775
Albums Rated
3.2
Average Rating
71%
Complete
314 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1960s
Favorite Decade
Punk
Favorite Genre
other
Top Origin
Perfectionist
Rater Style ?
26
5-Star Albums
6
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Leftism
Leftfield
|
5 | 2.9 | +2.1 |
|
Bandwagonesque
Teenage Fanclub
|
5 | 3.05 | +1.95 |
|
Tigermilk
Belle & Sebastian
|
5 | 3.22 | +1.78 |
|
Protection
Massive Attack
|
5 | 3.25 | +1.75 |
|
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Dead Kennedys
|
5 | 3.27 | +1.73 |
|
C'est Chic
CHIC
|
5 | 3.34 | +1.66 |
|
Marquee Moon
Television
|
5 | 3.5 | +1.5 |
|
New Forms
Roni Size
|
4 | 2.53 | +1.47 |
|
GI
Germs
|
4 | 2.54 | +1.46 |
|
The Clash
The Clash
|
5 | 3.54 | +1.46 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
S&M
Metallica
|
1 | 3.26 | -2.26 |
|
The Wall
Pink Floyd
|
2 | 4.14 | -2.14 |
|
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
|
2 | 4.1 | -2.1 |
|
Heavy Weather
Weather Report
|
1 | 2.99 | -1.99 |
|
Who's Next
The Who
|
2 | 3.91 | -1.91 |
|
Mama Said Knock You Out
LL Cool J
|
1 | 2.91 | -1.91 |
|
(What's The Story) Morning Glory
Oasis
|
2 | 3.84 | -1.84 |
|
In Utero
Nirvana
|
2 | 3.83 | -1.83 |
|
Bad
Michael Jackson
|
2 | 3.8 | -1.8 |
|
Off The Wall
Michael Jackson
|
2 | 3.78 | -1.78 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Beatles | 5 | 4.6 |
| Neil Young | 4 | 4.5 |
| The Clash | 2 | 5 |
| Bob Dylan | 4 | 4.25 |
| David Bowie | 7 | 4 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Metallica | 3 | 1.67 |
| The Who | 4 | 2.25 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| The Rolling Stones | 5, 3, 5, 2, 4 |
5-Star Albums (26)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Massive Attack
5/5
For me, Massive Attack's best album. Exquisite.
The choice collaborators. The mirrored, twin-sided format. The mood, the flow. The instrumentation. Analogue dub heart with digital flourishes. Not a bad track on here. Brilliant.
3 likes
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
Hmmm, tricky one. Ambivalent about the whole project.
Real sense of unease about creepy old Malcolm appropriating the sound of young black and hispanic New Yorkers.
That said, quite a few tracks are genuinely good, and it hangs together quite well as a piece despite the random mash-up approach.
I hope all the artists got paid properly I suppose, not just the old swindler.
2 likes
Elbow
3/5
This band's level of popularity is baffling to me. The guy (yeah, I know) is a good lyricist, with a lovely mellow singing voice. But the overall effect to me is somehow less than the sum of its parts. Lounge music, but a wee bit more introspective and ultimately a bit of a downer.
1 likes
Korn
2/5
Godawful, damaged, whiney, shouty shite. Terrible cover, terrible record, massively overlong. And when they rap? Laughably bad. Not quite 1-star rotten but it was extremely close.
1 likes
Moby
2/5
Music for adverts.
There's something really uncanny-valley and inauthentic about Moby. Can't quite put my finger on why I feel like that.
In fairness he did stumble on a popular formula but it is exactly that: formulaic.
1 likes
4-Star Albums (250)
1-Star Albums (6)
All Ratings
Queen
3/5
Bombastic bilgewater, pretty fun in parts. Exactly what I expected :)
Lap of the gods wis guid
The Flaming Lips
4/5
Still so good. Shocked that it's 21 years old. 4.5
Big Brother & The Holding Company
2/5
Grubby bloody hippies and the boring album company more like.
The cover art is the most interesting thing about it.
Might be wrong but I get a bang of spoiled rich white kids cosplaying a chitlin' circuit blues band off this. Hard to enjoy once that idea takes hold.
Also a faint tang of prog rock?!
Mike Oldfield
4/5
Nostalgic but still kicks ass.
Miles Davis
4/5
A bit like eating greens, I can appreciate the qualities but I'm rarely in the mood for a full meal of that. My loss. Really enjoyed taking the time to listen to this whole record.
The Stone Roses
5/5
Oh man, it's a 5. Years since I sat right through it. Still holds up.
That the weakest track probably yields the single most beautiful moment tells you something, I think.
Ordinary lads, not afraid of beauty.
Steely Dan
3/5
Over-produced, under song'd, imo.
Soul II Soul
3/5
Quite like the distinctive sound, in moderation. Bit too soft for me. Housey piano is cool but not much dynamic range and I get bored.
Hint of Gil Scott Heron i'd not noticed before?
Sheryl Crow
2/5
Enjoyed this more than I thought I might.
Bit Tom Petty in places?
Gets pretty turgid in the middle.
John Coltrane
5/5
A clean, bright blast of energetic purity.
Hawkwind
3/5
This is good. But how long!? 😅
Not sure how much of that is attributable to the remixed, repackaged version. Ain't nobody got time for that!
OutKast
3/5
Hmmm. Some really great stuff. Just too long though! Chance to sit through 2+ hrs as a single experience ain't happening.
Don't think I'd ever heard 'the love below' all the way through before. 3 & 4
Bob Dylan
5/5
Wasn't really in the mood for this today. Still. Absolutely staggering. Gotta be a 5
TLC
3/5
It's good. Nice production. Sounds like a Prince record.
Probably deserves a 4. But it ain't getting that from me.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Quite good but quite dull.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
2/5
I can confidently assert that I'll not listen to this again.
4/5
Never actually listened to this as an album before. It's great!
Public Enemy
4/5
Hard af uneasy listening. Excellent!
Herbie Hancock
4/5
This is brilliant. Not heard before
I can see where Beck nicked a few good ideas.
The Who
2/5
Don't like it much. Instrumentals are quite good background music but some of the story sounds horrible 😬. 'Fiddle about', you say? Dodgier than P. Townsend's browser history 🤮
The Band
4/5
Exceptionally good. That opening 5-song run is really great. The warmth.
R.E.M.
4/5
Not really heard this earlier era of REM properly before. I thought it was brilliant. 4
Alice In Chains
2/5
FFS, cheer up, guy 🙄😂
Was this the birth of stoner rock? I was quite up for hearing this but it wore thin pretty quickly. It sounds like a desert, which is kind of the point I suppose. But I prefer my biospheres greener.
Sort of a bridge between G'n'R and QotSA 🤔
Santana
4/5
It's simply excellent. More nostalgia. My parents had pretty good taste.
4/5
This kicks ass. Never heard before but will be listening again
Prince
4/5
Holy smokes
Ella Fitzgerald
2/5
Sumptuous voice but couldn't really be bothered. Just not my thing I'm afraid
Everything But The Girl
2/5
I dunno man. Lovely voice, some charming lyrics. Still sounds boring MoR to me 😥
David Gray
3/5
More MoR, albeit quite good.
The Black Crowes
2/5
Was enjoying it up until the godawful cover of hard to handle. From a potential 4 to a 2 right there. Slick but so derivative
The Who
2/5
Couple of bangers to top and tail, with some total dross filler
Fiona Apple
2/5
Willing to accept I'm probably missing some nuance but it didn't do much for me. Can't win em' all
Joni Mitchell
3/5
Good but not her greatest imho.
Ice Cube
3/5
When I was a kid all I heard was the violence. Now I have a bit more context I hear more emotional range. I hear hyper vigilance and vulnerability. Violence is only ever directed at white supremacists. There's no real cussin'. No real misogyny. It's a mature piece of work, even quite funny sometimes. Even the title seems like a wry wee joke. Still, I'm an East coast guy and the production ain't always my favourite.
The Style Council
3/5
I liked it more than I thought I might but still not a total convert
Dusty Springfield
4/5
Awesome songs, amazing singer.
Rahul Dev Burman
4/5
I'd never even heard of this. Bollywood/hippy/funk. Lush orchestration, even a hint of mariachi. I like it!
Electric Light Orchestra
3/5
A fine line between coherent and samey. Too damn long as an album. Quite fun but needs an edit.
Kate Bush
3/5
Utmost respect, but I'm not mad for this record
Pulp
4/5
A time and a place. Really strong record but dated a wee bit
Talking Heads
4/5
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
4/5
Never heard this album before as a whole though I know a few songs already. Love it
Ute Lemper
3/5
Not my usual vibe but fairly enjoyable. Little water song I was thinking sounded like a female Nick Cave and yeah, sure enough 🥲
Alice Cooper
3/5
Frathouse rock. Well executed and pretty fun but ultimately a bit monotone
Pearl Jam
3/5
Never been a big fan of Eddie Vedder's voice but this is a solid album to be fair
The Who
2/5
The third Who record that's come up for me in about the past month. I can only surmise that they really are a 'greatest hits' band. Some great high spots but an awful lot dross too
Tracy Chapman
4/5
Pretty sad and depressing but really quite impressive.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Quite astonishing as a single piece of work. Peak Stones. Gotta be a 5
Joy Division
4/5
I'm more of a New Order guy but this is not as grimly depressing as I remember 🥲
Love
3/5
Meh. Quite good, quite twee, quite three
Rod Stewart
4/5
Pretty guid. Almost a cliché but I suppose it's only that way because it was popular in the first place. On the fence between a 3 and a 4
The White Stripes
4/5
Just so solid.
The Blue Nile
3/5
Tinseltown is still amazing but as a whole album don't enjoy it all that much
The Triffids
3/5
Not heard before. First impression is favourable.
Pixies
3/5
Sandpaper bubblegum
Crosby, Stills & Nash
3/5
Big shrug. What's the fuss about?
Weather Report
1/5
The worst kind of technically accomplished but overindulgent, soulless toss
Gene Clark
4/5
Woah. This is fantastic. Heard the name before (courtesy of tfc) but need to explore his catalogue. Near Neil Young level songwriting, without the somewhat divisive singing voice. Superb
Beastie Boys
4/5
Dope.
Depeche Mode
3/5
I love DM's signature synthy sound but I can rarely be arsed to listen to a whole record of their actual songs 🤷🏻♂️
Fred Neil
3/5
It was good. Never heard before. Sticking with a 3 today but certainly deserves a second listen.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
3/5
Hokey but a seminal era. Split the difference between 1 and 5
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
Pretty darn good. Though there are a few more filler tracks than I remember.
Maybe this is one where streaming/shuffle culture has damaged great albums as we expect wall-to-wall hits.
Jerry Lee Lewis
4/5
Oh man, Killer alright. Imagine being in the crowd for this one 🤯
The Roots
4/5
Bloody hell man. Better than I remember. That said, it'd be better still if it was 20 mins shorter. Those last couple of jawns are a waste
2/5
Pretentious, portentous, slick, camp, competent. Not for me but can see why it's popular. Sort of.
Lauryn Hill
4/5
So good. How old was Hill when she made this? Maybe 30? An almost unbelievable amount of wisdom and assurance. Barely any fat on this record despite being really long
R.E.M.
4/5
Man alive. Scarcely believable number of radio hits for a single album. Impressive, even if it is a bit more MoR then some of their other efforts
Fela Kuti
4/5
This is great. Not sure it's really classifiable as a full album but hey, not really my place to judge.
Frank Zappa
2/5
Another one where although the playing is impressive it leaves me cold. Noodling
Burning Spear
4/5
Really liked this. Needs more listens
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
Really quite enjoyable. A shame for them they were probably running a couple of years behind the British invasion and the Beach Boys: but some good pop songs on here
Elvis Costello
4/5
So good
Minutemen
4/5
This is rad. Too much to digest in a single take though. Short tracks, inventiveness, guitar rips! I need to go back to this
LL Cool J
1/5
I thought it would be wack and it was. Abundantly wack in almost every regard 😬
Oasis
4/5
Probably a 3 star effort in reality. Some dreadful lyrics. Gets a 4 for sentimental reasons, with its energy and impact at the time. The lyrics are mostly terrible though!
The Slits
2/5
Tough one. I wanted to like this; looks like it should be right up my street. Other than that awesome cover of Grapevine though, I just didn't get into it 🫤
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
This is pretty much why punk had to happen.
Like some of the California jazz jam nonsense, this is massively proficient but shows barely an ounce of soul or emotion. There are moments of beauty but just doesn't float my boat. Put the organ away lads.
Super Furry Animals
4/5
Here I am, 44 years old, walking the dog at 7:20 on a dark, dull, muddy December morning; tears in my eyes as the sunshine goodness of Hometown Unicorn floods my ears. Bias acknowledged, I was 16 when this record came out and have loved it ever since. Was thrilled (and surprised) when it popped up on the list.
Unbelievably good run of songs at the start. Close to a 5 but I reckon that is rare territory and there are a couple of slightly flatter tracks later on. Head and shoulders above the Britpop nonsense that was happening at the same time.
"You and I, United by itemised bills"
The Black Keys
4/5
It's pretty great. Wee bit too long?
Traffic
3/5
Enjoyed it but probably not enough to go rushing back.
Marianne Faithfull
3/5
Pretty good. Not amazing by any stretch but enjoyed it more than I anticipated
Lorde
2/5
Quite good but it doesn't excite me much
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
It's great
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2/5
Other than Pin, Maps, and a couple of slower tracks near the end, I couldn't be bothered with this today. It's a band with a good sound and a charismatic frontwoman but sorry, for my money this is not a great album
New York Dolls
4/5
Rad.
I can see what the fuss was about. Knew a couple of songs already but they're all excellent.
1973!
The Doors
4/5
Really good. A rich stew
Japan
3/5
Something tiresome is the amount of well known albums that are linked to on streaming services as extended 'deluxe' versions. I don't wanna hear out takes, b-sides or remixes unless I'm a super fan. This one was particularly bad: 3 versions of a cover version.
Just play me the album as the artist intended, especially for a daily taster session like this.
I was enjoying this a lot to start with. Tapered off big time though. Quiet Life is a great track.
Neil Young
4/5
Oddly, although I consider myself a pretty big fan of Neil Young I don't think I've ever heard this as a complete album. Obviously it's great. More country than a lot of his stuff, which might be more of an acquired taste for some; but I really enjoyed it.
Talking Heads
4/5
Astonishing that this is from 1977. When the filth and fury of punk was getting the headlines, these guys were working out this pin-sharp art-pop-funk. The band is lean and tight. The frontman sounds weird but charismatic.
The tricky thing is, if you've come to talking heads late, through stuff like Stop Making Sense, you're probably expecting more 'hits'. So it's simultaneously amazing but also slightly forgettable.
The Only Ones
3/5
Well-crafted, thoughtful power-pop. Obviously 'Another Girl...' is a classic in any genre. The rest doesn't live quite up to that but it's an enjoyable listen.
Beck
4/5
For me, this is probably Beck's best album. Love it
Miles Davis
4/5
Wonderfully serene
Yes
2/5
Boring tosh.
(I know, I know, it's poor form to belittle the artistic endeavours of others etc. Whatever.)
Grizzly Bear
2/5
I acknowledge its inherent goodness. But can I enjoy it much? Meh, not really.
Feels quite proggy, quite stodgy, quite boring.
PJ Harvey
2/5
I kind of feel like I should like PJ Harvey. But sorry, I just don't get on with this album very well.
Various Artists
4/5
Pretty much has to be the definitive 'hipster-approved/quite tasteful' Christmas album. All good
Jane's Addiction
3/5
Nae bad
Sly & The Family Stone
4/5
I was a bit distracted and didn't manage to listen to this in a single sitting, so I'll need to come back to this in future. That said, the music is brilliant so I'm confident I'll want to come back.
Tom Waits
4/5
Sad, disorienting, weird, pretty amazing. I still find a lot of the music dissonant and hard going (though there are some sweet hymns in there too) but the voice and the stories are incredible. Strikingly distinctive
2/5
I almost can't believe how much we lapped this up at the time. Lumpen lyrics, lumpen music 😬
Still has some last remnants of the Definitely Maybe energy - but let's be honest, it's not really a top 50 record of the year, let alone a multi million selling powerhouse 🤷🏻♂️
I mean, there still are a handful of decent moments but in retrospect the Quoasis jibes were fully justified.
The Flying Burrito Brothers
4/5
Real good.
Lou Reed
5/5
Sweet nursery rhymes, cabaret ballads and glam pop stomps about junkies, queers, and general New York degradation, dissipation and despair. Sung by a bad-tempered, flat-pitched weirdo. Probably should be toe-curlingly strange and bad but it's the complete opposite of that. Astonishing
Steely Dan
4/5
Banger. Best Steely Dan record imo
Kings of Leon
4/5
Sort of Southern rock's equivalent of The Strokes. The aesthetic is loose but the overall effect is actually quite tight and polished. Spawned quite a lot of pale imitations but this is a very good, consistent record.
Sepultura
3/5
So this slams. But an hour of it is pretty exhausting. Not my genre, though I can appreciate the intensity, power and accuracy.
Weird take: some of this is actually quite melodic, and the vocals are super clear (English as a second language effect?), so it comes on at times like a thrash ABBA 😅
Def Leppard
2/5
Archetypal hair metal.
Bombast.
Bright-ass (over) production.
Drums like they're played in an aircraft hangar full of mics.
Noodly overdrive guitars, with very little in the way of actual memorable tunes.
Very silly mantra-like lyrics, mostly about shagging and that.
Quite funny. Quite fun. Pretty stupid.
A Pirelli calendar of a record. Titillating in passing but sad (and a bit of a red flag to be honest) if that's your definition of art.
Fully aware this makes me sound a pretentious killjoy. Maybe I am. But up yours Def Leppard 😆🖕
Little Simz
4/5
Brilliant. Was familiar with a couple of the lead singles, and really liked the follow-up album, Introvert. This is rock solid all the way through. Smart, highly attuned, empathic, moving.
Foo Fighters
3/5
A take I don't think I've seen: a lot of this is like a shoegaze record. It sounds like Ride.
Fitting I suppose for a new frontman coming out from behind the drumkit. It's good and melodic but a wee bit MoR.
Method Man
3/5
I dig Method Man but this album was never quite on a par with some of the other Wu Tang offshoot projects, or indeed his Redman collaborations. Meth is one of the best when he's contributing a guest verse or two to other people's tracks but I don't rate him so highly for carrying a whole album or even a full track. This is good but not great.
The Clash
5/5
If I'm brutally honest, it's too long and has a handful of fillers on there. But it still rules.
Giving it a 5 for its inventiveness (and my own sentimental reasons); but imagine how much leaner it could be if it was 12 tracks/40 mins.
Mind you, the flaws (if you can even call the odd b-side track a flaw) are what makes it. Would I change it? Nah, probably not
The The
2/5
I was interested when this popped up as really like some of The The's stuff but nah, sorry, not a fan. Was surprised how little I liked it.
No doubt deserves another attempt at some point but it left me fairly cold this time.
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
Liked it more than I thought I might. Needs another spin
Don McLean
2/5
Biggest mismatch between cover art assumptions and reality?
American wuss, more like 😅
Fleetwood Mac
3/5
Mid, tbh. Good, but
Slade
3/5
Expertly crafted bluesy power pop. Pretty good. Doesn't rock my world but enjoyable enough.
David Bowie
3/5
Bleak af
Meat Loaf
2/5
Hilariously camp panto (Campomime?)
A theatre nerd's second-hand idea of what rock n' roll might feel like.
There something rural about it. Something virginal. Maybe that's why it's popular?
The sort of gear that's quite fun if it pops up on the radio but I'm unlikely to ever seek out.
Does it have a sense of irony? I reckon not. Does that matter? 🤷🏻♂️
Brian Eno
3/5
Some great stuff here. Very modern sounding: the way some tracks are layered up with samples sounds like the good ambient house music from 10 or 15 years later. Saying that, it starts to get boring and ultimately seems to peter out. Needs another spin
Astrud Gilberto
2/5
Kind of wanted to like this but I found it twee and boring
Elbow
3/5
This band's level of popularity is baffling to me. The guy (yeah, I know) is a good lyricist, with a lovely mellow singing voice. But the overall effect to me is somehow less than the sum of its parts. Lounge music, but a wee bit more introspective and ultimately a bit of a downer.
Earth, Wind & Fire
4/5
This is brilliant. Got 2 plays today. It'll get more in future
Baaba Maal
3/5
This was enjoyable. Incredible voice. Strikes me the production was a bit westernised and synthetic. But I enjoyed the discovery
The Bees
2/5
I found it muddled. Starts out somewhere between pavement, beck, and the beta band, without being as good as any of those. Then gets bossa nova and jazz on the go. Weirdly forgettable for all that.
T. Rex
4/5
Very good. Particularly enjoyed the second side. Half and half in terms of familiarity, so it was good to hear it afresh
Deep Purple
3/5
Really rather enjoyed this. Not a million miles away from Cream, in terms of the playing is pretty great and it's not overly-heavy. Should probably give it a 4
Fairport Convention
3/5
Very nice. Didn't affect me in a big way like some of the Richard & Linda Thomson stuff but great record.
Metallica
1/5
Sheer pompous HUBRIS.
The best bit is the intro; scored by Morricone, performed by the orchestra and therefore nothing whatsoever to do with Metallica.
And this mf is over 2 hours long 😧
Visceral dislike and a true test of endurance to get through this. These guys are absolute tossers 😅🖕
Siouxsie And The Banshees
3/5
Enjoyable but the spell wore off a bit for me towards the end
System Of A Down
3/5
Not my usual genre but the energy is pretty astonishing. A touch melodramatic perhaps but the thrash-funk sound and dynamics are pretty rad. I appreciated the tight rage attack
Justin Timberlake
2/5
Lightweight and largely forgetable
Beatles
5/5
Pretty much the apex of the album-as-artefact era. 14 songs, 34 minutes; inventiveness, pathos, silliness, experimentation, charm. Not even my favourite Beatles record but by gum, we'll never see their like again. Retains drops of twee naivety but mixed with the start of psychedelic rock. The full gamut.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
It's a shorter line than you think from Bruce to Meatloaf. Gather round the ol' joanna for some overwrought storysongs about automobiles-as-freedom. Maybe.
Could be great if you're in the mood but fill in that blank...
*key change*... **sax solo**
Kate Bush
2/5
Respect the artist? Yes.
Relate to the artwork? Ach, not so much.
2/5
Pastoral. Some charm but excellence somehow always just out of reach. Didn't really resonate
Rage Against The Machine
4/5
Almost unbelievably on-the-nose prescience. Maybe it took a few of the rest of us 20+ years to truly catch up. And I guess most still haven't.
A classic.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band
3/5
Batshit crazy, with a few moments of brilliance. Would have loved to have seen these dudes live. But a track like gang bang can gtfo quite frankly.
Tell you what though; the first couple of tracks start with 4/4 glam/blues stomp drums and piano stabs... were SAHB tantalisingly close stumbling onto the Chicago House sound about 10 years early? 😅
3/5
Nincompoopery;. Though I mostly mean that in a sense of affectionate fun here.
Dire Straits
4/5
Got to hand it to Knopfler; the guy can obviously play like an absolute beast but he's also capable of something more: the exercise of restraint.
This record is stacked with riffs and the songs ain't half bad. Even the 80s production sound hasn't agreed badly; just sounds appropriate to its era and mostly fairly tasteful.
Must be the right kind of fame as well: create a multimillion-selling monster then return to a low profile life. Respect
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Demands a closer listen than I was able to give it today. Really good. Will give it another spin
Moby
2/5
Music for adverts.
There's something really uncanny-valley and inauthentic about Moby. Can't quite put my finger on why I feel like that.
In fairness he did stumble on a popular formula but it is exactly that: formulaic.
a-ha
3/5
Take On Me and The Sun Always Shines... are all-time slices of sheer pop perfection. It shouldn't come as a massive surprise that the rest of the album struggles to match that. Some of it comes off like ersatz Bowie, some of it is Mel n' Kim level. Enjoyable enough though
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
I like Bob Marley (of course, who doesn't?) but I have to be honest, this washed over me with hardly a ripple
Tim Buckley
2/5
I don't enjoy all the medievalist schtick tbh. Morning Glory and Pleasant Street are nice enough. Undoubtedly a beautiful voice but I just didn't enjoy the album very much
Fugees
3/5
As a sort of gateway record I suppose it's irrelevant whether (or not) this is credibly good. If it turned a few suburban kids on to eventually explore and buy from among the wider reaches of hip hop, maybe that's got some value? And of course, it provided the springboard for Lauren Hill to go massive.
So fair play, but it's still pretty stilted.
Michael Kiwanuka
3/5
This was alright but I didn't find it as arresting as the earlier Love and Hate album. Will keep listening out for the lad though
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
Cracking. Imperial phase PSB
Mj Cole
2/5
I don't mind a wee bit of UK garage but this is boring. Sincere is a good track but I find much of the rest to be just a couple of rungs up the musical ladder from shopping mall lift muzak.
The type of gear playing in the second room at the sort of club I wouldn't really want to be at.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
Sparse, bleak, arresting, excellent.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Not only did Dylan tap into into this rich vein of poetic magic, somehow he was able to keep working it for absolutely years and years. Mind boggling. This is probably a 5 star album but I'm giving it a 4 today just because
Emmylou Harris
3/5
I used to assume I didn't like country music but I now realise that was a blinkered kind of inverse bigotry. This is pretty great. Still not giving top marks as I'm unlikely to reach for it (I tend towards British folk if I'm looking to scratch a trad. itch) but I did find it a very enjoyable listen.
Kacey Musgraves
3/5
Odd serendipity: yesterday threw up Emmylou Harris, today brings this up-to-date take on sweet, reflective country. Found it an enjoyable listen. Even a touch of Sufjan Stevens in the banjo style in places?
Never heard of Ms Musgrave's before but this was a perfect Sunday morning kitchen listen.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
Ambivalence. Some aspects of RHCP I really admire. Sometimes I think they are almost unintentional self-parody. Great moments but then it gets so samey.
Megadeth
2/5
Sort of apocalypse horror metal. Sounds alright but still scores low for me as I just didn't really jibe with it
Screaming Trees
4/5
Was not familiar with this at all but it immediately demands a repeat listen. I guess I was expecting something bleaker or more earnest but it's really good
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
Dinosaur Jr. is a band I really like in small-to-medium doses. I love the overdriven sound but this whole album in one sitting starts to feel a bit stodgy.
The Cure
3/5
Really like the cure as a singles band though I find this as a complete work gets very ponderous.
Erykah Badu
3/5
I acknowledge the genuine excellence of Ms. Badu and her band. But it don't half go... on and on 😅
Seriously, why did artists stop knocking out tight 40 minute records? I know the format initially stemmed from what could fit on a 12" record but that constraint also improved quality control on the tracklist. I enjoyed listening to this for 45 mins but by 80 I was honestly getting bored.
Kate Bush
4/5
Pretty amazing. Hugely sampled/covered hits. Heavily front-loaded album though.
4/5
I find this more accessible than some of Harvey's earlier records. Plenty to enjoy on here and I think I'm more attuned to it now that I would've been 20 years ago.
2/5
The sort of album I might make if I didn't know I shouldn't.
3/5
Reminiscent of Kruder & Dorfmeister. So downtempo that even when it speeds up a bit it's almost comically soporific. Good though
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
Hmmm, tricky one. Ambivalent about the whole project.
Real sense of unease about creepy old Malcolm appropriating the sound of young black and hispanic New Yorkers.
That said, quite a few tracks are genuinely good, and it hangs together quite well as a piece despite the random mash-up approach.
I hope all the artists got paid properly I suppose, not just the old swindler.
Blur
3/5
Front loaded with bangers. Resolves into eminently forgettable studio noodling.
Germs
4/5
Never heard this before. Thought it was great. Real hardcore.
Buffalo Springfield
4/5
This is great though I can't help feeling it's not quite as good as a Neil Young 'solo' record might have been. Possibly a terrible take?
Iggy Pop
3/5
It's ok. Despite a couple of real classics on here I won't be rushing back. Patchy.
Janet Jackson
2/5
Not for me. Dislike most aspects of this
Primal Scream
4/5
This is a work of near-genius but not necessarily from the obvious source.
Without Andrew Weatherall at the controls, I suspect Primal Scream themselves would have come up with a third of an album worth of forgettable, Black-Crowes-Lite/Texas jams. Even as it is, the material is stretched a bit thin but at least AW makes it feel like a reasonably interesting collection of 12" dubs.
It's a justified spaced-out classic; once you get onto that trip, you're in for the duration.
The Smiths
4/5
<usual Morrissey-is-a-knob disclaimer here/>
Phenomenal record. Excellent musicianship. Crisp production. Great lyrics; some poignant, some funny, some daft, nearly all interesting.
I'm not a huge Smiths head but this is a really rewarding listen and so evocative of a certain sense of place and time.
Fats Domino
4/5
Oh damn, this is incredible. Cool and fun sounds from 70 years ago 🤯
5/5
Bloody hell. Absolutely spine-tingling from start to finish.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Blimey. On a reflective Sunday morning, the opening couple of tracks on this landed HARD. Heartbroken old boy hymns. What's worse, the unrelenting horny frustrations of the younger man, or the feeling that chapter of life has ended and you no longer care? Leonard knows. Making his peace with a god he no longer wants to believe in.
Love it.
Beatles
5/5
Depending on mood, often my favourite Beatles record, which puts Abbey Road at or near the top of a very illustrious pile. I mean, Maxwell and Octopus are very silly but aside from that, amazing. The sweep of side 2 is mind boggling.
Emmylou Harris
2/5
Maudlin and pedestrian (neither of which are necessarily bad things but you know... meh)
Girls Against Boys
2/5
Sounds good, if you fancy some doomy, heavy gear. It so happens that today I did not.
Morrissey
3/5
Ah, the Morrissey paradox. The guy is so obviously sad, damaged and lonely that I can't help but feel quite sorry for him. But his entire public persona for the last 30+ years send to have been to make himself as dislikeable as possible. A real arsehole, but one who still made plenty of objectively good records. This is decent, not great, but definitely a diverting listen. Begrudging respect.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
RIP and mad respect to Neil Kulkarni, the (as far as I know) originator of the "would I trust them to make me a sandwich?" test, for musicians in general but 70s rockers in particular.
Anyway, probably pretty obvious where I'm going with this. Is this a behemoth of a record? Yes. Does it have some astounding playing? Again, yes. Do I actually like it? Nah, not a huge amount. I'm not such a fan of Robert Plant's histrionic vocal stylings to be honest. And would I let any of them anywhere near my sandwich? Would I fuck, the grubby-fingered, sleazy gits. If I'm ever in the market for a round of reefer-ash-with-a-hint-of-spunk on rye, I'll let you dudes know, ok? 😅
Supergrass
2/5
The parts don't quite add up. I have a slight soft spot for Supergrass and this is decent, well-crafted pop. But I don't much like it 🤷🏻♂️
Pink Floyd
2/5
Started out pretty much hating this. For a little spell towards the end of the middle, I actually got right into it. Then by the end I was hating it again. Some of the production is unbelievably ahead of its time. Some of the story arc really seems to predict internet culture and the threat of misinformation about 30 years early. First citing of 'brain worms' maybe?
For all that, it's still not my cup of tea. Too long, too pompous, too preachy.
Wilco
4/5
Wistful and restrained
Stan Getz
4/5
Sounds excellent and I'd like to revisit it at some point
Prince
4/5
It kicks ass obviously and in all sorts of ways. Cumulatively it does leave me feeling a bit like I ate too much ice cream or something though
Willie Nelson
2/5
Lonesome ditties evocative of driving a pickup truck across a plain somewhere. Not really my vibe but perfectly pleasant and I do respect the craft. Sorry for the low score, I'm feeling harsh and I don't anticipate this being a record I'll come back to.
Dr. Dre
2/5
I think Dr Dre is a damaged, nasty bastard and this is a grim piece of work. And though some of the production and sound engineering here is jaw dropping, I've never been on board with the adoration this record gets, or the genius status afforded to Dre. It's an adolescent violent revenge fantasy of a record. The trademark G-funk sound is incredible but the bars are horrible (except for some of Snoop's features) and the feeling I get is that it's been bullied into existence. I don't really know who's responsible for the odd brilliant moment, I just know that Dre is taking all the credit. I'd go as far as to say this put me off the whole West coast scene for a good while.
One of those paradoxes: I really do recognise it deserves a place in the 1001 canon because of what it represents... but I'm scoring it low as I just don't like it and I'll not reach for it.
Possibly dodgy lukewarm take: this record propagates institutionally racist and sexist hegemony: brim full of negative stereotypes and painting whole city districts as no go zones. No thanks.
Tim Buckley
3/5
Weirdly different to some of his other stuff. A Doors-meets-funk jam, full of sex. Pretty good
The Auteurs
3/5
I'm quite into this. Needs some repeat listens.
Luke Haines seems to want to recast himself as a sort of rakish, silent-era matinee baddie. Not sure if that's entirely successful but it is fun.
Paul Simon
3/5
Hmmm. Genesis of an iconic career but didn't find it all that arresting
Marty Robbins
2/5
Mad. I thought 'cool water' was a Coen brothers' parody; but here it is, without a hint of (big) irony. It's kind of great but more of a curio than a real repeat listen.
Beatles
4/5
3rd Beatles album that's come up for me quite recently, 3rd legend. Was my favourite of theirs when I was a kid; it's not my favourite now but it is still remarkable
Lou Reed
4/5
Absurdly bleak. I remember borrowing this from the library in my teens: not exactly Laden with mixtape bangers to impress a pal or woo a prospective girlfriend. I love it
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Exile is an odd one for me. I know plenty of people rate it as the Stones' best record and I can see how it garners classic status but I've never much enjoyed it as a whole. Maximum swampy bloozeness, not that fun to listen to.
The Zombies
3/5
Never heard most of this before. Pastoral Nuggets. Pretty nice. Some a bit too English and twee, some quite Kinks-esque, some really quite experimental and fresh sounding. Thumb up
Nirvana
2/5
Minor heresy: I've never really understood what the level of fuss around Nirvana was about.
I like the slower ones and the unplugged record which I guess that marks me as some sort of softie. Some of the harsher tracks I find quite formulaic, albeit with extra abrasive delivery and lyrical content.
Don't get me wrong, I can see that this is a good album from a strong band, it's just not one I'll voluntarily sit through for pleasure.
M.I.A.
3/5
Pretty class
James Brown
4/5
What a band! What an energy! Awe inspiring
CHIC
5/5
Unbelievable. A tight, shiny masterpiece.
When session players make a chance and go Gonzo...
Marilyn Manson
1/5
Actively despise this arsehole and everything he represents. The horrible music is an irrelevance at this point. I listened to it but I didn't wanna. ☠️
People talk a lot about separating art from the artist, often to justify continued enjoyment of the things they like while becoming more aware of the personal failings of some creators. With this guy there's no need for that though, it's a singularity of degenerate, provocative crap and the sick scumbag hiding in plain sight who led its creation. No amount of slick production can mask that. It doesn't give me much pleasure to note that time has proved me right on this one.
Gram Parsons
4/5
Very good
Van Halen
3/5
As rad as a pair of sick troop hightops paired with a dayglo-accent shellsuit. In other words then, not very. It was fun at the time but dated quickly, athough it certainly has its moments 😎
Barry Adamson
2/5
I suppose one of the challenges with soundtracks, whether real or imagined, is that they often need their accompanying visuals to really land. I respect the concept and the skill here but ultimately didn't find it a very exciting listen.
Korn
2/5
Godawful, damaged, whiney, shouty shite. Terrible cover, terrible record, massively overlong. And when they rap? Laughably bad. Not quite 1-star rotten but it was extremely close.
The Band
4/5
It's great. Not much more I can say really, a warm, rich sound.
4/5
Unexpectedly excellent. A plaintive Dear John letter which says, in a nutshell: Loretta is sick and tired of your nonsense, buddy.
Miles Davis
3/5
The aural equivalent of eating your greens; you know it's good for you but it can feel like hard work at times. Maybe I'll know when I'm a fully fledged grown up when this clicks into place and I choose to put it on without prompting. Definitely getting closer but still maybe a little way off 😆
Bob Dylan
5/5
Bob Dylan, eh? Bloody hell...
Even when he's being faintly ridiculous he's still amazing.
Taylor Swift
4/5
Didn't have too many preconceptions; I've heard a few radio hits of course but never listened to a full Taylor Swift album before. Blimey, it's actually really great! Good to know that the hype and exposure is backed up by serious talent.
Mott The Hoople
3/5
Pretty good. No more, no less
Ray Charles
3/5
Is it in danger of sounding a bit schmaltzy to modern ears? Maybe. Is it still extremely good? Yes. I'm probably under-rating it a bit here
Steely Dan
3/5
Weird: I seem to remember this record including more hits. Still pretty darn good, mind you.
The Darkness
3/5
Kind of an interesting one. Must have started out as a pastiche pisstake (albeit from a place of affection and knowledge) then morphed into a legitimate and pretty strong album in its own right. Genuinely funny in places (a love ballad to an STD? I mean, come on) and actually winds up almost as good as the AC/DC or Maiden records it emulates.
Deerhunter
3/5
This surprised me a little. How have I never heard this before? Really pretty good. Deserves a revisit. Strangely high chance I won't bother
Jeff Beck
3/5
I was feeling a little bit cynical towards this: more British white guys pretending they're saviours or perfectors of the blues? However, have to say it's excellent, by midway through I was well into it.
Pretenders
3/5
Slightly better than expected
Throwing Muses
2/5
Wait a minute...
I felt like there was something a bit fishy about today's link. Double checked and it turned out YT had pitched me a record from 2003, which I didn't enjoy much. But let's rewind and see how we get on with the intended debut from 1986... nope, couldn't really engage with that on a very meaningful level either. Weird, as my expectation was that I'd like it. Oh well. Can't win em all.
AC/DC
3/5
"The body of Venus, with arms", haw haw, good one guys. 5/5 for the riffs but all told it's A Touch Too Much
Elton John
3/5
Okay
The Cardigans
2/5
Nah, not really for me thanks
Drive Like Jehu
3/5
New one on me. Rather liked it. Bit of a palate cleanser. Too long mind you
Gary Numan
4/5
A clever trick; sounds pretty avant garde while also being mainstream pop. Cars was literally number 1 in the chart the week I was born, and still sounds sharp today. Liked this record a lot
Deep Purple
4/5
Stunningly good. The musicianship is great and it weighs a tonne. Noice
Minor Threat
4/5
This came as an absolutely perfect wake up call as I jumped on my bike at 6.05 this morning. Short, noisy, perfectly formed
Metallica
2/5
Absolutely dreadful. No love whatsoever for these guys.
Saying that, I think I once had lunch in a Harvester of Sorrow🫠
ABBA
3/5
Hmmm, very much on the fence with this one. Abba are obviously brilliant at their best but I didn't much want to sit through many of the more formulaic, cabaret-style tunes. Maybe just me, for today it's a 3
Le Tigre
3/5
Slightly nonplussed today. I do like them though I don't often listen again
Massive Attack
4/5
Nailed-on, certified classic. Probably my second-favourite massive attack record, and that's a crowded field
Tricky
3/5
Woah, second day in a row for Bristolian trip hop royalty. This should probably be a 4 but its bleak, claustrophobic sprawl is actually not the easiest listen so, regretfully, it's getting a 3 today.
Björk
4/5
Unbelievable record really, from a true one-off mega-talent. Sounds like it should be too weird to go mainstream but somehow it's crammed with hits. Sheer charisma.
Dizzee Rascal
3/5
I remember hearing Diz absolutely destroy some mumble rappers on an American radio show a few years back: his flow was like some crazy future gear by comparison. I find this record a challenge to sit through as a whole though, works better in smaller doses imo.
Boston
3/5
Reminiscent of the recent Darkness album which came up: this must have provided much of the template for that, albeit without any hint of irony or humour. Not much worse for that though; it's just an enjoyable listen and a pretty iconic, clean sound.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Amazing. Definitely could be a 5 star record if it was 20 mins shorter. So cool and so inventive though.
Joy Division
2/5
Well, I've battled through this a few times before. I want to like it because of what it represents, yet still I find it nigh unlistenable.
Orbital
4/5
Super record. Quality seconds indeed
Van Morrison
4/5
Amazing voice, great concert recording, classics from the songbook, tight band bashing it out. What's not to enjoy?
Little Richard
3/5
Impossible not to like the rock n roll energy
Jack White
3/5
Sounds good, competent, accomplished. Went in one ear and out the other.
Sonic Youth
2/5
Could not be bothered with this today and quite frankly found the record a bit tiresome. I'll try again some other time but for now it's a poor score
John Lennon
3/5
Not much to say. Couple of all time great tracks
Happy Mondays
2/5
Want to like this more than I actually do in reality. Remixes routinely better than originals. Too long, too noodley. Joke title is the cleverest bit about it.
k.d. lang
3/5
Not really sure what I was expecting, maybe a touch of postmodern snark or something. But this is quite a straightforward country crooner album. Ms Lang has a nice voice, the songs are quite plaintive and the arrangements are traditional-in-a-good-way. I rather liked it
Björk
3/5
Oh man. Tender, sad, elegiac. Very nice
Billy Joel
3/5
It is cheesy but I rather enjoyed this while gazing wistfully from the window of a train heading north though the Highlands. Always kind of think of Billy Joel as a horrible wee guy but there's some good story-songs here.
Beck
4/5
Very good. Not sure why I haven't listened to this in so long but it's nice to rediscover it now
Cee Lo Green
3/5
I liked it quite a lot
Nick Drake
4/5
It's wonderful. Not much more to say
Spiritualized
4/5
Jason Spaceman is a low-key broken genius. These gospel nursery rhymes are built on simple foundations but contain great depth. Clue is in the name I suppose but these are yearning incantations. Beautiful, tightly composed, tinged with regret and sadness but also hope. A dope-sick hymn to the cosmos. Too long but so what, it's great.
Keith Jarrett
4/5
Extraordinary. I'll be coming back to this one
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
In the past I've had the feeling I'm missing part of the MBV jigsaw. Like, I know they're doing something clever and worthy but I just don't quite understand it. Re-listening to this now goes a long way towards making me reassess that. I'm hearing the melodies more. Enjoying it more. I'm 30-odd years late to the party but feel like maybe I've almost cracked their code.
Hugh Masekela
4/5
Thank you 1k generator. Another exceptional joint I've not had the pleasure of hearing before. Brilliant stuff.
The Saints
3/5
This sounds great. Not sure I managed to give it the concentration it deserves today, so I'll be back for another listen
Big Star
4/5
Oh yeah. First thought was 'big 5 stars'. The opening 4 or 5 tracks are flawless. If there's a pair of better wistful ballads than 'thirteen' and 'el goodo', I can't think of them. Absolutely wonderful stuff. Sadly it does go off the boil a bit but tremendous record still.
Queen
3/5
Bombastic and a bit silly, but quite entertaining
Neil Young
5/5
Staggering talent. I understand why his voice can be a bit divisive but for me, Neil Young is a mega, generational star. So much soul and pathos. Phenomenal songwriting.
The Byrds
2/5
Feel like sometimes the Byrds' reputation outstrips their output. Some of this comes across like unused tape cuttings from a Beatles studio floor. A bit noodly and inconsequential. Suspect I'd hear more from this on repeat listens but I'm afraid for today, on first impression, it's a low score.
Buena Vista Social Club
4/5
Looking beyond its role in Half Man, Half Biscuit's very accurate skewering of a certain type of middle class Englishness, this is still a legitimately brilliant record. Master craftsmen and women doing what they do best.
Fleet Foxes
3/5
Weirdly, I think of this as a Christmas album. It's really very good but also a bit worthy and twee. On the fence.
Black Sabbath
3/5
Fairly enjoyable. Interesting how stuff which was supposedly unfeasibly heavy at the time in retrospect seems quite tame.
Ray Price
3/5
Old timey drinking ballads. Pretty cool and a mellow listen but not really my thing in the long run. A decent curio
Thin Lizzy
3/5
Schlock rock. Decent
Daft Punk
4/5
One of the best records of the 90s, in any genre. Yes it's a bit too long and could stand to lose 2 or 3 tracks - but as a whole it's a certified 100% banger
Brian Wilson
2/5
I don't have the patience for this jolly hokum. Immaculate production of course; of a caterwauling cavalcade of sideshow tinged, swanee-whistle riddled, clippety-clop, honky-tonk nonsense.
Eminem
3/5
Astonishing how much of this I can accurately remember despite not hearing it through for 20+ years. Never been a true Eminem fan but it's hard not to admire a lot of his wordplay.
Get rid of some skits, the badly-dated inflammatory nonsense, and the flabbier verses (along with some of the more rinky-dink musical backings) and there's probably an ultra-strong ten or twelve track record locked inside this one's boot and headed for the parapet.
The Doors
3/5
Not bad. Couple of classic tracks, couple of spots that drag on a bit. A decent listen
Syd Barrett
2/5
Interesting, though not to the extent that I need to explore to much further. I feel bad for this but in a crowded field it's a low score for me
The Kinks
4/5
Basically bookmarking this to re-examine in future. Not familiar with the album at all (though have heard a handful of the tracks before) but it's got some excellent stuff.
Bill Evans Trio
4/5
This sounded great. Need to come back to it another time
OutKast
4/5
I find it hard to grade outkast. I don't consider them a true favourite but do think they're inherently great. Smart guys. Full gamut from pop smash hits like Ms Jackson, to stank-ass Southern trap music (and even a cameo from a young Killer Mike). There a lot to chew on. Even skits and off cuts are way shaper than average.
Richard Hawley
4/5
I like this quite a lot. Sedate and soulful
Sebadoh
2/5
Loved the start, went off it a bit
Duran Duran
3/5
Pretty gutted for the most part, pretty forgettable in some.
2/5
This was unexpected. Wild stuff. Nigh unlistenable to my ear but jeez, the manic energy. Advanced level freaky business. I see its merit, I just don't want to have to listen to it.
Sly & The Family Stone
2/5
Thought I'd love this then I got a bit bored tbh
Elton John
3/5
Quite entertaining. I can see why it was a hit and has longevity. I do find it a bit odd the whole schtick but what the heck do I know
Charles Mingus
3/5
Started out thinking it was frenetic and dated, ended thinking it was a cool, roll-neck-sweatered, Riviera boat-chase of a record.
Stephen Stills
3/5
Never heard this before. Pretty great 👍
Pere Ubu
3/5
Messy and arresting art. I'm not sure 'enjoy' is quite the right word but I was invested and engaged
Elliott Smith
2/5
For the most part, I found it a touch monotonous. There, I said it 😥
Q-Tip
3/5
I love q-tip's vocal style though today I found the overall production a bit meh. Probably need a repeat listen or two to get into it
The Flaming Lips
4/5
Extraordinary. I sometimes find the production too clipped and bright but I guess you could argue that's also a big part of what makes it unique*. The opening three songs are particularly great. Form, lyrical content, performance; superb.
*Not to hate on it, I also feel that way about some other Fridmann productions, e.g. the Delgados and some Mercury Rev. Would love to hear a remastering of some of these records.
ZZ Top
3/5
Horny swamp rock, with some peculiarly synthetic, chrome-plated sheen. Moderately diverting and a bit enigmatic. What are they hiding?
The Stranglers
3/5
Pub rock not punk rock. Pretty great
The Police
2/5
Gives me a whiff of that dreaded term 'adult contemporary' 😬 though it's still actually pretty rad in places 😌
Bad Brains
3/5
Rippers
Elliott Smith
3/5
This was good. Second Elliott Smith record in quite short order and I preferred this one
Giant Sand
4/5
This was a stunning discovery. Never heard of before. Loved it. Touches of Calexico. Better. Moments of great beauty to revisit.
Mylo
3/5
Never quite a classic imo but does stand up well. Still like it, still sounds clean
The Fall
3/5
From the more accessible end of The Fall's catalogue, still with enough weirdness and dread to keep it interesting
The Verve
3/5
It's tricky; I like quite a lot of it. Maybe somewhere in here lurks a 38-minute, tight, 4-star album. But I find it a bit too narco nod-off in places, sludgy, or like a low(er)brow Spiritualized.
Jane's Addiction
3/5
I've never really felt drawn towards getting into Jane's Addiction but I enjoyed this a lot today. Very solid record.
Slipknot
2/5
Bit more tuneful than I anticipated. Exhausting though
Radiohead
4/5
It's great. Not quite as avant-garde as some would have you believe. Rich and intriguing.
Beach House
3/5
Strong start, tending mid
Television
5/5
Simply magnificent. It's lean, it's smart, the playing is superb.
Roxy Music
4/5
Really inventive, really good
Supertramp
3/5
What is this? Sort of prog pop? A wee bit camp. A wee bit funky. More than a hint of Joel/John piano-man. A dash of Pink Floyd. Quite enjoyable really.
Prefab Sprout
3/5
I almost forgot to get to this today.
It's pretty good. Smart lyrics, tight production. Starts very strong, declines
Norah Jones
2/5
Insufferably pleasant, swingless jazz-lite. Boring, soulless, nepo-baby shoppingmall musak.
Maybe this will stir you if you want to feel like you're hanging out in a Starbucks on your own, in 2003.
Sigur Rós
3/5
So beautiful it almost becomes cliché.
Soundtrack to 1,001 soaring-vista'd HD nature documentaries 🫠
Jethro Tull
3/5
I'll level with you, this possibly deserves a better mark but I listened while commuting and I'm not sure I gave it the level of attention it deserves. Sounds good, missed some nuance
Fun Lovin' Criminals
3/5
Legitimately pretty good fun
Digital Underground
3/5
Quality silliness with some old skool bangers
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Ambivalent. More murky muddy than I remember, overlong; vs. actual genius at work, heavy blue jazz.
The Verve
3/5
I know it's not meant to be '1,001 BEST albums...' but still, not sure how this makes it onto the list. Nor can I understand how The Verve were so popular at the time, particularly with their indie-lads fanbase. Ponderous music under some very maudlin songs. I mean, it is pretty good but you know...
Overdose dirges atop the pop chart? Different times 🙃
Soft Cell
3/5
Strange one: I don't really like much of it. But I can appreciate its edge. Very brave subject matter for its time. And 3 or 4 classic tracks on there.
The Smashing Pumpkins
3/5
The hits are pretty epic to be sure. The rest, I find rather forgettable.
The Isley Brothers
3/5
Frequently wonderful though not necessarily the sort of thing I'll naturally reach for. +3 indeed
Linkin Park
2/5
Not as bad as I feared it might be. Not my vibe but I suppose I can see how it's popular. Rock/hip-hop crossovers can and should be more exciting than this though.
Eurythmics
3/5
Hadn't drawn a parallel in my mind before, between Annie Lennox and Grace Jones. Giving similar synth-funk ice-queen vibes.
The production on this is just so sharp and shiny. It's good. I still probably won't want listen to it again but it is good.
AC/DC
4/5
Stupidly, hilariously bombastic. Formulaic, but man, what a formula. Excellent
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
4/5
Righteous, focused anger and right-on social commentary. Smart, direct lyricism. Dope beats. Strong recommend.
Absolutely all the subject matter is still highly relevant 32+ years later 🤯
Franti is basically a sage and we collectively have learned almost nothing.
Kanye West
4/5
Abrasive.
I didn't get into this so much at the time. I rated '...Dark Twisted Fantasy' much more as a record but, with hindsight, this is also close to bringing the Ye-game.
The sense I get from Kanye is that despite always acting hard, he's essentially a soft lad, full of yearning. Aside from his well publicised foibles and troubles, it makes him an oddly compelling character. The musical landscape always feels more interesting when he's releasing his better material.
Eagles
2/5
Competent schmalz-rock balladeering. Goes in one ear and out the other, signifying very little that I can discern.
Joe Ely
3/5
Don't think I'd ever heard of this guy, or this record. Good; I'm up for obscure discoveries (or unknown to me at any rate). This is a bright, jangly, enjoyable country rock romp.
Aerosmith
3/5
Swaggering
Fela Kuti
3/5
Right on, man. Right on.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Darn good set
Super Furry Animals
4/5
Nice to see this on the list, if a touch surprising: in my mind it's maybe SFA's 4th or 5th best record. And I don't mean that as a back-handed compliment; more a testament to the strength of the Furries' catalogue.
Some surf-pop vibes. Some soaring ballads. A bit of a melancholy vein throughout. Still very inventive, still really good.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
Certified banger 👍
The Who
3/5
It's fairly good
Big Black
3/5
To be honest, the Village Voice review quoted on the Wiki link summarises this better than I could: "...its creators deserve credit for finding each other and making their obsession real". And R.I.P. Steve Albini.
Sam Cooke
4/5
Man alive. What a singer. What a gig.
Skepta
3/5
Decent grimey heaters. Liked it
Tears For Fears
3/5
None more 80s-sounding. I reckon I wanted to like this more than I actually did. I enjoy the hits but found much of the rest a bit po-faced.
Eminem
2/5
Couldn't really be bothered digging this one out. I mean, it's decent, coherent as a record, and pretty easy to see why it was a big hit. Just a bit too needily provocative. Production on a lot of the tracks is a bit hokey. It's too long. The skits are wack. The smelly spectre of Dre and Iovine is all over it. Lots of the subject matter has aged badly (though tbf, I think we can give MM the benefit of the doubt most of the time). Just can't get right behind it. Begrudging respect and no more than that.
TV On The Radio
2/5
I find something slightly over-produced about this. It's alright. Couple of good tracks. I'm feeling stingy with the score today
Frank Ocean
2/5
Seems to me largely aimless noodling, even if there is talent, a nice voice, and the odd snippet of excellence. Hard to gauge
The Sugarcubes
3/5
Wasn't sure I was going to like this much but it was diverting enough. Birthday obviously excellent. Plenty more interesting tracks to explore as well. Needs a revisit.
LTJ Bukem
3/5
Breezy DnB rollers. If that's your jam there's a lot to love. Suspect a lot of listeners might get a bit bored?
Stop press: I'm starting to think I may be listening to the wrong version of the record here. Difficult to tell; confusion reigns 😬. I'm not listening to the whole 2+ hours if I can't be sure.
New Order
4/5
Kind of more hi-nrg than I remember. Really good though, can still see its influence decades later.
Some naive melodies and dated programming, but it sounds distinctive and it works.
ABBA
2/5
Found it pedestrian.
Adam & The Ants
3/5
Very silly, pretty great.
Air
4/5
Sappy-yet-catchy, pure essence of wafty 2000s french synth pop wussiness. Quite decent for all that.
Kelela
3/5
Part of the challenge with best-of lists is that they tend to be dominated by a certain type of older/male-er/whiter listener/collector/wannabe-curator. So I am absolutely here for hearing more new stuff from young woman artists/producers.
Whether I actually like this or not isn't that relevant. I thought it was alright; quite sexy, although modern RnB is probably never gonna be my jam in a big way. I enjoyed discovering this record.
The Monks
3/5
Wilfully obtuse freak-zone garagey art rock from way back. Probably groundbreaking in its time.
I found it intriguing if a bit of a tough listen, though I was glad to give it a spin.
Coldplay
3/5
In an alternate universe, Chris Martin was rightly clocked as a sort of crap Nick Drake, the band played the indie circuit for a couple of years, and wrapped up before they were 30 so they could all go off to work in the city.
I remember thinking 'yellow' was a stunner at the time. Not much going on beyond that. Passive-aggressively pleasant. How they now routinely pack the biggest stadiums is a total enigma to me. Album is ok in itself, albeit no indication of greatness.
Nine Inch Nails
2/5
Tiring
The Cars
4/5
Solid power pop. Good fun listen
The Hives
4/5
Along with Rocket from the Crypt, these guys were part of a sort of naughties noisy, garage-punky, rockabilly renaissance. Fun, taut album with barely an ounce of fat and loads of energy.
Sister Sledge
4/5
Don't consider myself a disco fan but this absolutely rips. The chic sound is tight as ever, the musicianship on vocals is equally superb.
Everything But The Girl
4/5
I enjoyed this a lot. Accomplished
Christine and the Queens
4/5
It's about twice as long as an album should be, imo. But it's still pretty bloody good.
And then I discover it's bilingual twin versions of the same record. All is forgiven 🙏😅
Booker T. & The MG's
2/5
Green onions? Hammond cheese sandwich, more like 🙄
Real tasty as a quick snack; tiresome and bland as a multi course meal.
Gotan Project
4/5
It could almost come off as a bit too wilfully hip but it deftly skirts that. Genuinely engaging.
Some dubby parallels with the likes of Sabres of Paradise.
I think it feels authentically true to its cultural source material, while modernising that in a credible way.
It's a nuanced and well executed production. Definitely not 'stick a house beat under some samples and collect the advertising money'. Still sounds fresh 23 years later.
King Crimson
4/5
For a 5-track (long-ass tracks) prog rock jazz odyssey this is surprisingly accessible. It's actually a gas.
George Jones
3/5
I used to have quite a bigoted assumed dislike for country. I'm over that. This record is great. Old fashioned, tear-jerking country ballads.
Johnny Cash
4/5
Superb. I wasn't sure it was on a par with the Folsom album at first, though by the end I was absolutely vibing.
Green Day
3/5
Loved Dookie at the time but I've never actually sat all the way through American Idiot before. It's alright.
Todd Rundgren
2/5
Horrible operetta prog pop. Respect the will to create, dislike the creation.
The Allman Brothers Band
2/5
Astonishing playing but a bit indulgent for my tastes. Fretboard wankery extraordinaire.
John Prine
4/5
This is pretty amazing. Elegiac, working-class, junk country or something. Cutting lyrics, humane politics. Resonated with me today. Excellent.
"There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes" I mean, bloody hell.
Country Joe & The Fish
3/5
Never even heard of this before. Quite a fun hippy wigout. Bits of Doors-esqe organ.
Ozomatli
3/5
Ozomatli are great. Sadly, this is one of those albums that doesn't come up properly on my streaming provider and while I feel fairly confident it's probably a 4 star record I'll have to give it a 3 as I'm not getting the full picture.
Al Green
4/5
Stunning voice, heartfelt songs. Really can't fault it.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
I don't normally tend to check others' reviews while I've literally got the album on but I just had a peek at some for this. Alternately scathing, hilarious, and in some cases richly insightful. A bit like the man himself.
There's a full spectrum of responses from active dislike, through simply not getting into it, right up to hero worship. Put me somewhere in the middle. I find the music and production here quite unedifying for a lot of the time, though the sarky, sardonic, poetic lyrics always hold plenty interest. 2.5, tending to 3
The Waterboys
3/5
Another one with the curse of the streaming-services-special-edition-re-release. How long was the original record? Can't we just listen to that? An hour and 3/4 of anything is liable to get boring.
That said, sounds like there's some decent tracks on here. It doesn't quite float my folk boat like some bands can. And it's a bit parochial seen through a rock lens. But it's likeable enough. Coward's score from me: a 3.
David Bowie
3/5
One of my less favoured Bowie records though to be fair, after the first track it picks up a lot.
Björk
2/5
I like some Björk but jeez, I simply didn't get on with this at all.
Neil Young
4/5
Neil really is the main man. Long after his 'Decade' golden era, he was/is still regularly churning out work of incredible quality. I feel like this album was quite overlooked at the time, though in retrospect it's a cracker.
Iron Butterfly
2/5
Suppose the clue was in the band name: way less heavy than I anticipated. Other than the eponymous title track (which largely kicks ass but is preposterously long) I didn't much care for it. Too noodley.
Kraftwerk
4/5
Man alive, feel the influence. While Johnny Lydon and chums were still flicking bogeys at each other up the back of the class, these white German cycling nerds were in the lab laying down the blueprint for some all-time-great hip hop, house and techno samples. Even if those eventual end-points are often more fun to listen to than an entire album of cool-blooded Teutonic metronomy, this is astonishing gear. I for one welcome our peculiar, analogue-techno overlords.
Massive Attack
5/5
For me, Massive Attack's best album. Exquisite.
The choice collaborators. The mirrored, twin-sided format. The mood, the flow. The instrumentation. Analogue dub heart with digital flourishes. Not a bad track on here. Brilliant.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
There are brilliant moments on here but man, it's just too flipping long. Daunting.
The Pogues
4/5
They may be most known for the 100-mile-an-hour, music-for-pirates hoedowns. But it's the slow airs that get me. Greatness is here if you care to look for it.
The Chemical Brothers
4/5
Must admit, although I like the Chemical Brothers a lot, they're normally an act I listen to in fairly short snatches. There's only so many epic-buildup breakbeat slammers a man can take... but this record does reward a full listen through. It ebbs and flows nicely and sort of captures the dynamism of a live set. Strong.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
3/5
Bleak and dirty literary hymns. I'm genuinely ambivalent towards this.
Scissor Sisters
3/5
When this popped up today I couldn't really be bothered to listen but I persevered and it was decent. Fun (and often quite funny) camp disco pop.
Led Zeppelin
2/5
Wearing. Man, I want to like these guys, and I frequently do, in small doses. The guitar and drum sound are phenomenal by any measure. But I just can't abide Robert Plant's caterwauling vocals for more than about ten minutes at a time. I thought this was going to earn a high score but by the end I was relieved it was over.
The Electric Prunes
2/5
Ms. Dynamite
3/5
Some of it's pretty great, coming on like an English Lauryn Hill. Some of it feels a bit dated now.
Rush
4/5
Prog but with every ounce of fat trimmed. Master craftsmen.
John Cale
4/5
Glorious rococo pop. Earnest rather than than twee. I find it beguiling.
Jane Weaver
3/5
New to me. Enjoyed it. Well worth a revisit.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Ronseal album: sounds like it says on the cover. And that's no bad thing.
4/5
The frontiest of front-loads. Starts in euphoria then falls off like a mf. Still remarkably solid for all that.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Good record but I'm feeling harsh.
Arcade Fire
3/5
Hmmm, one of those ones. I feel there's a really strong 10 or 11 track album lurking within but, for me right now, the overall affect comes off a wee bit MoR and sprawling. Of course, being as smart as they are, this in itself might be a deliberate allegory for suburbanism. Who knows. On another day it probably gets a 4 from me but today it's landing a bit flat
Radiohead
4/5
Masterful but - unlike most people my age it seems - to my mind not Radiohead's masterpiece. It's great, I just don't want to listen to it very often as it's too depressing.
Arrested Development
4/5
Some tremendous stuff on here. Warmly humane boom bap.
The White Stripes
3/5
Although it's good it won't compel me to come back often.
The Specials
4/5
Pretty much unimpeachable excellence.
Depeche Mode
4/5
This is strong
Stevie Wonder
4/5
Pretty much the apex predator of 70s singer-songwriter funk-tinted soul. Rooted in its time and also somehow completely transcendent.
Ramones
4/5
Almost goes without saying that this is absolutely tremendous. An awesome wave of daftness. Churlish to give it a 4 really but compared to some true 5s, it is mono-paced (which I know is also kind of the point, but still...)
4/5
In which a metamorphosis occurs, seemingly almost in real-time. Young players become mature artists. Hokey pop takes a psychedelic turn. The end of the 60s is foreshadowed, even while that decade is barely starting to peak (a peak both created and destroyed by this record as much as anything). The band cements its status as giga-stars while at the same time renouncing the accompanying circus. All while playing the meta game of literally creating the circus.
I feel slightly mad not giving this a 5 but I reckon that even though on cultural impact, this is a 5 all day, there are better albums, and even some better records by the Beatles. It's hard to listen afresh, as it is a pillar of my early childhood. It's phenomenal, it's just that I no longer feel a drive to listen to it very often.
Ride
2/5
Not feeling it today. Finding it monotonous.
The Velvet Underground
4/5
Lovely stuff. Coming at this expecting White Light, White Heat stompers will yield disappointment but there's loads of introspective niceness here.
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
Woah, second Bunnymen record in the space of 2 weeks. What are the chances?
This is a very strong record
The Cure
3/5
This was enjoyable and seemed to be a shoo-in for a 4 but in truth I felt like its momentum dropped off pretty hard after A Forest.
Lenny Kravitz
2/5
I'm not saying the guy is untalented, but I don't like this album and find most of the songwriting childish and wack.
Madonna
4/5
When the title track kicked in, I was thinking steady on here, we might be looking at a 5 star record. Sadly, the rest of the album can't quite live up to that but it does have several great singles. Also evoked fond memories of being 9 years old and hearing this music via my friend's big sister.
The Clash
5/5
Still sounds genuinely exciting. Garageland is a self-aware statement of intent and this is the closest The Clash came to a straightforward pub-rock album, but there are still signs of greater ambition throughout. Tight harmonies, tighter rhythms, and the first shoots of the reggae influence that made them extra special. It's probably the purest expression of the punk energy the band had and might be their best record in that sense. It lacks the sprawling ambition of later efforts but who says that's a bad thing?
14 songs, 35 minutes, barely a couple of duffers on there. It's like an early Beatles album or something: pure pop sensibility but cranked up to 11 with frustration and boredom. And it's hard to think of a stronger opening to many records than the 4 song run from Janie Jones to White Riot. Brilliant
Dagmar Krause
3/5
The Sorrow and the Ditty*
With respect, this is genuinely, crazily, bleak.
Thanks to whoever uploaded the source material. It's not a suite of music I'm likely to seek out again, but I am glad to have made the effort to listen through it all. It's quite impressive in its scope.
*Review headline if I were a sarcastic Melody Maker sub-editor (which, tbf, might have been a dream job)
Derek & The Dominos
3/5
Something quite Californian about the sound of this, even though it's meant to be an English riff on delta blues. It's excellent in places, though way too long. Everyone knows Layla of course, but I'd not heard the album in full before.
Always that slight lingering thought in the back of my mind as well, that although we can all admire Clapton's virtuoso playing, he is still an absolute knobhead.
Nirvana
4/5
Not so much a tower of song as a monolith of pure sonic regret.
Funkadelic
4/5
Spine tingling opener, bum fiddling closer.
Gil Scott-Heron
4/5
Amazing guy. Some top joints on here.
Morrissey
2/5
Hmmm, could be tricky. I think 'Every Day Is Like Sunday' is a genuinely classic track. I used to think 'Suedehead' was one as well. However, although it's certainly a catchy tune, I have an awful feeling that, knowing what we know now, it can be re-read as racist. Troublesome at best. The rest of the album feels inconsequential by comparison. Morrissey himself has now repeatedly shown himself to be so unlikeable that it's hard not to view his work a lot more harshly.
Pink Floyd
4/5
Atmospheric and generally pretty excellent
Cat Stevens
4/5
An astonishingly lovely set of songs ☺️
Some of the worst cover art 🥲
Air
2/5
Young Dry Keiths. As bland as can be, imo.
Happy Mondays
3/5
Happy Mondays' cultural profile and influence is way bigger and more powerful than their actual back catalogue. A handful of stomping great singles. Quite a lot of dreck. Still an interesting listen.
Eels
4/5
Super record.
Miriam Makeba
3/5
Beautiful voice and I was glad to listen to this. Unlikely to track it down again I suppose but a nice discovery.
Maxwell
2/5
Til the cops come knocking eh? Dodgy.
Slickly produced and all but this vibe is not for me.
The Temptations
4/5
Interesting one. Some stone classics, couple of superb cover versions, couple of relatively throwaway tracks. A rich listen.
King Crimson
3/5
Must admit I couldn't get through this in a single session today. It's interesting and fairly challenging. Some proto-krautrock/math-rock mullarkey going on. Did I like it? Sometimes. Am I a big time convert? Not really.
Janelle Monáe
3/5
First time listen.
Big production, quite high concept. Bit better than expected.
Faint praise.
Public Enemy
4/5
Angle-grinder abrasive beats. Historically and socially conscious lyrical context. Boom 🧨
G. Love & Special Sauce
3/5
Surprised but pleased to find this on the list. Not heard it for years. Awesome, distinctive sound. Maybe a bit less varied in scope than some of their later albums.
The Pogues
4/5
Astonishing really. Sick bed of Cuchulainn is a winning statement of intent and extremely on-the-nose reflection of Shane's own struggles. Folk punk tales featuring a knackered and broken cast of rentboys, boozers, squaddies and navvies. And maybe that's just the band. Squalid and vibrant, thrilling and tragic.
Klaxons
2/5
Not a fan. Over produced, over-loud and r-r-repetitive. Golden skans is alright, and the idea of indie-rock/dance crossover they're going for sounds appealing in theory but I'm not sure this is it. Second-best track is a cover version that's not as good as the original. Landfill indie. Sorry.
The Boo Radleys
3/5
A relic from a time when Creation Records stood for something. Boo Radleys hit a rich vein of form starting with this record. Sunshine melodies crossed with shoegaze distortion, and plenty of studio experimentalism. I hear some parallels with labelmates like Super Furry Animals, Teenage Fanclub, Ride. Ultimately though, it runs a bit too long and the high spots (Wish I Was Skinny, Lazarus) are spread just a wee bit thin.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Incredible voice.
The Fall
3/5
Hard to contextualise this awful greatness. I suppose that is the real root of awe but that doesn't mean we'll all enjoy the listen.
Like a brutalist building of sound. Sharp, repetitive forms. A sublime harshness. Scoring it seems even more pointless than usual; simultaneously a 5 and a 1.
Christina Aguilera
2/5
Ooft. Had to break this down into separate segments as it got too annoying for me to listen to more than about half an hour at a time. An act of pointless endurance. A technically decent singer, I just don't like the vibe or the songs.
The Killers
3/5
Pretentious, cloyingly bombastic, heavily overrated but actually, with benefit of some distance, still a solid album despite all that. All These Things is a cracking track.
Over-exposure at the time probably got the hackles up more than the actual music. I don't know who thinks this is in any way post punk though (as stated on the wiki). Power pop at a push. Can't really even see it as indie as it was always mega mainstream here in the UK.
A bit like U2, both in terms of aesthetic and breadth of appeal but also in the way they front-loaded the hell out of this tracklist. The second half of this record falls off an absolute cliff 😅
Missy Elliott
3/5
I remember getting a bootleg of this in '03, from a market stall in Bolivia. I was underwhelmed at the time but that's more on my taste than on Missy. It's fun and decent.
Spacemen 3
3/5
Ooft. Another record spoiled by streaming services putting up a confusing 2-hour, extended edition that makes everything worse than the artists intended 😬
I love a bit of spiritualised but not that familiar with their predecessor, the spaceman 3. To be frank, I couldn't be bothered with this much stoned-sounding introspection today.
Wild Beasts
2/5
Bruck
Frank Black
3/5
There's quite a lot going on here but it doesn't add up to a whole heap of coherence. Couple of minor indie hits, a handful of other goodies, a lot of sketches and experiments.
Van Morrison
4/5
Pretty astonishing
Ray Charles
3/5
Sonic wallpaper I'm afraid: in one ear and out the other (albeit smooth and mellifluous while doing so).
808 State
3/5
I've realised in the course of this odyssey that I'm a bit of an arsehole as a reviewer. Despite any positive feeling towards a record, I almost always feel compelled to include a 'but...'. Anyway, I need to try not to do that so much.
I like a bit of 808 State. Their singles are banging. This record is a cool short stab of acidey goodness. Doesn't quite hold up as a complete listen in the way that something from LFO might, for example. Very evocative of a particukar time and a certain vibe though.
Caetano Veloso
4/5
Never heard of this before. Brilliant!
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Real good
Todd Rundgren
3/5
I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed some of the MoR radio sunshine wafters. I was also surprised by how little I enjoyed some of the studio-noodling. Oh, and the thing as a whole is twice as bloody long as it should be. But there's stuff on here that will reward some repeat listens I think.
The Young Rascals
4/5
Not heard much at all from these dudes before. Great discovery. Very enjoyable, groovy (stating the obvious) pop sound. Reminds me quite a bit of Small Faces.
The Chemical Brothers
4/5
Probably still my favourite Chemical Brothers album, even after all these years. A true pillar of 90s UK electronica.
The better-known tracks are great of course, some mash up between house, big beat, with an indie influence and something new at the time and quite distinctively British. Some of my favourites though are little off-piste moments like the drop on Three Little Birdies Down Beats, of the clank of Playground. All told, awesome.
Bill Callahan
4/5
I'm familiar with a few bits and pieces of Bill Callahan and Smog but not this album. It's frankly lovely. Stark, sparse, emotive songs.
The Go-Betweens
4/5
Not heard before. I found it excellent.
Neil Young
5/5
Elegiac brilliance. Sod it, Neil can go into the rare 'two 5s' club.
Anthrax
3/5
Not really in my wheelhouse but I can hear the merit. Pretty enjoyable listen.
There's not such a divide between the tribes: there's a line through hardcore, on towards techno and some hip-hop that unites a certain right-on-brother ethos: hard-ass sounds with a humanitarian and essentially quite soulful message. OK, so I'd personally rather listen to those other genres but I like these guys and to my ear, they sit on that continuum. Thrash for your rights, if you like.
The Monkees
3/5
Better than anticipated. Not as much of a novelty pastiche act as expected.
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
It's a bit of a banger, to be sure, though I don't really share the five-star love a lot of people give it. Undoubtedly solid.
Alanis Morissette
2/5
Ugh, not for me thanks. No mi gusta. Caterwaul.
I mean, I'm sure Ms Morissette is a decent person. And fook me, this spawned a fair clutch of radio hits. I just find this record cloyingly produced, overly earnest, and bum-clenchingly emotive. Like a framed affirmation on a wine-mom's kitchen wall. Sorry not sorry; if you can't handle my reviews at their pettiest and shittiest, you don't deserve them waxing lyrical🫠
The Cure
2/5
I like the cure though I must admit this record struck me as a bit of a downer today.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Unbelievable talent. Doesn't mean it's a full-bhoona 5-star album for me but I admire and respect the heck out of the work.
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
Tough call. I hear brilliance though in honesty it's too raw, too hard, and the language is too charged for me to find it an enjoyable listen. That's not even really a critique, just that I'm not the core audience and I absolutely *should* feel uncomfortable around some of the material.
Donald Fagen
2/5
Somewhat uncharitably, I assumed this might be about half as good as a Steely Dan record. Turns out that assessment might be about right. On a good day 😬
Billy Bragg
3/5
I like the sound of all three main constituent parts of this project, albeit the combination could risk becoming arse-clenchingly earnest. In the end, I think it walks that line really rather well, honouring Woody Guthrie without being too worthy.
The Smiths
3/5
I can't much be doing with this record in truth. I like a wee bit of Smiths but this is peak whinge-era Morrissey.
Solange
4/5
On a slightly jaded new-years-day morning, I found this to strike a perfect mood.
The Young Gods
3/5
Swiss factory carny polka techno horror. Kind of great, kind of appalling. Small doses were enough for me. Impossible to rate.
Stan Getz
4/5
Beautiful. Wistful morning music.
Johnny Cash
4/5
The unsinkable legend.
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
Solid band. Solid set of tracks. Not something I'll dig out frequently but I do like them when I hear them.
David Bowie
5/5
Frankly ridiculous how strong this record is. A real all-killer, no-filler affair. No best-of collections required when there is back catalogue like this to unearth.
There are of course several era-defining bangers (Changes, Pretty Things, Life on Mars, Queen Birch) but those are so well known already that it's some of the slightly deeper cuts (Bewlay Brothers, Fill Your Heart, Eight Line Poem, Quicksand) that really stick with me these days. Peak Bowie. Maybe his best.
Violent Femmes
4/5
Funny, jangly tales of horny, frustrated youth.
Os Mutantes
3/5
Only previously familiar with A Minha Menina. Bonkers baroque trippy mod pop exotica. Starts strong, gets old fairly quick. Like it quite a bit.
White Denim
3/5
'Is and Is and Is' is a stonker. I really like these guys. Overall, a 4-star band for their playing and style, but maybe this is a 3.5-star album.
Ministry
4/5
Never really listened to Ministry before. This starts out pretty rad: almost a hip-hop production, the industrial grind has some of the same energy as a public enemy jam or a Rick Rubin track. Then it settles into a more speed-metal mode. The propulsive drive is good, if not my natural listening habitat. Jesus Built My Hot rod is a great, fun track, sort of turbo-rockabilly. TurboBilly™? ScareCrow is a bit like The Smiths, if they were into heroin.
Some of this is hilariously overblown, though the band sound self aware enough that you're always laughing with rather than at them.
I will check out more of these guys for sure.
Faith No More
2/5
Epic as a track is pretty much exactly that. The rest of the album? Not so much. Are these guys at the credible end of the 80s hair-metal spectrum, or the naff end of the early- 90s grunge-adjacent spectrum, or some other kind of thing? Stopped caring at some point during my listen.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
I'm afraid this is a bit of a case of admire-more-than-enjoy. Joni is a wonderful artist but this isn't one of my favourite records by her and in truth, although it's quite nostalgic for me (reminds me of my mum), I ultimately find the style here a bit too 'jazz lounge'.
Dwight Yoakam
2/5
Don't really get it, sorry. Sounds sort of pleasant but I don't enjoy that fully trad country vibe very much.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Answering a question no one was really asking: what if Meatloaf was handsome?
I kind of want to like the guy but this is too earnest for me.
Serge Gainsbourg
3/5
Very questionable aesthetic. Dodgy, dirty old man slurs his sleazy story over a laid-back rock/funk/jazz/big-band/choral backing and it somehow sounds cool as hell. I feel extremely conflicted.
Tom Waits
4/5
Sort of hard-boiled, noir-ish comedy as much as music (albeit the band are brilliant). Amazing storytelling; sad, grimy, lonesome yet richly compelling. Nocturnal melodrama indeed. This might have baffled me a bit as a youngster but Tom Waits seems to sneak up on me with age. Like.
Deee-Lite
2/5
There is something off and ersatz about this. Smacks of major-label A&R money trying to ride the house music/daisy-age boom? If anything the production is too polished to feel authentic. Want Maceo Parker on a track? Sure, why the hell not? At its heart is vacuous flim-flam. Groove is in the Heart is a cracking 1-hit wonder though.
Mudhoney
3/5
Another gap in my listening c.v. Surprised me just how good some of this is. Demands a re-listen.
The Byrds
3/5
Big metamorphosis for the Byrds, in which they turn turn turn almost fully country. Was skeptical at first, then started to get into it, before my enthusiasm waned again a bit by the end. Enjoyed the ride though, and the playing is great.
Michael Jackson
2/5
MJ is a featherweight, a tragic punchline popinjay. But this is a Quincy Jones joint, so the first couple of singles at least do absolutely slap. The connective tissue is weaksauce milquetoast disco pop but hey, it's sort of alright.
The White Stripes
4/5
Indie taste heresy #257: I bore quite quickly listening to The White Stripes. I'm bumping this up to a 4 as it's got so much strong stuff on it but it's marginal. 40 mins but feels like 55.
Muddy Waters
4/5
Not much to say about this one other than it's pretty damn great. Respect.
Peter Tosh
4/5
Aside from a couple of weed propaganda tracks which I could take or leave, this is excellent.
Solomon Burke
3/5
Didn't know Solomon Burke. I like this a lot. Good Friday-night kitchen music.
Missy Elliott
3/5
The production is strong and there are some good lines. Not so much my scene but some funny moments and decent hooks
Portishead
2/5
Can't be doing with much of this one I'm afraid. Liked Dummy quite a lot at the time but I'll probably never reach for this one. Bleak
Joni Mitchell
3/5
This project continues to teach me many things. Today's revelation is that although I like to think I am something of a Joni Mitchell fan, I might be kidding myself. This is the second album of hers that's come up in as many weeks and it's clear now that I admire the idea of her as an artist more than I enjoy a lot of listening to her actual music. My loss.
Dr. Octagon
4/5
Yes! The funniest/dopest stoopid-but-played-with-a-straight-bat gonzo boom-bap nonsense. Strong recommend.
The Smiths
3/5
Christ, no wonder Morrissey never got laid.
The music is good of course, and the Smiths can still surprise you with an absolute nugget here and there (Paint a Vulgar Picture fits that profile here for me) but in the main it's a dreary trudge.
Elvis Presley
3/5
I was finding this pretty lacklustre but then you still get some absolute winners like In the Ghetto or Suspicious Minds just dropped in there at like track 13. Soulful diamonds in the cheesy country rough.
David Bowie
4/5
Never really sat through this one in full before. I think I'd need more listens to get right under the skin of it. On this evidence that's something I probably should try to do.
George Harrison
4/5
I like a bit of George Harrison but I was thinking to myself 'flip, this thing is over two hours long!'. Need not have worried. It flies by and there's some lovely stuff on here. Yes, it's meandering but if you're in the mood it's great.
Drive-By Truckers
4/5
Oh man, this was unexpectedly excellent. Despite being long af, which I usually dislike, as soon as I'd finished listening, this got a second spin.
Orange Juice
4/5
Strange, suburban, Scottish blue-eyed Afrobeat. Or something. Pretty darn good it is too.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Other than Games Without Frontiers, I didn't much care for this. I suppose at least it mostly held my interest.
Coldplay
3/5
I mean, I can easily see how this spawned a couple of respectable Radio-2 playlist hits. Milquetoast with your milquetea. And there is some merit in that. What I can't get my head around is Coldplay's emergent status as U2-style biggest-band-in-the-world by default. Truly baffling.
The Police
3/5
I sort of want to like this more than I actually do. It's in one ear and out the other for me. A bit MoR.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
Astounding. It's like a greatest hits record.
Stereo MC's
3/5
Decent grooves, though I've always had a strange feeling from the Stereo MCs, like their lyrics are half finished or something. Never realised there were 4 singles on this record though.
JAY Z
3/5
I quite like a bit of Jay-Z but I don't connect with much of his stuff on a deeper level. Still a bit too much focus on fast cars, iced-out watches and bird-chasing brag chat to be really interesting to me. The Nas diss on this is funny but also indicates that Nas lives rent-free in Jay's head. Protest too much?
Pavement
4/5
Excellence. I know they pretend to play it sloppy but this is precision songwriting and finely crafted musicianship. One of their best
Dexys Midnight Runners
4/5
Cool as a cucumber and the brass is class.
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
I enjoyed this way more than I expected.
Turbonegro
4/5
This is a full gas laugh. Less darkness and less speediness than the name suggests, coming on more like a hardcore Hives. Silly in a good way.
Can
4/5
Retro-futurist dreamscape tracks, crafted in an abandoned European workshop by art nouveaubots.
Robert Wyatt
3/5
Admiring the poetry, some diverting tracks and plenty of interesting ideas. Not really my listening vibe today though. Blues in Bob Minor is a bit of a banger.
The Sonics
3/5
Fairly passable impressions of Little Richard. Quite fun sounding but I guess I don't understand the context properly; why so many cover versions?
The Gun Club
3/5
A first time listen. Liked it. Shades of Violent Femmes. Solid garage music, if a bit mono-paced.
David Ackles
2/5
Ludicrous kitchen-sink melodrama doggerel showtunes, on depressing topics. Ooft. No thanks. Although, saying that...
Sepultura
2/5
Metal dudes, eh. Do they ever like, you know, just take a day off and chill? 🥲
This record does get interesting when the band introduce more indigenous Brazilian sounds.
Roni Size
4/5
So exciting at the start. Falls off pretty hard tbh but overall excellent and redolent of its time and place. An era when jazzy D'n'B looked like it might conquer the world. I mean, I'm kind of glad that didn't happen but the newness felt great at the time. Some of the tracks drag but I'm still scoring this high for overall aesthetic and vibe.
Holger Czukay
4/5
Intricately layered bonkers mad shit. Jazz funk prog proto-electronica. Sharp and clean but packed with detailed flourishes. Loving it.
Lucinda Williams
3/5
This was lovely. The raw sound of rural heartbreak and bitter disappointment. Think I need to check it out again
Amy Winehouse
4/5
Very poignant in hindsight. Despite a few reservations about the fairly manufactured production, there's nothing manufactured about Amy herself. Undeniably strong album.
Mekons
3/5
Half Man, Half Waterboys. And I don't mean that to sound disparaging at all.
David Bowie
4/5
This is fine, strange, new territory. What happens when one of the all time greats knows he's dying but can't tell everyone? He gets back in the studio for a final fling as a parting gift to the world. So poignant. And really interesting music. Excellent
Ice Cube
3/5
Strong album. Good storytelling, solid production. Sound has more in common with stuff like PE, rather than the later West Coast G Funk style. Just not a comfortable listen so I have to knock off a point as it's not a record I will reach for often. Was glad to hear it right through though.
Einstürzende Neubauten
3/5
"If you're fond of sand dunes, and salty air;
quaint little villages, here and there..."
GTFO
All I got for you is an angle grinder and a lump hammer, in the cavernous blackness of an abandoned German factory, under the tortured howls of a maniac.
A European take on the birth of industrial techno?
I kind of wanted to like this but it certainly ain't a relaxing listen. 5 for integrity, 2 for actual listenability 🫠
The Rolling Stones
5/5
Probably my favourite Stones album. It's phenomenal.
Hole
3/5
Super strong opening couple of tracks. The rest is just ok.
DJ Shadow
4/5
Cratedigger elegy. On the hunt for an elusive feeling. It's an excellent mood, if not massively exciting much of the time.
Paul Weller
3/5
Credit where it's due: I was nonplussed when this appeared on my list, but I found it to be much more enjoyable than I'd remembered/imagined. Perhaps age-related; I found Weller very boring in the 90s but can now appreciate this record's reflective, folky, soulful charm.
Napalm Death
2/5
This rips. And it's quite funny. But it's absolutely knackering. 💀💀💀
Youssou N'Dour
3/5
Incredible voice
Genesis
3/5
Preposterous. Not always necessarily a bad thing.
Wilco
3/5
Wilco are never bad. Bit too long, not much that really grabbed me, but a solid and pleasant listen.
2/5
1st track: 😐🤚
2nd track: 🧐👍
3rd track: 😶🫴
"Yes"? Nope, "no thanks" more like.
Suicide
3/5
Difficult. Quite like the rockabilly underbelly. Quite like the sparse instrumentation. Not an easy listen but a fairly rewarding one.
Can easily see it's influence on stuff like Nebraska.
Lightning Bolt
3/5
Pretty impressive driving momentum. I might well never listen to this again though I was happy enough to hear it today.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
4/5
Copper-bottomed quality.
My palate has been a bit tainted on Bob Marley by over-playing his greatest hits when I was a youngster. But this is just so good.
Laibach
2/5
Comedy glod
Frank Sinatra
3/5
A luscious wallow
Dolly Parton
3/5
I admire Dolly Parton a lot as a human. And objectively, this record is full of goodness. Just personally not really my jam I'm afraid, even if I do like some of the storytelling.
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
This is astonishing. Now I get it. Now I see what the fuss is about
Ryan Adams
4/5
Really liked this record. Hadn't listened to it for a few years, largely since hearing of Adams' cancellation due being an abusive sleazebag. Damn but the songs are still great though.
It's really copping a lot of hate on here and I'm not sure if I'm just out of tune with with the rest of the world, or if the hate is largely reputational received wisdom. Either way, I think there's still plenty to enjoy here. Like a young Neil Young in the better moments. Way too long though. As ever, there's probably an unimpeachable 40 minute classic lurking in an edit. Conflicted whether to mark this down more or keep it up there...
William Orbit
2/5
I was keen to check this out but sad to say I found it pretty shallow and boring. Although the production is crisp and precise, a lot of the music also feels really dated, not in a cool 'rooted in the time of it's creation' sense. Just a bit naff
Shack
2/5
Pretty much textbook landfill UK indie pop, with the honourable exception of 'comedy', which is a beautiful track. In other words, worth a cursory listen but not very noteworthy beyond that.
The Byrds
3/5
This is pretty good. Flitting the fader back and forth from old world folk to west coast psychedelia
Green Day
3/5
Basket Case was an absolutely massive vibe when I was 14 or 15. And to be fair, the rest of the album is cut from similarly solid material. I still like most of it, even if it is a bit bright-sounding and quite obvious thematically. Marking it down a bit as I think this record is responsible for a slew of less discerning imitations throughout the 90s and 00s.
Skunk Anansie
3/5
Must admit, I didn't expect to see Skunk Anansie anywhere near this list. Impressively ferocious and dynamic vocals from Skin. In a parallel universe, she'd probably be turning out at the royal opera or something. Not really my jam but it's better than I maybe imagined. Well-produced.
The Louvin Brothers
3/5
Never heard of these guys before but I rather enjoyed the listen. On a drizzly Saturday morning, this dash of mournful, depression-era (though I see the record was actually released in the 50s, so was maybe nostalgic even then?) bluegrass seemed to strike the right tone.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
I like quite a lot of the Rolling Stones' work. But not this. Maybe the most sexist opening few tracks to a record imaginable, and I was in no mood for that bullshit today. Yes, they're trying to do some interesting-for-the-time stuff with instrumentation and so on but I don't think it compensates for the fundamentally rotten core of this album. Add to that, the bluesy jam stuff like 'Going Home' drags on horrendously and you have a recipe for a pretty crappy record. It's a wonder their career not only survived this but went supersonic.
Blondie
3/5
Tough one as I'm a bit ambivalent about Blondie. Parallel Lines rightfully deserves its classic status and boasts a handful of cracking hit singles. Somehow though, for me, that still doesn't add up to an album I want to have on heavy rotation. So, I enjoy hearing it now and then but not really enough to compel me to score it more highly.
Pulp
3/5
There's quite a set of strong songs on here. I must be personally going through a strict and demanding phase as I don't feel inclined to be generous with the scoring. Definitely a decent record though.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Some of the most kickass blues swagger and riffage imaginable. Only marginally marred by the odd bit of caterwauling. Maybe led zep's best record?
Kanye West
4/5
It's too long. Too many skits. Still, there's some excellent stuff on here. And, more than most, the vaudeville does at least seem to add to the overall arc of the thing.
There's some good ideas here, exploring the tension between loading up on conspicuous consumption, vs lifelong education. Kanye doth protest too much... you can tell he wants to be a good student, a church boy, a family man. Be he also wants to push miracle whips and chase women. I rate him highest when he's not trying too hard to be hard. The best tracks are more reflective and vulnerable ones (spaceship, family business).
An interesting listen for sure.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
17th studio album eh? What a man 🙏
Queens of the Stone Age
3/5
Intense in delivery, fairly dismal in tone. It's at once very good and a bit dragging
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
I found this pedestrian, earnest, and overlong. I'm quite partial to a bit of Bruce and this record is not terrible; but it has no place anywhere near a must-hear list
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Another super strong record from shakey
Megadeth
3/5
Soundtrack to 1,001 gnarly skateboarding vids. Precision-tooled metal that fairly rips along. Not really my usual fare but I enjoyed it a lot today, blasting homeward on my bike in the sunshine 🤘
Madonna
2/5
Nope. Spray of Shite, more like. Not that I hate Madonna, mind you, but... next!
Animal Collective
3/5
These are some interesting songs here, some enticing vocal harmonies. Over time, I find the production relentlessly shiny, echoey and flat.
Interesting enough to warrant the occasional repeat listen maybe, though towards the end this time I found myself craving to be free if it. Claustrophobic in a way.
Roxy Music
3/5
Hard to come up with much feedback today. Probably need to hear this again. Was cool though
Beatles
5/5
This record is not brilliant in spite of being absolutely crackers and way too long. It's brilliant absolutely because it's bonkers and overlong, and it doesn't give a hoot.
I keep wanting to mark The Beatles down for something, then I sit through another of their records and I absolutely have to hand it to them.
This is the sound of an apex predator of bands, at the point in their development where they stopped caring what anyone else thought and just went gonzo. The idea-tap completely wide-open. Crazy good.
Often, fame and money seem to dull artists in some way, shutting them off from the world, or limiting the creative spark that brought them to prominence in the first place. By some mad alchemy, these guys passed through that veil with the accumulated wisdom of a bunch of 60 year old veterans, while still being in their mid 20s and full of energy and appetite for risk. Hardened but not jaded (well, ok, maybe just the odd wee bit). Absolutely mind boggling.
Track after track etched into your mind and barely a bum note.
I am grateful for the existence of these lads.
3/5
The high points really are great, though there are quite a lot of meandering fillers
Saint Etienne
3/5
Pretty solid. I like some of the rare-groove, soul-inspired tunes. Some of the more housey numbers too. And the opening cover version is a bit of a belter. Some of it's a bit too wishy-washy but all in all a rewarding listen.
Björk
3/5
Really interesting, ambitious, and impressive; it's just that I don't necessarily want to listen to all of it in one swoop. I find 'Who Is It?' particularly spine-tingling. Ultimately, acapella won't be for everyone even if it can be admired more than enjoyed.
Culture Club
3/5
Pretty mad in a way that this odd wee guy became one of Britain's most enduring pop cultural icons. No accounting for public taste eh. Still, there is some enjoyment to be had on this record. Production dated, lead vocal weak-as-water, but still somehow OK for all that.
Black Sabbath
4/5
🤘🤘🤘🤘
Superb.
ZZ Top
4/5
Enjoyed this a lot. Not familiar with many of the tracks beforehand but the whole album is locked into a really solid groove
The Kinks
3/5
Bit twee on reflection, albeit with an all time great to finish. Actually managed to listen through this twice today. Enjoyed it more the first time, and it would've earned a 4. A slight downgrade after the second spin.
Fugazi
3/5
Must admit, I didn't have time to give this the attention it deserved today. A lot flowed over me, so I'll need to give it a second spin. Sounds solid but of course it would.
Heaven 17
2/5
Nah, sorry. I don't hate it but I can't say I enjoyed it much. I find the synths a bit atonal. It all feels dated (and not in a good way as can sometimes be the case)
Billie Holiday
2/5
Mellifluous, if somewhat one-paced.
Kind of like a sister record to Sinatra's 'In the wee small hours'.
The Prodigy
3/5
Quite aggressively frenetic. Best enjoyed out in a field through a massive soundsystem, Prodigy were a useful gateway for me into discovering all sorts of other electronica.
The production is rad: very big, very loud, and very sharp.
But saying all that, it's quite a challenging listen nowadays. It's all energetic but some of the big rave lead synths can sound a bit cheesy at times. When this popped up, my instinct said this would be a 4 star record but in truth, on listening back, it doesn't move me like it used to.
Pantera
2/5
I simply was not in the mood and couldn't be bothered with any thrash doggerel dogma today. And there's one way to stand up to vulgar displays of power: RESIST!
I don't much care if Pantera are probably some of the good guys; fuck off, this isn't what my ears want right now. I heard it out diligently (of course) and it just made me feel angry. And now of course that's got me thinking... perhaps that was the point all along ✊🖕🤷♂️
The Pharcyde
4/5
A work of bugged-out bonkers, peurile party genius.
Radiohead
3/5
Ooft
Ravi Shankar
4/5
This was really educational, which I appreciated. Pretty intense wig-outs too
Pavement
4/5
Gold soundz indeed
Portishead
4/5
I'd forgotten quite how good this is. Bit nonplussed to see it on the list but listening back, it's a perfectly cut gem of a record. One of those rarities perhaps, where the reality is actually better than its status. Barely a flat spot on it, a coherent and unique sound, brilliant musicianship. It's fantastic
Fatboy Slim
2/5
A 1-minute blast of FBS can be quite exciting. Perfect soundtrack to advertise your affordable hatchback.
5-mins is usually a fairly interesting listen (sample spotting, intriguing production, fun times etc.).
10 mins is getting wearing.
Half an hour is way too much. What's that? Another big buildup and breakdown you say? Another frantic 16/4 drum climax?
A full album? Utter overdose 💀
Ian Dury
4/5
An Essex shagger's rockabilly-jazz-funk odyssey, with some nifty wordplay. A peculiar kind of genius at work here
Marvin Gaye
3/5
I mean, who doesn't love Marvin Gaye's voice? This is a wee bit syrupy for my taste but still... daayumn
Jazmine Sullivan
4/5
Didn't know anything about this - on first impression I really got into it. I know I'll be checking it out again.
Patti Smith
4/5
True class. Is this something of a barometer record? Must admit, I used to struggle more to get into the material. Hearing it back now made a lot more sense to me.
The Byrds
4/5
Starting to feel like there's quite a lot of Byrds records on this list. Surprising to me but I guess they are more influential than I gave them credit for. This is a good listen, and there is a good mix of experimentalism and lyricism along with the jangly melodies. On the fence between a 3 and a 4 but this is solid so let's be generous. My Back Pages is a standout
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Got a bit bored by this
Metallica
2/5
Less awful than the other couple of Metallica records that have come up so far. I still dislike the overall cut of their jib but this is nearly tolerable.
Laura Nyro
2/5
Almost totally new to me, though I'd heard the name and one track before. Cover had me expecting naughties-era alt-folk or something, rather than the 60s jazz-pop-hippie-swing oddities that the album actually contains.
Did I like it? Nope, I thought it was dreadful. But who cares, that's part of what this project is all about: interesting diversions.
Les Rythmes Digitales
3/5
I was quite keen to hear this again after 20+ years. Couldn't find the whole album on my streaming service but managed to track down 10 of the tunes on YT. Not as strong as I remember tbh. Not aged particularly well. Some good moments but in the main I found the production a bit wishy-washy.
Public Image Ltd.
2/5
Execrable, interminable dirges. Absolute dogshit dreck.
I won't go down to 1-star for it, as that's reserved in my mind for records I actively despise. This was close though!
Elastica
3/5
Not as exciting as I remembered from the time. Solid record though
1/5
These guys were 20 years ahead of their time. Unfortunately for them, that means 'their time' would be smack-dab in the middle of T***p's twisted idiocracy.
This is the sound of wilfully ignorant douchebags living high on the hog. Not a single thought in their heads that isn't some variant of whiny, victim-mentality, navel-gazing, peurile, hubristic, bullshit.
Thanks for making me listen to it: Mr Durst, now indeed I know precisely why I wanna hate thee.
Wack sauce rock/rap crossover attempt. Shit by any measure.
Paul Simon
2/5
Bit of a flaccid effort. Think Too Much, indeed.
Unusually, the bit I enjoyed the most was probably the extra, unreleased, acoustic demo tracks, tacked onto the end of the edition I listened to. Warmer and more direct.
The Go-Go's
3/5
This was fun, if a bit fleeting
Morrissey
2/5
Massively jaded
Yes
4/5
This must be the jolly/fun end of the prog-rock spectrum. And it's decent for it. Bright sound, tight playing, tales of seafaring etc. Crisply recorded and not overlong. Flecks of diverse influences (jazz? bluegrass?). Not bad at all; one to come back to.
Belle & Sebastian
5/5
Yes it could be seen as twee and fey but so bloody good.
Many of these lyrics and melodies have been living in my head for over 25 years now and they still stand up, fresh and timeless. Some astonishingly good songs, well-produced and perfectly sequenced.
What the heck, it's nearly flawless in its own unique, imperfect way: give it a five.
10cc
3/5
Pretty good fun. Didn't realise this was the origin of J Dilla's 'Workin on it' sample.
Strays at times perilously close to Frank Zappa territory; which I'm sure some people might like.
The Velvet Underground
3/5
I'm feeling like this is more of a John Cale record than a Lou Reed one, if that makes sense? Most of it is quite wilfully angular and challenging, albeit kinda cool. I like it, I just don't really wanna listen to it more than once in a blue moon.
The Beach Boys
3/5
Personal heresy no. 352: I don't much care for the Beach Boys. And while I recognise a few great songs, I've never quite understood the scale of their hype. This record was a pleasant listen but has done very little to disabuse me of that skepticism.
Hüsker Dü
3/5
Enjoyable if largely quite forgettable
Chicago
3/5
A window to a different era, of big bands and big productions. Could come over as bombastic and schmaltzy but somehow just sounds pretty awesome and fun instead. Somewhere between soul, jazz, funk, and hippie rock - with a rhythm section tighter than two coats of paint. Strays at times into prog excess but still quite cool.
Bon Jovi
3/5
I think this was the first album I bought with my own money; on vinyl, from Our Price in Stirling, aged about 10. Not listened to it for at least 30 years, and I suppose that tells its own story. Can still remember every note though 😅!
I mean, it's terrible comedy litebeer schlock rock. It also seems to be completely, deadly earnest and unironic. Still nearly awesome despite all that cheese. An extra star for nostalgia.
Supergrass
4/5
Great energy on this. Always was a cut above the landfill britpop that was doing the rounds at the time
Tim Buckley
3/5
A beautiful singer, singing lovely and wistful songs. Somehow still fails to leave much of an impression on me for all that. Maybe my favourite track was the short, bittersweet closer.
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
I like a bit of Ali Farka Touré, though I'm a lot more familiar with a couple of his later records. I'm also quite a big fan of Ry Cooder so, on paper at least, this should be a shoo-in. I wouldn't say it was as arresting as some of the work I've heard from either musician elsewhere but it is a charming listen. A low-key, mellow, desert blues.
Doves
4/5
Great record. Brooding and elegiac.
The The
3/5
This is the Day is a solid track. The rest of the record; interesting for sure (jaunty synths vs pretty deep and miserable lyrics makes a good contrast) but I wouldn't say I enjoyed it hugely. Certainly glad to hear it in full though.
Justice
3/5
From the rococo, maximalist end of the French, sample-tastic electro-disco-house spectrum. There are brilliant, banging moments on here for sure and Justice have a trademark, inimitable sound. For 48 mins though? Bit much for me
Big Star
4/5
I love a bit of Big Star but don't think I'd ever sought-out this album. Unsurprisingly, it's full of interesting moments, even if overall it's a bit less radio-friendly (and arguably a bit more weary and jaded), than previous efforts.
The Adverts
3/5
Feels oddly pedestrian for something which, on the face of it, sounds pacy and energetic. It's alright for sure, just lacking a certain something.
Sonic Youth
3/5
This is a bit like swimming lengths in the pool or something. At first it feels like hard work and distinctly monotonous. After a while you start to notice you've zoned-out and you're almost weightless and attuned to the flow around you. You probably finish feeling invigorated and a little stronger for the experience. Not truly my bag but I see its essential upside.
The Icarus Line
3/5
Never heard this before. Really quite impactful and enjoyable. Coming on like something between Jane's Addiction, JaMC, and The Music. Pleasant surprise.
XTC
3/5
I'll level with you: I didn't much fancy this today. It started ok but I found the overall experience a bit too twee. I'm rating it a 3 just now as I suspect there might be stuff that's worth revisiting - but I didn't really feel I 'got it' on today's playback.
Bonnie Raitt
3/5
Didn't expect anything of this but it was fairly enjoyable. Country-pop-blues-jazz-adult-contemporary. I'll probably never listen again but it was pleasant enough
Butthole Surfers
3/5
Naming and cover art are so awful it must act as a sort of protective spell, to ward off the casuals but also to provide insurance for when the band's more questionable experiments fall flat. I actually rather enjoyed (most of) my listen through this. Quite experimental; a couple of dreadful duffers but some interesting and quite funny moments.
Didn't know this was the origin of the sample for Orbital's Satan.
Leftfield
5/5
Oh yeah. Now you're talking. An album quite eclectic in its references and collaborations; full of African and Caribbean rhythms and sounds, building on Detroit and Chicago's blueprints; but somehow unmistakably British. A singular vision, one of the best records of the 90s, imo. Brilliantly produced, thoughtfully sequenced, and choc full of bangers. It looks too long - but it doesn't feel like it. Rock solid on the headphones; flipping MASSIVE on a festival soundsystem. A 5 all day - one of the high watermarks of electronica.
The Stooges
4/5
A rocket up the backsides of the music industry, 60s hippiedom, and the American suburban lifestyle. Pretty damn good
The Beau Brummels
4/5
A new one on me. Enjoyable and well-produced psychedelic-lite chamber pop. A wee hint of Love perhaps? Solid
Joanna Newsom
4/5
Peculiar and gorgeous. I'm not sure if I'm smart enough to truly get into it but I do like what I hear
Ghostface Killah
4/5
Hard as hell. Not one to bump while the family are around, unfortunately. Some classy production, some unbelievable lines, delivered with panache. It's too long but it's still excellent.
Bobby Womack
3/5
Cool cover. The music is good but I must admit it kind of washed over me, rather than drawing me right in.
Otis Redding
5/5
Unbelievable; it's like a greatest hits record. A flawless gem of a thing.
The Associates
3/5
Ooft. Was the original release of this really an hour and eleven minutes long?
Somewhat interesting listen but not really my cup of tea tbh. Probably wouldn't go out of my way to hear it all again.
Jeru The Damaja
3/5
Golden age East coast gear. Jeru's voice and delivery are great. Classy head-nodding Primo boom-bap beats behind him. Some of the subject matter aged like milk though. A bit overshadowed then, and still now tbh, by some very illustrious New York peers.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
One (sort of) interesting bias that this project can throw up: your response to a record will often be anchored, contextualised and shaped by whichever album happened to precede it.
In this case, I was quite harsh in scoring yesterday a bit on the low side. And now, because I enjoyed this record less overall (despite any lack of direct or objective reason for comparison between the two), that leaves me with a bit of a quandary...
This is not a 2 star record by any stretch. Even though a lot of people hate Cohen's dour and deadpan delivery, I always find some interest in his lyrics. But, today, I can't in good conscience give it the 4 it probably justifies. So it goes.
The 13th Floor Elevators
3/5
Three is a troublesome score. It can run a wide gamut, from 'I really don't like this but I recognise its significance', right up to 'I kind of love it but I hear some shortcomings', via 'there's plenty going on but I just don't know if I really get it', or 'I might need more time to digest this'.
Anyway, this is a 3 for me today. It's good, and a pretty fun listen even if I found a few of the lyrics a bit stilted. Am I likely to seek it out again unprompted? Not really.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
Strong record as you'd expect, even if not a true favourite.
Kraftwerk
3/5
In which our anxious art nerd heroes accidentally give rise to large parts of hip-hop and techno culture. Hugely significant, if not necessarily massive fun to listen to in its isolated entirety.
The Beach Boys
4/5
RIP, Brian Wilson 🥺.
Goldie
3/5
Goldie is a bit of an oddity. He looks (and acts) all 'ardcore. But then drops this, nearly 2 hours of contemplative, slow-reveal, jazzy d n' b rollers.
There are quite a few sublime moments on here for sure but by jings it's overlong. Would like to hear an edit where someone from the record label stepped in and made a tight mixdown under 50 minutes.
I remember buying this (on cassette) the week it came out and being a bit flummoxed by some of it. Probably still the case today, though definitely worth a listen.
John Martyn
3/5
I didn't much dig this, except for the closing track. Strange, as I do like some of Martyn's work. Maybe it needs another spin or two.
Gene Clark
3/5
I liked this quite a lot. In not sure much was instantly memorable after the fact, but it's very pleasant and I'd like to hear it some more.
The Prodigy
4/5
Not really inclined to listen to this much these days but it is an archetypal banger. These guys were talking over main festival stages all over the place at the time and their sound was absolutely immense. Impressive from Liam, as he seemed to be more or less executing the tunes solo.
It's also a bit of a masterpiece of studio engineering. Everything sounds lean, sharp, and loud as fuck.
And while to a passerby it might seem quite basic in its intent, I think there's a lot going on in terms of genre mashup and sampling. There are hints of punk, hip-hop, hardcore, trance, and jungle influences all over this. But it becomes its own thing; somehow at once really commercial, but also still undeniably popular with the ravers.
The KLF
4/5
Unfortunately, the stream that's linked for me goes to the 'director's cut' version, which seems like an ersatz and diluted imitation of the original release. No doubt this is at least partly for sample-clearance reasons. And maybe, if I had to guess, to make absolutely sure G***y G*****r doesn't get any more royalties from it 😬?
But the original release is a bit of a classic. It's stupid but clever. It's derivative but wildly inventive. It's massively commercial and a sellout to a hilarious degree, while also being completely earnest and credible in its execution. It's a serious art-project, while being built from the wreckage of various cheesy nonsense. Honestly, so full of contradictions.
Chill Out is more of a 5-star classic, as there are a couple of shite moments on here. But it definitely deserves its place on this list and is a hugely entertaining listen, IF you can track down the real thing.
Nitin Sawhney
3/5
I like a bit of Nitin Sawhney. Lovely lavish productions. However, this is all a bit too nice and midrange to draw me back regularly. Pretty good concept arc tying it all together though.
The Vines
2/5
Absolute landfill swill. Music to advertise your mild spec, affordable, small, 'youthful' hatchback to. Must have been a slow day round at Robert Dimery's gaff when he decided to put this on the list 😅
Raekwon
3/5
This isn't an album I come back to very often but it is class. Maybe a bit too on the gangster side for my taste. But the rough, rugged rza beats were rarely better, and Chef and Ghost do go off. Come to that, why isn't it credited to the both of them? Minor mystery. Scoring harshly today but it is a justified classic.
Elis Regina
3/5
Simply lovely.
Alexander 'Skip' Spence
3/5
'Skip' is a bit of an unfortunate nickname in the era of online streaming. Thankfully, this record is better than that.
At first this was putting me in mind of Roy Harper, albeit decidedly more lo-fi. Though once I started to tune into the lyrics and recording a little more, it's a lot more idiosyncratic. Pretty amazing rush of manic energy to bash this out solo, even if quite a lot of it is fairly 'demo level'. Well worth a listen.
Arcade Fire
3/5
The fairly niche genre of Stadium Maudlin.
Devendra Banhart
3/5
There's something not-of-its-time about this; like a Donovan or Incredible String Band record from 30+ years earlier. Or a slightly less likeable James Yorkston. Not quite freak-folk, if pretty freaky nonetheless. Interesting and pleasant enough.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
An angle-grinder shaping a surfboard
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
Curiously downbeat for a debut rocker
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
A trademark sound. Great vibe. Tempo starts to drag a wee bit after a while.
Decent
Beastie Boys
4/5
I reckon this might might be peak Beasties. Extremely hectic, broadly eclectic, full of good energy. Solid New York record, a melting pot of genres, influences, and collaborations.
Tito Puente
3/5
Pretty great latin jazz. Not a student of the genre by any means but certainly recognised a few tunes. Nice
Elvis Presley
3/5
Ordinarily I don't much care for Elvis but, driving along at 5.30 earlier this morning, this just hit the right mood. Really enjoyable, and glimpse perhaps, of why he was so revered.
Traffic
3/5
Started out very promisingly though I was starting to get a bit bored by the end. Nice clean production sound. I'll need to check these guys out again sometime.
Michael Jackson
2/5
Ooft. The soundtrack of being 9 years old; and it's mostly as insipid as the title and cover design suggest. There's no accounting for public taste eh? Couple of decent pop hits if I'm feeling charitable - and it seemed exciting at the time - but far from my bag nowadays.
Nirvana
4/5
Unironically my favourite Nirvana record. And that says as much about me as it does them.
The Replacements
3/5
Not bad. Not sure I concentrated hard enough for a better appraisal but I enjoyed having this on
Peter Frampton
3/5
Quite good tbh, and not quite as I (mis)remembered it. The talking guitar sound is pretty awesome. Strays into MoR territory at times but I reckon I enjoyed this more than I expected.
Suzanne Vega
4/5
Very impressed with this. Absolutely deserved a listen.
Simply Red
2/5
I guess this could probably be called green-eyed soul. While the boy can definitely sing, it's not my bag at all. Icky schmaltzcore for old-fashioned grown-ups 🫥
Black Sabbath
4/5
R.I.P. Ozzy. Main man at the helm of this usually-random project must have paid tribute after Ozzy's death yesterday.
OK, I'm now a Sabbath convert. Slo-mo heavyweight blues. Fast does not equal heavy. Ponderous (but tight!) rhythm section absolutely pinning it down on the slow build, while your guy riffs like a mf, double-time over the top, equals heavy. Embryonic new genre, still quite close to stuff like Cream, rather than later, speedier, more machine-metal offerings. Certified quality. Eldritch.
3/5
Pretty great. Bit too shiny 80s for me as a whole but there are some excellent tracks here for sure. Verging on a 4.
Elvis Costello
3/5
Really good. Was hovering over the 4th star and it maybe just went on a bit too long. Will need to revisit this one for sure
Duke Ellington
3/5
I'm sometimes not quite sure how to approach jazz. This swings, no doubt, and was an enjoyable morning listen; though it's unlikely I'll return to it much.
The Notorious B.I.G.
3/5
I was quite excited to give this a spin again. Things done changed and Gimme the loot are absolutely superb. But man, the album is way too long and extremely, uncomfortably sexist. Tricky innit: a legendary flow and inimitable voice - but a lot of fairly wack productions and some very questionable material.
Janis Joplin
3/5
The musicianship is pretty great. Very much of-its-milieu and hard to distance the record from the sad tale that accompanies it. Not quite my bag but certainly a worthwhile listen.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Still not sure about Bruce. Mostly find this very hokey but then he will still absolutely slay every once in a while, with the likes of Dancing in the dark. This is probably peak 'The Boss and his 4 hour gigs' era. Personally I wouldn't want to stick around anywhere near that long. But hey, he's a big figure
Leonard Cohen
2/5
Ooft. Sorry to say, today, some of this felt like doing homework. A bit of a chore
Röyksopp
3/5
Soundtrack to a softer-than-hell James Bond movie. Depending on your taste, that might sound like just about the worst thing ever. But I can assure you it's not half as bad as that might make it sound
John Lee Hooker
3/5
Kind of a mixed bag of collaborations and stylistic variations. Some didn't quite float my boat. Some are the self assured works of a true maestro. Towards the end, we get the pared-back, almost Saharan blues of My Dream, which I found very affecting. This, and its two neighbouring tracks, are the only songs without big-name collaborators; probably not just coincidence that I enjoyed these the most. I will return to this record
The Offspring
3/5
A few strong blasts from the past on here. Very good, even if it maybe is seen as a more commercial or easy-access take on hardcore
Nightmares On Wax
2/5
Mellifluous meandering, mostly monumentally mundane.
Honestly, I remember loving Carboot Soul, so I was poised to be giving this four stars. But was sad to find it chronically boring. Other than track one, can barely remember any if it
Willie Nelson
2/5
I'm not sure I understand this. I thought WN was a meant to be a countercultural stoner icon, not the purveyor of great-american-songbook crooner-lightweight-cover-versions? Perfectly pleasant and laid-back, but not exciting to me at all I'm afraid
Jurassic 5
3/5
Easy-access student-party raps
Can
3/5
True freakzone wigout shiz. High marks for artistic endeavour, less so for accessibility, at least towards the end 😅
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
I was feeling a wee bit weary and cynical when this popped up this morning. But it's won me round, once again. It starts out like a greatest hits record and its stature just can't be denied. Probably transcends taste.
The Soft Boys
3/5
This is pretty solid. More jangly power-pop than psychedelia imo, and the lyrics are a bit iffy in places, but it's good. First encounter for me and I'll dip back in. There's some bluesy garage rock type stuff later too, though I'm not sure that was part of the original release. The edition I have here is 2.5 hrs long; maybe need to unpick the original tracklist to hear it as intended 🫥
Sex Pistols
3/5
Conflicted about this record. On one hand, it's fairly 'orrible. Deliberately objectionable and 'coorse', as my mother would have said. On the other hand (and with the benefit of hindsight), it's surprisingly tuneful in places, and is a big part of the rocket the British establishment needed at the time (and still does tbf).
Deserving of its place on this list? Yeah, 100%. Likeable? Not so much.
The Beach Boys
4/5
This is a bit of a revelation. I'm generally a Beach Boys skeptic but this is excellent. Only really knew Feel Flows before but but will need to revisit this
Adele
2/5
Boring torch-songs, perfectly executed.
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
Didn't like these guys much at the time. I think their name put me off. The film about them and the Brian Jonestown Massacre - Dig - was pretty funny, though didn't really cast them in a great light either. This record is actually alright. Some well produced pop songs, with a few leanings towards more shoegazey, krautrockesque, experimental territory.
Elvis Presley
2/5
Underwhelming skiffle
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
This is probably the music that springs to mind when I think of Elvis Costello. Seems crazily ahead of its time. 1978 😳. Somewhat overwrought lyricism in places, though maybe that's part of the appeal.
Joan Baez
3/5
Astonishing talent. Found myself tiring of this fairly quickly but there's no denying Baez is something special.
Death In Vegas
3/5
Some good moments and a polished sound, but mostly rather boring. Less claustrophobic tracks late-on provide a nice contrast.
Certainly not bad by any means but how the heck is it on this list 😅
Led Zeppelin
3/5
They might possess some virtuosity but there's no way I'd let these grubby freaks make me a sandwich
Radiohead
3/5
Some moments of weary beauty if not an easy hour
Pink Floyd
2/5
Piper at the gates of mimsy whimsy
The Coral
4/5
Peculiar Scouse psychedelic pirate musichall klezmer soul. Excellent
Jeff Buckley
4/5
I had a feeling this record would be on the list. Astonishing voice. I don't enjoy every moment of the album - some of it is a bit too earnest, trying a bit too hard - but it does all gel as a coherent, quality work.
PJ Harvey
4/5
This was excellent. Very pleasant surprise
Ryan Adams
3/5
Was more familiar with Gold but this has some great stuff.
Mike Ladd
3/5
High-concept prog space nerd stoner rap. A bit willfully cerebral at times. Intriguing listen though. Somewhere in the mould of El-p or Aesop Rock. Deserves another spin.
De La Soul
3/5
Demented, in a good way. Truth be told, this record hasn't aged as well as I anticipated. Yeah, there are a handful of classic tracks on here - and much of the production remains uniquely fresh - but there are quite a lot of meandering, directionless fillers. In my head my immediate thought was '4 star record' but I'm not quite sure it holds up to that.
The Cult
3/5
This chugs along nicely. Nods to the likes of AC/DC, Skynyrd, ZZ Top.
Alice Cooper
3/5
Camp schlock rock. Good fun
David Bowie
4/5
Plastic soul power. Strong
The Cramps
3/5
Awesome schlockabilly, though in honesty an EPs worth would probably be enough to sate my appetite.
Link Wray's weird little nephews are out in the garage again 😎
Aerosmith
3/5
Sweet emotion = brilliant. 10 inch record = embarrassing dreck. All things in between.
Venom
3/5
Surprisingly listenable
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
4/5
Simply wonderful
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
Come back to me in 10 years or so and this just might get a 5. Somewhat superb, time will tell.
Sinead O'Connor
2/5
2 maudlin 4 me
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
Meditative. It's good, and the trademark sound is still there, though for me doesn't hold up against the energy of their first couple of albums.
Eric Clapton
2/5
For anyone who thinks - as I do - that Eric Clapton is an absolute dangerous walloper, I would heartily recommend this phenomenal character assassination by Andrew Male 😅:
https://youtu.be/QFiYTs7EWsU?si=bvXxrJd_eOLvD4Rp
As for the album itself? In the better moments, hints of Ry Cooder or JJ Cale. Even some moments of genuine, soaring beauty. Also a lot of boringly competent midrange playing and, at his worst, plenty of pale-imitation, faux-blues and cod-reggae crap.
Should probably really merit another star but ultimately marked down for EC being such a massive tit.
Beth Orton
3/5
Gorgeous in places, for me starts to run a bit too long and lacks variety
Bad Company
3/5
Way too crisply precise to be real bad boys. Dad Company, more like.
Shuggie Otis
4/5
In my mind, I had slightly conflated this with Arthur Lee's Love; and there are some similarities in mood and overall auteur-ish approach. This is excellent. Crisp, melodic, funky.
Radiohead
3/5
Worthy
Louis Prima
3/5
Pretty fun. Buona Sera is an absolute beauty.
Tortoise
3/5
Very good. A clear influence on bands like Mogwai. Pleasantly hypnotic. One to revisit
Dirty Projectors
3/5
Reminds me a bit of Field Music: similar math-rock-adjacent playing?
Cyndi Lauper
2/5
It's So Anodyne.
*Except Time After Time, which is next level.
Queen Latifah
3/5
Pretty cool golden age party boom bap jams. Wee bit samey.
Sleater-Kinney
3/5
I've enjoyed quite a bit of Sleater-Kinney in the past. For whatever reason, I didn't quite gybe well with this today, which is kind of a shame.
Kid Rock
1/5
Loud, glossily produced, wack trash for wilfully ignorant cucks.
Thundercat
3/5
This was pretty awesome. Sort of yacht-hop? Cool cover art too.
Milton Nascimento
3/5
Hadn't heard of this at all before. Enjoyable listen. A welcome contrast on a dark and windswept early morning dog walk.
Bee Gees
3/5
Didn't realise the BGs had been going that long. In a world pre-disco, they were knocking out lavishly orchestrated, wistful, hippyish, folk-and-country tinged torchsongs, with more than a passing nod to the likes of Byrds or Kinks. Some of it pretty good as it happens. Record turns inexplicably crappy towards the end though. An interesting listen but a real mixed bag.
The Fall
4/5
I don't always find it super-easy to get into The Fall but this has excellent energy. Even some experiments with housey breakbeats. Offputting cover art, on a great record.
Fishbone
2/5
Cringingly dire, even if partially redeemed by some progressive politics.
Manu Chao
3/5
Instantly transported to Barcelona, 1999.
Distinctive sound but not something I return to all that frequently. Think he was a big influence on subsequent stuff like Gorillaz.
Likeable enough
Dead Kennedys
5/5
"Say, I'm doubling your rent 'cause the building's condemned,
you're gonna help me buy City Hall"
Same as it ever was.
Sensational stuff.
Incredible Bongo Band
3/5
Quite fun as a game of 'spot the sample'. 1 hour 18 minutes of bongos though, that's objectively a lot of bongo 😬
Public Enemy
3/5
Hectic. Greatness, confusion, and many points in between.
Femi Kuti
3/5
Great musicianship. Needs a replay to really get my head into the afro jazz-funk space.
Iggy Pop
3/5
Berlin in the 70s sounds bleak man
The Smashing Pumpkins
2/5
Overblown and pretentious as hell. Yeah, a couple of quite stunning moments, amid a couple of hours of dross.
Frank Sinatra
2/5
Treacly boredom with a Brazilian twist
The Rolling Stones
4/5
It's a top-five Stones album, which puts it in some exalted company. The more country-blues end of their musical spectrum, which I know doesn't float everyone's boat. Surely hard to argue with the likes of Sympathy for the Devil though.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
I think it's good though it didn't inspire reverence
The Beta Band
3/5
Man, I love the Beta Band more than most, and this is a decent record, but I bet even they themselves wouldn't put it near an all time top 1k
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
4/5
Shouldn't really have come as a surprise how good this sounds, I suppose. I'd heard the hits of course, though none of the other stuff. A grand production!
R.E.M.
4/5
Liked this a lot. Weird to call them an underrated band given they did actually achieve massive mainstream popularity, but that's how it feels.
Bob Dylan
3/5
I reckon the cognoscenti routinely place this record among Dylan's top two or three albums. And I reckon they're mistaken. Still good, mind.
R.E.M.
3/5
Poppy and melancholic. Not one of my favourites of theirs, though still a good record and arguably the start of their mainstream breakthrough?
Gang Starr
4/5
Ok, so a few of the rhymes feel a little old fashioned nowadays. But this rips
Roxy Music
4/5
Banger
Koffi Olomide
3/5
Don't know anything about this; found it a very enjoyable listen
Tom Tom Club
4/5
This record sounds cool as hell; fun and funky. Genius of Love still sounds totally fresh.
Can definitely do without all the bloat of the 'deluxe edition' though.
Def Leppard
2/5
Preposterous soft-metal
4/5
From the title and cover, I was expecting this to be crusty-hippy-tastic but it was not at all. Actually really good
Nick Drake
4/5
Never drawn this parallel before and maybe I'm either deluded or it's a novice take but I swear Drake was channeling a wee hint of Nina Simone at one point. Obviously amazing record. Wistful but not depressing. In my mind, this was maybe his last record but I seem to have the order completely wrong as it's actually the debut.
The Divine Comedy
3/5
Never quite got the hang of the Divine Comedy. Bit too arch and cabaret for my taste. Certainly quite a few charming moments though, so probably a bit better overall than I've been giving credit for.. Songs of Love stood out here
Julian Cope
2/5
Julian Cope is a bit of a sage. Among other things, he was blowing the whistle about climate change here, in 1991. I found this record to be an exercise in the endurance of tedium though.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
4/5
Thanks to Drive By Truckers, I have more context for appreciating this. Something about the Southern rock thing really works for me, which is a recent discovery. This album rips
The Velvet Underground
4/5
Squalid, damaged genius.
Incredibly strong starting tracklist. Was probably heading for a five star review but the last couple of tracks are a real tough listen.
The Byrds
4/5
The accessible face of psychedelia. Very pleasant, if not truly stirring
Arcade Fire
4/5
Theatrical, bombastic, but astonishingly cohesive and accomplished for a debit.
Rush
4/5
This record goes some way towards answering the following questions:
- What if Led Zeppelin were decent blokes instead of being a shower of gits?
- What if prog rock got lean, taut and restrained?
Depending on taste, these variables could result in music which sounds either better or worse than Rush's creative peers. Possibly both ideas might even feel true at the same time.
Some incredible playing here. Still might not float everyone's collective boat.
The Specials
3/5
I like a bit of Specials but I'm not sure I love this record all that much, except for a couple of high-spots. Even if plenty of the lyrics are remarkably on-the-nose and prescient with it, there's just something about some of the instrumentation that I can't quite get behind.
Teenage Fanclub
5/5
Man it's just so good. And it sounds like the process of creation (or 'Creation', even) must have been incredibly fun.
Totally justifies its oft-mocked album-of-the-year-contender status. If anything, now with the benefit of hindsight the fannies deserve to eclipse Big Star in terms of longevity and reach. Even this record's flawed moments are worn on the sleeve and are part of its fuzzy charm.
Should be a 5-star record in terms of its quantity of playback and subsequent influence on my life. Was a bit reticent as 5-stars is some very rarified territory but, sod it, decision made, onto the list it goes.
CHVRCHES
3/5
A bit staid after a while but overall very good and listenable. 2nd Glasgow album in 2 days 😎
Fairport Convention
3/5
I was looking forward to this but oddly it landed a bit flat when I got round to listening. Maybe it just caught me on a bad day
Dexys Midnight Runners
4/5
The Irish Brummie soul rebel jazz pop aesthetic is actually really quite cool, 40+ years on. I'm digging it.
Kraftwerk
4/5
Comes on at times like a Teutonic answer to the Beach Boys, who also just happened to invent the framework and machinery that gave birth to techno and sampling. Mental.
This is important work; just don't worry too much about the fact that some of it sounds like a broken kettle.
Living Colour
2/5
Wasn't what I expected at all. I'd heard the name before but between that and the album cover I was expecting some sort of synth pop, rather than funk-metal jams. Definitely worth a listen, and certainly good playing, but not really my cup of tea I'm afraid.
Miles Davis
3/5
Very soothing
Primal Scream
4/5
Sort of ambient speed-dub mood-music. Mostly very good.
Who is really at the controls? Is it Weatherall again, or someone else? I'm likely doing the Scream Team a disservice but it doesn't necessarily strike me like the inspirational spark is coming from within the band itself, at this point in their career 🤔
Killing Joke
3/5
Better than I expected. Quite industrial.
Weirdly, I'd just read a piece about Don McCullin, so I immediately recognised the cover shot.
I don't much like the aesthetic of the name, but the actual record was a rewarding listen.
Sisters Of Mercy
3/5
It's pretty amusing that this came up on Hallowe'en, to be fair. None more Eldritch 😅
Nick Drake
4/5
Simply glorious
David Crosby
4/5
This was a very enjoyable, mellow, Sunday morning listen
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
I think well of Elvis Costello and the are some tremendous moments on here but I find there's a bit too much going on with some of these songs. Somehow, two-and-a-half minute tracks can feel more like four. That would be ok now and again but this record seems to be rammed with them.
Wire
4/5
Sparse, terse, tense, taut. Brilliant.
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
4/5
First five tracks or so are more accessible and conventional than expected (my main point of reference being Trout Mask Replica). Does get more freaky on side two, albeit still with crisp and precise musicianship. Just a solid, enjoyable record.
The Youngbloods
4/5
Hadn't heard of this and decided to start listening without any context whatever. Immediately it was hard to date. Cover could be from any era. First track was folky, but in a way that was very popular in the 2010s. Second track sounded very late-60s. Intriguing.
Rest of the record didn't disappoint. Excellent throughout
TV On The Radio
2/5
It's competent and everything... I just happened to find it very dull.
U2
2/5
Pompous and dull as ditchwater
Kings of Leon
2/5
Workmanlike
John Martyn
3/5
Some truly gorgeous high points, with some quite annoying fretless bass'd, over-produced noodling.
This appearing today was actually a minor case of cosmic alignment: I was attending a funeral at which the closing track happened to be May You Never. What are the chances!?
David Holmes
3/5
Filmic.
Interesting in parts. A bit samey and a bit dated in others.
Van Morrison
4/5
Astonishing stuff. How a wee, grumpy Ulsterman can channel so much feeling, so much soul. A creative spirit that gives hope to the rest of us. And what a voice!
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
Charming. Looks a bit long but just plenty of really good, heartfelt songwriting
The Jam
4/5
Blahdy brilliant. Maybe their best
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
This must be imperial phase PSBs. Excellent. Wistful, wry.
B.B. King
3/5
You'd have to be a bit of a radge not to have some measure of respect and admiration for BB King. His playing is tremendous.
That said, the big-band swing thing isn't really a version of 'the blues' that sits well with me. Prefer the more downplayed, introspective moments
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
3/5
Well this is quite cool.
Proto-skiffle, country-folk
John Grant
3/5
I see merit here, it's just not quite my jam
Songhoy Blues
3/5
Cool sound
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
Unbelievable that this is almost 50 years old. Cool sound, still fresh. Will listen again
Funkadelic
3/5
Cool as hell but it does get pretty noodley
Sade
3/5
Lounge tracks for 80s shaggers
Beastie Boys
3/5
Well, some of the lyrical content has not aged well; but I think we can give the Beasties at least some benefit of the doubt, as they seemed to realise that themselves before very long. And the overtones of snotty-nosed obnoxiousness are at least a partially deliberate aesthetic choice. Some of the beats and production still sound great. So, not their best imo, but still worth hearing.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Maybe caught me on a bad day: I enjoy a lot of Jimi's work (and obviously there are 2 or 3 of his greatest tracks on here) but this record was a bit too wig-out in places.
The Residents
2/5
Must surely be from a companion list: '101 records to make you contemplate the sweet release of death'?
Oh man I hate this. Not like I hate common-or-garden, crap-but-commercial trash. There is art here but it invokes a strong and visceral revulsion against the whole vibe. A k-hole paralysis nightmare of a record. Oompah cartoon cabaret fed through a schizo psycho's bleak machinery. The organ-grinder is grinding organs. Even the cover-art gets more unsettlingly appalling the longer you look.
Eventually, a question forms; is this in fact so far off the horrible end of the aesthetic spectrum that, in horseshoe-theory style, you can start to take a perverse enjoyment in it? It's probably a short enough jump from 'ooft, those guys aren't mucking about' to 'ffs, they're quite literally only mucking about'. The answer to the question is still probably no; but I'm here for exploring those feelings. I may even need to play it again just to be sure 💀😅
Soft Machine
3/5
Coming hot on the heels of The Residents makes for possibly the most challenging double-header yet. That said, Duck Stab puts even this set of fairly out-there, dense and intense, free-ranging jazz-rock explorations into the surprisingly accessible listening category by comparison.
So, my initial reaction was 'oh no' but the listen wasn't bad at all.
Bee Gees
2/5
Really quite odd. Almost sounds like self parody at some moments, though it seems to be played with an unironic straight bat. Not my vibe, although - like Odessa - I can see the craftsmanship.
Blur
4/5
There's a lot to this record, in every sense. Rammed full of cheeky-but-somehow-earnest songs about English life in the 90s. Still holds up extremely well 30+ years on. Even the more filler-ish tracks have plenty to earn your attention. And although harking back to earlier times, also quite prescient. It is front-loaded but it was a real pleasure to hear it right through again for the first time in ages
Doves
3/5
I like the Doves. Not sure this is a particularly exciting entry for the list though. A real slow burner.
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Queen Aretha at her peak. What's not to love?
Quicksilver Messenger Service
2/5
In which some dudes spend three quarters of an hour workshopping a couple of Bo Diddley's vital classics and, despite the band's technical chops, somehow make the music turgid and stale. Absolute toss
Goldfrapp
3/5
As soothing as a warm bath and very restrained by comparison with some of the Goldfrapp material I'm more familiar with. Put me in mind of a folky, feminine companion to Beck's 'Sea Change'?
To be honest it went somewhat in one ear and out the other but that likely says more about my state of mind than the record.Let it wash over you I suppose.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
Not so keen on this one. Hi-nrg synth camp beats not quite floating my boat today
Jamiroquai
2/5
It's a mystery worthy of the Twilight Zone: who the hell was buying all those millions of Jamiroquai albums? Genuine multi-platinum cut-through pop star status; for some really quite odd acid jazz/lite funk. Bizarre!
Not saying the music is bad as such (though in some ways it is, to my ear at least), just that it seems a rather niche genre to go stratospheric.
New Order
4/5
Impressive as usual
Coldcut
3/5
Couldn't find this album on streaming service so unable to assess it properly. There are some great Beats and Pieces in the half dozen or so tracks I've been able to hunt down but seems a real mixed bag. That's also consistent with some other Coldcut mixes I've heard in the past. All over the map but that's largely deliberate.
Machito
4/5
Stunningly bright and breezy recording; more swing than a driving-range
Dennis Wilson
3/5
Some of this this sounds like a proto John Grant, some of it like a proto Wilco. Pretty great in moments
Van Halen
3/5
I started out thinking 'oh no, brace for schlock rock overload' but within about ten mins I was fairly well into it 😅🤘
Blue Cheer
2/5
Muddy, heavy, mercifully short.
Nico
3/5
Starts with two back-to-back, all-time-great, twee chamber-pop rippers, before promptly descending into (mostly) inaccessible caterwauling. Hard to gauge!
Radiohead
5/5
I pretty much lived inside this record for a couple of months when it came out. I remember every note and it's still wonderful to play it right through again. Radiohead's finest, imo.
How were these guys so attuned to the weariness of middle age, 20 years ahead of time? Bleakly elegiac and remarkably mature, yet somehow still massively commercial and full of hooks. What an achievement.
Gravity always wins.
Dire Straits
3/5
Pedestrian but I love the playing
Hole
3/5
It's clearly very good, just that I don't particularly like to hear it.