1001 Albums Summary

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

Whiny tosh

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

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

Smart, bittersweet, packed with tunes and sharp lyrics, often with the feeling that Neil Tennant has one eyebrow raised.

The singles stand up pretty well - Fun Lovin' Criminals, Scooby Snacks, (the one with the Tarantino samples), and King Of New York, all of which were heavily played on the radio and in pubs and clubs when the record came out. The rest is pretty inconsequential, albeit with some nice trip hop shuffles and grooves, and some decent guitar parts.

Punchy, doomy in parts, drums sounding more like a jazz kit than MONSTER BOOMERS. Iommi has a singular timing - nobody sounds like him

sophisticated, languid, seductive, - the line when she sings "oh Katherine ...." is wonderful. beautifully recorded and arranged.

Stodgy, underwhelming, with (especially in the first half) too many very similar, not very good, songs. It all feels a bit “take me seriously”. Keith Moon is on muted form throughout

Elegantly constructed - a relentlessly commercial sheen over solid beats and blues/gospel samples – it is all very familiar, having been used on so many adverts and so many tv beds. Sometimes in this listening process there is a very familiar album that, when I listen to it as an album, sounds much better than I remember it (for example - Rumours). Not the case here.

great snarling attitude throughout, loads of rock, not much roll, with a handful of cracking songs. the work of Izzy Stradlin's guitar, holding things together and swinging is not always celebrated, but he is the secret weapon of this album. it does run out of steam towards the end, but the highs are pretty high!

One good song - Killing Moon - and a couple of cool guitar sounds here and there, but otherwise pretentious tosh with lyrics like anguished Sixth Form Poetry - "Thorn of Crowns", indeed.

like a poppier version of Nirvana(of course), with some nice tunes, good guitar sounds.

some storming tracks, but some dull bluster too.

cool, mysterious, slightly off-kilter, an interesting listen and even better the second time

Groovy, ground-breaking, packed with tunes, sonic gems and great rhythms. Still a great listen.

this is an odd-sounding record. much more dissonant than you would expect from Fleetwood Mac, unusual harmonies, and drums that sound dropped on to the songs rather than built in as the foundations. the overall mix is also unusual - guitars louder and more insistent, vocals lower in the mix on several songs, such as Sara an interesting listen, but not an integrated album, at all- fragmented, with several different sets of ideas challenging for supremacy

It’s all about the guitar. Rod Stewart sings pretty well, Ronnie Wood is a swinging bassist, the other musicians are all solid, but Jeff Beck's guitar is what lifts this up, adds the razzle-dazzle.

1920s German songs, words by Bertold Brecht and several other contemporary German writers, music by Hanns Eisler. Great arrangements, carefully stylised staccato vocals. Melancholic and powerful. This edition has the lyrics in English Translation. I also listened to some of the German language edition - despite not understanding the words, it sounded even better to me in German

a smoking pressure cooker of an album, banging beats and samples, and relentless, loping, cross-talking raps and wordplay

The swinging genius, with a great version of his band - a wonderful, joyful album.

banging beats, relentless, uptempo but lacking a human touch.

Classic Beatles, from whimsical kids' songs through the great Something and then a second side of glued-together pieces.

sizzling, swinging big band - great Neil Hefti arrangements, too.

Brilliant, bonkers, ideas overspilling everywhere, great tunes, weird noises, and uplifting joy.

fussy prog rock. a grim listen.

Magnificent. Wonderful songs, beautifully sung, splendid lyrics, fantastic melodies, great arrangements - so many delightful details of oboes or clarinets or percussion at just the right moment putting the cherry on top. Three hours of glorious music - makes up for having to sit through the fussy prog rock of Jethro Tull yesterday!

awww, MAN!!! Amazing!!!! A true genius of modern music on piano, with a great band. Monk has a singular sense of time, and a singular sense of how to make a harmony. A fabulous listen

Herky-jerky hiccupping frenzies of noise and rage and mysticism. VERY agitated. 2 stars

The singular genius of Kevin Rowland - I love how he interrupts himself, gives commentary on what he is singing about, lays himself bare. I love the muttered asides, and love that his reach exceeds his grasp - who could possibly achieve everything he has set out to do ? A deep listen.

Poptastic! Still hints of skiffle in there, too. Ringo, especially, is on great form – delicate accents that really lift the songs.

The singles still sound pretty sparkly, but the album felt long. They do what they do very well, but it goes on and on. . There was a claim that this was the first album to use a Vocoder - Kraftwerk's Autobahn beat them to that, in 1974

A fully-realised experimental album, albeit with some slightly weird sonic artefacts, like the phasing on Old John Robertson. Great songs, with the band trying as many different ideas as possible to make them standout - fuzz guitar, strings, phasing, tape manipulation, wide panning, etc.

Dusty careworn songs of love and loss, drifters and desperadoes, beautifully played, sung, and recorded. When I listened to it for the first time, the next thing I did was to play it again. A balm for the soul.

gently psychedelic, dreamy and wistful

Mixed for clubs - booming drums - some sly grooves but mostly four on the floor. Groove Is In The Heart is a timeless gem, the rest not so much

Dreary, pompous, "I'M AN ARTIST FEEL MY PAIN" Dadrock

It covers a lot of sonic territory, and shows the individual visions of the Beatles as John becomes more John, Paul becomes more Paul, and George gets to spread his wings. Ringo is, classically, still Ringo. Having said that, it is a coherent piece of work, with some lovely spaces in the arrangements and harmonies.

Light, breathy, insubstantial.

woozy, wobbly and wonderful

Some pleasant guitar sounds, some breathy vocals, but little of substance and not many memorable tunes.

overblown, pseudo-dramatic, like a goth ELO, with hints of U2 and occasional nursery rhyme melodies.

Deep, dark, weird tales of crows and foxes and death and vengeance, intensely performed.

Like a poppier, lighter New Order. Insubstantial.

Meg White is a great drummer, as well as being the perfect drummer for The White Stripes. When she swings, she swings with great power - the louder songs on this remind me of early Led Zeppelin. Blues, roots, garage, punk - all these things blended together in an uplifting, ferocious album.

Slick. Occasional sweet musical flourishes - some nice Hammond organ, some gritty guitar - but overall pretty dull

Kickass Garage Rock. "Kicks", "Hungry" and "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" still sparkle.

Heavily indebted to AC/DC, and with a pointless cover of "Born To Be Wild", this record has delusions of grandeur. All rock. No roll.

Grandiose in the best possible way, crescendo after crescendo of wonderfully hammy, fully committed rock and roll. Great arrangements and performances throughout, with over-the-top singing on top of a Wall Of Sound, nodding to Phil Spector and Bruce Springsteen. It reminds me of a friend who played in a Scottish Meat Loaf tribute act, whose singer was Pete, hence - "Pete Loaf". They went down a storm in Miners' Welfare Clubs and the like, with Pete stamping across the tiny stage, emoting like hell.

Righteous, indignant, uplifting

This delivers exactly as promised. Impeccable arrangements, beautifully delivered songs of death and dust, cowboys and lawmen, men trying to live a good life, and men on the run and men facing death.

I had listened to this a few times when it came out, and didn't connect with it. It just sounded messy. Today, 24 years later, listening on headphones, it makes a lot more sense. I think the headphones is what made the difference - the mix is wide, and instruments move across the soundstage a great deal. Layers of sounds, overlapping, with little nuggets popping up here and there, and the sonic centre always on the move, weird little noisy overdubs appearing and disappearing, exploring dissonance, slightly disorientating- wonderful!

elegant, swinging classic jazz trio with the wonderful Roy Haynes on drums.

Wicked, sly, rocking hard. Malcolm was the beating heart of this band, with Bon the dangerously charming front man. The big hits still stand out, but even tracks like "Night Prowler" are always good to hear if they pop up on radio.

Singular, romantic, heartfelt songs of love and loss and adventure, with echoes of the best of Laurel Canyon. Fabulous tunes, great harmonies. A deep collection, which will reward repeated listening

Willie Mitchell, at the peak of his powers, making great, luxurious, spacious settings for the magnificent Al Green to croon and purr and plead his way through them. Fabulous songs. Wonderful grooves. Wonderful songs. Terrific performances from everyone involved. A classic

Unremarkable 60s pop.

Magnificent. Wonderfully specific (occasionally waspish) lyrics, great tunes and arrangements, one of the high points of a great series of albums from the singular talent that is Joni

Dreary tosh

This is an album that is trying to be cool, to rock, to emote, to be taken seriously - it tries too hard. Some nice fuzz/wah guitars, loads of Beatle-isms, not many memorable songs. "Mr Taxi Driver" is the best of the bunch - it is less desperate than the rest of the album.

very English psychedelic with a strong undercurrent of menace

Fizzing with ideas, Bjork's singular harmonic sense and singular sense of timing adding soaring tunes - always with a sense of unease. Lots and lots going on, but much of is is agitated. not a listen that I enjoyed.

Summery sounds, elegantly played, swinging and impeccable

bright, some catchy tunes with Green Light the standout

insistent and demanding, dark and rich, packed with tension and love and lust

some fantastic beats, sizzling basslines, and great loping raps from Snoop - but loads of filler. this would have made a great EP. 3 stars because the good stuff is very good indeed

Intimate, tender, warm and wise

woozy, dreamy, singular, wonderful. Ivor Cutler's drones are particularly magnificent

A smart, sophisticated set of funky grooves and soulful tunes, with a mix of funk and yacht rock sensibilities - layered vocals like Michael McDonald, jazz-influenced keyboards like Steely Dan

Obviously an important album, with the band in a fragile state, and unsure if they would be able to carry it off. Kurt sings very well indeed, raw and emotional.

Released at the fag end of Britpop, a cynical attempt to make stadium pop with echoes of the Dublin Castle. Sub-Oasis (and that's a low bar) - sneering vocals like Liam, really obvious tunes - Ego A Go Go. He's like Tommy Steele - an all-round entertainer, playing a rock and roller, and entirely unconvincing in the role. "To me it's magic, to the landlord it's tragic" - one of many clunking, lazy rhymes.

Pop Genius. A wonderful collection of lived-in songs, celebrating real life, with sharp observations and great tunes, uplifting strings and heartfelt vocals. Streets of Kenny is one of many stand-outs, a story about falling back into drug use, aching, melancholic

Heavy, of course, but deftly played, with some great light touches. A four star classic

Wide ranging, packed with catchy tunes, country flavours, Beach Boys flavours, cracked moments - a deep and involving listen, from a band transitioning into themselves

A great gathering of country stars celebrating the roots and deep tales of their music. There are a few too many tracks of chatter, which would not bear repeated listening, but the high points are wonderful

Fierce, Very Hard Rock - not for every day, but a great listen for when you need that testosterone blast

Pompous overblown tosh

Fierce, righteous, singular, angry and powerful

Dull, Dull, Dull - sub-U2, with those staccato basslines, sub-Coldplay whining. A miserable listen.

Sharp, bittersweet songs about growing up different, finding your tribe on the journey through life, with echoes of the Kinks - a modern take on the swinging 60s. Sly lyrics packed with puns and insight, powerful arrangements with plenty of hooks

Underground Rock 1972, perfectly captured. Long instrumental sections ("wig-outs"), wobbly synthesisers, saxophone, and lots of songs about space, with portentous voice-overs.

Geddy Lee’s voice is an acquired taste, as is the slightly fussy kind of arrangements that Rush deliver – very accomplished, of course, very well executed, but – for me – all heading towards being clever-clever.

Angry, fierce, relentless, prophetic, but rather wearing as an hour long listen

funky, soulful, dynamic, great voices and harmonies

Unsurprisingly, it sounds very like Blur - leaning more towards the gentler, whimsical, mildly psychedelic end of Blur, heavily indebted to The Kinks for the melodic sense.

Magnificent. Healing, uplifting, spiritual jazz

Spiky, very direct and heartfelt. Sharp, raw and challenging with some very catchy tunes

Unremarkable. Some nice Yardbirds style guitar sounds, but the best song on it by a mile is his cover of Little Willie John's "I'm Shakin'" . I am surprised that this qualifies as an album that anyone needs to hear - everything on this was done much better by him in the White Stripes, and before that by the first 3 Gun Club albums. Anyone would be better informed by listening to Magic Sam's Black Magic, or Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch , or Sun Ra - Space Is The Place none of which made the list. One Star for not being good enough at all, and for needlessly taking up a space.

Fierce, bright, explorations of psychedelia, turmoil and inner space. Best in mono.

Very derivative - New Order (all the beats, many of the synth sounds), Talking Heads (especially 'Other Voices') and David Bowie around Lodger ('Change Yr Mind' ) Nothing in the way of an original idea here One star

Thin proto-goth.

FIZZING with ideas and energy, very dynamic, beautifully executed progressive rock (small p, small r) - rock that is trying to move on, be intense.

Classic Heavy Rock AND ROLL. The Roll is the important part - Phil Taylor's drumming is aggressive, powerful and swinging. Vic Maile does a great job of production, too - everything is strong and clear.

I think the White Stripes had peaked before this - pretty ordinary.

Some brisk, urgent songs - interesting guitars and strings, especially the eastern influences. Pete de Freitas' drumming is wonderful, throughout. Mac's melodramatic vocals can become wearing after a while, though

flash, trashy, vibrant and fabulous

Fabulous guitar sounds, great harmonies, a band totally cooking - gloriously soulful and uplifting

Still some playfulness in the band, a sense of mischief, and "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" is wonderful.

The song Rings Around The World has a glorious groove, great hooks. Rest of the album is good, too - catchy, infectious, gently psychedelic.

Challenging, diverse, thought-provoking and quite pleased with itself

Relentless, slamming, fierce and smart - believe the hype!

Very English. Splendid harmonies, some catchy tunes, with hints of the underlying melancholy that they developed further on the next album, Parklife. .

Sharply observed vignettes of urban and suburban life, of frustrations and disappointments. A key source for so many English songwriters who followed him - Townsend, Weller, Difford & Tillbrook, Albarn and many others.

funky, packed with great, deep, songs, fabulous hooks and "listen to the voices!"

magnificent sleazy rock and roll, a huge step forward for the band

Somewhere between ambient and exploratory

Shout, derivative.

Magnificent, sharp, soulful commentary on inner city life

A couple of killer singles - filled with sunshine

Very ordinary electronic music, mildly atmospheric, but in no way innovative or an album that anyone really needed to hear.

So sophisticated, but not as fully developed as the later albums. Wonderful songs, dynamic arrangements.

Nick Cave - part melodrama, part comedy "John Wilmot penned his poetry Riddled with the pox Nabokov wrote on index cards, At a lectern, in his socks St. John of the Cross did his best stuff Imprisoned in a box And JohnnyThunders was half alive When he wrote Chinese Rocks" Glorious, and wild, and very alive

fabulous, spiky, catchy, dramatic pop, bursting with ideas and adventures

initially sparkling - packed with samples, which flash swiftly past - but that sparkle quickly dims. Not much substance beyond the question of "where was that from?"

some nice jangling guitars

Vibrant. Horny. Intense, impassioned, largely incomprehensible vocals, luxurious strings, and lots of libido, horniness and funkiness

sounds like sunshine, dreamy wistful West Coast pop, with strong harmonies, jangling guitars, big arrangements - but, sadly, largely insubstantial and forgettable

Fresh, singular, wide open, heartfelt and direct - a powerful listen

Interesting - weird in places, warm, melodic, with bursts of intrusive noise

drawing from the Velvet Underground, Pebbles, and the Shangri-Las, a dreamy romantic blast of noise

A marvellous collection of careworn songs from a life well-lived. Beautifully recorded, sensitively played, with wonderful vocals.

Relentless flow, and deliberately claustrophobic. This suffers from the mindset of early CD era - "PUT IT ALL ON, WE HAVE GOT SEVENTY MINUTES TO FILL." It could do with some edits, I think. But the highs are pretty high!

ludicrously mannered vocals, some ok beats and sounds, but there is nothing here that has not been done before, and done much better, by many others. this is a long way away from being an album that ANYONE needs to hear

the guitars sound GREAT, the bass sounds pretty good, the vocals are "interesting from a sonic perspective" and the drums sound like they were recorded over the phone before the guitarists mixed it. it's fine, as it goes, but for this sonic space, Glenn Branca's LP THE ASCENSION breaks ground in a way that this never does. 2 stars for being late to the parade

shifting, developing, moving - interesting listen!

Hollywood Rocks!

Spacey, Droney, Noisy, wonderful.

dusty. baked. crafted. resonant. wise.

very well crafted, packed with radio staples

A period piece of early British psychedelia - sitars, tablas, hedgerows, ravens and dark forebodings.

Radio-friendly Unit Shifter

sly, smart and swinging - vibrant, energised, rocking joy

Beautifully crafted by Quincy Jones - the percussion on "Don't Stop" is wonderfully insistent - and packed with the wordless, other-wordly vocalisations that add more spice. Great tunes, fabulous grooves.

This was pretty bland - hook-free, and un-memorable

precision engineered pop/hard rock

Solid Gold Genius - "I got stars in my beard, and I feel real weird, for you ..." Slinky, sly, and very special. The strings and saxophones on Get It On are especially glorious.

I am reminded of the "Bowling for Soup" line - "Her CD changer's full of singers that are mad at their dad". There are some ok arrangements on here, some good dynamics, but the voice grinds my gears. The songs mostly outstay their welcome and are overblown, too Obviously I am in the minority here, but from this seat, one star.

slightly agitated electronica

a MONSTER record, glorious, joyous and still fresh

Debbie Harry is an under-rated vocalist. Fabulous, joyful power pop, brimming with invention. Clem Burke is on top form, too - dynamic drums throughout. And an all-time classic cover.

Varied, charming - especially good work from guest star Natalie Merchant on these songs with lyrics by Woody Guthrie, found in his archive, and then put to music by Billy Bragg and Wilco. Way Over Yonder In A Minor Key is a standout

great voices, wonderful harmonies

\m/ Hollywood Hard Rock \m/

Their peak - grizzled, nearly burnt out, but swinging the blues. Great music to drive to, especially

I have probably heard this album too many times - I listened to it a lot when it came out, and it was a breath of fresh air, not least because it sounded like two people playing live, in a room, having fun making stripped down rock and roll. The songs are not as strong as I remembered them being, but the playing is still vibrant.

Relentless, joyful, swinging funk

magical songs that sound like spells being spun for the first time while the tape rolls

this has some wonderful, shimmering, edgy pop-psychedelia - the singles are standouts - some of the rest is filler

Genius - great singing, great playing, wonderful songs, and massively inventive in terms of sound. Still a thrilling listen

Dense. Angry. Anguished. Sprawling, in a sense, but samey, too. (If I had enjoyed it more, I would probably have said something like "sonically consistent", but there is a lot of it that is ok, but also very like the rest of it without being in any way outstanding.) Some good guitar sounds, and striking bass playing. I listened to it twice, which is probably not enough to unveil its mysteries, but twice round was plenty for me

classic singer songwriter album

Fierce, wild, wonderful, swinging, vibrant and very authentic. (Albeit with some outdated lyrical themes) As we say in Glasgow - "gallus". Which probably translates as "Arrogant, but carrying it off with charm". Five stars, of course.

perfectly pleasant if unremarkable set of songs, nicely played, well sung. I am not at all convinced that it is strong enough or special enough to be on this list.

slinky, swinging, uplifting

seedy, sleazy, singular, melancholic, fixed in time.

warm, deep, and lustrous - not too many memorable songs, but some lovely vibes and grooves

gently swinging, warm sounds of summer

Spiky, well-written songs, with much more of a country/pub rock vibe than it's punk reputation.

part skittering and drifting electronica, part ethereal Bjork - a lovely listen, packed with ideas and melodies

Historically significant, with layers and layers of samples, radio noise, tv sound clips, and the classic herky-jerky set of beats. It opened the door for many more sample-based records - found sounds, "this is what the city sounds like", etc.

Grace Slick's voice is wonderful. Dark, weird, explorations of life and the human psyche

Full on, with the light touch of "It Was A Good Day", the more soulful swing of "Check Yo' Self", new beats from DJ Muggs and DJ Pooh, but over it all Ice Cube, King of the Gangstas, Voice Of The Streets.

the mixmaster, assembled from his massive collection of vinyl, pulversing with endless snippets - beats, piano, instructional LPs, old funk singles. definitely an album to be admired for its craft. if it sounds dated, that is partly because so many people lifted ideas from it, so this form of making an album was very popular for a while

Classic British Hard Rock, with just a touch of roll from the maestro Ian Paice

Bouncy, mechanical floorfillers

Dull.

Fierce, raw, honest, furious and messy

unremarkable, but covers a broad spread

A great step forward for Billy Bragg, adding deft instrumentation to a strong set of songs. That foghorn of a voice though ....

sophisticated, but absolutely heart-felt. wonderful version of Cold, Cold, Heart

Some cool blue-eyed soul, smart mod jazz, a very clunky rap, and the wonderful "My Ever Changing Moods", which is a CHOOOOON!

long, sympathetic jams and grooves, with lovely improvisational feel

Very Glossy. Packed with sounds and flourishes which are Very 1982.

it all sounds pretty derivative to me - trying on a Prince costume, a Stevie Wonder costume ... it lacks a unifying feel.

Anguished, isolated, coming down, heavily influenced by Roxy Music and other Art Rock - little of the sly humour or bounce of the "Mis-shapes" era, until we reach the anthemic "Glory Days". A good, dark, listen

Vibrant, sophisticated funk

Rocking and Rolling, great band, strong set of songs, Iggy at his most charming on the cover - what's not to love?

Sharp political pop - girl group sounds, simple drum machines, the Shangri-Las crossed with the B-52s, calling out the patriarchy.

Indie Queen

Swinging and rocking - it still sparkles. You can draw a direct line from this to the Beatles and to the Stones - making it an extremely significant LP, as well as a good listen

spiky, perky, catchy!

a great rush of sound, raw, sneering, energetic

Classic Americana, songs of death and loss and tears and yearning with nods to Springsteen along the way.

A wonderful album - beautiful recording, great songs, excellent band spreading their wings and taking flight. Innovative guitar playing, especially - fluid and considered.

The album opens with a brick wall of sound, irascible and scornful – songs of endurance and bitterness. Later songs develop through classic early Beat Group to Beatle-esque, all with the hallmark of Costello’s layered wordplay

slightly funky, metal/hard rock, plenty hooks, political in places, too. very much of its time

nicely melodramatic pop, wordy, with strings and twangy guitars

Moon's drumming is the star here

spacy, bouncy, splendid

gloriously stylish, mannered drama

Classic English Prog Rock. Bursting with ideas, and all over the place.

pretty thin - a hippy take on the idea of a soulful big band, but there is not much more here than a couple of nice arrangements by Al Kooper

sprawling genius, packed with ideas, some brilliantly executed

The first New Romantic LP - even if the band denied the tag, this wrote the book for the sonic picture of New Romantics - drawn, of course, from Roxy Music. Melancholic, slightly detached vocals, bubbly synths, occasional shimmering guitars, drum machines sounding very mekanik

a stoner classic, and a wonderful combination of band and singer

Beautifully crafted, in a way that makes you miss the fact that they have been crafted - some of these songs (in particular "Dear Someone") sound like they were handed down through many generations of mountain people, whereas they were all written by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings). Great performances, splendid arrangements, and awesome harmonies throughout.

Very, very 80s. The most plastic soul.

a work of sprawling genius, captivating from start to end, covering soul, rock, and outer space along the way

The sound of 1984. Great re-invention of a wonderful singer - she sings especially well on this, but the music sounds very dated

Declamatory vocals reminiscent of The Waterboys, guitars and backing vocals drawing from Bowie's glam era with Ronson - ok, but nothing remarkable here at all

The King And Queen of Rock & Roll. Rocking, sly, funny, and joyous.

Very 1974. Lumpy, bitty, and dull.

Vibrant, sharp, stylish, full of hooks - a great listen. It is sad that the contributions of Tony Thompson and Bernard Edwards are less remembered, a fabulous rhythm section.

Groovy flute loops, banging beats, great raps, a smorgasbord of hip hop, funk, hardcore and dub.

State of the art 1986 white boy hip hop - puerile, whiny, deliberately offensive, fully committed to the bit

Vapid. "a mole, digging in a hole, digging in my soul ...."

Very English, Very 1974 - Prog Pop. Very bitty. Very pleased with itself. Clever-clever.

tender, wistful, optimistic, wondering, wonderful symphonic pop

Zeppelin exploring and moving outwards - Ramble On is the standout, adding the magic of roll to the rock 4 stars

a tiring listen - computerised, quantised, made from standard synthesised sounds - and, like many albums from this era of CDs, needlessly extended to make up one hour and seven minutes, just because the capacity was there. not much in the way of a song, no grooves, and full of sounds that are hard on the ears.

disorienting, in a good way - wobbly synths, vocals in different registers, minimalist arrangements with fast-shifting, interesting components

A classic of its time, defining an era of hip-hop - but all these years on, it is a tiring listen by the time you reach the end, no light and shade, lots of banging beats and bragadoccio

Magnificent, ambitious, glorious pop. Wonderful melodies and harmonies, thought-provoking lyrics, and great arrangements, beautifully recorded.

some interesting sounds, but it gets pretty dreary by two thirds of the way through

Fizzing with pop energy, burundi drums, and wild nobility - catchy, twanging, and joyful

important in its time, but not a rewarding listen today

a couple of gems - Homeward Bound and 59th Street Bridge Song - but Simon's greed and ego in claiming songwriting credits for songs he did not solely write (Scarborough Fair and Cloudy) do diminish my respect for him. some of the rest do sound rather twee.

Intense, with some interesting dynamics and good guitar sounds, but essentially this is a band venting at length, loud and long, and repetitively. Wearing. Tiresome. Unrewarding. 2 stars

rock, with a little roll. plenty of swagger, not many actual songs. If you need to hear music like this, you will be far better off listening to an LP by The Faces, who did it first and did it much better

melodramatic vocals, some nice arrangements and intricate melodies, but a dreary voice - pretty forgettable, overall.

Some ground-breaking albums are dull to go back to, so long after their original impact. This, however, is still a refreshing listen - great use of space, of unusual sounds, and full of hooks.

Big pop tunes, with a hint of menace, lovely strings and use of space

nearly 40 years old, still tough! swaggering, boasting, with minimalist beats and backing.

It opens with a classic, swinging, uplifting piece of Hippy Soul, Love The One You're With, and maintains a decent standard throughout. I will happily go back to this one. 4 stars

beautiful, soulful voices, none of them perfect but they blend to make magic

I had heard most of this album down the years, without liking it much - but I was pleasantly surprised on this listen by how strong and tender "One" and "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" are. "Mysterious Ways" is decent, too. Much of the rest is standard-issue U2, which I don't connect with.

Beats, not grooves. Insubstantial.

Dense, relentless, epic, bludgeoning power - all ROCK, no ROLL

the wise, literate lyrics ,the sly humour - "they don't let a woman kill ya, not in the Tower of Song" - the marvellous melodies, and great arrangements, let down a bit by the very dated 80s synths. Still a great listen

Around 1991, a dear friend made a compilation of 70s Elvis, long before that was fashionable, and he titled it " Still Dead. Still King." This album is one of the key roots of rock and roll - vibrant, impudent, teenage energy.

Art rock - squawking saxophones, dense swirling arrangements, spiralling nagging guitars, mysterious lyrics, all delivered with bohemian panache

a couple of great singles - Kid, and Brass in Pocket - and a mish-mash of sixties pop and angular late 70s new wave ideas.

tense, compressed, agitated - Lower East Side 1978 captured perfectly. an itchy listen.

solid, unremarkable early 90s hip-hop

a game-changing album when it came out, and still a striking listen

spacy, dubby, plinky, cool

Magnificent soulful funk