Zipless. The best description I read of this album was that it's surf rock for gothic kids who wear black to the beach which is literally me. The album reminds me of the mid-90s and of certain boys. Of all the Pixies albums, Bossanova feels the most realised, taking their strengths and pointing that in a particular direction. Not all the songs work and tbh I would be happy to ditch about half the tracks. But when it opens with the cool surf instro of "Cecilia Ann" and includes the swoony "Ana", the saucy "Down to the Well" and the hip "Hang Wire", there is a lot to love.

I had this on tape in 1992. I bought it because "Constant Craving" was such a captivatingly cool song that I wanted more... and was sorely disappointed by the album. I can say that generally, the laidback chic of Ingenue is no place for a 17-year-old. But even now, I don't feel like I'm really in the hipster wine mom demographic that would get the most out of this. But just imagine having a relaxing evening in your renovated villa, pulling up a kitchen stool, pouring a glass of pinot gris and enjoying the heck out of this classy album. Still, "Constant Craving" is a tune.

This is good, this is good. It's 1966 and already the suburban and societal tedium of the prior decade and the unrest of the present decade is being picked apart. I love how Freak Out just get more and more unsettled as it goes along. The final track feels a bit wack, but 60 years ago there would have been an explosive feeling to have an album start out fairly pop and end up with people muttering "cream cheese, cream cheese". Best track - "Go Cry on Someone Else's Shoulder" - a dismantling of teen heartbreak. Cheer up, you'll get over it.

Another one of my faves. I hadn't actually listened to this album in a while. It's starting to sound like a product of its era, the synth-pop sounds of the early 2010s. The entire album is a masterwork, telling stories of horniness, womanhood, motherhood and other delights. "Flawless" is such a tune and it takes me back to the summer of 2013/2014, when waking up like this was my goal in life (and still is, tbh). I also like that Beyonce kind of invented the "surprise album" era, gifting fans with no just a full album but also fully realised music videos for each track. "Drunk In Love" is also a fab track but I cannot emphasise how much of an absolute perfect tune "Flawless" is.

My dad was big Simon and Garfunkel fan but somehow Graceland never came on his radar. I always wondered what my life would have been like if the sounds of this album had been played around the house in the mid 80s. (I probably would have hated it.) This album absolutely feels like the creative work of a middle-aged man who has hit a creative rut and has taken inspiration from other cultures in other to get his groove back. There are some good tunes but ultimately it feels a little overwrought.

My dad was big Simon and Garfunkel fan but somehow Graceland never came on his radar. I always wondered what my life would have been like if the sounds of this album had been played around the house in the mid 80s. (I probably would have hated it.) This album absolutely feels like the creative work of a middle-aged man who has hit a creative rut and has taken inspiration from other cultures in other to get his groove back. There are some good tunes but ultimately it feels a little overwrought.

I feel like I would have enjoyed this album more if I was a university student in the late 70s. The album would have sounded fresh and new and doing all kinds of things never heard before. But now, more than 40 decades on, there is so much baggage. Case in point, as dope as "Psycho Killer" is, the song was ruined for me when a fellow told me about how he and his friends would always sing "psycho chicken" and how hilarious that was. Also, as far as Talking Heads albums goes, surely Stop Making Sense is better?

Somehow this group and this album had never made it onto my radar before. It seems like it's held up as a masterwork of 1960s psychedelic rock - and that feels a fair assessment. Some of the tracks feel firmly rooted in the 1960s but other tunes have a longer shadow and it's clear just how deeply they influenced rock, pop and indie artists in years to come. The only thing I'd be critical of is that some of the lyrical rhymes are really lazy but at the same time, it feels like they might have been the first ones doing this particular style so maybe they get that.

This is the first album on this list so far that I've previously listened to in its entirety. Like, dozens of times before. To Pimp a Butterfly is probably one of my favourite albums so far. Its complexity and depth really stands out compared to the three albums I've listened to so far. It's not just a collection of songs, it's a cohesive artwork (a concept album!) and there's so much to be discovered in its depths.

A boy band releases their second album, 14 tracks, most not bothering two and a half minutes in duration and almost half of the tracks are covers. No one could get away with that these days. Our standards are much higher. With The Beatles is a good pop album but the 1960s production gives every track a samey feeling, like if every meal you ate was a delicious chocolate pudding. Tasty, but not necessarily what you'd want to eat all the time. A curious thing - the double-tracked vocals sometimes give a spooky feeling, like reverb-heavy "dead mall" edits of popular songs. The perfect soundtrack for a liminal space. The reassuring thing is that this was not even the Beatles best recording - they still had a lot of room to grow.

Apparently the songs were original written for a musical and it serves that - big, dramatic and narrative. A few of the tracks were staples of FM radio in the 1980s and "Mouth" (cbf writing that title in full) is a glorious example of that era. As much as this is a work of recorded music, at the same time it feels like it would be just as good to see live. Maybe that's its strength - it's a recording that feels as epic as a live performance. Meat Loaf's vocals are thrilling and powerful, turning it up to 11 and always for a good reason. Least fave track - "Paradise". Tbh I'm not needing an epic saga of two teens rooting in a car.

This is intriguing! A soundtrack to a crime movie that does not exist. This concept isn't new anymore, but maybe Bazza was the first to ever do it. Moss Side Story is at its best when it doesn't feel like a straight film soundtrack, when instead it takes the tropes and upends them. Like "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" with its pizzicato strings turned up to 11, evoking such stresses of emotion, before turning into flowing streams of love - but that's flowing like hot lava. You know what I mean? This soundtrack doesn't need a film - it creates plenty of cinematic drama on its own.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. It reminds me of Guided By Voices and various DIY indie bands from the 80s and 90s. I like the concept - songs about imaginary concepts - but it all starts to feel quite samey. Individually there's a lot to like about the tracks. I might listen to some tracks in a playlist among other artists, but I don't feel like there's anything significant about Halcyon Digest as an album. That's my first impression.

For me, Depeche Mode is "Just Can't Get Enough", "Personal Jesus" and the time in the late 80s when a reporter on an American entertainment show unironically called them "America's favourite rock 'n' roll band". Their Music for the Masses phase is interesting. It's an edgier sound and makes me think a little of Joy Division. "I Want You Now" was the most memorable track, with its disturbing respiratory sounds mixed with the loving but dark lyrics. It feels like a good stage in the creative life of la Mode.

A week in, this is the first album by a female artist I've come across. Not only that, but decades on Dusty In Memphis comes with its own queer reading. Like "Breakfast In Bed" - super gay and super heartbreaking, n'est-ce pas? This album is another one where it's clear of the influence it would have on future artists. While some of the songs are very familiar, it's a comforting sense of familiarity. Auntie Dusty is here and everything will be alright.

I can appreciate this in theory, but I wasn't really in the right mood to enjoy it. The album reminds me of being a teen, when I had goth friends who would listen to Siouxie on scratched old LPs. That's a pleasant nostalgic feeling, but it's 2021 and I want to be sooooothed. Go on with your eyeliner.

I'd avoided Steely Dan for so long because, I dunno, hipsters mocked them in the 90s? But this album is good. It has a very rich, complex sound, something that is evidence of how far audio production technology came in that part of the 20th century. The songs are just as complex, with dreamy worlds. But above all was my moment when I realised that "Peg" was the sampled basis of De Le Soul's "Eye Know".

I associate this album with a working mum in the 1980s, coming home from her corporate job, making dinner for the family, seeing her kids to bed, then relaxing with a glass of wine and her Carole. And for a long time, this was a bad thing, but maybe I've aged into this demographic, if not the exact lifestyle, because I'm enjoying this album. It has Cazza's strong Brill Building pop sensibility filtered through her chilled-out lady vibes. An album full of pop classics.

Listening to this felt like a chore. I can absolutely see how groundbreaking and influential this album was. Its influence over electronic music in the 90s is clear. But this feels like the music in a concentrated form, like runway fashion vs what ends up in department stores. I guess it's not a genre that I have ever been into and what is left just reminds me of the electronic pop that came in the later 90s - and I'm not ready to be reminded of that yet. So yeah, the album deserves its place on the list but it's not something I would otherwise enjoy listening to.

Do I want to spend two hours of my life listening to effing Metallica? Not really, but I did it anyway. I feel like I'd rather listen to a shorter version of this, say one hour, than the full two-hour show. Or maybe just a Metallica album. The other thing, with every song there is the question "Is this a better rock/orchestral experience than "Live and Let Die"?" and the answer is only yes to about half the tracks. It helps when you know the Metallica back catalogue and so get why the audience goes nuts when the opening riff of "Enter Sandman" kicks in. I also feel like this album might have made the list because of its influence in sparking off other rock/orchestral collabs, but tbh I don't necessarily think that's a great heritage.

Aka Rockin' Rod Sings the Blues. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. It's delightful to find Rod Stewart in his early 20s, showing he's already got what it takes, growing like a wildman. That and Beck 'n' friends wild blues rock explosions are thoroughly enjoyable. Yeah, they didn't go there first and a hefty creative debt is owed to the American bluesmen, but this feels like an evolution, taking things onwards for everyone.

It must have been quite a blast being a music-loving Boomer. Having all these iconic albums coming along and changing the world of music when you were in your 20s. I knew two songs on this album - "The Weight" (which I did not know had that title!) and the Ad Fab theme song. The rest of the album was fine, but it didn't grab me as much as I felt it was. Again, this seems like an album included for its role in music history - and that's not bad, but decades on it feels more like a lesson in a History of Popular Music 101 class than a music experience in its own right.

It was a good thing when the Pet Shop Boys left their imperial phase and were free to experiment with pop. This album takes the techno trends of the early 90s and mixes it up with songs that tell very queer stories. At the time, I remember how the Boys' cover of "Go West" had given it a melancholic twist in the era of HIV - but with modern antivirals, the song now grabs back a bit of the original joyousness. "Can You Forgive" her is an almighty dramatic pop track and a stonking opener.

This album specifically reminds me of the time in 1995 when my brother and I were planning a day trip to Auckland but he locked the keys in the car at the Five Cross Roads petrol station. But once the keys were liberated, we took off to Auckland, the Oasis CD blasting from the stereo. Morning Glory is a very full-on album. Every track is dialled up to 11, all rock 'n' roll excess. But if you're going to go there, you should go all the way - and that's what they did. It still holds up, but it's not the sort of album I'd ever relax with now. I'm older and I don't have the mental stamina for such vast expressions of rockstravagance. But from time to time, it is as enjoyable and comforting as a cup of tea.

Another one of my faves. I hadn't actually listened to this album in a while. It's starting to sound like a product of its era, the synth-pop sounds of the early 2010s. The entire album is a masterwork, telling stories of horniness, womanhood, motherhood and other delights. "Flawless" is such a tune and it takes me back to the summer of 2013/2014, when waking up like this was my goal in life (and still is, tbh). I also like that Beyonce kind of invented the "surprise album" era, gifting fans with no just a full album but also fully realised music videos for each track. "Drunk In Love" is also a fab track but I cannot emphasise how much of an absolute perfect tune "Flawless" is.

Well, I thought I'd enjoy this. But I didn't. It wasn't engaging enough and all the songs felt so long. Even that accursed Orbital album was more palatable. Maybe it's just that I haven't listened to much jazz-related music. I don't hate Home Is Where the Music Is but I wouldn't listen to it again. This is definitely not an album that I needed to listen to.

I was super excited that this was today's title and then I realised I'd never listened to it before. It even reached No.3 in New Zealand! But as much as I enjoy bits and pieces from Joy Division, Closer doesn't quite grab me as an album. It's good - the opening track is especially strong (the melody reminds me of "Kinky Afro" lmfao) but maybe its power is as the final testimony to Ian Curtis' genius. I don't have any memories locked into this music, no early 80s revelations or retro student discoveries of the 90s. Maybe this album is a conduit to the Ian Curtis memorial wall in Wellington and all that stands for.

I didn't think I'd like this, but I really enjoyed it. There's something about this type of 1970s country music, the trad and pseudo trad styles. Everything feels cosy and comforting, like you're sitting in a bar while yung Willie sings away in the corner. This is the kind of album that I would happily listen to again, if the mood took me.

I was all over this album when I was in my early 20s, as it should be. I like that this is one of those legendarily influential albums that still holds up. It doesn't quite feel like an artefact of its time, it's weird and edgy enough to still feel current-ish in an unusual way. The pop songwriting craft is there, along with songs about heroin addiction that aren't as boring as drug addiction is. The melancholic feeling is sublime and it is probably very apt for these troubled times. I am very happy that this album exists and I want to peel Andy's banana.

I did not enjoy this album at all. I was 18 when it was released and exactly in that black-clad, Doc Martens demographic, gleefully listening to all the female rock acts I could get. But this is... You know, it's a favourite with older male rock critics. That's where Whatever exists. It belongs on "Best Album" lists but it doesn't seem to have a place outside that bubble. Maybe fans of the album get a nice nostalgic feeling of the early 90s? For me, it's bland rock that doesn't go anywhere.

This is good, this is good. It's 1966 and already the suburban and societal tedium of the prior decade and the unrest of the present decade is being picked apart. I love how Freak Out just get more and more unsettled as it goes along. The final track feels a bit wack, but 60 years ago there would have been an explosive feeling to have an album start out fairly pop and end up with people muttering "cream cheese, cream cheese". Best track - "Go Cry on Someone Else's Shoulder" - a dismantling of teen heartbreak. Cheer up, you'll get over it.

Of course I've heard the theme song to Shaft, but the rest of the soundtrack was new to me. It is a delight to hear a proper soundtrack and not one of those "song written for a fictitious film that does nae exist" situations. The Shaft soundtrack doesn't just feel like a movie soundtrack. There's some interesting things going on with the prog soul sound, capturing the gritty feeling of early 70s New York City, a place with a beating heart. And really, it's still worth asking and answering the most important question - who's the black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks?

This wasn't on Spotify or Apple Music without loads of tracks greyed out, but I found a rogue copy on YouTube. It's ok. Again, it feels like the sort of album that decades down the track is considered highly influential more than it's regarded as a work in its own right. It also gave me a good late 1960s rock feeling and I'm happy that it played a big part in shaping this sound.

This was an interesting experience. It's not just that so many of these songs are standard, but it's when they are sung in a Sinatra-esque fashion - and that casts a long shadow, retrospectively. Despite the name, the collection of songs feels quite tame, the marital drama of \"Makin Whoopee\" being a throwback to the time before middle-class contraception. I'm not sure if this is one of those highly influential albums, or if it's just representative of a bangin' pop album of its era. I think the familiarity of every darn track made it hard to engage. It's more like the sort of album that Auntie Pam has playing in the background while she makes the finishing touches to her cocktail evening preparation.

It's 1965 but it still feels fresh. So raw and garagey and youthful. It makes me wonder what if would have been like as a teen Boomer, hearing this for the first time and feeling the universe shift, knowing that it was time for your generation. While there are some pretty well known tunes on the album, the stand-outs for me were ones I hadn't heard before. Weirdly, I had only heard the title of "The Kids Are Alright", but the tune is a lovely bittersweet song, reinventing the melodramatic ballads of years prior with a modern edge.

I knew "Alison" and I guess I was expecting the rest of the album to be along those lines but I also knew that Elvis Costello is more punk/rock than the wistfulness of "Alison". So yeah, it was more punk/rock and that's ok. It doesn't sound like something from 1977 - I guess it's another of those influential albums that cast a very long shadow, well into the 80s, 90s and beyond. "Alison" is still my favourite track though.

More influence. The album seems to have been lauded for its clean and atmospheric production, perhaps a sign of the digital times creeping forth in an analogue world. One or two tracks stood out. I think the problem with influential albums is that to fully appreciate them, it requires digging into history, to know the context of things at the time the album was released. And that takes time. Ain't nobody got time for that. And sometimes, all the history books in the world just aren't the same as having lived through it in the first place.

I've listened to plenty of A Tribe Called Quest, but this is the first solo Q-Tip I've heard. It's good! It's very Q-Tip, and brings a pleasant chill groove in an era where a lot of hip hop was electronic/dance hybrids. There's room for thoughtful rhymes that manage to stealthily make an impact. And best of all, it feels like this is on the list because it's a simply good album, not because it's "influential".

I appreciate this. I read up on the story behind the album and the meaning of the songs and it feels like a powerful and enduring work. However, there's shallower layer where Fela Kuti also reminds me of when it's the 90s and you're hanging out with a dude and he keeps playing his Fela vinyl and he's digging it more than he's digging you and it triggers an existential crisis. Maybe we could have had a 1001 albums date.

I wasn't excited when I saw that this was a double album from 1972, but it's really good. Rundgren takes the listener on a journey, turning each of the four sides into its own artistic experience. It feels like an "influential" album but it's also a solid work in its own right. I like an artist that isn't afraid to eff with different genres and bring in different styles. The album art is really nice too. Also, I choose to believe that Rundgren is honouring his Swedish heritage by naming the closing track after the Swedish word for end.

I am not an emotionless music robot. I cannot listen to this dispassionately and pretend that the Beach Boys does not trigger memories of the sort of dudes who love the Beach Boys. Because as soon as there's a falsetto harmony or the merest hint of Southern Californian sun, it's f-boy central. This album is ok and it seems like it was a turning point for the Boys, before they got all prog surf. It definitely gets better as the album progresses, sounding like the blueprint for Weezer. I also found the final track, a discussion of snacks and touring, to be the most enjoyable track.

Ok Bob Marley. As I am a New Zealander, the entire oeuvre of the Wailers are practically the national anthem of this fair country. Yet despite that, the only song I knew prior was "Stir It Up", a conception song. The album was a lot more varied and interesting then I was expecting. The side A songs that delve into slave history were particularly powerful. But there is also the side B reminder that Bob Marley was quite the rooter. I get why this album is on the list. It feels like a record that is both influential but holds up as an artwork, and also enjoyable.

Back in the 90s, I remember that this album wasn't super well regarded. Like, it was ok, but it wasn't held up as an iconic new classic. But evidently it has aged like wine? I dunno. I had the tape but the only song I was into was "Been Caught Stealing". (Formative live experience - being on holiday in Hawaii in 1991 and my mum was mad that I was spending all the time in my hotel room watching MTV instead of "enjoying" the sun. "Been Caught Stealing" was in the Buzz Bun and was the soundtrack of that experience.) I think of this as one of those 90s albums - but around the hype of one killer single but the album itself doesn't match. There.

I'm learning that my 90s instinct was not wrong. I knew of this album. I'd heard "Would?" and quite liked that. But I steered well away from the album. Listening to Dirt now, it's really full-on, the loud Jerry 'n' Layne's loud chiming voices powering in unison, emphasising things that don't need emphasis. At times there's a camp delight to the lyrics, the earnest adolescent subject matter. But the whole album was a lot to consume in one sitting and it doesn't inspire a repeat listen.

Go on, then. This is the sort of album I expected to be on this list and I am happy for Thriller to be the Halloween selection. I am old and therefore I remember when this was released. I also remember not being especially all that fussed by the various singles (even though they were all solid), certainly not enough to actually want the album. But yet decades later, I know the album inside out, despite never having owned it. (Metallica's Black album is like that too!). The production of Thriller is great, both minimalist and maximalist when it needs to be. Maybe there are a few dud tracks. I love the Mac n Jack "Say Say Say" but "The Girl is Mine" feels lacklustre. On the other hand "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" is an incredible opening number. It's a cool album and also MJ is staggeringly beautiful on the album cover.

I specifically remember when Paul's Boutique came out and I was not super impressed with it for all the reasons that certain people were not impressed with it. I'm not quite ready to embrace it as a beloved classic, but ok, it's influential. I also don't like that "Hey Ladies" is my favourite track, especially when it's not even close to being one of their best. (Pls, let's talk about Hello Nasty.)

Somehow I thought Aphex Twin was super heavy so I was not looking forward to this (I have a headache). But it's lovely and chill. Despite the title, none of the tracks sound like they could have come from the mid 80s. It's a super modern excursion into electronica that feels exactly like it would have shaken things up in 1992. Yes, it's another influential album and it's very much of its age, but it still holds up. This album makes me want to go and hang out in a park.

I had this on tape in 1992. I bought it because "Constant Craving" was such a captivatingly cool song that I wanted more... and was sorely disappointed by the album. I can say that generally, the laidback chic of Ingenue is no place for a 17-year-old. But even now, I don't feel like I'm really in the hipster wine mom demographic that would get the most out of this. But just imagine having a relaxing evening in your renovated villa, pulling up a kitchen stool, pouring a glass of pinot gris and enjoying the heck out of this classy album. Still, "Constant Craving" is a tune.

I owned this tape and I listened to it too much. I saw the Smashing Pumpkins live and had a t-shirt. It inspired an older man who wanted to talk to me about Sartre. But here's the thing - the first half (side A) of Siamese Dream is decent, but everything after the tape flip is not as good. Also, while "Soma" is the best song, the best version of it is when the band played it live and Darcy sang the "close ur eyes and sleep" part, rather than Corgan doing his own backing on the album version. nearly 30 years on, I can't relate to the lyrical topics anymore, the teen drama seems best left in the 90s. It's a good album but I don't need it anymore.

I'm vexed. This is a thought-provoking album that examines interesting political themes. At the same time, it is a reggae album and maybe it's being a NZer, but this kind of roots reggae is easy to consider as background music for a lazy weekend barbecue. As a result, while the album took me along on its musical journey, there were times when I forgot it was even happening at all. The album ended, Spotify's algorithm gave me a few reggae tracks by other artists and I didn't even notice for a while.

This is your ex boyfriend's favourite album. That's just a fact. It's ok, but it belongs to a certain time and place and if you were on board back in '94, it's hard to hitch a ride 25 years later. The worst thing is that the title of track two has an apostrophe in it, wth.

I used to be obsessed with this album. Obseeeeesed. I also used to be obsessed with the boy who introduced me to The Smiths, but eventually The Smiths became more important to me than he. Strangeways isn't even their best album, but perhaps it's their most fully realised, a wholly conceived album rather than a collection of song. A band on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I've generally given up on Los Smiths due to Morrissey being problematic, but he is but one quarter of the group so I am happy to revisit their charms from time to time. So let's praise Johnny Marr's guitar and the melodic suburban drama. The best song is "Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before".

Look, I would give this album five stars purely for the line "Look out honey cos I'm using technology". I would even give it that if it was only that line, repeated for 34 minutes. Everything else is a bonus. Aside from that killer line, it's raw and it's powerful. The album is a clear path from the 1950s to the 1960s and then kicking and screaming into the punk era and beyond. I mean, this still sounded fresh back in the 90s. A classic.

There was a period in 1992 when I was trying to get into fIREHOSE. I listened to one album or another and it just didn't do it. I think the issue is that Flea kept naming Mike Watt as a big influence so I was expecting wild funk-punk but fIREHOSE is not that. It's ok and I was happy to listen to the album. But it's just not captivating. Bonus points for the band name, capitalisation and album title connection.

It's thrilling to be able to revisit this and consider it with a queer lens. And in many ways, it feels like of course this super masculine flavour of heavy metal would be a perfect match for the leather daddy S&M variety of the gay male life. Maybe that's why the album is so strong - while Rob Halford wasn't out in 1980, the song matter feels authentic to his life. And regardless of yr sexual identity, decades on, the attitude and swagger are still thrilling. We're all breakin' the law in our own ways.

I'm pretty sure I've heard this album at some point in the past 30 years. It's not a favourite - Fear of a Black Planet spoke to me more. Nation of Millions is good though - iconic and its influence is clear. So many moments of "Oh, that's where that was from". But maybe there's too much of the same sound. Maybe I'm spoiled by the musical diversity of the modern age. Still, individual tracks really stand out. "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" remains a defiant highlight. Also! The album starts with a dramatic opening from a live show. But that reminds me of a friend's story from the early 90s. He was picking up his brother from a PE show. He arrived at the venue, the show hadn't totally ended. He walked in and Flavor Flav was pacing back and forth, chanting the chorus hook from Suzanne's Vega's song "Tom's Diner" (which was in the charts at that point with a dance remix). Duh-duh DAH-dah duh-duh DAH-dah...

Zipless. The best description I read of this album was that it's surf rock for gothic kids who wear black to the beach which is literally me. The album reminds me of the mid-90s and of certain boys. Of all the Pixies albums, Bossanova feels the most realised, taking their strengths and pointing that in a particular direction. Not all the songs work and tbh I would be happy to ditch about half the tracks. But when it opens with the cool surf instro of "Cecilia Ann" and includes the swoony "Ana", the saucy "Down to the Well" and the hip "Hang Wire", there is a lot to love.

This didn't make much of an impression on me. It was enjoyably theatrical at times, and the lyrical themes kept repeating in a way that doesn't normally happen with pop songs. And the flute - the flute! I feel like this deserves a place as a significant album in the history of music but it just isn't my thing.

I am acutely aware that I did not engage with hip hop in the mid to late 90s. And I also know that there was a lot of good stuff released in that period - and Ready To Die is one of those. It's a bit of a concept album, telling the story of B.I.G.'s life. The album knows when to get heavy with the lyrics and when to get light. And I'm not sure why, but the track that is a messy ASMR BJ somehow works? There's also the new layer of meaning because B.I.G. is no longer with it and thoughts of undeadening feel tragic. But then, it is a product of its time - mentions of the WTC bomb and the risk of HIV root it in the mid 90s and we can take it that context, a time when Biggie was alive and thriving.

Hello, I was today years old when I learned that krautrock is not purely an electronic music genre. It turns out it's literally a rock genre, including guitars doing all that guitar can do. I was perhaps also expecting some sort of epic jam excursions but even the 11+ minute opening track was a pleasant easing into the album rather than a roadblock. I'm not sure if I'd ever listen to this again, but it's a good addition to consider in the history of music.

This is one of my favourite albums, to the point where I was listening to tracks from it earlier today before this glorious website assigned me Channel Orange. If you want Channel Orange to be deep, it can be. You can sort the songs into pairs, consider Mr Ocean's exploration of his sexual identity and his telling of stories from different corners of society, both as a slice of life and a metaphor of his own experience. Or you can just take every song on their own, feeling sad or loved-up or defiant or introspective as the feeling takes you. "Bad Religion" stands as a glorious cornerstone of the album and ever fails to make my eyes leak. And best of all - this isn't even Frank Ocean's best work.

Because the opening line of the title track is "DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK!", I had assumed this album came a considerable amount of time after LL's last. It was little more than a year - and in the 80s/90s, that was short. But when gangsta rap reared its head in the late 80s and Ladies Love Cool James's loverboy schtick was looking dated, perhaps it felt like a cultural comeback. The album proved that LL could navigate the new hip hop landscape and deliver something as hard and defiant as the title track. But at the same time, he showed that he could make the ladies love him in a way that those gangsta rappers could only wish. (Case in point - when I was 15 I was OBSESSED with "Around the Way Girl" and had a dumb crush on LL. Hey, he had it!) The Mama Said album is LL Cool J in his imperial phase, showing his skill as an MC, a lyricist and his (and his producer's) ability to deftly mix rap with pop stylings.

I was not expecting to like this, but lay that melancholy upon me! This album luxuriates with infinite sadness, like you're heartbroken but you're lying on the beach in Rio so it's not wholly bad. Each song takes it time, taking the listener one step deeper into sadness. There is no solution, not upbeat "you'll get over it" vibes. No, the album leaves you on that beach with tears in your eyes and the realisation that being there means nothing when there's no one by your side.

I was not expecting to like this, but lay that melancholy upon me! This album luxuriates with infinite sadness, like you're heartbroken but you're lying on the beach in Rio so it's not wholly bad. Each song takes it time, taking the listener one step deeper into sadness. There is no solution, not upbeat "you'll get over it" vibes. No, the album leaves you on that beach with tears in your eyes and the realisation that being there means nothing when there's no one by your side.

I thought I would like this album but I did not. I think it's just where I am in life - the quirky paranoia new wave just isn't where I'm at right now. Full respect to Devo though - maybe when I was 18 it might have struck the right chord, I could easily imagine that. But I am now in the demographic where I'd rather listen to the episode of 99% Invisible that discusses the story behind the album art than listen to the album itself.

I was hesitant but I liked this. Spirited metal and - like all good music - it has secret pop roots. As well, I spent too long lolzing at the title "Charlotte the Harlot". It wasn't even the best track - that was probably "Phantom of the Opera" which was pleasingly epic but at a reasonable seven minutes. This is a great example of a band that absolutely excels in their genre. And by excels I mean rocks.

I've always been a little fearful of prog rock, but this is good. For a start, there's one point for the cover art, featuring an armadillo tank. Maybe it's the restraint required by the LP format - two sides of no more than around 23 minutes per side, so no time for an epic fantasy excursion. I think I preferred side one, the proggy masterwork, rather than the individual songs of side two. But all up, the album works as a whole, with a pleasant jazzy afternoon vibe among the ambitious prog.

I'm surprised how much Bryan Ferry sounds like David Byrne here, but perhaps it's more accurate to say that David Byrne sounds like Bryan Ferry. There's something special about the sound of this album. Sometimes it feels like it's very much a product of the early 1970s with echoes of the '60s, but other times it feels lightyears ahead, forging bold new paths and kind of inventing its own genre. Spotify had the American version with "Virginia Plain" among the tracklist and I'm happy with that.

George had been releasing multiple albums a year throughout the 60s and 70s but seems to have stumbled onto something good with The Grand Tour. It's an album of heartbreak, like a country album that's got the blues. I wasn't at all expecting to enjoy this (just my genre preferences) but the earthy sincerity hit right. Sometimes you just gotta let her go.

This feels so iconic. I love the minimalist Rick Rubin production. A lot of the time the tracks dispense with anything more than beats and just let the MCs do their thing. "Walk This Way" was the big breakthrough, crossover hit, but the album is full of other tunes that pack just as much punch. The lyrics are still echoed in hip hop.

Back in '94, I thought I was too cool for CrazySexyCool, no doubt making my way through the chaotic ruins of late-stage grunge. But damn this is a good album. Even though there are literally children today whose parents were conceived to this album, it still feels fresh. By mashing up pop, R&B, hip hop and edgy alt sounds, it is solidly the forebear of the hip alt R&B albums of the past decade.

Playing With Fire either shrinks into the background, contently becoming invisible turn-of-the-decade ambient music or it gets all spikey and post-punk and noisy when it randomly feels like it (but the Skeptics already got there and got there better). This album retcons itself, with the late 80s album art being the only memorable thing about it.

This is a very comfortable album. There are a couple of iconic tracks that I'm already super familiar with and all the other tracks fit into the overall feeling. Imagine is a songwriter at the top of his game, someone who has talent to burn. Weirdly, some of the tracks feel a little bit too long, but that might be more a symptom of this modern age, rather than legit critique of this 1971 recording.

I really enjoyed this! Lyrically, it's like a cross between a particularly detailed health and safety report crossed with proto gangsta rap, combined with assertive yet comforting harmonies. The music reminds me of the sort of hipster western music that had a moment in the 90s, no doubt strongly inspired by Mr Robbins - just getting me ready to hear the real-ish deal for the first time 25 years later.

A friend once told me about a boy he used to walk to school with. This dude would regularly recite "It Was a Good Day" and my friend always thought it was hilarious that this 15-year-old white suburban kid was spitting lines about not having to use his AK. In the context of the entire album though, that song is a moment of peace in the midst of the chaos of life as a Black man in the early 1990s, in the short hot shadow of the LA riots. The whole album works, inviting the listener in to get a taste of how life is for Cube and his community. Musically it feels like a precursor of Dr Dre's Chronic sound (I know, I know). And there's Cube sending a message to the future which, it turns out not everyone heeded.

I did not know this album existed. I guess I thought System of a Down sprung into the world fully formed with Toxicity, a good album. But here's their debut and I get why it's on the list. Rock in the late 90s was mostly the tail-end of grunge and all the quirky band that had a go in the era of the high-profit CD. Then along comes this and it sounds like nothing on the scene. It's rock, it's metal, it's alternative. It's Los Angeles by way of Yerevan, bringing Eastern European sounds to the bratty LA rock scene. The whole thing works. It sounds nothing like what came in the years before not what was to come in the nu metal years after. And when SOTD come for kombucha people, that feels like an arrow shot 20 years into the future.

For years I'd wondered why The Kinks were so lauded, but it turns out this is it. Their legacy echoes through the 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond. The album itself paints a picture of Britain at a particular point in time, where things didn't feel so great, to the point where a young hopeful Brit might uproot their entire life and move to the other side of the world, in search of a better existence. Arthur is about what's left behind and also the things that you can't ever leave behind. Well crafted pop, including the scorching opening track "Victoria".

For years I'd wondered why The Kinks were so lauded, but it turns out this is it. Their legacy echoes through the 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond. The album itself paints a picture of Britain at a particular point in time, where things didn't feel so great, to the point where a young hopeful Brit might uproot their entire life and move to the other side of the world, in search of a better existence. Arthur is about what's left behind and also the things that you can't ever leave behind. Well crafted pop, including the scorching opening track "Victoria".

This is intriguing! It sounds like the sort of indie folk rock that had its moment in the 90s, like the Lemonheads when they stopped going punk. And yet it's not quite possible to say this would have influenced those 90s groups because the legend of this album is that it lingered in obscurity until a 90s rerelease. The production is bright and the album has an enjoyable pace. Give me this slice of the mid 70s that sounds just as fresh 45 years on.

This is intriguing! It sounds like the sort of indie folk rock that had its moment in the 90s, like the Lemonheads when they stopped going punk. And yet it's not quite possible to say this would have influenced those 90s groups because the legend of this album is that it lingered in obscurity until a 90s rerelease. The production is bright and the album has an enjoyable pace. Give me this slice of the mid 70s that sounds just as fresh 45 years on.

Elton John has made himself an evergreen prince of pop but it's still good to revisit his early years, when he was just on the verge of his imperial phase. This album is full of the iconic John/Taupin piano pop, including the now legendary "Tiny Dancer". A lot of the songs feel like storytelling, whether it's Elton recounting a historic battle or the ups and downs of a heterosexual relationship. It's even better knowing that this was merely the tip of the talent iceberg.

Let's first acknowledge the African American songwriters and performers who originally wrote many of the tracks on this album. Elvis - he's cool but he's also a bit of a dick in that rock n roll way. This album is full of swagger, a very self-assured debut. The track that surprised me the most was his version of "Blue Moon". It's weird and haunting. If that were to show up on the Spotify EP of a contemporary bedroom R&B artist, it would be cool. But Elvis was doing that 75 years ago. Young Elvis was also absolutely bringing it with the LP cover design, his name in pink.

Rundgren packs a lot into his songs. A lot of the tracks are little over one minute. At one point they would have felt like unfinished demos, but a one minute track fits right in with the modern world of streaming. As does Rundgren never sticking with one genre - sometimes even in one track. He's just having fun and creating an action-packed album in the process.

For me, this album is like Thriller - I'd never heard the album as a whole before, but I'd heard almost all the tracks as singles. It's fire! This is how you make a comeback. Tina mixes up new tracks that capture her newfound cougar status with well-picked covers. As well, the music is on trend with 80s synthpop but also lets her completely rock out. So many good tracks and such a solid album!

The energy of this album jumps all around the place. I can hear its influence in the synth-pop that happened in the decades to come and even a bit of 90s alt folk rock. I wasn't especially grabbed by this album but I respect its craftmanship.

It turns out there's a lot more to Dexys than that one song. I'd heard their other hit single "Geno" before but the rest of the album was new to me. It's a lively collection, with a surprising (for the early 80s) amount of hard swearing.

What if Stevie Wonder but young, hip and playing didgeridoo? I have an inkling that this isn't even Jamiroquai's best album but it seems like these albums are all about what was most influential. So along comes this UK band doing something very cool with a sound that was previously what your uncle and his mates with the funny cigarettes grooved to. And there's a didgeridoo, which somehow legitimised it for every busking backpacker trying to get beer money.

I had a friend who love this album. As in, it changed her life. So at the time, I listened to it expecting to have a spiritual awakening but... it was just a decent rock album. It took me a while to get over the disappointment, but now, yeah, it's a really good rock album. It's thrilling when Patti goes off in the longer poetic parts, music that could have only come out of NY-effing-C. And of course, in the midst of it all are some decent hooks. An iconic classic.

Emmylou has such a lovely voice, like a warm quilt. While I've never been a huge fan of country, I am beguiled by this album. Emmylou tackles various new country classics and give every song the interpretation it deserve.

Innervisions is such a well-crafted record. It feels like a snapshot of American life in the mid-1970s and a feeling of hope. But, well, Richard Nixon isn't the only American president that "He's Misstra Know-It-All" could apply to. The album shifted forward R&B and soul (and pop crossovers) with its sounds and we are richer for it.

There is only one correct way to listen to Brothers In Arms. It is the mid-1980s. You are a man in your early 40s. You have just bought a new compact disc player. The salesman at the hi-fi store demonstrated it by playing the Brothers In Arms CD and it sounded amazing so you bought a copy. DDD, all-digital, every step of the way. You have set up your new CD player and put on the Dire Straits CD. You can't believe how crystal clear it sounds, how rich and pure. It is as if the Knopfler bros and co are directly beaming into your brain. You get chills, multiple times. "Money For Nothing" makes you feel like a bad-ass. "Walk of Life" makes you nostalgic for your youth. "Your Latest Trick" makes you feel... things. And the title track makes you cry on the inside. This is what the future sounds like. There is no going back. The mighty compact disc is here to stay.

I first heard Damaged when I was 18, which seems about the right age. But I perhaps wasn't angry enough to get the full impact of Rollins' ire. I'll tell you what though - change "TV Party" to "Internet Party", update the shows to website and nothing much has changed. We got nothing better to do.

This is pleasant, but it's a little too pleasant. It's too easy to put this on and for the music to just dissolve into the background, vague mood music. Maybe I'm stuck on the songs Beth did with the Chemical Bros, that combined her wholesome folky vocals with bold electronica that captured the mood (and maybe I'm nostalgic for that part of the late 90s). So yeah, it was pleasant to listen to but I can't tell you what I just heard.

I prefer the Bee Gees in their disco era, but there's a lot to be said for their prog-pop era, before the falsetto took effect. Like, who writes a pop song that's an ode to Thomas Edison? The brothers Gibb, is who. The album is very much a product of the swingin' sixities, but it has an eye to the future and it demonstrates the raw talent the bros had. I initially didn't realise this was a double album which I feel perfectly fits the mood of the album.

I really liked listening to this, but it hasn't stuck with me. It feels like something is missing - and that something is the film visuals. Musically, it very much sounds like an accompaniment, something that is enhancing something else. And even though the album is was clearly doing a lot of the heavy lifting, it still feels like a soundtrack, rather than a standalone audio album.

I guess this is peak Dylan. I like the flow of the album, going from the electric first half to the acoustic second half. It brings a shift in energy and focus, like it's going from the whole world to just one man. It is also a bit of an acquired taste. Do you like the nasally singing man doing version of the blues then the nasally man playing his guitar and occasionally tooting his harmonica? Dylan big strength is as a lyricist so appreciation of this album has to be taken through a "lyrics first" lens.

I did not enjoy listening to this album. My instinct has always steered me away from the Grateful Dead and I guess there's something to that. I feel like this album belongs to a certain time and place. Outside of that, it feels like a museum exhibit.

This is delightful! So many of these songs have become the standard arrangement of these Christmas classics. And there's no doubt that Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" would not exist without the influence of this collection. The stand-out track is the one original song, Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)". The whole album is full of joy and iconic performances from the pop queens of the 1960s.

I once next door to a married couple. Whenever the wife was on her own, she'd play Tidal, loudly. Singing along, loudly. The couple used to have terrible rows and it seemed like their marriage was a youthful mistake that they were grappling with as they headed towards their 30s. A lot of the time she never made it pas the first three tracks, usually replaying "Criminal" a few times. But now that I've heard the full album, I hope that she made it to the final track because that's all about having the strength to leave a shitty relationship.

I remember when this album by was new and when "Personal Jesus" was causing a fuss. (And the American entertainment television reporter, did she still think Depeche Mode were "America's favourite rock 'n' roll band?") This is exactly the kind of goth rock the world needed to ease the way from the 80s into the 90s. Time to say goodbye to the rough and into the smooth disguised as the rough. There's also the irony of Dave Gahan singing about being "clean" but maybe he meant it in a spiritual rather than chemical way.

I originally listened to Dry when I was 18 but, I dunno, I didn't really like it. (Rid of Me was dope, though.) But now I absolutely get it. It's that raw rock, the sneers and licks. And maybe the greatest rock lyric, "Put money in your idle hole", with the deep dip on the hole as a good hole should be.

There is only one good song on Definitely Maybe and that is "Supersonic". Every other track is Oasis music. If you're into that, come join the mid-90s glad wagon. Otherwise, other music is available.

It turns out that Boston have other songs than just "More Than a Feeling". The sound of this album is like a band that has its particular sound, got a rockin' thing, but yet they also feel obliged to do the prog rock thing that was in vogue at the time. But there's a reason why "More Than a Feeling" is the evergreen feelgood favourite and why "Foreplay / Long Time" is a forgettable album cut.

I hadn't listened to 1989 in full before, but so many of the songs are familiar, those cornerstones of mid 2010s pop. It's a good album. It feels like Tay-Tay has a solid concept and thoroughly runs through it, her life as a young woman navigating both the life of a celeb and just surviving the dating world. The opening track "Welcome to New York" feels a little out of place because 1989 is not a New York album. But everything works. The best track is "Wildest Dreams", especially the pre-chorus. There's something so heartbreaking about the melancholic "Say you'll remember me standing in a nice dress / Staring at the sunset, babe".

I don't know if the White Stripes' 2001 album White Blood Cells is on the list, but it should be because it's infinitely better than Elephant. This album is ok, there are some good songs on it, but too much it just dissolves into blues jams (which tbh, seems to be a hallmark of the 1001 albums list...). I also want to add, when "Seven Nation Army" was released every review noted that the iconic bass line was not played on a bass, rather Jack White revved up his guitar. Also, I was in a convenience store in Manchester in 2003 and an Australian couple got into an argument when the guy refused to buy the CD for the girl and he wouldn't agree that "I Want to Be the Boy to Warm Your Mother's Heart" was an adorable song title.

Songs from this album last a long shadow over the pop landscape of the 1980s. The Stranger partly feels like a concept album, about that Italian restaurant, but then there are standalone pop moments. I can't abide "Just the Way You Are" - a now four-time divorced man telling women "don't go changing". But the title track is enjoyable, once its disco grooves get going.

I'm not quite sure how to approach this album. It's good but I feel like I'm lacking knowledge of this kind of Brazilian electro bossa nova style, especially when it's come via the Balkans.

In my mind, Big Star are a new wave band from the mid-1980s so it consistently blows my mind that their peak creative period was actually the '70s. This album, be it Sister Lovers or Third, doesn't sound like a product of the late 70s. It has a much crisper sound, no doubt signalling how ahead of its time this band was. And behold the pop stylings!

Oh, I remember when this album was brand new. It is packed full of quality singles and the rest of the album is clearly the spiritual descendant of The Kinks' Arthur album, capturing a snapshot of London life (or their interpretation thereof). My favourite track is "This Is a Low", which uses the UK shipping forecast as an effective way of soothing a broken heart. I can testify that this song does what it needs to do and was what got me though the turmoil of 2000.

This originally put me off because of "We Are Family", but the album stands up as a decent work of the disco era, with R&B flavour. It probably helps that Nile Rodgers helmed the album, and he seems like a perfect match for the fierce vocal talents of the sisters. It's an album with plenty to dance about.

Oh, so that's what that song is called. In a way, this feels like an entire album based around "Green Onions" but there's still plenty to like around the chill blusey instrumentals.

Ugh, I remember when this album was released. I'd only just got on the internet, so tracking down the lyrics to this album was literally one of the first things I did. As a result, the lyrics have never stood out as being a strength. A lot of them seem like filler, something for Grohl to yell. There are a lot of really good tracks on the album though, and it is remarkable that Dave Grohl could debut with this one-man-band project after years as the drummer of an iconic grunge band. I don't think it's the Foo Fighters' best album though and there's a lot to be said for how they developed in later years. (At least The Colour and the Shape is better!)

I'd avoided the LCD Soundsystem for so many years and tbh I was expecting something a bit self-indulgent. This is that but it's not a bad album. There are some good songs in the mix - and honestly, the shorter ones are the better. Also, sometimes they feel a bit too much like a Talking Heads tribute band. Again, not necessarily a bad thing but the Talking Heads already exist.

I'd only heard a couple of songs previously, but it turns out that this album is like a direct pipeline to the turn of the millennium. When the combination of rock with turntablism was thrillingly new and Incubus thoughtfully enough delivered it via a lead singer who didn't seem fussed about keeping his shirt on. Make Yourself holds up as a good album, except for that freeform groove number which can get in the sea.

I didn't think I'd heard any Napalm Death, but I HAD. They are the band that my friend's sister metalhead friends used to listen to. And we would mock their sound, which is the most hilarious thing ever when you are a 14-year-old schoolgirl going "RAAAR RAAAR RAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!!" Also, this type of music is my go-to for awkward music that I think I would not enjoy listening to. But this beotch is only half and hour long and the tracks seldom bother 90 seconds a piece. It's surprisingly palatable!

I used to have a playlist with cool French pop on it and one day "Girlfriend" mysteriously changed to the French version which soured things somewhat. For me, that's the standout track on the album (either version) but the rest of the album is good. I feel like it might need a few more listens to fully appreciate it but tracks like "What's-her-face" have a searing emotion that deserves further listening.

It is very clear that Dave Mustaine did time in Metallica before moving on to his own joint. He's clearly not a great vocalist, but does he need to be? Megadeth serve catchy, camp and snarling song after song, never relenting.

I'd be happy if this album was a 45-minute version of "Walk on By". But even at 12 minutes, it's absolutely lush and a teasingly long version that takes all the best things about the song and combines it with all the best things about Mr Hayes.

I've just listened to this album and I'm not even sure what just happened. The energy is intense, with few tracks making it over 90 seconds, let alone two minutes. Because if 90 seconds is all it takes, why go longer? The beguiling bass of Mike Watt elevates the album into true iconic status. The whole album feels like the cool weird kids have invited you to a party and you're having the best time. And then, because it is 2022, there's also the post-post-modern Easter egg off the Jackass theme song popping up halfway through.

The Chronic does what it needs to do. The song is best listened to on a hot summer's day, preferably in an automobile. Yes, feel it. It introduced Snoop Dogg and established Dr Dre as both a rapper and a talented producer who could pull together the best bits of the funk era to create a brand new sound straight outta South Central Los Angeles. The album is also rooted in the 1992, in the months after the LA riots when the city was still coming to terms with what had happened. One of the most refreshing things is that this is not purely a boy's club. The Lady of Rage and Jewell feature on several tracks, a perspective not often heard on gangsta rap. There's also the frequent odes to weed. In a time when a teen idol like Justin Bieber can be at the top of the charts singing about getting his weed from California, here's a reminder of the blunt force (lol) that The Chronic unfurled. Also " Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" is such a good song.

This is a pleasant enough album but it doesn't linger with me. Perhaps I need to be more attuned to the Americana sound by way of Sheffield to fully appreciate it.

I have a friend who loves this album but I'd never listened to it. Now I see why she loves it. It's a super cool new wave work, with a title that deftly looks forward to the future.

This is an unusual album to have on this list because it was a "story so far" type of compilation after the success of "Hate to Say I Told You So". It's there, perfectly named, capturing the buzz and heat of this group rocking Europe with their Swedish take on garage punk. But at the same time, it still feels like that lead single is the tentpole of this release and the rest of the recording isn't as mighty.

It's 1990 and it's the new decade and there is so much hope and promise. I'm at my friend's parents' beach house, having a chill summer party with friends and this album is the soundtrack. This never happened, but this is always what People's Instinctive Travels makes me think of, to the point where this might as well be real. The album has a fresh, feelgood sound, with social and political commentary among the party music. It's something to be said that ATCQ can deliver tunes about sexual health, cholesterol and losing one's wallet in El Segundo and not sounding preachy or dumb. Also check out the "Why" remix of "Bonita Applebum" because that is extremely dope.

On one hand, Slim Shady is a character. He's an immature, bratty young man, whose response to stresses in his life is to indulge in violent fantasies around the sources of stress, often women. He also likes to smoke weed and eat shrooms, which seems very mild compared to the 2020s. On the other hand, there's Eminem who is a brilliant lyricist and rapper. His flow feels revolutionary. I guess with a lot of iconic albums, while he shook things up with The Slim Shady LP, it wasn't his best work and it was but a sign of things to come.

It's very ambient and moody. I can see what role this played in the evolution of techno in the 90s, and indeed how it influenced pop. I don't think I appreciated this album enough to want to listen again though.

I don't know much of Bowie beyond his many excellent singles, so I wasn't sure what to expect with this. It seems like a perfect final album, one man looking back at his life and thinking beyond.

This feels like a band at the top of their game, with the freedom to deliver exactly the kind of album they want, even if it is risky from a trad pop perspective. "Bohemian Rhapsody" isn't even the most outre track. The album goes in all sorts of different directions, all tied together by the craft and extravagance of Queen.

I first heard Straight Outta Compton when I was 16 and it did what it needed to do. Shining a light on the situation in South Central Los Angeles and introducing a bold new genre of music. I actually feel that this could be edited down to an EP's worth of really strong tracks - some of the songs later in the album feel like filler. But this was the 80s/90s, a time when album sales were key and "thank u for all ur money". The title track alone is worth the price.

I remember a point in the mid 80s when it was "Cyndi Lauper vs Madonna". I was on Team Madonna, but I wish I'd been on both teams (lol) because She's So Unusual is such a good album and I feel like it would have been beneficial for me as a kid to be exposed to Cyndi Lauper's wild pop. There's something to be said for an album where the first six tracks are all pop classics (and the rest of the album is just as good). It's even the case that the mega hit "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" isn't even the best track on the album. And how many pop stars have had a hit with a song about flicking the bean? I love the influences of artists like Prince and the B-52s, getting all the coolest bits of new wave and making a pop masterpiece.

1. John, Paul, George and Ringo really put their whole Beatussy into this album. The combination of sex, drugs and rock and roll was at its apex. 2. So many of the songs on this album have been covered. And so many of those covers are actually better than the original. However, the Beatles' originals still hold up, especially when listening to the album as a whole. But you cannot tell me that the Breeders version of "Happiness is a Warm Gun" is not vastly superior to the original. 3. I owned this album on vinyl in the 90s. It wasn't even a good pressing and I never got much enjoyment out of listening to it, so I mostly associate it with listening on my crappy record player and all the associated garbage of the mid 90s. 4. How many albums can be a product of their era and also sound like something from 20 years later and also sound kind of modern but in a throwback way? 5. When I was 11, a deeply Christian girl in my class told us about a Satanic song where a man just said "number nine, number nine" over and over and if you played it backwards there was a Satanic message and a boy she knew listened to it and he started acting strangely. Years later I realised it was just the Beatles sound collage. I listened to it and started acting normal.

This didn't really do it for me, which I think it more down to the genre than anything. One thing I will praise is the production, sounding really crisp. Ok.

Listening to this, I couldn't help think of Pink Floyd in their mega rock star phase. It seems so at odds with the artful rock of this album, but maybe that's the appeal. While the album goes on a bit, it has enough hooks with emotional punch to work. Like, how can you not be moved by the title track?

Maybe I just wasn't in the right mood, but I really didn't enjoy this album. I thought I would - all the ingredients are there - but it left me cold. It's like a cake decorated with fondant. It looks impressive, but when you try to eat it's, like just like sweet play dough.

I have mixed feelings about this album, mainly because I associate it with stuff that was happening in my life around the time it was released. But all up, it's a good album. Kanye's got some issues and he's working through them, as all his best albums are centred on. "Monster" is a stand-out track, and yes, the Nicki verse is epic - but there are plenty of other great tracks. Why, let me tell you of the time a boy made me a mixtape that ended with "Blame Game".

I'd only previously heard "Running Up That Hill" but I can see where the rest of the album fits in. It's a cool sound, a blend of synth and folk, along with her delicate but curious vocals. It also feels like an accumulation of having a few years in the game already, building on musical and life experience to create this work. And somehow that opening track just hits harder.

I'd heard of this album but I'd never actually listened to it before. I was expecting something funk-based, but instead it's more psychedelic rock with a strong social conscience. I feel like I appreciate the craft of the album more than the album itself. I'm not sure if I'd actually listen to this again.

This was the debut album of Echo and the Bunnymen and while it's good, it feels too early in their eventual discography to fully represent their sound. Or, I dunno, was it really all downhill from here? I guess what I'm saying is that "The Killing Moon" is too much of a bright star and that anything that isn't it is going to get lost in its shine.

An album like this just comes and goes. It doesn't leave me with any specific memories or desire to listen again. If I'd grown up with this, if I'd had specific memories associated with the songs, then it might have a different impact.

It was a fun album. Loads of guitar pop, with captivating lyrics and more than a few stories to tell.

The stand-out track is "You Haven't Done Nothin'", but the rest of the album isn't quite as classic as other Stevie Wonder works. It feels like Stevie in his imperial phase, but perhaps phoning it in in places.

I remember the singles from when this was released. They were cool but the album as a whole isn't on the same level.. The album title is great, the cover art is so cool and intriguing but maybe there's too much rock and not enough roll.

File under "Albums that I didn't listen to for the first go-round in the 90s and, it turns out, for good reason". It's just not my bag, baby. I appreciate the craft of the album but I just don't enjoy its contents. As well, I am haunted by the middle-aged Jeff Buckley fan I met at a party in the 2000s who was conflicted that his estate kept releasing new albums that gave fans new music but not good quality music. I just... no.

It turns out that this is the go-to album to use in a movie if you want to evoke a slightly uneasy feeling of the 1960s. I enjoyed it a lot more than a thought a would, the few familiar tracks serving as a solid foundation for the rest of the album. Decent psychedelic folk pop.

Shout out to all the grown-ass adults who were conceived to this album back in the 90s. This is smooth and seductive! I love the sense that the lyrics are utterly at the service of the music and D'Angelo's vocals, more about evoking a mood. It's a dream.

Perhaps wisely, "Come On Eileen" is the last track, ensuring that this iconic hit doesn't overshadow the rest of the tracks. The album is a lot better than I was expecting, showing much more to Dexys than just that one song. It also features "Jackie Wilson Said" which was on The Young Ones!

I saw The Offspring at a festival in the mid-90s. At that point, it was all about waiting for them to play "Come Out and Play". Listening to this album was a bit like that too, but at the same time there are plenty of good tunes before and after. It's very much the soundtrack of teen boys in the mid 90s - and kudos to The Offspring for capturing that vibe.

This is not the Cure's best album! It's ok and I get its place in the evolution of the Cure and indeed the early 1980s UK music scene. But it doesn't strike me as being necessary.

This album feels both like the past and the future, with plenty of hints of psychedelic rock from the 60s along with some of the foundations of what was to be 90s indie rock. There are plenty of catchy tunes and good vibes.

This is such a great live album that it's like why would you even bother recording studio versions? Sam Cooke is absolutely on a roll and his energy - along with the energy of the audience - is clear and infectious in every track.

I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this. While Mr Prine clearly has his musical wheelhouse, there's a lot of variety. The song is also clearly a product of 1971, with biting anti-war songs. I also likes how he eases the listener in with a goofy pro-weed anthem

I thought I'd enjoy this album but weirdly enough Karen O's voice starts to feel a bit samey from song to song. It is more the production style, with the compression, which feels like it's trying to disguise her jazzy singing style. But there are some great tracks on Fever To Tell, including the iconic "Maps" and the stellar opening number "Rich".

I feel like I've absorbed this album through having friends who played it a lot. And then there are the better-known songs that seemed to be the go-to picks for indie movie soundtracks of the 90s. Some of the track some a little formulaic, but the ones that work, really work.

Coming into it, all I knew was \"Brass in Pocket\". The rest of the album was a breezy piece of new wave. Highlights were hearing the OG version of \"Private Life\".

I wasn't expecting how fun this album is! Loretta is like a sassy bestie who is willing to share her experiences. At the heart of it is her voice with its soothing vibrato, backed up by a really classic country sound. This feels like the kind of album that's kept inspiring others for decades.

I've heard this album so many times that it exists less as individual tracks and more as a solid block of late 80s indie rock. There's so much pop running through this. And when people decry modern songs being short and having no bridges, there's a reminder that the Pixies were doing that (and making it sound amazing) decades ago.

There are only a few songs on this album that are familiar to me (Unfinished Sympathy, of course) but maybe what's more familiar is the sound. Massive Attack invented something that was to be the echo of the 90s. When music wasn't being mopey grunge or hyped-up techno, this sound was the complex but chill soundtrack of those idle moments

Listening to the blues is so enjoyable, especially when it's really dirty and gnarly. This ticks numerous boxes. Spotify gave me the option of listening to a mono or stereo version and I went for the mono because it don't need no stereophonic tricks. The only song that didn't work for me was "Little Girl" because it is weird hearing a grown-ass adult man being pervy about a teen. Shut up and let ur guitar talk.

This is proto emo. The album is infused with so much longing and misery and love, a tornado of youthful emotions. And then it mixes that up with crisp melodies and harmonies that probably felt nostalgic right from the moment it was released. It's also the kind of album that clearly spawned so many sons and daughters over the decades, a gift the keeps on giving after the heartache mends.

The best songs are the ones written by Desmond Child. The only sole Bon Jovi written song is "Dead or Alive". The rest of their song are extremely mid. I didn't like this 35+ years ago when I was 12 and I still don't like it lol

I was ready to dislike this but it's quite good. The Chili Peppers meant the most to me in the late 80s and early 90s and I know they hit a dull patch in the early 90s. But on Californication they got Frusciante back and they got their groove back. This feels like the Chili Peppers at their peak, writing dirty but emotional songs about California.

I'd happily ignored this album, leaving it to the black clad bogans at my high school to make their personality. But decades later... it's ok. ACDC do hard rock very well, the sort of music the precisely demands it be enjoyed with a group of your mates that you can drink along and shout along with the lyrics.

Somehow I hadn't heard Abbey Road before but here we are. It's a really good album and it's clear why it was and still is one of the Beatles most influential works. I love "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" which seems like proto stoner rock.

I thought I'd enjoy this (So What is a fave) but it didn't quite grab me. Maybe I needed to be listening to it in a different context, something more moody than the reality supplied by the 2020s

I feel like this is one of those albums that was highly influential, creating soundscapes with both live instruments but also cutting up audio, I guess done with tape and razor splicing. The thing is that decades later, with no many others taking inspiration, it probably doesn't have the same avant grade impact that it did back in the day. Appreciation is theoretical, like having to read the information card to fully understand a painting.

I was into this album back in the 90s. The secret is that Dinosaur Jr. write really solid pop songs disguised under layers of grungy guitars and J's super laidback vocals. Juliana Hatfield always said she wanted to cover the entire album and I've always thought that would be thee best way to uncover the pop. But maybe it's better to remain buried under all that sludge.