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Finisher #201 to complete the list
1098
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1-Star Albums
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You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duck Stab/Buster & Glen | 5 | 2.03 | +2.97 |
| Scum | 5 | 2.07 | +2.93 |
| Junkyard | 5 | 2.15 | +2.85 |
| Trout Mask Replica | 5 | 2.28 | +2.72 |
| Haunted Dancehall | 5 | 2.37 | +2.63 |
| Opus Dei | 5 | 2.38 | +2.62 |
| Suicide | 5 | 2.46 | +2.54 |
| We're Only In It For The Money | 5 | 2.47 | +2.53 |
| Darkdancer | 5 | 2.58 | +2.42 |
| Live At The Witch Trials | 5 | 2.64 | +2.36 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| (What's The Story) Morning Glory | 1 | 3.84 | -2.84 |
| Rumours | 2 | 4.46 | -2.46 |
| Diamond Life | 1 | 3.42 | -2.42 |
| Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers | 1 | 3.39 | -2.39 |
| The Köln Concert | 1 | 3.39 | -2.39 |
| At Fillmore East | 1 | 3.39 | -2.39 |
| Lost In The Dream | 1 | 3.38 | -2.38 |
| Deep Purple In Rock | 1 | 3.33 | -2.33 |
| The Yes Album | 1 | 3.31 | -2.31 |
| Eagles | 1 | 3.29 | -2.29 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums and high weighted score
| Artist | Albums | Avg | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radiohead | 6 | 4.83 | 4.22 |
| David Bowie | 9 | 4.44 | 4.08 |
| Beastie Boys | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| The Fall | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Nick Drake | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Nirvana | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Kraftwerk | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Bob Dylan | 7 | 4.29 | 3.9 |
| Beatles | 7 | 4.29 | 3.9 |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 5 | 4.4 | 3.88 |
| The White Stripes | 4 | 4.5 | 3.86 |
| Stevie Wonder | 4 | 4.5 | 3.86 |
| Pink Floyd | 4 | 4.5 | 3.86 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| Pixies | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| Blur | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| Johnny Cash | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| Kanye West | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| The Beach Boys | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| Prince | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| Pet Shop Boys | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| The Smiths | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| Public Enemy | 3 | 4.67 | 3.83 |
| OutKast | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| M.I.A. | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Belle & Sebastian | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Kendrick Lamar | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Super Furry Animals | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Eminem | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Pulp | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Manic Street Preachers | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| AC/DC | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| The Flaming Lips | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| The Prodigy | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| LCD Soundsystem | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Lou Reed | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| CHIC | 2 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Leonard Cohen | 5 | 4.2 | 3.75 |
| Led Zeppelin | 5 | 4.2 | 3.75 |
| Tom Waits | 5 | 4.2 | 3.75 |
| Neil Young | 4 | 4.25 | 3.71 |
| The Kinks | 4 | 4.25 | 3.71 |
| Talking Heads | 4 | 4.25 | 3.71 |
| Björk | 4 | 4.25 | 3.71 |
| Jimi Hendrix | 3 | 4.33 | 3.67 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 3 | 4.33 | 3.67 |
| Frank Sinatra | 3 | 4.33 | 3.67 |
| Beck | 3 | 4.33 | 3.67 |
| Paul Simon | 3 | 4.33 | 3.67 |
| Brian Eno | 5 | 4 | 3.63 |
Least Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums and low weighted score
| Artist | Albums | Avg | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eagles | 3 | 1.67 | 2.33 |
| Sonic Youth | 5 | 2 | 2.38 |
| The Byrds | 5 | 2 | 2.38 |
| Rod Stewart | 2 | 1.5 | 2.4 |
| Def Leppard | 2 | 1.5 | 2.4 |
| Van Morrison | 3 | 2 | 2.5 |
| Yes | 3 | 2 | 2.5 |
| Kings of Leon | 3 | 2 | 2.5 |
| Elvis Costello & The Attractions | 4 | 2.25 | 2.57 |
| Morrissey | 4 | 2.25 | 2.57 |
| U2 | 4 | 2.25 | 2.57 |
5-Star Albums (229)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Elvis Costello
2/5
I think the editor of 1001 Albums must have lost his first virginity to Elvis Costello or something. Every album is just incredibly okay. Not unpleasant, but pretty good. But he keeps popping up! I am learning that Elvis Costello has existed fairly consistently.
But this is meant to be 1001 of the best albums to hear before you die. On my deathbed, of I even remember listening to this, I don't think I'm going to think "I wish I had listened to more of Costello's consistent but dull music.
86 likes
Radiohead
4/5
Rating Radiohead is hard. I mean, this is a five star album. But it's less good than four or five five star albums by Radiohead. So I'm giving it four stars because relativity. Even though it's five stars in reality. You with me?
75 likes
The Residents
5/5
It's brilliant. I can't imagine Ween, Primus or any number of wonky abstract acts existing without this existing first. And they beat Daft Punk to the masks. And they ruined Happy Birthday.
It is a thing of great wonder and I love it.
35 likes
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Ouch. This is a heavy album. A beautiful album but really heavy. If you've ever lost someone, it will hurt to listen to. But it's beautiful, and compassionate, and lushly arranged.
The 14 minutes of Ghosteen, and the painful wish of Ghosteen Speaks are the highlights, but really, the whole album is one big highlight.
I won't listen to it often, it's too painful, but I will love it.
30 likes
Al Green
4/5
Sometimes, 35 minutes of gospel twinged soul is exactly what you need to be listening to. Opens with Let's Stay Together, never tops it, but very few have in the 50 odd years since. That sentence feels a bit harsh on How Do You Mend A Broken Heart, but you have a proper 11/10 track as the opener. I'd have hidden it halfway through the album to make sure the rest gets used!
Shout out to the band as well - the guitar never does what you're expecting it to do. Brilliant stuff.
As a side note, if I saw an album by somebody looking that cool on the front cover, I'd still give it a listen today.
29 likes
4-Star Albums (337)
1-Star Albums (44)
All Ratings
The White Stripes
5/5
Already loved it. Saw them at Glastonbury and it blew my mind how much of a racket 2 people could make, and the stage presence. The Union Forever is a tune.
Röyksopp
3/5
A brilliant opening 1-2, both of which take me back to the 'chillout' trend of the early noughties, as the whole album does.
It drops off significantly after that - not bad (with the exception of Poor Leno, which sounded dumb at the time, and now sounds dated and dumb) but not GOAT standard by any stretch.
Nice enough, and with a clear love of Philly Soul and such.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
A couple of great singles (and Moonlight Mile, which is a tune), but otherwise a lot of boring, coke addled, sludgy, half arsed blues.
There really aren't that many great Stones albums. I feel like they were much more a singles band. (Obviously Let It Bleed is an exception to this)
Spiritualized
4/5
The opening track is earth shatteringly beautiful and one I've loved for ages. I never got far into the rest of the album before though.
Come Together is good, but a bit sludgy, like Primal Scream at their dullest. I Think I'm in Love won me back again though, beautiful and layered and textural and sad.
By All Of My Thoughts I'm starting to wonder if every track really needs a full wall of sound freakout - it leaves a lot of the songs feeling a bit too similar.
Final thoughts - every time this goes slow and vulnerable, it's amazing. Every time it tries to be 'rock and roll' it's dull. Had three tracks been dropped it'd be a five star album.
Eagles
1/5
Before I even start playing this, I need to state that the only Eagles songs I have liked are Hotel California, and their Tom Waits cover (though I still prefer the original). I will try to be open minded though!
Immediately it contains the line 'Come on baby/Don't say maybe.' which is up there with rhyming moon and June, or orange and orange. It's then followed by an atmospheric stomper called Witchy Woman, completely undermining any atmosphere the music brings up - reminds me of that Kanye song where he just says 'Scoopity Poop' but at least he was trying to be annoying.
By Chug All Night I'm starting to wonder if this is deliberately a joke? Either way it's terrible.
Most of Us Are Sad is a marked improvement. It sounds like Neil Young phoning it in. Still, straight back to disappointment with Nightingale afterwards. Wanted to give up, but like before, a slightly better song, Train Leaves This Morning keeps me from giving up. Is it good though? Or just good in contrast to the effluent I have already crawled through?
Peaceful Easy Feeling is nice enough. An album of more like this would be a 2 or 3 star album. As it stands though it's not enough though.
I came in indifferent to The Eagles. This experience has made me dislike them in 40 minutes. Definitely not one of the 1001 Greatest Albums of All Time, in the same way Mrs Brown's Boys is not one of the 1001 Greatest Comedies of All Time, despite its popularity. Indeed, it's popularity doesn't suggest quality, rather that it makes sense that there are enough people to keep Trump, Al Qaeda and Simon Cowell in powerful positions.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
Another band I know are supposed to be Very Important but that I have never taken much time to understand. I know Psychocandy is supposed to be great.
Straight up, with Darklands, I like the song but detest the intensely 80's drum sound*. I like the Scots brogue of the vocals. Two tracks in, it feels like a lot of shoegaze. Inoffensive but not mind-blowing.
Happy When it Rains is a step up. A genuinely good pop indie song with a grumpy streak. Then it turns out I know and like Down on Me from indie discos! And it's a tune! This alone has made today's album worth my time.
Nine Million Rainy Days is also great - the middle of this album is very strong - like Atmosphere by Joy Division filtered through Heavenly Records.
April Skies isn't quite as good, but this is still shaping up well. It continues in a fairly 'album track' vein to the end from here, until the very sweet closer, About You, which is a leap in quality again.
A hard one to rate. The best tracks are 4s and 5s, the filler is solid 2s. Ideally I'd rate it 3.5, I suppose I'll see how I feel and rate it either 3 or 4!
* Just found out this is because they replaced Bobby Gillespie (of Primal Scream) who was their drummer with a drum machine. I believe even Steps and Ed Sheeran benefit from lacking Bobby Gillespie, so I'm not marking them down for this!
Jean-Michel Jarre
4/5
Another one I know is classic, but have never knowingly listened to. I think there is one track I know, but I'll have to wait and see.
A minute in, and this could go Kraftwerk, or could be terrible. Love me some fake singing saw though! At 4:30 on part one it feels a lot like Wendy Carlos' sublime music from A Clockwork Orange.
Oxygene 2 has a little more life to it, though it carried on so much I did stop listening in parts - probably more my barbaric ears than a failure of composition.
Oxygene 3 opens quite dramatically. But doesn't go anywhere especially, though it is only short.
Oxygene 4 is the one I know! When I was growing up in the 80s I think it was the standard piece of music you'd use to immediately signify THE FUTURE. I still like it!
Oxygene 5 appears to be like an overture, revisiting the record so far, which was... Okay I suppose? And 6 was pretty dull.
All in all, a pleasant surprise. Lots to like here, and an impressive achievement in 1976. Will I revisit it as much as I do Kraftwerk? No, but it was pretty good nonetheless.
Talk Talk
2/5
Three days in a row, artists I know I should have listened to!
Very 80s production, always a worry. Some interesting stuff going on in Happiness is Easy though. Instruments jumping in and out quite forcefully. Not keen on the vocalist though. Second track was moody but barely registered.
Obviously I know Life's What You Make It. Fond of it, but that may be down to Grand Theft Auto (Vice City). April 5th is very gloomy in a good way. However, everything on this album is feeling over long.
By Living in Another World I kind of get it, taking the production and tropes of 80s AOR pop but writing edgier, more deep songs within this is an interesting, if not terribly exciting idea. Unfortunately it just sounds like Paul Young but emo to me, and isn't holding my attention.
Chameleon Day is horrible, like a saxophone jazz fart with whining over the top, and given there are few tracks on this album, has certainly cost it a point in the final reckoning.
Van Morrison
3/5
This is another I've always known is an Important Album. I love Brown Eyed Girl and Moondance, but Van Morrison's reputation as a bit of an arsehole has always kept me from bothering. Excited to see what this is all about.
Astral Weeks (the song) is certainly a statement of intent. Loose and rhythmic with intriguing string arrangements and good, Dylanesque lyrics. At 7 minutes it maybe starts to outstay it's welcome, but by less than I expected. More Velvet Underground indulgent than say, Yes.
Cyprus Avenue sounds a bit Cat Stevens (or Cat Stevens sounds a bit Van Morrison?) which is no bad thing! Again, it would be better if it had been around the 4 minute mark, rather than 7.
After two good, but overlong tracks, Beside You is shorter, but Van Morrison's nasal whine becomes very grating. The awful noise is supposed to represent passion I'm guessing.
Sweet Thing is nice. The arrangement feels a bit Nick Drake, and in a softer voice I imagine it'd be beautiful. As it is it is still good. The Way Young Lovers do is a much better match for Van Morisson's vocals and a return to excellence for the album. It's jazzy lilt and occasional viewing close to anarchy making for a great song.
I note with dread the next two tracks last a combined 16 1/2 minutes. Madame Joy is nice for three minutes, but could have built and resolved itself much faster than it did. The last three minutes are intensely repetitious.
Slim Slow Slider is just okay. Blander than the rest of the album but a shockingly short 3 minutes long!
This, in theory, is a great album. Had it had a producer that was willing to be firm on song length, it probably would have been. As it is, there are some brilliant songs that I'd love the radio edits of, but that ultimately come across as bloated and indulgent (and I say this as a prog fan). A 30 minute version of this album would get four stars, but as it stands at 47 minutes, very much a three star album.
B.B. King
4/5
From the 1970s, blues has become a dirty word. A dull genre that rewards dry technical efficiency and growling to signify passion. I automatically think I don't like blues as a result.
This album shows what it can be. The energy, looseness from brilliant musicians (they could be tighter, they choose not to be) and the sheer energy of it is infectious and wonderful.
You could draw a line from this album through James Brown, Hendrix, George Clinton, Prince, Outkast to Kendrick Lamar and it all makes sense.
Are there occasionally overlong noodly guitar breaks? Of course there are, it's a live blues album. Do the nature of the restrictions of the genre sometimes make the songs sound a bit samey? Of course they do, it's a blues album! But there is a lot to say for a simple thing done well - sometimes a Victoria sponge is the treat you wanted.
A great album - when the horns are allowed to fly free and the energy is high it's perfect, even if it does get a little samey at points.
The high energy opener, Every Day I Have the Blues, and the Slinky, building closer, Help the Poor are highlights.
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
I had this on cassette at the time. I know it has about 5 of my favourite songs of all time on it. I remember skipping a lot of it as an 11 year old though, so I don't actually know if it is a good album.
The joy is I love or really like the first 10 tracks, and it's only at Galapagos that it starts to lull at all - and even then, it's an okay song. If they had stopped at track 10, they would have made a classic album already.
I'd add it's also an ambitious one. If they had stuck to their lane, Bullet With Butterfly Wings and Zero would make it a classic up there with Siamese Dream. But the gentle piano intro and Tonight Tonight show that they were trying to go bigger and more wide-screen here.
However, at this middle point I can see the second half of an album looming with not much I know there, and I am unsure they can sustain the pace here - though with 1979 to look forward to, it may still be okay!
Honestly, the second half lags a bit compared to the first, but still contains 33, 1979, and We Only Come Out at Night.
If this had been a single album, or even a 20 track double album, it'd be revered. And frankly, I can't blame it for its ambition. Very few albums ever have this much quality on them, it's getting five stars in spite of its flaws, as I'd give Sign O The Times and the White Album the same courtesy.
Miles Davis
3/5
I don't understand jazz well enough to know what is great and what is bad. I know music theory (to a limited degree) and it clearly sounds nice. But I don't know what makes this great compared to other jazz which sounds similar. I get the later, out there, stuff a bit more. This just sounds like very nice music you put on to appear sophisticated.
It's very mellow. I went away and did some reading and get why it's important now. Introduced polyphony to jazz, and chilled it out some. I'm up to Moon Dreams, and there's a very nice descending run which is the first distinctive bit of the album.
I finished it. It is pleasant all the way through. A nice surprise at the end when you get vocals all of a sudden.
I still don't 'get' this sort of more trad jazz, it all just seems very nice, but fails to excite me.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5/5
Haven't had time to listen to this today, but my Dad introduced me to it as a kid. He loved Take Five. It's brilliant, it uses complicated time signatures but makes them poppy. Genius.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Got halfway through this while stripping carpet. Pump It Up will forever be an absolute jam. The rest passed in relatively dry fashion. It's kind of fun, but nothing jumps out - I'm sure I tried to enjoy this before and it's just okay.
Ir continues in this vein. It is a good album. It's not a classic.
Dire Straits
2/5
The 'Dire Straits sound' has a lovely clean and so distinctive guitar tone, but most of the songs are a bit too long and don't go anywhere all that exciting. And Mark Knopfler isn't a singer really, though he actually seems like a sound human being.
However, this does have Sultans of Swing on it, a song so good that Daft Punk ripped it off 25 years later and it still sounded great.
I couldn't recommend this album, but it isn't without its good points. (NB - later on, Romeo and Juliet, and Walk of Life are also tuuuuunes. Definitely worth owning a greatest hits. But not an album)
10cc
4/5
Oddly, I know the cover for this album was photographed 5 minutes from my old home, just off Wood Green high street in North London, despite never having listened to it!
I know Wall Street Shuffle and The Worst Band in the World. Both are very arch, and tight musically. I like both of these things, so they are off to a good start!
Hotel is also great - like Dreadlock Holiday, years ahead of its time at laughing at cultural appropriation, while culturally appropiating. Old Wild Men is a little less good, very nice sounding but lacking the fun bite of the first three songs.
Silly Love is just okay. Somewhere in Hollywood has a very OTT, musical type energy to it. Again, that works for me. And then goes to some dated, but undeniably funny gags about how shady Hollywood is. Actually, given Weinstein et Al, possibly not that dated. However, the fact it's followed by the embarrassing exoticism of Baron Samedi, which is possibly one degree less awkward than Ian Fleming's writing about the same suggests that parts of this album's humour, which is largely a blessing, have aged like urine rather than wine.
Thankfully it picks up again for the last two tracks, especially Oh Effendi, which manages to both satirise and be better than the Eagles at their own game.
This could easily have been a five star album had it not aged so badly (and possibly if I didn't view 10cc as a slightly less good Sparks).
I may be harsh hear, but bear in mind that I have only given one 70s album more than three stars so far, and this is the first to do this well. A lot of the supposed 'canon' of the 1970s is bloated and dull, and this is very much not. Tight, fun and punchy.
Herbie Hancock
3/5
The only Herbie Hancock track I know is Rockit. Which is great. I know that other than that, he is much more of a jazz artist. I think I checked him out when I was 15 expecting more electro and being disappointed when there was So. Muck. Saxophone.
Chameleon has one of the dirtiest bass lines ever. I'm not a 15 minute funk jam person all the time, but this is pretty alright? It has the decency to essentially transform into another track at the 7.5 minute mark, which is a relief as it didn't feel like there were many places left for it to go. That bassline then feels welcome comming back at the 13 minute mark.
Watermelon Man is weirder for the first minute. Once the beat kicks in it sounds like it could be a hip hop track. 2 minutes research tells me Dilla sampled it because OBVIOUSLY. Unlike Chameleon, I can't think of multiple ways to edit it down!
Sly feels more traditionally 'jazz' than the first two tracks. And a couple of minutes in, I feel, depressingly like I'm listening to something I find boring, but that cleverer people will understand... Gets more fun when it goes double time. Feels like music from a hyperactive 70s spy thriller.
Vein Melter is a brilliant song title. The track is vaguely atmospheric synth noodling and shmoove sax, at least up to the three minute mark. I do not feel it is melting my circulatory system, the name feels very misleading at this point. 5 minutes in and I am still very bored.Has it's great points though, but I can't say I'd be going back to it any time soon. A minute and a half in, and I can't see it going anywhere vein melty in the remaining minute and a half. Very disappointed, a waste of a great song name that should probably have gone to a speed metal band.
Ultimately, there's some me brilliant, exciting fun stuff on here. As always with jazz, it has far too much widdly technical noodling going on. I would listen to Watermelon Man again, but I'm not sure I want to sacrifice the listening time for the longer ones on here. I can see how the instrumentation must have been important to move jazz forwards, but I can't bring myself to love it.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
The verse melody of Country Home is very similar to Jingle Bells. Which is odd. It's very much the Neil Young that put me off Neil Young in the 90s before I discovered his earlier stuff. A bit sludgy and AM rock sounding. In hindsight, it still has some of that underlying melancholy which I love about Neil Young. But it really sounds like Jingle Bells.
White Line is pretty average. But I think maybe this album is more about Neil Young discovering the joy of playing again. I think rough and ready is what he was aiming for. And I can see how he ended up a kind of elder statesman of grunge with this sort of heavy, maudlin, uptempo rock. Fuckin Up is better. His voice is finally going near the sort of registers it really has impact in.
By Over and Over I'm getting a feeling there isn't going to be a ton of variation on this record. Think I'll just mention any notable tracks and let it wash over me otherwise.
Noel Gallagher must crap himself every time a lawyer hears Love to Burn. Everything he didn't nick from John Lennon's grave can be found here!
There follows three back to back great, or at least fun tracks. Farmer John bounces along with a cheeky grin, Mansion on the Hill feels like the blueprint for every b listed Britpop band, and Days That Used to Be is lovely, especially as it feels like he might just be being snide to his former bandmates...
Back to rock chuggers after this, but that little window may have just bumped the review up a star!
Quite fond of the last track too.
It's a good album, I'm impressed at Young at, what, about 50 making a slightly sludgy, but mostly enjoyable new version of his sound - I didn't realise he did reinvention so well.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
After a godawful minute of noodle, once the album kicks in properly, it's great, a mix of the mellow, gentle soulful stuff that Hendrix doesn't get enough credit for, and big rock noise. Crosstown Traffic will never not be a joy.
It's at its weakest when it goes too bluesy. Becomes a bit predictable and dryer - for example, Voodoo Child feels bloated after the first couple of punchy, brief songs. 15 minutes, with limited variation. 1983 is the same (except more psychedelic I suppose?)
Burning of the Midnight Lamp is ace. Again, chilled, more contemplative Hendrix is brill.
A qualifying moment here. Hendrix is clearly a one off, a definite genius, but it's been said a million times before, hasn't it. You don't need another white middle aged music critic to run over that shite again.
This album contains at least 5 stone cold classics, some great album tracks, and is only let down by two overlong jam sessions. Given the sheer quality and talent on here otherwise, I'm tempted to be forgiving, and give it five stars regardless. I'll see how I feel in the morning.
In the morning - it's 5. Don't know if the punchier songs would work as well without two excessive tracks giving them even more life. I think it's deliberate.
Al Green
4/5
Sometimes, 35 minutes of gospel twinged soul is exactly what you need to be listening to. Opens with Let's Stay Together, never tops it, but very few have in the 50 odd years since. That sentence feels a bit harsh on How Do You Mend A Broken Heart, but you have a proper 11/10 track as the opener. I'd have hidden it halfway through the album to make sure the rest gets used!
Shout out to the band as well - the guitar never does what you're expecting it to do. Brilliant stuff.
As a side note, if I saw an album by somebody looking that cool on the front cover, I'd still give it a listen today.
Hanoi Rocks
2/5
I feel like this might be the album that created pop punk (as opposed to punk or new wave). Whether that is a good thing or not, I leave to you.
I must be honest, it did very little for me... I can see how it might have been important, but it's too affected, too studied to do anything for me. A lot of the noises are right, but they feel constrained by a hideous politeness.
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
Well it's got to be one of the best album openings ever! Cherub Rock is an all time classic. Quiet is then good, as a technical show of hands, with some weird time signature stuff going on. Then you get Today, which is one of the best songs ever!
Obviously drops off from here, but Hummer is a rare good long song. Rocket is less exciting, but then Disarms big epic beautiful sad balladry wins you back!
Soma opens feeling like a Mogwai track. It's like the comedown from the previous tracks big bold production. It goes small and internal, very nicely.
After this, it never hits such great heights again... But I'd say it had probably done enough already.
Pixies
5/5
Before I even start, this is going to get five stars. It's a near perfect album. I visited the pub where they shot the front cover on a pilgrimage with one of my best friends... Who I befriended at 14 because he was the only other person I knew who the Pixies were.
I'm up to Gigantic (a beautiful song) and I realise these songs are too much a part of my life for any objective criticism. I can't hear Broken Face or Tony's Theme without smiling. Where Is My Mind has a cultural weight all of its own. David Bowie covered Cactus and it blew my mind that two of the most important acts in my life had come together in a moment.
The fact I got into them in the 90s when the CD bundled Come On Pilgrim onto the end of the disc means it's shorter than I expected (I'll also give that EP five stars too. I'll give their entire career - pre reforming - five stars). Maybe four stars for the final album.
A perfect album, a near perfect band.
* Afterthoughts - given all the column inches dedicated to the rise of Latinx pop in recent years, Pixies were doing it 34 years ago.
I have also used "YOU F*CKIN DIE" and, "It was just so hush hush" in casual conversation to this day to weed out fellow fans!
Laura Nyro
4/5
I have never heard of Laura Nyro before, so I'm quite excited to go on on an album knowing nothing.
She's really good. Soul, jazz and experimentation all banging together. It's an album I won't be sure about until I've given it more listens. But it makes me want to listen to it more.
I went back for a second listen. I think I'm going to buy this one off the back of this. I could end up regretting the score I give it, as I feel like this could end up being a five star album to me once I've lived in it for a bit. How had I missed her all my life?
I know I Met Him On A Sunday. It's a tune! It's not on this album, it just came up after it ended!
Solomon Burke
3/5
I know I know a few songs by Solomon Burke, but I'm not sure any are on here. It feels more 50's than 60's. But done really well. Old fashioned but pleasant.
Four tracks in, it hasn't moved much tonally. Mid tempo rock and roll/soul music. I feel like it might have set the template from which James Brown et al then jumped off from... But it doesn't make it any less repetitive to listen to.
He has a hell of a voice though.
The Verve
3/5
Bittersweet Symphony is undeniable really, isn't it. So the opening is sorted. Sonnet is also rather lovely, but not radically different from the track before - except without the stolen Andrew Loog Oldham strings!
After a strong start, The Rolling People seems to serve as a warning of what The Verve or Richard Ashcroft can be at their worst. Stodgy, lumpen 'rawk' that wouldn't feel out of place on one of the terrible latter era Oasis albums. Bland chaff for the bovine. It's seven minutes long. The good bit is about 20 seconds.
Then it's The Drugs Don't Work, and they win back the goodwill they just spent 7 minutes losing. Then they seem to pour it away again with Catching the Butterfly, which aims for psychedelia, forgetting that you need to be interesting to pull that off. This is definitely an album of highs and lows.
Neon Wilderness is a very dull 2:30 plod through a similar faux psychedelia. Honestly, every time they jam or wig out this album is terrible. Every time they try to actually write a song, it's great. This is a band that seems intent on self sabotage. Space and Time returns to semi form after this as if to prove my last statement accurate.
If you went to school in the 90s, you'll have heard Weeping Willow. It's that song a band at school wrote that sounded a bit like Wonderwall, but not as good.
After this, the album settles back into what it does well, with Lucky Man and This Time the highlights.
Velvet Morning is nice enough. Feels very 1997 - let's close with a comedown song. Aldi Value Prosecco Supernova, if you will. Then Come On sees the album off in another wave of sludgy bleh. There's a nice odd little hidden track at the end though.
This isn't a bad album. It's highs are great, though very similar. If you had Bittersweet Symphony, Sonnet, Drugs Don't Work, This Time and Lucky man back to back, I suspect you'd struggle to work out where one track starts and the other begins. However, as an album, it is a lot of one star filler around 4/5 star singles.
Sade
1/5
I knew Smooth Operator and Your Love is King. Both inoffensive enough, if a little standard and overlong.
By the third track, I'm worried that the whole album is going to be this sort of coffee table jazz inflected background music.
There are occasional suggestions that there are good bits to come. A Chic sounding guitar here, some interesting percussion there.
It never gets beyond the blandness. A whole album of filler - there may be some good lyrics but that's it. The cover of Why Can't We Live Together wakes me up a bit... And then I realise it's because of Hotline Bling. Bleh.
Steve Winwood
4/5
Interesting opener - until the vocals kick in, it sounds like the opening credits for an Eighventies sports show.
It's also worth noting that I have a bit of a bias towards Brummie musicians... So this is unlikely to be entirely objective!
Arc of a Diver has some strong Steely Dan vibes - and that's a good thing.
The rest of the album washed over me as I worked. I am surprised at how poppy this is, given that my perception of Steve Winwood was more of a blues/rock/prog artist. More shocking is that it is good (but not great) pop. I had always assumed that Higher Love and Valerie were exceptions in his career, but it turns out he is actually a very talented pop writer - somewhere between Phil Collins and Donald Fagen.
A surprisingly good album!
4/5
Promisingly rapid start! Punky with a 50's rock and roll feel, makes me think of the Rezillos a bit.
Four tracks in, I really like this and feel I missed out not knowing this album before!
In short, this is really bloody good. I still love The Rezillos more for this fun, 50s inflected punk (I'm naturally going to identify more with Scottish sci fi geeks than a cool LA band), but this is definitely going back on at some point.
Franz Ferdinand
2/5
Look, Take Me Out was an all time indie disco classic, and there's some other good stuff in there. The art school thing meant that their videos were quite interesting too.
But Alex Kapranos was rude about my boys The Chisel for no good reason, so in the bin with Razorlight they must go.
Objectively, the only difference between Franz Ferdinand and noughties blowhards The Libertines is that FF rip off the same bands while affecting ironic detachment. Either way, it's a band that think they're dead clever for shoplifting from Wire, Gang Of Four and Magazine, forgetting that a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy eventually ends up a pale reflection of the original beautiful picture.
There's some fun manifestoey ideas behind their style and look, and as I said, Take Me Out is great, Dark of the Matinee is fine enough and mentions Terry Wogan
The Strokes
5/5
Oh come on. I was 17 when this came out, it's not even fair. I remember hearing The Modern Age, and it was the coolest thing I'd ever heard.
I could try to be cynical, to quote Eddie Argos, "I can't stand the sound of the Velvet Underground. I can't stand the sound, the second time around." But for me, because of my age, and because I'd been trying hard to care about bland crap like Turin Brakes because that was the alternative (also feeling guilty about the fact I was starting to care more about hip hop, drum and bass and garage, because I thought you had to pick a lane back then because I was a small town idiot) they were such a breath of fresh air.
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
Another one I have no preconceived idea of. It's kind of sloppy and bluesy. Sounds like it would've been cool at the time?
Not so sweet Martha Lorraine is better. Genuinely odd, and a bit less of a bluesy trudge. Odd fairground organ and some texture to it.
When this is good, it sounds like a less up its own bumhole Doors. Which is great. All the psychedelic fun, none of the 'The ancient snake, woo incest' crap. It's great.
The album goes between being maybe a bit much, and great and direct. It's ultimately enjoyable though, and I quite like the politics of the album, the fun 2.5 minute fun songs mixed with 7 minute psych/proto-prog stuff, and that it definitely sounds ahead of its time.
Rush
3/5
This is barmy in the best of all ways. I have complained about overlong tracks, and this opens with a 2112, a 20+ minute song suite... Which I actually enjoy. The plot is something about some evil priests trying to stop music and a revolution which is hackneyed and silly but it just works.
The interplay of the instruments and the size of the thing is very impressive. The fact that no one idea ever outstays it's welcome is incredible. Though it's worth noting that the story was apparently influenced by the writings of Ayn Rand - the philosopher of objectivism, a lazy philosophy for people who want half arsed justification for dodging tax and hating brown people.
The other side of the album is a bit more trad heavy rock, and isn't as excitingly crazed. Nothing on there offended me, but equally it didn't aim for the stars and come surprisingly close to reaching them.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
I'm kind of a best of Bob Marley person. I get his cultural significance but I can't even get through Legend that often because it a) gets a bit samey and, b) often reminds me of some of the worst white boy weed smoking acoustic guitar types in my teens and twenties.
Excited to check out the other stuff though, outside of what you expect to hear.
Lively Up Yourself and No Woman No Cry are obviously a great lead out (though the version of the latter on Live at the Lyceum is better!)
It continues fairly enjoyably, but does seem to stick to a 90bpm, fairly repetitive structure from song to song.
Natty Dread switches it up a little bit and gets my interest back. Great horns on it. Then back to a lot of the same.
I still think Bob Marley deserves his place in the firmament. His influence on Jamaican politics alone marks him out as a unique figure. I just feel like a lot of people get to him and stop with reggae, and miss Junior Murvin, Lee Perry, Horace Andy and Toots and the Maytals. He wasn't the best, he was important as hell though, but this album gets pretty bland, in spite of a handful of all time classics.
Fishbone
2/5
Never even heard of Fishbone before. After sitting through Freddie's Dead, I wish this were still the case. A sort of jam on Curtis Mayfield by technically competent but soulless musicians.
Ma and Pa sounds like ska punk, but with tons of synths, and the same problems as above.
What I will say for this is that it has no consistent genre. Goes from the above to metal to some sort of hideous Billy Ocean pop but punkier.
This band never made it - Red Hot Chili Peppers did. I'm not sure either is a present I'd want, but I'd have liked to hear what Fishbone sound like without a producer who appears to actively hate them. While I hated the songs, the genre agnosticism kept this from being the worst chore (looking at you, The Eagles and Sade).
The Velvet Underground
5/5
One of those less deniable classics. Responsible for a lot of terrible bands, and a few good ones.
Such a strong opening from the twee, gentle Sunday Morning, to the jangly driving (and only slightly overrated) I'm Waiting for The Man to the sad Femme Fatale to a droning, sinister Venus in Furs and on. Heroin is the only break this album takes for mediocrity - Lou Reed was always at his most dull when he was trying to be edgy.
The Specials
5/5
Another undeniable classic. Two days running. Best thing to ever come out of Cov.
It amuses me that a band so avowedly anti racist can be so misogynistic, but the same hatred gets turned inwards enough that you feel it may just be a general misanthropy from Terry Hall (that's borne out by him over the next 40 years!)
But there is no fat in the 45 minutes here - every track is there and on point. That it is the last album on the list from the 70s is fitting, as it feels like a lot of the excess is culled here, with an urgency and excitement often missing in some of the leaden rawk stodge that pads out the decade.
Judas Priest
3/5
Cradley Heath in the house!!!
I only know Breaking the Law that we'll, but they are local to my old home (I had the Specials from up the road in Cov yesterday too... Maybe they should rename this 1001 Albums from the West Midlands).
I feel like I know where this is going from track one, and that isn't a problem!
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
I know the two famous tracks off this, but that's it. Nice at the outset to have a third song, She Has Funny Cars that is also pretty great, clearly they are more than just Somebody To Love and White Rabbit.
Though Somebody to Love comes in next and still sounds like little else - a perfect, sinister, pop song. My Best Friend is just average, but the album opened so strong, I feel like it may have done better elsewhere.
Today has some Velvet Underground vibes, but gentler. It then gets a bit overlong for a while. Comes back strong with DBCA25 which is deeply lovely. Amazing to hear a West coast psych album where everything is kept so tight - tracks aren't outstaying their welcome. Even Embryonic Journey, a folky instrumental feels welcome.
Then it hits White Rabbit - maybe a drug cliche, but still an incredible song. Nothing else sounds like it.
It lags a bit as it nears the finish line, but I've come away intending to enjoy a lot more Jefferson Airplane than I did before today. A great album.
The Cure
3/5
I like it... But with the production, a lot of this washes into itself. I like the Cure a lot, but don't love them - I think because outside of the absolute classics, a lot of their songs sound like Cure songs, and are pretty interchangeable.
I feel like I'd be obsessed had I been a teenager at the time, and listened and relistened.
It's atmospheric, it's got A Forest and some other classic stuff on there. It certainly isn't bad. It's just all drifting by quite pleasantly.
This is by no means a bad album. However, it's very cohesive sound is as much of a burden as a boon, as it failed to hold my attention for long stretches.
The Specials
4/5
I don't know if The Specials had as much to say on this album as they did on their debut. But it opens with one of my favourite songs about death - Enjoy Yourself so that's a start.
Man in C&A is a much dubbier song than anything they did before, and Hey, Little Rich Girl feels like a much poppier update to Too Much, Too Young (nowhere near as good, but TMTY is near perfect).
Do Nothing is class. Where the first album was urgent, this feels much more resigned. The play between the cheery ska and the defeatism of a lot of the lyrics is divine. Pearl's Cafe starts like a week track, but a cheeky refrain halfway through makes it work! It then has a possibly pointless, but spot on and joyful James Brown tribute - I AM NEVER SAYING NO TO THIS! Then they just start listing James Bond films.
The back end of the album is very genre agnostic. There's easy listening, dub, pop, and a Casio version of the opener.
It's a very good album, but not the terrifying propulsion of the first. It's still the Specials, but you can see that Specials AKA and Fun Boy 3 are on the horizon, sadly.
Yes
1/5
This fills me with dread. Again, I will try to shed any preconceptions before listening, but my impression of Yes is great cover art, terrible 10 minute prog noodling.
And with that, I am met by 10 minutes of noodling in 'Yours is No Disgrace'. Imagine the worst excesses of Pink Floyd, but without the oddball charm of Syd Barrett's era, or the arthouse fury of Roger Waters' era. Essentially, David Gilmour's Floyd. Yuck.
Then there's a noodly acoustic thing. It's innofensive but pointless. Now we're getting into serious prog with Starship Trooper, which has three sections listed. It's not based on Robert Heinlein's novel to the best of my knowledge, and therefore has nothing interesting about it.
I've Seen All Good People also has three movements (said in the bowel sense of the word) but is shorter and marginally less painful. The middle of it sounds like Status Quo, and I would rather listen to Status Quo than this, and that is saying something.
Something interesting happened at the start of Perpetual Change, but in keeping with the name it ended after 20 seconds. Then it went back to the same tired musician's music as it had before.
Apparently this album's success stemmed from a postal strike meaning that only London chart returns could be processed in the week of its release, artificially inflating it's chart position. This makes sense of a lot of this for me. You can see why a lot of people hate Prog. I don't - Floyd, Hawkwind, Rush and Caravan bloody rule. This sort of noodly awfulness is why people hate Prog.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
One I can listen to on vinyl today! So you can imagine that I already have quote a strong bias towards it.
I can't really approach something I love like this with a critical eye. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright is the weakest track, I guess?
It has Bridge, Cecilia, The Boxer, Baby Driver, El Condor Pasa, The Only Living Boy and Baby Driver. 7 of the 11 tracks would make a best of. That kind of hit rate is ridiculous.
Blur
5/5
Another easy one for me. I handwrite out all the lyrics when I taped my friend's copy of this so I could sing along. It was the first album that wasn't a pop compilation or PJ and Duncan that I obsessed over. I was 10, and I wanted to be Graham Coxon.
I forgot to write any more while I was listening, just enjoying it! It's subtler than it gets credit for.
Joan Armatrading
3/5
Not really listened to Joan Armatrading before. She is an incredible lyricist, blessed with a great voice for delivering those lyrics - which sometimes contain so much, the balancing act of fitting them with the music is quite thrilling.
However, the music itself isn't quite as exciting, and rarely veers anywhere you aren't expecting - though this is to 2021 ears, so I do wonder if I'm missing anything.
Overall, it's great and deserves its place here. I'll probably relisten to it, and will listen to more Joan Armatrading in future, but I haven't been blown away.
Sugar
3/5
Loathed the first track. The second sounds legally enforcably like Debaser (but frankly, as there is only 3 minutes of Debaser, I'll take it).
Conversely, I wonder what the Foo Fighters would have sounded like had Bob Mould never recorded Changes. Clearly Dave Grohl loved this band - and Husker Du.
There's clearly ambition to make a more varied album here - but it appears to be stymied by a band that only plays in one way. Hoover Dam and If I Can't Change Your Mind both sound light and fun but are trodden down by heavy drums and guitar.
Ultimately, this album is nice, but inessential - the Foo Fighters comparison continues essentially. Where nobody can deny Nirvana or Husker Du, it is just nice that Sugar and FF exist, given both the former ended too soon.
Bon Jovi
4/5
Pleasingly silly opening that reminds me of Argent. Pipe organ and distorted guitar, and the on the nose title "Let It Rock". Equally subtle lyrics...
You Give Love A Bad Name rules, all Billie Jean ripoff and drama. Hating on Livin' On A Prayer would be so easy, but it is a perfect pop sound. Indeed, the only way you could hate on Bon Jovi is from a rock purist perspective. This is a failure to see Bon Jovi (up to c. 1995) are a near perfect pop group. A pinch of power balladry, a good wedge of Spandex metal, and a sprinkle of Bruce Springsteen's patented New Joisy blue collar relatability, and you've found a formula worth millions. It is no surprise that Jon Bon Jovi is related to the legendary producer Tony Bongiovi - who worked with the Talking Heads, Ramones and Shirley Bassey.
Social Disease is the only hard rock song I can think of with full Motown horns on it. Points scored there!
Wanted Dead or Alive is another slice of perfection. Cowboy rock. And if there is anything as enjoyable as singing the bit where it goes "Wanted....WAAAANNTEEEEED!" then you aren't taking enough joy in life.
Raise Your Hands is the first disappointing entry on this album. Boring stadium singalong stuff. Without Love is very much something that could be used as filler on Magic (105.4) between better power ballads, so yet Mam's heart rate doesn't get too high.
The whole back half of the album is disappointing to be honest. Never Say Goodbye is a better power ballad, and you can at least see what they were trying to do with Wild In The Streets. It's Judas Priest's Break-in The Law without the commitment.
If this had kept its momentum up, it'd be an all the great album. As it is, I have a five star A side, and a 2 star B side.
Dexys Midnight Runners
4/5
Okay. I know Geno, and that this is a band which had a very loyal following.
A strong couple of openers to start. I'm not sure I love the strained singing voice, but it does make Dexys sound unique beyond their brass led music.
Bold to then have a four minute instrumental, The Teams That Meet In Caffs. It had to be good not to lose me, and thankfully it is.
The run from Geno (an all timer) to Thankfully Not Living In Yorkshire..." (an odd falsetto Northern Soul stomper) is bloody good!
Even a poem being read out doesn't offend me. Have I mellowed in my old age, or is this band just dead charming?!
Soft Cell
4/5
I knew Tainted Love, obviously, and I half new Say Hello, Wave Goodbye. The album is brilliant though! Not quite a concept album, but an album obsessed with the seedy side of Soho and the contrast with suburbia - which they really hate.
Hate is often a good starting point for a song, and on here it is no exception. Frustration is a great opener. The fact it's followed by Tainted Love is even better - I oscillate between wanting this version and the original a lot, but both are brilliant.
It carries on in a sort of amateurishly brilliant electronica, until you hot Sex Dwarf. I honestly don't know what to make of it, but it is as barmy as its title. I think that's a good thing.
And it continues in this vein, until it hits Say Hello Wave Goodbye. While I have heard this song plenty of times I'd never listened to it. It's sad, but a ferocious kind of sadness. I am glad to have listened to it, as its ten times the song I had previously heard in passing. Absolutely astounding.
Save for a lull between Sex Dwarf and Say Hello, this is a brilliant album, and I'll definitely be coming back to it. I'm giving it 4/5, but I suspect repeat listens might actually make me love it all the more.
Baaba Maal
2/5
Not sure, at track one, if this is a me album. Intensely folky and repetitive, but I'm keeping an open mind.
It's nice in places, but I'm just not deeply into Senegalese folk jams. Clearly it has value, but it sounds a lot like any other culture jamming - pleasurable for the musician more than the listener.
Then it might just be me not understanding the culture well enough. Don't mind some Tinariwen or Manu Chao, but this just isn't grabbing me.
Johnny Cash
4/5
I know Folsom Prison better. Sure I've listened to it before, and I know most of the songs already.
He's on gloriously naughty form with his banter - so far as to play San Quentin twice after it nearly instigates a riot, and calling his guitar a very rude word. The songs fairly zip along, the band seeming well drilled but still enjoyably loose.
Slipknot
4/5
I saw Slipknot live when this came out and it was one of the most fun gigs ever. At some point I got a foot long gash on my back in the pit, the decks were on fire and I had the best laugh ever - I came out a mess of sweat and beer.
This album is great fun. I feel like they got more cohesive and better structured later on, but this is just all over the place and great fun. Eyeless, Spit It Out, Wait and Bleed. You cannot argue with that, can you?
Wild Beasts
3/5
Not heard this before. The fun powder plot sounds very mannered. Like they were raised on opera then tried to become an indie band. Not sure if this is interesting and good, or odd and annoying.
The same ingredients sound better on Hooting And Howling, which sounds like LCD Soundsystem mixed with Fleet Foxes fronted by Jimmy Somerville.
Sadly as it went on it became more and more background noise as I went about my day. It was nice, and innofensive, but I wasn't grabbed by it.
Elton John
4/5
You don't expect an Elton John album to open with a bunch of Wendy Carlos style electronica. Or the bleakness of Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.
The next three tracks are all all time. Candle is my least favourite, probably because it was ruined by Greek Phil killing Ol' Jug Ears' ex missus. The original is still infinitely sadder and, ironically given his friendship with Di, more heartfelt.
But Bennie and the Jets, and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road are all time classics and Taupin and John at there finest. Hard to even approach them with a critical mind.
This Song Has No Title is still good, but suffers from its proximity to the aforementioned pile of genius. Grey Seal is fin too, and at the point it came in, the album required a change of pace.
There is a bit of a lull from the cod reggae of Jamaica Jerk Off up to Danny Bailey, which picks up again (John shines when he's writing more biographically. Odd). About a minute longer than it needed to be though, with some extended piano camping at the end.
It then hits a strong stretch of more rock n roll music from Alice to Saturday Night, which injects a lot more energy and life back into the album.
This is sustained until the mediocre closer, Harmony. In conclusion, a lot of this album is brilliant. There are a couple of mediocre stretches it could do without, but definitely a great one.
Fugazi
4/5
Fugazi is basically a lesson in how to be an older punk. You can't be angry in the same way a kid can, but you can still show fire and not sell out. You can show that growth can be good.
I always preferred Minor Threat's immediacy, but now I'm a bit older, I can actually enjoy this a lot more. Damn, the track Repeater sounds a little bit Paul Simon.
It's really good. Half the speed of MT, but Ian MacKaye is still obviously there, still expressing.
It's really good, it zips, it's fiercely anti capitalist, it is a good, but not quite five star album.
The Jam
1/5
Sort of dreading this. Tried The Jam before and it did nothing for me. I am onside with Paul Wellers lefty politics, but I find his mod revivalist, suburban angst bloody boring.
Trying to listen with an open mind but two tracks in it just sounds like such mannered tripe. Mr Clean is a little more interesting, like Motown during amateur hour...
Then there's a Kinks cover. David Watts is a great song and The Jam don't massacre it. The Kinks remain better though.
Finally, there's a good song - English Rose. It's pretty and sweet and has sharp little edges.
Then there's the rest of the album. See above. Paul Weller is a hack.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Well Bird On A Wire is a great opener. Gloomy as hell, but mordantly funny with it.
I love the partisan, but I am always a sucker for French. Seems So Long Ago, Nancy is a heartbreaker.
The Old Revolution is once again a great funny one, "Even damnation is poisoned with rainbows" is a bloody brilliant lyric. And there isn't enough jaw harp in popular music!
You know who I am is glorious and complex (AND HAS MORE JAW HARP).
Muddy Waters
2/5
From the off, any album that opens with Mannish Boy has my attention. A three chord riff repeated for five minutes, but never boring.
Bus Driver is good, but possibly needed to be a different tempo or feel, because it's starting to feel samey. This continues - by the improvement on prior tracks of The Blues Had A Baby And They Named It Rock and Roll I'd started to struggle to realise when one track ended and the next began.
I want to like this album. He was 71 when he made it, and Mannish Boy alone shows he could still create pure fire sometimes. But the complete lack of tonal variety really holds this back - when you look at the energy on display on BB King Live and compare it to the *ahem* muddy mid tempo blues of this, there really isn't enough here to make me want to came back.
Neil Young
4/5
Walk On is a strong, joyous opener. I love an upbeat song with a sadder lyric. For the Turnstiles is also great. This whole album is the sort of Neil Young you can't help but love.
Vampire Blues is a dirge, but it's then followed by On The Beach, which with a more traditional vocalist would be a soul banger of the sort sampled by the Wu Tang. Neil Young transforms it into something pleasingly idiosyncratic with his voice and lyrics.
Morrissey
2/5
Okay, I'm not going to line the elderly moronic racist's pocket by listening to one of his consistently mediocre solo efforts. However, when I was younger, I tried all of Morrissey's solo efforts including this and really tried to make myself like them, such was my love for the Smiths.
As ever, there are a couple of tracks that give you hope he hadn't lost it - the T-Rex pastiche Certain People I Know, and We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful, which sounds like a Spitting Image parody of the Smiths.
But weighing that up against the odious National Front Disco (I think he's lost any right to protest that it's observational or ironic) and the bland plodding pub rock backing of, well, pretty much the rest of the album, and you have an absolute stinker of an album with a couple of promising singles on it.
I realise Morrissey is a keen Googler of his own name, so I will say that he desperately needs the other Smiths around him to make the music, and to tell him that he isn't actually as smart or edgy as he thinks he is - especially the ones he sued. If only that double decker bus had crashed into him shortly after the Queen Is Dead. He'd be almost universally loved.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
1/5
Fun intro! Good harmonies. The first track proper feels a bit bland and pub rock. As does Hometown Blues. This is very boring so far.
The Wild One, Forever is an improvement. Bruce Springsteen without the charisma. Or Meatloaf without the humour. But at least it's the first track that aims high, even if it misses.
Anything That's Rock and Roll brings back the boredom. The next album in the book is the Modern Lovers. They do the same rock n roll schtick, except Jonathan Richman has a wit and joy to his songs and delivery, rather than regurgitating the same clichés over and over again.
Nothing especially different until American Girl, which is a marked improvement. The lyrics are the blandest trash, but musically it is actually listenable, which is a marked improvement. Still. I like lyrics that do more than "Oh yeah. Alright. Hey baby." Possibly because I can tie my own shoelaces.
A big fat 1 here. Boring music for boring people.
Madness
3/5
It's bleaker than I expected. Unmistakably Madness, but with bleak subject matter. It's possibly this depth that made them so popular for so long.
Rise and Fall is great and wistful, and Tomorrow's Just Another Day is fun but with an undercurrent of sadness.
Blue Skinned Beast is the weakest track so far but is pleasingly odd, just a verse too long.
Our House is of course an undeniable classic.
This album is really good... But it could have done with maybe a slow one or a Nutty Boys stomper - as it is, every song sits around a very similar tempo and it gets very easy to tune out.
The variety of subject matter in the songs is sublime though
The Sabres Of Paradise
5/5
I know nothing about this album. That's always dead exciting. The songs look long which is a worry.
Bubble and Slide sounds nice. Slightly afrobeaty. Bubble and Slide 2 has some lovely filters over its beat. Glitchy. I love it.
Duke of Earlsfield goes dubbier. And a bit crazy towards the end, another great track. Flight Path Estate is more slight, but is also shorter in line with it's relative lack of ideas.
It's immediately followed by Portishead's mix of Planet D which is straight back up there again. Gloomy and dark while also feeling quite chilled.
Wilmot has a baseline that makes me want it to go full junglist lunacy... It doesn't, but I still love it. It sounds like music from the weirdest arcade machine on the planet. Tow Truck is actually pretty sexy - like spy film music. Theme follows in a similar style, before another short noise experiment called Theme 4.
In short, I am coming back to this, and I an gutted it's never had a vinyl repress - C'mon Warp Records, please do it!
Ella Fitzgerald
3/5
A beautiful voice and a bunch of standards. However it lacks the raucousness and excitement of Ella at her best, and sticks in a nice easy jazz mode most of the way through.
By no means bad, but too polite for my tastes, sadly.
Beastie Boys
5/5
An all time classic. Some of it has aged badly and been disowned by the Beastie Boys, but it's almost all classics. Girls is terrible (though I did find it funny when I was 12) but every track after that could be a single. And most of the tracks before it.
It gets 4 stars - only because Paul's Boutique, Ill Communication and Hello Nasty are all better albums by the same band. If it were any other group, it'd be 5! You know what, it is a 5 I'm supposed to be objective, aren't I.
Queen
3/5
Brighton Rock and Killer Queen is a pretty great opening for the album! It's then followed by the incredibly bland Tenement Funster, sadly (while it's great the group operated quite democratically regards songwriting, it did mean some rubbish slipped through!) Flick of the Wrist is another song, and I didn't realise this, which is pretty damning. It's 50/50 so far.
Lily of the Valley is camp as balls, and therefore ace. Then Now I'm Here is great fun too. Very Queen, and I think the variable quality is part and parcel.
It's an album of brilliant ups and mediocre downs, which makes sense of Queen's reputation as a 'Best of' band.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
1/5
The first track sounds like Santana, but trying to play without passion. Like a divorced man in his 40s who has just got his first band together and is playing at the next thing up from a Wetherspoon's to three alcoholics and two teenaged barstaff who are laughing behind his back as he makes sexfaces during the solos.
I mean, it's 55 years old. I'm sure that people in 1966 didn't bother with much music from 1911. Music has moved on so far from people being impressed by somebody going 'widdle widdle' on an electrified guitar with some distortion that it's almost unfair to be this damning to it.
But then, Revolver, Blonde On Blonde and Pet Sounds came out in 1966, all of which still sound great today.
Also, white blues is generally meh, and Eric Clapton is a racist and a terrible parent.
I made it halfway through. If the second half is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius, I'm sorry, and also very surprised.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
We can all agree Purple Haze is canon, right? I realise yesterday I have Clapton and Bluesbreakers a proper coat down, but it's only because things like this exist.
Then the anarchic glorious mess of Manic Depression, then Hey Joe. This is what blues rock SHOULD sound like. Exciting, thrilling, joyous.
Love of confusion shows Hendrix's main talent. While other guitarists were still just happy to have electric guitars, and maybe distorting them a bit, he wants to experiment with every noise it can make, playing around with the pick up switches and all sorts to see what happens.
May this be love is less exciting than the killer opening, but you almost need a break after that opening. I don't live today shows (though other earlier tracks have too) that this experimentation goes for the drummer as well (Chas Channing?) With some weird jagged rhythms making it a great bit of jazz/psych craziness.
The Wind Cries Mary is just a beautiful song. One of the best ballads ever written. Then Fire which is pure fun.
It's a great album. You can even forgive the overlong trad blues of Red House at the end, it almost feels like he's saying 'Yep, I can do this too!'.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Three tracks in, and this album just oozes sex and anger, which is an enjoyable mix! The anger is masked behind the gorgeous arrangements, and is mixed with a hope that maybe we can do better in future. It's certainly lyrically ambitious.
It's really good - but falls short of five stars for me. You know when something is so perfectly done you stop noticing it? Like good aircon or a comfy bed? This is the same - it's so musically tight it becomes hard to focus on the songs. A little bit more rawness and it'd be perfect. If that makes sense!?
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Well, it's just good grimy fun isn't it? It's nice to have some albums that aren't too SERIOUS in this list and this is one of those. Up Around the Bend, Oobie Doobie and the covers of Grapevine and Before You Accuse me are all great fun.
Lookin out My Back Door is alarmingly close to skiffle - and I'm there for it.
Mudhoney
3/5
It's pleasingly heavy and amateurish. Like Nirvana if they weren't getting first rate producers in.
I would have adored this 20 years ago. It's great, noisy fun, but some of the edge lord nihilism is a bit dated and meh. I enjoyed it, but I don't know if I'll go back to it.
Elvis Presley
3/5
Like nearly every Elvis album, there are 14 tracks of awful dreck. Then there is In the Ghetto, and Suspicious Minds, two pop songs of such excellence that you forget the rest of what you had suffered through. Honestly, those two songs deserve a six out of five. The rest of it is solid ones and twos, in both the rating and digestive sense.
Honestly, Elvis recorded maybe four perfect albums. The problem is, he hid them over about 40 bloody albums.
PJ Harvey
3/5
It's good. Bleak and cold and atmospheric. But the folkiness and crunching guitars feel a bit samey as it goes on. Busy day, short review soz.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
I knew this album better than most Neil Young albums I've had so far. My My Hey Hey and it's mirror image are obviously both great.
Thrasher is one of a Neil Young classics - the airing of grievances towards former bandmates. He's so good at it you have to forgive it.
Pocohontas beats Iron Maiden by about 5 years to a great song about the American Indian genocide. Sail Away is a bit dull.
That said, I respect the structure of the album - side one is classic Neil Young - acoustic and plaintive. Side two is Godfather of Grunge(TM) Neil Young, crunching guitars and all.
Powderfinger is very good (for some reason I always thought it'd be rubbish because of the terrible Australian band).
Welfare Mothers is just okay, Sedan Delivery is brilliant, high energy stuff again. And Hey Hey My My is a classic, even if it is a leeetle bit cheesy.
The Youngbloods
4/5
What a great album! Weirdly, no one track stood out, bit the bright, free feeling of the whole thing made it zip by in a pleasing mix of crunchy guitar and bouncy organ.
Nothing outstayed it's welcome. It was all very fun and joyous! An underrated gem.
Pere Ubu
4/5
I simultaneously love this, and I'm not fussed if I hear it again. A joyous cacophony.
It's brilliant, they're making post punk a year before journalists think punk broke. It's a four star album, but due to the stupidity of a lot of the reviews on here already I want to give it 5 to correct their efforts. Stupid eejits probably think The Eagles are 'real music'.
The Fall
5/5
Wow! I knew the cover of Lost In Music, but this is just a great album. Rave-punk with Mark E Smith bellowing his madness all over it. I've fallen in love with it - was always warm but not hot on The Fall, bit perhaps this was the album I needed to make me a convert.
10/10
Bobby Womack
2/5
I got on with it, So Many Sides of You, If You Think You're Lonely Now and Stand Up all slap. The rest is all okay. However, I feel like the super polished sound was a malign influence on the rest of the decade, with so much overproduced plastic soul afterwards. This isn't quite there. Nothing sounds glazed over and evil like what came later, but it's definitely on its way there.
I'd have given it three, but it loses a star for what it wraught on ears in the coming years.
Frank Zappa
2/5
I like Frank Zappa, but I'm much more there for the fun stuff than the jazz noodling or 'serious musician' stuff. And that's what you get here.
Peaches En Regalia slaps though.
Brian Eno
3/5
Should this be on the list? It's atmospheric, beautiful and very relaxing, but I'm fairly sure if Brian Eno hadn't been in Roxy Music etc it would be deemed classical, despite the synth pads. It's mostly piano music (lovely piano music).
That concern being said, it is lovely music, and it's very clear that everything non aesthetic about Roxy Music was his work (to be fair, the dreck released after his exit proves this too).
However, there are limited circumstances I would put this on - it is very slow and meditative.
Dr. Octagon
4/5
Well I have to add myself to the list of white people pissing Kool Keith off by loving this album...
I knew the big cuts from this album, but essentially you're getting DOOM before DOOM, which I'm happy with.
Earth People, Bear Witness, Blue Flowers are all great. The crazy lyricism is what I miss most from hip hop today...
Nine Inch Nails
5/5
I know Closer and Hurt, and love both (though prefer Johnny Cash's version of the latter). The rest I'm less familiar with.
Mr Self Destruct is a great opener, pitching somewhere between Suicide and Metallica. Piggy is a fun funky jazzy thing. Possibly a minute longer than it needs to be.
Heathen is amazingly heavy and fun, Closer is a stone cold classic, A Warm Place is ambient beauty and Hurt is gorgeous in either version.
This is a stunning album. A little chubby in the middle, maybe, but seven years later, Radiohead used some very similar tricks and got hailed as geniuses. I feel like maybe Trent Reznor's love of heaviness and slightly OTT edginess meant less people took NIN as seriously as they deserved to be taken at the time.
Coldplay
4/5
Comparing Coldplay to U2 is so tired but it makes sense. A huge band with a relentlessly aggravating cock as a frontman who even more annoyingly, does try to use their position for good, but in a way where you suspect raising their own profile may be a part of it.
However, the most relevant comparison here is that both started out with great albums, before turning into a bland content production facility somewhere around their third.
Had Bono been hit by a train in 1985, and Chris Martin in 2005, they would probably both be remembered like Jeff Buckley. Instead, they are forced to plough on, going through the motions, never writing another song as transcendent as Trouble or Shiver.
Which is to say, this is a near perfect debut album. Only Yellow stands out as annoying, and it's not the songs fault it's been played to death. The end dries up a bit too - High Speed and We Never Learn are meh. It says nothing other than, "Love is nice and sometimes I'm sad", but it says it so well you can't really fault it.
TL:DR - I can't stand Coldplay post X&Y, but if you can't see why they got huge after listening to this album, you're lying to yourself.
Brian Wilson
5/5
I waited all my life for this, there's no way it's getting a bad review. I loved Smiley Smile, the 'best effort' that was put out when the label realised it would never be finished.
Any album that contains Heroes and Villains and Good Vibrations is a clear contender for best album ever. That it also contains the delightful Vegetables too is just gilding the lily.
Is it better than Pet Sounds? It's genuinely a possibility. One was ambitious but still sounded traditional. This might be a step too far ambition wise (certainly it was for Brian Wilson's mental health), but it reaches for the stars and sometimes comes tantalisingly close to touching them.
Black Sabbath
4/5
Long day. Listened but couldn't write much! How many albums have Snowbling, St Virus' Dance and Changes? One. This one.
Sometimes prone to overlong jazz metal interludes, but other than that, brilliant
Elvis Costello
2/5
I think the editor of 1001 Albums must have lost his first virginity to Elvis Costello or something. Every album is just incredibly okay. Not unpleasant, but pretty good. But he keeps popping up! I am learning that Elvis Costello has existed fairly consistently.
But this is meant to be 1001 of the best albums to hear before you die. On my deathbed, of I even remember listening to this, I don't think I'm going to think "I wish I had listened to more of Costello's consistent but dull music.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
I already adore this wonderful silly album.
Stagger Lee deserves awards just for its ridiculous use of the word motherfucker. It's hilarious.
Henry Lee with PJ Harvey and Wild Roses with Kylie are both darker and moodier - and have a nice balance - Cave is murderer in one and victim in the other.
Curse of Millhaven and O Mallets Bar are the highlights for me. Gloriously dark silliness. The latter is 15 minutes long bat feels like three.
And Death is not the End is like Band Aid but not for idiots.
Perfect perfect perfect.
The Kinks
4/5
I swear I wrote stuff yesterday, must have forgotten to save it! Ray Davies is an amazing songwriter. Wit and nostalgia. Sometimes a bit sludgy when they try more rocky stuff, but when it's light and dreamy it's sublime. Anything with Village Green or Cat in the title is brill. As is Down By the Riverside. Picture Book is overrated (see the rockier bits being a bit bland, but Ray Davies lyricism covers for it).
David Bowie
4/5
It's ridiculous really... Any other artist, and this would be a career high. With Bowie it might just scrape the top 10 (better than Heathen, worse than Earthling...)
It's a bit fixed in its tempo, too much sax, not enough invention. It's almost as if cocaine affects quality control. However, with Bowie this means a four star album - if you compare with Oasis or the Stone Roses who went from 5 stars to 1 in the space of an album for the same reason it's a testament to his talent!
Ultimately, the only track I'd make my first choice to listen to off this album is Fame. There's more great stuff on there, but that's it - Bully for you, chilly for me.
Wilco
3/5
It's a good album. That sort of modern Americana doesn't do much for me, sadly - and the Stones pastiche tracks do little for me.
However, the sad feely tracks are sublime - everything over 5 minutes, Red Eyed and Blue, a few others. Plumbing the depths is where this one flies. There's a great single album in here, without all the country crap and the trudgy rockers.
Funkadelic
4/5
Maggot Brain is gorgeously sludgy, even if it is a glorified guitar solo, it has enough weirdness going on that it doesn't offend me.
Always loved Can You Get To That. Summer essential that one! Hit It and Quit It is good, but not up to the first two tracks.
The rest of the album remains very funky and fun, but never quite hits the sublime heights of the start. Still great though!
Kate Bush
4/5
Is there a better opening than Running Up That Hill and Hounds of Love back to back? Discuss.
The rest of the album never hits those celestial heights, but still, Mother Stands For Comfort is creepy in all the right ways, Cloudbusting is light and lovely, and Hiding the Witch is bonkers horror disco with Exorcist vibes.
There's some less thrilling stuff and failed experiments between this, but you really can't fault it for insane levels of ambition. For a lesser artist, this album would be career suicide, rather than career defining.
Eels
5/5
I have liked eels since Novocaine for the Soul - I had the single on cassette. I love the off kilter ness, the humour and the depths of misery it plumbs, without ever being po faced. And they're all singable pop songs too. Their first 3 or 4 albums are all essential imho.
Various Artists
5/5
Haha! Well I'll be listening to this later as I do every year! If you don't love these Christmas classics given the wall of sound treatment, you are a soulless mister and definitely on the naughty list!
I realise the artists were horribly exploited, and that Phil Spector is an awful human being. But this album is a precious diamond regardless.
ZZ Top
2/5
In all honest, it does trudge a bit, but Sharp Dressed Man and Gimme All Your Lovin are great fun. Not an all time one. But not altogether unwelcome.
3/5
It was good, but I much prefer the studio versions of the songs. I'm aware it is the 'Judas' going electric gig, but while the show was obviously a hugely important cultural event, its historic weight doesn't make it any more enjoyable. Love albums are (nearly) always a disappointment, aren't they?
Daft Punk
4/5
My bias here is I love Daft Punk and Da Funk opened my eyes to dance music.
This album is brilliant. Not at their imperial peak, some tracks are filler. But it also has Da Funk, Around the World, Phoenix, Oh Yeah, Rollin and Scratchin, and Alive.
A daft, punky mess indeed.
The Undertones
3/5
I work in the water industry, and Feargal Sharkey is a prominent environmental activist in the same sector. I sometimes meet him and have to stay cool and professional, while my brain is shouting "Hump his leg! This is the bloke who wrote Teenage Kicks and My Perfect Cousin!". It's a difficult line to walk.
I've only ever known the Undertones as a singles band (like most punk bands I suppose) and had a best of growing up.
The album has some great songs on it, but in between those, there are 2 to 3 minute songs which run out of steam after about a minute and just carry on. It still has Here Comes the Summer, Teenage Kicks (which was left off the first pressing!) and Jimmy Jimmy so it's by no means a bad album, but of its half hour run time, only 15 minutes or so is actually essential.
System Of A Down
4/5
I love this album - I'm listening to it on vinyl today, which should give you an idea!
Within four opening tracks, you have Suite Pee, Sugar and Suggestions, three wildly different tracks showcasing the crazed mix of styles SOAD can deliver - often within the same song. This is an alb for anyone who has ever thought metal is a one note genre. You're wrong.
Serj Tankian's lack of inhibition when it comes to his vocals is a delight, moving from traditional metal growls and screams, to opera, to ridiculous comedy squeaks is a pure joy.
And yet, while making such a fun album, they also manage to raise serious political issues. I genuinely cannot think of another artist who has done more to raise awareness and recognition of the Armenian genocide by Turkey a century ago, and made genuine, brilliant progress.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
I remember thinking Yeah Yeah Yeah were style over substance at the time. A fringe in need of a song. That was unfair, as Pin and Maps are both timeless classics, both 5/5 songs. The rest of the album has some good songs (Rich, Date With the night) and some that must have gone some way to forming my original unfair opinion of them.
It's sad, when they can write a thrashy fun cut like Pin, and genuine timeless heart breaker like Maps, that so much of the rest of the album feels so 'this'll do'.
They clearly had more in the tank, as Heads Will Roll is a banger later on. But then they also had Gold Lion. Would that they got a producer who would tell them that a lot of their songs are unfinished.
Butthole Surfers
2/5
Okay, so I only knew the intro from an Orbital record. Happy to know where it came from.
It sadly never tops Sweet Loaf. It seems to delight in being awkward and difficult, but rather than Pere Ubu brilliance, it's more just... Awkward and difficult. Without reward. And some naff edgelord crap thrown in for good measure.
There are occasional glimpses of it going somewhere, but... Sadly not enough.
Miles Davis
3/5
This is an album with patches of beauty, patches that baffle me, and discordant lunacy which I love.
It's massively over long - given the complexity, you can't focus on it for long enough to enjoy it in one sitting. I found taking each 20 odd minute piece separately was a good approach.
Ultimately, it's very clever, but probably beyond me. A difficult but rewarding listen.
David Gray
3/5
I remember this being on a lot my first year working in a record shop. I expected to hate it (I hated EVERYTHING back then) and while there's a lot of filler in there, the opening two tracks are both great, and the close is maudlin and lovely (and has given me a reason to hear Soft Cell, though admittedly as a cover this time).
The music is pitched between Bob Dylan, and that sort of MOR chill out of the late 90s and early 00s, but not so offensively as to put me off it.
It's not a mind blowing five star album, but was quite a nice nostalgic trip into a couple decades ago.
Aerosmith
4/5
Back in the saddle is fun enough. Aerosmith have a better ear for funk and soul type rhythm than most heavy rock bands.
Rats in the Cellar is a fun Thin Lizzy style stomper. After these two though, it's not the most exciting album. I feel like Aerosmith are another singles band. The rest of the album is far from bad, but not that exciting.
Julian Cope
2/5
Even oral sex references can't bmake me interested in the first track, Pristine. And I quite like Julian Cope (as a person. Other than World, Shut Your Mouth, I don't know that I know any of his songs before today). The fact this is 18 tracks long is already filling me with dread.
No improvement yet. East Easy Rider is a a Stone Roses dirge (more so than the Stone Roses made).
Five tracks in, some life appears with Hanging Out... which is a Suffragette City style driver. Safesurfer sounds like Nick Cave, but boring.
Boring is the watchword for this album. An album this genre agnostic, with really interesting themes should not be this boring. For comparison, Fear of a Black Planet came out this year, and does angry and political over exciting, interesting music.
I have tried to listen to every album in full from this list. But sweet Jesus I cannot be bothered with this. It's 18 tracks long, I'm none in and I'm losing the will to live. If you loved me at all felt a bit like Pavement for a minute. Then went on interminably.
Okay. Stay of execution. You is a tune. It's almost like he has enough ideas for a 2 minute song but not enough for 4 minutes. He could have learned from this! More things that sound like Scott Walker fighting an army of bees!
Beautiful Love is fun too, though a couple more dull as shit tracks made me consider turning it off again! Western Front is good too! The back half of this album would be a three star album. The first half is one star. You can probably work out where I'm going to end up.
Definitely not one of the 1001 best albums of all time. Overlong, mostly dull, but saved by two or three flashes of excellence.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
As with Creedence before, this is just great fun. So many bluesy bands of the time we're po faced and dull as hell (see reviews passim) whereas Creedence are always doing it with a smile and a wink. Much better.
I like a lot of the San Francisco bands of the time they keep it tight. 10 songs, just over 30 minutes. They say what they want to say and move on.
And while it's fun, they can be serious. Wrote a Song for Everyone is a sad song about being a failure as a husband. Bad Moon Rising is fun, but clearly talking Cold War paranoia and Vietnam between the lines.
Mike Oldfield
3/5
It's The Exorcist music! Your Mother darns socks in hell! The power of Christ compels you!
It is nice. Mostly just showing off the advancements in studio technology I think, but an engaging tech demo. And one which features the dulcet tones of Viv Stanshall, one of the greatest rock madmen to ever exist. His job is to list instruments, oddly enough.
Part 2 is less exciting, possibly due to the lack of connection to one of the greatest horror films ever made. It's also just a bit more meandering, lacking the urgency of part one. It improves (by which I mean gets very odd) about halfway through. Fans of four minutes of weird guttural growls (well hello Mike Patton fans) will like it. Then it gets dull again. Then it goes all last night of the proms.
Overall it's pretty good. Occasionally too drawn out, but when it's good it's great. When it's not, it's background noise. Can at least see why it's on the list. One of the weirder multimillion selling albums!
SAULT
3/5
This is a toughie. The production is great, the message is essential, but the lyricism and vocals seem designed to appeal to the blandest Guardian music pages Radio 2 I buy one album a year and it's usually by Ed Sheeran type bore.
Are the lyrics kept simple and unchallenging so that they don't alienate these people? Are the vocals so MOR to ensure more people get down to the message eventually?
Everything about this album should appeal to me, but a lot of it seems to be kept so tame when right now it feels like it should be time for action, rather than a strongly worded letter.
The problem with What's Going On by Marvin Gaye is it made a revolutionary message sound so pleasant nobody went away remembering the important bit. This album seems to fall into the same trap.
Sod it though, I'm the worst sort of white, liberal bore myself. Maybe it's not aimed at those who want parity between people of colour killed unlawfully by the police and police killed (ideally both should be zero, and the police should have more stringent firing policies for racists, homophobes and misogynists). It's not aimed at people who would happily pay good money to watch everybody involved in GB News killed slowly in a pay per view. They probably know much better than me - I couldn't have made this album.
Ah well. It's a good album with a big problem for my ears.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
First of (I assume) many Stevie Wonder albums on here. Opens nicely with the musical warm bath of Smile Please. Then the actually even sadder nearly 50 years on Heaven is 10 Zillion Miles Away, a gospel song about how hard it was to defeat hate.
Too Shy To Say does less for me. Just a bit too slow and sad without a good reason. But Boogie on Reggae Woman is gorgeous fun with its squelchy, funky synth. Creepin is a bit dull, but then You Haven't Done Nothin is full on Superstition MK2, except it hasn't been ruined by a generation of terrible X Factor type covers. The shining diamond of this album.
It does off a little towards the end - chilled piano balladry has a limit for me, but Bird of Beauty and Please Don't Go see to a strong finish.
A lovely album, possibly one that struggles a little being sat between Innervisions and Songs in the Key.
N.W.A.
4/5
As opening tracks go, Straight Outta Compton is a bloody good way to announce yourselves. Following it up with Fuck Tha Police, a song which is even better is terrifying. I'd be scared at this point to even try to compete with this! Gangsta Gangsta is alright too, 808 beeps and all. The quick bit of 70s soul and the Funky Worm sample give a quick hint of what Dre might be up to in a few year's time!
It drops right off after this. If It Ain't Ruff and Parental Discretion are sooo dated when you look at other acts putting records out this year. And 8 Ball's 5 minutes feel like 20, in spite of the Beastie Boys samples. Like putting Kurtis Blow in a battle against Kendrick Lamar.
This contrast sums up the album. When NWA have something to say, this is a five star album. When they don't, it's outdated old school hip hop except (golly gosh) they swear a lot.
The bangers get fewer and further between as the album goes on. You have maybe 5 great songs on this (three all timers) and a lot of filler. NWA's reputation really did the rest. I'm glad they upset all the right people, but even so, I can't give it five stars - it does get four just for the three classics (the singles).
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
I get the feeling that had I discovered Dinosaur Jr at a younger age I would have fallen madly in love with them. As it is, I already have so many bands like them that I love I couldn't be bothered to make room (I will never betray you Steven Malkmus).
Freak Scene and Let it Ride are great. Don't is hilarious, and I think it's meant to be? A lot of the rest depends on your appetite for slightly bored sounding but very fun slacker rock. An important album.
Beatles
5/5
For about 15 years, I believed, and would argue, that this is the best Beatles album. I'm less certain now - purely because so many are brilliant, but it still feels like the balance of pop and experimentation is so perfect on this album, at least for me.
It really isn't worth going track by track with the Beatles, as you'd almost believe every song is a single, such is their impact. It's perfect, or so near it doesn't matter anyway.
X-Ray Spex
4/5
It's a great album. Poly Styrene is a great vocalist with a unique style, and the album is mostly thrashy fun.
Warrior in Woolworths is such a great song. Even saxophone breaks can't ruin this record for me! A lot of good stuff, but then at the end, Germ Free Adolescent is a beautiful moment of vulnerability. That's a rare trait in punk, and it really works. Beautiful.
Finally, I'm listening to the reissue, because to deny myself Oh Bondage Up Yours would be a sin.
Kanye West
5/5
This album was the third and final Kanye album to blow my mind. It's so maximalist and orchestral. Nobody else could have made it. And every track is a single.
From Pink Floyd as hip hop banger about self loathing, Runaway, to let's launch a whole career and make Jay Z look part time of Monster, to the vocoder choral genius of Lost in the World. Everything has something. If I wanted to hate it, there is the overlong Chris Rock skit 'Yeezy taught me' thing, and possibly the early signs of the mania that would harm his music over the next decade.
But that's clutching at straws. This is a one off, an insanely ambitious album that transcends it's genre.
Magazine
2/5
It's okay. Pretty dull. It's sort of punk with synths. This feels like the band that people who want to appear to be 'too smart' for punk would pretend to like *coughpitchfork*.
It's inoffensive but not exciting.
Q-Tip
4/5
It is unmistakably Q-Tip, but he is trying something new. It works on some tracks more than others, but the mix of glitchy samples, early 00s chill out and beats that go far further off the fours than ATCQs jazzy stuff either blows your mind, or leaves you missing the bounce and the Phife of his earlier work.
The good stuff tends to be the Robert Glasper and J Dilla produced tracks, unsurprisingly, and when he calls out a roll call of hip hop's finest, ending with his name I have to admit I teared up a little (patronising details for people who are here for the Eagles - Dilla passed away before the album was completed, an event which probably changed the course of hip hop, as he was on the cusp of running the game).
The Rolling Stones
2/5
For some reason, this has popped up a second time. Here is a copy paste of my previous review....
A couple of great singles (and Moonlight Mile, which is a tune), but otherwise a lot of boring, coke addled, sludgy, half arsed blues.
There really aren't that many great Stones albums. I feel like they were much more a singles band. (Obviously Let It Bleed is an exception to this)
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
I've never listened to this album all the way through, though I have probably listened to every track.
Thunder Road is brilliant - it's gift (beyond the great lyrics and sense of yearning) it that it isn't allowed to do the same thing for more than a couple of bars at a time. It's constantly shifting and changing.
Born to Run itself, is of course one of the greatest songs ever. Not sure what else there is to say there. The rest of the album has great intros, so much good saxophone it stole all the good sax breaks, resulting in all 80s songs (except Careless Whisper) featuring sax being terrible, and beautifully desperate lyrics.
It's so piano led too. The pianoiest album that rocks ever? Soz Billy Joel.
I'm still only giving it four stars, because a few songs (She's The One and Backstreets) outstay their welcome. Yet Jungleland at just shy of 10 minutes could be even longer and I'd still love it.
I'll see how I feel in the morning, cos my judgement feels harsh!
Update - like Kanye, this is an amazing album which I have very minor gripes about. I can't not give it 5
The Divine Comedy
4/5
I love Neil Hannon. A man out of time, a voice from the 50s and the wit of Noel Coward but with 90s instrumentation. It's so enjoyable. He can break your heart in one line and make you laugh your arse off with the next (is there a better delivered line than "I told the passers by/I made a small boy cry").
I have always loved Everybody Knows. If is a revelation - big swelling orchestration and a writer's challenge of coming up with as many situations as possible.
If I Were You feels like Frank Sinatra retold by Morrissey (in a good way, not a racist way).
This actually feels like a lost Scott Walker album! I really like it. Not everything on here is essential - which is a shame with its brevity, but at it's heights, it soars.
Aerosmith
3/5
So this album has two of the best rock songs ever written (Walk This Way and Sweet Emotion, as if there any doubt) and then some other songs. With the exception of 10 Inch Record, none of them are terrible - even the aforementioned is an amusing music hall pastiche. But the rest is just holding for the best bits.
Erykah Badu
3/5
This is tough. It's a brilliant sounding album, with tight instrumentation and dazzling vocals. But at the same time, there is little I feel inspired to go back to after the first listen.
It's a coffee table neo soul album. It sounds gorgeous but doesn't rise beyond a surface pleasantness, musically. Lyrically too, it's brilliant.
I just can't see myself putting it on again, despite it's obvious technical and lyrical greatness.
DJ Shadow
5/5
I got this album when I was 15 or so. I've loved it ever since. Moody, atmospheric, with beats that sounded like nothing else ever at the time.
It introduced me to the concept of crate digging for which I am so grateful.
Dig out the extended mix of Organ Donor if you can. The 90 seconds you get on here almost feels cruel - like here is the best song ever but you can only play for a moment. I forgive it, because Building Steam, The Number Song, Midnight and What Does Your Soul Look Like also deliver at that level, and I suppose he had to make it all fit on wax somehow (hint, drop Why Hip Hop Sucks in 96 - while it remains true in any year, the joke wastes 40 seconds!)
Before Timbaland and Dilla, there was this, and damn it was good - a real shame his tracks are almost too distinct to be rhymed over (though RTJ do a great job).
Norah Jones
2/5
I'm not sure anyone has ever said 'its really easy to ignore' as praise. It's nice. But nice in a very wash over you without actually doing much to interest you kind of way. It doesn't offend me in the way Sade did. But it really isn't interesting enough to warrant a home on this list (yes it sold millions. So did the Bay City Rollers).
She seems to have become far more interesting since.
The Black Keys
2/5
It's not that this album isn't lovely - it is, all 60s psych and soul with layers of fuzz. I have put two tracks (Everlasting Light and Howlin For You) on my 'listen again' list.
It's just... Is this the height of ambition in 2010? To faithfully recreate the sounds made 40 years before? Except without any of that pesky melanin this time?
It's a good album. Just a dispiriting one. And possibly a little overlong.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Break up albums are usually a massive red flag for me. Only a 'being famous is weally weally hard' album is more of a warning. However, this album does something new with the form (I'd previously thought the Weeknd had started this trend, but was 35 years late!) It is icy, spooky soul music. Rather than comforting, it creeps you out.
It's not perfect, without any real hooks, it is a disconcerting experience, and I got tired towards the end of it. But it was a new one on me, and one that tried something new, fairly effectively.
Nick Drake
5/5
What an album. The chord progressions are like nothing you've ever heard before (metal tunings played in a folly style) and the strings are beautiful, and the whole thing hits you on an emotional frequency I can't quite explain, but you FEEL it. I realise that makes no sense but I can't explain it. Just listen to Way To Blue, Cello Song or River Man and you'll feel something different to what other music gives you. It's BRILLIANT. And I normally hate folky stuff.
Mercury Rev
5/5
I remember getting a dodgy copy of this out of curiosity from a lad at our school who'd got a CD burner, on the strength of Goddess on a Hiway.
Holes, Tonite It Shows and Endlessly are a great opening trio, and open up this world of slightly pop, slightly odd miniature symphonic pop. It's so wonderful.
I Collect Coins is a nice, slight palate cleanser after that, then Opus 40 is straight back with the beauty again.
Then, finally, a did, with the bland Hudson Line. Then another palate cleanser with The Happy End - given its subtitle it's surprisingly enjoyable!
Then the sublime Goddess on a Hiway. Just a perfect single. Every note, every play on words adds to it's slightly sinister beauty.
It then goes very dark, and slightly less food for a couple of tracks, before going big and joyous to finish with Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp.
All in all, a joyous, moving experience.
Marty Robbins
2/5
I like Big Iron. It has that railroad rhythm I associate with Johnny Cash. 160 Acres does less for me.
It stays pretty samey from here. I realise judging a record from over 60 years ago is unfair. It passed pleasantly enough, but cowboy country has been run dry hence
Supertramp
3/5
Hmmm. It's intriguing. It has all the bombast and signposts of a metal album, but is instead arch and witty with lots of synth (or Hammond organ) on it.
It has a couple of great songs in Dreamer and Bloody Well Right.
I much prefer them later on, when they embrace the camper side of what they do, but nonetheless, this is a tight, but not spectacular album.
Adele
3/5
I've never listened to an Adele album all the way through. I've always assumed that radio and shopping centres will provide me with enough of her (admittedly quite good) music.
Obviously I've heard Hello a lot. The third beat song with that word in the title. I have a massive soft spot for it, as my daughter used to sing it when she was too small to pick up all the words. So I always remember her versions when I hear it. Hello. It's me, I've been waiting for this moment in the unagalaxy.
Send My Love To Your New Lover is familiar and pretty good too.
The next couple of tracks are pretty samey though. She definitely has a comfort zone... I recognize, but am fairly ambivalent about Remedy, and River Lea wakes me up a little, if only because I used to like a run along there.
There's not much else worth writing home about tbh. She has an incredible voice, but it largely gets used in one way, which limits the enjoyment I can get out of it.
Screaming Trees
2/5
It wasn't doing much for me, but look at you is quite lovely, bored, resigned love songs do it for me. Then fairly dull again.Sworn and Broken is quite nice again. I'm getting the feeling this isn't the most exciting band. They suffer from the same mid tempo chug that turns me off Oasis. Everything is quite ploddy. Not bad, just... Unexciting.
Mekons
3/5
The mix of indie, punk and folk is really different and interesting. A through line from this through Belle and Sebastian to Black Country New Road is quite apparent.
Not every experiment works, but when they do, as they do with Psycho Cupid it's transcendent. When they don't, it's just good. Flitcraft has a lovely Dexys vibe too - I can see the links - Bands that fiercely do their own thing regardless of the fashions.
Mylo
4/5
A very enjoyable start. Valley of the Dolls is meh, but Sunworshipper is good fun, Muscle Cars is atmospheric, Drop the Pressure is an absolute TUNE and In My Arms is actually more enjoyable than its sample source.
A rarity, the back end of the album is actually better! Destroy Rock and Roll was a favourite back in the day, but it gets glitchier and a bit more disco towards the back and all of it is really enjoyable. A really strong album. House for those who don't normally house!
The Only Ones
3/5
Having only heard Another Girl, Another Planet before, I was expecting a punkier album. There's actually a lot more variety on here than I'd expected - and on the strength of the first three tracks, they can actually pull it off too!
City of Fun is just thrashy fun, but feels more earned after Breaking Down.
It's a good album. Much more varied than I would have expected. Another Girl is the only truly essential song on it, but all in all, really good.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
I am by no means an expert on world music. The story of this album (a South African musician who escaped apartheid) is obviously very big. The tracks where she sings in Xhosa are very interesting, and something I've never heard before, and despite the language barrier, Lakutshon Ilanga is beautiful.
Unfortunately, the old fashioned trad jazziness does very little for me, and there's also some novelty song rubbish on here too.
Definitely an important album, and some great moments on it.
Taylor Swift
4/5
Well - Saturdays seem to be for pop icons now! Hello Taylor Swift. This is quite pleasant. I prefer her poppier stuff, but her gift has always been being a cleverer lyricist than her music lets on, and this more wintry album still lets her do this.
There's some great stuff on here, back to back - Tis the Season, Tolerate It and No Body, No Crime are all first class. I really wasn't expecting to rate this album as highly as I did.
Chicago
1/5
It's a bit leaden
When the horns and a bit of funk come through it improves, but halfway through, and my abiding memory is that a track called introduction should not last six minutes, unless it's a sodding warning. They love a good bit of noodling. Questions is quite good (but would be better 2 minutes shorter still.)
Free Form guitar is the most extended act of masturbation this side of Porn Hub, except you know nobody else is going to get any enjoyment out of it.
I gave up before the live tracks, because frankly it was bad enough before that.
Been a while since I've hit one star, but honestly, this was an hour wasted, and this now becomes seventh in my hall of shame.
Radiohead
5/5
There is nothing new to say about this album. Every track, save for Electioneering is perfect - and on any contemporary band's album, Electioneering would be the best track.
It's worth getting the 20th anniversary reissue just for I Promise, which would possibly have made this album even better. I've listened to the entire hacked minidiscs of their demos for this. I'm not usually so obsessive, but this is 'the one'.
If I had to rank the albums I've given five stars to, this would be in the top 5, duking it out with the Beatles, Wu Tang Clan, The Fall and David Bowie for number one.
Listening back to it, Exit Music is standing out as a really beautiful thing. My favourite track changes every single time. Even Electioneering has made it twice (when I first bought the album when I was 13, and when I learned to play it when I was 35).
I see in the reviews that some people have called it too depressing and rated it low. It's actually quite uplifting musically, and there's nowt wrong with a bit of misery from time to time, you wellness obsessed morons.
OutKast
5/5
Wow. Two classics two days in a row.
This is easily five years ahead of any other hip hop album in 2000. The messed up productions with reversed snares and all manner of odd going on. Andre and Big Boi both delivering classic bars on every track. The fact it killed East and West dealer than the bullets that hit Tupac and Biggie, because the only correct answer was South.
Take Gasoline Dreams, BOB, Miss Jackson and So Fresh So Clean. Each is so different to the last and each is a great song.
It's got a Killer Mike feature a decade before the world caught up with him!
Incredible Bongo Band
4/5
Well, I know the first song - one of the first building blocks of hip hop! It's a really fun, danceable album. It's hard to say much more about 8 tracks of cinematic bongo funk!
Sepultura
3/5
This is very good fun. Relentlessly fast metal that blasts you straight in the face.
However, as it goes on, there is very little tonal variety - it is fun, but has the effect of eating 12 Easter eggs in a row.
2Pac
2/5
Any inspection of my previous reviews shows how much I love rap. But this has aged worse than famous rich men's photos with their buddy Epstein.
It's so boringly self involved and tough, with the production sitting in a sort of bland 'make it like Dre' facsimile of 1993's best sounds.
It would certainly appeal to 13 year olds, but on the strength of this album, that bullet did more for his legacy than his rhymes ever did. Cliche ridden and standard - how he and Biggie were ever considered rivals is a mystery to me.
3/5
My natural, intrinsic hatred of Bono will have to be put aside here. Not least because the first three songs are all brilliant - I can't deny reality here. Where the Streets Have No Name, Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For and With or Without You are all canon.
The run couldn't be endless though. Thankfully Bullet the Blue Sky is the sort of bland Yankophilia that defines everything wrong about U2, and would define their output after about 1995. Running to Stand Still is pleasant but slight.
It then chugs along, not overly excitingly. The last few tracks have a dark, moody feel to them, but I'd be hard pressed to remember much about the back end of this album.
On the first three tracks, this'd be a five star album. On everything hence, two stars. I'm rounding down, cos there's more of the latter than the former.
Green Day
3/5
I loathed Green Day at the time. I wanted my punk to be Serious and Earnest, like the Clash or Minor Threat. I was an annoying, pretentious git.
The first three tracks are boringly exactly what I always disliked them for. Bland pop punk which, while tight is just... Meh.
Thankfully both Longview and Welcome to Paradise actually start to revel in a bit more melodic, interesting stuff, and have saved you from me proclaiming myself to always be right...
The album continues in this vein throughout, gaining and losing my affection. When it's good, it's really good, when it's not, it's pretty boring. It restarted punk for a generation though, so I think it's importance is pretty much set in stone.
John Lennon
3/5
Trying to listen to Imagine as if you've never heard it before is pretty difficult. Not least when you have a tone deaf version by a renowned former Israeli squaddie/ murderer of Palestinians and their celeb friends still giving you the creeps.
But in truth, it is one of two tracks (with Jealous Guy) on this album that reaches anything approaching the heights of what the Beatles did. It is, uncynically, beautiful.
The rest of the album plods in the most boring, American way. One of the best things about the Beatles is that they competed so hard to get the best songs to ensure they made the album that you couldn't get the turgid plod rock of Its So Hard, the dull, Oasis style tribute of Gimme Some Truth or the bitter resent of How Do You Sleep.
Without Paul, the sad, bitter, wife beating John Lennon wears his worst traits on his sleeve for all but two tracks. Those two tracks are, however, sublime.
Talking Heads
4/5
As a debut, this is the least assured of the four great Talking Heads albums. The ingredients are there, but haven't evolved to sublime perfection yet.
It feels harsh, when the album contains The Book I Read, Don't Worry About the Government, Love --> Building On Fire and Psycho Killer.
But while it has the odd subject matter, the funk loving grooves and all the stuff that makes them so good, it's just not as consistently wonderful as Fear of Music or Speaking in Tongues, as it has more filler, like New Feeling on there.
Still an amazing album, and an amazing debut.
Dire Straits
3/5
I was proven pleasantly wrong by the first Dire Straits album. It had some good songs on it, and retained a sense of place as an album by a band from the North East of England.
I'm 50/50 on this, and I can't stand Money For Nothing but love Walk of Life going in. Hoping that this album leans more towards the joyous pop of the latter than the mixing desk stodge rawk of the former.
So Far Away is nice, if slight. It's been so long since I heard Money For Nothing, I have actually warmed to it. It's clearly tongue in cheek, heat saying 'The MTV' in the same way I say 'The TikToks' to my daughter, isn't he. Walk of Life Still slaps.
Your Latest Trick is all the worst things about the 80s distilled into a bottle of undiluted piss. Saxophone? Shmoove? Bleurgh.
Love
3/5
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
It's great but the least great of the Hendrix albums.
The Beach Boys
4/5
It's terribly unfair I know, but this is both a brilliant album, and the start of the decline. Any other band and it'd likely be their very best, but while this is interesting as hell - what if the Beach Boys were really quite sad - it falls short of their imperial phase.
Surf's Up is still essential listening... Just not life changing...
Pink Floyd
4/5
I loved this album when I was younger - Shine on You Crazy Diamond is one of those rare epics that actually evolves and keeps your interest. Have a Cigar is that Roger Waters bitterness that I was there for and Wish You Were Here is gorgeous.
In hindsight, the album feels slight compared to the Waters and Barrett peaks, but better than any of the Gilmour era!!!
Great, not perfect.
Megadeth
2/5
This is the sort of metal that put me off metal. Technically SO tight and fast, but the reedy vocals and blandness prevents me from loving it
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Yep. It's an absolute classic. I know it too well to be objective. The Lemon Song is way sillier than you'd expect Zep to be, I guess? Everything is brilliant.
The Temptations
5/5
Strong open with Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On. I normally hate a live track, but this gets the nod. I wasn't expecting social commentary either - this is ace (Run Charlie Run). And despite my much chronicled loathing of overlong songs, Papa Was a Rolling Stone is such an exercise in moody groove, I can't not love it.
It gets a bit more old school with Love Woke Me Up, but that's almost a relief after three very different and brilliant tracks. I Ain't Got Nothing shouts back to The Flamingos, and is moody and ace again.
The First Time is trad again, and while not the best version of such a lovely song, definitely a great one.
The Roots
4/5
This is really good - I always gave it a skip because it seemed like people who thought hip hop was childish liked it. But it's genuinely great.
It has a great love of old school hip hop, evidenced on Thought @ Work, but also does great live instrumentation as on The Seed. No wonder ?uestlove is huge now!!!
Really great, loved a lot, liked a lot. Feel like this might be a five star album in a few more listens.
Miles Davis
3/5
Well, I am not a jazz person as noted before, but this was a pleasant way to spend 45 minutes while making ramen.
So What is a classic and the rest is very pleasant.
The Avalanches
5/5
It's just brilliant. Plunderphonics is an underrated artform, and Avalanches are masters of this.
The way the album flows through a strange neverending wistful holiday (which I always thought might be the afterlife, and I also believe one of the 800 or so samples is of Holiday by Madonna) is genius.
Billie Holiday
3/5
Bleak and pleasant at the same time. Amazing voice, but dinner party arrangements.
3/5
Ostentatious opening! Starlight was dull at the time. Supermassive Black Hole sounds like Do Something by Britney Spears - this is a compliment!
Map of the Problematique sounds like a Frankie Goes to Hollywood pastiche, but less fun than that sounds. Soldier's Poem is genuinely lovely, elements of Brian Wilson on there.
Assassin is cool, melodic hard metal. Great fun. Invincible and Exo-Politics are a bit dull, and the conspiracies bits sit badly 15 odd years on, given the world we are now in! Knights of Cydonia is OTT fun.
If Showbiz was a bit too derivative, and Origin of Symmetry was Muse finding their voice through spectacular bombast, this is where they maybe lean into it a bit too much. It has some great highs, but you can't have dessert for every meal.
Haircut 100
1/5
It has lots of ingredients I love elsewhere. Chic guitars, Specials horns, Talking Heads wonk, Duran Duran vocals. It all adds up to a lot less than the sum of its parts. I tapped my feet to a few songs, but remember next to nothing of it. Pretty crap
Talk Talk
2/5
I've had this one already, so here is a copy paste of my 2 star review...
Very 80s production, always a worry. Some interesting stuff going on in Happiness is Easy though. Instruments jumping in and out quite forcefully. Not keen on the vocalist though. Second track was moody but barely registered.
Obviously I know Life's What You Make It. Fond of it, but that may be down to Grand Theft Auto (Vice City). April 5th is very gloomy in a good way. However, everything on this album is feeling over long.
By Living in Another World I kind of get it, taking the production and tropes of 80s AOR pop but writing edgier, more deep songs within this is an interesting, if not terribly exciting idea. Unfortunately it just sounds like Paul Young but emo to me, and isn't holding my attention.
Chameleon Day is horrible, like a saxophone jazz fart with whining over the top, and given there are few tracks on this album, has certainly cost it a point in the final reckoning.
M.I.A.
5/5
Now That's What I Call Globalisation...
I bloody love this album. Straight shoplifts from Bollywood (Jimmy), Australia (Mango Pickle Down River, New Order and Pixies (20 Dollar) and Africa (tons of tracks) and makes a masterpiece out of the pieces.
Didn't even mention the massive crossover single here, did I? All I wanna do is [GUNSHOTS] and [CASH REGISTER] and talk about how the rest of the album is just as good as that huge Clash sampling banger.
MIA is still creating great music today occasionally (between sabotaging her career with her politics, which in her case is actually fairly noble, even if sometimes it veers a little into Trump/Rogan territory). Sad to think that the reverse happened with Diplo, who has got bigger and bigger, pays the artists he steals from less and less and has been accused of some horrible #metoo behaviour. Loved him back in the day.
Did I mention that while this album is brilliant, it's not a patch on her debut, Arular? But it still gets full marks from me
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
This is just joyous. Stand, Don't Call Me N***** Whitey, Everyday People are all top classics, and nothing on the album lets you be bored. Tight, funky, thoughtful. So good.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Best Floyd album. All the pyrotechnics, except this to me, serving a narrative that is, basically, all rock stars are narcissistic closet Nazis. Which is probably pretty close to the truth. It's a double album, but it actually goes by at a pleasing speed.
Tonally it's very bleak, but still finds space for some tight pop songs. And it is more prog pop than prog rock. Solos are kept tight, the instrumentation fits the themes rather than prolonging a single thought.
Roger Waters is clearly a massive misanthrope, but it feels good here!
Johnny Cash
5/5
I've loved this album since I got it in a 3 for £20 at East Kent's legendary old record store, Sound House. I said of San Quentin that it's great, but it lacks the driving energy of this superior (if slightly better behaved) live set. And listening today, it holds true
A joy from start to end.
Deep Purple
1/5
I just can't find a way in on this. The musicianship is first class, but the songs are overlong, the singing generic and the songs muddy and indistinct.
Imagine Zep without the self control (or just listen to Zep after the numbered albums I spose). Without the tightness accompanying to dizzying musicianship, the whole endeavour turns masturbatory in its relentless showing off.
Run-D.M.C.
5/5
What better opening salvo could there be than the first four tracks of this album! Tens across the board!
After that, the album hits a solid groove, but nothing could match the first 20 minutes or so. I can't not rate this highly ( not least because I busted out a picture disc of it to listen to today)
Bonnie Raitt
1/5
Nick of Time is perfectly pleasant, very Magic 105.4. But what follows is a godawful mess of the most hideously produced country it's been my misfortune to hear. The kind of stuff that puts you off country for life.
The cod reggae of Have a Heart is a nice break from this. Then back to more of the same. It's not good.
Fleet Foxes
4/5
This album contains some next level joy and wonder musically. He Doesn't Know Why is one of the most gorgeous songs ever committed to wax. White Winter Hymnal and Quiet Houses are both very nice too - but a lot of the album is just that... Nice.
When it hits transcendence, it's brilliant, but a lot of it is just pleasant, and just drifts by, wispily. The commitment to a very consistent but different sound is great though.
Oasis
4/5
I'd got so used to Oasis being a plodding, dull band for plodding, dull, Brexity arseholes that I'd forgotten the first album is actually pretty good. I think their biggest mistake was losing the drummer - this is a more energetic, driving album than anything that followed.
Live Forever and Supersonic are canon. Cigarettes and Alcohol and Shakermaker are okay, but overrated. The lyrics are crap, the music is fun.
They've punched above their weight since 1995, but this was better than I was expecting.
Death In Vegas
4/5
I'd forgotten how good this is. Dirge and Aladdin's Story are both beautiful. Aisha is perfect Iggy Pop lunacy. Lovely instrumental stuff that calls back to Sabers of Paradise (which probably explains the Andrew Weatherall link.)
Shame about the couple of stodgy rock numbers with the Jesus and Mary Chain and Bobby "Dullest Man in Rock" Gillespie dragging the rest of the album down from an otherwise unimpeachable performance.
Kid Rock
1/5
This is only here to let you know that Fred Durst was not the worst thing about music at the turn of the millennium. Honestly not deserving of its one star. Makes Sade, Yes and the Eagles sound like the Beatles.
And as a human being, he sounds like the reason God created cancer and dysentry.
Ray Charles
4/5
First, stop and think about all the grief Lil Nas X got for doing country a couple of years ago. It wasn't even recognised as country till he got a cosign from Billie Ray Cyrus. Now consider that Ray Charles recorded this, against his labels wishes SIXTY YEARS AGO. Dude was brave or mad.
It opens fun, with a song I know better by the Every brothers. His version is fun, especially as he waits a full minute before his beautiful voice jumps in. Maybe he wanted to give the racists a surprise! Then it pivots into the more mellow, sad, lovelorn side of country, and hits the right notes there too!
It's all really good. It's rare I'm this hungry for more after an older album - but I was glad there was a second lp of this recorded!
Grizzly Bear
4/5
This contains one of my favourite songs of recent times - Two Weeks, which is the soul of the Beach Boys transported to the modern day. The rest of the album has a high bar to reach...
It is very nice. It feels like one I'm going to want to hear a few times and let it build on me, but I'm excited to do that for it. It's dense, but a warm hug of an album.
Pink Floyd
5/5
I only listened to half of this but mostly because I Have listened to it so many times.
It's pretty perfect... But I don't love it as much as The Wall.
PJ Harvey
3/5
This is a hard one to review - its powerful and lyrically great. Bit I wasn't as keen as I could be. All the music felt a bit sludgy.
The Pogues
5/5
Well for one thing, this popped up a day after St Patrick's Day - feels like a missed trick. It's one of my Dad's favourite albums too (the last one to come up was Take Five, and it got five stars just like that... I feel like this might have the same treatment. And you may need to add an additional star option when Graceland arrives).
A perfect mix of sentimental, offensive, raucous and fun.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
It's a bit at the pretentious OTT end of the scale. Some incredible musicianship, and an early appearance of a Moog, but the album is a bit too noodly for my tastes - a four for importance, a one to listen to.
Janis Joplin
4/5
It's a great, physical Roch album. Joplin's voice is incredible, a one off, and the songs fit her very well.
Cry Baby and Mercedes Benz are the obvious classics, but everything on there has a bit of that classic/psych/garage rock feel that feels perfectly East US at a particular point.
The only disappointing bits are where she takes a back seat and allows a bit of excess noodling from the band, which sucks some of the pace and energy out of the affair.
Roxy Music
3/5
It's not a bad album. But without Eno they clearly had to hit the cheap shock tactics to keep people interested. Out goes the exciting bizarre music of before, in with more standard, but listenable, FM rock with a crooner over the top.
It's not bad, but you'd struggle to love anything here.
Moby
4/5
I liked this album more than I remembered. I loved it when I first heard it - Honey is sooo good and there's plenty more great tracks. Then I switched because Porcelain was playing EVERYWHERE non stop and I got sick of him being (90s me) a corporate whore sell out.
In retrospect, it's a good album. Not a perfect mind blowing album, but a slice of good fun that was more exciting than a lot of what else was going on in '99 (acoustic renaissance? Pop punk? Nu metal?)
The Beach Boys
5/5
Christ, I could sing most of this album and the harmony lines without even putting it on. I spent a lot of my time arguing that the Beach Boys were better than the Beatles, and this was very much the exhibit A of my argument. On here, it may just be true.
Every track contains more emotion than the entirety of other classic albums, and it touches my actual soul when I hear it. Joy.
James Brown
4/5
Makes 33 minutes feel like two. It's almost frantic in its energy. I love it. He throws out 10 second versions of his biggest hits (at the time) the band is awesomely tight. Just wow, really.
Eagles
1/5
Nah man, I'm not doing this shite a second time. I gave them a chance last time you gave me this album. Fool me once...
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
I know the indie police will come for me, but it's a little bit boring. I see they're trying to make noise and beauty meld into an original thing... But the music doesn't realise that ambition, at least until 'soon' which is a tune.
I'd come in expecting more, as I knew it's reputation. It's not bad, but it's a bit too background for me. It feels tasteful, like coffee table books and Insta homes.
Come and get me indie police!
Iggy Pop
4/5
I knew the biggies from this and its status as a 'classic'. It met my expectationsbut didn't exceed them. It's essentially a really great punk/glam album which has no bad songs on it, and two truly brilliant ones (Title track and The Passenger).
His sneering attitude and fierce intellect raise this above more pedestrian fare from the same time, but it's a really good album, rather than an amazing one.
Don McLean
1/5
Given that the opening track is actually more irritating to me than my recurrent stomach ulcer, I can't say I'm filled with joyful anticipation of this. Still, except in exceptional circumstances, I have to listen to every minute of every track. So 8 minutes of untreated sewerage is on its way...
Well, it's terrible most of the way through, and I think I made more effort to sit through it than he made writing and recording it.
The last two tracks are an improvement, getting a mood that is atmospheric and interesting - it's too little too late, but look at it this way - it's a high one star album - not one where I wish there was a zero available.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
3/5
It was nice. Like Neil Young in a fit of depression nice. It had a gloomy atmosphere and was very well put together. Nothing transcendent (and annoyingly full of ads because it wasn't on Spotify, which didn't help with the flow of the album) but a nice album.
It would probably grow on me with a few more listens, but not a luxury I had - maybe I'll get back to it one day.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
I'm cautious with yet another Elvis Costello album, as so far they have all been passably average. This, at least, has Oliver's Army on it, which is above average.
It's probably the best of the three(!) Costello albums this far. Still very much Everton rather than Man City though - OA and the Nick Lowe cover at the end are the highlights, and between this, there are good, more piano led cuts which don't drag, even if they don't blow you away.
5/5
Concept album alert!!!! Bit it's theme is incredibly prescient for a 55 year old album - we're still debating the failure of empire and colonialism 55 years later.
Ray Davies' knack for storytelling is brutal here. He takes a 'square' character, makes you empathise with him despite his flaws and let's the (then) modern world tear his life apart. The fact it also has some great Kinks classic songs in there is almost a bonus!
The music is a solid 4, but delivering a story this good with such resonant themes on top of that easily pushes it into the upper echelons.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
It's both an amazing album (it has three of the best songs ever with I'm on Fire, Dancing In The Dark and the title track) and one of the most hideously overproduced 80s sounding things ever. It gets away with a lot of it because... Springsteen and the band, but I can't honestly put it up there with Born to Run.
Pavement
4/5
Wowee Zowee! This is an old favourite. The secret of Pavement is that their slacker sound and appearance clearly takes a lot more hard work. It takes dedication to be this awkward and angular and still sound THIS GOOD. They go on to release even better albums though!
LL Cool J
3/5
When it's good (Opener, title track, anywhere he's trying to start a fight) it's great, but there is a lot of filler on here. It's probably the first real attempt to make rap pop. Half the album goes from good to brilliant, but there's also some overlong attempts at romance or comedy, neither of which land particularly well.
But again, at its height it's ace.
Elliott Smith
3/5
Okay, so everyone is right... It's just lovely and heartbreaking and he's clearly a genius but... It was all quite tonally meh, everything is chugging away at about the same speed and it left me a little, not bored, but easily distracted from what is clearly the work of a genius, but one which could use a better producer?
The last couple of tracks (2:45 and possibly Say Yes?) Are the best of the bunch, and the first point I started listening intently.
Santana
4/5
It was bloomin great. Oye Como Va, Samba Pa Tiand Black Magic Woman are all absolutely brilliant and all on my summer BBQ playlist now.
The rest is all solid, Latin grooves, some great keyboard (Rhodes I think?) Leading everything, with Santana's lovely smooth distortion zipping over it.
Absolutely lovely.
MC Solaar
5/5
Loved it loved it loved it. Everything sounds cooler in French. The beats are tight and so far beyond the rest of 1991, and even though I only understood every 10th word, the flow was gorgeous. Tres bien, j'adore!
Ash
5/5
Hello teenage me! What a perfect album. Ash got tighter and more professional as they got older (they were sitting exams when they were on Top of the Pops) but in hindsight it's the naivety and wonkiness that makes this. Every poor decision pays off on this album and adds to it's poppy, punky charm.
They still have a few good songs each album, but never the hit rate they had on here.
Kung Fu, Goldfinger, Angel Interceptor, Lose Control, Oh Yeah and Girl From Mars - it would be hard to make a Best of Ash without most of this album!
Joy Division
5/5
Ooh, one that's in my record collection. If you like the t shirt, you may like the album too!
The drop off from this to New Order is incredible. How they went from one of the rawest, bleakest most exciting bands ever with Ian Curtis, to Kraftwerk for illiterate football hooligans with New Order is fully baffling.
She's Lost Control is one of the chilliest danceable songs ever. The whole album is like being enveloped in a blanket that makes you colder - in the best ways. Albums like this come once a generation.
KISS
4/5
I rarely describe anything as a guilty pleasure. If you enjoy it, you enjoy it. But given that Gene Simmons is a terrible human being, and a lot of what is on this album is so cheesy it comes in a wooden box and is actually pronounced 'destroyeur' this is truly a guilty pleasure.
Detroit Rock City is just perfect, God of Thunder rocks even of it has a very poor grasp of Norse mythology, and even the slowie, Beth, is that rarest of beasts, a perfectly good Kiss ballad.
It adds nothing to culture, but sometimes you just want to whip your nips out and paint your face.
The Divine Comedy
4/5
I think I said everything I wanted about Neil Hannon on Songs About Love. Still great, has an absolute classic in Something For The Weekend on here, the song that first piqued my interest as a 12 year old!
Cat Stevens
4/5
Another one my Dad loves. It is lovely, melodic, folksy and yearning. It sometimes is a little too folksy and a bit of the middle sags somewhat. But around that lull are some perfect songs. And I mean perfect songs.
Jungle Brothers
4/5
Bouncy, housey, positive hip hop that's hard not to love. The only issue is that it is a touch too long. It's a symptom of the albums m being so wild and inventive, so it's hard to fault it too much, but if every track was a little shorter, it'd be perfect. As it is, it's merely brilliant!
4/5
I enjoyed this far more than I was expecting to. The title track is just perfect ur country. But the whole album is just warm, enjoyable, with a razor sharp wit and great instrumentation. One to convert country haters!
Air
2/5
With the exception of the 'Histoire de Melody Neslon' homage, Playground Love, this is just a good(ish) soundtrack to a passable film - one that people attribute more depth to because, suicide I guess, and the Coppola last name.
There's some nice proggy stuff in there, and some lovely synths, but ultimately it's a film soundtrack that has been stripped from the accompanying images. Not especially exciting that way - sometimes they can be, this isn't one of those times.
Nirvana
5/5
Never 'eard of it mate.
It's Nevermind. Any adolescent who grew up in the 90s knows every word. I marginally prefer In Utero, but this is the better pop album.
John Coltrane
3/5
Prince
5/5
What an album! Housequake alone would justify five stars. Shut up, already, damn.
Rage Against The Machine
5/5
Simply put, probably one of the best albums ever. At least partially responsible for my political radicalism.
2/5
My main problem with most live albums is that feeling that it probably would have been good to have been there, rather than hearing it secondhand and muddy.
I imagine at the time, this raucous noise would have been great, but in the rear view mirror, it was superseded by the Stooges and all that followed. Kick Out the Jams is still good though.
Can
4/5
Weird experimental music should not be this funky. This album makes later Avant/mainstream crossover stuff 30 years later look derivative (hi Radiohead) which is high praise indeed. Listing Stockhausen as an influence but sounding cool is quite a tightrope to walk.
Is it a bit too difficult at times? Yep. The back end of Aumgn is just noises fed through a delay loop as far as I can tell - revolutionary in 1971, but that doesn't make it any more fun to listen to!
But overall, for this level of experimental ambition to meet such a high level of listenability is VERY impressive.
New Order
2/5
I know New Order are supposed to be canon and all that, but does anyone else find them boring? They have neither the mordant wit of Kraftwerk, or the excitement and raw energy of Chicago footwork, so end up disappointingly less than the sum of their influences.
Bernard Sumner's voice is so weedy and innefectual. A vocalist could make this group so much more exciting.
It's not terrible. It's just very unexciting. Very okay. Like most Manchester bands, it's importance has been well overstated out of desperation to look better than Liverpool or Birmingham. Bless the little Mancs. You've got the big but unloved football teams, why not enjoy that?
The Stranglers
5/5
Possibly the most enjoyably fun punk album. This or Ian Dury. Sparky, snotty and cynical, with possibly the best drummer and tons of Hammond organ to piss off the purists.
The run from Hanging Around to Ugly is some of the most fun you can have with your trousers on.
Portishead
4/5
It's relentlessly bleak, even the jolly little ukulele number. But wonderful. Like the first freezing night in autumn, icy but warm.
Standouts are Machine Gun and The Rip.
Femi Kuti
4/5
I enjoyed this a lot! I wish I knew more about Nigerian politics so I could understand mate of the anger in there. But he's translated much of that anger into a joyous, danceable afrobeat masterpiece!
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
I enjoyed this, but it is bleak and loose. There are some pop gems on there and some very dark stuff too - it feels like 50 years on it's very relevant all over again, as the civil rights gains of previous years are once again under threat and the world seems scary again.
It's not going to be on heavy rotation for me - it's a 5 for important and a 3 for enjoyable here! Also, there is one dreadful track of yodelling. Don't do drugs, kids.
Eurythmics
2/5
Sweet Dreams (the song) is a classic. But mostly this album is cold and dry without such excitement. The Inhuman League as it were. The electronics are all competent, but this Tin Man lacks any of the heart of its compatriots' albums.
Stephen Stills
2/5
There's nothing too bad on this album. It goes for diversity, bit everything seems to revert to a general 'West Coast' mean in the end. There's some good variety of instrumentation, you get some Neil Young folk, some blues, some Latin, some C&W but none of it is great. I didn't hate any of it, but I'll probably never listen to it again.
The Clash
3/5
The Clash are a band who get better the further they get from pop. Even on this album, it's the Junior Murvin cover that stands out the most - and later on when they fully embrace dub, funk and electro in their sound is when they're most exciting.
This is good enough - not as nihilistic and controversial as the Pistols, not as fun as New York Dolls, the sound of Joe Strummer working out where his politics were. All of this gets better - this is a three star album by a five star band.
The Pogues
4/5
Fiesta and *that* Christmas song are both brilliant. I have Rum, Sodomy and the Lash five stars - I'm giving this four because there hasn't been a ton of development... But it's still a joy!
Also, there's an extended edition with the Irish Rover on it too which would have lifted it to five, but I feel like I have to review the album as it stands!
Nirvana
5/5
The best Nirvana album. While being darker and more weird (there are some odd jazz rhythms and noise on here) Cobain's knack for pop makes it all listenable and even enjoyable.
I often wonder what a further ablum would have sounded like - even more Albini brutalism? Even more musical diversity. It's a shame we'll never find out.
Marilyn Manson
3/5
First things first... Awful human being. I suspect he'll go the same way as the Glitter Band in the next edition.
But this album is actually enjoyable. The glam rock and budget edgelord NIN industrial stuff on it is very enjoyable. The more trad rock stuff is meh, and some of the lyrics are a bit yucky.
Belle & Sebastian
5/5
I was a teenage tweenager. I got fully obsessed with Belle and Sebastian. Used to hang out on early web forums dedicated to them and carve their lyrics into desks. So this is not an unbiased review.
It was a joy to listen back to it. The sly wit, the aching heartbreak, the ridiculously long and unresolving chord progressions. Just one of the best bands ever. Fun and moving and charming.
Beatles
4/5
It's the Beatles (red best of Beatles, so rock and roll rather than wild experimentation Beatles).
Side A is a bunch of all time classics with very little filler.
Side B is a bunch of filler with very little all time classics.
I'm only this harsh because they are that good.
Tom Waits
4/5
The gifts! I love Tom Waits. This isn't even in my top 5 Tom Waits albums, but it's still great.
Beatles
4/5
It's just such good fun! The covers are great fun, the originals are great. This is the album you'd present as evidence that Ringo being a crap drummer is an idiots opinion. The looseness he plays with is what makes this head and shoulders above most other acts in 1963. It makes the songs Rae and fun, and funkier than most acts at the time could manage.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
Much like the last album, which had some stone cold classics mixed in with a bunch of okay, derivative stuff. Except this time, the three classics are the first three tracks, and then it just fades off.
But those first three tracks are all 5 star tracks! Zero and Heads Will Roll are Soulwax style floor fillers, and Soft Shock is one of those Maps style heartbreak anthems.
Sepultura
3/5
Eh. It's not for me but it's a very good example of what it is. It certainly didn't offend me.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
It's my least favourite Springsteen album yet. Feels like a less vital Born to Run. Still good(ish) but failed to hold me for all that long.
The Sonics
5/5
So, a couple of the covers appeared on early Beatles albums. On here, they are actually better bursts of raw excitement. It's fast and loose and it feels like it could fall apart at any moment which makes it all dead exciting.
Add to that a song as fun as Have Love will Travel, and the fact it BLAZES through 12 tracks in less than 30 minutes and you have a real treat on your hands. Loved it.
The Black Crowes
1/5
The sound of your friends Dad having a crisis after the divorce, buying a Les Paul for £800 and forcing you all to watch him play lumpen blues in a dingy working men's club because you're all worried he might top himself.
Except these guys were in their twenties and there's no excuse. Why do all early 90s rock singers sound constipated and/or like Ronan Keating?
In short, if you're reading this ahead of listening, don't. Nearly every album ever made is better than this.
Radiohead
5/5
I can't express what a weird and wonderful experience this album was for me in 2000 as a 16 year old. Suffice to say I listened to the whole of the Kid Amnesia box set, even the crappy outtakes today and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Eagles
3/5
Well, this won't be a one star album as 'The Eagles' was, as it contains at least one stone cold classic.
The title track is great obviously, but also, Life in the Fast Lane is a fun stomper, and The Last Resort is very good too. Clearly evolved past the horror of their debut (though not entirely - Victim of Love is an overlong, self indulgent pile of crap) to make an album that is great when it's great, and inoffensive when it isn't 👏👏👏
Röyksopp
3/5
Ahhh damn it. Another repeat. Can't remember if I gave it a three or a four... It got a three. Don't actually mind this today - new The Smile (Radiohead) and Kendrick albums to be getting on with!
Here's a copy-paste of what I said;
A brilliant opening 1-2, both of which take me back to the 'chillout' trend of the early noughties, as the whole album does.
It drops off significantly after that - not bad (with the exception of Poor Leno, which sounded dumb at the time, and now sounds dated and dumb) but not GOAT standard by any stretch.
Nice enough, and with a clear love of Philly Soul and such.
Jean-Michel Jarre
4/5
Another repeat. 2 days in a row. Brilliant. But not Kraftwerk brilliant.
The Shamen
3/5
It's very 1990. It's not the best album ever, it's very of its time. The best thing about it was that Ebeneezer Goode played once it ended. There's some great moments on there, but a lot of it is overlong - 2 minute ideas spread over 5.
It wasn't unenjoyable, but definitely isn't a classic. Obviously meant to be enjoyed on a couple of pingers, after which I'm sure it sounds like deep heat for the soul.
Elvis Presley
3/5
Well .. it has Blue Suede Shoes and is a Culturally Important Artifact. But also it has two of the weakest, most milquetoast covers ever, of I Got A Woman and Tutti Frutti. It made me want to make a theory that Elvis was the first Ed Sheeran. But I couldn't be bothered.
Beach House
3/5
It's lovely, the first track is like a warm hug. However, the problem with this lovely dreampop is that over the course of a whole album, nothing much happens. Nothing happens very beautifully, but still... Nothing happens.
k.d. lang
3/5
It's not for me, but I certainly didn't hate it thanks to its wit and low key sadness, which made me happy.
Peter Frampton
3/5
I mean, it's one of my bugbears... A live album, so a lot of stuff that may have sounded much better sounds muddy and stodgy. But it does have the sublime Baby I Love Your Way too. It's mostly an album full of promise, and I will have to go back and enjoy studio versions of the songs at some point.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
It's a great break up album. Very downbeat but at the same time smooth. It's not Dusty Springfield level heartbreak, but very good nonetheless!
Lauryn Hill
4/5
This takes me back to Summer 98. A lovely album suffers from the late 90s urge to have a ton of skits, and goes on a bit too long, but mostly really lovely!
The Clash
4/5
I'll go (straight) to hell for not giving this five stars. It has five absolute classics on it - Train in Vain, Rudy Can't Fail, Guns of Brixton, Spanish Bombs and the title track, but a lot of flatly produced dull rock songs which you can tell would be amazing live but have been ironed out to bland rockism by a shit producer (who could also have done with allowing a few of these to be perfectly fine b sides rather than including them on here).
It is brilliant. Just a bit or editing and maybe not giving Mick Jones sign off on the producer and it'd be enjoyable all the way through...
The Crusaders
3/5
Okay, I never knew Street Life was actually a sprawling 11 minute epic, and I love it even more than I did before now that I know this!!!
After this, the rest of the album is instrumental jazz, funk and soul, which is fine, but didn't grab me so much. Sample diggers paradise though.
Small Faces
5/5
One of the best albums ever. One of the best intros ever and Stanley Unwin's narration makes the whole second half a joy.
Every track is a summery classic, and Steve Marriott is an amazing frontman - I love singing in a natural accent.
I loved it before, and listening today I love it even more.
Taylor Swift
4/5
All three singles are genuinely brilliant. What is most surprising is how much more of the album could have been! One track sounds like New Order. It's a really good pop album.
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
Mind-blowing, while being, at best, his second best album (I need more time with the new one before making a final decision, but it's level with Damn in being second at the moment).
Hard to pick a best track, Backseat Freestyle maybe. And the fact he goes full g-funk at one point is like he is literally taking Compton's crown from Dre.
Aphex Twin
3/5
I would rather the Come to Daddy EP or Drucqs - but I haven't listened to this for 20 or so years, so maybe I'm ready to 'get' this album now.
Nope. It's still an interesting album, but it lacks the propulsive lunatic energy of Come to Daddy, the squelchy funk of Cheetah or the mind melting beauty of Avril 14th.
It's still years ahead of its time (if you changed the dates to 1997-2004 it would make more sense!) But is more of a document of his earlier compositions than a work of genius as happened later.
The Pharcyde
4/5
It's a great hop hop album. While a lot of early 90s stuff leant into the gangsta trend, this stays in the late 80s fun hip hop stylings, but with updated beats and lyricism.
And the lyricism is incredibly tight - from fun stuff like Ya Mama and Oh Shit (though there is a very 'of it's time' verse) to more moving stuff like all time classic Passin Me By, there's barely a verse on here that won't make you smile.
It runs a bit long but when it's good it's really good.
Emmylou Harris
3/5
This process is softening me up on country. This is a nice, mournful, gentle album of plaintive loveliness. Now I know the context (it's an album mourning Gram Parsons, essentially) it makes a lot of sense.
It didn't blow my mind or anything, but I could listen again, in the right mood.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
It's more than a little overblown is my first impression. Did they really need the symphonic orchestra on every track? It's a bit like if the Smiths of The Bad Seeds were fronted by Liam Gallagher or Mary Whitehouse (or even post 2005 Morrissey). All the drama, none of the humour or beauty.
Killing Moon is a good song though. That's about as good as I can do. Other than that, this was a slog.
Brian Eno
4/5
Ooh this is really good. Some of the funkiness of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, some of the rawness of Here Come The Warm Jets and some of the mellowness of the Ambient stuff. It's a really nice blend of all the stuff I'd go to Eno for.
Talking Heads
4/5
It's probably the nerviest sounding Talking Heads album which is no mean feat. Half the album is gives, the other half threes...
Black Sabbath
5/5
If War Pigs, Paranoid and Iron Man are all on the same album, it's five stars.
Prince
5/5
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to give this five stars.
The last three days I've had Prince, Sabbath and the Talking Heads. We really are into the greatest of all time now!
This is another one that would get in on the strength of two or three all time classics (Crazy, Doves, title track) so there really is no need for the rest to be so good too! It's not even my favourite Prince album - though I suspect that Around the World in a Day and Sign O The Times are coming too...
The National
2/5
I realise loads of people who love the same bands I love, love The National. But this all just feels so... Respectable and placid. It does nothing for me really. It's not bad. It's just some music that happens while I'm in its presence. I'm sorry. Maybe I'm just bad at liking music.
Hole
3/5
It's quite good. Like it's cherry picked the prior 20 years of grunge and alternative, and tried to construct a pop album. In a sense, by succeeding on the pop front so well, Courtney Love outdid Kurt Cobain as a project. As an album, it's good. Really good. But the jangle/fuzz trick wears thin as the album goes on. Northern Star is a very emotional exception to this!
Aerosmith
2/5
Much more the Aerosmith sound I grew up with, with the cleaner production and continuation of their 'Carry On' level innuendos. Not a complaint when Love in an Elevator is so good.
The tightly compressed 80s production does have the sad effect of making everything sound the same though - so the lack of variation between songs really grates after a while.
It's fun, but insubstantive fun. Like Elvis Costello, I feel like Aerosmith pop up more than the quality of their albums justify here, but a best of Aerosmith is essential, just individual albums probably require a devotion to them that makes no sense to me.
Guided By Voices
4/5
I think the best thing about this album is how generous it is. Tons of material, little running more than a minute thirty. If you don't like one, it's gone and the next one is there. And there is much more to like than dislike.
Fairport Convention
2/5
Hmm. Folk isn't, and after this remains not, a genre that I find lovable. It all feels so mannered. I get that they're 'doing a Dylan' and making it electric and all that, but I grew up in a quiet corner of Kent, and by my youth, every second pub band was this...
Undeniably a talented lot, and Matty Groves is ace. But a whole album of this was a bit much to digest for me.
Public Image Ltd.
3/5
It's good. More considered than the Pistols, but like anything with John Lydon, also a little hollow. Some good songs on here, and some dull stuff.
Radiohead
5/5
It's not just Radiohead. On Life in a Glasshouse it's Radiohead and jazz/comedy legend Humphrey Lyttleton. Which is enough that I want to give it five stars regardless!
People often see this album as the poorer sibling of Kid A, but I suspect that had they been released in the opposite order people would feel the opposite way.
Amy Winehouse
3/5
I've never deliberately listened to Amy Winehouse - it's been foisted on me for 15 years whether I want to or not. Of the 4 songs that have seemingly been played forever at me, Rehab and Back to Black I could happily never hear again. You Know I'm No Good and Tears Dry on Their Own are both great. Love is a Losing Game is in the middle.
Me & Mr Jones actually shows a wit and humour I wasn't expecting - probably the highlight of my experience. The rest of the stuff is solid retromania and I wish she had lived and moved past this - I feel like she could have become more interesting than just looking back. Stay off the crack I spose.
Solid middle ground here.
Janet Jackson
4/5
Everything up to Miss You Much is five stars, funky and powerful and just brilliant. Everything after that is good - kind of Prince on a budget good.
For shame, I'd never taken Janet Jackson seriously - on the strength of this album, I do now!
Rush
3/5
Well, Tom Sawyer was unexpectedly short and tight. When it went into 7/8 time I was thinking, here goes 12 minutes of my life! Limelight was also very good.
Everything else was a bit dull for me. Incredible musicianship, not much in the way of tunes. But it'll do.
Super Furry Animals
5/5
It's about my third or fourth favourite SFA album, in that every second track is perfect riotous pop genius, as opposed to everything.
The 90s Beach Boys were Welsh, and if you liked this, grab Radiator and Guerilla now!
Elis Regina
4/5
Normally, with a 'world' music record, my review reads something like 'I font know enough to understand this, but I get that it's culturally important. With this, I'dsay it's made me want to go away and discover more about Eli's Regina and Brazilian music in general, so it's already a cut above some of the prior ones
Sam Cooke
4/5
Oh no live album. But oh yes Sam Cooke.
I'd still rather listen to the songs themselves (live albums have no place here for me - maybe make a book called 1001 Live Shows you Probably Missed Out On But Can Listen To a Facsimile of on Tape to Tolerate Before You Die) but this is certainly a high paced, energetic run through some absolute classics - though putting Chain Gang and Cupid back to back was a daft move!
But I'm just going to put Sam Cooke on properly later and really enjoy it.
Michael Jackson
4/5
My first ever single was Smooth Criminal when I was 4. Or as MJ would no doubt call it, still attractive. I'll separate the art from the artist here - he's dead, so he isn't making any money from me listening to it... God help us all if the Glitter Band turn up.
It's hard to give an album less than five stars when 2/3 of it are classic singles. But every track on this album is about a minute longer than it needs to be, and the single edits of all these songs benefit from the trim. Unlike Thriller and Off the Wall, which justified length by never repeating a trick, this album feels a bit like the first warning of the decline - while still having absolute classics on it.
Leonard Cohen
5/5
Christ, bad choice of day for this. Been dealing with the emotional fallout of a former colleague being a serial sexual harasser, followed by talking about how to address the horrible effects of inequality of children's services, and trying to find affordable solutions when our government gives no f***s and pennies (I have a weird job). Then I think, well that was harrowing, I'm going to listen to my album to cheer up and it's... Leonard Cohen.
It is incredibly depressing. But brilliantly so. Famous Blue Raincoat and Dress Rehearsal Rag especially so. Lyrically brilliant, use of a children's choir. He's also hilarious if your humour skews dark. Can't fault this album.
Fela Kuti
4/5
Far more pleasurable than I expected! Bouncy fun with a real groove to it. As I may have said before, 12 minute songs are rarely a thing I enjoy, but here there is so much movement and variation I really enjoyed them.
Louis Prima
3/5
It's fun, but so old fashioned that it kept drifting into background noise for me. Nice, but not brilliant.
Sinead O'Connor
3/5
As a person, Sinead O' Connor is fascinating. Super smart, very angry and suffering with her own troubles. However, with the exception of the Very Famous Prince Cover, I know her better for the controversies than the music.
Well, it was mostly pretty good. Sleeping on Your Grave is really good. Not mind-blowing or anything, but I can see why everyone was excited.
Wu-Tang Clan
5/5
Oh my days, best news ever! This is going to get five stars. I'm digging out the LP now, and I'm excited to listen to it again, even though I listened to Protect Ya Neck last Friday.
Listened to it. It's still like the difference between Batman and Robin (the Joel Schumacher film) and Avengers Endgame. It was a leap forward, and features a group where every part improves the whole (even U-God). So many bars on this are just pure poetry. And that's before you even consider RZA's inspired 'dark soul' production and the Kung Fu symbolism.
If you don't love it, I can't even help you, soz.
Ministry
4/5
This is not my usual music, though a dear friend of mine believes 'Jesus Built My Hotrod' is the high watermark of western music.
I liked it a lot more than I expected. The motorik rhythms coupled with nihilistic lyrics and crunching guitars works for me!
The Waterboys
1/5
How is this sub pub folk crap in the top 1001 albums you must listen to before you die? Are you supposed to put it on immediately before the death, so that the death is a welcome relief?
It's the aural equivalent of that wee you do when you're dehydrated. It's 100 minutes long. None of the tracks are the tolerable Whole of the Moon. 270 albums in, this is the first time I've given up on one before the end. Unless the second disc pivots to drum and bass, I'm well aware that it will sound like the Waterboys.
Honestly, whoever fought for this to be included should be nowhere near music.
New York Dolls
4/5
Okay, so I know everyone says this was the original punk album, but I see this more as an American Slade - with the pop hooks, heaviness and sense of fun. Y'am Alllllllllright if you will.
It's good fun, especially Trash and Frankenstein, and I can see how it blew American minds - bless em, they've always been a few years behind the civilised world.
Bert Jansch
4/5
This is one of those albums that you didn't realise had such an influence. I can hear Simon and Garfunkel and Nick Drake getting better just from hearing it.
It's sad, and beautiful, and a bit angry. I'd heard the name, but never discovered him. A glad win from this endeavour.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Legend did a lot of whitewashing of Bob Marley's best stuff. To boil this album down to Stir It Up is an embarrassment really, when the rest of it is better, but also rooted in colonial injustice - it's kind of annoying to think most people think Marley is the happy Summer reggae guy who liked a spliff.
This album is great, so much more spark and energy than Natty Dread, and it fairly zipp(o)ed along.
Harry Nilsson
5/5
I full bore love at least three tracks on this album without even putting it on. Early In the Morning, Coconut and Without You are all classics.
And when I put it on you have the dance hall pop of Gotta Get Up too! This is a fantastic album, humour and a love of music all rolled into a really tight 40 minutes. Sublime.
Hookworms
2/5
It's... Alright. You can hear interesting influences. !!!, Vangelis, LCD Soundsystem. But ultimately this is a band with a brilliant drummer and some synths disguising the fact they are otherwise producing relatively milquetoast indie that bands like Freelance Whales had already done better about 10 years prior.
Ray Price
3/5
The louche beginning got my hopes up more than the eventual album met. This is interesting where it gives you a perfect intersection of lounge and country, but often veers into plain bland country that lacks any real hook or innovation. It's not bad. It's just also not great.
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
I had this album when it came out, and had been excited about it since Psyence Fiction.
It is definitely an album full of charm, with lovely little surprises hidden throughout. It's also overlong, with a lot of filler on it. Had this been trimmed down to a lean 40 minutes, I think it'd be better - but conversely, you could lose some of the offer lovelier bits, like the intro to the Shining.
It's a frustrating conundrum of an album, which makes sense, as he had a frustrating conundrum of a career.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
I mean it's great. Opening with a folk standard misleads you as it brings you arch, clever, optimistic folk-pop afterwards. If you don't love A Simple Desultory Phipillic or The 49th Bridge Street Song, I have no time for you.
Suede
3/5
I love Animal Nitrate. However, a whole album of the more raw Suede is a bit much. As the production values rose, so did my enjoyment of their music. This punky, Bowie on a budget style doesn't do it quite as much for me. Not bad, deserving of its place, just doesn't do much for me - where Coming Up does, for example.
Can't be anything to do with Bernard Butler, as Yes is one of the greatest songs ever written.
R.E.M.
5/5
We'll, it has one of my favourite songs ever on it, and the One I Love too. Don't know the rest going in.
I know people say REM were a huge influence on bands after them. I never quite got it, but the tracks that aren't the above are basically every American band from the first half of the 90s. And I finally get the REM leading to Radiohead thing.
I'd give it a four as an album. But a five for influence. As that'd be 4.5, I'm not going to be mean, and I'm going to round it up.
Side note... I'd completely forgotten that REM were a four piece originally!
Rod Stewart
1/5
I'd put as much effort into this review as he put into this album, but I'm not sure that that would give us even a single letter.
Used to Love Her is a standard for bog standard pub cover bands is the nicest thing I can say about this album.
The Teardrop Explodes
2/5
It is what it is. I think they inadvertently invented the 80s Stock Aitken Waterman sound. So much synthetic horn I thought of Prince Andrew, in a playground, necking Viagra.
The lyrics are surprisingly great when you cut through the hideous, compressed, none more 80s production. There's a version of this band that didn't try to be huge that could have recorded an amazing album.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Like Hard Days Night, this is a big step, an album of all original music. Like that, they're not amazing yet. Jack Nitsche lifts a lot of average to good material up with the production though.
Some great tracks on here, if you're willing to ignore an uncomfortable attitude towards women on a lot of songs.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
5/5
It's the originator of so much. Electro, proto rap, and I wasn't expecting the soul side so much. It also has the birth of conscious hip hop with the Message and it's less successful follow ups. And early turntablism with the Adventures of Grandmaster Flash. More importantly, it does all of this whole being great fun (except maybe a few outdated lines which scan quite homophobic these days).
It's rare that an album which changes the course of music is this goody and fun.
B.B. King
4/5
Already had this one. Here's my old review;
From the 1970s, blues has become a dirty word. A dull genre that rewards dry technical efficiency and growling to signify passion. I automatically think I don't like blues as a result.
This album shows what it can be. The energy, looseness from brilliant musicians (they could be tighter, they choose not to be) and the sheer energy of it is infectious and wonderful.
You could draw a line from this album through James Brown, Hendrix, George Clinton, Prince, Outkast to Kendrick Lamar and it all makes sense.
Are there occasionally overlong noodly guitar breaks? Of course there are, it's a live blues album. Do the nature of the restrictions of the genre sometimes make the songs sound a bit samey? Of course they do, it's a blues album! But there is a lot to say for a simple thing done well - sometimes a Victoria sponge is the treat you wanted.
A great album - when the horns are allowed to fly free and the energy is high it's perfect, even if it does get a little samey at points.
The high energy opener, Every Day I Have the Blues, and the Slinky, building closer, Help the Poor are highlights.
Traffic
4/5
First things first, isn't the title just brilliant. Went in wondering if this would be folk or metal, so imagine my surprise when I got jazz-funk.
It then goes to a whole bunch of different places (including folk). While I didn't fall in love with any tracks, the album as a whole was a pleasant experience. Was it because I was playing with cats while listening to it, or is it just rather good? I don't know.
We'll, first things first - Stay With Me is an undeniable classic. A rare instance of Rod Stewart improving a song with his presence.
The album is otherwise a good Ricky album... But when compared to Marriot era Small Faces it feels insubstantive and thin. A bit too simple. Still some good songs on here, and there's no way you could call this bad. But it definitely feels like a demo for all of them to move on to their next job. Except Stay With Me. That's solid gold.
Saint Etienne
4/5
Well I am very impressed by this. Having heard this, I wonder why dub indie wasn't a bigger subgenre. The bassy, echoey production against Sarah Cracknell's none more Felt Records voice is a lovely contrast (and one I didn't think happened until the late 90s).
It also zips past faster than its 50 minutes would suggest. Like a dubby bubble bath.
Radiohead
4/5
Rating Radiohead is hard. I mean, this is a five star album. But it's less good than four or five five star albums by Radiohead. So I'm giving it four stars because relativity. Even though it's five stars in reality. You with me?
Carole King
4/5
It's really lovely. More upbeat than the two songs you never stop hearing would suggest. Amazing voice but even more amazing at conveying the emotion in that voice.
3/5
It's another one which feels like the prototype for 80s pop. It has at least three classic singles on it. However, that very Trevor Horn 'plastic' production is either brilliant or tiring after a while. I prefer it with the Buggles or Frankie - on here it feels a bit laboured. A shame, as lyrically and musically, this is a good (but produced to not great) album.
George Michael
2/5
Freedom is an absolute banger. It's enjoyably 'not pop' outside of that - a man clearly trying to break out. The results are mixed, but I admire the drive to change up styles.
It's hard to say much about an album that is pleasant but just drifts by insubstantially like this.
Van Halen
2/5
I mean it's tens for the guitar, maybe 5s for the songwriting (bumped because 'Aint Talking Bout Love') and at best a 2 for the vocals, which are an approximation of passion most likely muddled up with constipation?
Eruption is like a threat to all other guitarists. You want to play, Eddie is the end of level boss.
If only there were a world where Eddie Van Halen met different people this would be Hendrix/Sabbath levels of great.
Cheap Trick
2/5
I mean, it's pretty disappointing. I already liked I Want You To Want Me and Surrender. But I can't stand love albums as a general rule and this is no exception. Again, sure it's great being there, bit it just translates to muddy generic noise on the release.
The start is very dull. I only perked up when they did a bit of T Rex. There are good songs, as above, but it just made me long for a studio versions.
Minutemen
4/5
When I saw this was 45 tracks long I was a bit daunted! But they're all short and sharp and so varied (it's ostensibly punk, but it takes in a bit of everything) that I was really enjoying it. Then about a third of the way in, you get the theme from Jackass! Following which I was grinning like a loon.
Honestly, it's a generous album, such joy. Not everything is perfect, but if you try so many different things and only 2/3 pay off... That's still 25 great songs
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
There's some good bits on here, but it doesn't half go on a bit. And some of the lyrics are painfully on the nose - one particular line about the Holocaust is truly terrible, even with good intentions behind it. I think it's a bit too sure of its own cleverness - you can see why so many hated prog. True genius can make it's point without going up its own fundament.
Barry Adamson
2/5
It's just a bit boring. Well put together but just like film soundtrack without any of the emotional association attached. It did nothing for me. It had a few moments. The discordant flare ups, the occasional bits of clash between jaunty and sinister.
Pet Shop Boys
5/5
Massive bias here, I already love the Pet Shop Boys. Dance music with a degree in Dostoevsky was never not going to appeal to my pretentiousness.
The fact they can write about such bleak subject matter and not sound like your standard miserabalists is GENIUS. And the lyrics!
Bob Dylan
4/5
I have nothing more interesting to say than 'its really good, but not as good as the very best Dylan (Blood on the Tracks, Bringing it All Back Home and Freewheelin).
Desolation Row goes on a bit.
The Velvet Underground
2/5
Without John Cale, they're largely a bit boring. The album is saved by Pale Blue Eyes and Murder Mystery, which are lovely and barmy respectively, but the rest of the album is mostly just there.
They say only a handful of people saw the Velvet Underground but they all formed bands. If they'd seen them at this later stage, we'd have a lot more accountants.
Guns N' Roses
5/5
It's Appetite for Destruction. 4 of the greatest hard rock songs ever and some padding that goes from adequate to great, but it really doesn't matter, because Paradise City, It's So Easy, Welcome to the Kindle and Sweet Child of Mine justify the five stars, the rest (especially Nighttrain) make up the numbers and do a job!
The Verve
2/5
A deathly dirge and the lovely History.
Having done this and Urban Hymns I think I've realised that The Verve's string arranger is the only member with any real talent.
Sonic Youth
2/5
It's just trying too hard to be cool. Admittedly, Kim Gordon is cool, but the songs are all scuzzy but kind of pedestrian.
Elastica
5/5
It's deeply unoriginal as The Stranglers and Wire's bank accounts will attest, but it's so direct and so joyous you'd be heartless not to love this album. Iylt is just SO COOL.
Roxy Music
3/5
Full disclosure, I have COVID, so I'm a bit grumpy. There is some good stuff on here, and usually I'm okay with it, but Bryan Ferry's mannered delivery was just getting on my nerves today. Like an unfunny Viv Stanshall.
I'm bumping it to 3/5 because I feel like I'd give it one more on a day where I'm not locked inside with grotty lungs.
The Young Gods
4/5
A touch of Nine Inch Nails, a touch of Tom Waits, a touch of Slayer, except Swiss. It's a very likeable mix!
I'm definitely coming back to this!
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
5/5
Like a cross between Gil Scott Heron, Public Enemy and a talk at the Trades Hall. Christ it's prescient though - the first track has a chorus about politics being corrupt, in thrall to the religious right and everyone getting poorer... 30 years ago. Plus ca f*cking change.
I love it, but then I am a moderate socialist who is increasingly feeling forced to think that killing all politicians and CEOs might be the only answer.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
4/5
Yup, it's really good salsa. It made me feel like I, with my lead feet, could dance. I can't pretend I know what the lyrics mean, but this album was meant to be kind of revolutionary? All I know is my summer barbecue playlist has some new songs!
The Monkees
3/5
What I knew of this album was Zilch, as this was sampled years later, and from that and it's reputation, I was expecting an album of wild experimentation - this is definitely not that. It's a pop band trying to go 'serious'. It is pleasant, but largely unexciting, with the exception of Randy Scouse Git, which is great, if a little derivative of Ray Davies.
Like a post Disney Miley Cyrus record, I respect the move, even if I wouldn't bother with a whole album of it.
Dead Kennedys
5/5
It's going to be five stars if you don't want to read the rest. Basically, when I was about 10 I heard about the Sex Pistols and they sounded like the most exciting thing ever. They were okay but a bit ploddy and the singer seemed like a Wally.
This, with its breakneck pace, vicious humour and sheer anarchic fun, is the band I wanted the Pistols to be.
Oh please God no. It opens with three of my least favourite songs ever. And if they were the singles, what aural excrement was deemed not good enough to be a single? I'm not even listening to the first three. They'll no doubt be shoved down my throat by a television producer who hates people soon enough.
I made it another track and a half in before deciding the next 40 minutes of my life would be better spent working out how many nails I'd need to drive through my genitalia before I pass out from the pain. Had U2 died in a freak cheese making accident in 1991 I'm sure they'd be fondly remembered. The tragedy is that they lived on. I might be willing to amend that to about 1997 cos Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me was a tune (but not as good as Seal's Batman song). Definitely the last twitch before the life support was turned off though.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
5/5
How many Name and The Nouns rock and roll bands can you identify just from the guitar tone or a split second of the vo-hocals of any track? I'd guess one. This one. That clean slightly muted jangle and Buddy Holly's polite delivery make them possibly the first band you could be obsessed with.
The album has the approach that I tend to credit good punk albums with. 12 songs. 26 minutes. No time to get bored of what's on offer - in fact, with a few tracks, I'd have let them have an extra verse and chorus they're that good!
Belle & Sebastian
5/5
I have it on vinyl (not the legendary first pressing) and I credit it with my obsession with cute, twee indie. Falling somewhere between Simon and Garfunkel, Pulp and the roster of Sarah records, the lovely meandering chord patterns, sensitive but hilarious lyrics and surprising instrumentation make for a brilliant album.
I carved the lyrics to 'We Rule the School' on a desk during my GCSEs, and mumbled a 'Thank you your songs mean everything to me' at Stuart Murdoch at my first Glastonbury.
Basically, this one is rigged - Expectations, She's Losing It, We Rule The School and the State I Am In are four of my favourite songs ever. And I'll likely continue listening to their albums in chronological order today, at least up to Dear Catastrophe Waitress - and then stopping only because I have kids and I'm busy!!!
Buffalo Springfield
3/5
It's fine. I love the other album. This seems to be largely the same stuff, but without quite the punch of the album before, or a standout mind-blowing song. And a few irritating live tracks.
Not terrible by any stretch, I enjoyed it and nothing got on my nerves too much. The 'Again' in the title is a little prescient though.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
It opens with Immigrant Song, which has to be one of the greatest openers ever. After that it's great, but veers into turgid 12 string folk stomps a little too often to be brilliant.
The Streets
5/5
What an album. Honestly the true successor to Arthur by the Kinks, or The Wall by Pink Floyd, except much more grounded in "Guy loses some money, meets a girl while pilled up, cheats on her on a lads holiday, loses girl, descends in to bitter depression/realises he's lucky to have his friends and finds his money again (yes there are alternate endings)".
It's fantastic, and that it can go from bawdy humour on Fit But You Know It, to heartbreaking on Dry Your Eyes, to fully dark on Empty Cans is fantastic. Mike Skinner never topped this or his first album, but the first two are both ESSENTIAL.
Blur
4/5
It's a good Blur album. Much more of a logical progression than the radical departure I remembered at the time. A move towards more lo-fi sounds, and a rejection of britpop for sure, but some songs would still have fit the Great Escape or Parklife.
Still, as a thirteen year old, I remember the guy in my record shop convincing me to get Brighten The Corners by Pavement instead - he said it was the album Blur had failed to make with this, and he's probably right - it is the better album.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
I'm a harsh judge, but when weighed up against other Simon and Garfunkel albums, this is the one I come back to least - yet still has three or so essential songs on it. It's just a bit too bleak this time round. Everything feels sadder.
Doves
3/5
Plusses - everything sounds BIG, there's some lovely orchestration, like a less irritating Coldplay, it's frequently charming.
Minuses - every song is a bit too long for the content, sometimes the vocals are a bit meh
Overall it's good.
Lambchop
2/5
It's not bad, in an 80s Leonard Cohen on a budget kind of way. I'm not here for not bad though. Really good musicianship, but the songs are somewhat somnambulistic. Definitely couldn't rate it one, but I have no intention of going back to this ever, so I can't give it much more than that.
Bob Dylan
5/5
One of my favourite Dylan albums (but I still haven't had the best one yet ;)) just so much fun, almost pop except no pop has lyrics so confounding. Damn those vandals and their handle.
Tito Puente
4/5
I'm not sure you can feel sad while listening to this. I literally danced up and down the aisles of the Co-op while doing my shopping to this.
Barry Adamson
3/5
This was leagues ahead of Moss Side story. There were a couple of great tracks, but it still veered into fair trade cocaine coffee table music a bit too regularly for me to love it.
Eminem
5/5
It stands up after 22 years. It's still one of the most consistent rap albums ever, and tries a bit of everything consistently. Some of it has aged very badly, mind. Kim, in particular is very uncomfortable to listen to. But it's still great.
Bob Dylan
5/5
I think this olis one of the best Dylan albums. The way it can pivot from dark and serious, to light and moving, to downright silly shows his absolute gift for songwriting. And it's STILL not his best album. Despite Blowin in the Wind being one of those songs that transcends the writer - it has always existed now, it is just a fact of life, you're born knowing it.
Absolute five star album.
The Hives
4/5
Well, this is just great fun. Untutored Youth is just the best 90 seconds, and there's a lot of short, sharp silliness to get you through here.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
I know it's the classier album to like, but this one seems a bit of a triumph of difficulty over substance. It's by no means bad, and Sister Ray is obviously a classic - though for 20 minute epics, the suite on Lou Reed's Street Hassle does it better for me, I feel like you could cover everything worthwhile in Sister Ray in 10 minutes.
But it's just good in my mind.
Arcade Fire
2/5
There isn't anything bad about this album. It's clearly the work of intelligent, talented musicians, doing clever things. But there just isn't anything I want to go back to having reached the end. It all feels flat somehow. Like a technical demonstration of writing 'important' music.
Arcade Fire
4/5
It's a nice contrast - I got the Suburbs yesterday, and respected the musicianship, but found the whole thing very flat. Whereas this is rather lovely - the naivety, and the willingness to try for an epic sweep make it much more exciting. Wake Up and Neighbourhood 3 make the failures elsewhere more than worthwhile.
I feel like this may be one of those bands that may have been better off without success. Perhaps they may have kept it simpler (if this could be described as simple).
Fatboy Slim
5/5
It's just great fun. Big beat may remain my favourite dance subgenre. A mix of hip hop, electro and house that is all about being big, dumb and funky. I mean, the opening four tracks do it all save for giving you a mitsi and the next three days off work.
It's almost saddening that 25 years ago, you had Fatboy, Daft Punk, Propellerheads, Faithless and Basement Jaxx all coming up. Now you have Calvin Harris, Diplo and various interchangeable north Europeans who have cornered mainstream dance all spoonfeeding you the warm sick of late 80s/early 90s revivalism (feat. Flo Rida). It could have gone so much better.
Goldfrapp
2/5
It's like a pastiche of Serge Gainsbourg, soft prog and Fairport Convention and I'd rather listen to any of those. I like Goldfrapp generally, but this was ten goodish songs, none of which I especially fancy listening to again.
It feels like the sort of CD that people own to show off their classy taste, which probably has a thin sheen of months old cocaine on the jewel case.
Good hat on the front cover though.
Fever Ray
3/5
A difficult one. I loved The Knife. This is clearly a more difficult record - cold and wintry where the Knife would occasionally use colour and warmth. But I feel like it would repay you for further listens - but I don't have time to test this in a day!
I'll be coming back to it.
Wire
5/5
I remember hearing this album for the first time about a decade ago and it being a brilliant half hour. It remains so. Averaging about 90 seconds a track, nothing outstays it's welcome, it's all very good fun (well, musically, lyrically it's pretty serious).
It has Three Girl Rhumba (elastica's best song), Ex Lion Tamer, 12XU, it's like an intro to great punk.
Portishead
5/5
Well it's just lovely. Unlike everything since, it has a grounding in old soul melody, which gives everything a wintry pop feel. It's gorgeous.
Don't get me wrong, it's still very depressing in all the best ways. It's just misery you can sing along to - something which, despite two more great albums, they never achieve again.
The best tracks are the obvious ones (Numb, Sour Times, Glory Box) but everything in between is solid too. Lovely broken beats, swooping orchestras and gorgeous vocals.
Willie Nelson
2/5
I can see why Willie Nelson is so huge. He has a lovely voice, he has lyrics that are a cut above standard country fare, and he isn't extremely yeehaw right wing like a lot of his compatriots.
Sadly, it all leaves me a bit cold. I just don't think my brain is wired to enjoy country all that much. Maybe because I'm not American, and it's not ingrained in my culture? It's just sort of sad, nicely orchestrated, I listened to it then it ended.
Soundgarden
3/5
Okay, never given this a chance before, but Black Hole Sun is an all timer, so I go in hopeful!
It's definitely good. There are other good songs on here. The drumming is brilliant.definitely the most grooveable, rhythmic grunge act as a result.
However, BHS aside, which could have another half hour as far as I'm concerned, a lot of the songs have said all they need to say within 3 or 4 minutes - but choose to carry on to 6 or 7. Probably a sad byproduct of the CD age - just because you can fill 80 minutes doesn't mean that you should...
So overall, a really really good, but overlong album.
Silver Jews
3/5
I liked it. It's very Pavementy in its half-arsedness and it's dry wit, but with a more Americana edge to it. Less keen on that, but I've saved three songs that impressed me (Nashville, I Remember Me and Let's Not and Say We Did, all witty, wonky fun).
It doesn't necessarily have much in the way of tonal variation, which is a blessing or a curse, depending on your mood when you're listening, I suppose!
It also feels a little dated - this feels like it belongs to the early noughties, with films featuring manic indie pixie dream girls, ironic homophobia and people into this sort of thing being fiercely competitive about having a more obscure artist... and I bet that you haven't even heard of Bardo Pond, who did this miles better ;-)
The Temptations
4/5
It's rather good is the short answer. Cloud 9 (the song) feels like it's birthing 70s funk and soul, absolute tunes. The rest of the album is less bold, but still giving me ten great soul tunes. Annoying it isn't on Spotify, though.
Jeff Beck
2/5
The best thing about this album is Hi Ho Silver Lining, an absolute tune which soundtracked birthday parties in rugby clubs and working men's clubs where my parents would enjoy themselves and I could eat all the scotch eggs and drink a ton of pepsi and hear grown ups tell jokes I didn't understand but knew were rude.
Unfortunately that's a bonus track, and the album itself, while containing amazing musicianship and great tracks, is ruined by Rod Stewart's constipated shouting trying to pass itself off as singing. This is the third such album on this list ruined by this (The Faces and his solo crap). In short, this could have been four or five stars had it not been for that pointless haggis tosser.
Duran Duran
4/5
Pop is the absolute best when it's not looking at other pop, but other weirder influences. This feels like a band who like lots of 70s disco and Kraftwerk (and New Romantic stuff obvs) and feels so much more exciting as a result.
I know they were seen as a bit Tory, but I feel like any Brummie that's found a way out is going to embrace the fact they made it, and they were just coopted by the absolute scum of the earth (btw, if you're a Tory reading this, please remember suicide is not just an option, but preferable to your continued existence).
Got distracted there. The three big singles, Rio, Wolf and Prayer all rule, the rest is all good, and the Chauffeur brilliant.
The Monks
5/5
Over a decade ago I listened to this because it was on a Pitchfork list, and unlike a lot of the stuff on there, it blew me away. It sounds like pre punk punk, except with bizarre instrumentation (Hammond and banjo feature as a standard part, but played as part of a punky set up).
It is slightly angry and slightly silly (Higgle-dy, piggle dy?) And all bloody brilliant.
Liz Phair
3/5
There's a lot to like, the lyrics are great, and must have been ten times as refreshing 30 years ago. It zips along without any songs outstaying their welcome, and the minimal instrumentation keeps it from becoming overblown.
Phair's voice is less enjoyable at times, disaffected 90s snark feels indulgent these days, and had it been the ten best tracks, this would have been an absolute classic, rather than just a Good Thing.
That said, I feel like this is the lay up that allowed Alanis to dunk on em a few years later!
Deerhunter
4/5
It was nice in a Mogwai/better end of Sonic Youth way. Melancholic, hazy sound walls with sighed vocals. I feel like, with some time invested I could grow to really like this record, it's certainly my kind of thing.
Justice
5/5
YEEEESSSSSS. Following on with a more 'raaargh', metal style on Daft Punk's coattails, this is a glitchier, harder affair, but has the same disco joy.
Justice parts 1&2 are pure dance joy, and the rest of the album is great too, sleazy and funky. French Touch is one of those high watermarks of dance music - maybe with all the revivalism at the moment it's due a return (I say optimistically)
LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT.
Minor Threat
5/5
It's Minor Threat, isn't it, of course it's brilliant, concise and fully rargh. Feeling hyped off the back of it!
It created a whole subgenre of punk and inspired loads of kids, even years later, to live cleaner, more ethical lives. And it's got jokes too!
Though compared to the earlier stuff, this album is bloated at about 3 minutes a song 😉
Tim Buckley
2/5
While clearly the work of an accomplished musician, I spent my 40 minutes mostly bored. There were nice bits of Miles Davis sounding jazziness, and he has a good vocal range, but it mostly left me cold - a feat of technical achievement, but I suspect it was more of a pleasure to make than to listen to...
The Smiths
5/5
Come on! Today?! For the record, this popped into my feed the day after Queen Liz 2 died. I can't help but feel somebody has been monkeying with the randomness, in the same way they did so everyone got Phil Spector on Christmas Day...
Much as Morrissey has curled a big fat steamer all over their legacy, there is no denying that this album remains a beautiful, humorous, adolescent masterpiece. Big-mouth still gives me chills, and Frankly still makes me want to laugh and draft my resignation!
Nick Drake
5/5
Hazey Jane II basically made the cross that Belle and Sebastian's entire career scored. Northern Sky is one of the most beautiful songs ever. This a really great album and I love it. One of These Things first was on a freebie compilation on a magazine when I was 14 and was my way to Nick.
A lovely way to spend 40 minutes - if I have only one criticism, I wasn't a fan of the saxophone.
Iggy Pop
5/5
Wow. I didn't know how Bowie Iggy's Bowie album was going to be. I've been mad generous with the 5* reviews this week, but it looks like that run is going to carry on today! I didn't even know China Girl was a cover!
Everything plays like Glam on antidepressants, which sounds better than the simile does. The drums go big, the emotions go flat and resigned. It woooorrrrrks!!!
King Crimson
4/5
Okay so the opening is an absolute banger and there's stuff to love elsewhere. There's also at least 10 minutes of noodly jazzbo twiddlenonsense. Even so, I managed to enjoy 70% of the album which is an achievement for this kind of progginess.
Adele
4/5
It's not for me, but there's no denying this album is strong. It never quite matches up to the opening two tracks, both of which are magnificent... Had it kept this rich vein of dark 60s soul, it'd be an album i love - as it is it does veer into mawkish balladry at points, but also has a beautiful one in Someone Like You, and Set Fire to the Rain comes close to that opening salvo too. It feels like the balladry has become more her thing, which is a shame, as there is some exciting pop soul which arguably suits her voice (which is magnificent) better that shows another path less trod which would have been more interesting - though probably less well reimbursed too.
XTC
3/5
An odd'un. I enjoyed every minute of this album as it went past, but simultaneously don't remember much of it now it's passed.
I love the idea of a song cycle as life span, and I *think* they succeeded here, but equally I can't remember if they did... It's mostly just nice, rather than mind blowing. But I can live with nice. Going to come back to it and see if it grows.
Randy Newman
4/5
Well... This is the most offensively thoughtful album I've heard in a long time. I'd vaguely heard that the Toy Story guy had this in his ouevre but wasn't prepared for this.
The sad thing is, it's as relevant today as it was at its release. You don't want it to be, but it is. This review space is too short to get into a debate on what should and shouldn't be said, and by whom, but this album makes a strong case for less policing of speech.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
First the good. It's Nick Cave, it does all the Nick Cave things, and it feels like it's revitalised somewhat after a period of slow and poetic stuff, this goes bigger.
However, it does little new with the formula, and the coming of Grinderman feels necessary to reboot what he does. Everything is here, but at this point, I feel like I needed something new, rather than more in a similar vein.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
It brings back a million memories of a summer when I was coming of age and weed was plentiful. It's a good album, the last of their imperial phase from Blood Sugar Sex Magic to this, but the warning signs of the bloat and blandness to come are here too.
Still, you can't argue with Scar Tissue and Around the World.
Hey, did you know they're from California?
Beth Orton
3/5
It's nice. Her voice carries a lot of emotion, but the songs just aren't that memorable.
Depeche Mode
4/5
It's so much something I should love. Indie pop mixed with dark electronica, and yet I only ever like it. It took Johnny Cash's cover to get me to love Personal Jesus. I do love Enjoy the Silence and World. There are some lovely stretches. I think the problem is that religion and drugs are boring topics. When it gets off the 'edgy' topics it's much better, cos some work actually gets put in.
Still great. Just not perfection.
Anthrax
4/5
It's at the fun end of thrash, rather than the 'woo I'm dark and edgy" end and is a lot more enjoyable for it. It'll probably never be my favourite style of music, but I enjoyed this, in that it passed by faster than its 40 minute length, and made me smile at least twice!
The White Stripes
4/5
First album I got on this was White Blood Cells. Lovely to have them back, even if it has got their obvious song on there, as sung by every coked up football hooligan and magic grandpa loving political losers.
But also has the best Dusty Springfield cover ever, an amazing Holly Golightly duet (triet?) And The Hardest Button to Button. There's a bit of filler, but overall a cracking album.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Ouch. This is a heavy album. A beautiful album but really heavy. If you've ever lost someone, it will hurt to listen to. But it's beautiful, and compassionate, and lushly arranged.
The 14 minutes of Ghosteen, and the painful wish of Ghosteen Speaks are the highlights, but really, the whole album is one big highlight.
I won't listen to it often, it's too painful, but I will love it.
Grateful Dead
2/5
This is not a very exciting album. Just some Americana, trundling by, not making much of an impact. I'd hoped to be surprised and excited by finally getting round to the Grateful Dead, but I find myself sitting here thinking, I don't get it?!
Count Basie & His Orchestra
3/5
It was very nice. The sort of jazz you'd think of if you pictured a cool 1950s beatnik saying hey Daddio.
Very dated (duhdoy, it's 70 years old), but the band is so tight, and the whole thing was very enjoyable, even though it just further confirms jazz as soon me thing I will always respect, but rarely love.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
2/5
While it's clearly the work of three very good song writers, they were clearly waiting for the 4th to show up in Neil Young.
As it is, it fills me with the ick that that sort of '100 Drive Time Songs' compilation that you buy for your Dad as a thoughtless Father's Day gift gives you. He thinks Jeremy Clarkson tells it like it is, but there's a drug reference just gentle enough he can feel edgy, and a sad song for when he thinks about the divorce.
America was miles behind the UK at this point, wasn't it... So much bland detritus like this in this list.
Shuggie Otis
5/5
Wow! This is the most wildly varied funk/soul album. I am so blown away by it. And is this the original of the mighty Strawberry Letter no. 23? One of the best tunes ever.
It's surprisingly experimental. Can't believe it flopped at the time too, it's got tunes!
Björk
5/5
Love it. Another one that's already in the collection. Just an incredible album that put her in the firmament from the start (of her solo career. Sugarcubes were pretty cool too).
Every track is a highlight, from the cinematic Play Dead, to the jerky Venus as a Boy, but There's More To Life Than This is a crazed high concept masterpiece.
Koffi Olomide
3/5
It's obviously a big deal, but it really wasn't my kind of thing. I think it's the sound of the thing, which has a lot of the vagaries of the worst of the late eighties and nineties - flat synths and over emoting.
That said, when the tunes get a beat on, you definitely want to shake your arse, so that wins it back for me a bit.
Air
4/5
Wow - that's a strong first four tracks! Especially Sexy Boy and All I Need. After that excellent intro, it is some very pleasant, cinematic, 70s sounding French Prog - some very Serge Gainsbourg orchestration. But I already have Serge in my life, so after side 1 it's a little redundant, if still very listenable.
Little Simz
5/5
Wow! I'd heard her more recent album, SIMBI and had been blown away. But this album was way better than I'd expected, why was it not huge. The combo of incredibly versatile emotive bars, the blaxploitation soundtrack adjacent sleaze funk of the beats and the wide subject matter... This is a modern hip hop classic. I may buy it tomorrow!
If you do one track, check the Busta style fire at the start of Venom.
David Bowie
5/5
It's taken me six years to get back round to listening to this album again. That's how devoed I was when he died.
Black Star (the song) remains an incredible achievement. I don't think he got the memo that he could churn out any old shit and Mojo readers would try to claim it was still worthwhile, like McCartney or the Stones or Paul Weller do. Even at the end he was still ridiculously ambitious with what he wished to achieve, and made a 10 minute prog/jazz/skitterbeat/ballad the lead off the album. Respect.
The rest of the album is still brilliant. His thinking around the beats and the different textures in each song make it a joy (and a tragedy that there's no more coming) to listen to.
And yet, because of relativity with other parts of his back catalogue, I can only give it four stars - because I know Low and Diamond Dogs and Alladin Sane exist. Sorry Zavid.
Morning rethink - nah, I'm giving it five. Think of the extra star as a lifetime achievement star.
Prefab Sprout
3/5
Has there ever been another brilliant lyricist so badly let down by their music? This is a lyrically wonderful album, but with the exception of Desire Is, it has no memorable or above mediocre tunes on it. I know, both from Desire Is and their big hot (not from this album) that they can actually write a song, rather than brilliant lyrics and a passable backing, so it is a disappointment.
The production is also horribly dated - I suspect it would even have sounded dated by 1990.
A missed opportunity.
Queen
4/5
Well, I think that I need to take my statement back that Queen can't do albums like they do singles, this is (almost) a brilliant album, just wildly veering between rock, music hall and sappy balladry with ease. Obvs it contains 'that song'.
I can almost forgive the horrible version of 'God Save The Queen', but the pompous 'Prophets Song' and Slade on a diet 'Im in Love With My Car' hold this album back from perfection.
Fairport Convention
2/5
Having has Liege and Leif earlier, I can only say that even a less folky Fairport doing Dylan songs is still boring. The voice is lovely, deep, resonant but I really was just twiddling my thumbs and thinking about what I'd listen to next when this was on.
Like I say, nice voice, I think Sailors Song went a bit Velvet Underground for a minute. That's the positive.
Billy Bragg
2/5
I thought no I've mentioned before that this turn of the century Americana revival leaves me a bit cold.
And sadly, while my values align pretty much perfectly with Billy Bragg's and I love what he speaks about and could listen to him talk all day, I've never found a way in with his music... And by embracing Americana it just makes it harder!
I didn't hate it, but I did just kind of let it happen. Walt Whitman and the President one were both okay?
Tim Buckley
3/5
Okay, well this album is hilariously horny. It opens with this;
I went down to the meat rack tavern
And found myself a big ol' healthy girl
Now she was drinkin' alone
Aw what a waste of sin
So I went on over to sweet talk that girl
Lord I moved on in
Then moves on to a song that spends 7 minutes saying Get On Top, make me speak in tongues. Lol.
If you ever wondered what a cross between Harry Nilsson and Marvin Gaye might be like, this is the album for you. It descends a touch too often into noodly twiddling, but was enjoyably silly and different.
Pulp
5/5
Insofar as any one album can change your life this is the one that changed mine.
Pulp
5/5
Wow, Different Class yesterday, the follow up today! His and Hers better be on here too! Better than both of these... Would need a sixth star.
This was the difficult, dark follow up after game hit. And yet, it's actually gloriously poppy! This is Hardcore is a sprawling epic, A Little Soul is heartbreaking, Help The Aged sweet. Only Party Hard is a little dull.
Def Leppard
1/5
My initial thought is that this is what you get when you try to put Bon Jovi together with about a quarter of the budget.
It's so boring. Pop hard rock for the easy to please. I strongly suspect that if their drummer had been a better driver it wouldn't even be on this list, but that's the power of a good story, I guess.
Fiona Apple
3/5
It's very varied and at points very lovely. But it also feels a bit studied. It's a passable and at points enjoyable album, but I'd take PJ, Alanis or Olivia before I got down to this second tier angst.
Pet Shop Boys
5/5
It's the perfect PSB album. Where the with and the music match up - if I Wouldn't Normally Do This Lind of Thing isn't the perfect evocation of that giddy feeling at the start of a relationship then love is a myth and we should all give up. Go West is iconic. It's all ace
Manic Street Preachers
5/5
I was obsessed with the Manics. This was the album that alerted me to them, but because I was a skint pre teen, I could afford Generation Terrorists and The Holy Bible. This is a far gentler, poppier and more beautiful album, and an amazing reaction to the tragedy of losing Richie.
I don't know that if be the same person today were it not for the Manics.
The United States Of America
4/5
An unexpected gem with an ungoogleable name. I was really impressed by the fantastic cacophonous psychedelia that somehow still managed to have great melodies laid atop.
American Metaphysical Circus and I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar are the standouts, but the album is one that works best as a whole piece
I'm going to mark it four and regret it - much like Laura Nyro a year ago, it needs more listens before I can declare my undying love for it.
Tina Turner
5/5
It's one o already have. It is really good. The original songs are by and large all classics - 20 years into her career, she decided that somewhere between Prince and The Human League was a cool move. Could you imagine Oasis pivoting to post punk and PC music in 2010? It's a baller move, and it mostly works - only time and advances in electronic music have aged it a little.
And all 4 covers are great choices. Help stripped back to become an accusation to those who did nothing to help her, Ann Peebles jazzed up with bleeps, and not the most obvious Bowie track.
Should be a four because of the over quantised production, but my enjoyment of it gets it top marks!
Steely Dan
3/5
It's great musically and very clever lyrically. But not quite all the way there for me - I think it lacked an emotional core for me to truly connect?
AC/DC
5/5
It is of no intellectual merit whatsoever and I bloody loved it.
The purest hard rock ever committed to wax. Topics include being a badass and sex. That's it. Love it.
Little Richard
5/5
Much like AC/DC yesterday, there's a lot to be said for doing one thing really well! I'd probably have given it 4, but for the story that Tutti Frutti was originally deeply rude, and that always makes me smile.
Slayer
5/5
I have nothing smart to say about this. It's hard, fast, and utterly devoid of good taste. LOVE IT
The Who
2/5
So for three days in a row I've had three direct, powerful albums of pure rock I have loved (AC/DC, Little Richard and Slayer). This feels like a logical fourth but... With the exception of the title track, it mistakes loud for any sort of drive and is... A bit dull? And that's before you hear Daltrey take a steaming poo on a James Brown song (his first step towards becoming the embarrassing elderly bigot he is today?)
EDIT - He does it to Muddy Waters too, two tracks later. Yuck.
I can see why they are a favourite of people who have period accurate haircuts instead of personalities. With the exception of My Generation, this is magnolia walls dialled up to eleven...
The Jam
3/5
Well, their last album is in my hall of shame (All Mod Cons - yaaaawn). This is better, it does try for some different things, and is better for it. The problem is, most of the good ideas don't turn into good songs - it's still a bit dull. Start is great (though that may be 80% due to the light plagiarism of Taxman by the Beatles) and obvs That's Entertainment, though overplayed to hell is pretty good.
The problem with a five star system is that this is better than 2 and worse than a 3. I'm giving them the higher mark and the benefit of the doubt... Even though Paul Weller fans are the literal worst.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
4/5
I forgot Neil Young withdrew his music from Spotify, so in the absence of his four songs on this album, so in their absence I listened to Joe Rogan instead. Did you guys know that women are inferior and COVID isn't real?!?
Just playing. Funnily enough, Deja Vu is a terrible name. When last I listened to CSN, I thought it was the blandest, drive time dad rock by very competent musicians. This time round, they've introduced a feeling of doubt and sadness to their music that is the 'secret sauce' that makes this album really good. Even the child like Our House is only sweet if taken entirely at face value.
Really good.
Def Leppard
2/5
So, I hated Hysteria when it came up. It felt like Poundland Bon Jovi. Now, this is still not a high water mark of hard rock, but at least sounds like B&M Bargains AC/DC or Aerosmith, which is much better. I still will almost certainly never listen to it again, but it was a pleasurable meh, rather than an offensive mess!
Foo Fighters
4/5
It's so much better than a first album by a member of a bigger band ever needed to be. Obviously, 27 years on it's obvious that Dave Grohl is a star, but it wasn't until this. He was just the funny drummer from Nirvana.
It opens fully at legendary - the first three tracks are essential, but drops off a bit after that (except For All the Cows). So imperfect, but great.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
4/5
There's something gloriously sleazy about their music that elevates it above dreary blues revivalism. Maybe it's Van Zandts voice, maybe the three guitars always allowing one to add some slinking, driving rhythm to everything. I don't know, it just works.
Also, it has Free Bird. So it was always going to be good.
Boston
3/5
I enjoyed it more than I thought. They were certainly the first 80s rock band. More Than a Feeling is a classic, and Foreplay/Long Time just rocks, hard.
The rest was all perfectly fine, if a little staid.
Shivkumar Sharma
3/5
It's Definitely gorgeous and different. But just because it was listened to by The Beatles doesn't really make it a rock and pop album. This is classical music. Just because Berlioz and Stockhausen are big influences on Radiohead and Kraftwerk doesn't get them included, so its inclusion appears to be out of a deep cultural stupidity of what this actually is.
I'd much rather have some Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan or some bhangra in here, both of which would feel more reflective of India's influence on Rock and pop, rather than this misguided attempt at cultural showoffery by a journo.
4/5 for the music, 1/5 for somebody not understanding the damn brief.
Christine and the Queens
4/5
Gallic disco pop is going to be a pretty easy sell to me. The passion, subject matter and general groove of the thing are all very enjoyable, and she seems a smart and intelligent lyricist. The songs didn't quite jump from enjoyment to love for me but it's still a VERY strong album. And getting the entire thing in English and French is an act of generosity I can get behind. Merci!
Dolly Parton
4/5
It's Dolly, with all the warmth and loveliness that that suggests. A kind hearted hug of an album that you'd have to be a grumpy rotter to dislike. The opener and closer are the two classics on here, but all is enjoyable, if occasionally a bit too Country 101 to be truly mind blowing.
The Zombies
5/5
A Rose For Emily is one of my favourite songs of all time. And I'd forgotten how good Care of Cell 44 is too. Time of the Season is a full blown classic too. Whole album is ace tbf. Sometimes feels like the sort of British whimsy that Spinal Tap skewered so well, but when it's this infectious and fun you really can't complain.
Absolutely brilliant from start to finish.
Todd Rundgren
4/5
It's really quite good. One of those Prince/Dave Grohl type works where it's quite brilliantly the work of one singular multi instrumentalist.
However, this is somewhat traditional - if a few years ahead of its competitors. It's when Rundgren embraces his inner weird that he truly becomes a master and one of my favourites.
Alice In Chains
2/5
It's a bit sludgy and dull. When it leans into its Sabbathy influences it gets better (God Smack for example) but where it relies on 5 minute song lengths and work is me junkie wisdom, it's pretty boring.
Björk
4/5
Really quite lovely. Lots of odd rhythmic experimentation on a John Cage/Aphex Twin kind of vibe. Her voice is more varied than ever. It is a tiny bit muddy at times, but otherwise very lovely.
Keith Jarrett
1/5
Well that was very boring. I get that he's an incredible pianist working in difficult circumstances, but... Improvisation is how you start a piece of music, not the end result. You're supposed to go back and refine it till you have a piece of thrilling music.
This is akin to a detective finding a dead body and saying "My work here is done", or an archaeologist finding a pile of dirt and not digging.
In short, an utter waste of my time.
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
He has a gorgeous voice, is witty as hell and is beautiful - everything is set up for me to fall madly in love with Rufus Wainwright. However I only ever really like him. This album, much like those before is full of songs I enjoy, but there's only ever one I truly bond with each time - this time it's Gay Messiah, though the closer, with Antony is really good (historically, Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk and I'm So Tired of America are classics).
It's a solid four stars, but I wish I could find the key to five stars with Rufus. Definitely feels like a me problem not a him problem.
Nina Simone
5/5
One of those albums that I have known, all my life, is meant to be an album you should listen to, bit that I've never got round to. I knew a few of the songs because I have ears (and because Jeff Buckley covered one of them).
But yes, this is greates of all time tier. Her voice. Taking incredible subject matter as slavery and delivering it with such controlled rage that it is pitch perfect and you come away feeling the injustice. The more traditional heartbreak. Wow.
Orbital
3/5
Possibly damnation via vague praise here, but when they ditch the less interesting (but appealing to critics) ambient stuff and cut loose with abandon, this album flies. As a result, the back end of the album like Quality Seconds and Are We Here is much better than the front.
Fun, but innesential.
Derek & The Dominos
2/5
Well most of it is exactly what you'd expect from the racist child killer Eric Clapton when he hasn't got the cool members of Cream keeping him in check.
But, it has Layla on it which is a tune, though the best bit is the piano. And the organ and piano throughout is great and I may Google who that was when I'm done, cos they're clearly great.
Lorde
4/5
Ooh, well I know I love Green Light before we even start. Well... This whole thing was like the Taylor Swift of self loathing and I thought it was great!
Louvre and Liability were standouts, and have some real wit and humour about them. The music was good, but not astounding, and a little bit too enamoured of that soft bloopy bass drum sound.
The Mars Volta
3/5
I know a lot of people I know loved this album back in the day, but I never bothered with it at the time...
I think this is what you'd call math rock. Beloved of drummers. It's technically so smart it hurts. Like a hard rock/jazz fusion. I can admire the accomplishment and skill that went into it, but I will never be able to love it - sounfs a bit toouch like the inside of my head on a bad trip, or a musical version of ADHD.
The Who
3/5
This is the soundtrack to the Who's less good film. There's good songs to be found in here though. They are a rare band where the drummer's songs are the best and most disturbing! Fiddle about, eww.
There's still some excess fat on here - two ten minute overtures and a closing track which runs a long time on very little. But by and large it's good.
Depeche Mode
3/5
Ooh, I preferred this to Violator, which is a surprise. Still can be bloody OTT, portentous to the point of silliness, but most of the time, it really goes hard and brilliantly.
50 Cent
2/5
Well this will be the first time I've listened to Fiddy seriously. Always saw him as a bit of a novelty act - the last twitch of 'gangsta rap's' twitching corpse. Obvs I know the singles, but I wonder, has he really got the bars to match up to other rising rappers at the time (early Kanye, Twista, Eminem)?
The answer is no. His rhymes are good, but the delivery is so flat that it can't sustain these 20 tracks. When Eminem or any other guest turns up, it suddenly injects his fairly lifeless tracks with life. Which isn't great, really. In Da Club and PIMP are both great tracks (obvs Dre was going to throw a few great productions on here) but I can see why he hawks energy drinks and NFTs now, as nobody can he interested in hearing more of the same as this.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
I had hoped for more off the back of Solisbury Hill and the oddly named opener, but this album definitely peaks early then settles into a reliable mediocrity.
Solisbury Hill guarantees it's place though
Finley Quaye
4/5
Tracks 1-5 are all undeniable bangers. This is way better than I remember (I think I borrowed it off a mate, taped Sunday Shining and Love Gets Sweeter and bunned off the rest of the album as boring).
The second half of the album may have justified my young opinion, but this album was SO strong out of the gates it's still great.
Jurassic 5
4/5
It's a strange choice, to have J5s third, and third best of their first three albums on here. Not complaining, hearing Charli 2na's voice on anything is going to bring me joy, but with a few (admittedly brilliant) exceptions, while the rhymes are great, the beats are less vibrant and exciting than on previous albums.
It's still brilliant. It's just like getting Van Gogh's self portrait when you were hoping for Starry Night and Sunflowers.
Bad Company
3/5
It opens and closes with great songs, making this a seem truly a supergroup.
The six in between passed without major circumstance, save for a Beatles cover which served only to piss me off. Middle score, because the two good tracks are really good.
Napalm Death
5/5
I wouldn't normally give this five stars, it's a four star album, but this is my go f*ck yourself to all the neanderthals downvoting it.
Christ, if only some of the Who, Paul Weller, Eagles, Sade, U2, Black Crowes and Clapton shite on here had the decency to keep it under a minute a song.
James Taylor
3/5
It's subtle. So subtle the sort of blues jam that would normally turn me off an album feels plaintive and kind of pretty. But also so subtle that it kind of slinked past me. I think it could be a grower, but just off today's listen, it's good, not great.
The Chemical Brothers
4/5
There is much more variety on this album than I expected. Definitely expected big housey bangers, and you get plenty of those. Expected the laboured Tomorrow Never Knows clone with a Gallagher, because I lived through it. But the chilled one with Beth Orton was unexpected, and the 60s infused closer was an absolute joy.
Only loses a mark because some of the tracks would be great at 4 minutes rather than 6 and Setting Sun being a bit crap.
The Flaming Lips
5/5
It's just freaking brilliant. All the fun bits of prog, but none of the fluff, wild ideas, big emotions, odd questions.
And Do You Realize? Is one of the greatest songs ever written.
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
It's enjoyable. Never tops the opener, Hungry Freaks, Daddy but all very enjoyable. Daft humour, virtuoso musicianship and unexpected left turns, which could really be a review of any Zappa album, but that's not a criticism - nobody else quite walked the odd line he managed to walk!
Led Zeppelin
3/5
I have never listened to a Zep album post the numbered ones. So this will be new to me, with the exception of the hits, obviously Kashmir and Bron Yr Aur are known to me!
This is a case of a band having too much money and too much freedom. It's still Zep, but it's a bit too bloated and excessive. Obviously there are all time bangers, but there's also a lot of overlong, overproduced stuff on here.
The Isley Brothers
5/5
The best soul meets the best rock and the whole thing is absolute magic from start to finish. Hendrix was in the band for a while and THIS IS STILL BETTER.
That Lady and Summer Breeze are the hits and they're great, but everything else, save for maybe one schmaltzy ballad meets that standard. Can't believe I waited my whole life so far before getting around to this.
Elbow
4/5
Why do Manchester so often celebrate mediocrity in the Stone Roses and Oasis when they have the wit and beauty of groups like this?!
Guy Garvey's lyrics are dry and moving and clever, and the music is so rich and varied that not even the X Factorification of One Day Like This can spoil it.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
They just sound like they're enjoying themselves more than other bands doing the same schtick, and it makes it so much more enjoyable.
Also, they wrote Proud Mary.
Gorillaz
4/5
It's really good, but also clearly a 40 year old white man's hip hop/reggae based midlife crisis.
Gets an extra point just because of the Ed Case remix tapped on the end.
Kacey Musgraves
3/5
I really like Lacey Musgrave's attitude when I hear her speak, the subject matter is bang on for me, but the music is always just a bit too straight and traddy for me to love it. Beautiful voice too. Do I have no soul?
3/5
If I say fuck one more time, that's 46 fucks in this fucked up rhyme, he says, as he basically shows the chasm between Limp Bizkit and NIN.
I mean, the rapping is terrible, and a lot of the songs sound very similar. Dmx, Meth and Red should be ashamed!
But yet, there is a certain childish charm to the whole affair.
Linkin Park
2/5
Two nu metal bands in a row! You wait 400 albums and then two come along at once. Where Limp Bizkit lacked any sort of maturity, this is only lacking in emotional variety. Every single song is 'my life is hard' which makes this album a bot one note, with the exception of their DJs tribute to DJ Shadow, which was a bit of a high point.
Not awful, but very static.
Madonna
3/5
The Madonna thing. The albums (up to about 2010) are always about 2 years ahead of the game, even when the songs are just okay. This is no exception, cutting the queue to be ahead of the sophisticated adult dance music trend. The problem is, that wasn't so interesting when it happened...so it's good enough, but hard to love. Ray of Light's a tune though.
Germs
3/5
I enjoyed this at the open, but it ended up mostly merging from track to track, which isn't good when it's only half an hour long. I think I'll take a few tracks from this, but I'm not sure I'll ever bump the album again.
The Louvin Brothers
2/5
Well lyrically, there's some wonderful nihilistic bleakness about this album. Lots of death, loneliness and anger. But musically it just reiterates my belief that country music is white people blues. Much like white people food, it lacks spice and seasoning.
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
Done this one before, but here's the review I did last time:
I had this on cassette at the time. I know it has about 5 of my favourite songs of all time on it. I remember skipping a lot of it as an 11 year old though, so I don't actually know if it is a good album.
The joy is I love or really like the first 10 tracks, and it's only at Galapagos that it starts to lull at all - and even then, it's an okay song. If they had stopped at track 10, they would have made a classic album already.
I'd add it's also an ambitious one. If they had stuck to their lane, Bullet With Butterfly Wings and Zero would make it a classic up there with Siamese Dream. But the gentle piano intro and Tonight Tonight show that they were trying to go bigger and more wide-screen here.
However, at this middle point I can see the second half of an album looming with not much I know there, and I am unsure they can sustain the pace here - though with 1979 to look forward to, it may still be okay!
Honestly, the second half lags a bit compared to the first, but still contains 33, 1979, and We Only Come Out at Night.
If this had been a single album, or even a 20 track double album, it'd be revered. And frankly, I can't blame it for its ambition. Very few albums ever have this much quality on them, it's getting five stars in spite of its flaws, as I'd give Sign O The Times and the White Album the same courtesy.
Morrissey
1/5
I've had two Morrissey albums and one Smiths album. And if I've learned anything from this, it's that without Matt's slinking guitar and tempering influence, Morrissey goes from a sensitive wit to a fat, narcissistic, reactionary bigot with a pub rock band which I can only assume is made from the National Front (disco) members who lacked the talent to get onto the talentless Skrewdriver.
My relationship with Moz is so tainted that while I barely eat meat these days, and for almost the same ethical reasons he doesn't, on the occasions I do tuck into a steak, almost in prayer before I chow down, I smile to myself and say, "F*ck you, Stephen," and enjoy it a little more.
Bob Dylan
5/5
I was wondering, given that I've really enjoyed Bringing It All Back Home and Freewheelin' if this is still my favourite Bob Dylan album.
Spoiler, course it is. The lyricism and music are both at their peak here, where you don't even notice all the songs are looong, because he keeps saying truisms in completely new ways that make sense of the world.
It's the very best. And if there's a better eff you of a break up song than Idiot Wind (No Children by Mountain Goats and I Do This All The Time by Self Esteem come close) I want to hear it now.
Ice Cube
4/5
Well, I never got into this album on its time, and was expecting some tired, dry gangsta stuff that has aged badly (and 'It Was A Good Day which is an all out classic). Instead it's got Ice Cube trying to hit the best bits of NWA, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill all at once, and at times coming tantalisingly close!
Much more angry and political than expected, even the skits have something to say - rarely the case on a 90s hip hop album!
This was really good. Not five star good, but maybe when I hear it more (because I am coming back to this one) I'll regret leaving it a star short!
Fleetwood Mac
2/5
I can only assume that Rumours provided thm with access to a mountain of cocaine that Scarface would have raised an eyebrow at. The songs tend to fit into one of two moulds - songs that sound like less good versions of Rumours songs, and songs that show off that they can afford lots of synths, but don't necessarily know how to play them.
The best track, Not That Funny works better because it doesn't have that expensive studio sheen. Maybe if they'd spent more time quickly writing and recording songs like this, you'd have an album of rough diamonds, rather than gleamingly polished dog doo.
In it's defense... there are almost enough decent songs to make a passable single album here, and I think it's forgivable that success had gone to their heads.
Dr. John
4/5
I really enjoyed this in a middle era Tom Waits kind of way. Soulful and utterly insane in the best of all possible ways.
Public Enemy
5/5
Have this one on wax. First started falling in love when the Manics put the 'Elvis was a hero to most...' quote in an album sleeve.
It's less organised than Nation of Millions. It's more of a record of two years of ridiculous productivity. A ton of ideas thrown at a wall to see which will stick. A lot of it sticks.
Gary Numan
4/5
Strongly enjoyed, and fully in love with ME, Films and Cars. However, the tone of the album doesn't stray far from a particular sound. While it was innovative at the time, it doesn't make for an album you go all the way through!
Elvis Presley
3/5
It's alright. Horrible cover of Fever aside. Elvis really wasn't an album act.
Hugh Masekela
2/5
I want to like jazz more, bit while, at times, the groove on this was fantastic, it often sounded like someone kicking the crap out of a piano in rage whole the rest of the band tuned up.
Nas
4/5
I've always tried to find a way in with this album, and never had before. Today it made a lot more sense. like a bridge between old and new hip hop, and with some of the tightest flow and rhythm. Still not without its problems, but very good.
Talking Heads
5/5
It's the funkiest Talking Heads record. Though not as funky as the Tom Tom Club. But it's advantage over that is David Byrne's lyrics at their most esoteric and frantic.
In short it's magnificent. Once In A Lifetime, and Crosseyed and Painless are both near perfect
Brian Eno
4/5
It is just a glorious, weird experiment. You can see how Talking Heads evolved through this.
Maxwell
4/5
This is a very sexy album. 90s R&B bit with that 70s house band tightness. It drops towards the end, but I was very happily surprised that this was as good as it was!
The Stooges
3/5
It's a problem. This album was clearly revolutionary and (with the Monks) one of those proto punk albums that was revolutionary at the time. The problem is it's been recycled by every scuzz rock yawn fest that bought skinny jeans and leather jackets since and it's made the whole thing sound BORING which is the opposite of what I imagine this felt like at the time.
The Oppenheimer of punk I guess? I am become Kings of Leon, destroyer of good music.
Crying shame. It's clearly great but I've came at it through 50 years of boring imitators.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
4/5
I have a massive soft spot for this album. In 96, it got me into hip hop. Then I went off it because it wasn't great hip hop. Then I loved it again as my tastes broadened and I loved it's mix of hip hop, funk, lounge and rock. It's just such grand, silly fun.
Radiohead
5/5
I thought I'd already had this, but I think I've actually just comfort listened to it a fair bit in the last year or so. A perfect pop rock album. Probably responsible for a lot of bad stuff (Keane, Coldplay, all other gentle pop rock bands) all of which miss the sneer, beauty, and sheer musicianship of the original.
Best track - everything but Black Star.
Living Colour
4/5
Sort of what would happen if you let Faith No More and Prince spent a few weekends together. In the best of all possible ways.
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
Did another one before. It's a unique sound, but one that makes everything feel like a first draft, rather than actual finished songs. It's not for me.
The Byrds
2/5
Pleasant enough psychadelia, nothing much to excite me.
Jethro Tull
3/5
It's weird, beyond the funky as hell flute, I wasn't enamoured of the music, but loved the lyrics and concept (and in case I haven't made my point, the flute)
The Rolling Stones
3/5
It has two classics in Sympathy and Street Fighting Man, but like a lot of Stones albums, the rest is mostly okay bluesy stuff that I can take or leave.
The Chemical Brothers
4/5
A very pleasant listen. Rawer and less varied than it's follow up, but possibly more enjoyable for the rawness? It squelches in a pleasing manner.
Circle Jerks
5/5
You know what. If you're only ever going to record one worthwhile album, 14 Gonzo party punk classics in 15 minutes is as good an idea as any. Go in, get out, leave everyone without eyebrows. Yes.
Arctic Monkeys
3/5
I mixed these up with all the other landfill indie bands at the time, but resented them more because I loathed having them forced down my neck like an unclean penis by everyone.
In hindsight, it's leagues better. Alex Turner has strong Morrissey vibes (but at this point was at the age it's not embarrassing) and it's pretty good! The shittiness of going out in the noughties is the main lyrical theme, and I can very much relate.
The Go-Go's
4/5
Okay, so track one gave me serious 'classy 90s tampon as with empowerment vibes in the worst sort of way. But thankfully, that was the worst point, and as the album went on it have me femme REM/Replacements vibes and I was really enjoying it. Definitely one I'll return to for further listens to see if it has long term appeal!
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
4/5
It's good. It's proggier than you'd expect from 80s dance pop, at times to the point of being a bit pretentious. But when it bangs it bangs. It's probably 20 minutes too long though. Sam Jose could easily have been dropped!
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
It's a great lyricist with a good voice and sadly, a very pedestrian band. Without that final element, I can admire the spark and wit, but... That's all. A shame
Spiritualized
3/5
Done this one already, an here are my thoughts from a year ago;
The opening track is earth shatteringly beautiful and one I've loved for ages. I never got far into the rest of the album before though.
Come Together is good, but a bit sludgy, like Primal Scream at their dullest. I Think I'm in Love won me back again though, beautiful and layered and textural and sad.
By All Of My Thoughts I'm starting to wonder if every track really needs a full wall of sound freakout - it leaves a lot of the songs feeling a bit too similar.
Final thoughts - every time this goes slow and vulnerable, it's amazing. Every time it tries to be 'rock and roll' it's dull. Had three tracks been dropped it'd be a five star album.
David Holmes
4/5
On the one hand it's the sort of trip-hoppy, cinematic stuff I love. On the other, it's a bit polite and dinner party stuff. But I favourited three tracks so I clearly like it!
You can see how he ended up with the James Bond job!
The Smiths
4/5
Enjoyed this one, but nothing new to me here. Morrissey is witty but not awful, everything is gloriously jangly.
Neu!
4/5
It's like a perfect blend of garage rock and prog. Krautrock (of Kossmischemisik to be PC) is fun. It can kind of blend in a bit after a while, even as it attempts to be abrasive, but it's a great introduction to what is a fun and exciting subgenre. Can are miles better though, and what I'd go to for a hot of this.
Skunk Anansie
3/5
At the time, Weak aside, I could take or leave Skunk Anansie. Now, I have a lot of respect for them. Good songs that are more interesting subject wise than the "You can sheeeine" bollocks others in their class were making, a great singer, and some interesting instrumentation, bringing in dance and metal at points.
Am I going to put it on heavy rotation? No. Have I re-evaluated a 90s band I should have given more time - definitely.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
I hadn't listened to this before. It sounds like Beefheart, but with the rough edges filed off. It gives you an idea that without the madness, he'd be a good bluesman. But the weirdness is so much more fun.
Steve Earle
1/5
If the first 10 seconds are any indication of what this is (overproduced cornball country music) I am in for a very long 40 minutes. He's already said "Hey Pretty Baby" as I typed that last sentence.
This is only the third album to make me regret my personal rule that I listen to EVERY song*. Hillbilly Highway? Seriously. Do you want more tassels on your sleeves you line dance cliche knobend?
There are a couple of more tolerable songs towards the end - a ballad about his kid and an old style rock and roller - but this is relative to the otherwise dreadful stuff either side of it. Avoid
* Only broken once, for post 2000 U2. That was for my own mental health.
Pretenders
2/5
I put this in the same camp as Elvis Costello. Too clever clever to be good punk, too traditional and songwriterly to do anything interesting save for play with some studio effects. It's not bad but it's deeply unexciting. Chrissie Hynde has a nice voice.
Richard Thompson
3/5
Well, first things first, it's not for me. I think I've spoken about not really getting folk that much. That being said, this does a lot more than a lot I have heard - on the title track it sounds like they have a full colliery brass band on there, which is cool. They seem willing to experiment within the lines of their genre, and so unlike a lot of the folkie stuff, this didn't feel longer than it's 30 minute runtime.
Kendrick Lamar
5/5
Best album of the 21st century so far. Fact.
You want a party - King Kunta, you want rage - The Blacker the Berry, you want optimism - I and Alright, you want terrifying self loathing in the vein of Holy Bible era Manics, try u. The live musicians make it so much stronger (this album showed me what Thundercat can do - best bassist alive right now) and well, it just hits all the way through.
Honestly, if you can't appreciate this one, I feel like you're going to struggle with this list... There's only a couple of Eagles albums and Kid Rock I suppose, but your musically limited tastes are going to make it a real struggle for you to get through the good stuff.
The Yardbirds
3/5
Miles odder than I expected and surprisingly enjoyable!
Astor Piazzolla
3/5
As ever with improvisation, I'd rather they went back to these (admittedly fairly good) ideas and tried to refine them into tighter tunes.
Still, interesting instruments and some nice bits on here
The xx
4/5
At the time I didn't get the fuss - it was a bit dreary and quiet but actually the minimalist gloom pop fits better now than then.
Brian Eno
5/5
Love it. 50% out there rock and 50% just a man writing the most savage break up letter of all time to Brian Ferry.
The whole album is great, but the home stretch of Dead Fink's, Some of Us are Old and Here Come the Warm Jets is as good as any album can hope for.
Songhoy Blues
3/5
When it goes all polyrhythmic it's dead exciting, when it's more trad, it's dry as hell. It's a mixed bag, but glad I heard it
Blondie
4/5
It has three of the greatest pop/punk/disco songs of all time on it. Other than that, it is mostly just okay, with a few great moments. It's all good though, definitely a strong album.
Beastie Boys
5/5
If it helps you, I made a pilgrimage to the corner in the Lower East Side that is on this front cover. Which might give you an idea of how much I love this album. It somehow manages to be incredibly intelligent and stupid as hell at the same time. If I'd known it was going to be this kind of party...
Beck
4/5
It's a very good album. Paper Tiger is a perfect pastiche of Melody Nelson era Serge Gainsbourg, and a later track is like a lost Nick Drake song. A lot of the rest is pleasant Americana.
I'm a lot more enamoured of the surrealist Prince of Midnite Vultures, or the punk-folk-hop of Odelay, but this was enjoyable.
5/5
Nothing is left that hasn't been said about this album, and it's largely right.
The hottest take I have is that Within You Without You is crap. Like a diet Tomorrow Never Knows. Other than that, pretty bloody perfect.
The White Stripes
5/5
Done it before (in fact it was my first album!) so repeat review.
Already loved it. Saw them at Glastonbury and it blew my mind how much of a racket 2 people could make, and the stage presence. The Union Forever is a tune.
Tangerine Dream
3/5
It's a very textured lush ambient album. Possibly the first. Though my teenage daughter asked me if I was listening to relaxation music for work, which may give you some idea of how exciting it is.
The Lemonheads
3/5
It almost seems like the progenitor of a thousand bands who turn up in 90s teen film soundtracks. The pop end of the more tortured grunge stuff - this casts a wider more relatable net and manages to be kind of poppy (something I think Evan Dando hated).
Nothing is too memorable but all of it is good. It's sort of what you'd get if you sanded the pixies down, have them a lick of paint and a varnish. Less interesting but easier to deal with.
k.d. lang
3/5
It's clearly the work of a talented musician, but it's not for me, sadly.
Rod Stewart
2/5
Maggie May is alright, but he's got a voice more suited to taking a constipated crap than singing, hasn't he? Probably the most narrowly a two album yet. Probably should be a 1. Won't get these 40 minutes back, and given the entirety of music history, I find it hard to believe this is one of the best 1001.
Neil Young
5/5
It's the obvious Neil Young album. But when you listen to it... It's obvious why it's the obvious one. It's the most 'pop' he ever got.
Dwight Yoakam
1/5
Getting very bored of these overproduced 80s country albums which sold millions of copies to a very select and limited audience of godbothering inbreds and nobody else. Yeehaw second amendment let's shoot up a school crap for idiots.
Throwing Muses
4/5
It's a cranky and hard album, but after the stodgy traditional borefests of Dwight Yoakim and Rod Stewart it feels exciting and refreshing.
It's not a sane album, and I don't know if I want to listen again. But I'm very glad I did listen to it.
Ray Charles
4/5
It's a bold album title, but the album is good enough that it doesn't feel too far off the mark. It's a solid album - no one track stands too far above any other, it's just a very good album all the way through. His voice sells anything. I'd buy a timeshare from that voice.
Curtis Mayfield
5/5
It's absolutely ace. Coolest sounding album on the list. Only has two great 'songs' per se (Pusherman and Superfly) but the overall feel is great too. Even makes suburban Birmingham feel cool.
The Blue Nile
1/5
Deathly dull, hideously 80s tech demo with all the soul of a Conservative peer. Mercifully short.
Tortoise
4/5
Ooh this was very nice. For some reason despite loving Mogwai and Godspeed I never got onto Tortoise. Glad I have taken the time to get to know them now.
Gloomy, occasionally funky, all very fun.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
There's a popular thought that says if Joni Mitchell had possessed a cock she'd have been bigger than Dylan. There's probably a lot of truth to it. While the back end of this album never quite matches up with the staggering loveliness of the first half, I feel like rockist bores would put this up there with Blood on the Tracks were it not for Joni being a woman.
Beatles
4/5
It's one of those ones where I have to be harsh because of who it is. While it has the strongest opening tracks (idiots fave Drive My Car, the back to back classics with Norwegian Wood, You Won't See Me and Nowhere Man) it gets very saggy (by Beatles standards later on.
Though that sag includes Michelle, In My Life and I'm Looking Through You, so, still a country mile ahead of the competition. In short, this is the last Beatles album containing any filler till the White Album. It's a Beatles 4, which would be any other bands career defining 5.
And Run For Your Life is just odious. We get it John, you woman hating piece of sh!t.
Metallica
3/5
I used to hate Metallica because they seemed so serious and ridiculous but as I've aged I've realised they are actually camp as balls and it's genuinely rather hilarious and I like to think they are in on the joke too.
They are genuinely brilliant musicians, and the silliness of it all is good fun. Everything on here would benefit from a trim though. How do you play so fast and still take so long to get to the point?
Dolly Parton
3/5
It's three greats being great together, but as often is the case with these things it never exceeds the sum of its parts. Hobo's Meditation is the exception to this - it's ace!
Stevie Wonder
5/5
So this album absolutely fucks. It's so good. Funky but without being self consciously cool, angry but while maintaining a sense of fun. Wow.
Living for the City is brutal, Higher Ground is a tune, Don't You Worry too. So good.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4/5
It's a great blues album, from the Crumb artwork, to the amazing guitar tone, to Janis Joplin's incredible voice.
It would be a five save for two gripes. One - none of the songs needed to be more than 4 minutes long. I'd be excited and thrilled, but by the end of a lot of tracks I was fatigued and bored. And two - whoever the male vocalist is... If you have Janis Joplin, maybe STFU and stick to backing Vocals innit.
Tom Waits
5/5
This is the album that got me into Tom Waits. And I love Tom Waits. 50% sleazy jazz, 50% musical stand up comedy. If this doesn't tickle and intrigue you I don't know what you get out of life, honestly.
It's not his best album - ask any different fan and you'll get a different answer (the correct answers are Small Change and Swordfishtrombones) but still well worth five stars.
5/5
When my partner was pregnant we played 'Starman- to her belly to get the baby to kick and, indeed, boogie, and considered calling our kid Bowie they loved it that much.
And that's about the fifth best song on this album. The closing three - Ziggy, Suffragette City and Lady Stardust - make up the greatest ending of all time. I'm genuinely trying to think of a better one, and I don't think it exists. Imagine having an album so stacked, you put those three at the end of side 2.
7 years gone, and still reminding us that he's irreplaceable
Paul Simon
3/5
When compared to Graceland, Rhythm or There Goes Rhymin Simon, I'm not sure why this album is here? It's good, but not up there with his greats. I kind of love that it was meant to be a Simon and Garfunkel album bit then he cut all the Garfunkel out, the meanie!
Cypress Hill
5/5
I have it on wax - it's a hip hop classic. It's the bouncing, off the wall DJ Muggs production. Even when this album isn't giving 10s it's giving interesting two minute experiments. I love it!
Rahul Dev Burman
4/5
Loved loved loved the opening three tracks. So good - Indisco. It gets a bit more rote after that but is still a solid Bollywood soundtrack.
Bob Dylan
3/5
It's okay. It's better than most 42nd albums are. But it is the sound of an old man who is bored of it all and just knocking out bluesy rock. The fact it's Dylan, even firing on one cylinder makes it better than it has any right to be. But it's not good. The fact this is in here, possibly at the expense of one of his earlier albums is a waste.
Mudhoney
2/5
It's big, it's load, it has a great title, I was bored most of the way through.
Django Django
2/5
An intriguing one. Clearly there's an amazing producer/electronics tech in n the band, but the sad thing is there is no songwriter in the band. As a result you have these lovely exciting ideas whizzing about, but nobody to refine them into a song you can care about.
Live a cross between Belle and Sebastian and LCD Soundsystem, but lacking the melodic loveliness or wit.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
This is my third Stones album on the list, and the third which is some perfectly serviceable bluesy songs. I have now reached the point where I might have to accept that the Rolling Stones are a bit... Boring?
This is meant to be the connoisseur's Stones album, and it's overlong, and more than a little bit of a slog. This is a cocaine album on the same way that people on coke are boring, self obsessed and think that everyone cares about their thoughts when they all wish you'd pop back to the bogs for another line.
Yawn. Not a one star yawn, but yawn.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
I feel like I'm at risk of overrating Nick Cave here, after giving both Murder Ballads and Ghosteen five stars (I think I three starred another one - maybe Lyre of Orpheus? So I am impartial.)
But this is another amazing album. To go from the bawdy darkness of Murder Ballads, to this album of faith, and doubt and beauty shows the versatility of Nick Cave on action. Amazing. Into My Arms is possibly the most beautiful love song ever composed.
Missy Elliott
4/5
Well, for forward thinking, this album is basically a who's who of who will be big in hip hop in the early noughties. It contains two all time hip hop classics and everything on here is enjoyable, if not long lasting.
Timberland and Missy are in me of those all time great duos like Simon and Garfunkel or Gin and Tonic. But this is the warning shot - what comes next is pure genius, this is merely great.
Cyndi Lauper
3/5
The front end of this album is stacked with Heart FM classics. With the exception of a Prince cover that made me want to kill it was so bad. The back end of the album is just okay, with a one minute music hall bit I really enjoyed.
Lauper only has one gear on here, belting it out, and I feel like this held it back a bit, as after a while it all blended into itself.
It feels harsh, as it has two full classics on. But this is my feeling.
Coldplay
4/5
It's not as good as Parachutes, because that wintry charm has gone and been replaced by stadium bigness. It's better than anything after, because they can still write good songs. I thing a career rating of their albums would essentially be a countdown (5,4,3,2,1,0,0,0) though I did give up giving them chances around the excerable 'Every Teardrop'.
I can't hate Coldplay as I hate U2. I think it's because I can fully see Chris Martin lying awake at night worrying that he's lost the ability to write a song anywhere near as good as Spies ever again.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
2/5
It's okay. Walls of fuzz and mumbly melodies. Feel like other bands took this and ran with it better after this, but fair play for a fairly clear fuzzyvision?
I do feel that a lot of music journos were so desperate not too like hip hop and dance that they'd hail anything with guitars that was slightly leftfield as the second coming.
Beneath the walls of distortion, the songs are alright, as I said. Solid. A bit dull. You can see how McGee found his way from this to O*sis. Bands that are kind of faux interesting for people who like music, but don't truly love it.
Beastie Boys
5/5
Yeah, it's great. It's like post Paul's Boutique and Check Your Head, the Beasties were perfectly comfortable being a hardcore punk band, a hip hop group or a funk band and just embraced everything here. And the listener is the winner.
If I'd lno n it was gonna be this kind of party...
A Tribe Called Quest
5/5
It's my least favourite of their three 'imperial' albums. But it's also the silliest, possibly the most charming, and has two of their biggest tracks on it. So really not a bad album, just one in the shadows of others. Like the Arc de Triomphe next to the Eiffel Tower and Eurodisney I guess?
Still getting all five stars
Ozomatli
4/5
I really enjoyed this - I was already a fan of Chali 2na of J5 but hearing him and others over this ace Latin music was really enjoyable, and the additional African and Middle Eastern influences made it really varied and interesting. Definitely one I'll revisit.
Metallica
3/5
It's pretty good. The best Metallica album, even with the school shooter mope anthem Nothing Else Matters on there. The most and silliest fun they were and ever will be.
The The
3/5
I'll take it. Not mind blowing but solid, and quite enjoyable different, especially in the rhythm and instrumentation. I will revisit this and I hope that it grows. It feels.like it grows.
Dr. Dre
3/5
It's a very good, but not a great album. It invented the shorthand for 'early 90s' and introduced Snoop Dogg to the world, but it's too mean, too overproduced and too self obsessed to be a true great. It shaped white people's idea of what rap was for the next decade, when it was actually much more interesting than Dre's petty beefs with the rest of NWA and his hatred of women.
The Damned
3/5
It's a good punk album. Not a great one, middle ground. The initial bang had happened, and the resurgence in New Wave and Hardcore is yet to happen. So it's just... Here it is, some more stuff.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
3/5
I don't understand it but it is very pretty. Essentially it's like Islamic prayer I think, in which case they're miles ahead of Christianity's bland hymns!
Otis Redding
4/5
Oooh it's rather lovely. Even if a lot of these songs have definitive versions that are better by other artists, there aren't many songs yo wouldn't want to hear Otis' take on. Maybe Shaddap You Face?
U2
2/5
The start of the decline. Obviously no album with One on it is actually bad. But it's not great. You can tell that they've started wearing shades and leather and thinking they're the shit. Idiots.
Not as good as Achtung Bono by Half Man Half Biscuit, which is far more deserving of a place on this list.
Common
4/5
I enjoyed this. It feels like it maybe needed another 6 months cooking to be truly great but was rushed out when College Dropout went crazy but Common has bars and interesting subject matter.
Paul Weller
1/5
Paul Weller and U2 in a week? Whatever I did, I repent.
This 1993 album, along with Suede's basically set up the whole Britpop scene to come. Where Suede's set up an exciting, quirky interesting scene, this album said, go on Noel, give us all the most plodding bits of the 60s, reheated to a lukewarm temperature, but look like you 'mean it, maaaaan'. That's al
Gil Scott-Heron
4/5
Yeah, this is ace. Just smooth sounding as hell, but with real clout and poetry from Gil Scott-Heron that keeps giving politics and philosophy and sensitivity. It feels like a night that you'd love to be at.
H20Gate Blues is A1.
Black Sabbath
5/5
It's Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath. Possibly the greatest album opener of all time. Also has NIB. Also way more jazzy than you'd expect. Classic.
a-ha
2/5
It's pretty boring. Take on Me is obviously one of the greatest songs ever. The fact that Harry Styles is hailed as a genius for rehashing it 40 years on is proof that don't slaps.
Bit the rest is Soft Cell or the Human League but with none of the edge. I get at the time it would have felt revolutionary to have this go so pop, but 40 years on you just wish they backed it up with the songs..
Charles Mingus
4/5
Wow, normally I'm nonplussed about the jazz ones but this was amazing. Discordant New Orleans style jazz that felt incredible in my headphones. Bits of flamenco creeping in here and there.
The Prodigy
5/5
Not even the best Prodigy album (it's actually a decline from their debut, though admittedly a decline that starts with three five star albums), but darker than Experience, with both the anti rave Criminal Justice Act (as ever, Eff the Tories) and darker, RZA style production radicalising their sound.
You can't argue with an album that has Their Law, Voodoo People, No Good AND Poison. Have a pinger, whip your shirt off, and enjoy.
Wilco
3/5
It's the sort of deeply emotional Americana that did the rounds around this time. Innofensive enough.
The War On Drugs
1/5
Just looking at reviews for this I have to wonder if there's something wrong with me. This sounded like the world's dullest Bruce Springsteen pastiche, but every review of it hails it as some sort of masterpiece. Was it that there were very slim pickings in rock at this time? This feels like music for people who find Vampire Weekend a bit too edgy.
I'm probably wrong, but I hated it. Just insultingly boring.
Machito
4/5
Cuban jazz - I don't know what to s good and what is bad, but I know I was shaking my behind to this. Really enjoyed it more than I ever expected!
Hot Chip
3/5
It's good. It's not as good as some earlier Hot Chip albums, as it lacks some of their weirder lyrical content - this feels a bit more tasteful and grown up, by which I mean a bit more boring!
Still good though.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Nothing with production *this* 1980s should be this good. And yet, this has First We Take Manhattan, I'm Your Man and Jazz Police. It's all up there. Leonard Cohen almost sounds like he's having fun here, which is a mode I actually enjoy!
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Yeah, it's expectedly good! Didn't realise she covered Groovin' which is a tune, and now I have a 4th version to love
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Again, a very good Joni Mitchell album. One of those ones which gets stronger and more inventive as it goes on, I do love a strong finisher. Train is some of the best lyricism I've ever heard.
Malcolm McLaren
4/5
I enjoyed this far more than I expected. It's Graceland, but if Paul Simon had gotten into hip hop. And couldn't sing for shit. I'll probably buy this now, it's that good.
Frank Black
3/5
It starts disappointingly. Frank Black is still his surreal yelping self, but backed by a band without Kim Deal's groove, Joey Santiago's scratchiness or David Lovering's drive, so like a pub rock Pixies. But this albums generous size is it's saving grace. As it goes on, Black dives into genre experiments you'd never have heard on a Pixies album, and here the album actually shines - when he stops trying to give what he thinks you want, and instead gives you the unexpected, it's actually really good.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Yep, apart from two full blues stodges, this album rocks brilliantly. Communication Breakdown is one of the greatest rock songs of all time. And Dazed and Confused is great in the complete opposite way. Almost pompously bloated but it works a treat.
If it weren't for the two dull bluesy jams, this would be one of the greatest albums ever. With them, we have to wait for Zep II
Queen
3/5
It's quite good. Bits of 'Queen' shine through, but at this point they still sound in thtlrall to Zep and Cream - the glam and camp parts that make them unique aren't there yet.
It's a good album, by a band that hasn't realised it's true potential yet.
Bob Dylan
5/5
It's almost archetypical Dylan. It's the sounds you hear when you imagina a Dylan album. As you might imagine, it's really good, it is 50% guaranteed entries to his greatest hits, and 50% dense lyrical loveliness like Visions of Johanna.
Steely Dan
3/5
It was very okay. Showbiz Kids is a banger and you have to respect the craftsmanship, but it doesn't grab me that hard. Steely Dan are a very clever band, musically and lyrically, but the lack of emotion is a bit weird and uncomfortable.
Bill Evans Trio
3/5
Again, I don't understand jazz all that well. Lots of lovely double bass on this and it washed over me pleasantly.
The Mothers Of Invention
5/5
Really enjoyed this one. Having heard some of the best and worst of San Fran psychedelia over the course of doing this, it is refreshing to hear true weirdo music that wants to poke fun at the whole scene. Who Needs The Peace Corps, Let's Make the Water Turn Black and What's The Ugliest Part of Your Body are all highlights. The album is packed too - one of those great albums where nothing sticks around longer than absolutely necessary.
Hot Rats did nothing for me, I enjoyed Freak Out, but this is a bone fide classic.
Primal Scream
3/5
I can't stand Bobby Gillespie, but think Andrew Weatherall is a genius. So I'm conflicted!
The good news is, a couple of plodding Stones rip offs aside, it's pretty much all Weatherall, blessed out, dubby fun. It's just a shame Gillespie gets so much credit when, whenever he's left to his own devices, he turds out the blandest rawk ever. His only real talent is he is smart enough to shut up when a real grown up enters the room.
So - any time the frontman is in the background this is a five star album. If only they'd sacked the idiot, Primal Scream could have been one of the greatest bands ever!
Burning Spear
3/5
I liked it. I'll definitely give it another spin, but nothing left me agog with wonder. It was just very good.
Buck Owens
2/5
It's alright. Kind of cheesy, jangly fun 60s pop. But I'm not sure why it's on this list. There are 1001 albums that sound like this. There have been great country albums on this list. This is not one of them.
Robbie Williams
3/5
I was expecting to find reasons to hate this, but it's actually alright. It sounds like a second tier Britpop album, or like Oasis, but with a bit more humour and a bit less plod. Guy Chambers is clearly a smart songwriter, taking tropes and just expanding them enough they become fun again.
In hindsight, his success is obvious on the strength of this album - to be fair, I thought more of these hits came later in his career, but it was pretty front loaded!
Kraftwerk
5/5
I have loved this album for decades. I'll probably listen on English and German today!
The Robots is bouncy, jittery fun, Spacelab all graceful beauty, Metropolis all glacial beauty, like it's cinematic inspiration, the full on pop of The Model, Neon Lights is one of the most beautiful songs ever made and Man Machine is wonky march funk.
It is, in short, perfect.
Thelonious Monk
4/5
Again, reviewing jazz is like reading a book in a foreign language. It all seems nice but I don't really have a deeper understanding than that. The slow stuff is more exciting than the fast stuff. Clearly they're all incredible musicians.
Weather Report
2/5
Well, Jaco Pistorious is an amazing bassist. The album is a bit meh though. Easy listening performed by geniuses.
The Byrds
3/5
It's very okay. There are some tracks that are fun - the opener and the sci fi one, and. A lot that's just very well produced and just okay. Feel a little like this is a critics band, not one that's that enjoyable to listen to. O followed this with Boney M and enjoyed the latter far more.
The Police
3/5
It's a good album. Like The Weather Report the other day, and Jacob's bass, this album lives and dies by Stewart Copeland's amazing drumming. Propulsive, rigid but off kilter, sharp and beautiful. You can see the marked difference between these exciting, jittery songs and the shoes off new age bollocks that defined Sting post 1985, and know that without that drumming, Sting is adequate at best.
Merle Haggard
3/5
Perfectly serviceable country. Not in the jangly earache end of the genre - this is well thought out and written, but still not something I would run towards.
Sabu
5/5
Years ago I tried to work my way through the 1001 albums. I didn't get far, but this was my one mind blowing discovery. Bloody love it. It's so fun and funky and summery.
The Cardigans
4/5
I liked this more than I expected to. And that's knowing how good Lovefool was already. There are more gems to be found on this album, and the most weirdly good electropop version of Black Sabbath's Iron Man.
A surprisingly broad and interesting listen and great pop and interesting fun.
Garbage
4/5
I loved it at the time. Now I love about half of it. The other half is a wee bit overproduced and not as exciting. Queer, Stupid Girl and Milk are amazing. Some of the other stuff does less, bit that's okay.
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
Best album of the 00s. That run of North American Scum, Someone Great and All My Friends would be the career highlight of any band. The fact you also get NY I Love You, Sound of Silver and Get Innocuous on the same album and the other tracks all slap too is just GREEDY.
And this isn't always my favourite LCD album either. I think like the Fall, your two favourite LCD albums are the one you just listened to, and the one you haven't heard yet (album 5 plz James)
Christina Aguilera
4/5
Two principal facts about this album - one - it's far too long, and two - if it hadn't been so long it would have easily been a five star album. Both sides - the Dirty/Fighter hard anthems and the Beautiful/Voice Within gorgeous ballads are blimmin ace - it's just that with the length, you end up getting less good stuff. Some of the other bits are great too - one track sounds so Sugababes I believe they sued, there's another Latin infused track that J Lo would have killed for.
Duke Ellington
3/5
Another good jazz album but I still don't 'get' jazz. This is much more trad- it's all standards and very well played and pleasant.
Eric Clapton
1/5
Shite by a racist COVID denying child murderer. Actually contains the line 'Love is Lovely' in the most milquetoast ripoff of Stairway to Heaven.
Nightmares On Wax
3/5
It's music that would be good when you're stoned, but its not necessarily good music that's good when you're stoned. It's a little bit too polite and 'late 90s vegan wholefood cafe in a run down goods shed' music.
The Replacements
3/5
It's odd when something is incredibly influential and you can hear that, but just doesn't grab your heart. The lofi screams Pavement, HMHB and Moldy Peaches, the vocals have been lifted by Black Francis and Kurt Cobain, the silliness/seriousness even goes up to Wet Leg or Art Brut.
But beyond a couple of tracks, I just... Liked it. Maybe it's a grower, but it didn't have a hook to bring me back.
Big Black
5/5
There's something about the tinny, electronic dissonance of Big Black that sets it apart from nearly anything else. Like Minor Threat shrunk down and forced to perform inside a crappy old CRT telly.
The subject matter is bleakly earnest too. I love it, it's horrible and I love it.
Lenny Kravitz
2/5
It's all very much okay. It's very well lit together, he is talented, but it's all a bit derivative. A bit of Prince, a bit of Hendrix, a lot of 60s.
Massive Attack
5/5
What an opening. The warm hug of Protection, followed by the cold chill of Karmacoma. It carries on strong too. Weather Storm is one of the best instrumentals ever, a kind of gorgeous dub piano jazz.
The back half struggles to live up to this start, but is still very good, especially if you like dub or have had a toke.
It's brilliant, ultimately.
Supergrass
3/5
The second best Supergrass album - anyone who tries to argue against the beautiful immediacy of I Should Coco is wrong!
It's a good album with some fun songs, but Late in the Day aside, nothing heart stopping.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
It starts brilliantly, with a not quite Getz/Gilberto, but certainly still worthy version of Girl From Ipanema.
After that, it's an up and down album of bossa-nova by Vegas, but is so short at about 29 minutes it never lets you down badly. Antonio Jobim's slinky guitar grooves really make the album pop.
Cream
4/5
The genius of Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. They managed to make this experimental, fun album despite having dull blues technical Eric Clapton (the anti-Hendrix) holding them back. Sometimes I can only imagine how great Cream could have been if they'd had a less egotistical, more creative guitarist -Jeff Beck maybe.
But nonetheless, this is a cracking album. Psychedelia offered up by musicians who weren't shambolic.
Talking Heads
4/5
It's the third or fourth best Talking Heads album, but it's still great. It has at least four classics on it. That's not bad for a low ranking one.
Ramones
5/5
It's been reviewed so many times better than I could. The opening 4 tracks make the case. Less cynical than the Pistols, less pretentious than the Clash, possibly (and as a Brit, I feel like a traitor saying this) the best band of punks first wave.
Second verse, same as the first.
Grant Lee Buffalo
4/5
I think it'll need a few more listens. I like the lyrics, the frontmans voice, which feels like a yeehaw Kurt or Frank Black, and the variety on show. It may yet be a bit too country for me, but it seems to hold a lot of promise.
Isaac Hayes
4/5
Damn right.
Obviously the theme is an all time classic, and Cafe Regios is cool. The rest is good, but again, very soundtracky - better with the film playing than without.
Carpenters
5/5
Massively underrated band. This is the evolution of what Brian Wilson was doing on Pet Sounds and deserves recognition as such.
Jack White
4/5
It's more interesting than most blues rock. It's a conundrum... Workingbwith lots of different musicians means this has a far greater sonic pallette than the White Stripes. However, it loses some of that monomaniacal drive that made the White Stripes so good.
It's different, and it has both benefits and issues. It is a good album though, maybe two tracks too long
Eminem
5/5
Yeah, I loved it at the time and while some of the content sits uncomfortably 24 years on, I still love it, and will turn a blind eye...
Christ, it opens so strong. My Name Is and Guilty Conscience. But every track (skits aside) has at least a few bars that show Eminem's incredible skill as a rapper, beyond all the shock value stuff
Astrud Gilberto
3/5
It's a lovely voice, but the arrangements are about 50:50. Some are gorgeous, the opener, and the beautiful duet You Didn't Have to be So Nice, others just pass by.
Still good though.
Donovan
4/5
I love a bit of Donovan. This isn't quite up there with Barabajagal in his canon, and doesn't contain anything as beautiful as Catch the Wind, but is a great outline of whatade Donovan alternately so fun and so moving.
The Mamas & The Papas
5/5
Well, I loved two tracks going 😄 n and four coming out. Besides the obvious, Spanish Harlem and Straight Shooter are great. Oh, and the bleak cover of Do You Wanna Dance!
Really good album. Feel like the last couple of days (this and Donovan) are making a strong case for the 60s being the best decade.
The Stone Roses
2/5
Very overrated. I mean, Waterfall and Resurrection are indie disco classics, but it feels like everyone decided to venerate this one decentish album randomly. It sounds little different to a less funny Carter USM or a less hard Pop Will Eat Itself, a less funky Happy Mondays and I could go on.
I feel like a lot of people see having a thick crackhead as your frontman is some sort of yardstick of authenticity (yeah I'm looking at you Libertines/Oasis/Winehouse fans) when it really suggests they should have found someone better. The fact that a lot of these former loved up pillheads who worship this album have grown up to be gammony Tories who worship Farage at the altar of GB News says all you need to know, really.
But regardless, Waterfall and Resurrection are ace. Made of Stone, This is the One and I Wanna Be Adored are alright but a bit ploddy. Fools Gold is obviously great but wasn't included on the album originally. The best bit about the album was the ecstacy that made people think it was better than it was. I'll happily have a 25th anniversary reissue of readily available good pingers. I'd probably give this album an extra star if that happened.
Postscript - Just... Ian Brown man. If there were ever somebody who would have benefited from joining the 27 club. He and Morrissey should team up and do a Thick As Mince Tour.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
I mean, it's better than I'd expected, given its a 9/11 album. It is touching at times, trite at others, and very occasionally hits the peak E Street Band sound.
Missy Elliott
5/5
Every time I get a Missy album on, it's the best Missy album. I think it dropped off after this, but for four albums she could not put a foot wrong. This one is touching, looks back over hip hop without being regressive, is very sex positive, and just plain slaps. The first 20 minutes is relentlessly good. Work It, Gossip Folks, Funky Fresh Dressed, and collabs with Jigga and Meth that both hit.
Genius.
The Kinks
4/5
It's a very good Kinks album, but probably suffers from having a few too many songs. It's not up there with Arthur or Village Green
.. but has at least three of their greats on it (Dandy, Sunny Afternoon, Party Line) so you can't be too harsh!
Lou Reed
5/5
Well that was bleak! The age old story, boy meets girl, they fall on love and have children, boy abuses girl horribly, she leaves, he has her children taken away, she commits suicide, he pretends to be sad but makes it all about himself. Including the sounds of genuine children's crying.
It's really very good. It's also really uncomfortable. Not least because it doesn't feel like it's stopped happening in the 50 years since. I think I like Lou Reed more than I did at the start of this process.
Tom Waits
3/5
I love Tom Waits. But this feels like a fuller version of what he's done before on Swordfishtrombones and Frank's Wild Years and such. It feels like he's gone from a broader pallette to just sticking to mutant blues. I think the Grammy win has deluded the author here.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
I enjoyed it. Early goth, a fun Beatles cover, some amusing studio weirdness. Won't ever be a 'go to' for me, but I respect it.
Queen Latifah
4/5
It's good but not great. In an era where hip hop was leaping forwards, this album feels kind of still. I mean, it still has Ladies First and a whole mess of fun tunes, and Latifah, Love, Shanté and others pushed women forward in hip hop, so this album is capital I Important, it's not an all time musical album.
Genesis
3/5
I thought I was going to like this a lot less than I did. Yes, it's overblown prog nonsense, but it's actually listenable nonsense a lot with a better eye for a tune than, say, Yes.
Tom Waits
5/5
Top three Tom Waits album. The best of his Sturm Und Klang era.
Ride
1/5
Good god this was boring. Like a dad rock version of My Bloody Valentine. All the edges sanded off. British rock was in a dire place on 1990 wasn't it, if this is a high watermark. Couldn't even hate my way through it, it was too dull. Actually celebrated it ending.
Deep Purple
3/5
Does any live set need three drum solos? There is, however, fun to be had amidst the onanistic technical performance. I quite like the gentle trolling at the start of Smoke on the Water where the riff almost gets played then walked away from. Very funny. The songs are also good. Just needlessly bulked out with unnecessary solos.
As I believe Zappa once said to Satriani, "If I wanted to watch you w*nk I'd have stuck a camera in the toilet."
Blue Cheer
3/5
It's an enjoyable racket, sort of Hendrixy pounding but it doesn't feel like it has a huge amount of direction, necessarily. Everything lasted about 2 minutes longer than you'd like, which is tough on a 30 minute album.
3/5
It's a good album, but not a great one. A lot of the songs sound very similar to one another. Where they vary, the album is a lot more exciting (This is Love, This Mess We're In, Kamikaze). Dry and Rid of Me are far more interesting records.
Boards of Canada
4/5
At first, this felt like a fairly average ambient album, but us it went on, a lot of the beats got dirtier and more interesting and ragged and became a more interesting thing. It is also good at only staying with an idea for as long as it is interesting. It has dated (it would be much easier to create these days) but still has lots to give.
Primal Scream
4/5
Once again, the genius of Andrew Weatherall (and Martin Duffy) shine through on this album. Any time you sense their hand firmly on the tiller it's a dubby, dark, claustrophobic masterpiece.
Any time you sense Bobby Gillespie has taken charge, it's pants. Medication, for example, or some of the 'edgy' bits on Kowalski. The one exception is
Still, it was my introduction to dub and echo as an instrument in itself, and I'll always love it for that.
Mj Cole
4/5
At the time, I was much more into the harder end of garage, but actually, these fairly detailed and lush garage tracks that still manage to slap are pretty great. I enjoyed it far more than I expected and was 2 stepping found the house all day!
David Bowie
5/5
Yeah I mean obviously this is amazing. I did not realise it was a bit of a flop first time round. People of 1971... You are fools. It has 50% 'Best Of' tracks and 50% the deep cuts that the cool kids like.
It also has so much good variety from track to track, you just couldn't get bored.
End to end brilliant.
Tom Tom Club
5/5
One I have on vinyl. A very strong piece of evidence that Weymouth and Frantz were the genius of the Talking Heads, rather than David Byrne (the truth is it's all of them).
Just 8 tracks of funk/reggae/hip-hop inflected weirdness. Joy.
If you listen to Genius of Love and don't want to bop, you may be medically dead
The The
3/5
Lyrically brilliant, and with a biting edge to the songs. Annoyingly relevant 40 years on.
However, the hideous none more 80s production makes it hard to get through to the good stuff, as it's at times unlistenable. Get past that and there are rewards within, bit it will take work.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
It's a gloomy album. One track sounded like Suicide on an acoustic guitar. I enjoyed it though, not the wide-screen Bruce Springsteen - a more gentle bleak Springsteen is a bit beautiful.
Big Star
2/5
Not a band I've ever been inclined to check out.
Feel feels like Zep without hooks. Longer than it's 4 minute runtime suggests. By the Ballad of El Good, I see the huge love of Zep. But in the same way ELO loved the Beatles. It's that concept, but with all the exciting rough edges sanded off to ensure radio play.
Still carrying on on the hope this album has it's equivalent of Mr Blue Sky or Horace Wimp!
Thirteen is the nearest I have come to this. It has an earnestness and sadness that elevates it.
Traffic
2/5
Nothing really stuck with me. It feels a bit like that bit in Spinal Tap where it shows their 60s careers? Like a mixture of rawk and fiddle di Dee whimsy. But less entertaining.
fIREHOSE
4/5
This album is funkier than you'd expect from a 'forefather of grunge' type of album. The mix of funk, folk and punk is really a joy throughout most of the album. It's really only the final track that lets it down, a sort of precursor to the bland dirges of Pearl Jam and their ilk.
For the rest of the album it skitters about in lovely ways. It's so close to five starts - I will definitely add this to my collection
Ice T
4/5
It's good. It has some brilliant sample choices (Sabbath, The Theme from Halloween) and variety (hi Bodycount) and some of the songs are great - but it is a little over long and there is some cruft in there.
Neneh Cherry
3/5
It opens with its best two songs, which is always a worry. After this it has great lyrical content and okayish production - I feel like a few more years development of these music production techniques it'd be a lot more engaging.
She is a compelling figure without the music to back it up here (it also ends in the most Brummie fashion ever - I am THERE for that.)
The Flying Burrito Brothers
3/5
It's a perfectly nice country rock album that did nothing more than exist for most of its runtime. The closing track, Hippy Boy was a bit different and good.
But mostly it was just okay.
Michael Jackson
4/5
Don't Stop Till You Get Enough must be the shortest six minute song ever made. So much packed in there that it never gets boring.
After that, you see the same band doing similar things, but never quite hitting that perfect plateau again. Still, 9 good to middling songs and one of the greatest of all time was certainly not a waste of time.
Sebadoh
3/5
A perfectly servicable, skewed indie album. Nothing jumped out, but the overall mix of lovelorn, shouty and abstract is enjoyable enough.
The Residents
5/5
It's brilliant. I can't imagine Ween, Primus or any number of wonky abstract acts existing without this existing first. And they beat Daft Punk to the masks. And they ruined Happy Birthday.
It is a thing of great wonder and I love it.
Spiritualized
3/5
Like every Spiritualised album, lots of lush loveliness occasionally let down by excessive noodling.
Ice Cube
3/5
Not as good as The Predator, but it took Dre 15 years to put out two good albums. It took Ice Cube two years to put out this good one and an all timer. Clearly history has come away with the wrong idea of who the brains of NWA was.
John Lee Hooker
3/5
Perfectly good blues album. The Santana duet is the high point (well of course it is) and it passes by perfectly simply from there. Blues just isn't exciting enough a lot of the time.
CHVRCHES
2/5
It feels like pop, made by people who really like Depeche Mode and wanted a bit of 'edge'.
I found it a bit dull a decade ago, and coming back to it now, I still find it blandly appealing. Like Sade and a few others before, it feels more like an album you put on to demonstrate your exquisite taste, rather than to enjoy...
Electric Light Orchestra
4/5
Genuinely can't fault the ambition on here. It goes big! I almost want to say it'd be better as a single album, but then that ignores that one side is its own symphony (sorry concerto - Concerto for a Rainy Day), culminating in Mr Blue Sky.
It's pop magnificence, but at points gets a little samey. But it's peaks are so very high you almost feel bad for those points where you get a little bored.
Lupe Fiasco
3/5
It was a good 2006 rap album. Not great, but better than Fiddy or Asher Roth, for example. Not sure why it's here - suspect that future editions will replace it.
D'Angelo
3/5
Given that R Kelly is no longer a viable choice, d'Angelo is now my default for 90s sex jams.
Paul Simon
5/5
Saying that there are 1001 albums that are better than all others is arbitrary and suggests there is one album is better than all others which is frankly ridiculous until you hear this album and realise that there is a best album of all time and it is Graceland.
Orbital
4/5
Very hypnotic early dance. Loops that wiggle round in unexpected ways and keep you more involved than the 6-10 minute runtimes for each track should.
The Band
4/5
The Weight is one of the loveliest songs ever written. The rest of the album has good moments, but isn't the most thrilling thing ever. It's very good though.
The Police
4/5
Surprised how good this was! Mostly because it lifts liberally from the Talking Heads, The Residents and other great bands. Every Breath is probably one of the less interesting tracks!
SZA
4/5
It's good. The music is solid, though never blindingly brilliant, and the songs are lyrically brilliant. Taking a cue from D'Angelo or that other guy, they're all sex jams, but with the unflinching emotional honesty of Mary J Blige. The contrast is brilliant, and gets you right in the guts.
Grateful Dead
2/5
Okay, the middle track, which has more singing and is 15 minutes long is enjoyable, but the rest of it is interminable jam band noodling. Never trust an album where the artists are enjoying it more than the fans.
Cocteau Twins
3/5
When you hear 'Cherry Coloured Funk' you think, wow, this albums going to be amazing. But the ten tracks that follow are all so similar it gets a bit tired. Still, the wobbly, lofi, intriguing sound is very pleasant, and different from a lot outside of it.
Alanis Morissette
5/5
Perfect. Just the perfect distillation of adolescent angst and catchy pop tunes. The first album in two years of doing this that I listened to twice in a day, because I hadn't quite squeezed every last drop of joy from it. You know how us Catholic girls get.
Sheryl Crow
3/5
I feel bad, this suffers as I had Alanis the day before. It's a bit rootsy and country for my tastes, bur Run Baby Run is gorgeous, and All I Wanna Do was a smash, even if I find it a tiny bit smug. It falls in the middle for me. I didn't dislike it, but it won't be the next record I buy.
Elvis Costello
2/5
Not again. However, I think I've sussed it! Music journalists love Costello because he looks like a music journalist, makes the sort of music that led to the music journalist having to fall back on writing about music, and music journalists feel seen. Representation is important I guess.
I'd rather Nick Lowe, Ian Dury, Jona Lewie or any number of superior contemporaries I'm afraid.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
3/5
It's good, somewhere between The Cure and Kraftwerk in it's sound. It's also a biiiit overlong, but it's generous I suppose. Some editing would have made this a higher rated album.
I mean, they refine later on - Andy McKluskey wrote Whole Again, one of the all time pop bangers.
Sonic Youth
2/5
Sonic Youth are soooo cool. Coolness is overrated. They're so cool they didn't even bother finishing the songs on this album. It's not terrible, but it's terribly half arsed
The Rolling Stones
4/5
The best Stones album I've heard. The opener and the closer are two of the best pop songs ever written in Gimme Shelter and You Can't Always Get What You Want. In between it remains largely fleet footed and fun, avoiding some of the stodgy RAWK that fills up a lot of the Stones' albums.
And Delia Smith's cake looks good too.
Metallica
3/5
One is a tune. I can't take Harvester of Sorrow seriously because of the restaurant chain - it feels like a Bill Bailey sketch as a result...
Love
4/5
I have listened to this before maybe twice and it didn't click. This time... Something is there isn't it? It's gentleness is its key (that subtleness would have been lost on the younger me) and I can see that it has influenced so many of the other records I love be dearly.
I'll come back to this one again!
Abdullah Ibrahim
2/5
It's very pleasant jazz. Again, my enjoyment of it is limited by my lack of genuine understanding. I realise it's 'Important' and was created by black musicians in apartheid South Africa. But I don't get it. It sounds like nice background music for sophisticated people.
Also, one of the musicians on this is called Dick Griffin, and if that was my name I'd never tire of jokes about rising.
The Kinks
4/5
I'm finding a lot of Kinks albums are good - once they get a bit more concepty they become truly great. Contains one song that is an all time canon one, and at least 5 good ones and then a bunch of filler.
Dexys Midnight Runners
4/5
Wow, this was so much better than expected. I'd thought it was going to be too folky (plus Come on Eileen), as fiddles and such tend to lead the music. It's testament to Dexys that they lead those instruments (as they did with a soul band) towards their own pop vision.
CHIC
5/5
I already own this, and it is exquisite. Both the guitar and bass wriggle about like they're trying to escape the songs and join in the party. Chic are just incredible.
Roxy Music
4/5
I think it's definitely their best album. Deeply weird. Every House really uses Brian Ferry's crooner instincts to make something that's almost Nick Cave dark. Such a shame he turned out to be a bit boring. Do The Strand is a tune as well.
T. Rex
5/5
No Ody else sounds like T Rex. Loads of bands have tried to copy them, but they get the chugging sound and don't get the whimsy or the funk or the sheer joy of the band. I don't think I necessarily got this myself till I listened to this today. The whole album feels like it only took 20 minutes to listen to. Brilliant stuff.
Pavement
3/5
I think I prefer the later pavement - this has some great songs but it begins to get a bit repetitive after a while.
Moby Grape
2/5
This is a hard one to find online! About 20 minutes to find somewhere with all the songs on it! It wasn't really worth the effort. The write up said that label and legal issues tanked their career and left this album a cult item... But honestly I think this passable San Fran psych did about as well as you'd expect from it's songs?
Gang Of Four
5/5
Jittery, but n
Robert Wyatt
4/5
It starts brilliantly - Sea Song is amazing. It never quite hits those peaks again, as it's often tempted into a noodly jam place, but it is almost all really great. Haunted, bruised, but open hearted and warm.
Le Tigre
5/5
One I own. A lo fi électro punk joy. Kathleen Hanna is one of the coolest ever to do it. Everything breezes past and is simultaneously far cleverer and stupider than you'd think possible.
Also, Deceptacon is the greatest indie disco floor filler of ALL TIME
Hawkwind
2/5
It's 2 hours long. I think I'd have been down with it at the hour mark, but after a full football match it's hard to work out what new noises are in their noise?
I do dislike live albums - any of the three albums that make up this set would get three or four stars. As this stands, it's a long slog of a two.
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
It's good. Again, I feel like it's come to me too late in life for me to fall in love with it, it's just good gentle fun
Quicksilver Messenger Service
1/5
Nah, I'm at the point where o just can't be bothered with any more jam bands. Buhbye
Sleater-Kinney
3/5
I enjoyed it. Didn't love it, but just the perfect 90s riot grrrl adjacent punk album
Bill Callahan
2/5
All a bit boring. It would have disappeared without trace without the performers former pedigree. It's a nice voice and there are some good lyrics here and there. But eminently missable.
Roni Size
4/5
Until I heard this I hadn't thought about the lack of Drum and Bass. This is a great, if overlong introduction to DnB, with some proper classics in there.
Todd Rundgren
5/5
A gloriously batty album. It jumps around ideas on seconds and every idea is fully realised before you can get bored. Imagine Floyd, except with a pop sensibility to never get too noodly or pretentious. Possibly the best album of the 70s.
Best track is You Need Your Head
I love the divisive reviews this is getting. Either 'this is insane. 5 stars', or 'Waah, I wanted some lumpen 70s pop rock how dare someone try something different 1 star'.
Cocteau Twins
4/5
This was a beautiful album. Lorelei is the highlight, but there were no real lowlights - save maybe for the dreaminess blurring into itself after a while, but that's not the worst thing really.
Ananda Shankar
4/5
I really enjoyed this. At times kitschy, but at other times completely succeeding at the goal on its front cover.
I realise the sitar is the main event here, but those keyboards sound a good decade ahead of their time too.
A lovely surprise
David Bowie
5/5
Yeah, it's a cracker of a Bowie album. It's somewhere round my sixth or seventh favourite, which means it's better than nearly anything else ever, but mid table (well, Europa League) in terms of his own career. Best track is pretty much the album except the Stones cover.
John Martyn
4/5
I was dreading this one. Everyone I sold a copy of this to back in the day was a beardy, beer bellied typical folkie, and most of their music leaves me cold.
It actually turns out to be sweet, varied, and surprisingly slinky, fleet footed and funky. I want to hear it again!
The Birthday Party
5/5
Damn that horror bat sex horror sex vampire.
It's silly but brilliant fun. The sort of stupid album you need to be deceptively clever to make. Does it get a little bit repetitive as it goes on? Yea. Does it sound like nothing else.on this list and brings the fun? Also yes.
Frank Ocean
4/5
It's as good as people were saying at the time isn't it? It feels like the sort of album Prince might have made had he been born 30 years later. Thinking, Pyramids and a few others are very impressive.
I wish it had a little less of the "I'm up in my penthouse feeling alienated" crap in there, the curse of 2010s music - leave that to Drake and his army of simpleton fans to simp over.
But other than that, a work of a very clever musician.
Steely Dan
3/5
It's sleek and funky, but can also be a bit too cold and mechanical, like a robots idea of groove.
Stan Getz
3/5
It's pleasing, but never goes that far beyond being a pleasant sensation.
Gotan Project
3/5
It's very classy. It feels like the sort of late afternoon on a comedown music you'd listen to before you head out again. Or very early 00s ethical vegetarian café.
As a result, it's much more of a background album than a foreground album. Not riveting but pleasant
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
2/5
Over two hours! If you like bluegrass I imagine this is a real treat. If after two tracks you're thinking of that meme where it says "it's the same picture" and after 40 you're questioning your life choices, bluegrass definitely isn't for you.
It does for the banjo (and any other jangly instruments) what the 80s did for the saxophone - ie ensures you can happily not hear one for a good 30 years until Carly Rae Jepsen makes them cool again.
Skip it. It's a museum piece.
De La Soul
5/5
Top 5 all time album. Don't need to explain myself further.
Got an 80s copy, so all the samples are correct! If you can find one, it's only minor differences from the version that finally made streaming. But it's worth it!
Elliott Smith
2/5
Just a bit dull. Clearly there's emotion and intent to it, but the music just happens, and that's it.
TV On The Radio
3/5
Imagine if a barbershop quartet got deep into Sonic Youth and early 00s Radiohead, and you have a rough idea of what this sounds like.
It's interesting - I feel like it would reward further listens - though I didn't bother then so I don't know that I will now. It's music I have a lot of respect for, but probably wouldn't buy.
Faith No More
4/5
I had a friend who would refuse to say Mike Patton's name without the prefix 'sexy'. He's not wrong.
It's not Mr Bungle or anything yet, but it's still great, varied and fun.
Khaled
3/5
I mean... I'd kill to be this good in one language never mind three, but the cheesy production and the cover of Imagine left me cold.
It's good. Not great.
Radiohead
5/5
It's the fourth or fifth best Radiohead album. Every other track is a classic (for the record, 15 Step, Nude, All I Need, Reckoner, House of Cards and Videotape). The others range from good to stodgy.
4/5
I liked it. I thought Liars were just another of those meh NME bands from the early 00s, but this is a noisy, weird and darlky fun record!
Tim Buckley
2/5
Third album by Tim Buckley. Still the best thing to come out from him was 50% of his son's DNA. His songs are good enough, but all a little bit staid and dry. A critics fave, I think.
Hole
3/5
It's a fine album. Doll Parts is a classic. Sometimes it veers from it's grungey base to sound a bit Velvet Underground which is cool. Nothing spectacular though - I had hoped that this review would be better - I really like Courtney Love, but the music wouldn't let me.
Echo And The Bunnymen
2/5
Other than Killing Moon and Nothing Lasts Forever (neither of which are on this album) E&TB are a very boring band. A big fat meh of goth, there is one song which sounded a little like The Monkees which was less dull.
Everything But The Girl
4/5
O thought I hated them at the time, possibly because Missing had been so bloody ubiquitous. This was really good. Maybe a tiny bit 'coffee table sophistication' but the mix of breakbeats, downbeat and lovely vocals made for a great album. Wrong and Walking Wounded stand out.
The Gun Club
2/5
About 20 years ago, Art Brut said "Please, no more songs about sex, drugs and rock n roll, it's BORING'. And on the evidence of this, they were right. Yawnsome rock posturing with a horrible amount of Americana in there. BORING.
The Who
2/5
Pete Townshend is an ambitious songwriter. It's just a shame that after their supreme opening singles, he found himself tethered to the incredibly limited joke attached to a perm that the s Roger 'Brexit' Daltrey. There are flashes of brilliance on here, that often end up squashed by Daltreys rawwwwk delivery.
It could have been a mid tier Bonzo Dog Band album without him. It has some wit and humour.
Sparks
5/5
Every time I hear it I fall more in love with this bizarre and beautiful album. The opening three tracks are possibly the greatest statement of intent in music history. Any one song contains multitudes. When you realise the pushy parent of Talent is an Asset might be Einstein's patent, it's both a great joke, and changes the whole song. I love it.
2/5
Apparently my old music teacher at school used to get beaten up for his love of Yes albums in the 70s. While I abhor bullying, I can't help but feel his tormentors may have been trying to help him.
With 7 songs in one hour, this is truly the Geoffrey Boycott innings of records. Unlike The Yes Album, there is at least an element of groove in this, and some synths to vary the textures of the album.
However, they are still taking 10 minutes to say what others say in 2. Good prog makes 10 minute songs that need that space. Bad prog feels like they started with 10 minutes to fill and kept going till they did. This falls on that side.
The Icarus Line
3/5
A fun noisy racket but not much more. When you think this came out 35 years after The Stooges, you'd think more evolution would have occurred.
David Crosby
3/5
It was weirder and more lush than I expected, but did also splurge put into unnecessary noodles at points.
I am glad this album exists, but may not listen to it again.
Dennis Wilson
4/5
I've always meant to try this one. It's really nice. The height of sophisticated cocaine rock. Part beach boys, part Nillson, part something of its own.
Will buy this I think.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2/5
Do I need to listen to this before I give it two stars? They're all the same. Music that sounds like it was made by a music critic, which is probably why so many of these turgid turds are on this list. Honestly, if the editor ever reads these. The one with a camera on the front. That can stay in. Replace the other ten Elvis Costello albums with interesting albums please.
Gave it five tracks. I was right.
The Saints
3/5
A good, fairly interesting pop album. Love the brass on it, and the Antipodean grumpiness in the lyrics. Vocals and songs are pretty middle of the road otherwise though.
Black Flag
4/5
Better than I'd expected. Black Flag t shirt people always seem to be awful and gatekeepers, so I was very surprised to find out they are big inclusive sounding fun!
David Bowie
4/5
It's not Bowie's best album. The second half is incredible, the first half... Mostly just goodish. Bit too much stodgy AOR rock, and honestly... Heroes (the song) is a teeny bit overrated. Probably in his best 20, but it's not even the best track on the album (it's V2 Schneider... Yes it is, you rockist bore, you). It's still a great song.
The Style Council
3/5
The best Paul Weller album by a country mile. So much more ambition and excitement here than anywhere else in his oeuvre, which otherwise tends to be dead stodgy Brexit rock for dads with bad haircuts.
Violent Femmes
5/5
Punk and folk always seem like two genres that just won't blend, but on the back of this clearly they're meant to be.
Has two of the best songs ever on it
Incubus
1/5
Bloody hell, a copy of this was in every students bedroom in the early noughties (not mine, I couldn't stand them, but I'll try to keep an open mind 20 years on).
I hated Drive so much. It's like a charmless later era Chili Peppers. Which is quite a good description of the whole album. Like emo before it developed ambition and humour.
Do I give them credit for letting their drummer and bassist jam with Cut Chemist and Nu Mark on Battlestar Scralatchica? It feels a single bright point on an otherwise dull album. But it feels like giving credit for a feature, which really just says 'these guys had a budget'.
The xx
2/5
It feels like a blander version of their first album. Some of the beats are nice, but everything that was pop about the original feels like it's gone.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
It's a good one. Funky punk without being RHCP annoying. It gets a bit jammy and noodly round the middle, which is dull. But it gives you Been Caught Stealing before that which is an all time banger.
Ms. Dynamite
4/5
I remember loving the main singles from this at the time, and happily, I still do. The rest of the album is a showcase for the breadth of Ms Dynamites talents, from R and B crooning to toasting to full bore MC she is great across the board.
Perhaps a little over full, 12 rather than 15 tracks and this would be a perfect album.
Billy Bragg
4/5
Well, my politics have always been aligned with Billy Bragg's, I have always previously found his earnestness bloody irritating.
However, having spent the last year striking after 13 years of a government that make the Marcos regime appear the picture of legitimacy and honesty, Power In A Union actually moved me close to tears.
Our government is so crap I now like Billy Bragg. That's shocking. They've broken nearly 40 years of resistance. I'd say it's their only success, save maybe getting gay marriage over the line.
In short, the only good Tory is a dead one.
Miles Davis
2/5
It's a bit standard jazz. A lot of it feels like it's music for a 70s crime drama. Doesn't do much for me.
Crowded House
4/5
Normally, music this traditional doesn't do much for me. But sometimes, something is just done so well that you can't help but love it. Acoustic guitars, harmonies and ornamental extras normally make me want to claw my eyes out, but this has charm, technique, and style.
The Darkness
4/5
Spandex 4eva!!!
I really don't feel like I need to add more to this. Tracks 2-7 are a five star album, but the gimmick does tire a bit after that. But if they were a parody band, how come their best stuff is better than most glam metal bands ever managed?
John Grant
4/5
It gets more out there as it goes on, and I like it more the further out there it gets. A very witty, well put together album with gorgeous layers and lots to find within it. I'd never bothered with John Grant before, but I'll definitely do more now I've heard this. Feels like a grower.
Scissor Sisters
4/5
Having had the Darkness a couple of days ago, and now this, you'd be forgiven for thinking the early 00s was entirely made up of weird 'concept bands'. The Scissor Sisters hearken back to classic disco and such in a very enjoyable way for the first 5 tracks. After that, it starts to get a little samey, but who else thought 'Pink Floyd, but glittery' then pulled it off so well? And Laura is an all timer too.
Lots to love here.
The Zutons
4/5
I have a nostalgic thing for this album. It zips along on a lot of charm and warmth, and enjoys itself throughout. They certainly know how to write a pop song really well. Like the Coral with charisma.
The Prodigy
5/5
This was 12 when it came out. It's not the best Prodigy album, but it has an indelible place in my heart as a result.
Animal Collective
3/5
It's enjoyable in it's 'Beach Boys but avant garde' l'âne, but with the exception of the magnificent Brother Sport, it never truly goes beyond the sum of its clever parts.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Maybe a touch too lovelorn for me today, but beautiful nonetheless. I knew a Case of You and one other, but it's all really good.
Sometimes people say, 'Imagine how great Dylan would have been if he could sing'. To which the answer is we already had it and not enough people appreciate her!
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
Oh yay, we get both parts! Weirdly, given the numbering, this is the less exciting half or Want One/Two, but still lush and funny.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
One of the best Stones albums. Some bands are just better when they are limited. More money led to more bloat for the Stones, whereas this raw album is full of life and excitement.
Would have five stars bit for a lot of cover versions!
Jimmy Smith
4/5
The soul jazz thing is definitely for me. I wondered when it was decided that Hammond Organ was the official sound of cool, and I strongly suspect it was here.
The Go-Betweens
2/5
If you wanted to know what The Smiths would sound like if they weren't funny, you could listen to Morrissey post 2005. But if you didn't want to line his pockets, the Go Betweens can give you a pretty accurate picture of it too.
Bad Brains
3/5
You know how sometimes you can hear how influential an album is, while not necessarily loving the album? It's one of those. It's clearly brilliant, just, aside from I against I, it didn't really connect with me.
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
2/5
A bleak, solemn affair. I won't listen to it again, but it was interesting, if meandering to hear this.
TV On The Radio
4/5
This is so much better than bloodthirsty youth... It takes that harmonious, art rock base, and injects a healthy layer of Prince style funk. And my word is it good! So much more immediate and a pleasure to listen to. It's getting a placeholder 4, but could well become a five on repeat listens.
The Slits
4/5
Less punk racket and more angular post punk, which wasn't what I was expecting... But was far cooler.
It went by faster than expected which is always a good sign, and I enjoyed it.
Pere Ubu
4/5
More cranky, hanky stuff like Dub Housing, but it feels slightly more like organised chaos here. In some senses, that's great, this album has ten actual songs, but on the other hand, I quite liked the terrifying unpredictability of the former.
In short, both are great, the people low balling this just want everything in varying shades of grey and beige.
The KLF
3/5
Okay, so this album feels very dated. It's still great and all, but the KLF always felt like five star ideas with less than five star execution. I could read the Manual or Illuminati MuMu craziness forever, but the albums are almost a side concern!
R.E.M.
2/5
I think the best thing I can say about this album is it truly shows how much REM developed from here to become such a huge band in the 90s. The folky influence is there, and the angst, but the songs are all very mid level. None of the hooks or leftfield inventiveness which conquered the world. It's very much the Pablo Honey of their ouvre - you wouldn't have guessed that this band would go on to immortality from these meagre beginnings.
Motörhead
3/5
It's the Ace of Spades and a bunch of songs with the same sort of energy. It flags a bit after a while, as there isn't much textural change but still... It ain't broke!
Rocket From The Crypt
3/5
It's good fun, but I feel like ska punk beat them to the innovation of having a brass section. On A Rope is a banger.
Johnny Cash
5/5
It's just brilliant. Every track is either heartbreaking, hilarious or interesting. Completely rehabilitated his image after 30 years of doing gospel albums on the cheap to pay off his dealers.
It only needed Hurt to be great, but it gave you so much more.
White Denim
3/5
It's interesting. Garage jazz feels like a reasonable description. It's not for me, but it also sounds pleasingly odd. I listened twice because it felt like there might be a way in for me, but I couldn't find it.
Soul II Soul
2/5
It's okay. Nellee Hooper's production is great, but Jazzie B is not much cop as a rapper, and the songs, while often good, tend to outstay their welcome. It clearly set a template that was improved upon by later artists though, so I get why it's here.
Ryan Adams
2/5
Rescue Blues copies the riff from Summer Holiday by Cliff Richard.
Other than that, it's that bland Americana that critics go nuts for but that is actually just 70s blandness with a noughties production sheen. When the Skies Go Blue is nice.
Einstürzende Neubauten
4/5
The word angst is Germanic in its origin, so it's of no surprise that this music did too. It's horrible, but in the best way. They find emotion in power tools and destruction. It's difficult. But brilliantly so. It could only be done once, but it's amazing it was done at all.
While normally I sneer at the people giving low ratings, this is an album you have to be in exactly the right mood for.
Amazing Serge Gainsbourg cover too!
Cee Lo Green
3/5
It's added an extra album to my early 00s list. All that Pharell and Timbaland production marks it out as a good album. The features outweigh the artist a bit though.
Cee Lo has a great voice, but you aren't getting great melodies here. He brings those an album later as Gnarls Barkley
Pixies
4/5
It's more Pixies which is great, and there are 4 or 5 classics. But being honest, it's post peak Pixies. The five star run of Come on Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa and Doolittle has come to an end, and you will have to settle for great, rather than manic perfection.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
1/5
How is there more Elvis Costello on this list? I'm going to preempt my review here by saying I reckon it'll be blandly clever post punk with a 1950s feel. I'll come back and say if I was right after listening.
Well. The first track was a bit more interesting than I expected. But after that, it's pretty much everything I expected. Dull Dull Dull made worse by the fact it thinks it's interesting. I felt every one of its bloated tracks pass in real time.
The Human League
5/5
It didn't invent electronic music but for a lot of people it might as well have. And when you have Open Your Heart, Love Action and Don't You Want Me it's not surprising. What a run of singles. Pure pop in the best of all possible ways.
The Beau Brummels
3/5
It's nice, Dylan/Donovan lite stuff.Ill probably never go back to it, but it was okay.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
4/5
This album was a solid three stars, until Spinning Wheel and You've Made Me So Very Happy, both of which slap in different ways. Also, covering Satie is a move. For a fairly traditional band, they have so much variety, depth and groove.
If they ever formed the super group Blood, Sweat, Tears, Earth, Wind and Fire (and Water) it'd be the greatest thing ever.
AC/DC
5/5
Every song is about shagging, rocking, or being a badass. Every song is simple but powerful. Honestly, if Cobra Kai were an album, it's this. STRIKE FIRST. STRIKE HARD. NO MERCY.
Ravi Shankar
3/5
It's very pleasant. I can't pretend to know about Ragas and such, but it was pleasant to listen to, and I can see why the Beatles got obsessed!
Giant Sand
3/5
It's a good album. Very late 90s. The singer feels halfway between a blues growl and Lou Reed at his most bored.
It goes on a bit. It's almost varied enough to get a way with it, but the key word here is almost.
Meat Puppets
5/5
This scuzzy, varied and occasionally beautiful album continues to surprise me, 15 years since I thought I'd check out the band that wrote the best bits of Nirvana Unplugged. On a good day, it's in my all time top 10.
Fred Neil
3/5
Well I didn't know Everybody's Talkin was originally by this guy. Love that song. And he's got more in there to offer. I enjoyed this, it has an untidy charm.
Christina Aguilera
3/5
Stripped has been one of my most unexpected highlights of this process. Realising that I'd missed a truly brilliant album out of snobbery at the time. This, the follow up, is less great. Both sides have a single banger (Ain't No Other Man and Candyman) and there's good bits - a twelve bar blues gone 00s pop, an odd duck with a 50 Cent sample and an opener with Steve Winwood! But it's overlong, overstuffed and a bit of a slog overall
Sonic Youth
2/5
I've already had to do two Sonic Youth albums. Just a bit yawn basically. Bit Velvet Underground, an bit noise, less than the sum of its parts.
The Triffids
1/5
This overproduced, slightly American sound was really in in the 80s, this, Simple Minds, a slew of other bands I can't be arsed to remember, but then, so was ignoring HIV because it only affected minorities, and both are better left there to rot, frankly.
Paul McCartney
3/5
It's nice but slight. But then it feels like it's earned, contextually, knowing the Beatles history and watching 'Get Back', I'd want to make something quick and dirty too.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
Much better than most of their peers - they swing for a funky Zep type of sound and often make it work. I don't love it, but I did enjoy ot
Lana Del Rey
3/5
It's a really lovely sounding album. Like a 70s cocaine opera but with a few modern production twists. But after a while, the songs do get a bit samey. The current trend of 'Wah I'm rich but sad' pop is a bit tired really and I can't really relate, cos my parents names aren't in blue on Wikipedia...
Nitin Sawhney
2/5
It's not unpleasant. In fact it is blandly, innofensively pleasant. It feels like music made so people can show off their sophistication while having drinks and nibbles. There's some good stuff, but it's so neutral it hurts.
Venom
3/5
It does exactly what it says on the cover! Enjoyable, but more a diversion than the big event.
Nico
3/5
She has a lovely voice, interesting subject matter, and occasionally cool arrangements. But it does plod at a fairly droney tempo unfortunately. A good album, but more as a piece of context for a brilliant one.
George Harrison
3/5
It is a lovely album, in it's single disc form, or a bloated excess featuring racist child murderer Eric Clapton in it's three disc form. Choose the former for two of the best singles ever on a lovely, cosy album.
2/5
It's literally not available anywhere. I considered buying it, but the other couple of albums were very average, so I elected not to.
Kanye West
4/5
The one point where Ye not looking after his mental health actually resulted in a pretty great album. His last great album before he became an increasingly embarrassing sportswear salesperson who occasionally releases horrible rushed music.
It's entertainingly dark and industrial and has a silly sense of humour... until you realise a lot of what felt like jokes here has slowly become his whole person's (HURRY UP WITH MY DAMN CROISSANTS)
Fatboy Slim
3/5
It's the album before Fatboy Slim truly became Fatboy Slim. There are a couple of big hints that he's about to explode, but there are also some pretty regular tracks on there too.
U2
3/5
Positively, it's actually great to hear a raw U2 on this album. The raw energy they can master when they haven't had the edges shaved off by a producer is actually quite thrilling.
The downside is this album is half killer half filler.
Slade
5/5
The British equivalent of AC/DC but yammier and funnier. Underrated musicianship too. That backline is deceptively funky and tight for what is glam rock fun. Brilliant.
Kelela
3/5
Very nicely produced and texturally interesting, but I didn't Fing myself falling in love. It's a solid mid table R&B album in the post-Weeknd vein.
GZA
5/5
All time classic. Choose 5 stars, and you will join me. Choose any less, and you will join your father, in death. You do not understand, but you must choose.
The La's
2/5
It's a very middling update to Merseybeat, except for one glorious single.
Kings of Leon
3/5
They got a lot worse layer on. There's a couple or three great tracks on this, but ultimately, if you spent 5 minutes imagining what Creedence Clearwater Revival would sound like if you travelled back in time and gave them a Nirvana LP you can save yourself the effort of listening to this.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Happy to have a 4th Joni Mitchell album on the list, even though she's so wonderfully ethical her music isn't on Spotify! Annoying to listen on YouTube music with my screen on the whole time, but predictably great Joni Mitchell!
Spacemen 3
3/5
Actually preferable to Spiritualised, probably because or the big Suicide and Stooges feel, rather than generic rawkness. Still feels a lot like all their other work though...
Genesis
4/5
About twice as long as it needs to be. But it's much more enjoyable than I expected Genesis to be! It has a loose story which is entertaining, and much more tonal variation than the initial :full prog' opening would suggest
The Notorious B.I.G.
5/5
About two years ago, I had a Tupac album through this, and it was a mediocre disappointment. Honestly, listening to this, I don't know how the two were even compared to each other. Biggie is frequently hilarious with his wordplay, he keeps the whole album up with just one guest (and that guest is Method Man, as long as you don't count the occasional pointless Puff Daddy cameo) and the beats are brilliant.
As long as you can ignore the fact it's the 90s, and by law you were obliged to have at least three unfunny skits on every album, it's a five star album!
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
What a comeback album. Still danceable, still funny, still cool. The whole career of LCD Soundystem is five stars.
David Bowie
5/5
I was certain I'd had this already, but it turns out I'd just listened to it several times in the past two years! It's up there in the best Bowie albums (above Ziggy, below Hunky Dory for me). Breaking Glass, Sound and Vision and Subterraneans are highlights from an album that is largely highlight
Mariah Carey
3/5
It's a mixed bag. The upbeat stuff, with it's old school references is great. Conversely, the ballads are all a bit too saccharine to be enjoyable
The Doors
4/5
It's swirly on a very good way. The organ playing is fantastic, and Jim Morrison's baritone is a thing of beauty, even of his sixth form poetry mysticism bollocks is a touch embarrassing.
It has at least three or four all time classics on there (even of the soloing on Light My Fire drags on a bit). So a brilliant, if not a classic album.
Tracy Chapman
5/5
Wow, firstly, this starts with five great to perfect songs. Secondly... It's really bleak. Reaallly bleak. Being trapped and violence, psychic or physical, against women are two of its principal themes. It has s absolutely bloody brilliant though. Heartbreaking and brilliant.
Fiona Apple
5/5
If you imagine one of the really great Tom Waits albums, say, Swordfishtrombones, but a female singer, and the focus is less on Lynchian dwarves and hobos, and more on the intimate moments of daily life that feel just as big, then you'll have a vague sense of how brilliant this album is. I did not realise Fiona Apple was like this, and now regret not having sat down with one of her albums sooner. I will be buying this, and soon.
Pixies
5/5
It's the best Pixies album, by a whisker. Don't need to say much more than that
Justin Timberlake
4/5
This is one of the less expected ones for me to say I own on vinyl. Original pressing. There was a rumour at the time that this album is made mostly of tracks Michael Jackson rejected for his comeback album. It rings true. This is high end pop. Timbaland and The Neptunes at their peak and giving their all for the singles, all of which pop.
The back half of the album is less good, sadly. I have a worn first disc and a spotless second one...
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
It's melancholy. Perhaps a bit too melancholy for me (which with Leonard Cohen amongst my top rated is saying something). It's still brilliant, but you'll probably put on Very or Please before this for that hit of pure smartarse pop. But it has Jealousy and Being Boring and is still better than 90% of the albums on this list. I almost feel bad giving it four stars.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Sometimes, a record starts so strong it renders the remainder almost disappointing by comparison. If I were deciding the track listing, I'd make you work for Respect. That said, it's a brilliant half hour with one of the most perfect voices on music. So little to complain about. The band are incredible as well.
LTJ Bukem
3/5
It gets better as it goes on, but this is very tasteful wallpaper for 90s hipster shops. There are a few more exciting tracks, but this largely makes 165bpm feel a bit too tasteful for my liking.
The Offspring
4/5
I liked the best tracks on this at the time, but it's actually very enjoyable as a whole now I've sat down and listened to it. A rare case of the best album not being the poppiest - that came next and has aged badly!
The Cars
2/5
Hailed as a songwriting new wave tour de force, this is one of the blandest albums I've had to listen to. Trundling a dry path somewhere between Elvis Costello's music journo 'serious songwriter' schtick and Queen's overproduced bombast, but without the choruses, it was a chore to get through, punctuated only by the occasional bit of Devo style wonkiness that they start but then walk back.
Supergrass
4/5
The best Supergrass album. They slowly descended into vintage seriousness as time went on, where this album is perfect youthful fun!
Nanci Griffith
2/5
It's nice, but really faded into background noise for me. Clearly a good songwriter and lyricist, but just in such a trad vein that it didn't give me much to care about.
The Cult
1/5
Unbelievably dull rawk, which managed to bore me even as I ended up using it as background music. YAWN.
I realise I have given Zep and AC/DC high scores before. The difference is 1) They do it with passion 2) They remembered to include tunes, not just constipated wailing and 3) They did it first.
Baaba Maal
3/5
As much as I'll never be a great fount of knowledge on African music, every second track on this is joyfully funky, and I got on with it!
The Who
2/5
It's not even a live album. Everyone went back in and overdubbed their parts. It does capture the energy to a degree. But there's never been a band drop off as hard as the Who after their first run of singles, which are so good they've allowed them to coast on in mediocrity for the 50 years since.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
4/5
You know how people bang on about vinyl having analogue warmth? This has that, except for choirs. Zulu appears to be the vinyl of choir voices. Like luxuriating in a warm bath of sound. Do you occasionally expect Paul Simon to pop up? Yeah, a wee bit, but you're not actually disappointed when he doesn't, and that is very impressive!
Nirvana
5/5
I don't think I knew anyone who didn't have this album growing up. It is the millennial Frampton Comes Alive.
It is great. The stripped back Nirvana songs are great, and the Meat Puppets, Vaselines and Bowie covers were essential music education to my teenage self.
Gram Parsons
2/5
So many people and artists I respect love Gram Parsons, but sadly, I can't get past the music being a bit dull and meandering. Americana like this just always leaves me cold, sadly.
Brian Eno
4/5
It falls somewhere between sardonic post glam Brian Eno and ambient Brian Eno. Not his best, but possibly the best Eno album to educate/indoctrinate new listeners?
Syd Barrett
4/5
It is wonkily charming, and full of odd whimsy, but also real feeling, expressed in strange ways. At some points it feels a bit stuck, but if you want an album that sounds like little else ever, this is your one!
David Ackles
4/5
It's the perfect mix of Tom Waits and Randy Newman, with a touch of musical theatre. Unexpectedly brilliant lost album!
Killing Joke
3/5
Punk and electronics was revolutionary at the time, but this felt a bit pedestrian now. Gets points for being ahead of its time, but I didn't love it.
Jane Weaver
4/5
Somewhere between Hawkwind, Joanna Newsom and Charli XCX there is this wonderfully odd album, which is pleasingly unlike much else I have heard before. A glorious surprise of an album.
G. Love & Special Sauce
2/5
It's a jam band doing blues. Sounds a bit like White Stripes but without the quirk or structure. The production is live and loose, and there is an annoyingly boinky snare throughout.
It also introduced Jack Johnson to the world, who by being SO inoffensive, offends me to my very core... Do something unexpected you handsome, sweet, surfer with an acoustic guitar, you absolute Ken.
Cowboy Junkies
3/5
I was expecting the worst sort of country from the name, and what I got was a slightly downbeat, folksy and often beautifully sad album. They really should have picked a better name!
The Stooges
3/5
I wish I could have been around when this felt revolutionary. Love what Iggy represents, love some of his la
Ter albums, but the Stooges always sound a bit basic to me, but not in as fun a way as the Sonics, Monks or Ramones. Still good though, just... I always hoped it'd blow my mind.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
The tears we cry today will soon be washed away... By the tears we cry tomorrow is a brutal and hilarious line. It's exactly what you'd expect from Nick Cave, however, I'd say it is perfected on Murder Ballads, this falls a little short of that admittedly high bar!
Raekwon
5/5
Still imperial phase Wu Tang. Raekwon and Ghostface basically rendered all dealer rap after this fully redundant by doing it better than anyone before or after could. Rae brings the street knowledge, bit Ghostface Killah's rhymes are so complex and involved that most are still digging out more meaning and jokes from them 25 years on.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
It's a downtrodden heartbreaker of an album, but intensely beautiful with it. Leonard Cohen was the best, even at the end.
Elton John
3/5
A slight album, though one containing Tiny Dancer, so not without merit. Otherwise, it's quite gloomy, and not his best.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
Wow. You can see how Nine Inch Nails were influenced here. For two tracks it's really out there. Sadly a saxophone comes in after that, because it's the 80s. It's a bloody good album though. Odd, and pleasantly uncomfortable.
Ian Dury
5/5
Five stars before I even put it on. It's punk, but with the tightest funk band ever. No two bars are quite the same and it makes it endlessly listenable. And that's before you even get to the fact Ian Dury is a fantastic wit and lyricist. You'll laugh, you'll be confused and offended and sometimes even moved. Both a jewel in the crown of England's glory and a reason to be cheerful (part 3)
Les Rythmes Digitales
5/5
So underrated. This was Daft Punk, except it loved 80s pop instead of 70s disco. Even men with hearts of stone will bop to these tracks.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
5/5
The mascara snake is right. It is fast and bulbous. Tight also. And annoyingly not available on streaming!
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
It's the best Echo album that I have heard during this. Though still suffers from overlong songs and sixth form poetry, but this one has some tunes.
Steely Dan
4/5
The best Steely Dan album by a mile. Everything works. The lyrics are clever but not smug, the music technically incredible but accessible. This is why people love Steely Dan.
Joan Baez
4/5
It's pretty and lovely. Dated, but the talent is clear to see. Some lovely versions of standards on there too. While I didn't love it, it is hard to see how stiff I do love (Joni, Dylan) would exist without it.
Jamiroquai
3/5
Perfectly acceptable pop acid jazz. The sort of nice album I'd hate on principle when I was young and stupid.
Bee Gees
2/5
An album of passable balladry, that would be three stars, except it has the execrable "I Love the Smell of Burning Palestinian Children" or "Israel" for short on there which marks it down.
Heaven 17
4/5
Yep, this album slaps. I always liked Fascist Groove Thing, but the whole album is this slinky, icy, electofunk, with an experimental bent. Great fun.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
2/5
The mediocre, the mediocre, and the start of Damon Albarn's decline as a creative force.
Kate Bush
4/5
It's very much a Kate Bush album, odd interesting concepts, studied performance, unique. Not my favourite Kate Bush album, but glad it exists!
Japan
3/5
Well, now I know where Duran Duran stole their sound from!
Simple Minds
1/5
Unbelievably bland. Like unseasoned chicken left under a heat lamp for an eternity. Doesn't even have the end of the Breakfast Club song. Probably a good cure for insomnia. Definitely inspired U2s post 1997 output.
Arcade Fire
3/5
Well... Funeral was great, The Suburbs was naff, this was the album between the two, and Win Butler sounds like a nasty piece of work, so I'm heading in trepidatiously.
It was alright. Clearly the career is a downward curve but it had a few great songs. All a bit long winded though.
John Prine
4/5
Wow. My relative ambivalence to country was utterly undone by the deft lyricism, emotion and warm humour of this album. Will be buying this!
Marianne Faithfull
3/5
It has a couple of great songs. I love her voice, like a classic french chanteuse, all smoky and weary. But it had its ups and downs. Can't fault it for being forward thinking though.
R.E.M.
4/5
It's more of an iteration on Document than the giant leap forward on the previous album, but remains a great poppy indie album that has at least three of four songs that would be career best for other bands.
Ryan Adams
2/5
Better by a long chalk than Gold. But it's kind of Elliott Smith lite at its best.
The Byrds
1/5
Americana. Again. Bleh. No good members left either. Bland crap.
Dagmar Krause
4/5
It's enjoyably Teutonic and operatic. Wagnerian. Bit obviously without the odious views. Feels a little bit like Tom Waits. Hard to say if I love it from the first listen... But I want to hear more, so that's good.
Aimee Mann
3/5
She's a brilliant lyricist and a great singer, but is surrounded by some of the blandest session musicians in the world Chirning out bluesy blandness. When they back off, as with Jacob Marley's Chains, it flies though.
Kanye West
5/5
One of the best debits ever. Yeah, he turned out to be a complete piece of Musk but for a glorious decade he was incredible.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
It would be an act of meanness to deduct from this incredibly generous double album for occasional sagginess when it has enough classics to fill half a best of.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
A good, quick and done Neil Young album. The stripped back ones are better than the full fat tracks.
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Essentially blues, but it slips and slinks around unexpectedly in fun ways.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
2/5
It's pretty much exactly as you'd expect and didn't do much for me. I'd maybe buy them a tuner and tell them to knock off the deliberately slightly out of tune nonsense.
Method Man
5/5
It's the most pop Wu Tang album. Which means it has an entire song about Palestinian liberation and the smokiest production RZA ever did. And a song fully celebrating women by a 90s male hip hop artist - as someone who grew up on 90s hip hop that's unprecedented. Despite being about the fourth or fifth best Wu record within a two year period FIVE STARS.
Dusty Springfield
5/5
Truly one of the greatest singers ever, by emotion. Nobody can sell heartbreak like Dusty. There would be no Taylor Swift without her!
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
Up until the last three tracks, I'd probably have believed you if you told me this was a mid tier 80s Phil Collins album. That last stretch though is pure fire. Sign Your Name and As Yet Untitled are both dark and eerie in different ways, then a lovely soul banger to see you home. It's a high three stars... Could have been a low 4
Iron Maiden
2/5
Technically tight but dull as ditchwater. Seemingly obsessed with war and imagined women in a way most people grow out of at 13. Don't feel like it's ironic.
Manu Chao
5/5
An absolute joy. I knew Bongo Bong, but this whole album is Latin infused with a French wit and so many styles, but still feels coherent and smart.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
It's very short. A quarter of the album is Leys Get it On or a reprise of it. But it's also very very good.
UB40
3/5
I can't remember where I heard them referred to as Jahwaddywaddy, but it rings uncomfortably true. This is actually more dubby and political than I expected, and both of those things made me like it more than I expected to.
Sarah Vaughan
4/5
It's actually great, and I'm not a live album person. Because it leaves in the mistakes, and the Sarah Vaughan loves the errors and the chance to improvise and have fun as much as the performing itself. Bot a fun wit and some gorgeous old fashioned jazz.
Van Morrison
2/5
About once in a generation, Ireland breaks from it's tradition of producing stellar bands, and gives us a Van Morrison, or a U2, or a Westlife, I assume as revenge for the occupation. I kindly ask that they use bombings instead, this is excessive and cruel.
Not as bad as Astral Weeks at least, but hard to love this cheese grater voice and mediocre rock and soul.
Deee-Lite
4/5
It's fun. Beyonce is currently being lauded as a genius for photocopying this album. The samply stuff is better than the housey stuff.
Pearl Jam
2/5
Not all grunge bands are amazing. Solid zep style backing, but the vocals are horrible and I think all the lyrics are "He/She they are sad, glibbijibbigun in my fleeeeggghhhjh".
FKA twigs
3/5
Nice enough wintry R&B
Madonna
4/5
Listening to this now, I feel like Madonna really liked Around the World in a Day by Prince. It's essentially a sanitised version of that (plus Like a Prayer). It's a great pop album as a result!
3/5
It's sleek and funky... But never quite enough that I fell truly in love with it. I think I'd rather have had the variety of 12 four minute songs than six eight minute songs which probably would have made me love this more.
Basement Jaxx
5/5
Yeah, this is just end to end fun. Never picked up on The Selecter sample when I was young, just makes me like it even more. It's a 9/10 album, but I'm rounding up cos it makes me smile.
The Band
3/5
It's nice. Heartfelt, bluesy trad rock. It passed by pleasantly but I don't know if I could pick a track out if I heard it again. The band definitely have a few great songs, but only the closer on this is one of them.
Tori Amos
4/5
Lovely dark little lullabies.
Buzzcocks
2/5
My five year old asked me why the man kept sat Ng the same thing over and over again. It is so repetitive and dull, a child whose main music taste is 'Youtube' found it boring.
Has it's moments here and there, but few.
Orange Juice
4/5
Surprisingly broad and varied. I loved the funkiness and afro grooves, and Edwyn Collins' croon. Great album
Paul Simon
5/5
It's a great, joyous, varied album. One of the best Paul Simon solo albums (not as good as Graceland obvs.)
Fats Domino
5/5
Just great classic rock and roll. Very short. My uncle used to play Blueberry Hill on an imaginary piano at the end of drunken nights. At first insane, but he could convince entire pubs to sing along by the time he was finished...
The Dictators
4/5
This was far more fun than I expected. Stupid in the best of all possible ways, and a gem I'd never heard of before. The Ramones probably owe them some royalties...
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
It's almost classical in its beautiful arrangements and ornamentation, yet somehow manages to also be heart breaking earth shattering pop too. A work of true genius. And this review is still shorter than some of the song titles.
Fela Kuti
3/5
Another album which is undoubtedly funky but a bit overindulgent. All good though
CHIC
5/5
It's not as good as C'est Chic. But it is still brilliant. You can see the line through this to their work with Diana Ross in the 80s. Everything they did was brilliant really.
Metallica
2/5
A two hour live album? By a band who I'm largely ambivalent about? At the point in their career they stopped making good music and started becoming a heritage act? Whoop de doo!
Both band and orchestra try 'dramatic' as a mood on every track and it makes the last hour and thirty turn to background music. At least this was the catalyst for a hilarious documentary I suppose...
The Sugarcubes
4/5
It's a great album. Pre Bjork Bjork. I always liked Birthday, but there's actually a lot more on this that is really enjoyable and odd.
The Doors
3/5
Whenever I feel like a bad lyricist, I remember that Jim Morrison was venerated and then I don't feel as bad
A passable album with a few high notes, but definitely not too route one to be one of their greats.
Pentangle
2/5
I just can't vibe with the whole fol-de-lol type British folk. I love our folk history, but our music was terrible. No wonder so many people decided plague and famine were better options if this was the entertainment available.
Anyway, that's what this is. Clearly made by talented people but just not for me
Ali Farka Touré
2/5
Fairly route one afro bluesy stuff. Not a thrill a minute.
Waylon Jennings
3/5
It's witty, but musically a bit dry. I like it, by and large
Big Star
4/5
I didn't have high hopes after their debut was so bland, but wow had they come on by this point. What a brilliant surprise!!!
Sigur Rós
5/5
It's just beautiful. Chilled, epic, mournful just an absolute joy.
Iron Maiden
4/5
I realise I have given other Maiden albums short shrift. This is the one that contains their good songs. My advice is get this one and skip the other 10000 or so albums they've released (exception - that song they did for that Michael Douglas film where he gets angry about hamburgers).
OutKast
5/5
One of the greatest albums of all time. Big Boi's side is peak mid 00s hip hop, with everyone on board, amazing beats and incisive rhymes (from him at least. Some of the smaller names and Jay Z deliver a couple of stinkers). Then 3000s side is essentially a concept album about a relationship happening, falling apart, then the growth that comes after. But with Hey Ya, vampires and a jazz/breaks version of The Sound of Music. If it hadn't been for the jazz flute album a few months ago, you'd say it was the most out there thing he'd ever done.
I can't see how anyone could hear this and give it less than full marks.
Kings of Leon
1/5
You know the sort of person who complains about pop or rap or whatever? This is the sort of stodgy turgid crap they call real music, because it's made by four session musicians who inexplicably made it (admittedly their first album was pretty okay). And the musicians are definitely white, which I often think is a big part of their issue with music that isn't real, ain't that right Morrissey?
Like a sandwich made purely of white bread, with a white bread filling, seasoned with breadcrumbs. Bland and stodgy.
Slipknot
4/5
I loved Slipknot, was cool on Iowa, so didn't bother with this. I missed out! Bar a couple of trad rock songs that did less for me, it's great fun. Nihilistic, but fun.
Korn
4/5
Nu metal two days in a row! And it's a very enjoyable one. If this had been 10 tracks long it'd be five stars and nu metal would be much more respectfully remembered. As it is, it's a touch overlong and not quite perfect. But very close (let's ignore the 90s edgelord shit. It was the 90s. I'm hoping they regret it)
The Boo Radleys
4/5
Wow, it's really varied and whole I only liked half of it, I respect the everything and the kitchen cabinet approach they've taken. Will definitely be going back to this one in future.
Randy Newman
3/5
It's brilliant lyrically but a bit boring musically. C'est tout.
Public Enemy
4/5
Definitely the end of the imperial phase, but still great. Just less essential than the three bomb squad led albums. Imagine only being great rather than game changing, eh...
5/5
I love it. Weird lyricism, and a sound that feels like it's permanently on the verge of falling apart, yet somehow stays on track.
Public Enemy
5/5
I mean, it's one of the core texts isn't it? A music Gospel. The bomb squad production taking James Brown and weaponising it. Chuck and Flava both at their peak. The Panther movement as art. Discordant but beautiful.
Youssou N'Dour
3/5
I only knew that song from the 90s he did with Neneh Cherry. This was funkier and more droney than I expected. Fun, but slight.
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
It was okay. Feel like it's very samplable, but it mostly just happened.
Slint
4/5
It's bloody great. Dense post rock with a right mard on. I was in n the complete wrong mood for it yesterday as I was in a foul mood. It could've got five stars, but I think I need to revisit it when my brain isn't saying 'fuck fucking everything'.
Nick Drake
5/5
Gloriously depressing, exactly what I needed on a day where I felt like dashing my own brains out just to shut the damned thing up. I mean, I can see why it was his last, but it's beautiful.
John Cale
2/5
On the one hand, you can hear how important the pulsing and calming things he brought to the Velvets were. On the other hand... It's a bit boring.
Leftfield
3/5
It's good, but not quite the legendary thing some people think it is. I got a little bored around the middle, but then it picks up massively at the end. I think it relies on the quality of the guests a bit, in that my favourite Left field tracks sound like PiL, or Roots Manuva, or Sleaford Mods (more recently)
David Bowie
3/5
I was mad for it at the time, but that was in hindsight that I was so glad to have Bowie back that I didn't think much about the fact it's a bit ploddy with occasional bursts of excellence. The final masterpiece was still to come I suppose.
Fleetwood Mac
2/5
Okay, half the album is five of the best pop rock songs ever, the other half is blandish but polished AOR. However, it's cultural impact allowed many worse versions of the same schtick to be forced upon us for the next half century, so while the five tracks would warrant five stars, I'm giving this two - much as Wagner and Nietzsche were ace but led to Hitler, I feel like Ed Sheeran and Coldplay wouldn't exist without this cocaine epic. Also, it's mad overrated on here.
The Smiths
5/5
You know what? For all Morrissey has done to tarnish their reputation, they have two of the best albums ever made, and I'm still there for it. This is one of them (the other is The Queen is Dead.)
The White Stripes
4/5
It's in the lower half of White Stripes albums, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Four absolute greats and some toot basically.
Girls Against Boys
3/5
The pros - it sounds a bit like big black, it's the sort of thing I'd hoped for when I was looking for other grunge bands, rather than Pearl Jam.
The cons - it doesn't have any mind meltingly brilliant tracks, it's about three tracks too long.
Overall it's good, but not life changingly brilliant.
American Music Club
1/5
I was excited because I'd never heard of this before, and the thrill of the new was in me. What a shame then, that this sounds like Morrissey in a cowboy hat without the jokes.
3/5
Entertainingly off kilter, slightly psych, slightly trad rock. I'd never heard of this, but I like yesterday's effort, this had promise - I wish they hadn't split, as this feels like the promising album that comes before the true classic.
MGMT
4/5
The Dave Fridmann production makes this album. Otherwise (as evidenced by the follow ups) MGMT are largely a great Tyrannosaurus Rex/Neil Young tribute act. But the oversaturated drums and blaring keyboards reminiscent of his work with the Flaming Lips or Mercury Rev make it so much bigger and bolder. The singled (Kids, Time to Pretend and Electric Feel) are all essential.
Joe Ely
3/5
For the sort of boogie boogie alt country I can happily say this did not offend me as much as expected. I think he writes great pop, just in a style that doesn't do much for me.
The Auteurs
4/5
Can't believe the sixth best album involving National Treasure Luke Haines and second best Auteurs album is his only entry on here. Bad list. Naughty list.
(For reference the five are The Auteurs - After Murder Park, Black Box Recorder - England Made Me and Facts of Life, Baader Meinhof - Baader Meinhof and Luke Haines - 9 1/2 Meditations on British Wrestling of the 70s and Early 80s. Listen and buy them all.)
R.E.M.
4/5
It's the most direst REM album, and it has some amazing tracks, absolute all timers. Night swimming, Man on the Moon, Everybody Hurts. It's so close to a five star album, it just doesn't quite hit that height for me.
ABBA
4/5
An album this bleak shouldn't have two of the best pop songs of all time on it. Voulez-Vous is a better album, but this is still in the conversation
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
At this point they were not the devil they are now. Indeed, if this were a 10-12 track album I'd probably give it's punky Parliament vibes all the stars. As it is it's a little bit indulgent, but good fun.
Amy Winehouse
2/5
I think I was kind to Back to Black a few years ago, but this is just reheated easy listening with a few swears and edgy bits. Pretty bland.
Jazmine Sullivan
2/5
Very much the lemon and herb Nandos of sexual liberation. Limp, generic R&B with generic 'I'm so messy' observations. You'll feel like you bought SZA on Temu
Adam & The Ants
5/5
Pop used to be this mad. Why do we now worship such mediocrity. Pirate afrodrum pop punk. What's not to love?
The Everly Brothers
4/5
This was great. Like the first rock and roll album that's fully pop
Drive-By Truckers
3/5
Miles better than I expected at the start. Surprisingly thoughtful lyrically, a pleasant surprise. Probably didn't need a whole double album, but all good.
Can
4/5
I think Damo Suzuki died 5 days ago. Can got the respect they did, at least in part, because they could be funkier and more emotional than most Kosmisscherock bands. Really good stuff.
The Fall
5/5
About two years ago, I found my 'in' with The Fall. It was The Infotainment Scan. I tried this, their debut years ago and couldn't get into it, but this time I loved it. Sarky, angular, and 'difficult'. But difficult meaning it's trying to push you away in a way that only gets you more interested.
Teenage Fanclub
2/5
This beat Nirvana to the Grammy. In one sense, I get it. It does predict the 90s principal sound better - Fanclub limped so Oasis and a million members of the English Rock Defence League (rest in power Neil Kulkarni) could plod.
It ends with the track Is This Music? Yes, it is, but the difference between a raw potato and a chip is heat. Both are food but I only crave one of these things.
The Charlatans
3/5
On the face of it, no real difference from yesterday's Teenage Fanclub album, but this has an emotionality and a bit of depth to the instrumentation that didn't. They never made another album as good as this, but it's a decent enough peak. Not an all timer, but definitely in that years top 50.
Happy Mondays
4/5
As I have since I first heard it, I feel like this is three of four brilliant classics, padded out by filler. Filler which is often funky and lyrically clever enough to get away with it, but keeping it from being a five star album.
A very good album, the little Screamadelica that could - possibly because Shaun Ryder is so charismatic you forgive him for his sins. The anti-Gillespie if you will.
Flamin' Groovies
3/5
When it's sloppy and raw it's great. When it's overproduced it isn't. It's not the greatest album ever, but I enjoyed it enough to zip through it.
Stephen Stills
3/5
Nice enough, like a bland Neil Young.
N.E.R.D
3/5
Definitely the second best NERD album. Pharell (and Chad) seem to go through cycles of unadulterated genius then relative mediocrity. This is in one of their lulls, unfortunately. Still good, nothing special though. In Search Of... is the one that should be here.
Kings of Leon
2/5
Are you shitting me. Why? What possible reason is this here? The two singles are okay in a nostalgia for mid aughts indie discos, but this is dryyyyy
Leonard Cohen
4/5
It's brilliant, but I was already depressed before I put it on. What a lyricist.
Suede
3/5
It's bleak, and unlike the albums either side, is light on singles. But that is perhaps a feature and not a bug.
David Bowie
4/5
It's a slight bit good Bowie album. Sort of a transition between his dullest, plastic soul era and the more exciting Berlin era. In the top 10 Bowie albums, but low in that.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
How funny. I bought, and was listening to, Songs in the Key of Life yesterday off the back of this project yesterday.
It's less ambitious but has some absolute belters on it.
The Cure
4/5
On first listen, it's dark, rhythmic, but didn't grab me. Thankfully, it looped back around, and it's a real grower. That enveloping darkness, Lol Tolhursts drumming, ooh it's nice.
Faust
4/5
I saw Faust in a church in East London in 2015, on a recommendation from my brother in law. At first, the droney repetitiousness was getting on my nerves, but as it continued, over footage of an old ship rolling over waves, it consumed me, and I felt almost spiritual, and lost in the universe.
This brought back that weird feeling, but even better, had some fun moments between the pretentious guff in the top paragraph.
The Beta Band
3/5
At best, it's the fourth best Beta Band album. None of the shock of the 3eps, the anarchic oddness of Beta Band, none of the more cohesive downbeat of whatever their third album was called. This is a solid start of a decline - hence the split afterwards. It has moments of spark, but not enough to warrant choosing this over a much better back catalogue.
The Who
3/5
Contains one of their best (Baba O Reilly), a lot of filler, and one of their worst (Behind Blue Eyes). The live tracks are funny, if only because you realise who the inspiration for David St Hubbins was. I'm glad I've unknowingly spent 20 years laughing at Brexit charisma vacuum Roger Daltrey.
George Jones
2/5
This sort of country, and indeed, sounds about love have been done to death. Even 50 years ago when this came out, it was played out. Every year in the 70s, game changing albums were coming out. This isn't one of them.
Holger Czukay
3/5
Cool in the Pool is a tune. After that it's a little noodly, but zipped by.
Dusty Springfield
4/5
Great album, only avoiding five stars as it's largely covers... But bloomin great covers.
Soft Machine
2/5
Jazz noodling. Occasional interesting moments but if 2 minutes of 18 are good, make a 2 minute song.
The Incredible String Band
2/5
If you're finding this album profound and deep, your immediate future will involve having your stomach pumped and that little wooden box you keep your stash in hidden by a loved one.
Odd enough I can't give it an egg, but very much a far more effective warning about the dangers of drugs than any group of jobbing actors touring schools could ever give
Paul McCartney and Wings
5/5
What an opening 1-2 punch of Band on the Run and Jet. John Lennon would have kicked a woman down the stairs to make anything this good post-Beatles. But then he'd have done that anyway the misogynistic POS.
Nothing after that comes close, though Mrs Vanderbilt is ace too.
Solange
2/5
Pretty boring. More interesting than Beyonce's 'intersectionality for basic white girls' schtick, this has some great ideas underneath it, but the music is just very middling, sadly.
The Pretty Things
4/5
It's best tracks sound like lost Beatles cuts, which was a very pleasant surprise! I will be returning to this album for certain, a wonderful surprise. Maybe it's a few tracks too long, but for surprisingly long stretches it feels just right.
The Beach Boys
5/5
One of the best Beach Boys albums. So pure and sad and fun.
Travis
4/5
I mean, I wanted to hate it, but it's actually, in hindsight, a bunch of really well put together sad songs. Very trad, no innovation, but the songs are tight and they are pretty great.
Snoop Dogg
4/5
As I said about Travis yesterday, it is possible for an album to lack any real originality and still be great fun. A retread of the Chronics beats, and lots of referential lifts, the bars are mostly as expected, but that smooooth voice and a good sense of fun make it shine.
Janelle Monáe
5/5
There's a reason she was loved by Prince. A true heir. Original, funky, moving, it's everything you could want, plus perfectly chosen collaborators in Big Boi and Of Montreal.
Everything But The Girl
2/5
Lyrically, it's smart and clever, but musically it's pretty dull. Hard to believe what they'd become later from this!
Dion
2/5
I kind of get the cult following. It has a certain faded glamour that possesses a sadness that is quite unique. But it is also very dry and AOR.
Buena Vista Social Club
2/5
It's okay. Nice but unexciting. It's classy. The sort of classy thing you'd put on over dinner. When you've had Sabu and stuff why would you go to the diet version?
Turbonegro
2/5
If not for the very peurile humour, this Stooges rip off would have had very short shrift, but poo and sex jokes elevate it to mediocrity
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
If it just had Scenario it would have five stars, everything else is good too.
Scott Walker
3/5
I can see that it's really good, clever, artful, intriguing. But it's also just a bit too croony and orchestrated for me to truly love...
Laibach
5/5
I love it. Who wouldn't love Slovenian, totalitarian industrial music. Losers, that's who!
Also, great Queen cover.
The Afghan Whigs
3/5
Interesting subject matter marred by a lack of tunes...
Lucinda Williams
1/5
Very very boring. Country meets over compressed late 90s production. Yaaaawn
Lou Reed
5/5
Every odd numbered track is a classic, and every even numbered track is pretty good too. Better than most of the Velvets. An alt-pop classic.
Television
3/5
I know it's a recognised classic, but other than the centrepiece, it's a tiny bit... Boring?
Talvin Singh
2/5
It has it's moments, but it feels very much a late 90s classy coffee table album to show off your tastes. When you think that there was an explosion in Bhangra at this time in the UK, and exciting artists like Metz and Tricks, or Punjabi MC were making great music, that this was chosen to represent the South Asian diaspora in the UK at the time is a bit meh.
808 State
3/5
It has a few really great bits, and you can see how the innovated a lot that would come after, but it feels a bit dated now. They hand built structures that a kid can make on an iPad now. Important, but not essential listening.
Neil Young
5/5
If I could have one problem in life it would be Neil Young's. Imagine knowing you peaked 54 years ago, but remained bloody brilliant thereafter. This is that peak. There wasn't much of a dip.
Van Halen
3/5
No album with Jump on it can be truly bad, but it peaks there, and doesn't throw anything that thrilling from that point...
The Doors
3/5
Mediocrity occasionally broken up by pure inspiration
Thin Lizzy
3/5
I'd still rather have studio versions, but Phil Lynott is charming AF and they have the tunes.
Beatles
4/5
They split up at the right time. This is definitely a band on the wane. No longer are these Lennon and McCartney songs, they're Lennon or McCartney - and a lot of the John ones, while still ahead of the game, are ahead of that bland, American MOR sound that was to come. The best songs (Octopus' Garden and Here Comes The Sun) are led by Harrison and Starr.
It's a great album still, especially in the latter half where it feels like a suite of ideas all jumbled together before they could disagree on them.
But it's a four star album after one of the best five star runs of all time. And Come Together is overrated and a bit boring.
This should upset a few of the Beatles bores.
Beck
4/5
Would be the best beck album if it kept up with the first three tracks. Sadly, it doesn't.
Culture Club
2/5
A great single followed by some deeply average dreck.
Throbbing Gristle
4/5
It's the incredibly difficult but also incredible boy enjoyable if you can get past it's intention to push away the squares who just want to hear a white man doing plodding songs about love or rawk and roll. This is the balance I needed after being forced to listen to Clapton and U2.
Robert Wyatt
4/5
His voice is always a comfort. There's a lovely blend, as always, of silliness and heartbreak, pop and jazz that makes the whole thing a pleasure. Not his peak, but amazing to do this well this far into a career.
Coldcut
3/5
I get it pushed things forwards, but it's aged less well. People Hold On sounds so 1988 it's painful. Later on, Mark E Smith is a highlight, as is the stuff where it's celebrating a more DJ led approach. Bin the housey stuff, keep the bizarre and hip hippy.
Suicide
5/5
WHAT AN ALBUM. Imagine Elvis filtered through nightmares and you're about 50% of the way to getting it's (overused word but appropriate here) genius. Withered electronica giving 50s surf rock riffs, with an 'it could only work in this specific situation' vocal delivery. A dark and beautiful thing.
The Killers
3/5
Better than the rest of their career. Even with massively overplayed "National anthem of basic fools rushing the dancefloor" Mr Brightside taken account for. This came along and gave an 80s pop shot in the arm to a scene obsessed with bland indie sleaze and boring Top Man 'the' bands (Libertines, Fratellis, Kooks, and so on blah).
So, while I should hate it, I remember how refreshing it was at the time to hear something a bit different, and I have tried not to punish it for it's ubiquity in the 20 years since. It's really fun. Not high art, but great pop nonetheless.
John Lennon
2/5
It has one great song on it, in Working Class Hero. The rest is either stodgy rock or self indulgent therapy wank.
Destiny's Child
3/5
The four opening tracks are all incredible. There then follows 45 minutes of some of the blandest, most mediocre music you'll ever hear.
Morrissey
3/5
It pains me to say that some of this is quite good. It's still a pub rock (meat) pie compared to The Smiths' sublime foie gras, but songs like First of the Gang to Die and The World is Full of Crashing Bores are actually fun.
He's still a horrid little NF div though.
ZZ Top
3/5
I prefer the glammier sillier end of ZZ Top but they clearly still had a pop edge here. While it's straight up blues, they keep everything simple (while musically tight and varied -they just don't overegg everything) and short, which makes it a zippy, fun blues album. I likely won't go back to it, but it wasn't a waste of my time, as many more noodly, indulgent, miso first blues albums are.
Van Morrison
1/5
Still feel like live albums shouldn't be on this list after about 1964 when studios were well enough established. This is a double disc of Van Morrison that contains neither of his good songs. At its best it's like listening to pub rock with a good soundman. At its worst I envy the deaf, because silence would be less dull than this.
Gene Clark
3/5
It's nice, sad, a little Neil Young. I know this is one of those much loved cult albums, but for me it was interesting and diverting, but I didn't find anything I loved.
Tears For Fears
3/5
Two great singles and a moody, atmospheric but ultimately not that interesting remainder.
The 13th Floor Elevators
4/5
Yeah, this is actually ace. Garage psych, full of energy, and unlike a lot of stuff like this ACTUAL TUNES.
T. Rex
3/5
Not as good as the other T Rex one, or their wonky folk, but still fun.
The Flaming Lips
5/5
One of the most underrated album ever. It has science, love, sex, death, insects and joy. Imagine Pink Floyd if they were nicer, poppier and had less studio time and cocaine. It's actually that good. If you can listen to Waitin for a Superman without crying you're made of stone.
The Byrds
2/5
It's nice, unexciting, and well produced for the time. Wallpaper music, but good for what it is.
Björk
5/5
A very odd Bjork album (as opposed to her very down to earth ones, lol). Nearly everything is done with just voices. Using choirs, beatboxes and effects on these. It's really pretty, and so impressive. It also has sexy Mike Patton on it, which will always bump things up a star.
The Adverts
4/5
It's really good. Never twigged that they'd done both One Chord Wonders and Gary Gilmore's Eyes. It's raw in that best of punk ways - it feels underproduced in all the right ways. It's caught all the vitality and messiness and I really enjoyed it!
Paul Revere & The Raiders
4/5
It just sounds cool in an indefinable way. A real pleasure of an album. Loose and groove based in a very cool way.
Britney Spears
3/5
Okay, so Email My Heart is one of the single funniest bits of music aging badly ever... Baby One More Time is an all time pop classic. Everything else ranges from competent, to horrible, to wow, even Epstein would feel uncomfortable here. There is a good cover of the Beatles Goes On as well. Rip off of the All Seeing I cover, but she has a good voice. Better than a lot of her singles suggest. I'm going down the middle here and giving it three.
M.I.A.
5/5
It's just ace. She's stayed close to this standard for 20 years while maintaining an indie career that has been brilliant. Conversely, Diplo has become more and more bland and dull while achieving mainstream success and ridiculous money. This is why I think we should let climate change win.
King Crimson
2/5
Christ it goes on. It's got moments, with a guitarist like that how could it not, but this feels like 10 minutes of good ideas stretched out over an hour. Yeesh.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
A very good album. Big on social justice, great musically. Some minor lyrical hiccups - sociopolitical lyrics are hard, but rhyming mercy mercy mercy with fish full of mercury is a bridge too far for me...
Anita Baker
3/5
You cannot deny Sweet Love. Hell, MF DOOM turned it into an all time classic sample.
The rest of the album is a series of great 2 minute pop soul songs which regrettably last 5 minutes.
The Byrds
2/5
Nice but bland is my summary of the Byrds entire ouervre
The Magnetic Fields
5/5
I complain about overlong albums... Then love this 3 hour epic. At about 23 songs and hour, it's only about 2 minutes a song, which allows it to be intensely varied and generous. If you don't like anything, it's gone and the next thing is along. But some you will wish were 10 minutes epics - The Book of Love and Busby Berkeley Dreams spring to mind...
The Young Rascals
4/5
It's pleasant, but varied enough it can veer into garage rock at one end, and the bucolic Groovin' at the other. With the exception of that track I don't think it has any other all time great songs, but it's a solid run of fours!
Funkadelic
5/5
The funk
The whole funk
And nothing but the funk.
Doves
3/5
It's a lovely, moody, atmospheric album. I remember hating the Man Who Told Everything back then because somebody played it repeatedly at an open mic night for months, but it's actually pretty great!
Super Furry Animals
5/5
I loved this album when it first came out. Sidewalk Serfer Girl and Receptacle for the Respectable are six star songs frankly. In any civilised era, SFA would have been Beatles level big.
Dirty Projectors
3/5
A fine, occasionally interesting, but in essential album. Had some fun stuff with time signatures, but nothing that grabbed me and made me amazed.
Muddy Waters
4/5
I complained about his 80s comebacks lack of energy, and this is why. A low tempo album, but one full of life and vitality, and tunes too!
Alice Cooper
5/5
It's bloomin ace. In the book, it's described as overproduced, but Alice Cooper is all about artifice, it's exactly the right amount of produced. It gives no time to concepts like genre, opening with the punky hard rock of Schools out, then ambling through FM rock, jazz, musicals and nostalgic balladry and doing it all well!
Underrated classic.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
It gets better as it goes on. Eg I never want to hear Gang Bang again, but Next and Teenage Superstar are ace. A mixed bag of an album, but not without it's highs
Ghostface Killah
5/5
Best Wu album this side of 2000. Getting Dilla and DOOM is was absolute genius and Ghost face sails round the beats like the prizefighter he pretends to be early on on the album.
Lightning Bolt
4/5
A noisy mess in a really pleasing way. Big, bright cacophonies that smash around your head.
5/5
I only got a pound a week pocket money in 1994, so I bought this on cassette instead of Parklife (which I taped off my mate's copy, but I was so jealous of the art and the chords inside...). My lack of funds made a great choice for me. This is the best they did that Kinks style observational stuff in their career - it started moving towards parody on the next two albums.
The Modern Lovers
5/5
I love Jonathan Richman. I've listened to this album for years, and it's gone from an "I don't get it 2 stars then, to a solid 9/10 today. I know I won't resist eventually, so I'm giving it 5 stars. I wish I could possess a bit more of his beautiful naive optimism.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
It's got all lot of the hits on there, and not much of the more interesting stuff. This is the coffee table end of Marley, the white people friendly end. That said, a great pop single is a great pop single.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
It has 2 of the best songs ever back to back. After the experimentalism of 3, this album is pure pop. Almost a riposte to Phil.
Sister Sledge
5/5
Half the album is already encoded in anyone who dances' DNA. The rest is good too, but good lord, Chic had a hit rate to die for back then.
Tom Waits
4/5
It honestly sounds like the inside of my head these days. It gets a little less crazy and thrilling as it goes on, but still, it's Tom Waits and I'm never complaining about that
Booker T. & The MG's
4/5
So it is great, but it has one thing - funky Hammond soul, so gets a little repetitive after the 40 minutes is up. But it is all enjoyable if you're not looking for more than that!
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
4/5
Much better than I expected. I suspect Dylan was a fan. Honour, fun, and occasional pathos over proto Americana. It zipped by with a smile on its face.
Goldfrapp
3/5
The first track is lovely, haunting and atmospheric. The rest is good, but, save for some Kurt Weil inspired oompah, doesn't really go anywhere...
Scott Walker
5/5
Wow wow wow. What an album. Pop, baroque and weird combine in the most beautiful of ways. Also, the second cover of the same Jacques Brel song I've had in a week. This was the better version. Buying it. And soon.
The Last Shadow Puppets
2/5
Miles Kane being carried out of lumpen mediocrity by his talented mate through a Scott Walker pastiche. In it's defense, there are worse artists to plagiarise. But Alex Turner probably needed better around him to pull it off successfully.
Gillian Welch
2/5
Christ this was dull. Well put together, but so beholden to the past. I'd rather have had an album from the time it apes than this dull retromania.
Gene Clark
3/5
It's pleasant. Sadly pleasant. That's about it.
Beyoncé
3/5
It's okay. Flawless is great, Drunk in Love is pretty good despite Jay Z, Frank Ocean is a good guest, Drake is a PDF file.
It's a bit dated, it has some good songs.
Donald Fagen
3/5
It's another Steely Dan album. Amazing musicianship, occasional bangers, all the emotion of a damp tea towel.
The Fall
5/5
Spoilt Victorian child spoilt Victorian child spoilt Victorian child. Just great discordant grumpy joy.
Hüsker Dü
3/5
It's alright. Dave Grohl better have bought them both mansions with the money he's made biting their style. Nothing spectacular though.
Stereo MC's
2/5
It's a rap album, made entirely to a brief that says "What is the maximum level of hip hop the least open minded white person would be willing to listen to?" And to which the answer is, "Very little".
Connected and Step It Up are good pop songs though
Digital Underground
3/5
I love the weird concept and the funkiness. And the filth. But the music is a little limited and one note. But it's charming as heck.
Patti Smith
3/5
It's clever and controversial and raw. All the things I usually love. But I've always intellectually loved this album, but been emotionally cool on it
TLC
5/5
I got this at the time off the back of Waterfalls and Creep. It only sounds better over time. It has Andre 3000, Busta and Phife as guests. And yet Left Eye's bars are the best on the album. It's soooo good.
The Beta Band
3/5
The first half, with it's jittery samples building into great indie pop is brilliant. Sadly it devolves into more traditional bumbling indie on the other side.
Sex Pistols
4/5
Obviously everything about it is iconic. But half the album is filler, the desperation to be controversial is grating after a while and there are other better punk albums that could have been a better influence on the scene. You can see that nothing about Lyndon has really changed as he does his old man being a dick phase.
That said, the half that's good is damn near perfect. It Malcolm McLaren had loved art as much as commerce, it could've been actually perfect.
Bebel Gilberto
4/5
Very nice. Loved the mix of Latin and breakbeat, while still keeping it light and romantic.
Megadeth
2/5
I could not tell the difference between this and the prior Megadeth album tbh. Enjoyable, but very samey.
Beck
5/5
It straddles the line between genius and silliness so beautifully. And Where It's At sounds too sexy to ever skip. That organ riff. Oof.
Sisters Of Mercy
4/5
This was so much better than I could ever have imagined! I was underwhelmed by Siouxie and The Gun Club, but this is just joyous (in a non joyous, dark and twisty way). It's a four because I don't know how often I'll revisit it, but if I do, I can absolutely see it getting that extra star.
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
So minimal, my nearest frame of reference is probably Suicide. Must be the same drum machine or something.
A game changer. Do I prefer Tougher Than Leathers more maximalist approach? Yes. But the latter wouldn't have been possible without this first.
Beatles
4/5
So. Obviously huge album. And as a result the point I'm going to make has been made about a million times before. But if you took 2/3 of disc 1 and 1/3 of disc 2 you'd have one of the greatest albums of all time. The rest could have been red meat for b-sides and cash in compilations in the 90s. Or some of the weaker solo albums. Can you complain that there's a perfect album tucked in amongst the less good stuff? Yes. Yes you can
Motörhead
3/5
While there's not much tonal variation, it's good fun. Would rather have had a studio album than a live album though. Would switch out all the live albums for more proper albums tbh.
Green Day
3/5
Very overplayed (I worked at HMV at the time) but nowhere near as bad as I remembered. In hindsight, you can sort of hear that they felt threatened by emo and were trying to do some of the progginess and shape of emo in their music to stay on top.
Serge Gainsbourg
5/5
Can't believe it took this long to get to a Gainsbourg album. It's short and sweet and there should probably be about three more of his albums on this list. Perfectment
Ute Lemper
4/5
This was pretty great. Teutonic balladry working with some of the best songwriters of the time (and Elvis Costello).
Drive Like Jehu
3/5
It was okay. I can see where post hardcore was born. Just never a scene that did much for me. Musos taking over a scene and making it technical.
Mike Ladd
3/5
Okay, it's amazingly produced, but it doesn't have the lyrics or hooks to truly grab me. It's still great - might be a grower. Think I will come back to this one.
Yes
3/5
Much better than I expected after the two Yes albums I'd had before. Obviously that's not hard, but my sense of dread gave way to mild happiness when this turned up some songs with tunes and a groove rather than endless noodling!
Sonic Youth
2/5
It's just the Grateful Dead in plaid.
Manic Street Preachers
5/5
I KNOW I BELIEVE IN NOTHING. BUT IT IS MY NOTHING.
It's like the algorithm knew... Album 1001 is possibly my favourite album of all time. Possibly the only album which captures the bleakness of existing in the world, even 30 years on... Probably because people don't change, the world is always going to be this bad.
Your idols speak so much of the abyss
Yet your morals only run as deep as THE SURFACE
Miss you Richey. Always x
Billy Joel
5/5
It's just half of his best of, plus some great, ambitious, earnest album tracks. Billy Joel is so underrated. He may not have started any fires, but he made some amazing music.
The Stooges
4/5
And that's all three Stooges albums. This is the best one. It's slower and that actually makes it feel harder. The better they got, the worse they got, I guess?
The B-52's
5/5
There is little music as fun as the B-52s. No other band could pull off the line "There's a moon in the sky and it's called the moon." And actually have it land. And my son was humming the Rock Lobster riff for hours after. Perfect gonzo pop.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
2/5
Boring stoner world music. Occasionally interesting where it goes, but the 'edgy' spoken word, meandering arrangements and lack of tunes doesn't really leave you anything to cling on to.
Arrested Development
3/5
The production is deeply De La, but beyond a couple of great tracks, the 'conscious' bit is a bit OTT and embarrassing - a lecture from a stern dad, rather than essential bangers with a message.
The Bees
3/5
It's a nice album. It's very old fashioned. Vintage sounds and equipment stuff. Some good tunes, but a bit regressive, I suppose.
The Cure
3/5
Getting more into the Cure more over recent years. Not loving an album yet, still a bit of a Greatest Hits band for me, but there is a cohesiveness to a lot of their albums I like.
Antony and the Johnsons
5/5
Hope There's Someone is perfect. I remember when it won the Mercury Prize in 2005, and everybody (including the right) all thought "Oh that's nice, a trans person* has written a beautiful album of ballads about not feeling like he belongs, that seems like the sort of thing that can and should win this prize".
If it happened today they'd all lose their minds and scream woke. It's all manufactured outrage and is silly and hurtful as fuck. Very annoying and sad.
*Okay... They wouldn't have said trans person. I wouldn't have said trans. It was 2005 and I wasn't educated enough+. But you know what I mean.
+Which ironically is the source of the word 'woke'. I think it came from the Nation of Islam - IE they would ask if a young black man was 'woke', meaning 'are you aware and educated about the structures white men have put in place to hold you back from realising your potential.
Cornershop
5/5
I didn't appreciate this album in my youth, and more fool me. It's a brilliant mix of desi pop, indie and hip hop that sounds like nothing else... And I griped that it didn't have the (admittedly near perfect) Fatboy Slim remix on my version 🙄.
Jerry Lee Lewis
2/5
With the exception of Great Balls of Fire (for which the single is better), he already sounds past his peak (at 30!) here and all the other songs are stolen from others. Also, he was a nonce wasn't he? It's mercifully short I guess?
Pink Floyd
4/5
Normally, the level of whimsy would make me want to kick a hobgoblin on a unicorn in its face, but there's something so charming and well put together about Barrett era Floyd I can't resist, even when it throws you the Gnome, Scarecrow and Bike within four tracks... Plus actually good 10 minute wigouts like Interstellar Overdrive. Ace stuff.
Björk
3/5
It's the first Bjork album that just sounds like a Bjork album. The production is a bit predictable, and it seems to lack the big idea or stylistic change that usually makes a Bjork album so exciting.
The Vines
1/5
Get Free was okay but this was boring at the time and hasn't got more interesting with age. Possibly the low point of early 00s NME barrel scraping - at least the Libertines had the occasional melody .
Joanna Newsom
5/5
Well that was just lovely. Joanna Newsom writes great epics, Van Dyke Parks arranges beautiful strings, and Steve Albini was always a far better producer than just the 'difficult analogue noise' guy. A meeting of three brilliant minds, brilliant in itself.
Happy Mondays
2/5
Largely boring. Wrote for Luck and Hallelujah are good. The rest of it is shite.
Jeff Buckley
5/5
What a voice, what a guitarist, what songs. I think the most baller thing is that there are two covers, but he thought "80s Leonard Cohen and a choral piece by Britten is what we need".
Michael Kiwanuka
3/5
It's a pleasant pastiche of stuff that has been done better about 40 years prior. Clearly very talented in all fields but originality.
Jacques Brel
4/5
As always, would prefer the recorded versions to a live album. But Jacques Brel is really rather good either way.
Isaac Hayes
5/5
Some days you 'discover' music that blows your mind. I'm 55 years late to the party here. It's four tracks long, in about an hour. One is a Dionne Warwick cover. Every track is worth it's length.
George Michael
3/5
Starts off with three back to back great and varied songs. Then the rest is fine. Those three songs do a lot of the heavy lifting though.
Queens of the Stone Age
3/5
It alright. All their albums sound the same and Rated R and Songs for the Deaf were better. So alright but extraneous
Parliament
4/5
I m an, Dre built a whole career sampling about 16 bars from this. It's great, just a party all day he way through.
Meat Loaf
5/5
It could have just been a big Springsteen/Who rip off. But the combination of Steinman's musical theater 'kitchen sink' attitude to composition, and Meatloaf's willingness to treat this with arch wit and a wicked sense of humour elevate the whole thing far beyond that.
Massive Attack
4/5
I think I gave Protection five stars so I don't feel as guilty as I probably should about giving this a very positive four. It is great. It's just a bit safe (from harm). It has some amazing stuff on it. But a few tracks are a bit bland and one of them is a cover so straight down the line that I didn't realise there was a difference for a long time. Still deserves it's classic status. This is my personal opinion. Sorry but also fuck you it's my damn opinion on a very good album.
The Soft Boys
3/5
It was good. Not great. I liked the quirkiness of the lyrics, the music was okay. It's a promising record but not one I'm going to come back to much.
Fugees
4/5
Such a nostalgic hit. Mad that this was the end too. Almost brilliant, wish there wasn't a horrible cover of No Woman, No Cry on there...
Michael Jackson
4/5
It's Thriller. The Girl is Mine is terrible. The rest of it, especially the run of singles in the middle is God like. He was a nonce.
JAY Z
4/5
Jigga will never be my favourite rapper, but it's hard to argue with the pop brilliance of the first half of this album. Early soul Kanye production, a sense of fun, and Jay laying into Nas.
Public Image Ltd.
4/5
It's very fun lyrically. Kind of stuck musically, but at least it's stuck somewhere interesting and atmospheric.
Prince
4/5
Honestly, Prince albums are pretty much solid 5s for me as a general rule. The front half of this album (the only one from his... Ahem... Purple period I don't own) is an easy 5. The back end is weirder and more uncomfortable and I don't know yet. But I feel like I would grow to love it.
Devendra Banhart
2/5
If I wanted something that sounds like folk era T Rex, I'd probably just go for folk era T Rex.
Earth, Wind & Fire
2/5
And water!
After a strong opener, this goes a bit too far into balladry for me to love it. At its best when it's upbeat party funk, but too often saccharine.
Peter Tosh
4/5
After a rough couple of albums, this was a breath of fresh (we'll certainly pleasant smelling) air. it manages to be serious and funny while maintaining an air of fun and some great pop melodies.
Pantera
3/5
Okay. This is at the punkier end of that hardcore/metal crossover and I'm much more there for that than the other. It zipped by fairly pleasantly
Skepta
3/5
Once again proving Britain has the best bars but the cheapest beats. Would love to hear Skepta over something better on the beat
Sonic Youth
2/5
Sonic Youth are boring. The iconography of this front cover is the best thing they've ever done.
Calexico
3/5
It was alright. Far too Americana for my tastes, but the instrumentals were nice and had real soul.
Simply Red
3/5
Sooooo. Simply Red get a bad rap. The production is vomit inducingly 1980s. But a lot of the songs underneath are actually great, and performed with power. And unexpectedly there is a surprisingly good soul version of a Talking Heads song on there!
Neil Young
3/5
It's a good Neil Young album. Not a great one. Largely down the middle bluesy Neil.Young.
Scritti Politti
1/5
Horribly, irredeemably 80s production. It genuinely offended me.
1/5
Two bad eggs in a row. Sounds like five different musicians playing separate songs in sperate rooms that are now being played all at the same time.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Inarguably brilliant. Near perfect. Everything just HITS. After two one star albums, this is what was desperately needed.
Dizzee Rascal
4/5
There's a great 40 minute album in there. Unfortunately it's overgenerous, and feels like a slog interrupted by amazing tunes!!! It's still ace, but some editing would have saved everyone some time!!! X
Deep Purple
4/5
Both sides opening tracks are undeniable all time classics. The remainder is fine. But Highway Star and Smoke on the Water are both better than most will come near in their lifetimes.
Emmylou Harris
2/5
Pretty dull Americana.
Gang Starr
4/5
Yeah, it's great. Never took the time to do Gang Starr when I was younger, but dense rhymes and exquisite samples make this a good one.
Common
4/5
Good rhymes, decent beats, didn't set anything alight though. It's nice.
New Order
3/5
Elegia is really good! The rest is standard New Order though, jingle bass and off key singing.
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
Two blinding singles surrounded by a lot of filler. Some better than others, but those two singles are funny, catchy and cool!
Richard Hawley
2/5
I think he's an amazing person, and he was in Pulp. I should be there for it. But this revivalist rock and roll is largely very boring.
William Orbit
2/5
Really boring. The sort of stuff that exists purely for classy homeward stores to be ignored. In offensive, but no real soul at all.
Tricky
5/5
The opposite of William Orbit. It's dark and anarchic and frequently beautiful - he never achieved it again... But once is enough when it's this damn good.
Goldie
4/5
A great, varied DnB album. Probably too much on the light and vocal stuff for my tastes, but it didn't feel as long as it's 2 discs should, and that's a great sign!
Red Snapper
3/5
Well, if their aim was to satisfy, I'm happy to say this album is very satisfactory. Not much more than that, but it'll do. Inoffensive millennial chillout.
Caetano Veloso
5/5
Yeah, this was a lovely mix of Latin pop and 60s psych, and it really grabbed me. It could well become a favourite!
The Psychedelic Furs
4/5
I was expecting some limp 80s middle of the road pop rock. I was very happy when it turned out to be a lot more discordant and wonky than I'd expected. Like pop but filtered through a fun and wonky mind.
Klaxons
4/5
I hated Golden Skans and the sort of people who liked the Klaxons in 2007, which is a shame, because the front end of this album is absolutely mint. It drops off in the back end, but I'm there for it.
Underworld
3/5
One the one hand, every single track is a banger... On the downside everysong is at a minimum of twice as long as it needs to be.
ABBA
5/5
Unfair to even take into account some of the filler (most of which is far superior to what could be considered filler) when it contains three of the greatest singles ever released, and in Fernando, possibly THE greatest.
Bauhaus
4/5
It's at its best when it truly leans into its camp and pomp and weirdness. It's definitely made me want to spend more time with Bauhaus, as I thought it would all be serious gloom, but really it's that and fishcake recipes.
The Coral
3/5
It's fine. It's vaguely promising - and apparently they have now created some weirdo masterpieces that match up to the promise of this album. But this album never grabbed me enough to get me to invest in future efforts. It has good bits.
Dexys Midnight Runners
4/5
It's a lot more ambitious and odd than prior efforts. I don't love it as immediately but I feel like I'd fall for it over time.
Afrika Bambaataa
4/5
The first big electro/hop hop crossover. And it hits brilliantly on the front. But by the end, it's getting very samey
Jeru The Damaja
4/5
Amazing rhymes and flow over occasionally good but mostly serviceable beats. I definitely want to hear more of what Jeru has to say, but hopefully over more dynamic beats. I feel like Madlib or someone would be perfect with his flow.
Mott The Hoople
2/5
It's fine... It's 70s slightly glam plodding rock. At its best when it tries for Bowie type pomp, no surprise as he wrote their good song, and boring when it goes more traditional. I don't think I'd ever put it on deliberately.
1/5
There's a bit of the Glitter Band's "Hello" on here. Every time it gets listened to, a paedophile gets royalties. And I'm not even sure that's the worst thing about this record.
Ugh. It's the English Rock Defence League's favourite album. Gone is the energy that covered up for the derivative lifts from the Beatles, and on with the interminable plod that would define the rest of their career.
This is the album that people who don't like music own to show they're not complete bores. If your favourite song is Champagne Supernova, you are probably a husk of a personality wrapped in meat, whose idea of living life to the full is visiting the gym three times a week and saving up to visit an emirate where they execute their gays.
If you gave this five stars, stop now. You don't like music. You like interviews where Noel says "Yeah, witticism about hating Liam, and yes, things were better in the old times when we used to watch the lads kick a black person into a coma after the match."
If this is the pinnacle, let's let climate change wipe out the human race. We suck.
Stan Getz
5/5
This was just what I needed after a dull run of records. Gorgeous, mellow, summery joy on a hot day. All the voices and arrangements are beautiful, it's just a sweet joy.
The Thrills
2/5
They've listened to some Crosby Stills and Nash and read some Kerouac and they want you to know it! CSN did nothing for me first time round. Even less reheated here. It sounds expensive , but for the cost it could've been much more interesting. Nice harmonies though...
Morrissey
3/5
Three brilliant tracks and a bunch of plodders plus some borderline racist crap? It's got to be a Morrissey solo album!
Os Mutantes
4/5
I enjoyed it a lot. Didn't outstay it's welcome and contained some very delicious noises.
The Electric Prunes
3/5
It was really good, but I had Os Mutantes yesterday and they did it better, sadly. Unfortunate scheduling snafu there.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
3/5
It's a good JSBX album. You only need one, they don't do much on the variation front. For what it's worth, I'd have gone for the one with Bellbottoms on instead!
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
4/5
I was surprised how much I liked this. Chilled, jazzy, a great background album but one that is surprisingly deep with it.
Kate Bush
4/5
It's a lovely Kate Bush album in a field that has a good number of lovely Kate Bush albums. I prefer Lionheart, Hounds of Love and Aerial, but it's not like there's a bad one in there?
Kraftwerk
5/5
Have this on wax (a bootleg Spanish picture disc). It is a beautiful album. Or at least, 20 minutes of the greatest proto-electronica that sounds like the Beach Boys collaborating with Giorgio Moroder to sing about the joys of motorways. And then a few perfectly acceptable tracks on the flipside.
PJ Harvey
4/5
Okay, so I've always liked but not loved PJ Harvey. But this, rawer album might just be my way in here. Loved it, so much more (dark) fun.
Iron Butterfly
3/5
Come for the decent psychedelia, stay for 20 minutes so good it has its own Simpsons joke.
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
Cripes, I like this far more than loveless! It's really good, much more so when it's weird or mellow (or both). The rockier stuff is meh, but it's odd edges are lovely.
The Associates
2/5
There's an account on Insta that will record songs about your pet 🐕 in a silly voice. This sounds like that.
Shack
2/5
It's like the La's, but on a budget. So that wasn't great, and this is less interesting.
Kraftwerk
5/5
Perfect album. Kraftwerk had about 4 or them.
The Undertones
3/5
It was far more fun than I expected. Though as someone who works in water, listening to 'My Perfect Cousin' and hearing how much Feargal Sharkey can hold a grudge, I'm a little scared.
Madonna
3/5
Better than expected. Some great production flourishes and more interesting subject matters. Sadly it also contains one of the most dogshit cover versions in human history, of American Pie. Impressive as I couldn't think of a way to make that mawkish turd worse myself!
Suzanne Vega
3/5
It feels like 90s alt-angst stuff, so impressive that this is a mid 80s album. Clearly very inspiring. Not enough tonal shift across the whole album, but it is very much one thing done very well.
The Allman Brothers Band
1/5
Well I suppose there had to be one more album of dry, white man blues before I got to the end. At least it wasn't Clapton I suppose. It's also a live album, so a lot of masturbatory noodling here.
Bee Gees
3/5
Surprisingly varied, and definitely better than the other Bee Gees album on this list. Still very much learning that they can be a fun band, rather than a serious one.
John Martyn
3/5
Fine enough. I prefer his slightly less synthy, slightly downbeat stuff to this, but he's clearly got songwriting skills to spare.
The Libertines
1/5
Overrated shit for morons in trilbies. Like Oasis, but with even greater diminishing returns.
Stereolab
5/5
Well I really enjoyed this! While the bland were looking back to the obvious, this takes French bubblegum, German motorik, funk and indie and makes something new and thrilling with it. An antidote to Britpop rockism.
The Cramps
5/5
Simple concept... What if 1950s rock and roll was as depraved as Christian America feared? The answer... IT WOULD BE AS AWESOME AS YOU'D IMAGINE!
Side note - Lux Interior may be the greatest stage name ever.
3/5
I was going to curse this as another Balearic coffee table background music nightmare. But it reaches for beauty or weirdness juat often enough that I can't.
Milton Nascimento
3/5
It was nice, a little bit Nick Drake but obvs with a Hispanic main element.
Joy Division
4/5
Its very bleak. Obviously. It's very very bleak. It's also very good. Beautiful in places, terrifying in others.
Willie Nelson
3/5
A cute album of standards. He chooses well for his voice. Glad it's only 30 minutes though, could've outstayed it's welcome otherwise.
Thundercat
5/5
Modern classic. A beautiful fusion of hip hop and MOR. Possibly the greatest bassist ever. And nobody else could pull off having Kendrick and Kenny Loggins as guests on the same album. A modern classic.
Alice Cooper
3/5
Less fun than school's out, but it still has a handful of gems.
Frank Sinatra
5/5
I mean... It's about 50% of his greatest hits. Brilliant stuff. You'll sing along if you have a soul.