This is great, and I'd never heard of them!

I guess they are their generation's Turin Brakes? But more English: they sound uncanny and unsettling to me, they make me think of The Wicker Man even though I've never seen that film.

I feel like I'm in a very cool bay area brunch joint. Or possibly a Quentin Tarantino film. Great, but great for specific contexts is what I'm saying: not an everyday listen. (Except why not? Because it doesn't feel like "my life"?)

Lesser britpop. Or possibly core britpop and my tastes have changed? Feels like Supergrass but with less compelling tunes.

Absolutely all over the place. Some of it ("Out of the Blue") I really like, some of it is just chaos.

A slightly more uptempo Morcheeba -- what an uncool comparison -- but I think I might come back to this one later and investigate further.

I do indeed feel funked up, as promised. It will be interesting figuring out where the lines between soul and funk (which I apparently like) and hip hop, R&B and rap (which I'm not sure I do like) lie over time.

Already owned, so obviously I quite like it; although it's not in regular rotation and evokes memories of 15-20 years ago. The title track stands out.

Folk rock, all over the place, shaggy and rambling, and I am mostly here for it. Flute/chanting bit took me by surprise though.

The first time I have listened to a Smith's album start to finish. Sounds rather samey, really.

Ah, a radio Darwin classic

A great singles band, terrible albums band. (Based on only having listened to a couple of their albums in full. But certainly this one has plenty of filler.)

Not really my thing, but I can see how it leads to the things that are my thing.

It's 7 Seconds guy! Good vibes, not something I'd listen to every day.

Well, that was an excellent way to start off a Friday. Would probably also work for a Sunday. Or, really, most days.

Surprised to read this is her most successful album: for me the jazz elements take away from her strengths.

Well that happened.

Never listened to much Prince. Loved the opening track! The rest just drifted by.

Oh how the definition of "garage band" has changed over the years. About half of this I rather liked, about half of it is ... twee? That feels like a ridiculous thing to say but it was the first adjective that came to mind.

Probably the best Chemical Bros album

This is great, and I'd never heard of them!

Striking combination of retro cadences and modern (at least for 1996) electronic sounds; like a funkier Air? Worth another listen at some point.

No.

This cannot be coincidental 😆 Like it more than Strangeways, bit more energy.

Disappointed not to find much in this beyond the singles. But they are great singles.

Good enough to buy after one listen.

I really don't know how to listen to world music in a non-exoticising way: to hear this as just, normal. But it is good, sometimes mellow, sometimes soulful.

Weirdly, I enjoy the beats, the samples, the vocals, and yet for the most part this doesn't come together for me.

This hasn't really lasted, has it? Porcelain and Natural Blues have recovered slightly from over-saturation, it's true, but there's far too much filler on this.

This is not what I thought kd lang sounded like, for some reason! I had more ani difranco vibes in my head, this has sheen and mellowness that I wasn't expecting. Nice enough but didn't make a huge impact.

A classic

The grunge/shoegaze bits I like; the screamy/emo bits not so much.

Having this here makes me curious about the inclusion criteria for the book. Should QOTSA be represented? Absolutely. Is this an interesting album? It is. (The phrase "math-grunge" popped into my head for one of the tracks.) Should QOTSA be in the list more than once? Probably not, in my view. And is this better than Rated R or Songs for the Deaf? I'd find that a hard argument.

Atmospheric in the first half, comes to life in the second half. Not sure it's essential though.

Ah, so this is the missing link between Elliott Smith and Big Thief.

Big sprawling and maximalist, just what the doctor ordered.

Yeah, I see where Sam Fender gets it from. No, I don't enjoy it as much.

Mixed bag - intrigued to listen to other Costello now though.

Pleased to say my uninformed dislike of The Rolling Stones is now a slightly more informed dislike. Although "Sympathy for the Devil" is pretty good.

I don't hate U2, and I don't hate this album -- listened to it a fair bit at the time -- but the only track that stands out now is Beautiful Day.

brb listening to a whole bunch more Patti Smith

Aural wallpaper, but nice wallpaper.

Twee-dull- well, not dumb, it's obviously well done, it's just not very interesting

Superior pop