BL: never heard of this artist before but the cover reminds me of the Roni Size brown paper bag album so I’ll be interested to hear if it’s in a similar vein AL: funnily enough, my 90s ambient DnB assumption was correct, and wow. This album blew me away. I wasn’t too sure about the opener, but by track 3 this album had me in a chokehold. The fusion of ambient DnB & Sourh Asian instrumentals and vocals was mesmerising, the drone of DnB was meant to go with the resonant frequencies of the sitar. Definitely some Bhangra influence in there too. Highly recommend this. It reminds me of another comment I saw under a different album (can’t remember which one though), with albums like this on the generator, you have to wonder why the people who wrote those chose so many 80s new wave and post punk albums. FT: “Eclipse”, “O.K.”, “Light”, “Vikram the Vampire” 5/5

Not massively familiar with Paul Simon's solo work besides "You Can Call me Al", however I enjoyed listening to this album a lot. The traditional Folk and Blues influence combined with other genres at points like Gospel end up giving a very nice and relaxing listen. The lyrical content is quite dark in points which provide a good juxtaposition from the fairly peaceful and sweet melodies he plays on the guitar. I liked the use of storylines within the album too - highlighting the tale of Papa Hobo, and all of this coming together to carve out a kind of narrative. I ended up listening to the demos on the expanded version and I enjoyed them more than the album counterparts - the stripped back underproduced acoustic sound adds to the vibe I reckon Favourite Track: "Mother & Child Reunion" or "Peace like a River"

Thoughts before listening: Unsure about Coldplay - some of their songs, namely “Paradise” and “Viva La Vida” featuring quite heavily within my Childhood. While I can respect them for the high level of musicianship I’ve always found myself not revisiting their music due to it seeming rather cliche and faux emotional in my head when I remember my childhood. Maybe I’ll be proved wrong. Thoughts after listening: I ended up enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would. A very concise and well orchestrated album, exploring a lot more of an introspective sound than Coldplay later become known for in their stadium fillers. I enjoyed all of the tracks on this album and it has encouraged me to go listen to some of Coldplays later albums - im sure I won’t feel the same way about those as I did this one but this was very different to what I expected and I ended up loving it. Favourite tracks: “Don’t Panic”, “Yellow”, and “High Speed” 3/5

-Listened to this album before- BFL: Maggot Brain is one of my favourite funk albums of all time (only beaten by “There’s a riot goin on” and “funkentelechy”. The grooves and fills on this are unparalleled and all the musicians are absolutely amazing under George Clinton’s command. Look forward to listening to this one again. AL: Reminded myself of why I love Funkadelic and Parliament so much - will never stop being brilliant - especially the opening track - 10 minutes of funky trippy mayhem

BL: I only know “Big Yellow Taxi” - which is both a comedic and harrowing pro-nature song. Pointing fun at car centric infrastructure and hammering the point on that we are destroying the earth - and the majority are only really listening now. I’ll see how I find this album. AL: I didn’t really like it that much tbh. The 2 stars is for the lyrical content - Mitchell is very clearly a brilliant lyricist and writer, however this whole album falls apart for me because I just don’t like Joni Mitchell’s voice, which obviously devalues my ranking of the album. I think that it definitely appeals to a crowd which I’m sure it reaches and they love it - however that’s not me. Favourite track: “river”

BL: Elvis is a man who needs no introduction - possibly the most famous man of all time (besides Jesus). He was known to revolutionise the rock game - basically inventing it. While he has come under scrutiny as most of his influence is from black musicians and he was the first to get famous off of it I don’t think that’s reflectant of Elvis trying to speak over black voices (he named Sister Rosetta Tharpe as one of his biggest influences - and I highly recommend you check her out too) there are more damning things he did (namely involving marriage). At the end of the day he’s a man who’s incredibly famous - “suspicious minds” is one of my favourite songs of all time and his ballads are excellent - I’ll see if I enjoy an album of the Jukebox classics. AL: my point made in the before listening still rings true. I like his more laid back love songs then his traditional “rock” songs which were designed to get the 50s chicks crunked. While I can appreciate how crazy “tutti frutti” would’ve been at the time, nowadays it feels rather stale - especially as it holds the same power as that Take That CD your gran used to own and put on in her shitty ‘98 Civic. However songs like “I’m counting on you” and “I love you because” come across as quite heartfelt and genuinely quite beautiful. I suppose it’s ironic because Presley’s love life is where all my disdain for him stems from but he sure know how to express how he felt, I’ll give him that. Favourite Tracks: “I’m counting on you”, “I love you because”, and “blue moon” 4/5

BL: never heard of Elastica before - but after doing some digging and seeing their links to Suede I’m excited to hear it - Suede has produced many a song I like. AL: in the end I felt pretty “meh” about this album. It wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t good. It’s a shame because Suede was a band which in my eyes had some amazing diversity alongside being quintessential to the development of britpop as a genre so how is it that an offshoot of it can be so bland and generic? All 15 tracks sound the same, and while it wasn’t too offensive due to its short running time I just felt rather empty after listening - I can’t say much else about it. The instrumentation is good - however it all mostly sounds the same, there weren’t any drum breaks, guitar solos or even vocal moments which stood out as interesting or even unique. A pretty bland experience overall, don’t think I’ll listen to it again. Favourite tracks: “Car Song” & “2:1” (the only two which made me actually look at the track listing) 2/5

BL: this is my first 100% “blind listening” do not know anything about any of the members and after a quick google around I can’t see any obvious links other than they wrote a song for Katy Perry a long time after this album came out - so I will give it a listen. AL: wow. I thought this album was great! Very cool electronic pop album which reminded me a lot of Air, The Postal Service and at some points Daft Punk. The synth hooks and vocal lines were incredibly catchy and offer a lot of Lo-Fi groove similar to some of LCD Soundsystem’s “Sounds of Silver” album. This was very appealing to listen to the whole way through - I absolutely loved tracks 1-7, the last 4 tracks however I felt were slightly weaker than the previous 2/3rds of the album. I highly recommend this overall and would definitely think it’s worth the listen, Favourite tracks: “Motion Sickness”, “Don’t Deny Your Heart”, and “Night and Day” 4/5

BL: The Kinks were synonymous with my childhood. My Dad always used to play “You Really Got Me” in his car and my mum “Lola” and “Waterloo Sunset”. This album of course has the latter. I’ve never listened to a Kinks LP the whole way through so this is going to be an interesting experience to see if my childhood love of this band and my dads constant yammering about how they changed the game was justified. AL: it was pretty good. I can appreciate for the time this would’ve been pretty crazy. The witticisms in the lyrics writing may be the highlight for me. There are some pretty wacky sounds and production choices in the first third of the album which I think play in the albums favour very well. Overall I don’t think I’d rush to listen to the album again - it had some very good points but a lot of it was just ok, and some of it hasn’t aged very well. Sometimes the overt simplicity works (“Two Sisters”) and other times it does not (“Harry Rag”) FT: “David Watts”, “Death of a Clown”, “Waterloo Sunset” 3/5

BL: Madness is one of those groups I always say “I need to listen to them more”, and I guess now I finally am - I’m aware of the hits but have zero B-sides and deep cuts in my discography. AL: a good listen. Madness is a very fun if not zany band. Wacky piano parts offer a unique take on the Ska genre. Excellent levels of musicianship and lyrical content - these guys really were ahead of their times and genius in all their individual rights. It’s also worth mentioning the very good album art which just highlights the insanity inside FT: “Rise and Fall”, “Tomorrow’s Just Another Day”, “New Delhi”, and “House of Fun” 4/5

BL: Forgot to write a BL - but I am aware of the offspring and used to be a big fan of them when I was 12-14 AL: pretty good album, a lot more variety than I expected. The guitar parts were good but tbh the other instrument parts weren’t massively noticeable. Lyrics were typical 90s teen angst but “Self-Esteem” is still a banger FT: “Self Esteem”, “Genocide”, “What Happened to You?” 3/5

BL: never heard of Jazmine Sullivan, but having a look at the track listing I know .Paak and H.E.R - both very talented artists, so if she’s akin to them I’m looking forward to it. AL: in some ways this album worked for me and other ways it didn’t. I loved the structure of the album, and the spoken word interludes where women would share their struggles, it was very insightful and it really made me think about a lot of things as a man. I thought the first track was quite garish and over the top but then I reflect on what was said in the track immediately after that “Antoinette’s Tale”. Listening to a lot of male rap which a lot of the time utilises very misogynistic languages and treats women as hoes and sluts it’s quite refreshing to see someone who reverses the roles and embraces their sexuality. In an industry that profits off of the mistreatment of women for an album to have tracks that empower women and give them that voice to express the same rhetoric those men often do is powerful and because of that the album is a cultural landmark. However on the same note. I felt a lot of the album wasn’t massively interesting. I loved the interludes and a few tracks stood out but generally the instrumentals felt quite samey and all bled into one. They were all nice to listen to and the album flowed well but only a couple tracks really stood out to me and remain in my memory now it’s over. I’ll listen to the Deluxe version too and see how that goes down. FT: “Price Tags”, “Girl Like Me” (original), “Hurt me so good”, “Roster” (Deluxe) AL (Deluxe ED): I liked these additional tracks a lot more. The tales were just as gripping and also one of them had a male story, I guess it just goes to show that love is hard for all. 3/5 (Original) 4/5 (Deluxe)

BL: never heard of Sarah Vaughan before - but saw she opened for Ella Fitzgerald so the expectations are high. Mr Kelly’s seems like one of those mythical venues smothered in history, I’d never heard of it before but to know it supported Ella Fitzgerald, Barbera Streisand, Woody Allen and Richard Pryor is quite some feat, especially for a venue with a capacity of 200 odd. So my hopes are high AL: the first thing that stuck out to me was how brilliant the recording and mastering is for a live album from ‘57 - obviously the actual PA set up was minimalistic due to the small venue size which reduces feedback but more live albums should be like this. As to the singing - she has an inflection style similar to the one Amy Winehouse would adopt many years later, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I personally find it a bit annoying and I don’t glue with it well. I can appreciate on a technical level she’s an amazing singer - unfortunately it’s just not for me, I wanted to like this album a lot though. 2/5

BL: Tears for Fears were a major part of my childhood, “Pale Shelter” is probably in my top 50 songs of all time. I know the two hits off of this album but none else so I’ll see how I find it AL: it was a very good album overall. Good composition, good orchestration, good vocals and lyrics. I didn’t think it was exceptional but there were a few tracks that really stood out as amazing. Would I come back to it again? Probably not for a while but I enjoyed the listen. It reminded me however how overrated I think Head over Heals is, that track is just a massive load of uninspired Meh, I don’t know why that song became so popular FT: “Shout”, “Everyone wants to rule the world”, “Broken” 3/5

BL: don’t know much about Beach House other than “Space Song” - But I think it’s pretty ok. There‘s not much to it. AL: I thought it was a whole load of meh. “Zebra” and “Used to Be” are good and remind me a lot of early tame impala. All in all it’s minimalistic electro pop which doesn’t really provide a whole lot of substance in my opinion FT: “Zebra” and “Used to Be” 2/5

BL: forgot to write a BL - aware of both artists and their work however. AL: I thought it was very cool and very well made. The instrumentation was fascinating and gave a lot to explore. I unfortunately just didn’t find it very listenable. It’s nice background drone but I didn’t find myself wanting to pick it a part as much as I would’ve wanted. I still enjoyed it very much though. FT: “America Is Waiting”, “Mountain of Needles”

BL: Britney is someone who needs no introduction. Probably one of the most popular artist of the 90s and one of the most culturally significant of all time. Will be interested to listen to this as I only know the hits. AL: I’m pretty dissapointed by this album. It didn’t really do anything to me. 12 of the 14 tracks sounded identical to one another. The only two that stood out were the opening track (due to how iconic it is) and “The Beat Goes On” due to its very nice sampling and beat sequencing. Other than that it was standard 90s love song girl pop, which I understand why it appealed to the target demographic of the Y2K teens at the time but doesn’t really do anything for me now. FT: “…Baby one more time”, and “The Beat Goes On” 1/5

BL: I listened to Metallica a little bit whilst I was in my metal head phase when I was 13-15, however I quickly used them as a stepping stone into deeper cuts and more hardcore things which i thought were cooler. Aware of maybe 2/3rds of the tracks on this album. Will be interested to see what I find it like now I don’t listen to too much metal. AL: I enjoyed it a lot. “Enter Sandman” is overrated but “nothing else matters” is still a gem to this day. A lot of cool stuff and a thoroughly enjoyed listen through. FT: “The Unforgiven”, “Nothing Else Matters”, “The God That Failed” 4/5

BL: "The, The" is a band my dad really likes but have never listened to outside of the "Burning Blue Soul" album. Will be interested to give it a listen. AL: I really liked this album. Hit the spot of Funky Electronica even better than the Hot Chip album did a couple weeks ago. Glad to have heard it. A kind of pre-trip hop masterpiece which makes me see where Massive Attack and all of them got major inspiration from. Definitely worth the listen. FT: “this is the day” “uncertain smile” giant” 5/5

BL: know zilch about Dennis Wilson, he looks cool though, so I will see how it pans out. AL: Apparently Dennis Wilson was a Beach Boy. Album was pretty OK. The type of music you'd see your disillusioned uncle put on in his car, blues and light rock tracks you could imagine a beach boy in his latter years making. Can't say any tracks really stood out at all, maybe I will give it a relisten and see if it changes though. FT: didn't stand out whatsoever rip 2/5

BL: Aware of Minor Threat but never listened to any of their discography, will see what I think AL: it was just very samey. Most of the tracks felt pretty similar, and it felt quite sanitised. For a punk album it didn’t really feel that angry at anything in particular. Didn’t enjoy this one but it wasn’t massively offensive. Just don’t particularly want to listen to it again. FT: “it follows” 2/5

BL: know this album and have 2 songs already saved from it - “nightmares introlude” and “dreddoverboard”, look forward to listening to the rest of the album. AL: I liked it. Listened to the digital deluxe version which had some bonus tracks too. Overall while I liked it, it did feel quite samey. I know why this album exists, for the sole purpose of zoning out to whilst your “hazed” so sober its not quite the same. If this album was 45 minutes it would be brilliant but the extra content makes it a slightly overstayed welcome. FT: “pipes honour”, “stars”, “Rise (Reprise)” 4/5

BL: didn’t write a BL AL: I loved this album. Clinton’s Parliament & Funkadelic are two of my favourite groups of all time, the level of musicianship and talent are unparalleled. Parliament is slightly better than Funkadelic though imo. All the riffs are catchy and groovy, and this is a very appealing listen. FT: “mothership connection”, “unfunky UFO”, “give up the funk” 5/5

BL: Frank Ocean is a figure I almost detest. I think this is mainly due to his fan bases mentality that he can do nothing wrong despite repeatedly screwing them over. I respect his ability to create such a solid business acumen from releasing different colours of the same record that came out over half a decade ago. And people still eat it up. I like a couple of his tracks “crack rock” is good. I’ll see how I feel about this album, I will listen without prejudice AL: it’s a very mixed bag to be honest. I can see why some think Frank is a genius, on some tracks some very good ideas and instrumentals shine through, however to me so much of the album feels like filler to make the (very) high highs feel not quite as monumentous as they could be. While I definitely get the hype I think the Frank Ocean hype train has definitely always been too strong, and this has reinforced this. FT: “Pyramids”, “Lost”, “Pink Matter” 3/5

BL: Mamas and the Papas known for “California Dreamin’”, nothing else. Will see what I think. AL: Thought this album was chronically ok. The Hammond esque organ was very cool but instrumentally pretty uninspired. Not amazed these guys are only remembered for one ir two hits. FT: “California dreamin’”, “ Spanish Harlem”, “somebody groovy” 2/5

BL: Nas is someone shrouded in the legends of east coast raps golden age. Despite this I’ve never actually listened to him. So I will see how I feel about it. AL: I loved this, an incredibly tight and concise listen, 10 tracks which keep their pace and never feel like they go on for too long or lose their point. The instrumentals are those classic groove cut early 90s rap instrumentals I absolutely love. “The world is yours” was a stand out for me. FT: “the world is yours”, “life’s a bitch”, Half-time” 5/5

-didn’t write a BL, completely blind listen- AL: I’m often on the fence with psychedelic albums, some have the opportunity to lack all kinds of pacing and fall flat on their face, this however does not feel this way. I enjoyed this album and it was a very good listen, with some genuinely out there instrumentation at points - without ever feeling like it loses it’s way. Very good would listen again. FT: “Animal Zoo”, “why can’t I be free”, Red Light Roll On” 4/5

BL: never heard of John Martyn or solid air but seems he was a collaborator of Nick Drake who I do love, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy this AL: I enjoyed this. I didn’t think it was anything spectacular and a lot of tracks blended into one another. But it was a very good atmospheric album for late night driving, which is where I experienced it. FT: “Solid Air”, “I’d rather be the devil”, “dreams by the sea” 3/5

-Didn't write BL- AL: a very solid album, I felt every track after the first could not recreate the level of musicianship and theatricality seen on the twenty minute epic however it was still a very good listen. FT: "2112" (Discovery & Soliloquy specifically) 3/5

BL: Loretta Lynn is a name i'd heard before but never listened to until this, i like the album cover AL: it all felt quite samey. It was definitely a zero filler album and was very short and snappy however I felt that there wasn’t much to it. I can understand why for the time this might have resonated however this didn’t ring any bells for me FT: “there goes my everything” 2/5

BL: Elvis Costello's solo work I am familiar with but not with his work with the Attractions. Will see how it turns out AL: Liked this a lot. Very well orchestrated and composed. a mixture of simple and more complex tracks all playing into one of the best heartbreak albums of all time in my eyes FT: "I Hope You're Happy Now" "Home is Anywhere you Hang you're Head" "Battered Old Bird" "Crimes of Paris" 5/5

BL: never heard of Pentangle before, I like the RAH feature in the album cover. AL: it wasn’t my thing massively. I enjoyed many aspects and I can objectively say this is a “good” album. However it doesn’t align with my tastes, folk-rock has never massively been my thing. There were some tracks I could find myself getting into, but generally speaking I didn’t think this was to my tastes, despite being a very clearly well crafted album full of love. FT: “Springtime Promises”, “Cold Mountain”, “I Saw an Angel” 2/5

-didn’t write a BL- AL: I came into this album expecting a lot. One of the most famous albums of all time and frequently lauded by the critics as one of the best albums of all time, and the album cover in my opinion, is probably the most famous album cover of all time. Andy Warhol of course being the eponymous painter of the cover. If only the album was as good as the cover… I thought this was just very ok. I got excited with the first track because it’s very well orchestrated, however the rest of the album just sort of devolves into noise, in my opinion. I understand that this album is kind of an amalgamation of all that was relevant at the moment which is why it’s seen as so culturally significant but these days the early experiments in distortion leave a lot to be desired. It also doesn’t help that I think Nico isn’t a very good singer. Lou Reed and the other members of The Velvet Underground are very clearly talented and for a record made in the 60s to sound so modern is quite interesting. But it just doesn’t cut it today and it generally felt pretty underwhelming. It was good to experience one of the most iconic albums of all time. But I’m not a big fan. FT: “Sunday Morning” 2/5

-didn’t write a BL- AL: Adele is such a well known figure. And it’s no surprise, she’s got an amazing voice, so powerful and yet so fragile and never looses a hint of emotionality throughout any of it. However it just doesn’t click with me, I find that David Byrne said it best when he said “The better the singer’s voice, the harder it is to believe what they’re saying”. While Adele generally does hit home a lot better than the other pop stars out there I still find it hard connecting with her music. I suppose me and the mentality a 25 year old woman has are radically different from one another. So maybe I’ll change my mind at some point. As of right now however i had to say this album was OK, nothing more nothing less FT: “when we were young”, “remedy”, “a million years ago” 3/5

BL: Never heard of Shack but i like the album cover AL: Pretty good album. Underrated in the britpop sphere, much better than any Oasis or Blur record i've listened too. Solid instrumentation and some very good mixing. a hidden gem for sure FT: "Comedy", "Streets of Kenny", "Cornish Town", "Daniella" 4/5

BL: Shuggie Otis is a artist I became aware of earlier this year when i discovered "Sweet Thang" on a random spotify mix whilst playing Dead Island, that warranted it being added to the playlist. Lets see how this album holds up AL: Very good rare groove cut, I didn't think it was particularly mindblowing but can appreciate its place and why for the age he was at the time it was made this was particularly good. I'm sure i'd grow to appreciate it more with a relisten. FT: "Inspiration Information", "Sparkle City", "XL-30", "Ice cold daydream" 3/5

BL: this is an album I’m going to have to go into disregarding any pre-concieved notions I may have. Because truth be told I don’t like the smiths that much, outside of “how soon is now” and “I know it’s over”, I find a lot of the stuff just too gloomy and I don’t ever really want to listen to it. But I’ll give it a listen and try give as objective of a take as possible. AL: alright fine. Maybe you got me. This album was pretty good. Morrisey’s lyricism is mostly on point and incredibly cutting and intellectual. The opening track is phenomenal. The production is amazing especially for the era. I take back most of what I said before, this is a very solid album and I’m glad to have experienced it. The only track I didn’t like was the end track, thought it was a bit one note and put in last minute as filler FT: “The Queen is Dead”, “Frankly, Mr. Shankly”, “I know it’s over”, “Cemetry Gates” 5/5

BL: Aretha, oh Aretha. In my opinion Aretha has one of the best voices of all time, it’s indisputable. Have never listened to a project the whole way through though, so let’s see how it goes AL: this project just highlights how powerful of a voice Aretha had and how powerful she was as a women. While a lot of the songs I’d argue are filler material with someone like Aretha at the helm it still makes them incredibly listenable and just reminds us how she’s such a tour de force. And that Sam Cooke tribute at the end was beautiful. FT: “baby baby baby”, “a change is gonna come” 3/5

BL: Bowie is an icon, there’s no disputing that. I’ve never heard of this project mentioned alongside his other works though, so I’ll have to give it a listen and see what I think AL: a pretty solid record, but it didn’t really do anything that stood out to me. I liked the themes of immortalisation through art and him always feeling younger than he is because of this but overal the experience was nothing radical. FT: “the next day”, “dancing out in space”, “you feel so lonely you could die” 3/5

BL: this is another bond listen. Never heard of Nanci Griffith because I’m not a massive country head. We’ll see what I think AL: the album wasn’t bad it just felt incredibly one note. Most of the songs sounded the same, and nothing massively stood out to me. This more reflects that I have an implicit bias towards country but I’m trying my best to work through it. It’s definitely good for easy listening but not for much else. FT: “love at the five and dime 2/5

BL: after being incredibly Dissapointed by the velvet underground & nico, I’ll have to see how this one makes me feel. I’ll approach it as if I’ve never heard VU before AL: I liked this a lot more than VU&N but this still wasn’t massively my thing. I can tell they refined their sound and developed their ideas. Shedding Nico was smart too, I think she’s an awful singer. I loved the opener and closer. And the rest of it was pretty good. Can’t say I’d go back to it anytime soon though. FT: “candy says” “after hours” 3/5

BL: I love the temptations, I have many singles of theirs that I love listening to, but never listened to a full album. Let’s give it a listen. AL: very good. Exactly what I’d expect from the temptations, all wrapped up in a neat package. Some lovely grooves, some good lyrics and the vocals are just buttery and as sublime as always. Never Dissapointed with the temptations FT: “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”, “Runaway Child, Running Wild”, “I Gotta Find a Way” 4/5

-didn’t write a BL- AL: I really didn’t like this album. R.E.M. is a band my mum likes, but I’ve personally never felt any affinity for. I just thought this album was annoying and corny. The lyricism is very shallow (“everybody hurts”, my only reaction is that of a no shit!) some tracks were just downright annoying (the aforementioned “everybody hurts” and “the sidewinder sleeps tonite”. It’s just jangly American pseudo-country shite. This has to be truly the most milquetoast album I’ve ever witnessed. The production value is good but you know the saying about polishing a turd. I’d be happy if I never had to listen to R.E.M. ever again. FT: “Man on the Moon” was the only one I thought this is ok 1/5

BL: Willie Nelson is iconic and a cultural icon but despite this I’ve never listened to any of his music. I hope to rectify this error and make good. AL: This is brilliant. Can’t believe I slept on Willie Nelson for so long. A very nice collection of well known tracks. This almost feels like a “babies first Willie Nelson”, and I’m all here for it. The gentle soulful organ, the twang of the acoustic guitar, this is country at its finest. Very much liked this FT: “Stardust”, “Georgia on my Mind”, “Someone to watch over me” 5/5

BL: never listened to Yes before but seeing a 3 track album seems interesting. Structured and formatted very similarly to the rush album a couple weeks back. So let’s see if it is a similar experience. AL: not as strong as the rush album. Maybe it was wrong of me to assume a similar thing but there are definite thematic and structural similarities. The opener didn’t really feel like the 4 parts were any different from one another (apart from the final part) the subsequent two tracks were pretty alright though. A very good listen with headphones on and the best way to enjoy this kind of album. If you like Rush and prog rock this is certainly you’re thing but if you’re not then you may not like this. At the very least it has encouraged me to dig further and see if I enjoy anymore of their discography FT: “Siberian Khatru” 3/5

BL: know of Björk. The few things I’ve listened to I’ve not been a massive fan of. I’ll see how I find this. AL: I can appreciate what Björk was going for here. Having an album which is 99% acapella is definitely a good idea, and it creates some very interesting sounds and is unique but it just doesn’t stick with me. It just sounds a bit bad to me, I can appreciate Björk I’d always gonna be avant garde but yeah this pushed it too far for me. 2/5 just for the concept, 1/5 for my enjoyment FT: “mouths cradle” 2/5

BL: never heard of. But read that Costello cites him as a major influence so I am looking forward to it. AL: wow. I thought this was brilliant. Cutting and beautiful song writing, “love’s enough”, “another Friday night”, “family band”, and “Montana song” all have amazing lyrics and the instrumentation is pretty solid too. His gentle yet rough voice really adds and emotional tone to it. Highly recommend FT: “love’s enough”, “Montana song”, “another Friday night”, “family band”, 5/5

BL: I love pure heroine - however I’ve never listened to Melodrama despite everyone unanimously agreeing this is her best album. Look forward to listening to it. AL: I loved it a lot. Lorde is a voice of a generation. She weaves stories of guilt and heartbreak and shame all into one melodramatic package, 100% worth the listen. Like pure heroine but more diverse in sound and higher production value. FT: “sober” “green light” 4/5

BL: Aware of this Getz/Gilberto project. I have “the girl from ipanema” on my playlist (the version off the deluxe issue with Astrid Gilberto featuring), so very excited to hear this record. AL: an excellent record. especially loved listening to this with headphones on and dolby atmos mixing. Getz gentle voice alongside Astruds apperances and the soulful yet gentle jazz backing from Getz & Gilberto, truly revolutionary stuff and still holds up in my opinion, as one of (if not the) best jazz album of all time. FT: "the girl from ipanema" "doralice" "corcovado" "Só Danço Samba" 5/5

BL: never heard of Malcom McClaren before but seen that he had a lot of connections to the underground art rock scene, so will be interested to see how this one turns out. AL: i can appreciate what this was going for. But as I also do not like the sex pistols or the new york dolls, who he was responsible for a lot of their fame alongside westwood. This just felt like it was trying way too hard to say or do something, and in turn just ends up being too experimental - but not even in the way that it pushes boundaries, its just odd for the sake of being odd. I'm so happy I wasnt alive in the 70s and 80s because this wave of punk pseudointellectualism is absolutely mindnumbing and id be happy if i never had to think about it again. FT: "Buffalo gals" (the only one i found catchy) 1/5

BL: never heard of before, will see how it turns out AL: thought it was pretty fun. The major problem for me is for a punk album there just isn’t no bite. I’m sure with a better mix & master engineer these problems could’ve been solved but nothing really stuck out and it all felt rather sludgy. This should be a case study on exactly why mixing and mastering is so important. FT: “private affair”, “no, your product” “this perfect day” 2.5/5

BL: heard the name Soul II Soul before but don't think ive ever listened to a track. AL: I liked a lot of the tracks on the album but the problem is to me a lot of them are too repetitive, which I get from dance music is kinda the M.O., but I can appreciate there are a lot of highs on here. FT: “African dance” “back to life” “keep on Movin (big beat acapella)” 3/5

BL: Metallica as mentioned in my black album review, is something I listened to a little bit back when I was first getting into metal but not much before or since. So it’s good to be finally expanding my mind with them. AL: I think in terms of the Metallica discography, this and “Ride the Lightning” show them at their purest in terms of thrash metal. I think this did less for me than the black album did as this didn’t really try to experiment with the formula. This is just pure thrash, and if that’s your lane you’ll love it but to me it’s not really my go to metal sub genre so it wasn’t the worlds most inspiring listen. FT: “blackened”, “one”, “to live is to die” 3/5

BL: Beck is an artist my dad really likes but I’ve never personally had too much of a chance to get into him because I’ve never given him a go. Hopefully this’ll be a good jumping off point. AL: I thought this album was pretty solid. The opener is an absolute banger, however everything else it did feel it plateau’d around the ok to pretty good mark, no other super exceptional tracks I thought. Though nothing felt wasted and the album did not feel bloated in any capacity. FT: “the golden age” 3/5

BL: never heard of stereo MCs but Will give it a bump AL: it was good but suffered from the same problem the soul II soul album did last week. Dance albums just aren’t that listenable. If I was blazed out of my mind though this would be crazy. FT: “connected” “ground level” “step it up” 3/5

-Retrospectively Reviewed on 17/06/23 (generated: 13/06/23)- AL: this to me is what a punk album should be. Weird out there guitaring, soaring cutting sounds. Well engineered, pure power and passion. I wasn’t massively following along with the lyrics but to me this trumps Out of Step and Eternally Yours by a long way. Solid album for sure. FT: “kerosene”, “fists of love”, “bazooka Joe” 4/5

-Retrospectively Reviewed on 17/06/23 (generated: 14/06/23)- BL: Never heard of Scott Walker before but interested to hear AL: very solid album. Loved the Ingmar Bergman reference at the start. Held pretty solid the whole way through. Excellent examples of 60s counterculture lyrical witticism. His voice is also excellent. My only problem with the album is the strings throughout, makes it feel quite overproduced when I think the album would’ve been stronger with a more acoustic sound. Enjoyed though. FT: “The Seventh Seal”, “Hero of the War”, “the old man’s back again” 4/5

-Didn’t write a BL- AL: very cool folk rock album. My favourite one we’ve had so far. Pretty much all bangers on here. Inclusion of the organ juxtaposing the guitar very fun FT: “the night they drove old Dixie down”, “up on cripple creek”, “whispering pines”, “Jemima surrender” 5/5

-Retrospectively Reviewed on 21/06/23 (generated: 19/06/23)- AL: it was very middle of the road rock. Type of thing I’d listen to whilst road tripping in ‘MURICA. Not bad but for a band you’d expect to hear on a station with a slogan like “not your momma’s radio station” it is pretty inoffensive. Maybe would give a relisten though. FT: “Sharp Dressed Man”, “I Need you Tonight” 2/5

BL: one of my favourite albums of all time. Was the soundtrack to my first year of sixth form and some of the songs hold really special memories to me. I remember learning the intro on piano to impress a girl, listening to Tonight, Tonight with my friend Joe and nearly crying - and then we tried to record a cover of 1979. Porcelina of the Vast oceans was one of the first long tracks I ever listened to which widened my perception of what music could be. Thirty Three and Farewell & Goodnight are still in rotation and are such beautiful orchestrations. Cannot wait to give this a relisten. AL: just as brilliant as I remember. Very fun. Does drag a little bit in the second half but by raw amount of amazing content this is still an amazing album FT: “Jellybelly”, “porcelina of the vast oceans”, “take me down”, “love”, “thirty three”, “beautiful”, “farewell and goodnight” 5/5

BL: second Costello album I’ve got. Will see how I find this one AL: didn’t like this as much as blood or chocolate. Had some very strong high points but a lot of it felt very same-y, I know Costello’s main appeal is his songwriting, which is on point here as always, but this didn’t do as much for me. FT: “senior service”, “Oliver’s army”, “goon squad” 3/5

BL: haven’t heard of Orbital but will listen AL: this is my favourite EDM album I’ve listened to, the ambient and jungle 90s movement produced some really good stuff. FT: “Lush 3-2”, “Walk Now…”, “Monday” 4/5

-Didn’t write a BL- AL: pretty solid. Knowing there is personnel overlap with the smashing pumpkins and nirvana makes a lot of sense. While doesn’t compare to those two this was still a good listen and I enjoyed it FT: “only happy when it rains”, “stupid girl”, “milk” 3/5

-Didn’t write a BL- AL: this album was just so… boring. It kind of felt like a nothingness. It was so comically ok that I feel nothing but disdain for it. Maybe it just didn’t hit right, maybe it wasn’t the right time. But god I couldn’t distinguish anything about this. FT: didn’t have one 1/5

BL: Iron Maiden was my first introduction to metal with their track “run to the hills” and the powerslave album when I was around 12 years old. Will be good to finally listen to an album of theirs other than what I’m familiar with. AL: to be honest this was kind of weak. I can appreciate the level of charm it has but nothing really does me with iron maiden anymore. I have nostalgia for run to the hills but nothing else really so it felt quite shite really. I can’t quite put my finger on why I find it so mid nowadays but I do FT: “run to the hills” 2/5

BL: Sonic Youth have been on my to-listen list for some time so let’s see if they live up to my expectation AL: I thought this was pretty meh. I liked the more spoken word style tracks but generally speaking sonically it was quite bland I thought. Maybe on a relisten I’d like it a bit more but I’m not really sold on it FT: “star power”, “in the kingdom #19”, 2/5

-retrospectively reviewed on 03/07/23, generated 29/06/23- AL: I liked this a lot more then Medulla but I think when it comes down to it I just don’t really like Björk’s voice that much. It just isn’t for me I suppose. FT: “there’s more to life than this”, “come to me” 2/5

BL: have listened to this album before. Last time I listened I thought it was a solid 4/5, very good mood music. AL: nothing has changed since the last listen. Excellent mood music, nothing necessarily stands out as an amazing track besides the opener but as mood music it is the exact thing I could picture sipping whisky to outside at night romanticising my despair. FT: “in the wee small hours of the morning” 4/5

BL: I love talking heads, they’ve been with me my entire life due to my parents putting me onto Once in a Lifetime at the age of maybe 7 or so in the car. Remain in Light is one of my favourite albums of all time - but I’ve never listened to this one, so let’s see. AL: I liked it a lot. Doesn’t hold a candle to remain in light but still a very fun listen, Byrne is quirky and clever as ever. FT: “Artists Only”, “take me to the river” “The Big Country” 4/5

BL: this was one of the first albums I ever bought on vinyl when I was younger (I wanted to be a hipster so bad), and I remember listening to this once or twice, I think as I’ve aged my respect for their impact of the game has risen but my like for their music has dropped, so I’ll see where I stand with this AL: this held up better than I expected it to. While I do feel like a lot of the tracks are just OK, there are no songs which I find particularly bad apart from the opener which suffers from being about 2 minutes too long. There are some songs which I didn’t appreciate before which i can now being a bit more mature (“Columbia” and “Married with Children” specifically). All in all surprisingly impressed with this album FT: “live forever”, “Columbia”, “Digsy’s Diner”, “Married with Children” 4/5

BL: not heard of Jungle Brothers before - look forward to the listen AL: I can appreciate how foreword thinking and progressive this was - and how much this must’ve pushed the rap game forward. The instrumentals in this are amazing, the use of sampling is brilliant. I loved this, I felt the first 1/3rd was the weakest. FT: “Acknowledge Your Own History”, “Good Newz Comin’”, “Tribe Vibes”, “Black Woman”, 3/5

BL: generally consumed a decent amount of the Johnny Cash discography through parents and grandparents but interested to give my first proper Johnny Cash album a go. Having read a little about this album I absolutely love the concept. AL: this is a great album. The idea of such an anti-authoritarian and powerful social commentary of an album that has not been replicated much since apart from RATM and similar acts is amazing from someone who I assumed was a pretty standard country lad. Mind blowing stuff especially for the time, some of the music was just ok but the album as an experience was amazing. FT: “cocaine blues”, “give my love to rose”, “green green grass of home”, “grey stone chapel” 4/5

BL: despite being incredibly iconic I’ve never really delved into Zeppelin’s discography. So I’ll be interested to give this one a go AL: more than anything the appreciation for how talented all the musicians in Led Zeppelin are. As someone who can drum & play guitar, Page and Bonham are exceptional musicians and have always been some of the best in their class, the album cuts definitely let Bonham shine through a lot more on here (the drum solo in Moby Dick was wild). While I can’t quite break down Jones’ talent in quite the same way as I’m not familiar with bass I can be sure he is also a huge talent. It was incoherently coherent (in the best way) and everything 60s fuzzed out hard rock should be. An excellent way to be introduced to Zeppelin’s discography. FT: “whole lotta love”, “Ramble On”, “Moby Dick” 5/5

BL: Miles Davis is one of the most iconic figures in Jazz and one of the reasons why I picked up trying to learn the trumpet, I’ve never listened to this album the whole way through but I’m sure I’ve heard each individual track at some point. AL: very competent jazz album, excellent lounge listening and Davis is certainly one of if not the best Brass player of all time. FT: “So What”, “All Blues” 3/5

-Didn’t write a BL- AL: Very familiar with Gang of Four & Andy Gill’s work. Never listened to the album the whole way through but I’m glad I did. Very solid writing and unique sound cutting through. FT: “Ether”, “Damaged Goods”, “Guns Before Butter”, “Contract” 4/5

BL: aware of these guys through the Nuggets compilation. Would’ve listened to them around December ‘20 but never dug deeper into them, I guess now’s the time AL: pretty radical stuff. While it isn’t necessarily mind blowing to listen to for the time it would’ve been boundary pushing. The use of the jug is very cool and adds a dynamic not really seen in any other music before or after. But generally I don’t think I’ll be revisiting this one - it all gets caught up in the 60s psych rock wave, many better and more cutting acts from that time. FT: “Roller Coaster” 2/5

BL: Literally never heard of Sault, no mention no familiarity no recognition of album covers. So this’ll be a blind listen. AL: I thought that this album was incredibly powerful and also fun. Designed to be a celebration of black culture amidst the 2020 riots this provided a positive outlook and message to young black youths who may be suffering crises around their race in the political turmoil of our time. Whilst also designed to have powerful moments and express sadness, anger and pain it exists as a reminder that every person and culture is beautiful. This stands as a perfect celebration of that FT: “Stop Dem”, “Wildfires”, “Don’t shoot guns down”, “Black”, “monsters” 4/5

BL: Aware of The Police but never listened to them too much. I know my parents both love them, so I’ll see how it is. AL: yeah just didn’t like this one in the slightest. I liked “wrapped around your finger”, but other than that it was all very samey, the synths just don’t work for me. It’s all very contrite and mehhhhhhh the whole way through. I feel bad for hating on this but I just can’t get into it. FT: “wrapped around your finger” 1/5

BL: Prince’s purple rain is one of my mothers favourite albums of all time. I personally have no fondness attached to it besides the track “when doves cry” as it was a song I used to listen all the time when I was about 9 or 10. I’ll see how it holds up as a unit AL: it was pretty solid. There are some real bangers in the second half but the first half is quite weak I think. FT: “darling Nikki”, “when doves cry”, “I would die 4 u” 3/5

BL: know how influential Marvin Gaye is but never really listened to anything by him besides “let’s get it on”, so will be interested to hear a much later work AL: very solid album, soul & funk - lots of emotion, everything I could ever want. Just felt like there could have been a little bit more of range in the dynamics between soft ballads and funkier tracks FT: “Anger”, “Is That Enough”, “sparrow”, “when did you stop loving me” 4/5

-Didn’t write a BL- AL: Food & Liquor is a compelling socially conscious rap album from a creative and lyrical MC. Highly recommend a listen for any fans of golden era lyrical and socially conscious hip hop. FT: “Kick, Push” 4/5

BL: I have listened to this album before - and consider it the best of Smith’s work from what I’ve listened to (though I’ve only listened to around half his discography) so it’ll be good to give this one a repeat. “Say Yes” is in my top 100 songs of all time AL: still like I remember it. It’s a very sweet and concise album. But to me “Say Yes” dwarves almost every other track on the album. As it is so good. The rest of the album is incredibly solid though FT: “Say Yes”, “Alameda” 3/5

-Didn’t write a BL- AL: I thought this album was decent - good even, but I’m gonna have to say it - I still don’t quite get the Radiohead hype, so many people think it’s one of my worst musical takes - but to me they seem like any standard 90s alt-rock band - The Smashing Pumpkins have a much more compelling discography as far as I’m concerned. This album was pretty good, and “high and dry” still holds a lot of emotional weight to me having heard it at a specific time in my life which it struck a massive chord at the time. FT: “High and Dry”, “Fake Plastic Trees”, “Black Star” 3/5

BL: the generator must be trying to prod me by making me get two Radiohead albums two days in a row - this is supposed to be their magnum opus - so I will have to go into it thusly, and disregarded my previous take on The Bends yesterday. AL: alright fine. You got me. This album is brilliant, I was walking through a forest in the morning whilst listening to this and I don’t think there was a better way to experience this for the first time. Somber, beautiful and harrowing. The tones, ethereal sounds, electronica and rock all combined makes for a pretty unique experience and in the early internet days before the popularisation of electronic and rock synergies this would’ve been mind blowing to hear. FT: “Airbag”, “Paranoid Android”, “Exit Music (For a Film)” 5/5

BL: Ray Charles isn’t someone I know much about, so I’ll give it a listen AL: I enjoyed this a lot, some incredibly melancholic tracks on here. I didn’t think it was revolutionary but for the 50s it was pretty good. One of the most soulful voices I’ve ever heard FT: “It Had to be You”, “When your Lover has Gone”, “Am I Blue” 3/5

-Didn’t write a BL (but never heard of Liz Phair)- AL: a very solid record. I liked the tonal sounds she was producing - very rock esque but also very drone and minimalist, you could almost imagine My Bloody Valentine making a lot of the licks without their signature layering and distortion. FT: “6’1”, “Glory”, “Fuck and Run” 3/5

BL: Public Enemy to me are one of the most iconic and provocative rap groups of all time. While I don’t know many cuts off of this album and “fear of a black planet” has always been more in my rotation I cannot wait to hear this one AL: got everything you could want from a public enemy record. Socially conscious lyrics, excellent chopping, sampling and production, and a general apocalyptic and political feel that never stops being provocative FT: “don’t believe the hype”, “she watch channel zero?!”, “black steel in the hour of chaos” 4/5

-didn’t write a BL, retroactively reviewed on 24/08/23, generated on 7/08/23- AL: I like Green Day, this album was an anthem throughout my childhood. Nowadays when I’m older and can look at it under a more mature eye I can see that it maybe wasn’t the political statement I might’ve thought it was when I was 10. This Bush era political album sort of has points and ideas that reflect disdain for the wars in the Middle East that were going on but I think it kind of distracts a lot from the other stuff that’s going on. While it’s still a perfectly solid album I would argue it has not aged super well, still a fun listen and very catch pop punk but not much more than that these days in my eyes. FT: “Jesus of suburbia”, “Give me Novocaine”, “Wake me up when September ends” 3/5

-didn’t write a BL, retroactively reviewed on 25/08/23, generated on 8/08/23- AL: I liked this. A very good pure country record. Lyrics on point, good guitaring, and Merle Haggard has pretty compelling country vocals which hold their purity but don’t overdo the twang. Would listen to quite a few of these tracks again. FT: “House of Memories”, “Drink up and be Somebody”, “Mixed Up Mess of a Heart” 4/5

(Retroactively reviewed on 25/08/23, generated 9/08/23) BL: heard the opener track from this one before, but never listened to the album the whole way through. Will have to see my thoughts on this AL: I just thought this was quite boring to be honest. Maybe I’m missing the point but it just came off as very basic, the orchestration had some moments where it stood out but otherwise mostly faded into the green and blue. Still deserves its place on the list but relatively speaking this was quite weak. FT: “Gutter Cat vs. The Jets” 2/5

BL: AC/DC is a group my father likes a lot. To me they do have some real stadium shaker rock anthems, but the statement that they made the same album 20 times is absolutely true. I suppose I’ll see when I listen to this one. AL: my hypothesis was correct. The album started strong but by track 5 I knew I was just listening to the same stuff. I suppose the lyrical or melodic appeal has never been what people come to AC/DC for, but the Young’s guitar sonics, which are outstanding here. However there’s not much else going for it FT: “walk all over you” 3/5

-Didn’t write a BL, unsure when generated, retroactively reviewed 26/08/23- AL: what a great album. Bowie truly was one of a kind. This album just rips from start to finish. Amazing production, vocals. I don’t think I have any complaints with this album. Star man can feel a bit overplayed but it still is an amazing track so there’s no disdain from me. FT: “Five Years”, “Lady Stardust”, Suffragette City” 5/5

BL: Never heard of XTC, interested to hear, like the album cover although it is incredibly 80s AL: I liked this. A very solid record. I did feel I would maybe appreciate it more on a repeat listen however the first time around it was very solid. FT: “Summer’s Cauldron”, “Season Cycle”, “Dear God” 3/5

Adam and the Ants are a band I’ve been aware of for a long time, ever since I heard the Horrible Histories parody of “Stand and Deliver” (which was always my favourite song when I was younger), my mum showed me the original and I was sold. Never really listened to anything by them other than that song though. AL: this album just radiated charm. While not all of the tracks were necessarily hits or standouts, all of them had their own individual feel and charm, the album is also pretty short and concise which helps add to that feeling. No tracks particularly stood out as bad and I’d say the baseline is probably a B-grade for how good all these songs were, many pushing into A territory, nothing particularly excelled though, which was my only problem. FT: “Dog Eat Dog”, “Ant Music”, “Kings of the wild Frontier”, “Don’t be Square”, “Jolly Roger” 4/5

-didn’t write a BL- AL: this was a delight to listen to. The hybrid of western music and sitar Asian music was absolutely beautiful and really gave it a psychedelic feel. I’d expect nothing less from the talents of the Shankar family. Highly worth a listen and one of my favourite albums I’ve had on this generator so far. FT: “Metamorphosis”, “Raghupati” 5/5

-didn’t write a BL- AL: a solid album. Fast Car is a song I’ve known for all my life. The rest of them were very nice and soulful ballads. Definitely worth the listen, the only thing that was lacking in my opinion was diversity in the instrumentation. Otherwise excellent. FT: “Fast Car”, “Baby Can I Hold You” 3/5

BL: I really did not like the previous R.E.M. record I had, I pray that this one is better because I thought the last one was a slog and probably the worst record I’ve had the entire run so far. AL: While this was definitely an improvement on “Automatic for the People”, I still didn’t like this. The first half of the album had some moments where I was almost excited for it. The opener and “Catapult” were two tracks I enjoyed. However everything else just melded into one, and the second half of the album after Catapult just became a chore to listen to, no interesting ideas were heard or musical variation. I’m amazed I’m dissapointed by R.E.M. twice in a row but I guess they are just not for me. FT: “Radio Free Europe”, “Catapult” 2/5

-Didn’t write a BL- AL: I knew “Roads” and “Glory Box” off of this album but I was amazed that there were some tracks that even superseded how amazing those are, while I know the members of this band reject the term “trip-hop” I think the argument to be made that these guys founded the genre is pretty strong, and although their statement may be a rejection of the subsequent acts which were inspired by them you can’t help but admire how many artists declare portishead and specifically this record as an influence. For good reason too. The sounds this creates is unparalleled to anything else that was around at the time, and in the modern day due to the use of hardware and physical signal chains, the rise of DAWs has made so many of these beautifully nostalgic sounds very hard to recreate. Viva La Analogue Revolution FT: “Mysterons”, “Strangers”, “Roads”, “Pedestal”, “Glory Box” 5/5

BL: An album and artist I’ve never heard of. This is my first film soundtrack as far as I’m aware so excited to hear this one. Always loved Bollywood and the music from it is always absolutely great AL: didn’t like this at all to be honest. There were some moments when the choral vocals were being layered on tracks like “Aaina Wohi Rehta Hai” at the start but just when I felt like there were gonna be some cool psychedelic or drone parts introduced it was replaced by some standard Indian pop. Really not my thing. FT: “Tum Ek” 1/5

BL: Never heard of The Associates before, the first thing that stands out to me is how beautiful this album cover is. It’s so definitely 80s but the use of neon and the looks of the two men on the cover really makes for an appealing cover and I’m interested to hear what the album is about. AL: this was a pretty good album for background noise but I don’t feel like anything really stood out. I was listening to this through my phone which I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. Hasn’t got amazing audio quality, I feel this is more of an atmospheric spacial audio experience - so maybe I’ll give it a re-listen when I get the chance with my proper headphones on. FT: “18 carat love affair” 2/5

-Didn’t write a BL- AL: This album truly is a worthy contender for one of the most important albums of all time. Having never heard this before, as soon as I listened I noticed how almost all lounge room jazz seems to stem from a sound created here. The sound is very formulaic here, but then an argument can be made for is a piece of art formulaic if it’s what creates the formula. The tracks which this album laid down for chilled jazz is second to none and while this may not be the most important album of all time I’d certainly say this is the most important Jazz album of all time, maybe only seconded by Bitches Brew. The actual album itself was pretty compelling, a golden standard for what lounge jazz should be however I found the opener surprisingly weak on this album. All of the other tracks were really strong but I just couldn’t connect with that one. Overall there are definitely a few tracks I would put on again but this serves its purpose as defining and creating lounge jazz, this recording stands testament to everything the new wave of jazz would become. While it certainly wasn’t the first “lounge jazz” act, it is one of the first recordings and likely inspired a whole generation of players and quartets after it. FT: “Take Five”, “Kathy’s Waltz”, “Pick Up Sticks” 3/5

BL: Aerosmith is a band I don’t have very high thoughts of. Besides walk this way the only things I know about them is everything the lead singer has done. Putting that aside for an objective review I’ll see how this plays out AL: this was a very mixed bag. I found the first half to be very derivative and uninspired, at some points like “Adam and Eve” straight up insulting, but the second half had some good stuff on it. The problem with this record is that it’s mostly derivative rock music that’s pretty cookie cutter, the most famous track has a much better version with Run-DMC on it and nothing else other than sweet emotion stands out to general audiences. So I’m not really sure why this album made the list. The final closing thought would be: just a generic rock album. FT: “sweet emotion”, “no more no more” 2/5

BL: Thin Lizzie is not a band I’m particularly passionate about in any way. I remember being about 12 and performing “Jail Break” on stage in front of the rest of our theatre group. They didn’t think too much of it, I didn’t think too much of it. He wanted to learn it cos it was a piece for his grade 3 or 4 guitar I believe. Since that there’s been little to no listening of them from me. I can appreciate “whiskey in the jar” as a song but other than that I don’t think I’d really go out my way to listen to them. AL: there is not much I can say about the content of this album and yet so much around the context of this album. The music? Functional at best, mostly middle of the road music from a couple hit wonder 70s rock band. One track that stood out was “Massacre”, surprisingly good. However my main criticism of this album is it isn’t technically a live album. As a lot of it is overdubbed, not good enough to be a studio album but not a pure live album this stands as a unique but not provocative example of interference. The one thing I will say that’s evident from this is that Phil Lynott is very clearly an amazing frontman, having the crowd wrapped around his finger (unless the cheering is overdubbed too). Wouldn’t recommend a listen to this. Would maybe be better if it was a single album as opposed to a double. FT: “Massacre” 2/5

BL: Willie Nelson’s previous album was really good I thought: this one seems to be originals as oppose to covers so more interested to hear this one. I like the album cover a lot. AL1: first time round I enjoyed the listen. Very honky tonk. I tried to decipher the story behind it but found it very difficult to follow. Round about 2/3rds of the way through I realised the album was on shuffle play. So I’ll give it another listen the right way around and see what I think this time. As of first time around it’s a 3/5 AL2: wow. What a way to do a storytelling album. Very impressed by this. The story was fun, the juxtaposition of short and long tracks gives this a very ahead of it’s time feeling. I really really sincerely enjoyed this, I’ve never been a massive country fan bar Jason Molina but I’m starting to get roped into certain aspects of the singer/songwriter material. Very very enjoyable FT: “Medley: Blue Rock Montana”, “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”, “Denver”, “Bandera” 5/5

BL: my previous serving of Miles Davis was somber and beautiful, I’ll be interested to hear what this serving has to offer me. I think this may be a more eclectic record than the last judging by what I can see at face value but I will have to see. Truly a spectacular artist, and I loved the first record. AL: two very well crafted suites to listen to and engage with. The first one does greatly outshine the second however, for that reason alone I do think it is not quite as good as his previous project on this generator. Still an amazing listen none the less FT: “Shhh / Peaceful” 4/5

-Didn’t write a BL- AL: killing joke was a band I was aware of only due to their controversy with Nirvana copying their eighties’ lick. And while I liked this more than nirvana I must admit I didn’t think this was anything special. While I didn’t think it was bad, and the use of layered guitars must’ve been pretty cool for the time in a pre-loveless by MBV world, I think this hasn’t aged amazingly, and while there are some tracks still worth the listen I’m not sure if this stood the test of time like many of the other post punk albums, despite it being very influential. So this made me decisive about how I rate my albums, whether I think they deserve to be on this list or whether I enjoy them. I have decided I will rank all efforts based purely on my enjoyment - if this was based off of influence this album would get a 4 or a 5 but due to my enjoyment being a high ok at best it’ll get a 3/5. Though some really dislike the abrasive flanger on the vocal in track 2 I honestly didn’t find it too bad and thought it was quite interesting if not very obviously a gimmick. FT: “requiem”, “S.O.36” 3/5

BL: never heard of this artist before but the cover reminds me of the Roni Size brown paper bag album so I’ll be interested to hear if it’s in a similar vein AL: funnily enough, my 90s ambient DnB assumption was correct, and wow. This album blew me away. I wasn’t too sure about the opener, but by track 3 this album had me in a chokehold. The fusion of ambient DnB & Sourh Asian instrumentals and vocals was mesmerising, the drone of DnB was meant to go with the resonant frequencies of the sitar. Definitely some Bhangra influence in there too. Highly recommend this. It reminds me of another comment I saw under a different album (can’t remember which one though), with albums like this on the generator, you have to wonder why the people who wrote those chose so many 80s new wave and post punk albums. FT: “Eclipse”, “O.K.”, “Light”, “Vikram the Vampire” 5/5

BL: never heard of this artist before just as yesterdays album but I hope it is another hit like the Talvin Singh record was. AL: this was also an incredibly strong record. The combination of Brazilian & African rhythms make this a pleasure to listen to, and I reckon even more of a pleasure to dance to. Having two world albums like this in a row is a blessing, and reminds me how much music there is just outside my language barrier which can completely change my world. FT: “O Plebeu”, “Ponta de Lanca Africans”, “Cavaleiro do Cavalo Imaculado” 5/5

-Didn’t write a BL- AL: Sade is very good at what she does. I however find that she’s a bit of a one trick pony - atleast within the scope of this album. While it was by no means bad the album ended up dragging for me by the time the last 3 or so tracks occured. Smooth Operator is still a classic though FT: “Smooth Operator”, “Frankie’s First Affair” 3/5