.
Jean-Michel Jarre
5/5
So this is where the Blade Runner soundtrack got most of its ideas.
Sinead O'Connor
4/5
Occasionally patchy but decent overall. I was surprised at its more electronica elements.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
3/5
Not sure this is essential, but it's an interesting time capsule of hippie-era San Francisco.
Faith No More
2/5
In the no-man's land between metal, soft rock, and grunge. Utterly cringey in places.
The Mothers Of Invention
1/5
Gave me flashbacks to a really awful trip I had in the 60s. I've never taken acid and I wasn't even alive then.
Julian Cope
5/5
Prog rock with a dose of 80s cynicism. Pink Floyd without the irritating bits. Absolutely loved it.
Lou Reed
5/5
I think Perfect Day is a perfect song. So bittersweet. The rest of the album is great as well.
Incredible Bongo Band
5/5
So many juicy samples for other artists to pluck from the Incredible Bongo Tree. Great to hear the originals.
Justice
3/5
Justice did Daft Punk when Daft Punk stopped doing Daft Punk. I like this album; it's coherent. But the French Touch sound was wearing a little thin even at the time of release.
Johnny Cash
2/5
Cash is funny and charming, but I'm not sure two live prison albums (San Quentin is the other one) are needed here. It's a bit niche.
a-ha
4/5
Better and more varied than expected.
The Last Shadow Puppets
4/5
I had no idea this was a thing. It's quite well-formed and catchy.
Supertramp
4/5
Enjoyable prog.
Deep Purple
5/5
I loved Smoke on the Water, until my guitar teacher pointed out how mundane the subject matter is (there was literally smoke on the water!). But this album has rekindled things between me and DP. It's proper, straightforward rock that never becomes too cheesy or indulgent.
Death In Vegas
5/5
Any album that features Iggy Pop singing "Aisha, I'm viiibraaatiiing" gets five stars by default.
Neil Young
5/5
Definitely growing on me, it gets more interesting every time I hear it. Love the unpredictable key changes and the way the whole thing is out together.
I listened to this on YouTube Music, with ads. Totally respect Neil's decision to avoid Spotify.
The Mars Volta
5/5
Absolutely loved At The Drive-In, so I'm not sure how this passed me by. It's great though, lots of scope and variety on top of ATDI's distinctive sound.
Blur
3/5
Very much a nostalgic album for me. I have a bizarrely specific memory of driving to Hartland Point with my parents while listening to this. Which isn't to say it's good. Beetlebum is better than I remember; Song 2 is worse, time has softened its grunge punchiness. The rest is patchy as hell, often irritating, and low on ideas. Still better than Oasis though.
David Bowie
5/5
This is great, not sure how I hadn't heard it before. Reminded me of George Michael in a lot of places.
Eagles
3/5
Very middle of the road trucker music.
Elvis Presley
3/5
30 minutes of Elvis. Doesn't outstay his welcome.
The Beau Brummels
3/5
This was a few days ago. Obviously didn't make much of an impression.
PJ Harvey
5/5
I've always liked PJ Harvey, but never enough to listen to her albums. This changed my mind, in a good way.
PJ Harvey
5/5
Two PJs in one day! This one was great, grunge with a distinctly British and feminine twist. Absolute legend.
Shack
4/5
This was massive in the UK for a bit, but somehow it completely passed me by. It was better than I expected; the connective tissue between Oasis and Elbow.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
5/5
So far ahead of its time that I don't think its time has come yet.
B.B. King
5/5
Almost 60 years old, but you just get an immediate sense of BB King's power and what he was doing differently.
Garbage
3/5
Gets points for somehow straddling riot grrl, grunge, and britpop; loses them for some truly dreadful album filler tracks. "Queer" and "Vow" are their best songs.
Def Leppard
4/5
This was the first album I ever bought. Eight years old, WHSmith in Barnstaple. It terrified me (I was a sensitive kid). I rediscovered it about 12 years ago and appreciated it more. It's anthemic stadium rock delivered so slickly that you don't realise how moronic the whole endeavour is.
Kate Bush
4/5
Is Kate Bush always this prog? It's great!
Dinosaur Jr.
5/5
If I had a time machine, my priority would be making my 16-year-old self listen to this absolutely masterful recording. After that I'd go back and kill Hitler etc.
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
Found this a bit meh. Just sounded like Dylan.
Fiona Apple
4/5
I have no recollection of this woman or her album. But it's pretty good.
Janelle Monáe
5/5
How is this 12 years old!? Definitely a 21st-century album that deserves its place here. Delightful and texturally unique.
Skunk Anansie
3/5
I was fully expecting to hate this, but it was better than I expected. What's interesting is how Skin kind of kick-started UK hip-hop artists such as Stormzy and Dizzee Rascal, even if the genre is different.
Eminem
1/5
This is the only album I've skipped so far. Yes, Eminem is talented, but then you could say Hitler was a talented politician.
Hawkwind
5/5
If you had a drink every time someone says the word "space" on this album, you'd basically end up evaporating. It's great, though, surely an inspiration on Star Wars and Flash Gordon and other sci-fi of the era.
Spiritualized
5/5
I had the special edition of this, where the CD was contained in a blister pack, like a giant paracetamol. We listened to it on the way back from an Unbelievable Truth gig, it sent my dad to sleep and he crashed into a hedge.
It's still a great album. I was 16 when I first heard it, and it sounded how I expected love and drugs to be. The album can't quite maintain the starburst of its first three tracks, but it still switches between heartracing and heartbreaking. It's the album Primal Scream, The Verve, and Kasabian wish they made.
3/5
I could never quite bring myself to like Muse, they always struck me as a Radiohead clone with greater technical ability but less heart. This album is pretty good though, it's ambitious, progressive, and very Queen in places.
John Prine
4/5
Interesting that this should come up so soon after Spiritualized's "Ladies and Gentlemen...," which nabs some lyrics. I like this as well, it's country rock with a venomous streak of 'nam-era cynicism and a biting sense of humour.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
I like the way 70s-era Stones is seeping into this one.
Genesis
1/5
Far too indulgent and proggy. Every now and then it threatens to have a nice melody, but soon turns back into egocentric dirge that probably seemed like a good idea at the time. And then Phil Collins starts singing about erogenous zones 🤢
Kate Bush
4/5
I was into this album after it was released, but before Stranger Things made it popular. Doubling down on hipsterism. Is hipsterism still a thing? Anyway, album is good.
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
Good, but a little dated in places.
Beatles
5/5
Finally, a Beatles album I can get behind. Very few of the dated, cloying songs that I hate so much.
Simple Minds
5/5
Every song sounds like it's going to be "Relax" by Frankie goes to Hollywood, but they always turn out to be better.
Waylon Jennings
4/5
Honky tonky
Pink Floyd
2/5
Understanding Pink Floyd's origin story made me like them a bit more. And then Bike ruined everything.
T. Rex
3/5
I have no recollection of listening to this album and I wasn't even drunk
Adele
3/5
EVERYTHING IS SO DRAMATIC AND HOW DOES ADELE GET THROUGH A DAY WITHOUT WARBLING
Beth Orton
3/5
Can timelessness be a bad thing? This sounds like it could have been recorded any time in the past 40 years, but not necessarily in a good way, just in an unchallenging way.
Lightning Bolt
5/5
Ridiculously fun and energetic, a missing link between metal and dance. Like throwing a box of firecrackers into a bonfire. One of the best discoveries I've made here, I just wish I'd been into them at the time.
Alanis Morissette
5/5
Split up with boyfriend, throw troll at 14-inch TV with built in VHS recorder, watch Friends, have terrible hair, get shot by your brother's supersoaker, listen to Alanis Morissette. Because it's great. Especially You Oughta Know. And the typewriter font everyone used everywhere.
Iggy Pop
5/5
Just absolutely grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go.
Queen Latifah
3/5
She's great fun and very charismatic, but I'm not sure why all hip hop albums of this era needed to be so long.
Lambchop
1/5
This was so boring I actually died. When the paramedics resuscitated me they told me I was the third person that day who'd died of boredom while listening to Nixon.
The Fall
5/5
This is exactly what I imagine a 1980s arts college in northern England would sound like. Amazing in its own way; it almost verges into hip-hop in places. RIP MES.
Bobby Womack
4/5
Enjoyable and full of heart. Could not find the full album on Spotify, YouTube link here: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lPdfiWy1WS-WR8Fwg3GAGWZKKYB3tngiU&feature=share
Stan Getz
5/5
Reminds me of summer 1954, when I cruised around the Amalfi coast in my convertible Fiat, wooed beautiful Italian women, and did other stuff I completely made up for the purposes of this review.
The Modern Lovers
5/5
Incredible. The more I listen to music of this era and genre, the more I realise how unoriginal The Strokes are.
Booker T. & The MG's
5/5
Variations on a theme, but it's a great theme (and one you've heard everywhere).
4/5
Actually not bad. Very much of its time, but it's easy to see why they were so popular; Fred Durst's cartoony, juvenile persona matched with punchy, compressed guitars and flawless production.
Bad Brains
5/5
This album is so tight that it made me pass out.
Jethro Tull
3/5
Not bad, not great. Bit dated.
Paul Simon
4/5
This just has such a nice vibe that it gets away with sounding like the soundtrack to The Jungle Book/The Lion King.
The Velvet Underground
5/5
I had this at the age of about 21 as part of the Peel Slowly and See boxset. It's still amazing, a gritty backlash against the staid pop that dominated airwaves in the 1960s.
Steely Dan
4/5
This was not what I expected, but then I didn't really know what to expect. I quite liked it though.
Elvis Presley
3/5
Still not a huge Elvis fan, but I appreciated how fast this moves.
Black Sabbath
4/5
This is great, very Led Zeppelin, maybe with a little less variety, but Ozzy's charisma makes up for it.
Neil Young
5/5
This doesn't look like a Neil Young album, and there are places where it doesn't sound like one. In a good way! Very enjoyable. YT music link here: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n1S9ljyNSBHJ-FKC5l44V500jlmEBtt-0&feature=share
Green Day
4/5
Green Day are another band the NME made me hate. This is great, raw and aggressive, and I feel sad that I missed out.
Marianne Faithfull
4/5
Surprisingly experimental and electronic, and quite raunchy.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
5/5
Graceful and soothing.
PJ Harvey
5/5
This is the third PJ Harvey album I've been recommended by the generator, and it made me wonder if the list really needs three PJ Harvey albums? And the answer is yes. Yes, it does.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
This is better than the other Costello albums on here. I'm still not a fan, but I'm beginning to understand why people like him.
Nirvana
5/5
Here's a fun fact I probably shouldn't admit: I used to think Utero was a city in America, and that this was a live album. This is still an absolute kick in the balls of an album, more aggressive and weird and artistic than Nevermind; Cobain's recorded suicide note. If Nevermind reflected teenage angst, In Utero is about adult anxiety.
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
AKA Cool Bass Sounds: The Album.
This definitely pushed dance music forwards and it's better, and less cringeworthy, than The Prodigy's output at the time. But the production sucks. It sounds like it was mixed more like a rock album than a dance one, and the drums sound especially washed out and lost in the mix. It makes you realise how much the French Touch improved the genre by applying a lick of polish.
Jungle Brothers
3/5
Why are all the hip-hop albums of this era so long? They're always an hour plus, and there are inevitably a few obvious filler tracks. The tracks that aren't obvious filler tracks are good though.
Madonna
3/5
Annoyingly, I only listened to Ray of Light a few weeks ago. Too much Madge!
This album perfectly encapsulates the late-90s tech-spiritual zeitgeist, something Moby would build on. Some tracks are great (Ray of Light, Nothing Really Matters, Sky Fits Heaven), others seem to have been recorded by a 12-year-old girl with access to a studio.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
This reminds me of a classic southwestern UK joke about Simon & Garfunkel having engine trouble over the Somerset town of Bridgwater. It's a terrible joke. But the album is good! Too many good songs to choose from, some that I didn't even realize were performed by Simon & Garfunkel. Don't ask me for specifics. I just liked it.
Linkin Park
3/5
Linkin Park's sound is very well-polished, but I found this album relentless and exhausting. Maybe that's the point; I just wish it let off the gas for a little bit. I hate to say it, but I think Limp Bizkit are a better nu metal band - at least they knew how to have fun and injected some variety into their albums.
Moby
4/5
I remember owning this at the time and selling it after the first listen. But time has been kind to it. It helps that the songs aren't played literally everywhere, all the time, like they were in '99. (I'm currently sitting in a Caffe Nero in Bristol and a man keeps trying to make conversation with me, which is distracting.)
Anyway, I really, really love "Honey" and "Run On," and I did at the time. They're doing something interesting and unique with folk and blues. "Porcelain" can fucking do one though, namby-pamby spiritual advertisement shite.
Boston
2/5
Music for overweight truck drivers in the 1970s and no one else.
The United States Of America
3/5
I enjoyed the bits that weren't weird.
Muddy Waters
5/5
Just exactly what blues should be. Frantic, convivial, frenetic fun.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
I've never been massively into reggae, but I enjoyed this. Absolutely, convincingly doing its own thing while being tuneful and accessible.
The Kinks
4/5
Definitely standing on the shoulders of the Beatles, but it has just enough baroque touches and acerbic humour to make it a bit different.
The Blue Nile
5/5
I feel like taking part in this project has changed my Spotify recommendations algorithm to the point where it's started pumping out tracks from albums on the list. Case in point: "Heatwave" by The Blue Nile, which I've definitely heard before, very recently.
The album is good though, its percussive soundscape still sounds great and ensures it hasn't dated as badly as music by The Blue Nile's peers. I also assumed they were from downtown New York, not the highlands of Scotland.
Radiohead
1/5
I think this was the point where I realised Radiohead had completely ran out of ideas, other than novel internet distribution methods. "All I Need" is OK, the rest is bland, indulgent, forgettable twaddle. Thom Yorke's lyrics are just interlinked platitudes.
Taylor Swift
5/5
This is the Taylor Swift album you've been looking for. Less strummy folk, more polished bubblegum pop, and "Shake It Off" has to be her best song. I do still wonder how Taylor's had her heart broken so many times without dying though.
The Band
4/5
Intelligent folk rock, pretty good.
The Stooges
4/5
Never not fun. The volume is oddly mixed though.
Syd Barrett
1/5
Seems that Syd was as bored singing this album as I was listening to it.
Blur
1/5
My son summed it up well when he asked, "Does this band have any good songs?"
It's mostly intensely irritating clown music, with a couple of soppy melodramas. "Girls and Boys" is a definite highlight, but it's downhill from there.
Air
3/5
POV: It's the 90s and you've just moved into a new house, so you put on "Moon Safari." You're making a television program about moving into a new house, so you put "Moon Safari" on the soundtrack. You're having a bath, so you listen to "Moon Safari." You want to imagine what it's like to be stoned, so you put on "Moon Safari."
Or you put on "La Femme d'Argent" and "Sexy Boy" and "Kelly Watch The Stars" and skip the rest. When it's good, it's great, but tracks like "You Make it Easy" are hard to like. "10,000 Hz Legend," Air's follow-up, is better, even if it sounded worse at the time.
Duran Duran
3/5
I used to love Duran Duran, but I've realised that almost all their songs have the same structure and production.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Not a bad album, but not an exceptional one. There is too much Costello here.
The Soft Boys
5/5
Great, well ahead of its time. Felt the influence on REM, as well as another band that completely escapes me. Another 1001 gem.
808 State
5/5
I just always thought of 808 State as the Pacific 202 band, and little more. But this is a great album, and Pacific 202 actually proves to be one of the weaker tracks.
New Order
4/5
I remember first listening to this about 15 years ago and enjoying it. Sumner's not the best lyricist or vocalist, but his boyish charm makes up for it. It sounds great as well.
Derek & The Dominos
3/5
Good, but not as good as I thought it might be with that line-up.
Sonic Youth
5/5
I only got into Sonic Youth quite recently, and I couldn't quite get through Goo because of its more artsy, angular bits. But now I love those bits as well. "Tunic" has got to be one of the saddest songs ever.
Goldfrapp
3/5
I loved Goldfrapp's first album; it was retro and modern in a way that hadn't really been done before. The follow-up went in a new electroclash direction that was just as good. Somehow, I never heard this, but it doesn't feel quite as adventurous as the first two albums. Instead, it plays it safe with Radio 2-friendly pop.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
Very likable and an interesting sound, just not entirely convinced about their abilities as songwriters. "Been Caught Stealing" is the exception that proves the rule.
Iron Maiden
3/5
Good fun, but, like a lot of 80s metal, it's a bit quaint now. "Run To The Hills" was the soundtrack to many drunken nights in rock bars in my early 20s.
Common
5/5
Really liked this. Hip-hop from this era seemed to soften a bit, in a good way. Appreciated the 45 minute length as well, just right.
ZZ Top
3/5
Ya like 12-bar blues?
Metallica
1/5
I feel bad for saying this because I've grown to like Metallica, but "...And Justice For All" should be called "...And Boredom For All." Never has metal been more unexciting.
Steely Dan
3/5
Just enough rock to outweigh the annoying folk.
Eurythmics
2/5
Started out ok, but progressively grew more annoying. If I had a time machine, my priority would be to go back and tell Annie and Dave to cut it short.
Prince
5/5
The thing I love about this album is that, like the best movies, it's a world you're just plunged into. Prince doesn't care if you know nothing about it and don't understand the rules, he just gets on with it. It's playful and silly, an utterly charismatic blend of genres. I think I finally get Prince.
Arctic Monkeys
4/5
If I was 16 and drunk on cheap lager this would be the best thing ever.
Motörhead
5/5
If Motörhead didn't exist, it would have been necessary to create them. Some huge Norwegian blacksmith hammering the band out of Marlboro reds, Jack Daniels, gunmetal, and heroin.
Iggy Pop
3/5
I like Iggy Pop, but I did find this a bit meh. Nightclubbing is a highlight.
3/5
This was the PJ Harvey I was into. It's good, but I don't think it has the venomous bite of her earlier work. Also, Thom Yorke's cameos in this era just consisted of him repeating the lyrics (see also: El Presidente by Drugstore).
Radiohead
5/5
Quite an important album to me. I was 17 when "OK Computer" came out. It was quite unlike anything I'd heard before, and it stood in stark contrast to the tedious Britpop that dominated the airwaves at the time. It was weird and geeky, the sound of uncertainty in a world where technology was taking over, and believing in conspiracy theories was fun and silly and not causing the collapse of civilization.
Fast-forward 25 years and I still know it inside-out; it's been engraved on my synapses forever. But it's also kinda patchy. For the initial sting of "Airbag" there's the literal let down of "Let Down," "Paranoid Android's" layered despair gives way to "Karma Police," which I never really liked. It's a good album, but, looking back, I feel like "The Bends" is more consistent and coherent.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
To be honest I was dreading another Bruce Springsteen album. But this is decent; more sombre and stripped-back than his other, more work. I think I like Grumpy Bruce more than Hollerin' Bruce.
Emmylou Harris
2/5
I can imagine this as being pretty popular in 2000. In 2023, not so much.
Little Richard
3/5
Little Richard! An album! Little Richard! An album! Whoop whoop whoop!
^ basically every song
Milton Nascimento
5/5
Nicely done, very chill, reminded me of Japanese pop in places.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
2/5
Just Anthony Kiedis singing about a blowjob he once had.
Brian Eno
5/5
I'm totally biased, but I love Eno, and I think I even prefer this arty pop rock to his ambient works.
Daft Punk
4/5
I love the first three or so tracks of this; the false starts, the growing menace of the throbbing bass drum. It's like trying to find a party at 3am, and then it finally kicks in. I think the rest of the album isn't quite the best party in the world, it's a bit too long, but it's still pretty damn good.
Beck
5/5
This somehow works in Neil Young-does-Goldfrapp kinda way. Love the orchestration, and it feels smarter and more polished than Odelay.
The Black Keys
4/5
I listened to this on Friday and now, on Monday, I can't say I remember a single thing about this album. I think I liked it?
The Cure
5/5
I loved this album about 10 years ago; I remember playing "Fascination Street" at a Halloween party and it went down a treat. I think it's got even better in the intervening years; it's beautifully desolate. Had I been born 10 years earlier, I would have been the biggest Cure fan.
The Monks
4/5
I was initially worried this would be a bit too groovy, but then I heard the killer line:
"I hate you baby with a passion, you know I do."
And all was OK with the world. Nice to have a streak of cynicism and surging electric guitars among the bop.
Cee Lo Green
4/5
This is fun and he has a nice voice.
Maxwell
4/5
The songwriting is a little bland, but this album grew on me. The production here is superb; one of those albums that you'd use to demonstrate your expensive CD hi-fi in the 90s. It also sounds like this is where Justin Timberlake got a lot of his ideas.
Thelonious Monk
5/5
Brilliant.
The Band
4/5
So solid you could build a house on it.
Fiona Apple
4/5
I can imagine exactly what her house is like. There will be at least one cat.
Supergrass
4/5
"Alright" is such a blast of nostalgia for me, it just nailed the carefree optimism of the UK in the 90s. "Caught by the Fuzz," "Mansize Rooster," and "Lose It" are all pretty decent, too, in a gobby, cartoony way reminiscent of Blur. But it runs out of tuns towards the end, which is surprising for a 40-minute album.
Alice In Chains
4/5
Very of its time, not bad though.
Frank Zappa
4/5
Just the right amount of psych.
Pulp
3/5
I think "Sorted for Es and Whizz" was the first cassette single I bought. I remember listening to it with my Dad at the Barnstaple tip. I don't think either of us really understood what it was about, but I do now!
I'm not sure time has been kind to this album as a whole. Lyrically it's great, but the music sucks.
Run-D.M.C.
5/5
I hate it when people use the phrase "true gem," so I'm going to refer to this as an "unfalsified jewel." And it really is. It's stripped-back and raw, but it largely avoids the constant anger of hip-hop in favour of a more varied and open-hearted approach. "It's Like That" is one of my favourite hip-hop tracks ever, and the original version sounds just as good as the Jason Nevins remix.
A "verifiable precious stone."
Roxy Music
4/5
This was pleasurable, thank you Roxy. It manages to be experimental and strange without ever veering into unlistenable territory. Reminded me of Mansun a little bit.
Willie Nelson
4/5
Just wasn't feeling this.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
I think I had Hendrix's greatest hits. This makes more sense as an album, though; it's long, but you can get absorbed in the trippy guitars. I like the way the best tracks (All Along the Watchtower and Voodoo Chile) are saved for last.
The Stranglers
2/5
Kind of fun, but also kind of noncey.
The Offspring
3/5
A little silly. I like "Come Out and Play," but it definitely feels like a riff on "Love Buzz" by Nirvana (and whoever did that song originally).
Les Rythmes Digitales
4/5
Slightly surprised to see this come up. Jacques du Cont was doing the whole 80s throwback thing before Calvin Harris made it cool. That said, quite a few tracks on "Darkdancer" seem to be crowd-pleasing late-90s house that don't quite live up to the perfectly executed pastiche of "Hey You" and "Sometimes."
Fats Domino
4/5
Just lovely.
Def Leppard
1/5
Def Leppard's appeal is rapidly diminishing. They're AC/DC-light, zero sense of irony, utterly inane and puerile.
Tears For Fears
5/5
Gets my vote for best album of the 80s. "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" are perfect pop, and the rest of the tracks are great too. At 45 minutes, it never outstays its welcome.
Rod Stewart
2/5
Rod Stewart looks like a Muppet and sings like a Muppet.
Buzzcocks
3/5
Every track sounds like an embryonic version of "Ever Fallen in Love With," apart from one where the swear a lot.
Minor Threat
4/5
Appreciated how short this was!
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5/5
Soothing and lovely.
Thin Lizzy
4/5
Not a huge fan, but I can see the appeal of this as a live album.
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
I love this album and it really did set the scene for experimental, introverted music in the 90s. It was super cool to see Kevin Shields noodling away at a Primal Scream live session in 2000-ish as well. But it's a bit much, isn't it? Once you've got over that initial wall-of-sound blast, it becomes a little bit boring. I know that might be the point.
The Stone Roses
3/5
Never quite got The Stone Roses. Ian Brown's lyrics aren't great and this album is just way too long and indulgent. The only place it would make sense is on a stoned comedown after a big night at The Haçienda.
The Killers
2/5
Just insolent noise.
Miles Davis
5/5
Two tracks, 40 minutes, kind of perfect.
Primal Scream
5/5
This is just the happiest album.
Coldplay
1/5
The band that put me off music and caused me to lose faith in the human race.
Turbonegro
5/5
My friend Huw recommended this to me at least 15 years ago. Great stuff, punk, but melodic.
Paul Weller
4/5
Wasn't a Weller fan at the time, he was the Palpatine behind Noel Gallagher's Vader, and together they built a bowl-cut Death Star of dull mod music (OCEAN COLOUR SCENE). But I understand the appeal a little more now: Wild Wood is a British, post-punk take on singer-songwriters like JJ Cale and George Martin. As such, I think it just about stands on its own merits.
David Bowie
1/5
I found this bland and forgettable. I think I prefer Bowie when he's doing more cringeworthy stuff, because at least he's trying something new.
Earth, Wind & Fire
4/5
Who's your favorite? I like Mr Wind best.
Can
5/5
Starts out so tight, but totally goes off the rails towards the end. Gets top marks though for being so, so far ahead of its time.
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
Very grating in places, and Kevin Shields can't sing, and it lacks the punch of Loveless. But it's still MBV and it's still head and shoulders above everything else at the time.
The Flaming Lips
3/5
Wayne Cloying more like.
The Velvet Underground
5/5
I love how quiet this is in places.
Grizzly Bear
2/5
Largely forgettable save a few moments.
Brian Eno
5/5
Music for Airports - and generally quiet environments. I tried to listen to this in a busy cafe with loud, terrible music (KLAXXONS) in the background, and it kind of ruined the serenity.
But it's definitely a great album, and a very influential one. I love the repetition of motifs and the way it builds up layers. Hypnotic.
Cream
1/5
Total snoozefest. Sunshine of Your Love is OK, but totally overshadowed by Hendrix's version.
Manu Chao
2/5
Vaguely interesting but by no means essential.
Femi Kuti
5/5
So good. I love stumbling upon stuff like this that I'd never usually listen to, and Femi's family history is nothing short of incredible. It's an uplifting, energetic, politically switched-on and occasionally very funny album.
Tom Waits
4/5
I haven't enjoyed most of the Tom Waits albums I've listened to on here, but this turned out to be an exception. It's definitely Waits, but it's less indulgent and more accessible than his later works.
PS
King Crimson
5/5
Radiohead before Radiohead, Floyd before they made up their mind.
Pavement
3/5
OK
The Cardigans
4/5
The Cardigans and The Wannadies did indie better than the Brits thanks to the innate Swedish understanding of how to write great pop songs. The sweetness of Nina Persson's voice makes up for the insipid nature of some of the songs here.
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
Interesting to hear this immediately after Notorious B.I.G. Hip-hop just evolved so much; the sound and production here is incredible, almost Rundgren-esque in places, and I really like it. Such a unique voice, in both ways, as well.
JAY Z
2/5
I usually like hip-hop, but I'm not keen on this. It's noisy, discordant, and ultimately pretty boring. It's the kind of thing Kanye built on and improved greatly.
The Byrds
3/5
I've come to adore David Crosby, but this was too dated and too jangly for my tastes. I did enjoy the occasional dashes of mysticism, though.
The Only Ones
5/5
"Another Girl, Another Planet" is one of those songs you've heard everywhere but always attributed to someone else (probably The Buzzcocks). It's a great tune and the rest of the album ain't bad either; I like its soporific, heroin-tinged take on punk rock.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
This failed to make much of an impact, but there's something awkward and geeky about Echo And The Bunnymen that makes them likeable.
Green Day
5/5
Admittedly, I'm not the biggest Green Day fan, and I remember finding the songs from this album pretty trite when they came out. But in the context of this album, they become part of a larger whole that ebbs and flows organically. I love the idea of a punk concept album as well.
Beastie Boys
4/5
Licensed to Ill is definitely a debut: The Beasties' sound isn't as refined or experimental as later releases, and there's a vein of casual misogyny. But you can feel the freshness, the energy, and I love the way it moves so fast. It's like being machine-gunned to death by rhyming couplets.
Peter Gabriel
1/5
I went to Solsbury Hill once and it was shit.
The Fall
5/5
This is hilarious, and knowingly, intelligently so. Post-irony before it was even a thing.
Super Furry Animals
5/5
I love how damn tangible and chunky this album is, like a colorful toy from the 1970s that's been cleaned up and made better.
5/5
I saw Dylan live last year, some 56 years after this was recorded. Nice to have another live album to compare and contrast with; his voice may be a little more crinkly and he spent most of his time hiding behind his piano, but it was still undeniably Dylan and brilliant.
This album is also great.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Another day, another Dylan album! Despite being released some 30 years after his heyday, this is still great, bluesy, tuneful, and wise.
The Mamas & The Papas
4/5
A bit dated, but never not interesting.
Minutemen
5/5
I'm so relieved this doesn't sound how it looks.
Deerhunter
4/5
A lot better and more interesting that other music of the era.
The The
5/5
This has really grown on me. Giant is incredible.
Missy Elliott
5/5
A little patchy, but good overall; the sleazy funk of "Work It" more than makes up for the dire "Back in the Day." She reminds me of Prince in places. I think she helped reclaim hip-hop from misogynist assholes as well.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
At last, a hip-hop album that isn't too long! And some of the tunes, especially "It's Tricky" and "Walk this Way" are terrific, and I guess they helped open up rap to a wider audience. It's just a shame that some of the lyrics are a bit dodgy.
Prince
4/5
This didn't always hit for me, and the remaster on Spotify is weirdly mixed. But I just can't help but admire Prince for making a completely insane one-hour 20-minute album that keeps the same crazy level of energy all the way through.
David Bowie
5/5
An unstoppable Bowie meets an immovable Eno.
The Avalanches
5/5
I'm not massively into nostalgia, but this whisked me back to 2000, when I'd just left home and started uni. "Since I Left You" is still one of the most upbeat tunes you'll ever hear, and I love the way The Avalanches added hip-hop to the hideous "chill" genre; it gives it more texture and backbone.
Hot Chip
2/5
I didn't want this in my head.
The Pogues
3/5
It just always sounds like Shane MacGowan has written too many words to fit in with the music.
Nine Inch Nails
5/5
Never really got NIN. Until now!
Dion
1/5
This was so insipid that I don't even remember listening to it.
Bob Dylan
5/5
I don't think I've ever heard an album that so perfectly captures being in your early 20s. Alternately drunk, angry, energetic, worried, stoned, political, melancholy, and frequently hilarious. It made me realize that, with Dylan, it's good to start at the beginning.
Pixies
5/5
I do love this album, and I never really realized how much Kim Deal adds to The Pixies sound. But the remastered edition on Spotify is cack! I had to bump the volume up to hear the details and it just made it sound like complete trash. Give me shitty 80s production over this weirdly spiky mix any day.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
5/5
Weirdly, I had Helplessly Hoping running through my head this morning, and then it turns up here. It's so good! I love the way that this album takes the infectious pop of The Byrds and adds a dash of cynical folk rock to the mix.
Barry Adamson
3/5
Moss Side Story is pretty good, but I'm not sure it fully works. Film music is always about being good but not drawing attention to itself, but these tracks feel more like conventional "songs." Great production though.
Miriam Makeba
5/5
I thought this might have been a bit too much to start with, but it's just right. Still sounds fresh and exciting even though it's over 60 years old.
Supergrass
2/5
I think one Supergrass album is enough, and that one Supergrass album shouldn't be this one; it should be the brattish "I Should Coco."
Norah Jones
1/5
NO.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
Neil Young definitely went electric for this one.
Deep Purple
3/5
I see what they did there.
Kraftwerk
5/5
You can totally feel how this changed the gear of electronic music.
David Gray
1/5
Hey kids let's make an album that sounds like Phil Collins B-sides.
MGMT
1/5
FCKN SHT
Santana
5/5
Some of these riffs are just too much.
Nick Drake
5/5
Just those amazing melodies, like birds against a blue sky, but with a lower chance of getting pooped on.
David Bowie
5/5
In 1973 David Bowie recorded a song about wanking and that's all.
Elton John
2/5
Basically Benny and the Jets 17 times.
Anita Baker
3/5
Great production, slightly bland songwriting though.
John Cale
5/5
For the longest time, I thought JJ and John Cale were the same person. But they couldn't be more different. This is great, building and surging nicely, and definitely an influence on Belle and Sebastien.
Nick Drake
4/5
I get a bit lost with all the Nick Drakes and Tim Buckleys, but this is good.
Amy Winehouse
3/5
Indulgent and spread a little thin, but I like the way that this is a bit more trip-hop-pop than her later, more big-band works, and I admire the honesty of her lyrics.
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
This is beautiful, magical soul with an indie slant. I was really enjoying it, but then it just ended at what felt like the halfway point. Unusual to find an album that's too shot here.
Sex Pistols
5/5
Sounds a little conservative by today's standards, but it's easy to underestimate just how important this was at the time. Johnny Rotten's sneer still sounds as fresh as ever though.
Beatles
4/5
Fucking "Yellow Submarine" can fuck right off piss-stained submersible twat.
John Martyn
4/5
Got into this about 20 years ago, then went off it. It's all over the place! I think it's at its best when it's going in random folk-psych directions, like "Go Down Easy." Not so keen on the faux-Americana bits.
Cypress Hill
1/5
More silly than intimidating now, apart from the homophobia, which is downright terrifying.
Fishbone
5/5
Totally T-boned by Fishbone! Bonin' in the Boneyard is boney.
Throwing Muses
5/5
The Spotify link is correct here, even if it seems wrong! "In A Doghouse" is a compilation of early Throwing Muses work, and the first 10 tracks are actually "Throwing Muses" (the album). And it's great!
Willie Nelson
2/5
I want to like Willie Nelson, but this album just strips all the songs of their energy and replaces it with dopey country. Sorry, Willie!
Incubus
4/5
Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. RHCP without the hubris.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
5/5
I have no recollection of listening to this, but I also know it was great. I'm not entirely sure how I know this, but it is completely true.
Snoop Dogg
4/5
I do feel a bit sorry for Snoop. Here in the UK, at least, he's become a novelty act, appearing in ads, in a way that feels just a teeny bit racist. I guess he's making lots of money.
So it's easy to forget how he started out. This album just hits; that synth bass, the way his voice is mixed, the songwriting, it's all just so good, and it keeps moving and never feels too long. Admittedly, it's puerile in places, and Snoop does love rapping about his balls for some reason, but it's a reminder that he's one of the west coast's most talented rappers and not just a caricature used to sell fast food delivery services.
Pearl Jam
3/5
Me during "Alive:" Pearl Jam must have been the most incredible band of the 90s, neatly segueing stadium rock and grunge, this track is amazing, this album has got to be a 5/5.
Me towards the end of "10:" Pearl Jam must have been the worst band of the 90s, awkwardly straddling boring and indulgent, this album has got to be a 1/5.
Television
5/5
Just totally doing their own thing. Essential.
Orbital
5/5
The repetitive sample tracks on this are a little annoying, and please tell me I'm not the only one who thought I was having problems with my headphones to start with? But the central sonic voyage of "Orbital 2" is mind-blowing, and I prefer it to the overrated "Insides."
10cc
1/5
Shit music.
Portishead
5/5
Not a huge fan of Portishead's 90s albums, but this blew my socks off. You can feel the influence of Radiohead and Goldfrapp (both of whom were probably influenced by Portishead), as well as the beginnings of Geoff Barrow's work with Beak > and his soundtracks. I admire the way it doesn't sound like other music of this era, too.
Talking Heads
4/5
Would have loved to have heard this at the time. Talking Heads just totally did their own thing, didn't they?
Al Green
4/5
"Let's Stay Together" is obviously a classic, the rest of this is pretty great, and I like the way it didn't outstay its welcome.
Marvin Gaye
5/5
A Funky Space Reincarnation blew my tiny little mind.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Never realized this is essentially a b-sides album, but even Led Zep's b-sides are better than most bands a-sides. I found Kashmir a bit too pleased with itself, but In My Time of Dying more than makes up for it.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Purple Haze is such an uplifting way to start another dreary week. And the song isn't bad either.
It's so easy to think of Hendrix as a guitarist, but there is so much more going on here. The arrangements are so layered and swirling and synaesthetic; it's what I imagine clouds sound like.
X-Ray Spex
4/5
What I really like about this is that the Sex Pistols and The Clash were pretty aggressive, but then X-Ray Spex took the same format and just had fun with it. I can't think of any genre that's so willing to take the piss out of itself so quickly.
Small Faces
3/5
For the first time ever, I 💚ed track number one on an album. The rest is a bit dated and bawdy though.
Tim Buckley
4/5
Surprised at how upbeat this is, I like it a lot. Gets a bit Led-Zep bluesy in places.
Magazine
5/5
Great. Love "Shot by Both Sides." Definitely feel that nihilism and how it rubbed off on bands such as the Manic Street Preachers and Mansun.
Ute Lemper
1/5
Apparently, if you stand in front of the mirror and say "indulgent" three times, Ute Lemper appears and starts screaming this album in your ear.
The Who
4/5
Here's a thing: I don't like live albums, especially when I'm listening on headphones, because when you hear the audience applause I immediately imagine they're clapping for me and I feel a bit silly. Am I strange?
Anyway, this live album is good because you can't hear the audience (much). Also, The Who are a lot better, and more Led Zeppy, than I remember. They really knew what they were doing.
Elliott Smith
5/5
Someone gave Elliott a budget! I was afraid higher production values would detract from Smith's tender, heartfelt songwriting, but it works. Miss you dude.
Pixies
4/5
I always felt a little embarrassed that I described myself as a big Pixies fan, but I'd only listened to "Death to the Pixies," their 1997 best-of. But I think I was right - some of the tracks here just aren't that great. Having said that, a bad Pixies song is still better than most songs. The perfect Pixies song is goth-rock, very short, and features Kim Deal.
Thundercat
3/5
I like the 70s funk/soul vibe of this, and how soft and calm it is. But I was glad when it was over, it became a total slog towards the end.
Dusty Springfield
5/5
Slightly shocked to find that Dusty Springfield recorded both "You Don't Own Me" and "Son of a Preacher Man." And "The Windmills of Your Mind" is just the best version of it, even though Dusty apparently hated it.
Lupe Fiasco
5/5
Somehow this passed me by at the time, but it's good. Very much in the Kanye West mold, which is no bad thing - I might be wrong, but it seems like West helped hip-hop break out of its gun-totin' misogyny and become more tender and inward-facing. "He Say, She Say" is heartbreaking, while "Daydreamin'" takes a sharp satirical knife to hip-hop culture.
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
LCD Soundsystem should have been my perfect band: edgy, self-deprecating dance/rock. But somehow we never clicked, and I understand why. Every song is the same, build-up of elements, which is initially impressive, but soon becomes tiring. They also sound like they were made on someone's bedroom PC. And I feel like the singer is trying too hard to be hip and missing a genuine emotional connection as a result. That said, I liked it when he sang about people thinking he was English.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
3/5
So this is where Kula Shaker got all their ideas. "Rising Above Bedlam" is patchy as hell, but you can see how its east/west fusion pushed things forwards.
Morrissey
1/5
On the one hand, Morrissey spoke out for sensitive introverts with songs such as "Big Mouth Strikes Again," "Ask," and "How Soon Is Now?" But then he has to go and spoil it all with "You're the One for Me, Fatty," and being a big racist bellend.
The Beach Boys
3/5
Probably the only album I've listened to where a discussion about sandwiches is the best track.
GZA
5/5
Pretty much a hip-hop concept album, I love how textured and layered this is, plus its scattershot pop-culture references. Despite its length it never gets boring. An awesome achievement.
Jane Weaver
4/5
An album from the past decade that I've actually listened to before! And I still like it. Very post-Goldfrapp with a touch of Kate Bush.
Germs
2/5
I've enjoyed a lot of the punk I've heard on here, but this felt unexceptional.
Violent Femmes
4/5
For obvious reasons, I always assumed Violent Femmes were a feminist hardcore punk band and never realised they were the guys who did "Go Wild" from the Grosse Pointe Blank soundtrack. Now I know! The album is pretty good too, I like their more laid-back and fun take on punk.
Randy Newman
4/5
Pretty much what I was expecting; Leonard Cohen-esque moody singer-songwritering. Not bad though, and he does have a unique voice and some of the subjects are right on. I do wonder how someone who uses the N-word and sings about cocaine ended up writing "You've Got a Friend in Me," though.
Ramones
5/5
Here in the UK, boring appliance company AO has vampirically suckered on to Blitzkrieg Bop for its own capitalist means. I guess the logo t-shirt royalties were going to run out eventually. But the impressive thing is that none of this can deflate this album, which deftly blasts you with perfectly formed punk pop gems like a faulty hairdryer. Let's go!
New York Dolls
2/5
I wanted to like this, but I found it a bit grating and annoying. You can feel their influence on later bands though.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
I mean, this is an album named after some herbs, performed by someone called Garfunkel, with a track called "Feelin' Groovy," so it would be pretty easy to dismiss it as the height of 1960s cheesiness. But there's a lot more going on here; the album is permeated with a haunting aurora that lingers long after you've finished.
Slade
4/5
Nice to hear Slade songs that aren't that bloody Christmas song.
The Shamen
4/5
An interesting curio from the time before techno became mass-marketed and saturated. The music is interesting and experimental, the lyrics are absolutely awful and sound like they were written on a cigarette packet at 3 AM. "Move Any Mountain" shows up three times on the album, which is a shame (n) because it overshadows some of the better instrumental tracks here.
The Verve
5/5
I was really into this about 15 years ago; I loved its combination of Spacemen 3 psych, shoegazey rock, and baggy tunes. Not a fan of The Verve's later work ("History" feels like a dry run for "Bittersweet Symphony"), but this is great.
Beck
2/5
Not sure if we need more than one Beck album on here, especially when every song sounds like it's about to become "Devil's Haircut."
Roxy Music
2/5
Just listen to an Eno album of this era. The production is pretty much the same, but Eno's tunes are better and his albums are shorter.
Grateful Dead
4/5
Just the noodliest thing.
The Triffids
1/5
This is an asbolutely perfect example of the awful, boring, slow, bland pop that was popular in the 80s and 90s. It should be on the "1001 Albums That Must Die" list.
Gene Clark
4/5
Looks like jazz, sounds like boring country, then goes in a very cool and experimental direction, which reminded me of Alan Parsons, and then goes back to boring country. A rollercoaster!
Wire
5/5
I'm still not sure how Wire did a post-mortem of punk while punk was still very much alive. But it's amazing, desolate and snarling and bleak and beautiful all at once.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
I find it impossible to not like Led Zep. Those riffs are so solid and erect that you can reach out and touch them, but it's the quieter, tender moments that really stick with you. They are the masters of drama, the rise and fall, the sustain and release.
Dire Straits
1/5
Just how are these people so popular. Boring and depressing. Even the name sounds like something your grumpy next-door neighbour would say.
Marilyn Manson
4/5
Another album that I regret not listening to at the time because I was brainwashed by the NME and probably listening to Dodgy instead. "Antichrist Superstar" probably doesn't pack the punch it did in '96, and it comes across a bit silly and cartoony now, but there are still some decent tunes on here and the production is incredible.
G. Love & Special Sauce
4/5
Never heard of this guy, but, despite a couple of duff tracks, I really like his scrappy, laid-back sound. Beck without the weirdness, or Fun Lovin' Criminals without the cringe, or Beastie Boys without the boyish aggression.
Bad Company
2/5
Halfway between Led Zeppelin and boring drivetime rock ballads of the late-70s/early-80s.
Underworld
5/5
Just the sheer fucking density of the sound. Insane and incredible and awe-inspiring. Never moves like you think it's going to. At once utterly jarring and soothing, a Hell's Kitchen nightclub and a Bali beach at the same time. Music that makes you feel alive.
Joy Division
4/5
Wasn't paying a huge amount of attention to this, but it seemed decent. You can feel the ecstasy beat starting to penetrate indie music.
De La Soul
5/5
This was exactly what hip-hop needed; child-like wonder replacing guns and bitches.
Kelela
5/5
Loved this! I'm old, but I really liked the late 2010s sound, that kind of dark synth influenced by that OneOhTrix guy. But her voice adds another layer.
The Cramps
5/5
Dirty and vampiric songwriting with a rockabilly edge. Great to hear a band with the confidence to do their own thing.
Soul II Soul
2/5
Wasn't hugely impressed with this, but I guess it introduced RnB to clubs. Keep on Movin' is OK.
Pulp
5/5
Pulp's "In Utero." Dour and uncertain after a cult classic. What it lacks in Nirvana's vitriol it makes up for in cinematic grace, especially on the title track.
Tracy Chapman
5/5
The aural equivalent of a stuffed toy with a hand grenade in it. I'm not sure where I'm going with this, but that sentence seemed to make sense when I wrote it.
The Gun Club
5/5
Is it terrible that I guessed the singer was already dead from the moment I heard the first song? It seems like it might be. This is terrific though; it still sounds fresh as hell.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
One thing I like about this project is that it allows you to join the dots: I had no idea CCR did "Proud Mary." The rest is pretty good; solid and consistent like a nice poo.
Tom Tom Club
5/5
Caught Tom Tom Club at Glastonbury a few years ago and they were one of the most energetic and enthusiastic bands I saw, despite also being one of the oldest. This album transfers that feeling well; it's like you've been invited into their home and they're all giving you a big hug.
XTC
3/5
Interesting as a concept album, but I just hate his voice. Sorry.
Prefab Sprout
3/5
Not a huge Prefab Sprout fan, but Thomas Dolby's production elevates this a little. About 10% of the lyrics contain nuggets of wisdom as well.
2Pac
2/5
Nothing really hooked me or drew me in here; it felt flat and overlong. You do get a sense of Tupac's magnetic charisma and his troubled life, but there are no tunes to carry it.
Don McLean
1/5
I had low expectations of variations on the theme of "American Pie," and that's pretty much what I got. What was surprising was that it didn't turn out to be a bad thing and McLean's brand of cornfield melancholy doesn't outstay its welcome.
Edit: I've got to stop looking at the Wiki pages for artists on here. What a dick!
William Orbit
3/5
I liked this in a very calm and non-threatening way. There are some nice sounds here. It makes you realise how much this genre needed Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada though.
Black Sabbath
5/5
The immature absurdity of Ozzy's lyrics combines with bang-on arrangements and the faintest whiff of stoner rock. Rare to find such a perfectly formed debut album.
Love
5/5
Enjoyed this. Short, sharp songs on side-A, a psych freakout on side B. Who could ask for more?
The Byrds
2/5
Just far too jangly.
2/5
Some good tunes buried among the gravelly arthouse flatulence.
Queen
3/5
Hey look I've found a Queen album that's kind of OK! Two things I liked: Brian May can sing, and She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettoes) basically invented the shoegazing genre.
Sarah Vaughan
5/5
"Fouling" it up put a smile on my face. We like people for who they are, but we love them for their mistakes. So tender and beautiful, a natural performer, and her voice carries it with so much grace.
Dr. John
5/5
This album does not sound how it looks. I was expecting exuberant psychedelic rock, I got the most amazing laid-back rhythm and blues. What a pleasant surprise and a great start to a shitty Tuesday.
Orange Juice
4/5
Talking Heads did "Rip it Up" and Queen did "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us."
Devendra Banhart
2/5
I liked this to start with, but it soon became cloying and annoying. Like The White Stripes if they didn't know what the fuck they were doing.
The Bees
3/5
Confession time: "Punchbag" and "A Minha Menina" were the first MP3s I ever downloaded, probably illegally via Limewire. I listened to them a lot, in the same way that I watched "Spaceballs" a lot because it was the only VHS tape we had. So I was kind of dreading this album, but I actually liked it. It has a lot of variety and it's definitely straddling multiple genres without losing its balance. Still not sure why some white middle-class guys from England are trying to be Mexican though?
The Damned
5/5
Not sure why the government is investing in nuclear reactors when this album has enough energy to power the country.
Donald Fagen
1/5
The epitome of everything that was wrong with the 80s. About as much substance as a balloon.
The Icarus Line
2/5
Probably would have liked this at the time; now it's just a bit numbing and not hardcore enough.
Rufus Wainwright
2/5
Radiohead for people who don't want to be challenged.
David Holmes
2/5
I like David Holmes, but I'm not sure this is his best record. It's edgy, but not in a good way, and the mix is muddy and flat. The remixes on the "Don't Die Just Yet" EP are far better, and "Bow Down to the Exit Sign" is a more coherent and mature album.
Patti Smith
5/5
Between this and the Laura Nyro album I listened to yesterday it's pretty apparent that women have done far more than men to push music forwards.
Pretenders
4/5
50% Fleetwood Mac pop, 50% punk attitude.
Gram Parsons
3/5
Acceptable. I am the grand juror of music.
Baaba Maal
4/5
Warm and comforting.
Public Enemy
5/5
Just that sound, the sheer onslaught of the whole thing. Surprisingly compact for a hip-hip album too.
Peter Tosh
5/5
🕴
Big Black
5/5
TIL Steve Albini had a band, and it was absolutely incredible. So filthy and lo-fi and layered and nasty but just perfect really, I love the harshness of the guitars and the cleanness of the drum machines.
YouTube music link: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCqGF7gRwC9ZFxWIv0uWUl_g
But this should really be listened to on a dog-eared vinyl or a smashed cassette tape.
Method Man
2/5
Starts out nicely but loses focus and starts borrowing heavily from other songs.
Ravi Shankar
5/5
There's something so sweet and uncynical and almost naive about this, it's like a music lesson and an album in one.
Mekons
3/5
Not exactly the hard punk I was expecting, but not unenjoyable either. Reminded me of Half Man Half Biscuit quite a lot.
k.d. lang
2/5
Slow and boring in a 90s smoky jazz way, but it does come together in "Constant Craving," which is somehow really great. Just listen to that song instead of the whole album.
Screaming Trees
5/5
Stupidly good.
Meat Loaf
2/5
I like the concept, and Meat Loaf was obviously a larger-than-life character, but I feel like this has dated. The idea of buying an album and putting it on to "experience" it is something people don't really do anymore, right?
Mott The Hoople
2/5
Unconvincingly haunting the no-man's land between Dylan and Bowie.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
5/5
A fascinating little slice of history. Weird to think that this album was released closer to when Marco Polo discovered America than today.
Tom Waits
1/5
Stupid clown music.
Hüsker Dü
4/5
REM for people who don't like REM. Just love the structure of the songs and Bob Mould's introspective sadness, which feels a bit more genuine and less showy than Michael Stipe's.
The Flying Burrito Brothers
3/5
Not so hot on the folk stuff, but I liked its unexpected slips into psychedelia. "Hippie Boy" felt a bit hypocritical, coming from Gram Parsons, but maybe that's the point. Hippie-critical.
Yes
4/5
Very likable and progressive, but I'm not sure if I'd listen to this again.
3/5
Crazy and infuriating, but occasionally a nice melody or rhythm shines through. I was expecting more spy music.
YT link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCHB5LLPQ3s
John Grant
2/5
Did people forget how to make albums in the 2010s? This starts well, very post-Scissor Sisters, but with a unique folkiness and sense of humour. But after 40 minutes it runs out of steam and becomes such a drag.
Neneh Cherry
5/5
Just when you think it can't get any better than "Buffalo Stance," it hits you with "Manchild." Although the rest of the album can't quite top that opening double act, it still has an aggressive hip-hop streak that took female pop out of the 80s and into the 90s.
The Young Gods
3/5
This feels like it was made when people were still working out how to use samples. It's interesting and I'm sure it pushed things forward a bit, but it's just not always that listenable.
Sonic Youth
4/5
Maybe not an essential Sonic Youth album, but still very good.
The Doors
5/5
This made me like The Doors. A subdued Heroin fog of an album.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
3/5
A strange album that can't quite make up its mind of what it wants to be, but gets really good when it goes full jazz.
The Replacements
3/5
This feels like the missing link between punk and Pixies, just without any of the excitement of either.
2/5
Great lyrics, with a nice touch of feminist wit and a heartbreakingly honest sadness in places. But the trite, predictable arrangements let it down.
Suicide
4/5
One can never have too much reverberated screaming of a Monday morning.
Lauryn Hill
5/5
Not sure how Lauryn Hill found the time to record an album when she was so busy paving the way for Beyonce.
Meat Puppets
5/5
I feel like so many of these 80s bands just flew under my radar. Probably because I was like four years old when this came out. But I think even my four-year-old self would have liked this. It's whimsical and light without ever becoming cloying, with some great tunes and lovely noodley little guitar bits. Just a perfectly formed album.
Beyoncé
3/5
I wanted to like this, but it actually reminded me of My Bloody Valentine in that every track is soo epic and overproduced that it becomes kind of numbing and loses its impact. I listened to all one hour and 33 minutes of this though, so that's a thing.
Carpenters
1/5
Never really answers the question as to why birds suddenly appear when that person is near. "They long to be close to you," is not really an answer. If birds suddenly appear, the person must be a magic saint or an evil wizard.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Great artwork! The album is OK, still a bit nascent.
Bill Callahan
4/5
Sounded a lot like Swans. Surprisingly genuine.
Black Flag
5/5
Just so energetic and trashy and fun and unable to take itself seriously. It's a totally American take on punk-rock and it's all the better for it.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
4/5
Enjoyed the ebbs and flows of this one.
Paul McCartney and Wings
4/5
I'd always written off McCartney's post-Beatles work, but this is more interesting than I thought it might be, adding an experimental, electronic edge.
Leonard Cohen
5/5
Every song just sounds like a variation of "Suzanne."
Five stars.
Spiritualized
5/5
This was the soundtrack to my summer in about 2001. 22 years later (!) and it takes me straight back to being high in some field somewhere. I know Spiritualized found success in love songs, but it's the longer sonic voyages that really stand out here. Just absolutely unlike anything that was around at the time (shoegaze? stoner rock? ambient?) and unlike anything since.
Sway slow. Stay low.
Barry Adamson
4/5
A lot better than Moss Side Story, Adamson's slightly too on-the-nose concept album. A little bit MIDI and dated in places, but this has a seedy, smokey atmosphere that perfectly suited Lynch's movies of the era. The Big Bamboozle is such a torpedo; comes out of nowhere and hits you with its John Barry swagger.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
My second Cohen this week! This one is a bit more varied than "Songs of," but it does get a little bit corny in the more Western-influenced tracks.
Stereo MC's
2/5
So it turns out that "Connected" and "Step it up" are two different songs.
Japan
5/5
Duran Duran on downers. Melancholic and angular.
Joan Armatrading
5/5
Unexpectedly brilliant.
Jazmine Sullivan
3/5
Enjoyable and powerful, but lacking tunes. It feels like she's one song away from become a global superstar.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
5/5
I'd never heard of them until now, but having listened to the album everything suddenly makes sense. A definite missing link in psych-rock, and they seem pretty influential too.
Killing Joke
5/5
If I could play guitar well and be in a band this is what I'd play.
Stan Getz
3/5
Laid back but also just kind of a bit melancholic and soporific. It feels like they ran out of ideas and just started making random noises.
Massive Attack
4/5
"Protection," "Karmacoma," and "Euro Child" are incredible, building up layers and constantly adding motifs. You can just feel how they pushed electronica forwards by slowing it down and saying, "hey, this can be intelligent and tender and meaningful." It's just a shame that the rest of this album sounds like keyboard demo modes, and the awful "Light My Fire" cover is so unnecessary and incongruent.
Super Furry Animals
5/5
It's interesting that SFA are referred to as alt-rock on Spotify, rather than Britpop. But I think it's also correct as the Welsh band probably has more in common with Pavement than Shed Seven. The album still holds up; short, sharp and sweet. "Something For The Weekend" is still killer.
5/5
Unusual for pretty much every song to work on an album. I always forget "It Ain't Easy" is on here, and it always catches me off guard like a sonic hitman.
The Mothers Of Invention
2/5
This might have been funny at the time*, but it sure as hell isn't now. Although admittedly it captures an irritating and cringeworthy side of the hippie dream that is probably best forgotten now.
*I doubt it was funny at the time.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
I remember the Yeah Yeah Yeahs being a thing, but never really paid them much attention. This is good though. One of the few albums where I liked the acoustic tracks towards the end as they reveal and more tender side to the lead singer.
Joanna Newsom
1/5
Great arrangements and I usually like weird stuff, but I found this irritating as hell. She sings like Bjork and Kate Bush in a joint constipation therapy session.
This was exactly the point at which U2 and Coldplay became indistinguishable. Feel-good stadium rock that doesn't challenge and completely falls apart upon close examination. Although, having now listened to a bunch of U2, I concede that there is always one really good track among the dross on every album. In this case, it's "Elevation." Complete turd otherwise.
Drive-By Truckers
4/5
Expecting shallow rockabilly, but this is pretty good, kinda deep-south AC/DC. Did not outstay its welcome despite its length.
Dagmar Krause
2/5
This is such an 80s endeavour. Interesting, but not entirely listenable. Feels like it might have influenced Bjork in places.
Ali Farka Touré
5/5
So light and yet it has so much substance. Like Tom Waits without the gravelly gruffness. I could honestly listen to this forever.
Laura Nyro
5/5
It's insane how quickly singer/songwriters matured during the 60s. This is just phenomenal; switching from awe-inspiringly dramatic and cinematic to deeply introverted and experimental in a short space of time.
Weather Report
3/5
Treads the fine line between good high-production 80s jazz and annoying dissonant 80s jazz. Loved the closing track though.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
5/5
I hated this to start with, and then it suddenly just clicked into place. Insane and brilliant in equal measure; I can't think of any other album that keeps you on your toes so much.
FAST AND BULBOUS
Nirvana
4/5
Funnily enough, I was just looking at this last night and thinking about listening to it, but then I thought "this is bound to show up on 1,001 albums." And look, here it is!
And, I don't know, it's kind of boring? Maybe I just know it too well - I listened to it incessantly when I was 16, and now it just lacks a certain something. It's still a five-star album for what it did, and what it meant to me at the time, but tracks like "Polly," "Territorial Pissings," and "Breed" just don't really do anything for me, although "On A Plain" shines through as one of their best songs. "In Utero" is a better album; it's more jagged and less listenable, but also more coherent.
Travis
2/5
Bleak and pessimistic, kitchen-sink Radiohead. There are the germs of some good tunes here ("Writing to Reach You" is interesting), but it becomes repetitive and ultimately just a spiral of devastation without any redeeming features. I swear "Driftwood" is the single most depressing song ever written.
Eels
4/5
I remember this coming out, I believe it was the first release on DreamWorks records, and it sounded like it - experimental, but on big production budget, sort of Smashing Pumpkins' grand-scale midwestern Goth meets Pavement's introversion. It can be a little annoying in places, but it's still a unique and challenging album.
M.I.A.
4/5
Did not like the other M.I.A. album on here, but this was OK, especially when it was contrasted with the mid-00s bland indie that was playing in the cafe. I mean, there is something going on here that's a bit more interesting and edgy; Neneh Cherry-ish, and it doesn't outstay its welcome.
The Police
4/5
I quite like The Police! Don't hate me!
New Order
5/5
Somehow completely brilliant in how unexceptional it is. A band finding its feet and its confidence and delivering a series of completely flawless tracks.
Public Enemy
5/5
Just absolutely grabs you by the balls and never lets go. So much rage and, depressingly, it feels just as relevant now as it did 30 years ago.
The Birthday Party
4/5
So incredibly rough around the edges, but you can feel Cave's whole shtick coming through. The musical equivalent of Max Max 1.
Arcade Fire
3/5
This didn't catch my attention, but it sounded like Springsteen when it did.
Radiohead
4/5
The soundtrack of my teens. I remember listening to the line "Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen," and thinking I'll never have a girlfriend. Now all I do is talk to my girlfriend and wait for something to happen.
Radiohead were the band for the weird kids who didn't dig Oasis. A little trite in places, but the crazy arrangements hide so much. "Just," "My Iron Lung," and "Street Spirit" are still incredible, and not quite like anything else at the time, almost grunge, semi-Britpop, 90s prog, but something else also. Better than OK Computer in terms of consistency.
Ananda Shankar
4/5
A novelty cover album that actually works and does its own thing.
John Lennon
4/5
Definite mummy issues here! But also surprisingly solid, it's interesting that Lennon went inwards while McCartney went ... wherever he went.
Fairport Convention
4/5
Was not expecting to like this as much as I did. It really rocks out in places. A nice reminder of what folk music was before it became a pastiche of itself (fucking Mumford!).
3/5
Their good songs got better, but their annoying songs became more annoying.
Lenny Kravitz
4/5
I remember my flatmates hating Kravitz as a kind of faux-Hendrix, but he's really not is he? He's just doing his own thing, and I really like it. Lyrics are occasionally a little cheesy but all good otherwise.
Kacey Musgraves
1/5
Taylor Swift has a lot to answer for and none of it is good.
The Style Council
4/5
I'm beginning to come to the conclusion that I was completely wrong to hate Paul Weller with his stupid hair. The Style Council is not what you'd expect from Paul Weller with his stupid hair: it's much more soul-oriented and it doesn't sound anything like The Jam; in fact, I thought "You're The Best Thing" was a Lenny Kravitz number. And then Paul Weller with his stupid hair did Wild Wood, which successfully veered into singer-songwriter territory.
You have to be both brave and sure-footed to pull such career u-turns off, but Paul Weller with his stupid hair is one of the few who can do it.
The Everly Brothers
4/5
Not the most challenging listen, but this really opens up once it gets going. Graceful and tender.
Soft Cell
5/5
TIL Soft Cell didn't write "Tainted Love." TIL Soft Cell made a one of the best and goofiest albums of the 80s and it's stupidly brilliant.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Halfway between Def Jam and De La Soul.
Janet Jackson
5/5
Jackson's immaculate vocals contrast with crunchy, aggressive electronic pop to amazing effect. The complete opposite of the rather bland and unchallenging pop of the 70s and 80s. And you can just feel how this was produced from the ground up to sound great on a CD hifi.
The Teardrop Explodes
4/5
Just different enough to be interesting but just commercial enough to be successful.
Sparks
5/5
I'm not sure I've ever heard any album with this much energy before. Riding the glam wave but very much in their own way.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Suddenly Nick Cave makes sense for me! A proper album, Old Testament-thumping American Gothic that peaks and troughs perfectly, with "Where the Wild Roses Grow" as its tenderly beating heart.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
4/5
A great texture, interesting arrangements, and it's always nice to hear music from different cultures.
Bee Gees
3/5
I always thought of the Bee Gees as a late-70s band, but it turns out they actually formed in 1642.
This sounds like modern indie in places, but very dated and weirdly patriotic in others.
The Who
2/5
I actually enjoyed the radio jingles more than the songs themselves.
Röyksopp
4/5
Very of its time, but this actually hasn't dated too badly. A more aggressive and dance-oriented take on the chill genre.
Grant Lee Buffalo
4/5
Very 90s alt-rock, nice to listen to but not the most challenging thing. Judging by his images, he only recently learned how to make eye contact.
SZA
4/5
There something really sweet and loveable at the core of this. Liked it a lot.
Air
4/5
Are soundtracks a regular thing on this list? I'm not sure I've heard that many. I guess Air's work verged on soundtracks anyway, but if we're going there I'd want to include some of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's work as well.
Not to say that this isn't really good. It takes the texture of "Moon Safari" and turns it into something more coherent and less patchy. It's hard to imagine the film without the soundtrack.
DJ Shadow
4/5
I used to hate the way this album sounded so rough and underproduced, but I think it's part of the charm now and it adds authenticity.
50 Cent
3/5
It was all going so well until Eminem showed up.
Astrud Gilberto
4/5
A sweet and optimistic lil' album.
Ice T
2/5
Razor-sharp and witty in some places; puerile, immature, and absurdly misogynistic in others. Some of it is just talking and it's far too long.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
"Gang Bang" is kind of horrible, and some of this is a bit cheesy, but the rest of this is gleeful and enjoyable. Swaggering operatic glam rock with a hard edge, and you can feel its influence on what came next.
Django Django
3/5
I'm not sure if I like this because it's good, or if I would have been the target demographic for this material when it came out. I think it's OK though? Maybe it loses its initial inertia about halfway through.
This is such a vague review. Sorry.
Love
5/5
Gosh this is good.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
I loved the bits where it sounded like "Supersitious" without being as overplayed as "Superstitious." I even liked the soppier love songs.
CHVRCHES
2/5
Taylor Swift without whatever makes Taylor Swift great and I don't know what that is.
Fugees
4/5
All over the place apart from the singles, "Ready or Not," "Killing Me Softly," and "Fu-Gee-La." Somehow it's charming and it has a unique perspective, despite its scattershot approach. Basically a drunk driver of an album but with fewer road casualties.
Skepta
5/5
Gosh this is so good. I just love the way that UK hip-hop went from being the most cringeworthy thing in the world to stuff like this, which is so raw and feisty and just such an insight into that world and culture. "Shutdown" is amazing. Scary that this is getting on for 10 years old now! I am so old.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
My second Wonder this week. I was intimidated by its length, but I shouldn't have been. Pretty much every track just hits so hard and sounds so good, that layered detailed electro-funk never gets old. It's like being at the best party ever. Even when it's awful jazz it's brilliant. Also, this seems to be where 90% of 90s hip-hop stars got their song ideas from.
Stereolab
2/5
Apparently I listened to this whole album, and the only thing I remember about it is the first track. I'm not even drunk.
The Isley Brothers
5/5
Summer Breeze has just come on and this meeting can wait.
Burning Spear
4/5
I got really into editing a script while I was listening to this, and didn't pay it much attention. What I heard sounded good though, reggae that doesn't sound like a Bob Marley clone.
The Cult
5/5
This is just the sexiest album.
Happy Mondays
2/5
Never really got it? I mean Shaun Ryder is iconic of that era and genre, and a working-class hero, but he's not a great lyricist and the music just isn't good enough to carry it all. I guess if you were there at the time it would have been great, but this one should probably be consigned to the dustbin of history.
The Associates
2/5
Sounded so Australian!
Q-Tip
5/5
The boost I needed on a crappy Monday. Prince-like funky soul with a shot of hip-hop and a slick electronica layer of polish.
Laibach
4/5
Brilliantly weird and slightly silly industrial rock that doesn't focus on guitars. A little annoying in places and a bit too long, but you can feel how it influenced bands like NIN and Metallica.
Dr. Octagon
2/5
Great production, and that sound is so evocative. Just a shame most of the lyrics seem to have been written and performed by a 14-year-old boy.
Cowboy Junkies
4/5
I'm not sure how an album can sound at once ahead of its time and before its time, but this manages it. Not a bad thing in itself, but it feels like it influenced any number of bland country-tinged alt-rock bands of the 90s. At least this has a backbone though.
The Beta Band
4/5
Comedown folk-rock. I like the way they did their own distinctive thing when there was so much bad music in this era.
Kid Rock
3/5
I couldn't hate this as much as I wanted to. A natural progression from the Beastie Boys merging of punk and hip-hop, but this time with country-tinted grunge. The lyrics are absolutely horrible in some places but very sharp in others.
Kings of Leon
2/5
They obviously had a unique sound, but this is just so basic, like someone took The Strokes and aged them by about 30 years and made them much more boring. And The Strokes were already pretty boring.
The Velvet Underground
5/5
Delightfully dirty and trashy and sleazy; an oily puddle in a back alley. Must have been nothing short of revolutionary at the time.
Lou Reed
5/5
Better than "Transformer." Sweeps from cabaret act to soaring orchestral movements without dropping the ball.
Primal Scream
5/5
This was probably the only era of this album that me and my dad could agree on. He loved the film "Vanishing Point" and it was great to see him engage with the album.
And it's still just great, really unlike anything else at the time, and Primal Scream finding the confidence to do whatever the hell they wanted.
Thanks, Bobby.
Tortoise
5/5
Halfway between Mogwai and Boards of Canada, but with its own jazz thing going on. Another one I should have been listening to at the time.
The Pretty Things
3/5
The more psychy bits of this are so good. The rest isn't that good, but the psych bits make up for it.
Suzanne Vega
4/5
Not too folky, not too 80s-cheesy, just right.
Madonna
5/5
You can literally just hear however many millions they spent on this. The production is incredible, and it hides some of the cracks on the weaker tracks. "Music" is just so perfectly arranged, "Don't Tell Me" is, I think, my favorite Madonna song, and the cover of "American Pie" is just hilariously weird and doing its own thing, such a brilliant little oddity.
AC/DC
4/5
My son listens to this all the time, so I was expecting to be sick of most of the songs. But it's testament to AC/DC that I wasn't. They're probably the only band that managed to make each of their songs completely unique structurally, while being utterly catchy and accessible to a mainstream audience.
However, the Dandy Warhols cover of Hell's Bells is better. There, I said it.
Scott Walker
5/5
Never quite got this, but I do now.
Radiohead
5/5
I hated this when it came out because it didn't have enough guitars on it. Now I love it because it doesn't have enough guitars on it.
I think Radiohead's best album exists in the gray space between this and Kid A; they're both a little patchy but some really good songs do the heavy lifting. Here, it's "Pyramid Song," which breaks my heart a little more every time I hear it.
Richard Thompson
3/5
Solid but unexceptional folk. The music is OK too.
American Music Club
5/5
This isn't on Spotify, so I had to buy it via Bandcamp (you can also listen to the album there):
https://americanmusicclub1.bandcamp.com/album/california-digi-only-release
And it was worth it! Reminds me of Radiohead and Talk Talk, and a little Elliot Smith. Digging those chord progressions.
Roxy Music
4/5
This has grown on me. Thinking of it as Eno art-rock instead of pop has helped. It sounds great. I can't think of much else to say about it. Sorry.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
I've never quite got Bob Marley, but I think I do now. This album is just so immaculately consistent. Nothing about it particularly stands out, but there's nothing bad about it either. It just is. It exists to function and functions to exist. But somehow brilliantly so.
Wilco
2/5
You know those in-game radio stations in GTA? Listening to this album feels like I've tuned into a sad-alt-country-rock one. Not particularly bad, just interminably long and better as background music.
Frank Ocean
5/5
This is what Stevie Wonder's dreams sound like.
Aerosmith
4/5
"Big Ten Inch Record" has got to be the absolute worst attempt to hide what it's really about.
But this is OK, otherwise, it's easy to forget that Aerosmith started small as a pioneering rock/blues band, and a lot of the tracks here ("Sweet Emotion," especially) could fit in with late-80s/early-90s alt-rock.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
Just two guys and some instruments and drum machine. The flipside to My Bloody Valentine, the British Sonic Youth. It's rough around the edges but kind of beautiful in its sheer brutality.
Brian Eno
5/5
I'm a big Eno fan, but somehow I've never heard this. And it's so good, one of the few albums on here I listened to twice. Just immaculately produced and tuneful and whimsical and somehow not as dark as his other work but still breathtaking.
Foo Fighters
5/5
This caught me off-guard. A quick and angry recoil to Cobain's suicide, and every bit as good as Nirvana's output. But there's something more here: a tender take on grunge, honesty replacing irony with a mid-Western drawl, but still as loud and as raw as hell. Every song just hits so hard and sounds so good, even if the production isn't great, but that's part of the charm.
I never realised what a place this held in my heart though. It's just so perfect and ugly-beautiful and unique as an album. Grohl wore his heart on his sleeve and it paid off massively for him.
R.E.M.
2/5
"Orange Crush" is clearly one of the best REM songs, but the rest of this album can do one.
The Verve
3/5
I do have a soft spot for The Verve, especially their earlier work. This album continues some of the shoegazing sonic philosophy of their first two albums, but mixes it with crowd-pleasing maudlin tracks. 50% of this is really good, and 50% of it just isn't.
LTJ Bukem
5/5
Drum and bass perfection, the production is so clean and it's so well-mixed that it doesn't feel like it's dated at all, especially when compared to Roni Size's more crowd-pleasing but less even "New Forms."
Van Halen
1/5
Nothing jumped out at me.
The Smiths
3/5
I know Morrissey is a dick etc, but I don't think anyone has ever nailed that balance of depression and ironic humour in quite the same way.
Teenage Fanclub
2/5
The jangly and bland stuff that would inspire the absolute worst Britpop. But then there's a track on here called Satan and it's kind of insane.
U2
2/5
Remember when Bono had something to be angry about? For one song?
Joe Ely
4/5
Surprised by this, it's pushing country about as far as it'll go.
Faust
4/5
There's something very sweet and naive at the core of this.
The White Stripes
4/5
Messy and lo-fi and chaotic, but you have to hand it to Jack and Meg for not letting the fame and money from "Seven Nation Army" go to their head, and just carrying on with what they do best.
Brian Wilson
4/5
Gets pretty dark in places!
Sleater-Kinney
5/5
The audio equivalent of being slapped in the face over and over again for 30 minutes.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
The only thing I can recall about this album is that their work got worse as they got older.
The Kinks
3/5
Charming and cock-er-nee, but also dated. Waterloo Sunset is still great though.
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
I think this was the first like proper "album" I owned, on cassette, in 1996. I subsequently got into the Manics in a big way, then found them a bit depressing and trite. My declining interest was nailed when I had a very drunk and absolutely hilarious conversation with Elbow's Guy Garvey about them at Glastonbury 2013. I won't repeat what he said, but it was not complementary to the Manics.
So yeah, a bit of a strange one to revisit. I can totally see why it gave the band some well-deserved time in the spotlight, replacing the macabre, almost lo-fi production of "The Holy Bible" with a confident Britpop sheen. But this is also its weakest element; the extra layer of strings always feels unnecessary and waters down the songs, especially the title track. "Girl Who Wanted To Be God" is the strongest track here, it's perfectly placed in the album's ebbs and flows.
Hookworms
4/5
A new-ish album I've actually heard! Not sure if anything quite matches the cynical energy of the first track, but they've got a unique sound and the tunes are there.
George Jones
2/5
Never trust albums with the track listing on the front cover.
Tricky
4/5
A great album that really gives a sense of Tricky's character.
The Waterboys
2/5
This is never not interesting. Kind of Celtic folk-psyche in places, unfortunately U2-esque in others, utterly mediocre and boring in its quieter moments.
"It started up in Fife, it ended up in tears," are genius lyrics, "The Stolen Child" is awful and weird. Felt like it lasted forever.
Fugazi
4/5
Exactly at the midpoint between Beastie Boys and Nirvana.
The Divine Comedy
2/5
Basically, this is British kids doing silly posh voices at school made into a whole album. No idea why it goes full Prince at one stage, and it's genuinely creepy in places. "Something for the Weekend" is admittedly quite a clever song, though.
D'Angelo
2/5
Do you want to listen to an album that sounds exactly like Prince, but with none of the bite?
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
4/5
All albums should be 25 minutes and 59 seconds long.
John Martyn
4/5
A more psychotropic and funky take on Martyn's slightly farty folk which reminded me of Alan Parsons' sonic voyages. Love the artwork as well.
Miles Davis
5/5
Kind of perfect. Me and all my uni friends loved this album. Davis' sax is his voice.
Merle Haggard
4/5
A juxtaposition between the positive energy of country and jet-black lyrics that tackle male mental health issues with admirable, almost heart-breaking honesty.
David Bowie
5/5
Bowie at his absolute peak is also him at his most humbly strong. Or something. Never not interesting to listen to.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
ANOTHER Elvis Costello album. Pet theory: he ghost-wrote "1001 Albums."
"Oliver's Army" is pretty good. The rest is twee and boring.
Neu!
5/5
The thing I love about this album is the way you can picture the ideal listening locale: a beige 70s lounge with a lava lamp and a record player and a pack of Gauloises. It just moves.
Dolly Parton
4/5
There's no "Jolene" or "9 to 5" here, but I could listen to her voice all day. I'm not sure how someone can sound so innocent and yet so world-weary.
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
MBV carry on doing what they're good at with zero attempts to update the formula. Soaringly beautiful in places, discordant and unlistenable in others.
Queens of the Stone Age
5/5
This triggered some very weird, specific memories for me; the last time I heard it was probably 20 years ago, and I was probably baked. As I should have been!
This was the album that legalized stoner rock, taking the filthy bong water of Kyuss and diluting it into something that would play nicely on radio waves. It's long, but there's enough variation here to ensure it never outstays its welcome.
The Zutons
2/5
I'm increasingly convinced that people just forgot how to make and enjoy good music sometime around the year 2000.
Slint
5/5
Arguably more important than "Nevermind" in influencing the future of alt-rock, and obviously a massive, almost plagiaristic influence on Mogwai. Holy shit.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
I've tried so hard, but this record is impossible to dislike. At once reassuringly traditional while gently pushing rock in interesting directions, and utterly avoiding 60s cringe.
"Sinister Purpose" sounds so much like "Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads.
Scissor Sisters
5/5
Five stars for the cover of "Comfortably Numb" alone, which is just a completely crazy mash-up of the original song, 70s funk, 80s electro, and 90s house. It really shouldn't work, but it's just so damn good.
I think this album made me gay for a bit in 2004, as well; the soundtrack for my kiss-guys-on-molly phase. Which was a total blast, and this album being so unabashedly, joyfully out - and such a massive hit - felt like a defining moment.
Culture Club
3/5
Fun and silly.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
Sometimes I just really miss smoking weed.
Antony and the Johnsons
4/5
A kind of weird mash-up of Radiohead and Louis Armstrong, with a distinctive LGBT twist. Deserved the Mercury Music Prize.
The Boo Radleys
4/5
This should be a total mess, but somehow it works by virtue of moving fast and not hanging around. Loved the surprising psych-dub bits.
The Flaming Lips
4/5
My former flatmate was a huge Flaming Lips fan, and this album brings back hazy memories of a magic-mushroom-powered summer of 2003. Of course, two reviews down I said how much I hated music of this era, but this gets a pass for its psychedelic highs and melancholic lows.
Billy Joel
1/5
I remember "Just The Way You Are" being played almost constantly on Radio 2 in the UK in the 80s. I was only about five years old, but I hated how boring and bland it was. And I still do!
ZZ Top
5/5
Very easy to dismiss as a beardy novelty band, but holy crap ZZ Top were ahead of their time. I guess it was like Dylan going electric, but the simple addition of synths gives every track such a malevolent, hard edge. Did Nirvana use synths? Did Guns 'n Roses? Oasis? No! THEY CAN ALL DO ONE.
Bebel Gilberto
3/5
So soft and light that it teeters on the edge of even existing at all. But it's also a lot more authentic than some of the other "chill" artists of the era, and the minimal nature of the tracks makes them ideal for remixes, such as the Layo & Bushwacka remix of "So Nice," which I had on a L&B compilation. Just a shame there's not much to it in the first place.
Digital Underground
2/5
"The Humpty Dance" is silly and great fun, but the novelty shtick wears a little thin and it's hideously misogynistic in places. Again, no idea why all albums of this genre/era need to be one hour plus.
Fred Neil
4/5
I knew "Everybody's Talking," but this album really does go in some unexpected directions. I honestly thought the final track was some random modern band I'd randomly started playing on Spotify.
Ryan Adams
4/5
This guy was huge, wasn't he? I managed to ignore him at the time, but now the dust has settled it's not bad; shiny, druggy folk pop that could have been recorded in 1975.
The Who
3/5
Surprisingly but also unsurprisingly bluesy in places.
MC Solaar
5/5
This blinsided me a bit, in a really good way. The thing I love about French hip-hop is that I can barely understand a word they're saying, which shifts the focus onto the beats and turns the voice into just another instrument. And this is absolutely the best place to start; accessible and interesting without ever being cheesy or trashy.
Simply Red
1/5
I've always hated Simply Red with a passion, but I actually understand where they're coming from now - blue-eyed soul with an electronic edge.
I still hate them though.
Destiny's Child
3/5
Very easy to overlook how mind-blowing Destiny's Child were at the time, especially those first three tracks, which married TLC-style harmonies and melodies with a streak of hip-hop aggression.
But, holy crap, the rest is patchy as hell; lots of Beyonce demonstrating her (admittedly very impressive) vocal range to tracks that sound like they were recorded on a child's keyboard.
FKA twigs
4/5
This was a nice counterpart to the Destiny's Child album I had yesterday. Doing similar things in mixing pop with a UK hip-hop edge, but it's also darker and more experimental.
Animal Collective
4/5
A nice mix of Beach Boys harmonies and electronica that shouldn't work but really does.
The Adverts
4/5
Punk with a slightly experimental edge.
Justin Timberlake
3/5
I remember Justin making pop cool again, but this album is a bit too long and none of the tracks hit quite as hard as the singles, which are brilliant.
Kings of Leon
3/5
Probably their best album; scuzzy and lo-fi. No idea how they became so successful though.
The Fall
5/5
Just so completely insane and brilliant.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
They just really hit the ground running, didn't they? Every song sounds so different to what went before, and yet it all feels so cohesive and it never puts a foot wrong.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
4/5
This might be Albarn's best work? Not as cringeworthy as Gorillaz and not as dated as Blur. As a concept album it has much-needed drive and focus. It was that perfect window where he could afford the good coke but wasn't too old.
Randy Newman
3/5
I like the one where he sings sweetly about nuking the world.
Raekwon
3/5
Sounds kinda rough in places, enjoyed this though.
Mj Cole
2/5
The musical equivalent of dumpster-diving. Just utterly bereft of any direction or something to say.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5/5
That rare combination of being catchy without ever becoming grating or irritating. Dramatic and passionate. Pretty much perfect.
Fela Kuti
5/5
Insanely important politically, but also a brilliant recording. A heartbreaking testament to the power of music for underrepresented voices.
Tangerine Dream
5/5
Exploring the sonic boundaries of electronica while always staying listenable. Essential.
Yes, I said "sonic boundaries."
The Psychedelic Furs
5/5
Not sure how these guys have passed me by, but this is spot-on, defining both 80s new wave pop and indie rock in one fell swoop.
Beastie Boys
5/5
I used to think "Hello Nasty" was the Beastie's best, but I think "Ill Communication" might actually be a little tiny bit better. While it lacks "Hello Nasty's" blockbuster tunes, it's also more direct and raw while maintaining a similar level of playfulness.
"Heart Attack Man" is a bit mean though.
The Clash
5/5
The audio equivalent of being caught in machine-gun fire, which has happened to me many times. Just when you think you're done it hits you again with "Death or Glory" or "Revolution Rock."
Ride
5/5
Love Ride. Saw them live and unplugged in Bristol and they were just the nicest guys, they had such rapport among themselves and with the audience.
And this album is great. Initially, it sounds a lot like The Stone Roses, but there's something far deeper and more intelligent and meaningful happening here; an existential ecstasy-fuelled escapade. My kind of music.
Doves
5/5
I swear that the reason the upbeat dance band Sub Sub became Doves was so that they could write minor-key songs. But they're brilliant, a crashing comedown after the regrettable highs of Britpop, with dashes of Ride and Spacemen 3 and early Verve.
"The Cedar Room" is the best track, I remember playing it over and over again when it came out. "If I told you you was wrong" is grammatically UNFORGIVABLE though. Still five stars.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Pretty much!
Christine and the Queens
4/5
The French are just so good at music, aren't they? This is totally pleasant 80s-style pop that never stumbles into pastiche. Maybe a little too light in places, but it just sounds so damn nice.
Little Simz
5/5
Surprisingly lo-fi in places, sounds almost like a mo'wax record, but also British and urban and modern. Loved it all.
The xx
2/5
Not sure about this one. Still moody and muted, but it teeters into overly emotional pop a few too many times.
Pere Ubu
4/5
Never has a band sounded so much like they're from Birmingham. Turns out they're American!
Einstürzende Neubauten
3/5
50% the absolute origins of modern dance music, 50% utterly unlistenable Teutonic screaming.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Very British in that it invades a foreign land, exports only the good stuff, and profits. But it's also incredible that the Stones proved such a perfect fit for the blues, bringing their own pop-rock sensibilities with them.
Holger Czukay
4/5
Not exactly what I expected, but interesting and diverting nonetheless.
Everything But The Girl
2/5
Not sure if this needs to be here. Thorn has a great voice, but the arrangements are bland and it lacks the emotional backbone of their later work.
Sabu
5/5
Exactly why I love music.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
I liked this a lot, very chill with that awesome bass to back up her vocals. Reminded me of John Martyn a lot.
BUT it looks like there's a random floating penis on the cover and I can't unsee it.
Tom Waits
3/5
Tom Waits is definitely the only kid who made a weird face in their school photo. But this was a bit better than his other stuff I've heard on here, it's actually listenable and tuneful in places, for one.
The Jam
3/5
Interesting art-pop in places, utter cringe in others.
Buck Owens
2/5
This is why we needed the Dixie Chicks.
3/5
I guessed exactly what this would sound like from the album art and I was exactly right. Very, very of its time, bereft of substance and flatly mixed, but I liked its malevolent, trip-hoppy edge.
RIP Suba.
Sonic Youth
4/5
Not always easy to listen to, but always fun, interesting, and challenging.
The Monkees
3/5
Not really my cup of tea, but still a little bit deeper and more intricate than I was expecting.
Fairport Convention
4/5
British folk repackaged for a pop audience, but it just about manages to avoid going too far into Twee Cottage.
Sonic Youth
4/5
Sonic Youth before they went weird were still pretty weird. In a good way!
Arcade Fire
3/5
A vast improvement on "Funeral," and pleased to be finally get a track ID on that opener, which I've heard everywhere. Moves fast to start with, but slows down and gets a little lost and meandering towards the end.
The Notorious B.I.G.
5/5
Scarily, almost inevitably prophetic. What comes across here is his colossal talent married with boyish vulnerability and self-deprecating humour. And sloppy sex noises. Was not expecting those.
T. Rex
3/5
Slightly pervy, but kind of throbbing and muted, and it's easy to see how they changed things.
Happy Mondays
1/5
The problem with ecstasy is that it convinces untalented people that they're making good music.
David Ackles
3/5
This was very interesting but I also don't remember a single thing about it.
Moby Grape
3/5
I do like it when albums from the 60s aren't annoying. Slightly perturbed by Spotify including bonus tracks but omitting album tracks though.
Gillian Welch
3/5
Very much of its time, competent bluegrassy folk.
Frank Black
4/5
This doesn't quite have the punchiness of Pixies, but it becomes more sustained and interesting experimental in its own right. Reminds me of Nick Cave a little in places.
The Sonics
5/5
Totally hits the spot. The kind of music you can boogie to at a club night full of weirdos in your local city. Amazing fun and much more authentic than their peers.
Todd Rundgren
5/5
Occasionally profoundly, almost obnoxiously irritating, but also brilliant and weird and creative and totally unlike anything before or since. Loved "I Went to the Mirror."
The Magnetic Fields
2/5
"69 Love Songs" is an impressive achievement and it takes in so many genres, sounding like The Velvet Underground one minute and Leonard Cohen the next. It's genuinely surprising how much variety it's packed with. But it never rises to be much more than a novelty record, and the short tracks mean that it can never really indulge or focus on a certain style. It's an experiment that doesn't quite work and makes everyone suffer as a result. Like "Jurassic Park."
Paul Simon
5/5
I have developed such a soft spot for Paul Simon. This is sweet. Laid back, but also psychoanalytical, and it reminds me a little teeny bit of Daniel Lopatin's work.
Cars are Cars is utter dogshit though.
Robbie Williams
2/5
This takes Oasis' singalong Britpop and infuses it with megabudget production and pop sensibilities. It's completely inauthentic, utterly shallow, and wholly unadventurous (especially "Angels"), but it just about gets by on charm alone, and it's totally evocative of its time.
Gene Clark
3/5
Dylan-light.
The Electric Prunes
4/5
They have an awful name
But some great tunes
Ladies and gentlemen
The Electric Prunes
Ryan Adams
2/5
Every song sounds like some other classic rock song, but then turns out to be some kind of flesh-eating bug on the genre itself. It comes to life for "Nobody Girl," but doesn't have an original thought the rest of the time.
Marty Robbins
1/5
I had no idea being a cowboy was so boring.
The Human League
3/5
"Don't You Want Me" is the reward for making it through this album.
Alice Cooper
4/5
A riot. But also cheesy.
Kanye West
5/5
I always thought 808s was the best Kanye album, but this one has stood the test of time better. Sad, dark, angry, and desolate.
Fatboy Slim
2/5
Very much a one-trick pony before he learned new tricks on his funkier follow-up. Always annoyed that his labelmates the Lo-Fidelity Allstars are overlooked, they brought much-needed attitude and grit to the genre.
Cyndi Lauper
3/5
She really is.
LCD Soundsystem
2/5
I liked the opener, but I do find his singing insufferably smug and indulgent. He simply has too many words.
Caetano Veloso
4/5
Not sure why he looks so moody? This is a nice upbeat album!
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
This was so much like being in a pub with a band that I actually felt drunk towards the end. This is just about on the OK side of folk without becoming too corny, but I don't think I ever need to hear a banjo again.
David Bowie
5/5
A natural evolution from "Low," and every bit as good. "Heroes" takes its predecessor's ambient weirdness and applies it to more upbeat and radio-friendly songs, before monging out into stoned electronic psychedelia. Anything Eno did before he started working with U2 and Coldplay is an instant A+.
Coldcut
2/5
I've enjoyed Coldcut in the past (particularly "Timber", but I found this a bit grating. The collaborations are good, and I didn't realise they did "People Hold On." But some of the more sample-based songs feel like they're little more than tech demos that fail to come together as fully-fledged songs. I know that's kind of the point, but it's something hip-hop was doing far better on the other side of the Atlantic.
Kraftwerk
5/5
So oddly beautiful and optimistic.
Fleet Foxes
4/5
If The Wicker Man starred The Beach Boys. The Bwicker Manboys.
Nas
5/5
Finally, a 90s hip-hop album that isn't an hour-plus. And it's great.
Billy Bragg
3/5
It's like someone gave your left-wing art teacher a guitar and a record deal.
Beastie Boys
3/5
I think there's a bit of a divide in the Beastie Boys output between this earlier stuff, which was puerile and misogynistic, and later work, where they even apologised for being dicks. They have to be one of the few bands that actually grew up.
Not that this is bad, some of the arrangements here are mint, and I completely forgot about "Barrel of a Gun." But it's also hard to ignore its more sexist elements.
Manic Street Preachers
5/5
Anger, desolation, remorse—this is just the bleakest album. It reflects the misery of turning 15 at the time; "soft skin now acne."
"The Holy Bible" is also peak Manics, when they jettisoned Hollywood-style production in favour of making an entire album that sounded like it was recorded down a tube, but that finds beauty in its unpredictable timeshifts and razor-sharp guitar, when Richie found his voice and confidence as a writer, and before they became radio-friendly with "Everything Must Go," which has dated awfully compared to "The Holy Bible."
Neil Young
4/5
Likeable and listenable, with a Stones-esque sneering rock edge.
Van Morrison
3/5
Whenever I listen to live albums, I just imagine the applause is for me doing the inane nonsense that I'm doing, like loading the dishwasher. This one is pretty good though.
Hanoi Rocks
3/5
Fun and light and wafty, just like their haircuts.
Goldie
4/5
Really good when no one's singing.
Curtis Mayfield
5/5
Incredible.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
I could imagine this being 100% better when you're stoned.
Dexys Midnight Runners
4/5
I HATE "Come On Eileen," but it turns out that they're pretty good songwriters. Every now and then this album threatens to go into "Eileen" territory, but, thankfully, it never commits.
The Lemonheads
4/5
It's a shame I never listened to The Lemonheads as a teen. Kind of grungey, but with an acoustic edge that softens it and makes it feel more intimate and personable. The "Mrs Robinson" cover is good but incongruous with the rest of the album.
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
1/5
Reminded me of Prefab Sprout in the most awful way possible.
The Temptations
5/5
One of those albums that's incredible to listen to from start to finish. The production, the use of strings and wind and funky bass add so much depth and texture. "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone" is a true odyssey and probably the best thing that's ever happened.
Malcolm McLaren
2/5
Weirdly brilliant in places, very cringe in others. But it's undone by the way this is a rich white English bloke adopting hip-hop, rapping, and scratching, which feels cynical and disingenuous.
Public Image Ltd.
5/5
If "Never Mind The Bollocks" was an intense close-up, this is a wide-shot, expanding the scope of Lydon's snarling lyrics into something more interesting and diverse.
Christina Aguilera
4/5
Forgot about Christina! This album is great, especially "Fighter" and "Dirrrty," which have charisma and attitude. There's a really cheesy ballad here and a Sugababes rip-off, but it's all good otherwise. Surprised by the brief moments where it sounded like Oneohtrix Point Never.
Radiohead
2/5
I specifically remember listening to this on a Saturday morning in 2003, and the girl living beneath me at the time asked me to turn it down but also said, "it sounds nice."
While Radiohead's work has usually been pretty nebulous and rooted in a vague dissatisfaction with (then) modern life, this is a much more pointed attack on Bush and Blair's war on terror. It veers even further away from their rock beginnings and down the experimental path of Kid A and Amnesiac, leaning into Johnny Greenwood's soundtrack work at times.
Great to start with, but it soon becomes boring and cloying. About a third of the way into this album is exactly when Radiohead ran out of ideas.
The Residents
5/5
This is so fucking weird and I love it so much.
The Streets
2/5
Never really got it, and now I can see why. It's self-congratulatory, indulgent, and overly impressed with itself in a humble-brag kind of way, and "Fit but You Know It" sounds like an incel's cry for help now. "Blinded by the Lights" is admittedly pretty good.
BUT, I do like the skag-addled Britrap that The Streets inspired: Sleaford Mods and Benefits, which are much more socially switched-on and authentically grimy.
Stephen Stills
4/5
Good, but it would be super cool if this guy teamed up with some other musicians.
The War On Drugs
3/5
Hey, who gave Bruce Springsteen all the heroin?
Pink Floyd
2/5
Listened to most of this on a stroll through London on a Saturday morning.
This album is like a dream or a journey where everything shifts around and new views come into perspective, but it's musically watery and the majority of the lyrics are predictable rhyming couplets. Wish I Liked It.
Korn
4/5
This is a stupid, goofball album and the scat singing is hilarious. I know it was meant to be menacing and scary when it came out, but it's as cute as a button now 🥰
The Youngbloods
4/5
This sounded more like it was recorded in the 80s or 90s than the 60s. Unusual to find a folk album of that era that isn't cloying or cheesy.
Sade
4/5
That sound, designed for 80s hi-fis, her voice. It never rocks the boat, but it never needs to.
AC/DC
4/5
Good, solid, consistent, driving rock.
But the funniest thing is Brian Young trying to recreate the album cover's sneer now; he just looks like an old guy who's suffering from hemmerhoid pain.
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
Passed me by at the time, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. It's indulgent and vain, but it works in a Todd Rundgren lite kinda way.
Ray Charles
3/5
This poor man seems to have had his heart broken more times than Taylor Swift.
OutKast
3/5
Occasionally very puerile and stupid; occasionally very good, never boring despite its length.
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
Aways found B&S a bit limp-wristed and watery at the time, but it's such a perfectly evocative sound of the mid-90s, but somehow it has a Nick Drake-esque timelessness.
Jack White
4/5
Really liked this. Less lo-fi than The White Stripes, and hugely Led Zep in places, but still definitely a Jack White project.
Arrested Development
5/5
That sound is such a blast, like being drenched by a Super Soaker on a hot day — which is exactly what I was doing when this came out. It goes on a bit too long, but it's nice to hear happy, joyful hip-hop.
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
Every album needs a rap about the band's favourite food.
Talk Talk
5/5
I've never found any other band that's been so exactly on my wavelength. Insanely well produced and written, with a kind of melancholic honesty that never becomes cloying or clichéd. Coldplay and Radiohead are very much in Talk Talk's shadow.
RIP Mark. It's a shame I'll never meet you.
Rush
4/5
Occasionally reaches Spinal Tap-esque levels of cheesiness, but this moves and works cohesively.
Sheryl Crow
3/5
Crow has a unique perspective (you could imagine her being on Thelma and Louise's car stereo), and I really love "All I Wanna Do." But it's a high point on this album, and, holy crap, the journey there is meandering and boring.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Soaring and haunting. His best.
Isaac Hayes
5/5
There's me thinking I didn't like soul music
Spacemen 3
4/5
This lacks the surging drama of later Spacemen 3/Spiritualized work, but it's still unique and soulful. The soundtrack to your comedown breakdown.
Queen
4/5
Hey look, I found a Queen album I like! Full of life and character, but never annoying, like so much of Queen's output.
The Dictators
4/5
Goofy and knowingly stupid; reminded me a little of Andrew WK.
Klaxons
2/5
The best song on here is a cover, the second-best song on here sounds just like the cover, and the whole thing seems like they're trying far too hard. Just chill guys.
Funkadelic
5/5
My only issue here is that the title track is the perfect way to end the album, not begin it. Pretty much perfect otherwise.
Gang Of Four
4/5
I had "Found That Essence Rare" as one of my six MP3s in 2001, so I've heard it a lot, but never the whole album. It's all good!
The Undertones
4/5
Fun. The Fundertones.
Sly & The Family Stone
5/5
Only just noticed the cotton American flag on the cover. Emblematic of the whole thing.
I am very smart.
4/5
I'm not sure I've ever liked this? But I liked what it did to the music scene. It allowed people to be weird again.
Sigur Rós
4/5
I'd forgotten about these guys until they showed up on the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice soundtrack. This is still an interesting record, very much of its time but also floating above it, taking post-rock and fusing it with clubby comedown chill and Britpop's more orchestral movements, and adding a uniquely Icelandic twist.
The Stooges
4/5
Just the absolute perfect balance of pop and gnarly psych freakouts.
The Beta Band
3/5
"Squares" is really good. Nothing else stood out.
Aimee Mann
3/5
A weird predicator of Madonna's most mediocre songs.
Terence Trent D'Arby
4/5
Enjoyed this a lot. Very Prince, but I admire the album's cohesiveness. Those first 30 seconds or so are a nice way to start.
Lana Del Rey
5/5
What Taylor Swift should sound like.
Heaven 17
4/5
I love "Fascist Groove Thang" so much, but this album was kinda patchy too.
Paul McCartney
3/5
Why has Paul McCartney always sung like a 70-year-old man
Tom Waits
4/5
The intersection of the Venn diagram of "Me" and "Liking Tom Waits." This is a depiction of Waits as both a comedian and a musician; it's ridiculously entertaining and the songs are bitingly funny. Not sure what happened with his later work, it's like he spent two years alone in a padded cell with some percussive instruments.
The KLF
2/5
I should really like the KLF. I read Bill Drummond's 17, and even took part in a piece of performance art with the man himself.
But I just don't really like the way their music sounds? It's washy and spineless. And I kind of realised that this is a lot like Malcolm McLaren's Duck Rock in that it's taking black voices and making them say words written by a white record producer.
Sorry, Bill. I love you, but not your band. x
Morrissey
3/5
The annoying thing about Morrissey is that as his music got better, he turned into a worse human being. Pretty sure there was some kind of demonic pact involved here.
Dirty Projectors
2/5
Radiohead's ADHD kid brother. There are occasional flashes of genius, but the way it can't ever settle down to one thing becomes grating and irritating after a while.
Big Star
5/5
Big Star, little revelation. Had never heard of this band before, but this sounds like it could have been recorded any time between 1972 and 2022. A lot like Led Zep's more chilled tunes, but still decent in its own right.
Björk
2/5
Böring.
The Afghan Whigs
5/5
Another band that I wish I'd got into sooner. Quite grungey, but subtler and more varied.
Haircut 100
4/5
The saxophone solo on "Marine Boy" is the most perfectly joyful moment ever recorded.
George Harrison
5/5
This reaches absolutely incredible heights in places, paving the way for Spiritualized and The Verve. Still no idea which version I should have listened to.
CHIC
5/5
Every track here hits the spot.
The Charlatans
4/5
Oasis if they listened to Dylan instead of The Beatles. And actually still pretty good.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Weird to think that this was pretty revolutionary in its time. All the songs sound the same, but there's a certain charm and romance to them.
Cat Stevens
5/5
I spent a lot of my childhood thinking this guy was a singing cat called Steven.
Madness
5/5
Madness, and Suggs, were always firmly in that 80s irritating camp, but this record is surprisingly amazing. Their sound is dense and layered and you never know what's coming next, and Suggs' lyrics paint a colourful picture of London in the early 80s.
N.E.R.D
4/5
Obviously afflicted by the same early-00s hip-hop shirt drought that hit Outkast on the Stankonia album cover.
Casual sexism aside, this is pretty good, just three guys goofing around and having fun with beats and guitars.
Elastica
5/5
It's telling that Britpop's most muscular, aggressive, and downright grunty album was recorded be a predominantly female band. Is there something the other bands weren't telling us?
David Bowie
5/5
Amazing. Feels like a huge influence on Nirvana, especially, in a weird way. "Life on Mars" is such a heartbreakingly relatable song. Falters ever-so-slightly on the annoying final track, but the imperfection just makes it all the more perfect.
Ms. Dynamite
4/5
I was fully expecting this to be cringey and non-essential, but it still holds up, and you can feel the way it helped UK hip-hop move on from its slightly cheesy 2-step phase.
Robert Wyatt
3/5
The most amazing music, the most irritating vocals.
Anthrax
4/5
Stripped-back and goofy fun.
Ash
5/5
Impossible to separate this from the nostalgia I feel for this album. "1977" was the second CD I owned (Dodgy's "Free Peace Sweet" was the first) and it provided the soundtrack to summer of '96, when my 16-year-old self was discovering new levels of freedom in the most inept way possible. Ash were Oasis for sci-fi nerds like me.
It's still great, to me, perfectly paced, and Owen Morris' wall-of-sound production makes it a lot rockier than their Britpop peers' albums. Tim Wheeler doesn't always hit the right note, but the boyish charm of his singing means it doesn't matter.
The only thing missing is the bonus puke track, which is here (if you dare listen!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYivCDJN9PQ
Ian Dury
5/5
One of those artists who annoyed me at the time, but I regret not listening to sooner. He had such a unique take, a tough life with a big heart.
Michael Jackson
4/5
I had this on 12 inch when I was 9 and listened to it almost constantly. It totally loses its focus after those first two tracks, and his sister Janet's output is far more interesting, but it's so emblematic of that particular time and place, that aesthetic.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
4/5
Doesn't really let up and ultimately becomes a draining, but still unique for his time.
Mylo
2/5
Very much a product of its time, and I'm sure I bopped to some of these tunes in the dance halls, but there was far better music around at this time: Layo & Bushwacka's "Night Works" is more experimental and musically literate, while Etienne de Crecy's "Super Discount 2" turbocharged the French touch. "Destroy Rock & Roll" probably sold more copies than both of them put together, but that doesn't mean it's the better record.
TLC
5/5
Usually not a fan of this kind of thing, but TLC nailed it. It's both fun and heartbreaking ("Waterfalls" tackles hip-hop themes from a female perspective), but it never gets into the kind of watery, schmaltzy filler tracks that usually drag this genre down.
Mudhoney
5/5
Real grunge for real people.
Flamin' Groovies
3/5
Annoyingly, I didn't realise I was listening to the CD bonus tracks, which dilute what is a very tight album. Grrr.
Megadeth
4/5
Oddly tame and actually quite sweet 🩷
Erykah Badu
4/5
This feels authentic and it's dated so much better than that horrible "chill" music Morcheeba and Zero 7 were putting out around this time. Reminds me of Nina Simone or Ella Fitzgerald. Totally classy and unexpectedly fantastic.
The Strokes
4/5
I remember this being the great white hope of the record industry, and I also remember finding it pretty disappointing, as much as I wanted to like it.
But listening to it now, I finally get it. Despite their middle-class upbringings, there's something very relatable and humble and just plain sad about the record; it's as much Pavement as it is The Velvet Underground.
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
I was talking to my dad about Fleetwood Mac the other day, about how you suddenly just get them. I think I'm getting there? This album drags on a bit, but there are some really good tunes. I think the most impressive thing is their ability to steal from lots of different genres and merge them into something distinctive.
Drive Like Jehu
5/5
FUCK YES.
I had no idea this was a thing. I love Rocket From The Crypt, I love At The Drive-In, and this is exactly halfway 'twixt the two. Guttural screaming and chaotic guitars. Enough energy to fuel a mission to Jupiter.
Another reason to love the 1001 Albums project.
Liz Phair
3/5
Sounds so much like Hole! And it goes on a little bit too long. But I liked it.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
So perfectly paced it borders on miraculous.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
2/5
Half Beach Boys, half Velvet Underground, but not as exciting as it sounds. Nothing stands out apart from one song where he describes the parts of a car?
R.E.M.
4/5
R.E.M. are definitely growing on me, if only by exposure, but there is a certain sameness to the music here (low/high riffs, basically) that I don't think their later work has. That midpoint double-act of "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" and "The One I Love" is kind of breathtaking though.
Robert Wyatt
5/5
I had another Robert Wyatt album a few days ago and hated it, but with this one it suddenly just clicked, and reading his backstory (he's been wheelchair-bound following an accident in the 70s) made his music all the more interesting.
This album works on another level. The music is incredible, one of the few prog rock albums that actually worked, but his voice, which I found jarring at first, is what really sets it off; a child throwing a ball at a wall of sound.
Bob Dylan
4/5
I feel like I should have paid a lot more attention to this, but I liked what I actually paid attention to.
Dolly Parton
5/5
That cover! Why do they all look like waxworks. But also, this is great. Amazing talent all working together, totally ego-free, and just so charming and touching.
The Jam
4/5
I've always found The Jam a bit annoying, but I enjoyed this. There are none of the overplayed headline Jam singles, and it reveals a more tender side to the band. Absolutely understand how they inspired Oasis now.
Not sure what David Watts or Billy Hunt would make of it though.
Serge Gainsbourg
5/5
I listened to this on my work computer am I going to get fired?
But also, "Melody" is incredible in its squirminess; song that goes just about everywhere and soars and evolves dramatically. And I never realised just how directly David Holmes ripped it off for "Don't Die Just Yet."
5/5
You could almost add "ualized" at the end of the band name, and it would be much the same. Not a bad thing at all: this is adventurous, epic, noodley fun. Which is also how I refer to sex.
Eagles
4/5
Not The Eagles, man!
But this was actually OK: it turns out the title song has been overplayed, but the rest has been underplayed.
Peter Gabriel
2/5
Should be called "So-so."
"Sledge Hammer" is great, and "Big Time" isn't bad, but the rest of this is the kind of limp, boring pop that dominated the 80s.
The Undertones
2/5
I think one Undertones album is quite enough for this list. We get the idea, Feargal!
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
Better than the indulgent and stupefying "Melancholy," with some interesting shoegazey moments.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
This isn't an album, it's a party.
Black Sabbath
4/5
I feel like I never need to hear "Paranoid" or "Iron Man" ever again because they're so overplayed and frankly boring. But the lesser-known tracks on this album are the stand-outs, revealing an intelligent and talented band that is far beyond Ozzy's cartoonish antics.
Beatles
5/5
30 minutes of utter perfection. There isn't a duff track here. They're all so well-written and precisely tooled.
Kraftwerk
5/5
You can just imagine the film that would be attached to this. Dynamic with that Teutonic deadpan delivery.
TV On The Radio
5/5
I'd heard "Staring at the Sun" on an Adam Freeland mix, but the rest of this was new to me. They're just so unique and this album is timeless. It's the aggression of rock with the instrumentation of jazz and all these searing harmonies. A band I should have paid more attention to at the time.
Koffi Olomide
5/5
Just took one look at this guy and knew I was going to love this album immediately. Bright, joyful, and catchy; it could almost be the music from Sonic The Hedgehog. I wish every Monday morning started with this soundtrack.
Dinosaur Jr.
4/5
Very Sonic Youth-y, and maybe a bit too Sonic Youth-y listless noise rock in places. But it's easy to forget that this kind of music was bubbling under until Nirvana brought it to a boil.
Le Tigre
5/5
How is this 25 years old!
It's riot grrl *and* girly. Deeply progressive and light and fluffy. Feminist and knowingly cheesy.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I doubt these guys will ever be anything more than a one hit wonder.
SAULT
5/5
A modern album I've actually heard before! Woohoo!
Calexico
4/5
Enjoyed this. Light but not fluffly.
Bonnie Raitt
3/5
Raitting this 3/5.
Silver Jews
2/5
Put your back into it, mate. C'mon.
Massive Attack
3/5
Massive Attack are such a 60% band. Some of "Blue Lines" is amazing, and "Unfinished Sympathy" is an incredible demonstration of how epic and soaring dance music can be. But some of this just sounds like a bunch of drunk mates messing around with synths and samples.
Steve Earle
5/5
My cousin is a huge Steve Earle fan, but he never really clicked for me - until now. Technically, this is folk-rock, but these are perfectly formed popsongs, the sort of heartbroken ballads that Taylor Swift would launch into the stratosphere 40 years later.
k.d. lang
3/5
I didn't think this would be so folky. Sort of enjoyed it though.
Traffic
3/5
Always on the verge of becoming brilliant, but never quite gets there.
Ice Cube
5/5
I saw a man holding a broom when Ice Cube said the word "broom." Five stars.
Throbbing Gristle
5/5
Not always listenable, but the bits that are listenable feel like they could be on any electronic album of the last 50 years.
Radiohead
4/5
This was so disappointing when it came out that I wrote a letter to the NME. But time has healed that deep wound and "Kid A" isn't all that bad. I think I wanted more guitars when I was younger, but this is much more dynamic and interesting. "How To Disappear Completely" is the best track here.
George Michael
5/5
The first two tracks here are amazing, and "Freedom" is one of my favourite songs ever, just a shame that Robbie Williams massacred it. The rest of the tracks wear a little thin at times, but the most astonishing thing here is just how incredibly human and fragile George Michael comes across, despite that heartbreakingly powerful voice. Very much missed.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1/5
Turns out this is the absolute worst possible record to listen to on a stressful day of dealing with lawyers and HR departments.
Chicago
3/5
Only just found the "high quality" setting on Spotify, which means everything I've listened to so far has been on "low." 😬
This noticeable increase in fidelity, and the brass interludes, made this collection of fairly middling rock songs much more palatable.
Tim Buckley
2/5
I don't remember a single thing about this.
The Young Rascals
4/5
This really fucking rocks when it goes for it, and it's a lot more authentic than popular albums that have been digitally remastered into oblivion. Reminded me of The Stone Roses in places, The White Stripes in others.
Public Image Ltd.
5/5
This is more like hip-hop than punk, with the music providing a blank canvas for Lydon to ad-lib over. It's progressive, occasionally sublime, and sometimes completely discordant. But it's always really good; I especially love those creeping bass lines.
Sly & The Family Stone
5/5
Politically switched-on and kaleidoscopically joyous. I think I might even prefer this to "There's A Riot..."
Guided By Voices
3/5
The great thing about short songs is that when they're terrible they don't last for that long.
Boards of Canada
5/5
A contender for my favourite album. It slowly grew on me when I first heard it, each listen revealing more texture and layers. It's dreamy and nightmarish, ambient but danceable, analog and digital.
Emmylou Harris
4/5
Tender and quiet and sweet.
Sebadoh
5/5
Caught Sebadoh live a few years ago and they were ace. This album is great, slack with occasional ventures into artful noise-rock.
The Specials
3/5
They say "You're married with a kid when you should be having fun," but also "Stop your messing around." I will NOT be approaching The Specials for life advice.
The White Stripes
5/5
I'm old enough to remember this being a big thing. Rough and ready and lo-fi, but Jack White is a great songwriter and they still stand up.
Nanci Griffith
4/5
Nice.
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
5/5
Amazing parallels between this and Syd Barrett's "The Madcap Laughs:" the black sheep of big bands go a bit crazy and record their own stuff, then just fall off the radar. I liked this more than the Barrett album, though, very chill, but occasionally electrifying. What a great way to start 2025.
Ghostface Killah
4/5
Lacks the texture and density of earlier hip-hop, and it's a tad too long, but Fishscale makes up for it by attracting a who's-who of hip-hop stars and progressing the form ever-so-slightly.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
3/5
Just a bit too grumpy for my liking.
Traffic
5/5
This was great. Each track felt epic in its own way, but it also connected nicely as an album.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Peak Peter Gabriel. Dour Eno-esque electronica before he embraced annoying 80s sounds.
OutKast
5/5
Assumptions:
Apology time: Let's assume each apology takes 1 second.
No breaks: We'll assume continuous apologies without rest.
Calculations:
Convert to seconds: 1 trillion apologies * 1 second/apology = 1 trillion seconds
Convert to years: 1 trillion seconds * 1 minute/60 seconds * 1 hour/60 minutes * 1 day/24 hours * 1 year/365.25 days ≈ 31,688 years
Therefore, it would take approximately 31,688 years to apologize a trillion times, assuming the above conditions.
Dexys Midnight Runners
5/5
Five stars because:
1) It doesn't include "Come On Eileen"
2) "Geno" is great
The Sabres Of Paradise
4/5
Occasionally dated and a bit MIDI, but this all clicked into place when I found out it was Andrew Weatherall and Jagz Kooner; it sounds a lot like Primal Scream's "Vanishing Point." Great to get a 25-year overdue track ID on "Theme" as well.
The Yardbirds
5/5
One of the few 60s albums that has a genuine sense of jaunty fun without becoming extremely annoying. "Hot House of Omagarashid" is amazing, just so layered and jaunty, while "Ever Since the World Began" seemingly sets the template for Black Sabbath's dark voyages.
Peter Frampton
4/5
Best album recorded by a zombie ever.
Kate Bush
5/5
Somehow I've never heard this before, but it reveals another side to Kate Bush, makes her more human and less of a manic pixie dreamgirl type.
The Vines
4/5
I had this on CD back in '02.
That's 1802, because I was born in 1780 and I have discovered the secrets of both immortality and sending CDs back in time. I cannot review this album because it is part of my secret formula.
Nightmares On Wax
3/5
The only time and place for this was 1995, on a Walkman, as you wandered grimy city streets in a stoned fug.
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
So textured and fascinating, there's something a bit Radiohead/OneOhTrixPointNever going on here, but with a totally unique hip-hop take that's political and fun. I favourited "How Much a Dollar Cost" because it's the shit.
Rage Against The Machine
3/5
Just REALLY ANGRY variations on the Seinfeld theme tune.
The Byrds
5/5
What a difference a tab makes. Totally out there and taking on some concepts that almost feel alien to the same band that did "Hey Mr Tambourine Man." The cover of "Hey Joe" is great fun as well.
Joy Division
5/5
There's a film producer called Jon Davison, whose credits include "Starship Troopers," and whenever his name came up at the end of a movie I used to shout JOY DIVISION.
The Libertines
1/5
The kind of scruffy, clownish, pork-pie-hat-wearing shambolic music that's exceptionally cringeworthy and dated, and ultimately led to the nauseous, insincere folk-indie so horrifically embodied by Mumford and Sons.
At least their Britpop predecessors knew how to rock, how to add a good riff, no matter how shit their songs were, but this is so excessively in love with its own chintzy decadence that it instantly becomes a self-destructive parody without merit or value.
Guns N' Roses
5/5
What cocaine sounds like.
Lucinda Williams
3/5
This grew on me. Like a cyst.
Fatboy Slim
2/5
[vocal sample with drum beat]
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
[dramatic music sample]
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
[middle 8]
FAAATBOOOY SLIIIM IIIS SHIIIT
FATFATFAT BOYBOYBOYBOY SLIMIS SLIMIS SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT
[new dramatic music sample]
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
Blondie
5/5
A perfect concoction of punk and pop with a hint of disco, shaken with feminist vigour — and it still tastes as good as it did back in '78.
Cocteau Twins
5/5
Obviously indebted to shoegaze and dreamy goth pop, but also doing its own weird and beautiful thing. Liz Fraser is such a treasure.
Oasis
5/5
So easy to write this off, but it's class, so much better than "What's The Story," because it has an element of doubt in tracks such as "Cigarettes and Alcohol" and the one about lasagne; a wobbly lack of confidence that proved to be completely unfounded but nonetheless gives the album a more human quality that's missing in Oasis' swaggering and thunderous later work. I also love the way that it's just the teeniest bit shoegazery.
The Smiths
4/5
Gets points for maintaining utter desolation without ever becoming cheesy and patchy like their earlier work. My favourite Smiths album by a very long margin.
Circle Jerks
4/5
My enjoyment of this album was substantially mitigated by the thought of having group sex with these people now.
4/5
"Australia" is such a banger. Loved the way all these tracks transform into something else halfway through.
Saint Etienne
5/5
"Girl VII" is one of my favourite songs ever, so I might be a little bit biased. That track is a haunting eulogy to a life that never was.
The rest of the album is great, too, a precursor to both Britpop and house, but also existing in its own time and space, somewhere between Ealing comedies and the swinging sixties.
The Specials
5/5
Like a warm bath for your brain.
The Go-Go's
4/5
Super enjoyable.
Doves
5/5
Usually dance acts admit to starting out as rock bands (Daft Punk were literally named after a review of a former incarnation), but with Doves it was the other way around; they started as SubSub, then became Doves, then became a UK brand of soap.
And it really shows. The songs sound indie, but they have the same building structure and repetitive melodies as dance tracks, as well as demonstrating a cogent understanding of sonics.
Neil Young
5/5
The second time I've heard "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" in a week! And this version is just as good as the Saint Etienne cover. Maybe Young's best album as well? Bittersweet but kind of hard at the same time.
Britney Spears
4/5
Such a perfect little time capsule of this era. Blockbuster pop with so much production value that it practically blinds you with how shiny it all is. Yes, it's kind of meaningless, but who cares when it all sounds this good?
Living Colour
5/5
Not sure if it's intended as such, but this just feels like such a massive middle finger up at white rock music. Like, these guys are saying we can do it just as good, if not better. Fuck you. Especially fuck you Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Rush
5/5
Living up to their name. A smorgasbord of rock, switching between Floyd-esque prog, Zep-style riffs, and even a Sabbathy detour into metal.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
Very mid.
Morrissey
2/5
The watershed moment when Morrissey went from Introspective Insecure Caring Morrissey to Irrationally Angry Blobby Morrissey.
Os Mutantes
3/5
The only album of the 60s that sounds like people from the 90s imagined albums of the 60s sounded. Crazy and light and good-natured fun.
The Slits
5/5
Just so insanely talented, those changes in key and rhythm are crazy. And not quite post-punk, something more interesting that's jazz and reggae-influenced. Their cover of "Heard it on the Grapevine" is amazing as well.
Billy Bragg
4/5
Not a huge fan of either of these artists, but this works. "Mermaid Avenue" augments Bragg's miserable onanism with more authentic alt-country rock, and gives Wilco a more intelligent and political edge. So it turns out two negatives can make a positive.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
"Being Boring" is good, but I'm not sure if PSB are that much of an album band really. I'm always trying to listen out for their biggest (and best) songs, but I never hear them.
Astor Piazzolla
5/5
This was such a nice surprise. Spy movie music.
Stephen Stills
5/5
First song: This album is too long.
Last song: This album isn't long enough.
The Who
4/5
A Who album I liked! Woo-who!
Pantera
4/5
One of the best metal albums I've heard, a nice balance of tunes that never verges into pastiche or cheesiness. I prefer these guys to Metallica.
Sister Sledge
5/5
Up there with the best and most innovative albums of the 70s, there's so much range here but the songs are also so catchy. They pushed things forwards as much as Kraftwerk and Eno.
Iron Maiden
5/5
Surprisingly chill and Led Zep-like.
Everything But The Girl
4/5
Heartbroken kitchen sink disco. Love the vocals, wasn't so keen on any tracks featuring a guitar though.
White Denim
4/5
I feel like this was the chestburster moment when indie music stopped sucking and started sounding pretty good.
The Prodigy
2/5
Largely boring and overly pleased with itself, but "No Good" is an absolute classic.
Funkadelic
4/5
Given the state of the world and politics right now, I believe that thinking has indeed become illegal.
Pentangle
5/5
I was not expecting this to be so damn good. Those key changes and harmonies are borderline miraculous. They're a sort of unplugged Led Zep.
Ella Fitzgerald
4/5
Sublime and sweeping. The perfect soundtrack for a melancholic wet Sunday.
Metallica
3/5
Enjoyable, but I can't think of an album that's so ripe for parody.
Baaba Maal
4/5
Music that makes you smile.
Rahul Dev Burman
4/5
Fruity! But I still find it strange that only some soundtracks are included here.
King Crimson
5/5
What Pink Floyd should sound like.
John Lennon
4/5
Unlike McCartney, at least Lennon had something to say and didn't just sing about his chickens or whatever.
"Imagine" is great (I'm hearing it again in the Starbucks I'm sitting in right now), it drags a bit in the bluesy stuff, but really comes back together for a triumphant finale, with "How Do You Sleep" blowing the roof off the whole thing.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
I was ready to hate on this, and say that it's one Springsteen album too many, but I guess this was recorded just after 9/11 and the people of America were looking to one of their folk heroes for reassurance. And Bruce delivered. But it's also far too long.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
5/5
This was great. Loved that final freak out.
Nina Simone
4/5
This was a pretty good soundtrack for a stressful morning spent trying to cancel my broadband, which is obviously what Nina Simone had in mind when she was recording it.
Scott Walker
5/5
60% Bond theme, 40% mariachi band, 100% genius. His voice is heartbreaking.
Beatles
5/5
A definite contender for my favourite Beatles album. Halfway between their poppy early work and their more experimental later work (which I've always found a bit patchy), but what's remarkable about "Rubber Soul" is the way it's so coherent and never strays too far from its central core, never loses its focus, like the words printed in a stick of rock.
The Dandy Warhols
5/5
Mr Come Down, so pleased to see you again.
I could write so much about this album, and the band. It was nothing short of revelatory when I first heard it, aged 17. It was the antidote to both tedious Britpop and increasingly middle-of-the-road American rock, existing somewhere in a swirling bongwater ether of the Velvet Underground and Rolling Stones, but also taking in influences from shoegaze and stoner rock, with a snide, cool, and nihilistic attitude.
Come Down was at once deeply uncool and the coolest thing I'd ever heard, and I just couldn't understand why more people didn't like them. I saw them live a lot. I got the t-shirt. I wrote an essay about them at university. I got a tattoo. I was obsessed.
I still think it hangs together as an album, and it needs to be listened to as loud as possible. "Be In" builds layer upon layer, "Boys Better" smacks you with one of the short, sharp catchy pop songs that the Dandys do really fucking well, then the pace slows and it gets into this soporific sludge, in the best possible way, before hitting the double-whammy of "Junkie" and "Holiday," and then "Good Morning" is a come down from that burst of energy and a return to the more stoned fug of the first half.
It's by far their best album and I wish they'd continued on this track and not tried to go all electronic.
So yeah, five stars, always and forever.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
Very, very steady rock, but enjoyable for what it is.
Hole
5/5
Hate myself for wanting to hate this. I think Nick Broomfield saying Courtney Love basically murdered Kurt Cobain (Kurt Cobain murdered himself) plus just the horrific but deep-seated misogyny of the 90s always put me off.
I missed out so much. This is every bit the sister album to Nevermind, angry but literate. But I love it even more because it's a decent grunge album that is not Nirvana.
Blue Cheer
5/5
Almost metal, liked it a lot.
Scritti Politti
5/5
Such an 80s sound, but all the better for it; that density of sounds and layers and those butter-smooth vocals. Reminds me a lot of Prince and George Michael. So interesting to hear the band's story as well, they took the ethos of punk and rebelled against punk by becoming a pop band.
The Incredible String Band
4/5
I'm not sure how something can be so Christian while also sounding like a pagan ritual that will end up with your sacrifice. But it also sounds interesting and I think the band pushed psych-folk forwards technically. Surely an influence on the Super Furry Animals as well.
The White Stripes
5/5
I fell out of love with The White Stripes after "Seven Nation Army," but I shouldn't have. So many great tunes here, just Led Zep-level riffs all over the place. Doesn't let up at all.
The Zombies
5/5
There's something so innocent and lovely and just so bloody English about this that I don't think has been replicated any time since.
Beck
3/5
I'm sure I used to like this, but now it's just somewhere between profound genius and profoundly irritating.
Wu-Tang Clan
4/5
Really loved all the samples on this and the way it has that 70s kung-fu theme all the way through. Proof that hip-hop can be darkly fun.
Khaled
1/5
I've usually loved the world music this project has introduced me to, especially African albums. But this totally sucked ass. I was having a very stressful time with a bicycle when I was listening to it, but it was still so absolutely incredibly awful and irritating.
Duke Ellington
4/5
This is such an odyssey and I loved the elongated introductions (including the Quincy Jones shout-out!), but it loses a star because I think the solo on "Festival Junction" burst my eardrums.
Christina Aguilera
4/5
"Basics" is subjective here (it probably cost a few million to produce), but every track is just so slick and enjoyable.
Mike Ladd
5/5
Loved the Buckaroo Banzai track! And the rest was great as well.
Pink Floyd
5/5
After something like 20 years and numerous attempts to like Floyd, this suddenly just clicked for me. But does this mean I'm old?
Mudhoney
4/5
This never seemed to end, but I didn't mind at all. Love them.
Hole
4/5
Not quite as punchy as "Live Through This," but still absolutely great and one of my favourite discoveries on here. It polishes grunge and makes it more digestible, and you can feel how it influenced Avril Lavigne and Marilyn Manson, to an extent.
Elvis Costello
1/5
Fuck world peace or having loads of money. My single greatest wish is that this is the last Elvis Costello album I have to listen to. 🙏
Butthole Surfers
5/5
How did a band with such a dumb name produce such a smart album?
Judas Priest
4/5
Quaint but charming.
Goldfrapp
5/5
My adibing memory of this album is my friend James lending it to me, and me accidentally placing it in a beer spillage on a table in Barnstaple 'spoons. It was one of those cardboard digipaks, so it was irreparably damaged. Sorry, James!
Boring anecdote aside, this is still superb; a bit of an anomaly, taking Britpop's fetishism of the 60s to an extreme level, embracing both John Barry-esque strings, electronica, and more cult instruments and sounds, with Goldfrapp's heartbroken voice tying it all together.
Michael Jackson
5/5
I don't think you'll ever hear another album this enthusiastic.
5/5
Really finds its groove on each and every track.
Morrissey
3/5
"Suedehead" is my favourite Morrissey/Smiths song by a country mile (not sure what makes that different to a normal mile), but I preferred "Strangeways, Here We Come" as an album. The chord changes on "Viva Hate" become kind of repetitive.
Adele
2/5
Just endless dramatic warbling. She should be called A-yell.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Never really noticed how Dylan-esque this era of the Stones was. And the bookend tracks are perfect.
Can
5/5
One of those albums that gets you high just by listening to it. Magic.
Leonard Cohen
5/5
He really had it right until the end, didn't he?
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
3/5
The sort of music Brian Eno would have made if he wasn't on drugs.
Gang Starr
4/5
Positive and intelligent hip-hop. Great samples as well, which I'm sure were used on subsequent songs from the Lo-Fi Allstars and Adam Freeland.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
4/5
This is very silly, but the weird keyboard tangents are out of this world.
The Darkness
1/5
I remember these guys being promoted as a goofy, fun, Spinal-Tap-style rock band. But it turns out they're just really fucking boring.
Ozomatli
2/5
The first track wouldn't be out of place on one of the more exotic chases in a "Bourne" film, but the rest just isn't really my cup of tea? Also slightly annoying that it's not available digitally in the UK.
Afrika Bambaataa
5/5
Accidentally started listening to Planet Rock, the remixes, but this was great when I found the right album. It's been super interesting to trace the progression of hip-hop via this project; this was its bright-eyed and forward-thinking progenitor.
Ray Charles
5/5
Once you get over the fact that every track sounds like the theme from "Police Squad," this is pretty amazing. His voice is absurd. "Let The Good Times Roll" could well make it to my funeral playlist.
Bee Gees
2/5
Such an odd bunch. Every now and then they do something cool and progressive and rockin', but its offset by songs that sound like they were sung by drunk old men in a church.
John Coltrane
5/5
Holy shit. Psalm.
Finley Quaye
3/5
"Sunday Shining" is such an evocative song for me and I love it. It's almost jazz-like in the way it constantly shifts and changes. The rest of the album is patchy as hell, sometimes verging into futuristic dubstep while other tracks sound like Finley was high with a tape recorder in his bedroom.
Also not sure if Finley himself is "troubled" or "a complete dick."
Leonard Cohen
5/5
I remember my dad having this on tape in the 80s. I hated it and always complained about Cohen being so depressing and moany.
But now his wit and mastery shines through. It's such a weird combination of Cohen's world-weary vocals and (then) state-of-the-art electronic compositions, but somehow it works brilliantly.
Sorry, Dad!
Kings of Leon
4/5
Actually enjoyed this? I don't know what's wrong with me.
Elliott Smith
5/5
Elliott's one of those artists who gets a little bit better each time I listen to him. Very easy to dismiss as slacker rock, but there's something heartbreakingly beautiful and melancholic about it as well, like he's super smart and obviously knew his intentions.
Suede
4/5
I saw Suede live last year and, despite my low expectations they were amazing. Brett is such a natural frontman and he has the energy of someone a quarter of his age.
This album is great as well; like The Verve, I much prefer their earlier slightly shoegazery stuff. It does sag towards the end a bit though.
The Go-Betweens
4/5
This is what Prefab Sprout would sound like if they had talent.
Mariah Carey
4/5
I initially hated this, but when I realised every single little thing is in service of Mariah Carey's Voice™ it's actually kind of amazing. It's musically and lyrically so light it needs to be tied down, but just Mariah Carey's Voice™ OMG.
Elton John
4/5
Loved it.
The Chemical Brothers
4/5
All the ingredients of their later albums are here: the tight, euphoric grooves, the Britpop cameos, the final comedown track. It's not quite as polished or confident as the follow-up albums, but it makes up for it with sheer innovation and charm.
Jeru The Damaja
4/5
I didn't realise how much rap albums needed a bad English evil accent until now. This was also switched-on and super exciting, although I'm not sure how well "Da Bichez" will go down now.
Keith Jarrett
3/5
This was nice and chill, but also it's basically classical music and I'm not sure why it's here?
Grateful Dead
2/5
A bit too scrappy for my liking.
Red Snapper
4/5
I had "Some Kind of Kink" as one of my five or so MP3s in 2001! I was expecting this to be unsatisfying, but it's not actually too bad. It does seem there were a lot of tone-deaf singers in this era though.
Richard Hawley
5/5
This really shouldn't work, but it really does.
Björk
5/5
I never really got Bjork and always thought she was indulging in weirdness for its own sake. But this is such an assured, um, debut and it really works, balancing weird with accessible. Each track stands on its own two feet, but it also feels cohesive as an album.
I get Bjork.
Ali Farka Touré
5/5
I had the gravel wheels on my bike, so I went for an off-road course and got a bit lost and scratched up. It was a nice day. I had this as my soundtrack and it was perfect.
I should probably get a job, but for now this feels like it's what life is about. Why can't we just do shit like this all day, every day.
Leftfield
5/5
I always thought I preferred Underworld to Leftfield, but this album really is a banger. Especially when "Open Up" just comes out of nowhere and completely fucks you up.
Slipknot
4/5
Silly and stupid and cartoony, but also ridiculously tight and musically proficient. Like a well-made horror film.
Electric Light Orchestra
2/5
Essentially a 50-minute prologue and a 15-minute epilogue for "Mr Blue Sky."
Fleetwood Mac
1/5
Bilge.
Abdullah Ibrahim
4/5
Absolutely not what I was expecting, in the most pleasant way possible.
Girls Against Boys
5/5
I had a vague awareness of these guys from the "Series 7: The Contenders" soundtrack, but this is totally the kind of stuff I would have loved at the time. Why is Washington DC so interesting musically?
The Coral
4/5
At the time, I dismissed these guys as Cast for the 21st century, but there is something interesting and fun and experimental going on here, even if it is just a little bit too indebted to classic psych-rock. They're Space for the 21st century.
Donovan
3/5
I guess he no longer lives in a van.
4/5
Great album art! Pretty good album!
2/5
This felt like half an album. Just kind of ended abruptly, which seems weird for indulgent prog-rock.
The Kinks
5/5
Definitely my favourite Kinks album, it has a mood and a theme and just goes for it in a way that The Beatles never could.
Talking Heads
3/5
I really liked this, but it also made me realise why I've never fully embraced Talking Heads: I just don't like David Byrne's voice. I feel bad about it, but it just grates with me. Sorry, David.
Soft Machine
5/5
Holy shit. How is this album 55 years old. How.
Steely Dan
3/5
Basically 10 different versions of "Do It Again." Should have been called "Do It Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again."
Kanye West
5/5
Utterly crude, hilariously so, in places, but also such a weird soundscape and unmistakably Kanye. I know he's a bit of a dick now, but this is just so fucking out-there and ballsy that it's hard not to be impressed.
Bob Dylan
5/5
My dad had this! I love that each Dylan album reveals another side to Bob - this one is giggly and witty.
ABBA
2/5
I haven't experienced anything that goes downhill this fast since I put a bowling ball on a helter skelter. The first track is great, the rest just sucks more and more.
Cheap Trick
4/5
I was expecting punk for some reason, but this is gnarly and riff-heavy. One of the few live albums that really works.
Motörhead
5/5
Motörhead as they should be: loud, dirty and energetic.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
It's easy to dismiss Hendrix as a virtuoso guitarist, but this album proves there's so much more to him; it gets into Jimi's head and he gets into yours via stereoscopic effects and mega riffs. Almost auteur-like in its ability to take the album form and expand it beyond its limits.
Sepultura
3/5
Surprisingly middle-of-the-road.
Napalm Death
4/5
Silly boys.
Jurassic 5
5/5
Just moves and doesn't ever let up. They all sound great.
Dennis Wilson
5/5
Most of this is amazing, setting the template for post-prog electro-tinged 80s rock. A little bit of it sucks, but let's not talk about that.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
The watershed moment between clean-cut, pop Stones and scraggy, drug-addled blues Stones. It feels like they're awkwardly groping in the dark to find themselves in places, but those moments when it comes together (Jigsaw Puzzle) are spiritual experiences.
R.E.M.
5/5
I love the way that it's saying it's OK to feel sad and lonely sometimes. Michael Stipe is as good a therapist as he is a singer.
Bob Dylan
5/5
One revelation from this project, which may seem utterly obvious, is that albums aren't standalone things, but part of a miasma of a band or artists' output, and it's interesting to listen to them out of chronilogical order. "Highway 61 Revisited" isn't just a good Dylan album, but a phase of his evolution.
This sounded a lot more clever in my head.
Steve Winwood
4/5
There really are some moments of absolute genius on here, but some of it just really sucks as well.
Common
5/5
An intelligent combination of hip-hop and Black history with those playful, choppy samples that dominated music of this era. Put a smile on my face.
The Thrills
3/5
"Big Sur" certainly brings back some memories of 2003, even if it does seem to be a rip-off of Robert Lester Folsom's "April Suzanne." But the bigger question here is why some middle-class guys from Dublin are pretending to be some drooly middle-American band?
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
5/5
Completely forgot how much I completely love this.
The Hives
4/5
Very much a Swedish take on the White Stripes/Strokes-style rock of the time: maybe not quite getting it, but making up for it with immaculate production and catchy songwriting and an injection of pop-punk.
They're also amazingly fun live: they were the first band I saw at Glastonbury 2013 and they knocked my socks off.
Youssou N'Dour
5/5
I was aware of Youssou N'Dour because of "7 Seconds," his collaboration with Neneh Cherry, which was a pretty big hit in the UK. I remember bleating along to his line "A meeeeliion voices" on the school bus but as much as I mocked it, even at the time I knew it was like nothing else on the airwaves.
Back to this album: it sounds great, it's so layered and wonderfully produced. Neneh made the right choice.
Giant Sand
1/5
Reminded me of Sparklehorse a little bit, but I'm not sure if I like this kind of lo-fi melancholic music overall, apart from Grandaddy, who managed to at least make it feel like it wasn't made by someone about to have their life-support machine turned off.
Lorde
4/5
I thought this was a Madonna album about her daughter. Turns out those online IQ tests I've been taking might have been telling the truth after all!
Elis Regina
4/5
This absolutely pangs in places. That is what the kids say now right? Pangs.
Coldplay
1/5
HOW THE FUCK did a band with at most two good songs, who ran out of ideas ON THEIR DEBUT ALBUM, become one of the biggest bands on the planet. HOW.
The Black Crowes
4/5
One of the last bands I'll listen to on here is also one of the first bands I ever saw live, with my cousin and his then girlfriend in London. They were great!
I've always thought of this of the kind of music Primal Scream pastiched in Give Out but Don't Give Up, but Black Crowes have a heartfelt sincerity that Primal Scream could never. They're kind of the Aerosmith it's OK to like.
Marvin Gaye
5/5
"Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" will be the last song I ever listen to via this project. What a triumphant way to end it.
The B-52's
5/5
Imagine hearing this for the first time in 1979. There would have been nothing like it. Utterly kitsch and slightly debauched, it feels like it set the tone for the 80s.