714
Albums Rated
3.19
Average Rating
66%
Complete
375 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
2020
Favorite Decade
Hip-hop
Favorite Genre
US
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
48
5-Star Albums
8
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Idlewild
Everything But The Girl
|
5 | 2.58 | +2.42 |
|
A Grand Don't Come For Free
The Streets
|
5 | 2.67 | +2.33 |
|
Ghosteen
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
|
5 | 2.97 | +2.03 |
|
Deserter's Songs
Mercury Rev
|
5 | 3.03 | +1.97 |
|
Coles Corner
Richard Hawley
|
5 | 3.03 | +1.97 |
|
Dirty
Sonic Youth
|
5 | 3.11 | +1.89 |
|
Third
Portishead
|
5 | 3.13 | +1.87 |
|
Lost Souls
Doves
|
5 | 3.15 | +1.85 |
|
Dear Science
TV On The Radio
|
5 | 3.16 | +1.84 |
|
Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
George Michael
|
5 | 3.17 | +1.83 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Beatles
|
2 | 4.25 | -2.25 |
|
The Bones Of What You Believe
CHVRCHES
|
1 | 3.18 | -2.18 |
|
Pump
Aerosmith
|
1 | 3.12 | -2.12 |
|
Street Life
The Crusaders
|
1 | 3.09 | -2.09 |
|
A Night At The Opera
Queen
|
2 | 3.96 | -1.96 |
|
Destroyer
KISS
|
1 | 2.86 | -1.86 |
|
Freak Out!
The Mothers Of Invention
|
1 | 2.83 | -1.83 |
|
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
|
2 | 3.82 | -1.82 |
|
Night Life
Ray Price
|
1 | 2.81 | -1.81 |
|
Bad
Michael Jackson
|
2 | 3.8 | -1.8 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Radiohead | 4 | 4.75 |
| Nirvana | 2 | 5 |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 2 | 5 |
| Sonic Youth | 5 | 4.2 |
| Arcade Fire | 3 | 4.33 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 3 | 4.33 |
| R.E.M. | 3 | 4.33 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Fleetwood Mac | 2, 5 |
| Joni Mitchell | 2, 2, 5 |
5-Star Albums (48)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Travis · 14 likes
4/5
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.
Parliament · 8 likes
2/5
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.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo · 3 likes
2/5
Not for me. I remember folks getting very excited about this in the 90s and even then finding it a bit meh
Doves · 3 likes
5/5
Beautiful album, so much atmosphere. I have loved this for many years.
Sonic Youth · 1 likes
5/5
“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.
4-Star Albums (191)
1-Star Albums (8)
All Ratings
Ray Charles
4/5
Belle & Sebastian
5/5
The Smiths
4/5
The Isley Brothers
5/5
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.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
2/5
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.
Motörhead
3/5
More fun and melodic than I expected
Public Enemy
4/5
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.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
1/5
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.
Iron Butterfly
3/5
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.
Willie Nelson
4/5
An absolute pleasure to listen to. I’ve always liked Willie but never chosen to listen so really grateful to have this nudge.
Neil Young
3/5
Parliament
2/5
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.
AC/DC
2/5
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.
Blur
4/5
More appealing to 2023 me than 1997 me. Almost perfect but Albarn’s mockney accent just grates on me.
The Clash
4/5
Excellent album. Very much reminds me of being little as my folks played this a lot.
Buena Vista Social Club
4/5
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
The Crusaders
1/5
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.
Michael Kiwanuka
5/5
I really love this album so was delighted that it appeared on the list to remind me to give it a listen again.
LL Cool J
3/5
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.
The Pogues
3/5
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.
Television
4/5
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
Peter Frampton
2/5
His skill is undeniable but I got ever so bored. I get it but I’m not into it.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Of course this was wonderful. One of my all time favourite songs lives here. Beautifully made. A joy to listen to.
Rod Stewart
2/5
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
Fats Domino
3/5
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.
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
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
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
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
The Stooges
4/5
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.
Sonic Youth
5/5
“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.
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
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.
Pink Floyd
4/5
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.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
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.
The Sabres Of Paradise
2/5
I didn’t hate it but I did want it to end.
Travis
4/5
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.
The Stone Roses
5/5
This album is perfect.
The Clash
4/5
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.
Thin Lizzy
3/5
Far more enjoyable than I imagined. Even live, this band sound so good.
Cee Lo Green
2/5
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.
Funkadelic
4/5
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.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
Scuzzy, grungy goodness.
Tito Puente
3/5
A lot of fun. Good summery record.
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
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.
Marty Robbins
3/5
Brilliant storytelling and super enjoyable from the get go.
Kate Bush
3/5
Mad. A totally mad record. Kate Bush is a total legend but this isn’t the album I’ll listen if given a choice.
James Taylor
2/5
I found his voice lovely on the country tracks but thin on the blues.
Patti Smith
4/5
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.
Blur
2/5
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.
Talvin Singh
3/5
Ok, well actually, pretty good
Pantera
2/5
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.
Fela Kuti
3/5
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.
Pixies
5/5
YASSSSS! I can listen to this all day long.
The White Stripes
4/5
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.
John Grant
4/5
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.
Scott Walker
3/5
Good and dramatic. Quite a voice!
George Michael
5/5
This is one of my all time favourite albums, thanks.
Traffic
3/5
It was perfectly good. Moments of funkiness and progginess that I heartily enjoyed but nothing jumped out for me.
Love
2/5
Very 60s. I felt like I was in an Austin Powers movie. Psychedelic. Not for me.
Leftfield
4/5
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.
Arrested Development
4/5
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.
Jeff Beck
3/5
Yeah I liked this more than I thought I would.
Kacey Musgraves
2/5
Ah I don’t like it. It’s fine. It’s well produced? It’s fine? I just find it a bit annoying really.
Otis Redding
5/5
Beautiful. Perfect.
Alanis Morissette
4/5
What a marvellous listen. I have missed this and I didn’t even know it.
Adele
3/5
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.
The Lemonheads
2/5
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.
Talking Heads
3/5
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
The Smiths
3/5
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.
Marianne Faithfull
2/5
Some nice pop moments but mostly unremarkable
De La Soul
3/5
A great album. Loads of fun, such classics and the skits might even actually be funny, depending on my mood.
David Bowie
3/5
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
Roxy Music
3/5
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.
John Cale
2/5
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.
Isaac Hayes
4/5
Sumptuous, interesting, classic. So much love for this one. Never thought I was a Hayes fan but I was wrong.
Violent Femmes
4/5
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.
Metallica
2/5
That was a slog. I found it really boring.
Taylor Swift
3/5
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.
The Fall
3/5
Fine. I get The Fall but I don’t love The Fall
OutKast
5/5
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.
2/5
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.
Radiohead
5/5
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.
Arcade Fire
4/5
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.
The Doors
3/5
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.
Johnny Cash
5/5
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).
KISS
1/5
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.
Beck
3/5
Sad, gorgeous. Contains one of my favourite Beck songs of all time - Lost Cause.
Fleet Foxes
3/5
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.
The The
3/5
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.
Saint Etienne
4/5
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.
Ray Price
1/5
I hated it. Yup. Moralising and dull. Terrible combo.
Michael Jackson
4/5
It’s such a banger, despite the discomfort I have listening to Michael Jackson.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
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
DJ Shadow
4/5
So cool. Very little else to say.
Rahul Dev Burman
4/5
The Rolling Stones
2/5
A few amazing songs make this album. The rest wasn’t for me.
3/5
A great album. Nothing unexpected here and a few lovely songs.
Jurassic 5
2/5
Fine. Scratchy. Ok to listen to but it got a bit dull.
Common
3/5
Delightful
Elton John
4/5
Harry Nilsson
4/5
Wow. Just brilliant. I had no idea.
Dire Straits
4/5
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.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
A really enjoyable listen. A crooner improved my morning.
3/5
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.
JAY Z
5/5
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.
Sly & The Family Stone
2/5
Not at all my thing but sure. Good stuff and well made.
Steely Dan
3/5
It’s fine. It feels like I know it but I don’t. I think that’s due to Steely Dan being so distinctive.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
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.
Sleater-Kinney
2/5
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.
The Youngbloods
3/5
A genuinely likeable album that opens with a banger
PJ Harvey
3/5
This is the right PJ Harvey era for me. I love how raw this is and recognisably hers too.
Franz Ferdinand
3/5
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.
Radiohead
4/5
An incredible piece of work
Arctic Monkeys
4/5
I bloody love this album. No need for me to listen today. I listen enough.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
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.
Bon Jovi
3/5
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.
Wu-Tang Clan
3/5
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.
Rush
2/5
This sounds so much like the songs that play over the credits to 80s movies. Probably very good but not for me.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
Layered, sumptuous, sincere. I really enjoyed this and I did not expect to.
Goldfrapp
3/5
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.
Paul Simon
3/5
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.
Black Sabbath
3/5
Not what I was expecting. Far more experimental and moody. Really interesting listen, given my preconceptions.
Supertramp
3/5
Not at all what I knew supertramp for and pretty good.
Donald Fagen
2/5
I got bored
Sabu
2/5
Very good but too too much for me. I couldn’t listen again.
Moby Grape
2/5
Eminem
4/5
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.
Air
4/5
Atmospheric, beautiful, unforgettable
B.B. King
3/5
2/5
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.
Culture Club
2/5
A couple of fun songs but nothing beyond that for me
Ali Farka Touré
2/5
Too jazzy for me
Cocteau Twins
4/5
Gorgeous. Delightful.
Dead Kennedys
3/5
Such a lot of fun. Short songs, raced through. Really enjoyed it.
Kanye West
4/5
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.
Gang Starr
3/5
Good, important, old school rap. I have much respect for these two but I can’t help get a bit bored listening
Sufjan Stevens
5/5
This album is beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous and I am so glad to listen to it. I will listen and listen again.
Kraftwerk
3/5
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.
Doves
5/5
Beautiful album, so much atmosphere. I have loved this for many years.
Soundgarden
3/5
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.
Big Star
3/5
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.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
A beautiful album.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
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.
Van Halen
3/5
Fun. Can’t say much else.
Sonic Youth
3/5
Gorgeous, scuzzy music
Merle Haggard
2/5
Meh
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Gorgeous album
Miles Davis
3/5
Surprisingly, I didn’t hate it. I can’t stand jazz but this was ok. It was mellow. It was manageable.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
2/5
I was bored.
Neil Young
3/5
Lovely album and one I’ve listened to plenty. It’s not on my relisten list but it’s always nice to go back.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
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.
Bob Dylan
3/5
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.
Dolly Parton
4/5
Beautiful storytelling. I’ve never listened to an entire dolly. Very glad I have now
Wild Beasts
2/5
Just not for me. His voice grates.
John Prine
4/5
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.
GZA
3/5
Muddy Waters
3/5
Lorde
3/5
Surprisingly good music here. I knew she had something to her but never felt to investigate. Grateful for this listen.
The Who
2/5
This bored me. The Who always did. I tried but it all felt so samey.
Mudhoney
3/5
Fuzzy. This racket must have given birth to nirvana.
Ghostface Killah
4/5
Great big beats! I loved it.
The Temptations
2/5
Of course it’s good but it doesn’t move me at all.
Eels
3/5
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
Everything But The Girl
5/5
Beautiful and gorgeous and a great invitation to plough into the back catalog. Perfect.
The Young Gods
2/5
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.
New Order
3/5
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.
Ray Charles
3/5
Joan Armatrading
4/5
Beautiful music.
Anthrax
3/5
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.
Tori Amos
3/5
I really liked this. Such boldness and incredible songwriting.
Maxwell
2/5
It's too smooth for me. I just can't.
Sam Cooke
4/5
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.
3/5
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.
Johnny Cash
3/5
This was a right joy to listen to
Beastie Boys
3/5
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!
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
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.
Johnny Cash
4/5
Wow. I enjoyed this far more than I did the San Quentin record.
Arcade Fire
5/5
It’s a perfect album. I’ve loved this for years and nothing has changed about that. Intense, beautiful, it bangs.
Beatles
3/5
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.
Terence Trent D'Arby
3/5
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.
Serge Gainsbourg
4/5
Absolutely brilliant. I’ve missed out on Serge and it’s good to have an introduction. This will go into rotation.
Gorillaz
3/5
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.
Rage Against The Machine
4/5
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.
The Zutons
2/5
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.
2/5
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.
Dolly Parton
4/5
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.
4/5
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!
Jerry Lee Lewis
3/5
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.
The The
2/5
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.
Stereo MC's
2/5
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.
Thundercat
3/5
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.
T. Rex
3/5
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.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
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.
The Shamen
2/5
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.
Pere Ubu
2/5
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.
Roxy Music
2/5
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.
Pixies
4/5
Always happy to hear from Pixies. Brilliant album and a joy to listen to.
Elliott Smith
2/5
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.
Janelle Monáe
3/5
A real stunner for a debut. Super cool and so much fun to be had.
Finley Quaye
4/5
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
Madonna
2/5
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.
Beatles
3/5
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.
Radiohead
5/5
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.
Mj Cole
3/5
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.
The Cramps
3/5
This was great fun to listen to. Love a bit of punk and always good to hear something nice and early
Burning Spear
3/5
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.
Stan Getz
3/5
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.
Elvis Presley
2/5
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.
Todd Rundgren
3/5
It was nice. It sounded like the seventies. Super smooth in places.
Stephen Stills
3/5
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.
Joni Mitchell
2/5
This is Joni but it’s not my Joni. I love her voice but on these songs, it doesn’t quite work for me.
Depeche Mode
4/5
LOVED this. I have always liked Depeche Mode but never actually listened to an album. Weird. Glad to pick this one up.
Aerosmith
3/5
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.
Sepultura
3/5
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.
The Divine Comedy
3/5
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.
Steely Dan
3/5
Ooo yes. Super smooth, hella enjoyable.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
I love listening to Simon & Garfunkel so this was an absolute pleas
Earth, Wind & Fire
4/5
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.
Drive Like Jehu
3/5
Yes! This all happened so much earlier than I thought, it seems. A great racket I’d never even heard of.
The Damned
3/5
Wonderfully noisy stuff. A great accompaniment to a trip home from Berlin too.
Michael Jackson
2/5
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.
Willie Nelson
4/5
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.
Funkadelic
4/5
This absolutely bangs. I have missed a corner of music and this quest has given me that back. This album is astounding.
Def Leppard
2/5
I tried!
N.W.A.
4/5
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.
FKA twigs
4/5
Beautiful. Gorgeous. Almost perfect.
Elton John
2/5
It was Elton so yay but apart from the super strong opening with Tiny Dancer, the rest didn’t work for me.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
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.
Beyoncé
3/5
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
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
4/5
I'm so glad I managed to listen to this. It's incredible. I am struggling to find words to put to it.
The Strokes
5/5
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.
Charles Mingus
3/5
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.
Various Artists
5/5
The perfect, classic Christmas album. I love this record and it’s in heavy rotation every year.
Paul Simon
4/5
A really beautiful album. I’ve listened before but so passively. It was a pleasure to listen to again after all these years.
Iron Maiden
2/5
I didn't hate it but I did find it very easy to ignore. Guitars and stuff. Riffs. Nothing very interesting to me.
The Stooges
3/5
In context, quite excellent, very important and groundbreaking work. Upon listening though, it's good. I liked it.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4/5
Bloody hell, that voice. What an album and what a sound. Transportative.
The Doors
3/5
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.
Deep Purple
3/5
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.
Christina Aguilera
4/5
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.
Tears For Fears
3/5
A really good listen from a band I’ve always liked well enough but not really gotten to know about.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
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.
Tracy Chapman
5/5
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.
Billy Bragg
3/5
I didn’t know this project existed and it was a great listen when I popped it on. What a combo of artists!
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
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.
Big Star
2/5
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?
Nine Inch Nails
4/5
Brilliant album. Noisy in the right way.
Derek & The Dominos
3/5
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.
Hüsker Dü
3/5
Yup. This could be early REM. It’s a shame they didn’t blow up like REM did. It’s a great album.
Goldfrapp
3/5
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.
Wilco
4/5
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.
Massive Attack
4/5
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.
The White Stripes
3/5
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.
The Boo Radleys
4/5
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.
Elvis Presley
3/5
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.
k.d. lang
2/5
I found this to be quite boring. The epitome of MOR music. I won’t be going back to it.
Count Basie & His Orchestra
3/5
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.
Leonard Cohen
5/5
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.
Jamiroquai
2/5
I did try but it felt like. Load of nonsense at the time and unfortunately that hasn’t changed for me.
The Jam
4/5
Great stuff. Something to get me bobbing around the house this morning.
Weather Report
2/5
Smooth and soulful. It's good but I don't like it.
Pulp
5/5
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.
Paul Simon
4/5
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.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
I find it hard to put into words how much and why I love this album. It’s perfect.
SAULT
4/5
Innovative but still really enjoyable. I was really happy to see this album on the list.
808 State
3/5
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.
Metallica
3/5
Beautifully done. A really special performance.
Coldplay
3/5
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.
3/5
Cool but repetitive in places. Some songs I loved and others I wanted to skip.
Chicago
2/5
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.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
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.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
3/5
Incredibly likable. I hadn’t expected to enjoy it quite so much as I did
Nas
4/5
It’s a great album. The blueprint to so much of what came after too. Love the beats, the lyrics, Nas’s voice. Brilliant.
Queen
2/5
So very operatic for a rock album. I really appreciate what they’re doing here but it is not at all for me.
Holger Czukay
3/5
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.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Absolutely brilliant
The Offspring
4/5
LOVED this album. Did then and still do.
Pearl Jam
3/5
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.
ABBA
3/5
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.
The War On Drugs
4/5
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.
The Go-Betweens
2/5
It sounded a lot like something I’d like but I couldn’t get along with it. Each song sounded similar to the next.
Sigur Rós
4/5
It’s beautiful, bewitching, beguiling. Other be words. Magical.
Elvis Presley
3/5
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.
Cypress Hill
3/5
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.
Supergrass
3/5
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.
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
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.
Marvin Gaye
5/5
Oh my god it’s beautiful. I love this album. Lyrically and musically it’s perfect.
King Crimson
2/5
Sheesh. Ok I know it’s a classic and yes, of course, well done this lot but it’s way too jazzy for me.
Bad Brains
3/5
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.
Gotan Project
3/5
It’s good. Really good. But it also really feels like background music
Queen
2/5
Very operatic indeed. Not my cup of tea but I have to appreciate the craft here.
R.E.M.
4/5
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
The Band
4/5
This was really good. Really good. I hadn't expected to enjoy it quite so much. Soulful and folksy.
Fever Ray
3/5
I don’t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. It was darker. I liked it.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
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.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
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)
The Rolling Stones
3/5
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.
Miles Davis
3/5
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.
The Beau Brummels
3/5
A likeable album.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
2/5
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.
Tim Buckley
3/5
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.
The Rolling Stones
4/5
This was excellent. Probably the only album by the stones that I’d gladly throw on to listen to. Magical opening.
Guns N' Roses
4/5
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.
Bill Callahan
4/5
Loves me a bit of Bill. His lyrics like prose, he just sings whatever he needs to and his voice is so beautiful.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
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.
Joni Mitchell
2/5
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.
Frank Zappa
2/5
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.
Duke Ellington
3/5
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.
Fairport Convention
4/5
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.
Billy Bragg
4/5
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
Stevie Wonder
3/5
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
Rush
2/5
That was a lot.
The Allman Brothers Band
2/5
That combo of undeniably good but totally uninteresting to me
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
2/5
Fine
Miles Davis
3/5
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.
TV On The Radio
5/5
What a perfect and brilliant album. I loved this at the time and it has aged so well. A joy to listen to.
Steely Dan
3/5
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.
Yes
2/5
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.
Tim Buckley
3/5
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.
XTC
3/5
80s goodness. Great to do a full album
Morrissey
4/5
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.
Eagles
3/5
Great listening. Super opening with Take It Easy that really sets up the rest of the album.
Prince
2/5
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.
Nitin Sawhney
3/5
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.
Barry Adamson
3/5
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
Butthole Surfers
3/5
Fun! Rowdy! Probably not one I’ll listen to again but a good bit of time spent in adolescence
Judas Priest
2/5
Good rock noise. Loved hearing Breaking the Law but as ever, the rest didn’t do much for me
Crosby, Stills & Nash
3/5
Perfectly good stuff
Linkin Park
4/5
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.
Lana Del Rey
2/5
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.
Small Faces
2/5
60s psychedelic pop is fine by me but nothing exciting here
Bob Dylan
4/5
God I love Dylan. And this album has some absolute classics on it.
The Police
3/5
Truly, a great album. I liked it a lot. Another gem I’d never explored aside from the singles.
Lucinda Williams
3/5
Good songwriting and nice melodies too. Not someone who has ever been on my radar but happy to have heard her
Fishbone
3/5
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.
Aerosmith
1/5
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.
Paul McCartney and Wings
3/5
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.
3/5
Super cool, incredibly layered, surprising. A better listen than I was anticipating.
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
Gorgeous, smooth, soulful, cool. Everything I would expect from Curtis Mayfield.
a-ha
3/5
A lot of fun!
Emmylou Harris
4/5
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.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
It’s perfect. So many incredible songs that I knew and had forgotten about and others I’d never heard.
Black Sabbath
2/5
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.
Public Image Ltd.
3/5
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!
Barry Adamson
3/5
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.
Rod Stewart
3/5
A nice listen but little more than nice
The Beach Boys
4/5
It’s a gorgeous album and a joy to listen to after the previous offerings.
Radiohead
5/5
It’s perfect. It’s my favourite album of all time. I can’t add a thing.
Tom Waits
3/5
It was pretty good but it got super repetitive. He's funny! And that is ace at the start but it gets old quick.
Iggy Pop
3/5
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.
Dagmar Krause
3/5
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.
Arcade Fire
4/5
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.
Thelonious Monk
2/5
Bright, busy and bouncy. Hurt my head to try.
Steve Earle
3/5
A great bit of country pop that manages big themes while still keeping the vibes up. Nice.
Public Enemy
4/5
Classic!
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
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.
Herbie Hancock
2/5
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.
Depeche Mode
4/5
It’s a brilliant album. A proper joy to listen to these dark songs.
Frank Black
4/5
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!
Elis Regina
3/5
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.
2Pac
4/5
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.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
Oh it was fine. Very nice. Stevie always is.
Dire Straits
3/5
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.
Incubus
3/5
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.
UB40
3/5
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.
Joe Ely
3/5
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
Bob Dylan
3/5
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.
Sister Sledge
3/5
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
Throwing Muses
4/5
How the hell did this pass me by? It’s like it was made for me. A fantastic bit of post punk. Brilliant
Germs
3/5
I really enjoyed this. A fast and loud.
Genesis
2/5
I tried, I really did. But it’s so long! And I get it. I do! I just didn’t like it.
R.E.M.
4/5
I love listening to the old REM albums. It has really changed my relationship with the band. Great listen.
The Go-Go's
4/5
I liked this a lot. I hadn't expected to but yep, I really did. Fun, 80s pop-rock. I'll take it!
Paul McCartney
2/5
It is all the reasons I’ve never enjoyed his work. Dull and derivative.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
3/5
Far more enjoyable than I thought it’d be! Difficult to listen to on account of it being so old but solid.
R.E.M.
5/5
It’s a brilliant, beautiful album. It has gotten better over the years too.
Dusty Springfield
4/5
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
Talking Heads
4/5
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.
Deee-Lite
2/5
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.
Nightmares On Wax
2/5
Not at all for me. Way too mellow. Also, not stoned.
Soft Machine
2/5
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.
Solomon Burke
4/5
Beautiful music
Oasis
5/5
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.
The 13th Floor Elevators
2/5
Sure, it’s good. No, it’s not for me.
CHVRCHES
1/5
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.
Sarah Vaughan
3/5
Her voice is amazing. Utterly beautiful. It felt like listening to Christmas. Grateful to have been introduced.
Neil Young
4/5
A beauty of an album. My favourite of his
Calexico
2/5
Boring and possibly to blame for that folk revival that came later. Felt like it had no real substance, just vibe.
Ozomatli
2/5
Very good but like kryptonite for me. A lot going on, very funky.
Ice Cube
4/5
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.
Baaba Maal
3/5
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.
Nina Simone
4/5
Beautiful and rich. The fact that it is so sampled speaks volumes. So good to hear.
Metallica
4/5
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.
Buck Owens
2/5
Sorta fun for the first few tracks but it didn’t hold my attention for long
Os Mutantes
3/5
Bloody good album by all accounts
3/5
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
Cyndi Lauper
3/5
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
Miles Davis
2/5
Very jazzy jazz. My brain just won’t.
Mercury Rev
5/5
Bloody hell I love this album.
Kate Bush
3/5
Kate is always wonderful. And also a little mad.
Buffalo Springfield
3/5
Better than I imagined. Rich and layered. Lots of lovely songs on here.
Fiona Apple
4/5
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
Kid Rock
3/5
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.
Jeff Buckley
4/5
Beautiful. Important. Unforgettable.
Waylon Jennings
3/5
A good bit of country with nice storytelling and that honky tonk sound.
Magazine
3/5
Fine but a little dull after a few tracks.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
A great album. All vibe.
Duran Duran
3/5
Incredible singles but no love for the album tracks.
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
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
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
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
The Bees
4/5
Better than I thought it’d be. Much better. So many different things in this album. They really span a bunch of genres.
Pentangle
3/5
A nice bit of folk to listen to on a sunny Friday.
Nirvana
5/5
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.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
2/5
Tonnes of atmosphere but nothing in it for me sonically.
Marilyn Manson
3/5
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.
Kate Bush
4/5
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.
Santana
3/5
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.
John Martyn
3/5
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.
Fela Kuti
2/5
I tried! I just don’t have the ears for it.
George Harrison
4/5
Utterly brilliant and something I’d never have picked up
David Bowie
2/5
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
The Sonics
3/5
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.
Gary Numan
3/5
Fantastic. And so good to hear the original sample of Basement Jaxx’s track Where’s your head at?
Foo Fighters
3/5
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.
The Byrds
3/5
Fine. Very much of a time. I was pleasantly surprised
Bob Dylan
4/5
I love to listen to Bob. This was a great relisten too. So many songs I had forgotten.
Rocket From The Crypt
3/5
Loved it. A lot of fun and had to loop back to On A Rope. Great start to my day.
The Beta Band
4/5
This was a great listen. I liked the album fine but hadn’t picked it up since the early naughts.
The Waterboys
3/5
Good old Irish style balladry and I enjoyed it plenty. I was expecting pop!
Can
4/5
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
Peter Tosh
3/5
Good old fashioned reggae. Sounds like the 70s. Not where I’d hang my hat but a good listen nonetheless
Red Snapper
3/5
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.
David Bowie
4/5
Gorgeous, varied, Bowie
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Basically what I thought it'd be. It was good to hear Jackie Wilson Said and the rest was fine.
4/5
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.
Kraftwerk
3/5
Good music. Basically, just that. Good electronic music. In context, groundbreaking. Looking back, very good.
Screaming Trees
3/5
A good album and not at all what I was expecting given the title
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
I love a bit of Bruce but this was dull.
Robert Wyatt
3/5
Super interesting, challenging in places, totally unknown to me. A good listen.
Daft Punk
4/5
Brilliant bit of electronica. A modern classic. Very enjoyable.
Megadeth
2/5
Fast, noisy, fun. A lot. Not at all for me.
Richard Hawley
5/5
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.
ZZ Top
2/5
I can say that it's not as bad as I thought it would be, but that's pretty faint praise
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
Beautiful, melodramatic, nostalgic, long. Everything.
Brian Wilson
2/5
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.
The Police
2/5
Worse than I had expected. Sting’s voice, which I usually enjoy, was shrill and irritating. The songs felt like they were half done.
Portishead
5/5
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.
Killing Joke
3/5
So much better than I’d anticipated. Dark and moody, nice and noisy too. Good 80s vibes.
Teenage Fanclub
3/5
A good album that really seems to have set the tone for much of what came out of the UK in the 90s
TLC
4/5
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
Motörhead
3/5
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
Nico
4/5
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.
Wire
3/5
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.
Sonic Youth
5/5
Absurdly cool. I love Sonic Youth. It’s autumn and I’m ready to spend a season listening to grungy, scuzzy guitars.
The Beta Band
2/5
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
Beatles
2/5
I just never got the Beatles. This is them at their most irritating. I suppose they have nice voices though
Mike Ladd
2/5
I tried this and I get that lyrically it's good and musically it's challenging enough but it was a slog
Deep Purple
3/5
A fine album, with some gorgeous songs on here. Unexpectedly sexy and soulful too.
The Who
2/5
I just can’t. I know this is a great piece of work but it has bored me so much over the years. Ok so it’s a rock opera and that wasn’t a thing until they did it? But it’s just like most musicals. Why?
White Denim
3/5
Jangly guitars and dripping with cool. But ultimately not for me. Very reminiscent of the 70s psychedelic albums I've listened to in here. I love Street Joy but the rest were just nice.
Lenny Kravitz
2/5
I don't know how anyone listens to this. It is really dull. Lyrically and musically.
Richard Thompson
4/5
This manages to sound contemporary despite its age. I've enjoyed so many of the songs, without expecting to.
Green Day
4/5
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.
Blondie
3/5
A solid album. So many singles on here and the tracks that weren’t made me smile too.
Röyksopp
3/5
Fine. Very much of the time. Just a little dull when you listen to an entire album but beautiful background music
Tom Waits
2/5
I get tired of this schtick very quickly
2/5
Nooooo not for me at all. Prog rock
The Rolling Stones
3/5
The blues and rock n roll as done by a bunch of British guys. Fine I guess.
The Flaming Lips
2/5
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
Justin Timberlake
3/5
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.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
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
Devendra Banhart
3/5
Enjoyable most of the way through but then noodly harp got a bit too much for me in places
The Prodigy
4/5
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.
New York Dolls
3/5
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
Joy Division
4/5
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
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5/5
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.
The Cure
4/5
Beautiful, sumptuous, dark. A brilliant album from start to finish.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
It’s a perfect album. Lyrically heartbreaking and sonically sumptuous.
Sinead O'Connor
4/5
Beautiful and furious
Pink Floyd
4/5
I grew up listening to this album and specifically, the title track so it was really good to listen again with grown up ears.
Stephen Stills
3/5
William Orbit
3/5
This was such a good listen. Really reminiscent of the 90s. Just a nice sound.
Elvis Costello
3/5
It’s a good album. He’s a great storyteller. I didn’t love the songs though. I liked the stories.
Skunk Anansie
4/5
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.
Slipknot
3/5
More melodic than I expected but not as much fun as previous Slipknot album
Joni Mitchell
5/5
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
The Associates
3/5
Layered and strange. More depth than I expected from the 80s
Frank Sinatra
4/5
Gorgeous. Such a beautiful atmosphere. Great songs. Lovely voice. Just a great surprise when I expected to be bored
The Charlatans
4/5
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.
Neu!
4/5
A right little gem from this challenge. No expectations going in but a really good bit of krautrock that I’ll definitely return to
Adam & The Ants
2/5
I got pretty bored listening to this. I knew some of the songs from when I was a kid and they were enjoyable enough but I wouldn’t like to listen to the whole album again any time soon.
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
Some stone cold classics here. Songs I’d known but could have never told you who made them. Probably the movies they appeared in?
Tim Buckley
3/5
Groovier than I was expecting. I've listened to the folksier stuff. It's a good album but it doesn't do-it for me really.
Erykah Badu
3/5
Gorgeous and atmospheric
Elvis Costello
3/5
I liked this album a lot more than the other Costello I listened to. It feels like the guy I had come to know as a great musician and storyteller
The Mothers Of Invention
1/5
I did not like this even one bit. It felt like a joke album. They could play their instruments I guess? But that’s all the good I have to say on it
Don McLean
5/5
It’s a wonderful album. I’ve loved this one for as long as I can remember. Heartbreaking songs with incredible storytelling and so beautifully melodic too. His voice is so rich. Very happy for this listen.
Nirvana
5/5
Their best album, for me. The choice to return to Steve Albini for production really paid off here because this doesn’t sound like a band that hit the mainstream at all. It’s raw and it is gorgeous.
Manic Street Preachers
3/5
I remember being slightly afraid of this album and now I’m grown, it doesn’t feel as hardcore as I’d imagined it was back then. A great piece, rageful and so of the time.
The National
3/5
It’s not their best. Not by a long way. When this came out I was so psyched about it I listened with a really positive ear and took away songs like Conversation 16 and of course Bloodbuzz ans said yep, this album is amazing but over the years I didn’t revisit it and now, well… I dislike way more songs than I like. Overall though, the vibe is good, very The National. And the singles from the album, basically perfect.
Robert Wyatt
2/5
I found this extraordinarily difficult to listen to. Not at all my cup of tea.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
I’m getting bored of all these Elvis Costello albums. They’re pretty ok but I didn’t hear anything on this one that stood out from the other two.
Digital Underground
2/5
The humpty dance was a great listen of course but the album itself didn’t do anything for me. Old school hip hop can feel a little like nursery rhymes. Yay for the contribution to what came next but I won’t go back to it.
Hole
4/5
Better than I thought, or remembered. Some really solid grunge songs on here. Ragey and loud.
The Electric Prunes
2/5
I was bored.
OutKast
3/5
It was good to give Speakerboxxx a shot. I always stuck with The Love Below but Speakerboxxx seems to be a solid Atlanta hip hop record and I liked it. The Love Below was, as ever, marvellous. Soulful and weird and also holding a few bangers. Too many tracks across the two though.
New Order
3/5
A really good album. Nice and electronic and a timely listen for me since I’d just watched a shirt doc about new order and electronica.
Madonna
4/5
Amazing singles and pretty terrible album tracks but this one is close to my heart regardless. Not a Madonna fan but I’d absolutely buy this and keep it on my shelf.
Justice
3/5
Nostalgic so a delightful listen on that front. Memories of watching them live in Paris under a night’s sky gave me a proper bump at the start of the album but once that wore off I was just mildly impressed by it. It’s good music. I would probably want to own it but not because I rate it. More for what it reminds me of.
The Last Shadow Puppets
3/5
Perfectly ok
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
Really good stuff. I liked the vibe a lot. It’d be great summertime music, but backgroundy for me.
The Smiths
4/5
It’s a fantastic album. Some beautiful and brilliant songs. I love The Smiths (if not Morrissey) and I can’t get over how much I miss them each time I dip back in.
Billie Holiday
3/5
Sad and beautiful
Mott The Hoople
2/5
Fine but yeah, I got very bored
David Ackles
2/5
This didn’t do a lot for me
Talking Heads
3/5
Of course this is brilliant. I find their music largely repetitive and annoying but as I listen I am constantly thrown by how innovative it is too.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
It was a classic Zeppelin album. Of course very good. Fine.
Taylor Swift
4/5
Not my favourite Taylor Swift album but a beauty nonetheless.
Orbital
3/5
Fantastic ambient electronica
Faith No More
3/5
Yeah it was ace! Some fantastic songs on here. Very much of a time
The Rolling Stones
3/5
I like this album! I almost never do when it’s The Stones. This is the most likeable I’ve found them.
Fred Neil
3/5
I had a go and found it neither exciting not offensive
Keith Jarrett
3/5
Gorgeous piano, lovely music
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
I loved every moment of this. The singles and the atmospheric album tracks. It was probably enhanced by my walking through a foggy Copenhagen while listening.
Little Simz
4/5
It’s a brilliant album. So good to go back to. An amazing lyricist and the beats are so frickin British and fresh
Madonna
4/5
So much to like about this album! I expected little going in but then spent ages considering whether to rate it 4 stars. If there was a 3.5 I’d go for that but there isn’t. And then The Power Of Goodbye dropped and I was like ohhhhhhh.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
2/5
Nothing to say on this one. Just garden variety 70s rock
PJ Harvey
3/5
I like a bit of PJ but her voice always grates and she’s a big fan of repetition in her lyrics, which also gets on my nerves. It’s one of the good albums though, that I can appreciate, if not like.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Gorgeous. It opened with one of my favourite songs of all time and went on to give so much more. Grateful to have had the nudge to listen. It will stay in rotation.
The Modern Lovers
4/5
Yes! I came to this album late but loved it from the beginning. Such straight talking. Super cool.
Beastie Boys
5/5
Frickin amazing album. Incredible songs, insane production. Such a great headphones listen.
Jazmine Sullivan
4/5
Never heads of this artist and this album blew me away. The insight and the honesty. Plain speaking. Bold. Just brilliant.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
3/5
Cooler than I imagined!
Christine and the Queens
4/5
Brilliant, beautiful, near-perfect. So cool.
AC/DC
3/5
I know what this album is supposed to be but urgh I find it tiresome. Just like maybe I should thank them for their contribution and leave it in the past ere it belongs.
Gillian Welch
3/5
Nice bit of contemporary country that never landed on my radar when it came out. A good listen
Elbow
5/5
I’ve loved this album a long time. Every song is perfect. It’s a joy to revisit
Kings of Leon
4/5
I loved this album then and it’s still wonderful now
Common
4/5
Gosh this is good. I knew Common was a great artist but I’d never given him the time. Grateful to have listened to this one.
Death In Vegas
3/5
Great songs that I over way back when but the rest if the album didn’t inspire
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
A great big yes to this album. Beautiful songs.
Joan Baez
2/5
Probably pretty but her voice made this very hard to listen to. Right genre, wrong singer for me.
Django Django
3/5
A good album that really takes me back but not quite as brilliant as I remember
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Good moody music but I found it a little boring
Method Man
4/5
Yes yes and a massive yes. God this sounded good. I never regret listening to anything Wu shaped
Haircut 100
3/5
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
3/5
Perfectly fine but after a while it got a bit samey
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
Simple Minds
3/5
Totally fine. Atmospheric. Cool.
Prefab Sprout
4/5
I wonder if I love this album because it’s amazing or because I grew up on it. I think it might have been a tough sell if this were my first listen. Thankfully, it isn’t. I love the harmonies and the lyrics. The stories.
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
Beautifully put together and musically more layered than I remembered. I know some of these songs so well that I thought I knew the album too but nope. Really enjoyable.
Pink Floyd
4/5
A classic for an effin reason. Gorgeous listen. Definitely not the first for me.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
Julian Cope
2/5
Caetano Veloso
3/5
Grateful Dead
2/5
Good stuff! I’ve always wondered what makes Grateful Dead such a loved band. Lyrically, this is a lot of fun. Good music.
The Slits
3/5
Gene Clark
3/5
Queen Latifah
3/5
Black Sabbath
3/5
Girls Against Boys
3/5
This was a surprise! What even is it? Grungy and layered. I really liked it.
Jethro Tull
2/5
Fleetwood Mac
2/5
God just so not Rumours. It’s like a different band
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
Fugazi
4/5
Really enjoying Fugazi at the moment. 2 decades too late lol
Living Colour
3/5
Good stuff. Very good at playing the instruments. Not my cup of tea but good anyways
The Dandy Warhols
4/5
Loved this. I always liked the Dandys but I never really dug in. This is a brilliant album. Hits all the right notes for me.
The Byrds
3/5
Ella Fitzgerald
3/5
Orange Juice
3/5
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Janis Joplin
3/5
Her voice is stupidly good. It sounds so old. So worn. And she was so young!
Kings of Leon
2/5
No it’s not a good album. They had a coupes of very good ones but this wasn’t one of them.
The Killers
4/5
It would have been a 5 star a few years ago but registering has taken it down a star. It’s a lot of atmosphere but actually not very inventive. I still love it though. It was uni days for me.
Deerhunter
4/5
Green Day
5/5
Sincerely one of my all time favourite albums. I don’t let long pass in between listens so this was a treat.
The Verve
3/5
A lovely album. I wasn’t really a fan growing up although I appreciated the singles so never listened to this album and glad I did now.
The Auteurs
3/5
A surprise! I’d never actually heard of them but they were right up my street. Moody music with peppy vocals. Very 90s. It worked for me
Dennis Wilson
2/5
Very forgettable
Fun Lovin' Criminals
3/5
A little nostalgic. A little dull. Fine.
Bonnie Raitt
2/5
Good and very much not my thing
Korn
3/5
This was a good listen. I dabbled in Korn but never got stuck in so was great to come back to the album.
The Cardigans
3/5
More interesting than I thought it’d be. I didn’t get then when I was young but now I see how they were making alt-pop. A good listen.
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
An almost perfect album. He really did create a genre and I’m grateful for it. Electronic or indie. Whatever it is, it’s so enjoyable.
Robbie Williams
3/5
One I listened to plenty when I was a kid. Aside from a couple of obvious gems, it’s all just Brit pop by numbers
The Who
3/5
The best of the albums by this band that I’ve had to listen to. Beautifully produced and so of a time. Atmospheric too.
Sonic Youth
4/5
Frank Sinatra
4/5
So very sad but wow just gorgeous. His voice!
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
Surprising! I wasn’t sure what I’d get but I must have misunderstood his rep because I was thinking punk. Great album.
The Beach Boys
3/5
It was a nice album. And timely given Brian Wilson dying the day before this. The production is gorgeous. Nice songs too.
Jefferson Airplane
3/5
Cocteau Twins
3/5
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
Eminem
4/5
As good (and awful) as I remembered.
Joy Division
3/5
Funny relationship with joy division. They get 10/10 for vibe, influence they’ve had on music and one or two of their songs but a full album always feels like a slog to me.
Jean-Michel Jarre
2/5
The Avalanches
3/5
It was very good! But also repetitive. Too marks for vibe
Suede
4/5
Beautiful
Youssou N'Dour
3/5
Good but really not for me
Nick Drake
4/5
Stunning
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
So much better than I thought it’d be
Elastica
4/5
Oh so good. Thought it’d be a sort of britpop trash but actually it had more depth.
Coldplay
5/5
The only Coldplay album I’d go into battle for. And man I’d go into battle for this one. It’s perfect.
Beck
4/5
A solid Beck album. Very good stuff
Laura Nyro
2/5
I found this really dull
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
2/5
Fine but nothing special here.
Queens of the Stone Age
3/5
Alright
10cc
2/5
3/5
Metallica
3/5
Kraftwerk
3/5
Bob Dylan
4/5
CHIC
3/5
Surprisingly good! Varied and I wasn’t expecting that.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
2/5
Fine but dull. As is often the case with this era and genre
Missy Elliott
4/5
This was fantastic and I knew it would be. Missy plus Timbaland. Just so inventive and fun. And full of bangers.
Abdullah Ibrahim
3/5
Given that this genre usually grates on me, this was a nice listen. Some variety in here. I could imagine listening again while I work or cook
Antony and the Johnsons
3/5
So beautiful and sad and haunting
Hole
4/5
Surprisingly good! I thought it’d be ok, a few good singles and then filler, but it’s a complete album.
A Tribe Called Quest
3/5
Wonderful, of course.
Spiritualized
4/5
Brilliant and beautiful. Somehow missing from my library until now
Talk Talk
3/5
A good, moody, 80s album. Would never have thought to listen but I enjoyed it a lot
The Birthday Party
2/5
Sugar
3/5
Better than I expected!
Air
4/5
Beautiful
Meat Loaf
3/5
Loved this album growing up but mostly because my mum sold it to me pretty hard. Incredible moments on it but it isn’t one I would listen to again out of the blue
Louis Prima
3/5
A lot of fun but not something I’d pick up again.
Tricky
4/5
The Human League
2/5
This is so annoying. I mean, great mood and nice synth but the singing and lyrics just makes me mad. So much repetition.
Dion
4/5
This was fricking gorgeous. Who is this? Why haven’t I heard this before?
D'Angelo
3/5
Smooth. Very smooth.
The Specials
4/5
A great album with some brilliant songs on. Loved this era and this album sums it up so nicely
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
I loved relistening to this album. Beautiful and filled with irony.
The KLF
3/5
Super cool and basically timeless
Muddy Waters
3/5
Totally fine, even if not my thing.
MGMT
4/5
Beautiful, nostalgic and such a joy to hear but only the three tracks are any good really. So good I can happily give 4 stars though
Klaxons
3/5
So silly. I used to think this was brilliant but not so much now
Manu Chao
5/5
This really made my day. I’ve loved this album a long time and for it to land with me while I’m on hols in Ibiza, the timing was perfect
Grizzly Bear
3/5
A wonderful, layered album. I knew the singles and had heard the fuss but now I get it. There’s a lot to love in here.
The Who
2/5
An interesting idea but not a great listen
The Streets
5/5
Just brilliant. The storytelling, the concept, the character building and the songs. It lands just as well as it did back when Mike Skinner released it.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
2/5
Not for me. I remember folks getting very excited about this in the 90s and even then finding it a bit meh
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
One of the greatest albums of all time. This would probably live in my too ten if I didn’t find it too galling to create such a list.
Rufus Wainwright
2/5
So much less endurable than Want One. His voice grates because the songs are kinda samey here.
Bad Company
2/5
Just so boring. I’m so over this era.
Napalm Death
2/5
Riotous and very noisy. Sometimes that works for me.
The Style Council
3/5
Far more likeable than I had anticipated. Smooth but not super irritating with it.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
It’s of course very good. I don’t love Zeppelin. I just know it’s important.
The Fall
3/5
Yeah I really liked this. I like The Fall but I don’t listen so much. Glad to listen to this one. I’ll come back to it
Ananda Shankar
3/5
Delightful versions of songs I know and songs I don’t know.
Björk
4/5
Amazing listen. She’s such an amazing artist.
System Of A Down
3/5
Good old System. Happy to listen every time.
Les Rythmes Digitales
3/5
Nick Drake
3/5
Public Enemy
3/5
Classic
Jack White
3/5
Always solid. That’s Jack White for ya.
Skepta
4/5
Absolutely brilliant
David Bowie
2/5
I get that it’s good but this one bored me such a lot.
Machito
2/5
Very interesting! Busy and atmospheric.
Underworld
4/5
Stunning. Dark. Timeless.
SZA
3/5
Excellent album - reinventing r&b in an entirely new landscape
The Afghan Whigs
3/5
Absolutely my vibe. A good listen
Bebel Gilberto
2/5
Atmospheric and fun. I could tolerate it as background music.
The xx
4/5
Gorgeous album already in regular rotation for me. Moody, sexy, underdone.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
A good listen with a brilliant song in there too (Been caught stealing).
The Doors
2/5
A couple of brilliant songs but the blues numbers felt flat and lacking. Like imitation. They might have brought the blues to the masses in a way to OGs couldn’t but hearing it after all these years it feels borrowed.
Cornershop
3/5
A great listen. So good to go back to these songs
U2
4/5
An exceptionally cool album from a now very uncool band. Darker than they would have made up until this time and with songs like One it can’t be a bad album. Loved it.
Flamin' Groovies
2/5
Fine! Just did what these things always do.
David Crosby
3/5
Perfectly nice folksy stuff
The Notorious B.I.G.
4/5
Brilliant. Near perfect. Tragic we never got the follow up.
Bob Dylan
2/5
Really dull for Dylan
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
In love with this album. The opener is not just a brilliant song but also a way of setting out who they are that is just so them. Grunge at its finest.
Syd Barrett
3/5
I liked this so much more than I expected to! Cute in places, psychedelic in others. A really good listen.
The Monkees
2/5
Nursery rhyme stuff. Always a chore to listen to “the greats” from this era.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Beautiful voice. Great songs.
Hookworms
3/5
The Cure
4/5
So good to listen to The Cure and what an album! The atmosphere created here is just gorgeous. And you can hear all the artists that came later in it too.
Milton Nascimento
3/5
Atmospheric, good for the background kinda music
Kings of Leon
4/5
So much fun and so many memories. Glad it holds up after all this time.
The Who
3/5
A good listen for an album by The Who. I am not hugely into them but I enjoyed it a bit.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
Beautiful. Brilliant. Classic.
Happy Mondays
2/5
I know it’s an important album and helped create a scene that gave birth to a tonne if the music I love but this was just not a fun listen
Sisters Of Mercy
3/5
So much better than I expected it to be. Super moody. Really enjoyable.
Elliott Smith
3/5
I should love Elliot Smith but I don’t. Something about his voice grates on me. The repetitive lyrics, the general vibe. Just never works for me. It is cakewalk great music though. I can hear that. I just don’t really like it.
The Black Keys
3/5
Totally fine but it was never really for me
The Kinks
3/5
Atmospheric and fun. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it this much
The Specials
4/5
Fantastic album. Fantastic band.
Meat Puppets
3/5
Unexpectedly good and great to hear the song I thought was a nirvana song all along
John Martyn
3/5
Fiona Apple
4/5
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
Khaled
3/5
Doves
4/5
I love this album. And the song, there goes the fear. Omg. It’s just everything.
Slipknot
3/5
Mudhoney
4/5
Bloody brilliant
The B-52's
3/5
Sonic Youth
4/5
The White Stripes
3/5
Stereolab
3/5
Good! I like a bit of stereolab
Jane Weaver
4/5
This got added straight to my library. How did I miss this? It’s right up my street.
The Chemical Brothers
3/5
Less interesting than I remembered but pretty solid
Hugh Masekela
2/5
Just can’t with this. It’s probably good for what it is.
The Triffids
1/5
The Pharcyde
3/5
This was ace. Such a lot of fun.
The Beach Boys
2/5
I just find this stuff deeply boring. There are great albums by The Beach Boys but this one is all nursery rhymes
Bill Evans Trio
3/5
It was really good, for the genre. I struggle with jazz so much but I didn’t hate it
Orbital
3/5
Nothing not to like about this album. And it's really great to work to.
Dirty Projectors
2/5
The Darkness
3/5
Entertaining with a couple of bangers but not a brilliant album. The great songs really lift the experience. Wonderful live band!
The Roots
4/5
This album was awesome. So much colouring outside of the lines of their perceived genre. I just loved it.
Black Flag
3/5
A proper banger. Really good to hear from start to finish.
Aphex Twin
4/5
A brilliant piece of work. Something I’ve heard many times but rarely put on so a real treat to listen to.
Gram Parsons
2/5