The Ramones!!! I know every word (not that there are that many). Jesse Covington took me to see them at the Masquerade. I think it was their last tour, though we didn’t know it at the time. Drivin n Cryin opened. I was 15 or 16, it was summery sunny but not hot. Jesse Covington was in love with me and we could not get enough of that three-chord noise. When I think about how special it was to grow up in Atlanta, this day comes to mind. I would have told you at the time, it was one of the best days of my life.

Terrific for a (nearly) autumn Saturday afternoon. Can feel my spirit noodling around with the rifts. I love the interplay between the crisp guitar and smooth sax and the belly sound of the organ. Playful and wise, loose in the shoulder joints. Very nice.

This album is very famous among my UK and European pals and I know some of the songs well, but I’ve never listened to the whole thing in a shot. I really like it. I can sense how it would have been in everyone’s speakers that summer and beyond, but I can’t totally find my heart in it.

The Ramones!!! I know every word (not that there are that many). Jesse Covington took me to see them at the Masquerade. I think it was their last tour, though we didn’t know it at the time. Drivin n Cryin opened. I was 15 or 16, it was summery sunny but not hot. Jesse Covington was in love with me and we could not get enough of that three-chord noise. When I think about how special it was to grow up in Atlanta, this day comes to mind. I would have told you at the time, it was one of the best days of my life.

It’s angsty and the layered guitars are only barely this side of sane - but SP always find beauty and melody. Billy Corgan’s voice is part android, part alien. What an album.

Winehouse is an icon, with mythic tragedy that surpasses her art. There are some good songs here, and I’ll have Back to Black in my head for a month, but it’s a little underwhelming.

This album brings me so much joy. Impossible not to wiggle and sing along. The wiggliest album yet.

Really enjoyed this. They have an easy confidence - not afraid to try out new sounds or be a little weird or dark or sad. Seems like an album that I’ll like more and more on future listening. Let’s see!

I have a feeling I’m missing part of the puzzle here. That I haven’t seen the film or gotten the references. As an album, it wasn’t always creepy and unpleasant, but it sometimes was, and I’ve forgotten the rest.

Love this

Excellent. One of my favourite pop albums of all time,

One of the first albums I ever truly, truly loved. Many old friends here. Overall, the album is more poignant than I remember - not every song, but many. Sad if you’re happy. Comforting if you’re sad. Take comfort in your friends.

Love their warm brown sound. Want to listen to the album more and get to know the songs that are less familiar. Until then, I’m giving this 3.5, rounding up.

I usually like sneering, hirsute rockers, but some of these lyrics are unforgivably bad. I liked them as a teenager but in hindsight not so much.

I tried listening to this but didn’t get very far.

Surprising myself, I found this kind of soothing. They know what they’re doing and exactly how to do it. If I had to hire a band for world domination, a band that could get the job done, U2 would be a top candidate.

Love this - hip hop, bossa nova, electronica fusion. Really inventive and interesting.

Absolute perfection.

Sweet vocals, but find the overall sound a little boring.

Glad to have listened to this. Like hearing how he is trying out new things to find his own sound. Thought he sounded a bit like Van Morrison on some of these tracks.

Okay, but didn’t leave much of an impression.

Holds up better than I expected. Enjoyed listening, good nostalgia factor.

Is it weird I’ve never heard of this band? Sounds like the kind of thing I used to listen to a lot.

Hard to argue against any of this.

Loved this, and never heard it before. Didn’t imagine I’d be offering up a precious 5 to an album I didn’t previously know, but here we are. I can’t get enough of it.

Not my favourite Stevie, but very likeable.

A Cure album that, as ever, makes me happy to be listening to The Cure, but also slightly wishing I was listening to another Cure Album.

Classic

Enjoyed revisiting this. Overall the album is poppier than I remember. There are some great tracks and her voice is extraordinary.

A real mood lifter. Loved this.

Love this. The sound is both contemporary (thank you Danger Mouse) and classic. I suspect in another five years I’ll be giving this five stars - let’s see if it holds up as well as it has so far (I think it will). For now a hopeful four. Will gladly listen again and again for now.

Excellent - a portal to another time

I wasn’t that excited when this one came up, but really loved listening to it. I underestimated you, Billy Joel! So many good songs, all the better for being familiar (some very) yet seeming new.

Amazing album. The only blemish is Waking the Witch, which I found almost unlistenable. But then again its presence here also serves as a reminder that Kate Bush can do whatever the hell she wants.

Masterful and timeless. Always find something new in this album.

Love this album!

I wish I had discovered My Bloody Valentine in high school - they would have linked up nicely with my obsessions with Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins (and are much better than some of the other bands I listened to). This might have been 5 stars if it had a true nostalgia factor for me, but it doesn’t. When You Wake, You’re Still in a Dream is such a great song.

So sad - and this is his ‘upbeat’ album. I like Nick Drake and all of his tragic genius, but for me it is more about a few standout songs than an album I want to listen to again and again. 3.5

Could not stand Emerson Lake and Palmer - that first song seemed to take up half the time I have left to live in the world. I made it as far as #4 and gave up.

Listening to this album makes me feel young and tough. Watch out, you might get a bloody nose.

Six stars

I find myself rediscovering Beach House every few years. I always find this album moves me and soothes me, and give it a couple of turns on repeat. For some reason they always make me think of Scandinavia.