Creepy, atmospheric, macabre, and definitely pretty unhinged at times. Really matched a piss-poor mental state at the very beginning of the year, on a horrible gloomy January day. I've gotta say I quite liked this. Feels like a French-language Rammstein in parts. Honestly I wish Halloween was coming up soon because this would be a perfect soundtrack for it, and I feel like this would be an experience to see live. Favourite: La fille de la mort

This was great! Only heard one of these song before but I loved every song on this album. A really great mix of British and American rock. Favourite: The Wait

Really liked this. Raw and full of emotion while being amazingly catchy. An interesting thing I read on PJ Harvey's Wikipedia page was about how Dry was Kurt Cobain's 16th favourite album of all time, I can totally hear some parallels between this and Nirvana. Definitely will revisit this album.

Yeah, I'm definitely biased for this one. I'm a British guy who loves a lot of electronic music and was introduced to Drum and Bass at a young age. I can only imagine the effect it had at release, winning the 1997 Mercury Prize and likely being one of the seminal albums that brought DnB to a mainstream audience. It's impossible for me not to love this album. I just wish more DnB songs utilised a double bass. Favourite: Brown Paper Bag

Despite being a very local band, I'd not really listened to much Radiohead until quite recently, and I had been sort of unsure about what I thought of them. There were definitely some songs I enjoyed and others I was initially unsure about. This is the first Radiohead album I've listened to in its entirety and I have to say that I loved it. The riffs are great, and I loved how somber and calm beginnings often swelled into driven electronic climaxes. It was a pleasant surprise to see how electronic-focused this album was. Judging by what others have been saying, I don't know if this'll be my favourite Radiohead album by the end of the list, but I must say that I really enjoyed this. Favourite: Go To Sleep

I didn't really feel this album. Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood for the songs to hit, but it just seemed a bit too slow and moody for me in most cases. I certainly didn't hate this though, and I may revisit it someday. Favourite: She's Lost Control

I thought this album was pretty good, though maybe a little repetitive as far as albums go, and maybe saying something that my favourite song was a cover. Favourite: Mrs. Robinson

Stevie Wonder is an artist I've heard about many times, but until now never really listened. However, his reputation as a pop music pioneer is well-deserved, and the things he was doing on this 1976 album with elements such as synthesisers is really impressive. I can totally see the influence that his work must have had on the music of today, and this album was just a treat to listen to. Favourite: Sir Duke

Coincidentally this is the second Stevie Wonder album in a row that has been given to me by the generator. I thought this was an amazing album for sure, but I must say that I certainly preferred Songs in the Key of Life to this one, although Superstition was still an absolute classic. Favourite: Superstition

Being a British kid born in the late 90s to young parents, I certainly knew quite well of Oasis, and recognised most of the songs on this album. However there were a few songs on here that I didn't know so well. There may be some nostalgia speaking for me here, but I loved this album and every song, even the more overplayed (and potentially overrated) tracks like Wonderwall. Additionally, I personally believe that Champagne Supernova is one of the most beautiful rock songs ever made. Favourite: Champagne Supernova

This was a great album, a wonderful blend of rock and electronic, funky and emotional. Some really great tracks here and just a great journey throughout! Favourite: All My Friends

I can't say that this is my favourite Bowie album unfortunately, and to me it all seemed a bit forgettable, which is something I absolutely hate to say about the legend that is Bowie, but yeah, I didn't find myself enjoying this one all that much. The ambient tracks near the end were strange but certainly interesting. Favourite: The Secret Life of Arabia

This is certainly not the kind of thing I'd usually listen to, but I found myself quite enjoying this! I honestly wish I had a better understanding of French, but the lyrical prowess of Brel is very evident even without really understanding the lyrics. If anything it's a motivation for me to learn the language, because Chanson seems quite interesting! Favourite: "Les Toros"

While this isn't the kind of thing I'd usually reach for, I was very amazed and moved by this album, and after a stressful and mentally iffy day, this brought out quite a bit of emotion which honestly surprised me. I'm very glad that I sat down and just listened to this album with no distractions, so I could appreciate just how lyrically amazing this book of musical stories was. Favourite: Teachers

There were a few songs here I quite liked, but some of it just had far too much going on for me to understand or want to listen to. Definitely can see the British post-punk oozing from this whole album though. Favourite: Spoilt Victorian Child

I thought this was a pretty good album calling back to classic Blues music. I quite enjoyed this, though I admit some of the songs seemed a little repetitive. Favourite: Cuttin' Out

I don't follow much hip-hop, but this album slaps. Practically every song was brilliant, but in some ways it's a bit of a shame that many of the socio-political issues brought up in this album are still entirely relevant 20 years later. Completely timeless. Favourite: Say Hi To The Bad Guy

This was absolutely bizarre, but I couldn't help but love it. It was just a lot of fun from beginning to end, and I found myself dancing along to some of the more energetic songs. It's absolutely amazing what ELP were doing with synthesizers over 50 years ago! I think this is a timeless album that I'll surely come back to at some point. I have to say though, that Promenade motif is going to bug me. Where the hell have I heard it before? Favourite: The Old Castle

It was fine... Lyrically I can see that there's a lot of skill there, but unfortunately I found some of the songs to be a bit boring so I often zoned out of listening to the lyrics anyway. Maybe I'm just not American enough to really "get" the hype around Billy Joel. Favourite: Get It Right the First Time

The first couple of songs were quite interesting, but I must say that I lost interest quite quickly, and that sitar really got quite dragging on my Western untrained ears. It was a weird experience that worked quite well on some songs because it matched quite well with the fact I was travelling on a train while listening to it, though I don't think this is the usual kind of trip that people listen to this sort of thing on. Favourite: Jumpin' Jack Flash

A good live album with some great covers. Cobaine was taken too soon from us, and I would have loved to see what Nirvana could have become.

I don't think I was really in the right frame of mind for this one unfortunately. There were a few really good and funky tracks but it felt like a few songs just dragged on a bit. Might revisit eventually though. Favourite: Housequake

It was fine. First songs were a bit forgettable in my opinion, but I think it got better into the second half of the album, though the last song just sounded silly and confusing. I thought Jacob Marley's Chain was really beautiful, and I kinda wish the album had some more folk-esque songs like it. Favourite: Jacob Marley's Chain

Very wonderful and sophisticated. Turns out to be a great album to cook dinner to also. The weird time signatures and the occasional general disregard for norms and rules of music was fun to listen to, if a bit confusing for my musically untrained self. Additionally, Take Five is one of those absolute classics that just always sounds so fresh and cool. Favourite: Take Five

The Predator came up only about a week before this one, and I have to say I prefer The Predator, personally. This seemed a bit less varied and generally less interesting to me, and I just don't think it really aged well, in terms of both the beats and the subject matter. I suppose it was a product of its time though. I think Yo-Yo may have been the star of the show to be honest, because what a debut she made on It's A Man's World. Favourite: It's A Man's World

I quite liked this. Very good country-punk-synthpop stuff, and I really liked the darker and angrier songs. Favourite: Working Class Hero

So groovy and makes me just want to boogie. Wasn't so interested in the slower songs I suppose, but there's definitely a reason why they call him the King of Rock and Roll! Favourite: Blue Suede Shoes

Just some all round great punk-rock. A British classic! Favourite: Down In The Tube Station At Midnight

I quite enjoyed this one. Pretty raw and unpolished in a lot of places but I think that really adds to the appeal. I love the psychedelic and chaotic nature of quite a few of these songs, and I think I'll come back to this album. Favourite: Grey/Afro

This was great! Only heard one of these song before but I loved every song on this album. A really great mix of British and American rock. Favourite: The Wait

A really great album with lyrics that made me both laugh and nearly cry. Some really powerful and moving storytelling, as well as some real emotion. Favourite: Masters of War

Kinda strange country-folky rock album. Sadly I couldn't particularly get into this one very much, though some of the songs had interesting lyrics. Favourite: Abernant 1984/5

The cover made me hope I was going into some 80s metal album, but instead it was some insane post-punk with just a lot of incoherent rambling and yelling. Sadly didn't enjoy this much, though some of the riffs are cool. Favourite: Dead Joe

Really nice, peaceful and relaxing. Made for good cooking music! I don't know if I could see myself listening to this normally in many other scenarios, but it was certainly a nice one. I also thought Astrud's duet with her son Marcello in "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice" was really cute. Favourite: "It's A Lovely Day Today"

Not too bad, though a few too many slow and sappy songs for me to enjoy the whole thing. Bad and Smooth Criminal are both groovy classics though. Favourite: Bad

This was a wonderful album with plenty of wonderful soulful tunes. I wouldn't usually go seeking out soul music like this, but I found myself enjoying it a lot! Favourite: Chain of Fools

Some decent Rock and Country on this album, but nothing that sounded particularly interesting to me. I might revisit this some time, but I wouldn't count on it. Favourite: Too Bad

Some of the songs were okay but it did drag on a bit, in my opinion. Couldn't really keep my interest. Favourite: An Ocean In Between The Waves

This was something a bit more up my alley! I quite liked this mix of alternative and garage rock with some noise mixed in, though some of the noisier tracks were a bit difficult to listen to at parts. Favourite: Kiss Like Lizards

Nice jazzy blues-y album. Definitely not driving music in my humble opinion, I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was cooking, or chilling on the sofa with a nice glass of something strong. Will probably come back to it when I need a good lounge ambience.

I don't really understand why American Pie was the first track on this album. Really felt like that was the highest point of the album and the rest of it was just quite boring. The only other song I quite liked was The Grave near the end of the album, I thought that was a pretty moving song, how it starts slow, swells up, then ends pretty much how it started. But other than that one, nothing else really interested me besides American Pie, which is the only song I knew and still remains the best in my opinion. Favourite: American Pie

This was just a weird one, and not necessarily in a good way. There's definite musical skill and talent here, but I didn't find myself enjoying it that much. For something that should have been so interesting I just got a bit bored by it all. Firth Of Fifth slaps hard in like the final 1/3 of the song though. Favourite: Firth Of Fifth

I thought this was a really good one. Though I have to say my favourite song was probably the first one, and the others on the album weren't quite as good to me, but overall this was still a great album with some 80s pop. Favourite: If You All Get to Heaven

This was a really good one with some absolute hard rock bangers! Enjoyed pretty much every song on the album, there were some amazing solos, and the cover of Should I Stay Or Should I Go on the expanded edition is really good too. Favourite: Cult Of Personality

Good selection of rock tunes. I did lose interest on some of the slower tracks though. Favourite: Bad Company

This was a nice rocky album, though only a couple of the songs reached out to me. I have to say that some of the raspy vocals were quite grating on my ears, but maybe it's just the recording technology of the 60s. Favourite: Roadblock

While the only song I knew from this was Step On, and it still probably remains my favourite, this was a decent album, though a few songs were a bit forgettable. Favourite: Step On

Wasn't particularly my style, but a few good songs in here. Proved to be another good album for background music while cooking! Favourite: Is That Enough

Completely unhinged at times but a pretty good one! Will probably be coming back to this. Favourite: Titanium Expose

Quite funky and just really fun, also pretty ethereal at times too, and it made for an interesting commute into and around the city while I was listening to it. Unfortunately some of those MIDI-esque synths really threw me off, though they probably sounded way better in '92.

Though it's not something I'd usually seek out, I found myself enjoying this one. It's just so fun and groovy.

While rap isn't really my favourite genre in most cases, this wasn't too bad. I found myself paying more attention to the backing track more than JAY-Z himself though, but there were some good tracks here. Favourite: Izzo (H.O.V.A)

This was a good album. I found a couple of the songs a bit strange but it certainly had a few good ones. Favourite: Solsbury Hill

This was a decent album with subject matter just as important now as it was at the album's release, but at the same time I don't know if 13 songs of nothing but raw social commentary is the way to go about it. Good beat throughout though.

Didn't really like this, but generally I'm not that into country music. This especially feels like a parody of country for some reason, and I wonder if it's just because it's that ridiculously, offensively country. Sadly got old after the first few songs. Favourite: I've Got a Tiger By the Tail

It might be sacrilegious to say this, but I think I personally preferred this to Unknown Pleasures. Darker and heavier, but in some ways I found it more listenable than its predecessor. It's sad to hear the backstory surrounding this album though, and the theory that this album is a suicide note of sorts really checks out. Favourite: Twenty Four Hours

Really liked this. Raw and full of emotion while being amazingly catchy. An interesting thing I read on PJ Harvey's Wikipedia page was about how Dry was Kurt Cobain's 16th favourite album of all time, I can totally hear some parallels between this and Nirvana. Definitely will revisit this album.

Yeah, I'm definitely biased for this one. I'm a British guy who loves a lot of electronic music and was introduced to Drum and Bass at a young age. I can only imagine the effect it had at release, winning the 1997 Mercury Prize and likely being one of the seminal albums that brought DnB to a mainstream audience. It's impossible for me not to love this album. I just wish more DnB songs utilised a double bass. Favourite: Brown Paper Bag

A great album with some absolute bangers. Never really given Led Zeppelin much of a proper listen before but I think I will have to now. Favourite: Whole Lotta Love

It was pretty nice and enjoyable. Some nice covers in there too. Always interesting to find out the name of a song I've heard so much but not known the name of until now. Favourite: Green Onions

Pink Floyd is yet another massive band that I never really listened to outside of the most popular songs. However, I really enjoyed listening to this and pretty much every song was amazing. I can see why this is such an iconic album.

Really great punk album that sounds extremely British, so it's a bit of a surprise to know they're an American band. Super energetic and never a dull moment. I love this album honestly.

Ridiculous levels of funk, potentially the funkiest album in existence. Don't know if I'll really come back to it any time soon since it's not entirely my thing, but it was still an all-round fun album. I was also surprised about P-Funk, due to its eventual interpolation in Ice Cube's "Say Hi To The Bad Guy", which is another song I previously discovered from the 1001. Favourite: Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)

A wonderfully punky glam-rock album that slaps hard! Really enjoyed this and will be coming back to it. Favourite: Trash

Heard a few songs from this, but there's a few I've not heard before, and I'd say I'm a bit more familiar with (What's The Story) Morning Glory?. It's a great album though. I can't help but feel that Liam's voice grates on me just a little bit, the more Oasis I hear, but it's still just an excellent British album. Absolutely love the riffs especially. Favourite: Supersonic

Some strange folk-ish music with a slight electronic beat. Despite being kind of "unique" it just seemed awfully generic really... Nothing about this really stood out to me, and I can't say I enjoyed this album very much. Favourite: Sail Away

This was really good! I don't think I would have been able to tell that these were covers of country songs if it wasn't right there in the title, and while they may sound a bit dated for 1960s standards, I have a massive soft spot for a good big band. Favourite: Don't Tell Me Your Troubles

I thought it was okay. Don't know if I'd go rushing back to this one as the ska-esque horn sections got a bit old over time, but there were some good songs in there for sure. Favourite: Thankfully Not Living in Yorkshire It Doesn't Apply

Pretty good album with a lot of variety! I didn't get into and follow every song but I thought it was still pretty good and unique. Favourite: Barney (...and Me)

I thought it was good, not particularly memorable though, in my opinion. Favourite: Fall

Soulful, funky and fun! Enjoyed this a lot, and might have to watch the movie if it has this soundtrack behind it.

Unhinged, weird, but I kinda loved it in all honesty. I think I prefer this one to another The Fall album the generator gave me a month or so ago, This Nation's Saving Grace. Favourite: Mother-Sister! "-Uh, what's this song about?" "-Uh, nothin'."

I thought it was okay, there's no question about the emotion and storytelling in Chapman's lyrics. However, I just couldn't really pay attention. Maybe I was in the wrong mood to truly appreciate it, but I just found it very boring, and that's coming from someone who usually loves folk music. There were a couple of songs that caught my attention, and Fast Car is a classic, but I also come from the generation that probably knows the Jonas Blue cover better, so maybe that's half the reason this didn't properly click with me. Favourite: Mountains O' Things

Funky and soulful and undoubtedly deserving of a spot on this list. However it was a little slow and not particularly something I could vibe with. Favourite: It Ain't No Fun to Me

I gotta say I was surprised by this one! I like the usual ones from The Hives like Hate To Say I Told You So and Tick Tick Boom, but I'd not really listened to them outside of the popular songs. Didn't realise how punk they got, and I am so much for it! Definitely saving a few of these tracks to other playlists. Favourite: Untutored Youth

Another one of those albums that can only be a 5/5. Honestly though I'd not heard this album in its entirety, just the usual suspects like Paranoid and Iron Man. Amazing from beginning to end though, and a rightful metal classic. Favourite: Paranoid

Just wonderfully dreamy and ethereal, almost feels like something you'd hear in a dream. It's kinda background music-y but I think that's somewhat the point. It seems like it could have been released yesterday as some noisy vaporwave kind of thing, so all the more impressive that this is a 31 year old album. Favourite: soon

Quite good, aggressively 80s. I didn't feel this when listening for the first time so I gave it another listen just before rating it and getting my next album. Second time around, sitting down on a gloomy Sunday and listening with proper headphones instead of a bad car stereo, I really appreciated this a lot more. Well written and instrumented for sure. Still not massively my thing but I appreciate it. Favourite: Faron Young

Just a really good early pop-punk album. There's not much else to say, it's just 35 minutes of fun. Favourite: Teenage Kicks

Smooth and sophisticated. I could see myself really appreciating this on a gloomy day, wrapped up warm with a hot drink, listening to this either through some far better headphones than I currently have, or listening to it on vinyl. I certainly have to be in a particular mood or scenario to really appreciate this, but it's just some lovely and timeless jazz.

It's exceedingly 1995, no doubt about that. It's also another one of those albums that's a real outpouring of emotions and might come across as angsty, but it's still full of bangers in my opinion, and it's one of those albums that kind of defines the 90s. Some of the songs were misses to me, but it was mostly excellent with some impressive lyricism. Favourite: Ironic

Well, this is one of those albums that will undoubtedly be lost on anyone who's not from the UK. I think it has a setting and subject matter that just plainly won't make too much sense to people elsewhere in the world, and I suspect that's why the global rating on this one is quite low. While I really like The Streets, I hadn't listened to this in its entirety before, though I'd certainly heard almost every song, just out of order. I'm generally a little more familiar with Original Pirate Material, and Has It Come To This? remains my favourite song of Skinner's. I was just a child when this was released, so I was far too young to understand or appreciate anything of this album, and that's why I was honestly totally caught by surprise to discover that this was a rap-opera concept album. It was clear that every song I'd heard before had a story to tell, but I never realised that they all went together to form an entire tale. Mike Skinner just has a way with words, lyricism and music production that makes the whole thing just excellent, both as a compelling story to follow and an album of absolute bangers. It's not just a good rap album with some bangers though, I feel it really did push the bar in some cases, with elements of early dubstep in Blinded by the Lights. I promise I'll eventually stop rambling, but I felt that I needed to give Empty Cans an honourable mention. While it's not really my favourite *song* on the album, it's definitely my favourite parts of the wider story. I really liked how it essentially had a bad ending and a good ending in the form of basically two tracks that start exactly the same and branch off in two directions, leaving the true ending up to the listener. Overall it's an amazing album and I definitely want to seek out more concept albums now. It's worth noting that I am EXTREMELY biased, due to being just about as British as this album. Favourite: Blinded By The Lights

Smooth and psychedelic. I liked this quite a lot but some of the songs were a little forgettable. Still a good one though. Favourite - Spanish Castle Magic

Some decent funky pop. I didn't care too much about some of the first songs, it seems to get better and better towards the end of the album though. The last four songs are great in my opinion. Despite being one of Prince's biggest songs, I'd never given the title track a proper listen in full, but it proved to be an amazing power ballad that was just a great journey for nearly nine minutes. Favourite: Purple Rain

Good album that starts strong, drops off a little in the middle in my opinion, but ends strong with the title track. Money for Nothing and Walk of Life are absolute classics, the latter being just a feel good track that makes me wish for a warmer month to be listening to this album in.

I'm not quite sure how an album can be so bizarre and yet so boring. Maybe I'm getting a bit jaded by several post punk albums coming up in close succession? Dunno. That slow beat and riff are pretty cool on Theme, but I think it could have been 5 minutes shorter; it really overstayed its welcome. The utterance of "Terminal boredom" at the end was quite appropriate. Some of the songs were pretty good but often just suffered the same fate by the end. Favourite: Annalisa

Great funky soul album. What's not to like, it's Stevie Wonder! That being said - This is the third Stevie Wonder album I've got in the generator so far, the first two being Songs In The Key Of Life and Talking Book. Personally I think this sits ahead of Talking Book, but SITKOL still remains my favourite of the three. It does have some great songs though - Boogie On Reggae Woman is very fun and groovy, They Won't Go When I Go is dark and chilling, and You Haven't Done Nothin' is super funky and sounds like a continuation of Superstition. Favourite - They Won't Go When I Go

Really good album, lots of great rock classics. Favourite: Sharp Dressed Man

I've always liked Coldplay but it's never really been my favourite, so I've not listened to the album entirely before. There were some really good songs in here but I didn't really discover any songs I liked that much that I hadn't heard before. Favourite: God Put a Smile upon Your Face

I'll admit I was definitely worried going into this one, considering the sheer amount of songs. However it turned out to be a nice assortment of short punk rock tunes. Funky and jazzy, and honestly a bit of a pleasure to listen to. Also, I guess this is where the Jackass theme came from. Favourite: Corona

Indie, folky pop. I quite liked it honestly! Something nice to relax or take a stroll to. Would be nice to go out for a walk to listen to this again but it's too damn cold outside today. I think this is one I'll come back to though! Favourite: She's Losing It

Quite good, very politically charged in a way that still resonates today in British politics. (As I write this a lot of the country is shut down due to industrial action, and let it be known that no, I do not blame the unions.) The voice took a bit of getting used to - it honestly feels like a football chant. However the songs are great. The one thing that will stop me from going back to it too quickly is the fact that I just wish for a break from all the politics in the world right now, even if not afraid to do my part to change the world for the better. Favourite: Help Save the Youth of America

This strikes me as an album that has a bit of everything. At first I didn't pay much attention with the first few pop and soul songs, but it started to pick up a bit a few songs in, and the spoken word to the listener and the little game explained in Intro got my attention. After that I was pretty sold. Additionally I'm always a sucker for hearing some behind-the-scenes chatter and banter from the band, like what was in some of the later songs. (Shame Todd didn't name the album "Throw Money" in the end!) Some of the songs were weaker and weirder than others, but overall I liked this one a lot. Varied enough to never get old, despite the 88 minute runtime. Good one! Favourite: Breathless

Naturally, being an album from a former Beatle, my expectations were high, and this certainly did not disappoint. It's another case of an album I've not listened to before, but recognised a couple of songs from. Band On The Run and Jet are my two favourites, and two I've heard before, but the whole album is just really good. Favourite: Jet

A good 80s New Wave album. Really enjoyed practically every song on here, knowing of Rio and Hungry Like The Wolf before listening. I also really enjoyed The Chauffeur, which I heard for the first time. Favourite: Hungry Like The Wolf

Undisputed classic of an album with an undisputed classic of a certain song. Surely "Smoke On The Water" must have one of the most recognizable riffs in guitar history. Pretty neat that this album is also 50 years old now. Just some excellent 70s hard rock. Favourite: Smoke On The Water

Sadly I couldn't really enjoy this one at all. It was just very boring and forgettable. It's one of those albums where I just "heard" it and proceeded to not listen to any of it really. Like a background track. If I wanted that I could have just listened to the fan noise of my PC for 45 minutes. Technically it was fine, seemed well-produced enough. Just really wasn't for me. Favourite: Up With People

It's quite strange, very unique (Doubly so back at the time of its release) and certainly not boring. Of course it has a place on this list, no doubt about that. I think I will eventually go back to it to listen through again, because it's certainly a great album, though I don't know if it'll be my favourite Beatles album. Favourite: Back In The U.S.S.R

A bit crazy, a bit unhinged at times, but not to the point of being unlistenable by any means, at least in my opinion. Very raw and kinda punk-ish, and honestly I like it. Nothing too memorable to me but yeah, just a good album. Favourite: Here

It was okay, a little boring to me though, but maybe just wasn't that in the mood for it on the day it came up. First song is really good though. Favourite: Alsatian Cousin

Deep Purple is a rock band I had never paid much attention to outside of the ever-memorable Smoke On The Water. However, after getting both Machine Head and Deep Purple In Rock from the generator in quick succession, I have to say that I am sold. Not sure if I prefer this over Machine Head or not, but both are just some excellent 1970's hard rock and I am all for it. Favourite: Speed King

Wasn't sure I'd enjoy this when it came up. The album cover and description sounded very boring. However, it turned out to be pretty good in my opinion. Fast enough to keep my attention, and quite disco-y at times. I do think some of the songs blended in to each other and became a bit forgettable after a while, but it was still alright. Favourite: Poison Arrow

Pretty good 70's rock album that's fairly well-known in my family due to a family member being named Layla, after the song. That track is an undisputed banger, and there were a couple of other good songs here, but all the slow blues tracks kind of melded into one forgettable mess, to me. Favourite: Layla

Good to see some Electronic coming up in the list every now and then. This was a really decent album with one or two songs I've previously heard (Namely the club mix of "Jacques Your Body"). Some of these tracks are bangers, others fall a bit flat to me. Overall though I really liked this. Favourite: Soft Machine

Groovy, funky, soulful, and still pretty unique from other albums I've heard so far on the list that I'd describe in the same way. Generally I'm not really that into R&B but this still okay, though I kind of lost interest by the end of the album. Favourite: Penitentiary Philosophy

I really enjoyed this. Totally unlike anything I've heard so far on the list. It was a chilled out electronic world music journey, while also having a very important and terrifying subject matter at its core. A few of these songs are definitely going into my library. Favourite: Nadia

An iconic Christmas album for sure, a lot of tracks which are very recognisable and a few that aren't. The only real issue is the fact that this album only has relevance for one month of the year, but that's okay because it's Christmas. Merry Christmas ya filthy animals. Favourite: Sleigh Ride

I always thought The Killers was alright. Never really been my favourite and at worst I think they're kinda overrated sometimes (Just can't do Mr. Brightside any more, just too overplayed.) There were a few on the second half of the album that I've not heard before, but I don't think I have any new favourites. Overall though it's a decent early 2000s rock album, and there's plenty of bangers here. Favourite: Somebody Told Me

It was nice for sure, but it's just so far from anything I'd ever listen to, that it's difficult to really say anything good about it. I'm certainly not cultured enough to understand the significance, but I'm sure it deserves the spot on this list. Favourite: You Don't Know What Love Is

Very good album, enjoyable all the way through. 105 albums in, it's my second Beatles album on the list - The Beatles (White Album) was my first, but I have to say I prefer Rubber Soul so far. I'm not very clued up on Beatles albums, honestly, so I'll see how it fares against the oters when they come up. It's The Beatles, I'd be surprised if there's an album of theirs that isn't on the list. But overall I liked it and will come back to it! Favourite: Norwegian Wood

Loud, noisy, crazy, but absolutely excellent. It's raw and unclean and perfectly unashamed about this fact. To me the first half of the album is the strongest, but it was still excellent all the way through. I really liked this a lot and will come back to it. Favourite: Sludgefeast

Classic and iconic British punk music! Energetic and unrelenting, and still sounds absolutely amazing 45 years later. Favourite: Anarchy In The UK

This was pretty great! A great punk rock journey with some amazing songs, long but never boring. Favourite: Birdland

Honestly I quite enjoyed this, more than I was expecting. I think this was an example of an album suiting my day perfectly, having spent an afternoon driving along an old country road into Warwickshire to run an errand. Worked nicely with seeing the sun setting over the horizon on a winter day at the very beginning of the year. I really liked the Latin vibes at the end of Both of Us (Bound to Lose), and the whimsical country vibes of Fallen Eagle and Don't Look at My Shadow was fun. However, Bound to Fall came on at just the right time, just at the last glimpses of the sun before it set, to make it a real special moment. I just wish that song was longer. Yes I'm certainly not in the American South, but whatever. This album had a bit of everything to do with Southern Rock, Country, Blues and Folk, and while it probably wouldn't appeal to me on a normal day, it worked exceedingly well today. This is going into my driving playlist. Favourite: Bound to Fall

A fun one that made for a great driving soundtrack. However, Riders on the Storm was the only track on here that I knew, and it remains the best in my opinion. Favourite: Riders on the Storm

What even can I say about this album? I feel unqualified to really put a proper review to it. Highly experimental, sometimes haunting, chaotic at times and borderline unlistenable at others. It includes some things you don't hear much in recorded popular music - throat singing, beatboxing - overall it relies a lot on human sounds, and that brings out a raw and mysterious property. It really felt like some found album of a fantasy or alien civilisation. Honestly I think it's kind of beautiful in its total uniqueness. Surely there are few albums quite as unique as this one. A willingness to be this experimental realy makes me see why Björk is such a revered artist.

The 1001 albums generator linked me to The Very Best Of The Gershwin Songbook, so that is the album that I listened to. I may at some point give a listen to the full three-hour album but I don't have the time to sit down with that in its entirety currently, and I'm sure The Very Best Of provides a good enough highlights compilation. This was very smooth, warm and soothing, and provided a great cooking soundtrack on a cold and gloomy winter evening. Really felt like all my worries washed away for a while. Not sure I'd listen to it day-to-day, but it really was quite beautiful. Favourite: Fascinating Rhythm

Don't know how I've not heard of this britpop band before, being British and all. I was kind of hoping for sea shanties, considering the name and album art. Instead it was some indie britpop tunes. They were alright, seemed very well written. I found myself switching off during some of the songs, but overall it was quite good I thought. Favourite: Daniella

Absolutely beautiful background music for a gloomy winter day. The rain is coming down hard outside, but in here it's warm, and the music helps to warm the soul. I couldn't ever listen to jazz pieces like this on a day to day basis, but when the situation is right it's just perfect. Like a rich dessert. I don't know how I could pick a favourite out of an album that flows so well from one song to the next, but as per my self-enforced rules, I'll have to pick. Favourite: Alice in Wonderland, Take 2

Wow! Just... Wow. I've heard this album a couple of times now, but it just blows me away. It's a wonderful progrock experience that somehow never gets even remotely boring. I'm at a loss of what exactly to say about this, but it's certainly on my list of albums I absolutely need to buy on vinyl. Favourite: Wish You Were Here

Very 80s, very Kate Bush. Pretty good though, with a kinda mysterious air about it. Nothing really stood out to me on the first play, but I sense that this is an album I'll like more with a deeper dive and a more focused listen. Favourite: Deeper Understanding

Angry, aggressive, an amazing beat throughout and still all painfully relevant. It's like Ice Cube's "The Predator" with its social commentary cranked up to 11. (And the song featuring Ice Cube was indeed great.) Not my thing all that much, but still brilliant. Favourite: Welcome To The Terrordome

Creepy, atmospheric, macabre, and definitely pretty unhinged at times. Really matched a piss-poor mental state at the very beginning of the year, on a horrible gloomy January day. I've gotta say I quite liked this. Feels like a French-language Rammstein in parts. Honestly I wish Halloween was coming up soon because this would be a perfect soundtrack for it, and I feel like this would be an experience to see live. Favourite: La fille de la mort

It was alright in my opinion but not my favourite rock/metal album on here. It was cool to see that this is an early rap metal album, but it still doesn't change the fact I don't really like much rap metal in the first place. Beyond that, there were some excellent riffs, the songs that weren't rap metal were alright, and their War Pigs cover was superb. Favourite: War Pigs

A pretty cool prog rock album in my opinion, and the Tarkus suites were very good. However, before I had this one on the list, I had Pictures At an Exhibition (That was one of the first albums I was given on the list) and I think I prefer it. I honestly feel that I'll probably prefer some of the later albums in general if/when they come up on the list. I might come back to this, but it certainly feels like an album I'd need to give my undivided attention to next time, and I've not had the time to do that this time around. Favourite: Tarkus (All parts)

It was alright, I guess. At least for a while. Got really old quickly though. Just all felt like the same song for 50 minutes, all just slow songs about heartbreak. Frank Sinatra was undoubtedly an amazing singer, but this album was just boring and exhausting to me. Maybe it sounded better in its day - it is a nearly 70 year old album after all. Or maybe this album just came onto my list on the wrong day. Regardless this certainly isn't my favourite Sinatra album. Favourite: Mood Indigo

This is certainly an album I adopted rather than grew up with - My mum wasn't even born when this album came out, let alone myself. I already knew of Mr. Blue Sky of course, but quite recently I found this beautiful gatefold double-LP in a charity shop for £10 and decided to give the whole album a listen. Oh my god I love this album. It's just a wholly fun intergalactic pop and rock journey that blends rock instruments with an orchestra and throws in a generous serving of vocoder for good measure. Mr. Blue Sky still remains my favourite - It's dopamine in audio form, and I can't help but feel happy and warm when it comes on, no matter how my mood was before. But it's all amazing and I don't think there's really a bad song on here. This album is just comfort and motivation to me, and I appreciate it entirely for that. Favourite: Mr. Blue Sky

It was okay, some noisy rock. A bit crazy, a bit unhinged, and I've definitely used those adjectives for a few albums now. This was borderline unlistenable on my car stereo, though that's more of a complaint about my shitty speakers than the songs. To be honest nothing really stood out to me that much, but there were some good riffs. It certainly sounds newer than 1987 and I have to commend it for that. Favourite: Pacific Coast Highway

Absolute fire. A really good album with plenty of Hip-Hop, R&B and Soul, and while I wouldn't usually be that much of a fan of that sort of thing, I thought this was excellent. Lauryn Hill is a great singer and rapper, and some of the songs absolutely slap. Favourite: Lost Ones

I was surprised to see such a new album in the list. When I saw that it was Little Simz however, I was no longer that surprised. I first heard Simz on Gorillaz' 2017 track "Garage Palace" but she has only gone from strength to strength and is now a pretty mainstream name in the UK. This album does not disappoint in the slightest - Simz has absolutely amazing flow, and the instrumentation and production is superb. There's a couple of chill tracks, and some tracks full of fire and venom, and while I'm not too sure about some of the lyrics (I thought we were past the point of rhyming the n-word with the n-word...) the absolutely unreal flow and rhythm of Simz' rapping makes up for it. Great album, and I'm glad to see Simz made the list. Favourite: Selfish

Pretty good. At first this didn't stand out to me all that much as it kinda seemed similar to a few post-punk albums I've heard in the list. I originally sort of dismissed this as another post-punk album from the late 80s or early 90s, but then looked again and noticed this was an album from 1978, and that makes it really impressive to see what they were doing, and the influence this must have had on later bands. While I'm not sure if this is something I'll listen to again and again, as post punk has never really been my sort of thing, I greatly appreciate this. Favourite: Metal Postcard (Mittageisen)

I've heard a couple of Aerosmith songs before, certainly, but never listened to an Aerosmith album in its entirety. I can't say I recognise any of the songs here either, but this was a pretty good 70s rock album with a few excellent tracks. However it didn't really stand out that much next to some of the other 70s rock bands, in my opinion. Still a great one though, some good songs for my driving playlist. Favourite: Back In the Saddle

Really good! Some of the songs just kind of passed me by, but there were some excellent indie bangers. I have to say I prefer the A-Trak remix of Heads Will Roll to the original, but it's still great. The acoustic tracks were pretty too. Dull Life and Runaway stood out especially to me. This is a fun album and I found a few songs I'll absolutely come back to. Favourite: Dull Life

Yeah it was impossible for me to not like this, I do enjoy some Chili Peppers. This was a great album, but to me the issue was that it often felt a bit same-y after a while. The songs themselves are great but this feels like one that's just better to be split apart, IMO. No matter though, there's some classics here and a few more new to me that I enjoyed greatly. Favourite: Give It Away

I enjoyed this! Wish this could potentially be remastered, some of those screams are pretty grating but I cannot fault the band for that. It's a short listen, but I still listened through it twice. Just some excellent protopunk, brimming with energy and fun. Unfortunately Have Love Will Travel is sort of ruined for me as it just makes me think of car insurance. Favourite: Good Golly Miss Molly

Neat album, pretty psychedelic and bluesy. Some really good tracks in here, a few that just felt like nothing more than filler, and one or two just bizarre tracks. I think it could have been a five but that very odd final track just kind of ruined it. Still a very good album though, right up my alley. Favourite: Sunshine of Your Love

Funky early 90's West Coast stoner rap. Can't say it's entirely my thing, but the beats are catchy and danceable, the sampling is excellent, the Latin flavours are neat and the subjects of police brutality and corruption are sadly still very relevant over thirty years later. Decent catchy album though. Favourite: Hand On the Pump

I absolutely love 80s heavy metal and thrash metal in particular, so this is an easy 5 for me. Metallica has never been my absolute favourite band cause I'm not all that keen on Hetfield's voice. But I can look past that for the aggressive, energetic, chaotic powerhouse of an album this is. Favourite: One

Really quite good! While I'm not the biggest fan of country and western usually, I found myself following the stories as much as I was listening to the songs, and even then I quite enjoyed the music itself. Maybe it caught me on a good day or this list is getting me used to country music a bit more now. Fun album. Favourite: Big Iron

Very interesting album! A bit crazy and noisy at times, but some amazingly catchy indie bangers in here. Never really listened to Pixies before but it seems they had massive influence on some huge bands that came after them. And I will say it doesn't sound like an 80s album at all. There is that real 90s alternative sound to the album that got reflected in a lot of later bands. I can always appreciate a trailblazer. Regardless though, really decent album, and while not every song on here appealed to me completely, it was still brilliant. Favourite: Monkey Gone to Heaven

With the first couple of songs I was expecting to dislike this album, but I found myself enjoying it more and more as it progressed. Maybe another situation-based enjoyment? Right now I'm on a bus to the city and watching the bleak wintery countryside going past proved to be a nice match for this early 00s American indie country rock record. Gave me time to reflect. I think on a normal day, either at home or in the car, I would have found this album extremely boring, but it just worked today so it turned out to be an album I honestly enjoyed. Favourite: Transylvania Blues

Really good album, it's Queen so I don't think it ever could have been bad. Freddie Mercury sounds amazing and the instrumentation is wonderful. I've honestly not heard much Queen outside of the most popular songs, but I am excited to hear more of their discography, as I'm certain that there's going to be far more on this list. Favourite: Stone Cold Crazy

I thought it was okay. I can't really say I've ever liked ABBA that much unfortunately, and that didn't really change with this one. I just find them a bit samey and boring in most cases. Somehow there wasn't a single song on here that I've heard of before, but I still just zoned out of actually listening to it a lot of the time. There was some good instrumentation and lyrics, but it's just thoroughly not for me. Maybe I'll revisit it some time in the hopes of appreciating it more. Favourite: The Visitors

What is this? What is he even rapping about? What's with those weird and creepy interval tracks throughout the album? I'm not really sure but it's kind of hilarious, and the Wikipedia biography for Dr. Octagon raised more questions than it answered. It's so ridiculously bizarre, but I have to say I kind of enjoy it for just how bizarre it is. The flow is amazing and the sheer insanity and non sequitur of the lyrics is a skill in itself. The backing beats are usually pretty good, and there's some amazing turntablism in this that gives me an Avalanches vibe. However I think it overstayed its welcome a little bit, in my opinion. There's only so much total chaos that I can tolerate, and the 66 minute run time felt tedious after a while. Thanks Kool Keith, for what ever the hell this is. I might subject myself to the psychological torture of this album again sometime. Favourite: Blue Flower

I think I would have found this boring on a usual day but a day of a poor mental state made this a nice thing to sit and listen to. The vocals and instrumentation are wonderful, and the songwriting is amazing. I can hear the Leonard Cohen influences in this album, but I think Songs of Leonard Cohen got my attention more. Even in my apathy of today, I still did blank out a bit on some of the songs here. Still a very good album though. Favourite: Small Blue Thing

Absolutely amazing. I didn't understand a word of it, but I didn't need to understand French to know that this is something absolutely dripping with skill and talent. There's such a jazzy and funky vibe to the album, and the flow and lyricism seems to be amazing, even if I don't exactly know what he's saying. Makes me want to learn French and listen to this again sometime, but even if I don't learn the language, this'll still be a vibe to come back to. Favourite: Quartier Nord

Oh what an album. I'm totally biased as there's childhood nostalgia tied to this one, but I just love it so much, and although I knew a few of these songs there were some I'd not heard before too. Always a bop and never boring - it's diverse but never too all over the place. God I love this album.

Fun and interesting and still a pretty chilled thing to have on in the background. I can't say it was particularly my thing but there were a couple of songs I did quite like. Not sure if I'll come back to it any time soon but I'm certainly intrigued about the movie. Favourite: One Two Cha Cha Cha

A good classic rap album. Some amazing beats and lyricism in this one. Some strange songs and interludes sprinkled in though. There's a rare glimpse at a rapper's vulnerabilities in "Suicidal Thoughts" and I thought that was a pretty powerful piece. Some good flow and storytelling for sure, and I can really see why Biggie's assassination shook the world of hip hop so hard. Honestly there's not all that much here that I'd personally come back to, besides the classics like Juicy and Big Poppa, but there's no doubt that this belongs on the list. Favourite: Juicy

I thought this was okay... At first the tone of Morrison's vocals was quite grating on me but I quickly got used to it. Sadly I think this was just a bit boring, and most of the best stuff seemed to be on the first half. There's a few decent songs though. Favourite: Moondance

Despite being a very local band, I'd not really listened to much Radiohead until quite recently, and I had been sort of unsure about what I thought of them. There were definitely some songs I enjoyed and others I was initially unsure about. This is the first Radiohead album I've listened to in its entirety and I have to say that I loved it. The riffs are great, and I loved how somber and calm beginnings often swelled into driven electronic climaxes. It was a pleasant surprise to see how electronic-focused this album was. Judging by what others have been saying, I don't know if this'll be my favourite Radiohead album by the end of the list, but I must say that I really enjoyed this. Favourite: Go To Sleep

Didn't vibe with this one whatsoever. It was just mind-numbingly boring and I ended up tuning most of it out as background noise. It was a late 90s album trying to sound "retro", I guess? It calls back to mid-century easy listening albums, and I think it still kind of fails at that. It's like if a PT Cruiser was an album. The orchestral aspects of this were pretty neat for a bit, but it didn't save it for me. At least this was true to its name: it was indeed short. Favourite: In Pursuit of Happiness

Weird, psychedelic, noisy, and yet very listenable and groovy. Sort of has an indie electronica thing going on. I don't think I had ever heard of Animal Collective before, and I certainly don't recognise any of the songs. However I must say that I enjoyed this a lot. The weird psychedelic indie synth-pop vibe of this album is very down my alley, and it's just a shame that I had no previous knowledge of the album. Definitely one I'll come back to. Favourite: Brother Sport

Yeah, it's another Britpop album and I know the sheer amount of them garners a lot of hate from long-time 1001 reviewers. Probably rightly so - I'm less than 200 in and have already lost count. However I don't really care because I'm still into Britpop. I liked this album, it soundtracked a long walk on a grey Saturday afternoon very well. It was the kind of album that I just sort of zoned out too, where all the songs blended into one. But sometimes I'd be pulled back into reality to find that this was *still* on. This is a very long album, probably one of the longest I've had so far. Although there were excellent songs sprinkled throughout, so I never truly got bored or thought I was wasting my time, it still verged on feeling like a chore occasionally. Still, it was very good, there were some classics I recognised in there, and also some amazing songs that were new to me. (I especially liked the Daisy Bell cover) However, it's not an album I'm likely to listen to fully and uninterrupted again any time soon. Definitely one that's better to sprinkle through a playlist in my opinion. Favourite: For Tomorrow (Visit to primrose Hill Extended)

Long, trippy, highly weird and disturbing at times. Whether I would have enjoyed it even more had I been under the influence of something is up for debate, but to me there's something about psychedelic rock that meshes really well with long bus and train rides, and I happened to listen to most of this on the bus. While the psychedelic rock albums on the list have been a little hit and miss to me, I thought this one was a banger with some amazing songs and excellent riffs. I must say that some of the songs (And perhaps the album itself) overstayed their welcome a little bit, but I don't think I ever got totally bored by it. The little interlude pieces were quite strange, but it certainly suits the whole "Space Ritual" aesthetic. Excellent early 70s rock for sure. Favourite: Brainstorm

Some decent early pop-punk. Nothing really stuck with me that much on the first listen, but listening to this straight after a phychedelic rock album that was previously given to me by the list, kind of made this feel a bit overshadowed to me. I thought the riffs were great, and the vocals were fine. Lyrics weren't the best, but ehh, not expecting anything too edgy or advanced for some light-hearted teenage pop-punk. Might listen again eventually. Favourite: Hypnotised

Funk, soul, blues, I've heard quite a few albums befitting of those three things on this list so far and I'm not even at 200 yet. However I think they all deserve to be here and all of them are great. They're not something I'd usually seek out to listen to, but I always find them pleasant and enjoyable every time they're on. This was no exception - it made for nice music to unwind to after a thoroughly stressful day. These were all some nice covers, and while it's not something I'd usually listen to, it was nice. Favourite: Respect

I'm finding that the more 80s music I'm listening to, the more I'm beginning to enjoy it. With that being said, this turned out to be a pretty great album. It's certainly very 80s, quite cheesy but not overly so. Not every song was really a hit for me, and it had its fair share of weirdness. The title track was much longer than it ought to be but I still think that was okay. Relax is still a bop, and Two Tribes was a surprisingly good one I'd not heard before. Overall this is okay for an 80s pop album! Favourite: Relax

This was an interesting one. Every song blended in to each other, and usually that's a sign that it's a boring album to me. However I don't think that was the case with this one. It's a long winter and it's taking its toll on me mentally, and I think this long droning album was a way to just dissociate for a while. I never felt like I was trying to ignore the music though, it was just a nice background music for a not-so-great mental state. Felt insanely ahead of its time too - you could have told me it came out last week and I would have believed you. I don't think it would have resonated with me so well if I was feeling okay though. Favourite: Lose My Breath

I thought it was okay, it was a real mix of neat psychedelic classic rock tracks, and some country drivel I couldn't care less about. Very hit and miss album, and nothing was particularly memorable to me. Additionally this album isn't available on Spotify in the UK so it messes up my favourites playlist, and that pisses me off. Favourite: Down by the River

A nice album full of solemn folk ballads. It's a gloomy day of self-reflection and I think the tone of this album worked well for that. I did get a bit bored at times, but it was still a rather nice album to listen to, and the rock-and-roll feel of Open All Night was a nice short break from the monotony. I think this'll be a nice one to listen to when it's finally nice enough to get back out in nature again. Favourite: Open All Night

Not bad, I'll always enjoy some metal. I do think, however, that this is another album best sprinkled through a playlist. It all feels a bit samey after a while. None of it was really bad in my opinion, just didn't seem to me like there was much variation. However, it was alright though, and I'm sure I'll save some of these tracks into other playlists. Favourite: Would?

I thought this was pretty good! There was a fairly interesting mix of elements and inspiration to this folk-driven album, from some jazzy notes, to some more bossa nova-esque rhythms. A few of these songs got a bit boring and got tuned out, and I don't think this'd be one for my regular listening sessions by any means. But it suited the mood quite well for a Sunday evening. Favourite: In France They Kiss On Main Street

I have to say, I loved this, quite a bit more than I was expecting. I always thought Reggae was alright, but was never that into it, but I thought this was wonderful. It was a beautiful, chilled, spiritual record and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey it took me on. Favourite: Jamming

I've never really got on with Pulp. While I think most Britpop is alright, this just isn't enjoyable to me. That weird seductive whispery voice that Cocker does gives me chills, and not in a good way. It really doesn't strike me as a 90s album either - the cheesy sex-driven lyrics seem 10 years older than they actually are. The music and the instrumentation itself was good, but the vocals were just creepy. No wonder Britpop gets such a bad name outside of the UK. Favourite: Common People

A few months ago, I was introduced to Todd Rundgren by Something/Anything? coming up on my list, and I thought it was a pretty good album. This is like all the weird and standout songs of Something/Anything? blown up into a full album. Like the aforementioned album that came before it, A Wizard, A True Star is quite eclectic and all over the place, but I definitely feel like the focus of this album was clearer than the previous album. That focus was definitely psychedelia. It's definitely the kind of music that'd be enhanced with psychedelics, but it was the 70s. Saying that, this rarely felt like a 70s album - the electronic elements throughout made it seem more recent than that at times. Being a psychedelic pop album, it of course had its token unhinged and unsettling songs, but overall I still liked this quite a lot. I'm eager to listen to more of Rundgren's work. Favourite: Zen Archer

For some reason I have a real soft spot for big band and swing music. Therefore this was very much up my alley. From 1958, it's a late album of its genre, probably one of the last hurrahs of swing, and right slap-bang in the middle of the Atomic Age. When I first saw the album cover I for a second expected a punk album, before noticing it was a Basie album. An interesting cover choice for sure, but I'm sure there had to be a weird public fascination about nuclear weapons at that stage of the Cold War. Pure speculation though, this came out 40 years before I did. Either way the songs were wonderful and it was a nice warm treat on a Thursday evening. Some of the songs were a little too slow for me, but it was still just lovely. Favourite: Flight of the Foo Birds

Pretty good album! I think it fell a little bit short of some of the other 70s rock albums I've had so far, and considering its titular track, I think I'm probably going to enjoy Hotel California some more if/when that comes around. Some really good songs and a few that I didn't much care for. But yeah, still a pretty good one for scratching my weird Dad Rock itch. Favourite: Witchy Woman

Some decent 70s rock for sure, but honestly it didn't really have enough going for it to keep me engaged throughout. It felt like Rockin' Around (With You) was almost the peak, right at the beginning of the album, and nothing else really grabbed me quite as much. That song wasn't nearly long enough either! American Girl is a classic though, so yeah, to me it was a bit of a nothing sandwich? I don't know, that seems harsh, but I'm sure I'll take one or two of these songs into my playlist. Favourite: Rockin' Around (With You)

Jazzy, poppy, pleasant enough, and honestly a bit boring. It was like a jazz album with a dull and cheesy 80's pop beat underneath it, and I think that kinda ruined the whole thing a bit. If it had stuck to its roots and just tried to be a jazz album I might have enjoyed it a bit more. And yet in this form it manages to be overproduced and still quite dull. It's not exactly bad though, just didn't blow me away. Favourite: The Nightfly

Pretty good one. Very 80's electronic sound which occasionally departs into some more acoustic new wave tracks. It wasn't all my thing because I find a lot of this 80's stuff quite corny but I did certainly enjoy those house-y tracks. It's not got Blue Monday though, so I suspect this won't be my favourite New Order album. Favourite: Vanishing Point

This is certainly one for my mental list of "Bands I've heard of but never really listened to before now, and now I regret only now listening to them for the first time." Holy cow what a good album this was. A much needed proto-hardcore punk rush that made my whole day. Rowdy, raw, unrelenting, with a nice mix of weirdness and psychedelia. I liked this one a lot, and I wish I'd given The Damned a proper listen sooner. Favourite: Love Song

I thought this was quite a good album! A lot of interesting and quirky ambient electronic music, and some really interesting use of samples. I don't feel like it was all my thing, but I may come back to listen to it again sometime in the future. Favourite: Stoned to Say the Least

This may well be my favourite hip hop album I've heard on the list so far. I'd never even heard of Jeru The Damaja before this, but I can see why he played a big part in the revival of the East Coast Hip Hop scene. The lyricism is excellent, there's a real poetic quality to his rapping. The misogyny is obviously there but I don't think it's as bad as a lot of the other rappers around this time. The beats were amazing too, and they never felt overshadowed by the vocals. Instead the beats and rapping always seemed to compliment each other. This was just a great classic hip hop album, the best hip hop I've heard on the list thusfar, and potentially my new all-time favourite hip hop album.

This is one of those albums that is just nice and pleasant, with a song practically everyone is bound to know. It's a groovy and fun album full of disco with a couple of slower songs added in. I feel like Good Times is absolutely the best thing on here though, but I never realised how long it actually was. This made it a bit repetitive to be honest, and I feel like My Forbidden Lover, while much shorter, also just repeated itself after about about halfway. I suppose it wouldn't have mattered so much grooving to this in a club. Either way though, still a pretty good album, but definitely most known for just a single song. Favourite: Good Times

It was okay... Felt like a cheap imitation of pop and rock and roll from a decade or two before. And yet it didn't feel that special? All a bit cookie-cutter. It got a bit boring too, but I thought the guitar solos in I'm Not Angry made up for some of it. Favourite: I'm Not Angry

Ooh, this was a very good grunge and punk album, which I'd never heard before. All these tracks were amazing in my opinion, and I have to admit I was kinda into the harmonica in one or two of these tracks. Favourite: Move Out

I found myself enjoying this much more than I had initially expected. Girls Just Want to Have Fun is an absolute classic and a bit of a guilty pleasure song to me, Time After Time is also wonderful, and yeah this was just an all-around pleasant 80s synthpop record. The last couple of songs were a bit odd though, but generally this was great. Favourite: Girls Just Want to Have Fun

An excellent indie britpop classic. There's some heavy bias towards one song in particular for me, but generally this was just great. It felt like both a mixed-bag jam session and a cohesive album. I think this is one of those albums I certainly need to seek out on physical media as it's just a classic. Favourite: Song 2

Funky, soulful and generally a fun album. It's not entirely my thing really but I still very much enjoyed it. Favourite: Sex Machine

Surely there aren't many metal bands out there that are as creative and unique as System Of A Down. Hilarious, sad, terrifying, this album had it all it seemed. A real psychotic trip that was great fun from start to finish. Favourite: Sugar

So, my only real experience with The Pogues up to this point has been Fairytale of New York, which I think is one of the greatest Christmas songs. However, seeing that on here I wasn't sure if the rest of the album would be like that too, and I could have seen myself getting a bit bored with a whole album of that sort of thing. I was pleasantly mistaken! This proved to be a wonderful Celtic punk album with plenty of that Irish folk flair but also with a bit of Turkish and Spanish influence in a few songs. It was rocky enough to keep me hooked, but that wonderful Celtic folk instrumentation paired with Shane McGowan's gruff voice makes me want to find a cozy village pub with a warm fire, have a couple of drinks and simply celebrate my place in this big scary world. This was a really pleasant album that I liked a lot more than I was initially expecting. Favourite: Bottle of Smoke

This was really nice background music for basically anything. I was initially worried about the length of what was essentially a two track album, but I was pleasantly surprised by the evolving and changing nature of the songs. Both songs were over 15 minutes long but they never got boring to me. A wonderful foray into early jazz-rock. Favourite: In A Silent Way

I thought this was some pretty good 80's new wave. The more I listen to in the list, the more I'm opening up to 80's pop I think. Some of these songs did end up being tuned out a bit, but there were also some real bangers in here, and one or two I swear I've heard before but not entirely sure. I think I'll approach this again some time. Favourite: Life's What You Make It

I initially wasn't sure what I'd think of this album - it initially seemed like any other 80s New Wave album, of which I've heard a few of in close succession on this list. However it sort of changed throughout the course of the album, and throughout individual songs also, into this interesting post-punk sort of thing. A bit strange, a bit unsettling at times, but really interesting and quite unique. I'm unsure about why I've never heard of The The before! Favourite: Giant

Some bossa nova, some samba, some elements of funk, jazz, even disco. I'd not heard of Elis Regina before and wasn't sure what to expect, but this turned out to be wonderful. It was a tuneful party of an album that made me wish for warmer months. Makes me wish I knew Portuguese though, so I could really follow along, and it's a shame Elis Regina was lost so young. This is one of those more left-field albums I think I'll seek out on vinyl honestly. Favourite: O Medo De Amar É O Medo De Ser Livre

Holy shit what an album! A wonderful mix of metal, blues and folk. I was invested in this one for pretty much the entire album. Only song off here I really knew was Immigrant Song but I think I just found a new favourite song of this album. Bron-Y-Aur Stomp just has a wonderful energy and went straight into one of my playlists on first listen. Great album through and through. Favourite: Bron-Y-Aur Stomp

The more male-sung American country music I listen to, the more I just think it's not for me. I really can't get on very well with that twang of his accent. Somehow, despite saying all that, Hillbilly Highway happened to be my favourite. Unfortunately, to me that bar wasn't very high. I also got this on a day where I just really couldn't appreciate music like this, sorry. Favourite: Hillbilly Highway

Wow, where's this album been all my life? Visceral, nonsensical, trippy, unhinged but still with a solid structure. The perfect companion to a stressful and anxiety-laden couple of days. Favourite: Inertiatic Esp

A beautiful and timeless masterpiece of an album. While this may not have usually been something I'd actively seek out, I enjoyed it and followed it very closely throughout. It's amazing how this was entirely written and produced by Mitchell also. Favourite: This Flight Tonight

Heavy, haunting, heartbreaking. It's one thing just to listen to it but even more heartbreaking to understand the background around this record. It's a very beautiful and unique album, but I don't know if I wish to listen to it again for a while. Favourite: Hollywood

An excellent album through and through. It's not something I listened to when it first came out, since I would have only been three years old, but I've grown to love this over the last couple of years now I've really started to vibe with this kind of Indie music. To be honest, for a long time I thought this was older than it actually was, testament to the garage-rock and post-punk revival movement that this album just oozes. This is just a real mood-booster of an album, and I wouldn't be surprised if, with a few more listens, this gets up there as one of my favourite rock albums. Favourite: Someday

This album has a lot of messages which didn't age well - Homophobia, misogyny and such. Some messages aged unfortunately well - The police vs the black community especially. There's no doubt that this was the album that sparked the golden age of gangsta rap, and really defined the sound of rap for years to come. Gangsta rap is by no means my favourite genre, but I can really appreciate this for its history. Favourite: Express Yourself

This is a very interesting and pretty unique record, especially for 1975. It certainly sounds more recent than a nearly 50 year old album, that's for sure. All quite ambient and tranquil, occasionally getting a bit weird but never too much so. I'm really starting to love a lot of these old synth-laden pop and rock albums. Favourite: St. Elmo's Fire

Damn, when did I start unironically enjoying cheesy 80s hair metal? I thought this was a banger of an album to be honest, with quite a few songs I already knew well, a couple of great songs that were new to me and one or two I didn't much care for, but overall I can't fault this at all. I enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting. Favourite: I'd Die For You

A cool and fun early 2 tone ska album blending reggae and rock. Not really my favourite genre in the world, and this album was a little bit hit-and-miss for me, but it was still just fun and pleasant throughout. Favourite: A Message to You, Rudy

Didn't realise this album was so old, I thought this was from closer to 2000 honestly. Really sounds like it too. I can't really get on with gangsta rap all that much, but there's usually some great beats behind the rapping. This was no exception, I think the backing beats slapped on this. And I feel like Snoop Dogg's rapping is smoother and less in-your-face that other artists in that era such as Ice Cube, so this was all-round a more listenable album, and without a doubt an influential album for hip-hop as a whole. Favourite: Who Am I (What's My Name?)

Well, this was a first for me in that there's a song on this album I couldn't find on Spotify nor YouTube. So for now I'll just have to skip it. That song is Alguem. There were a couple of covers on YouTube but I refuse to listen to those as I feel it takes away from what listening to this album should be. However, I can safely say I'll be seeking this out in physical form. This was a beautiful album. A beautiful mix of Bossa Nova, Future Jazz and Downtempo. Even felt a bit of DnB energy from Lonely. Fun, mostly upbeat and tuneful. I wish for a warmer day to review this, quite honestly. Favourite: Lonely

Wow! I can't say I knew too much about Wu-Tang Clan, but I think I might have to change that after listening to this. If their later albums are even half as good as this, Wu-Tang Clan might be the group that gets me into Hip Hop. Great variety of voices kept it interesting, that gritty Hardcore Hip Hop sound gave it so much energy - It was impossible not to feel badass listening to this on my commute. This was amazing throughout, and I don't think there's a song I can really fault here. Favourite: C.R.E.A.M (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)

There's some nostalgia tied to Dizzee Rascal, though I didn't know this album all that well - I know Dizzee Rascal for his later, more pop-oriented music. That was the real big thing around the time I was in secondary. But I thought this was quite great. An early album in the UK's massively popular grime theme, and a name that practically any millennial Brit is going to know, with the addition of being one of the first British rappers to see international recognition. There were a lot of great electronic elements and heavy basslines through the album, and Dizzee Rascal's rapping was quite impressive. Not every song was a hit to me, some of them were a bit strange, others were kinda repetitive, but there were some bangers here too. Favourite: Fix Up, Look Sharp