Boom Never heard of these guys before but this is right up my street Constantly surprising but filled with hooks Loved it

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

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

Complicated rock Expertly played That makes you feel nothing Except a desire for him to stop singing

What trying too hard to be cool sounded like in the 90’s

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

Sounds like The Smiths, The Bunnymen, The Cure and early REM with a punkier vibe Quite a few songs take some very surprising turns Singer grates after a while but it kind of all works anyway

There are no bad tracks on this Not 5 star but pretty bloody close I’ve never been that fond of Mardy Bum though I seem to be the only one

Leonard Cohen is obviously a terrific lyricist/poet but what really stands out alongside that is his strength as a songwriter. Suzanne, So Long Marianne, Sisters of Mercy, Hey That’s No Way are just great songs

This just felt really boring and like some songs chucked together rather than an album Disappointing

Anyone who saw the sideburns I was rocking in the late 90’s will attest how much I loved Supergrass so I was delighted when this came up. And this is a brilliant album - probably the best “Brit pop” album - up to a point And that point is Going Out The first half of the album is so great. Brilliant songs the lot of them, but especially Richard III and Sun Hits The Sky Then post Going Out it disappears off a cliff. The songs become workmanlike at best, outright annoying at worst So frustrating

At the centre of the Venn diagram Jazzy / Insufferable / Catchy Songs I didn’t like, that I don’t want to listen to again, but or inexplicably stuck in my head anyway

Sounds like the future in 2023 What must it have sounded like in 1974?

This is really interesting and the mix of punk and country occasionally threatens to explode into greatness However, the vocals are in that awful, affected nasal whine that was so prevalent in the 80’s and that’s hard to get past This could have been great… but really isn’t

Sheryl Crow has always been fine to listen to but not something I’d seek out First listen to one of her albums didn’t really change that but do like Run Baby Run and All I Wanna Do (which is a 5⭐️ song)

It must have sounded extraordinary once upon a time but it doesn’t stand up particularly well now Feels like a great sound but not enough for a song let alone an album

This was fun. Loads of energy

Remains as brilliant as ever The title track and the boxer are amongst the most quintessentially classic songs ever recorded. The rest is pretty close behind Frank Lloyd Wright is a peculiar curio that lacks the melody of the rest of the album but we’ll forgive that one misstep when the rest is so great

I liked this. Never stayed the same shape for long and was an enjoyable listen

Sounds like public enemy but less so

Like a 6th form band trying way too hard to be arty

It’s the Neil Young album I love. The only one as can take or leave him a lot of the time Heart of Gold and Needle.. are all time great songs

I love dusty’s voice but - Son of a Preacher Man aside - this doesn’t quite have the songs to match it. Nothing wrong with it but the rest of the album tends to blur together a bit

Well this was a big disappointment Only Smiths album I already knew was The Queen Is Dead This is a million miles from the greatness of that album

Less a collection of songs than a landscape of sound This blew me away Only knew them from Urban Hymns really (which is both as brilliant as this and more accessible) but this was a fantastically immersive listen

This is a lot more country than Ingenue (which is the only other album of hers I know - it’s 5 ⭐️) This does miss that lusher sound but her voice is so wonderful that it carries this along perfectly well

Pretty great blues rock this Stay With Me and the Chuck Berry cover are brilliant in particular

Boom Never heard of these guys before but this is right up my street Constantly surprising but filled with hooks Loved it

Liked this a lot more than I thought I would A real melting pot of different sounds and cultures As an album it’s lack of cohesion means it’s more of a compilation though

I find The Who a great singles band whose work gets too flabby on an album This was no exception

I mean it’s fine Her voice is lovely - very sultry - but it’s all very samey

It’s good obviously but pales compared to what came later

Funk has been one of the genres I’ve consistently rated the lowest on this; it just doesn’t work for me So it is much to my surprise that I absolutely loved this album His voice is brilliantly soulful but the songs are fabulous as well Particularly loved So Many Sides Of You, Just My Imagination, Stand Up, If You Think You’re Lonely Now For turning the head of someone who doesn’t normally go for this, this gets the full monty

It’s interesting I suppose but it makes me feel nothing

Not for me

I will confess to being a sucker for anything that goes big and this has ambition piled upon ambition piled upon ambition The only bum note is Electricity - a decent song but just doesn’t feel a part of the rest of the album. Was torn between 4 and 5 but I think there’s so much that works so well we’ll go the whole hog

For some reason I’ve always had a perception that David Bowie’s best days were long behind him before we reached the 21st century. Consequently I’ve never listened to his later stuff before But I was very pleasantly surprised by this. It’s a pretty decent rock record. I particularly liked the title track and then I realised I quite liked all the tracks I started off thinking this was a decent 3, then an impressive 4, and ended up thinking it was a surprising 5

I don’t really go in for metal but enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would

It’s not earth shattering but I have a feeling this might be quite a grower with time for a few more listens

I tend to rank Scott Walker as the greatest male vocalist of all time so I was intrigued by this. It felt like it would be right in my sweet spot as they’re clearly aping his sound. The sound is great and you can’t fault their ambition but unfortunately it falls over in that neither Alex or Miles have a voice that is up to the job. Wish they’d got someone else in to really make something of these great sounding songs. They’ve built an Austin Martin then asked Mr Bean to drive it

Still sounds great Synths rarely sounded better

Fairytale of NY is as perfect a song as could be. Not just the perfect Christmas song but probably the most perfect song full stop. The rest of the album is pretty great as well with the folk sound enriched by influences from all over the world as well as punk. The only knock against it is that it’s a bit too long

Really didn’t know what to expect going into this. Not my normal genre of music at all and never heard any of his stuff. But this was a very pleasant surprise. His voice is gorgeous, the sound by turns smooth, and funky, and lush Never quite knew what was next Think I’m going to listen to this a lot more to fully make up my mind

It’s a wonderful sound in search of more memorable songs

The only question is whether Hudson Line stops this album being 5 ⭐️ or not? It is extraordinary in so many ways - a big, ambitious sound that keeps an incredible psychedelic sound all the way through Hudson Line doesn’t fit the feel or sound of the album at all and has always felt jarring But the rest is so good I think we’ll go for full marks The wailing guitar on Funny Bird probably makes up for it all by itself

I was a bit disappointed by this I’ve known the Killing Moon for years and it’s one of my favourite songs but I’d never listened to one of their albums. There was just nothing else remotely as good as The killing moon A shame. Not bad at all but maybe I went in with expectations that just couldn’t be matched

It’s impressive but also a bit forgettable

Take On Me and Sun Always Shines On TV are two of the greatest pop songs of the 80’s The rest of this, not so much Nothing particularly wrong with it but it’s a bit bland and samey But those two singles are more than worth a listen

More than a feeling is a classic of the genre The rest is very much of the genre

Sweet Jesus this is boring

I once saw Air play live. They were the 2nd most tedious band I’ve ever seen It was my great misfortune that night that the most tedious band I’ve ever seen was their support act So, 20 years on from that trauma, how does this hold up? Well, the best thing I can say is that it’s easy to listen to. The worst thing I can say is that it’s easy to not listen to. Kelly watch the stars is wonderful. Sexy Boy, La Femme D’argent, & All I Need are pretty great too The rest is forgettable

It’s interesting but not exactly a comfortable listen or something I’ll be rushing back to

Like listening to a really good band indulge themselves

Didn’t hate as much as I thought I would but gets quite boring quite quickly

The bangers are all timers. Heart of Glass, Sunday Girl, One Way Or Another, Picture This, Hanging On The Telephone are brilliant songs Such a shame that what is in between them is so forgettable

Well this is certainly the best bongo based album I’ve ever heard

I don’t dislike it at all but the way he sings does make it hard to love

I was disappointed with this Long wanted to give them a listen as lots of artists I like were influenced by them But I found this to be a good sound that wore thin over the course of an album

Can’t really argue with the quality of the songs here

There is such a rare beauty to these harmonies Our House in particular is just gorgeous and transports me to such a comfortable place The only criticism I’d make is that this feels like a collection of great songs by 4 different song writers, rather than a cohesive whole

He killed a man in Reno, just to watch them die… and you think some of audience probably genuinely have. Best live album ever, and then June Carter turns up half way through and it gets even better Faultless

You go into this thinking it’s going to be alright and so-so and then you’re reminded why Coldplay became one of the biggest bands in the world There are so many brilliant songs on this album (the first half in particular) Kind of tails off a little towards the end but the first 5 tracks are pretty much untouchable for memorable pop/rock hooks You’d think hearing these songs played to death for the past 20 years would diminish them, but they stand the test of time

I only knew On A Rope already It’s a great song All the rest of these sound just like it And that gets a bit tiresome a bit quickly

Come On Eileen is untouchable Jackie Wilson is a fine cover The rest is ok but certainly not essential

No arguing with that voice or that Respect is one of the greatest songs ever recorded But nothing else on here touches that level But then, whatever could…

Kind of think it’s hard to be that enthusiastic about this without the context of being in Thatcher’s Britain It’s fine nothing more

Walks a fine line between interesting and annoying and doesn’t always keep its balance

Pretty fantastic from start to finish Not as good as Post or Homogenic but not far off at all (a little too noodly in places)

The Ramones only really have one song, but when the song is this good it’s all you need. A relentless blast of punk rock

The Divine Comedy are my favourite band but I’d somehow never got around to listening to this. Ute Lemper has a great voice but these do occasionally sound like cabaret covers of stuff Neil Hannon, Scott Walker and Nick Cave do better themselves. It’s not essential by any stretch of the imagination but it’s considerably better and more interesting than a lot of the reviews on here suggest. It’s a 3 but I’m feeling generous so go to 4 as I know I will come back to listen to it again

Another one to put in the “probably sounded great in the 60’s when stoned” pile Sounds a bit indulgent now but it’s pretty cool

I’m sure the musicianship is great but Christ this sounds like background music

Strong memories of being in my dad’s car in the 80’s listening to this album. There’s a crackling energy to every track that means it flies by Majority covers of course and greater was to come but a great listen nevertheless

I don’t really know enough about this type of music to fairly rate it Sounded fine though

It’s very loud for a very long time Which is fine but a bit draining after a while

None more Bowie Only knew All The Young Dudes previously and figured them to be a one hit wonder How wrong I was This was great! Derivative of Bowie obviously but done really, really well

I wonder how much your enjoyment of this album is affected by whether you saw the Lips performing live in support of this album. I saw them twice and they probably rank as two of my favourite gigs of all time. It was an astonishing mix of instruments (including a giant gong!), loops, samples, movies, confetti, fake blood, and ambition. At the front of it all was Wayne Coyne - the greatest singer who could never sing a note. But that didn’t matter as his performance, both live and on record, is so honest that he takes you with him. The fragility of his voice actually suits these big songs about big ideas (depression, the Big Bang, oblivion) as his sometimes child like vocals match the simplicity of the lyrics. Waitin’ For A Superman still reduces me to tears after nearly 25 years. This is a jaw droppingly ambitious album that rewards so many repeat listens. Slight preference for the Uk version of the album as I think Slow Motion is better than the Spiderbite Song. I’m only giving it 5 stars because there’s no option to give it 6 My favourite album of all time

Always found an entire album of Metallica gets a bit samey, so the orchestra added an interesting new texture. It all worked far better than I thought it would

This is great Loads of great pop songs that are also decidedly odd Great synths, great horns Reward towers of the rest of the album but this was a great listen that I feel will reward repeat listens

They’re trying too hard No thanks

Very spacey but occasionally very dreamy and very beautiful

Better than I thought it was going to be but not a patch on The White Stripes

Unlike anything that came before The repetition is the point. Like being on a train journey into the future

Well this is something different Feels like some days I could find this tiresome but today it made for an interesting listen

I remember being absolutely blown away by this when I first heard it and it remains just as amazing today. It’s almost impossible to predict what genre is coming next on this constantly inventive and surprising album. Fantastic guitars and singing throughout Love this album

Ok - this is better than I remembered it being Had a memory of it being middling at best but those 1st 3 songs are great FM rock classics (though the single version of elevation is massively better than the album one) Gets a bit Bono in the pulpit after that and considerably less enjoyable Thought it might be a 1. Briefly looked like a 3. Before it settled into a fairly good 2

Stands alongside Warren Zevon and Johnny Cash as ruminations on the end of life This is by some distance the most haunting of those three An incredibly immersive listen

So I’ve ended up feeling quite mixed about this album At first I thought it seemed quite flat with nothing really making much of a mark But as it went on I realised that it was getting further and further under my skin. By the time it got to One Big Love I was hooked. Will relisten and enjoy further I suspect

I’ve never loved Dylan but this was fine No desire to revisit it but didn’t grate like some of his other stuff does with me

Travis are a facsimile of loads of other bands - chiefly Bends era Radiohead on this album Which is fine as far as it goes - they do it better than lots of others did in that era. But it’s all just a bit flat - nothing hits the highs of a great record. A lot of that has to do with Fran Healy’s voice not being Thom Yorke’s so he just sounds weak by comparison. But driftwood is a genuinely wonderful song (have always loved the way the lyrics overlap) and the hidden track hints at a direction you wish they’d explored more on the record

Paul Weller has had the career of 3 men and they’ve all produced classic songs. Never properly listened to any of his solo albums though and this was… disappointing Sunflower is a brilliant song. Wild Wood has a great vibe. The rest is just there and rather uninspiring

When I first put this on - having not listened to it in 20+ years - my wife walked in and asked who it was trying to do a bad Alanis impression. Turns out it was Alanis herself! Which kind of sums up how quintessential, overplayed and dated this sounds in 2023. But it’s hardly Alanis’ fault that she hit upon a blueprint that was driven into the ground in the following decade. There’s lots here that still holds up very well and this was really enjoyable to revisit

So this is pretty extraordinary Constantly surprising in the soundscape and Beth Gibbons’ voice swings between mournful, sultry and explosive Also a really complete album in that it feels like a suite of songs that all build the mood and atmosphere

It was fine but didn’t really strike me as anything special

The first two tracks are an absolutely belting 1-2 punch - I’m struggling to think of many albums that start stronger. So it is beyond disappointing that the album quickly takes a nosedive, becomes more pedestrian and quickly forgettable A real shame

Has the same beautiful, pastoral, folky sound but the songs felt less developed than what he went on to do on Bryter Layter

It’s a great sound, but it’s not the most versatile one so gets a bit samey over the course of an entire album. The 3 singles - Electric Feel, Kids and Time To Pretend - are brilliant (especially TtP) Not sure there’s much worth a repeat visit outside of those but it was a decent enough listen

It’s a timeless sound and their version of Scarborough fair is amongst the most gorgeous things ever recorded. Homeward Bound hints at the songwriting greatness that was to follow. The rest of this album doesn’t consistently hit that level but there’s certainly nothing wrong with any of this

As an album with such a MASSIVE reputation I was a bit disappointed by it. Love, love, love the X factor, and Doo Wop but outside of that I got a little bored. Maybe the straighter rap stuff just isn’t my thing (the between song skits really aren’t)

2nd album from this guy on the list and just like the last I don’t hate it but I also don’t love it. On the plus side, the music is dramatic and ever-changing. He can certainly create a mood. But the flip side is that you desperately want some singing or dialogue to help it all hang together. Music by itself is not a storytelling medium but serves to enhance the lyrics. You do wonder how well this might work with a Nick Cave or Scott Walker on vocals. As it is, this score for a film that does not exist is like going to see a flea circus in a really, really interesting theatre. Ultimately, you’d rather there was more on stage no matter how grand the setting

It was ok but based on the singles I already knew (personal Jesus and enjoy the silence) I think I expected more

Sometime in the summer of 1995 I bought this album as part of a buy 3 for £20 offer (what the other 2 CDs were is lost to history) My mate Simon saw The Bends in my bag and said I’d just bought one of the greatest albums I’d ever hear. He wasn’t wrong I listened to this and OK Computer religiously for about 5 years until Kid A came along and the umbilical cord that drew me to Radiohead snapped So how does this sound with 20 years of dust on it? Still sounds amazing Not a bad moment let alone a bad track Flawless

There’s lots I really like on here but it is very long!

So I liked this a lot more than I expected

I never really appreciated just how rich and wonderful George’s voice was. Freedom is an all time great single and the rest was perfectly enjoyable. I can see why the label were less than thrilled but Michael’s voice suits these darker ballads rather wonderfully

I’ll forever be a sucker for that jangly indie sound Not sure this is quite the pinnacle of the genre but it’s a more than decent listen

Absolutely nothing wrong with Dusty - her voice is obviously unimpeachable - but not sure this is one of the 1000 greatest albums considering it’s all covers. Incredibly well executed covers, but often fairly close facsimiles of the originals. Great for what it is, but what it is is fairly disposable albeit brilliant

So, despite being a big fan of Mellon Collie era pumpkins, I’d never properly listened to this before. Which is a case of more fool me as this was absolutely brilliant. Corgan’s voice is never going to be the most accessible instrument but there’s something about the crunching guitars on this that off sets his sneer perfectly. About as great as early 90’s guitar rock gets and I find myself struggling to think of a reason not to award the full 5

It’s hard to argue against songs that have stood the test of time this well. It’s the blueprint for everything that came afterwards It always blows my mind how quick rock and roll evolved from this to where it was a decade later

It’s hauntingly beautiful but does tend to blend into the background

I mean it was interesting but unbelievably tedious

Bjork is one of the greatest singers of all time. In the Sugarcubes you get to hear her paired with one of the worst rappers in history I don’t dislike the Sugarcubes but there are far better examples of Bjork’s extraordinary voice out there. Fail to understand why this is on the list as an essential album but it’s fun in a what-Bjork-did-before-she-was-famous sort of way

Never listened to any Steely Dan before as always thought they’d be insufferably noodly and indulgent. But this was actually really good A jazzy influence but not to the detriment of some great tunes

The title track is obviously a classic Jealous Guy and Oh Yoko also stand up brilliantly The rest is more than fine but not amazing. Misses the rest of The Beatles

What sounds great for one song on the radio or in a club can do your effing head in on an album. Too much repetition to be enjoyable

They’re interesting soundscapes but I can’t imagine ever wanting to listen to it again

This was better than I expected as I’ve always found Bryan Ferry’s voice incredibly grating

Seven Nation Army is one of the greatest rock songs ever that still sounds amazing despite 20 years of being played everywhere. How does the rest of it hold up? Pretty bloody well is the answer! The opening four tracks in particular are blistering. The quieter tracks don’t land with the same punch as the rockier ones so it does somewhat lose its way after the Dusty cover. But Button to Button and Hypnotize are great in the later part of the album

There’s some decent tracks but nothing exceptional. A solid Britpop album Nothing more

I don’t think I’ll ever love a Bob Dylan album but this was fine. Rolling Stone is a great song. The rest is fine

Interesting soundscapes for sure but hard to find a hook that would ever make you want to listen again

This was pretty fun

Up till Chicago I’d say this is one of the greatest albums ever recorded. Like some strange cross section of Simon & Garfunkel and a pulp sci-fi horror novel, it’s both fragile and maudlin and shocking and beautiful. And then it keeps going and going and going And there just aren’t the tunes to justify in the back half of the album But a high mark on the quality of the 1st half alone

Tracey Thorn has a gorgeous voice. The cover of I Don’t Want To… is lovely The rest is utterly insipid though

Just not for me at all I’m sure it’s very accomplished but I don’t get jazz

It’s fine. This was my first time listening to The Fall and for a band with such a big reputation I expected more I think

There She Goes is one of the greatest songs ever written. Nothing else here is remotely close but it’s a fine enough listen

This is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Big dumb rock

Outside of paranoid never listened to Black Sabbath but I really liked this

Grace Slick has one of the great rock voices White Rabbit and Somebody To Love are unbeatable The rest is nowhere near that level but is perfectly fine

I either find Neil Young boring and annoying or really, quite good I did not find this really, quite good

There’s lots of interesting things going on here but none of them add up to a memorable song

The perfect intersection of noise and tunes

The ultimate album for slightly pretentious teenagers that have a sense of just how ridiculous they are. Yes it’s a shame Morrissey turned out to be such a plank but these songs remain as wonderful as ever The jangly guitar sound is unbeatable and the lyrics are by turns touching and very funny

Unless you have taken a mind bending amount of LSD this gets tiresome pretty quickly

Whilst I think there are other Elbow albums that are just as good - if not better - as this this, Seldom Seen Kid is a great album. One Day Like This is such a beautiful anthem but the album is brilliant from start to finish. From the way the delicate start of Starlings gives way to the synth stab, the album constantly takes surprising turns (hello Grounds For Divorce’s convoluted but effective singalong). Guy Garvey’s voice has a fragility and honesty that comes from singing in his own accent whilst the lyrics approach Nick Cave levels of poetry (A friend of mine grows his very own brambles…) A fabulous album. I’d put at least another couple of theirs on this list too

Quite liked this Got a bouncy, funky energy

It’s ok. The title track is amazing but it feels like there’s a lot of ideas that are only half finished. Expected more

Oh I really liked this. Feels like a bedfellow to some of REM’s early stuff and the link between punk and indie Terrific energy and some great tunes

This was a lot more noisy fun than I was expecting In a Venn diagram sweet spot of blues, metal, and psychedelic rock

It’s fine but Lord it gets a bit tiresome over the course of an hour. Something that’s great for a song or two but not a whole album The Heard It Through The Grapevine cover makes you realise what a great sound they have when coupled to an actually decent song though

My absolute favourite Bjork album Her voice never sounded stronger whilst also sounding so delicately fragile. The backing vocals (a chorus of angels?!) are extraordinary throughout. One of the ultimate headphone records that just envelopes you in it’s soundscape.

Fairly fun and funky

This isn’t a genre I know much about but I really quite liked the other tribe album on this list. This was ok but seemed less inventive than the other album

I’d remembered this album as a warmly gorgeous 5⭐️ album And whilst it was very good - great in a few places - it seemed somehow less than I’d remembered. A solid 4 rather than the slam dunk 5 I’d hoped for

Absolutely fine 60’s folk rock but also circles the same sound the whole way through (it’s a good sound but…)

It’s very 80’s That is the best and worst thing I can say about it

This album is the answer to the question, what would it sound like if Taylor Swift made a country record with the Flaming Lips? And it sounds awesome Deceptively simple songs with a touch of psychedelia that are enormously affecting One of the best albums of the past decade

So this is pretty awesome Top to bottom great songs and fabulous vocals (obviously)

There’s a reason why my eldest son is called Elliott

It’s a hard tightrope to walk - bridging a gap between swooningly earnest romance and knowingly humorous cynicism. But with great songs. And an orchestra. This is the absolute apex of Neil Hannon’s Divine Comedy, where the band synthesised The Smiths, Scott Walker and 60’s pop into something truly magnificent. Only 7 tracks, each one perfect. In Pursuit of Happiness is breathtaking in where the orchestration runs to from the single guitar it starts with. Everybody Knows is just a great pop song - and has a genuinely laugh out loud line about making a small boy cry. Someone just a great love song about longing If… I wrote about this for my English A Levels. Just so clever the way the nasty heart of the song is hidden inside what initially seem comedic lyrics. If I Were You is another great pop song Time watching is an update of a track from his first album and is starkly dramatic with just the strings and his voice. I’m all you need another great orchestral piece I wouldn’t change a note on this album The covers of Johnny Mathis’ Feet and Make it Easy On Yourself on the extended edition are well worth checking out as well

Skin has an exceptional voice and the sound is pretty great but there just aren’t the tunes to carry this

By rights I should love Pink Floyd as I am partial to a good bit of prog But they always leave me cold and this was no exception Not sure I can really put my finger on why

Joni remains an artist I struggle to enjoy. Didn’t hate this so that counts as a win for her

It’s ok. Starts off a lot like Arcade Fire but then kind of circles the same sound over and over

So I’ve always found this style of country singing - with the catch in the throat - a rule turn off. So it says something about the strength of these songs that I really enjoyed this. Good tunes, dark lyrics

The sound of Christmas

I probably prefer Takk slightly more but this is still an extraordinary listen. For an album in which the lyrics are utterly obtuse it is remarkable how affecting it is

Gimme Shelter is a 5⭐️ classic There are some glimpses of genius in the rest but nothing close to the drama of the opening track

Like a car, you hear it coming, you hear it going, you never need to hear it again

I’ll never not find Bryan Ferry’s way of singing annoying but there’s some good songs on there

This is great

I mean, it’s clearly very impressive but also not for me at all

Oh I liked this. Terrifically moody and atmospheric

Just a huge series of bangers

It opens with as good a 1-2 punch as any but can’t sustain it. Good fun in places but middling in a lot of others

I liked the lo-fi jangly bits but really didn’t care for the distorted noisy bits

Ghosteen is an extraordinary listen. A really powerful articulation of grief and love. But it’s hard to listen to more than once Bright Horses aside which reduces me to tears on every listen

My first Queen album - I’d always regarded them as a singles act before - and this was a lot better than I expected. Fun, eclectic, and containing the greatest rock song ever

Only happy… and Stupid Girl are great. Queer is fine The rest is utterly meh

This marked the moment I lost contact with Radiohead. Loved the Bends and OK Computer but found this almost impossible to engage with when it came out. Listening to it now I think I may have viewed it a bit harshly. The textures and soundscapes are incredible and there are some songs in there (even if Thom Yorke is trying really hard not to sing anything with too clear a melody) Still prefer their earlier, funnier stuff

This is too long but doesn’t really feel it thanks to the variety of genres A classic title track and the rest is pretty great

Immigrant Song is a beyond fantastic way to open an album The rest is fine but never particularly moved me

I’d never listened to Steely Dan before but this is the 2nd album of theirs I’ve quite liked. I don’t think I love their stuff particularly but each time I listen to one of their albums I find myself surprised by how much I’m enjoying it

It’s fun for a track But a whole album of this - no thanks

Well that’s probably the 3 greatest opening tracks ever Never had much time for U2 before but this was uniformly excellent

It’s certainly angular

This Woman’s Work is one of Kate Bush’s finest songs (which by default puts it on a very high pedestal) The rest of this is not always her most accessible work and suffers accordingly

It’s fine Santa Cruz and big sur are great songs But it’s far too slight to really warrant a place on this list

I think I expected more from this It’s good folky stuff but doesn’t half meander about the place

There are some gems on this album (Babylon, This Years Love, Say Hello, Wave Goodbye) but it’s nothing extraordinary

Heroes is one of the greatest songs ever The rest is fine

Sad beck is the best beck

A fun collection of 60’s songs

Back in 94 this was my litmus test of if I’d get on with someone. If they had this album I knew we’d be friends. His voice is extraordinary obviously, and there’s a few covers (Hallelujah most famously) but his own songs are equally strong. About as good as it gets

Only knew the hits before which are obviously great, but the rest more than holds up to that mark

Didn’t enjoy this anywhere near as much as exodus. Plus the album version of No Woman just sounds wrong

A mellow groove but it doesn’t go anywhere

Sweet Jesus this is a load of noodly bollocks

Things I’ve discovered doing this: I like LCD Soundsystem a lot more than I thought I did

I go back and forth on this. Is it amazingly good or stupendously good? Today I’ve decided that it is both

The high points of this album are exquisite. America and the bookends theme in particular. But there’s a fair chunk which is far more lightweight and forgettable

To be honest this was a lot better than I expected it to be

Absolutely impossible to be objective about the first album I fell in love with 15 years old. Listening to this on repeat. Perfect

Buffalo Stance is a stone cold classic Man child is pretty great But there’s a lot of filler outside of those two

Loads of artists I love are clearly very influenced by Tom Waits (Eels chiefly) but I just can’t get on with him

I don’t understand the complaints about Caleb’s singing He’s like a horny early rockier Michael Stipe But then my 2nd born is called Caleb Was the world crying out for the 2nd KoL album to be this good? No it wasn’t. Was the 2nd KoL album banger after banger? Yes it was

Good background music for a workout at the gym But that’s not the highest recommendation

A pretty great swan song from Mr Bowie

It’s fine but nothing out of the middle of the road

It’s pretty good - and you can hear the influence he’s had - but it’s fairly samey at the same time

This is an utterly gorgeous record The title track and The Ocean in particular are wonderful but there’s not a dud track on here.

Well this was a nice surprise for a Saturday morning. Some great guitar and a fabulous sound

Can this record reconcile the fact that so many acts I love are influenced by Pink Floyd and yet I’ve never liked a Pink Floyd album? No it can’t

Money for nothing is obviously a world eating riff Brothers In Arms is an epic Walk of Life is fun But the rest wasn’t as memorable as I expected

There is something incredible about Cohen’s voice and lyrics but god that Casio-preset-1 soundscape is hard to get past

It was fine but nothing earthshaking

I’m an absolute sucker for the jangly indie sound these guys have Plenty of good tunes too

I think I’ll probably always still come down on the side of Sgt Pepper being a better album but this is very hard to fault at all

I mean I don’t hate this but I also have no desire to sit through it again

Grandad, what did the background sound like in the 90’s?

E-Pro is a lot of fun but this is a little bit Beck by numbers (those numbers are still pretty damn good!)

I mean this is fine but not outstanding in any way at all

I really really liked this A lot of Nick Drake, a bit of Van Morrison Only thing that stopped me going the full 5 was that it was a little too jazz folk at times but it was pretty close

Oh this is fantastic Wonderful folk tunes and some great guitar work

There’s no copperhead road but what there is is a pretty good country rock record

I liked this quite a lot. The title track in particular Felt like a bit of a ground zero for a lot of the literate indie chamber pop that came later Not everything worked but I found it grabbed me more and more as it went on

A cracking 70’s rock album

So I’ve never liked Tom Waits. Actively disliked to be honest. And yet… …I think I love this. The piano and orchestration work brilliantly to off set his vocals (which I normally can’t abide but sound more Springsteen like on this) Jersey Girl in particular was a highlight. Really enjoyed this. Really surprised

I really liked this - it reminded me a lot of Forever Changes by Love (which is very good company to be in) Perhaps the songs aren’t as strong as that classic but they weren’t a long way off

Depeche Mode are one of those bands that I just find a little samey. I like their sound but find they’re constantly circling the same few ideas and that gets a bit boring over the course of an album

Nothing to love Nothing to hate Nothing memorable at all

It’s only Party Fears 2 which keeps this from being one star That’s a great song but the rest of this is insufferable

Struggled to find much to love about this Obviously the sound was revolutionary at the time but can see little reason to want to listen to it now

You’re in a bad way is great Beyond that nothing particularly stands out

Wow - what a voice Some of the songs run out of steam a little but I could listen to him sing for years

Well here’s something that feels like it might have aged poorly… and yet it’s pretty damn good! Songs stand up really well, Remember Me and You Will You Won’t especially Plus it’s reminded me what a crush young me had on the saxophonist A very pleasant trip down memory lane

So I didn’t hate this Soundtracked a session at the gym Have no desire to ever listen to it again

Went in wanting to like this as I only really knew Bellbottoms (which I like) but this got very tedious very quickly and I gave up

I didn’t find myself blown away by this but it was fine

I find this great but somehow it drifts into the background at the same time

The title track is a classic The rest less so

I’ve never got on with Dylan Make You feel my love is a great song. For Adele Rest was nothing

I mean, I can see the influence and have been known to like groups in this genre but this was utterly tedious

Like this is getting anything other than a 5

For an album that clearly had some great guitar and drums I found this enormously boring and samey

God Only Knows possibly makes this 5⭐️ all by itself But this would still be 5⭐️even without that track

I’ve always been a bit ambivalent to led zep but this is fantastic from start to finish

This is fun for one track This is not fun for more than one track

It is very very Kate Bush Which can be equal parts impressive and just too much

Is this the Tom Waits I can stand? No it is not

It’s cool noise I feel no need to ever listen to again

Well this is a surprisingly huge amount of fun

Fantastic really I think the slightly annoying skits are the only thing keeping it from 5⭐️ Which, considering hip hop is not my normal stomping ground, is a hell of a recommendation

Fire and rain is a good song The rest is the sound of a bed being wet

What trying too hard to be cool sounded like in the 90’s

This isn’t bad but there’s so little here that resembles a tune Quite forgettable

I didn’t hate this but I didn’t love it either Clearly a big influence on Billy Joel which isn’t the strongest recommendation for me

Absolutely fantastic

There are moments where this is genuinely brilliant but it definitely runs out of steam long before the end

This had moments I thought were brilliant (especially the guitars) but the vocals were so weak and it got really annoying by the end

I didn’t make it far with this at all

Not every track justifies its existence but plenty do. Better than a cartoon side project probably has any right to be

There are some real high points here (Lady Midnight, The Partisan, Bird on a Wire) but it’s not as consistently at that level as some of his other stuff

For a moment I thought this was going to be a bit of an undiscovered gem, a bedfellow of Forever Changes by Love (which is one of my favourite albums) But then it gets out of that bed and into one that is twee and more than a little frustrating. Some good tracks but plenty that you only need to hear once (if that)

What if you took Simon & Garfunkel and CSN&Y and (somehow) made it better? This album manages to take a sound that was already pretty much perfect and somehow makes it better. The singing and harmonising are extraordinary and He Doesn’t Know Why never fails to bring me out in goosebumps. I remember stumbling across Fleet Foxes on Jools Holland’s show once and instantly falling in love in a way that has happened with very few bands.

Close To You is a marvellous song. To pretend otherwise is nonsense and shows a profound lack of understanding of what makes a great, simple song. But that sound is unbelievably cloying when stretched over an album. Crescent Noon features a more dramatic arrangement (Scott Walker esque if he dialled it back a bit) and Karen has a terrific voice. So split the difference and call it a generous 3

I didn’t hate it but I’m also never going to love this type of country

Everyday is like Sunday and suedehead are great songs But it’s hard to separate the artist from the man when there’s some outright racist undertones on this record Call it a 3 with some strong reservations

There’s an enjoyably hypnotic quality about this that grew on me more and more as it went on

It’s the boss learning how to sound like The Boss What’s not to love

It’s very country in a way I find a bit saccharine and off putting. But I didn’t not enjoy it and Wildflowers is a great song

I can stand his voice a bit more on the slower songs but it’s still pretty close to nails on a chalkboard territory. It’s such a shame as there’s some really good songwriting hidden in here but I can’t get on with his voice

Is it essential? No But is it fun? Yes!

Of course I know all The Jam singles but weirdly I’ve never listened to an album of theirs before. I think I expected more. Didn’t dislike it but That’s Entertainment is by far the best song

I just find this to be tedious background music

The highs are unimpeachably high. Watchtower and Voodoo Child are as good as it gets But there’s a lot of noodly indulgence here as well

The beautiful people is a great song and I didn’t find myself disliking the music as much as I dislike the man

Common People is one of the greatest songs ever written. Aside from the perfectly observed lyrics it is a text book example in how to build momentum in a song. Absolutely thrilling. But you could take Common People off this album and it would still be 5⭐️ Mis-shapes, Disco 2000, FEELINGCALLEDLOVE, Underwear, Bar Italia, Something Changed, Sorted For E’s & Whizz, I Spy So many brilliant tracks that capture a cross section of mid 90’s Britain It’s angry. It’s hedonistic. It’s romantic. It’s dirty. It’s remorseful. It’s funny. Different Class indeed

This is a fun listen Not especially earth shaking but some well crafted songs

There’s some amazing sounds on this But Cars is the only great song

Superstition is a stone cold classic The rest is fine

Literally one of the most tediously twee things I’ve ever listened to

California Stars is such a wonderful song. There’s nothing else on here that’s as good. But there’s also nothing that far away from it either. A pretty special album that hovers somewhere between 4 and 5⭐️

Ok - this was a new one for me and was fantastic from the first note on. Bit punky, bit proggy Really enjoyable and I can’t fault it

Pretty decent 70’s rock this

My dad’s favourite band I’d ask him what he saw in them but he’s been dead 23 years So I’ll just have to settle for saying this was alright

When I was 15 I remember hearing the cool kids talking about a band called Ash. I was not a cool kid so I dismissed them as something I wouldn’t like And yet, slowly but surely those songs became ubiquitous ear worms. Goldfinger and Girl From Mars in particular. Does it still hold up all these years later? You bet it does. Maybe those cool kids were right after all

I love Slade at Christmas It is not Christmas I did not love Slade

Weather With You, Fall At Your Feet, It’s Only Natural & Four Seasons are as good as it gets. The rest is not too bad at all

I only really knew the Zombies for She’s not There, which isn’t on this album But the rest of this is some pretty good 60’s psychedelia that - crucially - remembers some tunes

I mean this is fun but in no way essential

So I thought I was going to love this. Girls Girls Girls has always been one of my favourite songs of his and I really liked the first few tracks And then it just seemed to run out of steam a bit. Never bad but a bit … samey

Faith is a classic song There’s a sprinkling of decent pop tunes across the rest of the album, along with some frankly forgettable ones But what a set of pipes George had

It is true that Morrissey is a fairly repugnant man It is true that his post-Smiths stuff is often heavy handed and musically dull It is also true that First Of The Gang is a cracker of a song Call it a low 3 on balance

Yeah This was a bit too much

A great pop record Doesn’t linger long after consuming but a very enjoyable listen nonetheless

Why is it I like their first album so much but find everything else insufferable

Well this is incredibly dumb but a surprisingly large amount of fun

One thing I am discovering doing this project is I like Led Zeppelin a lot more than I realised Never really listened to them that much before but this is their 2nd 5 ⭐️ album from me

Is the hardness of the sound the point? I don’t know, I find this soundscape very alienating and distancing. The breathy vocals mean this just feels very … light? Insubstantial? I don’t dislike this but I also couldn’t tell you a thing I like about it Interesting but impossible to get a handle on

I really liked this on first listen and suspect I’m going to like it even more on subsequent run throughs

Virginia Plain is a banger but good lord I cannot stand Bryan Ferry’s voice

Very much not my normal taste and I was only aware of Paper Planes before, but I thought this was fantastic Maybe it was the smattering of rock samples littered throughout but this was great from beginning to end

Well this was a pleasant surprise Not heard of them before but this is really very good (the brass band in particular really elevates a lot of the songs) A bit too jazzy in places but very strong

Perfectly serviceable 60’s pop rock but not sure it’s that essential

The first 3 Kings Of Leon albums are really interesting/full of energy/surprising I think Aha Shake Heartbreak in particular is a brilliant album This was their commercial apex but see’s a lot of what made them unusual worn away. Crawl has a great start but becomes really plodding which pretty much sums up a lot of the album Sex on Fire is a great song no matter how over played it is though Not bad but really not great either

A couple of good songs and a decent sound does not a full album make

My mate’s dad used to play with Van Morrison years ago. Van was such an insufferable arse that none of the band could stand him. To get their own back, the band would get Van’s harmonica and, each night, would drag it up their arse crack. Van would blow his lungs out on that shitty harmonica every gig they played that tour. The man is that much of a dickhead. Anyway, the dickhead made a 5⭐️ album here

This album must be a great soundtrack to amazing sex I, however, am a bald, overweight man in his 40’s and therefore have limited use for it

I don’t like Roxy Music I find weird ambient stuff very tiresome So imagine my surprise to discover how much I liked this

I can appreciate that the soundscape is incredible. However there is nothing else to this so it rather becomes background music Part 4 remembers to bring a melody and is consequently the only memorable bit

Just utterly tedious

Obviously the playing is impressive but I’m not a musician and so there’s nothing to hang onto for a layman

I really liked the richness of the sound of this Never really listened to Sinatra outside the big songs but this is gorgeous

I love spiritualised so this was an interesting listen Too wiggy to really want to listen to it much again but not without its psychedelic charms

I already knew - and loved! - Something For The Weekend and If You Don’t Want Me To Destroy You. I have also liked a very large number of SFA singles over the years but never ventured into a full album. So I went into this with high expectations and… I was a little disappointed truthfully Nothing bad, but nothing else close to the quality of the songs I already knew

The type of music I imagine Radiohead listen to whilst disappearing up their own arseholes

Some tunes would be nice

I liked this far more than I expected to A warm hug of an album

She certainly has a sexy, sultry sound But I’m a middle aged man I can’t keep that up for a full album Let alone doing it all again in French

Made it 30 minutes through this and still didn’t get an appointment with my dentist

This was a lot of fun

Perfectly fine rock album that really wants to be Nirvana Not sure it belongs on this list but Outtathaway, Get Free & Homesick are great songs

Starts with a hell of a 3 punch - Independent Women into Survivor into (especially) Bootylicious But then it just doesn’t really go anywhere, the tunes disappear, and there’s this really weird production choice that has the girls singing over the top of each other in such a way that you can’t hear them properly. A disappointment

It’s fine I guess but was really nothing remarkable

It’s a good listen but feels lesser than his contemporaries

Graded against most albums this would be a 4 probably But graded against the rest of the Beatles’ work it’s a bit lacking In My Life is a classic The rest a collection of lesser Beatles songs (which means they’re still better than most)

Some things are just not worth listening to My only sadness is that it took me three tracks to realise

Listening to this the week Trump was re-elected and god I want to live in a world where it’s Bruce’s America not Donald’s. This album is full of ambition and anger and yearning and regret and love and nostalgia and lust. It’s also a rare album where every song not only sounds like a hit but like a number 1 A classic of the American Dream before that phrase was so toxic

I always thought Terence Trent D’Arby (or Sananda Maitreya as he is known now) was an absolute poseur and Prince wannabe. I expected to hate this But I was wrong This is absolutely fantastic. He has a terrific voice and the songs are amazing Rain is the only dud on an album of killers A most surprising 5 ⭐️ album

Father and Son is one of the greatest songs ever. Really captures the sweep of inter generational angst incredibly in a 3 minute folk/pop song The rest is pretty decent but weirdly unmemorable Call it a very high 3, because I can’t think why it’s a 4 aside from F&S

How can I love Nick Cave so much and find this insufferable

So one of the big things I’ve discovered doing this is that I like Talking Heads a lot more than I realised This was no exception

I’ve realised the problem I have with The Smiths is that my introduction to them was The Queen Is Dead and nothing comes close to that This came much closer than Meat Is Murder though which I had little time for.

The point at which bjork veered to far into interesting and away from listenable It’s not boring but I can’t imagine wanting to listen to it much again

2 stone cold classics A lot of so-so

Not up for this at all

The only Calexico song I knew before was The Crystal Frontier which I thought was great so I was quite excited to hear this Have they made an album of songs as good as that? In short, no. But there’s still a lot to enjoy here The soundscape - widescreen indie TexMex - is fantastic but there’s no songs as immediate as the Crystal Frontier So call it a low 4 that frustratingly could have been a classic if the songs were a little stronger

There’s lots to enjoy here but it’s also true that there’s a certain lack of variety when the same piano sound and singing style is stretched over an album When it works (China, Winter) it’s really great though And the thing is I’ve largely changed my mind about the album the more I’ve listened and it’s really grown on me. Me and a Gun in particular is incredible I was leaning towards a 3 but then the album had a strong back end and I think it’s a 4 really

I made homemade kazoos with a bunch of 6 year olds today The sound of that was less annoying than this album Saved from one star by My Girls being something of a pop song

Middling indie rock and Brexit adjacent lyrics - Morrissey’s solo stuff is the most over represented stuff on this list It’s never awful but it’s never anything great either Crucially it’s never anything as good as The Smiths

There are a few great singles and a couple of other great songs but it leaves me oddly removed from it and not engaged emotionally

When I was growing up, this was regarded as undisputedly the greatest album of all time. I can remember it soundtracking many a journey in my parents car. Does it still have that status? Hard to say What is definitely still a fact is that it is packed with ideas, covers an insanely broad spectrum of genres, and there isn’t a bad track on it

Absolutely nothing wrong with this Absolutely nothing particularly special about it either mind

Why does Kraftwerk affect me in a way that so much electronica doesn’t? Who knows but this is an extraordinary album that would be the best album of the year if it were released in 2024 yet somehow it was made in 1978 So much of the album is a mood, but The Model is an absolute banger of a pop song hiding in there

I quite like this but not enough to love it

Incredible sound in search of some songs

I always feel like I’m going to like Lana Del Rey more than I do And I do like this but not enough to really want to listen to it again

I thought I’d never listened to this album Turns out I already knew every song on here Turns out I absolutely love at least 6 songs on here A classic for a reason

Fit But You Know It and Dry Your Eyes were massive when this album came out Would I enjoy the rest of this album? No, no I would not 2 stars for those songs The rest of this is the sound of the guy I walk away from in the pub

They were insufferable 20 years ago and they’re insufferable now Can’t Stand Me Now is decent but that might be generous

This has not aged at all Every track is pretty much a 5⭐️ song Even Fitter Happier, a song you’re never going to rush out to listen to by itself, is elevated in the context of the whole album If I had to pick one song it would probably be Let Down… No wait, No Surprises… No, Climbing Up The Walls… Lucky… Karma Police…. Not a bad song Flawless

The sound of mania Tremendously driven bass and drums Haunting atmosphere Doom laden vocal delivery It’s a hell of a listen

It’s fairly inoffensive indie Nothing to take against Nothing to particularly fall in love with either

I’m a folk fan normally so you’d think this would be right up my street but this just didn’t click for me for some reason

Don’t mind it for 3 minutes This album is a lot longer than 3 minutes

Are these his best songs? No they’re not But there is an astonishing honesty and vulnerability to the lyrics that are even more breathtaking when you consider he was literally the most famous man in the world

Genius of Love is the most danceable song ever written The rest is fine but not on that level

A pretty fantastic set of songs He only thing you could hold against it is a lack of variety but that’s a small complaint

Talking Heads continue to be my favourite discovery of this project Obviously I knew their singles before but I had no idea how much I’d enjoy all of their work This wasn’t quite as good as some of their other albums on this list but was still pretty great

At last Some 500 albums into this project I finally get an REM album Would I have put it on the list - probably not In fact I could make a case for 9 or 10 REM albums being better. But the 9th best REM album is still pretty bloody good! I always feel Green is the bridge between the early REM albums and the stadium conquering later ones. It has a foot in both camps and never quite excels in either Orange Crush is a classic but it gets marked down for me because Pop Song 89 and Stand are trying too hard to be quirky Call it a 3 only because I think pretty much the rest of their discography is 4+

It’s fine but I cannot imagine a world in which this was in the top 10,000 albums, let alone the top 1,000

Good enough to make a Trotskyite out of this centrist dad These are just exceptionally well crafted and performed songs

A lot of Elvis Costello on this list and I can’t pretend I’m getting any fonder of his voice There’s some well constructed songs but I cannot see myself wanting to revisit any of them

It’s a punk party record Very of its time and ahead of its time as well

Aerosmith and (solo) Morrissey are the two acts that feel most over represented on this list As ever, this is perfectly serviceable rock but not something that feels at all essential

Good Times never last is the one line review of this album We kick off with one of the greatest disco songs and then meander about a bit Never bad but never Good Times

If you asked an AI to make a Bruce Springsteen album fine tuned for mass appeal in the wake of 9/11 this is exactly what it would produce Which is not to say it’s bad (It’s the Boss!) but it is a bit flat and exactly what you’d expect With the one glorious exception of the title track which is bursting with energy and verve that is missing from the rest of the album

One classic and a lot of stuff that hasn’t stood the test of time

More noise than music

I cannot tell you how little I enjoyed listening to this once or how much I don’t want to listen to it again

It’s not un-enjoyable but does also feel a little ephemeral Couldn’t love you more is fantastic and lovely though

There’s a great 40 minute album here This album is not 40 minutes long Under the bridge and give it away are classics but man there’s a lot of juvenile filler

Important but basic

The Lips’ previous album, The Soft Bulletin, is one of the greatest albums ever recorded Can they follow it? You bet they can More electronic, more whimsical but with no less heart or sonic adventure

Is it uninteresting? No Is it interesting? Also no

I’m never going to love his voice but I can see the through line from this to other stuff I love (Eels, Nick Cave) so I found this far more listenable than some of his jazzier stuff

Hey I like Fix Up Look Sharp but I could not stomach a whole album of this

I remember hating this rock sound when it was new, I am no more a fan now it’s old Epic is a good tune but quite happy to skip the rest

This was far, far better than I was expecting

I jus

Some would have you believe this is the great britpop album. They’re wrong Some would also have you believe this is derivative crap. They’re also wrong Are the songs shy about their influences? No, but if it’s not the most original collection of punk-rock it is performed very well and has a couple of bangers in Connection and Waking Up

This is a great and beautiful album Dark End of the Street is a particular highlight

It’s a sound in search of some songs

It doesn’t quite have the magic in a bottle of the Folsom prison album but it’s not far off at all

This was a lot better than I feared it would be Wouldn’t say I loved it but it was an interesting listen

Nowhere near their earlier work Can’t quite say why but it’s strangely forgettable

3 tracks in I thought we were on for 5 ⭐️ with this album But then it went on too long and ran out of ideas Call it a 4 with a very strong start

A Big Mac of a rock record Soulless and lacking in substance but not unpleasant whilst it’s going down

2 all time classics in the title track and How do you mend… The rest is pretty good too

It’s quite atmospheric but I had no desire to want to spend much time with it

Hell of a singer Hell of a set of songs

Maybe I’m Amazed is pretty good The rest is ok but not a lot more

Elements of Sparklehorse to this Doesn’t quite have that magic though but it’s an interesting lo-fi Americana sound that I’m keen to listen to again

Complicated rock Expertly played That makes you feel nothing Except a desire for him to stop singing

The famous songs are catchy of course but the rest is pretty insufferable

Never going to enjoy this scream singing Made it through one song

I love indie I love Talking Heads I loved this (Rip it Up especially)

Moby Grape were a pretty decent psychedelic 60’s band This has some interesting moments But there’s a lot of druggy noodling between them

I loved the build and crescendo of the final track The rest was a bit lacklustre, largely because Damon Albarn lacks impact in his vocals (something that often happens when he’s not painting with broad strokes)

First half - maybe the finest REM album ever Second half - good but nowhere near as good Everything up to One I Love is classic REM. Everything after it is fine but the songwriting gets a bit woolly Call it an exceptionally high 4 that just takes a step on the landing

There is an intensity to a bad seeds album that is completely unique This is unrelenting Only kept off 5 by the greater albums they would later make

It’s technically interesting and well performed but it feels soulless and lightweight

What a fantastic psychedelic journey this is Weird and fun and constantly surprising About as high as a 4 gets and I have a suspicion it might go to the full 5 if I listen to it at the right time/place/mind

An album that really wants to be peak glam rock Bowie Two songs that absolutely hit that high water mark (Animal Nitrate and Metal Mickey) and a load of others that aren’t too far below that

I think this might be the definition of an album that doesn’t travel well If you’re British you’ll recognise the tongue in cheek lewd humour of Dury’s lyrics. That he was disabled after childhood polio adds an extra layer to a lot of his lyrics as he was very much in the category of person who wasn’t “supposed” to have sexual proclivities If you’re not British I can see how some of this might go over your head (in which case seek out the excellent Andy Serkis film about him called Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll) But what I can’t understand is how it wouldn’t be obvious to everyone that the Blockheads were one of the tightest bands to ever lace their boots

Pretty dull Marlena on the wall is great but the rest is very disappointing

The title track is inarguably one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded I liked the rest but maybe it felt like too much of a good thing because I didn’t love it

One hell of an album Clapton is a wanker

I only knew criminal (which is one of my favourite songs) coming into this Did the rest of the album live up to that mark? Yes, and with quite a bit to spare Not a bad track on here

It’s good but I also found it a bit samey after a while

Noise

I didn’t know there was a Lenny Kravitz album from before he was LENNY KRAVITZ It’s alright but quite forgettable

One stunning song (Maps) and two great songs (Pin and Date With The Night) does not a great album make

The sound of Nick Cave striking the gold of the sensitive/dangerous piano man storyteller that has carried him to such great heights in the rest of his career Some songs don’t work as more than a murderous curio (lovely creature, crow Jane, o’malleys bar) but they’re never not listenable But when it does work, boy does it work Kindness of strangers (the sobs!), Curse of Millhaven, Stagger Lee, Henry Lee and Where the wild roses… are glorious Tempted to give it a 5 but there are better Bad Seeds albums to come so let’s reserve that for those

I like the title track The rest was not the best. Bland and boring country

Well this is a firecracker of a record The songs are too long but you almost forgive him because it’s such a cool sound

I love a good 3 or 4 songs on this when they come on but never really seek them out for some reason I think a lot of that has to do with the weakness of Ian Brown’s vocals This album is good but it’s not exactly the second coming (as indeed, neither was The Second Coming) She Bangs The Drum, Waterfall and (Obviously) I Am The Resurrection are great. The rest could leave or take

I remember when this came out thinking it had some decent tunes but was a bit bland Didn’t find much cause to return to it in the following 20+ years Listening to it now it still sounds blandly ok, has some decent tunes but now we know he’s a bit of a tosser so 2 is all he’s getting

This is excellent throughout but just doesn’t quite have anything that stands out to make it 5⭐️ A really, really good Stones album but with none of their big songs

One of those things that’s fascinating and haunting for a song but too much when repeated over an album It’s not bad at all but equally I can’t say I’m going to seek it out again Call it a generous 3

I love Joy Division I like New Order And yet I found myself strangely nonplussed by this

Well this was an unexpected psychedelic delight It’s wiggy in places, insufferable in others, but when it all clicks there are cracking songs here

An absolute modern classic Does not put a foot wrong anywhere but what is really enjoyable is how cohesive it is an album. It has a terrific flow whilst at the same time being packed with surprises

It’s a lot It’s not bad but it’s a lot

Sultans of Swing was one of my dad’s favourite songs (of course it was!) and there’s some other good stuff here but a lot of it is quite flat as well

There’s always been a handful of Cure singles I really like without ever really feeling the need to investigate their back catalogue further I realise now that they’re very much an album band as this works fantastically well as a piece of work Moody and atmospheric

The Cutter is great The rest of this is fine at best and it’s not often at its best A generous 3

Beyoncé has a phenomenal set of pipes but there’s something about the production of this that makes it sound really flat Can’t hate Beyoncé but absolutely nothing stood out either

One of the joys of this project has been discovering Janis Joplin Not discovering really as I was always aware of her but this has been the first time I’ve really listened to her Hell of a voice. One of a kind

I normally love 60’s psychedelia but this is pedestrian stuff

There’s not a lot to this but what there is, is a lot of fun

In Substitute For Love, Frozen, Power of Goodbye and (especially) Ray of Light this has some of the best ever Madonna songs (rarefied air) But there’s a lot here that feels a bit directionless. Trim 2 or 3 tracks off and shorten a few others and this would be so much better

There’s little to enjoy on this rather pedestrian dad rock

I was only vaguely aware of Bill Callahan before but this is a wonderful record. His vocals are limited and yet utterly transfixing, the whole sound reminded me a lot of Sparklehorse or Nick Cave. But this is utterly transfixing stuff that was the perfect soundtrack to a Sunday morning

I knew Liz Phair was involved in Lilith Fair and for some reason I’d imagined she was some willowy sensitive singer-songwriter Reader, I was not correct! This was a great scuzzy slap in the face of a record. Uncompromising lyrics, some lo fi guitar, good stuff!