From the first song, this album demanded my attention. Mussorgsky? Synths? Influential rock musicians? What is this? This is the first album on this list that I think was truly new to me; I have never heard anything like this before. I listen to most of these albums while working. Not this one, this is a spectacle in itself. The music is less so distracting from the work as the work is distracting from the music. My mind is blown.

The Apollo theatre has held "Amateur Night" since 1934. In amateur night, contestants would perform as part of a competition. Like a cliche in a movie, if they perform badly they get booed off stage, with a character known as "the executioner" would sweep them off stage with a broom. James brown was booed off stage in 1952, going to show that not everybody succeeds on their first try. James Brown Live at the Apollo is an album released at the height of his popularity and showcases his funky talents well, however I don't think it's something I'll be coming back to with great frequency.

Maybe this style of punk rock just isn't my thing but I found the music to be uninspired, boring and repetitive and the singer is one of the most annoying singers I've ever heard. Favourite song was probably holiday in cambodia, and even then the other versions by dead kennedys are way better (e.g. give me convenience or give me death). Or maybe let's lynch the landlord, just for the sentiment :)

Quite experimental. I quite liked the first half of the album, particularly sound and vision. From Warszawa onwards it got pretty boring imo, I wanted to stop listening to it. It's interesting to see how the most popular song usually are, in fact, the best ones. 2 stars.

A strong opener followed by surprising but not unwelcome country music. Not super familiar with the rolling stones but this is not what I expected. It was an interesting mix of rock and country. Enjoyable but I got a bit tired of it by the end. 3/5.

I've always thought Bob Dylan to be quite overrated. His singing voice grates on my ears and his songs repeat about 5 times too many. Some of his tunes are genuinely good songs however, and despite not particularly enjoying poetry I can't deny the influence he had on music with his intensely lyrical pieces.

Enjoyable but forgettable. I enjoyed it but don't remember enough about it to really say anything, except that I have a soft spot for spoken word over music.

I guess I'm a Swingin' Lover

I'm not sure what it says about me that my favourite of the album was genuinely Run Charlie Run...

I was broken from my writing stupor by some extremely tasty guitar licks. Unfortunately, that signalled the end of the album, the rest having entirely failed to permeate through the filter erected by my trancelike state. Despite being 6 minutes into the final song, it still had plenty of time left to introduce some funky percussion and choral organ moments returning to its main theme in almost the roundaboutest way possible. This final song, accounting for a whopping 47.4% of the total playtime of the album is a self indulgent one-hit wonder of psychedelic rock, blues, demonic licks and angelic organ passages that surprisingly did not bore me despite the length. Excellent if you ignore the terrible lyrics and cringey singing. Album rating: 2/5 Song rating: 4/5 OK update I just listened to the song again and I don't know what I was on yesterday but it is not what I cooked it up to be. Still a listenable song but too drawn out, aimless, and random. The song drops to a 3.

Reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel, though I think not quite as good. I enjoy this type of harmony-driven folk-rock music and this is a pretty good incarnation of it. Would listen again.

Funky banger after funky banger. Summer Breeze has one of the catchiest hooks of all time. Plus a very stylish group on the album cover, that gets them a point all on its own. I wish I could pull off that black poncho/handlebar moustache combo. After a bit of research I've found out how many of the songs are covers. Absolutely bangin' covers, but it detracts from the originality slightly, especially when the originals are already as good as they are. The slight lack of cohesion that would turn this from a bag of songs into a coherent album means this doesn't quite make the 5 star mark for me.

A genre-defining album and one of my absolute favourites. It's already in my frequent rotation of albums. I must say I prefer the album with Jobim and Gilberto though.

Head over heels is a banger. I also like two for the price of one. A lot of the songs seem more deep than their typical shallow pop hits. I like the underlying message of the day before you came.

This is definitely a talking heads algorithm. Each song is completely forgettable (except maybe once in a lifetime), but the vibe is so unmistakable talking heads that I can't help but be impressed by their ability to craft such a unique sound. 3 stars. The last two songs almost ruined the album for me. I'm going to ignore them and stick with 3 stars.

A great album despite the questionable maths.

It was fine.

I can see the seeds of influence this album has on a lot of music. I think there are albums very similar to this that are much more polished.

Was looking forward to this because I like the weight. Disappointing.

Oh god this is terrible

Pretty good, I like the vibe. A little bland

Not bad considering it's not really my favourite genre. Though I was waiting for it to finish by the end.

I actually quite enjoyed this album. This surprised me as the first song was pretty boring. Good background tunes.

dreary and boring.

I couldn't decide whether to give this a 5 or a 1. The bluesy background music is quite pleasing to the ear, but the microphone placement seemingly inside his larynx is unnecessary. The cohesiveness of the story and album as a whole is wonderful, but the subject matter is quite unsavoury, talking of a "delightful young child" whose "skirt is pulled up on her white pants". Overall, I like blues, I like spoken word, I dislike hearing the inside of someone's throat, I dislike paedophilia. 4/5.

Damn I wish I could live in the United Funk of Funkadelica. I would definitely pledge groovallegiance. I am weak for that guitar solo at the end of the final song.

I had never listened to black sabbath that much before. I should listen to more.

I feel like this album fits the good/bad mem with hank from breaking bad - cheery, upbeat music being used as an outlet for grim underlying themes. Case and point, blank expression is a worthy contender for my "sad songs that sound happy" playlist.

I like jazz. I like beautiful melodies portrayed over rich harmonies, the freedom of the musicians in their expression, and the synergy between band members seems to be unique to the improvisational style. When jazz becomes more long, rambling streams of consciousness with so many threads simultaneously and sequentially that grasping any of them becomes a challenging feat, I begin to enjoy the experience far less. I appreciate this album for its atmospheric feel and its influence on the use of electric instruments, however I can not say with honesty that this is the style of jazz that I would choose to listen to for pleasure.

I remember my mum telling me one of my friends reminded her of Karen Carpenter. I told my friend only to get the response "didn't she die from anorexia?". Oops.

From the first song, this album demanded my attention. Mussorgsky? Synths? Influential rock musicians? What is this? This is the first album on this list that I think was truly new to me; I have never heard anything like this before. I listen to most of these albums while working. Not this one, this is a spectacle in itself. The music is less so distracting from the work as the work is distracting from the music. My mind is blown.

starts off awesome. Goes on for far too long...

I'm always surprised when I quite like coldplay

I think in the right mood I would enjoy this drivel. I am not in that mood.

I like some of Monae's stuff, so was looking forward to this album. I was thoroughly disappointed by this generic, forgettable R&B album.

Pretty good, not amazing

I could not get past the first three songs. This is like a schizophrenic nightmare of hiphop; random sounds combined with a generic beat, awful instrument playing, sub-par rapping and lyrics that are a caricature of meaningful. Atrocious.

She's a wonderful singer but I found the album quite grating. The second half is much better than the first. I still can't get over the difference between her talking and singing voice.

Meh.

Booooooooorriiiinggggggggg

I thought I'd listened to most christmas music. Turns out I had, and this album has an unfair proportion of good ones.

The first song starts with a very pretty guitar/sax melody. Then the singer comes in and completely ruins the whole thing. This guy has one of the most annoying voices I've ever heard. I genuinely can not stand his whiny, barely in tune moaning. It's a shame because I really like backing music.

Not usually into this kind of music but I thoroughly enjoyed this album. Catchy riffs, good singer, some surprisingly funky tunes and the songs are interesting throughout. Definitely worth a re-listen.

Forgettable, nothing notable or stand-out.

Somewhat funky electronic grooves that are slightly worsened by their repetetiveness, thinness of texture, and singer that feels unsupported. Best song: World in My Eyes.

Not really for me. I prefer his early stuff.

Pretty good rock album. It feels like canonical, but forgettable, rock.

Pretty good as a chill, atmospheric background soundtrack, however as it becomes more rocky towards the end the 'artistic' singing starts to drag it into the foreground in a somewhat unpleasant way. I initially accidentally listened to the wrong album - NEU! instead of NEU! 75. I rated that album 2/5 with the following review: "Oh, this seems like it could be good background music!"... "Wait it's still going on?"... "What the hell am I listening to!?"

While I appreciate the Smiths' unique sound and distinctive textures, It's not my favourite thing to listen to.

I the quintessential, classic live albums that give you more than a music listening experience; they give you a taste of the artist as well. This album feels like one of those, sitting comfortably amongst great equivalents such as the Sinatra at the Sands album. I'm also a big fan of Johnny Cash and his particular flavour of sultry-voiced country. Unfortunately I found this album disjointed and overly-heavy on the auditory representation of the logistical aspects of the concert and disappointingly lacking in music, the most criminal example being the unexpected cut-off of folsom prison blues - it only lasts 1:29 including talking!? If this album was longer and more music-filled it would be a 5.

The Apollo theatre has held "Amateur Night" since 1934. In amateur night, contestants would perform as part of a competition. Like a cliche in a movie, if they perform badly they get booed off stage, with a character known as "the executioner" would sweep them off stage with a broom. James brown was booed off stage in 1952, going to show that not everybody succeeds on their first try. James Brown Live at the Apollo is an album released at the height of his popularity and showcases his funky talents well, however I don't think it's something I'll be coming back to with great frequency.

A genre-defining album.

This is one of the most surprising albums yet. I had never heard of the artist before, but I thoroughly enjoyed working to this album. A strong 4 or weak 5.

Like a shitter, mancunian version of the chats.

There's a chance I'm giving this a 5 only for its familiarity. Then again, it's good enough for me to build the level of familiarity required for it to deserve a 5.

I love the orchestration and the grandness of the pieces; the mixture of pop with a variety of backing audio. Unfortunately, I'm quite sensitive to singing and I don't like his. The combination of the muffled diction - like he has something in his mouth that he's trying to talk around - combined with the aspect of his voice that becomes whiny and annoying when he sings sustained notes (which is often in this album) makes me want to turn it off, despite the cool and interesting support music. Weird and interesting album cover. 🎵Pwretty thiiiiaaiiingssss🎵

Don't hate it but it's not for me.