Feb 07 2023
View Album
The Genius Of Ray Charles
Ray Charles
4
Feb 08 2023
View Album
Tigermilk
Belle & Sebastian
5
Feb 09 2023
View Album
Strangeways, Here We Come
The Smiths
4
Feb 10 2023
View Album
3 + 3
The Isley Brothers
Far more enjoyable than I’d expected and so many bangers on here that I knew well but could never have named the artist if you’d asked me.
5
Feb 13 2023
View Album
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
I liked the songs I already liked but was eager for the others to end. Made it through the whole album but won’t revisit.
2
Feb 14 2023
View Album
Ace of Spades
Motörhead
More fun and melodic than I expected
3
Feb 15 2023
View Album
Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black
Public Enemy
It’s a brilliant and important album but I can’t go 5 because I have to be in the right mood to listen. It’s best on headphones for me, and when I’ve got a march on, heading some place.
4
Feb 16 2023
View Album
Rising Above Bedlam
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
I wanted this to end so badly. The best of the album feels borrowed. The rest, cringe. There were delightful moments of 90s nostalgia early on but they got swallowed up by the overall awfulness of the rest of the album. Was wavering over 2 stars but song by song, Jah Wobble talked me down to 1.
1
Feb 17 2023
View Album
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
Iron Butterfly
Not my thing at all but I get it. It’s fine. One thing I have never realised is that it’s not ‘in the garden of Eden baby’ that they’re signing and that has blown my mind.
3
Feb 20 2023
View Album
Red Headed Stranger
Willie Nelson
An absolute pleasure to listen to. I’ve always liked Willie but never chosen to listen so really grateful to have this nudge.
4
Feb 21 2023
View Album
On The Beach
Neil Young
3
Feb 22 2023
View Album
Mothership Connection
Parliament
I really dislike funk but parliament are undeniably good at making it. It’s repetitive and there’s all this chat in the songs. It’s a great example of a classic from my second least favourite genre. I danced a bit during the first track, despite myself.
2
Feb 23 2023
View Album
Highway to Hell
AC/DC
One song I liked but oh so samey. I went with two stars because If You Want Blood reminded me of Empire Records, which isn’t a bad thing.
2
Feb 24 2023
View Album
Blur
Blur
More appealing to 2023 me than 1997 me. Almost perfect but Albarn’s mockney accent just grates on me.
4
Feb 27 2023
View Album
London Calling
The Clash
Excellent album. Very much reminds me of being little as my folks played this a lot.
4
Feb 28 2023
View Album
Buena Vista Social Club
Buena Vista Social Club
I have never listened to this lot, unless someone has been playing it, but it’ll go into regular rotation now. A real gift of this challenge
4
Mar 01 2023
View Album
Street Life
The Crusaders
Look, of course it’s really good but no. I can’t. I tried! I started off well with Street Life and then the rest. It was too smooth. Jazzy. It put me in mind of theme tunes to old dramedys.
1
Mar 02 2023
View Album
KIWANUKA
Michael Kiwanuka
I really love this album so was delighted that it appeared on the list to remind me to give it a listen again.
5
Mar 03 2023
View Album
Mama Said Knock You Out
LL Cool J
A fantastic listen. Some good, old-fashioned hip hop. I always enjoy hearing the moments that were borrowed by later tracks. It won’t be in regular rotation for me but it was properly good to hear.
3
Mar 06 2023
View Album
If I Should Fall From Grace With God
The Pogues
A really enjoyable listen. I’ll probably listen to more now that I’ve been nudged. It was a little odd listening to Fairytale of New York outside of the Christmas build up.
3
Mar 07 2023
View Album
Marquee Moon
Television
Great album. Jonny has been trying to get me to lists for a while and I’m so glad I had a reason to listen. Some incredible songs on here. The titular track is really special
4
Mar 08 2023
View Album
Frampton Comes Alive
Peter Frampton
His skill is undeniable but I got ever so bored. I get it but I’m not into it.
2
Mar 09 2023
View Album
Born To Run
Bruce Springsteen
Of course this was wonderful. One of my all time favourite songs lives here. Beautifully made. A joy to listen to.
4
Mar 10 2023
View Album
Gasoline Alley
Rod Stewart
Yeah fine. I was bored much of the time but his voice is actually gorgeous. Just won’t be taking it for a spin again, any time soon
2
Mar 13 2023
View Album
This Is Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Really good fun and very recognisable. Happy enough to listen and can defo recommend walking through Bristol city of an evening while listening. Really adds to the atmosphere.
3
Mar 14 2023
View Album
Raising Hell
Run-D.M.C.
Aw great stuff. I really like this album and miss the days when rap was slow enough so that I could understand what they were saying
4
Mar 15 2023
View Album
Isn't Anything
My Bloody Valentine
I’ve never listened to a full album by this lot and it was really good. Felt like the building blocks to a lot of later music I have loved. Some songs were stronger than others but the grungy feel was just right for me
3
Mar 16 2023
View Album
The Stooges
The Stooges
So freakin’ cool. It’s hard to believe some of these tracks were made in 69 as they feel so contemporary. A great listen. Some tracks didn’t do it for me but the bangers banged.
4
Mar 17 2023
View Album
Dirty
Sonic Youth
“I’ve been around the world a million times and all you men are slime.” Love love love this album. I have listened to plenty of Sonic Youth over the years but never sat to listen to an entire album. Nothing but love for this one.
5
Mar 20 2023
View Album
There's No Place Like America Today
Curtis Mayfield
A classic! It is obviously brilliant but it is never going to be my go to. Total respect for this album and glad to listen.
3
Mar 21 2023
View Album
The Wall
Pink Floyd
So much atmosphere. Impossible to listen to dispassionately because it’s so tied up in my youth. Much nostalgia for me. In an attempt to appraise it honestly though, it’s beautifully produced, has provocative lyrics and imagery, the music itself is sumptuous. A truly great album.
4
Mar 22 2023
View Album
Born In The U.S.A.
Bruce Springsteen
What I really like about this challenge is that a few times I get an album that I’m sold on and I don’t enjoy listening much. This is one of those. I’m like ‘yeah, course, born in the USA.’ And the listen through feels so underwhelming. Without the context and the appreciation of the entire catalogue, and album like this one doesn’t land the same. Grateful to The Boss for many things and some tracks on this album are incredibly important to me but it’s not one I’ll listen to over and again.
3
Mar 23 2023
View Album
Haunted Dancehall
The Sabres Of Paradise
I didn’t hate it but I did want it to end.
2
Mar 24 2023
View Album
The Man Who
Travis
No one’s saying that this album is better than Born in the USA, right? Just that I like it a lot more. I had to rate today based on how much I loved relistening to this album that I had on almost constant rotation for a few months in 1999. I know every word and can still sing along. I still love some of the moments that happen throughout; a moment in Luv when Fran Healy’s voice seems to crack a little with emotion. Or maybe not. Maybe I’m just being 16 again and hopelessly romantic. Either way, I enjoyed this too, too much.
4
Mar 27 2023
View Album
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
This album is perfect.
5
Mar 28 2023
View Album
The Clash
The Clash
Another great listen and such a pleasure to hear the two Clash albums so close together. Two years between them and the sound has matured so much. This album was a riot.
4
Mar 29 2023
View Album
Live And Dangerous
Thin Lizzy
Far more enjoyable than I imagined. Even live, this band sound so good.
3
Mar 30 2023
View Album
Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine
Cee Lo Green
Yeah I found this pretty dull. Cee-Lo Green definitely has his moments for me but none of them were on this album. Incredibly mediocre.
2
Mar 31 2023
View Album
One Nation Under A Groove
Funkadelic
Huh. Maybe I do like funk. Not all of the songs were available on the album so I patched together a Funkadelic experience and did not regret it. Grateful for this listen.
4
Apr 03 2023
View Album
Loveless
My Bloody Valentine
Scuzzy, grungy goodness.
3
Apr 04 2023
View Album
Dance Mania
Tito Puente
A lot of fun. Good summery record.
3
Apr 05 2023
View Album
The Scream
Siouxsie And The Banshees
Yep, an important album by and important band but her voice has always grated on me. Should be my cup of tea but isn’t.
3
Apr 06 2023
View Album
Gunfighter Ballads And Trail Songs
Marty Robbins
Brilliant storytelling and super enjoyable from the get go.
3
Apr 07 2023
View Album
The Dreaming
Kate Bush
Mad. A totally mad record. Kate Bush is a total legend but this isn’t the album I’ll listen if given a choice.
3
Apr 10 2023
View Album
Sweet Baby James
James Taylor
I found his voice lovely on the country tracks but thin on the blues.
2
Apr 11 2023
View Album
Horses
Patti Smith
It’s not my first listen and I don’t know if my mood was just exactly right or if I get it now when I didn’t before but I loved it this time. Loved it.
4
Apr 12 2023
View Album
Parklife
Blur
There are a couple of songs on this album that I’ll always love. I struggled with Blur when they first landed and this album kinda sums up just why. Damon’s into his mockney phase and it isn’t very pleasant. Even as a kid I felt that he was taking something that wasn’t his and it drove me crazy that others didn’t see it but I know now that’s because we all came from different places. Anyway, fun songs on here and moments of grace too, ie. This is a low.
2
Apr 13 2023
View Album
OK
Talvin Singh
Ok, well actually, pretty good
3
Apr 14 2023
View Album
Vulgar Display Of Power
Pantera
A fun listen and I could hear how many bands seem to have built their sound on these songs, such as incubus lol, but it wasn’t something I could listen to again.
2
Apr 17 2023
View Album
Live!
Fela Kuti
Wow. This was great. It’s way outside of my usual listening and I’ve always given this genre a wide north but I know Fela is a legend so I wasn’t too surprised when I enjoyed the listen as much as I did.
3
Apr 18 2023
View Album
Doolittle
Pixies
YASSSSS! I can listen to this all day long.
5
Apr 19 2023
View Album
White Blood Cells
The White Stripes
An excellent debut. I listened when it came out and the same songs jumped out for me this time too. It’s a nicer listen without all the hype.
4
Apr 20 2023
View Album
Queen Of Denmark
John Grant
I love John Grant. This has a few songs on that I first heard in the movie Weekend and was stunned when I did. His voice is so rich and sad. So many layers of feeling. Just glad to listen again.
4
Apr 21 2023
View Album
Scott 2
Scott Walker
Good and dramatic. Quite a voice!
3
Apr 24 2023
View Album
Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
George Michael
This is one of my all time favourite albums, thanks.
5
Apr 25 2023
View Album
Traffic
Traffic
It was perfectly good. Moments of funkiness and progginess that I heartily enjoyed but nothing jumped out for me.
3
Apr 26 2023
View Album
Da Capo
Love
Very 60s. I felt like I was in an Austin Powers movie. Psychedelic. Not for me.
2
Apr 27 2023
View Album
Leftism
Leftfield
A really good listen. I was too young to get it at the time. I didn’t think electronica was for me. Certainly not the case now. This is an amazing piece of work.
4
Apr 28 2023
View Album
3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of...
Arrested Development
A really powerful album. One that I didn’t love back when but adult me feels quite differently. Wonderful poetry, beats that get you moving, it’s a win.
4
May 01 2023
View Album
Truth
Jeff Beck
Yeah I liked this more than I thought I would.
3
May 02 2023
View Album
Golden Hour
Kacey Musgraves
Ah I don’t like it. It’s fine. It’s well produced? It’s fine? I just find it a bit annoying really.
2
May 03 2023
View Album
Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul
Otis Redding
Beautiful. Perfect.
5
May 04 2023
View Album
Jagged Little Pill
Alanis Morissette
What a marvellous listen. I have missed this and I didn’t even know it.
4
May 05 2023
View Album
21
Adele
It’s a singles album for me. The singles are incredible but the rest don’t do a thing for me. Her latest album is gold and packed full of excellent songs, tells a story from beginning to end. This is her building up to finding that voice.
3
May 08 2023
View Album
It's A Shame About Ray
The Lemonheads
I didn’t like this at all and that’s interesting because I always thought I would have but just sorta missed the boat. Happy to revisit and see that I wasn’t missing a thing.
2
May 09 2023
View Album
More Songs About Buildings And Food
Talking Heads
Fun, weird, brilliant. I knew it would be. It’s not one I’ll go back to though. David Byrne’s voice has always grated on me
3
May 10 2023
View Album
Meat Is Murder
The Smiths
So much of The Smiths no longer works for me. A relisten is always good but a listen to less familiar tracks leaves me cold.
3
May 11 2023
View Album
Broken English
Marianne Faithfull
Some nice pop moments but mostly unremarkable
2
May 12 2023
View Album
3 Feet High and Rising
De La Soul
A great album. Loads of fun, such classics and the skits might even actually be funny, depending on my mood.
3
May 15 2023
View Album
Aladdin Sane
David Bowie
Sounds gorgeous and so very Bowie. Just not one I go back to often. It’s like the building blocks of what makes him such an incredible artist but in itself, I don’t fancy it
3
May 16 2023
View Album
Roxy Music
Roxy Music
This album surprised me. I thought I knew Roxy Music but I didn’t at all. It was far more challenging than I had expected. A good listen.
3
May 17 2023
View Album
Paris 1919
John Cale
This didn’t do anything for me throughout most of the listen. My ears pricked up during the second to last song but I forgot to care throughout the day. Inoffensive but dull.
2
May 18 2023
View Album
Hot Buttered Soul
Isaac Hayes
Sumptuous, interesting, classic. So much love for this one. Never thought I was a Hayes fan but I was wrong.
4
May 19 2023
View Album
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes
I enjoyed this way more than I should have, given how purile some of this stuff is. I’ll listen again, for sure. How old is Blister in the sun, though?! Really thought that was a 90s record.
4
May 22 2023
View Album
Master Of Puppets
Metallica
That was a slog. I found it really boring.
2
May 23 2023
View Album
1989
Taylor Swift
Really enjoyable listen. The singles from this are top notch and the rest were alright too. Blank space is one of the greatest pop songs of all time and yes, I know that’s a big statement to make.
3
May 24 2023
View Album
This Nation’s Saving Grace
The Fall
Fine. I get The Fall but I don’t love The Fall
3
May 25 2023
View Album
Stankonia
OutKast
LOVE this album. So many bangers. It was a massive part of my youth too. These two crazies who rap really fast. They’re funky and sorta futuristic. Funny too. Yep, just a massive yep.
5
May 26 2023
View Album
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Beatles
Oh The Beatles. What to say. I just don’t get on with it all but then a song comes on and I’m like ‘Ooo.’ This album has some of those on it.
2
May 29 2023
View Album
Hail To the Thief
Radiohead
It’s a perfect album. I can come back to this often and still hear something new each time I do. I wrote it off when it first came out as I was hoping for more like The Bends and every album after OK Computer just felt too left field. In my defence, I was very young. Now I’m delighted by how timeless and enjoyable a listen this is, along with the other less-indie records.
5
May 30 2023
View Album
The Suburbs
Arcade Fire
It’s a great album. It’s not my fave of theirs and I don’t pick it up often but I’d find it incredibly difficult to listen without thinking of sweaty summer nights dancing in crowds watching this racket play. It’s an even better album for conjuring those memories.
4
May 31 2023
View Album
Morrison Hotel
The Doors
Classic psychedelic rock fare. Grateful for the vibes but I’m never delighted when I am faced with going back for one of these. I need to bring context to fully appreciate it because I can get terribly bored unless I remind myself that the music I love is here because this was first. That said, some lovely moments on this one. 10/10 for vibes but a solid 3 from me otherwise.
3
Jun 01 2023
View Album
American IV: The Man Comes Around
Johnny Cash
Such beauty, sadness, grace, humility. So many things that rarely come about when an artist covers a song. Johnny Cash is raw and vulnerable and his voice is cracked and full of emotion. I heard this album a lot back when it came out and naturally it means different things to me now. I cried listening (while cycling which isn’t a good look).
5
Jun 02 2023
View Album
Destroyer
KISS
At times, funny but then I’d remember it’s unironic and that it’s not a parody. The rest of the experience was characterised by boredom.
1
Jun 05 2023
View Album
Sea Change
Beck
Sad, gorgeous. Contains one of my favourite Beck songs of all time - Lost Cause.
3
Jun 06 2023
View Album
Fleet Foxes
Fleet Foxes
A nice listen. Better than I’d thought it’d be. I gave it a wide berth when it dropped because it felt just a bit too beardy. I liked it but I didn’t love it. Some gorgeous songs.
3
Jun 07 2023
View Album
Soul Mining
The The
I could listen to This is the Day on repeat for hours. It was fascinating once again to hear an album new to me that has so clearly inspired some of my favourite bands.
3
Jun 08 2023
View Album
Foxbase Alpha
Saint Etienne
I liked this a lot. I thought I knew their work but this album surprised me plenty. They were always lumped in with Britpop artists on compilations and I never understood how what I considered to be pop songs sat alongside what I now realise were also pop songs. I’ll listen again, for sure.
4
Jun 09 2023
View Album
Night Life
Ray Price
I hated it. Yup. Moralising and dull. Terrible combo.
1
Jun 12 2023
View Album
Off The Wall
Michael Jackson
It’s such a banger, despite the discomfort I have listening to Michael Jackson.
4
Jun 13 2023
View Album
It's Blitz!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Enjoyable reminder of days gone by. Really big fan of some of the tracks on here but I know I won’t go back to it
3
Jun 14 2023
View Album
Endtroducing.....
DJ Shadow
So cool. Very little else to say.
4
Jun 15 2023
View Album
Shalimar
Rahul Dev Burman
4
Jun 16 2023
View Album
Aftermath
The Rolling Stones
A few amazing songs make this album. The rest wasn’t for me.
2
Jun 19 2023
View Album
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
The Kinks
A great album. Nothing unexpected here and a few lovely songs.
3
Jun 20 2023
View Album
Power In Numbers
Jurassic 5
Fine. Scratchy. Ok to listen to but it got a bit dull.
2
Jun 21 2023
View Album
Like Water For Chocolate
Common
Delightful
3
Jun 22 2023
View Album
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Elton John
4
Jun 23 2023
View Album
Nilsson Schmilsson
Harry Nilsson
Wow. Just brilliant. I had no idea.
4
Jun 26 2023
View Album
Brothers In Arms
Dire Straits
I grew up with this album. I love it. Mark Knopfler’s voice takes me to places I’m very happy being. The album cover art is so evocative. And of course the songs are just wonderful.
4
Jun 27 2023
View Album
Songs For Swingin' Lovers!
Frank Sinatra
A really enjoyable listen. A crooner improved my morning.
3
Jun 28 2023
View Album
Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus
Spirit
It was surprisingly good. I did a massive eye roll at the prospect of listening to another 70s psychedelic rock album but it was far more entertaining than I imagined.
3
Jun 29 2023
View Album
The Blueprint
JAY Z
Jay-Z’s Blueprint ticks all my boxes. Nostalgia factor is high but so it the relistenability. I actually sighed in appreciation of his world weary lyrics like “I don’t want much, fuck I drove every car. Some nice cooked food. Some nice clean drawers.” It’s beyond charming. I love the flow and most (not all) songs aged beautifully because the production is just so on point, thanks to Kanye. It’s two artists at one of their peaks and I had a great time listening on my cycle to work.
5
Jun 30 2023
View Album
There's A Riot Goin' On
Sly & The Family Stone
Not at all my thing but sure. Good stuff and well made.
2
Jul 03 2023
View Album
Pretzel Logic
Steely Dan
It’s fine. It feels like I know it but I don’t. I think that’s due to Steely Dan being so distinctive.
3
Jul 04 2023
View Album
Let's Get It On
Marvin Gaye
Nice! I enjoyed it and played the sample spotting game as usual. As smooth as it was, I probably won’t go back for more than the titular song.
3
Jul 05 2023
View Album
Dig Me Out
Sleater-Kinney
I did not like this. It was too shrill. Thing is, it should be up my street. I’ve heard so much about Sleater-Kinney over the years in relation to bands I’ve loved. This was a surprise to me.
2
Jul 06 2023
View Album
Elephant Mountain
The Youngbloods
A genuinely likeable album that opens with a banger
3
Jul 07 2023
View Album
Rid Of Me
PJ Harvey
This is the right PJ Harvey era for me. I love how raw this is and recognisably hers too.
3
Jul 10 2023
View Album
Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand
I really think 2004 was a crap year for music. I remember listening to this album and thinking, is this all there is? In hindsight, it’s fine. It’s just not electrifying. If it came out in 2001 we’d have ignored it and FF would be a distant memory, like The Rakes. But yeah, it’s ok.
3
Jul 11 2023
View Album
Amnesiac
Radiohead
An incredible piece of work
4
Jul 12 2023
View Album
Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Arctic Monkeys
I bloody love this album. No need for me to listen today. I listen enough.
4
Jul 13 2023
View Album
Very
Pet Shop Boys
Interesting choice. I saw pet shop boys and thought it’d be something from their heyday but it was good to listen to them that bit later.
3
Jul 14 2023
View Album
Slippery When Wet
Bon Jovi
The singles on here are undeniably brilliant. I wasn’t sold on the idea of listening to the rest so took a bit of a run up. It was all so very 80s.
3
Jul 17 2023
View Album
Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Wu-Tang Clan
Ah Wu-Tang. I liked this so much more 20 years ago. Upon relistening, the production feels shonky and the violence gratuitous but then again, that was the point. I love what Wu-Tang did for hip hop but I’m not going to pick up more than the odd track from this again. Some classics! But it’s not going to get a regular revisit.
3
Jul 18 2023
View Album
Moving Pictures
Rush
This sounds so much like the songs that play over the credits to 80s movies. Probably very good but not for me.
2
Jul 19 2023
View Album
Midnight Ride
Paul Revere & The Raiders
Layered, sumptuous, sincere. I really enjoyed this and I did not expect to.
3
Jul 20 2023
View Album
Felt Mountain
Goldfrapp
Bigger than I expected. They were always just ok for me and I never knew there was much more than a bit of nice pop about them. I really liked this though.
3
Jul 21 2023
View Album
Hearts And Bones
Paul Simon
I liked this a lot more than I thought when the record began. It opens inoffensively and then some of the tracks on here are the kind that actually end up stopping you in your tracks. I was delighted.
3
Jul 24 2023
View Album
Paranoid
Black Sabbath
Not what I was expecting. Far more experimental and moody. Really interesting listen, given my preconceptions.
3
Jul 25 2023
View Album
Crime Of The Century
Supertramp
Not at all what I knew supertramp for and pretty good.
3
Jul 26 2023
View Album
The Nightfly
Donald Fagen
I got bored
2
Jul 27 2023
View Album
Palo Congo
Sabu
Very good but too too much for me. I couldn’t listen again.
2
Jul 28 2023
View Album
Moby Grape
Moby Grape
2
Jul 31 2023
View Album
The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
Wherever I’ve returned to songs from this album I’ve felt uncomfortable. More than once I’ve said that this era of Eminem hasn’t aged well. Listening from beginning to end though is an entirely different experience. This album is an incredible piece of work. The thread that runs throughout (this is who you think I am) works to poke fun at the critics who can’t imagine that rap can be fictional. Having said all that, I still did die a few times of horror because these songs are so dark.
4
Aug 01 2023
View Album
Moon Safari
Air
Atmospheric, beautiful, unforgettable
4
Aug 02 2023
View Album
Live At The Regal
B.B. King
3
Aug 03 2023
View Album
Black Holes and Revelations
Muse
Urgh. Muse are such tryhards. My daughter asked me “Is this Radiohead?” and I was like “Absolutely not!” I’ve liked some tracks and the albums before this were way more interesting to me. This one, nope.
2
Aug 04 2023
View Album
Colour By Numbers
Culture Club
A couple of fun songs but nothing beyond that for me
2
Aug 07 2023
View Album
Talking Timbuktu
Ali Farka Touré
Too jazzy for me
2
Aug 08 2023
View Album
Heaven Or Las Vegas
Cocteau Twins
Gorgeous. Delightful.
4
Aug 09 2023
View Album
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Dead Kennedys
Such a lot of fun. Short songs, raced through. Really enjoyed it.
3
Aug 10 2023
View Album
Yeezus
Kanye West
What a massive album. I’ve given it absolutely no time and instead gone in search of the singles when I fancy it. I definitely slept on this one. I think Kanye has a habit of being ahead of his time. A long way ahead. I listen a lot and widely but kanye releases always feel like a miss to me until I go back. I wish I could listen for the moment though and not think about who the man has become (or perhaps always was, it just took me a while to clock it). It’s distracting and it affects the music deeply because so many of his songs pick up issues that he’s revealed himself to be deeply ignorant about, such as New Slaves. I also cringe when I hear Nina. It can feel like a sacrilege the way that he uses her voice. Still, a brilliant album.
4
Aug 11 2023
View Album
Step In The Arena
Gang Starr
Good, important, old school rap. I have much respect for these two but I can’t help get a bit bored listening
3
Aug 14 2023
View Album
Illinois
Sufjan Stevens
This album is beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous and I am so glad to listen to it. I will listen and listen again.
5
Aug 15 2023
View Album
The Man Machine
Kraftwerk
More interesting than I suspected. I have never had much time for Kraftwerk. I saw them play live at Latitude years ago but it felt to me like a novelty act. Revisiting this album was good for me though. Richer and more layered than I’d remembered. Still repetitive.
3
Aug 16 2023
View Album
Lost Souls
Doves
Beautiful album, so much atmosphere. I have loved this for many years.
5
Aug 17 2023
View Album
Superunknown
Soundgarden
Moments of absolute glee but it bored me otherwise. Chris Cornell’s voice is stunning on this record and Black agile Sun takes me right back to the 90s and being frightened watching the video on mtv and not sure exactly why. The rest came and went. It is the more polished end of my much loved genre, grunge. But I don’t love polish. I thought I’d like this more.
3
Aug 18 2023
View Album
Third/Sister Lovers
Big Star
I put off listening to this because I wasn't sure I had the patience for something from this era but I surprised myself by really liking it.
3
Aug 21 2023
View Album
Electric Ladyland
Jimi Hendrix
A beautiful album.
4
Aug 22 2023
View Album
This Year's Model
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Excellent album. I’ve been meaning to listen to Elvia Costello properly forever. He played a lot in my house growing up and I figured I’d like his work. This was a lovely listen.
4
Aug 23 2023
View Album
1984
Van Halen
Fun. Can’t say much else.
3
Aug 24 2023
View Album
E.V.O.L.
Sonic Youth
Gorgeous, scuzzy music
3
Aug 25 2023
View Album
I’m a Lonesome Fugitive
Merle Haggard
Meh
2
Aug 28 2023
View Album
You Want It Darker
Leonard Cohen
Gorgeous album
4
Aug 29 2023
View Album
Bitches Brew
Miles Davis
Surprisingly, I didn’t hate it. I can’t stand jazz but this was ok. It was mellow. It was manageable.
3
Aug 30 2023
View Album
Bayou Country
Creedence Clearwater Revival
I was bored.
2
Aug 31 2023
View Album
After The Gold Rush
Neil Young
Lovely album and one I’ve listened to plenty. It’s not on my relisten list but it’s always nice to go back.
3
Sep 01 2023
View Album
Will The Circle Be Unbroken
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Wow! Ok! Not awful at all. Not actually annoying. I liked this. I will head down into a bit of a rabbit hole with this.
3
Sep 04 2023
View Album
Blonde On Blonde
Bob Dylan
I grew up on Dylan and this album is of course one of those things that played and formed my taste going forward. It’s a great album and one that I could listen to many times but I rarely go back these days.
3
Sep 05 2023
View Album
Coat Of Many Colors
Dolly Parton
Beautiful storytelling. I’ve never listened to an entire dolly. Very glad I have now
4
Sep 06 2023
View Album
Two Dancers
Wild Beasts
Just not for me. His voice grates.
2
Sep 07 2023
View Album
John Prine
John Prine
Wow. Another delightful surprise. I don’t know how John Prine passed me by all these years but I’m grateful to have listened today.
4
Sep 08 2023
View Album
Liquid Swords
GZA
3
Sep 11 2023
View Album
Hard Again
Muddy Waters
3
Sep 12 2023
View Album
Melodrama
Lorde
Surprisingly good music here. I knew she had something to her but never felt to investigate. Grateful for this listen.
3
Sep 13 2023
View Album
Live At Leeds
The Who
This bored me. The Who always did. I tried but it all felt so samey.
2
Sep 14 2023
View Album
Superfuzz Bigmuff
Mudhoney
Fuzzy. This racket must have given birth to nirvana.
3
Sep 15 2023
View Album
Fishscale
Ghostface Killah
Great big beats! I loved it.
4
Sep 18 2023
View Album
Cloud Nine
The Temptations
Of course it’s good but it doesn’t move me at all.
2
Sep 19 2023
View Album
Beautiful Freak
Eels
Better than I had imagined and I’ve been putting off listening all these years. Another band that I know the singles but they weren’t compelling enough for me to either buy the cd at the time or go back to listen. Great music throughout but a little samey by the end
3
Sep 20 2023
View Album
Idlewild
Everything But The Girl
Beautiful and gorgeous and a great invitation to plough into the back catalog. Perfect.
5
Sep 21 2023
View Album
L'Eau Rouge
The Young Gods
I really tried and man, this lot make a hell of a noise but I found it mostly unlistenable. Kudos, there's a lot of heart and soul in this, but no thank you.
2
Sep 22 2023
View Album
Low-Life
New Order
Fantastic album and not one I’ve given any time to previously. It felt rough in a good way. I’d absolutely come back to this. It’s good to hear the building bricks of what came next for New Order and so many other artists too.
3
Sep 25 2023
View Album
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
Ray Charles
3
Sep 26 2023
View Album
Joan Armatrading
Joan Armatrading
Beautiful music.
4
Sep 27 2023
View Album
Among The Living
Anthrax
An ok listen. Really nice to hear while I'm working because despite it's noise, it doesn't command too much attention. I won't go back but it's fine.
3
Sep 28 2023
View Album
Little Earthquakes
Tori Amos
I really liked this. Such boldness and incredible songwriting.
3
Sep 29 2023
View Album
Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite
Maxwell
It's too smooth for me. I just can't.
2
Oct 02 2023
View Album
Live At The Harlem Square Club
Sam Cooke
Gorgeous and delightful. Thanks for the suggestion. I will listen again. I knew I liked Sam Cooke but I didn’t know just how much.
4
Oct 03 2023
View Album
Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
PJ Harvey
It’s really good and I’ve loved some of these songs a long time but I’ve never found my groove with PJ Harvey.
3
Oct 04 2023
View Album
At San Quentin
Johnny Cash
This was a right joy to listen to
3
Oct 05 2023
View Album
Licensed To Ill
Beastie Boys
Always good to listen to this lot. It's scratchy and the production is sparse. It feels so different from what came later. Classic moments that lit me up throughout. Mmmm...drop!
3
Oct 06 2023
View Album
Californication
Red Hot Chili Peppers
I’ve always loved this album and found it again recently. Some of the songs here are absolute bangers but I do laugh a bit as I listen. There’s a lot of guff on here too. And the lyrics are outrageously bad in places. Still, I love it.
4
Oct 09 2023
View Album
At Folsom Prison
Johnny Cash
Wow. I enjoyed this far more than I did the San Quentin record.
4
Oct 10 2023
View Album
Funeral
Arcade Fire
It’s a perfect album. I’ve loved this for years and nothing has changed about that. Intense, beautiful, it bangs.
5
Oct 11 2023
View Album
Rubber Soul
Beatles
It was fine. I know I should love the Beatles but I can see why they're important but really can't enjoy them very much. A couple songs in here I can listen to endlessly but I wanted to skip most of them. I wish I got them but I don't.
3
Oct 12 2023
View Album
Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D'Arby
Terence Trent D'Arby
Surprisingly good music. I knew TTD from my youth but never liked his sound and never really got the vibe either. Too smooth. Now, though, this smoothness really works for me.
3
Oct 13 2023
View Album
Histoire De Melody Nelson
Serge Gainsbourg
Absolutely brilliant. I’ve missed out on Serge and it’s good to have an introduction. This will go into rotation.
4
Oct 16 2023
View Album
Gorillaz
Gorillaz
A great album but less engaging than I remembered. It’s likely that I was excited by the concept at the time. Clint Eastwood is a stupidly good song. Like, so frickin good. Otherwise it was all ok.
3
Oct 17 2023
View Album
Rage Against The Machine
Rage Against The Machine
A great, great listen. Growing up with this kind of soundtrack has really shaped my musical tastes. I don’t often go back to it though so I was glad to have the nudge to. I probably never listened to this from beginning to end as I didn’t own the cd so chances are, this is the first proper listen. It does not disappoint.
4
Oct 18 2023
View Album
Who Killed...... The Zutons?
The Zutons
I did listen but I didn’t want to. I’ve never liked this lot. Just felt like a novelty, covers band, sticking to one era, except somehow they do that with original material. Uninspiring. But they can play their instruments so fine, I guess.
2
Oct 19 2023
View Album
Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water
Limp Bizkit
Oh so much worse than I remembered. I liked this! How? It’s bad. It has moments I’ll always be fond of but as an album, this just sucks.
2
Oct 20 2023
View Album
Trio
Dolly Parton
I really needed this. Beautiful harmonies and perfect songwriting. A gorgeous morning listen while I buzzed about the house. New to me but will stay in rotation.
4
Oct 23 2023
View Album
The Joshua Tree
U2
Unbelievably good. I’ve not listened to this album since I was a kid. I have been a bit meh on the U2 front for a couple of decades, infuriated by the cult of Bono. This was a fantastic reminder of why people care so much about this band. I could listen and listen. What an opening!
4
Oct 24 2023
View Album
Live At The Star Club, Hamburg
Jerry Lee Lewis
I was expecting plinky plonky piano and rock n roll that I have heard to death. Then when he struck up Money, I was like yeeeeah. Jigging in my desk chair.
3
Oct 25 2023
View Album
Infected
The The
I had high hopes for this album but it didn’t work for me at all. A little too scrappy with nothing to hang on to. Might have been my mood and the timing? But it’s not going to get into regular rotation for me.
2
Oct 26 2023
View Album
Connected
Stereo MC's
So very 90s. A couple of tracks that are objectively good, although not my cup of tea. I liked the songs when I was 9 though? Does that mean I need to give this album a decent rating? I think not.
2
Oct 27 2023
View Album
Drunk
Thundercat
Super cool. I’ve tried a few times though and always said “yes. This is cool” but never gone any further than that. It doesn’t excite me.
3
Oct 30 2023
View Album
Electric Warrior
T. Rex
I was expecting glitter and glam rock and was delighted to hear more than just this. I have never had a reason to really listen to T-Rex so this was a nice nudge. Good stuff in here.
3
Oct 31 2023
View Album
Cosmo's Factory
Creedence Clearwater Revival
I can absolutely see why this made it to the list. It’s not something that can work for me. Feels like I’ve already heard it all, a hundred times.
3
Nov 01 2023
View Album
En-Tact
The Shamen
This did nothing for me. I didn't expect it to either. I want to say something insightful about rave culture and the mainstream but I really CBA.
2
Nov 02 2023
View Album
The Modern Dance
Pere Ubu
This was a tough listen. Really noisy and I played it way too early. It was interesting though and felt fresh and new despite its years.
2
Nov 03 2023
View Album
Country Life
Roxy Music
I didn’t like this at all and I was expecting to. I listen to a bit of Roxy Music but I have gone to the albums a few years after this one.
2
Nov 06 2023
View Album
Bossanova
Pixies
Always happy to hear from Pixies. Brilliant album and a joy to listen to.
4
Nov 07 2023
View Album
Figure 8
Elliott Smith
Some songs are gorgeous. Really beautifully atmospheric numbers like Somebody That I Used To Know but the rest comes and goes without me really noticing until Elliot Smith breaks into my thoughts with one of his repetitive refrains that go round and round like a stuck record.
2
Nov 08 2023
View Album
The ArchAndroid
Janelle Monáe
A real stunner for a debut. Super cool and so much fun to be had.
3
Nov 09 2023
View Album
Maverick A Strike
Finley Quaye
I love this album. Always have. I had it on cassette years ago and used to listen in the car. I still regularly hit it up when I need something summery and light. It aged beautifully and I’m so glad to have a reason to listen again
4
Nov 10 2023
View Album
Music
Madonna
I did my best to listen without prejudice but this album has lyrics so insipid it’s insulting. The production is excellent but Madonna just kinda ruins it. And the cover of American Pie is bad enough that I can’t even listen. Just no. Catchy songs throughout so I’ll be singing Hey Mr Deejay for the rest of the week but I ain’t happy about it.
2
Nov 13 2023
View Album
Revolver
Beatles
I have a weird relationship with The Beatles. I can appreciate that they were doing something special but it's never really spoken to me. This album is absolutely the one I have enjoyed the most. Songs like Tomorrow Never Knows feel thoroughly timeless. Totally immersive and properly enjoyable. That said, other songs are a bit doo-doo, dah-dah like their other stuff. So it just about escaped a 4 star rating from me. That said, it got closer than any other Beatles listen and that's really nice and new.
3
Nov 14 2023
View Album
OK Computer
Radiohead
This album is perfect. I really love Radiohead and can revisit their albums endlessly without getting bored. This one signals their move towards electronic music and it’s hard to imagine now but at that point, a band like this were just not supposed to do that. And they did it beautifully. Their desire to grow and change as artists is so clear when on this album. It’s a masterpiece.
5
Nov 15 2023
View Album
Sincere
Mj Cole
It's a likeable album with a whole lot of vibe. I knew the two big tracks, and being a bit of a garage girl I was glad to give the album a shot. It was an enjoyable listen. Not spectacular but top marks for atmosphere.
3
Nov 16 2023
View Album
Songs The Lord Taught Us
The Cramps
This was great fun to listen to. Love a bit of punk and always good to hear something nice and early
3
Nov 17 2023
View Album
Marcus Garvey
Burning Spear
So good to hear this album. I knew Burning Spear and who they were but hadn’t given them any rotation. It’s a fantastic piece of work.
3
Nov 20 2023
View Album
Jazz Samba
Stan Getz
I didn’t hate this, which is massive for me. Jazz gets right under my skin. It’s lovely to have to listen to the kinds of things I’d avoid though because I could get along with this. A bit.
3
Nov 21 2023
View Album
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
It’s Elvis. Of course it’s good. Classic songs and that voice. I just don’t care all that much though. But hey, if I were much older I’d probably have a bit more reverence.
2
Nov 22 2023
View Album
Something/Anything?
Todd Rundgren
It was nice. It sounded like the seventies. Super smooth in places.
3
Nov 23 2023
View Album
Manassas
Stephen Stills
I find these kinds of albums really difficult to rate. I can hear the influence they have had on the music I love. I can see that they are really good musicians and the production or whatever is sound. I just find it hard to stay engaged with it. I am glad when it’s over even though I can hear that actually, the music isn’t bad at all. So a 3 star rating that appreciates the work but says no when I’m asked if I’d listen again seems the right fit.
3
Nov 24 2023
View Album
The Hissing Of Summer Lawns
Joni Mitchell
This is Joni but it’s not my Joni. I love her voice but on these songs, it doesn’t quite work for me.
2
Nov 27 2023
View Album
Music for the Masses
Depeche Mode
LOVED this. I have always liked Depeche Mode but never actually listened to an album. Weird. Glad to pick this one up.
4
Nov 28 2023
View Album
Toys In The Attic
Aerosmith
This was bad. I like a bit of Aerosmith but I found it very hard to get through this. Walk This Way salvaged it for me but only just.
3
Nov 29 2023
View Album
Roots
Sepultura
I liked this a heck of a lot more than I thought I would. Metal is a strange genre for me. I love punk, alt rock, grunge, but I think I was born slightly late to appreciate Rock-rock. So listening to this was enlightening. It ticked so many of my boxes. A good listen that really engaged me.
3
Nov 30 2023
View Album
A Short Album About Love
The Divine Comedy
I actually get it! Years of listening to this music as a teenager and all the way through I was like ‘oooook then.’ This time around, his voice is so gorgeous and the lyrics, hilarious and darkly satirical. Coming back around for this lot.
3
Dec 01 2023
View Album
Aja
Steely Dan
Ooo yes. Super smooth, hella enjoyable.
3
Dec 04 2023
View Album
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme
Simon & Garfunkel
I love listening to Simon & Garfunkel so this was an absolute pleas
4
Dec 05 2023
View Album
That's The Way Of The World
Earth, Wind & Fire
Cor this was fun. I really enjoyed bopping my head to this. It felt current too, in ways I hadn't expected. Glad I went back for a listen.
4
Dec 06 2023
View Album
Yank Crime
Drive Like Jehu
Yes! This all happened so much earlier than I thought, it seems. A great racket I’d never even heard of.
3
Dec 07 2023
View Album
Machine Gun Etiquette
The Damned
Wonderfully noisy stuff. A great accompaniment to a trip home from Berlin too.
3
Dec 08 2023
View Album
Bad
Michael Jackson
I don't want to rate this at all. It's obviously very good but the man is a big NO for me. I will hit 2 because yay for the production and artistry but the man ruined some people's lives quite profoundly so that colours my enjoyment.
2
Dec 11 2023
View Album
Stardust
Willie Nelson
Loved this album. Can’t say I’ve listened to much Willie Nelson before this but I’ve always had a lot of respect for the guy’s career and enjoyed the songs I have heard. This was beautiful though. Great songwriting, hell of a voice.
4
Dec 12 2023
View Album
Maggot Brain
Funkadelic
This absolutely bangs. I have missed a corner of music and this quest has given me that back. This album is astounding.
4
Dec 13 2023
View Album
Hysteria
Def Leppard
I tried!
2
Dec 14 2023
View Album
Straight Outta Compton
N.W.A.
Yes maaaate! So good to listen to this on a Thursday morning in December. Lyrically brilliant and then awful. Musically the same. The beats are either incredible or so sparse it’s barely a song. Great to hear lyrics said here first that get used in hip hop for the next few decades too.
4
Dec 15 2023
View Album
LP1
FKA twigs
Beautiful. Gorgeous. Almost perfect.
4
Dec 18 2023
View Album
Madman Across The Water
Elton John
It was Elton so yay but apart from the super strong opening with Tiny Dancer, the rest didn’t work for me.
2
Dec 19 2023
View Album
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin
Objectively brilliant but I didn’t want to listen much. I grew up with this as a bit of a backdrop and always knew it was important music but it never entertained me.
3
Dec 20 2023
View Album
BEYONCÉ
Beyoncé
I love a bit of Bey but I’m a singles girl when it comes to her. The albums have never really done it for me. That all changed at Lemonade but up until that point I could take or leave. A track or two stood out from the pack and it was a joy to hear songs like 7/11
3
Dec 21 2023
View Album
Oar
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
I'm so glad I managed to listen to this. It's incredible. I am struggling to find words to put to it.
4
Dec 22 2023
View Album
Is This It
The Strokes
This is the perfect album. I love every song. Each moment I could recognise from the tiniest of clips because the sound they’ve created is so distinctive and stylised. Always a joy to listen to and it’s never not in rotation for me.
5
Dec 25 2023
View Album
The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady
Charles Mingus
I find jazz so hard to listen to but this was really interesting. I couldn’t just put it on and chill though. This has to be an assignment.
3
Dec 26 2023
View Album
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
The perfect, classic Christmas album. I love this record and it’s in heavy rotation every year.
5
Dec 27 2023
View Album
Graceland
Paul Simon
A really beautiful album. I’ve listened before but so passively. It was a pleasure to listen to again after all these years.
4
Dec 28 2023
View Album
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
I didn't hate it but I did find it very easy to ignore. Guitars and stuff. Riffs. Nothing very interesting to me.
2
Dec 29 2023
View Album
Raw Power
The Stooges
In context, quite excellent, very important and groundbreaking work. Upon listening though, it's good. I liked it.
3
Jan 01 2024
View Album
Cheap Thrills
Big Brother & The Holding Company
Bloody hell, that voice. What an album and what a sound. Transportative.
4
Jan 02 2024
View Album
The Doors
The Doors
Fine, atmospheric and with beautiful production but it doesn't work for me lyrically. Again, it's that decision whether to rate based on how much I enjoyed listening or the context in which it was created. I'm going to say it's just fine.
3
Jan 03 2024
View Album
Machine Head
Deep Purple
Remarkably enjoyable. I've never had much of a reason to dip in to Deep Purple but this was soulful, it rocked, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable listen. I probably wouldn't throw it on again but I didn't wish most of these songs away.
3
Jan 04 2024
View Album
Stripped
Christina Aguilera
Oh I know this album well. I listened plenty in those way too low jeans, on my discman. Such a great bit of pop music and a nice bit of defiant art in response to the mudslinging she had to endure from the media as a woman in the public eye in that decade.
4
Jan 05 2024
View Album
Songs From The Big Chair
Tears For Fears
A really good listen from a band I’ve always liked well enough but not really gotten to know about.
3
Jan 08 2024
View Album
Innervisions
Stevie Wonder
It’s a brilliant, beautiful, classic album. Tonnes of atmosphere and the production is perfect. I listened to it on vinyl because it’s one of those records I dug out of a charity shop and felt like a winner.
4
Jan 09 2024
View Album
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
This album is really important to me. I grew up listening and have never really stopped. Lyrically brilliant and musically stunning. Incredible that she just won Country Song of the Year in 2023 for Fast Car, so many years after release and what a deserving song! It is totally perfect.
5
Jan 10 2024
View Album
Mermaid Avenue
Billy Bragg
I didn’t know this project existed and it was a great listen when I popped it on. What a combo of artists!
3
Jan 11 2024
View Album
(Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd)
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Proper classic here with one of the greatest songs of all time on the track listing. Can’t argue with that. I enjoyed it. More soulful than I imagined. Not just rock.
3
Jan 12 2024
View Album
#1 Record
Big Star
This was a bit of a slog. It just doesn’t speak to me. Can see it’s value but I liked maybe one song?
2
Jan 15 2024
View Album
The Downward Spiral
Nine Inch Nails
Brilliant album. Noisy in the right way.
4
Jan 16 2024
View Album
Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs
Derek & The Dominos
Oh Clapton! I didn’t realise it was him. Quite an album. I rolled my eyes but enjoyed the opening tracks so much. Sagged again in the middle but then came back around for Layla. It was only at that point I realised it was Clapton. A really good album. I’d return to a few songs for sure.
3
Jan 17 2024
View Album
Warehouse: Songs And Stories
Hüsker Dü
Yup. This could be early REM. It’s a shame they didn’t blow up like REM did. It’s a great album.
3
Jan 18 2024
View Album
Seventh Tree
Goldfrapp
Better than I had expected and gave me an opportunity to address this weird dislike for Goldfrapp which must have been based largely on her positioning as an indie icon of sorts. Which wasn’t her call anyway. A good album with some really cool moments.
3
Jan 19 2024
View Album
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco
I'll absolutely come back to this one. Brilliant. I loved Jesus etc and had it on a playlist somewhere but hadn't gotten to explore the rest of the band's stuff. Really pleased to be exposed this this. Right up my street.
4
Jan 22 2024
View Album
Blue Lines
Massive Attack
Erring on the side of four stars because there’s maybe 2 tracks I’d skip but wow it’s hard to call. This album is a real classic. There are huge songs on here that I’ve had in my life for years and still stop me in my tracks if they come on the stereo. Be Thankful, Unfinished Sympathy and Safe From Harm. Grateful this is on this list and for the drive to work that saw these songs blaring out Friday morning.
4
Jan 23 2024
View Album
Elephant
The White Stripes
It’s basically good. Just fine. I was never really swept up in all this. It felt like good songs but the most exciting tracks by White Stripes came an album earlier for me. The more polished they were, the more the good stuff got stripped away.
3
Jan 24 2024
View Album
Giant Steps
The Boo Radleys
I was not expecting this. Not just an indie album by any accounts. More experimental than MOR with moments of indie pop but them being the exception rather than the norm. Knowing Boo Radeleys for their smash hit lead me to put off listening to this one but I’m glad I came back around. I’ll listen again. It’s very good.
4
Jan 25 2024
View Album
Elvis Is Back
Elvis Presley
A good album to pick up. I can't even imagine how much this would have been loved when it was first recorded. Elvis always souonds old and tired to me but of course, that's because I heard it coming out of tinny pub jukeboxes growing up. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
3
Jan 26 2024
View Album
Ingenue
k.d. lang
I found this to be quite boring. The epitome of MOR music. I won’t be going back to it.
2
Jan 29 2024
View Album
The Atomic Mr Basie
Count Basie & His Orchestra
I didn’t hate this. I felt something while I listened. A lot of the time it was irritation but some of the time it was anything but. I really don’t get on with jazz but this was an album I would have been sad never to hear. Some of it made me feel like I was a gunshot detective, on the trail of gangsters, some took me to some underground speakeasy cloudy with smoke. I felt like getting shit done sometimes as I listened. Basically, it was very good. I miiiight just return.
3
Jan 30 2024
View Album
Songs Of Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
A beautiful and perfect album. A lyricist like no other. Except maybe Dylan? So long, Marrianne is one of my all time favourite songs and so a joy to hear. I’ve heard plenty of Cohen but never listened closely so this was a fantastic listen.
5
Jan 31 2024
View Album
Emergency On Planet Earth
Jamiroquai
I did try but it felt like. Load of nonsense at the time and unfortunately that hasn’t changed for me.
2
Feb 01 2024
View Album
Sound Affects
The Jam
Great stuff. Something to get me bobbing around the house this morning.
4
Feb 02 2024
View Album
Heavy Weather
Weather Report
Smooth and soulful. It's good but I don't like it.
2
Feb 05 2024
View Album
Different Class
Pulp
I love this album. It ages so well. The songs on this are so good that they could have released almost any. One of my fave pulp songs lives here and it was never released. A beautiful bit of social commentary, some dark storytelling and so much humour. And you can dance to it! What more can you want.
5
Feb 06 2024
View Album
Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Beautiful album. This was a joy to listen to. I had imagined it’d be good but not that it’d be this pretty and fun.
4
Feb 07 2024
View Album
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Simon & Garfunkel
I find it hard to put into words how much and why I love this album. It’s perfect.
5
Feb 08 2024
View Album
Untitled (Black Is)
SAULT
Innovative but still really enjoyable. I was really happy to see this album on the list.
4
Feb 09 2024
View Album
90
808 State
Far more enjoyable listening to this understanding what the 808 actually is. Back when it was released I couldn’t work out all the hype. It seemed just like any other dance music.
3
Feb 12 2024
View Album
S&M
Metallica
Beautifully done. A really special performance.
3
Feb 13 2024
View Album
A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Coldplay
Yeah so I rarely return to Coldplay as their later work is so bad that the earlier work is tainted for me. Parachutes is the exception and is in regular rotation but this album was a wonderful listen. Songs on here that I really liked at the time still resonate. Green Eyes, The Scientist. Pretty songs, pounding drums, synth? I think synth. Anyways, it was a good listen and I was glad of the reminder. I’ll draw a line at X & Y though. That won’t work for me.
3
Feb 14 2024
View Album
São Paulo Confessions
Suba
Cool but repetitive in places. Some songs I loved and others I wanted to skip.
3
Feb 15 2024
View Album
Chicago Transit Authority
Chicago
I tried but it was all kinds of irritating to me. Objectively I can see that it’s good stuff but I didn’t enjoy it. It’s jazzy, middle of the road stuff.
2
Feb 16 2024
View Album
Nothing's Shocking
Jane's Addiction
It’s good. Really good. The singers voice always grated on me but there are moments on this album where his voice is beautiful. Songs like Summertime Rolls are nice and psychedelic. A little timeless. So much of the late 80s, early 90s sound across the rest of the album.
3
Feb 19 2024
View Album
Deja Vu
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Incredibly likable. I hadn’t expected to enjoy it quite so much as I did
3
Feb 20 2024
View Album
Illmatic
Nas
It’s a great album. The blueprint to so much of what came after too. Love the beats, the lyrics, Nas’s voice. Brilliant.
4
Feb 21 2024
View Album
Queen II
Queen
So very operatic for a rock album. I really appreciate what they’re doing here but it is not at all for me.
2
Feb 22 2024
View Album
Movies
Holger Czukay
This is wild. A lot is going on here. I tried to listen first time around but found it too chaotic and then I had some writing to do that I'd been putting off and found it was the perfect soundtrack to motivate me. Would I put it on again? It's unlikely. But it was good while I needed it.
3
Feb 23 2024
View Album
The Low End Theory
A Tribe Called Quest
Absolutely brilliant
4
Feb 26 2024
View Album
Smash
The Offspring
LOVED this album. Did then and still do.
4
Feb 27 2024
View Album
Ten
Pearl Jam
A genuinely likable album. I spent years rolling my eyes at Pearl Jam but enjoyed this loads. Felt very much in my wheelhouse, sonically. 90s, grungey, not sure what else I’d want.
3
Feb 28 2024
View Album
Arrival
ABBA
There are songs here I absolutely love. Joyous, beautifully produced pop music. Timeless! But the other tracks I could have skipped all the way through.
3
Feb 29 2024
View Album
Lost In The Dream
The War On Drugs
Absolutely brilliant. This came up he same week I’d realised it had been a while since I put this on. Love the band and this is their best album.
4
Mar 01 2024
View Album
16 Lovers Lane
The Go-Betweens
It sounded a lot like something I’d like but I couldn’t get along with it. Each song sounded similar to the next.
2
Mar 04 2024
View Album
Ágætis Byrjun
Sigur Rós
It’s beautiful, bewitching, beguiling. Other be words. Magical.
4
Mar 05 2024
View Album
From Elvis In Memphis
Elvis Presley
Another strong Levi’s album. Rich in sound, nice to listen to and lots of swaying and head bobbing while I did. He’s not my guy but this is undeniably great.
3
Mar 06 2024
View Album
Cypress Hill
Cypress Hill
Yep! An album I needed to listen to. It was such good fun. They’ve never been my fave as they get 10/10 for vibe but are best enjoyed song by song. The repetition across a whole album just bores me a bit. So a great listen but returning often is unlikely for me.
3
Mar 07 2024
View Album
In It For The Money
Supergrass
Richard III has to be one of my fabou Songs of all time. And the album itself is ace but there are still a few of those teenage numbers in here that didn’t even do it for me when I was a teenager so it’s far from perfect. Still, a great listen.
3
Mar 08 2024
View Album
american dream
LCD Soundsystem
Same experience I always have with LCD Soundsystem - I look forward to listening and a like what I hear but I’m not rapt. It is amazing in places and I get it. I get the hype too. But I’m always having to remind myself to pay attention. 10/10 for vibes, inventiveness and making something clever that you can dance to too. Not 10/10 for enjoyment though.
3
Mar 11 2024
View Album
What's Going On
Marvin Gaye
Oh my god it’s beautiful. I love this album. Lyrically and musically it’s perfect.
5
Mar 12 2024
View Album
In The Court Of The Crimson King
King Crimson
Sheesh. Ok I know it’s a classic and yes, of course, well done this lot but it’s way too jazzy for me.
2
Mar 13 2024
View Album
I Against I
Bad Brains
It’s clear why they are cited as influential by so many artists. It is a miracle I hadn’t listened before but glad I did.
3
Mar 14 2024
View Album
La Revancha Del Tango
Gotan Project
It’s good. Really good. But it also really feels like background music
3
Mar 15 2024
View Album
A Night At The Opera
Queen
Very operatic indeed. Not my cup of tea but I have to appreciate the craft here.
2
Mar 18 2024
View Album
Murmur
R.E.M.
I loved this. It was the most ridiculously well timed listen too, given that I was on my last day of a trip to Seattle. I adore REM but never went this far back to listen so was grateful for this one
4
Mar 19 2024
View Album
Music From Big Pink
The Band
This was really good. Really good. I hadn't expected to enjoy it quite so much. Soulful and folksy.
4
Mar 20 2024
View Album
Fever Ray
Fever Ray
I don’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. It was darker. I liked it.
3
Mar 21 2024
View Album
Behaviour
Pet Shop Boys
Yes. I really like this pair. It isn’t the album I’d most like to have in my ears but it was still very good.
3
Mar 22 2024
View Album
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
Just fine really. Worth reminding myself that it’s a 55 year old album and looking at it that way because I can get a bit bored of aabb rhyme schemes and pretty lyrics (even when they are laden with sarcasm)
3
Mar 25 2024
View Album
Sticky Fingers
The Rolling Stones
A good album. Some brilliant songs. They’ve never really been my cup of tea but moments like Wild Horses stop me in my tracks.
3
Mar 26 2024
View Album
In A Silent Way
Miles Davis
I didn’t hate it, despite it being jazz. I wish they’d all play their instruments in a way that made sense to me though. Miles Davis did some lovely trumpeting.
3
Mar 27 2024
View Album
Triangle
The Beau Brummels
A likeable album.
3
Mar 28 2024
View Album
Chirping Crickets
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
Yeah so rock n roll and all that. It was fine. I know we have these artists to thank for what we know now as rock but I rarely like listening to anything from this era because it sounds basic to me. I know that's totally unfair because we needed this to get to Radiohead. But I'm lukewarm at best.
2
Mar 29 2024
View Album
Happy Sad
Tim Buckley
Songs like Sing a Song For You are exquisite and his voice is stunning. Absolutely stunning. Then you have songs like Gypsy Woman where I just spend most of it wanting it to end. I really don’t know how to rate a record like this. It’s clearly very good but I wouldn’t like to listen again.
3
Apr 01 2024
View Album
Let It Bleed
The Rolling Stones
This was excellent. Probably the only album by the stones that I’d gladly throw on to listen to. Magical opening.
4
Apr 02 2024
View Album
Appetite For Destruction
Guns N' Roses
I loved it. Of course I did. I couldn't decide between 4 and 5 stars but had to had to had to settle on 4 because I've rated some of my faves at a 4. So 4 it is.
4
Apr 03 2024
View Album
Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
Bill Callahan
Loves me a bit of Bill. His lyrics like prose, he just sings whatever he needs to and his voice is so beautiful.
4
Apr 04 2024
View Album
Physical Graffiti
Led Zeppelin
I'll admit I rolled my eyes when I saw it was Led Zepplin but I quickly took that back. It's a great listen. I found myself nodding along, foot tapping, feeling properly engaged. It's soulful and it rocks. It is a gift of this challenge that I think I know a band and I've written them into history as one of those things people like but I don't much, and then I listen. So yep. Good stuff.
4
Apr 05 2024
View Album
Court And Spark
Joni Mitchell
Blue is my Joni Mitchell album and I’ve been disappointed to learn that it’s the only one that really does anything for me. This was ok but I was glad when it was over. It neither offended nor engaged me.
2
Apr 08 2024
View Album
Hot Rats
Frank Zappa
God, this was hard for me to engage with. It was jazzy, proggy, I don't know. I think it was good? If you like this sort of thing? I really don't.
2
Apr 09 2024
View Album
Ellington at Newport
Duke Ellington
Well I didn't hate it and for anything in this genre, that's a really big compliment for me to pay. I guess I'd be happy for it to play as background music at some gathering. I could hear it at a coffee shop and not put on headphones to drown it out. Yay Duke.
3
Apr 10 2024
View Album
Unhalfbricking
Fairport Convention
Wow. Beautiful music. I have a huge gap where this kind of folk should be. Grateful to have listened today. I’ll pick up more of these albums too.
4
Apr 11 2024
View Album
Talking With the Taxman About Poetry
Billy Bragg
Politics, love, family. A brilliant album. New to me as a full album, although I’ve had plenty of time with his songs. Much enjoyed
4
Apr 12 2024
View Album
Fulfillingness' First Finale
Stevie Wonder
Beautiful as always when it comes to Stevie. I didn’t realise the song They Won’t Go When I Go was his and it is such a wonderful piece of music
3
Apr 15 2024
View Album
2112
Rush
That was a lot.
2
Apr 16 2024
View Album
At Fillmore East
The Allman Brothers Band
That combo of undeniably good but totally uninteresting to me
2
Apr 17 2024
View Album
Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
Fine
2
Apr 18 2024
View Album
Kind Of Blue
Miles Davis
With jazz, I really struggle to rate. I have developed a bit of a binary system Do I hate listening to this right now? Can I tolerate it? If it's yes to the first, I'll give it a 2 because I'm not an idiot. I can tell if something is good so not a 1 star, although I'd like to shove my fingers in my ears and scream to block it out. If it's the latter, I'll give it a 3 because it's a massive achievement for a bit of jazz to just not piss me off. I feel pretty awful contributing to a pool of reviews with such an arbitrary system but it's all I have. This album didn't make me mad. So 3 stars. Well done Miles.
3
Apr 19 2024
View Album
Dear Science
TV On The Radio
What a perfect and brilliant album. I loved this at the time and it has aged so well. A joy to listen to.
5
Apr 22 2024
View Album
Can't Buy A Thrill
Steely Dan
Yacht rock! Yeah! Some great moments here. My algorithms have started offering me some awful stuff as a result of my lingering on this and Aja. I like a bit of Steely Dan but I don't go in for the wider genre. It becomes tiresome quick. Good album though.
3
Apr 23 2024
View Album
The Yes Album
Yes
I can’t get into any more of this 70s prog rock. I need smaller doses. Perhaps if I’d listened amongst other genres I’d be ok but this has been a long streak of 70s rock. I had to go back to Guns and Roses to feel better.
2
Apr 24 2024
View Album
Goodbye And Hello
Tim Buckley
Beautiful album. His voice is incredible and it was good to spend some time in folk as a genre. I knew Once I Was and was kinda keen but some of the other tracks here were really sumptuous.
3
Apr 25 2024
View Album
Skylarking
XTC
80s goodness. Great to do a full album
3
Apr 26 2024
View Album
Viva Hate
Morrissey
Yeah I liked this a lot. I would though. This is peak Morrissey for me. Before I knew he was a prick, before I found his melodrama too funny to take seriously. Really happy to listen.
4
Apr 29 2024
View Album
Eagles
Eagles
Great listening. Super opening with Take It Easy that really sets up the rest of the album.
3
Apr 30 2024
View Album
Sign 'O' The Times
Prince
I was happy to listen to a bit of Prince but I really didn’t love this album. The opening track is fantastic and I remember it premiering back in the 90s and being so engaged by the video but the rest of the album didn’t work so well for me.
2
May 01 2024
View Album
Beyond Skin
Nitin Sawhney
Fantastic and not someone who has ever crossed my path. A real gift of this challenge. Beautiful production, big themes, bold choices throughout. It felt current but it was two decades old.
3
May 02 2024
View Album
Oedipus Schmoedipus
Barry Adamson
Really interesting! So 90s in places, sometimes lapsing into a more classic style of jazz. Didn’t hear Nick Cave’s vocals at some point? I think I did
3
May 03 2024
View Album
Locust Abortion Technician
Butthole Surfers
Fun! Rowdy! Probably not one I’ll listen to again but a good bit of time spent in adolescence
3
May 06 2024
View Album
British Steel
Judas Priest
Good rock noise. Loved hearing Breaking the Law but as ever, the rest didn’t do much for me
2
May 07 2024
View Album
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Perfectly good stuff
3
May 08 2024
View Album
Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park
Yes! I’d never attempted a full Linkin Park album. I liked some singles but considered them a bit young for me when they landed. It never felt clever enough, as if such things matter - especially to a Blink 182 fan but whatever. It’s funny to think where we draw lines and where we don’t. Anyhow, going back to this was excellent. I enjoyed every moment of this record and will be returning to it in coming weeks.
4
May 09 2024
View Album
Chemtrails Over The Country Club
Lana Del Rey
Such a shame it was this one. I love a bit of Lana. I think this is my least favourite of hers. It’s breathy and slow and nothing much happens lyrically or musically. As it followed NFR, which I still have on repeat, it was a huge disappointment. I didn’t listen to The Grants as a result and then looped back to find that that was a brilliant album too. Just not sure what happened here.
2
May 10 2024
View Album
Ogden's Nut Gone Flake
Small Faces
60s psychedelic pop is fine by me but nothing exciting here
2
May 13 2024
View Album
Bringing It All Back Home
Bob Dylan
God I love Dylan. And this album has some absolute classics on it.
4
May 14 2024
View Album
Reggatta De Blanc
The Police
Truly, a great album. I liked it a lot. Another gem I’d never explored aside from the singles.
3
May 15 2024
View Album
Car Wheels On A Gravel Road
Lucinda Williams
Good songwriting and nice melodies too. Not someone who has ever been on my radar but happy to have heard her
3
May 16 2024
View Album
Truth And Soul
Fishbone
I wasn't sold on this at all but then I checked the year and was quite surprised because it felt pretty 90s. So much must have come from this. Then Spotify suggested Beck right after and I was like oooooh. Ok. I see why this is here. Interesting but a bit too funky for me.
3
May 17 2024
View Album
Pump
Aerosmith
So dull. It was like country doing rock. I cringe when they try to be sexy. I liked Aerosmith a lot at one point in my life. Just doesn't bare revisiting.
1
May 20 2024
View Album
Band On The Run
Paul McCartney and Wings
A better album that I imagined. I’ve never been one for McCartney or the Beatles so it’s a bit of a treat to go in and listen and hear it all with new ears.
3
May 21 2024
View Album
The World is a Ghetto
War
Super cool, incredibly layered, surprising. A better listen than I was anticipating.
3
May 22 2024
View Album
Superfly
Curtis Mayfield
Gorgeous, smooth, soulful, cool. Everything I would expect from Curtis Mayfield.
3
May 23 2024
View Album
Hunting High And Low
a-ha
A lot of fun!
3
May 24 2024
View Album
Pieces Of The Sky
Emmylou Harris
A beautiful album. Nice to have a bit of country in my ears. The best country artists are such wonderful storytellers, it deserves a re-listen.
4
May 27 2024
View Album
Are You Experienced
Jimi Hendrix
It’s perfect. So many incredible songs that I knew and had forgotten about and others I’d never heard.
5
May 28 2024
View Album
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Yeah it’s the first metal album. And that’s great. Thing is, I wasn’t there and I can’t be and I can’t really imagine what it was like before this happened. So try as I might, I can’t raise much enthusiasm. Out of context, it’s dreary.
2
May 29 2024
View Album
Public Image: First Issue
Public Image Ltd.
A lot more to this than I thought there would be. John Lydon and his various projects have always turned me off but I thought this was pretty interesting. Especially as I went in imagining I'd hate it. I didn't!
3
May 30 2024
View Album
Moss Side Story
Barry Adamson
Cool so this was properly interesting. My first thought was that it sounded like a soundtrack and actually that was the point of it. It felt like England to me too. The era is a little before my time (I was 6) but the familiarity with the themes meant that it spoke to me in a way that I hadn't predicted. I didn't love it at all but I was glad to have heard it. It's good work.
3
May 31 2024
View Album
Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod Stewart
A nice listen but little more than nice
3
Jun 03 2024
View Album
Pet Sounds
The Beach Boys
It’s a gorgeous album and a joy to listen to after the previous offerings.
4
Jun 04 2024
View Album
In Rainbows
Radiohead
It’s perfect. It’s my favourite album of all time. I can’t add a thing.
5
Jun 05 2024
View Album
Nighthawks At The Diner
Tom Waits
It was pretty good but it got super repetitive. He's funny! And that is ace at the start but it gets old quick.
3
Jun 06 2024
View Album
The Idiot
Iggy Pop
Iggy always nails atmosphere. I bop my head because I’m on side the whole time and then I hear a lyric or two and I’m back in reality feeling less enthused about the album. Moments I really enjoyed (like nightclubbing) but I had that problem throughout.
3
Jun 07 2024
View Album
Tank Battles
Dagmar Krause
Ok this is a big album. I am totally in the dark as to who Dagmar is, relying instead on her wikipedia page for context. But this is musical theatre. This is really interesting storytelling.
3
Jun 10 2024
View Album
Neon Bible
Arcade Fire
This album deserves headphones. It should be played at an absurd volume. It is a bold, voluptuous album. You can listen to just one instrument for a whole song and then go back and listen again for another and it's another song entirely. It is an album I have never stopped coming back to, since it landed.
4
Jun 11 2024
View Album
Brilliant Corners
Thelonious Monk
Bright, busy and bouncy. Hurt my head to try.
2
Jun 12 2024
View Album
Guitar Town
Steve Earle
A great bit of country pop that manages big themes while still keeping the vibes up. Nice.
3
Jun 13 2024
View Album
Fear Of A Black Planet
Public Enemy
Classic!
4
Jun 14 2024
View Album
Rust Never Sleeps
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Lovely to listen to some Neil young. His voice has always grated on me and despite his status as a legend I can’t get past it. That said, it’s a beautiful album.
3
Jun 17 2024
View Album
Head Hunters
Herbie Hancock
God I don’t like funk. Seems like it’s good at what it’s trying to be but it’s a slog to listen to.
2
Jun 18 2024
View Album
Violator
Depeche Mode
It’s a brilliant album. A proper joy to listen to these dark songs.
4
Jun 19 2024
View Album
Teenager Of The Year
Frank Black
Ooo yes. I was super happy to hear this. It was entirely new to me, or so I thought, but it turns out Headache is a song whose hook has been my ear worm since the 90s and I’ve been totally incapable of finding out where it came from. So this was revelatory!
4
Jun 20 2024
View Album
Vento De Maio
Elis Regina
Really good to listen to something outside of my usual places to go to. Her voice was incredible, both gravelly and soft. The music was obviously good but it didn’t do much for me.
3
Jun 21 2024
View Album
Me Against The World
2Pac
It’s fantastic. It sounds older than I remembered. He is such an incredible wordsmith and whilst I’ve always got him on my playlists, I haven’t given a full album a listen in years so this was a great nudge.
4
Jun 24 2024
View Album
Talking Book
Stevie Wonder
Oh it was fine. Very nice. Stevie always is.
3
Jun 25 2024
View Album
Dire Straits
Dire Straits
I wish I could rate 5 stars for one song alone but alas, that’s not how this works. I’d happily listen to dire straits all day long. It’s great rock n roll and reminds me of my childhood in a good way.
3
Jun 26 2024
View Album
Make Yourself
Incubus
Great to return to but whether or not I’d return again… not so sure. Aside from Drive, which is still a beautiful song, the album doesn’t do much for me. Pardon me is a banger.
3
Jun 27 2024
View Album
Signing Off
UB40
I’ve been meaning to listen for such a long time so was glad when this came up. Fantastic and timely. Raw and sound like when and where I grew up. The turmoil is in the sound. And the anger too.
3
Jun 28 2024
View Album
Honky Tonk Masquerade
Joe Ely
When I like country it’s for its clever lyrics - one liners and quips. This has that and it has all the cliches I’d expect, west reverb wind and trees. Etc. nothing really stood out though
3
Jul 01 2024
View Album
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
I love songs on this album but there's a lot of just Bob being Bob, singing in his nasal voice and repeating himself. I can't go in for that. Utmost respect for Bob and so much love for so many of his songs but it's just an ok album overall.
3
Jul 02 2024
View Album
We Are Family
Sister Sledge
It’s a good bit of disco and more songs on here than I knew I’d know but it’s not for me. Disco just isn’t
3
Jul 03 2024
View Album
Throwing Muses
Throwing Muses
How the hell did this pass me by? It’s like it was made for me. A fantastic bit of post punk. Brilliant
4
Jul 04 2024
View Album
GI
Germs
I really enjoyed this. A fast and loud.
3
Jul 05 2024
View Album
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Genesis
I tried, I really did. But it’s so long! And I get it. I do! I just didn’t like it.
2
Jul 08 2024
View Album
Green
R.E.M.
I love listening to the old REM albums. It has really changed my relationship with the band. Great listen.
4
Jul 09 2024
View Album
Beauty And The Beat
The Go-Go's
I liked this a lot. I hadn't expected to but yep, I really did. Fun, 80s pop-rock. I'll take it!
4
Jul 10 2024
View Album
McCartney
Paul McCartney
It is all the reasons I’ve never enjoyed his work. Dull and derivative.
2
Jul 11 2024
View Album
Happy Trails
Quicksilver Messenger Service
Far more enjoyable than I thought it’d be! Difficult to listen to on account of it being so old but solid.
3
Jul 12 2024
View Album
Automatic For The People
R.E.M.
It’s a brilliant, beautiful album. It has gotten better over the years too.
5
Jul 15 2024
View Album
Dusty In Memphis
Dusty Springfield
This is a beautiful album. A real delight to be served up this week. Listening in bed with a book on a grey Sunday afternoon and it is lifting me
4
Jul 16 2024
View Album
Fear Of Music
Talking Heads
Absolutely brilliant. Talking Heads have always been in my periphery so it was about time I paid attention to their music. I loved this album. Usually, his voice grates but in the context of the entire album I really enjoyed it.
4
Jul 17 2024
View Album
World Clique
Deee-Lite
Surprised to see this on the list. Surprised they had a full album given that their one song was everywhere but nothing else ever got played. Was it good? Maybe? It was groovy and I suppose it’s good if you like that sort of thing, which I don’t.
2
Jul 18 2024
View Album
Smokers Delight
Nightmares On Wax
Not at all for me. Way too mellow. Also, not stoned.
2
Jul 19 2024
View Album
Third
Soft Machine
This whole scene bores me. I doff my proverbial cap to those who created it so I can enjoy all my music since but I can’t be motivated to really listen. Happy to graze and have it on while I work or whatever but it’s a no thanks from me.
2
Jul 22 2024
View Album
Rock 'N Soul
Solomon Burke
Beautiful music
4
Jul 23 2024
View Album
Definitely Maybe
Oasis
This album was instrumental in shaping my taste in music for the decades that followed. It’s still an absolute joy to listen to. One of my all time favourite songs lives on here, Slide Away, and the others are transportative. I can be 11 again. 13 at Knebworth or 19 in Victoria park. I miss this Oasis.
5
Jul 24 2024
View Album
The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
The 13th Floor Elevators
Sure, it’s good. No, it’s not for me.
2
Jul 25 2024
View Album
The Bones Of What You Believe
CHVRCHES
I thought I might like this more when I revisited it but I really didn’t. It’s insipid. Cannot work out how or why this would be rated.
1
Jul 26 2024
View Album
At Mister Kelly's
Sarah Vaughan
Her voice is amazing. Utterly beautiful. It felt like listening to Christmas. Grateful to have been introduced.
3
Jul 29 2024
View Album
Harvest
Neil Young
A beauty of an album. My favourite of his
4
Jul 30 2024
View Album
Feast of Wire
Calexico
Boring and possibly to blame for that folk revival that came later. Felt like it had no real substance, just vibe.
2
Jul 31 2024
View Album
Street Signs
Ozomatli
Very good but like kryptonite for me. A lot going on, very funky.
2
Aug 01 2024
View Album
The Predator
Ice Cube
Yes. This is ace. An excellent balance of rage and lolz. Cube calling a penis Jimmy is something I will never forget. Also, so good to hear Today Was A Good Day on my ride to work.
4
Aug 02 2024
View Album
Djam Leelii
Baaba Maal
This is a vibe. It took me a while to get used to the harmonics but once I’d gotten my ear around it, I found it an enjoyable listen. It’s albums like this that make me glad I did this challenge.
3
Aug 05 2024
View Album
Wild Is The Wind
Nina Simone
Beautiful and rich. The fact that it is so sampled speaks volumes. So good to hear.
4
Aug 06 2024
View Album
Metallica
Metallica
A bloody joy to listen to. I never cared for them back when they were doing their thing but in recent years, I’ve really come to appreciate their work. This is the album.
4
Aug 07 2024
View Album
I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail
Buck Owens
Sorta fun for the first few tracks but it didn’t hold my attention for long
2
Aug 08 2024
View Album
Os Mutantes
Os Mutantes
Bloody good album by all accounts
3
Aug 09 2024
View Album
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo
Devo
Good to go back to this era. I’ve never listened to any Devo but see them listed as influences to lots of my favourite artists
3
Aug 12 2024
View Album
She's So Unusual
Cyndi Lauper
Hard to decide how good this album was without all the nostalgia associated with it for me. I have had this record in my collection since I was 4 years old. It’s a great listen and a great album but how much rotation do I give it? Not that much
3
Aug 13 2024
View Album
Birth Of The Cool
Miles Davis
Very jazzy jazz. My brain just won’t.
2
Aug 14 2024
View Album
Deserter's Songs
Mercury Rev
Bloody hell I love this album.
5
Aug 15 2024
View Album
The Sensual World
Kate Bush
Kate is always wonderful. And also a little mad.
3
Aug 16 2024
View Album
Buffalo Springfield Again
Buffalo Springfield
Better than I imagined. Rich and layered. Lots of lovely songs on here.
3
Aug 19 2024
View Album
Tidal
Fiona Apple
Right up my street. It’s gone straight into my album saves so I can relisten. I only picked up her music in the last few years with Fetch The Bolt Cutters so really good to go back
4
Aug 20 2024
View Album
Devil Without A Cause
Kid Rock
This started out a lot of fun. I realise that right now, he’s a Trump supporter and has worked hard to cultivate an image as a far-right poster boy, but boy I liked some of these songs. I put myself into the place I was at when I started listening and got stuck into it. But after a while, the novelty wore off. The album was thin. He didn’t say or do much that he hadn’t done in the previous songs. There’s quite a few clues in there too for who he’d later become. All in all, started strong but got less and less interesting as I listened.
3
Aug 21 2024
View Album
Grace
Jeff Buckley
Beautiful. Important. Unforgettable.
4
Aug 22 2024
View Album
Honky Tonk Heroes
Waylon Jennings
A good bit of country with nice storytelling and that honky tonk sound.
3
Aug 23 2024
View Album
Real Life
Magazine
Fine but a little dull after a few tracks.
3
Aug 26 2024
View Album
Catch A Fire
Bob Marley & The Wailers
A great album. All vibe.
3
Aug 27 2024
View Album
Rio
Duran Duran
Incredible singles but no love for the album tracks.
3
Aug 28 2024
View Album
Everything Must Go
Manic Street Preachers
A brilliant album with some songs that are so dear to me. Angry and doesn’t try to hide it. I wish the album tracks were stronger though. I love the singles
3
Aug 29 2024
View Album
Stand!
Sly & The Family Stone
This album had just about everything. I was skeptical because funk is not my genre but there was a lot more than funk to be found here. The blueprint to some incredible rock n roll songs that would come later. So pleasantly surprised
4
Aug 30 2024
View Album
Sunshine Hit Me
The Bees
Better than I thought it’d be. Much better. So many different things in this album. They really span a bunch of genres.
4
Sep 02 2024
View Album
Basket of Light
Pentangle
A nice bit of folk to listen to on a sunny Friday.
3
Sep 03 2024
View Album
MTV Unplugged In New York
Nirvana
This is one of my favourites. I’m so grateful that this album exists. I loved nirvana and I am old enough to remember this concert taking place and every cough and little bit of chat feels really precious because we have so little of their work now. The covers are bold choices for the time and stand as beautiful nirvana songs nowadays, because these versions are just so good. I could go on and on. I love it.
5
Sep 04 2024
View Album
Devotional Songs
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Tonnes of atmosphere but nothing in it for me sonically.
2
Sep 05 2024
View Album
Antichrist Superstar
Marilyn Manson
Really very likable and I knew it would be. I’m not about giving this man my streaming cash but as it was for a good reason, ie this challenge, I’ll go all in. I really liked it.
3
Sep 06 2024
View Album
Hounds Of Love
Kate Bush
This was better than I remembered. Every song was wonderful. It felt as though it had been written and released this last year and for an album this old and one that I heard growing up in my home, that’s one hell of an achievement.
4
Sep 09 2024
View Album
Abraxas
Santana
Really bloody good. I have heard quite a bit of Santana but honestly, I hadn't expected the album to be so immersive. Beautiful guitars, just dripping in atmosphere.
3
Sep 10 2024
View Album
Solid Air
John Martyn
I thought I'd like this more than I do. I love Solid Air and his voice is incredible but in the end, it's just a good blues album. Nothing particularly remarkable about it except for the fact that it can slot neatly into the blues cannon despite it being made many years later and by a white guy. Still, a nice listen.
3
Sep 11 2024
View Album
Zombie
Fela Kuti
I tried! I just don’t have the ears for it.
2
Sep 12 2024
View Album
All Things Must Pass
George Harrison
Utterly brilliant and something I’d never have picked up
4
Sep 13 2024
View Album
The Next Day
David Bowie
I can’t fathom why this Bowie album would be on this list. The best songs are when Bowie does a Bowie impression and the others just seem to happen. The one really interesting track is If You Can See Me where he goes into the territory of drum n bass and I am here for that but otherwise it was a slog
2
Sep 16 2024
View Album
Here Are the Sonics
The Sonics
This was a delight. I hadn't expected to hear so many familiar songs and to enjoy those I didn't know this much. A great bit of rock n roll.
3
Sep 17 2024
View Album
The Pleasure Principle
Gary Numan
Fantastic. And so good to hear the original sample of Basement Jaxx’s track Where’s your head at?
3
Sep 18 2024
View Album
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
I was expecting to enjoying this more than I did. Some great songs and for a debut it’s a banger but it didn’t make me reach for the volume dial once.
3
Sep 19 2024
View Album
Sweetheart Of The Rodeo
The Byrds
Fine. Very much of a time. I was pleasantly surprised
3
Sep 20 2024
View Album
Blood On The Tracks
Bob Dylan
I love to listen to Bob. This was a great relisten too. So many songs I had forgotten.
4
Sep 23 2024
View Album
Scream, Dracula, Scream
Rocket From The Crypt
Loved it. A lot of fun and had to loop back to On A Rope. Great start to my day.
3
Sep 24 2024
View Album
Hot Shots II
The Beta Band
This was a great listen. I liked the album fine but hadn’t picked it up since the early naughts.
4
Sep 25 2024
View Album
Fisherman's Blues
The Waterboys
Good old Irish style balladry and I enjoyed it plenty. I was expecting pop!
3
Sep 26 2024
View Album
Future Days
Can
Brilliant. I’m new to Can and it doesn’t feel like it because so many of the artists I love have been inspired by them. Great listening
4
Sep 27 2024
View Album
Legalize It
Peter Tosh
Good old fashioned reggae. Sounds like the 70s. Not where I’d hang my hat but a good listen nonetheless
3
Sep 30 2024
View Album
Our Aim Is To Satisfy
Red Snapper
This really took me back to when electronic music was regarded as dark and cool and this is right here in the tracks. Loved listening to it.
3
Oct 01 2024
View Album
Low
David Bowie
Gorgeous, varied, Bowie
4
Oct 02 2024
View Album
Too Rye Ay
Dexys Midnight Runners
Basically what I thought it'd be. It was good to hear Jackie Wilson Said and the rest was fine.
3
Oct 03 2024
View Album
Live 1966 (The Royal Albert Hall Concert)
Bob Dylan
Wonderful, as ever. Good to hear Dylan singing live back in the days when his voice still held up. Some of my favourite songs here and the live aspect really conjured a sense of the place and time.
4
Oct 04 2024
View Album
Trans Europe Express
Kraftwerk
Good music. Basically, just that. Good electronic music. In context, groundbreaking. Looking back, very good.
3
Oct 07 2024
View Album
Dust
Screaming Trees
A good album and not at all what I was expecting given the title
3
Oct 08 2024
View Album
Nebraska
Bruce Springsteen
I love a bit of Bruce but this was dull.
2
Oct 09 2024
View Album
Shleep
Robert Wyatt
Super interesting, challenging in places, totally unknown to me. A good listen.
3
Oct 10 2024
View Album
Homework
Daft Punk
Brilliant bit of electronica. A modern classic. Very enjoyable.
4
Oct 11 2024
View Album
Rust In Peace
Megadeth
Fast, noisy, fun. A lot. Not at all for me.
2
Oct 14 2024
View Album
Coles Corner
Richard Hawley
It’s a perfect album and one that I listen to every winter so this year, it’s happening earlier than ever. His voice is beautiful and the music so sad. I could listen to this album forever and not get tired of it. I will play it many times over the coming months.
5
Oct 15 2024
View Album
Tres Hombres
ZZ Top
I can say that it's not as bad as I thought it would be, but that's pretty faint praise
2
Oct 16 2024
View Album
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
The Smashing Pumpkins
Beautiful, melodramatic, nostalgic, long. Everything.
4
Oct 17 2024
View Album
Smile
Brian Wilson
I just couldn’t get along with this. It was very hard work. Harmonies just like the beach boys but I never felt like any of the songs actually came together as songs. Just Brian Wilson doing Veian Wilson.
2
Oct 18 2024
View Album
Synchronicity
The Police
Worse than I had expected. Sting’s voice, which I usually enjoy, was shrill and irritating. The songs felt like they were half done.
2
Oct 21 2024
View Album
Third
Portishead
I loved this album. The Rip is a 5/5 song. I listen to plenty of portishead but this one came to me in later years and it was a gift. One morning I was in Seattle for work and my son, then 14, made me a playlist and sent it over with that song on it. I’ll never forget hearing it that way too. I just love this album.
5
Oct 22 2024
View Album
Killing Joke
Killing Joke
So much better than I’d anticipated. Dark and moody, nice and noisy too. Good 80s vibes.
3
Oct 23 2024
View Album
Bandwagonesque
Teenage Fanclub
A good album that really seems to have set the tone for much of what came out of the UK in the 90s
3
Oct 24 2024
View Album
Crazysexycool
TLC
God, what a joy that was to listen to. I loved it as a 13 year old. I still love it now. The mood is perfect, TLC have such a cool balance between the members. I am just such a fan of this
4
Oct 25 2024
View Album
No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith (Live)
Motörhead
Raucous and fun. I never thought I was a Motörhead fan but I enjoy every bit of it I’m served. This is no exception
3
Oct 28 2024
View Album
Chelsea Girl
Nico
God. This was beautiful. So good to listen to on a cold morning in Copenhagen. These Days is of course a really lovely song and one that I’ve listened to for many years. The whole album worked for me. Glad to have heard it.
4
Oct 29 2024
View Album
Pink Flag
Wire
I thought I liked Elastica but it turns out I like Wire. A really good, scuzzy rock album from the 70s that has changed my eye rolling instinct that comes each time I see an album dated that way on this list.
3
Oct 30 2024
View Album
Goo
Sonic Youth
Absurdly cool. I love Sonic Youth. It’s autumn and I’m ready to spend a season listening to grungy, scuzzy guitars.
5
Oct 31 2024
View Album
Heroes to Zeros
The Beta Band
I get easily bored of The Beta Band. I just find the whole thing too much in the way of vibe and not enough in the way of substance
2
Nov 01 2024
View Album
With The Beatles
Beatles
I just never got the Beatles. This is them at their most irritating. I suppose they have nice voices though
2
Nov 04 2024
View Album
Welcome to the Afterfuture
Mike Ladd
I tried this and I get that lyrically it's good and musically it's challenging enough but it was a slog
2
Nov 12 2024
View Album
American Idiot
Green Day
Yesssss. I forgot just how good this album is. A timely listen for me (getting Green Day tickets and Trump’s re-election) and one that I enjoyed all the way through.
4
Nov 13 2024
View Album
Parallel Lines
Blondie
A solid album. So many singles on here and the tracks that weren’t made me smile too.
3
Nov 14 2024
View Album
Melody A.M.
Röyksopp
Fine. Very much of the time. Just a little dull when you listen to an entire album but beautiful background music
3
Nov 20 2024
View Album
The Soft Bulletin
The Flaming Lips
I just didn't like it that much! Aside from the one song that I always loved, the rest didn't land the way I thought they would. I found his voice almost unbearable, which is nuts considering how much I have loved other albums by Flaming Lips
2
Nov 21 2024
View Album
Justified
Justin Timberlake
I love the singles from this album but man the filler is bad. Some of these lyrics are criminal. The production is too notch though so I see why this would make it. Just about.
3
Nov 22 2024
View Album
I'm Your Man
Leonard Cohen
Not my favourite bit of Cohen. Some of the 80s vibes were just too much for me. The title track was wonderful though and it was an enjoyable listen
3
Nov 25 2024
View Album
Rejoicing In The Hands
Devendra Banhart
Enjoyable most of the way through but then noodly harp got a bit too much for me in places
3
Nov 26 2024
View Album
The Fat Of The Land
The Prodigy
This album does so much for me. First of all, it sounds amazing in my car. I listened to a lot of this in my dad’s car when I was a teenager so what a joy to come back to it and get that same buzz. The sheer noisiness is legendary.
4
Nov 27 2024
View Album
New York Dolls
New York Dolls
It sounded so much like The Strokes. It's crazy when you listen to one of your favourite band's influences and can track it like that
3
Nov 28 2024
View Album
Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division
It’s a brilliant, atmospheric album. Obviously iconic and for a good few years I found it dull and wondered what the fuss was all about bit in recent years I’ve spent a lot of time with this album and it really resonates now
4
Nov 29 2024
View Album
Fever To Tell
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
It’s basically perfect. So of the times but it’s aged so well. Some incredible songs on here but the urgency of the entire album tells a story too. I didn’t love the album when it landed. I thought it was pretty good but I didn’t sit and do the entire thing and now I have I’m delighted.
5
Dec 02 2024
View Album
Disintegration
The Cure
Beautiful, sumptuous, dark. A brilliant album from start to finish.
4
Dec 03 2024
View Album
Ghosteen
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
It’s a perfect album. Lyrically heartbreaking and sonically sumptuous.
5
Dec 04 2024
View Album
I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
Sinead O'Connor
Beautiful and furious
4
Dec 05 2024
View Album
Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd
I grew up listening to this album and specifically, the title track so it was really good to listen again with grown up ears.
4
Dec 06 2024
View Album
Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
3
Dec 10 2024
View Album
Brutal Youth
Elvis Costello
It’s a good album. He’s a great storyteller. I didn’t love the songs though. I liked the stories.
3
Dec 11 2024
View Album
Post Orgasmic Chill
Skunk Anansie
I enjoyed this so so much. Her vocal range is astonishing and the songs are massive. I love it. I also love the drum n bass that creeps in throughout. Very unusual at the time to have those crossovers.
4
Dec 13 2024
View Album
All Hope Is Gone
Slipknot
More melodic than I expected but not as much fun as previous Slipknot album
3
Dec 16 2024
View Album
Blue
Joni Mitchell
One of my all time favourite albums and so good to listen to at this time of year, when I already have River in heavy rotation. Funny how little of the rest of her catalogue I enjoy really. Her voice grates and it’s only on this record that I really enjoy it
5
Dec 17 2024
View Album
Sulk
The Associates
Layered and strange. More depth than I expected from the 80s
3
Dec 18 2024
View Album
Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim
Frank Sinatra
Gorgeous. Such a beautiful atmosphere. Great songs. Lovely voice. Just a great surprise when I expected to be bored
4
Dec 19 2024
View Album
Tellin’ Stories
The Charlatans
Not just wonderful because it meant so much to me as a young teenager. Still wonderful now. I had to hit repeat on the title track because it was so good to have it in my ears.
4
Dec 20 2024
View Album
NEU! 75
Neu!
A right little gem from this challenge. No expectations going in but a really good bit of krautrock that I’ll definitely return to
4