5 star first half, didn’t enjoy the second half quite as much.
Best - Babe I’m Gonna Leave You
Worst - How Many More Times 😴
First time listening to more than the singles. 7 great singles but not sure it is all round 'best album-y' enough to be up there with the very best? Not sure, listened to the Great Escape straight after
Best - Some Might Say
Worst - Hey Now
Didn’t not enjoy this one, but not really my sort of thing so probably wouldn’t listen again. The big ones are good!
This was great! Never listened to the whole thing before and certainly would again!
I enjoyed this but I'm not sure how often I would double back and listen again. Some great songs though, and great production!
Thought about 5 but actually a very solid 4 I reckon. Still hearing the influence of some stuff on hear in the 2010s
Best track - Bells Of Rhymney
Would have been 4.5 if I could. Amazing record that is one of my personal favourites, but falls just shy of a 5 because I didn’t fancy it twice in one day. I think a 5 should be an almost instant repeat maybe? Either way, great stuff and the best entry point to the band for sure
Best track - Game of Pricks
I think the was sitting somewhere between the impossible 3.5 and a four for me. Could never give it a three because it’s far too influential for things that came later. Great guitar tones, great drum machine programming.
Best track - Passing Complexion
A bit like yesterday, this probably should be a 3.5. Have seen her a few times and she’s been incredible to watch, but I rarely choose to listen to the records, as good as this one undoubtedly is.
Best track - Tightrope
The best modern Neil Young album and a personal fave!
Best track - Fuckin Up
My favourite Neil Young album. His best album. An all time favourite. It’s getting 5
Best track - Walk On
Utter dross
Enjoyed this a lot! It was nice to experience it for the first time other than being a teenager trying and failing to work out how to play crosstown traffic. Much more diverse range of instrumentation than I associate with Hendrix
Heart said higher because it reminded me of being a young lad at university, head said it probably doesn’t deserve to be here. A 3 it is! Woo!
A great album to stick on in the background and a great voice. Not a whole bunch of replay-ability but I liked it!
Bored of Canada, am I right? Background music at its most self indulgent.
If your idea of a good time is the same drum loop for six minutes interspersed with a bit crushed child’s voice intermittently vocalising the names of primary colours, then this record is for you!
A truly plodding listen. Sounds like the band picked up a few ideas from flying nun bands before leaving Australian, and then had anything remotely interesting drummed out of them once they reached the UK. ‘Streets of your town’ is quite catchy, otherwise this would be a solid 1 star
D’Angelo - Voodoo
Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now
Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele
Yo La Tengo - And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
Britney Spears - Oops I Did It Again
Queens Of The Stone Age - Rated R
Graham Coxon - The Golden D
Quasimoto - The Unseen
Deftones - White Pony
At The Drive In - Relationship Of Command
Kylie Minogue - Light Years
Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
God Speed You Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven
Craig David - Born To Do It
Wu Tang Clan - The W
The above is a relatively diverse list of albums released in the year 2000, all of which failed to earn a place in this list, while Doves ‘Lost Souls’ held firm.
59 minutes and 9 seconds I will never get back
3 might seem harsh, but as much as this is a great album that definitely deserves to be on this list, I just don’t see myself coming back to it. I’ve liked it before, I wouldn’t not listen to it again, but I can’t honestly say it’s up there with some others that I’ve scored 4 and above on a personal level
I didn’t hate this, but I’m not sure it would get another listen from me. Sits somewhere between Kate Bush and Fiona Apple, which begs the question why not listen to either of them instead. On the whole, it’s fine.
This record was a lot of fun! A bit of steely dan, a touch of fairport convention, some good flute action. I would listen again but it’s never gonna be a top tier album for me. Probably deserving of a 3.something
I think I shot myself in the foot a bit after an early appearance from ‘On The Beach.’ That record has been cemented as my favourite for so long now that I don’t often venture too far from it, usually Zuma, Tonight’s The Night, maybe Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere if I’m going earlier stuff.
As such, I’d almost forgotten how genuinely fantastic Harvest is. Obviously it’s a classic, and it’s here for a reason, but for whatever reason it had slipped out of my go-to’s.
This will not be the case moving forward…
Undeniably influential, but realistically I’m not going to come back to it a great deal I don’t think. I’d rather stick the Little Richard record back on, which I scored higher, so it has to be a 3.something.
Enjoyed it either way!
Live albums are hard enough for me to get in to at the best of times, with maybe a couple of exceptions, but At Budokan did wash over me slightly.
I’ve never particularly listened to Cheap Trick except for a couple of obvious singles, and this brand of rock isn’t massively my thing, so it might have been good to know a few of these songs better before diving in to live versions of them.
Couldn’t decide whether to give this a 5 or not as it’s pretty perfect. The whole thing sounds so smooth and the instrumentals are ‘70s studio musicians at their best
I feel like I know this record well, and have previously thought that it might be a slight victim of its own hype and controversy, with the album as a whole not completely backing it up song wise.
After this listen I’m not sure that is the case. It’s equally fun and funky as it is angry, with the only thing holding me back from giving it a 5 being that there are albums from this period and genre that I know I’ll want to score higher
My favourite kind of Tom Waits is this mixture of smoky blues and lounge ballads. Heartattack And Vine does this particularly well.
This or Blue Valentine are probably my favourite albums of his, though I don’t think I could consider myself enough of a fan to justify giving either a 5. A great solid 4 though, would recommend happily
Some really cool and interesting moments on this record, but as with much of their output, at times it can really plod. Could have been a tight 11 track album, but instead feels exactly like a 70 minute long album in places
Great songs, great arrangements of other peoples songs, and just great fun all round. Obviously there is better Beatles to come, but most anyone would be very happy to sit and listen to this record
Such a good record. Fair enough, some of the themes won’t be for 2024, but it sounds so so good. Think I prefer this to the first Dre album
I’ve tried to get in to this album before but it never seems to have clicked. However on this listen, I feel like I finally got it. I really enjoyed it, and I can see myself coming back to it. The slow ones slightly outweigh the upbeat ones for me, but it really is a great listen front to back
I really enjoyed this album I have to say. So why the 3 stars? I’m not sure what other blue note stuff is coming up in this list, but if this record is in there then I know there’s gonna be stuff I enjoy more, or is more adventurous. Still a solid listen
Enjoyed this very much, and the quality of the recording was fantastic. However, live albums aren’t a favourite of mine, and the various interlude felt like it slowed things up a little. Great listen though!
A classic that helps to define the sound and themes of a genre for years to come. Like a lot of hip hop records from the late ‘80s and ‘90s, it can feel a little bloated in places with 23 tracks and plenty of skits, but when it’s good it’s up there with the very best
This album feels like a fitting requiem for Leonard Cohens career. It gives me a similar feeling to ‘Blackstar’ by David Bowie. Although it’s not my favourite Leonard Cohen album, after this listen it will definitely be one that I return to more in future.
A perfect album I think. Captures the essence of the Muscle Shoals sound and Aretha Franklin gets to showcase every aspect of what makes her so incredible. Special mention to the Franklin sisters who give a masterful performance on backing vocals.
Ain’t No Way is probably top 5 love songs of all time and needs more, well, love
Once again I have tried and failed to really enjoy a John Prine record. Strangely, this time I actually enjoyed the sound of the album, the instrumentation is great and it’s really well produced. There’s just something about the vocal that I do not get swept up in. Doesn’t deserve a low score, just objectively not my thing
This was so good. Heavier than LZ1, less bluesy, more groovey. A very confident 5
Generally I don’t know how much I enjoy full length dance music albums, but the singles on this one are undeniably great
I actually thought I might enjoy this more having listened to it a lot when I was younger. On this listen, it really is only the front 1/3 that really stands out. The backend of this record sounded like songs that didn’t make the cut for BSSM or Mothers Milk
Never really been a fan of Elvia Costello and this did little to change my mind.
Didn’t hate this one but didn’t love it. Of all the San Francisco psych stuff I find it probably the least interesting
Truly a classic. A great range of styles that encompass everything they’d done up to this point. Almost docked a point for Stairway after years spent working in guitar shops, but that’s more a me problem than a them problem
Like a few albums that came out around the time the first edition of this book came out, I think Fly Or Die has benefitted from a generous helping of recency bias with its inclusion here. I think this album has aged like milk. It sounds incredibly dated. Trying to do a bit of Prince, a bit of Aerosmith, and not really as satisfying as either. 2 stars solely for She Wants To Move, or it would be a 1 all day
I enjoyed this as I enjoy all Billie Holiday albums. The slight ageing to the voice doesn’t detract at all from the performance for me, but I would rather hear her with a jazz band than a orchestra
I was only really familiar with Gillian Welch from the O Brother where art thou soundtrack. I found this album enjoyable, I’m not sure it’s a style of music I would often think to listen to out of choice but it was certainly an engaging listen
Naming a record containing 45 mins of the most run of the mill early 2000's rock music 'Highly Evolved' is either beautfiully tongue in cheek or willfully ignorant
Not my favourite period for country music, but this record does has some great tracks and redeeming qualities. There are point where Dwight Yoakham sounds like what might have been had Gram Parsons lived long enought to see the late '80s, and that's no bad thing!
Really enjoyable, can hear the influence on early Beatles a great deal. A fun and important early rock n roll record
Really enjoyable pop album. Covers a fair bit of ground stylistically, some rock stuff, some RnB, some jazzy elements. This is not the sort of thing i would usually chose to listen to, but i enjoyed it on the whole!
A perfect proto punk album
Not normally my kind of thing as I find Ska music particularly repetitive. However, the way The Specials blends Ska with new wave and post punk seems unique to this record
A good record that is a victim of being listened to outside of the context for which it’s intended. Sure, if you are listening to it hoping for it to be imbued with some deeper meaning, it won’t be for you. Sometimes music is just intended to be danced to. Even so, it’s far from one speed, the slower songs are still groovy and showcase some great musicianship and song craft. I think generally discos thrives as more of a singles format, but this is one of the better albums of the genre
a good album, but not the best 2Pac record as a whole. Still a classic, but lacks any real memorable moments other than Dear Mama
An undoubtedly great record, but my least favourite nick drake. Too cheerful!
