User Albums Summary

I'd always been put off by his guest appearances, where he's always gentle, maybe a bit mopey. But left to do his own thing, it's way more jittery and weird than I thought it'd be and really interesting.

It was nice. Felt like a more modern twist on old chanson stuff. Not an all timer, but very pleasant. Wish I could understand more of the lyrics to hear of it has the wit of a Brel or a Gainsbourg.

Oooh I'd been meaning to do Freddie Gibbs for a while, so cheers to whoever put this in. Great beats, stacked with guests, I really enjoyed it end to end.

Honestly, I thought this was probably getting three stars and I'd move on... But it actually slaps. I've got nostalgia for a couple of tracks, but the whole thing is great. I'm almost thinking grime moved backwards the second time round, cos this has so much more FUN.

Lovely, atmospheric and bleak. I mean it's also got East Hastings, which thanks to 28 Days Later we know is up there with Goblin as the perfect soundtrack to a zombie apocalypse!

I really enjoyed this. Kraftwerk and Neu but something bouncier. I reckon I’ll end up buying it.

I've always avoided this band because their name is so cloyingly annoying. I wasn't right to. But I wasn't necessarily wrong either. It's a sort of scuzzed out psych-garage rock, but performed by incredibly accomplished musicians. On a record it sounds... Very technically proficient but a little dry. But I can absolutely imagine that these would come alive if you saw them live. So I can't rate it highly, but I think I now see their appeal.

One of the most underrated bands ever. This is a solid, rather than life changing entry in their canon, but still has all of the wit, fun and heartbreak you'd expect. A little too obsessed with a particular acoustic guitar sound, but still zips by and makes you smile with it's unexpected lines... "You don't name a boat Titanic 2"

Dan Auberbach is the master of spending a small fortune to make something sound like it was authentically recorded badly in 1964, isn't he? Beautiful voice, lovely melodies, but the production left me very cold. I'll definitely listen to more from the artist, but I want to hear how she sounds when not forced to perform through pretentiously vintage kit!

So, I woke up with a stinking hangover and a long journey ahead of me this morning. Seeing this as my selection for the day, my heart sank. What in the easy listening is this? But then I put it on, and the soothing sounds of Tijuana Brass were like a salve to my aching head and soul. A lovely mix of jaunty and relaxed brass is sometimes exactly what you need, and this was very much the right album at the right time.

Well, it's not even the best Eels album but it's so laden with nostalgia and great songs that it was a joy to go back to!

It sounds like a great local 'scene' band, rather than a life changer. Solid stuff though.

Look, you can't argue with the genius/pretentiousness of an album of songs based on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe. Sadly, 2023 Eurovision geniuses Salena and TEYA outdid Alan Parsons with their absolute banger, "Who the Hell is Edgar?" Distractions aside, this is probably the best Alan Parsons album. Gleefully camp while incredibly performed.

I enjoyed this far more than I expected to. It goes from rocking hard, to incredibly horrible and bleak, to completely stupid at a whiplash pace. Their bassist is hugely underrated - that filthy funk underneath everything makes the songs more than a 7 string dirge. In short, it's ace.

It's a bit edgelordy, which leaves it feeling more than a little dated. But the clear Sabbath influence and a weird Isley Brothers cover means I didn't go away from this completely cold.

This was really quite enjoyable. A template for a less irritating RHCP, with more metal bite and more Rakim/Chuck D style rapping. Great fun!

How was this not on the actual 1001? I mean, that's about all I have to say on this. You could bin Kid Rock, The Waterboys or one of the ever present Elvis Costello albums and have some dubby perfection instead!

Yeah, this is great fun. I only knew the obvious track, but it turns out it was surrounded by a very solid soul album!

Not for me. This sort of bluesy rock always sounds the same to me and I've heard it enough for one lifetime already.

Of the 'imperial' phase of Vampire Weekend's first three albums, this is the least brilliant. That's about the worst you can say about it. You don't have the shock of the new (with apologies to Paul Simon) of the debut, or the Rostam led electronic swirl of Modern Vampires, this is a transition between the two. That said, it's still getting all the stars. A fantastic album by a fantastic band - I still love them now they're in their goofy dad era!

I really enjoyed this! It sounds like nothing else I've heard doing this and felt really interesting. Loads of variety and while my Norwegian is non existent it sounded interesting, and a Wikipedia search shows it was!!!

It's a bit derivative - old psych repackaged. It's done well though, and one track sounded like if Nine Inch Nails had formed in San Francisco in 1967, which was a fun experiment. A mixed bag.

This is actually a masterpiece. It's made me respect some artists who came out afterwards less, because this may actually be the best version of the thing. And I'd never heard it before. I'm gutted that this is the end of this band... I'd have devoured more of this.

It's really nice but also kind of so nice it just washes over you. I liked it but didn't love it.

Better than I expected, but I have an instinctive aversion to 80s production!

Not for me. I like some ambient/EDM type stuff, but in it's attempts at beauty it strived for, it ended up closer to budget videogame music, or classy hold music for a firm swinging and missing at youth.

It was quirky, but the good sort of quirks, not the oh god jam knitting needles in my ears quirky. Left field, folky but without being annoying, heartfelt. This was a lovely new one on me.

Do I save myself time and just give this five stars straight away? I didn't. It's half an hour and six songs long. And three of them are all time greats. The rest are merely good songs, but you can't argue with an album this charming.

It contains two all time great songs. And while it's not my culture, it feels so culturally important I'm shocked realising this wasn't on the original list.

I feel like this is one of those musicians where I'd love the person, but the music comes out a bit plain despite the interesting ideas and great influences. Similar to Shack or (British) Sea Power. I didn't dislike anything, but didn't get beyond "Hmm, that was quite good".

It's absolutely not a genre I go for (music that sounds like it was made in a small hut miles away from the nearest town) but this album is so much wonkier and more abrasive than records of this type that it held my attention far better than I'd have expected.

I'm here for more B-52s. Glad someone corrected the fact we didn't have both great albums on the list.

I'm not a fan of a live album at the best of times... And here it sounds like the soundman actively hates them. The vocal and drum mixes are an actual hatecrime, and the guitar is more overbearing than some of the parents on my school run. A crying shame, as it sounds like some of the songs will be atmospheric and cool, done properly. I'm giving a low score, but will listen to more of their stuff!

It's another transitory album. While a dead man couldn't argue with the 1-2 of Sweatpants and 3005, for some of the rest the album tries bold swings which don't always connect - Chance and Donald on the same track should've soared! This sounds critical, but honestly, this is why it's merely great and not all time.

It's absolutely not a genre for me. Very technically competent, well produced, tuneful Americana.

Love albums remain meh for me... But Bruce Springsteen is one of the greatest live artists of all time. It's still not the studio albums, but I can appreciate that it would've been great to be at. Just, I wasn't, so it's never going to be a thing I come back to (I saw him a year ago. It is as amazing as you'd hope.)

Like the other one. If Bruce Springsteen got deeply into Prozac and numbness it'd sound like this. So a deflated Boss, in short. I see the appeal, in today's awful world, but it's not for me.

It's very chilled and atmospheric. A bit too ambient for me, but definitely beautiful.

Good enough weirdo psych rock. Not my thing, but well executed.

This was a wonderful surprise of an album. Gentle, atmospheric and really beautiful. Will be listening again!

Yep, another "how was this not on the main list?" type of album. Punchy, political punk that because of my age, immediately makes me think of playing Tony Hawk on Playstation...

I knew this album already. Gorgeously off kilter oddness, nobody else sounds like this, and some of the best bass playing ever.

It's so far outside what I personally like, but I do remember a lot of people loving them in my youth. With an objective eye, I totally get it now. Not for me, but clearly great.

Wow! This is way more varied than I expected, and really good fun. Punky at points, ballady chill at others. Another lovely surprise I'll definitely come back to.

It's not without merit, as 'edgy' hard rock goes, but it feels a bit like Laibach bought from Temu? The none more 80s production doesn't help ..

Okay, it starts disappointingly. I thought it was going to be one of those very dry "quiet, nice" albums from the early nights, to be filed with Turin Brakes, Starsailor and other such bland and forgettable pap. But as it goes on, it gradually gets more and more interesting, deep and experimental and becomes really quite brilliant!

It's got all the elements I should like. It's spiky, difficult, female fronted and raw. But I feel like it just happened to me rather than giving me anything to hold on to.

I really enjoyed this one! Very late 20th, just as everyone was working out which genres hadn't met others, but done well, and electroteutonicfolk was a good blend.

If this albums thing has taught me anything, it's that Americana does nothing for.me, I'm afraid.

Anyone who had to live through the noughties can still have their PTSD triggered by this sort of bland landfill indie. There's a road in China paved with the remaindered CDs of this dreck, and even then, the road feels bland and predictable.

It's about the fourth best Mogwai album. But it'd get five stars for Like Herod alone. Can't believe this is the first time Mogwai has come up. Feel like spending the next few years redoing all 1001 plus albums to add a few more!

Nice. Not a life changer for me, but a very pleasant listen.

So many of these songs start hard, like these songs rule... But then run two minutes too long. Can't be too mad, it's got three classics on there.

I tried the crane wife years ago and just didn't get it. I think this is successfully my 'in'. I found it more muscular and compelling and I really enjoyed it's slightly OTT pleasures. Sprawling concept album yes please!

Coming in with an open mind. I only know Jimmy Buffett as a punchline in Yank comedy... I can see why. But it has a degree of charm and invention that elevates it... He's a good lyricist.

I mean five for the nostalgia alone. But I can't believe it was missing from the list anyway?

They have one song and they do it a lot. Thankfully they have the charm to carry it off, within limits.

On the one hand, the 80s synths combined with the outre subject matter is quite fun. On the other, after 40 minutes it feels like 6th form post modern edgelord silliness.

Hmm. There were bits I loved, especially when it went full 70s overblown fun. It was wildly varied as well. For ambition I'd give it five stars. However, none of the songs stuck in my brain or hit me emotionally, so it doesn't quite hit it. It's still glorious, but for me it's just got those final few inches to be five stars.

Very nice. Like the first Bon Iver a bit.

It's not my favourite CG album, but it's a great experiment in making a whole wonky soul album. And some of them are tunes.

An interesting choice. It's from the start of completely artificial pop, and the scene hadn't become completely formulaic at this point, which means this album makes some odd, but delicious choices.

Short, sweet, incredibly 1990s, and good fun.

Nothing that hasn't been said but wildly varied, so much more interesting than a lot of the list and an introduction to some really cool music. Thanks!

Yep. This is mint and skill. Any band that wrote Boogie Wonderland can rest easy knowing they are ALL TIME.

Wow. I was excited for this album at the time, but the electronics and production left me cold and confused by the direction. My ears and heart have now caught up. I listened through nearly three times. The harmonies, the pain, the sheer ambition. Genius.

I couldn't find the appeal myself. Sounds a lot like any other alt-country Americana type thing.

The bot in Barbie where Ken says "I want to play guitar at you". This is what this whole album felt like. Not the joke. The actual experience of an incredibly earnest dude bro doing that while making uncomfortable eye contact the whole time. I can absolutely see why it would be popular, but for me it's my worst nightmare.

After the bland rockism yesterday, this album of breaks that celebrated the rich history of the scene (they probably use every famous breakbeat over the course of this album) while pushing things forward was exactly the shot in the arm and dancing shoes I needed. Absolutely slaps.

I mean I nominated this album so it's only going one way. SUPER! The best MC to ever do it, some of the most ridiculous sample flips (old Fantastic 4 cartoons and Anita Baker... Go on...) and a sense of fun that belies the razor sharp mind operating beneath it.

I wasn't into this, but it just got more and more enjoyable lyrically, and that made me warm to the slightly OTT dramatics of the music till I really started to enjoy the whole thing a lot. I will be coming back to this one. Intriguing

Nothing blew me away, though there were nice moments, like the duet with Anohni. Solid.

I remember hearing this was an insane, left field turn by the Arctic Monkeys, but it really isn't. It's Alex Turner indulging his love of Scott Walker again and it is good enough, but not any more than that.

An interesting album. But not one that made me feel all that much. The mumbled vocals and distantly mixed instruments almost push you away from emotionally engaging with it. Probably deliberate, but meet me halfway, you know? Like the Velvet Underground at their most stubborn.

I mean, nothing on it is as brilliant as Mm Mmm Mmm Mmm but it is a brilliantly weird and wonderful album. Incredibly mid 90s. I miss it.

I was listening to this and thinking this is very Super Furry Animals meets Phoenix. I was almost disappointed when I found out they were Welsh! There are worse influences to have, this is a fun album!

I love the title. The album itself was tight enough, but didn't find a way in with me, which is a shame

This wasn't on the 1001? I'm shocked! It's an amazing album! Such Great Heights is a perfect song

Oh it was great fun. I was disappointed when it wasn't Tale of the Tape, as that has the Big Beat on it, but this still goes balls out fun and mostly hits!

I like the sound of it, but it didn't sustain a whole album. Could have done with more variety.

Well this was fun. There wasn't enough ska punk and now there's some more. A bit of me is hoping that someone from my era had put some Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish or MU330 on here!!!

Passable emo fun. Loved it lyrically more than musically.

Yeah, it turns out brat summer was six years ago and actually Oil of Every Pearls un-Insides summer and you missed it. Bot this, and Brat are incredible works of complex feminine genius. RIP Sophie

A good replacement for Nick Cave as he drifts to becoming a mediocre talking head for hire.

Someone likes Jonathan Richman! And so I enjoyed this. A lot!

The Blower's Daughter has soundtracked a lot of boring couples' first dances at beige weddings, I reckon. It does kinda blow, so you can't accuse him of false advertising? Cannonball was done better by Little Mix, and still wasn't great. Ultimately, I feel like Ed Sheeran sanded the rawness of this sound and ruined the 2010s.

Well it's 3c here today and I have a brilliant summer album on.

It opens with one of the greatest songs ever written! The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out Of Denton. I like the Mountain Goats, but I've never really checked this album out. Essentially more of the same. Lo fi storytelling loveliness

I get that the plod of the thing gets across the heavy emotions and such, but this album tired me more than anything else.

Wow. I thought this was going to be crap, but now I'm regretting writing it off 20+ years ago. Surprisingly moving, but also capable of being fun, snot nosed pop punk. This was a cut above a lot of the bands that broke in the early oughts.

Didn't know what to make of it at first. Not entirely my thing, but surprisingly stirring in places, if a little overlong

Nice, but nothing that has stuck with me, sadly.

I didn't rate them at the time, and I was wrong. Great drummer. Bags of charm. The singles are good, the more maudlin album tracks are better. While the idiots were distracted by sh!t like the Libertines and Razorlight, these guys were making quietly brilliant music in spite of the scene...

Well that was just very good fun. I always liked Yellow Snow, but it carries on in a fun, surreal, joyous way. One of the better Zappa albums.

Perfectly pleasant. Not a whole lot more than that, a bit too coffee table for me.

An interesting album. Poppy italohousey fun that's at its best when it gets weird and dark.

Oh no. It's a live album. A double disk live album. It's listenable, but a single disc, with all the songs half the length woulve been a lot less of a chore.

Imagine if My Chemical Romance were completely hooked on Outlander. It's that, basically. Very OTT, actually more fun than I expected.

I can hear what the Clash loved so much. It's a bit too polished for me, though there are some nice flourishes. Good but not great.

Metalcore isn't my bag. But it's nice to hear it with a positive, uplifting message, rather than nihilism and darkness.

It just trundled past for me. Nothing offended me, but equally, I remember nothing about it 12 hours on.

Never going to complain about more Roger Waters. But this album isn't great. It's probably how the dullard Dave Gilmore managed to convince people he was as central to the band as it's two geniuses - Waters and Barrett.

It was nice. Upbeat. The electronics were good, his voice wasn't.

This album is too good. Gonky electopunk with a daft sense of humour and energy for days. Any time it gets a bit samey, it'll give you a folky song about frogs or a ska punk banger about a bad tooth to keep you on it. Genuinely one of the best albums of the decade so far. Now gimme all of your freakin Doritos and Fritos.

Trashy, campy fun with solid tunes. I enjoyed it!

It doesn't have Sweet Dreams My LA Ex... But. It's far better than I expected. With any given pop album I tend to expect 4 singles then dreck and filler. Here, you get Cure sampling oddities, neodisco bangers, and lots more than you'd expect. Don't get me wrong, you could still cut 15 minutes of fat from this, but it's better than it had any right to be.

Oh this was lovely. Big spacey dub that filled my kitchen on a Friday night.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, anything in French sounds cooler.

Whole not quite at the Guided by Voices level, this is an intriguing album that never stays in one place long enough to bore you.

Some funky prog in the first half won me over enough that a rock opera about an inventor from Walthamstow becoming a birdmen was fun, rather than a cautionary warning about overdoing the LSD...

It's all very route one lyrically. Nice music, and I get it was a musical, but it always seems to go for the easiest rhyme, the most obvious statement. Not a bad album, but it felt a bit obvious. Probably suffers from following some prog lunacy yesterday.

Just some good, listenable goth. Lovely bass.

Yeah, so I knew and liked the singles. On the one hand, this is a gorgeously bleak and cold album, with some deft lyricism to match. On the other, it sounds so of the now in its production it'll age like milk. Not really fair as I know The Weeknd was a pioneer of this autotune alienation type sound...

They're incredible musicians. It's funky as hell. But I can't help the feeling they enjoyed themselves more than I did. Great stage banter though!

Wow. I thought they stopped making this stuff in 1989! It's not changing the world, and many bands did it better in hard rocks golden age, but it's great this is still being catered to, and it's done well.

I don't have loads to comment here. I feel like I'll grow to love this on further listens. But at this moment I just like it and can sense it's potential to work it's way into my brain!

The strings elevate this from a good indie album to a great one. Even if they stole one melody line from Sweet Child O Mine.

I didn't know what the Jesus Lizard sounded like. I think because of Mary Chain I thought they were shoegazey. They're actually on the same lines as Fugazi. Brilliant stuff.

Alarmingly short for prog. Best front cover. Very surprised it wasn't on the main list. The cover has been turned into luxury flats for terrible people.

It's nice, but the folly Americana thing is more than a little played out at this moment in time. At it's best when it wigs out and tries a more interesting angle.

Occasional interesting quirk, but mostly pretty MOR. Was about three tracks in when I realised I'd not paid much attention to it at all

I enjoyed it not my usual thing but it had passion and soul, and that goes a long way!

It's nice, but I feel like this sparse, eerie music works better in his film work. Arrival is beautiful

A subgenre of record in this list I think. Underappreciated 60s psych pop gems. Fuzzy and fun.

I'd have given this a 1 but I'm actually moderately sure Dave Matthews feels the same way about his band as I do. There are touches on here of him seemingly pleading to do something other than this grunge/jam band pop and try something weirder, but it keeps getting squashed down. Somewhere in his mind, there's a really interesting album he's not being allowed to make. #FreeDaveMatthews

Prog but French! You'd think it'd be an automatic 5/5 but sometimes it's comfortable sitting on an idea a touch too long.

It's so fun, and complete filth. I love it.

It was a very pleasant album. Not much stuck with me, but the warmth of the sound.

It's pleasant and nice. I like John Martyn but can't find a route to love.

Sounds like a more affordable version of REM...

It's chill, it's funky, but after a while it became wallpaper. Still enjoyable.

I was surprised this came out as late as 1992. It sounds intensely 80s.

It was delightfully varied, though none of the songs themselves were full marks from me. I've been more bored by better albums!

Another albums m almost certainly put forward by a musician. Incredible technical competence and very few tunes.

It just didn't grab me. She's a talent, I was just a bit bored.

I associate this sort of clap hey folk revivalist shite with modern day nazis and the mentally subnormal who want music like it was before black people. In short, I longed for tinnitus over this.

Unexciting singer songwriter stuff, but I'll save it from one star inogminy, as I feel bad that Ed Sheeran made millions shilling the same bland tripe a few years later.

Like Slayer boned Aphex Twin. Love it

I love Moldy Peaches and Adam Green... But this was the first album where they dialled up the production, and the relative lack of scuzz made it slightly less appealing to me?

Surprised this wasn't on the list... It was the hipster's hipsters album of choice for the longest time. It is a very good album TBF.

It's more they might be giants and it's pretty much exactly what you think you'll get!

Sometimes you get exactly what you expect. Their name is Death. They are metal. It sounds like a metal album by a band called death. Lots of breakdowns.

It's not the most exciting album. Lovely vocals, lovely lyrics... Dull musically

I enjoyed it. I wish I spoke better Spanish and understood it too, but that's my failure! Good mix of hard rock and more traditional Spanish music. Very cool.

It's nostalgic, it's a great sound and it has two classics on it. But it is a victim of CD culture, and gives you a lot of samey filler to fill the disc.

Yeah, I know it's almost SXSW cliche hipster chill nonsense, but it's done so well and so charmingly I can't help but really like this record.

Honestly, their hearts appear to be in the right place, the ingredients are all there, but I can't get my head around why people are so devoted to them. They're a good band. Maybe they're the best right now of a weak pack?

I was giving it a chance, it sounded like budget Phil Collins, but the moment he sang, straight faced "Lavender's blue dilly dilly" they lost me. Well more than lost me, I felt like he should be banned from opening his mouth ever again.

I was expecting the blandest sort of grunge with a singer who sounds like he needs a laxative to get the 'emotion' out. Instead I got an album of fun, Prince aping grooves and songs that knew exactly how welcome they'd be for, length wise. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Nothing on this was bad... But equally, I cannot remember a single thing that stuck in my head 12 hours later.

It's good, but far too nice and polite to form a part of my record collection. Clearly made by music lovers, but not necessarily amazing songwriters.

Good enough scuzzy indie.

Well... It wasn't for me. But it was really good, interesting not for me, and deserves credit for that!

I don't miss the indie landfill years. This is marginally better than the dreck of that era, but it wasn't memorable.

Wow, I was surprised at how much they developed. Not in love with the vocals, so good they got Robert Smith in for a bit!!!

Yeah, it really wasn't for me. Very much a jam band.clearly very good musicians though.

Hmm. Overlong, but more interesting than it first appeared... Some good variety and more than a touch of Springsteen.

Nothing more adult to say than sexy Mike Patton is sexy

I like this, the angry, instant Joe Jackson. You can tell he could end up a capital s Songwriter, but this has more immediacy, and takes itself less seriously.

It's a live album. There are some okay bits but it does nowt for me.

It's very nice. Just not overly exciting. Felt a bit like an Air album, which was nice. Might fall in love with it if I used it for afters one night?

A second Marillion album? Whyyyyy

Had this come out a decade prior, I think this band would have had a huge Pitchfork following and would be reissuing albums like this. The additional decade means I've since had a lot of similar albums come and go, but it was very good, grand and sweeping.

Most of this sounds like those terrible live recordings people put on their Insta stories. If you've ever wondered what the Stooges sounded like on a night where the sound man was on ket, recorded on an iPhone... This is the album for you. There is a fun bit of Iggy trolling the crowd.

I give Oasis a lot of (deserved) hate for being boring music. But Teenage Fanclub is Oasis with the few interesting bits sanded off (I realise they came first, but the metaphor is accurate). It's music that happens, and then it's happened.

I mean... It's got some singles, and a sense of fun, but is wildly overproduced and has very little to say. And I've always hated the talky bits on That Don't Impress Me Much.

It is almost exactly what you'd expect Pitchfork to recommend in 2007. That's alright with me!

Far more traditional than I was expecting. I was thinking tool were proggy and technical, this was fairly route one!

JUST REMEMBER ALL CAPS WHEN YOU SPELL THE MAN'S NAME. RIP DOOM.

This was surprisingly good. The singers voice was a mixed bag, but overall, an enjoyable 40 minutes

Oh it's lovely. Heartbreaking... Lovely too. Making a case for being the best Sufjan album. Not going to lie, had a little cry at Eugene.

Pleasant, but a bit too coffee table fancy chill out for me.

Pleasantly bleak. Like a more metal Mogwai.

Messy but fun. I feel like if I listened to it in the right mood I might fall for it, but I wasn't on that mood yesterday. Take these three stars as a potential future four.

I didn't realise emo sounded like this this early on!? It's not for me, but they were certainly ahead of the curve.

Most bands that say they're influenced by My Bloody Valentine are boring (exception- Mogwai). Where this crosses it with doomy, droney metal, it's anything but. Like a bleak warm bath.

Tres bien. Je connais seulement Plastec Bertrand en la scene de punk francaise, et Les Sherrif sont plus forte.

Second Tool album in a week and this is more what I'd hoped for.

I had the singles of The Distance and I Will Survive as a kid at the time, but never got the album. It's as good as I expected. A unique and lovely thing

Yeah, this was a step up on some of the R&B about these days. Crunchy, light on autotune, interesting I'm there for it!

There are some good moments, and while I shouldn't speak I'll of the dead... It's a bit dull in a Coldplay since 2003 kind of way but dance.

This was a really strangely charming record. The old big band sound with an ambient twist made for something strangely warm and moving.

It's nice to hear modern non-metal prog, and my favourite prog always has a plot and narration, so a win all round!

It's nice. But despite being a complete indie kid, all that shoegaze does get boring across a whole album.

This was really great! I think I glanced at it when it came out, but I wish I'd paid more attention now!

I think I have the last Jimmy album a 4 or 5. This one feels like a more serious and underdeveloped album... Which is exactly what I don't want from them, sadly.

This was a joy. 25 odd tracks over 50 minutes of punk, ska punk and all such other joys.

Oh God. I worked for HMV the year this came out and this would be one of the five albums picked for the stereo every day. It still gives me PTSD. He seems like he'd be a lovely guy to hang out with, so long as he doesn't have his guitar, but the music is possibly the reason the term "toxic positivity" was coined. Spent the time I was re-engaging with this after 20 years out of body waiting for it to be over.

It contains one of the greatest pop singles of ALL TIME. Then two okay ones, then photocopies those three songs three times with diminishing returns. So both a perfect and an irritating reminder of the state of pop in 99

Two things. One, I feel like Australian music was given short shrift in the original list, and I'm glad that it is getting rectified here... But this wasn't hugely for me - if I had to pick a hugely underrated Aussie metal band, I think I'd have gone with Voyager.

Just a bit dry for me. I once stood through their set at a festival to get near the front for the next act, and felt bad as a lot of people loved it but I was a bit bored.

Yeah, like the internet, version 1.0 was more enjoyable! Poppier, while keeping an edge, it lacks the kick and queasiness that made me love the first album. Not bad, but not perfect.

Kind of just in the middle. Like R.E.M. but without the moments of transcendence and beauty.

Ooh. It's like Madonna if Madonna were more interesting. Lovely stuff.

A nice oddity. Good weird. Didn't blow my mind, but it kept me entertained

It is good. Prefer his film stuff though. Weird Science is probably the only song I'll go back to...

Well you can see where Alanis got it from!

Yeah, I see why it's so loved.

Pants Pantera

There was a lot more to like on this record than I expected. But that was from an admittedly low bar of "I hate Lady In Red". His voice is annoyingly reedy, and half the album is terrible, but when he goes more left field (the title track, A Spaceman Came Travelling) I can't help but feel there are redeeming features. Still didn't love it, but it has moved De Burgh from "Enemy of the People" to "not my cup of tea".

I quite liked the other Fontaine's album... But this has icky late stage Coldplay vibes I can't get with. It feels stadium as a perjorative.

I loved Postal Service but never fell for Death Cab (even though their name is from one of my favourite bands of all time!). I came closer today than I have before.

Just standard prog. Counted a nice little 7/8 bit but nothing stuck around after I finished.

Still Bjork at her very peak. A longer peak than many managed, from Debut to Medulla?

What an album should be. 10 or so interesting concepts none of which outstay their welcome. Experimental without being annoying or convinced of its own 'genius'

Easily one of the all time great love albums. Every song has evolved from its album version onto some new type of beast. The transitions are like sweeping joyful moments

It's charming. Simple and dated, but full of warmth.

Very beautiful. I don't love it as much as the other one, but it is a feast of ideas over an hour

It's a touch too folksy for me, but the opening Slade cover won me over quickly, and it is nice. A bit of me feels like the Pogues did it much better.

How was this not in the 1001? It'd be in my top 10! Every single track is a stone cold classic or a technical masterpiece.

If you can listen to Run Away Without Me or I Really Like You without bursting into a big grin, you need therapy to get your joy back. Just brilliant pop.felt unfair I had to return to reality afterwards.

It all went by quickly, and it all sounded emotional (and I always trust Secretly Canadian) but I don't know if it was interesting enough for me to go back to.

Not what I was expecting! It was pleasantly pop punky but nothing really stuck with me.

Why did all early 00s emo bands seem to have one singer from a boy and, and the other from a mine in Middle Earth?

Far more major key than I expected from the name. Not for me, but I respect it.

It was pleasant enough, but ultimately, the title is better than the songs themselves.

I had a stinking hangover, so the final 'non pop' album by indie rocks leading drunken misanthrope is exactly what I needed. The start of their imperial phase and a beautiful, brutal album.

Too many Tool albums in these recommendations, or at least, three in a short space of time. This one wasn't as interesting or fun I'm afraid.

A rare complaint. At barely 22 minutes, this was too short! I was falling for the woozy, slightly Nick Drakey neo folk souliness of the whole thing, and then it was over!

It's actually hilarious that this is his worst album. Did not expect that when I first heard it. It's amazing. It's just... A bit simple compared to everything that followed!

Nepo and the Bunnymen.

Actually great. Some bloat after the killer opening stretch but mostly pitch perfect pop punk

Like a time capsule to the late noughties. The music was tedious mediocrity, but boy did they wear Top Man well and have almost too perfect scruffy hair. A happier time, maybe, but the music was crap, made only to sound risible E4 yoof sitcoms and reality shows.

This properly alternates between exciting and forward thinking stuff and dry bluesy cruft. It's simultaneously a 1 and a 4 or 5.

Well, everyone would be biting on this snot nosed Buddy Holly style of pop punk by the end of the decade. So this is forward thinking. It's also bloody great fun.

In no mean way, Amyl are always going to be one of those bands I like. Big and bold and fun. I'm not sure I'm ever going to love them though, and I see loads who do.

It's gloriously lofi and it has some perfectly good songs. Not blown away by it, but I'd not skip if I heard them again.

I hate most live albums. But this and Daft Punk's Alive 2007 are the exceptions. Watch the film if you can. Immaculate. Then watch the Muppets parody. Also immaculate. Then buy a big suit.

It sounds like Art Brut if Art Brut were ever to go major label. This is a compliment, and I'll be coming back to this.

A lot more stripped back than some Sufjan, but very beautiful. Not peak, but still great.

Best album of the Nu Metal era. System were just a cut above everything else. Shocked this wasn't on the main list. All time operatic, politically charged, but also stupid canon metal album.

I already really like this album. But the best thing is it has something new each time. This time, Depreston really got me. Simple, less wit, more emotion. Brilliant

Look, so many songs, so fast, so fun you can't really resist them. Bloody great live too.

Eesh. As the old saying about jazz goes, I reckon the musicians are loving it, this audience at least van see the talent on display, but it's not a joy to watch.

A pretty okay indie album, pulled up a little by a bloody amazing drummer

Very much another hardcore album. Possibly influential. I think it's adherents have mistaken mediocrity for authenticity, sadly.

I remember not liking this 18 years back. I think it's because they looked irritatingly hipster more than the music, which is like an Atari ST game after a bag of gurners in the best possible way.

This is such an underrated album. Somehow blending the political rage of Public Enemy with soulful jazzy music that sounds like an endless summer. Masterful.

It's the worst of the three albums. In that it's brilliant, instead of earth shattering.

Clearly not an album designed for me. Not the worst bland country album I've heard. Put possibly only because the worst country can be several leagues below Satan when it's done badly. Well performed, produced and inoffensive.

What a surprise. This album went EVERYWHERE and did it really is nterestingly!

Okay, I did have a preconception of the 1975, as Matty Healey is an awful Nepo POS. But having listened to it, my preconceptions were too generous. This is to indie what Calvin Harris is to dance - incredibly wealthy and devoid of soul, wit or any other redeeming feature. It was getting two stars for being boring, soulless but at least expensively put together, but then a risible spoken word piece came on that I'd call sixth form poetry, but that is insulting to the abilities of teenagers. Whichever music journo slept with Denise Welch in the 1980s has A LOT to answer for.

It's absolutely so route one Yankee rock it's not for me. But... He has a sense of humour and charm that carries it further than you'd think.

I mean, it's like a cross between Cat Stevens and light prog... Which often ends up sounding like yacht rock, years before that was a thing. Which I really loved!

I mean, it has Cannonball, and it made Firestarter what it was. And the rest of the album is great too. Clearly holding the best stuff back from those last two Pixies albums, clearly the member who made the Pixies.

The original list was far too short on big beat and french touch. The breaks scene meant a lot to many many people and went further than Fatboy Slim and The Prodigy. So getting Freestylers and Lo Fi Allstars here has been a joy.

I feel like a grouch, but this feels like the least appealing bits of nu metal, pop punk and rap from 2001 synthesized into a slightly bloated package. There are good intentions in there... He's tryna Ng something... The title is brilliant... But I can't bump it just to be kind.

Its not for me. Absolutely the type of music id try to avoid. But. It gets a two because it tries more interesting stuff than a lot of the more generic stuff in this field does. I respect the big swings they're making, even if the game they're playing isn't for me. Its also occasionally quite intentionally funny. Came close to scoring it higher, but it wouldve felt dishonest to the level of enjoyment i got from it!

I mean, if more latin masses went this psych, id reconsider the Catholic Church in spite of the nonciness.

I think that's all the Tool done now. See reviews passim.

Its the worst peak REM album. Which is five stars, but sat next to Document, Green and Automatic for the people is 4. Like being the worst scientist at CERN...

Perth os one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Its all rather lovely, but by the end you are longing for a bit of variety (you 100% get ot on the next album!)

Plus - politically aware, charming, very Springsteen at its best Minus - His drummer sucks the life out of every song, reducing everything to a plod when it could SOAR. He needs an E Street Band behind him, rather than the plodding sub-Oasis pub band he appears to have.

Theres a line between provocatively annoying and edgy thats good, and provocatively annoying and edgy thats odious and annoying. I cannot for the life of me work out which this is.

Its all a bit too po faced and serious for me. Like they get the Joy Division vibe but lack much to say. So basically The Cult ..

I loved the last Ween album that came up. This was straighter, but my god, the amount of genres successfully attempted here makes me envious and impressed.

It's alright... Sort of the Championship version of the Cure/Joy Division Premier League? All of the style, but the tunes are a little short. Hope they have a good cup run, but I'm not buying a ticket quite yet?

Dull Americana

This one is 80% the sort of music that you'd hear on a playlist called Chill Music to revise to, but 20% interesting and discordant, so I don't know what to do with this album.

From the top, I know this album has been massively acclaimed and it deserves that acclaim. Every single track has great things about it and you can absolutely see why it did so well. But every single track also runs on for maybe 90 seconds to two minutes too long, by which point you're getting kind of tired of whatever was good about it in nearly every instance, save for maybe two tracks. It could have done with someone to edit it, and I know that's hard once somebody is at the top of the tree and unstoppable. It shows why this was her peak, and after this, it has been decline and not great themed albums all the way forwards. Sadly, if only there had been a producer willing to say, "Yeah, let's lose a minute of this," it would be a five-star album.

I know I'll go to hipster hell for saying this... But this is an okay album with amazing influences.

Early 00s chill out. Sounds like all the other early 00s chill out. Still pleasant!

This was a perfectly lovely album. Everything sounded beautiful. I listened to it while I was cooking, which feels almost ideal. It's absolutely great, an amazing singer and an amazing player working in perfect harmony. However, it is just a tad too trad to have blown my mind. It's a traditional thing done well. There was nothing eye-opening on it, so it falls just shy of being perfect, especially when you've heard A Love Supreme.

A toughie. I think I said this about Sam Fender too, but this was an incredible lyricist and a unique and lovely voice in want of some less pedestrian music. Loved a lot of the content, but the delivery was left wanting, like an MDMA suppository (except significantly less uplifting - the emotions are not upbeat here!). I wish he had lived and found better collaborators, I suppose?

Whoa. I never checked this out at the time as it was named for an overrated videogame, and it was by a guy involved in an overrated band. Turns out that he has earned the name by being far better than the games, and Win Butler was clearly 'doing a Madonna' as everything that was interesting about Arcade Fire is done better here. Imagine Jens Lekman but cinematic (and slightly less witty)

Well, I knew the singles and Lovegame (which is the best track on the album. Nothing else on there hits quite as impressively as those, but if you can listen to this and not think it makes sense she's spent the past 15 years near the top, you're deluded. Taking the pop at the time and adding a bit of Bowie and a bit of filth was a genius tactic and she clearly deserves her success.

Yep. I cannot separate it from the film, can I. Obviously brilliant, obviously HUGELY influential, deserving of the original list rather than this. Marked down because a few bits sound a TINY bit cheesy, and because it's maybe a few tracks too long - more of a highlights album might have aged better. Still, all scores.... Will fade.... In time. Like tears in the rain. Time.... To rate.

Do yourself a favour and do not read anything about this record before you go in. It's a mix tape, so probably only accessible via YouTube, but it is so worth surprising yourself with. You will not be disappointed, and that's all I'm going to say in this review. Enjoy.

Melissa is Stephen sort of a second vision but intend to pick up an interior to the sitting behind open. Doug James, all the beat simple option are there and sound exactly like you'd expect about. Like really great looking to yourself. It's not got anything invitating exciting happening about it and this was in there where a lot of Innovation a lot of excitement was happening.

Soooo lyrically this is absolutely brilliant. Musically od probably just leave it.A+ contend, D delivery

To my absolute shame, I slept on this at the time. Largely on the assumption, based purely on her name alone that it would be bland singer songwriterly crap. I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG. This is intensely emotional, wildly innovative electronic pop that still sounds years ahead of it's peers. Absolutely brilliant and I am so happy to have been proven utterly wrong and a shallow, judgemental fraud.

It's great and all. Will always feel like the jazz hop album that isn't Tribe though... Unfair as it's still great, but that's where I'm at with it!

Heh. Just had a signed copy of the 20th anniversary edition come in the post. It contains No Children, a song that struck me deeper in the dark parts of my soul than possibly any song ever. And it may not even be the best song on the album.

Prog punk? Ja danke! 18 continuous minutes, with real dynamics, not just 130 BPM oi. I didn't know NOFX were this ambitious musically!

Yeah. I'm never going to apply critical thinking to ska punk.

It's just a wonderful album. Possibly better than the debut. After Contra was a disappointment I went in with low expectations so was fully mind blown by the greater ambition and the general sense of sadness and death that looms over the whole thing. Also, check out the remix of the already brilliant Step with Heels and Danny Brown on it if you enjoyed this. Maybe the best love song ever!

Sound like what a good John Lennon album might have sounded like if he'd ever made one. Both positively and perjoratively.

Yeah. It's a great album. A sign of much better to come, but still, the Paul Heaton razor wit is already there.

It's very passive music. Their first album transcended more, which I'd credit to Sia, who sadly only gets a second mile so Ng on this weekend ne. It happened, it was peaceful. I didn't reallyfocus d on it. But I think that's the possibility not.

So over compressed and over produced it sounds like a pop record. As heavy as a feather. Based off this, a waste of a damn cool name.

It was passable alt funk till a white guy said "I need Di punani." Eek

It's a toughie. Some of this is incredible, experimental, emotional. At other times it's the blandest thing this side of Coldplay. It's half a perfect album?

Albums rarely get better the further in you get. So that's pretty impressive. Started out like "Ooh it's another of those bands Dave Grohl had made millions copying. Ends so much better than that offhand review. Thoughtful,.lyrical, angular.

This was a five the moment I saw the title. Just a perfect album. The appearance of chilled, but so oppressive, so enclosing and so beautiful.

I swear I wrote my thoughts yesterday. Folly, silly, atmospheric and interesting. Much better than I thought it was in the 90s!

The whole discography of a ska punk band I hadn't heard before? Ja danke!

It's a bit too route one rock for me. But that's okay, it isn't made for me. Can still totally see the appeal?

When it's not obnoxiously early 00s punk, it's really interesting. So very much a 50/50 album

Well, I have now learnt a lot about the Yugoslav (now Croatian) new wave scene and it's fascinating. Theirs goes from thrilling, to a bit generic, but it's a fascinating insight into a scene I knew nothing about!

Not my favourite EN album. But still absolutely great though, innit. Also, they're responsible for me meeting the love of my life, so they get a pass!

I think I still like this more than BSSM. It's largely more fun. Unfocussed but still in that era where they were far more fun than annoying. Flea as ever is the MVP, the whole thing feels very slinky.

The front half of the album is the sort of "anthemic" malarkey I'm still fed up with 15 years later. Vernon f*cking Kay I was bored at the time and Dog Days, and all that E4 'legend' emotive clip compilation of the worst person you know's 'best' bits, are certainly well and truly Over, and good riddance. But from track 7 ( A Kiss With A Fist) it suddenly becomes far more interesting. A pop song about abusive relationships, deeper atmospheric tracks, a n autumnal vibe with a streak of darkness and a voice that demands you listen. I may buy it, and just vandalise side 1 to have a five star short album!

Like a punky Doors. It doesn't have the song I love by Danzig (Mother. Yeah I'm basic) but it was an enjoyable way to spend 40 minutes.

No man. Don't make me do this. Well, it's A MINOOOORRRRRRRR album by an overrated embarrassment of a human whose only trick is songs that go "I done a bad thing. Now I'm sad about it. Waaahhh" and doing a TikTok dance to it. His claim to be part of a big three with Kendrick and Cole was risible, like saying the big three of the nineties were Biggie, Tupac and Vanilla Ice. It's 18 tracks long and it felt like 80. The two bonus tracks were a nice touch, like going up to the guards at the end of a 25 year bod and asking them to break a few ribs for old times sake. It even wastes an Andre 3000 feature on a beat that was so lifeless he should've called the track Charlie Kirk. I have had more pleasurable hours with constipation. If anything, Kendrick went easy on the nonce.

Okay, this is a surprising one because it's an first time in 1500 albums that I've had on the ludic soundtrack. It's really good. It's really an amazing example of pc music just before actually having digital recordings. It's possibly the best example of what the on-board MIDI of a 90s computer could acheive. Its also really fun and really silly. And to anyone of my generation incredibly nostalgic. It's absolutely fantastic. I would argue it's probably the best first example you could include of videogame music (though shout out to Koji Kondo as what would very much be my other choice). I might buy it on vinyl!

5/5 for the titles alone. No lies there. Still boringly relevant in this inbred century. Its good, upbeat punk btw

I already really loved this album, but I went back to check and its better than I remembered. Like the best bits of Charli and 100gecs.

Its... Good not great. Plenty to like but not love here. Its well produced, and there are a few interesting features, but nothing blew me away and said this is essential

Its past their peak. Brian has taken his foot off the gas, and anything that increases Mike Love's influence is bad (he is the worst person involved with the Beach Boys, and I say this well aware of Dennis Wilson's friendship with Charles Manson). That said... It has some fun influences. The more CSNY California seeping in, more modern Motown, at one point it gets downright choral. Good enough. But they had seen much greater heights.

Not enjoyed as much as the EP collection, but a joyfully difficult, odd duck of an album which retains a ton of heart in spite of the obtuseness.

Its very pretty. They're clearly huge on Beach Boys, and baroque Californian pop of the era. But... It also adds nothing to what was done before. Its a really good copy of a thing that already existed, essentially. Id probably go to the source given the choice?

Objectively, this is a very good album. Regina Spektor is an incredibly talented lyricist, and the music is interesting and varied. However, it has a very 2004 vibe that just screams godawful Apple iPod advert, and my experience at the time means that I can't bring myself to like this album.

Okay, leaving this here... But the link took me to their 2004 album 🤣 I went in with high hopes for this one. Obviously, Mobb Deep have recorded some of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. Unfortunately, this isn't one of them. It's an attempt to use the early noughties Dre/2001 style, and it renders the whole beats of the album very, very boring. Lyrically, they are still incredible. Unfortunately, this is an inessential album by an essential act. Regards The Infamous, which I was actually supposed to listen to... Yeah, if you don't love it, I suspect that you don't just hate hip hop, you hate black people...

Solid hardcore. Gets a bit boring as it veers into the more metal end, but good fun altogether.

Eugh. It's the blandest Americana. But I'm assuming it got carried on that wave of rock that sounded half arsed enough I could kinda be grunge. Boring.

It's very serviceable emo, but indistinguishable from a great amount of other emo.

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT WE MISSED AN ELVIS COSTELLO ALBUM ON THE ORIGINAL LIST? THERE WERE TIMES IT FELT LIKE THERE WAS ONLY ELVIS BLOODY COSTELLO. This one is that one all middle aged boring white rockers make, where they decide to get more rootsy. It'd be a boring two stars, but he decides to drop a steaming curler on Nina Simone and Santa Esmerelda's good work by covering Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood but removing all the longing and sex from it, so it gets one more star than it deserves at one star.

I loved 'Kate' as a teen. There's loads to love here. I used to just love the fun songs on here, and still do, though 30 years on, Song for the Dumped sounds very incel. Older, I'm finding the more subtle emotionally devastating songs hit more. It's got a really wide range and frankly, the whole thing made me very happy, even if I now realise Kate is not a happy go lucky pop love song but a creepy stalker fun pop song.

Years ago, I read an interview with Tom Waits where he said that he was listening to a lot of horrorcore because of his son - Necro, and artists like that. I thought wouldn't it be great if Tom Waits brought his sensibility to a hip-hop record, and that never happened. This is basically what I had hoped to hear when I read that quote. It is uncomfortable and bizarre and atonal and it's still got bars, but it's so weird and so off that it's blown my mind. I'm a Danny Brown fan. I discovered Peanut Butter Wolf through that in the Bruiser Brigade stuff, but for some reason this album had passed me by. My only criticism is that I found out about it five years after it came out and therefore lost five years where I could have been listening to it more.

It's a perfectly serviceable ambient album. The musicianship is clear and it's well put together. However, there's nothing that would really reel you back for a second listen. It's just a one and done this time.

I enjoyed this as an example of nice Brazilian pop-rock-pop-folk. It has elements of it all in there. However, I have found other Brazilian music that I've found striking before, like short baile funk, and all sorts of bossa-type stuff. This is more western and was less exciting as a result of its westernness. That being said, good album. I would probably go back for another listen, there are a couple of tunes on there that I found really striking.

Well, I started enjoying this, then frealised it was Scandi metal, panicked, Googled them, and it turns out that they are a great, fun Finnish black metal band who DON'T associate with Nazis, the alt right or any other inbred group responsible for making the world a shitty place. In short, a dude that sounds like a goblin croaking and growling over some sludgy metal. It's good!

I think this is the fourth of their albums that's come up on this, and it's the first one that I can't give a good rating to. It's very easy and very low-hanging fruit to take the piss out of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and in the case of a lot of their nineties output, it's also wrong. It goes hard. Flea and Chad Smith are one of the best rhythm sections of all time, and they have tunes on those albums. Unfortunately, this is the point where they stop having them. It's much weaker than any of the other ones that have come up, and unfortunately, it's also a double album. It has this long thing, two sides of, I think, far less interesting music. I think it's correct if a little cruel, to say of this album that it sounds like a tribute band trying to make songs that sound like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, even down to the point where there's an overuse of state names, particularly California. There's the generic slow emotional song that falls far under the bridge, and it's got some very cool basslines on it, but ultimately it just does not have the songs.

As ever with a live album, I have to start by saying that with the exception of Stop Making Sense and maybe one or two others, I hate live albums. That being said, this one is fun. I'd have preferred to have had an actual Runaways album—I don't think there was one on the original list, if there was I don't recall—but it was fun pop-punk performed very well by capable performers, so, win.

I get that we were in a bit of a drought at the time but I don't get the hype. It's okay. Nothing surprising, nothing that emotive. Solid, middle ground 6 Music stuff. Not bad, but inessential.

God, read the story of this album, it's moving. I liked it at points, but wasn't that into the pop punk of it all. The less punky tracks are sweet and pleasant though.

Never got it. Pub rock that people seem to think is genius. It bores me to tears.

Okay, pre listen, I'm going to have to say it... The thought of a new Muse album since Absolution does not exactly fill me with anticipation or excitement... Well it lived down to my expectations. Pompous and overblown where they used to balance the pomp with pop so well. Is it terrible? No, there are moments, but you can't help but feel they are enjoying themselves far more than the listener.

Well hot damn I think I finally get it. I think the age and hiss of the recordings always held be back, but this is the source, and it has a power and energy you really don't find anywhere else.

All I can say is thank God ska punk happened and killed off the stoner bongo nonsense for us millennials, and gave us something to sneer at Gen X for.

Hmmm. It's lovely, I recognise some of it, either from soundtrack or social media. The piano is astounding at points. It is also, at points, a bit boring, as any chilled, ambient music can be...

I have tried to get into Alice in Chains several times over the years, not least when I was younger and had my mind blown by Nirvana and then Pixies and Soundgarden, all of which had fantastic things about them and really opened my eyes to new feelings and music. But Alice in Chains was always one where I could not work out what the appeal was. It is the same thing but more traditional, more root one, less feeling, more competence. Nothing about it is bad, but nothing about it elevates me or makes me feel anything new or different or exciting. It's just competently put together music, sort of the championship version of a conference pub rock band. It's just the obvious thing done well, and I think that's why I've never been able to get into them. This is again more of the same.

I remember enjoying this at the time, and honestly, until I saw it today, I don't think I'd given it a thought for several years. It's really enjoyable. Musically, it's just kind of what you'd expect—slightly punky, indie stuff that you could probably see on any Tuesday night in Williamsburg at the time. But it has an earnestness that was really, and is really, refreshing after ten years of sneering hipsterism, I guess, and that keeps it fresh. That said, musically, I hadn't really missed it; I've just missed the overall feeling.

I have always been aware of Insane Clown Posse but have gone through several phases with them: * Firstly, the "they're just Eminem but not as good" phase. * Then, as I got older, the "aren't they a bit homophobic and misogynistic" phase. * Then the "oh that's weird, they're doing a cruise" phase. * And then hearing them be very apologetic for how they were when they were younger men and seeming like they've grown up significantly since then. So I was looking forward to giving my first Insane Clown Posse album a chance. I am delighted. It is dumb in a way that Mötley Crüe are dumb and AC/DC are dumb. And yes, it does contain some stuff that has aged like milk, but it's as if Cypress Hill only did the smoking weed and being nihilistic thing and didn't have more to say, in the best of all possible ways. It sounds like the stoner guys from your school were mistakenly allowed to access the school recording equipment for a few afternoons. This is the sort of thing that would come out, but of a higher quality. I cannot in good conscience badly rate an album that is so nihilistic it has a line "I'll rip your fucking face off and wipe my fucking arse with it". It's genius in the most moronic way possible. I think I may have to deal with the fact that, at the age of 42, I have become... A juggalo.

Wow. Just wow. This is a brutal album. I was not ready for it. Brutal in content. The music is gentle. I've just never heard such an honest and intense display of grief on a record before. Even that Nick Cave one.

Okay, so the fact that there was obviously the stone roses and the happy Mondays does imply that there would be sort of a second or third tier level of Madchester. And this very much that it sounds like a album of James demos (no disrespect to James as they were ah my favourite of the Manchester bands of the sort of baggy era). It's not awful. It has an entertaining rolling stones cover on it.

Still not big on live albums, but this is tight. And a little overblown. But tight.

Wow. Most bands who rip off Dylan go for the years when he was good!

My old housemate adored Minus the Bear. For me, a bit of a triumph of technical brilliance over songs, but not unenjoyable