761
Albums Rated
3.5
Average Rating
70%
Complete
328 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1970
Favorite Decade
Folk
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
164
5-Star Albums
24
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Dub Housing
Pere Ubu
|
5 | 2.35 | +2.65 |
|
Shleep
Robert Wyatt
|
5 | 2.5 | +2.5 |
|
Cut
The Slits
|
5 | 2.72 | +2.28 |
|
Vulnicura
Björk
|
5 | 2.79 | +2.21 |
|
My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
Brian Eno
|
5 | 2.79 | +2.21 |
|
Scott 4
Scott Walker
|
5 | 2.8 | +2.2 |
|
I Am a Bird Now
Antony and the Johnsons
|
5 | 2.84 | +2.16 |
|
White Light
Gene Clark
|
5 | 2.84 | +2.16 |
|
Gris Gris
Dr. John
|
5 | 2.88 | +2.12 |
|
Music Has The Right To Children
Boards of Canada
|
5 | 2.91 | +2.09 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Getz/Gilberto
Stan Getz
|
1 | 3.65 | -2.65 |
|
Sign 'O' The Times
Prince
|
1 | 3.45 | -2.45 |
|
Sunday At The Village Vanguard
Bill Evans Trio
|
1 | 3.31 | -2.31 |
|
Emergency On Planet Earth
Jamiroquai
|
1 | 3.26 | -2.26 |
|
Rocks
Aerosmith
|
1 | 3.12 | -2.12 |
|
Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
50 Cent
|
1 | 3.06 | -2.06 |
|
Vento De Maio
Elis Regina
|
1 | 3.01 | -2.01 |
|
Vulgar Display Of Power
Pantera
|
1 | 2.97 | -1.97 |
|
Foxbase Alpha
Saint Etienne
|
1 | 2.94 | -1.94 |
|
I Against I
Bad Brains
|
1 | 2.93 | -1.93 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Radiohead | 5 | 5 |
| David Bowie | 8 | 4.63 |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 4 | 4.75 |
| Bob Dylan | 4 | 4.75 |
| Simon & Garfunkel | 3 | 5 |
| Nirvana | 3 | 5 |
| R.E.M. | 4 | 4.5 |
| Nick Drake | 3 | 4.67 |
| Beck | 3 | 4.67 |
| Blur | 3 | 4.67 |
| PJ Harvey | 3 | 4.67 |
| Black Sabbath | 3 | 4.67 |
| The Smiths | 3 | 4.67 |
| Pink Floyd | 3 | 4.67 |
| The Clash | 2 | 5 |
| Beatles | 2 | 5 |
| Van Morrison | 2 | 5 |
| Iggy Pop | 2 | 5 |
| Curtis Mayfield | 2 | 5 |
| Manic Street Preachers | 2 | 5 |
| Neil Young | 2 | 5 |
| Oasis | 2 | 5 |
| The Rolling Stones | 6 | 4.17 |
| Stevie Wonder | 4 | 4.25 |
| Elvis Costello & The Attractions | 4 | 4.25 |
| The Kinks | 4 | 4.25 |
| Kraftwerk | 3 | 4.33 |
| Led Zeppelin | 3 | 4.33 |
| Pixies | 3 | 4.33 |
| Joni Mitchell | 3 | 4.33 |
| Brian Eno | 5 | 4 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Missy Elliott | 2 | 1.5 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Miles Davis | 2, 5 |
| Grateful Dead | 2, 5 |
| Prince | 1, 4, 4 |
| Stevie Wonder | 2, 5, 5, 5 |
| Tom Waits | 3, 2, 5, 5 |
5-Star Albums (164)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Maxwell · 4 likes
1/5
It's Brand New Heavies, it's D'Angelo, it's slow mo videos of sexy ladies in satin walking through rustic swinging doors into a dimly lit room with candles and a freestanding bath, it's cadburys flake, it's a glass of pinot on a Sunday night. It's souless, advert music.
I will never - never - intentionally listen to this insipid lounge music again.
The Pharcyde · 2 likes
5/5
It's one of those rare hip hop albums where pretty much every song is a banger. The samples are varied but consistent and drawing from jazz gives this all a free and breezy feel. It's got great raps great back and forth, a great feel.
The Only Ones · 2 likes
5/5
It's more than just the garage-rock I was anticipating. Power pop, jangle rock, punk, new wave and doo wop all included.
It's a rare breed of punk-pop that sounds simple but is difficult to get right. There's a couple of throwaways, such as 'Language Problem' and 'The Immortal Story', but even those have a ragged charm. Feels like a cult classic.
The Jam · 2 likes
5/5
There's a lot of 60s throw back across the album. 'Monday' has a classic Kinks sound. 'Man in the Corner Shop' a descending melody and jangly guitar, that's worthy of Small Faces.
And of course they 'borrow' heavily from the Macca tradition, with the Taxman bassline - 'Start!' somehow doesn't feel stolen though; it feels a genuine tribute turned into something new, and just as good.
This is an album which is a borderline top marks. A number of tunes stand apart as top tier. It has all the edge of punk whilst not being punk - it's more complex than that, with Motown influences evident ('Pretty Green'). I think the feeling of it, the energy, the right arrangements and the strength of the singles plus other hidden gems just tip it.
The Smiths · 2 likes
5/5
The core of the album is nothing short of sublime, featuring some of the band's best work. 'Girlfriend in a Coma' feels like the perfect band performance - you can listen to each of the band and be astounded, from Morrissey's blackest of comical lyrics, to Rourke's glissando-ing bass, to Marr's beautifully picked guitar line, to Joyce's irresistible intro (with the offbeat tom) and brilliant transitions from chorus back to verse. From here into 'Stop Me if You Think You've Heard This One Before' which is the Marr/Morrissey partnership in imperious form - guitar hooks, and superlative lyrics ('and the pain was enough to make a shy, bald Buddhist reflect and plan a massive murder').
The brilliance continues with 'Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me'. After what must be one of the most evocative and depressing intros to any song, it symphonically bursts into a self-pitying, 50s-reminiscent ballad of unmatched proportions.
For those alone it's a 5.
4-Star Albums (223)
1-Star Albums (24)
All Ratings
Pearl Jam
4/5
Grows with age like a fine wine.
Suffers when compared to Nevermind - not comparable so don't do it.
Couple of fillers.
Elton John
4/5
Awesome album.
Problem is, you judge Elton by Elton.
So some filler here by Elton's standards.
Some White Album syndrome too - if you could cull 20% of the tracks it's the perfect album.
4 stars.
Air
5/5
Norah Jones
2/5
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
The Allman Brothers Band
3/5
The Rolling Stones
4/5
The Smashing Pumpkins
5/5
The B-52's
4/5
Muddy Waters
4/5
Thundercat
3/5
Machito
2/5
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
Aerosmith
1/5
Nick Drake
5/5
Paul McCartney
4/5
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Pantera
1/5
Miles Davis
2/5
Joy Division
5/5
The Go-Go's
3/5
Cornershop
2/5
Elliott Smith
3/5
Leonard Cohen
5/5
Christina Aguilera
2/5
The Cars
3/5
Jethro Tull
4/5
Al Green
4/5
Queens Of The Stone Age
3/5
Pulp
4/5
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
Astrud Gilberto
2/5
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
David Bowie
5/5
Billy Bragg
4/5
Kendrick Lamar
3/5
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
4/5
Michael Jackson
5/5
David Bowie
4/5
Iron Butterfly
2/5
Beck
4/5
Brian Eno
3/5
The Cure
2/5
Sonic Youth
3/5
Massive Attack
3/5
Eric Clapton
3/5
Adele
4/5
Jack White
3/5
Dolly Parton
3/5
Electric Light Orchestra
2/5
Tom Tom Club
4/5
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
Brian Eno
3/5
Green Day
3/5
Nina Simone
4/5
John Lennon
4/5
David Holmes
2/5
Frank Ocean
3/5
DJ Shadow
5/5
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
Os Mutantes
4/5
The Strokes
5/5
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Grateful Dead
2/5
Talvin Singh
3/5
Johnny Cash
5/5
The La's
4/5
Iron Maiden
2/5
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
Lou Reed
4/5
The Killers
3/5
The Police
2/5
Aretha Franklin
4/5
Don McLean
4/5
Slade
2/5
Wilco
4/5
Missy Elliott
1/5
Justin Timberlake
3/5
The Mothers Of Invention
2/5
Foo Fighters
4/5
Germs
1/5
Yes
2/5
Metallica
2/5
David Crosby
2/5
3/5
Spiritualized
3/5
Dusty Springfield
3/5
Rush
4/5
William Orbit
2/5
Jefferson Airplane
3/5
The Band
3/5
The Cramps
3/5
Supergrass
5/5
The Clash
5/5
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
The Thrills
2/5
John Lennon
5/5
Franz Ferdinand
5/5
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
Tears For Fears
3/5
Country Joe & The Fish
2/5
The National
4/5
Blur
5/5
Jamiroquai
1/5
Parliament
4/5
Crowded House
3/5
Beatles
5/5
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
Alanis Morissette
3/5
Amy Winehouse
5/5
Soundgarden
3/5
Radiohead
5/5
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
2/5
Fatboy Slim
3/5
The Temptations
2/5
The Beach Boys
3/5
David Bowie
5/5
Manu Chao
2/5
2Pac
2/5
Richard Hawley
5/5
Talking Heads
4/5
Elbow
3/5
Nick Drake
4/5
Violent Femmes
4/5
Kraftwerk
3/5
Taylor Swift
3/5
The Clash
5/5
Sly & The Family Stone
2/5
Jerry Lee Lewis
5/5
The Cure
3/5
The Specials
5/5
The Flying Burrito Brothers
3/5
Pere Ubu
4/5
The Louvin Brothers
2/5
Moby
3/5
Gang Starr
3/5
Kings of Leon
4/5
Stevie Wonder
2/5
1/5
4/5
Elis Regina
1/5
Supertramp
2/5
Johnny Cash
3/5
The Band
5/5
Cat Stevens
5/5
Stan Getz
1/5
Sabu
2/5
Gorillaz
3/5
Coldplay
3/5
Meat Loaf
3/5
LTJ Bukem
2/5
5/5
Traffic
2/5
Drive Like Jehu
2/5
Napalm Death
1/5
Sex Pistols
4/5
Happy Mondays
3/5
Hole
2/5
Kraftwerk
5/5
The Mars Volta
3/5
Songhoy Blues
4/5
Malcolm McLaren
4/5
The Isley Brothers
3/5
Tom Waits
3/5
Coldplay
3/5
Little Richard
4/5
Herbie Hancock
3/5
Todd Rundgren
2/5
Ms. Dynamite
1/5
David Bowie
4/5
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
3/5
Aphex Twin
3/5
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Elvis Costello
2/5
Scott Walker
3/5
Primal Scream
4/5
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Motörhead
2/5
Sugar
3/5
David Bowie
5/5
The Stranglers
3/5
Can
4/5
The Notorious B.I.G.
3/5
Nick Drake
5/5
The Replacements
3/5
Shivkumar Sharma
4/5
Funkadelic
4/5
Rage Against The Machine
3/5
Harry Nilsson
3/5
Buena Vista Social Club
3/5
Kendrick Lamar
4/5
Faust
4/5
The Cult
2/5
Bob Dylan
5/5
The Associates
4/5
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
Earth, Wind & Fire
2/5
Big Brother & The Holding Company
2/5
Dinosaur Jr.
3/5
Blur
4/5
Santana
4/5
Van Morrison
5/5
Alice In Chains
2/5
Marilyn Manson
3/5
Solomon Burke
3/5
Serge Gainsbourg
4/5
Eminem
3/5
Jimmy Smith
3/5
Lightning Bolt
3/5
Sister Sledge
5/5
Led Zeppelin
4/5
B.B. King
5/5
John Prine
3/5
Rufus Wainwright
4/5
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
Solange
3/5
1/5
PJ Harvey
5/5
Bon Jovi
3/5
Turbonegro
2/5
Joe Ely
3/5
Lorde
2/5
Stevie Wonder
5/5
The Blue Nile
4/5
Ian Dury
4/5
Dusty Springfield
4/5
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
3/5
Japan
4/5
The War On Drugs
5/5
Beach House
3/5
Van Morrison
5/5
Le Tigre
3/5
Snoop Dogg
3/5
Red Hot Chili Peppers
4/5
Blood, Sweat & Tears
2/5
Steely Dan
4/5
Sonic Youth
3/5
Ute Lemper
2/5
Beastie Boys
4/5
Jane's Addiction
4/5
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
2/5
Prince
1/5
David Ackles
3/5
ABBA
3/5
Chicago
4/5
T. Rex
5/5
Brian Wilson
4/5
The Jesus And Mary Chain
3/5
Miles Davis
5/5
Hanoi Rocks
3/5
Basement Jaxx
3/5
3/5
Adele
2/5
Sepultura
1/5
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
2/5
R.E.M.
4/5
Julian Cope
4/5
5/5
Count Basie & His Orchestra
2/5
Cream
4/5
Bee Gees
3/5
David Bowie
4/5
Leonard Cohen
4/5
Frank Sinatra
4/5
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
Britney Spears
2/5
Prince
4/5
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Prefab Sprout
4/5
ZZ Top
3/5
The Police
3/5
Elvis Costello
3/5
The Icarus Line
2/5
Paul Simon
5/5
The Dictators
2/5
Fats Domino
3/5
Cyndi Lauper
3/5
Sheryl Crow
3/5
50 Cent
1/5
5/5
Black Sabbath
5/5
The Smiths
4/5
Billie Holiday
2/5
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
Beatles
5/5
Leonard Cohen
3/5
4/5
LCD Soundsystem
4/5
Christine and the Queens
3/5
Les Rythmes Digitales
4/5
Steely Dan
3/5
Emmylou Harris
4/5
David Gray
4/5
Simple Minds
3/5
Michael Kiwanuka
5/5
Eels
3/5
AC/DC
4/5
OutKast
4/5
Jeff Beck
2/5
Jazmine Sullivan
1/5
Fishbone
2/5
Taylor Swift
3/5
The Doors
5/5
Eagles
4/5
Queen
4/5
Ozomatli
3/5
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
5/5
White Denim
5/5
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
Antony and the Johnsons
5/5
The White Stripes
3/5
Dolly Parton
3/5
Public Image Ltd.
4/5
k.d. lang
2/5
The Incredible String Band
4/5
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
Koffi Olomide
2/5
Beastie Boys
4/5
The Mothers Of Invention
3/5
Iggy Pop
5/5
Beck
5/5
The Rolling Stones
5/5
GZA
4/5
Duran Duran
4/5
New Order
4/5
Radiohead
5/5
The Who
4/5
Megadeth
2/5
Abdullah Ibrahim
2/5
System Of A Down
2/5
Curtis Mayfield
5/5
Jurassic 5
4/5
Tortoise
4/5
Dire Straits
5/5
2/5
Meat Puppets
4/5
Dexys Midnight Runners
3/5
Stevie Wonder
5/5
The Libertines
4/5
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
5/5
Janis Joplin
3/5
The Pogues
4/5
Holger Czukay
4/5
Animal Collective
4/5
Pixies
4/5
Dinosaur Jr.
2/5
Boards of Canada
5/5
Yes
3/5
Bonnie Raitt
3/5
Manic Street Preachers
5/5
Nanci Griffith
5/5
Ray Charles
3/5
An album of two halves. Or to be more efficient with my language, an album of halves. Bland big-band, saved in the second half by elegant orchestral balladeering.
JAY Z
4/5
Overall, a consistently soulful feel, a relaxed flow, great use of samples, anthemic tunes. A few distractions with the like if Takeover and Renegade (which are good but feel a little out of place here). This gets a fourizzle.
Slipknot
2/5
Think I've got something of a new found understanding of metal. I also understand that most of it is shit. But will this be different? No.
(sic) sounds like an amphetamine-induced rampage, and as an opener it works pretty well. Can really imagine being in the mosh in the Des Moines metalfest, and punching a stinking teenager in the mouth with this one. Decent stuff.
They aren't Pantera. They aren't Napalm Death. Thankfully. A scattering of interesting stuff here and there. But mainly feel like this pushes absolutely no boundaries and offers no memorable tunes.
Elvis Presley
4/5
You can sense from this why Elvis was such a success, interpreting rock n roll, country, blues, ballads, throwing them all in the pot and cooking up a very tasty Mississippi gumbo, with only a couple of bland ingredients. Easy four.
Eagles
4/5
I'm really in two minds about this album. I find some of it, like Life in the Fast Lane or Victim of Love, gets too lost up its soft rock fundament and actually sounds very 80's ZZ Top-rock. Elsewhere they seem to be actively chasing the anthem - such as Wasted Time reprise which is Disney levels of trying to be meaningful.
Aside from that it is consistently excellent. Title track, the country style licks harking back to previous albums, such as New Kid or Try and Love Again.
Various Artists
5/5
The Spector formula for Christmas really is faultless. Is there any other Christmas album that is bearable in such a fashion? I may put the recent Dylan one up there. And Chas n Dave's cockney Christmas. But nothing else comes close. And I haven't even mentioned the incredible vocals of Ronnie Spector, Darlene Love et al - incredible.
It's hammy, It's over the top, and it sounds like Christmas. Great.
Sonic Youth
4/5
Overall, this keeps growing on me. The wall of noise, amorphous schtick works for the most part, as it's backed up with catchy hooks and melodies, which admittedly take repeated listens to find. I really like several of the tunes, particularly the first track, and this is better than Dirty. Just clears the hurdle for a four.
Blondie
5/5
Several certified bangers in here. Many more which are above average to great. It melds New Wave, disco, 50s rock n roll, to create a definitive late 70s post-punk album.
The Birthday Party
2/5
This album has a lot of making up to do after that album cover. The first question to Mr Cave may well be 'who hurt you?'. Such is the industrial bleakness of the music and lyrics, it could be the dystopian soundtrack to the contemporaneous Mad Max.
The album is the seeds of The Seeds. But much more refinement was to take place after this. Few Seeds-worthy songs such as Junkyard, 6" Gold Blade and Several Sins.
Stevie Wonder
5/5
The soaring Living for the City and the towering Higher Ground, and in amongst that some fantastic album tracks (e.g. Golden Lady), culminating in the incredible He's Misstra Know-It-All. Probably my favourite Stevie album.
Marty Robbins
5/5
The production sounds great compared to many contemporaneous efforts - reverbed, Everly's-style harmonies, nicely mixed. It's the sound of the Western plains, and it is more Western than Country.
Overall, I thought this a great embodiment of this tradition, interesting, excellently produced, and with some great originals, and excellent playing and harmonies.
Linkin Park
2/5
This reminds me of introspective emos at school wearing hyper-baggy jeans with chains, who listened to bands like Coheed and Cambria and wallowed in their faux pain. Their only real pain at that time being they'd forgotten to do their homework for Further Maths and Mrs Cole was in a particularly foul mood so they were worried they'd get detention. It's bland, it's less ground-breaking than a plastic hammer, and the rapping/scratching is bad. It has 2 songs which I consider passable, one of which, In the End, is decent.
Steve Winwood
3/5
The sort of album that you look back on affectionately because the songs are associated with an 80s movie you really like. Except, here there is no movie. And the album is left floundering in the sea of forgettable could-have-been-soundtracks.
Basically this needed to be a soundtrack to make it better. But While You See a Chance is superb. And there's some decent passages here and there.
Public Enemy
4/5
On balance I think it's important, influential, innovative, and a word that begins with 'i' meaning powerful political messaging. It lacks Run DMC and NWA hooks.
The xx
4/5
For a sad day, a lonely train journey, a break-up, when you find out your newborn is ginger, this is quite the soundtrack, albeit highly formulaic. The formula features heavily reverbed guitar picking out a melody and downbeat delivery. The vocal duets work excellently.
It's actually rather surprising how many of these tracks have seeped into my consciousness, without going out of my way to listen to them or ever to listen to this album. Maybe because the BBC has probably used every one of these for advertising various bleak dramas over the years, probably written by Jimmy McGovern.
The album does dip as it goes on, never quite matches the opening run of 4 or 5 songs.
Television
5/5
It's a great fusion of many style but delivered via angular rock with incredible alternative guitar. Tom Verlaine is my new favourite guitarist. And this my new favourite album. For today.
Ryan Adams
3/5
Some very nice tracks here indeed, mainly the first half of the album, after which my patience runs out a little with the lack of variety, and the surplus of introspection without catharsis or humour. It's a respectable three.
Jeff Buckley
5/5
As a debut album it's impressive. No doubt the legend has helped its critical standing - but listening with critical distance I think it's a great album, full of atmosphere, emotion, great harmonies and Radiohead-influencing melodies. Self-indulgent here and there but hey, who doesn't like to indulge. I know I do.
Pink Floyd
4/5
Despite the album being languorous, indulgent, bloated, there is such a commitment to it - something completely imperious about this album. I don't think it has the warmth of Dark Side - it feels a lot more clinical. But there is an ambience to be enjoyed, and you can cast aside the pretension of a song in 9 parts. An album which conjures a mood and does it really well. And included one of the greatest tracks of all time, in the title track. It's so close, but it gets to a high four.
Orange Juice
3/5
They're cool, they're breezy, they're VH1's dream. Nit just your typical 80s new wave rock, meld quite a few influences from jangle pop, new wave, afrobeat, blue-eyed soul. I very much enjoyed it without being blown away. The highest of threes.
Wild Beasts
3/5
They have the electronic dance rock feel of Metronomy or Foals, and when done well I like this genre. Wild Beasts also add a lot of slower ambience to their tracks, sort of Eno meets Metronomy. It adds another element to this band which means they are not just another post-Britpop outfit with decent tunes (a la Courteeners or some such).
An interesting album with some decent tunes.
Frank Sinatra
2/5
Rarely do the songs let that great voice fly - instead it's replaced with a sort of club singer inflection and hackneyed big band parping. Even the ballad here 'We'll Be Together Again', seems very pedestrian by comparison to something like 'I Get Along Without You Very Well' from Wee Small Hours. And the recording on Small Hours was excellent - Frank was singing next to your ear - this often feels a bit lost in the big band mêlée.
Green Day
3/5
They were very exciting back in the mid 90s I recall. Maybe their direct punk-pop was a breath of fresh air to the death note of prog-rock-derived 90s grunge and introspective whinge-rock. This generally feels more joyful. But they strike me as a singles band, not sure they've released a solid album, if they have I haven't heard it yet. There are some bangers here, it's balanced out by the Busted and McFly influencing cheap power pop. Mid-three.
Paul McCartney and Wings
5/5
The album is nothing short of a soft-rock masterpiece. It doesn't have any of the raw emotion of Lennon or Harrison's early efforts; it's altogether more polished Macca - it's the nicest cup of cocoa you've ever had, and sometimes you get a surprise marshmallow. As demonstrated by the unapologetically saccharine Bluebird or the non-offensive Mamunia.
Then you get Vandebilt, title track, Let Me Roll It, Jet and one of Macca's mightiest tracks in Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five; finishing (after a fantastic synth + jazz clarinet crescendo) with that great 'Hard Day's Night'-type chord en route to a Band on the Run reprise.
It feels like a winding and expansive album, yet all comes in at 40 minutes. One of the few albums that feels longer than it actually is (there is so much packed in), but you don't want it to end. And a handful of out and out bangers. Top marks.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
An album that feels two-thousand light years ahead of anything they did before. Aside from a reasonably successful foray into disco, this is what they do best. As the first album in the classic run, there is still a lot of looseness, swampiness, less polish here, which only works to make the album sound more authentic. The fact they are finding their classic sound here is titillating. Keef's guitar work, focusing mainly on acoustic with no/little drumming, is superb. He's found his open G tuning. This is classic Stones kicking off proper. Throw in two epic bangers, Sympathy and Streetfighting, and you got yourself a five.
Randy Newman
2/5
With a roll call of The Eagles, Jim Keltner etc, and a knack for a humorous narrative this could be fantastic - but in retrospect he really is quite the one-trick pony. The slower numbers work best. A high two.
Maxwell
1/5
It's Brand New Heavies, it's D'Angelo, it's slow mo videos of sexy ladies in satin walking through rustic swinging doors into a dimly lit room with candles and a freestanding bath, it's cadburys flake, it's a glass of pinot on a Sunday night. It's souless, advert music.
I will never - never - intentionally listen to this insipid lounge music again.
ZZ Top
3/5
Meat and potatoes blues rock. Formulaic bar-rock. But it's compact and doesn't outstay it's welcome.
It's real downfall is that last two tracks which are dull and go nowhere. A great shame for an album that is hitherto wall-to-wall groove, very lean, and enjoyable. I much prefer it to Eliminator but it still doesn't get a four - a very strong and respectable high three.
Kanye West
3/5
I've listened to this a few times and I'm not sure how good it is. He is a tragic figure really, and I know his view have been less than wholesome but, benefit of the doubt, he'd forgotten to take his meds. He did help move rap on from the ostensible inexorable bling movement, and probably paved the way for the likes of Kendrick Lamar. For that, and for some good tunes in here it's a three.
New York Dolls
3/5
I can understand that right place, right time, they were exciting back in the day; but hardly pioneering over what the Stooges or Bowie or Bolan was doing - and everything they've done has been superseded and done many times better. They remind me more of Kiss than a glam or punk I outfit I like. Are a couple of great songs though, Personality Crisis, Trash, Frankenstein, Private World. Makes it to a three, just about.
Björk
5/5
Both the desolation and the uplifting beauty of the Icelandic landscape. There are points in Mouth Mantra where the enveloping strings (with all the foreboding of Prokofiev) and scattered beats make you feel like your swooping over it. Stonemilker is the most glorious and sorrowful song I have heard in many a year.
I like that the album makes use of the viola organista, constructed to Da Vinci's design. That's rather fitting, given the album has all the enigma and chiaroscuro of one of the great man's paintings.
All this beautiful music she's made, and she'll still be remembered for slapping that Thai reporter in the gob after a long plane journey.
But, albums like this are rare indeed. It's immersive, challenging, painful, beautiful. One of those albums you can constantly relisten to and get something new each time. I think I've pseud's cornered my way into a five.
Neil Young
5/5
Goldrush, Harvest, One the Beach, Tonight's the Night. What a run; and in the words of the now disgraced portly pervert Andy Gray: "He had no right to do that. Take a boo son!".
The real heart of the album are the triptych of lonely-man-on-the-road folk numbers. 'See the Sky' one of those effortless, bittersweet songs that can get you in the feels, especially the whole feeling of the lap steel and 'rolling down the track again'. Motion Pictures not far behind, again effortlessly melancholy. Finishing with the epic, Bert Jansch inspired fingerpicking of Ambulance Blues, one of his epics, packed with perfect lines (the riverboat was rocking in the rain), great fingerpicking and not a care for fret buzz.
The perfect follow up to Harvest. Avoiding any doubt he could be pigeonholed.
UB40
4/5
On the face of it, a debut album of British reggae, by a few 20 year olds, recorded on rudimentary equipment in an amateur's flat in Birmingham, with 80s social commentary, should _not_ work. But nor should ackee and codfish, but by Jah it does. The UB40 I know is a bit of a light, commercial cover band, with hyper 80s production. It's good to discover they cut their teeth on a genuine album of originals, with some incisive social satire and authentic dub (a few throwaway tracks notwithstanding). Excellent.
Randy Newman
4/5
Against some odds, I ended up enjoying this, on account no doubt of the stripped back arrangements of the majority of the tracks. A gospel feel pervades, and scathing or humorous lyrics take things up another notch. There is still some of the Broadway schmaltzy arrangements, but this just tips to a four for some superb tracks, not least the title track.
Neil Young
5/5
Neil Young at the absolute peak of his acoustic country-folk period (he'd have many more peaks) where he couldn't write a bad song, except maybe There's a World. It's ingrained in my psyche; it reminds me of a fond period in life. What else do you want from an album?
Duke Ellington
3/5
I found this to be a reasonably enjoyable jazz album, and eminently more enjoyable than the other big band albums we've had hitherto, such as Count Basie.
I also like that the audience gets more vocal as it goes along, responding to the band's sporadic ejaculations.
It's a very good live performance. I don't know what, if any, boundaries are being pushed, except for that clarinet player's temporal veins at the end of Diminuendo when it sounds like he's gonna pop a lobe. It suffers from the fact I've discovered Kind of Blue which, I think I'm beginning to understand, is a very different jazz to this - but nevertheless that is so good, that this pales a bit in comparison. In saying that, Duke was a massive inspiration to Miles Davis, and there are nuances in this performance which provide a hell of a lot more than vanilla big band swing.
So overall I think it is in the three range and maybe pushing a high three.
Goldfrapp
3/5
A lot of the album, puts me in mind of Bond. As well as the lush strings, and reverbed vocals, there are dramatic semitone movements everywhere. 'Lovely Head' in particular is a zombie-cowboy apocalyptic track of excellence.
After a good opening run the pace slows down to a drag, with the painful Deer Stop, a third-rate Portishead rip off. Then a couple that go a bit too cabaret for my liking.
The second half highlight is undoubtedly Utopia. Absolutely spellbinding mash up of 50s pop, Barry orchestral manoeuvres, Lynchian bleakness, and indie rock.
On balance a high three.
⭐⭐⭐
Dion
3/5
Classic country soul pop Spector sound. Knowingly schmaltzy ballads. Some throwaway or overly derivative, some lost classics (Only You Know). Very difficult to rate - but I'm going high three.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4/5
American Girl has basically set the blueprint for every Strokes song, 25 years before the Strokes wrote a song; as well as the intro being lifted wholesale for Last Nite. It's probably the only real classic here.
But punchable face on the cover aside, this album has the hallmarks of everything I like: compact, polished garage-rock, still a rawness, catchy melodies, no guitar wankery. It is very naive but charming. It has a few throwaways (Fooled Again, Anything That's Rock n Roll) Hmmm. Scrapes a 4 for it's ramshackle charm, naïveté, and lack of pretension, alongside a handful of good tracks.
Devendra Banhart
4/5
The album could feasibly be a collection of unreleased home demos. But somehow - through the strength of the melodies, and a lovely dose of humour and eccentricity - it has the charm of something like the Beatles Anthologies. The homemade solitary feel is like Bert's Jansch first album. Dare I say even early Dylan, albeit Devendra's lyrics area more early Bolan than Dylan. And Devendra Banhart is pretty much a carbon-copy of Tyrannosaurus Rex-era Marc Bolan. Warbling vocals against a folky backdrop of abstract and pastoral lyrics. And yet the man protests he had never heard early Bolan before recording!
Lots of charm, it continues to grow on me with every listen.
Depeche Mode
3/5
I have a liking for the dystopian feel of Depeche Mode's dark-brand of 80s electronica, without being a fully-fledged fan.
Behind the Wheel - it's the Crystal Maze! I actually can't listen to this without hearing "start the fans please!" and thinking of over-excited contestants running in shell suits to the Aztec Zone. This one in particular feels like a warm up for Enjoy the Silence.
It's a very solid album, and the first half evocatively foreboding with catchy melodies. 'Things You Said' is superb. That is some Smiths level of greatness. But the second half tails off into little of note. It can smell a four. But I think it remains a strong three.
Talking Heads
5/5
Every song is peppered with great riffs and licks. The songs are forever moving into different catchy phrases, vocal and musical, punk, funk, disco, new-wave. And the tempo is pumping throughout. Eno was fresh out of Low - there is none of that Berlin-brooding here, but he gives it a driving consistency. Perversely, the single 'Take Me to the River' is the weak spot for me, and doesn't replace the majesty of Al Green's version with anything much interesting.
But this album is easily a five so can afford a small trip up. Superb.
Deep Purple
3/5
Overall, I do find the hard-rock tropes are mitigated by some really soulful guitar playing and effective riffs, which elevate this above the likes of the one-trick ponies Motorhead, or the soft-rock of Iron Maiden and co. 'Maybe I'm a Leo' a good example - dull power-chords but into a pretty solid Cream-type blues rock riff. And so it is with 'Pictures of Home' and 'Never Before'.
The 'Smoke' riff is a classic for any guitarist - mainly because it's easy to play. It feels stately in its slower tempo. The song doesn't get lost to tiresome ubiquity - the narrative about the Montreux casino burning down, alongside the vivid lyrical imagery and cool band references, is involving and evocative. Rightly a classic.
I thought it a very solid album with some nice touches.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
I don't like the overt Beatles/60s pastiches e.g. '...And in Every Home' with its use of smugly gleeful horns, straight out of the era of dated Sgt Pepper psychedelia. It reminds me a bit of Macca's string-laden reworking of Beatles classics, in his pompous vanity project, 'Give My Regards to Broad Street'.
there's rarely a bad melody to be found here. The meandering 'Man Out of Time' is one of the standouts. 'Pidgin English' is immediately catchy, although almost sunk by more horns and Bee Gees impressions. 'You Little Fool' another decent pop number with the quick chord progressions heard in Pidgin English, Little Savage (and previously used so well in Oliver's Army). I particularly enjoyed the lounge-pop numbers - 'The Long Honeymoon', 'Boy With a Problem', 'Kid About It' and 'Almost Blue', despite the latter's similarity to the superior 'Shipbuilding'. There are others (Human Hands, The Loved Ones) which are ok but feel like a product of the Costello sausage machine.
It's a 3/4 borderline case, because it's interesting I'll tip it.
Run-D.M.C.
3/5
The album soon gets into its rhythm with the mammoth sound of 'It's Tricky'. A rap-rock tour de force. And all the rap/rock fusion numbers yield glorious results (Walk This Way, It's Tricky, Raising Hell).
Without detracting from its historic importance, outside of the rap-rock, it can sound dated. The minimalist beats with the early rap-style offers little light and shade, and doesn't feel like it's moved on too much from Grandmaster Flash.
However, it remains pretty entertaining and doesn't take itself too seriously. Like the Beasties, Run-DMC has a consistent style, theme, it's entertaining, and the rap rock is great.
U2
3/5
Plenty of the album feels anodyne at best, and soulless at worst, due to The Emperors New Clothes of the Edge's droning guitar sound and Bono's breathily sanctimonious vocals.
On the flip side, and it is quite a flip side - there aren't any bad songs here, aside from 'Tryin' to Throw Your Arms' which is appallingly lacklustre and throwaway album fodder.
Basically there's some cracking songs but often the production is devoid of life. And the album is too long. It could do with shaving a fair bit off (like your Mum's bush). On account of 'One' and 'Mysterious Ways' alone, it rates high three.
Björk
3/5
A quarter of it is a like an ominous oratorio, evoking murders in dark medieval cathedrals. Could only be constructed by a genius. The rest sounds like Yoko Ono taking a shit.
Steve Earle
3/5
It did grow on me after four or five listens. He's clearly a good songwriter and retains a great pop sensibility through all the country clichés about leaving this one horse town and hard drinking pappy on the farm, since Billy died at the factory, goin via the gas station down the interstate in the Chevy 67, hear the rubber on the blacktop, past that truck stop to get a beer and play ball and get a gal and Grandmammy's crying cos most people live and die here and the bank's fucked us over, but you could get that ol Greyhound outta town, one day it's gonna be fine, and you don't need to end up like your Daddy, yeah one day it'll be fine. One day.
And on balance that's a three.
Motörhead
3/5
I don't feel too different about this than I did 'No Sleep Til Hammersmith'. Ace of Spades is a bullet-proof rock classic, and the album is downhill from there.
However, I was surprised at the riff-strength on the first half of the album: 'Love Me Like a Reptile'; 'Shoot You in the Back' ("Western movies!", this one being a lesser cousin to Immigrant Song) - but 'Fast and Loose' (like Wolfmother) and '(We Are) The Roadcrew' in particular.
After this it really loses any appeal quite quickly with second rate, sausage-machine riffing.
The uninspired and one-dimensional lyrics add to the overall malaise by this point, culminating in the woeful and morally questionable 'Jailbait'.
Because of that first half, and the title track (which no superlatives can ever do justice to, such is its perfection), it does hold a solid three.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
I ended up being disappointed. Nothing here is poor, but nothing matches the brilliance of the opening three tracks. And that's not being racist, some of my best friends are Rastafarian, well I saw one on the bus once. It's bordering a four due to the opening triplet. It loses something when Bob isn't on lead vocals. But it remains at a high three.
Pink Floyd
5/5
This is a true album - it's greater than the sum of its parts. 'Money' stands alone, but the rest all work together to create the ethereal atmosphere. These are songs that should be listened to as an album.
Everything about this has an expansive sound; the title invoking space and expanse; the pulsing electronica which sounds futuristic but sows anxiety; the heavily reverbed instrumentation; the imperious guitar solos; the lofty, philosophical lyrics. A rare end-to-end aural pleasure.
Astor Piazzolla
3/5
Tango. Montreux Festival. Couple of librarian looking muthfuckas on the cover one with accordion, the other on glockenspiel. If there is ever an album cover and title combo that requires more effort to suspend all preconceptions, then I'd hate to see it.
I am not completely averse to a bit of glock-rock ( it turns out it's a vibraphone). I'm sure many more listens are needed to understand it in full, and some of the appeal is in the fact this is live and the playing highly proficient and impressive to watch. The progressions sound quite lovely and adventurous without ever going into free form jazz - in fact this all feels highly structured and rehearsed to me. A bit more soul, a bit less accordion would be my suggestion. Much of it sounds like a Pixar moment of peril. It certainly has energy and is not dreary in the slightest. I'm willing to offer up a three.
Nas
4/5
This is one of those 'life on the streets', hard hittin' albums, in that Tupac, Biggie, beef vein (beef vein!) - gangster confessionals, if you will. Whilst not exactly my cup of tea, on the evidence here, he does take his place amongst those respected luminaries. That's when it manages to pull away from cliché. Thankfully it does that a fair bit, and it is far superior to the gangsta rap which it birthed.
It is pretty much a diary, and Nas's lyricism is undeniably good. The album is too long. But I do like the way the cars on the cover look like one of those nose tapes athletes wear. It was growing on me each listen. It has just tipped to a low four.
Tricky
4/5
There is such a range of cross-genre samples from Marvin Gaye to Smashing Pumpkins, Shakespeare's Sister to Public Enemy; that it sounds layered and varied without ever straying from the Tricky brand of ominous trip hop. He has created something quite foreboding and cavernous and interesting. Although I can appreciate the likes of 'Strugglin' and 'Feed Me', that is more admiration than active enjoyment. Elsewhere, like the pumping 'Your Retro's or the opening run of four or five songs it is positively great. I end at a high four.
Sleater-Kinney
3/5
I found this an energetic romp through some garage rock, often peppered with nice guitar riffs. But ultimately much if it is all rather average - with no discernible reason this would ever be on the 1001 albums to listen to ahead of death. There were several real enjoyable standouts. It's plum in the middle threes.
Cee Lo Green
2/5
Overall, there is fun to be had, but it all feels a bit lightweight and there's no killer tracks. He flits between styles without really nailing any. It is way too long. But the lad's put in a decent effort, and offered some vague enjoyment. Still - I think a three may be overegging it, seeing as I'm unlikely to listen to any of this again.
Public Enemy
4/5
I find the music is at its best when the samples have some colour i.e. not over reliant on the drum beats which becomes a bit of a repetitive trope, but with some piano and guitar. Exceptions are Bring the Noise and Don't Believe the Hype, which deliver densely packed raps delivered at high velocity. And you know they mean what they say - this isn't throwaway content. I prefer Black Planet, but this is up there.
Ray Price
2/5
Much of it doesn't seem to offer anything except staying well within well-trodden country guidelines. So 'Pride' is just a lesser take on Everly Brothers 'Walk Right Back'. 'Lonely Street' reveals glimpses of his very nice, gritty baritone, which frustratingly often gives way to more of a croon throughout the album.
The album moves from introspective ballad to jaunty country pop pretty well. There are flashes of a nice baritone; and some decent country tracks that never grate, nor excite.
Madness
4/5
I read someone comparing this album to Village Green Preservation Society and Parklife - and it rightly takes it's place as a snapshot of English life at a particular time, sitting alongside those classics.
'Our House' has some of the most affecting melodies and lyrics ever committed to record. I love the way Rise and Fall just kicks straight into vocal. 'Tomorrow's Just Another Day' is one of my favourite Madness songs. 'Blue Skinned Beast' is pure pop until the unexpected chorus, tempo change, more in the minor key, fat piano hook - another barnstormer, and complete earworm.
And there's more, although it does dip towards the end, depriving it of top marks.
I have overlooked Indian accents and that cover 🫣
Madonna
3/5
The titular track is pop perfection isn't it. A hauntingly elegiac intro that propels into a funk-guitar infused, gospel burst of ultra-catchy chorus. And that bass; it absolutely underpins the whole production.
To say the album is downhill after that is slightly unfair. Express Yourself is solid and Cherish a pop banger. The lullabyesque 'Dear Jessie' is a big box o' candy in song form. Highly saccharine, but rather irresistible and secretly enjoyable. 'Oh Father' has some very nice chord changes, and is very much like Kate Bush, into a post-2000 Radiohead style chorus with a floating feel, and off time drum beat. This, more than any other, shows her knack for inhabiting the world outside of pop. 'Spanish Eyes' is a decent attempt too, whilst not living up to the enigmatic promise of 'Oh Father'.
Aside from those I feel like there's a bit of infilling, such as the dire Prince duet or Keep it Together.
Very difficult to rate, but I feel on balance as an album it doesn't quite attain the excellence to warrant a four, notwithstanding some superlative tracks. A high three then.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
I always expect to find hidden album gems with S&G, and I found them aplenty on 'Parsley, Sage...' - but there just aren't any here.
Having said that, there is absolutely no way an album with Hazy Shade, America, Old Friends, Bookends, At the Zoo and Mrs Robinson, comes in below a five. Even if the rest of the album was the duo farting it's a five for those alone.
Wilco
3/5
If you present an album of 1.16hrs you'd better make darn sure it's good enough or at least interesting. But there is quite a bit here that's underwhelming.
I dont think it anywhere near the quality of Mermaid Avenue nor Yankee Hotel. Had it been pared back, a very decent album would emerge. On the strength of the more folk-inspired numbers it gets a three.
Sinead O'Connor
5/5
Musically, the album is a curious mix of hymnals, ballads, protest songs, and 80s-shoegazer pop.
'Emperor's New Clothes' is one of three with Andy Rourke that are absolutely top-notch indie/shoegaze/dream pop. 'Jump in the River' is the second, and I love Pirroni's guitar work reminiscent of some of his 'Kings of the Wild Frontier' days. It's like a good Jesus and Mary Chain. The final one is 'You Cause as Much Sorrow', Rourke's bass superb in the glorious chorus. Much of it does feel like it overlaps with The Smiths (melody, satire, biting lyrics, great musicianship).
The overall production is really well done and restrained. 'Black Boys on Mopeds' could teach Billy Bragg a thing or two - explicit political commentary which doesn't grate in the slightest and is really very moving.
Throughout, the vocals sometimes soar, sometimes are breathy, sometimes on the edge of breaking - it really is superb - pre-autotune days where all the human frailties and cracks remain.
The album is quite the tour de force.
Steely Dan
5/5
'Can't Buy a Thrill' I liked a lot, and Pretzel Logic not so much - so as a band I am undecided where I stand on this bunch of Proto-prog/Dad-rock specialists.
At 40 minutes long and a collection of eight songs, this album is edited perfectly; makes you forget your listening to a style that is teetering on a tightrope - falling into bland MoR jazz inspired pop one way; and prog rock guitar wankery the other. But tread the tightrope they have, and they have done so perfectly.
The melodies continue to shine out over any prog-rock leanings; 'Razor Boy' leans heavily to Pretzel's MoR, but the melody saves it; 'Show Biz Kids' is like a funky retake of Nilson's 'Coconut'; 'My Old School' an effortless Eagles-esque breezy tune; 'Pearl of the Quarter' a Harrison-esque slide-guitar-propelled ballad.
'King of the World', like 'Boston Rag', has all the perfect melodies of CSNY, some Pink Floyd synth thrown in and fantastic Niles Rodgers funk-riffing.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
There is much here that is pleasant but not astounding. It's a fairly strong album with a few highlights. I am a bit baffled why the Live album is not in the list - surely one of the next gigs ever recorded. Still - Exodus yet to come...
Louis Prima
4/5
Overall as swing goes I found this very entertaining, due to the energetic live feel. They seem like a band that excels live and I would have loved to have seen it. So if you're conveying that on a record you've achieved something. Whilst entertaining it's not perfect and does dip in places. It really is bordering a three/four here. Think I'll tip to a four as swing albums rarely offer up this level of enjoyment.
Milton Nascimento
4/5
More often than not there is usually a catchy break or outro introduced into most of the tracks, showing a real knack for a catchy hook amongst the haunting melodies, the jazz, the psychedelia. I wouldn't say it all works well; but as a sprawling set of intriguing songs this is a very entertaining album. Will definitely listen more.
The Streets
3/5
Aside the catchy tunes, its other charm ends up being the sixth form poetry and his unapologetic, conversational style using his Brummy accent; and rapping about the everyday and the mundane. The references to British life are so hilariously at odds with gangsta and American rap (where everything is overblown and grand, or behind a massive cause, and the rappers ego is always the most important thing), talking about having a pint in the Wetherspoons or betting on a footie game. 'Empty Cans' is a masterclass in taking the achingly quotidian and making it into a three minute rap, down to the minutiae of the 'bit round the back of the TV' being broken, the power supply being broken, unscrewing 15 screws to remove the back panel. The complete inconsequential nature of the narrator's life and stories are what make it funny.
I wouldn't seek most of this out again. The singles are the highlights, and the rest of it was an enjoyable listen due to the sheer audacity of presenting the mundanity of life. The biggest mystery is why 'Original Pirate Material' is not here instead, which is an album of wall to wall bangers.
Boston
4/5
In summary, it's a great romp through some soft/ prog rock riffs and good melodies. I find a couple a little weak, maybe clichéd, but the pace and superb musicianship keep it all afloat. On top of that one of the best songs ever written.
The Charlatans
5/5
This and Urban Hymns are my sounds of 1997. It's always a little worrying when you revisit these albums after having not listened for a while, knowing the Proustian rush it will undoubtedly give; but not knowing if the music holds up. But I needn't have feared - the album is simply wall to wall Britpop-era excellence. Where Oasis take their Beatles with a twist of Quo, and Blur take theirs with a twist of Weller or Kinks, this lot have added a big Stones mixer, and a twist of Dylan.
And while they wear their influences openly on their baggy parka sleeves, the album is carried by the pure strength of every single melody. Their eponymous album was good - but this is their peak; I love it when a band is in this form and just hits riff after riff, hook after hook, melody after melody. And every break down, bridge or middle eight in every song, adds a new earworm melody or hook.
It's really one of those albums I always did, and still do, find life affirming. I don't skip anything, I love everything, they nail the feel of the time, the vibe, they take Britpop and mash it with their soul and dance sensibilities to produce a classic. And that's it.
Slayer
2/5
I like it when these bands have elements of, or passages of, nice harmony and melodic playing, just to show they can do it. It tricks you into thinking the noise must mean something as it's not the only string to their bow. Take Picasso. He spent years actually painting properly before he moved to drawing all women like Wayne Rooney. Megadeth actually do it on Rust in Peace. Metallica do it.
So a big problem is the absolute lack of any variety whatever, or even hinting that they have melodic chops. Yes the guitar player can shred. It's technically proficient. But it's devoid of any affinity with the song, and any solo can be lifted and placed in any other song. It's more Napalm Death than Megadeth.
'Jesus Saves' has a pretty good power chords intro - actually sensed a bit of what Nirvana were doing on 'In Utero' in this. But when he starts singing it's back to formula - epileptic mode is activated as the drummer goes double time, and the guitar solos some random shred.
There are a few decent bits - generally when there's no singing and no guitar soloing. And ITS NOT PANTERA. For that I'll scrape it a two.
The Temptations
3/5
I think this one of the better-quality psychedelic funk albums I've heard, although is a little mixed. It always rankles me a bit that there are never any originals on these types of albums, so the band is relying on selecting some, often hitherto lesser-known, tracks. In the case of 'Papa was a Rollin Stone', they didn't even want to record it, but for the insistence of Norman Whitfield. I always marvel at the intro for nearly 4 minutes, fundamentally based around a few repeating bass notes - and it still could go on for another three and not feel too long.
The album feels an album of two halves with the Whitfield-led live funk sound for the first three tracks (but half of the album in terms of length); moving mainly into balladry for the second half, which I assume is a band-led decision.
Aside from P-WARS I'm not sure I could term anything as superb. But quite an enjoyable listen nonetheless.
Lauryn Hill
4/5
Those classroom recordings are a distraction from what is an excellent album. I'm sure many people think they are profound - but they are actually close to mentally retarded.
That abomination aside, the album is peppered with some really excellent songs, especially the first half which is quite magnificent - 'Lost Ones' is pumping, and seems to have some of the Marley reggae influence; 'Ex-Factor' is glorious with a motown-worthy chorus; similarly 'Doo Wop' is like a lost 60s classic and, quite frankly, genius songwriting; 'I Used to Love Him' is elevated by the Motown backing harmonies; 'To Zion' a heartfelt ballad; 'Forgive Them Father' draws on 'Concrete Jungle's bassline really effectively.
It does lose its way for a bit, and I find 'Every Ghetto, Every City' (the Wonder-style clavinet notwithstanding), and especially 'Nothing Even Matters', as too neo-soul and dispensable.
It's a great album that's for sure, in spite of the classroom shit-skits and its fatty length. These points drag the album down. But the Motown feel, classic feel, the amazing vocals, great production make it a classic. Its as close to five as I can imagine. I really really really wish it was shorter.
Mudhoney
3/5
They basically take Stooges punk rock and cross it with Sonic Youth to make something sounding rocky but also hazily disaffected. And there you have grunge. I am not sure whether I am looking out for the Nirvana link, but I don't think you have to look very hard at all. It smacks you directly in the face on the opening track 'Need'.
So you have an important album which birthed an important rock scene at a particular place and time. That scene would itself be highly influential. But as an album, although I admire its punchiness, it's a collection of quite bog-standard indie rock songs with a couple of standouts. It's solid. But guess you needed to be there. Fantastic album cover though.
Fleetwood Mac
4/5
This sounds nowhere near the hyper-polished rock of Rumours, maybe deliberately so. Often It can sound like a collection of good b-sides, the Buckingham numbers especially.
I have a new found admiration for Christine McVie after this album and Rumours; and some of her efforts here are really great - none more than 'Over and Over'.
It's certainly an interesting album, and trying to view it in isolation (without the shadow of Rumours) I can't say there's a bad track here, even if some are formulaic. It doesn't have a commercially killer track - but has some gems nevertheless.
The Young Gods
3/5
A curious mix of chanson musical, and industrial rock. Unfortunately they rarely combine the two. So they drop in 'La Filles De La Mort' (Death Fillets), and 'Charlotte' (French for Carol), which are both pretty much straight chansons, alongside the harder rock numbers.
But overall, the heavier numbers started to really grow on me. I think its lack of pretension, alongside the interesting layering of sounds, driven by rock guitar spoke to me. Might also help I don't know what he's singing about, so the lyrics - which may be doom-laden bore-rock - are irrelevant. It currently shall reside at a strong three.
Tom Waits
2/5
The voice sounds like he's gargled glass; it's fully understandable why Tom Waits is an acquired taste. I just want to tell him to clear his ruddy throat. I feel he may have grown into the voice with age, and his aged baritone on the later album 'Bone Machine' gives it some more gravelly weight. A couple of enjoyable tunes here but the result for me is a bit Emperor's New Clothes. I can't see the attraction from this album alone - and I still await my Waits epiphany.
Isaac Hayes
5/5
I really really really got into this.
Possibly one of the highest compliments I can pay this is that, despite our generation's identification of Isaac Haye's as the voice of Chef, I never once thought of South Park. This album could easily find its way up there with 'Boards of Canada' - an album to create an atmosphere - that I could play over and over. Although I may edit out the Phoenix preamble.
Roxy Music
5/5
The album combines the right amount of glam, rock, indie, disco and ambient elements. It feels like it was ahead of disco and punk. And doing new-wave before new-wave was invented. I struggled for a while to get to top marks with it - but after about the twentieth listen I feel it must be so influential, that to deny it the big one would spiteful. The title track is sublime.
R.E.M.
5/5
I think this matches The Smiths and that is saying something. This is much more uplifting in places. It really nails a pop rock band downbeat upbeat sweet spot. And all for this for a debut at a time when everyone else had big hair is nothing short of miraculous.
'Laughing' surely one of their best tracks if the 80s - nay, ever.
Superb.
Robert Wyatt
5/5
There are layers of beautiful melody across the album. Aside from 'The Duchess', it doesn't lose its way into the purely abstract, and remains grounded with a real sense of the tuneful. Sometimes jazzy, sometimes poppy, sometimes pastoral folk, it's consistently lovely, consistently atmospheric and consistently enigmatic. Ambient jazz folk pop at its finest.
The Smiths
5/5
The core of the album is nothing short of sublime, featuring some of the band's best work. 'Girlfriend in a Coma' feels like the perfect band performance - you can listen to each of the band and be astounded, from Morrissey's blackest of comical lyrics, to Rourke's glissando-ing bass, to Marr's beautifully picked guitar line, to Joyce's irresistible intro (with the offbeat tom) and brilliant transitions from chorus back to verse. From here into 'Stop Me if You Think You've Heard This One Before' which is the Marr/Morrissey partnership in imperious form - guitar hooks, and superlative lyrics ('and the pain was enough to make a shy, bald Buddhist reflect and plan a massive murder').
The brilliance continues with 'Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me'. After what must be one of the most evocative and depressing intros to any song, it symphonically bursts into a self-pitying, 50s-reminiscent ballad of unmatched proportions.
For those alone it's a 5.
Guns N' Roses
4/5
The original cover for the album was abysmal - those shit cartoon affairs that you find on the likes of Iron Maiden or Megadeth albums, announcing the arrival of tedious soft rock masquerading as hard rock. Thankfully it was quickly changed for the iconic cover. But that's quite a fitting turn of events - because half of this would fit on the hellish cartoon album of dull rock platitudes; and the other half fits the iconic rock cover. I suppose that balances to a three - but the rock juggernauts, Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City and Sweet Child, are so iconic this does scrape a four.
Suzanne Vega
3/5
Pleasant and forgettable is probably a fair summation of the album. I couldn't help but compare this to the roughly contemporaneous Nanci Griffiths album, which is far superior. but it does have a handful of very nice songs, with a vocal that speaks to me - for which it lands on a very respectable three rating.
Venom
2/5
It sounds like a parody at times. Not sure if it was meant to be. That would make it better. Self-awareness is certainly not an issue - when they sing 'brain haemorrhage is the cure' you have to applaud them for their perceptiveness. Henry Rollins said they were like Spinal Tap and he has a point. 'Teachers Pet' is the best song Spinal Tap never wrote.
It's not abject. It's not Pantera levels of being execrable. It's just a bad attempt at Motörhead is all.
Peter Gabriel
5/5
The album is a perfect mix of sophisticated melody, pop, rock, and brooding ambience. Layers reveal upon every listen. There's not a dud here. To paraphrase Brian Pern, this is someone that could not only get laid - but discuss applied mathematics with his fans. Looking forward to listening to more Gabriel in earnest.
Pet Shop Boys
4/5
I don't think this album is better than Behaviour, which I liked for its sombre, evocative mood. I also don't see how this is better than 'Please', which has a consistently better standard.
But there clearly are some exemplar PSB songs - amd the Dusty duet and 'It's a Sin' are unimpeachable. Perfect synth-pop mixed with urban anxiety, which is what they do best. The track by track quality certainly is variable - but when it's good, it's perfect. Has to just tip a four.
Otis Redding
5/5
The originals are great. The guitar opening of 'Ole Man Trouble', an off-kilter hook with trills throughout is Steve Cropper on magic form. 'Respect' holds its own against Urethra's definitive version turning the almost chauvinistic lyrics until a feminist anthem. And 'I've Been Loving You Too Long' feels like a standard, showing the sensitive side of Otis. His powerful rasp never lets up.
The album combines, soul, rock, RnB, gospel to great effect. Otis's great delivery, a great backing band, a superb live feel - you've got a sure fire five on your hands.
Radiohead
5/5
They try their best to live up to the whinge-rock moniker that detractors throw at them, with the pointless 'Scatterbrain'; the dirge of 'We Suck Young Blood'; the aimless 'Backdrift' and the directionless Apex Twin attempt with 'The Gloaming'. Get rid of those and you've got an album just shy of 40 minutes which would be utter perfection. Take the absolutely barnstorming '2+2=5'. Orwellian imagery, political disillusionment and pounding altern rock in an unsettling 7/8 time signature resolving to common 4/4 in a massive crescendo - glorious! There is no other band could do this.
The 15 minutes of dirge drags it to a lower 5. But still a 5.
Tori Amos
4/5
This album of confessionals feels a different proposition to 'Jagged Little Pill' though, which it clearly heavily influenced, down to even the a cappella track. For a start, the piano playing is excellent throughout, finding new refrains and hooks every minute.
At least the first half of this album is superb. She went on to cover Chas n Dave, and suckle a pig, and write Cornflake Girl. I cannot argue with any of that.
3/5
This seems wildly overrated in an Emperor's Clothes type way.
That being said it nicely weaves post-punk Talking Heads new-wave, with rock-n-roll and rockabilly riffs. The result is part surf-rock, part new-wave part-punk. Alongside numerous punk bands, it also reminds me of The Cramps, with their psychobilly style.
After a few listens I did warm to it quite a bit. It pulls together various alternative rock threads into something deceptively simple. But then - it is literally quite simple, and I'm falling into the Emperor's New Clothes trap. Notwithstanding - an enjoyable album with growth potential; high three.
Small Faces
2/5
I'm loathe to give it a middle of the road three. It doesn't deserve that. It deserves something either below or above - cos this is anything but run of the mill. I find it quite a confused attempt at a concept album - Marriott was gravitating to blues rock and the pull here is clear, but he's still trapped in psychedelia. It's crackers. Maybe one day the haphazard charm will dawn on me but for now, not. Except for the cockney knees up numbers which Marriott didn't really like, but are the easy standouts.
Ali Farka Touré
4/5
An evocative and soulful album full of superbly played stringed instruments to create a great African tapestry of melody.
A masterclass in singing little but saying a lot.
Kraftwerk
5/5
Kraftwerk somehow manage to feel simultaneously of the past and of the future. Or to put it another way they evoke an enthralling past vision of the future. Alternatively, they have a futuristic (and Futuristic!) view of the future in what is now the past.
With that context, a few albino-looking mutter-fuckers tapping some buttons on a synth, takes on a world of significance.
This is a refinement of their sound to be as efficient as possible, true to Germanic form. And it's been instrumental in kick-starting hip-hop to boot. I can understand why the Kraftwerk purist may see Man Machine as a backwards step, but that remains the perfect marriage of industrial synth and melody for me. Nevertheless, this has got to be a funf.
The Who
3/5
There are some reasonable but throwaway tunes included; but the centrepiece is the incongruously superb duo of 'My Generation' and 'The Kids are Alright'. The album is sandwiched between two incredible singles, I Can't Explain and Substitute. Compared to these the album overall feels solid but sub par.
Little Simz
4/5
This feels a lot more than a rap album, aided no doubt by the presence of Inflo who also produced Michael Kiwanuka. As a result you get some soul, reggae and a generally vintage and super melodic groove to many of the tracks.
I enjoyed this a lot, and it continues to grow on me.
Lou Reed
5/5
I found this a fascinating album. First, it felt dusky, like the smoke-lit jazz bars of post-war Europe. Cabaret and jazz. Marlene Dietrich. Unrequited love over a piano.
And the band sitting behind that is nothing less than superb, sometimes deciding to show off as Jack Bruce marvelously does in the great 'Men of Good Fortune'.
Lou fits into that aesthetic of singing about eccentric outsiders from a seedy underworld. But a sense of melody runs through the whole thing. I for one thought it worked with very few missteps. And what's more this feels extremely unique; maybe can be compared to Histoire de Melody Nelson? Enthralling.
Elastica
3/5
Like so many Britpop-era bands, a peak at the debut album and then a fade into obscurity. A short, snappy, and catchy new-wave revival album, taking in Blondie and The Stranglers on the way. What else do you want?
Well maybe a bit more originality seeing as at least half of it is ripped off.
I think an album very much diluted by filler, but with some nice energetic, derivative highlights - in fact a few absolute Britpop classics. And a modus operandi that generally means you finish the song after a couple of minutes. I like that. I think it all balances out.
Love
4/5
'Alone Again Or' is a minor-key mariachi masterpiece. The swelling tremelo violin, trumpets (and great solo) and picked acoustic, all combine superbly. 'A House is Not a Motel' continues the acoustic-folk-pop, not a million miles from the Byrds. A great track.
Whilst this isn't a protest album, there were a couple of moments lyrically ('the news today will be the movies for tomorrow, and the waters turned to blood' or 'ask your leaders why' or 'they're locking them up today, they're throwing away the key - I wonder who it'll be tomorrow, you or me?') that made me question where the protest singers of today are, when we need them most. Singing about umbrellas, chandeliers or baby sharks, that's where.
A grower to be sure, with a pair of fantastic opening tracks. Thoughtful. Some straight down the middle of the road kind of stuff but dressed with some very nice arrangements.
Marianne Faithfull
2/5
A surprising album, opening with the eponymous track, having the pulse of a synth-driven Kraftwerk number. But it has the artifice of a challenge game show - think Krypton Factor, think Crystal Maze - rather than the minimalistically delivered motorik beat of those aforementioned tuetonic peddlers of synth ambience.
'Why'd Ya Do It' is by far and away the best track. It perfects everything the album is trying to achieve. A great groove, fantastic bass hook, well-applied sax, Frippian guitar. A vocal that is semi-spoken with venom ostensibly flowing from persona experience. And lyrics that'd make a whore blush.
Some decent album bookends, but overall it's a sense of a good story behind it rather than a good album. I can't see NASA putting it in a space capsule and firing it out to Mars alongside 'Dark Side of the Moon' put it that way.
Traffic
3/5
The ubiquitous Steve Winwood is back, seemingly popping up everywhere - only recently on Broken English and Berlin.
This is very much the acceptable face of jazz rock. Although I'm not sure this album has a coherency; at worst it seems a bit directionless. But I am tending to the 'at best' case, which is a string of semi-connected songs which have quite a nice feel and arrangement, with some very good breaks - and Winwood's obvious ear for melody. It's one of those with four potential, but gets a very strong high three. And no doubt we'll be seeing you soon Stevie.
Black Sabbath
4/5
I surprised myself by giving Paranoid top marks. Black Sabbath are a great find I.e. I obvs had heard them but hadn't listened. They blow away subsequent 'heavy' rock, thrash rock/doom rock/torture rock/pain rock/injury rock, out to the furthest fucking reaches of the universe.
First half powerful - second half loses structure and its way. That all comes together in the next album.
Fugees
4/5
On 'Red Intro' I just thought - jeez. Calm down. You would be the most annoying man to try to converse with in a social setting. The obligatory, pointless hip-hop album intro done with, the album quickly finds good ground with 'How Many Mics' which is like a twisting Pharcyde rhythm and delivery, with a dark carnival feel.
In general, the album feels elevated above the countless pile of 90s hip-hop albums, narrating life in the streets. It falls into it a bit ('Manifest'). That and the Outro, which is ridiculous, nearly torpedo the whole thing. I've always thought Fugees a bit lightweight really. As good as Wyclef and Pras can intermittently be, the real magic is when Lauryn sings or raps, and the difference is marked. On 'Killing Me Softly' I just want her to sing without the 'one time' bullshit, which is equivalent to the 'so good' add-on in Sweet Caroline.
In saying that, when they all hit form (mainly the singles) the results are excellent.
Kings of Leon
3/5
I suppose there is a certain stigma amongst the musicerati about KoL. A Coldplay and U2 level of snobbery. Namely because they were a band with so much raw promise, and seemingly compromised that for formulaic rock. But I listened to this and thought it not half bad. And not half good. It's a nice ale, but it's starting to go off. They haven't gone completely bore-rock at this point, although the ennui is creeping in here and there - the album finishes with two completely lackadaisical numbers that pave the way for what's to come. Fairs fair, this is a three.
Fever Ray
3/5
Whilst there are some top not h influences evident throughout, it ends up being an aeon behind the multi-layered textures of Boards of Canada; light years behind the desolate wonder of Björk; and a country mile behind the alternative melodic brilliance of Kate Bush. The album tempo rarely shifts into anything above a crawl. Because most of the album is so singular in tempo, it becomes something of a dirge. And I started to find repeating instances of the lower register pitch-shifted vocal highly irritating. For the other side there is a genuine creativity to many of the tracks, attempting ambience, good melodies, and a good vocal.
Which is all a long way to say it's a three.
The Dandy Warhols
3/5
The album is awash with melody. Taylor-Taylor's voice and harmonising with himself, with synth, gives the Dandys an instantly recognisable pop rock feel. TT's ear for melody means these tracks are far from expendable pop - incorporating pop, grunge, Britpop influence. Add to that the monumental 'Not if You Were the Last Junkie on Earth' and this is pushing a four. But this is a very good, rather than excellent, album.
Jungle Brothers
4/5
The album sounds retro as opposed to dated - modern but with an old school feel. The samples, primarily from 74/75 give a vintage feel, carrying afrocentric and socially conscious lyrics. A fair bit of it has an earlier rap feel with rapping over a beat and I like those less. Where the samples form a repeating groove ('Doin' Our Own Dang', 'What U Waiting For', 'Good Newz Comin'', the title track) the results are great.
Lenny Kravitz
2/5
He has a decent voice but at times just inexplicably wails like he's trodden on a piece of Lego. 'Does Anybody Out Of her Even Care' starts as a 'Perfect Day' take (only Lou Reed gets away with that delivery), and is then punctuated by screams worthy of the pre-natal ward. Beatleseaque again, but reasonably unlistenable. Talking of Lou Reed 'Mr Cab Driver' is pure Velvet Underground and a very decent effort at that.
The character portraits don't have the authenticity of Lou Reed, and the melodies don't have the staying power of Abbey Road. The vocal schizophrenia is sometimes jarring. But this is still a class above the corporate rock of Fly Away. The album is really carried by its singles, Let Love Rule, I Build This Garden and Mr Cab Driver and little else.
Oasis
5/5
As is the way with Oasis, mixed feelings. They mined their seam expertly; in earnest, I don't think it lasted much beyond the two albums, although they mined a few more nuggets of gold amongst the gangue in later years. 'Definitely Maybe' has the naive charm; it has quality above what any debut is entitled to have; and it sliced through the worst of the self-pity of pervading grunge and shoegaze at the time. I listen to 'Live Forever' and it gives me a rose-tinted feel of the optimism back then. This may well be the worst album I'll award top marks - but despite all its faults, for capturing the zeitgeist, for all the nostalgia, for some bona fide classics; that must mean a five.
Orbital
4/5
I find it hard to listen to electronic duos (especially when they're brothers) without the comparison, maybe unfairly, to Boards of Canada. But I think it would be fair to theorise that this album took hardcore and rave music and helped develop it into something more thoughtful and ambient - this is paving the way for the IDM of Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada. Even though oftentimes I felt like I needed dual 18-inch subwoofers, a bottle of water and a day-glo whistle, to fully immerse myself in its merits. And, at over an hour long, it feels like some medicinal powder is also beneficial to get in the zone proper.
But whereas the Prodigy where in your face aggression and fast beats, Orbital works at a reduced tempo. The album lends itself to listening rather than just dancing off your mash. Songs like 'HALCYON + ON + ON' have slow builds and atmosphere (even getting away with going toe to toe with Opus III's 'Its a Fine Day' classic). The tracks have something far beyond their utility simply for the dancefloor. I don't think it has the complexity, layers or sophistication of BoC, but this is consistently a very atmospheric album.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
3/5
Overall, an album I enjoyed, and particularly Fateh's vocal power. Some of the vocal runs dotted throughout the album are indescribably good. I also like the pacey tempo, and call-and-response carrying the listener along. There are a couple of tracks which fall into a slower dirge; which offer little respite given each track is eight minutes long. I don't know what they're singing about - but it sounds like they're into it, and that's pretty infectious. A high three.
Radiohead
5/5
Innovative album, drawing on minimalist electronic genres and peppered with remnants of rock to create an emotionally detached masterpiece, brimming with unease.
4/5
You've got to suspend cynicism of the saccharine, and the easy summer bar feel, lay back and enjoy it. It's basically the Pina Colada of albums. I don't think there's a bad track here. Even when the song appears to be going nowhere a great chorus will pull it back (e.g. 'Date Stamp'). Several numbers such as 'Tears are Not Enough' are a little aimless, or others such as 'Valentines Day' feel a little like a collection of good hooks rather than a coherent song; and that just prevents this getting top marks. But an album very close to unrelenting pop perfection.
The Cardigans
5/5
With th exception if the needless and Nouvelle Vague-esque Iron Man cover, this really is a marvelous album. It hits its mark pretty much without fail time after time; knowingly twee in places but offset with a little dusting of rock guitar, minor chords hooks and sweet melodies. And Nina's mellifluous voice.
Willie Nelson
3/5
Quite a pleasant affair, evoking saloons, the mid-west and Americana of the past. The doleful harmonica here and there smacks of the prairie, alongside the up and down clip clopping basslines. 'Can I Sleep in Your Arms', and 'Hands on the Wheel' are particularly nice country ballads. The saloon bar honky tonk of 'Down Yonder' and the gospel/blue tinged 'I Couldn't Believe It Was True' as the exceptions, I prefer the lilting side of the album rather than the more breezy numbers (such as 'Remember Me' or 'O'er the Waves'), which come off as a little clichéd and trite. That being said, Willie's cool-as-ice delivery injects a nonchalance to everything. The other big positive is the stripped back arrangements which means this doesn't sound dated like much 70s country.
Incubus
2/5
After the tender, if murderous, charms of Willie Nelson, this is about as welcome as a fart in a boiler suit.
It has a stuck-in-treacle tempo throughout. It really becomes the very definition of dirgey. Although the last track nearly wiped out all my good will, it's saved from a one-star by 'Drive'.
Frank Zappa
3/5
There are elements of the album I really like, and the jazz feel with rock and country fiddle creates some great moments. Psychedelia is alive and well but does not subsume everything else. For the moments of clarity and excellence, there is a propensity to extend songs into wandering jams. It's not Grateful Dead messy, in fact it remains quite tight throughout, but those jams highlight a lack of not knowing what else to do with the songs. Where that's avoided i.e. 'Peaches En Regalia' it yields the finest results.
The Pharcyde
5/5
It's one of those rare hip hop albums where pretty much every song is a banger. The samples are varied but consistent and drawing from jazz gives this all a free and breezy feel. It's got great raps great back and forth, a great feel.
The Flaming Lips
5/5
A mystical, other worldly album, with little comparison. There are a couple of underwhelming numbers, even though embellished with the great, ethereal synth sounds consistent across the album. The underlying melodies are often fantastic - and it's easy to let the imagination run away and believe there is a narrative here. Elements of robots, space, Japanese manga combine to make it quite cinematic and quite unique.
Deerhunter
4/5
It's the sort of album that reveals more with every listen. An album with a consistently shimmering feel that conveys a sense of nostalgia, without losing sight of its strong pop melodies. It flits from film noir to lo-fi pop, and whilst the latter category sometimes ends up feeling like a demo, overall you're left with a very pleasing album with some soaring highlights.
The Coral
4/5
It doesn't conform to prevailing indie rock standards of the time, eschewing that for mysterious, carnival sounds meeting 60s Merseybeat, ska meeting pop, sea-shanty rock meeting psychedelia.
'The Coral' is completely ramshackle, completely energetic, with no rulebook. It mashes British 60s with American psychedelia. Add to that the 'La's-worthy ear for melody, and you've got yourself a great album.
David Bowie
5/5
I listened to this a lot upon its release. I haven't since, as I genuinely found it too sad, post his premature passing. The album sounds like nothing he's done before, but there are many echoes of the past (Diamond Dogs, Station to Station, Young Americans, Low, Black Tie White Noise, Outside, Earthling, Hours, Heathen all feel present here). Bowie was clearly grappling with mortality - it's moving, yet admirably devoid of self-pity.
This level of invention after a 50 year career is beyond belief. With echoes of the past, it's firmly fixed on looking forward, staring down death under the shadow of terminal illness with a hell of a lot of dignity.
'I Can't Give Everything Away' is a devastatingly beautiful ending to an unmatched career.
5/5
On the face of it's a man that has given up trying to sing; and who's foregone any nuance in his guitar playing for a simple clipped strums. Such is the enigma of Dylan, it remains absolutely enthralling.
To focus on the technical proficiency of the voice or guitar completely misses the point of course. His voice is cutting, vulnerable, cynical, barking, lonely, joyful. It's the instrument to tell his stories - the conviction is second to none.
The fact that the audience reactions are cut from the streaming versions of the album is a travesty. The journey of the audience being delighted at the folk set, to the disdain for the electric set is lost. The tectonic plates of Dylan's music is shifting underneath them in real time; and that's a integral part of this album.
But no matter. A vital document in rock - absolutely electrifying.
Teenage Fanclub
4/5
I was often reminded of 'Where I Find My Heaven' by Gigolo Aunts, better known as the theme to Game On. Unapologetic power-pop. 'Star Sign' in particular has a fair bit of similarity. But unlike the semi-vapid 'Aunts', the warm melodies are combined with jangling guitars and harmonies, with a sporadic touch of distorted guitar to create something very appealing.
This album soaks in a lot of influence but its tendrils also reach forward into the 90s. A band loved by other bands. Maybe derivative for some, but for me they have created an exceedingly melodic album with a high hit rate. It tips a four.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Garage-punk guitars are replaced with glossy synths, and new wave and disco beats; but the essence of Yeah Yeah Yeahs remains unaltered. Karen O's immaculate vocal remains the standout feature; now out of its usual context, it's no longer a rock screech, but the soar of an electro-dance diva. Her vocal travels everywhere with proficiency; and yet remains aloof in the coolest way possible.
The opening three tracks are true heavyweights from their whole catalogue.
Hüsker Dü
3/5
Listen and listen and listen as I might, it's mainly a nebulous stream of similar sounding songs; often of an average standard, with a few standouts. Much of this could pass for a good demo tape. Having just fallen off the Bandwagonesque, this sounds extremely unsophisticated by comparison. At well over an hour, all because they had fallen out and couldn't kiss and make up, the issue is compounded.
There feels a very decent album that could have been constructed here among the sprawl. As it stands, I think it lands a three by a hair's breadth.
PJ Harvey
4/5
PJ has a capacious mouth and knows how to use it. Her vocal is direct and in your face, taking from the best traditions of The Stones and punk rock.
Whilst a germination of what was to follow, this is a cracking album within it's own right. There is less in the way of light and shade than that offered by its progeny, 'Stories from the City'. It signposts greatness down the road, but remains a raw and exciting debut. It was only after many, many listens that this all started to fall in to place. Despite the end of album drag, I think it just tips to a four.
5/5
Whereas 'Definitely Maybe' was a crackling debut of guitar rock energy, this is surely their more refined crowning achievement. Sticking with the wall of sound, Noel is leaning away from indie rock and into the anthemic. Songs generally sit around the bloated five minute market; Noel's guitar is a lesson in steadfast tempo and repeating hooks around the pentatonic scale. A recipe for self-indulgence - with an overblown charm.
Ending in apt fashion on the overblown 'Champagne Supernova'. Utterly meaningless lyrics in the verse, building to symbolic imagery of rock decadence in the chorus.
Nostalgia surely plays a part. I remember getting The Great Escape, The Bends and What's the Story for Christmas 1995. More bangers than the Wall's factory. What a time to be alive.
The Beach Boys
4/5
Had no idea what to expect of this album. Now I've listened to it repeatedly I still don't know what to make of it. An ironic title I discovered; this is far away from their surf-pop days.
This really feels like songs thrown together rather than an album - but it has a bit of charm of something like the Beatles Anthology as a result. A fascinating insight into the different sounds and motivations of each Beach Boy, and their meddling manager. It's good moments outweigh the bad (Feel Flows' and Long Promised Road are excellent) - and the bad isn't so bad to drag it down. I think it clambers to a four, and feels like one that may grow over time.
The Divine Comedy
3/5
Totally sidestepping the prevailing guitar-driven Britpop of the day for lounge pop, some of this hits a sweet spot, and some of it is rather cloying.
He looks a bounder with cravat, neckerchief and cigarette on the front cover. But I found the English cheeky chappy Terry Thomas character, becomes one-dimensional very quickly ('everybody knows that no means yes'; 'hello what have we here - a young lady!'). A whole album of this schtick is too much to swallow (Neil Hannon: "oh I say!").
There are clear highlights, aside from 'Something for the Weekend', not least 'Songs of Love' and 'The Frog Princess'.
It's hammy, it's obsessed with the sexuals. Its 'Carry On'. At it's worst it's like a Space album track. It could have done with a trim of about 10 minutes. But it's comforting to have this sort of schtick being created in the swell of Britpop, to be pushing against that ubiquitous tide. I admire that. There are some very solid melodies, and a tongue in cheek mentality. There's humour, there's wit, there's fun. We need this sort of album. It's an easy three.
Fiona Apple
5/5
I found the album's construction fascinating, but importantly Fi hasn't lost her skill for writing melody - which makes this experimental and accessible at the same time. And what's more it grows with every listen.
Her vocal is tender or gritty as required. Her backing harmonies are expressive, choral and add a whole other layer to already wonderful melodies (check the 'Cosmonauts' backing).
I found this album quite the revelation - the true successor in the Kate Bush lineage, whom she references on the title track. There are shoots of melody sprouting everywhere - some fully blossom, some remain little buds. It's multi-layered; it has interesting touches and inventiveness all over.
Not many have the skill to build an album as enthralling. It's fascinating. And it's indescribably good.
Tina Turner
3/5
Alexa. Play me the most 80's thing you can.
I've spent time trying to decide if this is a cynical ploy to make lots of money by TT's record company, or whether it has great artistic merit. But not too much time.
Some 80s moments of pop brilliance. A great vocal. A couple of utter classics. A load of covers of varying quality, and a couple of forgettable albums fillers. But plaudits for the iconic album cover with Tina in fishnets and her black pussy front and centre.
De La Soul
5/5
The De La Souls take on humour, surrealism and tasty samples, focusing on melodic funk hooks rather than dissonant sampling. There's a smattering of romance as well, pretty non-existent in the rest of the hip-hop world ("Hold my hand, and we'll pick my plantation of daisies for a bouquet of soul"). Optimism and positivity leap off the vinyl, giving a joy rarely found in their competitors.
It is a long album at over an hour, and it would sound a lot tighter if chopped a bit. There are a few (e.g. 'This is a Recording') that don't add much to the album. But the modus operandi is one of psychedelic journey; so, unlike many an album, the hefty album length doesn't sink it, but adds to the mystique. I love all the elements of this, the joy, the dispassionate delivery, surrealism, the overriding creativity. Something of a treasure trove.
Slint
4/5
This was a lesson in why you should listen to albums several times. At first I didn't get it. Lazy proto grunge going nowhere. Something else has since emerged - an atmospheric album of creeping detachment, poetry, leftfield twists and the desolation of the rustbelt.
The Everly Brothers
4/5
There's no doubt this is the parents-approved version of rock n roll, with not a pants-bulge or a hips rotation in sight.
This classic harmonies are consistently perfect. You couldn't fit a razorblade between them, they are so in unison and so perfectly harmonic. Their lilting country-infused approach fits very well with the electric guitars to create a real bittersweet sound. Surely an inspiration for, not just The Beach Boys, but every group that was ever to strive to harmonise.
A concise album of melodic brilliance, with exemplar harmonies, interspersed with dated rock n roll variations. A couple of timeless classics here, and a couple more waiting to be rediscovered. This feels like a true album in the days when there were precious few true albums.
Fleet Foxes
5/5
Perfect acapella harmonies. Beautiful, pastoral folk melodies seemingly a conduit for nature itself. Sympathetic electric-guitar lines. Psychedelic reverbing swirls and eastern melodies. And this just the first track 'Sun it Rises'.
It's one of those albums that everyone seemed to be listening to at the time; I had it on CD - and yet rarely have I revisited this in its entirety in the past decade (even in spite of being a fan of their recent atmospheric album Shore). Perfect in its construction, in its melody, in its execution and in its atmosphere. Five stars was invented for this sort of album - it's as close to perfection as you're likely to get.
Guided By Voices
3/5
As a big hodgepodge of basement demos from America with a 60s British influence, this could be enjoyable. But the whole premise does not make for a fantastic album, and one that is more a curio. For the snippets of undeniably great melody it gets midway in the ratings. It has piqued my interest to listen to some of their more developed albums.
The Psychedelic Furs
4/5
An album given so much of its character by Richard Butler's distinctive vocal. Not quite sneering, not quite in tune, not quite arrogant. It's instantly recognisable and stamps every track.
'Pretty in Pink' aside, 'No Tears' is the cream of the crop. A showcase for many of the 80s sounds that speak to me - some Bowie-influenced sax touches; a verse that surely was to inspire Morrissey; and a guitar-line worthy of Marr.
An album that carves a fantastic path between post-punk and new wave and bringing in their predecessors, with sax, some glam guitar, some jangling guitar. Some rock bangers and some impeccable melancholic melodies; all delivered via the nearly out of tune sing-speak of Butler. In amongst it some distinctly average tracks in a mid album lull. Falls just short of top marks.
Public Enemy
4/5
The Imperial Grand Ministers of Funk have created a continuous sonic backdrop which is only equalled by contemporary mixmasters, Jive Bunny.
The raps feel like they laid the groundwork for so much modern hip hop. Breaking free of the repetitive form of the original MCs like Grandmaster Flash, and raising it to something much more complex.
If I were to ever meet them I'd shake them by the hand and say, listen chaps, this might not entirely be my thing, but it's jolly accomplished. Although I prefer the other two PE albums we've reviewed, It's cutting lyrics and important subject matter and continuing quality of raps, tips this into four.
Van Halen
2/5
At its core, the album remains American soft-rock, as the Spinal-Tapesque 'Hot for Teacher' demonstrates. Dave Lee Roth is your classic 80s cock rocker, and cringe-inducingly creepy ("Reach down between my leg and ease the seat back"). Never do the lyrics have anything of significance or importance to say.
The title track, which opens the album, sounds like when Maggie Philbin used to get some amateur electronics 'scientist' in the Tomorrow's World studio to demonstrate the future sound of music via a home-manufactured computer.
VH spends most of his time sweep-picking or tapping his way at the speed of light around the entirety of the fretboard. Yes technically impressive but George Harrison'd be spinning in his grave if he wasn't dead.
'Jump' takes its rightful place as an 80s soft classic. But an album that's all sizzle and no steak.
Prince
4/5
You'd be hard pressed to find many album bookends that outcompete the two here. 'Let's Go Crazy' to open is absolutely rocking. A very entertaining preacher-style opening, before it gives way to that killer riff, infectious beat and killer solo. And the climactic title track is Prince hitting the sweet spot of balladry, rock and gospel.
The album filling is a consistently good standard amongst these behemoths. He doesn't take too long to find his falsetto which pretty much guarantees he's gonna be singing about shagging ('The Beautiful Ones'). On 'Darling Nikki' he loses some quality control in that regard as is his want - "I met her in a hotel lobby masturbating with a magazine". Firstly, she is committing this act in full view in a hotel lobby, which is rather demented. Secondly, she wasn't masturbating _to_ the magazine but _with_ the magazine. It sounds like she has her legs akimbo on the sofa by the reception desk fucking herself silly with a rolled up woman's weekly. One thing's for sure - I've got to see the film.
Overall the album is a good listen. It has a funky pace, an alternative edge, and some out and out classics, even epics. But not quite enough for the toppermost.
The Stone Roses
5/5
It's a melodic masterpiece from start to finish with ne'er a bad tune to be found. 'She Bangs the Drums', 'Waterfall' and co, are worthy of any 60s band in their prime.
Has there ever been an album so damn joyful to listen to? There is none of the sneer of punk, nor smug ego of Britpop. Major-chord, melody and groove-driven elation. To me it will always be the sound of being young.
And so the album ends up being a magnificent paradox. At the intersection of the 80s and the birth of Britpop, it really feels like the perfect encapsulation of a moment in time. And yet that moment in time for me wasn't 1989 but was when I discovered it proper, in 1997. It's the sound of youthful optimism, of discovery, of being on the edge of something. That’s why it endures: it doesn’t just belong to one era, but to any wanting to claim it as part of their own.
Kate Bush
4/5
'Sat in Your Lap' opens the album with intent - all the alternative rhythm and labyrinthine lyrical delivery of Talking Heads and Bowie. Along with the use of sampled sounds via the CMI Fairlight, it gives off a fantastic manic energy.
It does fall down in places though. The worst offender is the title track - a comical Rolf Harris impression, on account of the ridiculously bad accent, heavy breathing and didgeridoo. There feels the shadow of Gabriel's Melt hanging over the album (tribal drums, Gothicism), and this is like an ill-advised revisit to 'Biko'.
The next album probably takes some of the more experimental edges and gives them a pop rock sheen without losing them, which is the sweet spot for me. Not all if these tracks hold up to the depth of Cloudbusting and co. Nevertheless I've got to admire an album that is deliberately trying to be different when she was at an apex of her career. A singular focus on what she wanted to do is nothing but admirable. And out of that come several tracks that stand up to the classics; and always a ghostly beauty. Now we are acquainted, it may ingratiate itself further.
Circle Jerks
2/5
I refuse to spend longer writing a review than they did making the album. It has more melody than The Germs. It has more humour than The Dictators. It has more charisma than both put together. It packs a lot in to fifteen minutes, and feels like a proper album despite its brevity. It has less sticking power than old pritstick.
Keith Jarrett
5/5
There's a passage in Part II b) at around 7 minutes which is nothing short of sublime - he produces a sound like a cello is accompanying him. His phrasings, his legato playing on the bass notes, his use of the sustain pedal all combining to give a fantastically controlled resonance. I don't know what a purist would think of the crescendo in Part II b) when there are clearly hints of off-notes in his excitement - you do hear the thinness of the treble notes here which makes it all the more impressive he manages to draw attention away from it for most of the concert (or 'gig').
In truth I feel this is a four, but with every listen it grows. Highly proficient but highly expressive which is the real genius. Impossible to understand in a short period of time l, and I can say confidently this will continue to appreciate every time I hear it. Like a fine wine really. Hence on behalf of my future self, I award it top marks.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
4/5
There is some later Blur, some Everyday Robots just a hint of Gorillaz (that synth bass on 'Northern Whale'). Albarn's voice has taken on a marvelous timbre in later years and would be good to hear some of these live with that matured tone.
Simonon, Allen and Tong are integral to build spacious dub, jazz and frenetic shuffle and subtle atmosphere respectively.
I love the references to Tilbury docks, the Goldhawk Road and so on - this doesn't try to be anything but of these sceptred isles. A compact yet winding set of tales of the Old Smoke and all its intrigue.
Wire
4/5
Angular riffing ripped off to heckity by Elastica. It stills sounds fresh, and most of it hits immediately. A lot of credit here goes to the bass which propels these songs along with energetic runs and counter-melodies.
'Champs' is rollicking. Pure simplicity and unbridled indie rock greatness. This is very much Strokes territory and they must have nicked an idea or two from this album.
I love the overall feel approach, the hooks, the delivery. I feel it blanks out a little in the middle, preventing what is otherwise a sure fire five.
Saint Etienne
1/5
Would you like some sweets willy?
I have never understood the appeal of Saint Etienne. A stylized and non-coherent pastiche. Foxbase Alpha leans on sampling, spoken word, pastiche of 60s pop culture - and I like that concept a great deal. Yet its execution feels very weak, often done at the expense of emotional heft or songwriting strength.
It's a band that were caught in a burgeoning music scene and got lucky - they'd never be signed in any other musical period. Guff.
Pixies
5/5
The more I listen, the more I love it. It's an incessant barrage of wailing to woozy bangers.
Bossanova produces some of the highs of the Pixies' career. An unceasing tide of surreal alt-rock melodies, awash with the heavy reverb and delicious licks of a surf-rock guitar, set to ethereal vocal harmonies. And losing none of its unique edge. I see this as an evolution of their sound. A noirish beaut.
R.E.M.
5/5
'Everybody Hurts', overplayed, full MTV and VH1 90s ubiquity, and the closest thing to sentimental balladry - but a genuinely comforting song when listened to after all these years. Other singles 'Sidewinder' and 'Man on the Moon' amongst the best ever written, atmospheric, moving, uplifting, melancholic, glorious.
Even 'Star Me Kitten' shows that he can basically read out the signage from Timpsons and still make it other-worldy and beautiful.
The anti anthem of 'Drive', the folk melancholia if 'Try Not to Breathe', the haunting 'Nightswimming', the majestic 'Find the River' one of my all time favourites.
The whole album feels like a concept, skirting around the inevitability of death, of sorrow but the beauty in life. Sure, it's just a fucking album, but that's what it does for me. Its an album rooted in folk, but still able to deliver brooding minor-key anthems. A soundtrack for life.
4/5
Cooking my Sunday morning eggs listening to these, they just clicked. These are sweeping anthems, part of the fabric of life. My kids were singing along to them, although I've never played U2. We have now evolved to the point where we are born with innate knowledge of these songs in our very DNA. There's always a bit of me thinking, here we go again - it's like having to expend energy to climb the Inca trail - overwhelmingly exhausting, but you are left with quite the reward. The other criticism is the complete lack of joy in all this. The self-importance. All the greats (Dylan; all the others) sprinkle humour, even a soupçon, in their commentaries. Not these bog-brained Murphies.
Bono's vocal is smotheringly yearning, but he puts in some of his best performances, and the strength of the songs carries it through. The Edge is nicely minimalist building atmosphere only when required. Similarly Mullen and Clayton give tight and sympathetic performances. The title and cover reflect the feel of expanse in these songs. Close to a five, but ultimately they're still R.E.M. for cappuccino drinkers.
Sisters Of Mercy
3/5
This struck me as a full on Bowie rip-off married to 80s production - gated drums and chorused guitar. The opening bars are instantly dated to mid to late 80s. Whilst I quite like the components of 'Dominion' - epic feel, baritone delivery, dark melody - somehow the result is less than the sum of the parts. It feels like it could be part of a futuristic west end show like the contemporary 'Time - The Musical'.
'This Corrosion' is of course the big one, with it's 'Speedball 2' bassline. It is so Bowie derivative however (could be from Labyrinth - just swap "gimme the ring" for "you remind me of the babe!").
By the end of the album the formula is wearing a bit thin - drum intro, bring in the bass, sing as deep as you can in drawling tones. But, as the waitress said to me when I asked if she'd forgotten to put mustard in my sandwich, there is something there amongst all the ham.
The Triffids
2/5
The album opens with the savagely anodyne 'Bury Me Deep in Love'; a song that I would happily have believed was penned by David Brent. This was the soundtrack to Harold and Madge's wedding on Neighbours. As Neighbours-wedding songs go it comes in at second place, a good few laps behind Angry Anderson, and ahead of no others I'm aware of.
'A Trick of the Light' provides a glimpse of the dated pop glory that could have been, save for Dad vocal and truly bad lyrics ("I was beating on her like an anvil; beating her out of original shape"). 'Save What You Can' is also a decent one.
But hey, even a blind squirrel will find a few acorns. I'm happily waving goodbye to the day of the Triffids.
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
2/5
The most entertaining thing about this album is that 'Willie Colon' sounds like a gay man's bum condition; and Ruben (pronounced rubbin') Blades sounds like a lesbian sexual position. Aside from that, the big highlight is that intro - the album opens like any Pharell Williams via Nile Rodgers production you care to mention. It's from 1978, and it sounds like something from 25 years later, with a disco beat and sumptuous strings. It's marvelous.
Unfortunately, that soon gives way to samba stylings that I'd have difficulty picking apart from the backing track of a Mexican salsa class on a Tuesday night in the Midlands. It takes from the ready-made salsa toolkit of percussion-driven rhythms, brassy horn stabs and montuno piano - and to my untrained ear I hear nothing here to differentiate it from countless others.
I'd much rather Beuna Vista, I didn't really get the great appeal of this. The music feels saccharine and the words, if that indeed is where the magic lies, are over my head. Some nice touches sprinkled throughout.
Justice
3/5
An album wearing its influences on its sleeve and never really matching them. Some superb standout moments in a blitzing opening run; and later with 'Valentine' when the over-fuzzed rhythm section is given a backseat to spiralling and nostalgic sounding melodies. The album falters very badly over the last few tracks, and draws exceedingly unfavourable comparisons with those it tries to emulate.
Balancing at midpoint.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
4/5
Confounding my expectations, this album holds up surprisingly well, if anything getting better with age.
It feels like there's a lot of sampling because the hooks feel so authentic - like in 'The Grave and the Constant'. A feel that could come from the rolling grooves of Curtis Mayfield or the stringed soul-funk of Isaac Hayes. And yet there's rarely sampling.
Then you have the tentpole tracks, the festival crowd pleasers if Scooby Snacks, and the marvelous Fun Lovin',' Criminal.
I listened to 'Methadonia' as I flew in at sunset into the UK and it was rather beautiful. When I checked the map I was over Birmingham. Amazing how good things can seem from a distance.
Sebadoh
3/5
An absolute mess with some great highlights, like vintage Pavement. Eric Gaffney's contributions near sink the album. A year later the band would record 'Bake Sale' without Gaffney, and hit pay dirt.
Afrika Bambaataa
3/5
It all feels very stylistically blinkered, that being a minimalistic approach to anything but percussion and rap/chants. It's very hard to sustain an interesting album with that mechanical approach, sacrificing melody in favour of utility for the b-boys. It doesn't give the listener the mood, the melody, the atmosphere that Trans Europe Express does. The exception is 'Go Go Pop' which bizarrely is almost Paula Abdul in its 80s pop vibes. A very enjoyable interlude, but that may be because it's a port in a storm.
For its indisputably influential position in the hip hop canon, it gets to three.
Anthrax
2/5
This has confounded some of my expectations for the better. A dash of being a little light-hearted and not singing about the putrid stench of baby's rotting flesh, goes a long way. Not to the point of thinking it's a good album mind you. From a critical standpoint it's still overrun with bland chainsaw guitar chugging that does it's best to kill any interest elicited by melodic intros and breaks. I give it credit for making me realise what genius Black Sabbath were. I could edit together a cracking couple of songs out of it. A shade behind Rust in Peace.
Paul Weller
4/5
This definitely feels like the start of a new Weller period, his solo career proper, after the youthful post-punk of The Jam, the stylistic cul-de-sac of The Style Council, and the hangover that was his first solo album.
Where it loses my interest less is when he slips into Dad rock, which I also find of Stanley Road here and there. '5th Season' has a Clapton feel - albeit Journeyman-era which I like a lot - with a blues bent, and gospel backing on the chorus. Steve Winwood hangs over all of the album it seems, but with that comes something of the MoRs.
Overall, this feels a rebirth, pulling together elements if the Style Council and the Jam and producing something new. There are some classics here, there are some great album cuts - and there is some MoR. On balance, a great album.
The Jam
5/5
There's a lot of 60s throw back across the album. 'Monday' has a classic Kinks sound. 'Man in the Corner Shop' a descending melody and jangly guitar, that's worthy of Small Faces.
And of course they 'borrow' heavily from the Macca tradition, with the Taxman bassline - 'Start!' somehow doesn't feel stolen though; it feels a genuine tribute turned into something new, and just as good.
This is an album which is a borderline top marks. A number of tunes stand apart as top tier. It has all the edge of punk whilst not being punk - it's more complex than that, with Motown influences evident ('Pretty Green'). I think the feeling of it, the energy, the right arrangements and the strength of the singles plus other hidden gems just tip it.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
3/5
Against all odds the album grew on me. Sure It has major problems, not least some misjudged cod reggae, and fusion of multiple world styles, sometimes within the same song. But all in all, it incorporates world music without bastardising it; and what results is something pretty eccentric and, at its best, evocative. It has a creativity, it's quite cinematic in places and it feels genuine.
Although probably played by middle class folk that hang out at the world stage at Glastonbury and go to find themselves in Goa, I may even come back to it.
Brian Eno
5/5
This continues the tradition of Eno/Byrne collaborations par excellence. It's the exact template for Boards of Canada - chopped field recordings against hypnotic beats against suggested melodies. What makes it more admirable is the painstaking process it must have been to manually cut the tape and loop it in the pre-digital age. I also hear Radiohead, Kid A era - not surprising given their love of 'Music Has the Right to Children'. I hear DJ Shadow with melodies built out of the samples. I hear the atmospheric guitar sounds of Urban Hymns in the evocative 'The Carrier'. And does 'Very Very Hungry' create the 'How Soon is Now's refrain years before it was invented?! I hear the echoes of this through much ambient and electronic music I love. I am actually quite blown away by how modern it sounds, and how ahead of its time this was (and is) - there is no recording technique or vocal style that dates it. Absolutely visionary.
Curtis Mayfield
5/5
This is like honey being poured in the ear for an economical 36 minutes. Lush strings, soaring falsetto, and jazz-tinged drums all combined to create a landmark.
The album generally manages to eschew your typical Blaxploitation soundtrack cliches; by which I mean Shaft wah-guitar everywhere, and an aggressive edge. Ok, 'Junkie Chase' comes close to a man in flares running into cardboard boxes down an alley, but even then there's such a tightness and composure to the band, that it's hard not to marvel at it. The arrangements are so well done - take 'Cocaine Song' which in my view is even better than The Pina Colada Song - touches of delicate brass, flute, jazz piano - a sax solo that fits inside this particular dream. It's a wonder.
The likes of 'Eddie You Should Know Better' and 'Freddie's Dead' are dreamy slices of stringed soul. The latter in particular is quite reminiscent of What's Going On (the album), and they share similar social commentary. Marvin may have asked What's Going On, but Curtis said well here's what's happening! Do you know what I mean though?
Wrapping up with the strutting 'Superfly' bassline, Curtis continues his gentle delivery with a hard-hitting impact. But my highest praise is saved for 'Think', a stunning instrumental, that just ever so briefly recalls 'I Can't Help Falling in Love' before building into the most fantastic atmosphere, with some delicate woodwind, even some xylophone in there - uplifting and tragic at the same time. Although I'm probably now gonna find out this is played over the scene where the crack whore sucks off Pusherman in a church, it's really beautiful nonetheless.
Incredible Bongo Band
2/5
My overall issue, aside from the fact that I have a visceral hatred of bongos, is that if you say you're a bongo band don't bottle it. Nearly all the tracks swamp the bongos in the mix, and introduce a drum-kit centre stage. With one ear off the bongo, it's clear how lightweight these compositions/covers are. They all verge on the saucy feel of Benny Hill - I imagine the soundtrack to 'Confessions of a Window Cleaner' would sound very much like this. But the opening run of three surf rock tracks is of higher quality, and certainly gives it some credibility and some chutzpah. Before the bongo fatigue sets in.
Elvis Presley
5/5
This seems like a rebirth for Elvis after several tears in the wilderness, and after slowly losing his edge. He comes bursting back here with a change of tack from his unchallenging movie soundtracks, full of swagger and sex. This has a raw sound, probably not captured since his early rock n roll years - he's evolved into southern soul extraordinaire.
The mix here of live feel, gospel backing, fantastic band, Memphis horn overdubs, and song selection make this a winner. It covers some country, soul, rnb, blues, pop absolutely seamlessly. A comeback established, an iconic cover to boot. I like his eponymous album, although deeply rooted in rock n roll. This is a full-on maturation to something else entirely. The era of Suspicious Minds, he is surely at a peak. Knowing Elvis as a singles guy with a place in history this helps me understand what the fuss is about.
Everything But The Girl
3/5
I always thought that EBTG fell between dance-music for disaffected high-school drop-outs, and nondescript ambient chill. What's more I found their single 'Missing' unjustly ubiquitous - an underdeveloped demo of a monotony, that was played over and over. And the woebegone Tracey Thorn bearing a passing resemblance to Pete Carter, was the final straw.
But I have changed my mind. Although not about Pete Carter.
The fusion of stoic yet haunting vocal against drum n bass beat and little else, turns out to be a rather nice marriage. I imagine it as perfect soundtrack for scenes from BBC dramas about professionals in the city, where a lone protagonist walks the streets of London post-club, it's already getting light and she's looking beautiful but disheveled, carrying her heels, feeling sad about some heartache or other.
The album is too long. 'Flipside' for instance feels a dated throwaway that shouldn't have made the cut. 'Mirrorball' is like that Spice Girls one about their mums.
But a fine album of hangover electronica.
Grateful Dead
5/5
A complete volte face from the jamfinity of Live/Dead, moving into the Midwestern alt-country territory of 'The Band'. Whilst this doesn't get to the standard of the Band's eponymous album, it gives it a good go.
The best is 'Til the Morning Comes', a complete gem. That bass and chord work (almost like Pete Townshend). And a chorus worthy of The Beatles.
It veers on a 4 and 5. I can only see it getting better with time - and I'm tipping due to the stealth factor of taking me by surprise, and not making me listen to a masturbatory jam session.
Elliott Smith
3/5
I haven't listened to this simpering milquetoast since 'Figure of 8' some 18 months ago. As far as self-pitying balladeers go, he had a good knack for writing a tune, even at this point in his discography. This album is even more lo-fi than Figure of 8 - recorded on a 4-track, it sounds very much of the bedroom, just not in a sexy way. As a result, there are times when it has an amateur demo feel. To his credit, he keeps the album concise, and it proves to be a nice run of acoustic wallowing.
It's a shame he went the way he did. But who hasn't thought of running themself through with a kitchen knife after an argument with the better half?
The Electric Prunes
2/5
I'd never heard of The Electric Prunes (prunes, electric prunes that's the colour of my room). It wasn't half as bad as I was expecting an obscure 60s psychedelic band to be. It clings to blues-derived Stones rock - enough to remain enjoyable.
The band itself is reasonably limited. They aren't exactly fantastic players, and yet there's a chutzpah that gives it some purpose. There's a pop sensibility throughout, amid the lysergically-assisted garage rock.
As the album goes on it struggles more and descends a little into cabaret - 'Sood to the Highest Bidder' is Jewish wedding music, 'Abiut a Quarter to Nine' a lounge ditty of no consequence, 'The King is in the Counting House' a terribly dated take on English folk,and 'The Toonerville Trolley' is novelty ragtime nonsense to close out.
A selection of decent tracks. A dated album of ever-diminishing quality.
Queen
4/5
Queen
Queen are a fantastic singles band. I've never heard an album I've got into start to finish. And this isn't an exception.
The harmonies are excellent of course, and May highly proficient, and it offers up some of the best moments in the history of rock. None more so than Bohemian Rhapsody; it's operatic scale and ambition is jaw-dropping (its ubiquity nothwitstanding).
Unfortunately it's followed up by 'Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon' an annoyingly deliberate pastiche with arch vocals.
So something of a frustrating listen, but with some fine ballads, and some overblown rock epics (with which you just have to suspend cynicism and get carried away). It's right in that 3/4 boundary. For my own sanity I'll choose to ignore the vaudeville stuff, and concentrate on the Rhapsody, Prophet, Death, Love, Best Friend album core. That must tip a four mustn't it?
Mj Cole
2/5
It does generally avoid a 'People Just Do Nothing' approach, although the MJ FM Interlude comes close. Albeit he's nowhere near as good on the mic as Grindah (genuinely).
At worst, like 'Free My Mind', it's a very painful slice of Brand New Heaviest banality. Many of these tracks feel like the sort of thing AI can create these days.
It's also way too long. Do you really need to start remixing album tracks on the same album? Save it for the b-sides! In saying that, I did like the 'Sincere' remix - which then renders the original pointless. Then he does another remix of the remix!
Some nice moments. But nowhere near enough to render this a 'good' album.
Baaba Maal
4/5
I found this calm, melodic, and very easy to warm to. Great guitar tones are a feature, crisp and resonant.
Criticism, need it be had, may lie in the album length, the lack of variety, and the a couple of instances where the warm vocals tip into more of a tinny timbre - such as on 'Ko Won Mayo' (_Who won the mayonaisse_). In fact the final run of three or so songs sounds more antiquated and loses a bit of warmth - the acoustic guitar replaced by the harsher sounding hoddu (first thing I learned in first grade music class).
But in today's world of noise and overproduction (chill Gramps!), this is offers some meditative respite. An enjoyable journey across the Senagalese plains.
The Beach Boys
4/5
An album always ranked amongst the classics, cited by everyone from Macca (and only today I saw Macca was talking about Pet Sounds again) to Thom Yorke. There's some Phil Sector about it ('Here'); and some Burt Bacharach about it. But the slower numbers rarely reach those heights.
the classics, which are truly that. 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' is the perfect showcase for their harmonies, and an amazing rock n roll bassline. 'Sloop John B' a classic for the ages, magnificently crafted and harmonies on turbocharge. A proper singalong. And 'God Only Knows'. Actually a song I've also thought was slightly dreary until listening this time around. This is where the stars align and the Pet Sounds brand of slightly saccharine meets slightly leftfield is absolutely nailed. The canon at the end is amazing.Enough to get to a 4.
The Who
5/5
The first Who album I've heard that has a full rock sound but coupled with consistently fantastic tracks. The combined power of those two elements is elemental in its power.
I wasn't too surprised to find out that most of the material here was intended for a Tommy follow-up. The songs have that air of grandeur - dramatic but not melodramatic; emphatic but not bombastic.
The non-single tracks, far from being filler, are top quality. 'Bargain' is something of a take on 'Won't Get Fooled' but Rog's high note is one hell of a moment. Deserves the knighthood just for that.
Never really loved the Who, save for a few singles. Love this album.
Björk
4/5
I hear quite a lot of commonality with the contemporaneous 'Kid A', released the same year (especially 'Cocoon'). Delicate yet powerful vocal; cinematic in scope; unsettling shifts; electronic beats and synths. 'Heirloom' in particular has a melody which reveals itself evermore upon repeated listens. Although 'Hidden Place' is a gloriously immediate track to open, with it's epic Bond theme strings.
There are some really divine moments here but by golly do you need patience. Vespertine feels a long album and not one that necessarily justifies its length. But, as always, many moments of greatness here.
CHVRCHES
2/5
I found it a fair album with one major standout, Mother We Share. An odd album to include really. I like the synth sound and loops. But it does lack more killer tracks.
Orbital
4/5
I was won over by the nascent ambient dance of Orbital 2. This one seems an evolution of sorts, a bit more social commentary included, less hardcore beats and even more ambience. At times it even veers into what your raver may call softer territory with the likes of 'Attached' which has all the melodic signposts of Lemon Jelly.
There seems much less of a focus on the club scene, and more on building a mood at home perhaps with a special cigarette. It's the come down album after the rave of Orbital 2.
AC/DC
3/5
I feel about this album as I feel about Back in Black. Namely, some deceptively simple yet iconic hooks, with a great stadium sound, great rock vocal, but the occasional tendency to drop into the formulaic rock n roll riffing of ZZ Top, despite an evident lack of pretension.
I am not particularly interested in coming back to this album, the way I might Back in Black. Title track sure, and 'Love Hungry Man's is a treat. The rest is very proficient, and they have hit upon a sound that they could exploit for several more years.
Fred Neil
4/5
Hearing this album with no context, I was immediately reminded of Tim Buckley. Loose and easy folk, a touch of sloppy playing, and mellow double bass. Fred Neil has more of a croon though, and I like the woozy, stoic approach.
Overall, this is a great surprise. His brand of confessional and unhurried folk, drawing from traditional, blues and country sources, hits a spot the way Jansch or Drake or Cohen do.
Kanye West
3/5
I've tended to avoid Kanye on account of the nuttiness and all that. But I enjoyed College Dropout, and I enjoyed this (to an extent). So shoot me.
'Dark Fantasy' and 'Gorgeous' are anthemic opening tracks. 'POWER' and Runaways yet more cinematic brilliance, rivalling anything he'd done hitherto. It has more than enough patchy moments, 'Monster' being one of the most unintentionally terrible things I've heard in a fair while.Thats until 'Blame Game' cones us which is one if the most pointlessly overlong songs I've ever heard.
You can absolutely tell this album is by someone not quite right in the head. Bonkers lyrics. Lyrics that are as eccentric as they are cringeworthy. Trying to get a cast of thousands on the album, that all fail. And aiming for a symphonic, overblown sound, the sound of ego. Still, he hits gold a few times.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
3/5
The album feels very much a cultural flashpoint - riding the brown wave of the burgeoning gay-culture in the 80s, but also shrouded in a slightly menacing and defiant tone - a seeming response to Thatcherite Britain, and even Reagan makes an appearance on 'War' (or a Spitting Image impression at least (yes! It's Chris Barrie!)).
Trevor Horn needs credit for the great production, which combines power synth and disco bass, with loops and samples subtly included to create a wall of sound that's dense but atmospheric. 'Welcome to the Pleasuredome' is one of the best examples - epic in fact. So much going on in that track.
Sides 3 and 4 are much more questionable, primarily comprising covers and naff 80s vibes ('Wish').
The Only Ones
5/5
It's more than just the garage-rock I was anticipating. Power pop, jangle rock, punk, new wave and doo wop all included.
It's a rare breed of punk-pop that sounds simple but is difficult to get right. There's a couple of throwaways, such as 'Language Problem' and 'The Immortal Story', but even those have a ragged charm. Feels like a cult classic.
Ice Cube
3/5
It's interesting that he called on the Bomb Squad to produce this, so you get a slice of West Coast gangster rap vs the East Coast sampling and breakbeats. Most of the time The Bomb Squad's soundbeds sound like a war zone, as Ice Cube machine guns his raps over the top.
However, much of the genesis of the cringeworthy sides of gangsta rap are here - rapper as king; or woman as hoe, such as 'You Can't Fade Me' where he believes he's to be a father and so he posits: "Then I thought deep about giving up the money. What I need to do is kick the bitch in the tummy".
Out the blocks with force, a fiery snapshot, a pioneer - but ultimately an uninspiring ego-trip.
Dwight Yoakam
2/5
Dwight Yoakam. How many egg references does one man need in his name? I suspect his middle name is Shelly, just to cover off the third part of the egg.
I preferred Steve Earle's Guitar Town which has more of a heartland rock influence mixed in with its country. 'Lonely Room' is more backward looking to classic country, and mixes in a fair share of covers (nearly half in fact), such as the traditional sounding 'Send Me the Pillow'. I'm caught between two and three. I think it's a high two.
Goldie
3/5
It's one hell of a long album. Listening critically rather than passively takes a mammoth effort, only rivalled so far by Bitches Brew. 'State of Mind', a nice little bass hook and pleasant enough soul melody, is strung out for over 7 minutes when 3 will do. 'Sea of Tears' has a pleasingly ambient 6 minutes, then segueing into a more beat-heavy 6 minutes. It becomes a repeating soundscape after a while, with minimal variations on a theme. Dropping in a soul melody here and there, the ever present synth swell, the unrelenting jungle beats. Certain moments, such as the heavily jazz-leaning firebreak of 'Adrift', or the well constructed build of 'Kemistry', or the Prodigy-similar 'You and Me' give further interest - but otherwise this album is to be treated as an atmospheric companion rather than an album to actively enjoy.
OutKast
5/5
A transcendent, weird, unrepeatable classic. While the sheer sprawl of it means it’s not always coherent, and it could have done with a twenty minute chop, it’s more daring than most 90s rap outfits. Their chemistry is undeniable, and they feel more in sync here than they do on (the two separate albums of) the classic Speakerboxx/The Love Below. The album is more ragged and rock heavy than their follow up, which is polished - this is the Revolver to Speakerboxx's Sgt Pepper.
Alice Cooper
4/5
It's a bit of a smorgasbord, with Cooper leading proceedings as the gothed-up ringmaster. It has a theatrical frivolity to it, rather than shock value. I can imagine it would have been a right hoot live. I'm not sure if there are enough great songs to tip it to four but it feels very close. I'm going to let it through the gate on the basis of the authenticity of it, the influence it has had, and the interweaving of different styles whilst staying true to their sound. The fact that whenever I've seen Alice interviewed he's a bloody good guy doesn't hurt either.
The Slits
5/5
The Slits feel like the garage version of Talking Heads. A base in punk, but angular rhythms, afro-influence, vibrato vocals and and leftfield melodies. They eschew punk's three-chord sloganeering for something more rhythmically adventurous.
And that album cover. Reclaiming femininity, no more objectification! I fully support covering your bare breasts in mud to send that message.
A great album of young energy, not giving a fig for musical convention, and busting with naive invention. Sure fire five.
Nirvana
5/5
There is not a bad song amongst them (disregarding the hidden track). Every one feels key to the album, and a classic in its own right. A fair bit of nostalgia thrown in to. The album took a garage-band of the late 80s to full on 90s alternative-rock stardom. The music can get lost in the myth, but listening afresh I am very pleased to report that it is simply magnificent start to finish.
They are one of the few bands to straddle classic rock, heavy rock, pop and pull it off with such credibility. And an iconic album cover to match.
Nine Inch Nails
2/5
The 'woe is me' manifestation of baseless victimhood renders much of this album feeble. Indeed Reznor himself sounds like an anaemic bedridden teenager. In that way it's very much an antecedent to Linkin Park. Instead of turntable wankery though, here Trent has just turned on a load of hoovers in the background to give an industrial feel.
In amongst all that are vague melodies. You just have to concentrate. Or it takes Johnny Cash to show you. Even 'Hurt' takes ultra-concentration given he's turned all the vacuums up. 'Heresy' has a Depeche Mode electro-beat, into a grungey chorus - a good track. Depeche seem a recurring influence (prominently 'Ruiner'). 'Closer' is a decent beat but the lyrics are highly incel.
'Hurt' does make me wonder if I'm missing something. The lyrics are quite profound when Johnny sang them, although slightly altered. But I can't really imagine Johnny singing 'fuck me like and animal' or 'shove it up inside', so it must be an outlier. An album with some draining lyrics; some annoying white noise; some narcissistic, whining attitude; and a touch of melody.
M.I.A.
4/5
This album is a curious mix of breakbeats, grime, dancehall and electropop. It feels pretty different to your typical British rap of the time.
She feels like she was quite a singular voice in London's rap scene at the time. She also has what feels like an authentic accent, as opposed to the histrionics of the (with apologies to the real deals like Dizzee and Wiley) grime dialect disseminated by myriad wannabes. I'm on board with authenticity, with the earworms, with the retro breakbeats, with the sense of joy, the gravity of history. The album dips at points, down to a lack of variety more than anything else. But it clears the four hurdle with some room to spare. Shame she's gone full conspiracy nut. Guess her career isn't what it used to be and she needs the grift.
10cc
3/5
Maybe the only band named after semen other than Pearl Jam and country singer Willy Glue. I've a soft spot for 10cc and Godley and Creme, cos my Dad used to play their greatest hits on vinyl quite a lot. I am partial to their brand of bonkers pop; your Dreadlock Holidays, your I'm Mandy Fly Mes, your Life is a Minestrones, your Things We Do for Loves and your Rubber Bulletses...
Of this album only the first track, the highly Wings-esque 'The Wall Street Shuffle' was on those greatest hits (the synth break from 1.55 is pure Macca, almost ripped wholesale from Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five). It a classic, twisting and turning 10cc track, great pop melodies emanating at every second. Marvelous.
Sampleable riff aside, 'The Worst Band in the World' is pretty weak. Come on fellas, just say 'shit' - you're 30 years old or something!
It all just about transcends novelty. Their pop craftsmanship is unquestionable; although their theatrical leanings may be something of an acquired taste. Overall I enjoyed this, and it has real moments of genius.
The Darkness
5/5
The Darkness unapologetically give a nod to 70s/80s glam rock, big-hair rock and prog-rock. Van Halen, AC DC, ZZ Top, Kiss, Status Quo, Queen, Thin Lizzy, Aerosmith, they're all there. And yet what could be an utter shit soup, especially given their influences' pull to dull cock rock, is actually one steaming fucking broth of rock genius. After shoegaze, grunge, dweeb rock and whatever else, this rock bombast hits home like a hammer to the ears. It revived what was seen as unfashionable, with total sincerity, technical brilliance and spandex-clad showmanship. You have to be dead inside not to instantly suspend all cynicism and just jolly-well think 'fuck yeah!'.
The Go-Betweens
3/5
There is much of the Deacon Blues about this. That 80s, acoustic pop, with some male/female harmonies. 'Quiet Heart' and 'I'm All Right' in particular. Whilst the former is a nicely romantic effort, the latter feels like it's injected with a helping of dirge. It never quite takes off, and it doesn't quite have the earworminess of Crowded House to sustain that sluggish pace.
'Streets of Your Town' is another big nod to Deacon and this time they hit pay dirt. A real forgotten gem; pacey, pop brilliance.
Initially, I thought this lot a washed out Waterboys. Forster's vocals are a lot weaker than McLennan's. But I decided after a while these are more than bland soft-pop numbers. Whilst they don't always get the bounce of Deacon Blue, the jangle of The Smiths, or the melodic chops of either, it is peppered with some very proficient 80s romantic smalltown pop. And it grew a smidge with each listen. It has attained 'good' status.
John Lee Hooker
4/5
This could easily have all the elements that would turn me off - blues, wheeling out random duets, and some 80s MoR stylings. But somehow it avoids overly-dated production to remain surprisingly tasteful; and it mainly avoids dull blues tropes and it doesn't fall into the chasm of bland blues-rock.
Aside from the cracking opener, my highest praise is saved for when everyone else leaves the studio and let's Hooker do his thing. 'Rockin' Chair' feels like a one-take recording of a master at work. As powerful as any other track here, and just down to the elemental bare bones of one man and his beat up acoustic. A great sound. 'No Substitute' sounds like a 12-string. Incredible the way he draws variations out from essentially his one chord. 'My Dream' is superb.
A defining later-career album.
Ali Farka Touré
3/5
What I like about this album is its restraint and the fact it doesn't compromise itself for western styles. Yes Ry Cooder is here, but is not trying to make a cynical and commercial play. It feels very authentic, and married to Touré's homeland, and that's borne out by a couple of traditional and Cooderless tracks, such as 'Banga'.
It's also interesting that he didn't like recording Talking Timbuktu in the USA, and called it a 'spiritual car park'. That comes across a little, and the lethargic grooves can tip into torpor ('Amandrai'). The guy ended his days in his home villages spending his money on upgrading its infrastructure. The genuine article.
All that said, I think Savane is the more powerful album. But enjoyed this nonetheless.
1/5
You swore! Cool!
Durst's absolutely terrible lyrics barrage you at every turn. How 'Hot Dog' is not a Lonely Island parody is one of the wonders of the modern world. He sounds like a whining toddler with an ADHD energy, who's confused his meds with a can of Monster - delighting in saying the word 'fuck' like it's the most counter-cultural and rebellious thing that you could ever do.
The one small positive holding all this together is Wes Borland who is a cut above any other 'nu metal' guitarist. The poor lad has fallen in with the wrong group of friends, and I can only lament what would have been had he associated with a more talented rock crowd.
Ultimately, it's music for Americans who think wrestling is real.
Giant Sand
3/5
A meandering record that never quite finds its footing, Chore of Enchantment feels both loosely stitched and occasionally affecting. There's a clear debt to Neil Young.
Among the sprawl lie some lovely melodies, 'Shiver' and 'No Reply' being other standouts.
A very apt title, because it feels like a chore of enchantment listening to it (ammirite??!). Bloated, ragged, but not without some great touches.
Frank Sinatra
3/5
The first Sinatra album we reviewed was also the first chronologically, 'In the Wee Small Hours'. I thought that was magical. The warm baritones, the twilight tunes. 'Songs for Swinging Lovers' I found clichéd and a crushing disappointment.
Unsurprisingly I find this somewhere in between. Which is saying something, as I detest insipid bossanova music - hotel lobby, smugly-whispered, impotent pap.
The dichotomy of this album is well represented by 'Change Partners' which starts off with the very definition of elevator music. Thankfully it settles into a very nice interpretation of a Berlin classic. Whilst the bossanova guitar rhythm is annoyingly staid, here it feels more like an acoustic interpretation of the American Songbook. And that works well, especially with Frank's voice at its best.
A generally tasteful marriage of two styles, and thankfully the bossa nova is restrained for the most part. But it does become a nagging distraction. Nevertheless, some masterful Frank-work puts this in 'good' territory.
The Beta Band
3/5
This is like a scenic journey on a bit of a dilapidated trainline. Very pleasant; at times could do with some network upgrades. I get the sense the Beta Band hold it in higher esteem than it deserves - this isn't a classic by any means. But - well, like I said, very pleasant, and I can't get much past that.
I can't help but compare to early Beck, given the hip-hop feel of some of the loops and rhythms. But it pales in comparison, not having the same energy, humour nor eccentricity. And so I leave it thinking, so what? And yet I thought it was fine. The odd bit of something great. Some great harmonies. Never a bad tune. A 'three' rating almost feels a little too much - but it's certainly better than a two.
The Beta Band
3/5
The formula of strong bassline and Beach Boys type harmonies continues, as on the flowing 'Space'. However, so does the generally disinterested feel of every track. Some gems shine through, 'Lion Thief' in particular, which is a succession of great passages around a funky beat. I love 'Rhodedendron' and would have loved to have seen more of this. An effortless piece of synth and harpsichord-led baroque pop. Tantalisingly brief.
Then there's 'Out-Side' which has an energy but simply no lasting impression.
The Beta Band to me seems like a band that has been handed a collection of great melodies. And they've done their best to make them feel quite uninspiring. As with 'Hot Shots II' a little harsh to go for a 'two' rating. This scrapes a three by the barest of margins.
Megadeth
2/5
Like Rust in Peace this earns a two for some nice moments. But the propensity to thrash, thrash, thrash, undermines any burgeoning rock riffs, pumping the whole album with an effluent that's not unlike what those bastards Thames Water have been doing for 20 years to our beautiful streams. A two-scraper.
Hugh Masekela
4/5
Nothing wrong with this. Getting older one's mood-palette changes, and whilst this would have made me actively vomit as a 20 year old, these days I'm quite open to it. I'm also open to a hot cup of roasted coffee and a plate of eggs 'n' avocados - and this is the music to listen to while having it.
From the jazz voyage we've been on, I've found Jimmy Smith bland, Bitches Brew overbearing, 'Water from an Ancient Well' lightweight, John Zorn aggressively contrary, Duke Ellington pleasant, Kind of Blue sublime. This is up there, putting beyond any doubt that Hugh Masekela is my favourite flugelhorn player of all time.
The Hives
4/5
The only compilation album on the list? Veni, Vini, Vicious may have kept things in order, including a compilation of the first two albums feels like an unfair advantage. But, no matter.
The Hives were nothing short of a force of nature as a live band 20 years ago, and their frantic take on punk/garage rock can be electrifying. 'Main Offender' the most primal and direct among them. A fantastic opening hook. It strikes me listening again how much like the Kinks' early singles this sounds; chord based riffing, distorted, reverbed guitar and raucous vocals (complete with scream).
As far as the garage revival goes, the Hives deliver hyperactive swagger; a knowing arrogance that is meant to be comical; and clean but frantic chord-based riffing. It's far from original, and they've only got one gear. But these one-trick ponies keep churning it out. It's tongue in cheek, it's crowd pleasing, it's fast, it's riff-laden, it bloody great fun.
The Kinks
4/5
It's an album by a band I love, but an album I know isn't five material, even though I desperately want it to be. There's just too much filler here amongst the timeless classics. It'd probably be fair to take the handful of gems and give the album a five on the strength of those - but I feel there's too much that's substandard by the superlative standards set across their 60s catalogue. And I've finally realised Waterloo Sunset is perfect. Better than any Monet evoking Thames sunset. It's the highest of fours.
Gene Clark
5/5
The more the album went on it struck me as a great lost Dylan album. Clearly Clark doesn't try to hide his influence, but rather revels in it - indeed even covering Dylan via 'Tears of Rage' (which is a solid interpretation in the aesthetic if the album, but ironically the weakest song here).
For all it's echoes of all his predecessors, I thought it brilliantly executed and superbly written. Simple but timeless melodies. I could, and did, and will, listen to this over and over. I had a canter through some of his other solo material and it's littered with gems - check 'In a Misty Morning' or 'Silver Raven', if you haven't already. Definitely someone to come back to.
Leftfield
4/5
I don't find it clinical as some Aphex Twin. I find it warm; it's like rave music but for vinyl. There's always a thread of melody running through - vocals, or dub bass, or synth. And there's a fusion of style that really works well, invokes tribal beats and transports you around the world. Mystical.
Stereolab
5/5
'Metronomic Underground' sets the tone with looping bass hooks, motorik grooves, and a swirl of organs, synths, and vibraphones. The album channels the spirit of French yé-yé, and 'Cybele’s Reverie' is typical of that, string-laden and reminiscent of early Cardigans.
This melodic charm is often offset by cool in (both senses of the word) deadpan vocals and mechanised rhythms that recall Kraftwerk or Neu! 'Percolator' brings a retro-futurist 'Foux da Fa Fa' energy, with a killer bassline, while 'Motoroller Scalatron' is a standout (amongst standouts) - an angular, jaunty anti-capitalist jingle. It's a bit retro Euro-pop, a bit Slits-style punk.
Where it sits in the Stereolab discography, I’ve yet to find out. But I’ll return to this a lot: a blast of French detachment, wrapped in shimmering electropop. I think it's great.
The Monks
3/5
A curious blend: garage rock warped by eccentric vocals, bursts of sharp provocation giving way to surreal humour. We've had a few mid-60s US garage bands recently and they all struggle to get past a two rating. Whilst this has some great raw energy, some great eccentricity (and points for the band donning actual tonsures), it feels like a bit of an artefact. But when some claim it's the start of punk, I can see it.
Lucinda Williams
3/5
Although it's sometimes dressed in the trappings of the country style I despise (overbearing southern accent and singing about sad shit), for the most part this is a highly tasteful, laid back album, with a vocal completely absent of any arrogance - it's just straight down the line story tellin' (Suzanne Vega comes to mind). I really appreciated the vibe of this, and I appreciated the often lovely melodies that don't rely on clichéd country progression but carve their own path. It's as good as Guitar Town, and nice to see Steve Earle is heavily involved here. Still doesn't come close to Nancy Griffiths, but this was a very pleasant surprise. I may even listen again.
Screaming Trees
3/5
Remember seeing this lot on Jools Holland, may have been this album, Mark Lanegan and a couple of fat lads on guitars (turns out they're brothers, one now dead of fatness). Thought it was reasonably mediocre back then. But it's grown on me a bit.
Overall the album has a surprisingly classic British-rock feel, aligning more with Britpop than grunge. The songs are pacey, with arpeggioed chord changes, normally a chord change per bar, to keep things moving. It has no particular lyrics to pick out, no sensational moments to pick out. But it has an underlying sense of quality control, without ever titillating. Had I this album back in the 90s I'd love relistening now - it's Starsailor, it's Kulashaker, it's Suede. But as it is, I wouldn't seek it out, and nor would I turn it off if it popped up. A 'good' rating.
The 13th Floor Elevators
2/5
It's an interesting album, with some decent tracks, and I hear a lot of later bands here. At the time it was probably important - but then I think Tomorrow Never Knows was released a couple of months before this, and that puts the album into a pretty primitive context. The mono mix has some punch (I found the stereo mixed highly flawed bouncing from left to right), but remains eight miles behind Revolver by every measure. I'm not sure I enjoyed it less than The Monks - but it doesn't get to a good rating, although I find it an interesting album of its time.
Charles Mingus
3/5
According to Wikipedia, "the album features liner notes written by Mingus and his then-psychotherapist". Also: "Outside of music, Mingus published a mail-order how-to guide in 1954 called The Charles Mingus CAT-alog for Toilet Training Your Cat. The guide explained in detail how to get a cat to use a human toilet". Guess this guy's mind was racing, and that comes across on this album, which is full of ideas, it's highly orchestrated, yet sometimes breaking into more free-form such as 'Track C'.
I think it floats around 3/4, but I'm not sure I got enough to tip it. I enjoyed it and would certainly like to come back to it one day.
Black Sabbath
5/5
I thought this a really interesting take on their menace-laden heavy rock that's so effectively done on previous albums. 'Cornucopia' and 'Under the Sun' bring the doom, a link back to the eponymous first album. But there are different angles here, with some pastoral touches ('Laguna Sunrise') that mirror some of what Led Zeppelin was doing. There's the batshit bonkers and frankly superfluous ('FX', which I think by their own admission was a joke, or so they say now anyway). There's balladry - the excellent 'Changes', which really is very heartfelt. And amongst it there's the.ability to continually crank out great riffs, like the sensational 'Wheels of Confusion' and 'Supernaut'. It's easy to see why Sabbath are held in the highest esteem with metalheads - surely the blueprint for heavy melodic rock everywhere.
The The
3/5
'This is the Day' has always been an alternative-80s-playlist go-to; a five-star track and an exceedingly high bar for the rest of the album. The accordion hook is a masterstroke in a slap-bass heavy world.
The whole thing treads the line of 80s-production of big reverb, and light jazz pop (Curiosity Killed the Cat, China Crisis, Hue & Cry), and genuinely interesting alternative pop. There are interesting layers here, and some nice melodies; and one all out classic, which in retrospect seems a bit of a poppy outlier - but magical nevertheless. Overall a good album.
Steely Dan
2/5
This album is the sort of music that, when you're 14, you think Mums and Dads make love to. Ultra-slick studio jazz-lounge-yacht-pop.
Guess I've got a bumpy relationship with Steely, having very much enjoyed Can't Buy a Thrill, loved Countdown to Ecstacy and crashed at Pretzel Logic. Fagan and Becker were striving for studio perfection with Aja, and by most accounts they got it. There's a reason this won the Grammy for best engineering. But it's polished to within an inch of its life, so much so that any grit, (the type you can find all over Countdown to Ecstacy), is completely buffed away.
Avoids a one rating solely down to the truly magnificent 'Peg'.
I'm not sure who the lady on the cover is, but it looks like she's crying and I completely sympathise.
Bob Dylan
5/5
For a start, it contains two of my all time favourites, with typically fantastic prose: 'She Belongs to Me' and 'Love Minus Zero/No Limit',
I detest 'Bob Dylan's 115th Dream' even more than I do 'Talkin' World War III Blues' or 'I Shall Be Free No 10', with their hillbilly twang, 'comedy' about as funny as a Shakespeare comedy - it's actively cringeworthy in places. There's also 'On the Road Again' which is has equally obtuse lyrics about frogs in socks and Mum's in the ice box, and generally, as with all these tracks, a bunch of non-sequiturs around the loosest of narratives. It's a clichéd blues progression which says nothing, surely one of his weakest tracks.
Those aside, everywhere else you look is genius at work. Emanating couplets ingrained on the consciousness ("I know that evening's empire has returned into sand"). Sublime.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
This really taps into something of the soul I find. Very fragile melodies with fantastic arrangements to match. Soul-baring balladry for the ages.
Röyksopp
3/5
There really are some glorious moments, not least the first two tracks and the Erland Øye collaborations. But its Boards of Canada mimicry becomes something of a millstone, and I can't quite fully shift the feeling of the band striving track-by-track for anything that will please the audience.
Ice Cube
3/5
On one hand this album was released after the LA riots, social temperature at boiling point, racial divided, brutality, and Ice Cube railing against oppression. And on the other hand it was inspired by Predator 2. Has there ever been a more hilarious juxtaposition in music?
It feels like an important statement for the time, although it seems confused. And now not only do I see Ice Cube as the godfather of gangsta rap, but of the 'Summertime' subgenre (It Was a Good Day', although ironic, feels like it birthed a thousand lightweight imitators, like Will Smith's Summertime). Maybe one day he'll be held accountable for these crimes. That all aside, there's a DJ Muggs infused mid-high tempo feel on many of the tracks, alongside some hard hitting lyrical commentary (in fits and starts). I think it's better than Amerikkka's Most Wanted.
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
This album seems to have dispensed with the proto-punk lo-fi guitar chaos which appeared at points on 'Isn't Anything', and expands their ambient sound.
Not only have they focused on the dreamlike tones, but they've mixed it a lot better, whilst still retaining the signature washed out feel.
The album closes out with 'soon', which brings in more of a prominent drumbeat. It's very Happy Mondays, in that it seems to capture an acid house danceable vibe. I also wonder if Shields took anything from Johnny Marr (the How Soon is now sound for instance).
It showed another way for guitar music. Excellent.
Hole
2/5
The fate of most grunge is bad poetry and self-pity, delivered with a scream or whine at the end of each line. And this album delivers plenty of that.
There is a lot in the phrasing that is clearly inspired by Kurt Cobain, the strained screaming, the pulling of vowel sounds upwards (like an Australian cadence), and soft/loud dynamics.
It's a pretty one-dimensional album with little that holds up over twenty years later to mark it as an important album. Even from a historical perspective - ever hear anyone say they owe it all to Hole? There are some passing moments of interest, Doll Parts, Violet and the good Softer, Softest.
Tito Puente
2/5
I fear the bastardisation and dilution of Latin jazz music, via a myriad network of beach bars, has permanently impacted by ability to impartially critique exemplars of the genre. Of which I guess this is one.
But because salsa music (not unlike samba), to my admittedly untrained ear(s) is built round the narrowest of musical variation, it's near impossible to discern the supposedly good from the banal.
Of the ones that stood out, 'Hong Kong Mambo' took my attention immediately with its prominent marimba sound that sounded different and also nostalgic (Monkey Island soundtrack).
Despite its dogged adherence to type, Tito brings a real infectious energy and crispness to the rhythms and instrumentation. I'm not a salsa historian, unless you're talking sauce, but I understand this album to be the first studio quality recording of salsa and mambo. But if you want my advice lose at least two trumpets.
I appreciated some of it, but it's difficult to love.
Moby Grape
3/5
Firstly, and most importantly, the band name sounds like a Yorkshire term for haemorrhoids. Ooooo I've got a reet moby grape.
Rather than all-out psychedelia, It's more of a blues-rock affair, with some eclecticism via alt-country and folk. It took a while to take hold, but there are some fantastic ditties here. Not least 'Aint No Use' with it's busy country-style pickin'. And of course the folkier '8.05', the only one of these tracks I knew previously, which is wistfully magnificent. 'Naked if I Want To' is similar, a nice little interlude.
It's an odd album all tolled, it does feel as though each band member has gone away and come back with their style; hence you go from blues to folk to country to psychedelia. It sounds like it was recorded over a period of several years. I think it tops many of the American rock bands we've been listening to in this era; and yet I still cannot fully get to like the album as a whole.
Peter Frampton
5/5
Frampers gives it real energy, and has a palpable stage charisma (it's hard not to like his bright attitude and Spinal Tap accent between tracks). The talkbox on 'Show Me the Way' is the big gimmick, but played with gusto. The track is really quite infectious; and surprisingly the talkbox only appears once more on 'Do You Feel Like We Do'. This guy must've been a big influence on The Darkness, and you've just got to embrace the sincerity of it all.
This album fully earns its exclamation mark. A great live album - you can feel it's live. I've used enough superlatives here to award this the big one. Against all odds, I think it's that good.
The Black Crowes
3/5
If the brief is to rewrite a bunch of Stones songs over and over again, then this passes with flying colours. Clean-to-crunch tone, big chord-based angular riffs with the classic Keef hammer-ons, weaving guitars with a rich, Ronnie-like lead. 'Sister Luck' goes to the lengths of replicating both Keith's angular open riffing, and Ronnie's blues licks over the top. 'Could I've Been So Blind' even has a middle eight that just rips 'Brown Sugar'. 'Seeing Things' goes a bit No Expectations and brings in a Fool to Cry organ. 'Jealous Again' has the perfect Stones tribute tone, with twinkling piano, it's much like 'Its Only Rock n Roll'. The Stones comparisons are endless. And the irony may be that Mick and co were watching from their Steel Wheels vantage point and weeping with envy that they were being beaten at their own game.
They were mid-20s when they recorded this. This highlights the problem - it's not how derivative it is; the problem is the lack of the raw energy expected of a debut. This sounds like mid-career journeymen, content with not pushing boundaries and relentless in their formulaicness (yes, it's a fucking word).
A collection of tasty hooks, even if the songs don't always do them justice, the opening two tracks and the career defining Hard to Handle cover gets it to a 'good' status.
Dr. John
5/5
My immediate point of reference when listening to the opening track was Live and Let Die. Lines like "I got remedies to cure all y'alls ills!" could be uttered by Baron Samedi (in the complex, with the proximity mines). It's so hammed-up that it could even be Papa Lazarou.
However, the more the album develops, and the more I read about the good Dr, the more it made sense, the more I liked it. This isn't someone looking to exploit a culture. His network of musicians from the New Orleans diaspora, steeped in local musical tradition, provide a real authenticity. It really is a great ensemble piece.
It's probably the best concept album I've heard. A dark world of characters delivered with eerie timbres. It goes from foreboding ritualistic chants on 'Danse Kalinda Ba Doom', to the irresistible Southern groove of 'Mama Roux', the hypnotic classic soul of 'Danse Fambeaux', the single-worthy 'Jump Sturdy', with banjo and what sounds like a deepened clarinet, (and has the bounce of Fats Domino almost, but with the foreboding rnb undercurrent). And 'Croker Courtbullion' is like a murder mystery soundtrack, full of delicious intrigue. The flute is eerie but carnivalesque, with accompanying organ punctuating the suspense. Superb. The whole thing is eccentricity different and marvelous.
The Afghan Whigs
2/5
Aside from the title track, this is an utter dronefest. Lyrically, a heavy serving of self-pity becomes the order of the day and acts as a sinkhole, dragging down the album.
There is some salvation with 'I Keep Coming Back' which draws on their soul influences, albeit he skirts round the edge of being in tune. The album's capped with 'Brother Woodrow/Closing Prayer' which is a very cinematic number, backed by strings. Finally they are clambering out the sinkhole and introducing some real feelings (notably when no lyrics are involved). Alas, it's too late.
The Residents
3/5
They've melded a bit of Eno and Kraftwerk minimalist electronic beeping, with the iconoclasm of punk, taking aim at Bach and Elvis. Ultimately I think it's all a big pisstake.
Indeed 'Birthday Boy' sounds like the seeds of the South Park theme tune. And while we're on the subject, are the vocals inspiration for Mr Hanky? 'Semolina' could be a South Park skit. There's a certain humourous levity in all this that's rather appealing vs self-regarding grunginistas, of which we've had a few of late.
There are real flashes of brilliance throughout that provide accessibility. The short and sweet 'The Booker Tease' with its duo sax is marvelous.The creeping and sinister 'Blue Rosebuds' with its bed of shimmering electronic beeps (gives me Lodger vibes).
This gives me independent coffee shop syndrome. I love the fact it's there. I don't want it to not be there, and it'd be a shame if it wasn't. But I still pop into Costa for convenience.
The Sonics
5/5
The American Kinks. No nonsense rock n roll. What the Sonics have done is take the energy of Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis and delivered it with overdriven guitars. And it zings.
In fact it's so vibrant that even the rnb covers, if which we've all heard too many, sound fresh.
If you heard this being played in a bar or pub on a night out it would still bang 60 years later. But then I am nearly *cough* years old, so maybe not the best judge of what constitutes relevant youthful energy. It's the perfect encapsulation of the emergence of guitar-led bands bringing new life to the classics, alongside their own raw take on rnb/rock.
Bill Evans Trio
1/5
'Solar' has a near 4-minute bass solo. Unfortunately, it's not an outlier. I don't care what your chosen genre of music is, but a bass player cannot be given the limelight for 4 straight minutes. There is no way it will end well.
This history is important, given the bass player died a few days after recording this. He sounds like he created possibilities for some that followed. But being influential doth not being listenable make.
When the band is working together and Evans' clearly exemplary piano work is present keeping structure and meaning, it is pleasant. But the incessant 'countermelodic' bass solos are unbearable. It seems a lifeless affair to me. And on the recording I've heard, it sounds like the audience agreed.
U2
4/5
Looking back on my past U2 reviews, I have, on both occasions, given reluctant praise to Bono and co., enjoying the big hits especially. It's no different here. Surely 'Sunday, Bloody Sunday' is their best song. Alongside the singles, 'Drowning Man' is very interesting indeed, and is pretty aligned to Blue Nile ambient, mood-pop, and as a result I thought this track really excellent.
Whilst never dipping below the hurdle of decent quality, things certainly do tail off in the second half. I find 'Two Hearts', 'Red Light' and 'Surrender' a little characterless. Although '40' is a nice ditty to close out. The album has some great moments. I was going to award it a three, but if I had discovered this by an obscure band I think I'd be rather impressed into low 4 territory. So that's fair.
Bad Brains
1/5
The biggest issue with it is, it can't make up its mind whether it's hard rock or soft rock and it flips mid song between the two without any attempt to blend them. It's far from a sophisticated fusion, rather cobbled together elements. And another thing - this album is described as a blend of jazz, of funk, or reggae. There is absolutely none of those elements present. Any attempt to characterise it as otherwise is wrong.
Most importantly, there are no good songs. Which is something of a problem.
Scott Walker
5/5
This is something else. It's not an immediate album and takes a fair while to make sense. There is the sweet as honey, velvety timbre of classic Walker Brothers. There are the lush arrangements, with strings that range from the subtle to the dramatic. There are those expansive melodies like 'Boy Child', which is a fantastically delicate track - very Bowie/Eno in fact ('Moss Garden' from Heroes is surely inspired by it; as is 'Heat' on The Next Day over 40 years later). The song structures feel ethereal because they never follow classic 60s pop progressions, and oftentimes it's difficult to anchor yourself in a single key. It takes time to follow the patterns and let them sink in. Let that sink in.
It's a continual grower, rewarding repeated listens. It reveals itself to be more and more complex. I believe it is likely a work of understated genius.
Girls Against Boys
2/5
Interestingly I could hear some of Kings of Leon in the opening track 'In Like Flynn', but back when they were good. There is a murky, underground feel to it, driven by the ever-present, heavy, fuzzed bass. The rock riff is pretty pumpin' too.
Rather than develop into an explosion of underground rock as I was hoping it peters out pretty much immediately with a procession of sluggish riffs and lyrics which sound like they're being made up on the spot, repeating inconsequential phrases. To prevent too much scrutiny, the singer's diction is appalling, and it's impossible to make out anything but growls, like he's laying down a guide track. The vocals remind me of Giant Sand and the overall effect is dirgey. '7 Seas' is one where they have a bit more conviction and as a result it's one of the best efforts.
For the touches of interesting riffs, some tasty bass in places, it noses a two.
The Gun Club
4/5
Whereas The Cramps took punk and leant into rock n roll and surf-rock, The Gun Club leans into blues. Although the extent of their blues credentials involves use of a slide, and a cover of Robert Johnson. 'Preaching the Blues' is a nice cover in a rockabilly style (it sounds nothing like the original and is brilliantly spruced up). This is all pretty much straight post-punk (more garage rock than punk), and it's great fun.
'Sex Beat' is a fantastic post-Stooges piece of punk pop. 'Jack on Fire' is a marvelous cross between post-punk and Dylan. 'Ghost on the Highway' the best example of blues-cum-garage rock.
One of the jewels in the crown here is Lee Pierce's Lou Reed-inspired voice; it's energetic but detached at the same time.
Inevitably it doesn't keep the quality at the last, although I was quite taken with the take on 'Cool Drink of Water Blues'. Just shy of a 5 by a hare's breast.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
5/5
I found this enchanting. It gave me vintage vibes; at times simple melodies that I imagine someone with no classical training who's tried to write a classical piece would come up with. I get the feeling it would irk a classical purist. But it carries you through these moments, oftentimes sounding like a child's TV programme from the 70s - Mr Benn, or Bagpuss (the organ of 'Giles Farnaby's dream') or perhaps the wimsy of the Snowman's incidental music ('Penguin Cafe Single').
'Milk' introduces some more experimental elements, and a minimalist sound without the strings; I can barely believe what my ears are seeing as there's more than a whiff of the Kid-A-era Radiohead about it (25 years before Kid-A). I was only slightly surprised when I discovered post-listening, that this has Eno's fingerprints are over it.
The album does go a bit too route 1 with 'The Sound of Someone You Love' and 'Hugebaby' as relaxing as they are. Maybe Eno was out to lunch.
It's right on the cusp. Ultimately I think it rather unique; a sometimes charming, sometimes fascinating listen.
Todd Rundgren
4/5
Although it's much like a sketchbook of ideas, themes start emerging like the kinship between 'Flamingo' and the great 'When the Shit Hits the Fan'. 'International Feel' showcases a very Beatlesque melody and overdub approach (sounds quite Sgt Pepper, given some psychedelic treatment) with the soul influences on his vocal.
The soul medley is ok. But it feels some judicious editing (is 'Just One Victory' worth it?) would have made this even better. But somehow the sprawling patchwork of ideas comes together under a cohesive aesthetic. It works. In some ways it reminds me of the endless creativity of Beck's Odelay, perhaps with less humour, more LSD and more dated views.
Laura Nyro
3/5
Regarded as a classic album, and influencing a whole host of piano-led singer-songwriters, Elton and others. I actually find it rather cruise-ship cabaret. 'Luckie' perfectly demonstrates the problem, kicking off with a great soul lick before descending into a Liza Minelli number. 'Sweet Blindness' not far behind - you could wear a sparkly blazer, tights and high heels, and hold a top hat over your chest while you kick about the stage to this one. The tempos are constantly flitting between the great Brill Building pop of Carol King with the Memphis soul licks of Dusty Springfield - but with an inexorable pull back to Broadway theatrics. It's that pull that undermines what otherwise would have been a jewel.
The Sabres Of Paradise
2/5
The tribute to the second greatest British Gary - 'Wilmot' - is probably the highlight. A sultry bass that's helped along by a nice drumbeat and touches of piano, that all create a nice dub groove. Although they know they're on to a good thing which is why they drag it out for 7 minutes.
What is rather telling us that the main guy Andrew Weatherall produced for Bjork, Beth Orton, the Orb, New Order - the list goes on. The man produced Screamadelica! His production skills were clearly magnificent, but without the creative melodic force to partner with, it all feels a little hollow.
According to Wikipedia, "NME named Haunted Dancehall the 47th beat album of 1994" - that's probably about right.
Skepta
3/5
I enjoyed parts of this, but after the first four tracks it feels like it's trying to actively crossover to the States.
Overall, man quite enjoyed it. Some bangers. It's all a bit confused between Japan, London, the US, but feels like a fine example of grime.
Soul II Soul
4/5
When it's good, it's great. It's the London warehouse dance scene captured on record. It can sound dated, but in a retro way. The mix of piano, strings, beats etc are top-notch. There's a couple of slower and less successful numbers which border on bland, but they aren't enough to drag a very fine album down (especially Back to Life and Keep on Movin', two all time classics).
Funkadelic
3/5
The thread of bonkersness is characteristcally prominent as Clinton ambles through psychedelia, funk, soul and rock. At all times it retains a vintage, vinyl feel whilst never veering into psychedelic or funk naffery. The melodies and grooves are not compromised for cheap bass-funk, nor poor psychedelic-production tropes.
But the album feels like a warm up for the superior 'One Nation Under a Groove', by which time they had developed and near-perfected this funk, soul, jam, blues, pop, rock sound. But having the nascent Funkadelic sound here is none too bad at all. It comes in a notch below 'One Nation'.
The Adverts
4/5
The themes of youthful ennui run deep here, but perhaps what elevates this lot are the many catchy numbers (albeit peppered with filler); they have good melodic instincts amongst the punk guitars.
Whilst there are some nice moments towards the tail-end, the final three tracks highlight some latter-album lag. But coming in at just over half an hour it's forgivable (if not a great testament to their longevity). Amongst the punk/post-punk, garage sound The Adverts have a definable character, and they have a run on this album of 6 or 7 crackers. I allow them to creep into the fours by the finest of margins.
Genesis
3/5
I spent an inordinate amount of time with this. Still not sure what to make of it. A sprawling prog rock album with the loosest of concepts, Englishness, and it tries to keep the theme with motifs of medieval English folk ('After the Ordeal' a fine example). With its myriad passages in classic prog rock style, it's not too different from Keith Emerson's Tarkus the Robotic Armadillo, or whatever that was. But with Gabriel, Collins and Rutherford in the band, you're never far from a tight melody - as it happens on this album, you're never far from 50 melodies in one song.
The 'Firth of Fifth' is the most successful in navigating through a journey of melody.
There are some great moments, highly proficient musicianship, an interesting concept. The album feels like the ideas dilute more and more as it progresses. It's better than Tarkus. I don't think it quite matches Aqualung. I hate to give it a three after all this because it is highly different and interesting in places - far from MoR. But you know me - 2 for average, 3 for good.
KISS
1/5
I associate Kiss with a very particular brand of soulless rock. Not good enough to fill stadiums nor rootsy enough to fill halls, and it's left floating around in a clinical arena-netherland. They are dragging the aesthetics of glam into the big-hair rock of 80s America and the results are bad. In many ways it has the soulless feel of the worst of ZZ Top without the bluesy credibility of ZZ's best bits.
'Sweet Pain' is probably the worst of more than a fair share of album naffery. The way Stanley sings "anayhow, anayhow" is unbearable.
I was shocked to realise the album is only 33 minutes. It feels a heck of a lot longer. I can't put this in the two category. It's worse than that.
Ramones
4/5
Opening with their blueprint, 'Blitzkrieg Bop', with its flatly distorted guitars, Motown-influenced harmony, and driving rhythm - it's a tour de force.
Apparently the album wasn't too popular at the time, although it clearly helped codify the punk sound, with echoes obvious in the likes of The Adverts, Cramps and all that. It's less snarling and bitter than the Pistols and revels more in cartoonish violence such as the brilliant 'Beat on the Brat'. Motown and early rock n roll influences are clear. This is basically encouragement to any budding garage bands, the way The Sonics were ten years before.
There are many moments when the songs blend into one, which I suppose is the danger of having a completely rigid approach ('Glue' into 'Basement' into 'Loudmouth' highlight the similarity). Unlike The Strokes (clearly influenced), what you're buying into is the manifesto, the push back against prog and staidum rock, rather than individual songs. That being said there are plenty of individual highlights.
Dizzee Rascal
4/5
I saw him once at a petrol station near Coulsdon. I didn't want to say hello cos I was wearing a suit and I was worried he might think I was the enemy. It was like the film Crash (not the wound-fucking one) played out over the course of thirty seconds.
'Boy in Da Corner' is hyper minimalist with the industrial bass sounds of UK Garage, mashed with hip-hop and given a London accent (and apparently that's called 'grime'). Dizzee was only 18 when he made this, and as a result his breadth of life experience is as minimal as the beats. Maybe these days he's rapping about his holidays in the Med and his favourite coffee blend, but this is all about beef with street rivals and the police. That's literally it. It makes 'Sittin' Here' pretty funny given he's reminiscing about how things were back in the day, at 18 years old. It also draws a clear distinction between the American preoccupation with bragadoccio, whilst old Dizzee has gone full British and moaning about how shit everything is these days. It's probably the birth of credible British rap, although I'm no musicologist. Who else did the Brits have at this point - Daz Sampson from Bus Stop, that's who!
At times it flies, like '2 Far' which is paced like a machine-gun, or 'Jus a Rascal' which is a frenetic masterclass. 'Seems 2 Be' has a huge garage bassline. Sweet as a nut. The whole album packs a real punch.
It is too long, but this is the real deal.
Buffalo Springfield
4/5
This is an uneven album, not least due there being three solo writers. The thread of Beatles influence runs deep, especially on Young's numbers.
There's a lack of cohesion, some disposable stuff from all of them, Furay in particular. But Stills and Young really raise the bar for most of their input, and with a couple of bona fide early Young masterpieces to boot.
Primal Scream
4/5
An acid-house-comedown of an album. I love the jazz and soul touches via the horn section - obviously the iconic riff on 'Loaded', and the breezy sax on 'I'm Comin' Down' amongst them. 'Movin' On Up' gets better and better, the gospel undertones, the slide guitar, the uplifting sense of euphoria.
When at its best, the album is an absolute groove. Layers of funky bass, soul warbling, Staxy horns, piano/synth and disco drums are a killer combo. Add in a big Exile through to mid 70s Stones influence and it produces something superb. It also has a touch of filler, and a touch of less structured tunes that don't quite achieve meaningful ambience. Still, a strong outing.
Stan Getz
3/5
I'm not sure what Getzy was putting in his coffee but this is so much more evocative than Getz/Gilberto. The bounce and melodies seemed to be sucked out for that latter effort. Here though the arrangements are engaging, and the difference may well be Charlie Byrd. Byrd's traditional guitar playing, on the downbeat, adding structure, really anchors Getz's playing. Jobim's suspended major 7ths and all the rest of it, was too vapid especially with the unbearable whisper-singing. I suppose this is more samba and less bossa nova, and I'm happy with that.
At just over half an hour it's a concentrated shot of not so bossa nova that did not make me feel sick, angry or depressed. Quite the opposite in fact. Following on from Jobim and Sinatra, which I also enjoyed, maybe I should start to reappraise the genre. I guess you could say, I Stan Getz it.
Morrissey
4/5
This is something of a watershed for Morrissey's solo stuff, as he finds his slower tempo crooner sweet-spot. It's his best since Viva Hate, and feels like it combines the best elements of his solo work.
I reserve most praise for the epic 'Spring Heeled Jim' which has always been a favourite and feels grandly cinematic in arrangement and delivery.
I still think the peak of his solo career is You Are the Quarry, but this, and Viva Hate, are not too far behind. I can't reasonably rate this alongside those nor his best Smiths work, which is why I plump for the highest of excellent 4s.
James Brown
4/5
This clearly has its roots in the call and response of the gospel tradition, and it's difficult not to compare it to Sexual Chocolate or other parodies. But JB really does have the (seemingly all female) audience in the palm of his hand, with his dramatic shouts and exhortations ("Can you feel me children?!". Actually that sounds bad written down). The solo scream from the crowd amidst 'Lost Someone' is hilariously fantastic. And it's that dramaturgy (that word making its first album review appearance) that makes this fizzle.
This may well be his second best live performance ever committed to tape, behind his 1985 ringside performance of 'Living in America' in Rocky IV.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
4/5
A pleasure to listen to when unadorned with saccharine Disney strings and some squeaking 10 year old girl pretending to be a baby fucking lion.
I always thought it was Lady Blacksmith Mambazo. Whilst their aptitude for metallurgy (the first appearance of this word in the album reviews) is unproven, their ability to sing a capella with absolute perfection is second to none. And that includes The Flying Pickets. The silence is as important as the vocals themselves.
To say they are a one-trick pony is like telling Michael Flatley enough with the jig all the time and to do some breakdancing. But the fact is, as a document of traditional folk music, it sounds very uniform; variations on a theme. It takes many listens to pick out individual tracks. The listener's concentration drifts. But the whole thing resonates, and is eminently listenable. One may say it resonates through the ear drums and through the ages.
Ice T
3/5
I've always liked Mr T (not that one), he seems like a well-adjusted chap in interviews. Not the biggest fan of his music however. He has a lot to answer for, being one of the earliest progenitors of gangster rap. And I found out today his real name is Tracy. It's like when found out Big Daddy's real name was Shirley.
Although he revels in shootin' and humpin', he's not as overwhelmingly big-headed as some of his gun-toting stablemates. And there's plenty of levity here.
A late album run with the superb soul sampling of 'Pulse of the Rhyme'; and the Halloween-sampling 'The Tower' proves Ice is not just a one-trick pony. But surely a judicious editor could've brought some well-needed brevity to proceedings, which suffers from major bloat at over an hour.
Ride
4/5
I went on a journey with this album (literally, cos I listened to it in the train). It required several reappraisals.
At first I thought it like The Stone Roses, but if they had dispensed with the snappy melodic clarity, and tried to bury everything in the mix. 'Seagull' is trying its best to be the Beatles with that Revolver bassline and eastern scales, but falls short, and has an overriding whiff of Shed Seven. It is a dirge, and that's the general modus operandi.
Sporadically there is a marriage of sorts between the shoegaze rock and vox, to create a couple of tracks of near-epic proportions, 'Paralysed' the exemplar - a dream-pop tour de force.
There are Smiths influences - a dusting of Morrissey melodies here and there. The Cure's approach on albums like Seventeen Seconds is also evident.
A slow, percolative album, which, despite is failings, has more than a little charm.
Love
2/5
Less sophisticated than their eponymous album, and confined within the trappings of contrived 60s pyschedelia, half the time it gets lost up its own psychedelic pop fundament. A harpsichord here, a flute there, a change to waltz timing over there.
Why are there so many of them on the cover? Does it really takes that many grave looking fellows to produce such whimsy? And I've just read the organist is called Alban Pfisterer. I'm sure there's a joke there about being a Pfisterer and having a silent p.
Maybe this was an important one for the time. It's certainly warming up for Forever Changes. As an album it doesn't hang together. But some interesting moments.
Lana Del Rey
4/5
Lana Del Rey has always felt an anachronism, leaning into an imagined mid-century America — suburban housewives, surface glamour, hidden depression. It’s all a bit Great Gatsby (or Mad Men if you hate books): doomed romance and longing for a golden age that may never have existed. But, she sets her stories among ordinary people, which I like (as I do the album cover with her sitting with her mates, which speaks to a certain humility).
Musically, the album is understated rather than boundary-pushing. But it closes with its strongest moment: ‘For Free,’ a Joni cover featuring the great Weyes Blood. It not only does justice to the original but also crystallises what the whole record aims for.
Since Honeymoon (2015), Lana has been on a run of highly praised albums, and I'm not sure what sets this one apart particularly. I will listen to the others. When I get the chance in 2027. A very strong album. One with layers. I think a three is harsh, so it's a just-four.
Everything But The Girl
1/5
This is the musical version of wet cardboard.
'These Early Days' is one of the worst because it feels like they've said 'let's do an upbeat one', but it's more beige than my old maths teacher's corduroys.
What follows is a stream of hotel cabaret schmaltz with no character. 'I Was Always Your Girl' is a watery trickle of the blandest shite. Please please don't add 80s sax as well, oh fucking hell there it is.
It's worse than the music they play when you spend an hour waiting to speak to customer services at Plusnet.
It doesn't even fail spectacularly like the Napalm Deaths of this world. And that's the really unforgivable thing. Thank goodness Todd Terry showed them the way, down the line.
Bobby Womack
4/5
He has a heck of a voice, and what's more his glasses are perfect for pool playing in bright environments. That's a plus.
'If You Think You're Lonely Now' feels a classic in the Motown style, like later 70s Diana Ross. 'Just My Imagination' is a marvelous velvety ballad; it's a bit of a cheek naming after a soul classic, but it stands on its own. The soul n funk combo often works to great effect, with a bass that slaps more than your Mum's ass-cheeks
Some of it has the whiff of 80s Sunday soul, so-called cos Mother used to play such music on a Sunday whilst ironing ('Where Do We Go From Here's the worst offender, and it's a shame this protracted and banal outlier closes the album).
An album that skirts with the idea of being excellent. One has to make a margin call with these ones, and I think there's enough quality to let is slip into the fours.
Nirvana
5/5
The impossible follow up to Nevermind. From the opening track you know Nirvana aren't striving for studio perfection; in fact they want to go the other way. This isn't trying to be Nevermind II (but I love the nod to it in the opening line "teenage angst has paid off well").
The album, whilst not being exactly radio-friendly, is hook-laden. You therefore get the hardcore 'Scentless Apprentice', the vicious 'Milk It', and the primal scream of 'Tourette's', against the sublime melodies of 'Dumb' and 'All Apologies'. The superb triplet of 'Dumb', 'Pennyroyal Tea' (great bass) and 'All Apologies' are genuinely affecting without being sentimental. A tantalising glimpse of where he was taking the next album with Stipe, which surely is one of the music world's great losses.
The United States Of America
2/5
These mid to late 60s psychedelic albums are really testing my patience. Oftentimes this one sounds like a one-man-band falling down the stairs.
'The American Metaphysical Circus' - just the name smacks of trying too hard to be whackily psychedelic. It feels like a particularly cynical imitation of 'Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite', but without the melodic chops. "The cost of one admission is your mind" and then a load of circus noise.
'Where is Yesterday' displays real talent for harmony, and the opening choral passage is impressive. This isn't drenched in Wurlitzer and clown horns and manages to escape the dated trappings of the period. 'Love Song for the Dead Che', is a rather enchanting Nico-style chanson, it's sounds very much like The Waeve. 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' really works as a spaced out, Jefferson Airplane-type affair. And the bass works very well here to propel the track with gusto. The female vocalists has a very direct tone, no histrionics and it's the best feature of the album.
Where the she gets on the mic, the songs find a certain ambience, and some lovely melancholia that feels the polar opposite of the circus and oompah stuff. An album of just that would've done very nicely.
Quicksilver Messenger Service
2/5
These guys love Bo Diddley.
As with any extended jam, the band may stumble upon a good passage or two, for instance the blues-jazz, almost Peter Green feel, of the last minute of 'When You Love'.
A couple of originals get an outing and that's when things get interesting. 'Maiden of the Cancer Moon' almost goes Black Sabbath, and despite its lack of depth I enjoyed it for that reason. That segues into the real star, 'Cavalry'. The departure from blues tropes into something more like cowboy prog rock is a great left turn. And the sparse, unsettling intro is genuinely suspenseful. This is like the 'American Beauty' to the rest of the album's 'Live/Dead'.
But as an album I found it underwhelming.
Sonic Youth
3/5
As the album progresses it's clear they haven't polished the usual garage-slacker approach, including the introspective, emo vocals, and they haven't really sharpened many edges. This all sits between ungrounded experiment and the 90s alt-rock boom.
When a bit more thought is put into the composition it really is good, like 'Disappearer' which has the atmosphere of doom alt-rockers like Joy Division and Interpol. The Youths are good at doing disposable though and their Joy Divison-adjacent 'Mildred Pearce' is enjoyable and entirely throwaway at the same time, as is the disposable power-pop of 'Mary-Christ'.
I found the ambience of much of 'Daydream Nation' rather compelling, tightening up the ideas on Evol. I don't favour this album over that, but it was a very listenable album. It has some great moments, but whether it's that different from the other Youth albums we've listened to to merit inclusion here, is highly questionable.
Mariah Carey
1/5
This album is like a melody vacuum. She's taken her raw talent and overlaid it with the most bland production against the most anodyne melodies you can imagine.
Normally the adjectives 'urban' or 'adult' or 'contemporary' when applied to music, means it's going to be very bad. Wikipedia describes this as 'urban adult contemporary'. That's all three. You do the math.
A lifeless, personality-void of an album, an excruciating crawl through mid-tempo, over-polished, artificial tunes.
Dirty Projectors
4/5
You know that trend in restaurants a while back where you could get a deconstructed apple pie or similar. And they just gave you the apple and the pastry but hadn't bothered to put it all together properly. This is the musical equivalent of that.
That sounds negative, but the apple pie was still enjoyable wasn't it, and undoubtedly there was mastery behind its making.
Take 'Temecula Sunrise' in particular - you can hear all the building blocks, and it's quite fascinating. Some of the blocks remind me of Talking Heads, the jaunty rhythms and the angular guitar. Then there's the Kate Bush female vocals which punctuate everything with airtight harmonies. Those intricate 'Hounds of Love' type harmonies are critical to the sound, such as on the mesmerising 'Useful Chamber'.
They have a very idiosyncratic sound - quite minimalist, slightly overdriven guitars. Although I could see such an album being the go to for Nathan Barleys everywhere, I find it really rather soothing rather than pretentious. A knack for melody weaves through, even if they don't all take off. There's a creativity here that tips this to a four.
The Pretty Things
4/5
Thankfully, it leans more into rock and not overblown psychedelic affectation, and the psychedelic touches are generally congruent with the songs. The singer is pretty unhistrionic - fundamentally a rock singer, which means the album is not capsized by light-footed whimsy.
Inexplicably the last several songs feel completely banal by comparison, and the album just runs out of steam. I don't think the album narrative works that well, and think the album would benefit from a wee chopsy.
But an album that feels genuinely underrated, especially when compared to much of the mid to late 60s psychedelia put forward.
Sarah Vaughan
2/5
There's nothing like the compere telling everyone to behave themselves because they're being recorded (and that Ms Vaughan will be reading all the lyrics but don't get distracted by it. Do enjoy it. But I cannot stress enough you must ACT NORMALLY).
As soon as Vaughan starts singing however, it's clear you're in the hands of a master (mistress?). A lovely smokey baritone and ice-cool confidence pervades the whole performance. 'Willow Weep for Me' has an almost arrogant insouciance, the piano interlude is dreamlike, and the spell only broken by some oaf dropping something.
The album never reaches the heights of the first two tracks. 'September in the Rain' in particular has such a great vocal clarity and vocal line that finds it's way into unexpected but beautiful notes. It never matches that again and ends up explicitly parodying Ella Fitzgerald in prosaic fashion. There's a consistent feeling of admiration for her timbral perfection and her charm. Not so much for this as a great collection of songs.
Daft Punk
3/5
A love letter to rave culture, and the album is peppered with the noises of urban life and post-club pavement crowds - very evocative for a seasoned clubber such as myself.
I prefer their more sophisticated electro-pop that would come later vs the repetitive-by-design, house beats. The likes of 'Revolution 909' and 'Rollin' and Scratchin'' are a little too clinical and mechanical - the album doesn't really spring in to life until 'Da Funk' which is an all out mesmeric masterpiece.
That's followed by 'Phoenix', an irresistible bassline, and all the infectious vibes of the barely recognisable Elton John sample. The basslines are often a driving force such as on 'Around the World', a nod to funk and disco influences (the subsequent collaboration with Niles Rodgers seems inevitable); and the quasi disco of 'Burnin''.
A few banging classics cement a three, but I don't think it attains excellence as an album.
Khaled
2/5
One of the issues is its attempt to throw all sorts of 'cool' or 'urban' styles into the mix and the results very varied. That opening track for instance has a reggae beat. But later on it takes in drum n bass (in 'Melha'), salsa (Gouloulha-Dji'), or even Reggaeton ('Raba-Raba').
The album cover is intriguing - I'd love to know what's grabbed his attention from the Datsun Cherry (note the door-mounted ashtray).
In fact this album sounds like someone's taken the spiritual Qawallies of Nusrat Fateh Khan and tried to prepare it for Eurovision. The production is dated and it often descends into 'subar markit' music.
The most successful track is the one that closest resembles Khan 'Derwiche Tourneur' which is not trying to crowbar in 90s pop, sounds more traditional yet still with energy, and benefits as a result.
And so it goes on, trying to introduce different production styles but always remaining very kitsch and very dated (Ed. I've just found out this guy's sold 80m fucking albums!!). A couple of jaunty numbers in there give it some merit.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
This feels like a collection of the ultimate blues-rock riffs. The quality is endless, the songs compact, the band tight. The fantastic but underrated Sandy Denny features.
There's not a dud here. It's a seamless blues-rock, folk mash-up. I struggle to think of an album where every song is so well suited to the album, so compact and so to the point.
Pet Shop Boys
3/5
'Can You Forgive Her?' is a great tune (maybe some nostalgia tied up with that as I'd forgotten about this one). It stands up against their bigger numbers following the formula of minor key Dr Who-synth verse, synth-horn stabs in a melodic major chorus, and tales of dangerous liaisons. Cracking. There may be a reason I haven't heard any of the others until the closing track - because this is the album peak.
That's not to say the rest is bad. What follows is a succession of maximal, upbeat pop, often disposable in the extreme. It's like fast food. It goes in, you like it, then the feeling's gone. 'I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing' is a throwaway foottapper. The 'Go West' cover is quite superlative as the upbeat pop goes, but could be any decent Stock, Aitken and Waterman track.
Aside from the first track, the album works best when it recalls previous output. 'Liberation' and 'A Different Point of View' have some nice upbeat-meets-minor moments, evoking some of their great hits without ever matching them. The latter actually sounds a lot like Electronic's 'Getting Away with It', which they co-wrote. 'The Theatre', 'To Speak is a Sin' and 'Young Offender' is when the album works - recalling their past approach of urban anxiety meets synth pop (as per Behaviour and Actually). Not many can match that sharply-observed melancholia - although many can match upbeat synth-pop.
Production wise, some of the synth sounds are very 90s and sound dated in ways that their 80s output doesn't. It doesn't hit home in the way those two previous albums do. And yet it remains interweaved with some sad magic. I just wish there were more of it.
Brian Eno
4/5
The album seems the crossroads between his art-pop and ambient philosophy. 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts' was the major leap forward in terms of his ambient composition. 'Another Green World' has some of his best early ambient experiments (especially the title track) and I don't think Before and After Science ever matches that, but as an album it certainly maintains a higher quality than it's predecessor. So - an album of consistent quality, a bit haphazard, but some nice glimmers of what was to come, standing as an excellent body of work within it's own right.
Nirvana
5/5
The album has been described as 'ragged glory' and that's fitting - there are mistakes, on 'Pennyroyal Tea', 'Man Who Sold the World', 'Where Did You Sleep', but Kurt just works them into the song. I am not surprised to discover it was recorded in one take. A true live album, warts n all.
'About a Girl' is transformed into an acoustic classic. The only other Unplugged I've seen breathe such new life into old songs is the Godfather of Grunge himself. If you've ever seen Puddle of Mudd's cover of 'About a Girl' you'll know that the accented confederate twang against rock-acoustic guitar, can go terribly awry.
Man Who Sold the World remains the standout in a setlist of fantastic covers, and superb acoustic interpretations if some of their own best tracks.
The Young Rascals
3/5
In addition to the dreamy 'Groovin'', a few others here feel familiar. Maybe I know them from Capital Gold osmosis back in the day, by one of their respective cover artists. 'How Can I Be Sure' is a very familiar melody, a cross between soul and musical. Maybe it's the Dusty Springfield version I know - this song suits her melodramatic soul sound perfectly. 'A Place in the Sun' also feels familiar; it feels like a singalong standard, and deserves to be more widely known.
Overall you have the superb titular track, and a couple of others that feel like true standards, along with some very pleasant filler that can't quite decide in which direction it wishes to go.
Kanye West
3/5
The descent of the album's egomaniacal protagonist is a tragic foreshadowing of life imitating art.
As with all Kanye's stuff, when it's not sex-obsessed, it's self-obsessed. And it never gets beyond that in a way that may make it more powerful (like Kendrick Lamar manages to do). The menacing beats are there, but it's often lyrically moribund, taking a good idea about the fame-driven descent into madness and replacing thoughtful musings with narratives about shagging (I think my favourite line is 'put my fist in her like a civil rights sign'). Still, the run of 'Black Skinhead', 'I Am God' and 'New Slaves' is some of his strongest and most thought-provoking work. It's another three for Ye.
George Jones
2/5
Granddad used to love a bit of country gold on cassette - a gentle, relaxing country delivered by the baritones of Jim Reeves or Charley Pride or Conway Twitty. This falls very much into that 'golden age of country' period. It's a 70s country. It's nostlgically comforting. It's kicking your wet shoes off and wrapping both palms around a mug of hot chocolate. It's the dew on a fresh apple. It's the creak on a stair, a spluttering match held to a frosted pane, it's a half-remembered childhood birthday party, the first downy growth on the upper lip of a Mediterranean girl.
The best tracks are the album bookends. The pining title track and the lively 'Our Private Life' written with Tammy Wynette, which must be influenced by Johnny and June.
There's little else to say about a man who has a great voice but shat albums out in an almost weekly basis (this is his 50th gosh darn album!). It's a decent album. It has a comfort blanket feel. It's not especially good.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4/5
The opening shriek of 'Blood and Chocolate' is classic Costello, sounding like he's just stubbed his little toe on the radiator. There's something of the town drunk about his vocal over-exertions. It's the sort of thing you either love or hate, and no in between and I, for one, don't mind it.
I think this is the last of six Costello albums here. It doesn't particularly give anything the others haven't already or show any evolution. Whilst I think that's quite enough Costello now, it is without a doubt an excellent collection of tracks.
Underworld
2/5
'Juanita' shapes up to be late-night rave-club fayre, until that guitar hook comes in and transforms it into a club-culture anthem. The vocal pattern is almost Born Slippy, albeit roboticised. It's not the only one - 'Pearl's Girl' takes a further step - it basically _is_ Born Slippy, but with the ambient piano chords taken out with the industrial beats remaining. 'Rowla' has more incessant banging than Stevie Wonder's little toe. The only variation here is loud and soft.
It's too often shades of grey with this album; there's no drama between light and shade, interesting layers, melodies - it's ad infinitum beats without something additional to spark them into life.
Femi Kuti
5/5
'Wonder, Wonder' has everything you want from afrobeat - dilectable brass hooks, funky bass, great melodies, call and response, social commentary, wrapped in an uplifting atmosphere. It's a formula successfully repeated ten times. 'Plenty Nonsense' as well as giving me my new catchphrase, is carried by the call and response, which is entered into with joyous abandon; and some superb hornsmanship.
For his part, Femi's voice is superb, a warmth and a grit. The bass anchors much of the groove, such as its imitation of the vocal refrain in 'No Shame' or something superbly embellished hooks in 'Live for Today'.
The album is long, but there is no self-indulgence. The jams aren't wayward, in the contrary everything sounds structured and rehearsed 'Nawa' for instance). Joyful.
Grizzly Bear
5/5
I believe I bought this CD on the strength of 'Two Weeks'. I haven't listened to it in years, nor have much memory of it. I couldn't have given it enough airtime back then, because it truly is superb.
The first two tracks have a swooping majesty that throws down the gauntlet. 'Southern Point' an ever-developing piece of psychedelic folk, recalling Midlake, Fleet Foxes and others. 'Two Weeks' is really the centrepiece - backed by Beach House with the same spaced-out sensibility, it has a killer piano hook, and great Beach Boys harmonies.
'Ready, Able' is one of those songs that breaks into a circular passage that you could listen to indefinitely.
It feels right on the border of being outstanding. Consistent melodic quality, delightful harmonies and great interplay between the two leads' respective styles has to merit top marks.
SAULT
4/5
I'm assuming this isn't Sault's (from Sault n Peppa) solo career. In fact I was very surprised to discover Sault are British. It feels extremely American. The vocal intermissions are a lot like The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. They lose a bit of impact by the end, sounding like a self-help tape (you are a tiger).
Musically, the album melds lounge rnb, jazz, soul and afrobeat and it does it well. Oftentimes it recalls Funkadelic, especially 'Stop Dem' which is a delicious extraterrestrial groove.
Some of the album comprises loose sketches, that feel underdeveloped, albeit in keeping with the overall ambience. 'Why We Cry Why We Die' and 'Sorry Ain't Enough' have nice mood but are a bit too close to characterless nu-soul.
But overall, an excellent album flitting between jam-like grooves and classic soul sounds to create something that feels original and interesting.
Red Snapper
2/5
'Keeping Pigs Together' is very reminiscent of Mogwai. The track repeats a hook whilst the backing music moves through a series of nice minor chord changes. Yet somehow this lacks the emotional complexity of Mogwai, and seems a bit more 'bon-tempi' derived. Nevertheless it's a promising start.
Shame then that subsequent tracks feel more disjointed often trying too hard to be eclectic. They introduce too many styles, like the insipid ambient-soul of 'Shellback', the jazz attempt 'Bussing' or the bad-reggae, Massive Attack rip-off 'I Stole Your Car'. Amongst the mediocre, 'The Rough and the Quick' manages to be totally execrable. Characterless music and cringeworthy lyrics.
The album doesn't pique interest again until 'Belladonna' which has a similar pattern to the opening track, and a fragility that's quite becoming. One of two outliers to an otherwise very unremarkable album.
It's a bizarre entry. It's not terrible, but it's far from inspiring or memorable or other adjectives that relate to a stirring of the emotions or intellect.
Calexico
5/5
I actually saw these cats in Shoreditch about ten years ago. Mainly on the strength of the Love cover which they do jolly well - wish I'd appreciated them more then.
A slow-burn album, but one that envelopes the listener in a sound that could only emanate from the southern lands of the US. Cowboy acoustic instrumentals, slide guitars and reverb create the desert heat of Arizona. 'Borderlands' folk, mixes TexMex mariachi horns and Latin rhythms. The seed of the brilliant Other Lives, War on Drugs, Phospherescence is all here.
This is the band Gomez could've been. Grizzly Bear was outstanding and this almost puts it in the shade. A true masterpiece.
808 State
3/5
They do hit paydirt with 'Pacific 202', a jazz-inflected trance classic. The dreamy sax glides through an ambient rainforest of noises, and a pumping (but not dominant) drum-beat and synth-bass kick in, everything working in ambient balance (or 'ambalance' - actually scratch that, it sounds too much like ambulance). '808080808' has more grit, and is another tour de force - different synth elements dropping in and out to carry the beat and a marvelous (8-bit sounding) break just past the two-minute mark. It could be the soundtrack to any classic Amiga game.
In between, the album has some nice moments but none that ever matches those two centrepiece tracks. For instance 'Sunrise' revisits the ambulance of 'Pacific 202' but not as engagingly, notwithstanding the call out to 'Do You Know the Way to San José'.
It's a rather nice document of next level acid-house, with a couple of outstanding tracks.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
This album highlights that Marv should stick to singing. His spoken stuff is feeble, a bit like Michael Jackson's speaking voice. His singing timbre and falsetto is sublime.
The album is way too long at well over an hour. Such is the nature of the meandering, jazzy jams that a long album is inevitable.
This feels an album where good ideas pop up sporadically and then disappear as soon as they arrived.
'A Funky Space Reincarnation' is fantastic though. 'Time to Get it Together' and 'You Can Leave' are other superlative tracks, anchored by sumptuous guitar licks.
Donovan
4/5
At its best it's beguiling. The blend of olde English romanticism, eastern-tinged mysticism and just enough psychedelia would have been impactful for 1966. There are some background tracks - 'Ferris Wheel' and 'The Trip' among them, but it's a tastefully arranged album that still holds up. I particularly enjoyed the hardcore stuff (Guinevere, Celeste, Girl Child Linda', Three Kingfishers), plus the obvious, the title track.
Mekons
3/5
Comparisons with the Pogues are inevitable. 'Darkness and Doubt' feels like the lilting sort of song that MacGowan would eviscerate with his vocal. Nevertheless the Mekons give it a naive charm.
But it proves to be an enjoyable union of country/Celtic styles with punk, and jolly good for toe-tapping, such as the trad-cum-rock feel of 'Flitcraft'.
The likes of 'Chivalry' and 'Hard to be Human' (which leans to their punk side), are good but but somewhat pedestrian neither having a punk energy nor an interesting mash-up with country.
Overall it feels a bit muddled, some experimental stuff in with a traditional/punk mix. And yet there's an undeniable naive charm to rattle through the listenable tracks. It comes out at a good three.
The Undertones
5/5
I get The Knack and Ramones, I get Talking Heads, I get Devo, I get forefathers of Futureheads, Franz Ferdinand and other British guitar riff bands. A great musical sphere in which to cavort about.
The riffs feel simple and the melodies effortless. The production doesn't bury anything under distortion.
'Hard Luck', great song. Have I heard it? Sounds ripe for an Apple advert with a gen z mucking about on a skateboard.
Maybe a criticism is that a couple of tracks could be shaved off - but there's no obvious filler.
I haven't seen this widely recited as a progenitor of melodic pop-punk but it surely is. Well-crafted and catchy as heck.
Kings of Leon
4/5
Yes, Kings of Leon come with some retro baggage. These days they feel like they've taken their early raw energy of the first two albums, and tried to polish it for the masses, becoming a rock sausage-machine. But those first two albums are undeniably list-worthy.
The blazing 'Red Morning Light' opens, and you question whether that energy was ever matched by them again. Absolutely rollicking.
The album is more than just swamp rock of course. 'Joe's Head' is a breezy number, with clean arpeggios and an uplifting chord progression, into quite a Dylanesque chorus, and the bass working wonders (as it does in 'Wasted Time'). This and 'California Waiting' (the chorus rocking and bittersweet all at the same time) proves that they are not just simple chord-monkeys.
There's a skill for interesting songwriting in these early years. It's not quite at the level of Aha Shake Heartbreak, which polished the sound but retained their edge. Nevertheless, on balance it's still fair to award high marks.
The Byrds
2/5
The titular track is so Dylan - even when not covering him, the Byrds are enthralled to the man. The chord changes, metre, phrasing is pure Bob. Rarely can Dylan impersonators match the visceral and cerebral source material - and I feel that the case here.
Gene Clark had absented the band by this point. 'Eight Miles High', the one track he did contribute to, carves a path of its own - Dylan from another planet maybe. The mystical chord progressions are equally eastern and beautifully folk simultaneously, which brings an intriguing but comforting feel to this pathfinding tune (even if the lead guitar busily stumbles over itself at times). Great stuff.
Aside from these tracks, I found the album lazy. Folk reinterpretations; throwaway pop; blues-jam.
On the positive side 'Wild Mountain Thyme' is another version of their 'Mr Tambourine Man'; it's over-orchestrated but still a touching song. 'What's Happening' is a self-assured tune with some majesty though. It's a gem in a lot of rough.
The more I listen the more it's obvious the album hangs off the excellent centrepiece; the seminal 'Eight Miles High'. Despite a couple of nice tracks the rest doesn't come close.
The Pogues
4/5
It's the sort of album that you don't need to pay much attention to, and yet it speaks to your feet. They feel obliged to tap along with every beat.
The titular track to open, banjo, fiddle, high-pace - it's a classic but irresistible formula. It doesn't exactly stick with you, but is enjoyable every time it comes round. And so it is with the fucking filth-laden 'Bottle of Smoke', and the traditional 'South Australia'.
The centrepiece remains 'Fairytale of New York'. Relistening for the first time in at least 9 months, it remains one of those Christmas songs that's near impossible not to love. It has everything: an uplifting Xmas jig, profound yearning, anti-Christmas excoriating lyrics, (which is the best thing about it) it's not about Xmas at all, and one of the best lines ever (I could've been someone; well so could anyone!).
I think I preferred the rougher edges of 'Rum, Sodomy and the Lash', but this remains excellent quality with two outstanding tracks in 'Fiesta' and 'Fairytale'.
Soft Cell
2/5
Ruddy hell. If that album cover isn't an 80s cop show waiting to happen then I need my stomach pumped.
The centrepiece 'Tainted Love' really is totemic - a little known soul number given the full on urban electronic treatment. Every stab if the synth is perfectly positioned to build an atmosphere of eltectro-pop menace.
It's sweet relief after the opening 'Frustration' which sounds like a bar version of PiL. I assume 'Sex Dwarf' is a bit of parody, but you can't be sure with this completely hammed-up album. It belies something unavoidably seedy about these filthy, leathered lotharios.
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye' is a surprisingly tender and evocative piece of writing, and feels light years away from 'Sex Dwarf' or the entirely throwaway 'Entertain Me'.
So they have a hit rate of two, of the ten tracks. That's twenty percent. Twenty percent of five stars is one star. Is that fair? Well 'Secret Life' is actually quite fun. And The two hits are such great cuts that it gets a two.
Mike Oldfield
3/5
I didn't realise this was his debut until reading about it, but that's rather incredible; it feels like something a seasoned 40-year old would put together. He also plays near all the instruments, and reveals a real aptitude such as Pt II 17munute mark, guitar noodling, with a Gilmour tone.
The Odyssean 'Part 1', is not just about the tinkling piano refrain, which in fact is a very small part of it. There is a repeating guitar motif that's just as unsettling (one instance after the tolling of the bells at 16 minutes). Not a little touch of Pink Floyd here also. There are magnificent undulations and movements throughout, culminating in the superb Viv Stanshall intro to all the instruments.
Part II feels altogether more inconsequential, at least for it's first half. It leans more to pop than a classical suite. The movements and scales and beating of a drum reminds me of a medieval setting, it feels like apt incidental music for the Robin Hood TV show. That's until the 12 minute mark when a Klingon inexplicably comes in, and the whole thing takes a welcome turn to rock, finally mellowing to a Procul Harum type groove. It starts to feel a bit of a meandering jam by minute 20, losing the structured motifs and refrains about which Pt I is built.
So certainly a precocious talent, and an iconic part I, with a less successful part II. It borders three and four; I think I'd rather listen to Moonlight Shadow and In Dulce Jubilo - this retains a good three.
The Modern Lovers
5/5
This has the casual rock n roll swagger that any decent indie guitar band should strive for. 'Roadrunner' is superb yet feels made up on the spot. The album lyrics are observations on life, by a young outsider. It's punk before punk. There feels a swirling mix of Iggy Pop (especially), but also the vocals/organ touches of The Doors ('Old World' at one point is very 'LA Woman'); Velvet Underground is a clear influence (unsurprising to learn Cale produced some of it); The Cramps and The Ramones (there are Motown sensibilities mixed in with the downbeat punky vocal; and as with those band the bass is important in setting out simple but effective harmonies and counter harmonies, check out 'Dignufied and Old' for your evidence). They are the band that sounds most like The Strokes, who ripped them off (the drawled semi-spoken vocal must've been an influence on Julian Casablancas - it has a great, disinterested but still tuneful baritone). They also presage new wave, with the jaunty feel of Talking Heads; and Bowie himself actually covered 'Pablo Picasso' on his Reality album.
After listening for a while, I read up on it and was astonished this was recorded in 71/72. It has huge similarities to the Velvet Underground but also feels like a different side of the same coin. Lou Reed's laconic songs of urban decay and character studies are replaced with Richmans' introspective and anxious lyrics. Reed sings of the edges of society and Richman _is_ on the edge of society. Don't you see?
Anyway it's banging.
Genesis
3/5
Boy wakes up trapped in a cage, sees people being packaged up like parcels, remembers when he had his heart shaved, tries to escape with the help of a blind woman, has sex with three snakes in a pool, gets his knob cut off which is then nicked by a raven, then saves his brother from drowning, but it's actually himself. It's a tale as old as time.
It is clearly rooted in the bloated prog-rock tradition that Genesis helped create. Free-form synth solos, a fantastical narrative, an arrogant belief that an album of >90minutes is ok, but all delivered by a band that is technically at the top of their game ('In the Cage' sums all this up very well). The quality is inevitably variable over such long album. Despite the lack of full cohesion, you can dip into this album and find interesting stuff throughout.
The rating is difficult I found this and 'Selling England by the Pound' as genuinely interesting, but also pretty frustrating. Next time someone mentions Genesis I won't automatically think 'Invisible Touch' that's for sure.
TLC
3/5
I'll have one red light special and some fries please, hold the slaw. This brings some 90s stylings of polished production; people whispering sexily, and songs almost exclusively about sexy times; the obligatory interludes that don't add much.
It is dated. Wah-bass is never advisable, as heard in 'Kick Your Game'.
'Case of the Fake People's is pretty derivative and bland-funk; 'Let's Do it Again' is a lazy, monotone attempt at seduction; they choose a torpid Prince song to cover, not much improving it; and the interludes are a waste of time. The phone call interlude, amongst all the album's breathy sexiness, where the caller wipes her arse and then farts (an odd sequence of events when you think about it) is jarring, if chucklesome.
There are a handful of decent to great tracks though. For the former, 'Diggin' On You' is kept on track by a good chorus, and some competent harmonies. 'Creep' is anthemic 90s RnB with nice sample; some nice vocal and brass hooks mean it flows along quite nicely. 'Waterfalls' is rightly a classic and dat bass!
Had this lost a few of the lounge rnb efforts it would be an excellent album, but as it stands is a good listen, great in places. In fact, notwithstanding the chaff, it's probably a high watermark for 90s pop/rnb.
Carole King
5/5
Such is the pedigree here this could easily pass for a Greatest Hits. Ok she throws in 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow' and 'You Make Me Feel' which had previously been recorded by others, but man, what a track list. It's something of a Garbo Talks moment, much like All Things Must Pass released but months before.
She cut her teeth as a songwriter ('prolific' doesn't cut it - the list of hits she wrote is almost unparalleled), but my goodness she can sing and sing beautifully. For someone who started out as a songwriter, her voice really is very good indeed, with a clarity and a lovely warmth.
The overall sound feels very warm, vintage, vinyl. Even the album cover gives a warm relaxed feel, as she sits completely relaxedly in her casuals, barefoot and with her dark pussy fully exposed in the foreground.
So many great songs here but 'Its Too Late' is perfect in construction; light and breezy but a resigned tone, with non-commital maj7 chords everywhere.
A no-brainer.
Kate Bush
5/5
Any album that opens with 'Running up That Hill' and 'Hounds of Love' has to subsequently fuck up beyond all proportion to fail to get top marks. They are such a unique take on 80s pop, that all at once sounds 80s and timeless. Synth, gated drums, feature but it feels the distillation of 80s tropes into utter heartfelt and idiosyncratic perfection.
As if if that wasn't enough the album throws up one of the most perfect songs of all time in 'Cloudbusting'.
A real masterpiece.
Suede
4/5
'So Young' is superb statement with which to open, the jazz break is particularly of the Aladdin Sane/Ziggy-era. It's followed by another classic 'Animal Nitrate', one of the all time Britpop bangers.
Butler's guitar work is fantastic throughout. I also like the quite, jazz in the city type moments.
It's an album that manages to escape the confines of the Britpop era it birthed. It opened the gate for a thousand guitar bands that coalesced behind it. And importantly it still hangs together as a cohesive album.
Stereo MC's
3/5
The titular track and 'Step it Up' are peak baggy dance. The groove, vocal hooks and funky bass are top-notch. Timeless classics. Surely the album cannot replicate such excellence?
And surely it doesn't. But by golly, it comes pretty close at times. I naively assumed this would be an album of two good singles and not much else.
It is an excellently executed fusion of early 90s UK styles, of that there's no doubt. It is most definitely a good album. It is arguably an excellent album. It tiptoes the 3/4 rating. A strong start does yield to a more nebulous 90s groove by the end of the album; and as a result I award this the highest of 'goods'.
MC Solaar
4/5
My French isn't good enough to know what he's rapping about which may be a plus - he could be rapping about the usual guns and cocks for all I know, although the musical style doesn't suggest so. It's less cut-throat sounding than contemporary, angry American rap. 'Quartier Nord' comes closest to gangster rap (and samples Amerikkka's Most Wanted), but without descending into gangster-rap staples (blaring sirens and gun-fire).
His tone and flow is up there with Native Tongues but injected with a certain urbanity. I don't know what all the samples are, but mining from old jazz and soul, Marvin Gaye, the Miracles, Cameo and others, the city-atmosphere and sound is well-constructed. 'Funky Dreamer' is an excellent coda matching 'Intro' as an apposite bookend for a very atmospheric album, that still feels modern.
Q-Tip
4/5
Those opening min7 chords of 'Johnny is Dead' are some sweet jazz funking. It's undoubtedly influenced by throwback pop-funk - it sounds like a more adult Justin Timberlake.
The album provides classic Q-Tip melody and flow, but put through a 2000s production filter. Superb lyrically and melodically, but with a pop-sheen that dates it a little.
The Timbaland/Timberlake aesthetic of synthetic hyper-clean production is an annoyance - but it's a small distraction to what is a great collection of tracks. The lyrics are on a different plain to contemporary hip hop. The melodies are superior. It works as an album.
Joni Mitchell
5/5
It is littered with so many gems, and unfortunately the couple of lazy outliers; but it really is too good not too award a charismatic five.
The Smiths
5/5
36 minutes of near unadulterated perfection. Whereas Strangeways has a constant air of claustrophic miserablism, executed with melodic brilliance, this album has some real light and shade. The music-hall 'Frankly Mr Shankly', and rockabilly 'Vicar in a Tutu' is full of Morrissey's acerbic character observations, and some of the greatest lines he ever wrote.
Then of course you have the big hitters, the frenetically catchy 'Bigmouth Strikes Again'; the pop-perfect and bittersweet 'Boy with the Thorn in His Side', and the devastating 'There is a Light'. Those three alone are enough to make this feel like a Greatest Hits, were such a concept compatible with The Smiths.
The Flaming Lips
4/5
I initially thought this album exceedingly average, but grew very much to enjoy it. It's a layered affair with the Lips' idiosyncratic sci-fi production, coupled with 60s-worthy melodies. In fact, stripping away all the (some may say) overdone production, tracks like 'Race for the Prize' have a Motown sensibility. 'The Spark That Bled' has some classic sliding guitar octaves in its final third, like Soul Man or similar.
To say this is a warm up for it's superlative successor is unfair, but they certainly refined and perfected the approach on Yoshimi. This comes in close behind.
ABBA
2/5
Between 'When I Kissed the Teacher' and 'Does Your Mother Knew' ABBA has written the two best perv-influenced pop tunes of all time. But the teacher one is ok because it's the girl kissing the teacher and not the other way round.
The album doesn't hang together as well as The Visitors which was amuch more interesting proposition (albeit I was not too taken with that as an album, but some standout tracks). Some classic singles, but all else forgettable to substandard. ABBA really are a great singles band.
Super Furry Animals
4/5
I love the easygoing start to this album, 'Alternate Route to Vulcan Street', with gliding strings and echoey delivery; I'm inclined to draw another Mogwai reference - highly melodic ambience. It's a recurring them (the Massive Attack inspired '(A) Touch Sensitive' or the Enoesque 'Miniature'), and also translates into some lovely orchestrated folk-pop (such as the marvelous 'No Sympathy').
There's also blue-eyed soul meets Burt Bacharach - the baroque 'It's Not the End of the World'; or 'Presidential Suite', a take on a 60s classic feel, with Bacharach brass.
They had enough material for a triple album, and - it was to be a 90 minute extravaganza. I'm glad it isn't - the production does sometimes feel like a Britpop hangover (an overblown wall of sound with everything thrown at it) but they balance inventiveness with a tolerable run time. What's more they balance 60s, baroque, folk, country, rock, ambient, pop influences very well. I don't think there's a dud track.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
This primarily offers artefactual interest rather than lasting musical value. This is all a tribute rather than creating anything new. That being said, most tracks have a great early blues sound with crisp production, making this superior to the work of many bluesicians of the time. But the album content is a far cry from the output of The Beatles or even The Kinks. It took The Stones a long time to catch up; the Jagger/Richards partnership didn't truly hit its stride until Aftermath in 1966.
The album's original compositions are weak. Keef is primarily focused on mimicking Chuck Berry, and had not yet discovered the defining open-G tuning. Although there are few signposts of the songwriting prowess to come, the album definitely possesses a freshness in its sound, demonstrating the work of a very tight band finding its voice.
Dr. Dre
3/5
For supposedly 'alpha males' there's definitely a preoccupation with rapping about penis on this album.
It takes the NWA gangsta sub-genre and transports it to the new style, the Parliament influenced G-Funk. A lot more laid back, mellow, with that needly high-pitched sound that is immediately identifiable as Dre.
As with many such albums >1 hour in this genre, there's a law of diminishing returns. 'The $20 Sack Pyramid' is your mandatory skit that retains no interest over 30 years later. 'Lyrical Gangbang' and 'High Powered' ('I drop bombs like Hiroshima') and 'Stranded on Death Row' should've been left for the deluxe edition. Sluggish.
Whilst I admire this album for creating a very definable sound, and it has some undeniable hip-hop classics, in comparison to the Native Tongues, MC Solaar and so forth, the lyrics have little cerebral value. It's all guns and dicks in mouths. Good, no doubt. Great, no.
Arcade Fire
5/5
The electric guitar is noticeable by its absence as a lead instrument throughout, except to provide a low-in-the-mix chug, or to tremelo some atmosphere. That's why it's hard to classify AF as an indie rock, or guitar band. There's too much else going on for that. The only way you can classify them is as five-star, atmospheric soothsayers, holding a (black) mirror to us all. That's literally the only way. Darker Springsteen, epic writing.
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
I don't hear or feel much difference between this and Tigermilk. I don't, at this current time, understand why both are on the list. That being said, this is probably the stronger collection of tracks, with some nice shimmering melodies that develop with repeated listens - not least the opening gambit 'Stars of Track & Field' (I'm a sucker for a trumpet; and the same trumpet brings the final track 'Judy and the Dream of Horses' to life).
After feeling a bit feeble, like Terry Jones' effete son in The Holy Grail, I ended up enjoying it a lot, and not wanting to move on from it. Whilst it does have a couple of exceedingly ordinary tracks, namely 'Mayfly' and 'Me and the Major', the album skirts with being excellent; it's borderline in truth - but I will bump it to a 4, as I believe it to be best in class in the anaemic-folk genre.
Björk
4/5
What an incredible opening track of a debut album. In 'Human Behaviour' the bouncing riff sounds like a bit of bass guitar with drums mixed in (timpani I understand). Her vocals soar, and she immediately casts herself as the outsider ("if you ever get close to a human"). It's curious, it's infectious and it's pretty unique.
We've had a few Björk albums, and not a single one too many. This one signposts later great works but still feels fresh today in spite of a few dates house beats. The fact it's still all coming together means it falls short of her best, but still excellent.
Common
3/5
Here we go, another hip hop album 'Intro'. But this isn't meaningless repartee about guns n pussay. A double bass with piano, gliding strings, and Isley brothers guitar (might be a synth). Indeed Mr Common even namechecks Coltrane here, a nod to that jazzy bassline. It's a great start.
It's a clear precursor to Kendrick Lamar, lyrically and musically, and if nothing else deserves credit for that. But there is not nothing else. There's also the excellent vintage soul pacing, tight sampling and raps with stories to tell. It's very consistent to the point of being samey, but the lack of surprises is made up for by the smooth grooves.
The Kinks
5/5
When this album is at its best, it's perfection. The album opens with one of its strongest, the title track - observational English wit, lamenting a dying England (an eternal theme amongst generations); although whether Ray's being nostalgic or sarcastic is unclear, and it's probably both. 'Picture Book' is another superb bit of guitar pop, with an irresistible riff nicked wholesale by Green Day. There's always a sardonic take amongst the sincere nostalgia ("Picture book of people with each other, to prove they love each other"). The forgotten photo album is a Proustian trigger for us all - photos of brown and orange house interiors, perms, UK holidays. Marvelous.
Wu-Tang Clan
4/5
Piano, danceable beats, trading juvenile lines like they're having a jolly good time, and all at under 40 minutes. An absolute hip-hop revelation. They are like the gaming and film nerds of hip hop, heavily influenced by kung-fu movies. They bring all that nerd energy to their rap style but with humourous undertones that keep it apart from self-promoting gangsta rap.
Overall it's a focused album, devoid of filler, not taking itself seriously, but creating a whole new sound. It's undoubtedly an excellent album. And Method Man is the best.
Syd Barrett
2/5
The woozy guitar and melody of 'Terrapin' is a dead ringer for Blur's 'Miss America', and it struck me that maybe this album has a breadth of influence more than its own value.
The influence/crossover with Bowie's early stuff is startling, and oftentimes equally as jarring. A cheeky music hall cadence and unintentionally humorous lyrics ("Close our eyes to the Octopus ride, isn't it good to be lost in the wood") is often like a Bowie pastiche. The false start of 'It's in You' is pure Nigel Tuffnell. By this point the nonsensical lyrics are extremely grating. "Puddletown Tom was the underground yummy yum yum" my hairy arse. 'Love You' is my favourite for this - "ice cream scuse me, whoops don't abuse me, blimey how's your father, going down the lido, ticklea-a-tickle-a-dildo". Or something like that. The lyrics are all from a childlike perspective, and not as in childlike wonder - as in a 30 year old who's been kept back in Year 4 for 25 years.
On Piper at the Gates of Dawn the band bring this madness to life, such as on the atmospheric 'Pow R. Toc. H' an atmospheric build complete with zany mutterings from Syd. 'Bike' on that album is classic Syd, but transformed into a classic piece of psychedelic rock. Without these band embellishments, I fear the material to be extremely trying. There's potentially an odd genius buried in here somewhere. But you really have to be very generous indeed to ascribe such an interpretation. It feels influential on lo-fi folk rock and others For most bands this would the anthology, posthumously released as a curio.
Bert Jansch
5/5
I love the recording of this album; it feels like an old blues recording. A DIY mono recording, intimate, one man and his guitar. Can't beat it.
'Needle of Death' is a stunning lamentation on drug addiction, which Neil Young borrowed for 'Ambulance Blues' and which he ended up covering on 'A Letter Home'. The lyrics are devastating ('your Mother stands a-cryin, while to the earth your body's slowly cast; your father stands in silence caressing every young dream of the past').
The vocals are an acquired taste, a bit plummy but tuneful and with a hint of power, and over time they become one of the albums greatest assets. The guitar playing is second to none. It has such a groove and a feel. He carries the melody, bass and rhythm on solo guitar with marvelous aplomb.
Overall it's an utter gem; and a travesty he sold it for £100 to the record company bigwigs when it then went on to sell 150k copies.
Fairport Convention
5/5
Sandy Denny is like honey in the ears. The best thing about this album is the definitive version of 'Who Knows Where the Time Goes?' with her smooth as velvet voice (controlled yet close to breaking at times), and Richard Williams's lovely guitar licks. Throw in a nostalgic sentiment that absolutely everyone understands, and you have one of my favourite songs of all time.
The revelation is that the whole album is of similar or equal quality from start to finish. The marvelous 'Genesis Hall' is a lilting ballad par excellence with all the elements that make this album great - lamenting melody, timeless lyrics, Williams's sympathetic licks, Denny's imperious vocal and a bass and drum section that adds to the atmosphere.
It's not all melancholy. 'Si Tu Dois Partir' is an enjoyable feu de camp singalong. And 'Percy's Song' a superlative sea shanty-type ballad. Even more astounding when I discovered, that these two songs are Dylan. And yet Fairport have breathed into them the life of classic English folk, so much so that they are far removed from the originals. 'Million Dollar Bash' is a third Dylan song and more faithful; it's very American sounding, as is the upbeat 'Cajun Woman', and yet the laid back arrangements just about keep them consistent with the album's style.
The album cover is also superb. It's the Good Life. It's suburbia. It's times past. It's such a quaint English vibe, (that lawn through the fence is marvelous). Turns out it's Denny's parents. I love it. I love it all.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Those opening licks - it's like the guitar's taking its pants off, ready for the lovemaking session that's about to occur. Stir it round, sprinkle some sax, mix in some of the best vocals you can get, add a dollop of strings and a soupçon of funky bass, and you got yourself a stone cold sex-classic. It's so good in fact they realise after a few more tracks that it can't be topped, so reprise it in the manner of Sexual Chocolate ('Keep Getting It On') - and basically takes the view that Jesus wants you to fuck. Right out the playbook of a dirty pastor. Even the cover appears as though he maybe being administered fellatio.
It's certainly not as good as 'What's Going On'. It's certainly more consistent than 'Here My Dear'. The tracks start to falter over the course of the album; the lyrics can feel a little trite off the back of 'What's Going On'; yet some of the grooves, arrangements and of course that unrivalled vocal remains captivating at times. It all balances out in the end.
The Yardbirds
4/5
This wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. In fact it was more than three-quarters better than I expected. Not just endless jams or hackneyed blues progressions. It's a curious mix of progressive blues-rock with psychedelia; and pop-influenced ditties. And I like the fact that the album title sounds like a Captain Pugwash character.
Overall I was very impressed. If Beck is the guitarist's guitarist, this album is by the bands' band, as it seems to have set the touchpaper on so many cool offshoots of blues rock.
Buck Owens
3/5
You have to say he puts his all in to the title track, with a foot-tapping beat, and classic country bassline, and really sweet reverbed guitar solo twanging all over the shop. All the elements carry through for best part of the album, to deliver something very enjoyable.
I much prefer this to George Jones. I guess I'm a Bakersfield rather than Nashville guy. I like the alignment to upbeat rock n roll (and a nod to Chuck Berry with 'Memphis'), the focus on excellent and clean guitar licks and bends, and the jollity most of it. It doesn't set my world on fire, some is hackneyed; but it's a collection of high quality and enjoyable country/rock n roll songs.
Thelonious Monk
3/5
This felt like the swing of Ellington, but deconstructed. You know when Heston Blumenthal makes an apple crumble and he puts the apple on one side of the plate, the crumble on the other and the custard in another room. This feels like the swing version of that.
The band feels very intuitive especially on that first track where the tempo is changing. It's obviously based around rehearsed motifs but doesn't lose a very nice improvisational feel.
In summary, the album doesn't sound overly of the be-bop school of improvisation, it doesn't sound big band swing, but it sounds somewhere in between. There are elements and passages I loved, but it didn't keep me entirely captivated.
Eminem
3/5
It gets bloated at over an hour long - what could've been a strong 4-star gets diluted. For instance 'Kim' feels a less sophisticated retread of Stan, and basically reveals something if a narcissistic personality and becomes very grating. 'Under the Influence' is a pale 'Real Slim Shady' imitation with nothing new to say.
He is also strangely preoccupied with dissing gays and ejaculating in bottoms. It's puerile, and unforgivably it's not funny. I'm sure Dr Freud would resolve.this preoccuparion in a matter of moments.
Yet amongst all that are some all out bangers that have genuine crossover appeal - 'Stan', 'The Way I Am', 'Criminal', 'Real Slim Shady', 'Drug Ballad'. It's a shame. It's a three.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
4/5
The Stills-penned 'Suite: Judy Blue Eyes' has folk harmonies to die for, a great ruminative melody, building into a bit of Mexicana at the end. At seven glorious minutes, it's not a second to long. Crosby's 'Guinnevere' (sic) is Paul Simonesque, leaning heavily into English folk (and just as good as Donovan's excellent homonymic track).
I find Nash's songwriting can be a little light. 'Marrakesh Express' for example is a twee ditty and one I've never understood being so well-regarded; the cheeky English pop sensibility feels out of place next to some of the more sophisticated folk tracks here.
The big appeal of the album is their near-perfect harmonies. They're the Laurel Canyon Beach Boys. The songwriting is quite delineated between the three members, and yet it all hangs together as one band. Skirting with MoR at times, the skill of the guitar lines and basslines alongside those three part vocals make most of this leap of the record. It falls just shy of the big one.
Joni Mitchell
3/5
'In France They Kiss on Main Street' starts very much like the glorious 'Help Me' from Court and Spark. But this progresses to sound like Steely Dan - very easy listening, with amped-up guitar-licking. The guitar obviously pales in comparison to Steely, but the painfully MoR melody sits very nicely alongside some of 'Aja'. Nash and Crosby are on this but you wouldn't know it. The title track in particular feels like the bass player probably has an overbite while the band wade through the monotonous funk. Joni even embarks on some jazz scatting which is highly unnecessary. And the likes of 'The Boho Dance' is like Bacharach playing in a lift.
'The Jungle Line' is a totally different proposition, and a fantastic outlier. The use of the synth feels like a 2000s indie band, it reminded me a lot of 'McCartney II'. A worthy evocation of the work of Le Douanier.
This album was not viewed well by critics upon release but is now seen as one of her best. So maybe I need 40 more years to reappraise it. In any case, it's still Joni and it still has a thread of greatness running through it.
Ministry
2/5
I did not research this album ahead of listening. Imagine my disappointment when the double-kicks came in almost immediately - a sure fire sign that there's going to be some naff solos and grunted singing about pestilence. 'N.W.O' has woeful lyrics ("a truer love has never yet to be found; I see sunset through the eyes of a clown"), and yet somehow isn't so terrible - it has the beat, hard-rock hook, and siren sounds of The Prodigy. I could easily see myself punching a teenager in the face to this in the mosh which is to its credit. It's actually pretty good.
When they lose focus on the industrial rock innovations though they fall back into unforgettable thrash metal in the style of Megadeth and co, such as 'Hero' which even has the obligatory shredding solo - it feels dated and hackneyed compared to the other propulsive tunes.
An influence on Rage Against the Machine no doubt, this holds its place on the list.
Manic Street Preachers
5/5
Fantastic listening to this again. I remember getting this album when I was about 15. 'Yes' fired up; I was pretty disturbed by the lyrics that are akin to the most death of metal bands - shock value, abject despair, abortions, holocaust, anorexia, death, disease. Quotes are played in the intros - the one at the beginning of 'Archives of Pain' I found the most chilling ("I wonder who you think you are - do you damn well think you're God or something? God give life, gid taketh it away not _you_", in a thick Yorkshire accent (seemingly set on the howling Yorkshire Moors). Until this point I had only ever known kindly Yorkshire accents talking about great bread. '4st 7lb' wasn't far behind and remains a very challenging listen. As a teenager thinking The Doors were edgy, this knocked me sideways - but most of all petrified me. I don't think I came back to it for a good ten years.
Bradfield is such an underrated guitarist. The angular riff on 'Yes' is mesmerisingly excellent. His vocal really is fantastic - clear, melodic on that opening track, and yet he can crank up power at the drop of a hat. On guitar and vocal his ability to switch up this way is superb.
I maintain the Manics are the best thing Wales has produced since the equals sign (invented by Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde in 1557). I don't know about Robert Recorde, but this is a remarkable record. This album = five stars.
Erykah Badu
2/5
This was rather disappointing. Of course the album was preceded by 'On & On' which seems to have been reprised here, but reprised to match this album's aesthetic - dull (vs the original sultry groove). It seems like a cheap way to anchor the listener to familiarity - imagine if Oasis had reprised DLBIA on Be Here Now, or The Beatles had gone again with the Abbey Road medley. It's not on (and on). The rest of the album is revealed as little more than bland nu-soul, and was most disheartening.
There's a couple of good moments. The brass driven, stop/start groove of 'Booty' is a highlight.
'In Love With You' was fine, on account of Stephen Marley introducing some gravelly variability into proceedings ('In Love With You').
But it's generally a vapid experience; and at over an hour and ten minutes long it becomes a challenging dirge.
The album cover also reminds me of the scene in Airplane II where William Shatner is behind the screen door. But my goodness her lips are something else, and that's coming from someone with lips of the fuller persuasion. Could suck a golf ball through a hosepipe (her not me, although I confess I only tried once, and not with gusto).
Pink Floyd
5/5
'In the Flesh?' is a magnificent start, introducing what's really the centrepiece of the album, Gilmour's guitar. The man's ability to carve out evocative lines that fit within the song are really second to none.
We are used to seeing the majesty of the lion ('Comfortably Numb'). Of the leopard ('Another Brick'). We may even take them for granted. But rarely do we see them in their natural habitat. How they are elevated even further by their surroundings - how it feels right to see (hear) them in their natural habitat (album). What I'm saying (writing) is, this (The Wall) is a great album, and I think that's clear.
John Cale
4/5
The production reminded me a lot of Jeff Lynne produced stuff. ELO but also later Harrison albums like his eponymous album in 79. 'MacBeth' in particular has the 70s pub rock feel of Jeff Beck or ELO, and shows that this album is firmly rooted in British musical tradition, despite his previous association with that American lot.
And yet none of it feels twee (although 'Graham Greene' is a difficult one to warm to). It really treads that line very well. The title track, withs it's brass and strings, made me recall The Snowman. I am not sure why really. A nice Christmassy, melodic, slightly sad, but uplifting tale forever linked with bittersweet feelings of growing up. And that pretty much sums up this album.
The Waterboys
5/5
The quality continues unabated from the lilting melodies of 'Strange Boat' (almost touching on Kenny Rogers pop), the surprisingly great Van Morrison cover of 'Sweet Thing'. 'Jimmy Hickey's Waltz' is recorded like it's in a pub in the Olde Country; it's a great romantic touch, whilst retaining that cheeky pub feel, like a Blur instrumental. 'And a Bang on the Ear' at nine minutes flies by. Interesting to hear about all the girls he's biffed too. These songs lend themselves to be played and infinitum, without getting dull, despite the fact the album run time approaches an hour. 'Stolen Child' is based on Yeats but avoids pretension but being so captivatingly melancholic.
The album undulates from Celtic pub rockers to lilting waltzes ('Has Anybody Here Seen Hank?' which feels classic country) to footappers in between ('When Ye Go Away'). Derivative no doubt, but these tunes feel authentic to me, as a non-Irish.
The White Stripes
4/5
'Seven Nation Army', now mandatorily chanted at every sporting event ever held, is quite the opening statement. The perfect representation of the power of a two-piece (although he plays bass as well). Based around the now-classic hook, even the guitar solo simply repeats it but to great effect.
Things power on with 'Black Math', frenetic rock with an absolutely blistering solo, with the kill switch.
And as for Meg? Great drummer? Well she can keep a beat, but the woman has all the subtlety of a bricklayer. I could do without 'In the Cold, Cold Night' too. There are a few lower key numbers that don't quite hit the spot ('I Want to Be the Boy' and 'You've Got Her in Your Pocket' or the overly twee 'Its True That We Love One Another'), where I'm waiting for the guitar to slash it's way through. Alas it doesn't.
A marvelous album cover. A marvelous sound. Powerful, rich, vibrant. A few that should've stayed b-sides.
Skunk Anansie
2/5
The amped-up industrial rock schtick is the most dated part of the album. There are some decent, lower-tempo and more melodic tunes: 'Tracy's Flaw', 'Secretly' and 'Lately' among them, which sound less like washed-out American alt-rock, and more like melodic Britpop. 'I'm Not Afraid' gets over the 'decent' hurdle too, but is quite American rock - namely 'Live'.
I like Skin - she's enigmatic and she has a cracking voice. But this album is a band out of ideas. 'Hedonism' will forever be their defining contribution to music, but there is nothing of lasting value here. A couple of decent tunes. How it made the list is a mystery.
Deep Purple
3/5
The first thing that leaps out are the virtuosic performances of every member of the band. 'Highway Star' has some superbly frenetic organ playing from Lord, not too dissimilar from Keith Emerson.
Blackmore is pretty faultless throughout the whole set; he's not one for blues licks, but his thing is speed and precision and he does it impressively well.
Paice's drumming is superb. Like Jamie Oliver he can casually toss off an exquisite roll; as demonstrated on 'The Mule'.
Finally, but not leastily, Gillan's vocal feels gruff in this at times, but then he accelerates at pace to those high notes effortlessly - surely a major influence on Axl Rose.
Much like 'Machine Head' I find this an entertaining album with some superb moments, and a highly impressive live band. The performance is great of that there's no doubt. A lack of consistently excellent songs, and a propensity to venture into masturbatory marathons remains DP's problem.
R.E.M.
4/5
In summation, it is a great album with a couple of heavy-hitters and some nice jangling melancholy; nowhere near the beauty of Murmur or dark emotional heft of Automatic, where Stipe's voice develops more of a baritone. But as swansong for their college rock days, pre the big-time, it's grand enough.
The Beau Brummels
3/5
Sure the opening track, 'Are You Happy?' left me wondering if The Beau Brummels were one of the legion of Dylan rip-offs. Or rip-offs of Dylan rips-offs. 'Only Dreaming Now' has much of Donovan about it. The jangly guitar tones of 'Painter of Women' has a smattering of The Byrds.
It's a bit country, a bit folly, a bit psychedelic. It doesn't rely on clichés though; the melodies are always a little bit atypical which is to its credit. Another big positive is the economy of it all, coming in at under half an hour, probably the optimum time to listen to this concoction.
James Taylor
4/5
The title track is a shining example of how you can make something so astoundingly MoR, so bittersweet. Not least the superb melody; but the gentle country-folk and lullaby vocal is like a warm hug from a fat Auntie.
His vocal stops some of these tracks becoming trite - 'Sunny Skies' in another's mouth would be unbearable (I'm thinking Randy Newman as this does have a Toy Story flavour). James's vocal though is so unhistrionic and mellifluous; his unemotional style negates any twee overtones.
It's undoubtedly fantastic. I'm caught between a four and five. If I was an aural sommelier, I'd pair it with American Pie as the 'night' listen and this as the brighter 'day' listen. As a creature of the night, I place it a micron below McLean's album.
Baaba Maal
3/5
offers some enchanting moments. This one hits the mark less often, and the crossover with western production values doesn't always work, such as on 'Gidelam' (_Dizzy Sheep_), which uses a synth and some slap bass to create a drive. At one point 'Olel' (_African Oil_) goes into something akin to the Lambada, and with the cheap synth it starts to feel more like Kofi Olomide. It's a cheap gameshow sound that reappears now again, such as on the plodding 'Lem Gi' (_Citrus Punch_). 'Hamady Boiro' (_Pass The Pen_) has too many cheesy synth touches and a dated drum sound. 'Minuit' (_Tiny Eskimo_) is the ultimate attempt to marry the Senagalese language with western rhythms and in many ways is the most successful.
Had I heard this album first I may consider Maal a great proponent of western/Senagalese fusion, but as it is this album pales somewhat to the atmospheric authenticity of Djam Leeli. Nonetheless, he pulls some great melodies out the bag.
Joy Division
4/5
The difficult second album - that is, difficult to listen to. An album more stark than Tony, Joy Division created a genre of anxiety-driven, mood music that I love, and yet I really have to work to appreciate this album.
The tracks were developed out of jamming sessions and it shows. Droning is the (new) order of the day. 'Passover', 'Colony' and 'Heart and Soul' are minimalist pieces of desolation which keep chord changes to a minimum, and dispense with any notion of a verse, chorus and middle eight. 'The Eternal' the same, a song so bleak it should be used in a Shane Meadows film.
It draws from the Berlin period, sets a new standard for atmospheric mood, and ushers Inna host of wannabes. That being said, I shy away from awarding an album top marks that has such an adverse effect on my blood pressure, and an album that has no shades of colour.
Shack
3/5
There's nothing innovative or radical here, and the appeal lies in the songcraft which is generally of a decent quality, if often underwhelming.
That orchestration often ties back to the 60s ('Since I Met You' is most Beatlesque), and by association, is firmly rooted in 90s nostalgia.
Owing to the lack of originality different tracks sound like different contemporary bands. 'Natalie's Party' a dead ringer for the Charlatans. 'Beautiful' is Dodgy. 'Captain's Table' owes a debt to The Las, and this one is if superior quality - excellent folk-tinged number with a great bassline. And credit where it falls due, they have paid it forward with the likes of Elbow (acoustic, strings-driven anthems), The Coral (the fingerpicked 'Daniella') and Gerry Cinnamon (the catchy 'Lend's Some Dough') having taken much from this, often more successfully.
I'd love it to be a lost classic like The Las' album, but what it is is a decent collection if songs, a couple very good, and otherwise being reasonably unmemorable and uncharacterless. It just passes to three.
Frank Black
5/5
Great start to this album, 'Whatever Happened to Pong?'. Sweet 50s harmonies, big riff with surf tones. Then into the haphazard, garage-rock section, with no let up. Blistering.
The album continues to be a runaway T-Bird, veering all over the road at speed, and yet intent on keeping the pace to its destination* (*metaphor). The run of the first eight or so tracks is ridiculously good.
It's not all rambunctious guitar rock, he carries off the lighter moments with aplomb, such as 'Sir Rockaby', and Joey Santiago's lead on this and others is exemplary. 'Superabound' another corker and lead guitar (not Santiago) perfection. Whether rock or not, there's always that off-kilter pop-edge (such as 'The Vanishing Spies'), which is playing back the Nirvana-sound that The Pixies had helped create. The 50s reverb of Gene Vincent type ballads crops up many times, like on the fantastic 'Speedy Marie'.
This is such a marvelous outpouring of fantastic songs, derivative and original all at the same time, an alternative take on classic forms of rock - it must be top marks.
Def Leppard
2/5
This has the sort of 80s soft-rock feel that makes you think shit MTV videos, spandex one-pieces, and flammable hair. Leaving behind harder rock roots, which I've never heard and so can't compare, this seems a cynical move to mimic AC/DC, ZZ Top and Kiss.
However the first track 'Rock! Rock! (Til You Drop!)', which is pure AC/DC, ain't half bad. A rollicking riff. 'Photograph' has a chorus that transports one to an 80s high school comedy film, sounding like any soft rocker you care to mention, but it certainly has a radio-friendly melody.
It all gets a bit turgid after that. Like wading through 80s treacle (Tate & Lyle). My favourite bit of this album was realising that the beginning of 'Pretty Fly' by Offspring is a sample. I had read 'Rock of Ages' was a single so assumed it'd have some redeeming features - but the treacle just got a hell of a lot thicker.
Magazine
5/5
I was looking forward to an album of new-wave meets garage guitar rock, much like the excellent 'Shot by Both Sides', the one song here I knew. It's a lot more focused on the new-wave elements of synth, with dubby bass and a touch of ska ('My Tulpa') than I had imagined.
There is that conspicuous element of the glam rock running through this, amongst the more crepuscular undertones.
It's a fantastic album, brimming with much more idiosyncratic character than I had expected. It is much more than post-punk, new-wave rock, whatever you want to call it. A great distillation of different types of 70s altern-rock with a heavy dose of the dark carnival.
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
The Wikipedia listed equipment played on this album is absolutely orgasmic - Rolands, Yamahas, Moogs, Korgs, ARPs etc - all with cool names like the ARP Odyssey or the Korg Trident II. I assume it's the analogue synths that gives the warm and imperfect tone that drips with nostalgia. As well as alignment with Stranger Things, the Drive soundtrack came to mind, especially on the lovely title track. Detached melancholy. Loneliness. Resignation. And other words.
'oh baby' and 'american dream' are the two solo-penned tracks by Murphy, and to my ears the most moving. Astride those, 'tonite' and the other dance numbers sound a little flat and frivolous, without the layers of the better tracks. Even 'black screen' a downbeat close to the album, feels too detached and simplified for my liking.
I liked the general aesthetic but much prefer the more ambient numbers compared with the more DIY-sounding repetitive dance beats. Give me sinister chord changes, give me shimmering synth. They hot the spot a few times, but overall underwhelming.
Aerosmith
3/5
Aerosmith must have the worst album covers outside of the thrash-metal crowd. Musically however, following the 'Rocks' debacle, this was a breath of fresh air. In fact how Aerosmith went from this bluesey, swampy, tight rock n roll to naffery in just one album beggars belief.
It manages the feat of very much sounding like the Stones but with melodic Beatles touches - 'Adam's Apple' a good example where the chugging Stonesy verses are supplemented by horns and a Beatlesque descending bridge between chords.
I was enjoying the more unique feel of 'Uncle Salty' until I realised the verses carry a very similar melody to 'Man! I Feel Like a Woman'. Once you've heard it there's no going back. The true original here is of course 'Walk This Way' - a classic that was somehow made even better by mashing it with hip hop.
So what have we learned? That this was the album where Aerosmith realised they could distil the influence of American blues and RnB, via the British invasion, to produce something pretty punchy. Whilst highly derivative this new punchy formula feels a forerunner of The Black Crowes and the like. Most of the tracks are decent to good with a couple of classics. High three then.
Tom Waits
5/5
In a world where contextualising music by reference to peers and influences is par for the course, I found this incomparable. That's not to say matchless in a superlative way. But in the way I cannot think of anything quite like this album.
For a start there's 10 minutes before he attempts to sing, instead monologuing a pathetic fallacy about his emotional distress. The band improvise but don't take over. The artificial audience feel like they genuinely become a grateful and doting audience, interacting with the band - and whilst I know this is in a studio, it's difficult not to imagine this taking place in a late night smokey New York joint. Which is all to say it's an immersive listen.
He also has quite the way with words, such that I happily listened to 'Eggs and Sausage' which is Tom pretty much reading a diner menu. Some of his Homeric epithets are delightful ("a dracula-moon" or a "monkey-shit brown Buick super" or a "skid-mark tattoo on the asphalt blue").
Underneath it all is some rather bittersweet jazz at times - as well as 'Better Off', 'Big Joe and Phantom 309' or the rueful 'Putnam County' are musical highlights.
I had been waiting for a Waits epiphany. And it has arrived.
4/5
One of the greatest opening tracks to any 60s album. The guitar parts are perfection, the melody exquisite, the sarcastic nostalgia biting.
There's enough in the way of quality tunes here. 'Brainwashed' is one of the great Kinks album tracks. Punk energy.
It's an interesting one. Many tracks not as immediately accessible as the singles, and the circuitous melodies take time to come through. But those, alongside the wry observation of a dying empire, although not inventive in terms of production, stills feels relevant today. This is a an album waiting at border control to get into 5 territory, but just falls short.
XTC
5/5
'Summer Cauldron' immediately makes me think of McCartney's ear for melody, wrapped in the warm sounds of Summer, but with the warbling, unsettled synth underneath. Without fanfare it moves into 'Grass' which is a sublime piece of ambient pop. Partridge has an unapologetically British lilt to his vocal, not the greatest vocalist perhaps, but it's delivered with great authentic 'post-punk meets pop' conviction.
The album is full of earworms, acoustic hooks, harmonies which all flow into one swirling ambience over the course of album. 'The Meeting Place' is a highlight.
This is up there with the best work of XTC I've heard to date. It is even better than 'Apple Venus' which itself was approaching a masterpiece. This most certainly is a veritable masterpiece.
Christina Aguilera
3/5
The focus of much of this, calling out a self-serving and hypocritical media, misogynist double standards, and standing up for a woman's right to give blow jobs without being called a slut, is commendable. But intent is one thing and execution another.
I gave 'Back to Basics' a bad time but that was karma, as it gave me a bad time. So let me first say here 'Fighter' is a bona fide banger, with an earworm chorus. 'Dirrty' is not far behind, albeit overshadowed by its ladywank video. They aren't groundbreaking, tapping into 'Survivor' and other Destiny's Child rnb/rock crossovers, but they are undeniably pumping.
The other thing she does quite well are the heartfelt ballads. 'Impossible' has all the hallmarks of Alicia Keys who wrote it - classic soul (albeit highly derivative). Then there's the genuinely uplifting 'Beautiful' which delivers the album's intended message with great skill (courtesy of Linda Perry).
A nice thread of songcraft runs through it thanks to Keys and Perry, credit is given for Christina co-writing these songs, noting the lyrics are earnest, if often unimaginative. All tolled, and maybe the surprise factor of this being decent, it opens the door for a low three.
Living Colour
2/5
It's the feel of seeing a proficient band in a small music venue, where they can play but can't quite nail a melody. I've been trying to decipher why this is so bland. If one listens to 'Middle Man', or the verses of 'Open Letter' or many others, they offer no chord progression. It's generally hanging on one chord and relying on funk-bass or guitar riffery to add interest. This sort of schtick gets extremely dull quickly. Notably, when 'Open Letter' breaks into the chord-shifting chorus, it suddenly gets some life.
Interesting to read Mick Jagger championed the group, and produced some of this. Maybe not so surprising given the Stones' mid to late 80s output was also pretty drab. Better than Bad Brains.
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
Apparently an album of foundational importance to soul and to Stax. I guess the unique thing here is the full band sound, rather than The Ventures or The Shadows, instrumental bands which focused on single instruments.
The band have a loose groove but work in great harmony. Whilst the Hammond is often the star, I love Cropper's economical playing.
The pinnacle of the sound is of course the title track. A simple 12-bar blues, but a swampy, timeless groove with irresistible vintage hook.
Tracks like 'I Got a Woman' have a chutzpah. It all smacks a bit of novelty band that, if you saw live, would be great fun in a slightly ironic way. Positive energy; rehashing old classics - may as well be called Chive Bunny, ammirite?!!
With an understanding of its influence lost on me some 60 years later, it's a fun if 'light' listen with one canonical classic.
Echo And The Bunnymen
4/5
It's interesting to hear the band's nascent sound, which is out the blocks pretty well-developed. McCulloch's voice is slightly higher-pitched here, before the weathering of age, but still commands a rich baritone. It actually has a strain of the Bonos about it at times - and some of the tracks, such as 'Going Up' do have a whiff of early U2 (the latter following the former).
'The Pictures on My Wall' is a stand out, with it's middle eastern-infused hook, great Andy Rourke type bass line, and a bit of grit in the vocal. The synth gives it a bit of ambience. 'Do It Clean' was unexpectedly poppy, backed by a bouncing organ which all sounds like something The Go-Gos may have produced. Mainly though you have the slower burn atmospheres of 'Stars Are Stars', 'Pride' or the fantastic 'Monkeys'. A critical component is Will Sergeant's guitar, which is an effective tool of ambience and a means to an end rather than for show. Sure there are a number of more dispensable tracks ('Rescue', the title track), but the feel of the album is never compromised.
The Who
3/5
This has been called The Who's best album. After having reviewed 'My Generation' (solid), 'Live at Leeds' (powerful) and 'Who's Next' (epic), this is incontrovertibly wrong. And so, on first listen, it is somewhat hoisted by the petard of high expectation.
It has also been named the best concept album ever (Rolling Stones 1999) but that is poppycock. Whilst well-observed, chucking in a few radio jingle and advert parodies amongst a bunch of unconnected songs is hardly sophisticated.
I do like the Small Faces-pop of 'Odorono', one song which does actually work well with the concept, being an extended advert for deodorant, with some marvelous storytelling lyrics. Perhaps 'Medac' can be said to fit in with the commercialisation theme too, but it's completely throwaway.
Other tracks of note are the 'Mary Anne with the Shaky Hands', a CSN-type piece of folk lamenting a girl with Parkinson's. 'I Can See for Miles' and 'Tattoo' feel like some of the Who's classic acoustic 'set-ups' before some blazing guitar should kick in (alas, it never does, but Moon does his best on 'I Can See for Miles' where he provides a powerhouse drumbeat on the chorus). 'Our Love Was' builds to a really superb earworm with fantastic lead solo.
I'd like to hear a rockier version of this album, and much better produced. I still enjoyed about half the songs.
Super Furry Animals
4/5
'Something 4 the Weekend' is one of the greatest indie songs of the 90s.
It's an unapologetically joyful ride through glam rock guitars married to soaring power pop. And in amongst it, a burgeoning skill for writing melancholy - 'If You Don't Want Me to Destroy You' is beautifully balladic, avoiding all cliché with the typically offbeat lyrics.
The album in general maintains great quality, but as is the case with many an album there is a later album dip, especially the last few songs where a bit of momentum is lost. I think 'Radiator' is just as good, but this is the album for raw, glam guitar and debut-album-energy. It's quirky, it's rocky, it's a furry foury.
Arcade Fire
4/5
Central to this album is the Neighborhood suite, focused around a town where the kids seemingly want to get away from their dysfunctional parents.
'Neighborhood #1' starts with atmospheric pace and builds to a riot of sound. For an opening song on a debut album it's highly sophisticated.
The more I listen to Arcade Fire the more it makes sense to tie them into a lineage of the dark post-punkers (Joy Division, Cure) married to the expanse of Springsteen's heartland rock. In amongst these epics you have the ability to weave an affecting melody is up there with the best.
The album feels a more personal/nostalgic take, compared to the cynicism of Neon Bible. The latter is so well conceived though, that is my preference. But this is of course excellent.
The Black Keys
4/5
This is a solid brand of garage-blues-indie rock that throws up some good tunes. I love the drumbeat on 'Tighten Up', which is an interesting pattern (sounds like he drops a snare beat for toms). The 'Next Girl' guitar-sound is filthy, the vocal like an old bluesman. It's fuzzy and swampy - the 'She's Long Gone' opening riff, with it's distorted hammer-ons, could quite easily be Neil Young. 'Howlin' for You' is the piece de resistance - blues-heavy scuzzy-riffing against a resolute vocal and pumping drums, all put together with a touch of glam rock meets blues. Superb.
There had always been something about the Black Keys that failed to excite me when compared to their closest rivals, The White Stripes. I thought them similar to 'Black Rebel Motorcycle Club' in a way - very decent and wear their influences on their sleeve, but they fail to reach next level status. Did you notice I said "there _had_" and "that _failed_", and "I _thought_"? Because that is the past but this is now this grew on me. And although at 55 minutes a judicious piece of editing would have tightened it up, it grew on me to the point where I think it excellent. Just about.
Ray Charles
4/5
Funny to consider these were once modern sounds. Because today it feels like a rich, warm blanket of standards. 'You Don't Know Me' is surely one of the most effective unrequited love songs ever written, and I can't help but think of Bill Murray and Andy MacDowell having a fleeting romance in a snow covered park.
But can't all be timeless classics. 'I Love You So Much It Hurts' feels pedestrian amongst such esteemed company. There is a big-band 'swing' element to much of it which doesn't float my boat nor holds up to the ballads.
The ballads may be variations on a theme, but these are all excellent bar none. 'Worried Mind' has honky-tonk piano amongst strings and exposed vocal. 'You Don't Know Me' is surely one of the most effective unrequited love songs ever written, and I can't help but think of Bill Murray and Andy MacDowell having a fleeting romance in a snow covered park.
The best reinterpretation of originals I've heard since 'In the Wee Small Hours'. It doesn't have the consistent mood of that album, and I'm a sucker for the non-big-band tunes, but clearly this is at least excellent.
Eurythmics
4/5
If you think this album will sound like the monumental synth-pop of its title track, then you're in for a surprise. In general it's altogether more influenced by Krautrock, with minimalist beats. The title track emerges from the minimalism like a collosus. It really is one of the finest songs ever put to record, with a detailed synth-riff, and showcasing Annie Lennox's (a kneelin' ox) next-level vocals. The other great distillation of synth vs offbeat melody is the lovely 'Love is a Stranger' an ambient rumination upon the concept of love, with a Bowie vocal pattern.
When they lose the darker edge, like 'Wrap it Up' (turns out to be an Isaac Hayes cover), it doesn't work as well, although a more pop route suits them very well over the next few albums. It's a shame that the last couple of tracks are fairly lifeless, because overall the album is an interesting journey through some new-wave alternativeness. In spite of this, the first half of the album is strong - and with a couple of classics here it pushes into excellent territory.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
Whilst 'You've Come a Long Way, Baby' remains his commercial pinnacle, this is a nice warm-up with touches of melodic brilliance. His use of rock samples amongst the beats are often great. 'Going Out of My Head' mashes 'I Can't Explain' with Zepp and The Doors, into a pumping piece of party pop (the seeds of 'Rockerfella Skank' are here). The trip hop/ambient feel of 'The Weekend Starts Here' effectively integrates the harmonica of Sabbath's 'The Wizard'. This one shows some courage to not hide behind big beats and it's one of the standouts.
I was pleasantly surprised and think it not far behind the next album. In some ways it has more variety. In any case, it stands it ground.
Radiohead
5/5
'Pakt Like Sardines' is a mini-masterpiece that very few could devise. There is some Björk here perhaps, and certainly Aphex Twin in the toneless, clipped beats. The way it layers up, but at its heart remains robotic, is a delicious dichotomy. It's counterpart feels like the mixed-up 'Like Spinning Plates' which you never really know if it's going backwards or forwards.
The hauntingly cinematic 'Pyramid Song' is unapologetically languorous, and one of their most beautiful melodies, building to a truly astral denouement. 'Dollars and Cents' is equally cinematic using sweeping Morricone strings.
And so on.
I needn't mention the off-kilter basslines, the leftfield guitar parts, the inventive drum parts, and the soaring falsetto, all of which will take a back seat when so required. Their excellence as a band is well-understood.
Oft the forgotten cousin of Kid A, this is a masterpiece in its own right. An album I revisit rarely and that is not acceptable and I apologise.
The Byrds
4/5
The opening bars of 'So You Wanna Be A Rock n Roll Star' sound like 80s R.E.M., with two picked chords back and forth. It has that feeling of alternative college rock that is mighty appealing and uplifting. 'Have You Seen Her Face' is a song I discovered in the last 15 years - laid back vocal against a superb pop chord progression and crystal harmonies. And a guitar solo that tries to rival Taxman for its aggressive picking. A real treat.
The obligatory Dylan cover features - it doesn't have the same transformative impact of their 'Mr Tambourine Man' interpretation but it's a great song choice for McGuin's laid back style of rock. McGuin also gets a mention, not just for his co-writing, but some really excellent guitar playing - from jangling country licks to the Indian scales.
Klaxons
4/5
A surprise. Surprising that this isn't an album that relys solely on its big single. The blend of indie-band delivery with club beats and klaxons (hey, that's their name!), undoubtedly paved the way for many a band, most notably Kasabian. 'Alantis to Interzone' is something of a banger with a pumping bassline and hooks picked out on one guitar string. As well as Bloc Party and other contemporaries, it seems like the Klaxons were influenced by the Arctic Monkeys ('Gravity's Rainbow' has typical Monkey's riffing; as well as perhaps paying it forward and laying down a a template for 2007's 'My Favourite Worst Nightmare').
The centrepiece remains 'Golden Skans' which is superlative dance indie, and it is right to deem this a classic. Falsetto harmonies, delicious hooks, great guitar lines, soaring chorus.
Any yet the quality keeps coming from the disco-bass driven 'Forgotten Works' to the frenetic 'Magick', the great 'It's Not Over' cover', and the punky 'Four Horsemen of 2012'.
The Kinks
4/5
A notable album for moving away from the amped-up RnB of the early singles and into English character observation. With the advent of the Arthur and Village Green albums, this initially feels unremarkable in retrospect - but is a surefire grower with each listen.
It doesn't feel it has the importance of Village nor Arthur; but there's a real ramshackle charm here, as well as some of their best album tracks. I went from feeling this a 3, to nearly a 4 to an actual 4.
The Crusaders
2/5
I am not surprised the title track comprises over 25% of the album's run time. When you have a song that funky, and a wider album rather hit and miss, it makes sense.
What's more the rerecorded and pacier 'Street Life' a couple of years later, is the better version. Nonetheless, what a corker.
As for the rest, the best I can say is it didn't annoy me as much as I thought jazz-funk instrumentals would. I actively enjoyed 'My Lady', which has some great bass bounce, and a Rotary Connection vibe (and feels ripe for being sampled by the sampling crowd). 'Carnival of the Night' demonstrates everyone is controlled and not improvising for the sake of it. The bass remains the key element throughout with some funk-basslines that, unlike Mrs Macron, never go full slap. This is a tune that immediately makes you want to roller-skate.
It is a classic case of diminishing returns however. 'Night Faces' delivers some shifting chords that put this in the 'too MoR for Steeley Dan' camp. 'Rodeo Drive' sounds like a pool-side cabaret in Mallorca.
My Bloody Valentine
2/5
To call Shields a one-trick pony doesn't cut it. The incessant use of the whammy bar and massive reverb is one heck of a sound, but played repeatedly for 20 years it loses its edge. Secondly, being nearly 20 years in the making, they offer fayre like 'is this and yes' which could've been knocked up in ten minutes.
That being noted, I can dig some of this, subject to the pull of the melody rather than the effects. 'only tomorrow' develops into a hypnotic circular track, which they have a skill for. 'who sees you' has the same captivating swirl. 'she found now' may be the most enticing track with some delicate vocals that match the atmospherics.
'Loveless' remains their best and only really worthwhile listen.
FKA twigs
3/5
At its best it reminded of the haunting detachment of London Grammar. There is certainly some similarity with Björk too, with its sparse beats and choral sounds.
And as for her potty-mouth, she can really give it some: "My thighs are apart for when you're ready to breath in". Is there anything as sexy as spreading 'em and saying "get a whiff of that!"?
Overall a difficult one to rate. I didn't find much of it melodically interesting, in fact little better than modern mass-produced rnb and pop. Lyrically it's vapid. And yet the construction of the whole record and the fearless approach for a debut is admirable. And it has some real flashes of brilliance. This album is anything but average, and yet I find myself at a 3.
Iggy Pop
5/5
With distorted semi-funky Alomar guitar-hooks, disco-adjacent basslines, and a drawled baritone deeper than the Mariana trench, this album has a unique place on the musical ven diagram - it feels a bit punk, a bit Berlin trilogy, a bit garage rock, a bit cabaret, without submitting to any of them. That is to say it's the perfect blend of each.
This is part of a defining movement that starts with Can, Neu and Kraftwerk and is developed by Bowie and Pop. It obviously owes much to Bowie - the alienation of Station to Station, soul touches of Young Americans, detached ambience of where the Berlin trilogy would go - but this is a defining album in its own right and Iggy's snakey character gives this another angle. Outstanding.
Liz Phair
5/5
I don't know what passed as a passport photo in 1993 but these days that album cover is not ticking any boxes.
It says a lot about someone if they can sound like Sheryl Crow and PJ Harvey simultaneously. 'Help Me Mary' is particularly corvine.
It's a double album and one must always call in to question if any double album merits its length - especially when the aesthetic is a homemade one. Even over the last quarter though it keeps throwing up great tunes like 'Johnny Sunshine'. A marvelous two-chord, monotone lamentation. Or 'Shatter' with which you can just drift off without it being as actively enjoyable as the bangers on here. Or 'Stratford-on-Guy', a later album highlight; and 'Strange Loop' as catchy as any 80s R.E.M. track.
They say this is an important album for its social commentary through a gender-lens, sexuality, and empowerment. I don't know about any of that, but this bitch can write a tune. A marvelous album.
Dagmar Krause
2/5
It's difficult not to associate 20s-era German music with erotic cabaret, and I'm not sure this is what Krausse is going for, notwithstanding the fact she is a handsome lady. The lyrics, often Brecht's, are more concerned with war, poverty, and hyperinflation (but then again who hasn't wanked off over seeing working men line up in black-and-white for their bread rations).
Its so theatrical that it's difficult to warm to. But I can appreciate it without really liking it.
That being said, the tracks regarding the tragedy of German mothers are all devastatingly observed and they have the biggest impact. For instance, 'Mother Beimleim' hits you like a Björk from the blue - a truly avant-garde piece, telling of a Mother's attempts to keep her family afloat by whoring, and going a little mad.
The real power here remains in the stories being told rather than the delivery and the musical dressing. More than that, it's difficult to relate to lyrics set in the Weimar Republic about a country's slip into blind-fascism, following a deluded dictator who will surely lead them all to war. Isn't it? Well, isn't it?
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
Bruce does have a way of writing tunes that have some muscle and grow on you, although not always titilating. On this album a fair few tracks feel rather generic, from 'Waitin' on a Sunny Day' to 'Countin' on a Miracle' (song titles with a missin' 'g' are clearly a signpost for genericism). And it's a rather protracted affair too which stunts enjoyment a little.
However, on the lower-quality end of the spectrum, rarely is anything other than pleasantly listenable. The exceptions that prove the rule are the proto-Lighthouse Family schmaltz of 'Let's Be Friends', and 'Worlds Apart' with the terrible interpolation of eastern music and self-important feel of U2.
A few tracks give me the vibe of his 90s stuff, like 'Streets of Philadelphia' and 'Secret Garden' which hit a sweet spot. 'Nothing Man' is up there with those - Bruce has a way of writing an affecting melody without being mawkish. The gentle swell of a pedal steel evoking some American geographical expanse or other, and a conversational, commanding and yet unemotional vocal delivered with grace. He can tap into the bittersweet like few can.
A contemplative album that does carry quite a bit of emotional heft given the context, undermined at times by the tea and biscuits middle-aged rock. But at its best, it provides some beautifully bittersweet moments.
The Boo Radleys
1/5
Knowing the Boos exclusively from the insufferable 'Wake Up', I was surprised by some of the more Britrock style numbers here. The (horribly) distorted guitars on 'Take the Time Around' or 'I Hang Suspended'. 'If You Want It, Take It' is similar, and there is a certain level of b-side quality here.
The problem is, it all sounds a bit of a pale imitation of Bandwagonesque which is much the better album. Crucially, TFC smothered the vocal (which is fine but not the strongest) in lush warm arrangements, jangling guitars, great harmonies and twin-tracking. With 'Giant Steps' the vocal is at best feeble and often left exposed (unless they mask it with pointless noise such as on the annoying 'Run My Way Runway', or the grating vox via Leslie speaker in 'The White Noise Revisted').
Being of 90s UK scene, a time of lo-fi folk, a time of burgeoning Britpop, a time of acid-house indie, a time of ambient electronica, I find this hard to justifiably fit into the canon. lt's aimless, trying a range of styles in the hope it'll hit on something, which it rarely does. I spent a lot of time thinking this sounds like a shit Beatles. Or a shit Oasis. Or a shit Bluetones. Or a shit Jah Wobble. Or a shit Supergrass. Or a shit Lightning Seeds. Most of whom have produced enough of their own shit without this being added to the pile. A torpid, unoriginal, oft grating affair, that completely misses the mark.
Pere Ubu
5/5
Whilst not a step-change from 'The Modern Dance', this feels tighter and more consistent. Stomping geek-rock opener 'Navvy' lays down much of the template for later bands in the lineage - Pixies, Modest Mouse, Young Knives.
As soon as it starts to feel too conventional they pull the rug again - such as 'Caligari's Mirror' with a solo that The Residents would be proud of. 'Dub Housing' also has that Residents out of tune guitar feel. 'Thriller!' sounds unrecognisable from the Michael Jackson cover; this one tips into the avant-garde, and although it has some excellent atmosphere (and 90s dance effects by the end), it does break the flow of the album.
This is borderline top marks; I find the Ubus so distinctive, interesting, unique - and this album marginally better than the four-rated last - that surely I must bestow that highest honour.
Brian Eno
5/5
A ways away from his ambient works, and much more comparable to the melodic leftfield pop of Roxy Music.
Not a revolutionary one (which is testament to Eno that I'd expect it to be). However, it's a great piece of early new-wave, not too different from Roxy, even if missing the impactful genius of his later stuff. It skirts with a 5 it really does. I can't make up my mind if it is. It's better than 'Another New World'. I give it the highest four I can. But now 'Some of Them Are Old' is back on and it feels dreamy. It's confusing, but in a good way. I'll do it...
Killing Joke
5/5
I only know of Killing Joke via the Nirvana connection and aside from 'Eighties', I'm a KJ virign. And I like this. I like this a lot.
'Requiem' is an excellent opener, nice guitar hook, over chugging chords, characteristically melodic bassline, and it's all rather Britpop-adjacent. Having read about their influence on metalheads like Metallica, it's surprising how unlike heavy rock it is. It feels like a bridge between post-punk (XTC) and 80s gothicism (Sisters of Mercy), although for the best part, the album manages to avoid sounding dated to the 80s.
There's admittedly a couple which feel a little inconsequential, such as 'Complication', and the Dalek vocals on the otherwise excellent 'Wardance' are unnecessary; but these songs sit within the overall caliginous feel of the album, never breaking the spell. (What? I use that word most days).
And all coming in at 35 minutes, it's an absolute doozy.
Pixies
4/5
In a pre-90s indie rock world, one where a big, reverbed drum sound was preferred over Kinks-like guitars, The Pixies must've hit like an epileptic mule on electrotherapy.
Also worth saying, as album-cover breasts go, and with apologies to Liz Phair, this is up there with Electric Ladyland, Tigermilk, Roxy Music and The Slits. Sensational.
I am still probably an outlier amongst Pixies admirers and think 'Bossanova' their pinnacle. But of course this remains an excellent album, and places alongside The Stone Roses for ushering in a new decade of alternative rock music.
Peter Gabriel
3/5
Coming out of (masters of the extended rock opera) Genesis, containing this to 40-odd minutes is an achievement in itself. 'Moribund the Burgermeister' quickly gets into the theatrical chorus, showing Gabriel hasn't left the aesthetic of his former band far behind. It's a mini-prog rock masterpiece (which is probably the best way to listen to prog-rock i.e. not for too long). But this all being compressed works wonders - firstly it's eminently listenable, and secondly it feels like it's ram-packed with ever-moving twists and turns.
An opening run par excellence; then a race around some different styles which never really work unless it touches back upon his prog-rock roots. The prog-rock touches are suitably grandiose but compact, and I found that excellent. Overall this doesn't hold a candle to the excellent Melt.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
If I could edit Young's 90s albums into a playlist - and I can - I feel I'd make an excellent album out of it. 'Ragged Glory's contribution would be relatively minimal.
Peppered throughout are some nice little refrains, and CSNY-style harmonies. 'White Line' captures all of that very well. And its unified and sudden ending feel like a great polished moment amongst the sprawl. There are some later album highlights in 'Mansion on the Hill' and 'Days That Used to Be' which actually navigate through different passages and have some great hooks rather than purely strums, the latter feeling rather Dylanesque.
It does feel like the start of a new 90s sound and carries a certain inherent import because of that. Glimmers of great tunes are here, but over an LP it's hard to sustain. Even harder to sustain when he tries to repeat this formula time and again over the next 35 years. I'm sorry Neil I love you, you know that, which is why I'm allowing a three.
Arctic Monkeys
4/5
I haven't tended to be a huge Monkeys fan and have never listened to a full album, but my respect for them has grown over their career, especially their irresistible blend of rock meets 50s croon - and these days they have a real sophistication.
Not so here. This is continual riffing, absolutely pumping drum beats and thick Sheffield accents spouting lyrics of every day chancers and British references (e.g. Frank Spencer). It's all in the humourously narrative style of their fellow Sheffieldians Pulp. The fact they are unapologetically Northern British is one of the great appeals. Reet good.
I love later songs like 'Cornerstone' and '505' and 'Crying Lightning' which all start to get a crooning swagger; but I can't fault this album for youthful punch, being authentic, and be delivered by a fucking good band. Except some of the songs being a bit dull on account of repeating the formula which is a bit of a fault. Easy four.
The Rolling Stones
5/5
The high-esteem in which this album is held was always something of a mystery to me, especially when compared to their late-60s golden run. On a track by track basis there aren't necessarily many here that would be in my top 10 Stones tunes.
But it really does have a certain atmosphere that percolates over time, each track a piece of the jigsaw. I don't necessarily seek out the individual tracks - but once you hear one, you want to listen to the whole album.
There's little point going track by track. About the only misstep here is 'Sweet Black Angel', that would make even Mike Reid blush. One that you just have to grimace and bear.
The other bittersweet point is listening to Keef in full Keef mode - those open G chords on 'Soul Survivor' as an example, and realising that they never quite got there again (the odd track perhaps but not another album this good - I love Goat's Head Soup, but this is a debate for another time).
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
As with 'Electric Ladyland' all Hendrix stuff is evidently a product of 60s psychedlia. 'EXP' may have been "far out" back then, but these days it only serves to date the album. The production as always, is very muddy, and the drums always feel a bit detached from the rest of the playing. Being generous, I suppose The White Stripes' rough and ready playing can link back here. The guitar sound feels dated too most of the time - clearly a master at work with wah, phasing, backwards loops, dive-bombs which at the time would've blown guitarists away and set a bar. But it does at times feel an unnecessary distraction.
Like its successor, it's not completely solid. But whilst 'Up from the Skies' feels like throwaway b-side fodder; Redding's 'She So Fine' doesn't fit at all; and 'Little Miss Lover' and 'You Got Me Floatin'' are poor versions of some of his bigger hits (the latter only notable for having Nash and Roy Wood on backing), otherwise there a decent hit rate.
Sonic Youth
3/5
The insanely overrepresented Sonic Youth back for the final time. The Sonics always fill me with some trepidation, perhaps a tad of ennui, but they've also invariably win me round to a large extent - even if I've found all their efforts middling. The exception, and the one I understand being on this list was 'Daydream Nation'. "I wonder how this will fare", I thought to myself. I am now able to reveal my findings.
I thought this was similar to previous albums we've heard, except 'Daydream Nation'.
Where it falls down is the likes of 'Beauty Lies in the Eye', which is more teenage whimpering from Kim Gordon; there's little here we haven't heard several times before. I don't dislike it, but nor does it excite.
The album is certainly a progression, however minor, from the washed out 'EVOL', and a clear stepping-stone to the ambient excellence of 'Daydream Nation'. Why we have to follow this unremarkable journey step by step remains a mystery.
Beck
5/5
It's a completely marvelous album from start to finish. The last track, the gloriously lo-fi and morosely melodic 'Ramshackle', describes the approach. It feels like some sort of painting, a collage of sounds that all come together into a magnificent whole. Drum beats, breaks, pedal steel, slide, blues harmonica - elements of breakbeat, blues, folk, country blended into something new. The vinyl fluff crackles and you get the impression of a DJ Shadowesque record collection supporting this.
Running through it all is Beck's unique take on life; accessible yet obscure metaphors, lyrical maps; idiosyncratic witticisms. It's a sort of geeky genius.
'Jack-Ass' is one my favourite songs of all time. Beck showing not only can he rap, rock and twang but has a great baritone for the slower tunes. It takes the shimmering guitar of Dylan via Them and transforms it into something superior.
He is so genuine and therefore feels so authentic. It doesn't feel like an exploitative rip-off nor a cringefest. Just a unique genius at play.
Objectively and inarguably a five.
Badly Drawn Boy
4/5
This is one of those debut albums which is full of snippets of great melodies to the point where you wonder if he'll be a one-album wonder, having spuffed his entire load early.
The combination of lo-fi folk n whimsy is bursting with ideas, and fresh from Odelay (which reminded me of Exile cos I was fresh from that at the time) it reminds me of the collage-composition of that album, and the homemade feel.
It is however quite varied in quality, but it feels like an album where you have to go with the sprawl and be generous to the lesser moments.
Dead Kennedys
4/5
I thought they'd be a lot more raw punk. Turns out they sound more like The Ramones meets The Undertones, and the singer, American by all accounts, has a strange Irish quiver to his voice like Feargal Sharkey (when he's not snarling like Johnny Rotten). The lyrics are diametrically opposed to songs about chocolate and girls mind you, and take a much more nihilistic view of the escapism of death, infantilism, war, nuclear war, chemical war, class war and the war on drugs.
A relevant album today, an album that draws from the Sex Pistols but does enough not to sound like a rip-off; some evisceraring lyrics weaving stories of a lost generation, mixed in with melodic touches of surf rock and rock n roll via Motown. We are in dire need of a band like this today, and yet everyone sings about dick n fanny as the world burns.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
The Wailers have to take a lot of credit here, as the band sounds superb and the harmonies consistently dilectable. The brass in particular is used excellently, stabbing out hooks that birthed the likes of Groove Armada. The bass is so phat, and ploughs excellent groove after excellent groove. It segues from the superb descending bassline of 'So Much to Say' to 'Guiltiness' without skipping a beat. 'Natural Mystic' a sublime opening track, fantastically laid back, matched by the equable 'Heathen'.
The title track must be the centrepiece, 7 epic minutes, like a slowed down 'Papa Was a Rolling Stone', feeling like it embodies the sweep (or movement, or 'exodus') of people. It's even got some Kraftwerk robotics at the five minute mark.
Then comes quite the further roll call - the irresistible 'Jammin'' (how does Bob Marley like his doughnuts?); the dreamily longing 'Waiting in Vain' (with a break into the chorus that is absolutely marvelous, and a superb guitar lick), and the sultry 'Turn Your Lights Down Low'.
Finishing with 'Three Little Birds' and 'One Love' I had to remind myself that this pairing wasn't a deluxe edition bolt-on. What a finish.
Billy Joel
5/5
'Movin' Out' has such a Wings sound to it, going from a staccato to a swing; and the melodic lilt of Macca runs through the album. Indeed I've seen McCartney say that the one song he wishes he'd written is 'Just the Way You Are', a song which penetrates deeper into easy-listening territory than most jazz-lounge instrumentals you'll ever hear in your life.
That quasi-cheesy feel and production comes across throughout; the opener, the title track (pop that bass) - these could quite easily fit on a Guilty Pleasures collection alongside Andrew Gold et al. 'Scenes from an Italian Restaurant' moves from a pop bounce to a 'Love on the Rocks' reaching for the stars section, smattered with smooth sax and all interlinked by strings. It doesn't work on paper, but by golly it does in the ear.
I don't love it all, but it's a guilty pleasure alright, not sounding pastiche but the genuine article, and the songcraft is second to one (Macca).
Kacey Musgraves
3/5
I found this a very pleasant listen. It made me recall Nancy Griffiths, but a more glossy version, whilst also aligned to Taylor Swift's 'evermore'.
Butterflies' is to the more twee side, but her voice is cracking - no attempts to ham-up scales or runs, and just some lovely tone and falsetto.
'Oh, What a World' is the highlight, amongst a few highlights. A superb relaxed vocal, slide guitar, some vocoder - superb. Best not to read the lyrics mind you, as it reads a bit like 'Incredible Thoughts' by Lonely Island.
I think this works because it does often overlap with the Laurel Canyon crowd when it comes to strong melodies. The tempo is generally a deliberate folk-pace and it's not smothered in random processed noises. That being said it's awash with a pop gloss, and when the balance goes awry it sounds a little throwaway. A high three nevertheless.
LL Cool J
3/5
The beats here are often slow, the sampling minimal, leaving a lot of focus on the rap itself. At its best it's laid back 90s rap, with Native Tongues insouciance. On the flip side, the music can become soporific and a bit nondescript, such as 'The Boomin' System' or 'Eat Em Up L Chill',
The rhyming is on the less sophisticated side of the hip hop greats, offering up such classics as: "The cards on the table and the deal is dealt, I'm in the mood for a tuna melt; And I can't make you, I sure wouldn't rape you". That's comforting to know, thanks for confirming. 'Milky Cereal' explores the metaphor of sex being cereal, and yet he fails to reference the milk turning chocolatey, and that's a shame.
Overall the album is a lot less gangster (as in not really gangster at all), and a lot more laid-back and funky than I anticipated (in spite of a bit of it being a little boring, and 90% of it being obsessed with the puss). At its best it has a De La Soul swing.
Suicide
4/5
This is a bit like the surf-rock derived garage guitars of The Cramps mixed with the spaced out grooves of Can. It acts as a hypnotic backing against which the singer can ostensibly semi-improvise melodies in his conversational tone, lamenting the loss of America's youth, infanticide, and other such hard-hitting subjects.
They also take a leaf out of Kraftwerk's Buch, with relentless beats and motifs repeated over and over. Some tracks are arresting, none more so than 'Frankie Teardrop' which tells the story of a broken blue-collar worker who slaughters his family and himself.
I thought this highly impactful but not something I'd ever be minded to listen to again. And then I saw a Nick Hornby quote (about Frankie Teardrop) with the same sentiment, proving that I'm 100% right, cos Hornby is a proper writer. Read the lyrics and they don't say that much. But when you listen they say a hell of a lot. Effective as heck. But a challenge.
Joni Mitchell
5/5
Surely it's peak Joni. A glorious collection of compact songs, not a note wasted, often moving. There seems to be a few emotional threads running though acting as inspiration - Graham Nash, James Taylor, her child. It led Kris Kristofferson to say "Joni! Keep SOMETHING to yourself!" (my emphasis), which is grossly patronising given each lyric is articulated so brilliantly.
The highest praise is saved for 'Little Green', a genuinely moving lament for her child given away for adoption; just Joni and her guitar, beautifully sung.
'Court and Spark' is superb and her voice sounds even better there. This feels like an emotional maelstrom rendered as stripped down brilliance, maybe even more consistent than Court. Outstanding.
Bob Dylan
4/5
'Like a Rolling Stone' must be the definitive opening statement to any Dylan album. A raw, one-take feel, propulsive rhythm, rasping vocal and a fascinating character portrait, no doubt semi-autobiographical, providing countless Dylan sound bites. I much prefer when he doesn't rely on a blues-based formula - that opening track or 'Ballad of a Thin Man', or 'Queen Jane Approximately'.
The influence on The Beatles is well known. But the raw feel is a sure influence on Neil Young. More interestingly, this feels like an album that fed into Stones later 60s stuff up to Exile - honky tonk piano, a country blues feel at times (including some excellent country blues guitar at the outro of 'Highway 61'). Maybe an album that opened the doors for others in terms of breaking out of stylistic boundaries, but in truth I prefer 'Bringing it all Back Home' which has some near unrivalled melodic excellence. But I'm arguing the case of fantastic vs outstanding here; all these Dylan albums always hit at least that hurdle.
Terence Trent D'Arby
4/5
There is a core of absolute bangers here - soul meets 80s-rock classics. 'Sign Your Name' (unrequited synth menace), 'If You Let Me Stay' (absolutely tonking bassline, classic-style soul), and 'Wishing Well' (magnificently overblown drumbeat, funk meets dance classic). They are fairly close to perfection, and more than just vehicles for his extraordinary voice.
Also interesting - Terence played most of the instruments here. It's baffling that someone with this level of talent fizzled out pretty quickly. And Martin Ware, of Heaven 17, handled much of the production. Which may account for its clever, clean sound more aligned to electro and synth bangers than big reverbed 80s production.
All in all some classics, but around it some very listenable tracks, rarely dipping into filler.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
5/5
A fascinating album, Nick Cave doesn't hold back lyrically, and pushes many of his murderous tales to the graphic limit. But rather than being gratuitous, they are very effectively shrouded in a sinister atmosphere, both forbidding and foreboding.
About the only track I didn't get on with is 'The Curse of Millhaven', with it's alternating bassline and accordion, it sounds like a cross between the Moulin Rouge soundtrack and a jug-band - it doesn't have the power of the rest of the album. The Dylan cover is quite bonkers, and actually made me think it was an upside-down version of 'Feed the World' - a motley crew of singers taking random lines and not really hanging together. Still - better than the lacklustre original.
Whilst not as great as 'The Boatman's Call' it's a fine piece of evocative work. It borders top tier; it's unique enough to be admitted.
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
Gayly overblown, Rufus can be an acquired taste. It's certainly a bloated album and could well do with a bit of editing to bring it down to the 40 minute mark, but I guess that's not his modus operandi. It's a mix of theatre meets pageantry, meets pop, meets confessional. Oftentimes it's not in balance, such as 'Dinner at Eight' addressed to his erstwhile absent father with heartfelt and excoriating lyrics - but drenched in Disney strings.
The scene is set here with the interpolation of Ravel's Bolero in the opening track - theatrical and over the top.
But if nothing else, it's a solid collection of pop songs, and has a Beatlesque sensibility running through a fair bit of it. 'Movies of Myself' is particularly like an 80s Harrison pop number, with excellent bass.
It doesn't quite match up to 'Want Two' which is full of more delicate moments such as 'The Art Teacher' and 'Peach Trees'. But there are excellent elements when untangled from all the showmanship. The more restrained arrangements work best. In addition to that he's quite a unique character, mixing show tunes, classical, baroque and credible pop and folk, with a good vocal - all of which is thrown in the positive pot.
Emmylou Harris
2/5
Not sure what I was expecting here - something with more of a dash of folk and rock I suppose, especially given the Gram Parsons influence, and not so traditionally, boringly country. As it stands I was rather disappointed, and couldn't really differentiate it too much from George Jones 'Grand Tour' i.e. dyed in the wool mid-tempo country fayre, alternating basslines, well-trodden chord progressions, and songs of faux heartbreak. Compositions that come off as formulaic rather than heartfelt.
In addition to that, it's one of those albums that curates the American songbook, and only in rare instances do I find that works fully (Sinatra and Ray Charles).
A crushing disappointment.
The Saints
3/5
The intro of 'Know Your Product' sounds exactly like Julian Casablancas exclaiming 'yeah' with cool New York apathy. Turns out these fellas are from Australia, and with the surprising advent of the blaring horns a few seconds into track 1, it becomes less Strokes and more Jet. That is, trying hard to be liked, and as a result a tad throwaway (and the melody is very similar to The Temptations' 'Get Ready'). Thankfully the horns slathered everywhere, don't crop up for the rest of the album (except the ordinary 'Orstralia'), confirming this is pure gimmickry. 'Internarional Robots' is the other album bookend and just as dopey.
'Memories are Made of This' is an excellent track, leading with acoustic guitar coupled with punk drawl. 'A Minor Aversion' is the equally good companion piece, and it gives the Saints a bit of a USP vs distorted contemporaries - think Psychedelic Furs, think Violent Femmes (and with all their melodic capability). It has a college-rock feel that really resonates. 'Untitled' is similar in approach, and the lack of ramped up distorted guitar allows a certain melancholia to trickle through against the resigned vocal, in the most effective way.
Aside from that 'This Perfect Day' is a rocking humdinger delivered with a curled-lip. But overall when comparing with contemporaries, The Cramps, The Ramones, Modern Lovers or others this does falter somewhat. It feels rather average, that's except that core of acoustic punk which gets this to a high three.
George Michael
3/5
The opening pairing on this album, the epic 'Praying for Time' and the Happy Mondays-adjacent 'Freedom 90!' set this album up to be the full five stars. It's an erstwhile boy-band member progressing to full-blown arena anthems and undeniable songwriting credibility. The huge gospel chorus in 'Freedom 90!' is superb (as was the ubiquitous sexy video on MTV).
After that though it really becomes slim pickings, and feels like he's trying to gemmy in every influence he's ever had, reaching a nadir with the Aswad-sounding 'Soul Free' which is unforgivable.
A few very accomplished tracks, but sapped of energy by the scattershot heart-on-sleeve influences, and lounge music masquerading as maturity. Still gets a decent score for the classics.
The Byrds
3/5
Whilst I find listening to The Byrds' various albums has become tiresome, I did like the sound of this, and give it credit for being an impressive debut. All jangle-rock probably traces back to here as a primary source (noting that McGuinn ripped off Harrison to a large extent), and McGuinn never puts that Rickenbacker down, constantly picking around the chord shapes.
Some charming if lightweight covers, a pleasant jangled aesthetic, often devoid of punch due to the commercial focus, and something of the baggy-trousered swing of a guitar playing, sandle-wearing vicar about it. And a burgeoning Gene Clarke, and classic title track. Not quite a four.
The Who
3/5
I think it's legacy has likely been saved by a decent Ken Russell film (which I am yet to watch and shall do so as part of 1001 movies). It does have a cult quality which I like, a handful of great tracks, but too many instances of nothing going on for too long.
Tom Waits
5/5
Like 'Nighthawks at the Diner' this successfully builds a dark Lynchian world of ne'er-do-wells and outsiders - Puerto Ricans with wooden legs, one-armed dwarves, and jockeys full of bourbon.
The lyrics are typically fantastic - so Uncle Vernon is "as independent as a hog on ice" and Uncle Bill has a tumour "as big as an egg".
I'm not sure it reaches the mind-blowing heights of his 1975 masterpiece, but nevertheless it's an engrossing and exceptional treat.
Bruce Springsteen
4/5
The tunes feel a bit more indulgent than some of his best tracks (although not as affected as Meatloaf), and yet they have that undeniable pull of the authenticity; of meaning what your saying and understanding your subject matter.
'The Promised Land' cuts straight to the chase opening with uptempo guitar, harmonica and vocals, no messing about. It feels like classic Bruce with some great lyrics - "on a rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert" - a tale of escape from the slog of life, epic chorus, big sax solo; all of Bruce's anthemic elements are there.
The album is driven by a blueprint with but minor variations, but Bruce is one of the most sincere singers of the era, carrying this along with typical reverence of the working man (and lady). Add to that some genuinely affecting tracks and you've got yourself an excellent album.
In addition to that, as he embarks in his US tour, he's seemingly one of the lone voices in rock today that has any balls. Bravo!
Django Django
3/5
An album of several truly pulsating bits of genius, and a fair bit of lightweight, but nevertheless listenable, filler. I don't know what the heck the album cover means but it somehow feels very apt - arid desert reflecting the sparse beats, structures, unreverbed 'dry' sound; and a colourful amorphous blob in the middle, that reflects the flashes of great melody. And I thought that metaphor worked enough to write it down.
The Magnetic Fields
4/5
I'm pretty sure if you release a three-hour album you're either a narcissist or have mental problems, and I am in two minds about this undertaking. It has such a sprawl that, despite fine quality, many of the songs feel undercooked (sometimes due to lack of percussion, sometimes due to them being snippets, sometimes pastiches). And yet I kept being impressed by the consistently good melodies.
A strong core of songs amongst a clear quality hurdle for the rest, means the album doesn't succumb to gimmickry, in spite of it being something of a conceptual exercise (as are most of his albums thence it seems). The more I listened, the more I was impressed by the quality throughout. It has achieved something quite astonishing - a three hour, 69-song album that I did not find indulgent, and that I enjoyed more and more with each listen.
Dexys Midnight Runners
5/5
Post-punk vocal meets soulful brass to create a slice of genius. The brass is the driving force throughout, and is without exception excellent on every track. I love the rich sound of twin saxes (which I guess much of this is, with some other brass around it). 'The Teams That Meet in Caffs' one of the best in show for that doubled-up, melancholic sound. 'Tell Me When My Light Turns Green', gets a mention too, a superlative slice of soul-inflected pop. And obviously the pub singalong of 'Geno' goes without saying.
'Love, Pt 1' about the only one that didn't fare well - bad beat poetry set to lone sax with a mild Brummy accent. It's really not ideal.
But who cares, a minor blip on a superb album.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
4/5
Interesting as always, although not an album that is immediately arresting like the other Bad Seeds albums reviewed.
'I Had a Dream Joe', frenetically paced and sung like a fervent pastor ("I had a draym!"). 'Straight to You', an epic ballad with grand lyrics.
Even more absorbing is 'Christina the Astonishing' - ambient atmospherics provided via the sounds of nighttime crickets, church organ, a tale of a real-life holy woman of the 12th Century; it has all the creeping intrigue you'd expect of the best Cave work.
It's not a perfect album - the last track a dirge and 'Brother My Cup is Empty' almost a note for note rewrite of the first track. But compare this to manifestations of angst via most of the grunge, nu-metal and Britpop crew of the time, and there is simply no contest.
Missy Elliott
2/5
Surely Timbaland is the Stock Aitken and Waterman of the hip-hop world - but with less harmonic interest. Soulless hooks, repeated ad infinitum without variation, except the odd pause.
That doesn't mean he doesn't hit paydirt at times and he certainly does with 'Work It', brought to life by Missy's Busta-imitating rap - the breadth of onomatopoeia for her wayward buttocks is as impressive as the breadth of the buttocks themselves. I do take issue with: "Phone before you come I need to shave my cho-cha....Go downtown and eat it like a vulture". The analogy of a man administering cunnilingus being as a scavenger feasting on carrion is not the most sensual comparison.
Nevertheless, the sexuals work in this funky beat; Then she tries an RnB, slowed-down, TLC-type tune, and sings about how to best utilise her vagina to impress her roving partner, ('Pussycat'). She knows it's jarring as takes a minute at the end of the song to explain herself and remind us that Prince started it anyway.
All the good is bunched in the first few tracks, including 'Bring Da Pain'. It's not a patch on Method Man's version, but he features here and his updated lyrics are pretty funny ("Sweet lady, you drive me half crazy, maybe, we can go half on a baby....Lovely! Kick off your shoes and get comfy, we can bump uglies if you ain't got your monthly"). If I didn't know better, I'd say he was parodying his host.