Journey Complete!
Finisher #576 to complete the list
1089
Albums Rated
2.95
Average Rating
100%
Complete
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
Favorite Album
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2020s
Favorite Decade
Post-punk
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Curator
Rater Style ?
112
5-Star Albums
158
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Playing With Fire
Spacemen 3
|
5 | 2.54 | +2.46 |
|
Bummed
Happy Mondays
|
5 | 2.64 | +2.36 |
|
Live At The Witch Trials
The Fall
|
5 | 2.64 | +2.36 |
|
The Infotainment Scan
The Fall
|
5 | 2.72 | +2.28 |
|
The White Room
The KLF
|
5 | 2.79 | +2.21 |
|
Freak Out!
The Mothers Of Invention
|
5 | 2.84 | +2.16 |
|
Bone Machine
Tom Waits
|
5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
|
This Nation’s Saving Grace
The Fall
|
5 | 2.89 | +2.11 |
|
Leftism
Leftfield
|
5 | 2.9 | +2.1 |
|
Lazer Guided Melodies
Spiritualized
|
5 | 2.92 | +2.08 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bad
Michael Jackson
|
1 | 3.81 | -2.81 |
|
Brothers In Arms
Dire Straits
|
1 | 3.74 | -2.74 |
|
Dire Straits
Dire Straits
|
1 | 3.72 | -2.72 |
|
Boston
Boston
|
1 | 3.71 | -2.71 |
|
Born In The U.S.A.
Bruce Springsteen
|
1 | 3.7 | -2.7 |
|
Band On The Run
Paul McCartney and Wings
|
1 | 3.67 | -2.67 |
|
Out Of The Blue
Electric Light Orchestra
|
1 | 3.64 | -2.64 |
|
Born To Run
Bruce Springsteen
|
1 | 3.64 | -2.64 |
|
Van Halen
Van Halen
|
1 | 3.63 | -2.63 |
|
good kid, m.A.A.d city
Kendrick Lamar
|
1 | 3.61 | -2.61 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 5 | 4.6 |
| Pink Floyd | 4 | 4.75 |
| The Fall | 3 | 5 |
| Public Enemy | 3 | 4.67 |
| Nick Drake | 3 | 4.67 |
| Beastie Boys | 3 | 4.67 |
| Jimi Hendrix | 3 | 4.67 |
| Pixies | 3 | 4.67 |
| The Flaming Lips | 2 | 5 |
| Muddy Waters | 2 | 5 |
| The Prodigy | 2 | 5 |
| Funkadelic | 2 | 5 |
| The Pogues | 2 | 5 |
| Massive Attack | 2 | 5 |
| Joy Division | 2 | 5 |
| The Jesus And Mary Chain | 2 | 5 |
| The Jam | 2 | 5 |
| Happy Mondays | 2 | 5 |
| Spiritualized | 2 | 5 |
| The Specials | 2 | 5 |
| Jane's Addiction | 2 | 5 |
| Portishead | 2 | 5 |
| The Clash | 2 | 5 |
| Talking Heads | 4 | 4.25 |
| Beatles | 7 | 4 |
| Nirvana | 3 | 4.33 |
| The Stooges | 3 | 4.33 |
| Kate Bush | 3 | 4.33 |
| Leonard Cohen | 5 | 4 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Bruce Springsteen | 5 | 1 |
| Yes | 3 | 1.33 |
| Madonna | 3 | 1.33 |
| Tim Buckley | 3 | 1.33 |
| Coldplay | 2 | 1 |
| Genesis | 2 | 1 |
| Randy Newman | 2 | 1 |
| Eagles | 2 | 1 |
| Van Halen | 2 | 1 |
| Slipknot | 2 | 1 |
| Dire Straits | 2 | 1 |
| George Michael | 2 | 1 |
| Bee Gees | 2 | 1 |
| k.d. lang | 2 | 1 |
| Ryan Adams | 2 | 1 |
| Dolly Parton | 2 | 1 |
| Emerson, Lake & Palmer | 2 | 1 |
| Sepultura | 2 | 1 |
| U2 | 4 | 1.75 |
| Steely Dan | 4 | 1.75 |
| Elvis Presley | 3 | 1.67 |
| Pet Shop Boys | 3 | 1.67 |
| Taylor Swift | 2 | 1.5 |
| Adele | 2 | 1.5 |
| Def Leppard | 2 | 1.5 |
| Todd Rundgren | 2 | 1.5 |
| Kendrick Lamar | 2 | 1.5 |
| Willie Nelson | 2 | 1.5 |
| Emmylou Harris | 2 | 1.5 |
| Christina Aguilera | 2 | 1.5 |
| Aerosmith | 3 | 2 |
| Michael Jackson | 3 | 2 |
| Van Morrison | 3 | 2 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Lou Reed | 2, 5 |
| The xx | 1, 4 |
| Doves | 1, 4 |
| Black Sabbath | 4, 2, 5 |
| The Who | 2, 4, 5, 5, 3 |
5-Star Albums (112)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
The Zutons
2/5
Who killed the Zutons?
No-one killed the Zutons.
Everyone was too ambivalent about their generic ill-advised genre-hopping middle of the road nonsense to get passionate enough to think about killing the Zutons.
19 likes
Ryan Adams
1/5
It's rare that I can't finish an album but an hour and a half of this shite was just too much. Terrible, just terrible.
3 likes
Spacemen 3
5/5
This is mesmerizing and magnificent and I absolutely love it! The extra demos and mixes detract from the original though
2 likes
4-Star Albums (294)
1-Star Albums (158)
All Ratings
OutKast
4/5
Nice start, enjoyed this
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
Solid but not outstanding
The White Stripes
4/5
Loved this, haven't heard it all the way through for quite some time. Still good.
T. Rex
2/5
Ok but not great, apart from the big hits obviously
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
4/5
Enjoyed the great range of styles, never really listened to the whole album before and it was well worth it
The Smiths
4/5
Great album, shame Morrissey turned out to be such a bell-end
David Bowie
2/5
Seems the legend is better than the reality
David Bowie
3/5
Heroes is great, the rest somewhat less so
Living Colour
1/5
Dull, didn't find much to excite or challenge me.
T. Rex
2/5
Not sure I need another T-Rex album in my life
Hugh Masekela
3/5
Not heard this before, nice background sounds though didn't stick in the memory
Milton Nascimento
4/5
This is what finding new albums should be like, great stuff
4/5
Consistently good
The Band
3/5
Worth a listen but not really anything that sticks in my mind.
William Orbit
3/5
Ambient ambivalence
The Flaming Lips
5/5
One of my favourite albums, five stars all day long
Prince
4/5
Perfect pop not pop
The Smiths
4/5
Loved this, still evokes many happy memories of schooltime mayhem. Shame Morrissey turned out to be such a prick though.
The Yardbirds
4/5
More enjoyable than I had expected.
Coldplay
1/5
I tried, I really did. I tried to overcome my preconceptions, I tried to listen to it all the way through, I tried to ignore my loathing for this lame and loathsome nonsense.
I was right all along. Hated it.
Public Enemy
4/5
Bring it! Bonafide classic, still sounds fresh and relevant
The B-52's
4/5
Surprised me. In a good way
Scott Walker
2/5
Just didn't sit right for me
Paul Simon
2/5
Nothing special
Nick Drake
5/5
Enjoyed this, every now and then a turn of phase caught my attention, be it jarringly or just beautifully crafted - compelling stuff and definitely one to keep returning to
ABBA
1/5
Merely serves to remind me how much I dislike ABBA
Isaac Hayes
3/5
Four songs, 45 minutes, felt nicely unhurried and easy to get into.
Brian Eno
2/5
Enough of this experimental noodling, its' ok is small doses but an album is too much.
Otis Redding
4/5
Consistently good throughout
Richard Thompson
2/5
No thanks, not one for me.
Donovan
2/5
So me good tunes but not enough to save it from the duff ones
Hole
3/5
Nirvana's equal?
John Prine
2/5
Not a fan of country, even if the lyrics are better than most country drivel.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
Disappointingly not as good as I remembered/expected.
Cat Stevens
4/5
Easy, relaxing, chilled. What's not to like?
R.E.M.
3/5
There's something about REM that just gets on my nerves, though I can't pinpoint it. This was everywhere when I was studying, maybe that's it?
Rage Against The Machine
5/5
An absolute classic. Rage on my friends, rage on.
Aerosmith
3/5
Having a gaslighting nonce front your band doesn't help, but the album itself is ok-ish I suppose.
The Youngbloods
3/5
Nothing wrong with this but equally nothing great either. The very definition of three stars
The Beach Boys
3/5
Never quite managed to get the Beach Boys.
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
Familiar sounds even though I don't often choose to listen to lcd soundsystem - perhaps I should?
Travis
1/5
Travis are shit
Pink Floyd
5/5
Love this, psychedelic Floyd at their best.
Ash
4/5
The sound of happy nostalgia
OutKast
4/5
Overly long but there's some true gems buried within
The Beach Boys
2/5
No, not today thanks. I've had more than enough mediocrity already
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Great album, very easy going and mellow vibe
Beastie Boys
5/5
Awesome! Loved this, still do.
Nico
1/5
What the actual fuck is going on here then? It has to be one of the worst records, I can only hope that everyone involved was completely off their heads when it was recorded. Wonder what they thought of it when the drugs wore off?
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Hard not to like, always find the Stones a mixed bag, but when they do it well they really do it well
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Awesome voice, truly the queen of soul. Even manages to carry some of the less good tracks with ease
Paul Simon
4/5
Hits all the right spots, including nostalgia.
Beatles
5/5
A veritable tour de force. Superb.
Screaming Trees
3/5
Not bad but not anything special, the very essence of a '3'
The Slits
4/5
Love this! Proper punk chaos with a dose of fun on top
Johnny Cash
4/5
Classic Cash, loved the live banter between tracks.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Some great tracks but a whole load more generic ones that aren't
Nirvana
4/5
Great album, doesn't quite warrant the endless adulation it garnered at the time but comes pretty close
Fleetwood Mac
2/5
Bit dull, far from their finest work
Think I'll pass thanks.
Sam Cooke
4/5
Quality stuff, engaging live too
Michael Kiwanuka
4/5
Mostly rather good, some duff tracks but they're a minority
Devendra Banhart
2/5
didn't really get what this was all about, ultimately just bored me after the initial intrigue.
Bruce Springsteen
1/5
Right ideas I suppose but all a bit too earnest and well, Springsteen-y. Hard no from me.
Jazmine Sullivan
3/5
Listenable but not outstanding
Various Artists
4/5
Ho ho ho
Muddy Waters
5/5
Pretty much the ultimate blues album. Superb
Venom
1/5
Hilariously shit
Sarah Vaughan
4/5
Classy , easy, smooth vibe. Liked this.
Cornershop
3/5
Enjoyable enough but the remix of Brimful of Asha was better
The Band
2/5
Didn't do much for me
Tricky
5/5
Ooh lovely. Great album, very happy to listen to this again and again
The Stooges
4/5
Fizzing with energy and fun, would've been great to see them live
Gil Scott-Heron
3/5
Love the lyrics but the music doesn't really let them shine
Beatles
2/5
A long way from my favourite Beatles album
The Doors
4/5
Classic doors, no more no less than expected
James Brown
5/5
I've been lucky enough to see James Brown twice, this comes close to capturing the energy and charisma of the man and the band. A healthy and heady dose of nostalgia is the icing on the cake for me
Ministry
2/5
I do like a bit of industrial thrashy nonsense every now and then but this was just shouty shite
Sonic Youth
3/5
Nice half-arsed noisy chaos
Nirvana
5/5
Loved this, teh covers were great and the whole vibe just sits well. A genuinely great album
Beatles
3/5
Good but not their best
The Prodigy
5/5
Outstanding, still sounds fresh all these years later. An absolute belter of an album
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
Warm and rich and lovely. A great discovery
Aphex Twin
5/5
Nervous about listening to this straight and sober on my way to work. Turns out it's still awesome.
Franz Ferdinand
4/5
Loved this when it came out. Wonder what they're up to now?
Sade
1/5
Insipid 80's nonsense for people who don't/didn't care.
Amy Winehouse
3/5
It's ok but it's not Back to Black is it?
Simple Minds
3/5
A bit bland, but an extra star from me purely for nostalgia
Suicide
3/5
Quite fun, new to me and I will give it another listen for sure
Orbital
4/5
Orbital soundtracked a fum part of my life, they were at pretty much every festival for a while.
The Stooges
5/5
Fantastic energy, carries the flawed bits. Would've loved to see this live
Curtis Mayfield
5/5
Super smooth and funky, great all round.
Funkadelic
5/5
Funking Brilliant!
Marty Robbins
1/5
Soundtrack to a shit western. A really shit one.
CHIC
2/5
After the first couple of tracks it all went a bit downhill
Tina Turner
1/5
Familiar 80s pop. Dreadful in so many ways
The Cure
4/5
Liked this a lot, a darker diversion from the pop-Cure and all the better for it.
Koffi Olomide
2/5
Didn't really gel for me, might've been better at a summer festival chilling before the headline acts
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Disappointing, there's better SW albums
Lambchop
2/5
Not what I was expecting, and not all that memorable
Lorde
1/5
Derivative nonsense.
2/5
I liked early U2 stuff but this marks the turning point. Bongo/Bonio bollocks
Motörhead
4/5
This is the distillation of rock to it's purest essence
4/5
Unexpected fun
Tracy Chapman
4/5
Engaging & nostalgic
The Pogues
5/5
Peak Pogues, superbly showcases the whole band's talents
The Who
2/5
The Who were so much better than this
PJ Harvey
4/5
Always interesting, not always easy to listen to but great nonetheles
Tortoise
3/5
Sadly rather dull, pleasant enough background sounds but never really excited
SZA
2/5
Crp
The Stone Roses
5/5
One of the best albums ever, still a relevant soundtrack to my life
John Martyn
5/5
Loved this, reminds me of lots of happy times
Korn
1/5
Nope
Songhoy Blues
4/5
No idea what they're on about, but I liked listening to this
Ice Cube
2/5
I get the message but it gets a bit tiresome after a while.
Green Day
2/5
Basket case is great but the rest just fades into sub-par same-sounding filler
Queen
3/5
Bohemian Rhapsody is truly majestic, the rest rather less so.
The Modern Lovers
4/5
New for me, quite liked.it
Roxy Music
4/5
Some good stuff going on here
Nightmares On Wax
4/5
Laid back grooves, takes me back to happy messy times
Beatles
4/5
And so the rise to greatness begins
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
Great lyrics and arrangements, there's evidently much talent at work here
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
4/5
Raw & innovative & exciting.stuff
Alice In Chains
2/5
Painful to listen to this.
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
Great album
Bad Company
2/5
Rather dull, competent.ploddimg
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Classic but inconsistent
Black Sabbath
4/5
Seminal metal
Funkadelic
5/5
Funktastic
Lucinda Williams
2/5
Rather dull, generic sounding but inoffensively so
Aretha Franklin
5/5
Perfect showcase for such a powerful voice
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Great album, always uplifting and smile-inducing
Air
3/5
OK background music, mothing special though
Johnny Cash
4/5
Moving, reflective stuff from a man who lived a hell of a life
The Hives
3/5
Not bad, not great and not my new favourite band.
AC/DC
3/5
Classic rock album, some great tracks and some dodgy ones
4/5
Possibly the best album ever made by a pair of absolute bell-ends
The Auteurs
2/5
Hmm. Not all that great but OK in parts I suppose.
Lou Reed
2/5
Not great, he's done better.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Great lyrics, grating delivery.
Genesis
1/5
Hard to get excited by prog rock noodling nonsense.
Parliament
5/5
Could it get any funkier?
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Classic bluesy rock but somehow not everything it should be
Randy Newman
1/5
What the hell? Who let this guy into the list?
Garbage
4/5
I rather enjoyed revisiting this, I probably wouldn't have done so without the prompt from this project so nice one
The Byrds
3/5
Dreadful stereotype
ZZ Top
3/5
Archetypal rock but better than I had anticipated
Iggy Pop
3/5
Whilst I love Iggy Pop this falls rather short.
Liz Phair
3/5
She's not a great singer but it doesn't really matter, the whole package is OK. Just not great or particularly memorable.
Eagles
1/5
Sorry, I really don't like the Eagles. At all. Awful.
Judas Priest
3/5
Classic metal, just not my thing
Fela Kuti
4/5
Enjoyably funky jazzy protest. I rather enjoyed this one
Dirty Projectors
1/5
Jesus. What a load of utter bollocks. Started off shit and just got worse
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
Never gonna set my world on fire but it was ok, something a bit different
Elvis Presley
2/5
Elvis was a bit shit really wasn't he?
Van Halen
1/5
Hair metal? Cock rock? Whatever subgenre this is i don't like it at all
Steely Dan
2/5
Nothing terrible but not that good either
Traffic
2/5
Odd and tedious
Pantera
1/5
Pants. With skid marks.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
Better than expected, my expectations having been set by all the later shit that they came out with. I had forgotten how good this is
Yes
2/5
No. Thank you but no.
Harry Nilsson
3/5
Strangely compelling at times, just not all the time
Beyoncé
1/5
Seriously? I gave it a listen to make sure I hadn't missed anything. I hadn't, it's awful.
Hüsker Dü
3/5
Energetic but samey.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Bit like Dylan - great songwriting but not good to listen to. No harmonica though, so that's a bonus
The Waterboys
3/5
Pogues were better so why bother with this?
Guns N' Roses
2/5
Predictable and really a bit shite, but fun enough at the time I suppose
Iron Butterfly
1/5
Who thought this was a good idea?
Cypress Hill
4/5
Great beats, great album
4/5
Great album, pretty much peak Bowie
Dexys Midnight Runners
2/5
Too much of a good thing, not an albums' worth
Supertramp
2/5
This whole album is a crime
Massive Attack
5/5
Unsurpassable greatness
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Outstanding album, the lyrics are just sublime and Nick Cave and the band deliver them so powerfully. Finally, a double album that truly justifies it's existence.
Paul McCartney and Wings
1/5
Oh dear.
Hole
4/5
Chaotic. Noisy. Angry. Messy. Courney Love ticks all the boxes. The album's not bad either.
Solomon Burke
3/5
Great voice, bit too much of a similar thing going on to make it a stand out album though
Raekwon
3/5
Mixed bag for me. By the end I was coming to appreciate it a bit more but mostly it just seemed a bit of a mess
Cyndi Lauper
2/5
One good single and a load of inconsequential fluff. Not a great recipe for an album.
The Fall
5/5
Scathing, ranting, hypnotic brilliance.
Bob Dylan
2/5
I know there's gonna be a lot more Dylan to come, but I just don't think I'll every be able to move on from the terrible whiney voice and the harmonica, no matter how good the songwriting
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
Loved the noisy guitar/understated vocal combo.
Al Green
4/5
Easy enough to listen to, but there's a quality that lifts it beyond easy listening.
Jeff Beck
1/5
How can you mess up blues rock so much? (Admittedly, Rod Stewart doesn't help much but Ronnie Wood should've been able to drag things back into line)
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
Properly funky and well worthy of it's place on the list
Fugees
4/5
Intelligent hip hop evolution.
DJ Shadow
4/5
Classic sample-heavy stuff, full of nostalgia for me
Ice T
3/5
Not quite as good or as articulate as it should have been. Body count did better
Billy Bragg
4/5
Loved this far more than I remembered
David Bowie
3/5
Liked the experimental edge but didn't always land for me
The Kinks
2/5
All a bit lacklustre, I'd rather listen to something else
Black Sabbath
2/5
Sabbath had collapsed under the weight of their own legend by the time they released this. And their enormous drug and alcohol intake probably didn't help much either
Amy Winehouse
5/5
Classic album, much to enjoy.
Throbbing Gristle
1/5
Fuck off. Art school wankery.
Bruce Springsteen
1/5
Tedious nonsense. Even his well-known stuff was dreadful, and this is somehow worse, truly terrible
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
Still struggle with whiney old Neil. Was better when diluted by C S & N
Steely Dan
2/5
Soft rock nonsense. Consigned to 1970s & 80s Radio2 where it belongs.
Ananda Shankar
3/5
Alright, but just sounds a little bland and stereotypical to me
The Byrds
1/5
Not a huge Byrds fan. But the Byrds doing country? Absolute seals the deal, utter shite.
Sonic Youth
4/5
A very credible alternative to Nirvana in my opinion, there's a whole lot of stuff going on that is right up my street
Thundercat
2/5
I struggled to maintain interest to be honest.
Public Enemy
5/5
Absolute belter of an album. still works after all these years. Iconic classic
U2
1/5
Fuck off Bongo
Talking Heads
4/5
Can't go wrong with a bit of Talking Heads. Not their best but still great
R.E.M.
2/5
This was everywhere and hyped to the max. It's just not vey good though is it?
TV On The Radio
5/5
Love this, really works for me
Janelle Monáe
4/5
Lots going on here, enjoyed all of it. Great new discovery
Ian Dury
4/5
Great album, witty lyrics and sharp delivery.
Billy Bragg
4/5
A socialist voice has never felt more important or relevant than now
Antony and the Johnsons
2/5
Started off intriguing and different but quickly collapsed into irritating self-indulgent nonsense
The Kinks
3/5
All a bit samey and dated sounding to these uneducated ears, though it wasn't unpleasant by any means
Belle & Sebastian
2/5
Far too floaty and ethereal. Nothing landed for me.
2/5
Just not very exciting, is it? Far too safe and dull
Lenny Kravitz
1/5
Poor. Just cut to the chase and listen to Hendrix or Prince instead, not a poor pastiche.
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
Overrated but pretty good nonetheless, accessible with a bit of interest and depth to the songwriting
Cheap Trick
2/5
Can't say that I found this enthralling, inoffensive is probably about as kind as I can be.
Frank Sinatra
2/5
S'ok I suppose, if you're in the right mood. Bit too much as a whole album of crooning though
Frank Black
3/5
Pixies were better.
Derek & The Dominos
2/5
Dull, nothing challenging here. Move on.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Lyrics make it worth it, but there's not much else to commend it. Typical Dylan then
The Byrds
3/5
Liked this more than I had expected, given what I know of the Byrds
The Avalanches
2/5
Dull, no real passion in it
Slipknot
1/5
This is truly a waste of time. Totally devoid of merit or interest.
Taylor Swift
1/5
Is this actually real or some AI generated nonsense?
2/5
Not a country fan, but this wasn't as bad as some
Roxy Music
2/5
Somehow the art school prog-pop vibe plagued this ablum, there are better Roxy Music albums out there
Deep Purple
2/5
More plodding rock by numbers. Dull.
SAULT
4/5
Impressive in ambition and delivery, and well worth a listen
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
Loved revisiting this, the retro guitar and vocal sounds and the understated lyrics. Very proto-gothrock shoegaze-y
Moby
4/5
Is there anyone alive who isn't worn out by this album? it was just everywhere and all the time, but it's still a good album it you can fight the urge to switch it off and actually give it an objective listen.
The Police
2/5
Not really a Police fan and this didn't do much to change my view
Arctic Monkeys
4/5
Full of the swagger and grandiosity of a young new band who knew they were gonna be big
Elvis Costello
4/5
Witty songwriting and great music. But then I am an Elvis Costello fan so I would say that wouldn't I?
Anita Baker
1/5
This was terrible when it came out, and the years since haven't been kind. Awful.
Prince
4/5
How funky do you want your pop perfection?
Foo Fighters
3/5
Just not as impressive as its reputation.
Nirvana
4/5
I think i prefer this to the other one
Big Black
4/5
Awesome abrasive noise
The Prodigy
5/5
Relentless perfection, so many happy memories...
Bobby Womack
2/5
This one's just not working for me.
Super Furry Animals
4/5
Solid album, energetic and fun, love the nods to glam and psychedelic and pop and punk all mixed up
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Full bore bonafide classic album, and I'll fight anyone who wants to argue
Kid Rock
1/5
Redneck metal is not a thing. This is shit.
Talk Talk
3/5
Pleasant enough in the background, occasionally something will lift it into my consciousness but it's never sustained
Massive Attack
5/5
Classic MA album, captures the moment and the feeling of the early/mid 90s perfectly for me.
The Pogues
5/5
Absolute belter of an album, good fun all round
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Rock solid Zeppelin
Serge Gainsbourg
3/5
Not really too sure about this. Kinda ok, kinda cool, but mostly not really for me.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
Love this album, all ticks all the post punk goth boxes and does it very well all round
Adele
2/5
Miserable pointless pop
The Smiths
4/5
Loved this in the 80s. Less so now, (thanks Morrissey, you bellend) but nostalgia triumphs so all good
Joy Division
5/5
Iconic band, iconic cover, iconic sound. Loved this and still do
Black Flag
3/5
Raw and shouty hardcore, just like it should be
Pearl Jam
3/5
Pretty generic sounding, they never seemed to hit the spot for me, not sure why?
The Incredible String Band
4/5
Is this genius? or utter shite? (both?) It's brilliantly bonkers, without doubt one of the highlights of this list so far.
Gorillaz
3/5
What a disappointment. Not nearly as good as I remembered, I loved this but it just doesn't seem to have aged well for me at least
Patti Smith
5/5
Great album, full of punky anger and eloquence
Kate Bush
4/5
More batshit crazy warbling from the queen of batshit crazy warbling (hat is a good thing, just to clarify)
Dr. John
4/5
Weird funky psychedelic vibes with a whiff of exotic menace. What's not to like?
Grateful Dead
3/5
It wasn't what I remembered, but I remembered it being awful so that's a bit of a bonus
Rush
2/5
Prog rock yawn
Nas
2/5
Didn't light up. Bit of a dud.
Robbie Williams
1/5
Really, really awful.
4/5
Bonkers, but joyously so. I'm so glad I found this!
Johnny Cash
4/5
I'm not a county fan but there's something strangely compelling about his interaction with his audience
Jerry Lee Lewis
3/5
Electrifying energy from a damaged and damaging character
Q-Tip
1/5
Really rather terrible all round
The Kinks
3/5
Pretty good, though a bit too much filler for my liking, not as much wit as Something Else
Dennis Wilson
4/5
Rather a nice surprise. Hadn't realised that Dennis Wilson had done a solo album, and it wasn't bad at all
Kanye West
1/5
Awful
Def Leppard
2/5
Seriously? Is this on the list for the comedy value?
Sigur Rós
3/5
This seemed to pass me by when it came out, did the same this time round too
The Young Rascals
2/5
It wasn't awful
Sabu
3/5
It would be a stretch to say I liked it, but it was mostly interesting
LL Cool J
1/5
Well that was pretty poor. Who thought this was worthy of a place in the book?
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Awesome lyricist, the delivery is a bit of an acquired taste but at least it's not nasal and there's no harmonica
Pink Floyd
5/5
Epic greatness
Jeff Buckley
4/5
First time I've actively listened to a Jeff Buckley album, I rather enjoyed the expereince
Love
2/5
It was all going okish until someone thought an 18 minute unstructured mess of a track was a good idea. It wan't.
The Last Shadow Puppets
2/5
Not really as good as it should've been
Missy Elliott
4/5
A modern classic
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
Solid but largely forgettable pop
Destiny's Child
1/5
Oh fuck off. You are having a laugh, right?
Leonard Cohen
5/5
Careful what you ask for. He didn't exactly make the happiest albums before this one you know.
The Shamen
2/5
Fun at the time but that was a long, long time ago.
Eagles
1/5
Not a fan
a-ha
2/5
A great single doesn't make a great album
Justice
4/5
Fun post Daft Punk kinda sounds but heavier. Some tracks outstayed their welcome though
Gang Starr
3/5
Refreshing alternative to gangsta
Gang Of Four
5/5
One of my favourite albums, love it
The Crusaders
1/5
Great opening track but then I was put on hold for half an hour
Billie Holiday
2/5
Disappointing, I was expecting better than this
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Enjoyed this, Solsbury Hill reminded me of happy school times
2/5
Rather generic and empty-sounding 80's nonsense
Elliott Smith
4/5
New to me but yeah, enjoyed it. Pretty chilled
Elvis Costello
4/5
Of all his prolific output this is near the top
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
2/5
Hard to see what all the fuss was about really
Laura Nyro
3/5
Not heard this before, didn't wow me but it wasn't unpleasant
Neneh Cherry
1/5
Not for me. Even the singles at the time annoyed me, and the rest of the album is the same
Janet Jackson
1/5
Totally shit.
Neil Young
3/5
Too whiney and too much harmonica. Like Dylan but not.
Elliott Smith
2/5
Nothing special, didn't really interest me to be honest
Deep Purple
2/5
An album of 'my turn next' solos is an album of too many solos for me.
The Divine Comedy
3/5
Nostalgic fun
Keith Jarrett
4/5
Enjoyable background noodling
The Killers
2/5
Disappointingly dull
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
4/5
Refreshing, enjoyed the beats and grooves, this is the sort of new stuff I signed up for.
The Adverts
4/5
Punky fun
Sisters Of Mercy
4/5
Bonus star for evoking happy memories of the indie-goth-rock night at the Escape club in Southampton in the late 80s. Getting a wave of nostalgia (or nausea?) for snakebite and black and the ever-present stench of patchouli oil
Solange
1/5
Pointless. I didn't need an album's-worth to confirm that this is not for me
The Sonics
2/5
Nothing special, probably ok in it's day
Shuggie Otis
3/5
Cheesy easy listening
Lana Del Rey
4/5
Surprised me, confounded my (rather low) expectations
The Fall
5/5
One of my favourite Fall albums (I think I might say this everytime I listen to a Fall album?). Nicely evokes happy memories with it's Madchester vibe, even if it does sound a little dated.
I'm always surprised and impressed at how MES always stepped close to but rarely strayed into ruining great performances from his band members.
Bad Brains
1/5
Disorganised mess
Love
3/5
The rest of the album couldn't quite match up to the awesome opening track, but pleasant enough nonetheless
Aerosmith
2/5
Ticks all the boxes for classic American rock, and does it very well. Ok in small doses but the whole thing is a bit much for me, it's just not my thing
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
One of the better Neil Young albums
Kraftwerk
3/5
Interesting, influential, ground-breaking. But somehow disappointing too.
Slint
3/5
New band to me, I liked this but something held me back from a fourth star and nothing grabbed me enough to make me want to go back to find out why.
Arcade Fire
4/5
Liked this a lot, from a time before the hipster crown jumped in and ruined it.
The Go-Go's
4/5
Joyous post-punky pop fun
Faust
4/5
Pleasantly surprised by this, some parts jarred a bit but overall it was interesting and enjoyable. A good example of why I signed up to this project
Elvis Presley
1/5
Still not a fan
Sister Sledge
3/5
Quality disco-funk, rest of the album inevitably struggles to match up to the big hitters
Bob Dylan
4/5
For all the whining and harmonica nonsense that Dylan does my head in with, this is a great album.
Elbow
4/5
I'd always dismissed Elbow as generic music for adverts but I rather enjoyed this album
Sly & The Family Stone
5/5
Pure class
Barry Adamson
1/5
Reminded me of a school music class project, an interesting idea perhaps but not enough to justify an album. Overall it was a bit tedious and self indulgent.
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
2/5
Not great, but it's ok
Taylor Swift
2/5
I'm really not the target demographic
David Bowie
2/5
Not his best
fIREHOSE
4/5
Never heard this before, liked it
The Cars
3/5
Enjoyable enough 80s vibe
Todd Rundgren
2/5
I'm glad that this exists, and that it's on this list, but I'm not sure I'd listen to it again
Eurythmics
4/5
Nostalgia is a powerful thing, one of the first bands I saw live. Still evokes powerful memories of that time in my life
Neu!
3/5
good enough in the background but didn't manage to hold my attention.
Mj Cole
1/5
No, sorry. Not sure this one earns its place on the list, at least not for me.
Killing Joke
4/5
Still as impressive as when I first heard it over 30 years ago, and not just for the happy nostalgia it evokes - a great album.
Bonnie Raitt
1/5
Make it stop. Please.
Deep Purple
3/5
Classic 70's rock, is a little generic-sounding.
Bob Dylan
4/5
I still struggle with Dylan, but the song writing here is undeniably great
The Who
4/5
The Who at their best, none of the excessive experimental stuff, just raw and immediate
Crowded House
2/5
A bit lame really
Culture Club
2/5
Very throwaway 80s, doesn't have any enduring appeal so not sure why it's on the list
The Cardigans
3/5
Pleasant enough pop
Dire Straits
1/5
So overdone I have an instant revulsion. The very definition of competently dull and plodding
Butthole Surfers
3/5
Noisy fun
Sheryl Crow
2/5
All a bit tiresome and tedious. Friday nights are much more fun
Tito Puente
4/5
Impossible not to like this, surely?
Sufjan Stevens
3/5
I found this a bit dull, the interesting parts (there were quite a few) got a bit lost by the end
Iggy Pop
4/5
the lust for life is strong in this one
Kraftwerk
4/5
Hier alles gut
The Replacements
3/5
Wholesome 80s fun
Pulp
4/5
Not their best album, still great though.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Hit and miss for me, in equal measure.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Love Stevie Wonder and this has some awesome tracks but it's not a great album, sorry to say.
Louis Prima
4/5
Good vibes all round!
4/5
It's a bit full-on but kinda compelling and I really enjoyed it
The Zombies
4/5
This was an ok album, not sure why I'd never heard it before. Rather nice hippy vibes
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
Standard Southern rock. Move on.
Femi Kuti
4/5
Enjoyed this, easy to have going on in the background but still worth an active listen too
Christine and the Queens
2/5
Better in French, but only because my rusty O-level French couldn't keep up so the lyrics annoyed me less
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Great songwriting
The Louvin Brothers
2/5
Tragic
B.B. King
4/5
A great distillation of everything blues should be
George Harrison
3/5
Mostly a pass from me
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Good to hear the formative stuff before the band developed into the familiar, but a bit dull
Finley Quaye
2/5
Who let this onto the list?
Violent Femmes
4/5
Enjoyed the almost chilled punk vibe
Linkin Park
1/5
Come on boys, time to grow up. You can't be an angry teenager for ever
Joy Division
5/5
Dark, moody perfection, all the more so in the light of history
Booker T. & The MG's
2/5
Outstanding opener, so familiar. High expectations sadly not met, the rest was rather samey and disappointing.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Powerful stuff, not an easy listen but no less perfect for it
Tori Amos
2/5
Found this a bit dull to be honest
Machito
2/5
Not bad exactly, just too much of it all at once made it hard work
New York Dolls
2/5
Lame plastic punk, no sense of righteous anger
Charles Mingus
1/5
My family asked me to turn this off. I concur.
The Isley Brothers
3/5
Some good stuff, some terrible stuff. Hard to give anything but a 3
The Velvet Underground
4/5
Not their finest moment, but still very fine
Bob Dylan
3/5
Fine songwriting, just ruined with his whining voice and harmonica nonsense
Dead Kennedys
4/5
Shouty short bursts of perfect punkiness. What's not to like?
Steely Dan
1/5
Utterly devoid of anything with any merit whatsoever. What was the point of even making this, let alone adding it to this list?
Eminem
4/5
So much more entertaining than I remembered, enjoyed revisiting this, it was a right laugh.
Dinosaur Jr.
4/5
I was very into this band. Must've come close to wearing out my vinyl copy, it's a real joy to revisit this album 30 odd years on.
1/5
No
Jorge Ben Jor
4/5
One of those joyous gems that this list is all about
Sugar
3/5
Perfectly adequate. No more, no less
Pet Shop Boys
1/5
Lacking any of the fun or joy of some of their better stuff
John Coltrane
4/5
Nice!
Meat Loaf
4/5
Cheesy as hell but wouldn't work if it wasn't
Beastie Boys
5/5
Awesome, this is a great album!
The Jesus And Mary Chain
5/5
Sublime
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
2/5
My memories of this were better than the reality of revisiting it, sadly I was disappointed this time around
Anthrax
2/5
Terrible, but somehow better than expected.
Television
4/5
Love this. Still sounds great
Tom Waits
5/5
Demands and rewards repeated listens, it's the veey opposite of background music
The White Stripes
4/5
Their best album, the rest seemed to.fade away, never recreate Seven Nation Army moment
Pixies
5/5
This was an easy 5, classic album that defined and dominated the era for.me
Mekons
4/5
Surprisingly enjoyed parts of this,
Buena Vista Social Club
3/5
Happy background sounds
White Denim
2/5
Well that happened without even registering for me
Common
3/5
This was ok, if a little generic 2000's sounding
Suede
3/5
Suede were OK. Just OK, noting special but not shit.
Radiohead
3/5
Not great. I lost interest after their first couple of albums, never quite worked for me since.
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
Classic, an essential if dated listen.
U2
3/5
Despite Bonio's best efforts over the last 30+ years, I still have a (surprising) soft spot for some of the early U2 stuff. He's still a monumental twit though.
The Jam
5/5
Peak Jam , this is an outstanding album.
Wu-Tang Clan
5/5
Candidate for one of the best hip hop albums
Faith No More
3/5
Bit of a mess.
5/5
You know that thing where you revisit something with a slight sense of sadness because is's so good and you can never revisit that sense of awe that comes with the first listen? If there is anyone working through this list who has somehow never heard this before then I am jealous.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Loved the old-school vibes and all-round positivity
Fela Kuti
4/5
-1 for the 16 minute drum solo. Behave!
Kendrick Lamar
2/5
OK I suppose but doesn't seem to bring anything new to the party
Jamiroquai
1/5
Get back in your silly hat
Saint Etienne
4/5
Love this, perfect electro pop vibe but much more interesting
David Bowie
4/5
Like this, one of the better Bowie albums in my opinion
Röyksopp
3/5
Chilled background vibes but it has had its day and things have moved on, doesn't stand up so well any more
Turbonegro
2/5
hmm. Not great dudes, not great.
John Grant
4/5
Great album, grew on me more and more
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
5/5
Classic blues rock. With or without Young, this is a great band.
Prefab Sprout
1/5
Best left in the 80's bargain bin. Where it pretty much started started.
Method Man
3/5
The whole was more than the sum of the parts
FKA twigs
2/5
Interesting in parts, ultimately not interesting enough for me.
The Everly Brothers
1/5
I don't think I'm up for a second date
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Perfect crooning. If that's your thing.
Talking Heads
5/5
Same as it ever was
The Style Council
1/5
The beginning of the sad decline.of the modfather.
More Jam please.
Weather Report
2/5
Really not very good this is it?
Syd Barrett
2/5
All a bit too half arsed, hard work without the right drugs
Abdullah Ibrahim
1/5
Forgettable.
Arcade Fire
3/5
Liked the first two albums more
Willie Nelson
2/5
Not for me, not a country fan
Youssou N'Dour
3/5
pleasant enough but nothing outstanding
Madonna
1/5
Pray for this shite to end
Happy Mondays
5/5
Chaotic fun, perfect soundtrack to my late 80s life
Paul Revere & The Raiders
2/5
Nothing special, standard 60's beat combo sounds.
Radiohead
2/5
Not good.
And I can't shake the association of Thom Yorke's voice with Herbert's from Family Guy:
https://thomyorkesingslikeherbertfromfamilyguy.ytmnd.com/
Depeche Mode
4/5
Aged better than I expected, I like the darker DM stuff
Roni Size
4/5
Love this, love the way it opened my ears to a new sound and took my understanding of music to a whole new level
Emmylou Harris
2/5
Forgettable
The Byrds
3/5
Nice enough, easily recognisable but not really all that memorable.
Public Image Ltd.
3/5
I like PiL. I think Mr L is a bit of a plonker who isn't ageing well (I can relate, but I do hope I'm not like him) but I still like PiL
Barry Adamson
3/5
Better than the last one!
Van Halen
1/5
Dreadful on so many levels.
Manic Street Preachers
4/5
Quality stuff,.this album has been sort of 'always there', so.much so that I hadn't really properly listened to it lately.
Depeche Mode
5/5
Very pleased to have been reminded how great this album was
Malcolm McLaren
2/5
Interesting idea but ultimately not that great
Orange Juice
1/5
Vapid.
The Chemical Brothers
4/5
This has aged well, great album
Moby Grape
2/5
Sadly this band's history is more interesting and more rock and roll than their music
Spiritualized
5/5
The evolution from Spacemen3 through this and then onwards was a thing of beauty and a very happy thing for me
KISS
1/5
A bit shit, like a not very funny parody.
Best bit? Only half an hour long.
Still half an hour too long though.
The Gun Club
4/5
Enjoyed this more.than I thought I would
The Doors
4/5
Better than I remembered
Elastica
5/5
There were some good Britpop albums and ge absolute stinkers. This is one of the former, loved it then and loved revisiting it
Scritti Politti
1/5
Still irritating after 40 years
Rush
2/5
The worst kind of prog rock.
Bon Jovi
1/5
Tried give the album an unbiased listen despite my initial misgivings and low expectations based on memories from when it came out and the seemingly endless playing of the hits
Wish I hadn't bothered, turns out I was right all along. It's shit.
Rod Stewart
3/5
Not bad, not good. Just sort of 'there'
Django Django
4/5
Had been meaning to give this a listen for some time, glad I finally did - enjoyed it
Michael Jackson
3/5
Fun musically at times, some great tracks but never enough to displace uncomfortable thoughts about celebrating the music of the predatory nonce that he became. 3* for the music (let's face it, he's not the only musician on this list with a grim history).
Elis Regina
2/5
Didn't really connect with this one
The Cramps
3/5
More fun than I'd expected
Gotan Project
2/5
Never really elevated itself beyond occasionally interesting muzak, shame really but the more interesting bits never seemed to take it any further
Frank Sinatra
2/5
Smooth. But a bit dull.
Tom Tom Club
3/5
Shame the momentum of the cracking opening tracks wasn't sustained, but fun nonetheless
The Blue Nile
1/5
Might've appealed to someone in the 80's. But not me. And definitely not now.
Einstürzende Neubauten
1/5
Interesting, but not interesting enough to distract from the fact that it's just not very good. I doubt I'll ever want to listen to this one again. Sounds like the live shows were a right laugh though.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
3/5
Nice. Perfect mellow background music, not too challenging.
Tears For Fears
2/5
Thought I remembered this and was looking forward to it. Turns out that apart from Shout and Everybody Wants to Rule the World (which are great) it was all a bit of a disappointment
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
Loved this, gets better and better with every listen.
It was also a joyous break from the recent run of dreary 80s synth-pop.
Stan Getz
4/5
Effortlessly cool and laid back, I liked this a lot
Goldie
4/5
Great chilled music to have onin the background, yet with enough interesting changes to hold my attention. Impressive.
George Michael
1/5
I'm sure that making this might've been cathartic for George Michael, but for me it was just dreary to listen to.
Skunk Anansie
4/5
Great voice, great band, never seemed to achieve the recognition they deserved. I prefer the earlier less heavy sound but still enjoyed this.
David Gray
1/5
Dismal, left me feeling that I've just wasted an hour of my life. Doesn't even work as background music, kept intruding into my consciousness by annoying.me.This is very, very far from being music that I like.
Marvin Gaye
2/5
Overly long, smooth and funky as expected but only all too brief moments of interest to rise above the self-indulgent bitterness. There's better Marvin Gaye albums out there.
N.E.R.D
3/5
A fun listen, similar to the first album but no worse for it
The Damned
5/5
A witty and joyous riot of perfect punk
Herbie Hancock
3/5
Bit too much of a meandering jazz thing for me, equal measures of moments of brilliance and irritating bits. Overall it was pleasant enough in the background.
Talvin Singh
2/5
Interesting ambition, not quite realised
The Specials
5/5
Soundtrack to my youth.
The beginning of Thatcher's disaffected, unemployed and miserable Britain mixed with cold war paranoia and all wrapped up in a perfect ska-pop soundtrack. And Terry Hall.
What's not to like? Pretty much perfect archive of the era.
Madonna
2/5
Not really for me but enjoyed it far more than I had expected to
Marvin Gaye
4/5
Aaaaaahhh. That's better. Cheers Marvin.
Miles Davis
2/5
Hard work, and not particularly enjoyable
Suede
2/5
Still dull
Happy Mondays
5/5
Tried to put aside my preconceptions about this, buts it's still a five star album all day long.
John Lennon
3/5
Just think what this guy could've achieved if he was part of a decent band...
Lauryn Hill
4/5
Never really appreciated how good this is when it was released, took a few years for me to catch up. Great album
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
Great to be reminded of how good this album was, though it does sound a bit dated now
Burning Spear
5/5
Superb album, hits the spot
Ride
3/5
Loved this when it came out, Ride were great live. Haven't really listened to it since, not really likely to again if Im honest.
The Undertones
4/5
Good wholesome punky fun
Ms. Dynamite
1/5
Never really understood the hype over this. Not unpleasant, but not particularly innovative or interesting either.
Bill Evans Trio
2/5
Mmm. Pretty complex stuff made to sound effortless. Interesting, but sounds very grown up and sophisticated so not really for me.
X-Ray Spex
5/5
More fantastic energetic punk fun. Loving this!
The Who
5/5
Awesome album, The Who at their best. So much better than Tommy, and all the better for being live
Jane's Addiction
5/5
Outstanding, always.loved this album.
Jeru The Damaja
3/5
Some cleverness and wit in the lyrics, overshadowed by the dated misogyny that grates and drags it down
The Offspring
2/5
Struggling to find much merit in this, it's pretty inane. It's like they couldn't be bothered to find something worth shouting about so they just shouted anyway.
Gary Numan
4/5
Some great tracks. And some that sound like they're background music for a Blake's 7 episode
Red Hot Chili Peppers
2/5
Always struggled to enjoy RHCP. This hasn't done anything to change that.
Julian Cope
4/5
Doesn't always work, but when it does this is brilliantly weird fun.
CHIC
2/5
I'm sure this is fine if you like disco. . 'Good Times' is ok but even that goes on for far too long.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Took a while to appreciate the rest of the album in between the outstanding opening and closing tracks but this is a mighty fine album.
David Bowie
4/5
I quite like this. Better than lots of previous Bowie
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
3/5
14 year old me loved this. Forty years on and I'm not so sure, but nostalgia is a powerful thing
The Who
5/5
Favourite Who album. Awesome cover art too
Roxy Music
3/5
Faded somewhat on the b side, but still an enjoyable and interesting listen. Virginia Plain is an out and out classic
Big Star
2/5
Not sure what to make of this. It wasn't bad, it's just that I can't really remember much of it. Made me want to listen to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and this doesn't stand up well in comparison
Cocteau Twins
5/5
Glad to be reminded of this, haven't listened to Cocteau Twins for a while. Great album.
De La Soul
5/5
Bonafide classic, outstanding
The Black Keys
2/5
Inoffensive, but that's hardly a recommendation. Bland.
George Michael
1/5
'Faith' was a great track. Confused all us indie kids, everyone liked it but we were too cool to admit it. The rest of the album was pretty mediocre. The passage of time has done it no favours, lots of it just sounds creepy now.
Blood, Sweat & Tears
1/5
Blood, sweat, tears & shite. Mostly shite.
Marilyn Manson
1/5
Childish lyrics ruined some good work by the rest of the band
3/5
Classy, solid album. Tailed off a bit after the strong opening tracks.
The Young Gods
3/5
Like Killing Joke doing cabaret in French. Fun idea, didn't quite work as well as it could've though.
Britney Spears
1/5
Nope
Wilco
3/5
Weird album. Not exactly bad, but every time I actively took notice I just thought "this is a bit dull"
Ghostface Killah
4/5
Hadn't heard this before, enjoyed it more than I expected
Billy Joel
2/5
If Paul McCartney tried to emulate Elton John would it make anything better? No
Elton John
3/5
Finely crafted but not really for me.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
2/5
Sadly didn't live up to the promise of the cover art
Traffic
2/5
Average at best but what the hell's going on with 'vagabond virgin'???
The Zutons
2/5
Who killed the Zutons?
No-one killed the Zutons.
Everyone was too ambivalent about their generic ill-advised genre-hopping middle of the road nonsense to get passionate enough to think about killing the Zutons.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Good but not his best album
Mike Ladd
1/5
I tried... but this was awful. Occasionally laugh out loud awful ('If I was an Catholic my name would be...Chris').
New Order
4/5
This is the album that helped me appreciate New Order as a band in their own right rather than just being a slightly disappointing continuation of Joy Division.
Eels
3/5
Like this, nice mellow vibe
American Music Club
2/5
Not worth enduring the YouTube ads for.
Madness
4/5
Some hit the spot and some are little way off, but Our House is a perfect treat, simply sublime
Robert Wyatt
2/5
First impression: wrong side of experimental for me, but I did feel compelled to give it another listen. Didn't change my opinion.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
3/5
Great classic tracks but the whole thing gets a bit much after a while. Ok in the background though.
Adam & The Ants
4/5
This was more fun than I expected, genuinely different to everything else of its time
ZZ Top
4/5
Classic pub rock, nothing particularly new but done very well. Surprised to see that this is 50 years old, timeless I guess.
Bruce Springsteen
1/5
Overly sentimental, too long, dull. I wasn't a Springsteen fan before hearing this and it did nothing to change my view.
Little Simz
4/5
Enjoyed this, not sure why I had low expectations but I was glad to be wrong.
Ozomatli
3/5
I remember seeing Ozomatli at a festival a few years ago and being impressed enough to go find some albums. Sadly the recorded material was underwhelming, not quite able to capture the energy of the live show. Revisiting this today, I still can't quite shake that slightly disappointed feeling.
Incubus
1/5
Generic sounding, laughable lyrics, not really got a lot going for it. Terrible.
Teenage Fanclub
3/5
Very 90s, staple of the indie nights. Sounded fresh at the time but apart from nostalgia it doesn't seem very relevant now, somehow lacks the enduring appeal of some of their contemporaries
The The
3/5
Lots of my mates seemed to love this when we were at school, I wasn't quite so sure. It's not entirely rubbish, but it's not that great either.
Throwing Muses
2/5
My mate persuaded me to see Throwing Muses in the early 90s. "A bit like Pixies' she said. Pixies were way better.
Pixies
4/5
Surfer Rosa and Doolittle set a very high bar, but this stands up well. Quality album, even accounting for my somewhat biased Pixies fan perspective.
The Black Crowes
1/5
Didn't like this at all, all. Generic sounding, like it came from a catalogue of middle of the road rock sounds.
Gene Clark
3/5
Not a fan of country, but I enjoyed some of the tracks where it didn't dominate. Mixed bag overall.
The Cult
4/5
Cheesy & predictable, but somehow more fun than I had any right to expect
Coldplay
1/5
Thanks Coldplay, for ruining my commute you insufferable bell-ends. You can take your shitty miserable whining nonsense and do one. And when you've done that you can do one again.
I really didn't like this at all.
Morrissey
2/5
Separating the music from the sad racist that made it isn't easy. Turns out I needn't have bothered, not as good as The Smiths.
Fairport Convention
3/5
Evoked happy Cropredy festival memories. I liked the memory more than the music itself though.
Ice Cube
4/5
Good album, the misogyny jarrs but the anger is sadly still relevant.
Radiohead
3/5
Iconic, but I still struggle with Radiohead sometimes
Joni Mitchell
4/5
I'm glad that I invested a little effort in tracking this down, good album.
Basement Jaxx
2/5
Relentlessly similar, dated house with occasional bursts of interest.
Khaled
2/5
The interesting bits were too infrequent and not enough to carry the unwelcome pop-influenced stuff. What the hell was going on with that 'Imagine' cover?
Baaba Maal
4/5
Liked this a lot, there's something hypnotic and chilled about it that works for me
Ravi Shankar
3/5
Not sure that the explanatory notes added much to my understanding or enjoyment; if anything, they got in the way. Enjoyable, but a bit long for what was essentially a sitar solo (with some bonus awesome tabla accompaniment).
Bee Gees
1/5
Met all my expectations of a pre-disco BeeGees concept album. It was rubbish. If the concept was to try to emulate 60's Beatles/Pink Floyd/Kinks/Elton John and drag it out for over an hour then mission accomplished boys, but why did you bother?
The xx
1/5
I liked the debut album but this somehow seems a bit boring, doesn't really bring anything new to the party.
Merle Haggard
1/5
Kill me. The worst kind of country.
No, wait. Is there a good kind?
Super Furry Animals
2/5
Disappointing. I can't remember any of the tracks, other than when it started to sound interesting it didn't follow through and just got annoying.
Beck
3/5
Much as I like Beck, I think I prefer happier Beck. An hour of sad Beck doesn't stack up well against Odelay.
Madonna
1/5
Vapid pop with an unpleasant whiff of desperation.
Former pop princess tries to keep up with the new kids (Britney et al) by throwing money at her latest album. Hardly headline news Ms Ciccone. Cher did it first, and Kylie was more fun.
And that American Pie cover was an abomination.
Kings of Leon
2/5
Competently middle of the road
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Very 80s. I have a degree of nostalgia for this, but 16 year old me liked it more than i do now. Better than any of Phil Collins' solo efforts though.
Deee-Lite
2/5
Sadly one good single doesn't make an album great
The Libertines
3/5
Not quite living up to it's iconic status, more like reheated punk & indie leftovers with a few more spicy bits sprinkled on
Genesis
1/5
Peak Gabriel-Genesis, and despite its nostalgic charm it's all a bit too prog for me. And a double album was waaaay too much.
Hawkwind
3/5
I saw Hawkwind once (sadly without Lemmy) and I can't remember much. A two plus hour live recording hasn't jogged my memory much, I don't think there's enough drugs on the planet to make this monster album bearable in one sitting but there are more than a few bits that genuinely sparkle and shine.
Guided By Voices
3/5
My first thought was oh dear, more generic indie landfill, but on listening a bit closer there's definitely more to it than that. Trouble is it sounds like a demo tape of half finished ideas, needs a bit of editing and expanding on the better tracks.
Brian Wilson
2/5
Beach boys were better
Hookworms
4/5
Never heard this before, bit like Arcade Fire. Liked it a lot.
Paul Simon
4/5
Enjoyed this far more than I'd expected, nicely chilled and mellow,. Great album. (I still can't work out why I had such low expectations.)
Dwight Yoakam
1/5
"Oh we got both kinds. Country and Western". And they're both shit
Paul Weller
1/5
When this was released I remember being hugely disappointed and revisiting it now hasn't shaken that feeling. I coped with the Style Council but this was just too far removed from the Jam that I loved so much. This is undoubtedly finely crafted, just not for me.
Tom Waits
2/5
I like the more bonkers Tom Waits but some bits of this veered worryingly close to sounding like Springsteen so a mixed bag overall.
Frank Zappa
5/5
I was wondering when Frank Zappa would make an appearance on the list. Good choice, there's a lot of great albums to choose from.
Willie Nelson
1/5
How many more flavours of country hell can there be on this list?
Jean-Michel Jarre
3/5
Quite an achievement to sound both futuristic and dated at the same time, ! I understand iits iconic status but it still doesn't exactly set my world on fire
k.d. lang
1/5
Don't think I'm the target demographic for this sort of bland nonsense so it's not too surprising that I struggled.to engage with it.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Great album, the less familiar tracks hold up well against the classic ones which are awesome
Joan Armatrading
3/5
Nice, a superficially easy and pleasant listen with a bit more depth on closer inspection
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Not heard this before, loved it.
The Specials
5/5
Very happy to see this pop up this morning, absolute belter of an album that's just brilliant on so many levels.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
5/5
Great album, not quite as good as Psychocandy but still great. No sure why they iliked to bang on about 'rain' so much.
Mike Oldfield
2/5
Probably ought to be on this list, but apart from the few interesting moments here and there I didn't enjoy this
Flamin' Groovies
3/5
Decent enough bluesy rock, nothing outstanding but great band name
David Bowie
2/5
Bowie was better than this. Before, and after.
Dion
1/5
So very, very bland.
The Verve
3/5
Fairly generic mid-90s sound but I did enjoy it more on a second listen.
Beck
3/5
Aah, the Beck I know and love. Doesn't always work but mostly does so I'm happy with that.
The Roots
4/5
Bit too long but well worth persevering, liked this a lot
Yes
1/5
No
Lupe Fiasco
2/5
Not bad, but didn't really excite me either. To be fair, it probably needed a more careful listen but apart from some good moments (Daydreamin') it didn't jump out and demand my attention.
Norah Jones
1/5
The polar opposite of music that I like. Music for people who can't be bothered any more, competently replicates the apathy of the time.
Eminem
4/5
Hard work at times but worth it
King Crimson
3/5
Feels like I should like this more than I did. Enjoyed lots of it but some parts just got a bit too self-indulgent for me.
Elton John
3/5
Liked this more than I had expected, some great 70s vibes but also some big misses (Jamaica Jerk Off, what the hell is going on there? Must've been a shit load of drugs for someone to sign that one off)
Emmylou Harris
1/5
Great voice but not enough for me to enjoy listening to this. Why the over-representation of generic country albums? I just don't get it
UB40
3/5
Not bad, feels tainted (in my head at least) by association with the later top of the pops rubbish that gets played all the time.
Björk
2/5
Never quite sure what to make of Björk. In isolation some tracks are stunning. As an album I'm not so sure, seems so drift towards the point where it starts to become irritating.
Portishead
5/5
Deservedly iconic, everything music should be - innovative and evocative and sounds great!
Animal Collective
3/5
Not heard this before, had to give it another listen because I found myself distracted and it sort of faded into an amorphous background blur. Enjoyed it more when I found time to give it an active listen, the tracks 𝘢𝘳𝘦 different. Feels like there's still more to be got from this, I'll have to give it another go
Mudhoney
4/5
Wow, my version of this was way less than the 2+ hours that Spotify came up with. Seminal grunge album, but I think that the world's (I've?) moved on. Great album, doesn't have quite the same impact as it did when I first heard it, still excited to have this pop up on the list this morning.
The Charlatans
3/5
I recall being a bit underwhelmed by this when it was released (I preferred the earlier Hammond organ stuff, this felt a bit more generic britpop-y) but I did grow to like it
Iron Maiden
2/5
Lyrics are comedy gold, right up there with Spinal Tap. They didn't mean it, right?
Talking Heads
4/5
Nostalgia aside, this is great, amg hindsight shows it as a sign of even better stuff to come. Not a fan of Spotify's choice of the extended version though, I think it detracts from the impact of the original.
Duke Ellington
3/5
Very cool, easy background listening. Great musicians, not sure the live element adds that much.
Wire
4/5
Brilliant! Some of the tracks went on a bit though 🙂
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Whoa! Calm down Marvin. Bit too much mate...
Boards of Canada
3/5
Great in the background, not so sure it stands up to a more careful listen though.
Neil Young
3/5
Strays close to Dylan-esque levels of annoying whiney vocals but the content and musicianship just about compensates. And St Etienne's version of Only Love Can Break Your Heart was so much better.
Jungle Brothers
2/5
A bit repetitive at times, and sometimes lacking depth, but refreshing for its more upbeat lyrics.
John Martyn
4/5
Soothing. Liked this a lot.
The The
2/5
Disappointing, I listened to this a lot as a teenager but apart from 'This is the Day' I can't really see why now.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
Some good bits, the album with Nico was better though
Magazine
4/5
Got a bit distracted and switched off a bit, first impression was ok at first, then a bit weird, then tailed off a bit. Gave it another try with my full attention and I liked it much more, including the weirdness and the second half. Earns its place on the list.
Jane's Addiction
5/5
Love this album, happy memories of the early 90s, still sounds fresh and energetic.
The Sabres Of Paradise
4/5
I remember being underwhelmed when I bought this but when I found the right moment it all clicked into place and Andy Weatherall regained his God-like status. For some reason I also remember 'Theme' being part of the soundtrack to a film called 'Shopping' with Sadie Frost, think the soundtrack was better than the film though
Spacemen 3
5/5
This is mesmerizing and magnificent and I absolutely love it! The extra demos and mixes detract from the original though
Rod Stewart
3/5
Confounded my expectations, liked this more than expected based on what I'd heard before. Not bad, but not sure it's enough to inspire me to explore more of his work.
Brian Eno
3/5
Liked side 2 more, more like the ambient Eno that I was hoping this would be, but when it looped round again I liked side 1 more the second time round.
Aimee Mann
1/5
Not my bag, strays beyond merely bearable into positively annoying.
The Cure
3/5
I was having too much fun to give a proper.listen to this dreary nonsense when it was released, took me a while to get over my initial hankering for the whimsical joy of earlier Cure but I did come to appreciate it some years later. Bonus point for nostalgic associations.
Klaxons
2/5
Not bad, but just sort of unremarkable. Didn't really evoke any response for some reason.
2Pac
3/5
Liked this more than I expected to
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Nick Cave doing what he does best. Brilliant lyricist and great music, very much rewards an active listen. Great album.
Pixies
5/5
I can't be objective about this, it's a 5. One of those pivotal music moments that happen in life and change things forever.
Mariah Carey
1/5
Are you taking the piss?
Brian Eno
3/5
Lots of interesting and fun bits and some fab guitars but dragged down a bit by the random experimentation that just sounded forced.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
3/5
Nice. Would never have found this without the 1001 albums list, glad I did. Liked it, haven't a clue what it was going on about though...
Kraftwerk
4/5
Vorsprung durch Technik
Laibach
2/5
First track is strangely compelling. Second is laugh out loud bonkers. All went a bit downhill after that, but still entertaining throughout. That voice..!
Tom Waits
3/5
I thought I liked this album, but on hearing it again I think i prefer somevof his other stuff
John Lennon
4/5
Not nearly as bad as I had expected.
Common
2/5
Ok; not exactly bad but didn't really connect for.me.
k.d. lang
1/5
Great voice but little else of interest here.
Iron Maiden
2/5
Not a fan of the genre but this was better than I had expected (?wanted) it to be. Still not a fan though
Alice Cooper
1/5
Look out kids! The Alice Cooper comedy shock rock show is in town!
Not my thing though. I'm off to the pub to watch the footy instead.
The Sugarcubes
4/5
Loved this when it was released, still do. Still bonkers fun throughout.
The Lemonheads
2/5
Unremarkable. There always seemed to be much better music around whenever the Lemonheads released an album.
Muddy Waters
5/5
Classy stuff, doesn't get much better than this.
The Afghan Whigs
3/5
Decent enough, and some great guitar sounds, yet at the same time strangely somehow not enough to be very memorable.
The Stranglers
5/5
Fabulous album, love this! Still sounds innovative and fresh
🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🍑🍑🍑🍑
Metallica
2/5
Liked bits of this more than I remembered, but still far too long and got a bit too repetitive so by the end I was bored and had switched off.
2/5
Ok, but apart from 'Victoria' nothing really stood out
Björk
3/5
I usually find Björk's lyric delivery annoying in anything more than short bursts though somehow this seemed to (mostly) work. I'm gad it's on the list but I'm not sure it's something I'd come back to.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Swamp rock rocks! Bit same-y but a good sign of things to come, little wonder that the Dude was such a fan
Incredible Bongo Band
2/5
Should there be an album of bongo-driven instrumental covers? (definitely, why not?) And is it any good? (no, not really) Destined to soundtrack the closing credits to every 70's-based film forever.
Girls Against Boys
3/5
Liked this, never heard of them before now.
Ryan Adams
1/5
It's rare that I can't finish an album but an hour and a half of this shite was just too much. Terrible, just terrible.
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
Really enjoyed revisiting this, definitely earns its place on the list
Jack White
3/5
One to dip into for me, small doses are fine, great even, but a whole album in one go somehow seems to grate (Can't seem to put my finger on why? bit repetitive at times? or his voice?)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Yeah not bad
Dolly Parton
1/5
What new circle of hell is this?
Deerhunter
2/5
Like a less interesting Arcade Fire. And the first track pissed me off, what's with the added scratch on the vinyl vibe? Some sort of hipster bollocks?
Fugazi
4/5
I'm glad I finally got to give Fugazi a proper listen, only 30-something years too late. Very 90s but good stuff
Skepta
2/5
Quite liked it on a superficial level, though a closer listen reveals some sketchy lyrics that just didn't work and the skits were laughable. Not all bad though.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
2/5
Bet Lemmy wasn't a fan
The Go-Betweens
1/5
Not one for me
Prince
3/5
Mixed bag - some great tracks, some terrible ones ('Housequake') and a fair bit of everything in between
The Magnetic Fields
2/5
Before Spotify was a thing these guys nailed the 'slightly mediocre love songs' playlist. The better moments were well hidden in the massive amounts of self-indulgent nonsense but I'm still not sure there's a decent album's worth hiding in here
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Deservedly iconic
Leonard Cohen
5/5
Not exactly a passive listen. Well worth the effort of making time to hear it properly though, every bit the equal of Dylan but without the annoying harmonica. Love the subtle and delicate instrumentation, really lets the lyrics shine
Slayer
1/5
Well that fucked up my hungover cycle commute. If karma has any say then this lot will be reborn as a soothing acapella folk group.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1/5
Crikey. This is truly horrendous.
Miles Davis
5/5
Nice
Can
4/5
Not sure what I was expecting (more prog rock nonsense maybe?) but this was great, really sat well with my morning.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
Great voice, very pleasant easy listening apart from that track about her husband which was just creepy
Kanye West
3/5
An abhorrent antisemitic prick with bipolar is still an an abhorrent antisemitic prick. But that debate came later. This album's ok.
Talking Heads
4/5
Love this. Talking Heads doing what Talking Heads do best, still sounds fresh after 45 years.
2/5
In between filtering out all the YouTube ads it felt like there might be some ok stuff hidden away, but to be honest I wasn't that motivated to keep looking for it and it definitely tails off towards the end. I know and like some XTC stuff, but this isn't it.
Circle Jerks
4/5
Young, dumb and full of...fun? Joyously and willfully unsophisticated - one of the better US interpretations of punk. Having said that, anything longer would've been too much.
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
Loved having a reason to listen to this whole album again, it's great. Killing Moon is outstanding.
Slade
2/5
I only knew the cartoonish (but undeniably great) big hits, this was very competent (apart from the lyrics perhaps) but felt kind of stuck between glam & blues-ey rock - never really matched up to its contemporaries in either direction.
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
There's lots to like here, great album.
John Cale
3/5
This was ok, better in subsequent listens listens but still not quite hitting the spot. Velvet underground was better than the sum of its parts I guess.
The Beta Band
3/5
Not bad, but not great either. Sounds like they caught the 90's indie vibe a decade too late.
Thelonious Monk
4/5
I don't pretend to know anything much about jazz but I know that I like this
Adele
1/5
I must be one of the few people on the planet who'd managed to avoid hearing this. So thanks a lot for fucking that right up, I was right to avoid it. Dull wailing nonsense.
Public Image Ltd.
4/5
Intriguing and irritating in equal measure, with an inconsistent sprinkling of genius. John Lydon can be an insufferable prick sometimes but when he's on form it really works (and when he's not, the rest of the band are easily good enough to carry the odd duff track).
Marianne Faithfull
3/5
Her survivor story is more impressive than the record but it seems her voice didn't fare so well. Did get better nearer the end, I liked the John Lennon cover.
Justin Timberlake
1/5
For all the great production, you absolutely cannot polish a turd. Laugh out loud awful ('I wanna be your lighthouse when you get lost, I'll light a bright and shiny path to help you get across'). This is a new low for this list, henceforth to be known as Greg's 8 million albums of death club.
Brian Eno
3/5
Interesting, but Remain in Light was better. Great album cover though
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Better than expected but dragged down by the irritating spoken word mutterings.
MC Solaar
4/5
My o-level French can't keep up, but I enjoyed listening to this
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Have I logged into the Dexys Midnight Runners fanclub by mistake? This is the better of their albums but I don't think we needed all 3.
Eric Clapton
1/5
Luckily I don't have to think about trying to separate the music from his abhorrent beliefs. I don't like either.
The Pretty Things
3/5
I drifted off and lost interest in the narrative. Without it, as a collection of songs it's ok but nothing special.
The Monkees
2/5
Not all bad but doesn't stack up well against its contemporaries. At least they showed that they could step out of the comedy manufactured band schtick I suppose.
Pulp
5/5
Bitpop winner, great album
Def Leppard
1/5
Dreadful cock rock. Put some more hairspray on it and burn it.
Soft Cell
2/5
Perfect pop as they are, the couple of big tracks set a bar too high for the rest of the album to follow. Worth including on the list as a historical document but hasn't aged well.
Fred Neil
2/5
Inoffensive but hardly exciting.
David Crosby
4/5
Hooked me in for several repeat listens, great album. (And not worth searching out the non-Spotify Neil Young tracks)
Little Richard
2/5
Fine as it is, there's a finite amount of Little Richard's one trick music that I can cope with. I reached my limit way before the end of the album.
Rufus Wainwright
2/5
An album of two halves. I liked this from the outset but the end of the second half I found the invariant whining nature of the vocals overshadowed the great music and killed the enjoyment.
The Who
3/5
Not their finest album, and the joke wears a bit thin. Saved by 'I can see for miles' though
Richard Hawley
1/5
Why?
Big Star
2/5
Struggled to rate this, there's definitely something interesting and compelling lurking in there somewhere but it didn't grab me enough to keep looking. Might be better with a few more listens but I'm not sure I can be arsed.
Giant Sand
1/5
Some individual tracks were ok but as an album it didn't work, felt like it was perpetually on the cusp of waking up and getting more lively but left me feeling cheated
Gram Parsons
2/5
As good as and probably better than any of the gazillion other country albums on this list. Still not a fan of country though.
The La's
1/5
This was in every charity shop in the 90s, I was one of the many who felt ripped off by the unrealised promise of that one great single.
R.E.M.
2/5
Enjoyed this all the more for not having any of the overplayed big hits. Dragged a bit by the end though, R.E.M. don't really do variation
Waylon Jennings
2/5
The whole is somehow.less than the sum of the individual musician's parts (which are pretty good). It's a country thing.
+1 for having such a great name.
Tim Buckley
1/5
Blimey. Surely this was cringewothy even in the 70s?
Fiona Apple
3/5
Great start but started to drag a bit by the end
The Bees
2/5
Confirmed my recollection of an ok lounge-ish vibe from an IOW band who were briefly catapulted into the spotlight before fading away again. Pleasant enough but nothing exciting
Coldcut
3/5
This sounded witty and innovative and fun 30 years ago. Dated now but earns it's place on the list
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Awesome
Afrika Bambaataa
4/5
Proper old school, great stuff.
1/5
Terrible.
Kanye West
3/5
Wanted to hate this because of the total bell-end that he became, but it's actually a rather good album
Hanoi Rocks
2/5
Had a mate who was into this band, didn't see the attraction then and I still don't get it.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Enjoyed this more than I had expected based on previous albums I've heard. Great lyrics and variety of sounds and styles, a nice soothing start to my day. Will definitely be giving this another listen.
The Temptations
3/5
'Papa Was a Rollin' Stone' is a sure-fire winner all day long, but the rest of the album stands up pretty well even in the shadow of its magnificence. Starts to flag a little on side 2 though.
The Flying Burrito Brothers
1/5
Sadly the music comes nowhere close to living up to the promise of that great band name
The Birthday Party
4/5
The seeds of genius were sown here.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Despite all the variously justified criticisms (over-hyped, bloated, self-indulgent prog rock) this still shines.
Gene Clark
1/5
Improved slightly after the intro to the first track (oh God no, not more country landfill?) but not enough to stir any interest.
The Boo Radleys
2/5
Not bad but not good either. Standard 90s stuff
Sleater-Kinney
4/5
Liked this a lot, though I did get a bit fed up of being shouted at by the end. Bit like my day at work but with a better soundtrack.
The Flaming Lips
5/5
Awesome album, not quite their best but this is where The Flaming Lips moved up a gear.
Randy Newman
1/5
Why? I don't get it
Elvis Presley
2/5
I get all the stuff about Elvis' influence and all that but it's just not very good is it?
Mercury Rev
2/5
Never got why this was so rated. 1st track was ok, bit like Flaming Lips but not as good, the rest was pretty forgettable.
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Anyone else remember Chris Eubank guest presenting Top of the Pops and introducing Suggs' cover of Cecilia?
Queens of the Stone Age
3/5
Nothing particularly outstanding but yeah, good stuff
Metallica
3/5
Couple of crowd pleasers, couple of generic tracks, couple of duff ones.
4/5
Interesting but jarring snd abrasive, not an easy listen (not really one to sing along to), but there's wit and fun concealed within and I liked it. Drown me if you like but different isn't bad.
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
2/5
An abhorrent racist prick is still an abhorrent racist prick whether or not he can or can't play guitar.
Maybe it was transformative at the time but the album just sounds bland and lacking any kind of authenticity.
The Strokes
4/5
When this album was released I sort of wanted not to like the new kids on the block with all the build up and hype, but this is a good album
The Vines
3/5
Not bad, but nothing special either. Hardly the next Nirvana though
Wilco
4/5
Not given Wilco a proper listen before, yeah like this quite a lot. Worth listening again for sure
Chicago
2/5
I liked 'Listen' but the rest was mostly a bit rubbish. A six minute intro is a bit of a warning flag, as is the ill-advised and frankly crap guitar solo track.
Shack
2/5
Blimey. I blame Oasis, they've got a lot to answer for. Hope they're proud.
Ryan Adams
1/5
Nope
Doves
1/5
Bland, ineffectual, whiney nonsense. I get the comparisons with Coldplay, and I don't like Coldplay either.
GZA
4/5
Liked the different take on things, a good listen
Mott The Hoople
3/5
Bit of a mess, like it didn't know whether to stick with the glam or sweve back to rock. (The glam bits were better)
JAY Z
3/5
Fine, if somewhat cliched
George Jones
1/5
There can't be many more country albums left on this list, surely?
Pentangle
2/5
I enjoyed the couple of more folk-oriented tracks but the prog-medieval stuff is a bit too niche for my taste. And why three versions of the same song? Pentarse.
Public Enemy
5/5
Still as relentless, powerful and relevant as it ever was, such a great album.
Cocteau Twins
4/5
I like Heaven or Las Vegas more but this is a worthy step on the way to it
Blue Cheer
4/5
Proper dirty 60s bluesey pub rock. Sounds like it was recorded in a pub, but that kinda works
Megadeth
3/5
Fun in small doses, the bloated extras album is a bit much. Better than Metallica.
Stereo MC's
2/5
Not a great album. And tainted by association with the beginning of the death of the Ashton Court festival when they played in Hengove Park because of foot and mouth. They were terrible too.
Goldfrapp
3/5
A strange album for me, I remember it as chilled and relaxing but at the same time I really can't remember anything about it.
Sonic Youth
4/5
Every time I listen to a Sonic Youth album I keep thinking that I should pay a bit more attention and relisten to more of their back catalogue, this is great
Dire Straits
1/5
Does nothing for me. Sultans of shite.
Oasis
3/5
Didn't these guys cover Wonderwall?
Queen
3/5
Ionic and unique, but I'm still not sure I actually like Queen all that much?
The Beta Band
3/5
Much the same impression as when it was released, some moments of brilliance but disappointingly underwhelming at times. A bit over-hyped back then, a bit dated now but not bad overall.
James Taylor
2/5
Ok in the background, nice enough voice, but a bit too country and a bit too sickly sweet for.my taste
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
Fairly generic indie landfill. Competently done, but hardly brought anything new to the party
Ella Fitzgerald
3/5
Great voice but 3 and a bit hours of it is too much in one sitting.
Dolly Parton
1/5
Sorry Dolly, this doesn't work for me.
Stephen Stills
3/5
Better than Young.
Manu Chao
2/5
3rd track started to irritate, 4th continued to do so. Never really recovered after that for me.
Peter Gabriel
4/5
I didn't expect to like this but was pleasantly surprised. Of its time, but interesting and enjoyable nonetheless.with some great tracks
Tom Waits
4/5
My favourite kind of bonkers album. Nothing individually great, but the whole thing is a riot of mad fun.
Beck
3/5
Great opening track, tailed off a bit thereafter though & started to drag a bit
MGMT
3/5
Not sure about this, maybe I'm a bit too old. Pleasant enough but a bit of a whiff of 'of the moment' hipster vibes? 'Kids' is awesome though.
System Of A Down
4/5
I wrote these guys off as generic nu-metal at the time, I was into different stuff back then. Giving it a proper listen now has opened my eyes to how wrong I was, this is great. More depth and fun than I'd expected.
Kings of Leon
2/5
If you want something 'rockier' than Coldplay...
Dagmar Krause
2/5
I preferred it in German, the rhythm and sounds were somehow soothing and almost hypnotic. In English it's like someone set the Ladybird book of 20th century conflicts to music in an ill-conceived musical.
Supergrass
4/5
Good wholesome 90s fun
The Streets
1/5
C(rap). Diisappointing, grated on just about every level.
Drive Like Jehu
3/5
Quite fun, reminded me a bit of Dead Kennedys. Bit too long though
Fun Lovin' Criminals
5/5
Very cool album, love it.
The Stooges
4/5
Love this, it's ground zero for any number of other great bands that I like
The Dictators
3/5
Fun. Not necessarily always very good, but fun.
Stereolab
4/5
Great chilled background sounds, with something more interesting happening to grab my attention every now and then
Carpenters
1/5
Aural diabetes
Bruce Springsteen
1/5
Sorry Boss but no matter how many albums this list throws at me (please, please, no more...) your music still sucks.
Pretenders
3/5
Good but not great (apart from 'Brass in Pocket' which is great)
Dr. Octagon
2/5
At its best, brilliantly ridiculous, at its worst puerile and ridiculous. Sadly mostly the latter which is a shame because this could've been so much better.
Pere Ubu
4/5
Kind of Talking Heads-esque but a bit more out there, neither of which is a bad thing
Paul McCartney
3/5
Enjoyed this far more than I thought I would
Everything But The Girl
3/5
Very 90s chilled out background vibe, not bad but a bit dated
John Lee Hooker
2/5
On balance the collaborations seemed to detract from rather than enhance this album - the first track was terrible. Seemed to be milking the name a bit too much, there's better blues and better JLH albums to choose from
Supergrass
4/5
One of the best albums that I like but can't really remember
Sebadoh
3/5
I like the discordant sort of sound of this, but it does jar a little at times. Good album though
The Verve
4/5
I'm ashamed to say that I always seemed to think of this as sitting in the shadow of Pulp which isn't fair, this is a cracking album
Mylo
1/5
Destroy rock & roll? Not with this bollocks. Besides, Oasis are already doing a grand job.
TLC
1/5
This met all of my expectations.
Lightning Bolt
3/5
Like a hypnotic headache but not nearly as bad as that sounds, in fact I quite like this.
Sparks
2/5
Not my thing but there is a thread of joyous fun running through it. Goes on a bit too long though.
Stan Getz
3/5
The very definition of a '3', neither moved or irritated me, perfect neutral background music.
The Icarus Line
2/5
Did these guys just wake up from a coma in 2004? Twenty years too late boys, but nice try.
The xx
4/5
I liked the new (at the time) laid back and stripped back vibe but got a bit fed up with it being massively overplayed. Good to revisit it, doesn't quite live up to the promise of the great opening track but pretty good nonetheless
The Residents
1/5
I'm all for experimenting, and with enough 1970s psychedelics on board this might've made sense. Somewhat less so n my midweek morning commute to work though
Jurassic 5
3/5
Still sounds fresh
Frank Ocean
1/5
Hated it.
Björk
4/5
Blew me (and everyone else) away, still does. Impressive and unique.
Green Day
2/5
Green Day never quite seemed to work for me, this was just another in a long list of US pop-punk bands with a well intentioned but somewhat simplistic message delivered in an overly polished and formulaic way. Fun enough in its.way, but too poppy and not quite punk enough for.me.
Brian Eno
5/5
Does what it does very effectively. Great album, this is what Brian Eno does best
The Mars Volta
2/5
Liked the music, lyrics got a little wearing though - trying a bit too hard?
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Standard Stones blues-y stuff, nothing particularly special but I did enjoy it more than expected.
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
Peak Pumpkins, this hit all the right spots at exactly the right time when it came out, still a great album thirty years on.
Portishead
5/5
Awesome, I'd forgotten how good this album is.
Spiritualized
5/5
Awesome, one third of the holy trinity of great Spiritualized albums. Iconic album art and packaging too.
Napalm Death
1/5
Magnificent, emotionally intelligent, delicately crafted masterpiece.
No, wait, my mistake, this is pointlessly shit. Outlived it's mildly comedic value before the first (mercifully short) track ended. Pointlessly shit.
Fishbone
3/5
Eclectic fun, but if you try to cover too many bases there's inevitably gonna be some tracks that let the album down. Great in places, and quite fun overall.
Sonic Youth
4/5
The more I listen, the more I like Sonic Youth. Still have some kind of weird mental block though, I can't really remember any of their tracks but I remember enough to know that I like this.
Radiohead
3/5
OK but not great. Never quite seems to live up to expectations somehow, maybe the bar was set too high too early?
The United States Of America
2/5
Tha comedy doesn't quite work, I'm not surprised that there was no second album. Some tracks were ok but I doubt I'll give this another listen.
Drive-By Truckers
3/5
Didn't hate this, it was ok in the background.
The Beau Brummels
2/5
Doesn't add much to the 60s psychedelic folk-rock genre, and the Dylan-esque.style didn't really work.
Doves
4/5
Liked the claustrophobic melancholy vibe, got better on a second listen
The Clash
5/5
Genesis of the greatness that was coming.
Run-D.M.C.
5/5
Hip hop perfection.
Orbital
3/5
Awesome in the right setting, 30 years on a sober Thursday morning commute is not that setting. Objectively not their finest hour but it is still a happy reminiscence.
Jethro Tull
2/5
One of the things I like about this project is that makes me listen to albums I'd previously written off as rubbish. In the 80s a lot of my mates raved about this, I was heading off in a completely different musical direction and thought it was shit. I'm still not convinced but I can at least appreciate that it has some merits. Apart from that flute though...
Bob Dylan
3/5
I might be warming to Dylan a bit (apart from that bloody harmonica) though I wouldn't say that I'm a fan. Deserves to be on this list, maybe not quite so many times. And deserves to have his harmonica taken off him.
Grizzly Bear
3/5
OK if somewhat forgettable
I'm not sure why I'd listen to this when Arcade Fire do this sort.of thing better?
Ray Price
2/5
Competently covers all the typical country bases. Doesn't mean that I like it any more than any other on this inexplicably endless list of country album torture.
Electric Light Orchestra
1/5
Bloody hell! Over an hour of this??? Emulating the Beatles ten years too late is not cool. Little wonder that punk came about, in fact ELOs contribution to the birth of punk might be their only redeeming feature.
Daft Punk
3/5
Nice work mes amis x
Jefferson Airplane
3/5
Somebody to Love is great, the rest somewhat less so. The extended bonus edition goes on a bit too much too.
Scissor Sisters
2/5
Lots of fun at the time but apart from the big hitters there's not a lot to see here. And Comfortably Numb still grates.
Ray Charles
3/5
An album of two very different halves, I enjoyed both in an easy listening kind of way.
The Only Ones
3/5
Interesting in places but ultimately felt unfulfilling, everything seemed overshadowed by the (admittedly great) single
Blondie
5/5
Deservedly iconic, an easy five stars
Stephen Stills
2/5
There's probably a decent album hiding in here somewhere. Would be better with a bit more editing, a bit less fiddle, a bit less country and a bit more David Crosby.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
Great album, so much better than just a collection of big familiar singles
Earth, Wind & Fire
3/5
Great opening track, downhill from then on but still some occasional funky grooves going on.
Todd Rundgren
1/5
What is it with 70s double albums? Interminably self-indulgent nonsense is not something I need or want to hear before I die.
The Smashing Pumpkins
2/5
Terrible, just drones on and on and on. Smashing Pumpkins never really managed to replicate their peak which was Siamese Dream.
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
3/5
First thought was 'oh no, another half-baked psychedelic folk album' and that's true in parts but a couple of tracks in I inexplicably started to like it. Glad I have heard this, would never have found it without this list.
TV On The Radio
4/5
Always liked this, still sounds good 20 years on. Good album choice.
The Jam
5/5
The Jam and The Specials were the soundtrack to the 80s for me so always going to have a soft spot for this. That said, it's also a brilliant album which captured the moment perfectly.
Wild Beasts
2/5
Never heard this before, liked the first track but from then on it just got a bit same-y and not so memorable
ABBA
3/5
Abba did what they did well but I'm not sure that that included albums. Big Europop singles stuck together with filler is not a recipe for a great album, might as well just go straight to a greatest hits compilation. The singles are undeniably great though.
M.I.A.
3/5
Nicely different, fresh sounding I liked the mash up of all the different styles even if it did get a bit messy sometimes.
Kendrick Lamar
1/5
Couldn't find much to enjoy here.
Santana
2/5
Great guitar, great band, album not so great though.
Erykah Badu
3/5
Not really my thing, this was inoffensive and pleasant enough in the background but I doubt I'd choose to give it another listen
Shivkumar Sharma
4/5
Not overly impressed but then I read that the original version is not the one on Spotify so I looked it out on YouTube, glad I did because it was such an awesome album
The Velvet Underground
5/5
So good that not even Nico can ruin iit
Alice Cooper
3/5
Other than the iconic title track I was expecting another camp/glam 70s musical horrorshow experience but was happy to have those expectations dashed. This was varied and pretty good in places
Pere Ubu
3/5
Didn't always work but there are sparkles of brilliance
Fatboy Slim
2/5
This was so ubiquitous that it came close to capturing a joyous collective dance experience. That moment has passed and now it's just mostly annoying, especially as an album.
4/5
Awesome energy comes across despite the rubbish recording quality. Good album, all the more so given that it dates all the way back to 1969
The Associates
2/5
As a student I was.i introduced to this by by a girl who I sort of fancied a bit, this album was our common ground for our otherwise divergent music tastes (she was into Culture Club, I was into Jesus and Mary Chain). We had fun for a bit but ultimately headed off in different life directions.
Very 80s album, interesting (at the time) alternative to.the rest of the synth pop stuff but history hasn't been so kind to it and it sounds a bit .. well, crap tbh. +1 for the nostalgia. (And what's going on with the Spotify version with all those spurious added demos and stuff needlessly tacked on to the end? No album deserves this, not even ones I like)
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
3/5
This wasn't as bad as I feared, i get the Dylan references but what it lacks in lyrical genius it makes up for by not having Dylan's whiney voice or harmonica nonsense so it's ok in my book.
The Chemical Brothers
5/5
There's a time and a place for this repetitive beats nonsense, and Christmas day is as good as any. Perfect foil to all that carols bollocks.
The Cure
5/5
One of quite a few Cure albums that just work despite all the hype and expectations. This is what I think of when I think about the Cure, though it's astonishing to remember their diversity of sounds in those first few years.
The Thrills
2/5
Never heard this before, wrote a review when I was pissed. Apart from the typos my sober review concurs; jingly-jangly nonsense
The Mamas & The Papas
2/5
Apart from California Dreamin' this bunch of harmonising hippy grocers don't bring much to the party. Apart from their apostrophes, obvs.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
4/5
So is milk safe or unsafe? Both, right?
The best kind of experimental sounds, I could get lost in this sort of stuff
Nick Drake
5/5
A perfect soothing accompaniment to my New Year hangover. Enjoyed this a lot.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
Strong album, still sounds fresh. Of the earlier stuff this is the one I like most, though things continued to improve throughout his career
Morrissey
2/5
The trouble with Morrissey being such a total bell-end these days is that it's hard to be objective. Ok in parts but I'm glad the Smiths didn't keep going because this sort of stuff doesn't stand up well.
The Psychedelic Furs
3/5
Vocal style grated a bit after a while, then after a while longer it faded from consciousness and it all started to work again. Overall, pretty good album,one of the rare ones where I found the Spotify version's additional tracks to add to rather than detract from the whole album experience.
4/5
The new wave of new wave, an impressive start for all that was to come
The 13th Floor Elevators
4/5
Glad I got to hear this, lives up to the promise of that fantastic album artwork and deserves to be on this list
Buffalo Springfield
2/5
For what it's worth I didn't rate this too highly. Started off strong but quickly faded
Miles Davis
3/5
Difficult to rate, there are occasionally ever so brief bits that just seem to jarr and irritate me, but on balance I think I came away from this rather liking it
Christina Aguilera
2/5
I tried to park my initial dismay but disc 1 confirmed my complete ambivalence for this sort of contemporary generic wailing. Disc 2 at least offered something a little more interesting at times, though still not enough to redeem it for me.
Radiohead
2/5
Nor heard this one before. Gave it a listen, still don't get Radiohead.
Cue lots of "Ooh but they're the best thing ever in the history of everything, how can you not adore them?"
Whatever, get over it.
Fats Domino
3/5
Loved the audacity of covering New Order's Blue Monday in a 50s rock & roll style. All credit to you Mr Domino, you're one cool cat.
Nanci Griffith
1/5
This list has turned my ambivalence about country into active dislike.
Great, thanks a lot for that.
Air
4/5
This has aged well, it's a joy to revisit.
Le Tigre
4/5
Love that this caught me unawares, I haven't heard it or heard of it before. Fun to listen to, cleverly written and engaging throughout - result!
Bert Jansch
4/5
Loved this! Very easy and chilled, and not a hint of harmonica
Neil Young
3/5
I'm not a Neil Young fan but this album didn't annoy me as much for some reason
Badly Drawn Boy
2/5
I didn't understand all the hype when this came out, it wasn't unpleasant but was rather underwhelming. 25 years on and without the hype I still feel the same. A quaint historical sideline, not sure that's enough to earn it's place on this list
Minor Threat
4/5
Fast and furious fun. Hits hard then does one, perfect hardcore punk
Kings of Leon
3/5
I was never their greatest fan but this was an ok start, shame it went downhill from here
Tim Buckley
1/5
Awful, didn't enjoy this at all. All over the place, and none of it in anything like a good way.
Mudhoney
4/5
Of its time, but what a time. At the raw, punkier end of grunge, my favourite kind. Good album, good times. (Nearly -1 for gratuitous harmonica use but nostalgia saved it)
Bruce Springsteen
1/5
Thanks, but no thanks, not for me.
Donald Fagen
1/5
Nightfly Shitefly.
Dreadful. music for people who've given up on listening to anything challenging or interesting or fun. The antithesis of music that I like, but at least it contributed to the catalysis of music that I do like.
King Crimson
2/5
There's no doubting the quality of the musicians but prog rock isn't my favourite genre, bits were ok but the whole thing less so
Snoop Dogg
4/5
Despite the casual misogyny and all the other cringe-worthy nonsense there's still something compelling about this album
Goldfrapp
4/5
Great evolution of the trip hop sound, cool latecomer to that already cool party
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
3/5
Good when I listened but it just didn't hold my attention, I kept drifting off.
Germs
4/5
Dead Kennedys-esque vibes, and all the better for it.
Beatles
4/5
Undeniably great but there are enough duff tracks to detract from my enjoyment of the whole thing as an album
Lou Reed
5/5
Staple soundtrack to my studies, hard not to enjoy this
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
Bonkers but strangely compelling.Not an easy listen but I enjoyed the challenge and I'm glad it exists
Isaac Hayes
2/5
Simultaneously awesome and cheesy which is quite an achievement. Sadly mostly the latter, never lives up to the awesome promise of the opening track
Fatboy Slim
2/5
Annoying, not sure why we need more than one Fatboy Slim album and this is the lesser of the two on the list
Queen Latifah
2/5
Dated and sadly not very interesting, quickly got very repetitive.
Janis Joplin
4/5
Liked this a lot more than I thought I would, definitely an unexpected treat
CHVRCHES
2/5
Somewhat soulless and bland but inoffensive I suppose, though that's hardly a recommendation. Not really sure why this made the list, was this really the best that the mid 2010s could offer?
Pavement
4/5
I felt like I should have liked this more than i did on the first listen. It's not that I didn't enjoy it, rather that it just didn't seem to stand out or leave a lasting impression despite theoretically being right up my street. I gave it another listen and then it all seemed to fall into place, lots to enjoy here
Grateful Dead
3/5
Didn't think I'd like this, but in amongst all the expected infernal noodling nonsense there were a couple of great tracks. (I also liked the tracks that sounded a bit like Zappa but it turns out that Spotify had been playing me some Zappa after the album ended)
Suzanne Vega
2/5
Songwriting was good but the delivery sounded very samey, didn't really work for me.
Japan
3/5
Aside from the big hits this is only really impressive for preempting Duran Duran, I do have a bit of a soft spot for.some of this synth-pop stuff though
Gillian Welch
3/5
Enjoyed the less country-oriented tracks
Kelela
2/5
Muzak for cool shops and bars that make me feel old. Not offensive but not for me, leave it for the kids
Red Snapper
2/5
Unsatisfactory. Just seemed to get stuck and didn't really go anywhere, ok as generic background sounds but didn't really stand up to an active listen.
Digital Underground
1/5
I just found this mostly annoying
Christina Aguilera
1/5
I appreciate that I'm hardly the target demographic, but this wailing nonsense isn't my thing
R.E.M.
3/5
This is a good album. REM were omnipresent throughout my student years and whilst not objectionable it did get a bit too much and ultimately I got a bit bored by them. Revisiting it now has reminded me that it is still a good album but I still can't quite shake those old feelings
Death In Vegas
4/5
Even without Bobby Gillespie this sounds like Vanishing Point/Extrmntr-era Primal Scream, but that's not a bad thing at all.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
Seminal post punk band, this is awesome! It still blows me away that it came from 1978.
Joanna Newsom
4/5
Intriguing, great lyrics and arrangement but the vocals sometimes stray into irritating levels of out-Björking Björk. Glad it's on the list though, well worth a listen.
Can
4/5
Lost me a bit in the middle (what the hell was Aumgn all about?) but otherwise an absolute belter of an album. Must've blown a fair few minds over the last 50 years.
Pink Floyd
4/5
Self-indulgent, bloated, grandiose, yet still impressive. Quite an achievement Mr Waters, and still not PF's finest hour (or two with all the extras that have been tagged on over the years). Gerald Scarfe's artwork is cool as well.
Tangerine Dream
4/5
Unexpectedly great! Just enough structure to keep the ambiance from becoming too ambient.
Minutemen
5/5
I'd been meaning to give this a listen for some time, glad I finally did, it's a great album. Engaging, interesting, varied but still broadly cohesive - loved it!
The White Stripes
3/5
Competent but doesn't really stand out from any of the other White Stripes stuff
The Monks
4/5
Glad I endured the YouTube ads to listen to the whole thing, much better than the couple of mediocre tracks that Spotify offered up.
Underworld
4/5
Top tier techno.
The War On Drugs
2/5
I found this to be rather dull
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
The Dude abides.
Jacques Brel
3/5
My o-level French can't keep up which is a shame because he sounds like he means it.
The National
3/5
Sounds like a less happy version of Elbow. Never really listened to this band properly, I just dismissed them as yet more generic retro indie landfill, which isn't necessarily inaccurate but it's done well and pleasant enough. Just not enough spark for me to justify the hype. I wonder if they'll still be unfathomably adored the same way 20 years from now?
Astor Piazzolla
4/5
Liked this far more than I expected to, reminiscent is Steve Reich.
Buzzcocks
5/5
Always loved the energetic fun and fresh sound, always raises my spirits.
Beastie Boys
4/5
Not their best, and some lyrics haven't dated well, but this is still a great album from an iconic group.
The Pharcyde
4/5
Refreshing counter to the hardcore gangsta predominance of it's time. Mostly great, occasionally less so, sometimes hilarious.
Soul II Soul
4/5
Nostalgic chill
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
5/5
Soothing and calming and joyously uplifting, so glad this is on the list and just what I needed today
M.I.A.
4/5
Is there anyone who hasn't covered that Pixies track? Still, I liked this a lot, much better than the previous album on the list.
Miles Davis
3/5
I'm no jazz expert or aficionado, cool if that's your thing I suppose? But who changed the rules and let a compilation album in?
The Doors
4/5
One of the best albums that I rarely listen to. Every time I do I'm reminded how great it is, and then I don't listen to it again for years.
Os Mutantes
4/5
This is the sort of madness that this list was designed for
Ray Charles
3/5
It may be culturally significant but I'm not so sure that I like this that much, it drags a bit
Don McLean
2/5
Sing-along heaven or sing-along hell? Whatever, the rest of the album struggles in the shadow of that opening behemoth.
Queen
2/5
Prog bollocks II
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
1001 Elvis Costello albums to listen to before you die?
I like Elvis Costello a lot but this is starting to take the piss and it's far from his best
Led Zeppelin
5/5
Even that drum solo tacked on at the end can't ruin rock perfection
Holger Czukay
3/5
This is the sort of mad stuff that I signed up for. I don't much like the album but I'm glad I've listened to it.
Astrud Gilberto
2/5
Yawn. Competently and inoffensively same-y throughout.
Boston
1/5
Truly terrible on so many levels.
Joan Baez
2/5
Somehow this was just too folk for me which surprised me. Maybe I'm just not in the right mood, it just got annoying
The Police
4/5
Surprisingly good album throughout, even in the wake of Message in a Bottle which is great.
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
I know it's not for everyone but I do enjoy Frank Zappa's absurd genius
Motörhead
4/5
If you're looking for subtle nuance in your lyrics ('Jailbait'?, 'Chase..."?) then have a word with yourself, you're in the wrong place. But if you want the essence of Motörhead ('AoS', 'Roadcrew') then this'll do. Live album was better, mind
The Triffids
1/5
This was dreadful. Summarises all that was bad about 80s rock and then doubles down on it by somehow being even more shit. How in earth did this make the list?
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Led Zeppelin were better than this, there's a decent album in amongst all this bloated overbaked filler
N.W.A.
4/5
Straight outta the muhatafuckin 80s. Game changing album, though not necessarily always in a good way
The Divine Comedy
2/5
Not short enough
Dusty Springfield
4/5
Soothing and soulful and lovely. And it also has 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 track as well, bonus!
Maxwell
2/5
Not my thing though not as terrible as I had expected I suppose. Far too smooth and generic sounding, all sort of blended into an indistinguishable sickly mush.
Nick Drake
4/5
Not even his best album, but still great
Meat Puppets
4/5
Not knowingly listened to this before, surprised to find some familiar sounding tracks..Overall, a mixed bag, interestingly eclectic rather than all over the place annoying and ultimately I rather enjoyed it.
Caetano Veloso
3/5
Enjoyed it, didn't understand a.word.of it but would happily give it another listen
Creepy/cool album artwork too.
Silver Jews
3/5
Generic sounding indie landfill. Move on.
Blur
2/5
So full of promise and hope at the start, quickly faded into disappointment. Soundtrack to Tony Blair's tears.
Sinead O'Connor
4/5
Powerful stuff, so much more than just a vehicle for Nothing Compares 2 U. Always loved her defiance and non conformity as well as her music and it doesn't sound dated, which surprised me a bit.
Sex Pistols
5/5
Iconic bollocks from Mr Lydon & co. He might be an insufferable prick (no, he IS an insufferable prick) but he does know his trade. As for the album, it's a riot of energetic fun and anger and deserving of its place on the list.
PJ Harvey
4/5
Glad to have been reminded how good this album is, I really don't listen to it often enough
Rocket From The Crypt
2/5
Like a lite version of what it wanted to be. Despite the noise this somehow still managed to sound flat and lacking in any passion. Tough gig mind, coming the day after Never Mind The Bollocks.
Cee Lo Green
1/5
Soul machine my arse. Didn't really like or enjoy this at all. When it wasn't just annoying background noise and actively popped into my consciousness it was somehow even more annoying.
Ute Lemper
2/5
If you can call upon the likes of Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Elvis Costello to write for you, and their input is evident, how can the resulting album be so poor?
Grant Lee Buffalo
3/5
Slow burner, enjoyed this more as I listened more.
Thin Lizzy
3/5
I wouldn't have chosen this as the best representation of Thin Lizzy but it's ok. Not my favourite band, but reminds me of happy times (how's things Rob?)
Primal Scream
4/5
Vanishing Point is one of my favourite films, best car chase movie ever (apart from Blues Brothers, obviously). This is a credible alternative soundtrack, captures all that 70s paranoia and claustrophobia well.
Sepultura
1/5
'Experimental edge'? Fuck off, these guys (always guys) wouldn't know experimental if they sat on pan pipes and started tooting nursery rhymes.
This would sound better played through a small Bluetooth speaker. By someone a very very long way away from me. Preferably with the volume turned all the way down.
I really cannot find any redeeming features in this whatsoever. Arise? Arse more like.
Scott Walker
2/5
Some entertainment to be found in some of the lyrics but the delivery wasn't great and I struggle to see the point of this really.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
2/5
Bluegrass or country? Don't really care tbh. One of the instrumental tracks was ok but the rest was just too much - too long, too repetitive and too country/too bluegrass for me.
Les Rythmes Digitales
1/5
Rather generic and a bit pointless and dull, didn't really offer anything of any merit
Missy Elliott
4/5
Game changer, and not bad. Just not the best of her albums.
Cream
4/5
How to separate the music from the artist (guitarist) that made it?
One is not bad, a really rather well done psychedelic bluesy rock album that stands up well to the test of time. The other is a bit of a dick that doesn't.
I guess you can like one and not the other.
Metallica
1/5
Who on earth thought this was a good idea? Turns out that putting a symphony orchestra with Metallica sounds exactly as self-indulgent and pretentiously shit as you might expect. Who knew?
Radiohead
3/5
I'm not generally a Radiohead fan but this has more of the bits that I do like and only a little of the miserable whiny bits that I don't
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
4/5
Totally took me by surprise, turns out I do like revisiting perfect 80s synth-pop after all.
Aerosmith
1/5
Which is worse? The dreadful generic music, or the gaslighting nonce that sang it? Don't care, both are terrible. Liked the cover of Run DMC's 'Walk This Way' though 😉
The Mothers Of Invention
5/5
Intelligent invention. Love this album.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
3/5
Sits just the right side of the melancholy/miserable divide, worth seeking out
Bee Gees
1/5
How the hell did the Bee Gees get away with recording so much of this awful shit? This is album 9 of the 13 or 14 before they even started on the disco stuff. Truly awful.
Simply Red
1/5
My memory serves me well. Fucking awful. And whoever thought releasing an extended version was a good idea needs to have a serious word with themselves.
The Beach Boys
4/5
Undeniably good, even if I'm not the greatest fan of the Beach Boys. RIP Brian.
Primal Scream
5/5
Brixton at 6 (5) in the morning was a sobering experience, a bit like the opening to Flowered Up's 'weekender' video. Primal Scream had just finished a Screamadelica all nighter at the academy, but it was the night the clocks went forward so we were short changed by an hour. Love this album, still sounds fresh (even with my rose-tinted bias). Love this band too, but you still owe me an hour you cheeky fuckers.
Tom Waits
5/5
I like this more melancholy Tom Waits, not quite as full-on bonkers as some of his albums but some.of the arrangements and turns of phrase are just exquisite
Everything But The Girl
1/5
This took me 45 minutes closer to the day that I die and gave me absolutely nothing in return. Utterly pointless.
Kacey Musgraves
2/5
Vapidity perfected
Bebel Gilberto
3/5
Easy listening, a perfect 3
50 Cent
3/5
Sounds good, better than I expected after all these years
Dr. Dre
2/5
Seminal beats, but the world has moved on
Pavement
4/5
Love this, one of the best albums from a massively underrated band
Duran Duran
2/5
Perfect 80s pop nostalgia. Fine if that's your thing.
10cc
2/5
Like Queen but without any of the hits
Dinosaur Jr.
2/5
I bought this album on the back of Freak Scene (remember when that was a thing? No streaming or downloads, just hope and Sounds or MM or NME or your local record shop staff to guide you). I was disappointed and I still am.
Freak Scene was and is awesome though, for me it was one of the defining tracks of that part of my messy life, a staple of every half-decent indie night playlist. The rest of the album is mediocre at best.
PJ Harvey
4/5
PJ Harvey just gets better and better the more I listen
Sonic Youth
4/5
1. a sticky or slimy substance.
2. excessive sentimentality
3. a really rather good album
Small Faces
2/5
Well that was interesting, but not in a good way. The contrived weirdness just got progressively more annoying.ans completely overshadowed the musical content
Steely Dan
2/5
I'm sure that this is perfectly suited to any number of situations and occasions that I hope I never find myself in
The Coral
3/5
Dismissed this when it came out, I was in a different musical groove back then. Revisiting it now it's not so bad
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
He's a miserable bugger sometimes but Nick Cave does have a beautiful way of finding joy within the melancholia
Slipknot
1/5
I'm struggling to see the point of Slipknot and another hour of this vapid shit hasn't helped to further my understanding at all. Come on boys, you're hardly teenagers, isn't it time you grew up?
G. Love & Special Sauce
2/5
Sounds like the mid-90s, though not i
Necessarily in a good way. Generic, unmemorable, & bland though at least it's not unpleasant
D'Angelo
2/5
I'm sure that this is a fine album if this is your thing, but it's very much not my thing so I'll pass thanks
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
Neil Young's whiney voice is an acquired taste that I have yet to acquire despite the multiple exposures delivered by this list. File next to Dylan under 'Annoying delivery of interesting lyrics made more annoying by the addition of harmonica'
Belle & Sebastian
2/5
Always struck me as somewhat effete and insubstantial and re-listening today hasn't convinced me otherwise. Mostly just bland and annoying.
808 State
4/5
Reminds me of times that I can't properly remember, and the beginning of so many more great times and great music that it inspired. Sounds dated now (as do I), but +1 for the nostalgia.
I never listened to this before (apart from 'Beautiful Day' which was on every radio playlist), being under the impression that apart from a few interesting early albums U2 had turned into a terrible clichéd parody of themselves. With my admittedly skewed starting point I am pleased to confirm that Bonio and the boys haven't failed to deliver.
Truly terrible.
Buck Owens
1/5
You're having a laugh, right? Buck off
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4/5
Never heard this album before, it's awesome! Outshines other blues rock of the time (I'm looking at you messrs Plant and Page). Fabulous album cover too.
Nitin Sawhney
3/5
Inoffensive enough as background sounds in settings too trendy for me to frequent. On active listening it doesn't stand up so well though, particularly the lyrics - all a bit too earnest and worthy /cringeworthy. I liked the non-english lyrics tracks more.
The Fall
5/5
Fabulous, as good an introduction to The Fall as you could ask for. Genesis of all the shambolic dysfunctional chaos that was to follow in the next 40-odd years, all of it magnificent in it's inimitable way.
Black Sabbath
5/5
I mostly experienced this album vicariously, my mates were far more into it than I was at the time. I have however come to appreciate its true magnificence for myself, and I'm glad to have done so. It's also worth noting that this is one of the worst album covers ever.
Anyhow, cheerio Ozzy, a rock-'n'-roll life well lived. Bet he's biting the heads off angels as I write this.
Peter Frampton
2/5
Uncanny resemblance to that fella from The Darkness. Sounds like Radio 2 from the 70s. A bit like The Darkness.
The Temptations
3/5
Hard to not love the Temptations. I prefer the funkier stuff, and 'Heard it through the grapevine' somehow jarred a little but otherwise solid and reliable
Fever Ray
2/5
Hmmm. Not sure my world needs this, it was mostly a bit rubbish.
The Clash
5/5
Quite possibly one of the best albums of all time.
David Bowie
4/5
Bowie seems a tad over-represented.on this list. That said, this one belongs on it, pretty near peak Bowie for me.
The Teardrop Explodes
4/5
I quite like the pop incarnation of the many versions of Julian Cope, though his more esoteric versions are somehow even more interesting/crackers/fun.
2/5
Still don't get Dylan. Lyrically fine, but his terrible delivery always grates and the harmonica seals the deal for.me, bloody awful.
For what it's worth, electric was better.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
Awesome
The Saints
3/5
Great opening track but didn't keep it going, all got a bit generic
Blur
4/5
Of it's time but still a fine record. Nostalgia boosts my appreciation, they were fun times
Rahul Dev Burman
2/5
Disappointing, felt like a half-baked and subdued version of the magnificent chaos and speaker-distorting bonkers-ness that Bollywood soundtracks should be.
Fairport Convention
4/5
Weirdly good, not sure why i wasn't expecting to like this quite as much as I did. Full of warmth, hard not to like really.
The Notorious B.I.G.
3/5
The talent is evident, the flow and beats impeccable. Less enthused by the stereotypical 90s lyrics and skits, but still a good album.
Soft Machine
1/5
Ugh. Cease that infernal tootling.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
4/5
Love the warmth and chilled harmonies. Not convinced that adding Young made them better, just different
The KLF
5/5
Love the KLF. This album hits the spot too, though it's worth seeking out the original rather than the inferior 'director's cut' versions
3/5
Blah blah blur.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
4/5
Not sure why I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did,, some properly great sounds. Bit of a scattergun approach, but most of it landed
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Experienced enough to recognise the happy marriage of talent and legend
Nine Inch Nails
4/5
Grown up goth
Michael Jackson
1/5
King of pop? Or monkey-bothering king of pop nonce? Whichever, I just can't be bothered.
Jimmy Smith
3/5
Nice chilled background sounds but not much variation. Great in the right moment though
Bill Callahan
4/5
I thought that the melancholy monotone would annoy me but it let the lyrics shine. Great album, exactly the sort of thing I'd hoped to discover through this list
Van Morrison
2/5
Not sure that I'm a VM fan really, other than the familiar stuff it's all a bit...rubbish?
The Darkness
2/5
A gloriously unselfconscious homage to glam and hair metal. I Believe in a Thing Called Love captures the essence in a single track beautifully, as a whole album it's a bit much though.
XTC
2/5
Like a poor pastiche of so many other bands and influences but never really pulls it off. Bit of a miss really.
Jane Weaver
4/5
Really glad to have found this album, I really enjoyed it though the penultimate track jarred and somehow seemed out of kilter with the rest
Bauhaus
3/5
A bit rubbish but does have a sort of endearing nostalgic quality nonetheless. Sounds a bit like the Cure or Joy Division but not as good as either.
Nina Simone
5/5
Outstanding, a truly captivating album. The sparse accompaniment highlights her awesome voice. Top class stuff
Hot Chip
3/5
Great opening track (successor to New Order?), the rest not quite as great
David Holmes
1/5
Irritatingly half-arsed and full. Too irritating even for background sounds. There's way better alternatives to choose from
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
Shame that the concept was so poorly executed, there's some great tunes buried within but there's also some dreadful ones which drag it down. Could've been so much better
Quicksilver Messenger Service
3/5
Enjoyed this but nothing the Doors didn't do better
The Soft Boys
3/5
Surprisingly good crossover album with lots of influences evident. But what's going on with the Spotify version and all those bonus tracks? Have you Boys gone Soft in the head?
Ramones
3/5
Aways felt that this album never quite lived up to its iconic status
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
Slightly dull, perfectly acceptable in the background. I wanted to like this more than I did.
The Human League
3/5
Seminal albums aren't necessarily always all that good. Apart from Don't You Want Me it's all a bit shit really, but that track, nostalgia and history earn it an extra star from me
Baaba Maal
3/5
Not bad, but I liked the other album on the list more.
The Byrds
3/5
You know that birds aren't real, right? That they're CIA drones to monitor the population?
Anyhow, I digress. Eight miles high isn't bad, the rest is rather bland and forgettable.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Like this a lot.
Arcade Fire
4/5
Peak noughties Canada indie-rock? That's not a bad thing and it's a good album though the world has moved on a bit (or maybe it's just me?)
Beach House
1/5
I struggled to find anything to enjoy in this. Mostly I found it dull, derivative and irritating.
Haircut 100
2/5
Early 80s Britain was bleak. Thatcher, Cold War paranoia,, economic and social failings of the state and all of it destined to get worse before it got better. Ripe times for something joyous and fun and light then.
40-something years on ithe album sounds dated and of it's time and but the current geopolitical shitshow being what it is it surely invites an update?
Joe Ely
1/5
Ugh. This is awful.
LTJ Bukem
4/5
Liked this worth seeking out the original version (not sure why Spotify got it wrong?). Ground breaking at the time, sounds less radical now but still holds up well for a 30 year old album
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Masterful Mr Marley, masterful
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
Polished pop but not for me, very bland and same-y. Not sure why we need more than one PSB album on this list.
Calexico
4/5
A new and interesting listen for me, never heard before and mostly decent. Sits somewhere between a 3 and a 4 for me, the duff tracks and excessive length weren't enough to drag iit down to a 3 but it was a close call.
Megadeth
1/5
Expectations met.
AC/DC
4/5
Just a bunch of horny Aussie lads playing classic blues rock, but they do it so very, very well.
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
4/5
Just imagine how pissed off these guys must be with the state of things in 2025
Morrissey
4/5
Oh Mozza you silly man. Such wasted talent tarnished by all that ukip fuckwittery, it's hard to be objective in the shadow of his racist nonsense but this was a good album
Terence Trent D'Arby
2/5
So a couple of hits buried within an over hyped and overplayed 80s album is enough to make the list? I don't think so. At best this is a historical footnote to the 80s.
Leftfield
5/5
An absolute masterpiece, seemingly and inexplicably under-appreciated given the low average rating. Still sounds fresh after 30 years.
The Electric Prunes
2/5
I'd heard of but never listened to this band. Started off okay, couple of decent tracks but generally degenerated into nonsense. Glad I finally gave it a listen but it wasn't really worth it tbh.
The Undertones
4/5
Perfect punk pop. I always thought that The Undertones struggled under the weight of that great single but this didn't outstay it's welcome, unlike their second album
Steve Winwood
1/5
Musical talent or not, it doesn't matter. This is the soundtrack to giving up on life. Zombie plod-rock
Cowboy Junkies
4/5
Does this mean that I like country now? Cracking album, perfect for a late night dog walk
Fleet Foxes
1/5
Never really understood the hype for this album. It just doesn't work for me.
Country Joe & The Fish
4/5
Fine example of the sort of 60s psych-rock stuff that I have a bit of a soft spot for if I'm in the right mood
Björk
2/5
Admirable innovation but spread too thinly over a whole album. It's a Björk thing.
Van Morrison
2/5
Initial thoughts on opening this one today:
- it's a Van Morrison album - oh dear
- it's a live double album from the 1970s - this is gonna be terrible
With such low expectations this wasn't actually as bad as I feared but it's still not my thing.
Heaven 17
2/5
At best this is a footnote to the dawn of the synth pop era. It holds a certain nostalgic charm for me but otherwise it's lucky to make the list
Alanis Morissette
2/5
Could this be any more.90s?
Fiona Apple
4/5
I alternated between big interested and being irritated by this. Mostly good though
Sepultura
1/5
C'mon boys, time to lose the vocalist. He's dragging you (and me) down.
*EDIT* Just read the album summary after listening to this and writing my review, seems like the band got the message after all
4/5
Mostly great. I enjoyed this even if there were a couple of duff tracks
Tim Buckley
2/5
It's all a bit too medieval for me I'm afraid. Liked the album cover, reminded me of the joke-shop inked telescopes from childhood
Robert Wyatt
2/5
Not great, though did weirdly remind me a bit of Baxter Dury
Peter Tosh
3/5
Sounds a bit tired now
Metallica
4/5
Not my go-to genre, but this was good - significantly exceeded my expectations
New Order
3/5
New Order are great but this falls a fair bit short of their best work - there's a tad too much unsatisfactory Pet Shop Boys/Cure-like sounds going on here for my liking
Soundgarden
2/5
Never been too sure about this album, it's alright but ultimately just a bit bland and unexciting, boring even, and somehow not grungey enough.
Neil Young
2/5
Still not a fan of NY, no matter how many albums this list throws at me. That said, it wasn't terrible either.
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
There is undoubtedly musical talent going on here but it's all a bit generic blues rock which faded into (perfectly acceptable) background sounds.
David Ackles
1/5
"it waits to be rediscovered"
This is destined to be endlessly 'rediscovered' and then immediately recycled back into the bargain bins of charity shops where it belongs.
Nice album cover though.
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
Up there with the best of their albums before things got a bit stale, I very much enjoyed revisiting it
Kate Bush
4/5
At first I thought ' Oh, OK, another generic Kate Bush album, nothing special but reasonably ok'. Gave it another listen and it seemed to register on a deeper level somehow, intriguing and rather more complex than I first rhought
Beth Orton
3/5
Inoffensively bland, somehow just about manages to transcend the hipster associations ('folktronica'? Grow up)
Michael Jackson
2/5
This may be iconic album from an iconic figure (increasingly for all the wrong reasons), but three perfect pop singles in the middle of an album full of mediocrity doesn't make this an essential album for me
Carole King
5/5
Ooh, lovely. Like a familiar warm and comforting blanket. Great album.
Dizzee Rascal
3/5
Does this belong on this list? Undoubtedly yes. Do I like it? Mostly. It has some great moments but some parts drag.
Steve Earle
1/5
Is this real? Or is it country's Spinal Tap moment? Awful if the former and not funny enough if the latter
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1/5
No matter how highly polished a prog rock turd is, it's still a prog rock turd. Little wonder that punk happened
Beatles
5/5
And lo the ascendency began..
Kate Bush
5/5
Uniquely brilliant!
Van Morrison
2/5
I'm not a fan of Van for a whole load of reasons, including his music. Somehow this doesn't seem quite as annoying as the other albums I've heard, but I still don't like it much
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
How many mbv albums do we need? I struggle to see the relevance of what was once a vaguely innovative band releasing essentially the same sounding album some 20+ years later. It's like they fell asleep for those 20 years and didn't notice that the world had moved on
Arrested Development
3/5
Joyous anti-gangsta jazy vibe, all gets a bit too earnest and preachy at times though. Not bad, but not great
Morrissey
3/5
Talented songwriter undoubtedly, and a good album, but tainted by the knowledge of what was to come. Oh Morrissey, you bellend.