883
Albums Rated
3.09
Average Rating
81%
Complete
206 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1950s
Favorite Decade
Reggae
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
78
5-Star Albums
41
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
American Gothic
David Ackles
|
5 | 2.48 | +2.52 |
|
Scott 2
Scott Walker
|
5 | 2.64 | +2.36 |
|
Colour By Numbers
Culture Club
|
5 | 2.84 | +2.16 |
|
Gold
Ryan Adams
|
5 | 2.84 | +2.16 |
|
Red Dirt Girl
Emmylou Harris
|
5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
|
Street Signs
Ozomatli
|
5 | 2.87 | +2.13 |
|
Broken English
Marianne Faithfull
|
5 | 2.88 | +2.12 |
|
White Light / White Heat
The Velvet Underground
|
5 | 2.88 | +2.12 |
|
Rattlesnakes
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
|
5 | 2.9 | +2.1 |
|
Kala
M.I.A.
|
5 | 2.91 | +2.09 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
|
1 | 3.83 | -2.83 |
|
Van Halen
Van Halen
|
1 | 3.63 | -2.63 |
|
A Love Supreme
John Coltrane
|
1 | 3.63 | -2.63 |
|
Head Hunters
Herbie Hancock
|
1 | 3.56 | -2.56 |
|
...And Justice For All
Metallica
|
1 | 3.43 | -2.43 |
|
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Kanye West
|
1 | 3.42 | -2.42 |
|
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
|
1 | 3.41 | -2.41 |
|
Come Away With Me
Norah Jones
|
1 | 3.39 | -2.39 |
|
Doggystyle
Snoop Dogg
|
1 | 3.38 | -2.38 |
|
Ready To Die
The Notorious B.I.G.
|
1 | 3.37 | -2.37 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Leonard Cohen | 3 | 5 |
| The Smiths | 3 | 4.67 |
| Johnny Cash | 3 | 4.67 |
| The Pogues | 2 | 5 |
| Billy Bragg | 2 | 5 |
| The Velvet Underground | 2 | 5 |
| The The | 2 | 5 |
| Iggy Pop | 2 | 5 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 3 | 4.33 |
| The Kinks | 3 | 4.33 |
| Echo And The Bunnymen | 3 | 4.33 |
| The Cure | 3 | 4.33 |
| Van Morrison | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Kanye West | 3 | 1.33 |
| Sepultura | 2 | 1 |
| Metallica | 4 | 1.75 |
| Miles Davis | 4 | 1.75 |
| Motörhead | 2 | 1.5 |
| Iron Maiden | 2 | 1.5 |
| Def Leppard | 2 | 1.5 |
| Van Halen | 2 | 1.5 |
| Megadeth | 2 | 1.5 |
| Deep Purple | 3 | 2 |
| Aerosmith | 3 | 2 |
| Yes | 3 | 2 |
| Brian Eno | 4 | 2.25 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Pink Floyd | 4, 5, 2 |
| Peter Gabriel | 3, 2, 5 |
5-Star Albums (78)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
The Youngbloods
2/5
Well, this was a strange one.
A bit folky.
A bit rocky.
A bit jazzy.
A bit country.
A bit too averagey.
Nothing stood out for me, and there was nothing to get my teeth into. It flowed over me like water over a rock.
And left me just as cold.
19 likes
The The
5/5
I’ve loved The The since forever. Not one dud song! I cannot actually sit still when this plays, because the music inhabits my whole body. I just want to sing and move to every tune.
Matt Johnson manages to mix high octane danceable songs with searing political comment and the frailty of the human condition. Sadly, and maddeningly, the themes of despair still resonate nearly 40 years later.
The brass arrangements add excitement and drama. Neneh Cherry’s voice on Slow Train to Dawn is just beautiful. Magnificent!
I saw them on tour back when Johnny Marr was the guitarist. Great days! I just want go back and put it all on repeat now!
12 likes
M.I.A.
4/5
I wish Paper Planes was on this album. It’s my favourite M.I.A. song. Notwithstanding that, this had me bouncing in my seat and I love her global, kleptomaniac approach to mixing styles with a political stance to boot. I haven’t felt so physically inclined to dance along for a while - so - bonus!! Going to listen to Bad Girls now. This has actually made me happy.
9 likes
Marvin Gaye
2/5
I have no objection to personal songs or emotional connections, but this is self-indulgent, overblown and interminable. ‘When did I stop loving you?’ Round about song three. Two many low points, and not much to praise except the Motown production. And Marvin Gaye does have a good voice.
Really not one of his best.
7 likes
1-Star Albums (41)
All Ratings
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
i used to play the
Melon Collie…. Album a lot in the 90s. I didn’t have this particular album, but I remember loving some of the songs – Today, Soma, and Disarm has a haunting quality that still touches me after all these years. It’s suitably disarming. But the rest of it is a bit samey and I don’t feel it like I used to. Am I too old or ‘clean’ for grunge now? It definitely feels ‘of an era’ that I remember and am fond of but don’t feel the need to revisit.
Rod Stewart
3/5
Rod pre-Power Ballads, thank god. These are solid songs with great melodies. I’ve never been a fan of his voice but these are pretty good and I can just about endure that gravel.
The Pogues
5/5
Just fantastic! I bought this album when it came out and although I don’t listen to it very often now I still absolutely love it. It ranges from the political ‘ Birmingham Six’ to the almost Shakespearean, epic treatise on mortality - ‘Worms’, the words of which I still recite at people. ‘Fairytale of New York’ is still the best Christmas song ever. The lyrics and arrangements and beautiful musicianship make this an absolute classic. Rousing!
Metallica
2/5
Bill Bailey – comedian, muso and winner of the 2020 Strictly Come Dancing trophy loves Metallica. He actually did a Tango to some Metallica song - Enter Sandman. Bill Bailey is a lovely lovely man and very knowledgeable about music so because of him I listened to this as impartially as I could, even though I hate metal.
So either it was a day that hell had frozen over or I was a victim of the invasion of the body snatchers but
I
Didn’t
Hate
This.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t particularly like it and I don’t think I’d ever listen to it again voluntarily. But it wasn’t the worst album I’ve listened to for this project. I actually think I might have given it a bigger score if Enter Sandman was on this album. But I could discern music rather than just NOISE. I think I must have gone through a portal into the multiverse.
Röyksopp
3/5
Getting over my initial disappointment that I’ve mixed up Röyksopp with Sigur Rós and I’d been really looking forward to a dose of Hoppípolla. I realise that this album must’ve had an awful lot of AirPlay because I knew almost every track and I’ve never consciously sought out Röyksopp. It’s a loungey loafy kind of vibe. Nice to have on in the background.
Michael Jackson
2/5
It’s very difficult to separate the music from the history. We all do it though. Who consciously refuses to use the font Gill Sans because Eric Gill abused his children? Very few of us. I consciously don’t listen to MJ, but before the scandal I’m kind of proud that I was never a fan. I’m not proud of the fact that I do find some of his songs quite fun. They’re inane and cloying, but it is very funny to keep punctuating song lines with ‘woo hoo’ and ‘Shamu’ and ‘whee-hee’. MJ could’ve been singing about himself with ‘Smooth Criminal’ and we all know “he’s bad, he’s bad, he is very very bad”. But he gets a score for his impact on the 1980s music scene.
The Teardrop Explodes
4/5
I was 13 when Kilimanjaro came out. My friend bought the album when it was re-released with “Reward” on the album and the mountain on the cover. I loved all the songs and found that I remembered most of the lyrics as it was playing. Julian Cope was always a bit of an oddity, and even though he was a teenage idol here in Britain, I found him a bit of a pompous ass. I think that’s because he was drug addled at the time. Doesn’t detract from those fantastically clever songs. It would be a solid 3.5 but I’m rounding it up because it was very important to a swathe of British teenagers.
Radiohead
3/5
I am a fan of the earlier Radiohead albums. By the time this one came out, I had lost interest. I had never listened to this album in its entirety and it IS notable. But not enjoyable. I feel like I’m wading through treacle. There were a couple of really decent songs: 2+2 = 5, There, There. Admirable work, guys. You are great at experimentation but you lost me on the ride.
2/5
A couple of the songs sounded vaguely like music. Ones that sounded like they had a tube were ‘Ny Way’ ‘Rolling’ and ‘Hold On’. They did a really lovely cover once of ’Behind Blue Eyes’. I wanted them to go back to that style. This was just fucked up. I guess at least they’re not beige!
Wire
3/5
Every song is a short blast of fizzing energy. I’m sad that I hadn’t actually heard of them before, because obviously they spawned so many offshoots. They are dynamic and fun and never outstay their welcome. Love Three Girl Rhumba.
Meat Loaf
5/5
Fabulous! Histrionics galore, production values through the roof. I still sing along with every emotional nuance. On a hot summer night, will you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? Absolutely!!!!
k.d. lang
3/5
I like this well enough, but I prefer ‘Ingenue ’. She has a great voice, but this just sounds like middle of the road country to me. Nothing special.
The Clash
5/5
The Clash were so integral to my formative years and this album means so much. I still have the original vinyl stashed away. This may be a double album, but it never feels over long - there’s not a duff track on it. The songs are tight and powerful and this definitely deserves a place on this list. There’s a reason why The Clash is so revered and on the top of so many people’s lists. They weren’t just a bunch of guys messing about. They were phenomenal, musicians drawing from a plethora of styles and making it work. Just fantastic!
Miles Davis
2/5
When I was at college, lots of people had posters of Miles Davis. That was a way to show you were ‘cool’. I didn’t! I just couldn’t get on with those jazz tunes. Jazz is an all encompassing term for so many things. I don’t hate all jazz, but I have never been able to get on with this kind Miles Davis and all those musicians are very talented but this is not my cup of tea. I made myself listen to this three different times on three different days at different times of the day to see if I would feel any different. I think I’ve given it a good go but I’m still not feeling it.
Marvin Gaye
2/5
I have no objection to personal songs or emotional connections, but this is self-indulgent, overblown and interminable. ‘When did I stop loving you?’ Round about song three. Two many low points, and not much to praise except the Motown production. And Marvin Gaye does have a good voice.
Really not one of his best.
Morrissey
4/5
Stupendous! I spent my college years with a housemate whose every item of clothing was a tribute to Morrissey, every record was connected to Morrissey, and said housemate even had Mozza’s quiff. Luckily, I was a fan too, although not so mega. I have a special place in my heart for Viva Hate but Mozza’s style is distinctive and emotionally wrought and never lets you down. Those lyrics are sheer poetry.
I am now
A central part
Of your mind's landscape
Whether you care
Or do not
Yeah, I've made up your mind
Yup - indeed - my mind is made up.
Depeche Mode
4/5
Synth Pop comes of age! I loved Depeche Mode at the beginning, and I think they just got better with maturity. This album may have slightly gone on too long. However, the classic songs are just so good they win out every time. I’m still singing Personal Jesus a day later. Johnny Cash’s version is also bloody amazing.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
3/5
I’ve never had an issue with music that is in a different language. Music bypasses the logical part of the brain and talks to your heart. No one questions whether they “understand “modern Art, the only important thing is whether that art piece talks to you or touches you? This is the kind of music that goes beyond language. Does it make you wanna wiggle? Can you feel the beat making you want to dance? Can you hear emotion in their voices? Without even researching any of the background to this album it sounds like a love song to Latin America. It’s a salsa masterpiece. It’s not my favourite genre of music, but I appreciate it for the superb compositions and musicianship and the obvious feeling behind it.
OutKast
3/5
For some reason when it went to the YouTube version of this album, it only listed 10 tracks on the album. Once the 10 tracks had played, I was amazed and thrilled by how short it was, and how full of bangers. Then there was a blip and it continued to play. So there was more. And more. In fact, 55 minutes more. After the 10 tracks, I was willing to give it a 4.5 I was so excited. But the more sprawling, meandering and bloated it became my score dropped. I love what they were trying to do on this album and the fact that it cannot be categorised is a bonus, but the middle lost me. It rallied at the end and won me back but I’m squarely in the middle.
Fela Kuti
2/5
Just feels lacking in variety, if not energy. Bonus - it’s only 46 minutes but it is really repetitive. I was already looking at the time five minutes in.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
I can take RHCP in small doses. I was quite ready for the album to end a third of the way through. Up to then I was quite invigorated and then I just got an attack of the tediums. Happy to listen to the singles if they appear on the radio. But a whole album is too much. I like the Road Trippin’ song.
Robert Wyatt
2/5
When you say something is “interesting”, it’s usually damning with faint praise. However, this really is “interesting”. It’s a soundscape and an experience and a meander through space and time. I respect the experimentation and the vulnerability of this record. I wouldn’t necessarily choose to play it, but I definitely admire what he’s chosen to do and it was not a difficult experience. Kudos to the guy.
Lenny Kravitz
3/5
I definitely prefer later Lenny Kravitz. This felt a little bit inane to me. I think the stuff he did later with Craig Ross was a bit more dynamic. A couple of the tracks stood out - Be and Cab Driver but the rest just blended in. I do have fond and amusing memories when I think of him, though, as I watched my very first episode of Baywatch in Craig Ross’s house. I think that gets a star on its own.
The Roots
3/5
I knew The Seed and I’ve heard of The Roots but never felt particularly desperate to seek out any more. They’re easy enough to listen to, but not enough to keep me hooked. I don’t know if it’s a weird subliminal message, but all I want to do now is go and listen to Finley Quaye.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
First song is a blinder! Rest don’t quite live up to that. But he’s a consummate vocalist and these are great songs. I still think I’d rather listen to a Best of album.
3/5
The day, the characters in Coronation Street mentioned Oasis and buying the album was a milestone where he knew they’d made it! The classics are thumping tunes but one album at a time is enough. I wouldn’t want to listen to a lot at a time, but there are some great hooks and what they lack in humour they make up for in style. The fact that I knew most of the words and could sing along to most of it is testament to their longevity/omnipresence. I’m okay with a Manchester nasal drawl.
David Bowie
3/5
Really not one of my favourite DB albums. It’s got a couple of his absolute best songs on it. I love that he was always reinventing himself and this sounds like his foray into jazz/funk/soul. It’s not a success though. Between the two iconic tracks, it just wasn’t standout for me. Controversially, I liked the ‘across the universe’ cover. It could be a 3.5 but it doesn’t deserve a 4. The beginning and end tracks are off the scale and deserve five all the way but I’m not sure I ever need to listen to the album all the way through again.
k.d. lang
5/5
This is where k.d. lang found their voice and their style. A very accomplished album with beautiful tracks and emotional depth. This has definitely earned its place on this list. It was an album. I loved back in 1992 and I still love it today. I think it ends with exactly the right track because it just leaves you wanting to play it more and more.
Harry Nilsson
2/5
I actually really like his voice, although I think it was much better used on another album – a little touch of Nilsson in the night. My folks had that album and I always liked his vulnerable timbre and that little warble. If that had been the album of choice, I would’ve been a little kinder but I just found this a bit of a bore. It would have been a 2.5, slap bang in the middle, but I’m all Nilssoned out.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
I don’t love every song on this album, but I remember when it first came out and being very excited by how new and different it sounded. Accidents Will happen, Oliver’s Army and What’s so funny, ‘bout peace, Love and understanding are absolute classics. No matter that the latter is a cover. It also doesn’t matter that the others don’t stand out to me as much. I would rate Blood and Chocolate and Spike above this album but it’s great listening and I still remember so many of the words. He’s also from my neck of the woods, so I feel more of a connection.
Fishbone
3/5
I really like the energy of this and the eclectic styles. Not sure I’d go back to them in a hurry, but I definitely like the ska and the funky elements. Change was a nice end to the album.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
This is very emotive and evocative and I feel like I am on a meandering journey with her. I do however feel like I’ve ended up nowhere and the meandering was fairly aimless. I love her voice and the songs are beautiful, but what I feel at the end of the album is hollow. There are other Joni songs and albums. I’d rather journey on.
Blur
3/5
I definitely prefer this album to “modern life is rubbish”. And I’m a Blur girl rather than an Oasis fan. There is quite a bit of filler on this album, but some absolutely classic tunes. Phil Daniels gets a five just for being Phil on Parklife. I would rate this a 3.5 ordinarily, but not given that choice….
The Smiths
5/5
Morrissey and Marr! Magic!
Not one dud moment!
Can I give this eleventeen out of five?
I’m just going to go and stick a daffodil in my back pocket.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Great poet, great songs. I appreciate the sheer talent on this record. For me, this is a 3.5 - it is good, but I’m not sure I’d want to listen to it on repeat or again in a hurry. It’s a classic but I’m not thrilled and I don’t hear enough variation, but I do love a harmonica. Shall I be kind?
Foo Fighters
3/5
Foo Fighters are solid, dependable and you know just what you’re going to get. I admire what’s been done here and I like FF in general is long as there isn’t too much exposure. I think if I went to a gig I would just end up being bored. I can’t listen to a whole album without just thinking it’s a bit samey. Solid, dependable samey… and totally listenable, but better in small doses. This is no detraction from Dave Grohl being the nicest man in rock.
Marty Robbins
4/5
This Definitely brings to mind film score music or a 1980s Dennis Potter series. I’m a sucker for a song with a story, and I loved these short, little vignettes. Might even have had a tear in my eye at times. This would be a solid 3.5 but because of Marty’s voice and cool delivery, I’ll be generous.
Spiritualized
3/5
Very dreamy, cool and floaty. My cat lay next to the speaker for the whole album and looked very chilled. He definitely gives a thumbs up for the vibe. I remember when this came out, and I loved Come Together. That and Broken Heart were definitely worth listening to again. Friday afternoon chill!
Gorillaz
3/5
I listen to this album a lot when it came out. I think I liked it better then. There’s a lot of noodling going on and at times it does wear on and on. I think I actually went to see them in concert at the time but not a lot of that is memorable. I like ’em enough but I don’t really feel I want to put the album on again for awhile.
The Who
3/5
Well, this is fun. A concept album full of silliness and great tunes as well. It benefits from a lack of earnestness, which peppers their later work. Doesn’t outstay its welcome.
David Crosby
2/5
It’s like a watery dreamscape. Very much a product of the previous decade. Slightly psychedelic, slightly ashram, slightly floaty. Easy background music.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
So many of these songs have entered the cultural psyche. Toe-tapping and shoulder bopping. They are classic songs, but I can only do small doses of reggae and Bob Marley. This was a great dose, but I don’t really need to hear it again for a while. It definitely would be a 3.5 given the option.
Tim Buckley
3/5
Very much of a time and place. I like ‘Made it right’ but not feeling much of anything about it other than he can sing. Maybe if I was back there and back then I’d feel differently but time has moved on. Like Scott I’d rather listen to Starsailor…
Jeff Beck
3/5
Great musicianship, good tunes. And who doesn’t sing along to ‘Hi Ho Silver lining?’
You can’t handle the Truth. Actually I can.
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
There are some Fleetwood Mac songs that I think are fabulous and I am more than happy when I hear them. I would not say the same about their repertoire - most of it doesn’t have any effect on me at all although I appreciate how talented they all are. Here I prefer when Stevie Nicks sings - she is their powerhouse. Although Tusk (the song) I find incredibly stirring. Those drums and the brass band and the increasing urgency. Glorious! That song alone gets a 5 but overall I wasn’t that excited.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Beautiful songs.
Gorgeous harmonies.
It’s not perfect. For that, you’d have to have a Best of S&G album.
It’s very much a period piece but elegantly, constructed, and enough hits to keep you going.
Some albums revel in their bloatedness. This one is to be applauded for its brevity. Short and oh so sweet.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Some great songs, but way too long. If I could’ve just listened to half those songs, the really good ones, I would’ve been happy. But it turns out that the Key of life needs a bloody hefty liposuction.
Radiohead
5/5
Sometime around Kid A, Radiohead and I ‘went on a break’. I was an early devotee, buying Pablo Honey when most people were just deciphering Creep. But I loved them from the start. This being their second album, I was still enamoured. These are great songs, beautifully written and crafted. And if you revisit the videos, they were so clever. Like an old friend who was challenging but had a good heart, it’s nice to bump into them every now and then but still slightly draining.
Doves
3/5
I think Doves are better known in Britain. I knew most of these songs and the singles were certainly played to death for a couple of years. I think it’s pretty wistful and easy to listen to and the fact that you can hear rain in a couple of the songs makes me laugh - because they are from Manchester. It always rains in Manchester. I love thé vibe on this and if I hear any of the singles on the radio or a playlist I’m singing along.
Massive Attack
3/5
This has a very relaxed café del mar kind of vibe. Perfect in pool bars or in the background at dinner parties whilst you’re passing the potatoes. To qualify I don’t do dinner parties so I don’t have this around as a go-to. Neither Teardrop nor Unfinished Sympathy are on this album. Therefore it’s never going to be the best Massive Attack album for me. It would be a solid 3.5.
Gil Scott-Heron
2/5
At first, I was pleasantly surprised and liked it more than I thought. I didn’t expect it to be so funky and fun music. Then I looked down and realised I was playing a totally different album. Thanks YouTube. When I eventually went back to the correct album it was as I feared. Not enjoyable at all. I’m sure it had fantastic and far-reaching impact at the time but I cannot deal with it now. The Bottle was an interesting song.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Nick Cave is cool! Mostly I really like his music, but sometimes I vacillate and think he’s a completely pompous ass full of pretentious twaddle. Those episodes are few and far between. I also think he’s definitely mellowed as he’s matured and I like a lot of his later music even more.
I also love his soundtrack music. If you ever get a chance to listen to his music for the play ‘Metamorphosis’, then you will probably be moved by its haunting beauty.
There are other Nick Cave albums I love more than this but it’s pretty solid.
TV On The Radio
3/5
Never heard of these before, but they’re very interesting. Couldn’t quite decide where I stand with them. At times I thought it was really good and other times they just began to grate. But I do think they’re worth another listen.
Motörhead
1/5
There’s 37 minutes of my life I won’t get back. I get that they can play instruments but Lemmy’s voice just makes me want to reach for the paracetamol.
The Killers
5/5
I love this album so much. It takes me back to a time where I worked in a small office and we played new albums and burned each other’s copies. A guy called Jon broadened our music tastes and we played Hot Fuss a lot. I can still sing along to almost every song…
Le Tigre
2/5
This riot grrrls faux punk is great in two situations. A weekend night with a half dozen girls getting ready to go out, climbing over each other to claim a patch of mirror. This is playing in the background to put them in the mood for a night of dancing. Some songs however sounded just like the music in party scenes in British movies of the late 60s/early 70s where all the furnishings were brown and orange and men wore brown corduroy. I admire the energy. But it was all lack of style and too smart Aleck-y for my liking.
Method Man
2/5
I tried my hardest to evaluate this properly. The beats and sampling I can get behind very easily. If I close my eyes and tune out the vocals it’s pretty okay. But listening to song after song after song with that same tedious muttering is enervating.
Radiohead
3/5
I have to listen to this album in short bursts. It is a truly accomplished body of work. However, after a few tracks, I feel physically heavier. Weighed down by worthiness possibly? There are three songs towards the end. I could do without but the rest are great songs. I could do with this being a 3.5 but since I can’t do that and I’m feeling quite oppressed having listened to Thom Yorke’s vocal tendrils infiltrate my cells it’s a…
ZZ Top
2/5
This album is a fantastic cure for insomnia as I can’t listen to it without falling asleep. It could be that unchanging, steady beat or those horrible lyrics just send me off. At best the songs are silly - at worst they are misogynistic. As a substitute for Nytol 5/5. Their place in musical history is just about middling.
Amy Winehouse
2/5
This reminded me of Dame Cleo Lane, who was famous for her boop-de-boop-boops, vocal range and scatting. All very well and clever but when you have to hear an hour of it is dull, monotonous and seems interminable. There were moments of wit and levity. An interesting first album, but I can’t say I enjoyed it.
R.E.M.
4/5
An absolutely solid album. I love almost every song on here and did so when it came out but when people say Everybody Hurts is overplayed then I have to agree. I have to skip it because it has ridiculously strange connotations for me. Hospital DJs insist on playing it thinking it’s appropriate/poignant to play to people lying in the hospital beds I disagree it makes me hate hospital DJs and that song. The rest is blinding.
The Afghan Whigs
3/5
I’ve heard “of“ the Afghan Whigs, but I can’t recall hearing any song. The tracks feel familiar but not familiar enough. This is the kind of music that if I’d heard it when I was 18 I probably would’ve loved it. Now I feel completely ambivalent. I really liked the instrumental Closing Prayer track. I’m also stupidly intrigued by their name as it detracts from their style. All I see in my mind’s eye is a load of 19th century British politicians - not really the image for a heartfelt break-up album.
Violent Femmes
5/5
Bloody brilliant. A whopping album that still feels fresh. Am I emotionally stunted because some of these songs still resonate? Fantastic from start to finish and Good Feeling is a haunting poignancy-fest. The xylophone playing on Gone Daddy Gone is still the most fabulous use of the xylophone since the late Patrick Moore. Good Feeling - please do not go!
The Beach Boys
3/5
Very twee and a bit cloying. Yes, the harmonies are great and The Beach Boys are a classic group. They have infiltrated our entire culture. But I can only take them in small doses. This was more than enough for today and perhaps a whole year.
R.E.M.
3/5
Absolutely solid. There is clever, songwriting and good melodies. They are a distinctive band. However, this did not make me want to revisit their back catalogue. The album definitely still stands up and is perfectly listenable. You don’t have to listen to this at home though, because somewhere you go this week there will always be an REM track playing.
Lana Del Rey
3/5
Dreamy and wistful, this is a little bit Joni and a little bit Tori but is definitely a lot of poignancy. Here LDR shows off her vocal range as well as her lyrical storytelling . The songs are narratives that draw you in and sound deceptively pretty. The beginning falsetto put me slightly off balance, but once the folksy singer-songwriter vibe set in, I was happy to go along with the ride. A strong 3.5.
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
2/5
I don’t mind my poetry with a pulse or narration with a backing track but I like it in smaller doses. This is a one-note record which may have a very worthy aim but does itself no favours by being tedious. There was nothing to latch onto - it felt like one long diatribe with a beat.
Miles Davis
2/5
Talent - abundance thereof
Interest - lack thereof
Just not my thing
I played
I listened
I failed
The Who
3/5
Good, but not great. The kids are all right and My generation are fab but the others are dispensable. It sits squarely in the ‘OK’ vein but for the classics that still resonate nearly 60 years later.
Bon Jovi
2/5
JBJ - being married to his childhood Sweetheart for 30+ years is nice!
JBJ - as a philanthropist is great
JBJ as a singer is grating
BJ as a band is mindnumbing
I don’t even have the energy to mock them. But they have written some successful ear worms and I don’t hate them.
Solange
2/5
If I spent any time wondering why this was on the list, I would go down a rabbit hole and may never emerge again. I thought the Interludes were interesting, but the music might as well have been the soundtrack to a lifetime channel movie. Bland and meaningless. So, someone thought this was important enough to put on a list of albums that must be listened to before you die. I’ve done that now. Next!
Funkadelic
2/5
Loved the cover of this one. It could have been a poster for a Beckett play. Wish the songs could’ve been as interesting and existential as a Beckett play. Weirdly I thought the first song sounded like they were trying to be Pink Floyd and then the rest turned out to be fairly innocuous. Ironically, my favourite song was “whole lot of BS.”
Bobby Womack
2/5
This is the kind of music my family call “ooh ooh baby” music. It’s never done anything for me. Only song I liked was ’Just my imagination’, but I prefer the original Temptations version. It’s not ugly, horrible or offensive music. It is, however, interminably uninteresting.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Pretty lovely - I didn’t even mind the covers. I actually loved the guitars on ‘Grapevine’. This is a solid record and their tunes have lasted. I’d say a decent 3.5.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
As long as you’re not in it for the lyrics…. I do love a lot of these tracks, they’re great to dance to. Yes they’re repetitive but Ravel’s Bolero repeats the same melody 14 times but is still a great piece of music. Listening to the whole album straight off can be a little mind-numbing but there are enough hooks to entice you back in. Could do without the Fucking in Heaven altogether.
The Who
3/5
A landmark of musical history. This is a great example of where the music and lyrics are so well done but unless you are aware of the story it probably seems very disjointed and meaningless. Maybe just downright creepy. I do love the music and some of the tracks absolutely stand up today but it’s not something I want to listen to on its own. I’d rather watch the film, so it’s all in context.
The Gun Club
3/5
I was wondering how this was a seminal, groundbreaking band. But then I realised I was listening to bands like this: King Kurt and The Cramps a couple of years after this came out. I can also hear that they want to be The Velvet Underground and a little bit Patti Smith. I would’ve loved this in the 80s, and I still have a fondness for this type of music. But it does feel repetitive after awhile. Great in small doses.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
I will confess, I was one of those people who really liked early Jesus and Mary chain. I fell out with them when my friends went to a gig that lasted 15 minutes and the band had their backs turned to them. I thought that was just insulting and didn’t really listen to them for a lot of years afterwards. When I hear them now, I still actually enjoy the music. They are a second rate Velvet Underground, a faux Television but just because a handbag is a knock off. It doesn’t mean that you don’t necessarily like it. There are some good catchy songs behind all the noise. It’s taken me a long time but I think I’ve forgiven them.
Don McLean
3/5
I chose to listen to this as an antidote to some awful heavy metal that had hurt my ears. My folks used to have the album in the 70s and Vincent was my auntie’s favourite song. It really evoked the Age of Aquarius with women floating about in long white dresses, adorned with Daisy crowns. It’s very much a period piece. I couldn’t listen to it again for a while as it feels like I have a piece of fudge now stuck to the roof of my mouth. Cloying and sickly. But I did enjoy The Grave and Babylon as ways to wallow in an era now lost to us all.
Public Enemy
2/5
I’ve put this on hoping it would incentivise me and I want to inject a little impetus. What it did was make me hunker down and not wanna move. The lyrics still have pertinence, but I found this very repetitive. I hankered for other public enemy songs. Bring the noize – no thank you.
Weather Report
1/5
All I can see when I hear this music is a load of moustachioed men, bobbing their heads and grinning earnestly at each other. Birdland used to be the background music to every incidental sports medley on British television. Rumba mama doesn’t even sound like it belongs on this album, but was the best of a bad bunch. This has reinforced my view of how much I hate jazz fusion. It only brings one word to mind – SMUG!!!
SAULT
3/5
I had never heard of this band before and was really happy to hear something new. For the first 9 songs (barring Sorry ain’t enough) I thought I’d found a new favourite to stick on repeat. But this is an album of two halves. The second half just sounded like dull, ‘ooh ooh baby’ music - uninspirational R&B which I could frankly do without. But 8/20 songs that grabbed me by the throat is quite good odds. I would definitely listen to those again.
Nine Inch Nails
2/5
Hurt, as done by Johnny Cash, makes me wanna cry. The arrangement and voice know how to evoke emotion. It is beautiful. The original also makes me wanna cry. But for the reason that it just does not have that same impact. The only song that I can say I liked on here was A warm place. There was no singing on it which perhaps says it all. I still love the song Hurt but as sometimes happens, the cover surpasses the original and makes you never want to revisit the progenitors. There were some nice background tunes but they lost me when Trent Reznor started singing. But for the fact that Hurt exists at all I give it a 2.
Deep Purple
2/5
They can all play their instruments and there are some classic songs in there, but they’re way too long and way too many solos. I do like smoke on the water, but not enough to seek it out again in a hurry. Decidedly average.
Prince
4/5
I remember listening to this when it first came out and I thought it was the most overblown histrionic hyperbolic music. Ask me now and no question that there are some absolute classics on this album but there are also some filler tracks which don’t feel as complete or dramatic. I do love most of this album now. It has grown in stature for me over the years and no doubt it’s an absolute blinder. However there are a couple of tracks I could absolutely gloss over and I don’t need to hear them again. But that doesn’t detract from Prince’s extraordinary talent.
Brian Eno
2/5
ENO is the aficionado of ambient music and has produced some great albums. This one, however, does not make me want to do anything: sing or dance, laugh or cry or ever listen to it again. It is the soundtrack to inertia. Like an innocuous film score, this is perfect background music, especially if you’re doing homework, writing code or changing your cat’s litter tray. I really don’t need more elevator Muzak in my life. I want music to incite emotion or make me want to do anything other than catch flies with my open mouth.
4/5
Almost everything has already been said about this album. It’s a classic melding of musical influences. You can hear the jazz, the hillbilly, the folk, the glam-rock but it feels cohesive not a muddled hotch-potch. It is seminal and inclusive and the poetic lyrics are an aural joy. It also never dates. How topical is ‘Five Years’ now? I’m not giving it 5 stars though because I would, on further listening, always skip a couple of tracks to get to the meatier ones, scoop the filling out of the pie crust if you like. There also other Bowie albums that for me are just a bit better. But a great way to start your day! Or just inject a bit of dynamic to a Wet Wednesday.
The Byrds
3/5
No-one can deny this is the sound of the 60s. At first I felt that I was being assaulted by ‘pleasant’. I longed for ‘Turn. Turn Turn’ my favourite Byrds song which is both familiar and great and reduces me to tears every time I hear it. Then the classic three minute summer of love pop songs, although they continued, began to be speckled with melancholy and ruefulness. Yes there is the familiar sound of trippy psychedelia, but the songs with messages and story and underlying protest are the ones that stay with me and give the album its gravitas. Although I’m going off to play Turn Turn Turn now…
James Brown
2/5
So I could just say: I don’t mind. I listened to this a few hours ago, and I remember almost nothing. It made such little impact on me that I just don’t care and I don’t mind. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it. I was just indifferent. I know the big James Brown hits which I’m happy to sing along to and dance to. But I’m just as happy to live without them. I’m also very happy to live without this album. Mercifully it was short. It’s probably worth a 2.5 - but that ain’t an option so this is probably meaner than I intended.
Alice Cooper
3/5
I was pleasantly surprised by this album. I expected it to be full of whiny guitars and shouty vocals. The anthem on every child’s lips as they run out of the school gates every summer still has resonance and potency. What I was surprised by was that the rest of the album was full of whimsy and humour and musicality. I actually laughed out loud at Street Fight and marvelled that I could hear skiffle and jazz influences. A much more pleasant and fun experience than I imagined.
Iron Maiden
1/5
My first reaction on seeing today’s pick was ‘oh God, no’. This is not my type of music, but I was willing to give it another go. I am sure they are talented musicians and have made a lot of money making a lot of people happy. However, this was just an affront to my ears. Screechy guitars and raspy voices. Just Horrible. To quote a later album - Run to the hills.
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
This music evokes a certain time and place: Friday night in a remote field, Saturday night on a beach in the Balearics, Sunday morning in an abandoned warehouse in Kings Cross. You get the picture. I was never the bucket hat and glow sticks kind of person, but I can dance to a beat. It also reminded me of the best clubbing scene from a TV show. Check out Ep 6 of Spaced if you want a hearty laugh. The songs that stood out for me were Life is Sweet. Loving the Tim Burgess vocals. Also a very fun video. And who can mistake those haunting Beth Orton vocals on Alive Alone? I wouldn’t necessarily revisit this album but it was pleasantly evocative.
Love
3/5
This album begins with an absolutely beautiful tune. Even if you did not know who this song was by, it will have infiltrated your subconscious over the years somehow and will resonate with everyone at some point. My initial reaction was that the rest of the album could not live up to this standard. What it became was a hazy, psychedelic trip through melancholia. It was poignant, morbid, miserable poetry set to music. An early Smiths if you like. It also struck me that they sounded incredibly English. I was surprised that they were an American band because it sounded like a depressed, self-deprecating version of the Summer of Love. This is not a criticism. I’m English - I live in the grey shadows of sorrow and like my music peppered with pain. I wish I could give this a 3.5 but I’m far too mournful :)
Elastica
3/5
What Elastica does well is brevity. There are some absolutely banging tunes on this album. But just when you’ve got your teeth into one it ends abruptly. I found myself yearning for at least one more chorus. I don’t know if it’s irony or commentary when Connection finishes after two and a bit minutes. Is it a treatise on the brief life we have or the need to make instant connections? I’m not convinced they’re that deep. But that song has now become iconic and features in at least one advertising campaign every year. So that ‘connection’ has endured, although the lifespan of the band was short. They made two albums and Justine remarked that it was one album too long. Paraphrasing obviously! But you can’t deny the energy and bounce of this album. It’s Joyous Britpop for Tigger - Winnie the Pooh’s springy friend - but it does make me crave a song with a couple more minutes to bop along.
Willie Nelson
4/5
Simple! Stripped back! And very bittersweet. Just a narrative with consummate musicianship. There are no flashy twiddles or over-production to hide behind. Raw instruments and a distinctive voice. Here Nelson tells a story in a direct, intimate and beautiful way. This is country done pure.
Black Sabbath
1/5
I do not like Ozzy Osbourne’s voice
I do not like his voice by choice.
I do not like Ozzy Osbourne’s voice.
To me it is discordant noise.
I do not like it here or there.
I do not like it anywhere
I do not like Ozzy Osbourne’s voice
I do not like his voice by choice.
I do not like any Sabbath song
They make my head just feel all wrong
I do not like any Sabbath tune
I would rather be on the moon.
I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere.
I do not like any Sabbath song
They make my head just feel all wrong.
I will not listen in the rain.
Listening causes too much pain.
Not in the dark! Not in a tree!
Not in a car! You let me be!
I will not listen in our house.
I will not listen to them in Laos.
I do not like them here or there.
I do not like them anywhere.
I do not think they’re misunderstood.
I just don’t think they’re any good.
Apologies to Dr Seuss!
Bert Jansch
3/5
An interesting foray into a folk singer I had never heard of. I did not know his reach and influence and back catalogue was so immense. I could hear how it influenced people like Donovan and the Thompsons and Neil Young. Sad to say though I’d still rather listen to them. Jansch is a very accomplished musician and storyteller. The quality of this record is undeniable to say he recorded it in his bedroom on one mic. In 1965, that was a feat in itself. Until now, Bert and this record have completely passed me by. I’m glad to have added to my musical education - I knew of no song about taking heroin before The Velvet Underground so Needle of Death was a plaintive revelation. On the whole this was very easy to listen to and an album I was glad to be introduced to.
Pink Floyd
4/5
I was pretty sure I knew every song on this album – well, there are only five. I hadn’t ever listened to it start to finish though. I knew it was a concept album - partly un homage to Syd Barrett and was fully on board with it. I hadn’t ever realised ‘Shine on you crazy Diamond’ had 900 parts to it but I was fully committed and very into it until the last ‘song’ or the last 712 parts of Crazy Diamond. That’s when my interest began to wane, and even though I appreciate what a clever and well-crafted album it is, my concentration dipped. I could’ve done with track number five being a completely different song. I do think it was very poignant and clever without being smug. A solid experience and much as I might have tuned out towards the end I do appreciate PF a lot but in smaller doses.
Q-Tip
3/5
Smooth, mellow, I appreciated the beats. And thought it was quite hypnotic. I did find his voice very monotonous, and after a while a bit tiresome. I did really like Official and We fight/We love, but he would’ve benefited from more collaborators singing. I did find myself bouncing along to some of the funkier beats which is an endorsement of sorts. But I’m not sure he could ever top ‘Can I kick it?’ Others might disagree and reply though: “Yes he can!”
4/5
This sounds So English! It’s a comment on postwar Britain, the class system, the yearning for a different life. A portrayal of working-class aspiration or lack thereof. Couldn’t help comparing the Pogues singing ‘South Australia’ about convicts being transported and the idyllic ‘Australia’ here which is a symbol of attainment. A punishment becomes an ideal. The songs are well-crafted and witty. Ray Davies’ voice is very distinctive and adds to the eccentricity of this concept album. This album and its peculiar slant fills my heart with a strange mixture of pride and relish.
Keith Jarrett
2/5
I do love the piano.
I do love a talented and accomplished musician.
Given that, why do I just not care about this album?
It sounded like a soundscape or film score of a documentary on mountains. I actually kept forgetting I was supposed to be listening and walking off to do something else. It made so little impression on me. I’m sure he is a brilliant talent. What did make me laugh was at the very end I listened to the applause since it was a live concert. Even that live audience sounded very nonplussed with their lacklustre response. To describe it as a smattering of applause would be more than kind. Perhaps they too had - metaphorically - wandered off.
Culture Club
5/5
For the nostalgia it evokes
For the classic Pop songs
For Boy George’s silken voice
For the breezy, uplifting tunes
For the mournful, heartbreaking lyrics
For the drama and emotion and Helen Terry‘s soulful tones
For the impassioned sax and harmonica
For the hours dancing round my kitchen
For the ability to put this on repeat and it still packs a punch
For all this and more
I thank you.
Charles Mingus
1/5
The words Collective improvisation and Free jazz fill me with horror and frustration simultaneously.
I once had a friend who was in an improvisational jazz band. They used to play every week in a room above a pub. Out of loyalty, I used to go and support said friend. After the first week, I realised that if I did not have something to occupy my hands and brain I would go mad. So I gathered all my clothes that needed mending or buttons that needed sewing and I used to sit in the crowd repairing clothing. Otherwise I would’ve found being there unbearable.
I feel like we’ve had overkill on the jazz lately but that’s because it doesn’t speak to me. Every time I think that I can be swayed to like the music and maybe get into a tune, it turns into a syncopated discordant mess. I understand that Mingus is a revered genius, and I may be an unsophisticated heathen but I just want to scream and bang my head against a wall.
Another jazz-loving friend used to tell me that jazz opens the soul and encourages you to share your deepest, emotional experiences with others. I find alcohol does that just as well.
The Youngbloods
2/5
Well, this was a strange one.
A bit folky.
A bit rocky.
A bit jazzy.
A bit country.
A bit too averagey.
Nothing stood out for me, and there was nothing to get my teeth into. It flowed over me like water over a rock.
And left me just as cold.
CHIC
3/5
I was never particularly into Disco in its heyday. Subsequently, the floor-fillers have permeated into my bloodstream and I appreciate them for what they are. I understand how songs like ’Good Times’ are ubiquitous at birthdays and weddings because they are infectious and get people up dancing. That’s why they’re also six or eight minutes long to keep those people dancing to a beat and not have to change the record as often. Nile Rogers is an institution. He has improved with age and is revered almost everywhere. However it doesn’t make this album less boring. The first and last tracks do have a funky beat and are fun and encourage you to boogie. But the others just seemed to go on and on. Solid - but I stand by my ambivalence to most ‘Disco’ albums. It would be 2.5 but I’ll give it a 3 for the longevity of Good Times.
Adam & The Ants
3/5
Those drums still have the power to stir my heart. They strike a very primal connection. The hits take me back to my pre-teen days when my best friend had the album on vinyl and named her dog Ant. We both thought Stuart (Adam Ant) was very pretty and different and bucked the trend. So I still get a warm and fuzzy feeling when I listen to these fun, uptempo tracks and can sing along to all the hits. I’d probably be just as happy listening to a ‘Best of’ Album so I could sing along to all of them. But it’s hard not to feel slightly removed from those days when Adam and his Ants felt fresh. And ant-marched to the beat of a Burundi drum. The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
Wilco
3/5
Late night
Warm bath
Beer on the porch
This is music for the mellow moments
To wring out the rage
This is the poignant twang of yearning
To wrestle you into the moment
Listen and lounge!
Listen and lounge!
Pixies
2/5
Over and over, I keep asking myself the question - why did I think that I loved The Pixies so much. I had their albums years ago, but I probably haven’t listened to one start to finish for a long, long time. I would have sworn blind that I really liked them. However, nothing really stood out for me here. There were a couple of decent enough tracks but nothing that I could say I loved. I recognised ‘Velouria’ and ‘All over the world’ from way back but I’m left feeling very nonplussed. Perhaps they slotted into a particular time of my life. But that time is not now.
Various Artists
5/5
Acknowledging the elephant in the room. Spector’s personal life was dubious to say the least. Abhorrent! Grotesque! All that and more. Putting aside the private man and the fact that the message at the end is infused with creepy overtones, he was undoubtedly a genius producer and these are superb songs. If you can’t appreciate a fabulous Christmas tune on Christmas Eve Eve, then you might as well go and clank chains with Jacob Marley.
Billy Bragg
5/5
What a beautiful confluence of style and talent. I love Billy Bragg so my heart leant more into the songs he sang but it’s such a well-rounded album. This passed me by the time but I’m delighted that this BB and Wilco collaboration unearthed some gorgeous songs with those doleful, gut-wrenching Guthrie lyrics.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
2/5
I’ve never really got the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I’m fine if they are playing somewhere, on the radio or in the background. But for me the sum of their parts adds up to less than the whole. I wouldn’t go out of my way to play them and I never particularly believed the hype. I find them tedious and self-serving so this a no-no!
Soundgarden
3/5
Black Hole Sun is a classic (and an ear worm) and once I’ve heard it, I cannot stop hearing it in my head for the rest of the day. Soundgarden as a whole is a right time, right place kind of band for me. Yesterday was neither. I did try – morning, afternoon and evening. I appreciate that Chris Cornell was a towering talent and Soundgarden was the definitive voice of grunge for a generation. But once Black Hole Sun had played everything else paled by comparison. It is a great song though!
Genesis
2/5
Much as I like Peter Gabriel’s voice, this is all a bit too worthy and pompous. I kept wishing the Prog Rock had progressed already. I recognised ‘I know what I like’ which I don’t mind but the rest was all a bit too self-important.
Tom Waits
4/5
Heart-achingly bittersweet! This album is just fabulously atmospheric evoking images of smoky clubs late at night, displaced lonely people with an undercurrent of relentless yearning. It could be the soundtrack to a film noir set on Christmas Eve. His haunting voice makes me want to cry and sing simultaneously. It’s a solid 4.5 - it’s not quite perfect but I think this is very much a marmite record. If it doesn’t make you want to weep or lull you into his shattered world, it probably makes you want to throw something at a wall.
The Velvet Underground
5/5
I almost didn’t need to play this album. It’s part of the musical wallpaper of my childhood. Ever-present! I’m pretty sure I have my fathers vinyl copy tucked away in a cupboard. I will often quote ‘After Hours’ as my favourite song ever. Depends on the day. But I do remember even as a little girl discussing the meaning of it with my father. I quite often sing it just off-the-cuff trying to mimic Moe Tucker tones. The album is a catalyst of memories for me and the songs are ingrained in my soul. It may be the Velvets without John Cale but still essentially Them. It’s poetic and introspective and melodic and pervaded by a feeling of painful loss. Glorious!
The Cardigans
3/5
Boppy
Bouncy
Upbeat
Lovefool is a great tune and seemingly timeless - the rest of the album coasts along pleasantly. I really liked the Iron Man cover too.
I wouldn’t say it’s a classic album. I’m really not sure why it’s on this list, but The Cardigans are cute enough to keep you warm on a grim and grisly Tuesday.
The The
5/5
I’ve loved The The since forever. Not one dud song! I cannot actually sit still when this plays, because the music inhabits my whole body. I just want to sing and move to every tune.
Matt Johnson manages to mix high octane danceable songs with searing political comment and the frailty of the human condition. Sadly, and maddeningly, the themes of despair still resonate nearly 40 years later.
The brass arrangements add excitement and drama. Neneh Cherry’s voice on Slow Train to Dawn is just beautiful. Magnificent!
I saw them on tour back when Johnny Marr was the guitarist. Great days! I just want go back and put it all on repeat now!
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
A truly seminal band. I always liked their singles but never pursued any further. They definitely made hip-hop accessible to everyone and that hip-hop/rock fusion hooks in a much larger audience. For me they are a solid 3.5 but for the amazing legacy and the fact that their songs still stand up, I’m raising that.
The La's
3/5
This started off for me as the musical equivalent of beige. Innocuous. It added nothing to the musical spectrum and nothing to my pallette or experience. There is the ubiquitous “there she goes” which I hope Lee Mavers made a ton of money off.
I don’t know if it’s the history of this record that gives it its gravitas. The story of a tortured genius for whom nothing was perfect.
After the first five songs it did begin to grow on me. That Guitar on Doledrum was extremely atmospheric and redolent of the banjos in Deliverance. And then Freedom song really caught my attention and suckered me in.
The songs are so short that if you’re not particularly enamoured of one, don’t worry, the next starts in two minutes.
I know this album is important because it’s a precursor to Britpop and a one-off album that was the beginning of a whole new wave. But the influences are there for everyone to hear, and it would also deny the existence of bands like the Stone Roses or the Charlatans who were also foundations for the British 90s sound.
Better than I thought it was going to be, but if Lee Mavers ain’t completely happy with it, then I might have to follow his lead.
Not really feeling it. I thought I liked the Faces, but maybe today is not the day. Rod Stewart’s voice is really grating on me. I liked the tracks sung by Ronnie, but nothing really felt exciting to me, or unique or compelling. On the paint palette, a magnolia band.
Marianne Faithfull
5/5
I cannot tell you how happy it made me to see this was the choice today. Again, it’s been kicking around the house since its release 40-odd years ago. Her voice is amazing and every song is painfully raw and emotional.
The Ballad of Lucy Jordan - I used it as a learning tool when I was young - that I would never be in a position to feel stifled and helpless and ‘unable to ride through Paris’. Then I grew up. But it still has an amazing visceral power with the ability to reduce me to tears, every time. (Side note - Michelle Shocked’s Anchorage has the same theme and same effect on me. Playing these two songs back to back is a killer.)
Back to MF - this is one of those albums that makes you feel exposed. Every song is incredible, for me there are no weak points. And the cover of Working Class Hero, I would wager, is better than the original. She adds another layer of pathos.
I feel like I’ve had the stuffing knocked out of me and need time to recover. But I guess that’s indicative of music that can bypass reason and inhabit your soul. Outstanding!
Jeru The Damaja
2/5
The sun does rise in the East.
And it sets in the west.
This music was unexceptional
So not really the best.
Jeru who?
I hate when songs refer to women as Da Bichez. The cause was pretty much lost there.
Beastie Boys
3/5
I really like the mashing and meshing of styles. I was more into thé music and instrumentals behind the vocals. The vocals all kind of merged into one for me and I had no idea what was being conveyed and didn’t really have the impetus to find out. Sabotage was a great song. Also liked Sabrosa, The Document and Eugene’s Lament.
Love the cover.
Joy Division
5/5
Nobody could ever mistake Joy Division for another band. They have a very unique, distinctive sound. There is a pulsating, hypnotic quality to the music so it almost feels like you’re being pulled into a whirlpool.
This album is infused with a poetic pain and musical melancholy, a harbinger of imminent demise. It is full of smokey sweaty clubs, and grey English streets. I can hear each instrument so distinctly from the other, and yet it combines in a kind of witches’ cauldron to produce melodic magic. Ian Curtis’s lyrics drip with suffering and the repetition just enhances that anguish.
Weirdly enough, I just found this quote from Bernard Sumner:
“While we were working on Closer, Ian said to me that doing this album felt very strange, because he felt that all his words were writing themselves. He also said that he had this terrible claustrophobic feeling that he was in a whirlpool and being pulled down, drowning."
So obviously I am really tuning in to what Ian Curtis was feeling. Never mind the fact that this came out when I was almost a teenager and the nostalgia is overwhelming. This is a perfect storm of emotion, memory, poetry and damn fine tunes. Sen-bloody-sational.
Ray Charles
3/5
Apart from the title of the album, which is a little bit self-aggrandising I really like this. I loved the big band arrangements and the production. I suppose Ray Charles’s voice got a little lost under the production, but the songs were all really easy to swing along to. It helps that they are all very well-known songs, not only for that time but they have endured and permeated the collective consciousness. I preferred the first half of the album, what was originally the first side. The ballads lost me a little bit. But it was a very pleasant ride.
Talking Heads
3/5
I do really like Talking Heads, don’t I?
This was my mantra as I was listening to this album. I usually love them and remember being blown away by Psycho
Killer back in 1977. Plus I could name a lot of songs that if you played them for me I would relish. The guitars and drums on this were fantastic, but I kept finding David Byrne’s voice really tiresome. I would’ve been happy with a ‘Best of’ album, but I didn’t like the whole package. Which is a shame because:
I do really like Talking Heads, don’t I?
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
Fun and Dancey!
I knew their earlier stuff, but this album had passed me by.
I found a lot of it quite derivative, but that did not detract from how easy it was to jiggle along to. It surprised me how much I found this a rollicking fun ride. It actually made me want to go back to the earlier albums again.
Definitely an easy and enjoyable listen! Not quite a 4 but 3 doesn’t quite do it justice. Pretend it’s a 3.5.
3/5
Hasn’t everything been said about Bob Dylan?
What disappointed me about this is, if you’re going to have an iconic bootleg album, then why are you editing out the audience reaction? Surely the whole point is to hear how his change of direction affected the audience on that moment. I would rather have heard the original bootleg with all the heckling rather than a remastered, sanitised bootleg. Wasn’t the point to capture that moment in time?
Bob Dylan has emotional resonance because my father had a picture of Bob Dylan on his piano as a young man which was the definition of rebellion in his household. My mother remembers it vividly.
I’ve never been a fan of his vocals, but he is a superb poet. I love all the melodies. There are two camps I think for harmonica playing – love it or hate it. I am in the former camp and I actually wish I could play. So I am with him all the way for the first half. And I stay with him for the electric part too.
My favourite on here is ‘The Ballad of the Thin Man’ - outstanding.
But just imagine if he could actually sing?
The B-52's
3/5
This takes me back to the days when I used to go out dancing every weekend. There was a part of the evening where the B-52’s, along with King Kurt and The Cramps were always played in succession. The dancefloor was so packed you had to dance with your shoulders, and maybe a bit of elbow. These are floor fillers for a certain audience. I love the energy and whimsy. I’d happily get on the dancefloor now if Rock Lobster or Planet Claire were on the turntable. I don’t really need to hear a whole album but I loved that it flashed by very quickly without straining my patience. Always a bonus.
2/5
I like Blur well enough. This isn’t my favourite. I much prefer Parklife. This is a bit meh for my liking. For Tomorrow is the only takeaway from this album from me. And I do love a picture of a steam train. Which is about all I have to say on the matter. Pretend this is a 2.5.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
5/5
Neil Young! Man, that guy could sing “Happy Talk “and his voice would cut me to the quick. I love everything about this, the voice, the guitars, the harmonica, the songwriting.
Beautiful!
My, My, Hey,Hey!
Yeah Yeah!!
Nina Simone
4/5
Nina Simone is a stupendous singer. There are some amazingly beautiful songs on here. A masterclass in musical minimalism. However, it’s not something I want to listen to with any regularity. Life is already hard enough and as much as I don’t mind ordinarily being sucked into a vortex of misery, this is not my bubbling tar pit of choice.
Hole
4/5
In 1994, I was in a very heightened phase of album-buying. I would hear one song and if I loved it I would go out to buy the album. This was the case with ‘Live Through This’. I heard ‘Doll Parts’ and immediately fell in love with it. I am very well aware that Courtney Love does not have a huge range. I also know that usually I hate shouty singing. But for whatever reason this touched a part of me and I am happily shouting along with most of it. There are a couple of songs in the middle that don’t quite make the grade. But most of it is clever and fervent and passionate, and I can still sing along to almost everything. I also once stayed in the same hotel where Courtney Love and Steve Coogan had their fling so every time I hear her sing it makes me chortle. Back of the net!!!
The Beach Boys
3/5
The production and harmonies and instrumentals are splendid. Not quite the transformative experience that many people have when listening to this album but it’s perfectly lovely background music.
Taylor Swift
2/5
This is the musical equivalent of Kelly Hoppen design. It’s all magnolia with a hint of buttermilk. It’s innocuous and easy to listen to. I must confess I’d never listened to a Taylor Swift album in its entirety until now. I quite like the singles, but I think I got bored of every song being an exposé of a past boyfriend. I like the fact that these are little vignettes and poetic stories that are not always about her. But every one seems to blend into the last. A couple stood out: Marjorie and Tis the Damn Season, also Tolerate It. These are clever ditties but I’m not sure how soon I’ll ever want to return to them. I know her songwriting is celebrated, but I just tolerate it.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
2/5
Side one: who do I NOT love?
Side two: Moaner
Overall: Unhappy trails
This is what I would describe as ‘noodling’ but not sure if that’s the correct application of the word.
I mean - it’s inoffensive but just so boring! Not horrible but tedious listening to all those flipping guitar solos!
Peter Tosh
3/5
This is Tosh! But not tosh, which is a British word for nonsense. So this isn’t nonsense but it’s not highly interesting either. Bless him for the prescient sentiments but society is still not quite there….I liked the beats and the melodies well enough but this is mostly background vibe.
Mylo
2/5
Maybe if I was in a club on the beach in Ibiza.
But I’m not!
Maybe if I was on hold to IT services.
But I’m not!
Maybe if I was in an elevator in a shopping mall.
But I’m not!
This does not have the chops to destroy rock ‘n’ roll. I’m not even sure it could fight its way out of a paper bag.
Frank Sinatra
5/5
I like Frank singing.
How about you?
I like Nelson Riddle arrangements.
How about you?
I like short sweet songs that keep you coming for more.
A classic album that keeps you smiling, of that I’m sure.
How about you?
How about you?
Def Leppard
1/5
Unfortunately, this was not the morning for Def Leppard. I already had a headache and knew this would make it worse. I tried my best, I took the tablets, put the volume down to one and tried to listen to the melodies and guitar rather than listen to that horrible voice. But frankly, the end couldn’t come soon enough. And the headache hasn’t shifted.
Bad Brains
3/5
Wow! Another band that I wasn’t aware of. I do love a punk band with a driving guitar. I also love that these are a bunch of black guys pushing the punk boundaries. It’s not just three chords and shouting – it’s a fusion of styles with great tunes and fantastic energy. I couldn’t always understand the words but loving the feel of it. ‘Sacred Love’ and ‘Return to Heaven’ were standouts for me.
The Verve
3/5
I do love a bit of The Verve and Richard Ashcroft. This isn’t my favourite Verve album, I prefer Urban Hymns but this was very welcome. Not sure if I could spin it twice on the trot because it tends to stay on a morose note and the songs all merge after a while. But not only does it have Northern Soul, it definitely has the soul of the North. it’s full of brooding and loss and loneliness. When you’re lying alone in bed, listening to Richard Ashcroft wailing ‘I’m gonna die alone in bed’ the prospect of ending up as food for your cats becomes almost palpable. Frankly, if this was a perfume, the base note would be self-flagellation and the top note would be incessant rain.
Travis
4/5
I really needed some “kind” music today. And I got it. Nothing that was too discordant or going to tax my brain or make me feel overwrought. This is music that allows you to just drift along on the tunes, like flotsam. I knew every one of these songs without ever having played a Travis album. I’ve never felt the need to buy one or put it on a playlist, but every time I hear one of their tracks, it feels reassuring. Even when there’s a maudlin undercurrent as in ‘Why does it always rain on me?’ That’s just what happens in Britain - rain. They famously played that song at Glasto in driving rain. Cemented their reputation and legacy. Just lovely!
The xx
4/5
Intro is such a great start.
I’d forgotten how much I loved the XX. I listened to this record and put it straight on repeat. Then I put on their second album and put that on repeat.
I just read another review that said this was for lonely, middle-class girls in the late 2000s. That made me laugh a lot. Call me lonely and middle class if you like (although I think that’s a little judgey). But this is simultaneously simple and awkward and touching and emotionally layered.
If there’s one thing this project is proving to me (as if I didn’t know) is just give me a dollop of quintessentially English melancholia and I’m with you all the way. It must be because I am just another lonely middle class girl. 🤣
Eels
4/5
This was almost like magical realism – floating on a storm cloud. It was ethereal and unusual and gloomy and uplifting at the same time. The first two tracks were just brilliant. The rest of the album didn’t quite live up to those and the singing and melodies didn’t particularly change that much. But I liked the whole ambience so didn’t mind that there wasn’t too much deviation. Interesting note, I found out that David Jolicoeur from De La Soul died and started playing ‘Me Myself and I’ at the same time as ‘Spunky’. In a wacky alternative universe, they make a really good mashup. Danger Mouse, you’re welcome!!!
David Bowie
3/5
Sorry Dave – much as I love you, this just felt long! I can see that this has been shoehorned into a genre called Art Rock.. And it does feel very artsy-fartsy.
I presume it was picked today for the song entitled ‘Valentines Day’ but there was nothing lovey-dovey about this record. It seemed lachrymose and rueful. Not necessarily a hard, listen, but the songs did seem to go on and on.
I know this must’ve been a lot of hard work for him coming back after being ill and a nine year hiatus but it didn’t grab me. Poor love - as I was singing along to ‘Where are we now?’ the answer was a mine of pathos.
Kate Bush
3/5
So Very Kate!
Experimental, groundbreaking, unapologetic. Not always successful, but never uninteresting.
Not my favourite Kate Bush album, but she is nevertheless a tour de force.
Ian Dury
4/5
Such a great album and a stonking start! This was very much my era and area. When he talks about the 18 bus going to Euston in his love song to his father, I lived on that bus route in 1977 and I live on it now. These character studies are full of wit and sardonic humour but also a love letter to a place and time.
Ian Dury himself was such an affable character and much as he hasn’t got the greatest voice, there is something energetic and fun and endearing about these songs.
For those who haven’t already, watch ‘Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll’ with Andy Serkis (not doing stop motion) but portraying Ian Dury.
Fleet Foxes
2/5
Love the Bruegel cover but the music did absolutely nothing for me. Wasn’t completely horrible though.
U2
3/5
I liked really early U2 - the Boy era, when they were a bit more raw and hard. They still know how to write a catchy tune though. Happy to sing along to Mysterious Ways and my favourite on this album, – ‘Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses’. Apparently they’ve never been able to play that song live because they can’t recapture that emotion. I guess that’s why I like it then.
Elliott Smith
2/5
I’ve heard of Elliott Smith though never explored any of the music. I’m sure I know some of the tunes from Good Will Hunting.. Not exactly galvanising music. Pleasant enough to have in the background. It reminds me of candy floss, though – very sweet and then disappears to nothing. One hour later and I remember nothing… but it strikes me that this may be the kind of music that grows on you if you hear it a lot.
Les Rythmes Digitales
2/5
Hey you, what’s that sound?
Complete bollocks is what that sound is.
I can hear nothing original on this album, it’s just generic dance music. Fine if you’re in a club.
It kind of got better as it went along but I’m fairly nonplussed and ending on ‘We’re all damaged people’ was a downer. Wouldn’t want to dance to that in a club! But it reminded me a bit of Adamski - I think I’d rather listen to ’Killer’ tbh. And that came a good decade before this.
Why do I need to hear this before I die?
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Beautiful! Every song a classic! I never grow tired of these songs.
The Verve
4/5
I have this album and it was always my preferred Verve album. I love all these songs and videos for the singles too. I don’t care that people hear Richard Ashcroft as a whiny northerner. I love his voice and it works as an instrument on its own.
Prince
3/5
Ginormous in talent, if not in stature. I was fully on board for the first half hour and then my interest dropped like a stone. The singles are great, the musical treatises bored me senseless. Sorry, Prince. I’m obviously having a bad day. Something definitely did not compute. But for 1999 alone you’re a star.
Talking Heads
3/5
I feel like we have been listening to a lot of repeats of artists lately. I know many bands and musicians have a huge body of work which can evolve and diversify through time. But sometimes I need more time and distance between listens. I don’t want to write a repeat critique and say exactly what I said about Talking Heads last time although I feel exactly the same.
When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed
Say something once, why say it again?
I love the singles, I would have been very happy with a best of album. But I just found this wearisome, and was only energised when it got to psycho killer.
Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, better
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run away, oh-oh-oh!
Moby Grape
3/5
Another band I wasn’t familiar with. Glad to have been introduced to them.
Great name
Great year
Wasn’t completely bowled over by the tunes, but some of them felt really familiar. Maybe because they are so redolent of the era. The album is so short though - you can’t find anything tiresome when it is over in the blink of an eye. I think Lazy Me was my favourite.
Dead Kennedys
5/5
Fun
Fast
Fabulous
Couldn’t stop bouncing to this. That little punk kid is still in there. It takes me back to the time when the magazine Smash Hits was still extant. I am standing at the bus stop after school reading the mag and memorising the lyrics to Holiday in Cambodia which were printed in there. I don’t think the album had even come out at that time, but I knew I loved the Dead Kennedys just from that song. And it still doesn’t disappoint.
All the songs have a fierce energy and a blistering political stance - so full of social comment but laced with humour. I love that bite and edginess. But also tuneful with it. Who knew satire could be so catchy? I am all over this. Love love love!
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Would listen to this over Exodus. Enjoyed the vibe but small doses work better for me. Still great songs and felt a bit more raw and emotional than later mixes. I definitely preferred this version of No Woman, No Cry.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
This is the Rolling Stones at their prime. Before they became parodies of themselves. Before they became drug-addled, age-ravaged puppets on spitting image.
This may be their most downbeat album, but it works for me. Sister Morphine and Wild. Horses are still beautiful pieces of music.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
The first time I ever heard a Bruce song was on the radio in 1980 - later than this album came out. The song I heard was The River which just resonated somewhere in my gut. In the days when you could tape off the radio, I had just won a tape deck in a raffle and The River was one of the first tracks on my mix. I know it’s not on this album but because of that Bruce always has a bit of a special place in my nostalgic heart. The songs on this album have seeped into my subconscious in the subsequent years, and I still feel very warm when I listen to them.
I love the melancholy and vibe and underlying desperation sprinkled with love and hope and of course the voice.
The Black Keys
4/5
Well, this was revelatory to me.
I thought I’d heard of the band.
I thought I knew a couple of tracks.
And I think I recognised that a couple of songs have been used for adverts.
But on the whole, this was completely new to me. Sometimes when this list has offered me up something that I have very little or no previous knowledge of, it has turned out to be stupefyingly mediocre or something that I never want to listen to again. However, this to me felt like a timeless classic. If you’d asked me to pinpoint an era, I would never have gone with 2010. It feels earlier. Or somehow out of time. But my instinct has been to have the album on hand to play, whenever I could today. I think I’m on my third listen and it’s just getting better.
I absolutely love Sinister Kid and Howlin for You and Too Afraid to Love You and Tighten Up.
This has been a great new find. I’m just trying to wonder what happened in 2010 for me to miss this?
Aerosmith
2/5
Nothing about this album, made me care about Aerosmith any more than I already did, which was not a lot.
Just reminded me that I really liked the version of Walk This Way by Run DMC.
The Beach Boys
2/5
Listening to this reminded me of the movie ‘Love and Mercy’ which shows Brian Wilson struggling with his mental issues. Apparently those struggles started with Pet Sounds but seem audibly obvious here. But it’s actually the confluence of styles and people that contribute to this auditory mess. Each song felt like it was 15 minutes long, but that was probably because I was just desperate for it to end. Not even the prescient ecological messages could save this.
And the cover just seems to epitomise how downtrodden and beaten this record is.
A day in the life of a tree was ill-judged at best. I would’ve forgiven it if it was a song on Sesame Street, maybe a duet between Big Bird and Elmo but here it was just irritating. Akin to going to a hair salon two weeks after lockdown and the hairdresser asking if you’ve been anywhere nice on holiday. Harrumph I say!
Depeche Mode
4/5
Niche but beloved on their home shores, Depeche Mode have always been uncompromising and distinctive. This album title was meant to be a joke because they never had any intention to change their synthpop broody style to please anyone. And yet ironically this dark and moody album, which deals with far from ‘vanilla’ subjects brought them international renown.
In its original 10 track form, it is a welcome cocoon - throbbing, hypnotic and unwilling to release you. A Stockholm syndrome inducing album if you like. The extra tracks on the rereleases seem to fill up space and add nothing to it for me. But as an OG, I am a willing slave to this mesmerising, pulsating cave of dark delights.
Tim Buckley
2/5
I feel like I had to be there, i.e. in 1969, to really feel this record.
The fact that he is so experimental is admirable.
The way he uses his voice is interesting.
However, the way I feel about it is:
Not happy
Not sad
And definitely not bothered!
Napalm Death
1/5
Was this really a collection of different songs? Supposedly the two sides had very different band members and feel. It sounded to me like one long audition for Monsters, Inc.
After Multinational Corporations the
Instinct of Survival kicked in and I went in for The Kill. I felt like Scum - Caught in a dream with Polluted Minds. I Sacrificed myself to the Siege of Power, relinquishing Control. Born on your knees you and I and we are all Human Garbage. You Suffer, I suffer, we all suffer this travesty of noise. If you find the music in this auditory assault then I salute you. Each to their own!
Pink Floyd
5/5
Which person, who spent any school year in the late 70s/ early 80s didn’t have their own version of Another Brick in the Wall?
Hey [own teacher’s name here] leave us kids alone.
And who doesn’t have it stuck in their head now for days to come?
I love the album
I love the film
I owned the vinyl, the CD and I saw the movie in my local cinema as a teenager and was blown away.
Thank the algorithm for this, I needed something iconic after the hellmouth of Napalm Death.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
The boys play good
The man sings great
The songs are fine (if overlong and samey)
But this ain’t no Harvest
Supertramp
3/5
When I was young, I was convinced this epitomised American MOR. So I was pretty gobsmacked when I found out they were English. I still think they sound like American MOR. I also feel like some of the songs would have fit right into an episode of Glee. Even though, turns out, not one Supertramp song turned up in the show. A couple of songs are iconic. And really easy to listen to. I knew the singles but some songs drag a bit. Although I love that harmonica intro.
Decent album - Bloody Well Right!
Miles Davis
2/5
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. Staggering talent - but not my cup of tea.
Just not silent enough!
Slade
3/5
More fun than I thought, although their spelling is atrocious (tee hee). Probably won’t listen to it again, but it was easy enough on the ears. They are more than just ‘that’ Christmas song and ‘Mama, we’re all crazee now’ is a classic. I think what I’ve always liked about Slade, whenever I’ve seen them on television playing or in an interview, is just they always seemed to be having a good time. I know that’s not the whole story - they’ve had problems like most bands but during their heyday their glee was manifest.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
Previously I’ve only been familiar with the greatest hits. Today I was so slammed with doing other stuff. I listened to this in five minute bursts. And did not appreciate it. I guess I just wasn’t feeling it. But I realised I had to give it another shot and give it the listen it deserved. So, cat on chest, I sat with no distractions and I’m not sure I felt any different. I looked up the lyrics and I found them quite nuanced and in some cases profound. The silence of the ‘riot’ song was ver clever. I also like a funky beat. So why the two together didn’t move me in any way, I cannot quite say. I know that I hate the yodelling song. And runnin’ away reminded me too much of Brotherhood of Man. (Look up BoM song Angelo - frothy nonsense). It strikes me this may be the kind of album that if I listen to it 10 more times I might feel more kindly towards it. But I don’t have that time. Today it sits squarely in the middle with added brownie points for Family Affair.
Arcade Fire
4/5
I’ve seen these guys described as grandiose and overblown. That is obviously my vibe because I am loving this. I’d heard all the singles before and really enjoyed them. But how I really discovered them was a couple of years after this album was released, when I heard Peter Gabriel‘s cover of ‘my body is a cage’, which I thought was hauntingly beautiful. I put it on repeat for days. Then I sought out the original, finding out that it was Arcade Fire and from this album. I still think their version is fabulous, but PG takes the biscuit in grandiose. Those violins cut me to my core. And any song that can make me simultaneously sing, cry and dance at 6:30 in the morning is a masterpiece. Both versions have this ability.
As for the remainder of the album, there is a dark undercurrent of literary allusion and narrative storytelling that is quite compelling. It’s complemented by the timbre of Win Butler’s voice which conveys real passion and infuses every song with the emotional quality of dystopian poetry. Coupled with those hypnotic melodies its place on this list is well-deserved.
All I want now:
Set my spirit free
Set my body free
Etc etc
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
Mellifluous, smooth voice. Nice groove. Admirable political slant. Not digging the ‘Jesus’ track but a decent album overall. Great ending on ‘Love to the People’. We should all subscribe to that:
Little bit of brotherhood
Guarantee it can be good for the soul
John Martyn
5/5
I came to the John Martyn party late. It was the turn of the millennium - my life changed and my friends changed. One new friend used to spend a lot of late nights with me drinking wine and listening to John Martyn, with a bit of Cassandra Wilson thrown in. Not my usual style, but I came to love this genre-defying lyrical genius. Each song is infused with love and compassion and profound emotion. That voice just sucks you in.
On the day JM died I happened to be listening to a radio show where the DJ was a massive fan. He turned over the show, the whole three hours into a dedication to his work. He didn’t really play the songs (maybe one or two per hour). What he did was to let people ring in and share their experiences of what JM meant to them. It was a masterclass in radio. There was a lot of emotion, a lot of tears but joy as well. The synchronicity worked for me, as if I hadn’t had those late nights with wine and Solid Air it would have meant nothing.
Every song resonates for me and marks a turning point in my life. Fan-bloody-tastic!
Sonic Youth
3/5
I’m pretty sure I had this album. And yet I remember relatively little about it. I am letting it roll over me - fine but not fabulous. Sugar Kane was the highlight.
Ryan Adams
4/5
Poetic lyrics - check.
Emotional vocals – check.
Great melodies - check.
Excellent harmonica – check.
All elements that I really appreciate and thanks to Jen being the first person to really turn me onto him. I had heard some of his songs in the early 2000s . But then I have vague memories of being in Selfridge’s and buying his next album, Gold on her recommendation and really loved his style.
There are so many lovely songs on here. Today, Bartering Lines really touched me.
Whenever I have tried to get my English compatriots to listen and appreciate him, they always think I mean Bryan Adams and run a mile. They haven’t quite made the differentiation yet. And there are still scars from Everything I Do… To think that one small letter - B - stands between them discovering a whole new beautiful world of music. There’s still hope, though.
3/5
A bit nuts, but lots of fun. It does feel quite dated, but I am always excited to see what tv series or film Mark Mothersbaugh is writing for now. The talent and production qualities are up there. Blissfully short but I miss Whip It.
Massive Attack
3/5
I do love Unfinished Sympathy, and there were some good pulsating rhythms in there. But was fairly apathetic about the rest. Was not entranced by this as much as I thought it would be.
Jerry Lee Lewis
3/5
It’s weird, isn’t it, when prior knowledge informs your opinion. For lack of time and inclination, I knew nothing about Ryan Adams’ despicable behaviour or abuse allegations the other day. I based my score purely on listening to the songs. I don’t think my score would have been as positive had I known those things about him.
People like Michael Jackson and today’s ‘interesting’ choice, pose more of a challenge. I know too much about them to judge them impartially. My mother is a huge rock ‘n’ roll fan and happily sings along to Jerry Lee Lewis without prejudice, or to be honest, thought.
I, however, listen to these tracks and much as I appreciate they were groundbreaking and energetic and great tunes, my head rules my gut and thinks he was just a perverted nutter.
I do love the song, Money, (That’s What I Want)’ but I think The Flying Lizards do it so much better.
John Martyn
4/5
More John Martyn!
Bonus!
Effortlessly cool. Not as great as Solid Air though.
How I miss those late nights with wine and friends.
Incubus
3/5
Not as gruelling, heavy or raucous as I imagined. I think I’ve avoided this lot because their name suggests a more dissonant and uncomfortable experience than it actually was.
The differing styles surprised me and Battlestar Scralatchica made me laugh out loud. Good on them for mixing it up. Not really inclined to play them again but they didn’t do my head in.
Bill Evans Trio
2/5
I was convinced that the Good Friday offering was going to have something to do with bunnies, chicks, eggs, or Jesus. I racked my brains, placing bets against myself on which album it would be. How wrong was I? The only connection being that there is a white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.
This is not my type of music, but what I did marvel at was that I could hear each instrument distinctly and how they wove together effortlessly. I especially loved the drums. I can understand why this album is so revered. But I wouldn’t choose to listen to it again voluntarily.
Beatles
4/5
Highly enjoyable. I understand why they made such an impact.
Johnny Cash
5/5
Just great. Apart from the songs, he has a brilliant rapport with the audience and some witty repartee to boot. Loved every moment of this. Classic songs! They didn’t have to beep out the swear words (which was slightly grating) but it was fun filling the words in for myself.
Metallica
2/5
I love an orchestra - they make this almost bearable. I admire thé effort that went into these arrangements, although they teased me with an Ennio Morricone opening which made me think it was going to be better than it was.
I quite like some of the melodies, in parts.
I do not like the vocals at all.
But I absolutely hate 2 1/2 hours of S&M in all senses. They may have thought the play on words was funny, but it just accentuated the torture for me.
I’ll just repeat in a shouty way - Two and a half HOURS!!!
It really will only be Once in my lifetime - I can’t go through that again.
Franz Ferdinand
5/5
There have been some albums on this list where I never want to hear them again. Some of them I’m not sure I ever wanted to listen to in the first place. There are some albums where I’m intrigued enough to think - I must go back to that later and have another listen . And then there are the albums that are so interwoven with my history and psyche that I know them well and just put them straight on repeat.
This is one of those albums. We used to have it on every day in an office I worked in all those years ago. It was a firm favourite and we all sang along. I still love Franz Ferdinand and I’m still singing along. I’m sure they can be accused of being a bit too samey but that type of samey is fine by me.
Louis Prima
4/5
Too early for The Jungle Book, I know. But wouldn’t this album have been amazing if it had King Louie’s ‘wanna walk like you’ on here? This was just lively, uplifting, joyous fun. Loved it. Not necessarily the wildest, but the funnest? For sure!
Stevie Wonder
3/5
A couple of good songs here. Superstition is funky and driving and dynamic but a lot of the album is anodyne, cloying and a bit too saccharine. If this was really a talking book it would be by Jojo Moyes.
Suzanne Vega
4/5
Great storyteller and such a strong first album. The Queen and the Soldier reduces me to tears every time! I never bought any Vega albums, so she was never on my playlist. Nevertheless, whenever I do hear her songs I am always carried along and impressed. .
The Stooges
4/5
Ignore the cover which is very dated and these songs are timeless. Massively, gloriously adolescent and rough at times but they ‘were’ young and basically having a laugh. I could recognise the John Cale production values - I hope he had fun doing it. I certainly had fun listening to it.
Mercury Rev
3/5
I was walking past a small, intimate, local concert venue a few days back, trying to remember who I was supposed to see in said venue many years back but had to miss the gig due to various broken limbs. Could I remember? Not on your Nelly.
And then this album popped up this morning and I am pretty sure it was Mercury Rev I missed that time. I love the ethereal quality of this album. Donahue’s voice has very sweet childlike qualities. The overall impact is not brilliant but it has a very space agey quality. I could have been in an episode of Star Trek. Goddess of the Hiway is gorgeous. Not sure how I’d feel if I actually got to see them all those years ago. They’re falling very much in the middle for me now although I do love all the experimentation. But whereas The Stooges made me feel bouncy and upbeat yesterday, this lot just make feel wistful and dreamy.
The irony of this album being about ‘walking away’ and me simultaneously not being able to walk into the venue has not escaped me.
Aerosmith
2/5
Overblown, histrionic guff!
A couple of the songs are catchy enough but I’ve never particularly liked Steven Tyler’s voice and these songs don’t really grab me. Not my cup of tea.
Pulp
5/5
I spent a lot of time in the early 90s out with a friend, attending different Pulp gigs around London, even before they became mega. She had a massive crush on Russell, the violin player.
I loved Jarvis Cocker’s style and swagger. The songs are witty and clever and great social commentary, which still resonates today. Some of these songs were part of the Set List even before the album was released so they already felt familiar. Pulp were to the young British disaffected chattering class what Bruce Springsteen was to NJ blue collar workers. Their voice - their call to arms! It oozes brilliance!
I still have the old Pulp CDs knocking around and they hold up. And Bar Italia is still a permanent fixture in Soho. This album is pre-Jarvis’s fantastic ‘mooning Michael Jackson at the Brits’ moment but I knew he was cool way before then.
Most definitely in a different class!
Grateful Dead
2/5
For all their fame and influence, I have never listened to a Grateful Dead album. The most impact they’ve had on me is eating Cherry Garcia ice cream. That whole, psychedelic jazz, rock, improvisational, instrumentals, extended solos stuff interspersed with feedback, is not my thing. Although I do appreciate the talent and the seminal works, I can’t say I feel I’ve missed anything. But I have now listened to one of their albums, thanks to this project. I still prefer the ice cream.
Gang Of Four
3/5
Well, that cover is intense, isn’t it? Sums up their political stance pretty well!
I do remember the Gang of Four vaguely but not too much. And where did they go? Apparently still touring with different iterations but they fell off my radar early. And I don’t know why because they tick a lot of personal likes boxes.
I think the more I listen to this the better I will like it.
4/5
This came out in a tumultuous year and it still has the power to shake.
The songs are all thematic and full of drama. Love the horns. The songs do feel very ‘of their time’ but transportative rather than old hat.
Lost youth
Lost love
Lost hope
Who knew that 40 years later I would still feel that ache?
Bob Dylan
3/5
Some classic songs and early enough that his voice is completely fried.
Loved the first side but my interest waned on the second. But most of it still resonates today,
Jane Weaver
2/5
This project is great when it throws up surprising and contemporary albums that I’ve never heard of. For that experience, I am eager and grateful.
However, on seeing this pop up, my first reactions were:
Jane Weaver – who?
Modern Kosmology (with a K) – why?
Is it really that original and different enough to be on this list?
I’m afraid I was underwhelmed.
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
What an eclectic mix of sounds and styles. Somehow it all gels together into a fantastic melange. A psychedelic, heady mix of politics and drugs so redolent of 1967, and its summer of Love.
I was also reminded of the Doors and a bit of Jefferson Airplane. The homage to Grace Slick was quite appropriate, since Joe’s, at times, androgynous voice actually sounded like Grace Slick.
I would feel quite happy to come back and explore more of this. It’s more of a 3.5 for me….
Jane's Addiction
2/5
Of course, I know of Jane’s Addiction, but had pretty much signed them off as ‘not my thing’.
This was definitely an exercise in traversing peaks and troughs. The first three songs were a bit of an endurance test and I didn’t find much to latch onto. “Obvious “and “been caught stealing “were much better and I actively like the latter. It’s got a good hook. Then the back half just turned into a winding, meandering dry riverbed of songs, going on for miles but with no current or flow to carry me along. The themes were interesting and meaty and tragic but I didn’t feel those long, long solos did them any justice.
Also, don’t rip off Ian Dury if you’re going to be so bad as to be insulting.
One point each for the good songs.
Big Black
3/5
Solid! Kerosene was eminently listenable. A very accessible punk sound. I liked the energy but it didn’t particularly make a lasting impact.
Def Leppard
2/5
Very dated man cheese for teenage boys. Not the stream of the 1980s I want to remember. No thanks!
Aretha Franklin
5/5
What can I say - it’s Aretha!
Thin Lizzy
3/5
Much as I love Thin Lizzy and knew a lot of the songs I could’ve done without a very long live album. if it indeed can be called live. Too long, too many guitar solos, wore my patience a bit thin. Their singles are absolute belters though. But I prefer smaller doses.
Jazmine Sullivan
2/5
I admire the premise behind this, the tenet of sexual empowerment for women and a level playing field for all. I also respect the subversion of “ooh, ooh baby “ music. But it still remains that I find “ooh, ooh baby “ music eminently dull. It’s sad and ironic that this just bored me and I’m not sure it will have a lasting legacy. I quite liked the little stories acting as punctuation. It kinda annoys me though that people believe that feelings and these female experiences have only been invented in the past 25 years. There are hundreds of years of history of struggle and fighting for empowerment and some women just did it lot better! Sorry Jazmine - I am not feeling you.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
Love the armadillo. The rest is just noise!
Black Sabbath
3/5
I’m not sure whether I’ve had an undetected lobotomy recently, or I’m in an episode of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but whilst I could not stand the first Black Sabbath album, this one has had a weird effect on me. I still don’t particularly like Ozzy Osbourne’s voice, but it did not sound as hateful to me on this album as the first. This album actually sounded like music, with hooks and melodies and all. I think I’m in shock. This is actually a good listen.
The Strokes
3/5
I remember when this album came out and everybody around me loved it, bought it, played it to death, went to all the gigs. I can understand why people love these songs; they are dynamic and driving and in some ways just good tunes. I can remember at the time though, being put off by the fact that they were arrogant tosspots. It stopped me from really ever getting into them. So, much as I think they are a talented bunch who turned a musical tide, I am always loath to fully engage.
Paul McCartney and Wings
2/5
I never really liked Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles music. It’s insipid. Frankly, the frog chorus was genius compared to this.
Elis Regina
3/5
Rational side of me says: her voice is great, fantastic range, interesting arrangements, good musical diversity.
Emotional side of me remembers too many nights in Ronnie Scott’s listening to this type of music and being totally underwhelmed!
If anyone remembers jazz club guy from The Fast Show - that’s all I can think of right now. He would be mesmerised by Elis. I feel like she’s a glass of lukewarm cola in a hot country after a ten hour flight.
Buena Vista Social Club
3/5
This album definitely deserves its place on this list. A realm of music, almost lost but resurrected. The film of the same name
showing the old musicians is a cool watch as well.
It definitely has its own place, it’s not everyday music but holiday music or Sunday afternoon in a hotel ballroom kind of music. It flows over me like a brisa.
Not a type of music I would choose to play but right time, right place it casts a spell and you can get pulled into the warm current and caressed by the breeze.
It’s more like a 3.5 but if the sun was shining it would maybe be a 4.
John Lennon
4/5
Imagine there was no John Lennon
It’s tricky if you try
No Beatles or Bed-ins or Imagine
No tears on the day he died
Imagine all the people
Living without Peace!
David Bowie
3/5
If it weren’t for Breaking Glass and Sound and Vision, this could very well have just been the backing track to a movie. You can hear the Brian Eno ambient influence. At the top of Tottenham Court Road, they have built a white square with images projected on the wall and ambient music playing in the background. It’s a bit like a futuristic waiting room. People sit in there watching the images and meet their friends. The music played there sounds like it could have come straight off this album. A perfectly pretentious soundscape for looking at scenery. It’s really a 2.5 but…
Richard Hawley
4/5
I’m not sure that this should be the Richard Hawley album we review. Let me tell you why.
It’s 2003! I’m listening to a radio show where every week they play a new album in its entirety – I suppose so that people can listen and decide whether they’ll go out and buy it. In the days when people still bought albums. They played Richard Hawley’s Lowedges and the impact was so forceful and instantaneous, I immediately went out to buy it. It’s haunting and wistful and just darned beautiful and I can still listen to it and hardly find a dud moment. He is a master of the noir lullaby.
When Coles Corner came up this morning, i hadn’t listened to either album in a long while so I decided to listen to Lowedges first. If CC is supposed to be a better album, then I wanted to hear the progression and find out where the improvements lay.
CC is still a beautiful album. Richard Hawley at times sounds like Roy Orbison or Glenn Campbell. A crooner for our times.
But Lowedges was RH going out on his own, flying solo from all the bands that he’d played with previously and finding his own style. It was a revelation. Easily a 4.5. And you can hear why he went on to score music and TV. He manages to sound old-fashioned and ahead of his time simultaneously.
CC the album did not have that same impact on me; it’s floaty and gentle and full of love, but not as haunting. He’s more mature, but does that make the music better? There are some standout songs but they all seem to merge after a while. For me, this is a 3.5.
But for the fact that I listened to two RH albums in one day and felt blissfully mellow afterwards I commend him.
Astor Piazzolla
1/5
I am sure that they are masters of their arts, but I found this unbearable. To the extent that I was mentally exercising the art of seppuku.
Solomon Burke
3/5
Some great classics on here. Lovely mellow tunes and fab voice.. Pleasant listening after yesterday’s headf***! Great just to have on in the background.
Common
3/5
Wasn’t really enamoured of the rapping or the lyrics. But I did enjoy the beats and the melodies and the samples that underpinned everything. And I preferred the songs with collaborators who actually sang. I found Common’s droning a little lacklustre.
The Stone Roses
4/5
This is a great album and some very fine tunes on here. It is however a very hard listen for me. The first day that I heard it, 17 November 1989, someone put on the album when I was back in college and it was a day of some very bittersweet memories. So I still find it hard to listen to it the whole way through. I have to break it down into smaller chunks, and listen to the better known songs that I can sing along to. Otherwise it just becomes a mass of melancholia and ruefulness. And even though Ian Brown may not have great range, those melodies pull you in and I was absolutely a fan of that Madchester movement.
Japan
3/5
I used to love Japan back in the day. David Sylvian was very pretty to look at and the songs seemed so different. Listening now is a different experience. That cover of All Tomorrow’s Parties is an absolute travesty and should not exist. A Quiet Life is still a good song and the album is decent. What seemed so different and exciting then has slightly lost its lustre though.
Fiona Apple
3/5
Not over!
Not under!
Just middlingly whelmed!
Now where’s my 2.5 option?
Small Faces
2/5
Typical 1960s nutty psychedelic madness. I honestly thought that Eric Idle was the narrator on side 2. Monty Python meets The Kinks. Lazy Sunday is still a brilliant song and stands the test of time. Side two was a crazy concept, but fun if you could ride that silly wave. Admirable but I don’t feel I need to listen to it again..
King Crimson
3/5
I remember my folks having a different King Crimson album – Larks tongues in aspic. I never heard them play it. So I was intrigued when I heard this album what direction they may have taken. I definitely enjoyed select parts of this album. Some of it was a bit too noodley-woodley and a bit too jazzy. But I quite liked the trippy dippy elements. In places they sounded like Pink Floyd and the lyrics were very prescient. I liked it enough to then play Lark’s… which is way too prog rock for me. I now know why my parents never played it. But this was intriguing and compelling in places. It lost me halfway through moonchild and all I wanted to do was roll my eyes and sigh, but pulled it back right at the end.
And unfortunately I don’t think in 50 years we’ve gone that far:
Knowledge is a deadly friend
If no one sets the rules
The fate of all mankind I see
Is in the hands of fools
Beach House
3/5
It’s Carer’s week in the UK. So Take Care is apt. It’s also near enough the best of the bunch, apart from Lover of Mine. It’s easy, pleasant music, very much like a cut-price Flaming Lips but not as good. Mmm - significantly unmemorable. A classic 2.5.
Sonic Youth
2/5
I listened to this first thing in the morning and was singularly unimpressed. However, whilst I was waiting for the sun to come up and the only noise I could hear was the cat talking to the wind I thought I would give it another spin. The first four songs are definitely for late night sessions. They drip with smoke and insouciance. But then it just degenerated into discordant self-indulgent claptrap.
I do love the cover though.
Stan Getz
3/5
Another apposite selection. Astrud Gilberto dies and the next day we get this. Bossa nova is a type of jazz I can tolerate. Girl from Ipanema is a great tune. The songs do all tend to blend into each other but it’s very pleasant background music. I will always remember being on a cruise round Norway where the band played Girl from Ipanema seemingly every day on the observation deck. Seemed a bit out of place at the time but it was a very chilled vibe!
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
This music is interesting, but never engaging. It was everywhere when I was a kid, but it never particularly interested me then. There is something very sterile about it that precludes any emotional entanglement. I do like Mr Blue Sky though. Especially on a sunny day.
Bob Dylan
3/5
I feel like I say the same thing over and over when it comes to Bob Dylan. He is a brilliant lyricist. The songs are classics but they do go on a bit. Never a fan of his voice and I do think that sometimes the covers of his songs are better than his. Case in point - The Byrds version of Tambourine Man! I did prefer the first half - so the electric part - the acoustic part wore a little thin. But there’s no denying he is a damn fine poet.
Sigur Rós
4/5
The past couple of days have been an exercise in defining perception and memory. My memories of Sigur Ros are Hopipolla (fantastic song but later than this) and going into a club in Park City in 2003 (with some of you folks, you know who you are) and them playing on stage. A couple of events this weekend have made me question perception and memories and have me doubt myself to the nth degree. So when this popped up I was ready to disbelieve those memories and think that band in Utah was a different band, maybe similar or a tribute. In fact, was I even there? But thanks to the good old InterWeb I looked up a gig list and it WAS Sigur Ros. I can trust that memory at least. I can’t say they were the most scintillating live band but they did contribute to a more carefree time infused with great memories. Today has been frustrating and stressful but this Dream Pop managed to keep me calm and relaxed and put me in a perfect mood to deal with daily shite! For that I am very grateful. Dream Pop does sound like illegal candy though. It’s probably a 3.5 but a much needed vibe so let’s go…
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
Dissonant, meandering, mumbling, fuzzy, unintelligible.
It’s “A” type of music but not “My” type of music.
David Bowie
3/5
I really wanted this album to be all killer, no filler. It was in the folks’ record collection, but all I could really remember was heroes and beauty and the beast. This album suffers from the syndrome of having one absolutely blindingly, magical tune, a couple of decent songs and then a whole load of instrumental filler. Heroes holds a lot of good memories for me and it’s frankly iconic in DB’s canon. I think most people, whether they like Bowie or not, have absorbed this tune via osmosis. It’s amazing and will forever remind me of working on a play called Dolphins can swim written by my mate. It also reminds me of my cousin who was such a DB devotee her handle was A Lass Insane and flew from Australia to see him perform at Glastonbury. Great memories but, boy, the rest of the album is duff. I have the vinyl but I doubt I’ll ever listen to side 2 again.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Like an elderly aunt who smells slightly of stale wee and has bristly whiskers, I have avoided listening to Led Zeppelin in large doses. I tolerate small quantities. Although I know some of their tunes are amazing. Anyone who grew up watching Top of the Pops will have Whole Lotta Love forever ingrained in their musical psyche. I really wasn’t sure if I’d tolerate a whole album. But I surprised myself and found myself actively engaged. There seem to be a whole lotta instrumental solos but that was okay; the vocals are my least favourite elements of this. I appreciated the melodies even if some seemed overly earnest and just a whole lotta overkill. Happy to revisit this elderly aunt with a peg on my nose and some tweezers.
Public Enemy
3/5
Still culturally and politically relevant. Has no-one taken any notice for the past 35 years? I love that it’s angry and in-yer-face but I guess a bit too long and not varied enough for me. But there are some iconic tunes in this. Fight the Power!
Nick Drake
3/5
Perfect late-night chill out vibe. Day is Done is poetic and beautiful. The whole album puts me in mind of parties back in the day when at 3am there’d only be a handful of people awake, one boy in the corner with a guitar and this or something of this ilk on the turntable. As I’ve called it before it’s 1960s navel-gazing but sweet nevertheless
The Electric Prunes
2/5
If you were to tell me this was a band devised by AI to sound like 1967, I would wholeheartedly believe you. They’re a little bit of this, a little bit of that. They’re a little bit the velvets, a little bit monkees, a little bit Procol Harum, a little bit moody blues. What they aren’t is coherent or cohesive and it sounds like they haven’t found their own voice yet. So it’s difficult to muster any excitement or enthusiasm for something so passionless, disparate and lacking in direction. From the sounds of it, I don’t think they were happy with most of the album either. Started off with some interesting concepts, executed with startling unoriginality.
Pink Floyd
2/5
Well, they had to start somewhere.
So they started… there.
Drive-By Truckers
3/5
I could have done without it being a double album. Too long. Interesting evaluation of the dichotomy within ‘The South’. If it had been half as long I would have been more engaged but even though I enjoyed the country rock more than I expected as well as the socio-political delvings I had way more than a bellyful by the end. Less is more, chaps!
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
I cannot deny that the guy can write a song and absolutely knows his audience. I would say every tune is a crowd pleaser. There’s not one filler/dud track on here. I can definitely listen to this, without any adverse feelings, can sing along happily and understand the poignancy. Can’t fault it really.
David Bowie
5/5
The quintessential David Bowie. This is possibly my favourite album of his. The one from the Bamford family vaults, the original vinyl still languishing on a shelf and very much loved. I was four when my parents bought this so it became part of my musical upbringing. I sat reading the lyrics whilst they spun the vinyl and sang Kooks to me. Which they did for years afterwards. I still have a card somewhere from my father saying, thank you for “taking a chance on a couple of Kooks “. The song still makes me cry. But even more than that, each song is so well crafted and feels like it belongs here. It contributes to the whole. There is not one song that I don’t love.
Queen Latifah
3/5
Sounds very dated now and very samey. I admire her for smashing down a few boundaries and a glass ceiling or two. Good melding of samples, hip hop, house and jazz. But it did all just blur into one repetitive jam for me. It would be a 2.5 but more power to her elbow for breaking a few conventions and blazing a trail for female rappers.
3/5
I prefer their earlier work when they were a bit more raw and punky. This is when they became definitively ardent U2. Not quite self-satisfied U2, but they know their audience. They know how to write a good tune, but I don’t necessarily care after track three.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
The word classic gets bandied about a lot. And this is absolutely classic and seminal and influential and all those words. It also has personal resonance in that it was used in a play I did. But much as they are great tunes - Hey Joe is a belter (although I’m not sure if I prefer the Patti Smith version) - there is something that doesn’t quite emotionally connect with me. I appreciate the virtuoso performance and the talent and sometimes wonder if that talent would have prevailed if he’d lived longer but I am not that bothered if I don’t hear it again for a long while.
The Last Shadow Puppets
4/5
Gene Pitney and the Shadows time travel to 21st century Sheffield. Stonking.
AC/DC
2/5
I’m sorry about Bon Scott but Brian Johnson would not have been my choice as a replacement singer. I find his voice unbearable. I already had a headache from being stuck on a tube with a mass of screaming children and then I had to listen to this screech. I can only say No so many times! Mind you I’m not sure I liked Scott’s voice much either. The music underneath is pretty good but this isn’t an instrumental album. It’s full of sexist lyrics and macho attitudes and I am not okay with that. What a start to the week!
Cream
3/5
Great tracks - enjoyed the psychedelia and the Music Hall tribute Mother’s Lament made me chortle. Couple of absolute classics - Sunshine of your love and Strange Brew. Not one I would want to put on repeat but I appreciate the range and diversity of talent.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
I can definitively testify that this is perfect music to listen to when you’re poorly. The music is soothing and gentle on the ear. Although here, it can be repetitive and is very much a second player to the lyrics – it’s also quite soporific, but sometimes you need that in music. It doesn’t always have to be challenging or uplifting. Different vibes for different moods.
The lyrics are the star here. They are poems with a score. Frank’s tricksy phrasing is ever-present. But I don’t think it’s always necessary. For instance, “I get along without you very well” is a beautiful song but I don’t think Frank’s version is the best. Listen to the Lew Stone band version which is a little more simplistic, a traditional 1940s band version, but somehow it makes the lyrics even more bittersweet.
I will say that I was so glad for this album today because anything more upbeat or raucous would have tipped me over the edge. This is perfect recovery music, so thank you for that, Frank. In my mind, this is 3.5, clever poetry but not so interesting melodically. Production values are great though.
Pulp
3/5
Not Hardcore but angst-ridden and a teensy bit self-indulgent, self-flagellating, woe is me and my career! Don’t get me wrong! I love Pulp - but I loved the raw, humorous, observational energy of their earlier records more. This has entered the realms of derivative and bemoaning of life. I wonder if this was because at the height of their fame, and pursued by paparazzi, it was all too much for JC. I still think he’s a great songwriter, but I would say this was hitting a downward trend.
Linkin Park
4/5
I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end, it doesn't even matter
I always surprise myself how much I like Linkin Park. I do love In the End - it’s one of those songs I can listen to on repeat. Great sound and energy.
Television
4/5
Another one from the annals of the Bamford family. This played on our record player from the time I was nine. I still love hearing the crackles of a proper LP. It’s clever, poetic, strikingly original for its time. Lines like - I fell right into the arms of Venus de Milo - are poignant but also humorous - highlighting the absurdity of adolescent love. But it’s not just lyrically astute, those guitars suck you in. These are talented musicians whose legacy is incontrovertible. The songs draw you in, they have good hooks. I love this not only for the nostalgic blast but because they can write damn good songs. It’s not quite a 5 today for me though.
Brian Eno
3/5
Don’t get me wrong this is pleasant. I’m not sure it’s groundbreaking. But it’s fine twiddling along in the background. In fact I think I’ve heard friends practise their instruments and sound just like this.
I also don’t think it’s music for airports.
Song one – music for reflexology treatment room
Song two – music for theological museum
Song three - music for gritty BBC drama series
Song four - music for planetarium entrance hall.
And to be honest, if it was used as Hold music I might be less irate every time I have to ring IT services!
The Smiths
4/5
Gosh - so, being British we did not have How Soon is Now on our version. It was only on Overseas versions. Which is a terrible oversight. Such a brilliant song and elevates the content so for now I might have to be an honorary American… whatever you think of the Morrissey/Marr Macédoine they were so new and refreshing and different from the rest of the Top of the Pops contenders of those times. They created great and enduring music.
The Specials
4/5
I love The Specials and was really upset when Terry Hall died so young last year. They played mostly ska but also experimental and brave, I loved Hall’s laconic style, world-weary, worn and bitter but with that angry political bite. This isn’t their best album but it has some great tunes on it. I was so glad to see them live for their 30th year reunion tour back in 2009. They had the audience up and dancing and totally captivated the whole time. For that memory alone I doff my cap.
Muddy Waters
3/5
For some reason I thought Muddy Waters was from a much earlier era - not just the 60s and 70s but I thought he’d started off way before that and had no idea he was still issuing blues albums when the rest of the world had gone Punk and New Wave. These are great songs but it does tend to feel like an extended theme - not too much differentiation. Mannish Boy is a classic though. It should be a 3.5 really!
Parliament
3/5
Give Up the Funk - seminal Chooooooon!
Fun, upbeat - perfect for a Monday morning where the News is tinged with doom.
Suede
4/5
Suede may not think they’re Britpop but they certainly burst onto the scene when all the other Britpoppers were swaggering along. They kind of got pigeon holed into that swathe of swaggerers. For some reason, and certain people still do it, the band name has to be pronounced with about four syllables in a very nasal Estuary English accent. It needs to be heard really. But I guess you spell it Swaaaaa-aaaa-de! And that still persists nearly 30 years later.
I went to see this lot in La Scala at Kings Cross in 2002 and even then it seemed like a comeback tour after all the fallings out. What they retained was that raw emotion, the pain and torture in every syllable. Maybe that’s why you have to say their name in such a tortured way. Suede is not a word, it’s an emotional pain-inducing device.
But I love that overwrought, slightly pretentious, literary approach. I’m with them all the way.
Tom Tom Club
2/5
Am I missing something here?
Tom Tom Club! They were fine in 1981, but completely forgotten about by 1982.
Why is this on the list?
1981 – Boomtown Rats
1981 - Bananarama
1981 – Ultravox
None of these are on the list even though they had clout and wield influence decades later. And yet Tom Tom Club whose music is candy floss on the tongue (instantly evaporated) and who seem to be lauded only because they’re an offshoot of Talking Heads have earned a place?
Wordy Rappinghood and Genius of Love, good songs and great in Clubs but I’m still fairly incredulous. Or maybe angry!
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
4/5
Never heard of this guy before but I immediately took to him. Very spare songs, morose and melancholy. I even started listening to it a second time. Might not be the most original material but very relatable - hit the right note with me.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3/5
I feel like these songs are the equivalent of the nursery rhymes of the modern musical revolutionary experience. Everybody knows them and learns them when they are young. The songs have become woven into the fabric of our society. They are part of our foundations. It means they’re important but you don’t necessarily have to love them. You just have to doff your hat to them and acknowledge their influence.
It’s difficult to look at these young men who looked way older than their years, and remember that this was once fresh and exciting. Now it’s music that our forebears loved and old souls dance to.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
I think this may be my favourite Bob Marley & The Wailers album yet. Moody and political and doesn’t sound samey! Whereas usually I can only tolerate reggae in bite-sized doses I listened to this straight off and enjoyed the vibe.
Leonard Cohen
5/5
I’ve never met a Leonard Cohen song I didn’t like. I love this album. It’s been one of my go-tos for years. I saw him sing at the Royal Albert Hall and even though he was pushing 80, he sang for three hours and still had charisma in spades. Timeless!
Pet Shop Boys
5/5
Fantastic dance tracks, scathing political commentary. Who knew satire could work in a song. Neil Tennant’s dry delivery just makes it - this proves two men and a synth can accomplish so much.
I embraced them from when I first heard West End Girls in 1984. Apparently that was a hit in France and Belgium, which makes sense now because I was dancing to it in a Parisian nightclub in 1985. Me and my friend were the only ones who knew every word because we were the only British people there. The French kids did know the chorus though. But I digress!
The beats, the delivery - every tune has impact. I think most people know It’s a Sin from the recent TV series, even people who weren’t there in the 80s. So that’s been given a much-appreciated revival.
I’m not gonna deny that it sounds very 80s, but I don’t find that a derogatory comment. This album encapsulate the British political and emotional climate of the time and I can listen to those tunes even now and get carried away!
Derek & The Dominos
2/5
I know it’s an algorithmic random generator, but I think they missed a trick by not tweaking the algorithm to play Sinéad O’Connor today (for those who had not already heard it). Instead we get this dreary, dull miasma of love songs. More D words for Derek and his dominoes - I felt detached, disconnected and a bit deflated.
One point for artistry.
One point for Layla - it’s an undeniable classic.
Half a point for the Frandsen de Schomberg cover.
Nil points for the Terrible version of Little Wing.
The rest is Dreck!
Beatles
3/5
This is a complete mish-mash. It’s incohesive and much as some of the songs are great the album doesn’t hold together. George is the star of the show here. I did really like I Want You as well. I couldn’t remember when I last heard that so it was good to hear. Not as iconic as folklore would have me believe.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
4 Yeahs for the 3 Yeahs!
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
Reason
Season
Lifetime
That old adage about friends translates to albums just as well. Music we listened to half a lifetime ago can simultaneously feel like an old friend, but whose influence and thrall have since worn thin.
In spite of Billy Corgan’s propensity for being a nut job, I did listen to some of the songs with a wistful nostalgic sigh. 1979 and Tonight, Tonight and Bullet with Butterfly Wings all took me back and I glossed over the fact that he just can’t sing. This album was also so long it outstayed its welcome by a long shot.
The best thing was on YouTube someone had made a video of some very cute rescue dogs along to Muzzle. So if you were wondering where the fruity dog with endless tristesse was, your melon collie was there. :)
Eric Clapton
2/5
Ho hum!
Most of this just didn’t land with me. Apart from this version of I shot the sheriff and Let it grow I just wasn’t that enthralled. I do find Eric just a bit tedious and politically detestable.
Os Mutantes
2/5
Bonkers!
This basically completed my quorum of bonkers for today:
- Star Trek: strange new worlds – the musical episode (cuckoo bomb bonkers)
- a BBC drama called Wolf (proper bonkers)
- the Ween album (hella bonkers)
- Os mutantes (wtf bonkers)
Reminded me of a Spanish film I saw back in about 1993, called Accion Mutante. There was only one other person (a stranger to me) in the cinema, and when the film finished, we basically walked out into the light, blinking and speechless. It took a minute, but eventually, we grunted at each other, commenting how it was completely nuts. I wish I could ask that guy what he thinks now. I felt the same after this album, blinking in the light and speechless.
It’s not an oppressed reaction but this just made me feel off-balance. And that cover looks like it could be a still from a Hammer Horror movie. But this is definitely a positive from this project - being introduced to music I had no clue about previously. Even if it is banana crackers!
Wilco
3/5
Solid with a late night vibe. Enjoyed the soundscape but never quite blew me away. Began to feel a bit samey and soporific but it would be great to have in the background surrounded by friends, food and beer.
Van Halen
1/5
Unbearable!
Daft Punk
2/5
This is all a matter of context. If I was on a Mediterranean beach, or in a club or even out running, this would be a very different beast. I am doing none of those things. Listening to 75 minutes of this sitting in your bed or sitting at your desk is not optimal. It seems to go on and on and on. There are select songs that I do like on their own. ‘All around the world’ is great, but surrounded by repetitive and dull. Ask me again when I’m on the beach in Ayia Napa - ie never!
M.I.A.
4/5
I wish Paper Planes was on this album. It’s my favourite M.I.A. song. Notwithstanding that, this had me bouncing in my seat and I love her global, kleptomaniac approach to mixing styles with a political stance to boot. I haven’t felt so physically inclined to dance along for a while - so - bonus!! Going to listen to Bad Girls now. This has actually made me happy.
Traffic
3/5
I hate it when people use the word interesting, because it’s usually a euphemism for something horrible. But I did find this “interesting “. A weird blend of folk, jazz, psychedelia and some weird vibe that sounded like the soundtrack to a 1970s cop show. Also, it was mercifully short.
I think anyone who remembers or whose family remembers the late 60s, early 70s, will have had some encounter with Traffic and Stevie Winwood. Cannot deny the man’s got a great voice.
Definitely not a beige album but still verging on innocuous. You never know what you’re going to get with normal traffic, but it was a pretty easy ride through this Traffic.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
There are some real classics on here. Although the album is relatively short, paradoxically each song feels too long. Instead of adopting the “less is more“ approach, each song outstays its welcome. They are pretty easy to listen to, and great background music, but Free Bird might have had more impact if it had flown off five minutes earlier.
The Jam
3/5
A couple of great tunes - Paul Weller is a fantastic songwriter. English Rose is a very clever modern version in the style of an old folk song. A nakedly, emotional song. Some of this, however, did flag for me and even though English Rose and David Watts and Down in the Tube Station… are absolutely brilliant my interest wained on the others. They were very much a band of the moment, but some songs still stand up.
Finley Quaye
4/5
If there was a dedicated algorithm, quantifying music that I love, I doubt Finley Quaye would make an appearance. However, I absolutely love him. My favourite song of his, Dice, is not on here, but I can’t play any Finley Quaye without bookending it with that song. The timbre of his voice, the beats, the melodies – I’m sold. Unfortunately, he’s in the news at the moment for domestic disturbances and aggravating his ex-partner. Such a shame when that just tarnishes a beautiful body of work.
Cyndi Lauper
4/5
My dad bought this album for me on tape when I was 16 years old. Perfect confluence of time and place. I love every song on this album, and even though I haven’t listened to it in many years, I could still sing along to near enough every line. So many classics on one album, even though Side 2 isn’t quite as punchy. And Cyndi Lauper is a brilliantly eccentric, kooky character who still has presence. She can mix it up from upbeat and fun to melancholy ballads all with an 80s synthy vibe. I’d never thought about it before but I certainly used to dress in big net skirts and bovva boots - very Cyndi! Guess what us girls wanna do?
Van Halen
2/5
When I tell people I don’t like heavy metal their retort is always - “have you listened to any?” In the past, I did listen to it but never enjoyed it and I would almost always say it’s the vocals that I found very difficult. They are usually rasping and raucous and grating and unpleasant to my ears. I was watching a TV programme called the Dog House the other day. There was an adorable heavy metal drummer on there who adopted a husky and his argument was the same. He said people who claimed not to like heavy metal, never listen to any. I promise I have, but my reactions are pretty much the same every time. I don’t like listening to it. The guitars and drums are fine and I appreciate the talent. But I don’t enjoy it, in toto. This Van Halen album veers towards the pop so is less undesirable than other albums. Also, I’ve never really got on with the patriarchal, sexist vibe. Not as bad as some.
Deep Purple
1/5
The screaminess and screechiness of most of these songs was matched only by the screaminess and screechiness of my reaction. The best I can say is that there were glimpses of music, which weren’t totally horrendous.
Blur
3/5
Beetlebum and Song 2 are fantastic songs but the rest (forgive me) blurs into a rolling soundscape with not very many highlights. I kind of liked I’m just a killer for your love even though it’s lyrically nonsensical. This album starts off with a bang and ends on a whimper.
Blue Cheer
2/5
I’d never heard of this lot before and while it’s obvious that they were one of the progenitors of early Hard Rock then why have they not been quoted or played more. Possibly because they’re just not that interesting- I did like their cover of Summertime Blues and the album was mercifully short.
Mudhoney
2/5
I’ve had to give this a few attempts to get into it. Much as I really like grunge, my head is not in this today, nor was it yesterday. The album title makes me laugh, and this is seminal material with good energy. But I think I like later grunge with a bit more refinement.
Throbbing Gristle
1/5
Exasperating, nauseating, pointless. This is not music to me.
Arcade Fire
4/5
On paper, Arcade Fire ticks all my boxes. I love that raw emotion and the lyrical content and the music is just the right side of heartbroken. I don’t really know why they haven’t made more ingress in my knowledge base. They are used a lot in TV shows to counterpoint action or as commentary for a montage. Every time I hear them, I remember how much I like them and go on a rabbit hole search listening to certain songs. But just as quickly I forget about them. I can’t say why, whether it’s been a matter of timing or just time.
I do love those violins and Wake Up gets me every time.
Children, don't grow up
Our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up
Ain’t that the truth!
David Bowie
4/5
This almost has too much emotional history for me to sift through. My mother had that hairstyle (from the cover) in 1973/4. My cousin was obsessed with album, even up till recently. When my folks bought the vinyl, I spent a lot of time sitting on the floor, poring over the lyrics on the gatefold and singing along to every song over and over again. I had no idea what they meant. Being a child and all.
I was quite tentative going back to this - like seeing a childhood friend after decades and wondering if you have anything in common any more. I was almost too wound up in overthinking to listen properly. And then I let go, listened again and remembered. Some of the songs are a bit off the wall and nonsensical but they still pack a punch. What I did miss is all the crackles from the vinyl so maybe I need to drag it out.
New Order
4/5
Just great!
I can feel the sunshine vibes and the confluence of instruments and synth make a happy, upbeat dance-rock album.
The re-release of the album featured World in Motion - best football anthem ever (sorry, Three Lions). That on its own is a belter.
George Michael
4/5
I was never a huge George Michael fan. I really like the singles and listening to him in small doses is fun. And I appreciated that this was great pop music.
Apparently my view has not changed over the decades. The first couple of songs on here., I was gung-ho and excited and then my interest waned - possibly when smooth gave way to sleaze - but sort of picked up again towards the end. It’s probably a solid 3.5. I will give him his due, he knew how to compose a pop song: the melody, the hook, the structure, the production – it’s all there. Some days it’s great, somedays I’m happy to leave it alone.
The Jam
4/5
I love how short it is, and it has a very definitive voice. It’s earnest and firmly grounded in that grey, murky Englishness but doesn’t embrace the archness it could. I do love thé punny title and the cover. This is another one that would benefit from a .5 ability.
They have a distinctive sound but once you’ve heard one Jammy album, you’ve pretty much heard them all so I’m not sure how many anyone needs to listen to in order to form an opinion or if all of them are truly vital listens before you peg it.
That’s not to say it’s not great - it is. That’s Entertainment is a beautifully nuanced, artful song and the others follow the band’s normal M.O. So many insightful treatises on a difficult era. I could go through all the songs and say how good they are and so obviously products of The Jam. But unless you’re on their frequency then they may not be your choice of preserve. Being very much present during their heyday they stamped their style over me and anyone who tuned into their social commentary and truly English sensibilities.
Ray Charles
3/5
I do like Ray Charles.
I do like Country & Western.
I do feel, however, like he’s hammered all the C&W out of these tunes though which I’m not sure about.
Bye Bye Love is supposed to be sad and infused with feeling. Not upbeat big band bebop.
That pretty much set the tone and I felt discomfited about it for the rest of the album. These are songs that everybody knows so well but I don’t feel particularly passionate about.
I’m all for pushing the boundaries of genre and I admire the C & W getting a soul makeover but I really couldn’t get into this.
Leonard Cohen
5/5
A fitting swan song.
If you love Leonard Cohen, this doesn’t disappoint.
A little cracklier, a little deeper, a little moodier.
My adoration is unadulterated.
Michael Jackson
2/5
I never owned a Michael Jackson album and was never enamoured with his music as a whole, although some of the songs were definitely great Pop songs. I was really quite scared that I was somehow going to love this and be wracked with conflict. Nowadays, every Michael Jackson song is accompanied by a little voice screaming in the back of my head. He is a controversial character. So I’ve tried to set that aside and just listen to the music. Some of it is good pop music. I also have great memories of Channel 4 premiering the Thriller video when I was 15 years old and watching what is basically a short Halloween film. It was infused with fun and a great beat. It is a classic song. I have difficulties with Billie Jean – as long as I don’t listen to the words it’s a good dance track, same with Beat It. And I positively hate the Paul McCartney collaboration. I’m not sure it’s a conflict I can ever resolve, so I would be happy to come firmly down the middle with a 2.5. Although half a point comes off for the fact that he is unrecognisable after this point. #MJsowhite
Ride
2/5
The Charlatans meets The Stone Roses!
Not bad music at all - I am a fan of shoe gazing Brit bands but this just doesn’t add anything original.
Made about as much impact as a vapour trail.
Hot Chip
3/5
I remember a lot of fuss being made about Hot Chip - they were flavour of the month for a while . I remember them being very quirky and fun. I also like all the layering in the songs. I don’t know why I haven’t listened to them since, but I will try to remember that they are cool.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
4/5
Lovely harmonies
Easy on the ears
Classic “chooons”!
Very Smashie and Nicey (for those who know the comedic reference).
David Bowie
5/5
Compared to some of the DB albums we’ve listened to so far on this list, I feel like this album is one of the most consistent. Instead of being peppered with hits along with experimental Tosh, this one is solid and altogether lovely. Wild is the wind is now an earworm and I cannot stop singing it.
Sam Cooke
3/5
Not sure I am the greatest fan of live albums. The music sounds tinny and distant. But it gave Sam Cooke a chance to be far more gritty and raw and less sweet.
Arcade Fire
4/5
I always seem to say the same thing about Arcade Fire. When I’m listening to them, I love them. And then time and memory turn them into vapour. I wish I had more time to really listen. I had this on in the background yesterday but I was so busy it just filtered through as something that was great to listen to but I couldn’t really concentrate. Until Month of May came on and that had me energised. One day, I’ll have enough time to appreciate them even more. Or maybe not…
PJ Harvey
4/5
Wish I had more time to comment let’s just say she’s great.
Kraftwerk
3/5
In 1978, in my school Gym/Dance class they used to play Kraftwerk for us to compose dances to. I didn’t realise how progressive this was at the time. But the rigid structure absolutely lends itself to anybody trying to choreograph movement. Even uncoordinated, 11-year-olds. The Model still holds up as evidenced by its use as background music on countless TV show montages. Distinctive and original and in some ways timeless.
Metallica
2/5
Apparently you need to give a child a new food stuff between 12 and 30 times for them to accept it. I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to Metallica but I still can’t accept it. I’ll tell you when I get to 31 because obviously then I’m gonna love them. Just not now.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
I Want You is a sinister, psychotic masterpiece. But why anyone would choose that as a first dance at a wedding is completely beyond me. Do these people not listen to the words or the tone? Unfortunately none of the other songs on this album are a patch on it. It carries them all. Much as I love Elvis Costello‘s voice and a lot of his oeuvre, the rest of this album doesn’t particularly do it for me.
Ghostface Killah
2/5
I appreciate the skill and the construction of this album. I like the sampling, the backing tracks, backing singers. I just don’t really appreciate that themes and rapping.
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
So because it’s mine and somebody else’s birthday (hi Jen!) I was considering what would I really want to come up today? And what would Jen want to come up today? But in the true tradition of ‘you don’t always get what you want, but sometimes you might just find, you get what you need’ LCD is what turned up. As I was dancing around my kitchen, cleaning cloth in one hand and bottle of Prosecco in the other, I realised that this was exactly what I needed. The singles from this album were well-chosen. Upbeat, fun and very infective - I’m happy!!
Norah Jones
1/5
I can pretty much never say this woman’s name without an expletive in the middle. She is the Lighthouse Family on beta blockers.
Boring
Bland
Beige
Bleagh!
I will not be coming away with you, I will be hotfooting it away from you quicksmart!
Coldplay
2/5
Given that I have never owned a Coldplay album and yet knew most, if not all,
of these songs, it just goes to show how ubiquitous the band is. As with a lot of things, I can take them in small doses. Like a piece of caramel, one is just about fine, but 11 just make me feel sick. I find them a little too earnest and the songs all meld together into one anodyne mush! They are never surprising or witty or fun. But they’ve honed a particular sound which is cloying but mostly unobjectionable. Unless you have to listen to whole album…
The Doors
4/5
I had this album as a teenager and played it a lot. But I guess I haven’t really listened to it much since then. Only the odd song. A classic example of a band with a distinctive sound and yet they still make every song sound different, which is a mark of quality for me. I think I might have given them five stars back when I was younger, but I wasn’t as fully entranced today. The End , however, is a phenomenal song and reminded me of Nico’s excellent cover of it. Blinding. Stuff.
Scissor Sisters
4/5
For a good half of this album - side 1 - it was 5 stars all the way. A slight slacking off on side 2 didn’t reel me in as much but the bonus tracks oomphed me back. For a debut album this is phenomenal and everything works. There is such a sense of togetherness and harmony and fun!!
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
I was so excited that this looked like a deliciously short album, until I got to track seven. They sound like they’re having fun. Good for them! Not as much fun for me, but there are couple of belters on there. Everyday People is a timeless classic.
Dolly Parton
4/5
A consummate songwriter - every song is a heartfelt story. Dolly is a tower of talent and even if the music doesn’t always reel me in, I have miles of admiration for her.
Boston
2/5
All I can think off when I hear this type of music is ensembles of teenagers standing on stages, à la Glee or Pitch Perfect. It’s just a bit too MOR for me. I’m not sure that they were.as big in the UK or maybe flew outside my peripherary. Although ‘that obvious track’ has turned up on so many ads and soundtracks it’s now impossible to hear without it turning into an ear worm and overstaying its welcome. I am sorry for their tortured history though. I’m not sure the longevity or legacy of this record could ever make up for that.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
“Keee-eef! Keee-eef! I’ve forgotten - who writes our songs?” The nasal chicken tones
resound.
“Eeeerrr - I’ve forgotten, Mick - does it matter? Keef snorts!
I think it matters here!
There may be shades of raw talent and energy - and a reminder that they started off as a blues band but it’s an album of covers. Maybe a later and more original album would be a better choice. I like early RS but we don’t need to chart their whole journey. Unless you’re saying how wonderful it is that some middle class white boys are singing R&B - cue rolling of eyes.
Funkadelic
2/5
I was impressed that each song sounded very different from another. However, even the shorter songs felt like an eternity. My interest would trail off quite quickly. I did get the impression that they were having fun and I loved how they describe themselves on the sleeve notes. That’s very funny. I also thought they were about to break into the Addams family theme tune in Grooveallegiance. Those were the moments of amusement, but it did go on way too long. Classic 2.5.
Tom Waits
2/5
I usually love Tom Waits but I was not in the right headspace for this today.
Duke Ellington
3/5
Reminds me of those 1950s Hollywood movies, where people glammed up to the nines slide into shiny white booths in a club late at night. This is the soundtrack to those conversations of intrigue and romance. To those ends, this music is mildly tolerable. But way too long! Or maybe it just felt like it.
Earth, Wind & Fire
2/5
You know the noise horses make when their lips vibrate and snort. That’s all I can do right now - I’m so underwhelmed.
Alice In Chains
3/5
Tough going!
Hugh Masekela
2/5
My home is not where this music is going to be in future.
Sister Sledge
3/5
Not as fun or uplifting as I wanted them to be but the hits are great floor-fillers.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
I love Living in the City. The rest wore a bit thin. And how many times do I need to hear the words ‘Golden Lady’? My patience wore out.
The Police
3/5
I’ve always been fairly ambivalent about The Police . They have a few cracking songs but the rest I can take or leave. Today it’s felt like a bit of a chore. And “Every breath you take” is still up there as one of the creepiest songs ever written, along with Elvis Costello’s. “ I want you”.
Slayer
1/5
This is the album I was most dreading coming up in the list. Not only do I hate the genre, musicality(!), vocals et al but it also has dredged up terrible memories of terrible people so the caveat to my score is that I have no impartiality. I cannot downplay my hatred. If I thought other albums have been a chore or a bit wearing this is just downright Purgatory. I spent 30 years blissfully unaware they existed, and I’ve spent the last 25 years avoiding them. Tomorrow I will go back to avoidance tactics. If I could score them zero I would.
5/5
A Day in the life is my favourite ever Beatles song. I could tell you stories about being in Blackburn and seeing artworks or random walls where people had put notes in about what particular hole this pertains to. One of the 4000. I could just put that song on repeat and be happy. And I do mean The Blackburn. It’s actually a proper shit hole. I call it the armpit of the north. The town doesn’t have very many claims to fame, but to be immortalised in a Beatles song is a feat.
Whilst contemplating, I think this also might be my favourite Beatles album and, although some of the songs are not as strong, the whole experience is more than the sum of its parts. I’m not sure that it quite merits a 5 for me but it’s definitely a crafted artwork, one where people have put a lot of thought and care and work into it. It feels complete.
The War On Drugs
3/5
This is definitely wet weekday background music. It lies pleasantly enough in the background but pretty much never changes in melody or style or timbre from song to song. And didn’t quite break through the ‘need to listen to this again’ barrier.
Neil Young
5/5
Has been part of my listening collection and history for 50 years - reminds me of my dad. It’s not always a 5 - depends on my mood but it’s dependable and comforting!
Talking Heads
2/5
Déjà vu review
One song’s a stained glass window in a church where all the other windows are clear or have been blown out.
Once in a lifetime is vivid colour and the rest aren’t worth a mention in the visitors book.
Emmylou Harris
3/5
Not my usual type of music, but very pretty. Easy on the ears!
The Velvet Underground
5/5
Part of the soundtrack of my childhood! I was obsessed with The Gift - which I just called Waldo for years. I played it over and over revelling in the story with music, the different viewpoints and John Cale’s insouciant tone. It was just amazing to me - moreover I love all the other tracks - I didn’t realise then how huge an influence this would be on styles to come but I knew it was different and fabulous. It may have been in the folks’ record collection but I adopted it as my own and as far as I know their original vinyl is still in a cupboard infused with love and memories.
TLC
3/5
Two conflicting thoughts
1. I have never liked “Ooh, ooh Baby” music
2. I’ve always liked the Waterfalls song
Is this where I say the exception proves the rule? I like that one song - Switch was okay too. But I am generally not a fan.
Samey,Lamey,Dull
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Great but inconsistent. Some fabulous tracks - Little Wing is a classic. But felt slightly lacking by the end. I did try twice because listening to Jimi whilst you’re drifting off is not a good plan. It would be a 3.5 but I’ll give credit where it’s due. He was a tour de force.
Little Richard
3/5
I’ve always appreciated 1950s rock and roll, but never loved it.
I’ve always appreciated Little Richard as a trailblazer, but never loved him.
I appreciate that this album is very short and energetic, but I wouldn’t say I really loved it.
Fugazi
3/5
I think this may be a classic case of I needed to be there. I can hear the talent and the energy is high. But they are completely new to me and I feel if I’d known about them in 1990, I would have more connection. Who knows what I was listening to back then? Probably The Chameleons. This lot seem to have incredibly right-on credentials. I just feel I’m a bit late to the party. Or the $5 gig?
2/5
An archetypal country album. The songs are stories with the customary tropes and sum up the genre. Her voice is so country she might as well be playing a banjo in a hay barn with a bottle of whiskey at her feet and straw in her teeth. It takes a bit more than this to engage me in Country. It’s all a bit too one-note and devoid of variety but it’s fine. More a 2.5 but it’s all covers and colourless
Syd Barrett
2/5
Oh my lord!!! There’s a lot to be said for English whimsy but this is just overkill. Do you remember those parties you went to in your late teens when there would be some guy strumming guitar very badly in the corner and girls would fawn over him? I felt like I was at one of those awful parties where my ideal would be to drink in the kitchen and then go home early and not have to listen to all that talentless pretentiousness. There’s only so much of the same songs played over and over and with tuneless vocals that I can bear. I know his pedigree but this is a man gone nuts and it ain’t pretty!
Nick Drake
5/5
This was just lovely. It helped that I was in the most calm, serene, open and receptive place I could be. The music came in, languished and was received with understanding. The sad juxtaposition of a troubled existence exhibiting beautiful craftsmanship. Northern Sky is a dreamy classic.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4/5
I’ve been listening to this since it was in my parents’ record collection when I was a teeny girl. Even as a child, I absolutely loved that cover, not knowing who Robert Crumb was back then. But it made me happy, I think the saucy style reminded me a little of Penthouse’s Wicked Wanda (which I read back then too). And I used to belt out all these songs, completely captivated by that huge voice. Janis Joplin was a mighty force. I think after Ball and chain my interest used to wane a little, as it did today, but Summertime, Piece of my Heart and Ball and Chain are just stonking great tunes. And I’m still trying to belt them out, Joplin style. I apologise if you can hear me.
Grateful Dead
3/5
Easy, laid-back Cali vibe. Pleasant but instantly forgettable.
The Young Rascals
3/5
I had heard a lot of these songs before but didnt know they were written by this lot. Really pleasant tunes. Got taken along on a gentle wave.
Sepultura
1/5
Trying to listen to this in the Hospital Emergency Dept is not a good idea.
Duran Duran
4/5
I am all for some uplifting 80s synth pop!! There are some iconic tunes on here. I remember so many school friends going to the gigs and borrowing my clothes to wear to said gigs. So, my clothes have been to see Duran Duran but without me. It’s quite heartening to see that they’re still around and playing with gusto. This particular album is probably more like a 3.5 but for their longevity and because it’s a proper decent album it’s getting 4. I actually heard some of their recent Black Moonlight album and they’re still consistently decent.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
I feel like a heathen but there are some innovative, iconic, talented beyond belief bands that have never quite reached my emotional core. Led Zep is one of them. I never liked Robert Plant’s voice and the whole experience is just missing the mark. I get how some of these songs are classic and have been part of the cultural landscape for so long that I don’t object to them. I just don’t choose to play them for pleasure.
SZA
1/5
Ctl-Alt-Del
Lorde
3/5
I’m not really sure this was melodrama. Nothing seemed over the top. I really enjoyed the experience, it was like swimming in warm water. I love her voice and the whole ambience. The tragedy is that a few hours later, I cannot remember if there was one hook or catch. I don’t remember if there was any chorus. I can’t actually remember one song landing. There is no evidence of impact. Certainly not as much as Royal. So, much as I enjoy a dip in thermal springs, I can barely remember where these ones were. I wouldn’t object to having another listen though, some other time.
The Thrills
4/5
It strikes me that because they are Irish and depressed, they tried to escape that image by calling themselves The Thrills and embracing a West Coast ocean dreamy vibe. This is consistent and accomplished and there is not one weak song here. I think the sad thing is they never managed to escape this particular box and disbanded before they evolved too far away from this style. Which is actually fine for me because this album was highly enjoyable. The harmonies and melodies were reminiscent of the Beach Boys and the beachy vibe was better than Jack Jones. And the strings were lush. I remember liking The Thrills 20 years ago and the songs still hold up.
Green Day
4/5
You know what you’re getting with Green Day. If you like it you like it. The fact that every time I tried to listen to this album I got waylaid or called away and I still kept coming back is testament to their skills.
I was happy to be drawn back and most songs are solid. I lost interest in a couple of them, but my interest was always revived by the next one. Consistently good.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
Siouxsie Sioux - the original Goth Queen. This is just a classic, post punk Gothy gem. I always thought her and Budgie were a dream team, but I can see now all of them contributed to such a cohesive sound. I had loved them from Happy House on their previous album and this just continued to delight. Siouxsie was a brilliant, distinctive singer and gave the impression she took no shit. A great role model. This was a fantastic, nostalgic ride, full of strong songs that can never be accused of being beige. They are a swirling, black vortex of musical fabulousness.
Ravi Shankar
2/5
When I saw this come up, I very nearly refused to listen to it, because all the people I have ever known who owned it, mostly in the 70s, esteemed themselves to be a higher form of human being. In reality, they were selfish, inept onanists. All of which made me want to disregard this before I started. But I didn’t. Fortuitously, it seemed to go past very quickly. There is nothing to delight to me, no hooks, or catches or tunes to hum along to. But I listened, I remembered the tosspots and and I feel I’ve moved on. Perfect background movie music.
The Beta Band
4/5
With that cover and album name, Bot Shots II - it feels like this is gonna be a spoof or a parody. Is this really Weird Al Yankovic playing a trick? But the music is nothing like that; it’s curious and odd and dreamy. You kind of go on this mystery journey where you feel slightly airborne. There’s nothing quite solid underneath you. Your arms flail a little, but it’s still a great ride. The fact that they sample Daydream in Blue on the first track, that alone signifies you’re in for a mindbending experience. The emotional obsession in Daydream in Blue becomes a hazy, harmless fairground ride. Enjoy it.
Jurassic 5
3/5
This had enough variety and musical depth to keep me interested. I do like this kind of alternative hip-hop. I can remember Jurassic 5 vaguely and I think I remember concrete schoolyard (from a previous album?). It was great as background cooking/cleaning music because it kept my energy up. Loved What’s Golden.
Garbage
4/5
One person is garbage, is another person‘s gold dust.
Neil Young
5/5
Makes me feel very emotional and nostalgic. I listened to this back to back twice all through. I know some people don’t like Neil Young‘s voice, but it is beautiful to me. This was my dad‘s kind of music and made me think of him a lot. For that reason and many others…
The Boo Radleys
3/5
Exciting.
Groundbreaking
Innovative
Scintillating
Trailblazing
These are all words that don’t come to mind to describe this album.
Perfectly pleasant
Fine
Love their name
Beats me why it’s on this list
That’s what comes to mind.
I did really like Wake Up Boo, but it’s not even on this album.
Steely Dan
3/5
The Orla Kiely of music - so popular but nothing I ever bought into it. It’s easy to have in in the background but ultimately I just don’t care.
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
Not today!
Elton John
3/5
Hit and miss - some great bits - some a bit dull.
Pearl Jam
3/5
I did get a little confused and thought that Pearl Jam did Afternoons and Coffeespoons which is a great song and in my head Eddy Vedder should look like Ian Gillan in 1975 but confusion over. I did like some of the songs at the time they came out and I’m happy enough to listen to them now - Jeremy and Even Flow are classic but I don’t need to listen to them again necessarily for a while. These are probably more a 3.5…
Kelela
2/5
Who?
Why?
A little bit Sugababes
A little bit TLC
A little bit Eternal
A little bit derivative
A whole lot of dull
I think I’ve had Enough right now
The Who
4/5
N.E.R.D
4/5
Every time I listen to NERD I wonder why I’ve never tried to listen to them more. They were definitely genre-defying and innovative and I enjoyed the whole experience. They definitely deserve to be on this list and I would happily listen again - there was enough variety and intelligence to keep me interested.
Radiohead
3/5
I definitely owned the first four Radiohead albums but I think I realised their highs were incredible but had very little interest in the rest. Some of it is just background noise. The singles though are haunting and ethereal and truly great compositions. You can’t mistake a Radiohead song. I would be happy to give a 3.5… but this isn’t my fave.
Beck
4/5
That cover alone gets 5. How cute is that dog? The singles are great and the rest is pretty good too. Not difficult in any way to listen to although I’ll forget most of it in an hour. Solid 3.5.
Ute Lemper
2/5
In theory, this was right up my street. I used to love the Brecht/Weill music and play it an awful lot. I had an otter Lempa album when I was younger. I have a dim recollection of seeing her perform somewhere as well. I also love the divine comedy and the people she was collaborating with on here like Elvis Costello. However, I was presuming the music was going to be as inflamed as I was but actually added up to less than some of its parts. It didn’t hit any mark. Much as the divine comedy style was recognisable, and the Utah voice was all there it just didn’t pack a punch or have that passion, and grit that I was expecting. Nice to have the variety though on this list.
Cornershop
4/5
Loving the vibe and buoyancy. I already love the singles, but I hadn’t really listened to this album in its entirety. It did drag slightly towards the end, but that could’ve been because I was tired. But the confluence of styles and instruments was really uplifting. Definitely worth a revisit. And proves that they are more than just a Brimful of Asha.
LL Cool J
2/5
For anyone who changes their name to Ladies Love Cool James my immediate reaction is FU - no we don’t. The music was not as horrendous as it could’ve been. Some bits were quite fun and melodious, even captivating. But I just don’t care enough. It’s a 2.5 but losing the 0.5 because of that ridiculous moniker.
Willie Nelson
4/5
Not entirely sure how I feel about whole album of covers. The beautifully done and well worth listening to, but conflicted about its place here. However, giving the benefit of the doubt, the arrangements are beautiful and spare and gorgeous to listen to.
Beck
4/5
I kept starting this album, but either got distracted or having to run off to do something in “vital”. I only finally listened to it all the way through at 4 am sleep-deprived and anxious. I wanted it to be transporting and maybe sleep inducing but it was neither. it was, however, very cool and eclectic. I knew a lot of songs individually, but I’ve never listened to the whole thing. He does feel like one of a kind.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
The 60s preserved in aspic. I don’t think I knew they did Steppin’ Stone before The Monkees but it’s a great tune.
Sisters Of Mercy
5/5
This is 19-year-old me in a nutshell. I had it on repeat. I loved their first album too. I went clubbing every weekend where i danced to This Corrosion and Dominion wearing a lot of black. My best friend bought me this album for Christmas- it holds so many fabulous memories. And when it came up I put it on repeat and I’m still not sick of singing Dominion with four syllables.
Gillian Welch
3/5
Pleasant but I’m not putting it on repeat any time soon.
New Order
4/5
Songhoy Blues
3/5
Music from Timbuktu - wow! This was catchy and hypnotic. I love the seemingly simple, but engaging rhythms. I had to listen to it in dribs and drabs because I was always being pulled off in a different directions. But a couple of tunes were so flat out good. Others meandered a bit for me. But they are definitely worth a revisit. It’s a 3.5 really.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Bruce couldn’t be more Brucie even if he was Australian. Not the most rousing or representational Bruce but solid.
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
I remember when Richey Edwards went missing it was all over the national news and such a shock. It was the pre-anthemic stadium-filling Manics but they were finding their niche and had a growing following. Listening to this I thought it was going to hit me harder and be better than it was. It’s a bleak and interesting listen but maybe the maturer Manics have taken up more of my musical consciousness than I expected.
Spiritualized
3/5
I’m so on the fence about this album, I could have a picket up my rear end. Yes, it’s floaty and spacy and ethereal; occasionally little bits of meteorite whizz past that are interesting to look at or some space debris comes along that you can cling onto, but mostly there’s just a lot of invisible dark matter. I can’t tell whether I like it or not. I was positive that there was one song really stood out for me, but couldn’t remember what it was. So I went through the whole lot again, looking for the brightest star, couldn’t find it, and still couldn’t make up my mind, whether I liked the tunes or not. I can imagine it playing in the background of some science exhibition or on a ride at Epcot. It’s definitely music that contributes to an atmosphere for something else, but I’m not sure I choose to listen to it on its own. It’s a 2.5, but I’ve listened to worse.
Herbie Hancock
1/5
I looked up the artistes performing this live to confirm if they were the head-nodding, smug, self-satisfied musicians I expected. I’ve heard this music before, but have never enjoyed it. I still feel the same although they weren’t quite the arrogant performers I expected. Allegedly this is accessible jazz funk fusion. I just found it dull and repetitive.
Rush
2/5
Not really my type of music but if I ignored the vocals the instrumentation was actually pretty good. I really like YYZ.
Air
4/5
First half was magical and transporting and gave me a real positive uplift. My interest did wane after Talisman- second side syndrome - but those first five songs are belters.
Buzzcocks
4/5
My biggest sadness about listening to the Buzzcocks again, was that ‘What Do I Get’ and ‘Ever Fallen in Love’ are not on this album. Two brilliant classic pop songs, albeit punk pop songs. The Buzzcocks could craft a tune and even as part of the punk movement with their fast guitars and nasally performance those songs are artful and clever and damn fine. It could be that I was a Buzzcocks fan first time around and they are immortalised in a TV music quiz - Never Mind The Buzzcocks - but I am still very fond of them.
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
I’ve spent far too much time obsessing over who put me onto this album the first time around. I actually had a copy of it, and although I didn’t listen to it that often I was a fan of these songs. Yes, it’s a long album and some of the better songs are towards the end, but I think it works as a whole. I spent a lot of time exclaiming ‘Oh’ when I heard these again remembering what clever and soulful songs these were. Magic in the Air and Disillusion are standouts. Where is Damon Gough now I wonder…?
Rush
2/5
Didn’t make my ears bleed. Still not a fan though.
Coldplay
3/5
I remember when Coldplay were just a group of young guys with a single – Yellow. They seemed sweet and pastoral and endearing in a plaintive way. 25 years, and several identical, whiny, boring records later… I’ve heard that they’re great live, but I don’t think I could face it. for the fact that this was their first album and I didn’t know what was yet to come, they are a classic 2.5. For the fact that, despite myself, I seem to know all the words add this is probably their album that I feel most kindly towards, I’ll bump it.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
I’m working out that my problem with Led Zeppelin is not that I don’t like their music. When I just hear the underlying instruments and melodies I’m quite well disposed towards the music, barring a few really long guitar solos. What I don’t get on with is Robert Plant’s voice. I just find it difficult: not quite grating not quite offensive. Not hateful just unpleasant. But I get why Led Zeppelin are a phenomenal band. Just don’t wanna listen to that voice.
Nico
4/5
People may not comprehend that certain voices like that of Robert Plant or Brian Johnson, are excruciating to me and yet the gurgling drain that is Nico is far more palatable. Yes, there are conflicts. It would be treacherous to disrespect the person I was named after. She was one of my folks’ first musical loves, and I was taken to one of her gigs when I was but a wee nipper. She’s been in my musical consciousness since before I was born, so my heart is very firmly in her camp. Even though I prefer her album, The End, this is is quirky and wacky and completely lovely. Chelsea Girls is a classic.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
These were the darlings of alternative DJs and progressive musical TV programmes in the early 70s. I remember them being very dramatic and in your face on the old grey whistle test and their performances are still memorable. They were so different to what else was going on. I love their Jacques Brel cover. Histrionic but compelling.
Frank Zappa
2/5
Just sounds like background film
or 1970s cop show music. Fine playing it whilst busy. Not the worst I’ve heard but doesn’t grab me or make me want to play it again.
Al Green
3/5
Let’s stay together has to be one of the all-time Greats. The rest is pleasant and accomplished but all a bit too samey-wamey for me.
Paul Simon
3/5
I feel like this is Paul Simon in a holding pattern. It was the transition from Simon and Garfunkel to just Simon. I love the early period when they were together and I loved the later period, a few years after this. I feel like he was hitting refresh here. It’s perfectly pleasant but nothing to write home about. It’s a 2.5 down the middle for me, but I’ll give him credit for starting afresh.
Led Zeppelin
2/5
Led Zep - Again!
Rolls eyes
Stifles yawn
Still not converted.
4/5
Between 1979 and 1982, I loved XTC. They had a really great and unusual sound. But then I thought they fell off the planet. I presumed they were resting on their laurels in a farmhouse somewhere spending the royalties. Little did I know that 20 years later they were still making music. And it ain’t half bad. Andy Partridge has such a distinctive voice you can recognise it is XTC without being told. Interesting that the album cover as depicted here is the wrong way round. Don’t know what to infer from that.
I can hear lots of Neil Innes and The Kinks and that notable English whimsy. It’s incredibly witty and I was so intrigued I listened to it twice. It touches a quirky spot in a way that I recognise and love. XTC spells great in my dictionary.
JAY Z
1/5
Usually, I am quite open to listening to music in a different language, but I do not understand or appreciate or ever want to learn the language of Arrogant Tosspot. The language of misogyny, sexism and narcissism is something I never want to engage in. I appreciated the beats and samples, but the lyrics were horrendous. And the man’s attitude is distasteful, nigh on deplorable. I just wonder if he’s alienating the people he’s supposed to represent - if he really does remember his roots then stop bragging about the money and share it out properly.
5/5
If you remember my wager comment in our previous review, I was incredulous that this was not on the list. I think I definitely won that bet. I still love it, thankfully. Not being given the option for halves, I’ll bump this up. Fantastic.
Kid Rock
1/5
I thought I hated Kid Rock. My memories were of an onanistic misogynist with very dubious values and music of very little value. Then Bawitdaba played and I was willing to put aside my prejudices because it just sounded fun. Maybe I was wrong and I should just say Welcome 2 the party (ode 2 the old school). Then Kid Rock - fake Cowboy - he may think he’s a Devil Without a Cause and a Roving Gangster but I discovered I was Wasting Time coz he is a phoney and a lyricist of very suspect beliefs. What the hell with your offensive songs - I Am the Bullgod and Black chick, white guy. So Where u at Rock, I got one for ya, feel my Fist of rage coz Somebody’s Gotta feel this. Only God knows why this record is so popular because all I wanna say - Kid - is Fuck off.
Supergrass
4/5
Their first album was rollicking good fun. But this second one always seemed a bit more mature and considered. There’s not one song here I don’t like but I also remember them all from way back when, so that warm nostalgic blanket is covering everything. Late in the Day is a superb song and these guys always seemed to be genuine down to earth blokes who enjoy making music together. I’m sure that’s not entirely true but it’s what comes through. I also love their wryness at times; does anyone else guffaw at the title? You did it, lads!
The Pretty Things
2/5
I’d never even heard of this lot even though they’re apparently influential and couldn’t be more 1960s even if they were Twiggy wearing Mary Quant at a happening with Timothy Leary.
I did find myself tuning in and out and losing interest quite quickly. There was nothing awful about this and I admire the whole concept album/rock opera vibe. But I wouldn’t say it was in any way memorable. I can’t even pick out one tune… I thought I should listen to it again but by track two my interest had waned again.
Johnny Cash
4/5
I’m not always a fan of a live concert, but the live element of this is what makes it. The interruptions, the announcements, the imperfections, the inmates’ reactions. they are what animates the whole thing. The songs are good and I haven’t listened to a Johnny Cash song I don’t like, but I appreciate the edginess of this. It didn’t seem over long either.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
I didn’t much care for early Rolling Stones. I found it uninspiring. I don’t much care for later Rolling Stones as it just feels faux and like a parody of themselves. But this period - late 60s - I am very fond of them. My folks were Rolling Stones fans at this point and took me to see them in Hyde Park in 1969. So they kind of wandered into my subconscious and stayed. I also think the best two Rolling Stones songs are on this album. ‘You can’t always get what you want’ and ‘Gimme shelter’ are no less than wonderful. This also sent me into a rabbit hole of looking up covers of ‘gimme shelter’. I used to listen to the Sisters Of Mercy version over and over and this time I discovered some great and not so great versions. But the song itself is perfect. The album in toto is great but I would choose to listen to those two songs on repeat and not bother with the rest.
Jorge Ben Jor
5/5
There is so much to love about this album. Usually I am quite lyrics driven and I do love clever wordplay. But if a song catches me, whatever language it’s in, then I’m all in. I can hear so many influences and also bands he obviously influenced. His voice has such a warm, innocent quality. The songs are so hypnotic and inviting and catchy, the words initially don’t matter. However, once I listened to this twice interjecting with La La Las up what the songs were about, and was fully sucked in. I loved this with abandon.
Bob Dylan
3/5
So now I’m a record on repeat:
Great poet and lyricist
Not a great singer
I’m a fan of a harmonica (luckily or I might have struggled)
Goes on a bit - always hits a 3.5 for me so what side shall I err on this time?
The Yardbirds
3/5
Fair to middling but love the cover. Sounds so much like a thousand other 60s records - nothing distinctive or grabby! Not even redeemed by ‘For Your Love’. I could have done with it on this album for something to get my teeth into.
Alanis Morissette
2/5
Shortly after this album was released I was invited to a girly pyjama party. It was a gaggle of 20-somethings curling their hair, painting their nails, putting face packs on and singing along to this album. I was so out of my depth. I don’t hate this album, but it does nothing for me. I can never forgive her for Ironuc. isn’t it ironic, don’t you think? NO!!!! And as for the your house song - she sounds like a flipping stalker. This smacks to me of artificial angst and faux emotion. When it came up as the choice, I could only groan. That girly party ended with everybody watching a video of the movie Philadelphia, which I pretty much attributed with the same qualities as the album. A memorable evening, which was as far from enjoyable as you can get. I did really like Alanis Morissette in Dogma though!
AC/DC
2/5
Pears!!!
Screaming Trees
3/5
Sounds like so much else of this time. Not unenjoyable but nothing noteworthy either. Forgettable but not bad. Should be a 2.5.
Astrud Gilberto
3/5
Twee!! Afternoon at the beach vibes.
Living Colour
2/5
Too many overlong jangly guitar solos. Level 42 mixed with any indeterminate heavy metal band.
Raekwon
1/5
I liked Blue Raspberry’s voice on Rainy Dayz and that’s about it! The rest was horrible.
David Gray
5/5
I have a real soft spot for this album. I could debate all day about whether it deserves a place on here, whether it’s important and influential, but compared to some of the dross I’ve had to listen to I will defend it to the hilt.
I remember when Babylon came out as a single and I loved the lyrics and it was such a beautiful tune – my father and I would sing along to it. Part of the video was filmed in the Joe Strummer subway near our house so it had a personal residence too. I can’t remember whether my father or I bought the album but it was played a lot and every tune had beautiful clever lyrics and a great hook. There’s not one song I didn’t love. And I think it still holds up.
No, I haven’t listened to it for years, but I heard Babylon playing on a TV episode the other day and remembered how happy it made me and then this came up and I played the album two or three times straight through without it losing any lustre.
Surely that’s the mark of a great album.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
3/5
I feel quite conflicted about this, almost like it’s a guilty pleasure. Yes, they are Novelty and puerile and seemingly taking the piss while taking a lot of of money. But I can’t deny it’s a good choice of samples, some very catchy tunes and sometimes I could not help but sing along.
The Human League
4/5
Bastions of 80s synth pop. Some of these songs are deceptively simlple but true classics. Started and ended with dynamism - flagged a bit in the middle. I’m still humming Open Your Heart. It’s probably a 3.5 but it’s a real nostalgia hit.
The Shamen
3/5
Didn’t really move any of my mountains but there are a couple of really good dance tunes. Lightspan and Possible Words reminded me of sweating and dancing in gay nightclubs in my youth.
Beth Orton
2/5
Interesting voice but all the songs merged together into one amorphous blob of boring.
Lucinda Williams
3/5
Very evocative and cool. Full of longing. Joy was my favourite - it’s just a bit grittier.
The Prodigy
3/5
I have conflicting feelings listening to this. I think it’s very dynamic and powerful but no self-respecting person wants to listen to the words Smack my bitch up over and over. I know they were being controversial and the video was trying to challenge preconceptions but I can’t condone it even though the tune is great. And the rest of the album has the same feel. Great aggro jumping about music. Breathe and Firestarter are bangers and Prodigy’s only no. 1s - credit goes to larger than life Keith Flint. RIP Keith!
808 State
2/5
If you’d asked me to remember 808 state and whether I liked them or not I would have said Yes! Then I listened to the whole album - I only remember Pacific 202 and my answer is a lugubrious No. But not even in a committed visceral way, more like - I just can’t be bothered.
Talking Heads
2/5
Although I really like the song ‘life during wartime’ I never knew it had that title. Yet again a Talking Heads album where I love one song and couldn’t give a toss about the rest. How many more ‘definitive’ David Byrne projects do I have to listen to? Yes, TH have a few great songs and are distinct and influential. But surely that’s enough now?
Scott Walker
5/5
Beautiful and a great cover of Next!!!
Supergrass
4/5
I said, in my last review of this band that the Supergrass first album was rollicking Good Fun. I stand by that, it’s super fun, super bouncy with a very upbeat feel good vibe. They have a natural ability to just make you smile and even the album title just make me laugh every time. Do I feel sad - I should Coco!!
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
This reminds me what a child of the 80s I am. Or rather I spent my entire teenage years in the 80s so music like this was the equivalent of necessary sustenance. I once went to an Echo & The Bunnymen gig in a mini Hillman with seven other people. Imagine eight people in a tiny car driving for an hour singing all these songs - it was just magical. Once we got there, the gig had been called off because poor Ian had a sore throat. But that didn’t stop us from doing it all again the following week when it was rescheduled. The cutter and the back of love are just fabulous tunes. I had their moody posters up in the house. I even have a photo of my mother standing in front of the band poster, looking as posed and moody and pouty as the subjects. Listening to the whole album again, I still love it, but it doesn’t quite hit the heady heights of a five.
The Monkees
3/5
I guess I feel like a bit of a heathen because I much preferred their songs from the first two albums. And the ones used on the TV show. The monkees show used to be on early every Saturday morning when I was a kid and I was a huge fan. I know they are the prototype of a manufactured boy band, but I still love the music. This album is when they had more creative control, and I feel terrible for not loving it as much. I just don’t. It’s probably a 2.5 but I’m gonna round it up because they are such a fun bunch.
Portishead
3/5
If Dummy was not on this list I’d be annoyed because I think it’s a better album. Beth’s voice is still eerie and ethereal and enchanting but these songs don’t grab me as much. Maybe after more listens they will but I am still agog over their first album 30 years later. This is only a Third as good.
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
This meets my usual criteria - overwrought and emotional. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been too busy to sit down and take this in but it’s felt like a bit Too Much. I’ve listened to Rufus in small doses and watched him on TV before, but never had a full album on. I reiterate, it felt a bit Too Much. That could entirely be my mood of course on the surface it’s lovely and clever and seemingly everything I want. I just don’t want it today.
Nitin Sawhney
4/5
Couldn’t decide whether I was indifferent or loved it. My head was all over the place but I am loving the variety. It’s probably a 3.5 but I’m boosting it because I listened to it twice and actually want to listen to it again.
The Offspring
2/5
I thought that I had never heard a song by The Offspring. I had consciously tried never to, because I was under the impression that they were the bastard sons of Slipknot. Given the choice, I choose for my ears to NOT bleed.
In Venn diagrams of music, fans, slipknot, and the offspring seemed to cross each other’s circles.
It turns out, however, that I had heard a couple of these songs before, but had not been aware of it. They are more like distant cousins of Green Day or blink-182.
They’re fine and maybe even slightly fun, but I’m not going to seek them out any time soon.
CHIC
3/5
Some uplifting tracks but the data doit is ‘At last i am free’. Not a bouncy single but emotional and vulnerable and captivating. A nice departure from the Disco tracks.
Bee Gees
2/5
I can never listen to the Bee Gees without thinking of Kenny Everett and his skits. The Bee Gees kit and mass of chew sets just still make me laugh. I thought this started off quite well, but then everything was a little one dimensional and didn’t seem to go anywhere. I think they are good songwriters and craftsmen in their way, but after early promise, I lost interest. And it went on way too long. I’m going back to Kenny Everett.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
2/5
Fake Fish Facade!
Foul Formidable Fog!
Gram Parsons
3/5
Soft
Gentle
Soothing
I know of Gram Parsons but I had never taken time out to listen to a whole album.
Lovely
Ash
3/5
I would term this as radio music. I knew most of the words and recognised most of the tunes but never owning an Ash album or ever seeking them out. Girl from Mars is a radio staple.
They’re not spectacular, or innovative or groundbreaking in any way. But easy to listen to, and if I heard them on the radio It would be pleasant enough.
Pretenders
4/5
It must’ve been late 1979 or early 1980. My father went to buy me a copy of Smash Hits. Different issues had different badges on them. He chose the one with the pretenders badge. I think he ended up wearing it.
Their music at the time felt very fresh, even though I’m sure Chrissie Hyndes channelled Patti Smith a bit. Every single was brilliant, and we knew all the words. The album still holds up.
I’m not sure where that badge is now. Am sure it got lost in the vortex of time. But the pretenders still have a touch of magic. I’m not sure the album is completely five star but it’s great nonetheless.
The Cult
3/5
In the 80s, being a dedicated Goth, I was in love with the Love album. She sells sanctuary and Rain were classics and dance anthems in my world. Then The Cult went Hard and they lost me. They seem to be channelling the Rolling Stones crossed with Guns N’ Roses. If this was Love it might be a 5. Not so Electric for me.
Pere Ubu
3/5
Very off the wall and experimental but I think it worked. I’m all for a reference to French theatre - just the right amount of pretension. I have heard of Père Ubu but for some reason I thought they were ‘World Music’ - a strange name for a genre. Anyway they’re not but I quite like the slightly aggressive screechy punk overtones. Surprising and refreshing.
Carole King
5/5
So many brilliant tunes, well-crafted songs and simultaneously evoking beautiful memories. Theme tune from Gilmore Girls - how fantastic was that! I was vacillating between a 4 and a 5 and then she sang Will you still love me tomorrow? One of my father’s favourite songs - we played it as he got thrown onto a fire and Monday was his deathiversary so that clinched it.
Motörhead
2/5
Nothing I would ever choose to listen to. For once, however, I didn’t hate those fast, driving guitars. But how I did not like his voice. Lemmy count the ways.
The Specials
5/5
Just brilliant. I gave More Specials a 4 because it wasn’t their best album. This is the best album. They capture an era and a feeling so evocatively. Terry Hall was a towering talent and The Specials were fantastic live. Not one dud song…
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
I do love Double Dutch and Buffalo Gals. I also admire MM for going completely left field after the punk explosion. He did some very interesting things - his later version of Madame Butterfly was stunning. The rest I found very samey but I still love those singles. More a case of admiration rather than enjoyment.
Grant Lee Buffalo
4/5
Sounds a bit like The Waterboys to me. No bad thing. I really liked this but I don’t feel i ingested enough. I might just seek out more. I’m not sure if it’s a 4 but more a 3.5 but for engaging and curiosity value…
Nanci Griffith
2/5
It was a bit like cowbells in the distance on a Swiss hillside. Pleasant enough but makes no impact to my life. Really like the cover though. Makes me nostalgic for the now obsolete Woolworth’s.
Joanna Newsom
2/5
At times this was a bit Björk and a bit Keaton Henson, a bit Renaissance fair and film track material. But every song was waaaaaaay too long and what started out as ‘interesting’ or intriguing lost me halfway through.
Cowboy Junkies
3/5
35 years ago I definitely had this album. I do love her voice and the arrangements but I didn’t realise how many covers were on here. I think all those years ago, it was very late night listening and suited those studenty smoke-filled environs. Sweet Jane is a great cover. .
CHVRCHES
3/5
Some serious teen drama vibes here. At times I could have been listening to Charlie XCX. Quite twee at times but perfectly harmless. Tether is the one that sticks with me - or tied me up, maybe.
The Mothers Of Invention
3/5
I know this is a seminal album, breaking boundaries and being ahead of its time. It had an entropic feel to me, starting off cohesive and musically less challenging. By the end it all starts falling apart and become crazy. But funny with it. I really liked How could I be such a fool?
Stan Getz
3/5
Not really a jazz fan but the samba elements make it fun and easy to listen to.
Sex Pistols
5/5
This changed the world! Not just mine.
Billy Bragg
5/5
A true poet, a political force and a musical delight. This sums up a different side of the 1980s, where the working man, as per usual, was subjugated. BB addressed this in his work and captured the Zeitgeist. I still adore this even though the world is worse, it encapsulates a time where we though it could change for the better.
Minutemen
3/5
With hints of Richard Hell and Television I would’ve liked this so much more if it wasn’t 45 songs long. It’s great that the songs are short but they do feel very samey. It’s definitely the kind of music I like and would listen to in chunks but the minutemen became hours-long men and I didn’t have the bandwidth to care any more.
Christina Aguilera
3/5
It was kind of a refreshing to have something so poppy on here. She does have a belter of a voice. I wouldn’t necessarily choose to listen to this, but it was kind of fun. It also brought back endearing memories of us driving in Park City with ‘Beautiful’ blaring on the radio. Some of these songs probably have a lot of resonance with a certain contingent and if it empowers them (or anyone) then I am overjoyed.
The Avalanches
3/5
So it turns out that, for years, I’ve been singing the wrong words. Since I left you is a very different message to ‘since I met you’. It’s a whole new slant. Whoops! Maybe this girl needs therapy. Two great songs on here. The rest is unmemorable but it was fun to listen to.
Machito
3/5
Could have been a film soundtrack. Perfectly fine as background music but nothing to latch onto.
Mekons
3/5
On paper I should like this a whole lot more than I do. Perhaps it’s because i know their other stuff marginally better. Ghosts of American astronauts comes to mind as better. This just didn’t gel with me but it’s not bad.
The Louvin Brothers
3/5
I’m pretty sure Mark Kermode raves about this lot. And I can see why they are revered. However, this was like a big bowl of soup where it’s tasty and nourishing but each mouthful is exactly the same. I needed more variety and it did seem to drag.
Primal Scream
4/5
1992 - the first Mercury Music Prize… my friend at work dragged me out one lunchtime to the betting shop and bet that Primal Scream would win the prize. I’d never even heard the album but she encouraged me to listen so by the time they won (and Friend picked up her winnings) I’d listened to it and loved it. It just felt so different and you could dance to it and sing along. It was an immersive experience. I probably haven’t listened to it all the way through in 30 years but it’s still great.
The Cure
4/5
Not my favourite Cure album but you know what you’re getting with them. You either love morose or you don’t. Like a spoonful of peanut butter I find this comforting and recognisable. There’s nothing really catchy but it’s moody and atmospheric and I’m totally on board.
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
Like cycling in third gear through fog with sunglasses on.
George Harrison
3/5
Much as I like George a lot, 2 hours was a big ask. Especially when a lot of it was just guff. Some really lovely songs, a lot of filler and way too long.
Talvin Singh
3/5
He was asking for criticism when he named the album. I remember when this came out and was really big. I remember it winning the mercury prize. Whereas with Primal Scream who won the first mercury we are still listening to the music and they’re still making music in various iterations, I don’t know anyone who is still talking about Talvin Singh. It dragged! Some of it was quite hypnotic, but not enough for me to care.
Aimee Mann
2/5
I couldn’t be more indifferent to this if I tried. It made less impact on me than a leaf fluttering in a forest 50 miles away. And not that fond of her voice- I’m sure her songwriting is solid but as I make a W with my thumbs and forefingers I whine ‘WotEva’! It’s really a 2.5 but hey…
The Style Council
2/5
Not a Paul Weller era that I appreciated. Hated the attempt at rap. Some of the jazz influences too annoying. Strength of your nature was the only track I actually liked.
Laibach
1/5
Are you having a laugh? This is NOT the work of God. I can’t tell whether this is a right-wing parody or they’re trying to BE Hitler Youth. I am trying to admire their attempt at avant garde as much as they are trying to be ambiguous but my hackles are raised.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Stunning - round about 2008/9 he wrote music for a theatrical version of Kafka’s Metamorphosis which is the most beautiful haunting music but can’t be found anywhere on the internet apart from snippets. This has the same ethereal vibe.
Giant Sand
3/5
Never heard of them before, but I wish they were still called giant sandworms. Very Dune!
I can hear a whole lot of other influences in here. There’s a little bit of Wilco, a little bit of Ryan Adams, a little bit of Calexico, a little bit of the more poetic singer songwriters. Felt a little bit overlong and one note but I appreciated the moodiness. Nice title but veered more towards chore than enchantment.
Skepta
1/5
That’s not me!!!
Another mercury prizewinner I cannot get along with…. David Bowie should have won that year!
Roxy Music
3/5
I do love Roxy Music and this had some great tunes but I was brought up on For your Pleasure so that speaks to me more. Casanova was my standout on here. Brian Ferry was always a beautiful, dapper man with a fantastic voice. This is probably more a 3.5 for me…
Todd Rundgren
3/5
Love the cover. The album is sprawling and a bit disjointed. I didn’t dislike it and it has the flow of a proper curated album. But it didn’t really hit any connective tissue for me. I like ‘flamingo’ as that just seemed a bit mad. But I’m not sure I could recognise or remember any other song.
Erykah Badu
2/5
There is a London-centric DJ I really like - Robert Elms - not for his taste in music but for his interviews and wit, his love and curiosity about this fair city. The problem with his show was the music and for a good few years I was bombarded with Erykah Badu. Talk about On & On & On… not my vibe but I’ve definitely mellowed and don’t dislike the music as much as I did 20 years ago. It’s obviously wheedled its way into my psyche. And On & On is such an earworm…
Tim Buckley
4/5
We’ve listened to two Tom Buckley albums previously and my responses were indifferent at best - the 1969 album was a 2 and 1972 was a 3. But this album - from 1967 - was a winner. Maybe I just like psychedelic Tim and didn’t like his later stuff. But the first few songs were interrupted a lot (by life admin) but I was delighted to repeat them. "No Man Can Find the War" I listened to half a dozen times. The excitement dipped halfway through but I really warmed to this. Definitely more enchanting than the other two albums. In reality it’s probably a 3.5 but my heart is generous today.
John Coltrane
1/5
72 hours of excruciating hell! Who needs thumbscrews, water torture or Guantanamo when this could just play on repeat and force submission within minutes?
Louis Balfour would say Niiiiice!
I say - where’s my headache tablets?
Brian Eno
2/5
Uninspiring!
PJ Harvey
3/5
We’ve had quite a few mercury prize winners of late. I do like my Polly Jean but I think I liked her earlier stuff better. I can’t remember who I wanted to win that year - maybe Elbow - but she was worthy enough. It’s poetic and clever and well-executed. I loved the starting sample. Not a PJ must for me but good enough.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
No-one does it quite like this. Stripped back, bare, haunting. Into My Arms is just beautiful.
Iron Maiden
2/5
Compared to other heavy metal albums, this was tolerable. Not overly keen on Bruce Dickinson‘s voice but I find that with most albums of this ilk. Run to the Hills was fun and kudos to any band that samples The Prisoner. classic 60s TV. I didn’t have to reach for the headache tablets at the end, so this was a marked improvement in my appreciation for teenage headbanging boy music.
3/5
Good Fortune and This is Love - two absolutely stonking tracks. Great when you’re in the right mood. The rest of it wasn’t quite hitting the right spot for me but I wasn’t particularly in the right headspace. Should be a 3.5 really…
Jethro Tull
3/5
The name always made me laugh - clever - but made me think they were heavier than they are. I chose not to listen to them - a few misconceptions but they’re definitely better than I realised.
The Isley Brothers
3/5
It was nice to have an album that wasn’t unpalatable or maudlin. Much as I don’t actively choose to listen to the Isley Brothers I recognised every song and the lyrics rose from a semi-dormant state in my subconscious. I think most of these songs have permeated the global subconscious anyway. It’s fairly comforting.
3 + 3 - 3
Woa-oh - listen to the music!
Lou Reed
5/5
This was one of my favourite albums as a child. I was in awe of the storytelling. The music was haunting and even the sound effects contributed to such a poignant narrative. The crying children on the kids got me every time. As a concept album, I think it’s complete and not overly long. Deceptively simple but just beautiful in a sometimes sad and horrific way. There is not one weak song here and even though some songs are rewrites or rehashes of older material, they make a cohesive whole. Heartbreaking but a true classic.
Björk
3/5
I have a lot of respect for Björk - she is a true individualist, a pioneer, rule-breaker and revels in that role. I have just never got on with her music - I’ve tried but it just doesn’t reach me. Sorry, B. The score is for her impact.
Public Enemy
3/5
Old Skool Classics - I did love this style of Hip Hop.
ZZ Top
3/5
Starts off fun - La Grange was very toe-tap-alicious. Not consistent but not bad.
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
Twist and Shallot
Cornichon baby
Allium, a lover, a friend
Pickling’ dink
One who pearly loves you
Grab your white boots and min skirt!
Groovy baby!
Guided By Voices
3/5
I was quite shocked when this ended. It seemed much shorter than I imagined it to be. I was just getting into it. I can imagine I would have loved this more if I’d heard it back in the day and replayed it many times. But i had no idea who they were and yet on first listen I was pleasantly surprised. I might well revisit this.
OutKast
4/5
After getting really behind and playing catch-up all week whilst dealing with life admin on steroids I finally thought I was on track. And then an album the length of FOUR albums comes up. I was awash with dismay - I knew there were some great songs on here but did I really have 2.5 hours to listen. It’s taken me about 2.5 days to get here. It is full of five star bangers and was great in instalments but boy it’s long.
Tom Waits
4/5
I do love Tom Waits and his smoky lounge bar atmospheric songs. I wasn’t particularly feeling this today until In the Neighbourhood kicked in which is such a beautiful song. This should be a 3.5 but I know on a better day I would ramp it up.
Calexico
4/5
I remember, it must’ve been at least 20 years ago, I saw a band on one of those live concerts on telly. It was one of those where each band plays two or three numbers and it’s in aid of either a charity or a jubilee or something similar.
This band came on and I'd never heard of them but the song that they were playing was amazing. I think that song must’ve been Black Heart because it still blows me away. I think I managed to find the segment on a repeat and found out the name of the band. I’m not sure how much I followed up on them but I remember thinking they were great and periodically listening to a tune and enjoying it. Listening to this full album today has reminded me how good they are. I still love Black Heart!!!
Skunk Anansie
3/5
What I’m surprised by Is not that Skunk Anansie are on this list but they’ve chosen this album over their first two. Songs like ‘Weak’ or ‘Hedonism’ were truly great and innovative and showed off Skin’s vocal range and power in a new and surprising way. By album three we knew what she could do and it was still great but those first two albums, Paranoid & Sunburnt and Stoosh were out of this world.
My mark here is more for the choice of album rather than the talent of the band. They were just so Trailblazing and exciting, but the impact was felt much more on the two earlier albums. And dare I say I think the earlier songs were better.
This did incite me to go listen to them again though - Weak is ironically such a strong song it’s still in my head a day later.
Pixies
4/5
I was wavering between 4 and 5 for this. It was such a stonking album but I hadn’t listened to it for years. I remember playing the CD a lot back in the day. It’s very raw and messy but powerful. Sort of tailed off at the end but terrific for three-quarters. Gigantic talent!!!
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
3/5
I was never the hugest OMD fan. I loved the singles but wasn’t really into all their synthy instrumental bits. There are three or four great songs on here: Souvenir, Maid of Orleans, Joan of Arc, The New Stone Age. If Enola Gay was on here it would feel like a greatest hits album. But the rest didn’t stand out for me at all. The extended synth solos were tedious. 2.5 in reality.
Kate Bush
4/5
Half the songs on here had me in tears. It really is a study of emotions - not my favourite Kate Bush album but some corkers on here. I have some weird memory which I don’t if it’s true but it’s of Pans People or a later iteration dancing to A Woman’s Work and botching it big-time. It was a very misunderstood song (and album methinks). It’s come into its own now though
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Two absolutely stonking songs!! I remember when Games Without Frontiers came out - I just thought it was fantastic and could listen to it over and over. Biko too was great and political and moving. Sometimes though PG can be a bit dull and self-righteous and all the other songs in this album just felt wearyingly dour!!! Should be a 2.5 but I’m giving him credit for consistently being true to his worthiness!!! I prefer So as an album (a few years later) where he mined a lighter seam.
The Psychedelic Furs
4/5
Gosh - we are in an 80s vein at the mo, aren’t we? Some of our group are gonna hate that but I love all that Big Sax sound and snarly voice. So 80s, so nostalgic, so fun - for me at least. Pretty in Pink always reminds me of my dad - he loved the song and the film although we both hated Molly Ringwald’s dress at the end. Awful but the song is fab and I was happily carried along on this wave. It’s more of a 3.5 but I’m feeling nostalgically generous.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
I’m a definite fan of the Pet Shop Boys but this is my least favourite of their first few albums. They’re still intelligent and witty and catchy but Please or Disco were more charged for me. At their worst though they still produce fantastic songs. Their vibe is sublime. I recently watched a documentary about their latest album and tour… they have such an enviable dynamic and know how to deliver!
James Taylor
3/5
For those of you hating on the 80s synthpop, I hope this has proved the antidote you needed. Personally, I find this too saccharine and soft. Fire and Rain is an undoubted classic, pretty much imprinted on our collective psyche and stays with you for days. There were some interesting arrangements like Oh Susannah but Steanroller felt a bit icky and had me hankering for Bobby Darin’s If I Were A Carpenter.
I understand JT is a good songwriter but apart from the occasional lightning flash he is just grey drizzle to me.
The Only Ones
3/5
I had forgotten that Another Girl Another Planet was by this lot. It’s got a great end of the 70s new wave vibe. I loved it back then. Still got a great energy. Nothing mind blowing but frenetic and fun.
Rage Against The Machine
3/5
Back in 2009, when the X factor had hijacked every single Christmas number one for four years a DJ appealed to the British public’s sense of anarchy and asked us to download Killing in the Name, to send a message to the music industry that we didn’t want sappy competition show winners any more. So in the Christmas of 2009, 17 years after its release RATM were at number one in the charts. I don’t love all the songs on this album, they tend to sound the same after a bit, but it is music and innovative compared to X factor bland ballads.
The Band
3/5
There are a few standout classics on here. I only ever knew the Julie Driscoll version of This Wheel’s on Fire and unfortunately that is the one that still stands out for me. Her voice is magnificent on it. But here it’s a little d’ombre although still a classic song.
The Weight and I Shall be Released are timeless and iconic - my folks always loved The Band but in my mind they should have spelt it differently (think The Banned) and caused more controversy but that was just a flight of fancy.
Three absolute blinders and the rest are a bit samey for me.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
Why???
Give me the original Mussorgsky, thanks.
Not horrendous but pointless.
The Byrds
3/5
Very unexpected! I only knew the Byrds as folksy and 60s psychedelia. So I found this quite educational that country rock started this early. Eminently listenable although like the first light snows of winter it didn’t really settle but was very pretty and smattered a little magic.
Sinead O'Connor
4/5
Such a wonderful voice which can give you the gamut of emotions from A-Z and back again. Such a beleaguered life and didn’t have the career she deserved. This was a revelatory album from a tower of talent.
Personal resonance too as one of her music videos was filmed on a canal bridge near my house, long since knocked down. She also used to live in the same road as my GP surgery and wrote her name in some wet concrete outside her house so she felt very present to me at the time.
RIP Sinead!
Ministry
1/5
I really thought the lyrics for TVII were not:
Connect the goddammed dots
but
Turn off the goddammed noise
Maybe that was just wishful thinking.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
Eaaa….zy! Smooth but maybe a bit too samey. Enjoyable as background wallpaper but nothing to write home about. It does remind me of being on a cruise in Norway where the lounge bar act performed Girl from Ipanema in scandi-wegian accents. Fabulous juxtaposition. Frank does Frank and does it well. My friend named her car Frank because it’s a classic and gives a smooth ride. Don’t expect anything else.
Tom Waits
3/5
I love Tom Waits but could not remember ever listening to this all the way through. I was not in the right headspace for the first half of this album. It didn’t sit right in my noggin. Then just after halfway in it was like the sun came out or the instruments sounded better or it somehow became more tuneful but I definitely appreciated it more.
It definitely deserves another listen because TW has a way with a tale… and I love his voice that’s like an avalanche of stones falling on hot coals.
Whistle down the wind and I don’t wanna grow up - gorgeous!!!
The Mars Volta
2/5
Described as prog rock I thought I was going to hate this. But it sounded more like Paramore to me. Never heard of them before and probably willing never play them again - not hateful but eminently forgettable.
Beastie Boys
3/5
This sounded all a bit repetitive apart from the anthemic classics. No Sleep and You gotta fight were fun but listening to a whole album is no party.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
I’m not sure I was ever a big Dexys fan. Their songs were a bit Novelty for me. Come on Eileen and Jackie Wilson said our fun party songs but nothing that enriches my soul. Seeing that Dexys are on this list I presumed it would only be Too-Ray-Aye because that’s the famous one. I’d never even heard of this one but I actually prefer it to their 80s bouncy poppy shenanigans. Kevin Rowlands has a voice that is divisive but it worked here and it wasn’t overlong. I did hear the distinctive horn section at first and thought they were returning to form and then I’m sure I heard a Steve Winwood sample… at least they tried to break some boundaries.
Arrested Development
3/5
I get tired of people, every day. But I never get tired of People Everyday. .
Kacey Musgraves
2/5
Twee chill out music. Clever and artful but a bit too saccharine for me.
Roxy Music
4/5
What Biba did for the 1970s High Street, Roxy Music did for the music scene. Effortlessly cool. Definitely on the soundtrack of my early years so weirdly comforting. Bryan Ferry’s vocal acrobatics, the arty, pretentious vibe, the cover - all work for me!
T. Rex
4/5
It made my cleaning and packing time easier. Always helps to have classic sing-along tunes when you’re doing chores. Fun and boppy and probably benefits from him being very pretty and his not living long enough for his musical reputation to go stale!
Ice Cube
2/5
I realise I am not the target audience for this music. It’s dismaying that the message still rings true but the misogyny, hatred and aggression and all the N-words are alienating. Maybe that’s the point but I don’t hear music, I hear the sound of my brain cells tuning out!
Sepultura
1/5
For 10 songs this was torture. I remember someone trying to get me into this band 30 years ago and my ears bled… Jasco was welcome respite then the torture started up again. Canyon Jam was fine to end on - I can cope with rhythmic drumming but the voice kills me every time. Percentages are not in their favour.
Elton John
4/5
Absolutely great although it did go on a bit long. Fab classics!!!
King Crimson
3/5
My folks had this album and I can’t really fathom why. It’s not their thing at all but I guess there were some albums in the 70s that were compulsory listening. I did like that it doesn’t fit neatly into a particular genre and revels in diverse influences. Reminded me of a film score in places. I’m firmly down the middle on this one - I doubt I’m going to listen to it again but I remember being fascinated by the cover as a kid.
And because I’m in a celebratory mood… Labour just won the election.
Dwight Yoakam
3/5
It’s great to hear some country mixed up in this collection. DY has a really good voice and the songs are interesting vignettes but it all does blur into one for me.
Iron Butterfly
3/5
I think the title track is recognisable to almost everyone but I had no idea who it was by. I think it’s just been appropriated into popular culture as an atmospheric mood piece. Side one was very 1969 - psychedelic and trippy but nothing too outré. Then Side 2 is the magnum opus. I loved it, drum solo and all. It’s an earworm that stays with you.
The Pogues
5/5
This is sublime. The mix of traditional Irish folk songs and McGowan’s poetic lyrics is magical for me. I also love all the songs on the reissue. Some songs are toe tapping and others are just heartbreaking- gentleman soldier and Rainy Night in Soho. And the band played Waltzing Matilda is one of the best anti-war songs ever (along with Red Army Blues by the Waterboys). Beautiful arrangements - not everyone loves Shane’s voice but as a songwriter he is one of the best. And along with The Dubliners The Pogues brought proper Irish music to the masses!
The Triffids
3/5
This may be a prime example of ‘you had to be there’. None of these songs reached our shores but there are so many elements that 1987 me would have loved.
I kept being distracted by how similar they sounded to other Australasian bands that were more well-known- Crowded House, Midnight Oil, Men at Work. At times I could hear a more global peppering of J Geils band and Deacon Blue and Cherry Ghost. But nothing that made them unique or stand out on their own. Maybe that’s why they didn’t find a British audience at the time.
The songs are easy to listen to, oftimes pleasant and sweet even. There were interesting themes but the madness and delirium never quite made it into the music. The Jerdacuttup man gave an interesting perspective but the whole thing smacks of powerlessness. A symbol of the whole album - it could have delivered on a much more dynamic, punchy level but reached only the heights of ‘nice’.
Doves
3/5
The Doves never quite did it for me. I like There Goes the Fear but it’s not on this album. It’s not quite morose or ferocious enough on the one hand and not chill out music either. It’s fine and gappy enough to have it on in the background but nothing earth-shattering.
Laura Nyro
3/5
She sometimes has a touch of the Carole King about her. I like Eli’s Comin’ and commend her on her vocal agility. It’s good to hear something I’ve never heard before so that was welcome but I’m not going to listen to get again.
Destiny's Child
2/5
This started so well - the three singles really fired me up and were upbeat, fun and danceable. No wonder they were the singles. Then it just became very repetitive and dull and sounded tedious. From Brown Eyes onward I just felt nauseated. I wanted to like this more but I don’t even want it as background music. Those first three are bangers though.
Stereolab
3/5
I like this one - it made me hanker for more French chill music. I’ve since listened to more Stereolab and Françoise Hardy so it put me in a comfortable easy frame of mind. Très agréable, n’est-ce pas?
Killing Joke
4/5
I used to be a big fan of Killing Joke along with the Dead Kennedys and Alien Sex Fiend. They all seemed to have that raw, angry energy I had as a youth. I was in the mosh roaring with everyone at the gigs. I still love the songs and the apocalyptic vibe but now with a wistful apathy.
Otis Redding
3/5
Bit of a dodgy cover! His voice is beautiful but I can only take a handful of songs at a time. They have more impact in isolation.
Steely Dan
2/5
I counted down. There was no ecstasy.
Peter Gabriel
2/5
Really not my favourite Peter Gabriel album. Solsbury Hill is a fantastic song but nothing else quite measured up. It’s sprawling and eclectic but nothing to hold onto.
Fairport Convention
3/5
This is all daisy crowns and diaphanous gowns. Sandy Denny’s voice is incredible but at times I felt like I was being battered by a bunch of crocuses in a wildflower meadow. This is the zenith of English Folk Rock though.
Super Furry Animals
5/5
I do have a real soft spot for Welsh bands, partly because I had a friend who worked in the business and he used to get us into all the gigs for free plus some free CDs to boot. So my memories of this album are very fond.
I could happily listen to it on repeat and the videos are fun too. Mr Nice (Howard Marks) and Rhys Ifans used to be at the gigs too and there was always a very warm and welcoming atmosphere.
They were never afraid to experiment or defy genre so even if it got a bit baggy sometimes they were still cool.
I was wavering between a 4 and 5 but I’m gonna give them the credit they never quite got from Big Industry.
The Temptations
3/5
I spent the whole time thinking I should have been listening to the four tops after Abdul Fakir’s death last week. This was solid and some good arrangements and covers. Good but not great.
LTJ Bukem
2/5
I’m not a drum and bass enthusiast- it sounds like the soundtrack of a scene in an action movie where the hero goes into a club full of spaced out people dancing vibrantly to an incoherent tune looking for the villain. Atmospheric but I feel like you need to be under the influence to appreciate this. Not listening to it sober and sane at your office desk! Not completely hateful but the epitome of tedium!
Portishead
5/5
This was never not going to be a five for me.
It Is as strong, powerful and fresh as it was 30 years ago. I can’t quite believe I bought it so long ago but I can play it any time and still love everything about it. So good I played it twice.
XTC
4/5
I can understand why XTC left Dear God off the first print of this album. However, I am truly thankful that it was reinstated. What a phenomenal song and deserves five all on its own. Every time I’ve listened to XTC on this project I have been surprised and excited that they are so much better than I remember. I can still hear the English whimsy but these songs are real growers. I was happy to play again and again and then I just stuck Dear God on repeat. That never grows old - the nuance, the beauty, the existential crisis. Still so resonant. And delivered with such heart.
Traffic
3/5
Solid, accomplished and polished. Feeling’ all right is a classic. Good to hear but it was like the comforting sound of traffic on a motorway. Background soothing tones but ain’t gonna get me excited or make me want to get in a lane.
Kings of Leon
3/5
I think they might have a really good energy if I saw them live but this was all a bit samey for me. They’re distinctive but not something I’d think of ever putting on by choice. I tap my toes and dance when their singles come on the radio or at a party but I’m not on it for the long haul.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Great! But I have to be in the mood for the Queen of Soul. Fabulous when I am but sometimes I just feel it’s a little tedious.
2/5
No!
Goldie
2/5
They call it ground-breaking
I call it head-breaking
They call it a double album
I call it way too f***ing long
They call it drum and bass
I call it hum-drum and base
They can call it anything they like
I will never recall it again
Brian Eno
2/5
This is my favourite album of all time!
Said no-one ever (who meant it)!
The Zutons
3/5
Fabulous cover! Good (enough) songs! Remember me is a blinder!!!
Missy Elliott
2/5
I thought I was going to like this more but I found it very annoying. The energy and the beats and the melodies were good but the lyrics were so cringey or just horrible. It’s probably a 2.5 but I’m not feeling kind.
The Notorious B.I.G.
1/5
This was tough beyond belief. Not aimed at me, I know. Not enjoyed by me either. Some of it I found downright offensive and ugly and unbearable. I will never be asking: Gimme one more chance. But horses for courses and all that jazz.
Spacemen 3
2/5
It does not surprise me that some band members went on to form Spiritualized. It’s got the same kind of feel. I don’t like them either though. I was surprised - being very much an indie chick - that I’d never heard of this lot in the 80s. Sources claim they were ‘big’ but I challenge that statement. Big in The Midlands maybe… There were moments that I thought I might have liked them 40 years ago but they are so derivative and wearisome. And dipping into my beloved Patti Smith’s Gloria was too heartbreaking because they couldn’t pull it off and just made me hanker for PS. Way too long and annoying and most songs I had to fast forward through otherwise I would have been tempted to self-immolate.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
2/5
Take Five has entered the International Canon of tunes that everyone has been fed subliminally and knows aurally - even if they think they don’t. I could have happily listened to five bars of that song rather than five and a half minutes… the rest I appreciate rather than enjoy!
Queen
2/5
Never a fan of Early Queen. Only appreciated them much later and only in small doses. I admire their ingenuity and theatricality!
Fiona Apple
2/5
Although better than the rest of this week’s selection, I don’t actively ‘like’ Fiona Apple’s music. I know a lot of musos do but she doesn’t do much for me. I quite liked Newspaper but as for the rest - I’m sure it’s worthy but can’t get into it.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
Lovely voice and interesting to hear The Lion Sleeps Tonight in its original language. I quite liked the mix of styles and languages. It was obviously done to show her versatility. Although I don’t think she needed to do House of the Rising Sun. And why they chose to include Charles Coleman corpsing I don’t know. It doesn’t enhance the satire of that song. The version with MM and Harry Belafonte is gentler but allows the words to mean more rather than be lost in laughter.
Vacillating between Okay and Fine!
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
3/5
From 1960s lone South African female singer to 1980s SA choral in succession. Really easy, comforting background music.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
The Libertines
4/5
I did like the singles back in the day although not a fan of the band or personnel. This caught me by surprise though- sometimes you just need some breezy tunes on a grey day. There wasn’t one song I didn’t sing or jiggle along to.
The United States Of America
2/5
Erm, never heard of this lot but could hear early Grace Slick and Marianne Faithfull. Couldn’t hear a coherent through-line. Interesting but not compelling.
The The
5/5
One of my barometers for this project is asking myself “Am I ever going to okay this again?” With Matt Johnson my answer is always “Yes”. And have been playing The The Albums over and over since the 89s. The sentiments always resonate with me and the songs always impel me to dance. Different songs affect me on different days so sometimes I just love ‘This is the day’. Today it’s all bout The Sinking Feeling. Thanks, Matt. You’ve been a great help.
4/5
I wouldn’t call this punk - I could hear so many styles and kept thinking they were more like the B-52s. Fun!!
Orange Juice
4/5
Post-punk seems to be a blanket term for most rock-ish pop-ish bands of the early 80s but I don’t think it’s a just term. There are so many meanderings away from the genre here. I do love them, however they’re described. Edwyn Collins’ voice is an acquired taste but I was always a fan and Gorgeous George was his definitive solo album. Rip it up was an anthem for its time. You should have seen us run onto that dance floor on hearing those first three notes. I also loved I can’t help myself. Those songs were massive for about 10 years. The whole album had a couple of dips and was a bit ho-hum at times so can’t quite get up to a 5. But young, gifted and Scottish they most certainly were.
Roni Size
2/5
Firstly - I was angry back in 1997 when they won the mercury prize because it just seemed like the bigwig musos were voting for the least known, least interesting act but it would generate controversy. Which it did. And it’s not as if they’ve carved out a monumental career since. I really tried to be mature about this and see if I could connect with the album this time but about a minute into each song I was just terribly bored. I tried a bunch of times to start afresh but it wasn’t happening. I luckily accessed the original 16-track album but if I’d had to listen to the 53-track reissue I may have had to cause serious damage somewhere. Tedium beyond….
The Replacements
3/5
A pleasant nostalgic ride - this was like the soundtrack to a John Hughes movie.
Manu Chao
4/5
Cheered me up and made me smile. Loved those beats!
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Deliciously short and so very Bruce!
Michael Kiwanuka
3/5
I always find it refreshing when the album of the day is relatively recent. It confirms that it’s an ever-evolving list and the must-listens change as the music industry changes. Having said this I’m not particularly a fan of MK - it’s all a bit underwhelming. Or maybe just whelming!
Kendrick Lamar
2/5
Statins!
Some people choose to take them.
Some people need to take them.
Some people just don’t need them in their life…
Kendrick Lamar tracks!
Some people…
The Black Crowes
2/5
Hard to Handle is a classic track. The rest is hard to handle.
Merle Haggard
3/5
Toe-tapping-tastic!
Black Flag
2/5
Quite liked the punk vibe at the start but by the end just found it irritating.
Kendrick Lamar
2/5
I preferred it to the previous KL offering. More musicality but some of it still sets my teeth on edge.
Christine and the Queens
3/5
Listening to the 23 track bilingual version was interesting but too long. Fun bouncy pop - very retro for 2018 but that’s fine.
Johnny Cash
5/5
Sublime! Have loved this since it came out and was a fantastic change of pace by JC. A Swan Song to be proud of. And this version of Hurt is the most emotionally powerful tear-inducing songs ever.
Yes
2/5
Prog Rock!
Yes but…
No but!
Cocteau Twins
3/5
Haunting, ethereal - all the old adjectives still apply. Very much a sound of their times. Lovely to listen to - calming. Although it does remind me of one particular New Year’s Eve party where pretentious Pritesh banged on about them all night which kind of ruined them for me because he was so boring. Poor boy thought he’d got lucky until I left him on my friend’s doorstep. So thinking of the Cocteau Twins also makes me chortle.
Van Morrison
5/5
Van the Man! Legend!
Paul Simon
3/5
Couple of classics - he’s a great lyricist but not Peak Paul for me.
The Stooges
3/5
Not as fabulous as I wanted it be - love Iggy and his stooges but this was a bit too raw and chaotic.
Bad Company
3/5
The words Hard Rock Supergroup fill me with dread. However, this was just a litany of great times with hooks and melody and totally entertaining to boot.
The Zombies
4/5
Although I knew the name of The Zombies, Time of The Season is a timeless gem, I don’t remember hearing any of their other tunes. Yes, it’s very 1960s flower power but so worth listening to. Somewhere between a 3 and 4 but because it’s so tight and well-crafted I’ll be generous. Nx
Megadeth
2/5
I tried but it was trying!
Dr. John
4/5
Loved the vibe.
Guns N' Roses
3/5
My natural disposition is to choose not to listen to this. I won’t turn off the hits if they come on the radio, the sad thing being I seem to know all the words. This week I certainly wasn’t in the mood to listen to it so I waited until I was open and receptive. However, my appetite for this has not been stimulated but I admire their talent for a catchy tune.
Blondie
4/5
I thought this might be an immediate five star album because It evokes. great memories. It certainly in the Bamford archives. Listening to it there were definitely eight great songs out of 12, which is better than average. It did lose me a bit in the middle though so might have to dock it a mark. Still wonderful memories from my childhood though.
Muddy Waters
3/5
I did love these blues and the harmonica although they did all meld into one song by the end.
Janet Jackson
2/5
Sorry, Janet - were these actually different songs? I thought I might be won over by some boppy tunes but instead overwhelmed by cloying samey-ness. My teeth hurt from the saccharine.
Tina Turner
3/5
Love the hits but didn’t love this as much as I wanted to. I remember everyone having this album in school - not me, though. But it brings back fun memories of going dancing and Tina belting out her hits.
Paul Weller
4/5
This may be my favourite Paul Weller phase - loved the Jam but they were not consistent. Not a fan of the Style Council vibe but this is just beautifully mellow. And there are three or four absolute classics on here.
The Cramps
4/5
Fridays and Saturdays- 1980s - elbow dancing to the Cramps in a hot and sweaty club. That”s my youth right there.
The Incredible String Band
1/5
Interminable - can well and truly folk off!
The Dictators
3/5
This is quite fun - I’d have called it New Wave - very much like Richard Hell or a Buzzcocks vibe. I would have liked it a lot more back in the day but it’s wearing a bit on me now.
fIREHOSE
2/5
Never heard of them and I’m pretty sure I kept mispronouncing their name in my head (think rhymes with Pinocchio). They were ‘fine’ although I’ve completely forgotten every word/riff/melody. Okay but underwhelming.
Ozomatli
5/5
I can’t quite believe how much I loved this. It came as a complete surprise to me as I’ve never heard of them and they seem to touch a nerve, in a good way. I had to listen to them a second time just to prove that I wasn’t under some kind of spell or delusion. But a second time on a different day, I still love them. I will be returning to this as it makes me feel happy. I’m not sure it’s quite a five but for the Excitement and novel elements (to me at least), it probably deserves a bit more of a boost.
Pantera
1/5
Volume - 1
Interest - 0
Vulgar Display of Bleagh!
Soft Machine
2/5
This wax fine to have on in the background but left do little impression I didn’t even notice when it finished.
Korn
1/5
Earache to my eye? No, just earache! All sounded the same to me.
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
This is as twee as it gets and I’m not sure if the first song was just a cynical ploy to be on an Olympics playlist. Pleasant to listen to but I was never a huge fan. Classic 3.5 for me.
2/5
Those song titles were a load of pretentious tosh, weren’t they? There were a few times when a melody kind of grabbed me and I thought I would be carried along but just as soon it disappeared. Nothing concrete to like here. I didn’t connect with any magic.
Khaled
4/5
Gosh - this was so poppy and upbeat, it was really easy to get swept up in it! I was indeed Desk-dancing and singing along as best I could. Really fun and a mix-up of genres although I could have done without that version of Imagine. That added nothing to the vibe.
Echo And The Bunnymen
5/5
Randomly, I heard The killing moon on TV yesterday and wished it would pop up on our album list. Amazingly, what I wished for came true. This encapsulates so many memories from my teenage years. Wonderful in every way. So good I played it twice.
ABBA
3/5
During their heyday, I have to confess I was not a fan. I appreciate their infectious poppy, catchy tunes. I can sing along to those killer singles but with the passing of time, those sentiments and belief systems are a little bit suspicious and the filler tunes are just nonsense. I admire the longevity and the danceabillity of those singles though.
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
I have almost nothing to say about this except I find it a bit wearing. I like Block Rockin’ Beats.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
3/5
I really didn’t know what to put for this. Firstly, I had severe misconceptions about this album. For years I thought they were prog rock but I obviously got that wrong. I gave this a second spin because I was decidedly undecided. It’s probably a 3.5 - I loved the weirdy vibes.
Beyoncé
2/5
I’m sure she is the poster girl for Sex Sells. This is polished and expertly produced And she’s incredibly beautiful. But oh my gosh, boring as hell. What is it with this one note Album which is just all about sex and ooh, ooh and ooh baby! I did really like Haunted. A great Halloween dance anthem. Did I mention that the rest was tedious listening, dull as dishwater and I remember now why I don’t care about Beyoncé apart from the odd single.
Joan Armatrading
5/5
Sublime songwriter, incredible voice and range. Ahead of her time too - this music still resonates. Happy to play this over and over.
Pere Ubu
2/5
More pretentious performance art than music. Although at times it veered into Nick Cave or the Velvet Underground territory, just not as good.
Interesting but headache-inducing. Experimental but alienating.
And way too much feedback.
Jungle Brothers
3/5
Quite fun and propelled me along easily.
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
Not as great as Ocean Rain or Porcupine but a flash of what they would become. Definitely true originals.
Queen
3/5
I lost patience listening to this. Early Queen - never my thing. My appreciation for them grew later.
GZA
3/5
Interesting at best!
The Sugarcubes
3/5
Oh, the irony!
Life’s Too Good? No - but the music ain’t bad.
U2
4/5
This is tricky for me because I did like you too when they were raw and punky and just starting out. By this time they were beginning to be self aggrandising, self-aware and self proclaimed Saviours of the free world. Which is offputting. However, these are great rock tunes and I seem to know the words to every single one. The all reaching tentacles of world domination. In my mind this is a solid 3.5 so I don’t really know which way to go. If I forget who they are and base it solely on the easiness of the experience then it’s pretty high.
Animal Collective
2/5
Never heard of them and really underwhelmed.
Bee Gees
2/5
I mean - they know how to write songs and there’s always a place for a twee ballad. But I can’t hear the Bee Gees without thinking of Kenny Everett’s skit and they just became figures of fun. And twee is not my bag.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
Patchy but eminently enjoyable and a few great classics that I’d completely forgotten.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Jimi at his best.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
4/5
Quite a leaning to animal songs. It’s a definite grower. I was quite unsure on first listen but it’s really fun. Especially the goose, the dog and the boll weevil. It was almost like children’s TV. Sung by Johnny Cash. It’s probably a 3.5 but for how easy it was on the ears, it’s being promoted.
The Cure
5/5
I will always love you!
New York Dolls
4/5
I do appreciate the raw energy and the fact that these guys were punk in 1973 before the massive wave… it doesn’t always land but these guys are truly seminal. It may be a bit rough but I’m all in.
Van Morrison
5/5
I don’t love it as much as Moondance but he’s a great songwriter and that magnificent voice! Sweet Thing on its own deserves a 5.
Taylor Swift
2/5
Don’t get me wrong, the girl can write a catchy tune. She has skills and has proven her longevity in the songwriting game. However, for me there is a total disconnect. Most of her songs just sound the same and I like my love songs a bit more Robert Smith than vanilla ice cream. It’s all a bit bland, but occasionally, there is something and I feel a slight engagement, like Shake It Off. That’s fun! But the rest I have absolutely no emotional connection to or excitement about. Her millions of fans would disagree with me but then I don’t think I’m the target audience.
Lauryn Hill
2/5
That thing is a classic ear worm, although I love to substitute Bad for That - I think it has more oomph. I don’t like her cover of Too good to be true and the rest of the songs fade into obscurity. I remember when the album came out and there was such an outpouring of admiration and love for it. I didn’t get it then, I don’t get it now. I quite like the punctuating speech fillers. It reminds me of watching one of those classic 80s films where teachers inspire poor kids. But mostly it’s
Bad Thing
Bad Thing
Bad Thi-i-i-ng!
Moby
5/5
This was everywhere for a couple of years and was definitely part of my life soundtrack. It reminds me of driving with friends and definitely digs into the whole nostalgia vibe. I had a really good time listening to this after so many years.
Kanye West
2/5
Kanye! I just want to roll my eyes. 21 songs is way too long - my patience wore very thin. Occasionally I didn’t hate it. I quite like All Falls Down but I guess that’s because I remember not hating it 20 years ago and I like Syleena’s voice. But I’m never going to listen to this again voluntarily.
The Byrds
3/5
A pleasant venture into nostalgia land. But they are mostly covers and not a lot of differentiation.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
5/5
I had forgotten that there were quite so many covers on here. The fact that they were so subversive and revolutionary and groundbreaking makes me forgive them. The covers are okay but not what this album is about. To be in the UK at this time when Frankie Goes to Hollywood we’re the zeitgeist and rebels and brought the underground into the light. The fact that Relax was number one in the charts but all the mainstream media refused to play it just made us want it more. Two Tribes, Relax and The Power of Love WERE the early 80s - powerful, provocative and danceable to boot! And my RELAX t-shirt dress was a summer staple. For all the filler and cover missteps - I just don’t care. I’m gonna say what I exclaimed when I saw that these boys were the album of the day! Fuck, yeah!
Elvis Presley
2/5
I’m torn - Elvis is an icon with some fantastic songs and delivery. But I was seriously underwhelmed here. Nothing stood out. I remembered nothing five minutes after it finished and I feel like I’m betraying a legend. But I’m just not sold. I think maybe it was of it’s time and if you’d been waiting for Elvis to leave the army and come out with something new, this was probably manna from heaven. Spoiler alert, he gets better later.
Antony and the Johnsons
3/5
When this came out, first the single and then the album, I had an absolute visceral hatred of it. I just think maybe the voice was too much for me to take. But I could not stand it. A friend of mine tried to convince me that it was a fantastic album and I should give it a chance. He even bought me the album as a birthday present to try and force me to like it. I listened to it once and hated it still. It basically got put on a shelf and I thought I would never have to listen to it again.
Until now. I was kinda loathe to hear it again, but I tried.
And didn’t hate it. The 20 years interim must have changed my receptors. I began to appreciate it a lot more and even her voice didn’t upset me anymore. I’m not sure how much I’ll revisit it. But I did hear some beautiful qualities. Quite profound at times.
Ray Price
3/5
I mean - it’s pleasant but unmemorable. A crooner for his era - it took me three days to listen to it because I’d press play and then completely forget to listen or get distracted after half a song. It’s a 2.5 really.
Mike Oldfield
3/5
If it wasn’t for the Exorcist music or Viv Stanshall doing the hornpipe I wouldn’t care a fig about this. I know it made Richard Branson a fortune but it’s pretty dull and serviceable only as Mall Music. Another 2.5.
Meat Puppets
3/5
Fine but instantly forgettable! 2.5 again!
MGMT
4/5
I really enjoyed this but I always liked the singles anyway - just never really bothered to listen to the album. But really lovely tunes and I liked the voice and the vibe. Very calming.
Dizzee Rascal
2/5
I really didn’t like Dizzee Rascal when he first came on the scene. And I was convinced I didn’t like this album. Then I listened and was a bit confused because it wasn’t how I remembered it. I remember listening to bits of it during the mercury song prize and it wasn’t the same. It seemed quite hypnotic and and easy to listen to. I managed to get through the whole thing without spewing. And then I realised I’ve been listening to the wrong album. I had listened to the completely instrumental version. That was hypnotic and quite fun. When I listen to the correct version with Dizzee rascal’s vocals, then I reverted to my original opinion. I obviously like the tunes but those vocals are just horrible.
Goldfrapp
3/5
Let me get this right - the debut album, Felt Mountain contained Lovely Head and Humans. Black Cherry had Strict Machine and Black Cherry. Supernature had Number One and Ooh La La. But none of these albums were picked even though they were well acclaimed and danceable and groundbreaking at the time. Alison Goldfrapp certainly mustered a lot of traction. But for this project, they went with the fourth album, which is a little bit folky but otherwise blander than the previous albums. Apparently Alison was going for the pagan look and sound here. The cover reminded me of a 1970s film à la Barry Lyndon. Any of those other albums I think it would’ve been a straight 4. The fact that I have to listen to A&E on the morning that I have to call the paramedics out to my mother is maybe apposite but not fun. Happiness I guess is the antidote to that. A good song but not half as danceable as earlier Goldfrapp.
Jean-Michel Jarre
3/5
I remember when this came out and people went gaga over it. The spectacle and the light shows and the electronica. And I was totally underwhelmed. Sure - the snappily titled oxygene no 4 Is recognisable and sounds like popcorn in a saucepan. Number six sounds like a contemporary version of Ravel’s Bolero But it’s all pretty insipid. I think at the time I was more bowled over That he was married to Charlotte Rampling. I used to wonder if she was as bored by his songs as I was. She seemed to deserve a bit more excitement.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
I understand that this was pioneering and it is undeniably great music. The barrier for me was always Robert Plant’s voice - very difficult to get past.
Nightmares On Wax
3/5
It’s great that there is such such a diversity of styles on here. Perfect background music for cleaning or working. Not something I’d choose to listen to but easy enough on the ear. Reminds me a bit of those Café del Mar albums. Chill vibe. Just not dynamic enough for a four.
Bill Callahan
4/5
I thought this was beautiful - deceptively spare. Layers of emotion and complexity in simple delivery. I will listen to this again. Probably on days when I’m crying under a duvet.
A Tribe Called Quest
2/5
Bit samey and not really my thing.
Fairport Convention
3/5
Pleasant enough.
Randy Newman
3/5
The man has written some great tunes in his time - I mean, for half the time o had the Toy Story song in my head. He’s very easy to listen to but I don’t want too much. However, I didn’t even know he wrote ‘ You can leave your hat on’ which I’ve always loved. But let’s face it Joe Cocker did it better. And always reminds me of 9 1/2 weeks. Now there was a film!!!!
Baaba Maal
3/5
This is perfect music for a lazy Sunday afternoon, when you’re not feeling particularly with it. It washes over you in waves, soothing to the soul.
DJ Shadow
2/5
Wow - did this go on forever? It seemed like it lasted for days! I only warmed up to it in the last 3 or 4 tracks and am glad it’s over.
MC Solaar
4/5
Très cool. Il y a des belles ondes.
Adele
3/5
Turns out there’s only so much maudlin I can take.
The Doors
4/5
Loved the Doors as a youth. Although I played their first album more and it blew me away back in the day. I don’t tire of the sound or his voice although I must not have been in the mood when I only awarded the first album a 4. This isn’t quite as good but still love it.
White Denim
3/5
Never heard of this lot before and it took a while for me to warm up to them. But then they kept going in different directions and I was happy enough to go for the ride.
TV On The Radio
3/5
I went back and forth with this. Great at times, grating at others. Overlong but on the whole I enjoyed it.
Joe Ely
2/5
It all merged into one for me. Not really feeling it.
The Darkness
2/5
I’m afraid I cannot get over the fact that this lot are arrogant, self-aggrandising bell-ends. Hate their attitude and sound - they try to do fun but in such a smug way, it’s revolting. Permission to land - no, please divert to another destination.
The Undertones
4/5
Feargal Sharkey is a very interesting character- he went from punk-tastic singer to A&R man and nowadays he is a political activist and campaigner for clean rivers. Because British rivers are literally full of shit. I have a soft spot for this band, not only because John Peel, Legendary British DJ, thought teenage kicks was the perfect song, but because they’re just fast and full of fun. My least favourite song of theirs was my perfect cousin, but it’s not on here so the album wasn’t tainted. This is just energetic and youthful and if you can channel that maybe forgotten part of yourself it is a great ride.
David Ackles
5/5
Stunning! A mix of old-style French singer songwriters, in the manner of
Jacques Brel or Serge Gainsbourg. Throw in a mix of my beloved Harry Chapin and Kurt Weill and you have a confection of sublime, beautiful vignettes. Gorgeous!
Scott Walker
4/5
Interesting that he opens with a song version of an Ingmar Bergman film. The dulcet tones are everything you’d expect from SW. Full of passion and depth.
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
I’m so torn by this record. It reminds me of my first term at Uni when all the cool kids loved TTD and played him non-stop including my room-mate. I was not a fan and never claimed to be cool! And he came across as a smug, arrogant tosspot. If you notice any theme in my reviews is that any one who displays these traits annoys me. So he rubs me up the wrong way.
But I do know all the tunes and words and I didn’t hate them this time around.
Suede
4/5
Still love them!
Shuggie Otis
3/5
Didn’t really feel in the mood for this. Made no impression until maybe the last track. Totally inoffensive but inconsequential. In reality a 2.5 but he’s done nothing wrong!
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
See my previous review about why I fell out with the Jesus and Mary chain. Turns out I really have forgiven them. I put this on thinking I would fall asleep to it. But instead, it just carried me along and energised me. Love The brooding Scottish rain-drenched ambiance.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
She does have a lovely voice and these are great songs but maybe history has changed the narrative coz this didn’t feel original or groundbreaking. It just felt like her interpretations of other (better) originals.
The Cars
3/5
Power pop at its most average! The singles were still familiar and perfectly listenable but it didn’t particularly do much. Reliable, easy, inoffensive, average! 1978’s Ford Cortina!
The Cure
4/5
My least favourite Cure album served up on this list. But Early, Raw Cure is still better than most. I’m still on their team!
Count Basie & His Orchestra
4/5
On another day I’m not sure I would have been into this but the past few days my brain has been so scattered I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything. And yet when I put this on I became focused and able to work without being torn and distracted. The tunes were so reminiscent of 1950s or 1960s comedy movies I actually felt like I was listening to a Pink Panther soundtrack. So, as much as some of it was just my attitude to the day, I actually felt quite buoyed along by this. I always loved watching old black and white movies where there was a club with a Big Band playing or some kind of tribute to a bandleader so this was right up my street. It maybe should be a 3.5 but for the fact it helped streamline my thoughts it gets a boost.
Aerosmith
2/5
For about half of this, Steven Tyler‘s voice didn’t annoy me as much as usual. And then it did. And did every song last about an hour? Or was that just me? Really not my thing. I’d like to just throw these Rocks in a gulch.
Bob Dylan
3/5
Just So Bob! He’s a complete known… entity. Some of this was great - Live Sick was a fantastic start and then it just Bobbed along.
a-ha
4/5
New Wave!? You’re having a laugh. This is peak pop! That’s not an insult. It takes a lot of craft and graft to create a good pop song and there’s quite a few on here. My friend saw them live in about 2002 and said they were phenomenal. Also Morten Harket never seems to age. I think he’s having virgin blood transfusions. Very singalongable and just fun. I’m gonna have to mark them up for the feel good factor.
Incredible Bongo Band
3/5
I’m not sure how much I needed to hear Cover versions with Bongos. How it made it onto the list I really don’t know but it was fine as background music. Made me remember the time that a friend bought a horse and rang me up to ask what was the name of the famous Shadows’ song because she wanted to name the horse after it but couldn’t quite remember the title. If only Apache the horse had a friend called Bongo. Apache’s predecessor was a horse called Donovan (another musical reference) but he kicked me in the head…
All this rambling because I’m unsure what to think about an album that is ostensibly fine but am being told it’s a must-listen. I think I’d rather spend time with the pony.
Lupe Fiasco
3/5
I really thought I was gonna hate this but it was a surprise. I really got into it and I loved Daydreamin’ (I love the original so that helped) and a couple others really grabbed me in unexpected ways. The 12 minute outro comprising a list of randoms was only saved by the interesting melody underneath. I really can’t bring myself to give it a 4. It’s not that great but for the most part very enjoyable.
The Divine Comedy
4/5
Erudite, witty, quirky. Essentially eccentric English. Loved the original of the Father Ted theme tune. I feel you either roll with the eccentricity and satire or it’s just alien to you. I will admit it’s not an emotional album - it’s slightly cold but very funny. And the in n out of Paris is strongly referencing Dickens Tale of Two Cities. Middle class heroes could be a monty python sketch. It all feels a bit Neill Innes but that’s a plus point. It’s a giant in-joke but I got it!! Loses a point for lack of passion.
Big Star
2/5
Not so much Big Star as Dwarf Planet! Except Pluto is quite interesting and this absolutely wasn’t.
Underworld
3/5
I did recognise some of this album especially Confusion the Waitress and Banstyle has popped up in popular culture for the past 30 years. Some of it is tedious and I wasn’t sure it would rate more than a 2 but at times it was perfectly listenable if not earth-shattering.
The Blue Nile
4/5
They have a distinctive style, which they don’t necessarily deviate from, but in an album this short it absolutely works. Tinseltown in the rain was possibly the best song of the 1980s (and one of my favourites of all time) - my father and I played it incessantly. If it wasn’t on this list, it was going to be in our other selections. So, so beautiful. Possibly not a five for the whole album but TITR rates 10 on its own.
Stephen Stills
3/5
Very redolent of the times- some of the sentiment doesn’t sit well now but there is a strong familiarity. I’d rather have Neil Young but this was easy enough to listen to. Nostalgic!
Missy Elliott
2/5
Don’t mind the beats but I wasn’t feeling it and it began to wear me down after a while.
D'Angelo
1/5
Almost unbearable. So cloying it made my teeth hurt!
Anita Baker
2/5
Everyone knows Sweet Love and it’s ingrained in people if a certain generation - we all know the words and the time and the voice! Nothing else on this album has quite that power or effect.
The Saints
3/5
Do you think The Strokes are a massive fan of this lot? I couldn’t tell the difference at times - could also hear a Richard Hell influence. Made me miss the art of the two minute pop song. Like Bertie Botts every flavour beans, pop one in - if you don’t like it there’s a whole bag of different ones. I wouldn’t say there was too much deviation in style but it was very fun and easy.
Barry Adamson
4/5
I’m a sucker for a dramatic film score… Once Upon a Time in the West is one of the best and I can listen to that incessantly. I’m not sure this reaches tge heights of Sergio and even though it’s a completely non-existent film I appreciated the whimsy. It probably should be a 3.5 but it was more enjoyable than I expected.
Cee Lo Green
3/5
Oooh! Hasn’t he been cancelled? I loved Gnarls Barkley and obviously this is him again… and despite my reservations and cringing I thought it was a pretty fun listen. It wasn’t very soulful, bit of a misnomer but I got carried along with the beats.
The National
4/5
I don’t know why the National always seem to pass me by. But when I remember them, I always think I should listen to them more. They remind me of a Lithuanian friend who went to see them a few years back. When she said she was off to see the National, I thought she meant a gallery. And then I found out who they were and thought they were pretty cool - a little bit Nick Cave, a little bit Elbow, a bit like a warm comforting spa.
Sugar
3/5
I think these are a grower - they tick many boxes on paper but no instantaneous chemistry. I feel like I’ve friendzoned a potential love interest.
Beatles
3/5
Short, sweet, sappy and soppy! Now guess which one’s which.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
What’s Going On? Honestly, not much.
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
He has an interesting voice but he’s never gripped me as much as I think he’s going to. Could not distinguish one song from the other but pleasant as background music. It annoys me when people talk about his version of Hallelujah. Leonard did it best.
Snoop Dogg
1/5
Who are ya (what’s yer name)?
Frankly, I couldn’t care less!
Dolly Parton
3/5
One I appreciate and admire rather than delight in. Well-crafted and lovely voices but not really my tipple.
Pavement
3/5
This had me very conflicted. In one way it was everything I should like, but that’s because it seemed to rip off everything I do like. They seem to be trying a little too hard to be the Velvet Underground. I remember them from back in the day, but I don’t think they ever completely grabbed me. They feel too derivative to score highly but there was nothing I objected to. It should be a 2.5 but for the fact that I wasn’t pulling my hair out and actually had to listen a second time which wasn’t a chore.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
I don’t think I’ve listened to enough Joni in my life.
Frank Ocean
3/5
It’s a shame that his album looks like the easyJet logo because all it reminds me of is cheap knockoff versions of something more expensive, - expensive but better. Also, I don’t quite understand why Frank Ocean said he’s quitting to become a writer. If you write songs, you’re a writer, you don’t have to confine yourself to one medium. I think his themes are interesting, but the music does not captivate me in any way. Although it does feel a little bit like swimming in warm water, it’s not like the ocean.
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
This is 1967 encapsulated. White Rabbit, Somebody to love, coming back to me, absolutely iconic. And every time I sang somebody to love at the top of my lungs the cat sprang into my embrace. Quite literally a call to arms. The other songs, although rich and varied didn’t quite have the punch of Grace Slick they were of an era and evocative in their own way.
It did get me thinking though, they started as Jefferson airplane, transmuted into Jefferson Starship - what would they be today? Jefferson teleporter, Jefferson Siri. Jefferson Hadron Collider. No matter - when logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead… Feed your head!
Super Furry Animals
4/5
You know how much I love my welsh bands. This was great when it first came out and although I haven’t played it in a while it’s still fresh and mad and eclectic. Not one dud and I especially loved No sympathy and Juxtapozed with you.
Simple Minds
4/5
The time
The place
The emotion
These all aligned for me.
Simple Minds were a weekly feature of my life at one point so the familiarity is welcome. Warm, cosy, comfortable.
Gene Clark
3/5
This has the potential to be a grower - it was eclectic and interesting but I think would be better appreciated after several listens. But when am I ever gonna find the time?
Tears For Fears
3/5
A tricky one. I always felt that Tears for Fears were self-righteous, self-important, all the selfs. And they were severely humourless to boot. And for that reason I chose not to entertain their catalogue. However, every song permeated the airwaves, the culture, daily life. The fact that I still know almost every word and every tune means that I find it very difficult to judge whether I like the album or it’s just a part of me. Classic 3.5 I guess.
Pentangle
2/5
To paraphrase a famous libretto from Jerry Springer the Opera:
What the folk?
What the folk?
What the folkin’, folkin’ folk?
Sade
4/5
I mean, it’s awful isn’t it?(!)
Sade was stunningly beautiful and still is.
The songs and style were effortlessly cool and still are.
Each tune is like a warm bath of honey, enveloping, caressing, nurturing.
How rubbish is that!
I recently fell down a Sade rabbit hole when we were all listening to Dido and I then went on a female singer songwriter binge. I’d forgotten the sheer power of this album.
The tragedy is back in the 80s I just wasn’t that into her! How sad! But now… I will be your friend.
Drive Like Jehu
2/5
Interesting that their compilation album was called Head Start to Purgatory. I feel that is very apt.
Boards of Canada
1/5
I tried. I really did. I’ve never heard of this band before and I was willing to give it a go but after four tries at various places in the album, at various times of the day I just can’t get on with it. I even tried to like the song roygbiv because obviously it’s a song about rainbows but flipping heck, driven to boredom.
Jane's Addiction
2/5
Perfect music in the background when cleaning out cat litter trays. Standing in the shower… thinking - I enjoyed that but nothing else made a dent.
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
Gosh - this was a melodic treat! It did go on a tad too long but I loved the entrancing effect it had, like floating on treacle.
3/5
Definitely seems like an album before its time. Very erratic though , some songs had no impact and others were pretty okay. My highlight was Let me try!
David Holmes
2/5
Underwhelming but not offensive. I quite like the James Bond theme remix.
Circle Jerks
2/5
Mercifully short. It was of its era but has lost some of its lustre now.
Nas
2/5
🤷♀️
Fever Ray
4/5
I really liked this dreamy, ethereal ride. At times it was quite gothy and other times just a ride with the fairies but I wouldn’t hesitate to revisit it.
Neu!
3/5
I’m upset I can’t use my joke about this being sauerkraut rock. It wasn’t a sour experience at all. Nothing earth-shattering but perfectly fine as background music.
Van Morrison
3/5
I love Van the Man but I’m not sure a Live album adds anything to my listening experience. I’m happy to listen to Astral Weeks and Moondance but a live rendition doesn’t do that much for me to be honest. Some of the deliveries were a bit flabby but it was fine. Maybe you had to be there.
Iggy Pop
5/5
Fantastic! I always loved the Lust for Life album but didn’t pay this much mind. And I confess my ignorance I didn’t even know that Iggy recorded China girl first. I only knew the Bowie 1983 version. But this was so good I was happy to play it a couple of times on the trot and then go on a David Bowie digression. Made me happy.
Dire Straits
3/5
No one can deny their skill or technique. Those guitars come through great. I was more of a fan of the Making Movies album which was part of the family collection. This one kind of passed us by.Perfect kitchen music though. Batch cooking never sounded so easy.
Big Star
3/5
If you didn’t know the difficulties behind this it would seem like a sweet album. Femme Fatale was a competent cover but unnecessary. Hands up if you missed Nico on vocals. I quite liked the insecure, wobbly vocals but it didn’t quite hit.
Elbow
4/5
This is so nearly a 5. Gorgeous, clever, beautiful songs. People who compare them to Coldplay are just wrong. I always mean to listen to more Elbow but never quite get there. I’m glad I did it today. Scrumptious!
The Icarus Line
3/5
Frankly, it could’ve been any band of this era. Nothing particularly distinctive but very much of an ilk.
Not so much an evening of penance, more like an afternoon of apathy.
Sheryl Crow
3/5
She has an easy, relatable, at times anthemic style. She’s never quite done it for me but perfectly inoffensive. And some of those songs have obviously ingrained themselves into popular culture so far I knew most of the words.
Crowded House
4/5
I remember hearing chocolate cake on the radio in 1991 and being absolutely blown away. It was lyrically witty and interesting and catchy. And there weren’t an awful lot of Australian bands around. There are six absolute bangers on this album all of which I heard over that period of 91/92. Some of them feel a bit too easy listening but they haven’t ever left me. Weather with you is obviously an absolute classic. A very welcome nostalgic trip.
Iggy Pop
5/5
Interesting that this comes fairly hot on the heels of listening to his first album. That was a revelation in itself. My mother was always a huge Iggy Pop fan. Soon after listening to The Idiot my mother and I were in a taxi with a Muso taxi driver, and when I told them both that Iggy did the original version of China girl, they were both very surprised. And then my mother broke out into a brilliant menacing impersonation of Iggy doing said song which made the cabbie and me laugh uncontrollably.
And then Iggy‘s second album pops up which was always a staple in our house in the 70s and 80s. My mother even looked a bit like the cover pic at one stage with that huge smile and pixie haircut. The songs are so ingrained into my subconscious and each song evokes a memory, even before Trainspotting popularised the title track. I don’t think any of the songs have lost their lustre, although the youthful lust for life that we all had may have tarnished.
I’m not sure the whole listening experience is quite a 5 now but for the holistic vibe and nostalgia and that Iggy will always be synonymous with my mother dancing round the room he has full marks.
The Stooges
3/5
I think I’m Iggied out! Or have I Popped. Too much feedback for my head to cope - I’ll stick with the other albums methinks. They were much better but I appreciate the vibe and the evolution.
T. Rex
4/5
Glam Rock at its best.
Marc Bolan at his most beautiful.
Deep Purple
3/5
When I saw this was today’s album, I did groan and was completely unexcited by the prospect, although it wasn’t as bad an experience as I thought. However, when it got to Smoke on the Water, it reminded me of a record I’ve not heard in over 40 years. Which was fabulous because I went on a trail to find a particular cover version and subsequently the album it was on.
Some may say it’s sacrilegious, but there are definitely some cover versions that are better than the original. I hold up John Cale’s version of Heartbreak Hotel, Patti Smith’s Hey Joe and Dope on the Water by Nash the Slash. That is not a joke or a typo. His 1981 album Children of the Night was a favourite for a couple of years and then I completely forgot about it. Until now!
So for the excellent reason of reminding me about Nash the Slash, I wholeheartedly approve of today’s choice. I didn’t always like the Deep Purple sound but When a blind man’ cries was a poignant end. And Smoke on the Water was a great reminder. I now encourage you to go and seek out the Children of the Night album.
Beck
4/5
I really liked mellow gold and Odelay but wasn’t really familiar with this album. I was already in a melancholy mood and this album heightened that mood. Every song seems really downbeat and depressing, but I quite like that in a way. One day later I can barely remember any song but I can remember that pervasive feeling of gloom. Perfect if you need validation for your misery.
Michael Jackson
3/5
Oh dear! I have to keep reminding myself that I can like the art, but not the artist.
1/5
I only lasted two minutes for the first listen. The second listen I endured the whole thing. But it was hell.
Justin Timberlake
3/5
There are three or four killer dance tracks on here. But the rest is just really boring filler. The rating is down to those toe-tapping ear worms.
Mott The Hoople
3/5
I feel like a Mott the Hoople record without All the young dudes is like afternoon tea without scones: perfectly serviceable but not half as good.
George Jones
3/5
Pleasant enough but every song and story is the same… traditionally a grand tour takes you to countless wondrous sights, all different and magnificent. This is not so much a grand tour but a city (heart)break.
Everything But The Girl
3/5
I think this is very much a location based album. It probably didn’t make it across the pond but was hugely important in the UK in the 80s. I was never particularly a fan of sophisti-pop or that neo Jazz that was all over the place à la Style Council. I actually really like the people behind it, Ben and Tracey - they have a great backstory and always interviewed really well - they’re sweet and humble but their music, barring a few dance tracks never particularly grabbed me. Ben Watt did open a nightclub - Cherry Jam - round the corner from my house in the early 2000s and I went there a couple of times. I quite enjoyed that. I also had a few friends in the 80s who played this album non-stop, so it kind of found an alcove in my nostalgia armoire. And Tracey’s voice is very distinctive- check out Missing from 1994 - that’s a good track!
The Fall
4/5
Say what you like about Mark E Smith. Yes, he was curmudgeonly, awkward, difficult, annoying, obstreperous, angry and he hated Southerners (British). But boy was he prolific! And distinctive! And I have more time for him and his very recognisable, unforgiving style than most of the dross around. Anything that sarcastic and edgy that puts a smile on my face deserves credit. RIP you angry man!
The Kinks
4/5
Just Dandy! Perfect for a Sunny Afternoon!
Buck Owens
3/5
I realise this was seminal - a prime example of that Bakersfield sound. I just don’t really have the ear for it - an amazingly short album that galloped along but it all sounded the same to me…
The Fall
4/5
I’m Barmy for Barmy.
Brix made this the more accessible than most Fall albums but I was always on board anyhow.
Beatles
4/5
Not my favourite Beatles album but seminal.
Neneh Cherry
3/5
I think Neneh Cherry was very important ‘At the time’. She seems dated now and those 80s arrangements are distinctive but I don’t remember anyone quite like her then. I still love Buffalo Stance and Manchild!
Randy Newman
2/5
I mean he’s witty and a clever lyricist but doesn’t do anything for me.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Groovy, Stevie!!
Billy Joel
4/5
Beautiful tracks - he’s a good songwriter. I love that whistling. Although I don’t think it connects or speaks to me quite as much as other people.
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
3/5
This really is an eclectic melange. I hesitate to say ‘mess’ because I think it has some through-line of pain and mania, culminating in 9 minutes of repetitive strain therapy. The original was only 12 songs so don’t be fooled by the 22 it offers. One man and his pain went to mow a meadow and created a wildflower oasis. It is mad but deserves some merit - I just wish that cover didn’t make him look like a Bay City Roller.
The Sabres Of Paradise
2/5
I feel like you have to be off your face to enjoy this… but I am at work editing local govt documents so probably not the right environment. It took me at least 25 minutes to get into it. Wilmot was a good track and then I got right out of it again.
Tangerine Dream
2/5
Boooooooooorrrrrrrrimg!
Einstürzende Neubauten
1/5
In my house we use the word Kollaps (sounds like college) when cats do that thing of stretching their neck out to be tickled and then kind of fall into a lying-down position, still with their head up to be tickled. I don’t know when we came up with that term but we’ve used it for years. It’s very sweet as opposed to this cacophony of industrial sound and squawking which makes me feel like I’m in the middle of a construction site. There were a couple of moments when I could hear sounds akin to Spear of Destiny or Bauhaus. And then - horror - there was the trashing of Serge Gainsbourg! Unbearable!
Joni Mitchell
4/5
That voice and those lyrics - beautiful!
John Lee Hooker
3/5
Not pure blues or the best of JLH but if the collaborations made him a few cents and made him more accessible then kudos to the guy.
Arctic Monkeys
5/5
Not one dud track! Absolutely excellent. Mardy Bum may be my favourite song on here. I think my ranking gauge is set at - if this can go on repeat and you can sing at the top of your voice about angst and class then it’s a no-brainer 5.
Donald Fagen
3/5
Although I found it banal it started off melodically strong and then my interest waned halfway through. I liked it better than I thought. It’s pretty much a 2.5 but heyho!
Slipknot
1/5
Slipknot!
‘Fraid not!
Elvis Presley
3/5
I love The Clash London Calling album cover which is a tribute to this cover (but more edgy). The music and lyrics here feel so very dated. And the fact that they’re all covers - and not as good as the originals - is quite sad. I’m sure to a very vanilla audience in the 50s, this was groundbreaking. But that’s because people don’t remember or gloss over people like Sister Rosetta Tharpe who was plugging guitars into amps and singing rock n roll 20 years before Elvis.
Not something I’d choose to listen to. But back then he was viewed as a man ahead of his time.
Rocket From The Crypt
2/5
What’s new? What’s different?
Not that much to be honest.
Feels a bit samey and not that exciting.
Could/should be a 2.5.
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
I admire the craftsmanship, the talent, the voices. The Chain is one helluva song.
However, Fleetwood Mac has never quite given me the feels. I like the songs in context with their history. I’ve been known to watch a documentary about them and absolutely love every song in it. And then promptly forget them all. I would never choose to actually play one of their albums for myself but I understand how classic this album is and how important they are. If I was allowed half points, they’d be a 3.5 but The Chain bumps them up.
Beatles
3/5
Sometimes less is more!
Not my favourite Beatles Album.
Christina Aguilera
2/5
People still not adhering to the Less is More adage.
I preferred Disc 2 but overall was underwhelmed. She’s got a great voice but it went on for so long and all sounded the same. I liked Save me from myself. It’s a shame some discerning producer didn’t intervene and answer that particular request. I don’t want to give her a drubbing but this could have been edited down to one disc.
My version of basics is black T-shirt, black jumper, black trousers, sensible shoes. Even that ensemble sounds more exciting to me.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
5/5
Cor - this went by in a flash. A year or so after this album came out we found it cheap in either a car boot sale or jumble sale. Someone had lovingly stuck articles in the gatefold and it seemed to make it a bit more special. This seemed so accomplished for a debut album and got played a lot in our house. Singing along to American Girl at top volume with the folks is a joyful memory.
I would rather have this on repeat than a lot of so-called iconic albums and even though a couple of the songs are a bit filler-y, if this is Tom Petty‘s only album on here, then he deserves top marks.
Primal Scream
3/5
In hindsight, I shouldn’t have listened to the 25 track expanded version with disco remixes. I don’t like this album as much as screamadelica but I did enjoy the flow. I did lose patience with it towards the end, but again that was my fault for not listening to the original.
PJ Harvey
3/5
I love me a bit of Polly Jean. This is late night depressive music and not my favourite. But she’s still a force to be reckoned with and completely her own thing so I’m with her!
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
3/5
I have a theory about supergroups, that they never add up to the sum of their parts. And I feel this is a bit of a ‘less than’ moment. I love the artists and the concept. I also really dug the last song. But I can’t remember all those leading up to it.
The White Stripes
4/5
Good fun and eminently listenable. I think I prefer Elephant though. Sounds raw - like ‘proper’ music - I appreciate that. Not produced or tweaked to hell.
2Pac
2/5
Samples were good, lyrics were horrible. Him against the world? Looks like he lost.
The Charlatans
3/5
Sometimes you can make a meal where everything on the plate is different. Each component is new and tasty and goes in to make a cohesive whole. And sometimes you can just heat up some mushroom soup, where every mouthful is the same, but it’s still comforting and nourishing and satisfying. The charlatans are mushroom soup. You know what you’re getting with almost every track and they are consistently reassuring. You either like ‘em or you don’t. Some great singles on here: North country boy, Tellin’ stories and all delivered in that nasal Madchester (sic) stylie. I am perfectly at home with that.
Death In Vegas
3/5
These tracks feature a lot in TV and film soundtracks and it’s easy to see why. They’re atmospheric and lure you in. Not mind blowing but good in the background.
Wild Beasts
2/5
I really could not connect to these songs. I really tried but there was such an emotional barrier. I preferred the songs where Tom Fleming was singing rather than the falsetto tunes.. But it was a bit of a battle. Maybe if I listened again, I’d get on with it more but I really can’t be bothered.
Cat Stevens
2/5
Two classics but the rest is inconsequential fluff.
Gary Numan
3/5
I love the mix of synth and strings. Had a fun time with this.
Fugees
3/5
I was never really a fan of the Fugees. I didn’t really appreciate the covers, for which they seemed to be lauded. I could’ve done without those. Although today, the album hit me in a better way. The lyrics were potent. And I couldn’t get enough of Fugee la-la. That was what made it for me. Still, I’m really not sure I’m ever gonna listen to this again by choice. It’s a solid 3.5.
Emmylou Harris
5/5
Well now! I think I had Emmylou all wrong. I knew her as just doing country covers but this blew me away. It reminded me of Johnny Cash‘s last album, that departure from country to emotional, sometimes pained genre-defying tunes.
I listened to it once and was so surprised that I had to listen to it again. This is poignant and beautiful and her emotional delivery is bang on.
There is a tendency for some similarity between tracks but I’m not sure that is a negative here. I don’t know what to mark it down on. Captivating!
Faith No More
2/5
When I first saw this come up, I misread it as Faithless. And got really excited. And then realised it wasn’t what I wanted it to be. I’ve never been into Faith No More. I remember when Epic was everywhere and seeped into our subconscious. I don’t mind it and actually really liked Woodpeckers from Mars - that put a smile on my face. But I could happily ditch the rest.
Can
3/5
I can hear why this was such an influence on Radiohead. I think it was ahead of its time. Almost a shame that they were overtaken by a load of other mediocre ambient/prog rock bands. This lot are trippy and hypnotic and deliciously mellow. A nice ride.
Talk Talk
3/5
Very much if it’s time. Whatever happened to them anyway? Probably worth north of 3 but am not sure whenever I’ll be minded to play it again. Nice while it lasts and yes - Life is what you make it. Not necessarily profound but true.
The Birthday Party
3/5
Nick Cave doing his thing! Bit raucous for an early morning listen… but I appreciate the origins.
The Pharcyde
3/5
I really didn’t know how to feel about this one, mostly indifferent. There were some fun bits and other parts were just slightly objectionable. I guess I’ll just plump in the middle.
Kanye West
1/5
Ye Ye No No
North South East West
Can I Love the art and not the artist?
That’s too much of a test!
The Soft Boys
3/5
This is to music what Frank Sidebottom is to comedy. It’s off the wall and surreal but influential and brilliant in its own right. That being said it doesn’t quite do enough for me.
Brian Wilson
3/5
This is apposite in light of his death this week. Are we due for a Sly Stone offering now as well? This feels like a grower but following a terrible international news week and a head that can barely carry a thought, I just can’t bring myself to smile.
R.E.M.
3/5
I just could not connect - kept losing interest although I do like later albums. But nothing stayed with me or ignited any passion.
Miles Davis
1/5
👐 - never again is too soon!
Don’t get me wrong - I know he’s a genius and the musicians are masterful.
I absolutely condone the album being on the list.
I just don’t have the sensibilities for experimental jazz with no structure or anything to hold onto.
I don’t need to feel any more adrift than I already do.
The Undertones
3/5
Never have there been so many hooks since the annual trout fishing convention. This is my kind of jam. It’s fun and upbeat although I never liked my perfect cousin. After a while, I will concede it is kind of wearing. But if you don’t like a tune, don’t worry, another one will be along in 2 1/2 minutes. I feel it’s a 3.5 in reality, but I’m not sure I’m ever gonna play this again.
The Lemonheads
3/5
Fun and pleasant and inoffensive. It’s a shame about Ray is a real ear worm.
Kanye West
1/5
I listened, but this self-indulgent, arrogant, onanistic plonker really does not deserve any more of my time.
Gene Clark
3/5
A new one on me. Like a warm gentle breeze on a sunny day. Pleasant, easy but ain’t gonna change my world.
Joan Baez
2/5
I understand her impact and influence but the folk-y trilling doesn’t do it for me.
Peter Gabriel
5/5
Peter Gabriel at his most accessible and yet totally ground-breaking, innovative and consistently great. Every tune is a winner. I’ve had this album in my collection since its release and it never fails to elevate me. ‘Don’t give up’ deserves 10 stars by itself. A truly beautiful song and the others are all bangers. Outstanding!
The Flaming Lips
4/5
Fabulous - I’d forgotten how much I love The Flaming Lips. They used to be played in my office a lot in the early 2000s. And then I forgot about them. But they still feel fresh and fun. Race for the prize and Waitin’ for Superman are fantastic. Doesn’t quite hit a 5 but one I will definitely remember to spin it again (maybe).
The Fall
4/5
I think with Mark E Smith, you’re either all in or find The Fall impenetrable. Even though I never nowadays willingly spin a Fall record I’m reminded that actually Smith is an unlovable genius and I get sucked in. Those hypnotic repetitive melodies and that monotone is strangely compelling. I’m in.
Manic Street Preachers
4/5
Kudos to The Manics for coming back after the demise of Richey Edwards and for achieving their well-deserved longevity and classic status. And I still love the Cool Cymru movement.
Billie Holiday
5/5
This is the sort of jazz I can appreciate. Tunes, lyrics, emotional delivery. I love Billie Holiday - I appreciate her more in smaller doses but she deserves the love.
The Slits
2/5
This was like a spot on the end of your nose. Starts off as annoying and aggravating and you wonder why it’s there. And then you find that you can’t stop touching it and become mildly obsessed. I can see why this was important and I’m all for a political female band but like the spot, it’s a relief when it’s finally gone.
The Temptations
3/5
I mean, I did feel like I was being thrown in all directions. Some of it was funkin’ great. Other times it was just a bit bleagh.
G. Love & Special Sauce
3/5
This would probably benefit from a couple of listens. I had never heard of this album and when it started, I felt really into it and excited to hear something new to me. It sounded a bit fun lovin’ criminals. The lustre wore off a bit towards the latter half of the album. It would’ve been better, shorter. But it was fun for a bit.
4/5
Had no idea who these guys were if that I would enjoy the funk or the groove so much. A tad too long and my insterest wavered especially on longer tracks but these tunes were super cool.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
4/5
Aaaawwwww! I could listen to Visions of You on repeat. Love it so much. Had forgotten all about Jah Wobble but was very happy to be reminded. Excellent nostalgia moment.
Soft Cell
3/5
There are three absolute belters on this album. I think because it’s my era I thought that I liked the album more than I do. That’s quite a lot of filler around those three classic tunes. Say hello wave goodbye is still a masterpiece.
Public Image Ltd.
3/5
I understand the importance of this in the evolution of postpunk. I was always a fan of the public image single. Not an album I feel I’d listen to again for pleasure .
Blood, Sweat & Tears
4/5
Eclectic or what? So many styles… I knew some of these songs but not their origins so it was interesting to find out. You make me do very happy - stunning track! And Soinning wheel - classic! Not sure if I’d ever choose to spin this as an album but I do love a lot of these songs in their own right.
The Sonics
3/5
Didn’t really need a bunch of covers but I appreciate their original material.
Shivkumar Sharma
3/5
Fine as background music. Not my usual fayre.
Milton Nascimento
3/5
This definitely grew on me. I was becoming more invested as it went on - Trem de Doido was a highlight. I have no issue with music in different languages- my penchant for Cool Cymru is testament to that. So I was happy to go with the flow. It’s a classic 3.5 and I would listen again.
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
The Dandy Warhols Go Up and Come Down. They hit heights and scrape lows. There are some great tunes here but sometimes there’s just not enough to grab you but conversely it goes on and on too long. I’d happily listen to selected highlights but ditch the rest.
The Police
3/5
Those drums are great and the songwriting is accomplished. Sting always comes across (in The Police at any rate) as a bit fake. I appreciated their hits but never quite connected.
The Monks
4/5
Surprising and very cool!
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
This was pretty cool and transported me to a good place.
Cheap Trick
3/5
Never particularly a fan and I’m not a great lover of live albums but this was quite jolly. I recognised more songs than I thought I would.
Black Sabbath
3/5
Well, how apposite for this to turn up on Ozzy’s death day. Not a fan but I was strangely moved today. We’re going through Changes - RIP Ozzy!
The Smiths
5/5
Morrissey may be a tossed but he is the master of melancholy, a titan of tristesse and monarch of misery. I’ve always loved these songs and they never grow old.
American Music Club
3/5
Well, I guess it’s telling that I listened to this twice. I’d never come across this album before but was sucked in by how easy it was to listen to. Deceptively easy perhaps. This has a possibility that it would incrementally garner a higher rating every time because I feel it growing on me and I can hear so many influences that I really love. Currently stands at a 3.5.
Tom Waits
4/5
Downtown Train is a classic. Pretty sure I used to have this album many moons ago. Tom Waits being his ultimate self.
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
5/5
This is one of the most important albums ever to me. It helped me through some turbulent teenage angst when the world was overwhelming and everything seemed overly emotional. That emotion is in the voice and delivery. I also had a massive crush on Lloyd Cole which I’m not sure has ever truly diminished. He is a word-wrangler extraordinaire.
From the first time that I saw the Commotions on Top of the Pops, which was in its iconic heyday back then, I was blown away by Cole’s songwriting craft. The words were witty and clever and humorous and poetic. Those songs had the ability to make me laugh and cry and learn simultaneously. I’ve been waiting for this album to pop up and there have been days when I wish it had, just to cheer me up, but today is now a great day.
I remember buying every iteration of singles, 7” , 12”, remixes. When I bought the album on cassette, I played it so much that I’d worn out the cassette within a week and had to go and re-buy it. It became a bit of a crutch and Speedboat is still one of my favourite songs ever. For whatever reason it struck a nerve and still has that emotional ferocity today. On days when I feel like sand has been kicked in my face, Lloyd is there singing my song. I love that it also captures that trope where Charles Atlas was everywhere in 1970s and 80s comics and that 90lb weakling turned into a hero.
LC and the Commotions did a reunion tour about 20-odd years ago and I saw them play in a fairly intimate venue. My heart sang with them. Lloyd on his own playing electronica in a Philly bar - not so great - as Jen will attest. But time and tide cannot ever take away how much this record means to me. 10/5.
Nirvana
5/5
Whereas some albums are joyous and perfect and can be put on repeat until the cows come home, this is marvellous but is so intense you have to listen once, digest and then take a break.
It’s raw and visceral and compelling.
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
I was quite torn on this one because I was never particularly a Dexy’s fan. I did prefer this early music but everything was ruined for me after Come on Eileen. I did love Geno on here. And I was surprisingly buoyed along by the rest. But I don’t think it hit me hard enough to want to listen again.
The White Stripes
4/5
I like this album and it’s got some bangers on it but most of it I’ve forgotten a few hours later. It’s somewhere between a 3 and 4 but because I would definitely listen to it again I’m going to be generous. I always love Meg’s drumming too.
Coldcut
3/5
Some great dance tunes on here and back in the day I was definitely on the dance floor when they came on. Stop this crazy thing, Not paid enough any and People hold on. Infectious and I loved Lisa Stansfield back then. Happy to jiggle in my chair now - hobbling to the dance floor is not a good look. The rest I have no care for.
Slint
3/5
I kept trying to listen to this and was distracted at least four times. Felt pretty underwhelmed when I finally played it through. But I’m not sure if that’s because I wasn’t concentrating. But then I think if it was good I wouldn’t have switched off/tuned out and forgotten it so quickly. Maybe one day when I have the time I’ll try again.
Chicago
2/5
Some of this is just noise.
Some of it is interminable solos.
Some of it is recognisable and inspired.
Just not enough for me.
Teenage Fanclub
3/5
I used to like Teenage Fanclub a lot and I remember them being quite a force back in the day. A couple or three pleasant tunes but I wasn’t particularly moved or invigorated today. But back in 1991 I think they were ahead of their time and influential but that’s been lost on me in the subsequent decades.
Prefab Sprout
3/5
This can be filed under ‘back in the day’! My two favourite Prefab Sprout songs are King of rock ‘n’ roll and Cars and girls. Neither of them are on this album. The first 15 minutes was pretty good - When love breaks down and Faron Young are Classics. And it was nice to remember being young.
The Adverts
3/5
Looking through Gary Gilmore’s Eyes was seminal - a very provocative punk anthem. The rest was solid and energetic but they will forever be associated with that song. Not a bad legacy though.
Neil Young
3/5
You know what you’re getting with Neil… it’s the same and yet comforting. I don’t know that I need to listen to seven albums that hit the same notes and frequency but there we go. Not quite Harvest or After the Gold Rush - I might have just stuck to those two. But this is solid fayre!
Leftfield
3/5
I feel like if you’re not in the Club, then you’re not ‘in the club’. I was never really a fan and If it wasn’t for Open Up, this would be tedious or just non-impactful background noise. But Open Up is just as fresh and fantastic now as when it was released and a classic that doesn’t only have to be appreciated on a dance floor. That track alone lifts the album out of the doldrums.
Eagles
3/5
It’s undeniably an influential album and Hotel California is a stunning track. A timeless classic. I quite enjoyed life in the fast lane and new kid in town. Most of these I remember from the first time around. I know as a child we had an Eagles album but I’m sure it was not this one. So they’ve kind of hanging around me a long time and I knew most of the songs but I wouldn’t say it was mind blowing. A cool listen.
Morrissey
5/5
1987 to 1990
I was living in a coastal town they forgot to close down.
One of my flatmates was a Morrissey Superfan and Morrissey was not yet a figure of hate.
This was an extremely important and poignant and resonant album to us all. Every day WAS like Sunday.
I can’t listen to this album without reminiscing. Things were not necessarily better then but there was still some kind of a future and songs that defined our life made us feel so much more deeply. We were cynical but oxymoronically innocent.
The past is a different country, they do things differently there.
Ella Fitzgerald
3/5
It’s strange sometimes how amazing + amazing = not as great as it should be. If there’s a Gershwin musical on TV then I am more than happy to watch. I love these songs in context. Ella has a great voice and accomplished delivery, but this was overly long and we didn’t need 1000 verses of each song. I didn’t think this was the greatest iteration of these songs. I guess I want the movie versions or a more unique delivery.
Dr. Dre
1/5
Chronic!
Goldfrapp
3/5
This was haunting and ethereal and I remember the fuss around it when it came out. I prefer the two following albums though. This was Alison getting into her stride but Ooh la la she got better.
The Importance of Being Earnest!
The Magnetic Fields
3/5
Definitely bold! It’s taken me five days to listen to it because I didn’t have the wherewithal to sit for three hours. So I listened to it in 15 to 20 song bouts. It definitely made me chortle in parts and I admired the tonal mix and variety of genres. But valiant it may be at three hours, its whimsy does not wholly compensate. It sounded at times like Tge Divine Comedy but longer… I think I need a new heart and Busby Berkeley dreams were worth the listen but I’m not sure I’ll ever listen to this again in its entirety.
The Kinks
5/5
In the week where Terence Stamp died it’s appropriate to have Waterloo Sunset in the mix. The kinks are always whimsical and poignant and great artisans. WS alone is a work of art that deserves top marks.
Bob Dylan
3/5
He is a beautiful lyricist and these songs are timeless. I wish I could get over his voice and let these tracks flood my heart but I’ve never been able to. It’s more a 3.5 but I think he’ll get more than his fare share of love elsewhere.
The Waterboys
5/5
Magnificent! I’ve loved every Waterboys album. The music has the ability to bypass all intellectual reasoning and pierce my soul. Mike Scott’s voice is heavy with emotion and affects me with every track. Fisherman’s blues and we will not be lovers are such heavy hitters. Those violins are magical and the rest is just as rich.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
I’m a little conflicted since the Sex pistols, Johnny Lyndon and PiL were such radical pioneers. This is confrontational music and I admire what they’re trying to do but it’s not always ‘enjoyable’ or easy. I loved the tracks Public Image and This is not a love song. I wish they were on here.
Deee-Lite
2/5
Groove is in the heart is Terrific! The rest is disposable.
Nick Drake
4/5
I went to an exhibition on the weekend by the artist Yoshimoto Nara. One whole wall was a collage of album covers by artists that had inspired him. There was a lot of crossover between his records and records that were part of my upbringing. I don’t ever remember my parents having a Nick Drake album though, although I did come to him later. Nick Drake did feature on the artist’s wall of album fame and I was glad to see it there. These are haunting and wistful and poignant and truly forever songs.
Can
3/5
This was very strange but not unpleasant. At first I could’ve been listening to the White stripes or The Stone Roses but 20 years too early. In fact, I think The Stone Roses might have stolen a riff then it went into really long experimental, crazy, genre-defying tracks that actually got better on a second lesson. This was surprising but in a positive way. I’ve never heard of this lot before, but I’m glad to have had the experience.
Dire Straits
3/5
I think the anthems have wormed their way into the public consciousness. It’s almost like you can’t help yourself sing along. But some of it is turgid.
Carpenters
3/5
During college, I had a best of Carpenters album which I played to death. I absolutely love those harmonies and arrangements and all the great songs were on there. I did question the covers on here - they weren’t that good but Karen‘s voice is always phenomenal. And the hits were superb. Mr. Guder (Gouda) fit in with with the total cheese theme brilliantly.
Fela Kuti
3/5
Hypnotic and really drew me in.
Metallica
1/5
And Justice for all… just is not for me.
Genesis
3/5
Genesis is a bit like a comedy sketch show - very hit and miss. When it hits, it’s great. When it misses, it falls flatter than a 2D pancake. Some of this just became an annoying wasp-like drone in the background.
Eminem
3/5
I’m a little conflicted because usually I hate hip-hop. But Eminem, with his beats and choice of melodies and samples, slightly won me over. I can even appreciate that he’s speaking as a character in a character sometimes but the themes really worry me. And he may have mellowed over the years, but this still feels quite anrrogant and in your face. And I really don’t like those little inserts.
Janis Joplin
5/5
This is a pearl. That voice is phenomenal and every song is blastingly brilliant. And every one just makes me wanna sing.
The KLF
4/5
I have a very soft spot for the KLF. Not only did I have a group of people around me who loved them and were happy to dance along, the rebellious, subversive spirit really appealed. And this was just cemented with the whole million pound burning episode. I also saw them live and they were fantastic.
Throwing Muses
3/5
I love the vibe and the angry grrrls! Not sure how often I’d listen to this again but I enjoyed it while it lasted.
KISS
2/5
Bombastic, OTT, manipulative, anthemic nonsense. I hate those vocals but I get why the tunes are popular. Do you love me - not in the slightest.
Elvis Costello
4/5
Great tunes. I was re-watching an episode of the West Wing the other day and Jimmy Smits playing Santos was singing Alison. It was such a lovely reminder of what genuinely talented guy. I know watching the detectives was only on the reissue but that is a fantastic tune.
Beastie Boys
3/5
It’s very fun and I was happy to take the ride. It did all meld together for me though and I’m not sure when I’d ever take the ride again. They’re more fun for me when they suddenly get played on the radio or on TV somewhere. A pleasant surprise but less is more.
Sparks
4/5
I’ve always loved Sparks - they’re still churning out crazy, whimsical. Quirky tunes. Russell and Ron - you can always Kimono-va to my place.
The Flaming Lips
4/5
Flaming Fabulous! Not quite a 5-star but some terrific songs. Quirky and a bit mad and they remind me of a previous job where we played great albums all day and this was one.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
Before they were parodies of themselves and were proper musicians exploring Blues and Rock and were still groovy young men. This is still the era where I liked them.
Dion
2/5
This was easy listening but eminently forgettable. He’s got the whole world in his hands gave me flashbacks to school assembly. What it was doing on here I have no idea. Much the same way as I feel about the album on this list.
Sleater-Kinney
3/5
This seemed to go past in a millisecond. I don’t know if I wasn’t listening properly but it all sounded like the same song. I didn’t mind the song, but it was just a blur. It’s probably more of 2.5 but I’ll award its brevity.
The White Stripes
4/5
Some great, rousing songs. Am
pretty sure Jen gave me the album so it’s fun and nostalgic too.
Girls Against Boys
3/5
I didn’t mind it. Sounded a bit derivative but wasn’t horrible. I could easily go 2.5 but gets a bump from reminding me how much I love Sisters of Mercy.
Leonard Cohen
5/5
This may not be his best album but I’m a devotee and Leonard Cohen can’t really put a foot wrong. I’d listen to this until the end of time. And yes I would whistle that end song too.
Pixies
4/5
So I was directed to not the original album but the 29-track reissue and I loved every minute. It didn’t lose me once. I definitely owned Surfer Rosa at one point but this has some classic tracks. I’m not sure how soon I’d listen to them again but it was a blast while I did.
Eurythmics
3/5
Some if this is very cool and I don’t mind the production values. Love is a Stranger and Sweet Dreams are timeless but I always loved This City Never Sleeps. Guess it’s just a feeling…
Femi Kuti
3/5
Like father, like son. Fela was solid and Femi is uplifting, upbeat and cool.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
Truly seminal and great to remember how pioneering Siouxsie was. My younger self loved this. I felt a bit disconnected from it today but I appreciate how powerful it was.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
I never particularly clicked with MBV. It’s a cool listen, even if disjointed. I’m not sure I’ll return to it but it was inoffensive.
Megadeth
1/5
Not so much a mega death as a minor injury. I’m glad I never have to listen to this again.
Kraftwerk
2/5
This will be forever equated with gym class when I was 11 and we all had to compose a dance to the short, single version of Autobahn. There were a few moments when I enjoyed the melody of a couple of tracks. But the rest was as monotonous as hell.
Kings of Leon
4/5
I knew all these songs, but I don’t think I’d ever listened to them altogether before. This was a pretty cool debut album and I must’ve been in the mood for some great rock tunes.
Green Day
3/5
Some very fun, catchy tunes. All by myself reminded me of After Hours by the Velvet Underground- the same naive sweetness to end a raw album.
The Go-Go's
3/5
Fun, light and boppy! Otherwise unmemorable.
Fred Neil
3/5
I’d never heard of this bloke before even though he was allegedly a pioneer. His voice was pleasant enough and the album felt very much of its time. It’s probably a 2.5 - everything felt a bit tonally similar but I didn’t mind it.
X-Ray Spex
4/5
This was the musical, female-led side if Punk. The saxophone is brilliant, Germ free adolescents was one if the best punk songs ever and Poly Styrene is an absolute legend. Love it.
Burning Spear
3/5
Great driving music and cool rhythms. Had a very calming vibe - after a while the songs didn’t sound too different from each other but I found it an easy listen.
Lightning Bolt
1/5
Jen’s Guantanamo Bay comment made me laugh so much. I’m not in Guantanamo but I am sitting in a major trauma ward with nutters and a lot of people screaming and crying so not dissimilar. And you’re not allowed in or out without security and there’s no bathroom visitors are allowed to use. Again - much like torture. This album in that environment is a different level of horror.
Bauhaus
4/5
When I was 16, 17, 18 - Bauhaus might have been my favourite band. Pete Murphy was beautiful and the songs spoke to my teenage goth self. I love the nostalgia of this - I still loved them and went to their reunion in the late 90s. Not quite a 5 but still good.
Ice Cube
2/5
Good beats but I can’t get on with this too well.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
Unfortunately, this album became a bit of an albatross around my neck. Because this was the album of the day when home issues began to overtake my life. Circumstances dictate that during the day I have no Wi-Fi and patchy phone Reception at best. So it’s been very difficult to listen to anything. So the only time I Di have is a few minutes in the morning when making my cats breakfast. But of course it had to be the album where it’s 400 songs and 17 million hours long. For a few days I kept returning to the beginning to try and give it my full attention, until I realised how long it was. And then every morning it became a matter of “ oh God, I’m only seven songs in” or “ really, I’m only on song 12/17/26/32 - how much more already?”
And it’s not like every morning became a different listening experience. I couldn’t really differentiate between many of the songs. They were fine but when could I move on? There were a couple of standouts, funnily enough the instrumentals: lonesome fiddle blues, both sides now, foggy mountain breakdown. Those are the ones I remembered. Pins and needles for the lyrics. But I’m not sure I should’ve devoted three weeks to finishing this album when I pretty much knew on day one what I felt about the songs. They’re fine, but now it’s time to move on.
Steve Winwood
3/5
Stevie - never been a fave - it’s all a bit meh for me but I appreciate the talent.
Queens of the Stone Age
3/5
It got better as it went on until the headache-inducing cacophony at the end. I was fairly non-plussed for a lot of this but then it got stronger and more engaging.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
4/5
Apart from You Are which was a dud the album is a downright classic. Fantastic tunes, groovy dance vibe and I’m not sure many can resist the chorus of The Message. Bloody loved this.
Hole
3/5
A couple of great tunes - celebrity Skin and Malibu. CL being very meta-CL. I preferred Live Through This but I was into this. Not a 4 but a high 3.
Yes
2/5
Well, I’m going to go against the grain here. I just found this dull and annoying. Some of the guitar noodling and piano plinky-plonking was fine.
The Hives
4/5
Not my new favourite band, not even an old favourite band. But they’re catchy and fun and fast.
FKA twigs
2/5
I couldn’t agree more that I kept hearing Björk and Portishead and Kate Bush. It was all very ethereal and evocative but it seemed like the summer of its parts added up to less than the whole. I felt distinctly underwhelmed.
Ryan Adams
5/5
I know he’s been cancelled and I know he’s a horrible person but this album brings back good memories and I do love the songs. Jen was the first person to introduce his music to me and I loved it. I hate that I feel guilty now for still enjoying it but - love the art, not the artist!
The Vines
3/5
I wouldn’t call this Highly Evolved but Decently Executed or Perfectly Enjoyable. I don’t think I could pick them out of a lineup because they sound like a lot of other things. However, they were absolutely fine.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Blimey - just when I thought I would try to get back in the swing of listening again I get hit with another mega double album. Not my favourite Stones album and a few songs start off as if they are other classics but mutate into mediocre. Not bad but nothing to blow my socks off.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Very pleasant and a couple of classics elevate it.
The Everly Brothers
3/5
Some of this just great- Cathy’sClown and Live Hurts. Production and voices flawless but overall just a little too saccharine for me.
The Go-Betweens
4/5
Despite not initially registering, I did know a couple of these tunes. The overall experience was a bit Crowded House with a bit of Echo & The Bunnymen. I think if I’d been more aware, I would’ve really liked them back in the 80s. But I think they passed me by a little. Anyway, I wouldn’t say they’re groundbreaking or even innovative but today the songs felt like a little coracle buoying me up over the waves. Probably more deserving of a 3.5 but i’m pleasantly uplifted.
Stephen Stills
3/5
Background music at best. It was perfectly fine but had little to care about.
Ananda Shankar
3/5
Perfectly fine in the background although the covers were pointless. Also, not see why it’s on the list but it’s not horrible.
Kraftwerk
3/5
Undeniably the Werk of Kraft.
Eagles
3/5
Bit hit and miss - very easy but mostly innocuous.
Patti Smith
5/5
This has always been in my top 10 albums. I love everything about it and can sing along to almost all of it. Free money is the most phenomenal song. Patti is an amazing writer and talent!
Nirvana
4/5
A fitting swansong!
Radiohead
4/5
I’m one from the camp of loving Radiohead. The first song (which was played at the end of Twilight) was a great start and it never wavered. Solid but not quite excellent enough.
Django Django
3/5
Djingly Djangly Django Django. Nothing groundbreaking but I got djangy with it.
The Residents
2/5
I think this is the type of Argoed art rock. I would have potentially liked 40 years ago. But apart from Constantinople, I didn’t really know any of this material. It doesn’t really float my boat these days but I admire their vision.
Jack White
3/5
Unmistakably Jack White. I think he’s a bit of a marmite character but I like him as long as I don’t have to listen to too much. Everything sounds the same to me after a while, distinctive but similar.
Radiohead
4/5
Radiohead is that friend who you dearly love but is so intense that they are exhausting. You can only deal with them in small doses and then have to take a break. But they are fundamentally good and kind but so serious, without any levity to ameliorate the situation. But you still love them.
I had a friend who hated Radiohead until this album. They were so shocked that they liked this that they actually bought it for me for Christmas so that we could listen to it together. That was a revelation.
Serious but seriously good.
Germs
2/5
Well, this is a hard one. I think I would have really appreciated it back then. The energy is great, but it’s not very tuneful. Punk absolutely has its place, but I feel slightly too old for it now. Unless it has the sensibilities of the Buzzcocks or even the sex pistols. They still have a timeless power. This did not reach me in the same way.
Peter Frampton
2/5
The hits are fine - the rest is overblown, stultifying bombast.
The Beta Band
2/5
This completely passed me by. I had no idea even that the album had finished because the impression was minimal. It’s not that I didn’t”t like it, it’s that it was like eating air.
M.I.A.
5/5
So good I listened to it twice. Am not sure whether to go 4 or 5 but maybe because Paper planes is such a great tune…
Ms. Dynamite
2/5
When this first came out, I really did not care for it. Whenever I heard her on the radio, I couldn’t help saying Miss dynamite, tee hee! I suppose I warmed to it a little more today but I still felt that it was unoriginal and tedious.
The 13th Floor Elevators
3/5
A perfectly fine example of The 60s but I’m pretty underwhelmed. Nothing stood out for me but not a difficult listen.
Aphex Twin
2/5
Really not a great fan of ambient music. This isn’t offensive or difficult, but it is just undeniably tedious.
Björk
2/5
She’s incredible and innovative and ground-breaking. But I just can’t get on with this. It’s no fun!
Neil Young
3/5
Love his voice and the emotion although this isn’t up there with my faves.
Hanoi Rocks
2/5
I’m sorry that their career was truncated - sounds like
a sad and premature end. Although Hanoi Rocks, this just didn’t for me. Never even reached the heights of mediocrity.
Mariah Carey
2/5
I guess it’s fun to have something pop-py on the list, but I’ve never found the trilling thrilling. Boring AF.