Great funky sound and love Mayfield’s voice but all kind of blurs into one and kind of ends up sounding samey. Ended up as background music rather than holding my attention

I’ve always liked Neil Young but never loved him. This didn’t change that But Running Dry was new to me and I did really like that

Lovefool stands out like a totem. Head and shoulders better than anything else But the rest was good if a little samey

Well this rocks None of the Pixies songs I already knew and yet the most I’ve liked them

This remains amazing and Venus In Furs is a top 100 song

Started off great and the first two tracks reminded me of his son at his best. Then it got jazzy and noodley and I lost interest Disappointing

60’s gorgeousness Know more of these than I realised already

When I’d listened to this before I’d thought it was unbearably twee but it’s actually pretty rough around the edges Works brilliantly as a cohesive body and was fantastic start to finish

I love Jane Says. The live version is one of my favourite songs ever. This album does not contain the live version… It was ok but nothing really stayed with me but I imagine it sounded great in 1988 before there was a lot of grunge that sounded very similar

It was ok but as a concept felt a bit half developed Nothing I hated, nothing I loved (but I can see for miles brings back memories of being in my dad’s car)

Well this was a great surprise Started off sounding like Pixies redux but then got good and then kept getting better Really liked this

Just not what I look for in my music. I’m sure it’s good if you know what you’re listening to but does nothing for me

It’s ok but feels a bit one note with not much standing out. In large part I think that might be because the vocals are quite flat

Look of Love was first dance at my wedding for a reason Possibly best album of the 80’s and brilliant from the first note till the last

Really like the energy of the title track The rest kind of blended together for me

Only knew the specials from their singles before but this whole album is excellent. Really enjoyable and fantastic energy to every song (but especially Enjoy Yourself and Sock It To Em JB)

Maybe I’ve heard too much of the indie bands that came after this and which were influenced by it, but I was surprisingly unmoved by this. Didn’t hate it. Didn’t love it. Not sure I could pick any of the songs out of it

Well this got pretty tedious pretty quickly. A lot of noise in search of a song Only the Viva Las Vegas cover saved it from 1 star

Quite liked the darkness of it but it all kind of merged together

I liked it I didn’t love it

Love lot’s about this but it feels a bit soft round the edges. Prefer Ray Charles when he’s rougher

Holy moly How have I never heard of these guys before A fantastic album from start to finish with a brilliant horn section as well Kind of sounds like what a punk album by the Rolling Stones might sound like

It’s fine I like I want you But just find it does nothing that makes me want to return to it

Just felt really lightweight and nothing really stood out Expected more

Outside of the interminable jazzy, noodly bits this is breathtaking and an easy 5 stars So it’s a shame the other bits knock a star off

God I just find this boring. Something about Joni Mitchell’s way of singing just leaves no trace for me.

It’s alright and some edgy songs but all feels a little flat. Middling

Solsbury Hill is a 5⭐️ song Here Comes The Flood isn’t far behind The rest is fine but later albums hit that standard more consistently

Well this was a lot better than I thought it would be. I already knew the singles but the rest wasn’t as droning as I feared it would be. Not sure I’ll return to it much but it wasn’t a bad listen at all

Good Fun Disposable

Had never heard of this before but how perfect is it?! Beautiful understated singing and melodies. A fantastic discovery

God I love her voice Listening to this reminds me of listening to Jeff Buckley’s Grace for the first time. There isn’t much higher praise I can give an album

It’s ok Really like The Weight but the rest kind of went past without really landing

I only discovered Lloyd Cole in the past year and I now feel I wasted the previous 40 not listening to him. This kind of literate, jangly indie-rock is exactly the kind of stuff I love and this is a terrific example of it The 2nd half of the album doesn’t quite maintain the charm of the first but I still thoroughly enjoyed this

In order to fully enjoy this album you need to be a teenager in 90’s Britain. Which happily I was. Hard to over estimate the impact this album (and the follow up) had on my generation I’ll never not listen to this without being transported back to my teenage years. Know every song like the back of my hand. Rock n roll Star and Cigarettes and Alcohol remain as alive as ever, whilst Slide Away has matured like a fine wine

The musicianship is impressive if overly complicated The singing is grating and hard to get past It’s fine

Only knew shake it off but this has got a bunch of great pop songs on it An enjoyable listen

I like Rage but can’t ever see myself playing a whole album of their stuff. Rage is thrilling in a song, but exhausting in an album

The title track is one of the greatest tracks ever. The rest isn’t far behind

The sound is gorgeous and haunting but I’m not sure I’d want to listen to a whole album of it

Her voice is utterly beautiful and incredibly fragile. I didn’t think the music quite lived up to her voice as it felt a little country by numbers

So this sounded very meh - like talking heads with more repetition and less energy. But All My Friends stood out before NY I love You blew me away at the end. Wish the rest of the album had held by attention like those 2 tracks

I love the 1st VU album with Nico I love Transformer by Lou Reed And yet this just did not hold me at all. Hard to say why

Great voice and energy to these songs but ultimately they ended up sounding the same

What an extraordinary voice. I don’t think I realised how young she was when she recorded this. Fast Car is amazing despite years of overplay on the radio. Talking bout a revolution and Baby can I hold you are also brilliant. The latter is incredible when juxtaposed with Behind the Wall on the album If the rest gets a little samey, it doesn’t diminish how brilliant the high points are of this album

I normally quite enjoy lo-fi but this was hard to get into Can’t see myself ever revisiting it

Made it 30 seconds and no more. Just cannot abide that style of singing

Another Lo-if record that just didn’t click for me. Tennessee was fun but none of it was exactly memorable

Has moments but they’re fleeting. Feels like background music for a coffee shop

A new genre for me but I really quite liked this. More of a vibe and very cool mood than something I could imagine myself returning to over and over but really enjoyable

This sounds great. Drums in particular are magnificent. Really enjoyed schizophrenia and Stereo Sancity Not listened to much Sonic Youth before but reminded me of a heavier Velvet Underground or Joy Division

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha No

Had a sonic youth album on this the other day and really liked it. This was a bit of a dud however They’ve upped the noise and lost the songs

Only knew the singles before and this was rather underwhelming Like a first draft for a bloc party album - and I’ve never liked bloc party

Any album this length is going to have a few quality control issues, but at its best this is the best solo outing of any Beatle

So I thought this would be fairly lightweight punk based on the little Greenday I knew And for the first few tracks that’s all it seemed to be. But as the album progressed the songs got more varied and ambitious A surprisingly enjoyable listen

Well this is the most I’ve ever liked Joni Mitchell I still think the way she sings and over complicates melodies detracts from the songs, but the songs and lyrics are often quite remarkable. Still not sure I’ll ever be a Joni fan but I did like this, whereas I’ve given some of her other albums one star reviews

It is impossible to overstate my love for this album. Tinseltown in the rain is the absolute stand out but the whole album is drenched in big synthy strings that sound fantastic when off set by that 80’s bass sound and Paul Buchanan’s soulful vocals. There’s so much going on in the mix that even now, after knowing and loving it for 20 years, I still discover new things on each listen

Bloody hell, bit of a disconnect between the bouncy rhythm and beautiful close harmonies and the murderous content of the lyrics. You can hear how this is an antecedent of a lot of subsequent country in terms of the sound, and the murder ballads clearly had a big impact on the likes of Kurt Cobain and Nick Cave. But as an album it’s very samey and plodding. An interesting historical curio but not one to return to

I adore Scott Walker. His is the voice I wish came from within me when I open my mouth to sing. This is a fabulously (over) dramatic album. Only reason it’s not 5 star is that it’s probably the one I return least of his first 4 albums. But that is an endorsement of the quality of the rest of those albums rather than a knock on this collection

So I only knew Cult of Personality from one of the GTA games and as CM Punk’s entrance theme. So I was kind of expecting this to be a one-song-wonder and then a whole lot of meh And whilst Cult is the only 5 star classic on here, the rest of the album is more than decent and I really enjoyed it Shades of the RHCP, half a dozen grunge bands and something unique

Jump is obviously a classic The rest was not up to much. Impressive guitar playing but forgettable songs

Nothing sticks around long enough to be offensive Nothing sticks around long enough to be memorable Feels like there might have been something great in there if they’d actually let any songs develop

Nick Drake is the template that all folksy singer songwriters have borrowed from This meanders a bit but touched greatness more than a couple of times

Nothing wrong with this but one of those things that hasn’t stood the test of time that well as so many people followed and refined the sound

My first Abba album beyond ABBA Gold. Abba really are a singles band so Gold is the perfect way to enjoy them. This is fine at worst and contains 2 or 3 of the greatest pop songs at best Nothing wrong with this but when I want to listen to ABBA it won’t be an album I reach for - it will be Gold

This takes me back I was at university when Take Me Out was released. Back then the moment the riff kicks in felt like the most thrilling thing I’d ever heard. The musical equivalent of that moment a rollercoaster crests the peak and you start hurtling downhill. The thing is, as thrilling as that moment is, I never really loved the rest of the album. I remembered it as a strong 3, maybe a 4 at a push. So imagine my surprise to find it’s actually matured like a fine wine and is a comfortable 5. Listening to it back for the first time in nearly 20 years I’m struck by how there are no bad tracks, the pace never lets up, but each song still sounds distinct. A very pleasant surprise considering how in my head I’d remembered it as very patchy

Funky but flat I’ve listened to 3 funk albums on this list so far and none of them have worked for me Fully prepared to accept this is an issue with me rather than the entire genre! I’m sure this is good but it didn’t move me at all

I think people who sneer at Coldplay are similar to those who looked down their nose at ABBA years ago. They have more hooks and great melodies in this album than most groups manage in a career Never cool. Never edgy. But these songs still pack out stadiums after 25 years so it’s hard to argue they’re without merit Yellow, Spies and Shiver remain particularly great

My favourite singer is Scott Walker and my favourite band is The Divine Comedy so Jacques Brel is patient zero for all the music I love. my French isn’t up to following the lyrics but what is undeniable is that these are extraordinary songs performed with fantastic intensity

Was there ever a time where this sounded anything other than dull? Background music

Didn’t hate it but also not for me

I was somewhat disappointed by this. I know the singles of course. The rest of my Talking Heads knowledge comes from Stop Making Sense which is the most fantastically energetic live performance. By contrast this felt a bit flat and lethargic. Not bad by any means but I went in expecting to have my socks blown off and they remained firmly on my toes

It’s ok but nothing more Prefer the REM cover of the title track and the RUN DMC version of Walk This Way There’s a lot that hasn’t stood the test of time particularly well, but equally nothing that’s terrible

A great sound. It feels like several different continents worth of cultures colliding