This is that album for me. This is that album that changed everything. I was around 13. I liked music but the only thing I listened to or bought on my own was the Beatles. They were everything. Then one day I’m listening to the radio, with little real interest, and I hear a song called Dear God. The subject blew me away, the music blew me away. You could sound Beatlesque yet modern and have doubts about the existence of God? I had to know more. Skylarking became the first non- Beatles related album I ever bought. I pretty much became a zealot overnight. I had to know everything I could about this band. Magazines, fanzines. To my amazement, holy $&!+, they’ve been around since I was 5? Okay then what did their other albums sound like? I bought the album of singles that was out at the time: Waxworks. The whole thing Blew. Me. Away. There was definitely a progression to how they sounded but I loved every one of those songs. As quickly as my ability to save up money would allow, I’d buy a new XTC album. Soon I had them all. XTC were easily my favorite band. And don’t get me started on The Dukes of Stratosphear. But it wasn’t enough. I needed more. Suddenly music was the best thing ever. What else was there. The Kinks? Yes. Ate them up. David Bowie? Delicious. I need more. Elvis Costello? Absolutely, it’s so brilliant. Sex Pistols? What the F#<% is this noise? It’s crazy awesome is what it is! Oh snap! There’s a super cool movie about the super cool, awful bass player? It has a soundtrack? Who are the Pogues? Punk is here to stay, man. Give, give, give, me more, more, more. Then the ultimate side quest to find out about Goth music. Thousands of records, tapes, cds, etc later it still comes back to Skylarking. I will still listen to this probably weekly? monthly?, more during the summer for sure. Every song is perfect. A story about the cycle of a day, a life, from the mundane daily life to metaphysical theoretical soul searching, to death and beyond. It’s the beauty of it all, the sadness of it all, the meaning of it all, the meaninglessness of it all. And for me, it was the start of it all.

Not my favorite CH album but 5 ⭐️ nonetheless because it’s still great

Much better than I thought it would be. Pretty enjoyable.

You really can tell this band influenced a ton of other great bands. It was definitely cool to hear the original version of Friction. I only knew it from the cover by The Church.

I miss britpop. Never listened to the whole album before.

Ouch. The King, maybe, but not my cup of tea.

Nostalgia. I remember it being better.

Super chill. I really liked it.

My favorite Oasis album. My only real critique of them is exemplified by Cast No Shadow. Excellent lyric, gives a real deep mental image. “As he faced the sun he cast no shadow”. Perfect line. But then he has to say it 1,750 times. It loses its meaning after so many times. Sometimes it’s cooler for your cleverness to be a little more subtle.

Certainly was enthusiastically French. I can dig it.

It’s Queen.

Good album. Still not a fan of the Doors, but I see why some people love the music.

Oh man, I love this album. It’s been too long.

It’s fine. I like some Stones stuff, but they’re not my thing.

Great album. Was one that I’ve been wanting to listen to for a while.

Excellent

Not for me. I appreciate its importance, though. And it was much better than I feared it would be.

Johnny Marr is great. Morrissey can go pound sand.

It’s fine. Seems like it was a lot of the same riff though.

Rough one. First 2 tracks I knew from cover versions.

Yesssssssss. So much better than Morrissey. One of my favorite albums ever.

I don’t think I was in the mood

Talented musicians. But not in my wheelhouse.

A classic

Downloaded the album so I can listen to it more

Couldn’t decide between 3 or 4. Maybe 3.75?

Maybe it’s because I had to listen to it on you tube instead of iTunes but it got old kinda quickly.

I couldn’t finish it

Better than I thought

I want to like PJ Harvey

My favorite Bowie album. My favorite version is the Ryko reissue. Bombers may be my favorite Bowie song.

For the Monsters, Inc of it all

Better than I remember. I guess because I’m not hearing it on the radio every other song.

Not my thing but better than Morrissey

I like less thrash guitars and this had a minimum of that. But what it did have was great.

They like the repetition

I like how she says when she doesn’t know the lyrics

I can dig it

I feel like I’m in a hotel bar in the 80’s or a wedding.

If you like this, I’d recommend A Man Called (E) and Broken Toy Shop by E. Broken Toy Shop is definitely the precursor to Beautiful Freak.

1 or 2 tracks about boning are fine. But every single track gets old

I respect syd’s creativity, but it’s not for me

Big Iron was good.

Tough listen

Love the cover and I have such fond memories listening to this vicariously because my sister loved it so much.

I feel like this is where stereotypes of 60’s music comes from. I’m sure it was wild and innovative at the time but hearing it over 50 years later it sounds like hackneyed crap.

Just not for me

AMC bring back so many memories. Western Sky is a perfect song. I don’t hear too many references to them any more, so I’m glad they’re represented here.

Pass

Live albums are my least favorite

I had no idea that In The Nursery’s version of The Seventh Seal was a cover song. Gives this a +1.

Because F him

Breaking the law

💯 would rather listen to Steel Panther. Glad this junk didn’t poison my music taste back in the day.

F RHCP. I was forced to listen to too many songs from this when it was on the radio. I really can’t stand listening to the same song done slightly differently each time. They are singularly responsible for any dislike I have for California. We get it, you love California. Stop it already.

Sounds like the soundtrack to a bad 60’s movie.

Can’t stand Morrissey as a person and his lyrics

The 70’s man

If I could give a zero

The 007 track was a great track

Rally 2.5 but I’ll round up

Who would’ve figured. But pretty damn good

Music not bad. Vocals not my cup of tea

Very 60’s RenFaire. Would’ve been a higher grade if I was at an actual renfest

The songs that I knew from this album already were great enough to overcome the tracks that I didn’t know that are only okay.

Why did I ignore the Soft Boys as a teen. Damn.

This is in my top 10. 5 stars isn’t enough

Wow. Very overrated. The only track I didn’t skip after 1 minute was dancing queen.

Meh

Good sixties music but I’ll listen to the Kinks before them. Their version of stepping stone was great, though. The Monkees version is a pretty note for note copy. I had no idea.

Would have been a good concert to see

1 good song. Yikes.

Not my taste but I could dig it

Almost listenable

One of EC’s best. Always one of the first I will go to on any given day.

This one really takes me back to when I was a huge Beatles nut in the 70’s and 80’s. So many great songs here. Later on in life I found John to be a little hypocritical, even a bit on this album. But as a whole this was an easy listen all the way through.

Classic that didn’t appreciate at the time

Really a 3.5, give or take.

This is that album for me. This is that album that changed everything. I was around 13. I liked music but the only thing I listened to or bought on my own was the Beatles. They were everything. Then one day I’m listening to the radio, with little real interest, and I hear a song called Dear God. The subject blew me away, the music blew me away. You could sound Beatlesque yet modern and have doubts about the existence of God? I had to know more. Skylarking became the first non- Beatles related album I ever bought. I pretty much became a zealot overnight. I had to know everything I could about this band. Magazines, fanzines. To my amazement, holy $&!+, they’ve been around since I was 5? Okay then what did their other albums sound like? I bought the album of singles that was out at the time: Waxworks. The whole thing Blew. Me. Away. There was definitely a progression to how they sounded but I loved every one of those songs. As quickly as my ability to save up money would allow, I’d buy a new XTC album. Soon I had them all. XTC were easily my favorite band. And don’t get me started on The Dukes of Stratosphear. But it wasn’t enough. I needed more. Suddenly music was the best thing ever. What else was there. The Kinks? Yes. Ate them up. David Bowie? Delicious. I need more. Elvis Costello? Absolutely, it’s so brilliant. Sex Pistols? What the F#<% is this noise? It’s crazy awesome is what it is! Oh snap! There’s a super cool movie about the super cool, awful bass player? It has a soundtrack? Who are the Pogues? Punk is here to stay, man. Give, give, give, me more, more, more. Then the ultimate side quest to find out about Goth music. Thousands of records, tapes, cds, etc later it still comes back to Skylarking. I will still listen to this probably weekly? monthly?, more during the summer for sure. Every song is perfect. A story about the cycle of a day, a life, from the mundane daily life to metaphysical theoretical soul searching, to death and beyond. It’s the beauty of it all, the sadness of it all, the meaning of it all, the meaninglessness of it all. And for me, it was the start of it all.

Mark E Smith. Genius. RIP

Evan Dando has such a great voice

I don’t know why I’ve largely ignored Green Day. Maybe it’s because they got so much airplay that I didn’t feel the need to listen to the whole album. My loss.

I think I missed a lot of the charm of this album by not really being able to hear the band interplay. Still 3⭐️

Again, F this man.

Not my favorite CH album but 5 ⭐️ nonetheless because it’s still great

One of EC’s best

If Victoria was the only good song on the album it would still be a 5 Star album

Easily in my top 10 all-time. I was lucky to get into the Pogues with this album. I was able to go backwards so to me they evolved into a more punk band before becoming a great all around band.

Maybe a fabulous album. But I will never listen to it. And Fuck Kanye.

If I could give it a zero I would. This could be the best, most beautiful music ever recorded. As always, fuck Morrissey.

One of the favorite periods of Bowie’s career

The album that solidified my love of the Pogues

This Mortal Coil is the real reason I ever listened to Big Star. Thank goodness for TMC

Amazing all around.

I loved this album so much. Did I know what they were saying? Not a bit. But it was super compelling and the music itself amazing. That’s the late-60’s early 70’s sound that still is effective today. I downloaded the album when I finished listening.

So many great memories of listening to REM in HS. Culminating in Green, when I was finally able to see them in concert. Went with my sister, her BF, & my hs crush Francine. I probably should have kissed her that night when I walked her to her door. Le sigh. Anyway. I loved REM, I loved this album, and I loved the concert. I had the Turn You Inside Out t-shirt which had the artwork printed on the inside of the shirt so you wore it inside out. How fucking clever is that?

Amazing time in Bowie’s career

Sunshine Superman and Season of the Witch stand out but the whole thing is really good.

I appreciate them more now then I did then

Not my thing but I recognize greatness

Nostalgia vote. Do I listen to it anymore? Until today it’s been nearly 3 decades. I still dig it though.

Being around music for his entire young life, it should be no wonder why his freshman album is so well written and full of classics. It’s stil an impressive feat.

I became a fan this year (2024) when I saw them play as a dual headliner with The Church. This album exemplifies why I liked them live.

Elbow is pretty fantastic. Guy Garvey’s voice at times really reminds me of Peter Gabriel. In a good way.

I liked it way more than I thought I would.

I must have really been in the mood for this one tonight

I feel like no one is mentioning This Mortal Coil’s version of With Tomorrow. Although I still like their’s more it’s only because I heard it there first. The album is great, though. I feel like it’s more folk than country if you ask me but what do I know?

One of my favorite albums ever

This person with not make one more cent off of me. F Kanye

Guitar is great. Never was a fan of Rod’s.

I really liked this album when it was released. Now, 30 (30! Holy crap!!!!!!) years later it has become one of my favorite EC albums. It may be my favorite. It’s certainly the one I am currently listening to most these days.

Yes

Blew me away. Did not know what I was in for and was more than pleasantly surprised. Downloaded the album.

Good stuff.

I really dig this album a lot

I’m going to go ahead and say that I’m the biggest XTC fan in New Jersey. Or the US. Or the world for that matter. Who’s going to read this and dispute it. Andy & co can do no wrong in my eyes. However, I found that more often than not I needed more than one listen through to form a legitimate opinion. I find the opening track, River of Orchids, the most difficult track. I have to be in the mood to listen to it. I appreciate it, I think it’s brilliantly composed, but it may be my least favorite XTC track. It still is a 10/10 for me and I can listen to it every day. Too bad part 2, Wasp Star, isn’t on here because I might like that album even better.

I refuse to separate art from artist for this one

Love it or hate it, TMR grabs your attention. I got this cd when XTC did a cover of Ella Guru and put it on the BSide of the Mayor of Simpleton 12”. It was wild, so I bought the cd without knowing anything about it except that song. Which, turns out, is a fairly accurate cover of the song. I tried listening to the album a few times and rarely made it through the whole thing. Recently I’ve put it on and actually like it. Whether it’s my own Stockholm Syndrome of eventually liking the thing that’s torturing me or what, I don’t know. I do know that it still grabs my attention but now it doesn’t just sound like cacophony anymore and actually sounds like innovative music.

Hard pass. Hated it then not listening to it again.

Some people can differentiate between art and artist. I try for most things but I have a visceral dislike for Morrissey. I don’t like his voice, his attitude towards other artists, or his beliefs in general. So I will always give a single star. I do like Johnny Marr in just about everything else.