1001 Albums Summary

Time to Pretend, Kids and Electric Feel are all still bangers but this didn't do much for me other than those. Not to say it was bad or anything but I thought the second half tailed off a bit. I may be being quite harsh because those three were all massive massive tracks so it's probably unfair to expect the whole album to be of a kind. If I'd checked out this album at the time I would probably be marking it higher

Yeah I did not like that. Very samey structure and beats. You could listen to the first couple of tracks and get the point. Hard to believe this was once called 'hardcore rap'. Would have cut it more slack except Grandmaster Flash was around earlier than this and actually still sounds really good

I liked it. Are they an actual proper band? I always thought they were just fluff but I thought the instrumentation was great. Great bass lines especially. Vocals a bit strained sounding.

One of my first CD's. Nostalgia through the roof so finding it hard to really be objective. Some of the more straightforward rock and roll tracks are maybe a bit bland but the more unusual sounding tracks were my highlights listening to it today. Pity they never really moved on from this sound and pushed themselves any more because they had all the raw ingredients to have a long and interesting career. This is probably harsh as they were obviously still incredibly successful but it's hard not to think of what could have been.

This is great. I'm a total sucker for Phil Spector (producing, not the binfire of a human). A very pleasant listen. Had never heard of Dion before this but there's loads of older stuff I didn't realise was him (The Wanderer!)

I enjoyed it. When I Grow Up... and Help Me Rhonda were highlights for me.

I've never been into Van Morrison. I like a few tracks but I know he's an arsehole and he sounds like an arsehole so I always feel he's slightly at arm's length to me. This was quite easy listening but nothing else for me. I liked the piano on Moondance though. More of the looseness would have been welcome.

I have no strong feelings on Elbow and doubt I ever will but this was a nice lush way to spend the best part of an hour. I thought they were a bit by the numbers gentle indie, a bit like Embrace, but there was more going on here than I gave them credit for before. In some places it was like if Sigur Ros were from Bury. My inner teenager can't quite get over them being music exclusively liked by middle aged people, even though that includes me now. That's a me problem though.

Too much filler

Nope

I thought this was softer sounding than I would associate with the Velvet Underground. Quite straightforward folky songs for the most part, with a couple of noteable exceptions. With it being self titled I assumed it was their first album so I was quite surprised this was their 3rd album and was an attempt at back to basics. I liked it fine but it feels like a step back from The Velvet Underground and Nico

Just a nice chill old bag of blues. Bonus points for two tracks in a row being about bugs and a track about the borax mines. It sounds more timeless than a lot of tosh from the 50's and I like how it sounded like just him, his guitar and a mike. Woodie Guthrie has a very strange speaking voice

Some of the tracks were far longer than they needed to be, although if you're sweatily dancing around a light up dancefloor you probably aren't bothered. I wasn't, for the record. I loved the guitar playing. Nile Rodgers is great.

I thought it was great. Highlights were The Ballad of Lucy Jordan and Guilt. Really good cover of Working Class Hero as well. Her voice is very cool, and I enjoyed the electro stuff.

When I read one of these guys was in the Buzzcocks I was quite optimistic, but this didn't do it for me. I find it quite hard to judge stuff like this off one listen but I'm not bothering to persevere

So cool. Don't know if they even had the songs especially but an hour of Jimi going mental on his guitar sounds great. I also realised how much his voice sounds like Curtis Mayfield at times. All Along the Watchtower always reminds me of Withnail & I so that's a positive. Little Miss Strange sounds like the kind of 60s rubbish they were trying to move on from though.

This grew on me as I listened through it. I don't really know LCD Soundsystem though and I can't imagine 2017 was the peak of their relevance. The dense synthy stuff was great but I didn't find the lyrics or the vocals particularly great

I avoided Nirvana for a while when I was getting into music because I thought they could never really live up to the hype. I then got really into the compilation with the black cover and decided they were in actual fact, class. I think the appeal for me lies in the balance between hooky melodies and their abrasive sound, and the balance isn't always there, but overall I loved this.

Massive McCartney fan boy here and some great tracks on here but he is super super cheesy and you could argue that nobody in Wings had the clout of John Lennon to tell him to reign it in at times. Still I think the cheesiness is something you have to accept is fundamentally him. His dad was a really good pianist and raised him on old music hall comedy songs and such so it's not surprising his songwriting reflects that.

Whole album fantastic. Souvenir was my highlight. Can see myself playing it a lot. Loved the slowed down choir as an instrument. A bit like I'm Not in Love by 10cc.

I wasn't that fussed either. I liked the guitar playing. I think it might benefit from repeated listens though

I've always found David Byrne's voice walks that very fine line between quirky and annoying but as time goes by I'm very much on the side of enjoying it. I think it gives life to repeated listens to their songs that might grow stale sooner. Psycho Killer still sounds really fresh to me because i just really enjoy listening to his weird tics and phrasing

When people talk about over polished too clean sounding 80s pop I bet this is what they mean. I thought The Look of Love still sounds good but any cool instrument parts were kind of swallowed up by the overall sound. Really underwhelmed

Really enjoyed this. Fun listen. Nice to get something completely different to the just recent stuff. I couldn't really pick out much in the way of particular tracks other than Frontier Psychiatrist but I think it's just one of those albums

Listened to this a few times fairly recently and liked it more than I did the Fugees. Not sure why other than it obviously being much heavier on Lauryn Hill but I feel like it has more in the way of melody rather than pure hip hop.

There's something to be said for straightforward rock and roll with absolutely no ambition other than that but it put a ceiling on my enjoyment of it. Great at what it is, but nothing more than that. Lemmy should not be singing about jailbait either. Nobody should, but especially him

Hearing stuff like this really drives home how much the Beatles were in a league of their own

I really enjoyed listening to this on the way to work this morning. Never been that into Santana but i thought the percussion and the loose structure was just good times. Great cover of Black Magic Woman

I love this album. Had it at school after buying it blind. I think they hit the mark with every track here. Baba O Riley is my standout but This Song is Over and Won't Get Fooled again both up there as well. I like the early synths. I've not really ever explored The Who outside of this album but I think I might now.

I can only conclude a honky tonk women killed his parents

Her voice is great. Thought she was a bit Kate Bush on Writer in the Dark. The producer Jack Antonoff has such a distinct sound as well. Liability is so like the Taylor Swift stuff he produced, or Bleachers I thought. I thought this was great all round

I thought most of this was fairly unremarkable rock and roll, with the exception of standout track American Girl.

No standout tracks in particular but I had a good time just basking in the lush sounds. It has the feeling of a protest album but not against anything in particular, just the 70s being a bit shit

This left me completely cold. It was so clinical and robotic, which is obviously the point, but not why I listen to music for the most part. I think they've been copied and iterated on so much that they sound really dated and cheesy now which surprised me. Thought I'd have liked this much more but thought it was a bit crap

Shrug

I got most enjoyment from the tracks I hadn't heard a million times. I like Adele's voice but over the course of a whole album the brassiness of it wore on me a bit. I think I'm being unfair because of overexposure though. If I was hearing this for the 1st time I reckon I'd be raving about it

When they broke out of the usual 80s rap structure I thought they sounded great but a lot of this was quite straightforward rhyming pairs. Still the best Jewish origin hip hop I've ever heard.

Not my favourite Bowie but still really good. I don't think anyone can doubt his ability to surround himself with brilliant collaborators and I really enjoyed the sax parts on this especially

Easily the strongest second half of an album v the first half

I enjoyed some of the music but the whole package was just bizarre. I also read that he initially didn't credit a lot of the musicians at all somehow and they had to sue him. Weird all round

I thought this was great. All killer. Playing and arrangements all on point. Great palate cleanser after Duck Rock

I enjoyed the stripped back nature of this. Feels like the missing link between Carole King and... Sheryl Crow maybe? 90s anyway. Marlene On the Wall was really good and I liked The Queen and the Soldier. Not enough songs are basically short medieval fables

I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't organ-led jazz

I'm a Stevie Wonder fan but off the top of my head I reckon Innervisions and Talking Book (both immediately before this) and Songs in the Key of Life (immediately after) are much better. I thought it was a bit plodding other than Boogie On Reggae Woman. Not bad but a strange choice for the list

First time listening to any Leonard Cohen and I am on board the hype train. He is pretty dour but I don't think that necessarily translates to a depressing time listening. I like his strange slap guitar playing and his thoughtful phrasing. The backing vocals usually cut through just enough to lighten things or break the sound up enough to keep it interesting. Famous Blue Raincoat was my standout.

I think this has really suffered for me because of the 1 album a day structure. I can see myself getting really into it but at first listen I only really really liked it in parts and couldn't quite make my mind up about the rest

Instant classic for me. So nostalgic. I remember going to see them headline one of those NME tours with Bloc Party, Futureheads and Kaiser Chiefs

I liked this in places but the wacky psychedelic stuff grated. Probably the worst example yet of talking between tracks.

That was exactly as expected. Totally inoffensive now but probably mind blowing then

Funky

This goes harder than I imagined it would. Message In a Bottle is great. Drums sounded brilliant throughout. Not sure about the reggae but at least they owned it with the name of the album

Not for me. Quite literally

Nice sounds. One to revisit

Technically the first band I saw live (supporting Travis) but definitely not one I expected to see on this list. A perfectly cromulent band but are they that significant?

Banger of an album. D.A.N.C.E is up there with MGMT for me for nostalgia for the ABC years. Genesis, DANCE, Stress and Waters of Nazareth were especially great. I love listening to house and hearing parts that are just blatant disco. Makes real sense that Daft Punk would rope in Nile Rodgers on their last album.

One for the boomers

This sounded like brilliant musicians who didn't really write enough tunes for an album. I enjoyed Roundabout and Heart of the Sunrise and some other bits here and there but I think I'm missing something with most prog. Not sure I know how to listen to it.

This sounds like being fed an early dinner then spending the night in your bedroom because your parents have friends round for dinner

Brilliant album. Sounds really modern still in places other than some unintentional fuzz. Other songs sounding a bit more like Bob Dylan were slightly less interesting to me. Nico's voice is perfect for the sightly uncanny thing they have going on through the whole album. Highlights were anything sung by Nico, Sunday Morning, I'm Waiting for the Man, Heroin

Really enjoyed this. Some massive sounding songs on here. I'd never consciously thought of Queen as glam rock but this was glam AF. Harder rocking than a lot of classic Queen. The cover makes me feel a bit ill though, looks like a forgotten store room in Madame Tussauds. Highlights were Brighton Rock, Killer Queen, Now I'm Here, Stone Cold Crazy

Not my favourite Beatles. Bit gimmicky with the circus stuff (half the album) and sitar (Within You Without You), but with a couple of all time great tracks in there (She's Leaving Home, A Day in the life).

I can't get excited about Aerosmith at all, but I don't have any real complaints. I could probably copy and paste my thoughts on Motorhead

Lust For Life and The Passenger are classics. I enjoyed this a lot on the whole.

One of the better examples of post punk so far. I can't see myself going back but I enjoyed it

Big hit with me. I enjoyed the hits and then the melancholy second half vibes. Brothers in Arms was a highlight. Mark Knoffler's guitar sounding incredible throughout. I find the faux-American troubadour thing he does a bit weird being he's from Newcastle but he's got the songs and the skills so he can do what he wants I suppose.

This hit a lot of my sweet spots. Faux 80s rock like the Killers or Arcade Fire or 80s Bruce Springsteen with a more shoegazey sound. I didn't know them at all before this other than they were a bit of a 6 music sacred cow but I will definitely keep an eye out for them now.

The sound and musicianship were there. The songs weren't

I thought I misheard the lyrics on the first track when he goes on and on about loving a black woman, but when I checked, that's what he was saying. Weird. Then the speaking in tongues stuff. Haven't listened to all of this yet but I don't think I'll bother. I just wanted to be listening to Jeff Buckley instead.

Whelmed

I'm 18 sitting in chai ovna. I'm nursing some tea with twigs floating in it desperately trying to convince myself I wouldn't rather be in the union drinking diesel

Quite enjoyed this despite it not being my type of thing. Work it is great

How long is this album?! Singles are all great, overall sound is pleasant but just too much of it. The story of the royalties with Bittersweet Symphony is mad.

I didn't immediately enjoy this as much as Doolittle but that's not really possible. Definitely going to revisit

I like the random sounds of a kid's ray gun scattered throughout this. I liked this enough to listen to the whole thing but it's not going into rotation. Reading a bit about him and he seems like a cool guy

Had this on tape as a kid and loved it. Still do. A couple of the slower songs are a bit schmaltzy but there are so many different approaches that it's constantly an interesting listen. PYT hasn't aged too well as a concept given... y'know... Vincent Price MVP. Love the Eddie Van Halen guitar solo on Beat It too. The Girl is Mine is notable for being the worst song on the album, which happens to be written by two of the best songwriters ever. Why does McCartney sing that one bit really low? Why did they think the talking bit at the end was a good idea? Despite how crap the song is there are a couple of bits where their skill shines through in the chorus.

Fuck the Byrds. Terrible. I'm not listening to any more if they come up

Caveat, I only listened to the director's cut in Spotify but I had never heard them before being put off by their antics. I expected it to be unlistenable noise terrorism but it was like New Order and even Pet Shop Boys and Bronski Beat in parts. Good stuff

This morning I poured myself a massive bowl of Alpen and grabbed the daily express and stuck this on. It did fade for me towards the end a bit but still held my attention. I thought it was really good in all. Bono is still a twat but I can see now why he was successful enough to have Britain's largest collection of hatchbacks

I reckon this is the Bowiest Bowie. One of his best for me as well. Five Years is a great intro and the standard stays high throughout. The film of the last performance is worth seeing. Bowie was going a bit mad and couldn't tell himself apart from Ziggy so he announced on stage he was done after that gig. He hadn't told the band so it was a bit awkward.

Sympathy and treet Fighting Man are classics but I thought the rest was just very ordinary bluesy rock. I don't really get the hype with the Rolling Stones to be honest. You probably had to be there

I like Kate Bush but eh yeah I don't know what I think about this one. I enjoyed the listen for the sheer invention but I prefer a bit more focus. Singing with a mock cockney or Australian accent can never be a good idea

I liked this. Thought all the playing was great. Especially the drums and bass. Not enough albums start with a 20 minute track about mad priests who worship computers. It's all quite indulgent but if you can't do that on a 70s prog album then when can you?

I liked the one with De la Soul and Ladies First the best

Bar the couple of times when an actual song broke out I didn't like this at all. The whole conceit of rambling intros to every track wore very thin with me.

I think this is an hour of material that would rank among their best, interspersed by half an hour they would have lost under normal circumstances. By this point they were the band equivalent of sleeping in different beds so it was easier to include everyone's stuff rather than have fights about what would make the cut. John and Paul being in competition with each other and George trying to establish himself as a songwriter means they were all absolutely going for it. I'd take Happiness is a Warm Gun, Blackbird, While my Guitar... as my top picks but I love almost all of it. I skip Revolution 9 and Wild Honey Pie every time though.

I thought it was great at the time and it's still a good listen, but considering it kicked open the doors for Pigeon Detectives, Fratellis, Scouting for Girls etc etc etc I have to wonder if it was worth it. (Being a bit facetious above. They were always a cut above all the chancers that came afterwards. Glad they've cracked on as well, trying to follow up a debut as hyped as this must have been a nightmare)

Best thing David Crosby ever did was get sacked by the Byrds. Great harmonies all the way through this. Shame it's only half on Spotify

I sort of fell in the middle. I think I'd enjoy the odd track here and there but a whole album started sounding really samey quite quickly.

I don't see what this brings to the party that sounds unique or noteworthy at all. Not an unpleasant listen but 🤷‍♂️

I hate the fucking Eagles man

I really enjoyed this, although I was maybe just relieved it wasn't another country rock album. Anyway, Chrissie Hynde's voice is great and Brass in Pocket really shows it off

A bit trite in places but a breath of fresh air after so much clumpy country dad rock

Pleasant. On The Girl from Ipanema It sounds like she's singing 'The Girl from Ipanema is fucking' which made me laugh because I'm a child. Great breathy sax playing

Some great pop singles. Didn't need a full album

I finished this album and was reflecting how much I enjoyed this. Reminded me of Bob Dylan in a good way. Went to Wikipedia to find out more. Found out he was in the Byrds. Instant 0/5

For how influential they were. Nobody sounds like them. There is a Light... is my highlight from this.

I think I preferred The Queen is Dead overall but this was great too. A lot made of Morrissey playing off Jonny Marr's guitar but I thought the bass was brilliant on this

I'm all about this album. The poppy songs work really well and you can tell they took a lot of care recording/mixing as everything sounds very clear. Armageddon It and Pour some Sugar on me are my highlights

I appreciated the darker tone, more in common with the Velvet Underground than hippy dippy clappy psychedelic stuff, but the high pitched sort of flapping noise in the background of some of the tracks was really off-putting and spoiled it for me.

This is the only jazz album I've ever really got into. Love it

Every song featuring a new silly gimmick instrument, from bagpipes to glockenspiel to accordion. He sounds like he's in severe pain. If you had a pet that sounded like him you'd put it out of its misery

I liked this. I only knew a couple of the singles and didn't really take him seriously after he was arrested for running around with a toy gun ages ago. Turns out he has quite serious mental health issues and is really open about it so my opinion has gone right up. Musically I now think every band should have 2 drummers. The drums sounded insane. The songs were good apart from the one where he went full pirate.

Add me to the crowd really enjoying this. Think the band really hit their stride when Jim Earth and Steve Wind recruited Harry Fire to become a trio

I'm finding this really lightweight. Everything sounds really crushed and the drums sound like toys. None of the songs are actively bad but it's not great when the head and shoulders standout is a cover. Fountains of Wayne did it so much better

I haven't done any research but from hearing him pout and sulk all over this album because one of his wives had the gall to leave him, I can only draw the conclusion he loved monogamy. Poor Frank

Lovely textured sounds if a bit too meandering in places. If I had listened to this at the time alongside Bon Iver and Arcade Fire I think they'd have been a favourite. I will in all likelihood never put this on again but I enjoyed it today. Bye Grizzly Bear. It was nice

Prince famously plays something like 24 instruments including absolutely shredding it on guitar when he fancies which is why I found it annoying that so much of this sounds like him noodling about with a drum machine and a little keyboard recording sparse home demos. I think Purple Rain is head and shoulders better. I particularly enjoyed Starfish and Coffee, If I was your girlfriend, Cross.

I found this all completely detached from any real feeling or soul but for a bit of a novelty it was fun enough

Think they're our first Scottish band. I liked it fine. The sampling was cool. I'll give this another go sometime

Urgent spiky sounds with nice level of funky weirdness throughout

I quite enjoyed this in a guilty pleasure sort of way. It's very earnest but also very silly in parts

I enjoyed Wu Tang. The number of them could be a liability but it becomes a strength as you'd imagine they were all competing for time. RZA really important gluing it altogether. Method Man my highlight whenever he popped up.

Enjoyed this in the car this morning. Nothing too flashy in the playing bar some guitar moments here and there but there's a great groove all the way through. Chris Cornell's vocals are that cut above a lot of sub Eddie Vedder grunge singers. The run in the middle starting with Black Hole Sun is the high point but I thought this was consistently high standard throughout

This sounded like he left it all on Ziggy Stardust this is the inevitable slight step down, but only slight. The jazzy piano bits helped to distinguish it. Drive-in Saturday was my highlight

This was hard listening. I suppose technically he's a good rapper and the production was good but I cringed through almost every word. I guess if I played this to my parents they'd still hate it so it still hits its intended mark

Didn't do much for me. Think they went on to go greater things

I didn't really like this. I know folk is an amazing art form and the passing down of trad songs is important but this just passed me by.

Found it hard to make a personal connection with this one

I think Randy is getting a bad rap here. I'm as fatigued as anyone of white guys from the 70s but he is different and distinctive at least. He reminds me of a guy writing show tunes without a show to attach them to (or Pixar film). The orchestral flourishes added to rather than took away from the songs

I used to have Yankee Hotel Foxtrot on my iPod and used to like it but that was all the Wilco I knew. Really into the steel guitar on this. Like Ali and Nick probably won't go into rotation but very decent listen

Brilliant. Had it on twice in a row. Beats are great and the sped up samples so distinctive. Nice variety of subject matter. Shame he went completely off the reservation more recently

All over the map. Could hear bits of the Cure and Human League. Like Nick I enjoyed the gothic choir stuff. Totally new band to me

I liked the second half of this more than the first when the tempo slowed slightly. This style of metal singing does absolutely nothing for me and I'd have preferred them as instrumentals in all honesty. I enjoyed the blast beats and chugging guitar riffs. Am I going to listen to this again? Probably not. Am I glad it exists? Yes

Pretty derivative of Bowie's glam stuff at first listen but they could have picked worse. I thought it was a good listen on its own merits

This brought back memories, the rap flavoured rock songs were better than the rock flavoured rap songs if that makes sense

Very fond memories of this coming out and probably over-listening to it. It was nostalgic sounding then so it's double nostalgia. I think this is their best. Love the skipped beat on Modern Man. Favourite track is Sprawl II but love the whole thing

Love the bizarre crooner that is Bryan Ferry. Brian Eno involved again. The transition after about 3 minutes in In Every Dream Home a Heartache made me laugh out loud, or LOL as the kids say

I can't really tell why I like Leonard Cohen and dislike Tom Waits so much but I do. I found this to be atmospheric and thought the combo of gospel and his voice worked together. Not very Christmassy though

This screams Jools Holland guest edits a radio 2 show where he goes over his albums of the year. Guest stars include Gary Barlow, Mika and Katie Melua

No idea where this was going one minute to the next. Constantly surprising

It's class. Another one from my iPod back in the day

Mostly bangers

Didn't get it. Not Southern enough

Interesting and filmic

I enjoyed it. Really liked what they did with all the sampling with vibes of Avalanches in there. Didn't know Cut Chemist was in J5 but now makes sense. A Day at the Races was my high point but quality was pretty consistently good throughout

An old man recording an album he wrote in his 20s which caused him to have a nervous breakdown is always going to give off quite specific vibes. I thought it was fine. Some well known tracks like Good Vibrations had less of an impact because he obviously went on to record them anyway with the Beach Boys. Happy for him he got to make this. I found it inessential and with too many comedy whistles

I tried to like this more than I did but I couldn't really get on with it. I really like his album after this but couldn't get into this for whatever reason. There's nothing bad about it I can put my finger on but it's maybe a bit muddled sounding after laser focused Jurassic 5

This feels like Otis Redding just tossing out covers of popular songs of the day with a crack backing band and calling it good because he's Otis Redding. I think he's justified. Great

An old favourite

I mentally catalogued this in the 'yeah great another timeless classic' pile. I think this list is spoiling me slightly

Track 2 is like if a committee of Germans wrote a Bond theme

Been ages since I played this. Lovely listen. Think Rebellion (Lies) was an ABC staple. Seems like a hard sound to get right as there was a lot of shite around then that tried to copy the style (The Decemberists 🤮)

Thought this was... okay? Some great tracks but for all the talk about the rich orchestration and production I thought it sounded really ramshackle and echoey in parts. Obviously important but controversially I think I prefer my Beach Boys singing about going surfing with their best girl etc

I could listen to Willie Nelson sing the dictionary. Just looking at the track list I know I'm going to enjoy this

What an incredible group of songs to have written

If I'd been a record label exec and John Cale was in my office with his demos I'd have taken out my cigar king enough to say "Where's the zing John? The kids want zing these days. Zing!" then I'd have thanked him and sent him on his way and to see my secretary on the way out for his travel expenses

1001 albums to hear before you die in a voodoo ritual. I liked this more than most psychedelic stuff. It seemed like it was doing its own thing and sounded more natural and less weird for the sake of it. Plenty weird though

I think I prefer their more filmic synth tinged 80s sound than this more straightforward stuff. Still enjoyed it and Sultans of Swing is brilliant

I listened to it on YouTube yesterday and thought it was okay. Admittedly I didn't give it my full attention and it all seemed to run together a bit. There was one bit that took a major left turn musically to the point that even Innes stopped eating his breakfast to pay attention. Turns out it was a Nandos advert

It's an absolute joy revisiting this. Stuffed with ideas and one of the all time vocal performances. Puts me in mind of The Smiths in parts (He did a great cover of The Boy with the Thorn in his Side). Highlights for me are Lilac Wine, Lover you..., Dream Brother. Think this is the definitive recording of Hallelujah as well, pity it's so overplayed.

I enjoyed this without ever being blown away

I listened to half of it, made sure I was okay, then went back for the second half. Don't know what's in these albums.Finding it very dated and of a specific time (1990) and place (Yeovil Aerodrome). Didn't know they were from Aberdeen

Ever track a classic

I was a bit underwhelmed with this but given the context that it was 1981 it's really impressive. Don't know how directly influential it was but can hear a lot of it in Primal Scream, Avalanches, DJ Shadow.

I think Parklife is much better. This seemed like a prototype for it and later stuff. Could be why it's on this list but I don't rate it amongst their best

I thought it was a bit bargain bin Prince, and if I want that I'll just listen to later era Prince. Also felt a bit voyeuristic listening to it knowing that it was probably millions of couples' sex album

I'm having a good time with this. It's still got enough edge that you can picture why some people were outraged at the time while sounding quite quaint now. Holidays in the sun/No Feelings/God Save the Queen/Pretty Vacant were my highlights

His voice is the least soulful thing I can imagine. Like a Muppet

Really enjoyed this. Playful and inventive in all the right ways. Wasn't crazy about the more jazzy bits especially the second half of Epitaph but 21st Century Schizoid Man and In the Court... stood out to me as highlights. I think I like prog now

I could take or leave Sleater Kinney but great guitar sound. I was a bit put off by the constant vibratto vocals. Less is more with that sort of thing. I don't know how to say I love the Riot Grrrl movement for representation in punk and music more generally without sounding extremely patronising like I'm patting them on the head so I'll just stop

Very good. Energy up throughout. I could hear bits of loads of other bands like Roxy Music/The Fall/Sex Pistols/The Cure. They were either very influential or savvy when it comes to picking bits from others.

I liked this without being blown away. As Nick said, the vocals sounded weird without Bruce

I downloaded them from Napster and used to play along badly on my dad's old guitar. First gig as well at the SECC. Doves supporting.

I liked it. It was interesting to hear similarities between it and when Mark Lanegan was in Queens of the Stone Age

I didn't like this at all. Recorded in a cupboard and sounded like it. Music for hotel receptions

It was interesting to a point but a less good version of King Crimson

If I want to listen to Dusty Springfield I will put this album on, or the other one we had, or more likely whatever Spotify serves up. It's all great

Very pleasant

Hard to argue with stuff written and sung with real conviction

Technically great. Hard to get behind most of the lyrics. Ice Cube especially sounded great. His best work until Are We There Yet?

Good old rock and roll by a horrendous human

I enjoyed it. Felt of a piece with the Crosby, Stills and Nash stuff but on the chiller side

A couple of the tracks reminded me of late Beatles or McCartney solo pop (Baby Driver, Keep the Customer Satisfied). Highlights for me were the big lush orchestral ones (title, New York) and The Boxer. Besides a couple of flat spots and a late tail off I thought this was a cracker.

YAWN

I was thinking how much this sounded like Portishead then Hell Is Round the Corner came on witch has the same sample as Portishead used on Glory Box. Mad

My bag

Middling 60s folk

I liked this much more than I thought. I thought he was some overly smooth soul guy but there's a bit more bite to his vocals than that. I couldn't have told you any songs before this but I recognised Wishing Well and Sign Your Name having heard them and not known they were him.

I thought I had listened to this before but I remember it as being a bit more woozy and not as heavy. I might be getting it mixed up with Rated R though. Enjoyed the hypnotic groove, thought it was quite similar to Black Sabbath in places. Really hope to see Songs for the Deaf pop up. If it doesn't I'll riot

I liked the eclecticness and ambition but this was just too long to get a grip of. I liked what I heard though

This was an oversight for me. Kicking myself for not listening to it sooner. Dream pop with heavy distorted guitars is basically precision engineered to hit all my buttons

I wasn't that fussed about this. It quickly faded into background music. It wasn't bad but there wasn't much variety

He got a great guitar sound on this album and for all his faults as a human being it sounds great throughout. Could take or leave the vocals and there were a few too many nondescript tracks for me but I did enjoy this

I don't hate this after fully expecting to. It's sub Sgt Pepper mostly but I admire the ambition and they shoot off in some interesting directions without getting annoying like whatever that Small Faces album was.

I feel like Bjork is a practical joke that I'm not in on. I truly don't get her. This album was typical of times I've tried before. Strained lyrics over orchestral/electronic/both that only sometimes sound like they were recorded for the same track. There must be something to it but it's lost on me.

I enjoy Meat Loaf for the OTT camp nature of the whole thing but can see why it's not everyone's cup of tea. It's rock n roll for musical theatre goers which is a niche that's pretty much all his own. Most of the tracks go on a bit long for me but I enjoyed it

I would have been a big fan of this at the time if I'd been aware. Big fan now actually having caught up

She sounds incredibly like Carole King but these songs had more of a 60s pop formula to them. Similar to Nick, pheasant enough but didn't grab me

I used to have her second album which I much prefer but there was some really interesting sounds on here. Some of the production sounds like those Ibiza trance chillout albums. Some crap like the The Na-Na Song but All I Wanna Do and a few others are good listens

Is this still brilliant or did I happen to have it when I was 16? I'm second guessing myself but I think brilliant

I didn't get much from this

I expected a longer live set from the hardest working man in show business but I think they had a weird habit in those days of chopping up the recordings and changing the order around, missing songs etc

I enjoyed this at the time but listening to it now it sounds really tired and forced. Too tongue in cheek and winking to be judged for itself but played too straight to say anything clever about what it's aping. Surely a better inclusion would have been one of the hair metal bands from the time rather than a reheated copy from 20 years later. Anything post 2000 on this list is a bit hit and miss.

Yep, two absolute classics bookending a load of farting about. I do love Charlie Watts' laid back drumming though. A jazz man in the wrong band

Such a strong start it can't keep it up, but that says more about how good the first two tracks are than anything else. A really interesting inventive album.

This was pretty nice. Feel like Brazil is quite well represented on this list

I was looking forward to this having heard constantly how great they were. It was fine?

Second album by The Police that I've thought was pretty great. Who knew?

This screamed difficult second album. Pleasant but noodly.

Love and Affection was the definite highlight. I think this album has the sound of a grower. Not sure if one listen is enough

Is Neil Young technically a good singer? I'd say no. But is he pleasant to the ear? Also no

Couldn't get into this

I found this hard to judge as some of it is very good, some is stuff the Beatles might have let Ringo sing for a laugh, and then Waterloo Sunset which might be one of the best songs ever written. Confusing

I kind of wanted to hate this but it's really good

Oh look Damon's got a sequencer and made some demos

I managed half of this and couldn't tell any of it apart so I bailed. Some of the samples were good but the rapping was really bland

I had this written off quite quickly but got into the heaviness as it ticked along. Doesn't sound like 1968

I thought there were some interesting flourishes but it boiled down to meat and potatoes rocky blues

I used to really like this and enjoyed rediscovering it. They were doing their own thing and kind of got lumped in with the other indie bands of the time. Dreaming of You is such a great tune

I really like Radiohead but this isn't one of my favourites.

Invention everywhere

I had this when I was at school and sickened myself on it by playing it too much. Happy to say I'm over that now and it was like catching up with an old friend

Fucking yawn

I feel like I know all these songs. Have at least heard most of them before I think. They are the most classic rock of all the classic rock. Good fun. I enjoy the spaceship and prog styling then the band just being called Boston

Did nothing for me