Journey Complete!
Finisher # to complete the list
743
Albums Rated
3.04
Average Rating
68%
Complete
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2010
Favorite Decade
Pop
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
71
5-Star Albums
52
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Casanova
The Divine Comedy
|
5 | 2.67 | +2.33 |
|
A Short Album About Love
The Divine Comedy
|
5 | 2.77 | +2.23 |
|
Scott 4
Scott Walker
|
5 | 2.81 | +2.19 |
|
A Walk Across The Rooftops
The Blue Nile
|
5 | 2.86 | +2.14 |
|
A Northern Soul
The Verve
|
5 | 2.91 | +2.09 |
|
Kala
M.I.A.
|
5 | 2.91 | +2.09 |
|
Ogden's Nut Gone Flake
Small Faces
|
5 | 2.94 | +2.06 |
|
Ingenue
k.d. lang
|
5 | 2.94 | +2.06 |
|
Aha Shake Heartbreak
Kings of Leon
|
5 | 2.97 | +2.03 |
|
Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby
Terence Trent D'Arby
|
5 | 2.98 | +2.02 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Head Hunters
Herbie Hancock
|
1 | 3.55 | -2.55 |
|
Stand!
Sly & The Family Stone
|
1 | 3.43 | -2.43 |
|
There's A Riot Goin' On
Sly & The Family Stone
|
1 | 3.29 | -2.29 |
|
Bongo Rock
Incredible Bongo Band
|
1 | 3.26 | -2.26 |
|
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
Pavement
|
1 | 3.24 | -2.24 |
|
The Wall
Pink Floyd
|
2 | 4.14 | -2.14 |
|
Hejira
Joni Mitchell
|
1 | 3.13 | -2.13 |
|
Pyromania
Def Leppard
|
1 | 3.13 | -2.13 |
|
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Pink Floyd
|
1 | 3.11 | -2.11 |
|
Street Life
The Crusaders
|
1 | 3.09 | -2.09 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Nirvana | 3 | 4.67 |
| Oasis | 2 | 5 |
| The Verve | 2 | 5 |
| The Flaming Lips | 2 | 5 |
| The Divine Comedy | 2 | 5 |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 5 | 4.2 |
| R.E.M. | 4 | 4.25 |
| Beatles | 6 | 4 |
| Peter Gabriel | 3 | 4.33 |
| Kraftwerk | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Sly & The Family Stone | 2 | 1 |
| Orbital | 2 | 1 |
| Can | 2 | 1 |
| Sepultura | 2 | 1 |
| Tim Buckley | 2 | 1.5 |
| Pink Floyd | 2 | 1.5 |
| Bob Dylan | 4 | 2 |
| Joni Mitchell | 3 | 2 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Portishead | 5, 2 |
| The Velvet Underground | 5, 2, 2 |
| The Smiths | 2, 5, 4 |
| U2 | 2, 5, 3 |
| Pet Shop Boys | 3, 1, 4 |
5-Star Albums (71)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
White Denim · 12 likes
5/5
Boom
Never heard of these guys before but this is right up my street
Constantly surprising but filled with hooks
Loved it
The Blue Nile · 9 likes
5/5
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
G. Love & Special Sauce · 9 likes
1/5
What trying too hard to be cool sounded like in the 90’s
Gillian Welch · 7 likes
5/5
Had never heard of this before but how perfect is it?!
Beautiful understated singing and melodies.
A fantastic discovery
Nightmares On Wax · 5 likes
1/5
Made it 30 minutes through this and still didn’t get an appointment with my dentist
1-Star Albums (52)
All Ratings
Curtis Mayfield
2/5
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
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
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
The Cardigans
3/5
Lovefool stands out like a totem. Head and shoulders better than anything else
But the rest was good if a little samey
OutKast
2/5
Hey Ya is of course a brilliant song but good lord this does not justify its run time
Pixies
4/5
Well this rocks
None of the Pixies songs I already knew and yet the most I’ve liked them
The Velvet Underground
5/5
This remains amazing and Venus In Furs is a top 100 song
Tim Buckley
2/5
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
The Mamas & The Papas
4/5
60’s gorgeousness
Know more of these than I realised already
Small Faces
5/5
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
Jane's Addiction
3/5
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
The Who
3/5
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)
Frank Black
4/5
Well this was a great surprise
Started off sounding like Pixies redux but then got good and then kept getting better
Really liked this
Herbie Hancock
1/5
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
Sugar
2/5
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
5/5
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
Fela Kuti
2/5
Really like the energy of the title track
The rest kind of blended together for me
The Specials
4/5
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)
Teenage Fanclub
2/5
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
Dead Kennedys
2/5
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
Sonic Youth
2/5
Quite liked the darkness of it but it all kind of merged together
Frank Sinatra
3/5
I liked it
I didn’t love it
Michael Jackson
3/5
Some of the best songs ever recorded by a nonce
Ray Charles
3/5
Love lot’s about this but it feels a bit soft round the edges.
Prefer Ray Charles when he’s rougher
The Saints
5/5
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
Bob Dylan
2/5
It’s fine
I like I want you
But just find it does nothing that makes me want to return to it
10cc
1/5
Just felt really lightweight and nothing really stood out
Expected more
King Crimson
4/5
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
50 Cent
2/5
Completely not my thing but I will grant that In Da Club is a tune
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
A couple of fantastic singles but not consistently outstanding
Buzzcocks
3/5
Fine punk
Joni Mitchell
1/5
God I just find this boring.
Something about Joni Mitchell’s way of singing just leaves no trace for me.
fIREHOSE
2/5
It’s alright and some edgy songs but all feels a little flat.
Middling
Peter Gabriel
3/5
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
Linkin Park
3/5
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
Aerosmith
3/5
Good
Fun
Disposable
Gillian Welch
5/5
Had never heard of this before but how perfect is it?!
Beautiful understated singing and melodies.
A fantastic discovery
k.d. lang
5/5
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
The Band
2/5
It’s ok
Really like The Weight but the rest kind of went past without really landing
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
4/5
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
Oasis
5/5
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
Rush
2/5
The musicianship is impressive if overly complicated
The singing is grating and hard to get past
It’s fine
Taylor Swift
3/5
Only knew shake it off but this has got a bunch of great pop songs on it
An enjoyable listen
Rage Against The Machine
2/5
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
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
The title track is one of the greatest tracks ever.
The rest isn’t far behind
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
2/5
The sound is gorgeous and haunting but I’m not sure I’d want to listen to a whole album of it
Emmylou Harris
3/5
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
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
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
Initially gave this a 2 but have edited it up to a 3 based on those tracks alone
The Velvet Underground
2/5
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
Muddy Waters
2/5
Great voice and energy to these songs but ultimately they ended up sounding the same
Tracy Chapman
3/5
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
Pavement
1/5
I normally quite enjoy lo-fi but this was hard to get into
Can’t see myself ever revisiting it
Pantera
1/5
Made it 30 seconds and no more.
Just cannot abide that style of singing
Silver Jews
2/5
Another Lo-if record that just didn’t click for me.
Tennessee was fun but none of it was exactly memorable
Laura Nyro
1/5
Has moments but they’re fleeting.
Feels like background music for a coffee shop
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
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
Sonic Youth
4/5
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
Napalm Death
1/5
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
No
Sonic Youth
2/5
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
The Cure
2/5
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
PJ Harvey
3/5
I find this a curious album. It’s an interesting project and some songs have fantastic moments but it also never feels particularly essential
George Harrison
4/5
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
Green Day
3/5
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
Joni Mitchell
3/5
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
The Blue Nile
5/5
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
The Louvin Brothers
2/5
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
Scott Walker
4/5
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
Living Colour
4/5
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
Van Halen
2/5
Jump is obviously a classic
The rest was not up to much. Impressive guitar playing but forgettable songs
Guided By Voices
2/5
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
4/5
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
Buck Owens
2/5
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
ABBA
3/5
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
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
I struggle with B&S
Some intriguing lyrics
Some sweet melodies
But overall it feels flimsy and lightweight
And I hate his voice
ZZ Top
3/5
Destination: Rock
Direction: Straightahead
La Grange is monumental
Can give or take the rest
Franz Ferdinand
5/5
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
Sly & The Family Stone
1/5
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
Coldplay
4/5
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
Jacques Brel
4/5
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
The Crusaders
1/5
Was there ever a time where this sounded anything other than dull?
Background music
Skepta
2/5
Didn’t hate it but also not for me
Talking Heads
3/5
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
Aerosmith
3/5
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
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
A great sound. It feels like several different continents worth of cultures colliding
The Replacements
3/5
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
Arctic Monkeys
4/5
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
4/5
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
Buffalo Springfield
2/5
This just felt really boring and like some songs chucked together rather than an album
Disappointing
Supergrass
3/5
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
Jamiroquai
2/5
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
Kraftwerk
4/5
Sounds like the future in 2023
What must it have sounded like in 1974?
Mekons
2/5
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
3/5
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)
The Stooges
2/5
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
Louis Prima
3/5
This was fun.
Loads of energy
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
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
Milton Nascimento
3/5
I liked this.
Never stayed the same shape for long and was an enjoyable listen
Motörhead
3/5
Love the title track
Nothing wrong with the rest but a whole album of it does get a little samey
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
1/5
Sounds like public enemy but less so
Public Image Ltd.
1/5
Like a 6th form band trying way too hard to be arty
Neil Young
4/5
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
Dusty Springfield
3/5
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
The Smiths
2/5
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
The Verve
5/5
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
k.d. lang
4/5
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
White Denim
5/5
Boom
Never heard of these guys before but this is right up my street
Constantly surprising but filled with hooks
Loved it
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
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
The Who
2/5
I find The Who a great singles band whose work gets too flabby on an album
This was no exception
Norah Jones
2/5
I mean it’s fine
Her voice is lovely - very sultry - but it’s all very samey
Beatles
3/5
It’s good obviously but pales compared to what came later
Bobby Womack
5/5
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
Orbital
1/5
It’s interesting I suppose but it makes me feel nothing
Kendrick Lamar
2/5
Not for me
Spiritualized
5/5
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
David Bowie
4/5
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
Edit - I’ve adjusted this down to a 4 as, though I still think it’s very good, Mr Bowie had far better albums and they’re the ones that deserve the top accolades
Megadeth
3/5
I don’t really go in for metal but enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would
Jane Weaver
4/5
It’s not earth shattering but I have a feeling this might be quite a grower with time for a few more listens
Edit - I was right! I find myself returning to this a lot do bumping it up to a 4
The Last Shadow Puppets
2/5
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
The Human League
4/5
Still sounds great
Synths rarely sounded better
The Pogues
4/5
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
Frank Ocean
3/5
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
Crosby, Stills & Nash
2/5
It’s a wonderful sound in search of more memorable songs
Mercury Rev
5/5
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
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
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
Santana
2/5
It’s impressive but also a bit forgettable
a-ha
2/5
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
Boston
2/5
More than a feeling is a classic of the genre
The rest is very much of the genre
Simply Red
1/5
Sweet Jesus this is boring
Air
3/5
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
Tricky
3/5
It’s interesting but not exactly a comfortable listen or something I’ll be rushing back to
The Doors
2/5
Like listening to a really good band indulge themselves
Slayer
2/5
Didn’t hate as much as I thought I would but gets quite boring quite quickly
Blondie
3/5
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
Incredible Bongo Band
1/5
Well this is certainly the best bongo based album I’ve ever heard
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
I don’t dislike it at all but the way he sings does make it hard to love
The Jesus And Mary Chain
2/5
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
Beatles
4/5
Can’t really argue with the quality of the songs here
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
4/5
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
The xx
2/5
Like someone trying to seduce you into their bed for a good nap
Johnny Cash
5/5
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
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
It’s a fine, meditative album but not one I rush to revisit much
Coldplay
4/5
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
Rocket From The Crypt
2/5
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
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Come On Eileen is untouchable
Jackie Wilson is a fine cover
The rest is ok but certainly not essential
Aretha Franklin
3/5
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…
UB40
2/5
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
Supertramp
2/5
Walks a fine line between interesting and annoying and doesn’t always keep its balance
Björk
4/5
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)
Ramones
4/5
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
Ute Lemper
3/5
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
Edit - much as I like it and think it was harshly judged by lots on here I can’t stick the 4 so a 3 feels fair
Frank Zappa
3/5
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
Buena Vista Social Club
2/5
I’m sure the musicianship is great but Christ this sounds like background music
The Rolling Stones
3/5
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
Baaba Maal
2/5
I don’t really know enough about this type of music to fairly rate it
Sounded fine though
Metallica
2/5
It’s very loud for a very long time
Which is fine but a bit draining after a while
Mott The Hoople
4/5
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
The Flaming Lips
5/5
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
Metallica
3/5
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
The Teardrop Explodes
4/5
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
The Icarus Line
1/5
They’re trying too hard
No thanks
David Crosby
3/5
Very spacey but occasionally very dreamy and very beautiful
Jack White
3/5
Better than I thought it was going to be but not a patch on The White Stripes
Amy Winehouse
4/5
The first half of this is phenomenal
It just trails off a bit at the end so ends up as close to 5⭐️ as you can get whilst being a 4
Kraftwerk
4/5
Unlike anything that came before
The repetition is the point. Like being on a train journey into the future
Barry Adamson
3/5
Well this is something different
Feels like some days I could find this tiresome but today it made for an interesting listen
Janelle Monáe
5/5
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
Leonard Cohen
4/5
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
5/5
As good as Bowie got
Which is about as good as any earthling ever got
Emmylou Harris
4/5
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
Edit - I did relisten and I did enjoy it further. Up to 4 it goes!
Bob Dylan
2/5
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
2/5
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
2/5
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
Alanis Morissette
4/5
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
Portishead
5/5
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
TV On The Radio
2/5
It was fine but didn’t really strike me as anything special
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2/5
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
Nick Drake
3/5
Has the same beautiful, pastoral, folky sound but the songs felt less developed than what he went on to do on Bryter Layter
MGMT
3/5
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
Simon & Garfunkel
3/5
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
Lauryn Hill
2/5
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)
Barry Adamson
3/5
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
Depeche Mode
3/5
It was ok but based on the singles I already knew (personal Jesus and enjoy the silence) I think I expected more
Radiohead
5/5
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
Stevie Wonder
3/5
There’s lots I really like on here but it is very long!
Laibach
3/5
So I liked this a lot more than I expected
George Michael
3/5
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
The Go-Betweens
3/5
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
Dusty Springfield
3/5
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
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
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
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3/5
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
Cocteau Twins
3/5
It’s hauntingly beautiful but does tend to blend into the background
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Can
1/5
I mean it was interesting but unbelievably tedious
The Sugarcubes
3/5
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
Steely Dan
4/5
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
John Lennon
3/5
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
Ray Charles
3/5
Daft Punk
2/5
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
Brian Eno
2/5
They’re interesting soundscapes but I can’t imagine ever wanting to listen to it again
Roxy Music
3/5
This was better than I expected as I’ve always found Bryan Ferry’s voice incredibly grating
The White Stripes
4/5
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
Elvis Presley
3/5
The Charlatans
2/5
There’s some decent tracks but nothing exceptional.
A solid Britpop album
Nothing more
Bob Dylan
2/5
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
Tortoise
2/5
Interesting soundscapes for sure but hard to find a hook that would ever make you want to listen again
Fats Domino
3/5
This was pretty fun
Sufjan Stevens
4/5
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
Everything But The Girl
2/5
Tracey Thorn has a gorgeous voice.
The cover of I Don’t Want To… is lovely
The rest is utterly insipid though
Miles Davis
2/5
Just not for me at all
I’m sure it’s very accomplished but I don’t get jazz
The Fall
3/5
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
The La's
3/5
There She Goes is one of the greatest songs ever written. Nothing else here is remotely close but it’s a fine enough listen
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Deep Purple
3/5
This is a lot more fun than I thought it would be.
Big dumb rock
Black Sabbath
4/5
Outside of paranoid never listened to Black Sabbath but I really liked this
Jefferson Airplane
3/5
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
Neil Young
2/5
I either find Neil Young boring and annoying or really, quite good
I did not find this really, quite good
TV On The Radio
2/5
There’s lots of interesting things going on here but none of them add up to a memorable song
Nirvana
5/5
The perfect intersection of noise and tunes
The Smiths
5/5
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
Hawkwind
1/5
Unless you have taken a mind bending amount of LSD this gets tiresome pretty quickly
Elbow
5/5
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
Jurassic 5
3/5
Quite liked this
Got a bouncy, funky energy
Prince
3/5
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
Manic Street Preachers
5/5
The title track alone is probably 5⭐️
There are so many other tracks on this album that are equally strong (All Surface No Feeling being the other song that I feel has really stood the test of time)
Throwing Muses
4/5
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
Blue Cheer
4/5
This was a lot more noisy fun than I was expecting
In a Venn diagram sweet spot of blues, metal, and psychedelic rock
The Slits
3/5
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
Björk
5/5
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.
Earth, Wind & Fire
3/5
Fairly fun and funky
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
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
Lambchop
4/5
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
The Byrds
3/5
Absolutely fine 60’s folk rock but also circles the same sound the whole way through (it’s a good sound but…)
Scritti Politti
2/5
It’s very 80’s
That is the best and worst thing I can say about it
Kacey Musgraves
5/5
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
Aretha Franklin
4/5
So this is pretty awesome
Top to bottom great songs and fabulous vocals (obviously)
Elliott Smith
5/5
There’s a reason why my eldest son is called Elliott
Lou Reed
5/5
I have a friend who thinks Perfect Day is a song about drugs.
He’s wrong of course
It’s a song about love - it’s just that Lou’s love was a very unhealthy one
That this album contains two of the greatest songs ever written (Perfect Day and WOTWS) would be enough
That the rest of the album is right up there too is testament to its greatness
The Rolling Stones
4/5
The Divine Comedy
5/5
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
Lorde
4/5
This is good but only becomes exceptional when she really leans into sounding like Kate Bush
Skunk Anansie
2/5
Skin has an exceptional voice and the sound is pretty great but there just aren’t the tunes to carry this
Pink Floyd
2/5
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 Mitchell
2/5
Joni remains an artist I struggle to enjoy. Didn’t hate this so that counts as a win for her
Kate Bush
5/5
Simultaneously her most experimental and accessible which is a hell of a trick to pull off
The big singles are amazing. The second half of the album deeply weird
Hookworms
3/5
It’s ok. Starts off a lot like Arcade Fire but then kind of circles the same sound over and over
Dwight Yoakam
4/5
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
Various Artists
4/5
The sound of Christmas
Sigur Rós
4/5
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
Talk Talk
4/5
Life’s what you make it is a classic pop song but the rest of the album is very different
I think it’s going to take a few listens but it is really atmospheric
Time It’s Time stands out in particular
The Rolling Stones
3/5
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
The Cars
2/5
Like a car, you hear it coming, you hear it going, you never need to hear it again
Roxy Music
3/5
I’ll never not find Bryan Ferry’s way of singing annoying but there’s some good songs on there
X-Ray Spex
4/5
This is great
John Coltrane
2/5
I mean, it’s clearly very impressive but also not for me at all
Siouxsie And The Banshees
4/5
Oh I liked this.
Terrifically moody and atmospheric
Kings of Leon
4/5
Just a huge series of bangers
Fatboy Slim
3/5
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
Dinosaur Jr.
2/5
I liked the lo-fi jangly bits but really didn’t care for the distorted noisy bits
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
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
Queen
4/5
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
Garbage
2/5
Only happy… and Stupid Girl are great.
Queer is fine
The rest is utterly meh
Radiohead
3/5
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
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
I know I should like Belle and Sebastian but I just can’t find much to love. Just too twee I think. Not bad at all but nothing I’m coming back to
R.E.M.
5/5
One of the great debut albums
Radio Free Europe is a brilliant opener
Perfect Circle is the most mysteriously romantic song
The Clash
4/5
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
Led Zeppelin
3/5
Immigrant Song is a beyond fantastic way to open an album
The rest is fine but never particularly moved me
Steely Dan
4/5
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
Sabu
1/5
It’s fun for a track
But a whole album of this - no thanks
5/5
Well that’s probably the 3 greatest opening tracks ever
Never had much time for U2 before but this was uniformly excellent
Gang Of Four
3/5
It’s certainly angular
Beastie Boys
3/5
Kate Bush
3/5
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
Nirvana
4/5
Not an easy listen
And that’s the point
The Thrills
2/5
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
Fairport Convention
3/5
I think I expected more from this
It’s good folky stuff but doesn’t half meander about the place
David Gray
3/5
There are some gems on this album (Babylon, This Years Love, Say Hello, Wave Goodbye) but it’s nothing extraordinary
David Bowie
3/5
Heroes is one of the greatest songs ever
The rest is fine
Beck
4/5
Sad beck is the best beck
The Kinks
3/5
A fun collection of 60’s songs
Jeff Buckley
5/5
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
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Only knew the hits before which are obviously great, but the rest more than holds up to that mark
Bob Marley & The Wailers
2/5
Didn’t enjoy this anywhere near as much as exodus. Plus the album version of No Woman just sounds wrong
Jimmy Smith
2/5
A mellow groove but it doesn’t go anywhere
Pink Floyd
1/5
Sweet Jesus this is a load of noodly bollocks
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
Things I’ve discovered doing this: I like LCD Soundsystem a lot more than I thought I did
Love
5/5
I go back and forth on this.
Is it amazingly good or stupendously good?
Today I’ve decided that it is both
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
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
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
To be honest this was a lot better than I expected it to be
5/5
Absolutely impossible to be objective about the first album I fell in love with
15 years old. Listening to this on repeat. Perfect
Neneh Cherry
2/5
Buffalo Stance is a stone cold classic
Man child is pretty great
But there’s a lot of filler outside of those two
Dennis Wilson
4/5
Tom Waits
1/5
Loads of artists I love are clearly very influenced by Tom Waits (Eels chiefly) but I just can’t get on with him
Kings of Leon
5/5
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
Mylo
2/5
Good background music for a workout at the gym
But that’s not the highest recommendation
David Bowie
4/5
A pretty great swan song from Mr Bowie
Peter Frampton
2/5
It’s fine but nothing out of the middle of the road
Van Morrison
4/5
Bert Jansch
3/5
It’s pretty good - and you can hear the influence he’s had - but it’s fairly samey at the same time
Richard Hawley
5/5
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.
Songhoy Blues
4/5
Well this was a nice surprise for a Saturday morning. Some great guitar and a fabulous sound
Syd Barrett
2/5
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
Dire Straits
3/5
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
Leonard Cohen
3/5
There is something incredible about Cohen’s voice and lyrics but god that Casio-preset-1 soundscape is hard to get past
Todd Rundgren
3/5
The Boo Radleys
3/5
It was fine but nothing earthshaking
The Triffids
4/5
I’m an absolute sucker for the jangly indie sound these guys have
Plenty of good tunes too
Beatles
5/5
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
Soft Machine
2/5
I mean I don’t hate this but I also have no desire to sit through it again
Everything But The Girl
2/5
Grandad, what did the background sound like in the 90’s?
Beck
3/5
E-Pro is a lot of fun but this is a little bit Beck by numbers (those numbers are still pretty damn good!)
The Auteurs
3/5
I mean this is fine but not outstanding in any way at all
John Martyn
4/5
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
Richard Thompson
5/5
Oh this is fantastic
Wonderful folk tunes and some great guitar work
Steve Earle
3/5
There’s no copperhead road but what there is is a pretty good country rock record
John Cale
4/5
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
Steely Dan
4/5
A cracking 70’s rock album
Tom Waits
4/5
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
4/5
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
3/5
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
Kelela
2/5
Nothing to love
Nothing to hate
Nothing memorable at all
The Associates
2/5
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
The Stooges
2/5
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
Saint Etienne
2/5
You’re in a bad way is great
Beyond that nothing particularly stands out
Solomon Burke
4/5
Wow - what a voice
Some of the songs run out of steam a little but I could listen to him sing for years
The Zutons
4/5
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
Slipknot
3/5
So I didn’t hate this
Soundtracked a session at the gym
Have no desire to ever listen to it again
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
1/5
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
ABBA
3/5
I didn’t find myself blown away by this but it was fine
Massive Attack
3/5
I find this great but somehow it drifts into the background at the same time
Genesis
3/5
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
3/5
5/5
Polly hits the apex of her songwriting
Big Exit, This Is Love, Kamikaze, Good Fortune, We Float are all tremendous songs
Love
3/5
Can I live without an 18 minute freak out of a closing track?
Yes I probably can
Not bad by any means but one listen is enough
Alice Cooper
3/5
The title track is a classic
The rest less so
Bob Dylan
2/5
I’ve never got on with Dylan
Make You feel my love is a great song. For Adele
Rest was nothing
Slint
1/5
I mean, I can see the influence and have been known to like groups in this genre but this was utterly tedious
Peter Gabriel
5/5
Like this is getting anything other than a 5
Def Leppard
1/5
For an album that clearly had some great guitar and drums I found this enormously boring and samey
The Beach Boys
5/5
God Only Knows possibly makes this 5⭐️ all by itself
But this would still be 5⭐️even without that track
Led Zeppelin
4/5
I’ve always been a bit ambivalent to led zep but this is fantastic from start to finish
Edit - I’ve brought it down to 4 as whilst I still think it’s great I’ve not wanted to seek it out much since listening
The Cramps
2/5
This is fun for one track
This is not fun for more than one track
Kate Bush
3/5
It is very very Kate Bush
Which can be equal parts impressive and just too much
Aimee Mann
4/5
Only knew her from the Magnolia soundtrack but this is a very fine collection of songs
Tom Waits
1/5
Is this the Tom Waits I can stand?
No it is not
Sonic Youth
2/5
It’s cool noise I feel no need to ever listen to again
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
Well this is a surprisingly huge amount of fun
De La Soul
4/5
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
James Taylor
2/5
Fire and rain is a good song
The rest is the sound of a bed being wet
G. Love & Special Sauce
1/5
What trying too hard to be cool sounded like in the 90’s
Radiohead
3/5
This isn’t bad but there’s so little here that resembles a tune
Quite forgettable
David Ackles
2/5
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
Talking Heads
4/5
Absolutely fantastic
Arrested Development
3/5
There are moments where this is genuinely brilliant but it definitely runs out of steam long before the end
Dinosaur Jr.
2/5
This had moments I thought were brilliant (especially the guitars) but the vocals were so weak and it got really annoying by the end
The Young Gods
1/5
I didn’t make it far with this at all
Gorillaz
3/5
Not every track justifies its existence but plenty do. Better than a cartoon side project probably has any right to be
Leonard Cohen
3/5
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
The Electric Prunes
3/5
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)
Fleet Foxes
5/5
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.
Carpenters
3/5
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
The Stranglers
3/5
Ray Price
3/5
I didn’t hate it but I’m also never going to love this type of country
Morrissey
3/5
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
The Modern Lovers
4/5
There’s an enjoyably hypnotic quality about this that grew on me more and more as it went on
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
It’s the boss learning how to sound like The Boss
What’s not to love
Dolly Parton
3/5
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
Elvis Costello
2/5
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
The B-52's
3/5
Is it essential? No
But is it fun? Yes!
The Jam
3/5
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
Orbital
1/5
I just find this to be tedious background music
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
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
Marilyn Manson
3/5
The beautiful people is a great song and I didn’t find myself disliking the music as much as I dislike the man
Pulp
5/5
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
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
This is a fun listen
Not especially earth shaking but some well crafted songs
Jungle Brothers
2/5
Gary Numan
3/5
There’s some amazing sounds on this
But Cars is the only great song
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Superstition is a stone cold classic
The rest is fine
The Incredible String Band
1/5
Literally one of the most tediously twee things I’ve ever listened to
Billy Bragg
4/5
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⭐️
Magazine
5/5
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
Big Star
3/5
Pretty decent 70’s rock this
The Kinks
3/5
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
Ash
4/5
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
Slade
2/5
I love Slade at Christmas
It is not Christmas
I did not love Slade
Crowded House
4/5
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
The Zombies
4/5
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
The Monkees
2/5
I mean this is fun but in no way essential
JAY Z
3/5
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
George Michael
3/5
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
Morrissey
3/5
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
System Of A Down
2/5
Yeah
This was a bit too much
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
A great pop record
Doesn’t linger long after consuming but a very enjoyable listen nonetheless
The Velvet Underground
2/5
Why is it I like their first album so much but find everything else insufferable
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
Well this is incredibly dumb but a surprisingly large amount of fun
Led Zeppelin
4/5
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
Edit - I’ve ended up putting both those 5⭐️ albums back to 4 as I just don’t ever go out of my way to listen to Led Zeppelin despite enjoying them when I do
FKA twigs
2/5
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
CHVRCHES
4/5
I really liked this on first listen and suspect I’m going to like it even more on subsequent run throughs
Roxy Music
2/5
Virginia Plain is a banger but good lord I cannot stand Bryan Ferry’s voice
M.I.A.
5/5
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
Blood, Sweat & Tears
4/5
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
The Young Rascals
3/5
Perfectly serviceable 60’s pop rock but not sure it’s that essential
Kings of Leon
3/5
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
The Black Keys
3/5
A couple of good songs and a decent sound does not a full album make
Van Morrison
5/5
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
Maxwell
2/5
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
Brian Eno
4/5
I don’t like Roxy Music
I find weird ambient stuff very tiresome
So imagine my surprise to discover how much I liked this
Jean-Michel Jarre
2/5
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
Underworld
1/5
Just utterly tedious
Miles Davis
2/5
Obviously the playing is impressive but I’m not a musician and so there’s nothing to hang onto for a layman
Frank Sinatra
4/5
I really liked the richness of the sound of this
Never really listened to Sinatra outside the big songs but this is gorgeous
Spacemen 3
3/5
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
Super Furry Animals
3/5
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
Can
1/5
The type of music I imagine Radiohead listen to whilst disappearing up their own arseholes
The Sabres Of Paradise
1/5
Some tunes would be nice
Goldfrapp
4/5
I liked this far more than I expected to
A warm hug of an album
Christine and the Queens
3/5
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
Nightmares On Wax
1/5
Made it 30 minutes through this and still didn’t get an appointment with my dentist
Count Basie & His Orchestra
3/5
This was a lot of fun
The Vines
3/5
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
Death In Vegas
3/5
Aisha is a belter
The rest sounds like a soundtrack for a very arty advert
Not terrible but not essential
Destiny's Child
2/5
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
XTC
2/5
It’s fine I guess but was really nothing remarkable
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
3/5
It’s a good listen but feels lesser than his contemporaries
Beatles
3/5
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)
Boards of Canada
1/5
Some things are just not worth listening to
My only sadness is that it took me three tracks to realise
Bruce Springsteen
5/5
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
Terence Trent D'Arby
5/5
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
Cat Stevens
3/5
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
The Birthday Party
2/5
How can I love Nick Cave so much and find this insufferable
Talking Heads
4/5
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
The Smiths
4/5
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 Jam
3/5
The Jam are a great singles band but this gets a bit workmanlike over a whole album
David Watts is great though
Björk
3/5
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
Iggy Pop
3/5
2 stone cold classics
A lot of so-so
The Fall
1/5
Not up for this at all
Calexico
3/5
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
Edit - actually it’s a 3
Tori Amos
4/5
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
Animal Collective
2/5
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
Morrissey
3/5
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
Tears For Fears
3/5
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
5/5
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
The Cult
3/5
Absolutely nothing wrong with this
Absolutely nothing particularly special about it either mind
Kraftwerk
5/5
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
Stephen Stills
3/5
I quite like this but not enough to love it
Soft Cell
3/5
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
Incredible sound in search of some songs
Lana Del Rey
3/5
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
Country Joe & The Fish
2/5
Soundgarden
3/5
Van Morrison
3/5
Too much of a good thing
Massive Attack
3/5
Unfinished Sympathy is amazing but there’s a lot here that isn’t standing the test of time quite as well
The Darkness
3/5
Fun!
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
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
The Streets
2/5
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
Method Man
2/5
Spiritualized
3/5
Shine a Light is a complete soundscape
The rest is a very druggy vibe
The Libertines
2/5
They were insufferable 20 years ago and they’re insufferable now
Can’t Stand Me Now is decent but that might be generous
Radiohead
5/5
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
Joy Division
5/5
The sound of mania
Tremendously driven bass and drums
Haunting atmosphere
Doom laden vocal delivery
It’s a hell of a listen
Sam Cooke
3/5
Television
5/5
I loved this on first listen but find myself going back to it a lot so let’s bump it up to the full monty
Genesis
4/5
Deerhunter
3/5
It’s fairly inoffensive indie
Nothing to take against
Nothing to particularly fall in love with either
Fairport Convention
2/5
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
Anthrax
2/5
Don’t mind it for 3 minutes
This album is a lot longer than 3 minutes
John Lennon
3/5
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
Tom Tom Club
3/5
Genius of Love is the most danceable song ever written
The rest is fine but not on that level
Carole King
4/5
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
3/5
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
R.E.M.
3/5
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+
Gene Clark
2/5
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
Billy Bragg
4/5
Good enough to make a Trotskyite out of this centrist dad
These are just exceptionally well crafted and performed songs
Elvis Costello
2/5
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
The Dictators
3/5
It’s a punk party record
Very of its time and ahead of its time as well
Aerosmith
3/5
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
CHIC
3/5
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
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
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
Eurythmics
2/5
One classic and a lot of stuff that hasn’t stood the test of time
Big Black
1/5
More noise than music
Minor Threat
1/5
I cannot tell you how little I enjoyed listening to this once or how much I don’t want to listen to it again
John Martyn
3/5
It’s not un-enjoyable but does also feel a little ephemeral
Couldn’t love you more is fantastic and lovely though
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
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
Run-D.M.C.
2/5
Important but basic
Beatles
4/5
The Flaming Lips
5/5
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
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
2/5
Is it uninteresting? No
Is it interesting? Also no
Tom Waits
3/5
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
Dizzee Rascal
2/5
Hey I like Fix Up Look Sharp but I could not stomach a whole album of this
Faith No More
2/5
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
Dion
4/5
This was far, far better than I was expecting
Sly & The Family Stone
1/5
I jus
Elastica
3/5
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
The Flying Burrito Brothers
4/5
This is a great and beautiful album
Dark End of the Street is a particular highlight
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
It’s a sound in search of some songs
Johnny Cash
4/5
It doesn’t quite have the magic in a bottle of the Folsom prison album but it’s not far off at all
Dr. John
3/5
This was a lot better than I feared it would be
Wouldn’t say I loved it but it was an interesting listen
Portishead
2/5
Nowhere near their earlier work
Can’t quite say why but it’s strangely forgettable
John Grant
4/5
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
Bon Jovi
2/5
A Big Mac of a rock record
Soulless and lacking in substance but not unpleasant whilst it’s going down
Al Green
4/5
2 all time classics in the title track and How do you mend…
The rest is pretty good too
Fever Ray
2/5
It’s quite atmospheric but I had no desire to want to spend much time with it
Janis Joplin
4/5
Hell of a singer
Hell of a set of songs
The Avalanches
4/5
A one of a kind listen
Cee Lo Green
2/5
Paul McCartney
3/5
Maybe I’m Amazed is pretty good
The rest is ok but not a lot more
Giant Sand
4/5
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
Rush
2/5
Complicated rock
Expertly played
That makes you feel nothing
Except a desire for him to stop singing
The Police
2/5
The famous songs are catchy of course but the rest is pretty insufferable
Elvis Presley
3/5
Sepultura
1/5
Never going to enjoy this scream singing
Made it through one song
Orange Juice
4/5
I love indie
I love Talking Heads
I loved this (Rip it Up especially)
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
3/5
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
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
2/5
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)
M.I.A.
3/5
R.E.M.
4/5
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
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
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
Nitin Sawhney
2/5
It’s technically interesting and well performed but it feels soulless and lightweight
Os Mutantes
4/5
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
The Damned
2/5
Suede
4/5
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
Ian Dury
4/5
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
Suzanne Vega
2/5
Pretty dull
Marlena on the wall is great but the rest is very disappointing
Meat Loaf
3/5
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
Cream
4/5
One hell of an album
Clapton is a wanker
Fiona Apple
5/5
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
Foo Fighters
3/5
It’s good but I also found it a bit samey after a while
Einstürzende Neubauten
1/5
Noise
New York Dolls
3/5
It’s good but I also found it a bit samey after a while
Lenny Kravitz
3/5
I didn’t know there was a Lenny Kravitz album from before he was LENNY KRAVITZ
It’s alright but quite forgettable
Traffic
3/5
It’s good but I also found it a bit samey after a while
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
One stunning song (Maps) and two great songs (Pin and Date With The Night) does not a great album make
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
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
Dolly Parton
2/5
I like the title track
The rest was not the best. Bland and boring country
Femi Kuti
4/5
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
The Stone Roses
3/5
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
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
4/5
I do like it but it also fails to get out of 3rd gear
Edit - ended going to 4 for it in the end as that 3rd gear turned out to be weirdly hypnotic
The Go-Go's
3/5
It’s not the richest sound ever but this is a fine pop record
The Black Crowes
3/5
This is fine but only the Otis cover is truly great (and it’s really, really great)
The Style Council
2/5
Not Mr Weller’s finest hour
A couple of good songs save it from a 1 but only by a whisker
Peter Gabriel
5/5
Ryan Adams
2/5
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
The Rolling Stones
4/5
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
Antony and the Johnsons
3/5
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
Shack
4/5
Moby
3/5
It’s the definition of fine
New Order
2/5
I love Joy Division
I like New Order
And yet I found myself strangely nonplussed by this
The United States Of America
4/5
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
Michael Kiwanuka
5/5
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
Sisters Of Mercy
3/5
It’s a lot
It’s not bad but it’s a lot
Dire Straits
3/5
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
The Cure
4/5
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
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
The Cutter is great
The rest of this is fine at best and it’s not often at its best
A generous 3
Waylon Jennings
4/5
Beyoncé
3/5
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
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4/5
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
The Beau Brummels
2/5
I normally love 60’s psychedelia but this is pedestrian stuff
The Sonics
3/5
There’s not a lot to this but what there is, is a lot of fun
Madonna
3/5
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
Big Star
2/5
Cheap Trick
2/5
There’s little to enjoy on this rather pedestrian dad rock
Bill Callahan
5/5
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
Liz Phair
4/5
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!
Joan Armatrading
3/5
She has a tremendous sound and a rich voice
There aren’t always the tunes to match it though and some comes across as a little too right on
But Love & Affection and Down to Zero sound great
Adele
3/5
There are some exceptional songs on here surrounding by quite a lot of MOR dross
It’s a shame as Someone Like You, Rolling In The Deep and Set Fire To The Rain are genuinely great
Call it a charitable 3
The xx
2/5
Guess what?
If you sing every song like you’re in a coma then it sends me to sleep
Avoids a 1 because the soundscapes are interesting
David Bowie
3/5
A great album cover does not a great album cover make
It’s not bad of course - it’s Bowie!
But it just lacks a lightning in a bottle of Ziggy Stardust and his other best albums
Sepultura
1/5
I will never enjoy this style of noise
Happy Mondays
2/5
Kinky Afro and Step On aside this was quite plodding
Prefab Sprout
2/5
I really wanted to like this as it seemed like it would be right up my street but it was pretty dull
Wire
3/5
I didn’t like all of this
But what I did I loved
Especially 3 girl rumba, strange, mannequin and 1 2 X U
I know the singing is far from the main thing in punk but I did wish he was stronger
The very strongest of 3’s
Brian Eno
3/5
There are times when this sounds a little too twee but there is a lot of interesting stuff as well
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
They’ve got the sound but not the hooks they’d have later
Still would sound great if I was 20 and in a club rather than 44 and watching Antiques Roadshow
Otis Redding
5/5
It may be mostly covers but what covers!
Extraordinary voice
Sinead O'Connor
3/5
I met Sinéad once
She offered me a cigarette
I was 12…
Questionable methods of introducing yourself to a minor aside, this is a pretty good album wrapped in a longer, less good album.
NC2U is obviously a masterpiece. Not a cover so much as an utter emotional reinvention. And Sinead’s voice is obviously very fine indeed
But there is a certain samey ness to a lot of these that drags it down a bit
Pretenders
3/5
The Beach Boys
4/5
It’s not Pet Sounds and there’s a melancholy streak running through it but it is never dull
David Bowie
3/5
Not the most essential Bowie but he’s never inessential
KISS
3/5
I expected this to be big dumb fun
Mission accomplished
PJ Harvey
4/5
Straight out the gate with a raw beast of a rock album
Talvin Singh
2/5
Like a voyage round the world taken from the safety of an elevator
Goldfrapp
3/5
There’s something here but it doesn’t quite have it
Utopia and Lovely Head are great
Morrissey
3/5
So many Morrissey solo albums on this list
Like the rest of them, this stays stuck in third gear and lacks the magic of the best Smiths stuff.
He’s a great lyricist but remains a great arse too
Klaxons
2/5
Golden Skans is a great song
I like the cover of Not Over Yet
But a lot of this is pretty weak sauce. It tries to fuse rock and indie and dance and ends up excelling at none of them
A lot of that has to do with the incredibly weak vocals. A more powerful vocalist might have unlocked some of these songs
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
Boy could play
Occasionally he played a little too much
Eagles
2/5
Bland
Bad Company
2/5
So much dad rock
Sleater-Kinney
3/5
Elliott Smith
4/5
Son of Sam is a fantastic opener
Lost and Found is heartbreaking
Everything else is exceptionally good and is only not 5 ⭐️ because X/O and Either/Or are even better
Justice
4/5
Much to my surprise I really enjoyed this
The Divine Comedy
5/5
Man, reading the reviews of this album on here reveals there are a lot of people who a) don’t have a sense of humour and b) lack fairly basic comprehension skills to understand what this album is about.
This is a wry, filthy, regretful, bombastic and incredibly catchy collection of songs. Mostly sung in character, the songs here are both hilarious and affecting
An album that contains the lyrics “Everybody knows that no means yes, just like glasses come free on the NHS” alongside “Sing a happy song, for spring does not last long, a flowers blooms and then it’s gone” is running quite the gamut of pathos
The sound of The Divine Comedy is best described as chamber pop, or a hybrid of Pulp and Scott Walker. But it is easy to overlook that, for all the pastiche, there is nobody else out there that is able to pull off Neil Hannon’s alchemy. What Douglas Adams is to sci-fi, or Terry Pratchett is to fantasy, Neil Hannon is to the Orchestral pop song.
Something For The Weekend, Alfie, Songs Of Love, Frog Princess, Dogs & The Horses - all terrific songs that can make you laugh and/or cry
In truth this is probably a 4⭐️ album as occasionally it does go a little too far over the top (hello Charge, which is a fun joke played a little too long) but so many people have missed the genius of this album that I’m going the full 5 to compensate
EDIT - I’ve gone back down to 4. Everyone else is wrong but that doesn’t make it a 5
EDIT OF THE EDIT - Sod that. I listened to it again the other day and I think it’s a 5 again
Brian Eno
4/5
I thought I would find Brian Eno twee and pretentious
But this is the 2nd album of his I’m giving 4 ⭐️
This is an oddly affecting collection that loses nothing through it mostly being instrumentals
And the title track is the theme to the old BBC arts show Arena. Always loved that bit of music but never knew it was Eno
Parliament
3/5
Funk normally turns me off but I really enjoyed this
Cornershop
2/5
One of the best songs of the 90’s is not on this album
The original Brimful of Asha is just a plodding disappointment compared to the joyous Fatboy Slim remix.
Good To Be On The Road… was quite good but rest was a bit hard to care much about sadly
The Coral
3/5
This is the kind of eclectic, mad cap debut album that you think is normally followed by a great sophomore effort once they’ve truly worked out their sound
Except that never really happened with The Coral and this is their high water mark (despite a handful of great songs later on)
It’s never dull this, but it never quite works. Dreaming of You and Goodbye are great songs though
The Hives
3/5
A few mega singles (Hate to say…, Main Offender, Die All Right), a lot of workmanlike garage punk, but a lot of fun when it works
Iggy Pop
2/5
How can I like all of the ingredients and yet not enjoy this cake at all?
Sade
4/5
I did not react to this album as I was expecting
Thought I would hate it
It’s actually a damn fine album
An incredibly tight band, an unbelievably seductive singer
Far, far better than I thought it would be
The Killers
4/5
One of the greatest 1st halves of an album ever
Just banger after banger after banger
The 2nd half is not bad but nowhere near as good.
Common
2/5
I like the jazzy sound but I checked out when the homophobia came in
Justin Timberlake
2/5
There are a handful of great songs on here (Rock Ya Body is a great Disco-MJ song) but only Cry Me A River is genuinely different and interesting.
The rest goes by pleasantly enough but leaves no trace
Beth Orton
5/5
I’d only ever half listened to this before but wow is it magical.
Stolen Car has always been a classic but the whole album is just as wonderful.
Fela Kuti
4/5
Man what a great sound
Sure it gets quite repetitive over an album but when it is at its peak it’s fantastic
Particularly enjoyed Let’s Start and Egbe Mi O
Arcade Fire
4/5
One of those albums on which there is a lot to admire and enjoy but strangely little to love
Ocean of Noise, My Body Is A Cage, & Intervention are great great songs
But I find songs like Windowsill and Black Mirror simultaneously bland and grandiose
Call it a generous 4 as when it works it’s amazing
Killing Joke
4/5
Well this was far, far better than I expected it would be
Maybe it was because I was listening to it whilst working out but the repetitive riffs and drums absolutely hit a sweet spot for me
Primitive in particular was great and sounded like something Interpol might have come out with 30 years later
Marty Robbins
3/5
Venom
3/5
I expected to hate this
I didn’t
It was quite fun in its own stupid way
2/5
Prog rock musicians
Spent so long wondering if they could they never stopped to think if they should
David Holmes
1/5
I remember stuff like this playing in clubs I left at 2am in the 90’s
Elvis Presley
3/5
In The Ghetto and Suspicious Minds are obviously stone cold classics (though the live Las Vegas version of the latter is better)
But there’s a lot of schmaltz in the rest
The Gun Club
3/5
Absolutely runs out of steam and ideas towards the end but this is a cracking punk album when it hits it’s high gears
Sex Beat and She’s Like Heroin are both electric
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
2/5
I mean, it’s fine for what it is, but what it is is something I can’t imagine wanting to listen to ever again
ZZ Top
3/5
Well this is a lot of fun in a dumb kind of way
Solange
2/5
Technically excellent but it never changes gear at all
The The
4/5
Turns out I’m a bit of a fan of The The
Arcade Fire
3/5
Paul Simon
4/5
I mean this is great obviously
Only not a 5 because the second half isn’t quite as strong as first half
The Clash
3/5
It’s a blast of punky energy but lacks the songwriting that elevates their later stuff
Pulp
4/5
If Different Class was a state of the nation album then this is very much a state of the human follow up
And though Jarvis himself probably wasn’t in the best place, the songwriting remains top drawer
The Pretty Things
3/5
There’s glimpses of something great here but it’s always just out of reach
There’s a reason why you haven’t heard of this
Paul McCartney and Wings
3/5
The first two tracks are brilliant
The rest is merely good
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
2/5
I can appreciate the musicianship but it’s not a genre I enjoy
Fred Neil
1/5
I found this unbelievably boring
At least Everybody’s Talkin’ will save it I thought. But it turns out the original is stuck in first gear compared to what Harry Nilsson did with it
Leftfield
2/5
Open Up is an absolute banger
But dear god there was some tedious stuff around that.
The Afghan Whigs
3/5
It’s not terrible but it’s a long way from noteworthy
PJ Harvey
2/5
I love so much of PJ Harvey but this is an album that sounds better in theory than execution
Just a hard to enjoy listen
The White Stripes
4/5
Traffic
2/5
Keith Jarrett
4/5
Blur
3/5
I’ve never been a particular blur fan as always found the way Damon Albarn sings to be very annoying
That said, this was much better than I remembered it being
A decent lofi scuzzy album this
Primal Scream
2/5
I just do not get the hype for this album at all
Come Together and Loaded are good but outside of that is a lot of trippy noodling that leaves me feeling bored
MC Solaar
4/5
This is not my type of music
He’ll, this isn’t even my language
And yet I really liked this
Lou Reed
4/5
Unlike pretty much anything else
1/5
Just an awful lot of awful noise
AC/DC
3/5
Hope you like the sound of the title track because the rest of the album sounds just like it!
It’s a great sound but does tire over an album
Tim Buckley
1/5
How is Jeff Buckley so otherworldly and yet his dad made the most insufferable music imaginable
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
Aggressively fine
R.E.M.
5/5
It is a special kind of alchemy that REM have where a mostly slow paced rumination on loss and death can somehow become their commercial high point
This is an astonishingly good album
If you wanted to split hairs you could say that Ignoreland would perhaps sit better on an album like Document but it’s a minor quibble
Stephen Stills
3/5
Love the one you’re with is great
I also really like Church and We Are Not Helpless
He rest was good but did rather blend together
Tito Puente
2/5
It is what it is and I’m in no way qualified to judge it really
The Mothers Of Invention
3/5
Is it too much? Of course
But it’s too much of a good thing
Moby Grape
3/5
You can hear the building blocks that bands like Love ran away with but there’s not enough to make this truly essential
They’re one of rock’s greatest might have beens
Patti Smith
4/5
There’s a terrifying energy and mania to this
Beach House
4/5
A wonderful album to coincide with a relaxing soak in the bath
The only knock is that there is a distinct sameness to a lot of the songs
Harry Nilsson
4/5
A strong contender for the greatest cover version ever here with Without You
You can easily imagine the rest of this being sung in Lennon or McCartney’s voice and it fitting right in on a Beatles album
2/5
Gains marks for having a great sound
Loses marks for an awful cover of Satisfaction
Loses even more marks for having a song called mongoloid
Ahead of its time but worth leaving there
Grateful Dead
2/5
It’s a lot of nothing really
Circle Jerks
1/5
Just the worst
Adam & The Ants
2/5
There’s a good sound for a single here but no need to spend an albums length of time in it
Stevie Wonder
3/5
I find Stevie Wonder relentlessly fine
There’s obviously a magic that is there for others but I just can’t find it
A pleasant enough listen but nothing more really
Robert Wyatt
3/5
It’s not uninteresting but there’s a lot of noodling
The Specials
4/5
Just an insanely danceable insanely political insanely good album
Girls Against Boys
3/5
It’s a long way from essential but I found myself quite liking this despite myself
Bulletproof Cupid is decent
Can’t imagine listening to it again but I didn’t mind it at all. A very low 3 but it’s alright
The Beta Band
2/5
I love the 3 EPs so was desperate to love this but it’s just not very good is it
Squares is good (but All Seeing I used that sample better) but the rest is just very pedestrian
A huge disappointment
Nirvana
5/5
Is this album great in its own right or is it elevated to greatness by Cobain’s imminent passing?
Well, two things can be true at the same time. It’s a great, great album either way.
Where Did You Sleep is one hell of a way to go out
Lucinda Williams
4/5
Really liked this
Not too twangy country and leaned more heavily on a rougher sound
Paul Simon
3/5
The musical equivalent of a roundabout on the road from Simon & Garfunkel to Graceland
Radiohead
3/5
An album you can admire more than love
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
I knew pretty much none of these before but they might actually be some of my favourite Hendrix songs
Wiggy
Tom Waits
3/5
A Tom Waits album I didn’t hate or love
That’s a new one as he normally only ever falls at one extreme or the other
Lupe Fiasco
2/5
It’s ok I suppose but it’s not really my genre
Scott Walker
5/5
Scott 4 - Stars 5
#albumfootballscores
Pet Shop Boys
1/5
Oh good, I thought, I like the PSB
Then I listened to it
What a boring album
None of the things I usually associate with a PSB song and just a lot of time circling the drain
Genuinely one of the most disappointing listens on this list
The Police
3/5
It wasn’t awful!
Can’t imagine ever listening to it again but that is really high praise for a Sting record
Tina Turner
3/5
Tina is great. That is a given
The production is dated but is a kind of time capsule to a sound that just doesn’t exist anymore.
It’s a long way from being an essential collection but it’s still a decent enough listen
Grant Lee Buffalo
4/5
This was an unexpected delight
Knew nothing about it but it’s got some great songs on it
Nothing revolutionary but nothing that’s not really well done
The Magnetic Fields
3/5
I mean it’s too long
Obviously
And the quality control is all over the place
But when it is good it is sublime. There are a treasure trove of great songs locked away in here.
Luckiest Guy…, Busby Berkeley and Book of Love are fabulous
Stephen Merrit’s voice is obviously limited (that’s being kind) but I recommend checking out the Peter Gabriel version of Book of Love to see the glory of its songwriting really unlocked
Supergrass
4/5
I saw Supergrass run through most of the songs from this on their 30th anniversary tour this summer and let me tell you, nothing makes a field of middle aged Englishmen feel young again quite like the piano riff from Alright.
This is a cracking album and the first 4 songs are particularly brilliant and yet completely distinct.
The album does bog down a bit about 2/3 of the way in before picking up for Sofa of my Lethargy
But it’s the type of album you can only make when you’re as young as Supergrass were when this came out. It’s probably also best enjoyed if you’re listening to it at that age as well
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
I don’t believe in an interventionist God,
But I know darling that you do
5 ⭐️ rating secured with the opening line
Elton John
3/5
So this is hard to rate
It is far, far too long
But it contains some absolutely classic 5⭐️ songs (Saturday Night and the title track in particular)
However, of the songs I hadn’t heard before, only Harmony really landed
So we probably end up at a high 3 rather than a low 4
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
The musicianship is impressive but there’s nothing to enjoy beyond that
Ms. Dynamite
3/5
Considering how fast her star waned I wasn’t expecting much from this but it was a pleasant surprise
Dy-Na-Mi-Tee has an absolute cracker and there are a few other great songs too
Nothings terrible
This was decent
Ryan Adams
4/5
I liked this a lot more than I like him
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
Simple Man is great
Free Bird is legendary
The rest was fine if forgettable
Miriam Makeba
4/5
What an astonishing surprise this was
A wonderful voice
A joyous sound
The Undertones
3/5
Super fun but not terribly essential
My Perfect Cousin gets all the plaudits for rhyming cabbage with university challenge
The Beta Band
2/5
I love Assessment and have always thought of it as a great lost rock song
The rest is patchy
Like it more than hot shots II but it is still light years away from the 3 EPs
Randy Newman
3/5
It’s fine but it’s a really limited sound
Derek & The Dominos
2/5
The title song is the only real headline here
The rest is a little too expertly played
It’s a solid 3 but let’s call it a 2 cos Clapton is such a dick
The Everly Brothers
2/5
It’s not aged well at all but they do have a great sound together
Just had no desire to listen to an albums worth of their songs, even one this short
Creedence Clearwater Revival
4/5
Just fantastic rock this
3/5
There is something about the twang of this type of country that makes it sound lightweight and flimsy
Which is a shame as the lyrics and her vocal performance are anything but lightweight
Badly Drawn Boy
3/5
Everything is good, nothing is great, it’s too long and the About A Boy soundtrack is better
Gram Parsons
4/5
There is magic when Gram sings with Emmylou
Primal Scream
2/5
I find Primal Scream an utterly tedious band and I realise a lot of that is to do with the terrible, nasal way Bobby Gillespie sings
I quite liked the sound of a lot of this though but I’m never coming back to listen to it again
Steely Dan
3/5
I’ve quite liked the other Steely Dan albums on this list but I found this a bit dull if I’m honest and it missed the great songs of their other stuff
But disappointed as I thought I’d become a Steely Dan fan
Hole
4/5
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
Prime imperial phase PSB
Pixies
4/5
Ali Farka Touré
2/5
There’s nothing wrong with this as a sound but as an album it’s quite dull
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
My son loves Kendrick Lamar. I’ve tried many times to listen to him and just don’t get it at all. So I approached this with caution fully expecting to feel like an old man yet again who just doesn’t get modern music…
But I didn’t hate this!
Can’t imagine ever listening to it again but it was good
I think my issues with this - and a lot of hip hop in general - is goosebumps. The albums that I’ve given 5⭐️ on this invariably have moments that literally make the hairs on my arm stand on end. None of this moves me like that even if I can appreciate the stories weaved by the lyrics and tap my foot to the beat.
That might be an issue inherent to me rather than any fault in the music but I just remain unmoved by this.
Gonna give it a generous 3 though as I at least got close enough to seeing what my son sees in this
2/5
This was a classic example of an album that started off sounding amazing but quickly became grating over an album’s length
Don McLean
3/5
One of the greatest songs ever written and some others
Stereolab
2/5
If ambivalence had a sound
Joy Division
4/5
Fantastic and only not a 5 because I prefer closer on balance
U2
3/5
There’s One great song on here
There are quite a few really good songs as well
But there’s some awfully insipid stuff around that
Japan
2/5
This is by turns atmospheric and dull
Mainly dull
The The
4/5
So here’s an album and band I’d never listened to but always wanted to (I think the album cover had always put me off)
It was worth the wait
Constantly surprising and inventive
Only knock against it are his vocals are a bit weak
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
Pedestrian
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
An album that somehow feels less than the some of its parts
Has its moments but they’re stretched out over far too long a run time
Never bad but never great either
Dexys Midnight Runners
4/5
Like being in a gang with your mates who all, inexplicably, have brass instruments
The Who
3/5
Was leaning towards 2 on this as, notwithstanding the genius of the title track, there was a lot of non descript rock on this
But The Ox is an absolutely tremendous end to the album and edges it to a 3
Red Snapper
1/5
Gave up after a couple of songs
On the instrumentals I longed for some vocals to hold the (not uninteresting) soundscapes together
Once the vocals arrived I longed for silence
Siouxsie And The Banshees
2/5
Very much in the influential but I don’t like it category
Queens of the Stone Age
2/5
It’s all just a bit luke warm
Arcade Fire
4/5
I like Arcade Fire but have never loved them
This is the closest I’ve come
Wake up is an all timer
Butthole Surfers
1/5
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would enjoy an album by the Butthole Surfers
But then I thought I would enjoy it as much as a power drill being applied to my genitalia
Serge Gainsbourg
4/5
The strings and guitar on this are amazing
I can’t understand what he is saying
That’s probably for the best…
Jeff Beck
4/5
Last time I heard Rod Stewart was at Glastonbury this year and he did NOT sound like this
Only other time I’ve heard Jeff Beck was on Hi Ho Silver Lining and he didn’t sound like this either
What a fantastic blues rock album this is
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
I like my manics more when they remember the tunes
The Waterboys
3/5
Kid Rock
1/5
In truth it’s not the worst album ever but it’s Kid Rock so I can think of few people less deserving of a fair listen
Doves
3/5
Doves walked so Elbow could run
Raekwon
4/5
There is nothing about this that should necessarily appeal to me, a middle aged Englishman
And yet…
I found myself getting into this to my enormous surprise
It’s an all enveloping world that is enormously outside the kind of stuff I normally listen to - which is exactly the reason for doing this kind of project
Pavement
3/5
I quite liked here
Some parts were ok but it never got going a lot of the time
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
Completely over blown but that is very much to its credit
Chicago
3/5
The Doors
3/5
Gene Clark
4/5
A really rich discovery
A bit country, a bit west coast
Sounds like 70’s Elton John made a west coast country album with the Eagles
SAULT
3/5
Prince
4/5
The most I’ve ever liked Prince (who I’ve always found a bit hit and miss)
A super sexy fun record
The Undertones
3/5
Teenage Kicks will forever be one of the greatest songs ever written
Jimmy Jimmy and Here Comes The Summer are great singles too
The rest is fun but not essential
Eminem
3/5
So I’m finding it hard to reconcile why I struggled with this so much when I find Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads - a similarly transgressive album - to be so brilliant
I think it lies in the fact that Cave’s work is more firmly in character whereas this feels like it is inspiring/inspired by your 15 year old shit head cousin and nothing more
Stan gets it to 3 by itself but I’m not sure there’s much else to this
New Order
2/5
I think I’m realising New Order were a great singles band
None of the singles I love are on this album
Cocteau Twins
4/5
The Lemonheads
3/5
It’s ok
But this album has such a reputation (or at least it did with the cooler kids when I was a teenager) that I think I expected more
The Byrds
3/5
How can a band clearly influence so much I love and yet sound a bit insipid themselves?
Incubus
1/5
Dear god this is tedious
Hot Chip
2/5
I only know Hot Chip from their singles
This was a bit of a disappointment as it was a lot less playful and a lot more pedestrian than something like over and over or Ready for the Floor
Eels
5/5
It’s not the best album by Eels (the follow up Electro Shock Blues is exceptional and brutal) but I think this gets the full 5 anyway
Mike Oldfield
2/5
One exceptional section does not a great album make
Air
2/5
Mysterious but also not the most essential listen
The Temptations
3/5
Moments I really liked
But lots that didn’t leave much of an impression
But that cover of 1st time … is phenomenal
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
There are many many moments of greatness on this album (There She Goes… especially)
But any album of this length is going to feel a bit woolly and so it is here (I’d lose Brown ape straight away)
So we settle on a very high 4
Drive-By Truckers
1/5
This just didn’t work for me at all
Erykah Badu
2/5
It’s always on the edge of something interesting but never getting there
In truth I found it quite forgettable
Marvin Gaye
2/5
It’s good but hard to find much that is exceptional (beyond his voice obviously)
Fugazi
3/5
One of the things I’ve found doing this project is that I am no fan of the noisier albums in the main
So the fact that this was a fairly decent listen is entirely to its credit
Taylor Swift
3/5
I quite like Taylor Swift but this is pretty bland stuff on the whole
Not bad at all but not memorable either
Can’t hate it but a long way from loving it
A generous 3
Baaba Maal
2/5
Beastie Boys
2/5
I only know the Beastie Boys from their singles
I quite like their singles
I did not like this
Dirty Projectors
1/5
I’m sure this kind of discordant sound is interesting in theory but it’s horrendously tiresome
The Verve
5/5
Bittersweet Symphony is in the conversation for greatest opening track
The mega singles (Sonnet, Lucky Man, Drugs Don’t Work) are as anthemic as ever
Beyond that the guitar work and soundscapes are as intricate and interesting as their earlier, less accessible albums (I gave Northern Soul the full 5⭐️ as well but it’s a very different beast to Urban Hymns)
And it all ends with Liam Gallagher doing one of the all time great rock cameos and yelling “This is a big Fuck You! COME ON!”
The easiest 5⭐️ album