I love this album but I can see why others might not. It’s eccentric and peculiarly British. The lyrics are intelligent, biting, sarcastic and witty. Luke Haines is a national treasure. He rubbed up people the wrong way, refused to play the game, and was, presumably, ostracised for it. He had success, although perhaps not the recognition he deserved. His book is a riot, as is his twitter feed. This album is one of his best and is a forgotten 90s classic

The vocals are ridiculous, almost farcical. Some of the guitar lines seem ok but I just can’t ever think of a time where I say ‘I know I’ll put on The Number Of The Beast”

Not my favourite genre. Harmless enough, a bit muzak-y and with a tendency to be unfocused

Great bluesy swampy rock

Super. Opens with a groove as funky as James Brown at his best, and never gives up. Ginger Rogers is great of course although if I’m honest I’d rather see his greatness accompanied than soloed.

Joplin steals the show but the band are tight and raucous and full of blistering energy. But why oh why did they put this fake audience crap on there? And why do the first couple of tracks sound like they were recorded under water? To answer that you’d need to have been there (man) or be so far out (man) you don’t care. Nice artwork from Crumb.

So blur got snubbed by the US and responded with this ode to a Kinksian England. Aside from the sing a long big hitters (eg chemical world) which helped kick off britpop, the rest is quirky and a bit understated, deliberately obtuse perhaps. Albran’s lyrics are a cut above the usual indie dross and Coxon’s blending of new wave / post punk riffs with the 60s canon forged a spiky template that provided inspiration for bands slogging their way to the millennial’s finish line. Blur were right - modern life is rubbish (and remains so) but this oddball album, a distillation of 60s, 70s and 80s Britain, is itself peculiarly modern. Today machines make collages from human endeavour. Yesterday Blur fashioned a stylistic and musical collage from the debris of a broken Britain.

It’s easy to forget the disgust with which this album was viewed by the alternative crowd at the time. It’s not unjustified. The album is overly produced, overly polished, “smoov”, full of jazzy tropes and soul cliches. It’s a shame because Hucknall does have a decent voice and we can only imagine what he might have turned in had he channelled the spirit of 60s r&b instead of this pop fluff. Aside - didn’t realise there’s a cover of Talking Heads’ ‘Heaven’ on this album. Great song, sadly here ironed free of any idiosyncrasies or quirks that made the original a masterpiece. Nevertheless a star gained for demonstrating taste.

Always a band to split opinion, this is their swan song, with a bloated, out of control Jim Morrison at the helm. Excessive even by 60s standards it’s hard to imagine a band like this could exist in today’s anodyne culture. Personally I love the album. It’s been years since I listened to it and I found the songs have not aged badly. Raw, rootsy, bluesy, a simple production allowing the musical craftsmanship to shine. Of course Morrison steals the limelight but they really were a tight unit and their sum is bigger than their parts. Not a bad track on it.

Like tuning in to a mid morning radio station in the 80s. Pleasant enough, inoffensive, tales of love and heartbreak. She has a decent voice let down by the production and not especially strong set of songs. I imagine she can rip it up live but here feels like unfulfilled potential.

(Finally) instrumentation to match Mitchell’s wandering vocal style. Tales of hitchiking across state lines, road houses and gas stations, truckers and coffee, fleapit motels, and barroom brawls. A souls journey, grit yielding pearl.

I mean it’s of a time and a place. Neither to which I belong. But it’s testament to its artistry that it’s able to reach out across the decades and over the Atlantic, and cast a mesmerising spell of cowboy boots on the foot, big iron on the hip, desert cacti and cool cool water

Songs so essential they are woven into the very fabric of the culture.

Overambitious effort from the SFA on their major label debut. Simultaneously wildly poppy (eg title track) and wilfully obscure (A Touch Sensitive). Not a bum note in their catalogue, nevertheless their fizzy off kilter debut on Creation debut was always going to make for impossible encores

Oozes class from every fibre. Blues, soul,, rhythm, class. Unrivalled Queen for evermore

Quite a varied album, echoing some of the motifs of Let’s Get It In whilst ushering in the new sound of sexual soul.

Groundbreaking rap but sounding a little dated today.

Quite varied blues country, some echoes of CST&Y harmonies. Just a little bit unfocused for me.

Ambitious and fully realised ‘concept’ album with songs themed around uniquely British experiences of the war, end of empire, and encroaching American culture. In lesser hands it might have been too cerebral, weighty and depressing but the songcraft crackles with exuberance and humour and the melodies are stellar. An album of its time and yet one which will never grow old.

Ice cold, dark and brooding. Simultaneously released on the same day as Closer, a post punk, urban industrial sound ushering in the decade. The Liverpool / Manchester rivalry magnified differences in tone and production which time has eroded In truth this fertile corner plot of north west English produced a distinctive clang whose chimes continue to echo through the decades

It’s like a gourmet meal of 50 courses. Too much to consume in one sitting. An embarrassment of riches.

Funky punky spiky angular pop rock. No one sounds like talking heads. They create a world that is uniquely their own and this is one of the best from them.

The return of the thin white duke. Christ what must it have been like to witness first hand the evolution and transformation of bowie year by year as the 70s progressed. Each album a standalone work of art.

Great. Not as immediate as its predecessor Rumours but perhaps has more longevity

One of the best albums of all time. Amazing guitars, sharp lyrics, transcends the punk and post punk era in which it was made.

Jackson wanted to create an album where "every song was a killer". It’s close but the ballards tend to let it down for me. The girl is mine is pure celebratory dazzle dazzle nonsense. lady in my life has got that weak fey voice and cheeseball lyrics. And I can’t stand Human Nature although I can see its appeal. But cmon. Beat it. Wanna be starting something. Thriller. Billie Jean. The sounds of the 80s.

A masterpiece from former Soft Machine drummer/singer. The opening song is worth the price of admission alone.

I’d forgotten how much this album was part of my life growing up. Like visiting an old friend. Apart from the big hitting singles there’s some wonderful album tracks - ignoreland from example really rocks

Sorry lads this isn’t my bag.

Late 90s early 00s threw out some mediocre indie like Travis and Snow Patrol, Keane and Coldplay. It’s like IKEA furniture. Bland but functional. Seems cruel to hate on it.

I’ve never been smitten with The Clash but perhaps it’s time for a reevaluation. I did like this album even though the cover of Junior Murvin’s ‘Police and Thieves’ is not stellar. Solid stuff

It’s a bit patchy and new agey for my taste especially compared to his earlier albums. Some decent tracks on it though

Make sure to get the right ‘this is fats domino’ album for there are plenty. This one has blueberry hill (great ballard) and blue monday (bluesy) and trust in me (rocking’). Fats is the real king of rock n roll according to Elvis and we owe a debt of gratitude to the pioneering r&b legend.

Great. Hints of REM here as well as foreshadowing The Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Funky with great lyrics, melodies and harmonies.

Marr’s inimitable guitar, Rourke’s pulsing bass lines and Morrissey’s acerbic croon unite to form a peculiarly British sound which sounds as good today as it will in another 30 years.

The first Stones album proper is a curiosity. Great set of tracks but it hardly holds together as a cohesive album with its competing musical styles. Revolver and Blond on Blond, both contemporaries, are much better in this regard. Still, Lady Jane and Under My Thumb are great and Doncha Bother Me mines a rich Blues vein.

Hey ho let’s go. I always found them a bit too poppy for my teenage taste but I guess I missed that that’s the whole point of the ramones. Sounds fresh today, testament to its influence I suppose. 4s on the doors. I just can’t love it more

It’s lovely. Pure and simple and honest. Birds and nature and Callahan’s reflections on life. Deceptively simple melodies and song structures make this a surprisingly deep and beautiful album

There’s a moment where Cash expertly works the crowd, criticising the TV producers for asking him to ‘play this song and that song’. He says he’ll play what the hell he likes, in service of the inmates, himself. ‘What do you want to hear?’ He asks. ‘Walk the line? Ok then’. Bam! The crowd go wild. You can feel the electricity in the recording 60 odd years later. It’s because he is one of them, a peer. He’s the real deal and they know it. The longer, legacy version of this concert, features some Carl Perkins (don’t step on my blue suede shoes) songs and a short set from the Carter Family (June appears also with Cash in the main set). This is well worth a listen as you can feel the energy rising during these support sets.

One of the greatest jazz albums of all time. Beautiful modal chords and piano work by the incredible Evans. The soft chattering of the punters between songs only adds to its charm

Sad indictment of today’s music that Morrissey would stand no chance today. Jangle guitars. Biting intellectual lyrics. And essentially a crooner to boot. This album is a slow burn as opposed to incendiary.

I find the Manics a bit too serious, lack a too much melody and are not quite as clever as they think they are.

The music’s ok but his whiny voice pisses me off and the lyrics are all beatch this and nigga that. Sad state of affairs that this is the new emperor.

Title track is great as is Express Yourself. But I’m not a big fan of cherish (the other big hitter on the album). Overall pretty weak compared to Like a Virgin or even True Blue

A bold move for mid 90s Cave but in retrospect it’s was a pivotal moment in his maturity as an artist. Here he inhabits a universe of dark mythology and folk tales, relishing the protagonist roles of seducers, serial killers and outlaws. Incredible collaborations with PJ Harvey and Kylie make it an unmissable listen.

Grunge era favourite. I never listened to it at the time so perhaps able to hear it now without rose tinted nostalgia lenses on. It’s a surprisingly finely crafted album. It’s more classic rock with grunge overtones than say mudhoney, l7, screaming trees or tad. Not sure I really love Eddie Vedder’s vocal style though (sorry not sorry)

Interesting hotchpotch of vaudeville, ska, jazz, cockney music hall. Tomorrow’s Just Another Day and Our House are the big hitters but the latter’s chorus irritates the hell out of me especially with those fake key changes. Stephen Thomas Erlewine compared it to The Kinks’ The Village Green Preservation Society (at least in concept) but that’s a real stretch. In truth it’s a little rambling and unfocused musically for me to be ranked in the top tier

Ethereal and fantastical debut by Godfrapp to help usher us into the millennium. She (they) would go on to experiment too wildly for my taste. I can’t really trust a band who oscillate between styles, like it’s all an affectation. Still this was beautiful. Her voice magical, the synths dreamlike, at times carnivalesque. She had the potential of someone like say Bjork or Kate Bush if only she had evolved, not revolved her talents.

The school of Bauhaus sought to create practical objects that have the soul of artworks. Sadly the band of Bauhaus did not adhere to this philosophy as their austere, angry, dour music is utilitarian and lacks beauty. It’s the sort of music I would have revered as a late 80s teenager but today it seems distant and dated and of its time. The modern world is barren enough without adding to its bleakness. Let’s leave the band of Bauhaus as a curio of yesterday.

Huge swing. Big sounds. Bombastic. Exhibitionistic. It’s big band but not as you know it. Grrrrreat

A new listen for me. Save for some Jonny Cash and Gram Parsons country music is not usually my thing but I enjoyed this. The songs are simple but not predictable. The lyrics are great vignettes of ordinary people living their extraordinary lives. Kitchen sink dramas. A fine album

Cash on top form belting out the hits and entertaining the inmates.

The first few Eminem albums are incredible. The use of persona and alter ego, the samples used, the lyrics and the delivery are all top notch. What a start to the millennium

Impossible to overstate how golden a period was the early to mid 70s for Young. So good.

The original album is 10 songs of tight rock pop in the vein of Television and Big Star. Don’t be fooled by the 2 1/2 hour 40 track bloat of the reissue which is strictly obsessive fan only curiosities. Hugely influential on a generation of indie rockers especially creation-era c86 types. Great stuff following in the footsteps of greatness for which it almost but not quite reaches. 4.8 stars 😀

It points to both future directions he would explore in the 80s (eg the world music reggae vibes of the opening track Mother and Child reunion, and Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard) as well as his 60s work with Garfunkel (Everything Put Together Falls Apart). But for all its charm and experimentation it feels a little scattered and unfocused. It’s also quite short at 35 mins.

It’s the sort of album that shames the critics of yesteryear who seem so obsessed with celebrity and personality that they were unable to see and appreciate what in all respects is artistic perfection manifest. This album is warm and personal and reminds me of England and Englishness: as solid and steadfast as oak, eternally fresh as the ocean, and as rich as the grass atop the hill.

I’m sorry to say I don’t get it. No melody or narrative to hook me in, just pure rhythm

The discomforting cover by Joel Brodsky is as famous as Eddie Hazel’s incredible 10 minute opening guitar solo and foreshadows to the neophyte the dirty gritty funk guitar rock contained within.

There was always a little snobbishness towards this album when I was growing up. Soft rock, overblown nonsense. But I’ve come to admire Meatloaf and the universe he creates. Fair play. Yes it’s not my cup of tea but I admire it and enjoyed its overblown soft rock universe on this listen.

RIP Brian

I like Elvis Costello. He’s pretty steady and reliable albeit his voice is a bit samey. This album is a solid recording in the Costello catalogue. He’s just never going to set my world on fire

I love this album but I can see why others might not. It’s eccentric and peculiarly British. The lyrics are intelligent, biting, sarcastic and witty. Luke Haines is a national treasure. He rubbed up people the wrong way, refused to play the game, and was, presumably, ostracised for it. He had success, although perhaps not the recognition he deserved. His book is a riot, as is his twitter feed. This album is one of his best and is a forgotten 90s classic

The pop elements are a bit sugary for my taste and the nods to punk somehow weaken the overall package causing it all to fall a bit flat for me.

They were a great pop band with decent hooks and not too idiotic lyrics. This album has some of their greatest work on it, basically the sound of the early 80s. It amazes me that the production sounds clean, fresh and bursts with energy, even today.

One of the greatest albums of the 90s. So good. So innovative. Incredible vision, crafted over a 2 year period.

Terrible cheeseball rapping about how hard he rolls and how he gone go platinum with his homies in the back Eg I never was cool with James Dean But I be hangin' tough with my man Jim Beam And the music doesn’t redeem it. Cheesy rock riffs as if played by disinterested and underpaid session musicians. How was this shite universally acclaimed is beyond me.