vibrant music from Mali, swinging and righteous

I found this album even more mean-spirited, and insecure than I remembered it - "Imagine no possessions", sang the man who had a temperature-controlled room for his fur coats. 1 star

a magnificently bleak record, songs of dread and gloom and dissociation, filled with slightly odd driving rhythms, rumbling bass, and peppered with strange noises

Fragile, tender, warm, haunted, fragmented in parts, with a very odd soundstage - drums (where they appear) way over one side - a singular album, an enriching and challenging listen

spirited, but very derivative (Stranglers. Wire. Buzzcocks.)

obviously an LP that I will have heard at some point in the past - but not since the late 70s, I think. I'm a little surprised at the lack of roll in the rhythm section - it is all rock, and Iain Pace is regarded as one of the great British drummers. Blackmore defining the form for future waves of hard rock guitar players with widdling (nearly always pentatonics, and sometimes in harmony.) Meat and potatoes. No veg.

BOY those are some mannered vocals, and really era-specific drum and keyboard sounds. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Time After Time are great songs. Miles Davis covered Time After Time!! But that snare drum is wearing to listen to, as are those shiny keyboard sounds. She Bop is great too- subversive Pop! really dated by the drums and keyboards, though.

The album starts with a loud declaration of 1971 sounds - Hammond organ, Rickenbacker bass, then a burst of beedly-beedly guitar playing and finally the banked harmonies of Jon Anderson. Some very nice and intricate guitar work on The Clap. And next is the full experience of Yes making progressive rock on Starship Trooper. I find the whole album very bitty - very well-executed, but so many disparate ideas cut and shunted together. I can hear definite Beatles echos in here, especially on Perpetual Change

primitive and ferocious, muddy and brutal - a great album

Packed with Single Entendres, great guitar sounds, decent drum sounds, rooted in the Yardbirds. Some rocking good fun as we start out. Love In An Elevator has sounds that are more modern-tweaked - weird radio-friendly snare and odd synths near the end. Starts well. Gets lumpy by track 4. Not much in the way of songs, really, and the guitar riffing becomes pedestrian at this point. By Janie's Got A Gun (track 5) it is falling away. Track 6 is by-the-numbers with no redeeming qualities Track 7 has some Beatles At The Cavern stylings - but no actual song, sadly. Started well. Faded badly, and the last track is Aerosmith Ballad By The Numbers.

an album full of hurt, low self-esteem and desperate need - great arrangements and vocals, but a sad sad person at the heart of it.

Classic 70s pop, packed with hooks. Great cover - Parky and his showbiz pals, only missing Tarby!

I saw Thin Lizzy on this tour in 1978 - they were wonderful, and set the template for hard rocking bands to follow. Les Pauls and Marshalls on the side, bass player in the middle - Big Country, Hanoi Rocks, Guns N Roses and The Supersuckers all made hay on the basic form. This is a cracking live album, even if there are strong suggestions that lots of it was tweaked after the event.

some lovely spooky sounds

One of the high water marks for the classic lineup - excellent songs, great arrangements. Elected is particularly stellar - the rolling buildup of the bass at the start, the horns ....

Relentless, crushing beats and noise, and wave after wave of sounds and noise and drones. Dizzying panning and cutups, sonic bombardment, a cavalcade of voices and slogans

Hi-Octane rock and roll energy, hollering and whooping, cracking riffs and pounding drums, with the salsa piccante of a horn section. The sound of a rock and roll gang. They do rather run out of puff by Ball Lightning - the album is "front-loaded", with Born in 69 and On A Rope the best tracks by far, and there are several songs towards the end that are a bit lumpy - but it's still a refreshing blast!

I listened to this a lot when it came out, then it became omni-present, so I didn't need to keep the CD. I've not listened to it end-to-end since a few months after it came out. The foundations of trip-hop are here ... rolling drum samples, film noir strings, theremins, occasional twangy guitars, some lovely Fender Rhodes. Beautifully crafted, and very moody. Anguished, tender vocals. Sonically overall, it draws from Isaac Hayes' solo LPs , and his contrasts of space and lush instrumentation

Genius at work - great arrangements, fabulous band, and every vocal OWNS the song.

angsty, folky, thoughtful, but not for me - chac'un a son gout!!

Classic era Z Z Top, with the glorious fat guitar sound, deep rooted in the blues. Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers - some of their trademark sly wit in there. La Grange is one of the all-time great grooves. Lovely gospel vibe on Have You Heard.

songs of dread, songs with tiny guitar amps running flat out, songs of longing for the good old days - classic Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Hard nosed country songs of loss and longing and love, and fighting and jail and oppression - perfectly judged, heartfelt performances, finishing with a wonderful version of Greystone Chapel, which was written by Glen Sherley, who was an inmate at Folsom. Glen had a hard knock life - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Sherley 4 stars

Packed with interesting synths and samples. Relentless, banging, and kind of wearing after a while. EVERYONE IS SHOUTING and ALL THE SOUNDS WANT TO BE IN THE FOREGROUND and HERE'S ANOTHER ANGRY MAN SHOUTING WITH A FIZZING SYNTHESIZER

Fragile, tender, warm, haunted, fragmented in parts, with a very odd soundstage - drums (where they appear) way over one side - a singular album, an enriching and challenging listen

Blue-eyed soul, with a psychedelic tinge - bonkers panning of the guitars, especially.

Dadrock.

Maybe it is just of its time - I did not get much from this one. It is broadly gentler and more playful than a fair amount of the hip-hop of that time, but it does not get anywhere near the heights of Del Tha Funkee Homo Sapien, or De La Soul. Not very bizarre at all.

this one kicked off a huge boost in interest in the venerable bluesman - but it did so by remaining true to what made him special, honouring his roots, his great voice, and his heart. Many guests, great vibe throughout.

slinky grooves, great musicians, fabulous Hammond organ - what's not to love?

Bursting out with all the classic Costello trademarks- pounding drums, lyrical piano flourishes (always a suggestion of Abba in there), Bruce Thomas octave flourishes on the bass (on some tracks - on the rest it is either Nick Lowe or Elvis himself stepping through the smoke. pink Precision at the ready, saying "Tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be Bruce Thomas out the Attractions"). As always with Elvis, he spits out lyrics packed with tension, about women who are out of reach, of frustration and exclusion, and adds McCartney-esque flourishes to sweeten the rage. Clever-clever, as always "but its by Julie Andrew not by John Coltrane" - you need to join the dots yourself to get "My Favourite Things". Often the protagonists in the songs have a misogynistic outlook similar to the Stones on Aftermath. "Sulky Girl" - "You're talking like a Duchess but you're still a waitress". Great lyrical specificity, such as the use of Hungerford Bridge in London's Brilliant Parade. I think my issue with Elvis is that he had made quite a lot of quite good albums, which can end up sounding much of a muchness - that's probably on me rather than on him! 4 stars

Early industrial - loops, anger, some noises, some accordions, lots of overdriven bass guitar and tortured, furious vocals - heavy going.

Pixies go surf/scifi - songs about girls, weirdness, the elements, weird girls, now with added reverb and theremin

A stone cold classic - recorded on the run while touring, Mick Taylor meshes beautifully with Keith Richards to make glorious soulful rock and roll

I like Alan McGee's theory that Noel Gallagher came down from Manchester with an Adidas bag full of songs, and never wrote anything of note once he left his home town. Having said that, I find Oasis dull and dreary, with weird, clunky lyrics - "take that look from off your face". But that's ok, like Liberace they will be crying all the way to the bank.

Jazzy, swinging - a fair amount of double bass providing the low end. lovely flow to the raps

delicate, breathy vocals, spacious yet rich countrypolitan/americana arrangements with lush strings, a reflective, thoughtful album. I'm less keen on the falsetto songs.

Rich harmonies and delicate, spacious arrangements - like a folkier, more psychedelic Beach Boys. White Winter Hymnal is particularly good.

Hints of the more experimental end of the Beach Boys, particularly Smile, and of Mercury Rev. Songs are mini-symphonies - or bags of bits, depending on your perspective. Some pleasant moments, but not fully realised - their reach exceeds their grasp, which is not a terrible failing. Better than not reaching at all.

"Directions in music by Miles Davis". A massive album, dark and funky and rock-influenced. This set the scene for the fusion of jazz and rock - wait, come back! It's a really good listen! Relentless, yet swinging, packed with ideas and grooves, spacious, full of interesting sounds and arrangements. A deep set of sounds.

A stone cold classic album - Otis with one of the best backing bands ever.

This is a well-thought-through piece of artistry - it's not all in 4/4, there are interesting, unusual rhythmic accents and structures - not one I connected with, at first, but it grew more on a second listen. "you can kick me under that table all you want but I won't shut up, won't shut up" is a great line. This is the 37th LP offered to me by the random selector from the 1001 LPs on the list, and the first that has made me think "yep, this needs a third go round".

I found this album even more mean-spirited, and insecure than I remembered it - "Imagine no possessions", sang the man who had a temperature-controlled room for his fur coats. 1 star

Beat-heavy, sample-heavy, filmic, with spoken-word samples for the gritty sound of the streets, and hints of Roy Budd's Get Carter soundtrack - probably state of the art when it was made but sounds dated now.

furious, confusing, brutal, raging- lots of lyrical references to worms, killing fields, burning cities down, smashing, war, murders - with a vocal style that switches from regular guttural metal to Styx-like sweetness on some choruses. ("and the rain will kill us all" on Psychosocial). Great drumming throughout.

The high water mark of this album is the deadpan darkness of "Girlfriend in a Coma" - which is a 5 star song. The rest shows the band flirting with different styles, stretching out into extended Beatles-isms, and other explorations - none of which are anywhere near as rich.

Glorious late night soulful grooves.

Dull. No swing.

Interesting use of dissonance. all rock, no roll. solid.

An album that reaches out, lush, inviting, mixing with delicate piano with a range of mysterious vocals, some crooning and some harmonised/treated. There's a Brian Wilson feel to some of it, but darker lyrically. Elton John, too, and echoes of "Freebird" on "Sigourney Weaver".

It is much slower than I remember it being - listened to it a lot when it came out, when it all seemed to hurtle along. Now, even the faster songs feel fairly considered. Great guitars from Steve Jones, fabulous sneering from Rotten. (Famously described by Captain Sensible as " 'e sounds like Old Man Steptoe!" )

This is tomorrow calling, wishing you were here. Fabulous, defiant, uplifting, the sound of a man reinventing himself. The side of instrumentals is brave and rich.

Revolutionary in its day - pretty dated listening now. Not their fault, really - this was the blueprint for so much that followed. The ballads are honking.

Funky horns, guitars that take turns blazing and noodling, a melange of Andy Williams vibes and hippy idealism. "Free Form Guitar" is 6 minutes and 49 seconds of self-indulgent tosh.

A landmark album - great experiments in sound, beautifully crafted.

a solid mid 70s classic rock album - doesn't swing as much as I had remembered it as doing.

vibrant, dynamic, stop-start, carrying hints of prog in the harmonies and the keyboards as well as flavours of Led Zep in the guitars and drums. an ambitious album, packed with ideas - most of which are well-executed

anguished, grandiose, murky and deeply indebted to Ronson-era Bowie.

pop punk with some Beefheart overtones - short sharp songs packed with hooks and tunes.

magnificently bleak - a bitter, gloomy heavyweight.

a soul extravaganza, brimming with energy and joy

equal parts furious (Rise Above) and goofy (TV Party) - the authentic voice of American Youth. the better tracks are mostly placed earlier - it loses focus as it progresses to the end - but it still pelts along, full of rage and signifying something. iconic cover.

A high water mark for British Blues - Clapton channelling Otis Rush, Freddie King and Albert King - using the genre-defining combination of a vintage Les Paul and a Marshall amp. Great rhythm section - Hughie Flint and John McVie really swing.

Delicate songs about troubled people in difficult and dangerous situations

long experimental psychedelic grooves - obviously an influence on the Happy Mondays and the groovier side of Primal Scream, very much a record of its time.

tender, ecological, elegies for kindness and gentleness

multi-layered yet minimal, disorientating, futuristic - but it is 18 years old! well done but not a record I will want to listen to again anytime soon

smart 60s pop and soul from one of the great British voices

the dark side of the hippy dream

classic sophisticated 70s pop

ambitious, full of hope and wonder, packed with sonic details specific to the time of recording.

Stadium Pop, packed with yearning. Sonically VERY 1985.

"And I just can't explain so I won't even try to" from the opening track encapsulates Morrissey's outlook here - a wilful enigma, languid, unfortunate and eternally misunderstood

Hard nosed Chicago Blues, from a master of the form, with a great band that swings!

magnificent, ambitious and mystical

epic, mysterious, ambitious, dramatic and singular

hard-nosed country music performed for a very appreciative crowd. excellent recording

mainstream, massively successful - but not for me

Poppy punk era Damned, packed with tunes and catchy guitar riffs, phased guitars, wobbly keyboards, with hints of psychedelia, cymbals merrily splashing all the while, in a hearty, ramshackle way

in a word - smug.

A landmark prog LP - songs with many different parts, switching time signatures, organ fugues and jazz breakdowns, with those singular Yes melodies

Still a disconcerting album - dark lyrics and experimental noises

The songs skitter along on Moon's drums, powered by Townshend's guitar - Daltrey's fierce vocals are the sound of youth in rebellion, needing to be heard.

Review for this was accidentally posted on Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar. For My Generation, the notes are - "The songs skitter along on Moon's drums, powered by Townshend's guitar - Daltrey's fierce vocals are the sound of youth in rebellion, needing to be heard". Notes for Antichrist Superstar in case anyone loops back here for it "Whiny tosh. 1 star"

Mannered, clever, pop art!

standard issue electronic music

a magnificently bleak record, songs of dread and gloom and dissociation, filled with slightly odd driving rhythms, rumbling bass, and peppered with strange noises

spirited, but very derivative (Stranglers. Wire. Buzzcocks.)

Banging, rocking good fun

standard electronic music - gave it a couple of spins in case I had missed something but nothing really grabbed me.

glorious raw primitive garage rock - thrilling!

mildly psychedelic, mildly grunge

lovely flow of the raps, swinging arrangements

a period piece

The genius of the Chic Organisation working hand in hand with a great vocal group - smart, sophisticated disco, packed with hooks, great tunes, fabulous vocal performances. All the big hits open with the title (in classic Chic style) - Lost In Music, He's The Greatest Dancer, We Are Family - "BOOM! HERE WE ARE! TO THE DANCEFLOOR EVERYONE!"

It is the sound of Christmas - sugary, of course, but rammed with sleighbells and tambourines and extra pianos and a second choir

Grunge incarnate - squalling guitars, fizzing with sass

kooky, packed with hooks and joy

lightly Byrds-y, tinny guitars jangling away with no songs, no swing, and a weird mix where the slightly fey, whiny vocals are mixed way way back, behind the guitars that never really develop into anything

great harmonies - but I will try the mono mix as the stereo version was mixed in cinemascope with most things WAY over to one side or the other and not much in the middle.

heartfelt, simple, direct rock and roll that draws from the Velvet Underground but makes its own world.

flaming genius, fabulously intense - not one for listening to every day, but like many great LPs, there is an itch that only Hot Rats can scratch.

stadium pop, laced with melancholy

much darker and weirder and deeper than I remembered it being - some great sounds and hooks and songs, but it fades towards the end

wistful, melancholic, Ray Davies reflections on suburbia and and Englishman's place in the world

Nu Metal - Nein Danke

Talking Heads unlock the funk and bring African beats into the mix - increasing intensity and tension

pompous tosh

its ok but it does go on a bit without much happening - nowhere near as good as the Junior Kimbrough covers album

very carefully crafted and arranged - every song has a couple of twists in it - packed with singles, stadium hard rock/pop classics

As country as can be - simple, direct, heartfelt music, from the 7 month period where Gram Parsons was a Byrd, before defecting (in London en route to a tour of South Africa when the Rolling Stones explained apartheid to him, leading him to agree that he didn't want to be touring there. )

clever-clever pompous mock-rock

Intense. Furious.

an excellent album, and, astonishingly, one of three marvellous albums they released in 1969. great songs, fantastic vocals, well-played, tough, resonant and rooted in real life.

my favourite album - timeless, works for any mood. a marvellous band charting new territory and creating beautiful music

shiny stadium pop, let down occasionally by Big Words Crammed Into Lyrics Just To Show Off (Mephistopheles) and Clunky/Smartass Rhymes (College / Knowledge)

the sprawling genius of Prince - pop and funk and filth and love

perfection

playful, packed with uplifting samples, searching for the joy

po-faced proto goth, slavishly indebted to Bowie for the vocal mannerisms.

Not as flabby as I remembered it - but the guitars do widdley-widdle on, without moving through the gears, and Eric is in full anguished mode throughout.

ALL KILLER NO FILLER!! A singularly powerful album - retains the great intensity even when it slows down.

soulful genius, swinging and raising the roof

an austere album that in some ways seems to lack a centre - glorious harmonies, built on wisps of smoke, some lovely guitar parts, fragments of hurt and anger and loss. not an easy listen, but like many great LPs, there are times when this is the only record that will scratch the itch.

generic american indie

I never found Bowie to be that convincing as a straightahead rock and roller. He was a great synthesist, artist, explorer - but not a rocker. For me the sonic highlights here are all Mike Garson's piano and how they work collectively to integrate new weird sounds.

a tough collection of songs - Dylan/Manuel's "Tears of Rage" is the pick of the bunch - but Gene Clark sings them all with great depth.

sloppy genius - great rock and (EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY) roll. those boys could SWING!! Debris is especially magnificent, as is Stay With Me.

sophisticated, swinging, funky electric jazz 4 stars

a great rock and roll record - a wonderful band, fantastic arrangements and dynamics, glorious guitar parts that you can sing and one of the greatest voices in rock & roll

some big riffs, some try-outs at ballads, lots of emoting, but nothing that resonates with me. 2 stars

a classic of its time, a smorgasbord of rock and roll, rockabilly, bluebeat, reggae, ska, soulful ballads and poppy punk. 3 stars because its good but I don't need to hear it again - there were no surprises hiding in there for me.

a fabulous jazz trio playing in a wonderful jazz club - what's not to love?

classic pop, with really human synths, and great tunes.

fierce, female, fabulous, five stars

the glossy remodel of Orange Juice - shimmering with funky guitars and squelchy basslines

Purple genius.

A benchmark Hard Rock album, beautifully simple and direct

Tom transitioning from Boho jazz balladeer to skronky blues hobo.

vibrant music from Mali, swinging and righteous

One extra star for Mick Ronson's production. But as ever, Moz is whining on in an arch "poor me" style, and flirting with racism.

lumbering menace - glorious!

dramatic stadium pop

poppy grunge

plinky, pseudy, sub-ambient

spiky, optimistic through the gloom

a golden soulful funky classic

an utter phony with his clunky hip hop / classic rock mashup

a grown-up album, warm and tender and wise, which opened the floodgates for the next huge wave of her career

punky, noisy, fierce, flighty

silky smooth, resonant and true

beautifully repetitive, insistent, and driving

as English as tuppence, mockney Britpop

gloriously, madly in love with the joy and elevation of classic 60s pop and 50s rock & roll, self-mythologising to the highest degree, every ounce of drama squeezed out, everyone racing through the streets till dawn, gazing at girls on porches, and busting out of here

disquieting, filled with self-loathing and rage, scritchy noises and distorted voices - well-executed but not one I would listen to for fun or relaxation

lush - dreamy, yearning, songs of transition

what a MONSTER rhythm section - hard driving, with a great swing in the grooves. the whole album sounds like sunshine - the happy side of the hippy dream

an album full of testosterone and nervous energy. the relentless crack of the snare drum is exhausting. the whole thing feels very agitated.

swinging, confident, summertime sounds

dark, fractious, bohemian, a glass of wine and a Gitane. then another.

tinny and furious, great backing vocals, and the guitar sounds are a one-off.

dark songs of honky-tonk life, beautifully crafted

POP! ART!! POP ART!! Rushing headlong through a glamorama, Ferry is gloriously arch in front of a wonderful backdrop of sounds

dark, paranoid, angry, lots of different instruments - very much a product of its time and sonically very 1983

bouncy, conscious rap

one of the greatest live albums, the hardest working man in showbusiness giving us his all

a genius gives us a sprawling pop/funk masterpiece, rammed with hits, and hooks, and funky jams

very sophisticated, and swinging