This album is longer than 17 seconds! This is the most blatant case of fraudulent advertising since my suit against the film, The Never-Ending Story. The first example of the moody goth-rock that they became renowned for, and they nailed it. The fact they could pivot from this to the Lovecats in 3 years, then go back to this sound as one of the biggest bands in the world is astounding.

Probably the most equal-opportunity album ever recorded - because no matter what device you listen to it on, it will always sound like it's being played through a McDonald's Drive-Thru speaker. The 'unmastered' version floating around the web makes no difference. The master tracks have all been brickwalled. Other than that, it's a post-Navarro Chili Peppers album, and probably the best of them. Pop-rock with a tight, funky rhythm section, well played but uninteresting Hendrixesque guitar work, and some sleazy guy who raps sometimes and strains to sing in tune while you wish the backing guy led. The more laid back tracks like Scar Tissue, Porcelain and Road Trippin' show that they've learned how to reflect on themselves a bit, but on the whole the lyrics are still shallow. If it sounds like I'm being reductive... I am. But sometimes it needs to be said. RHCP's legendary status far outshines their material. They had a classic album in '91 and an interesting album either side of it, and that's OK.

The riffs that sold a million Big Muffs.

The songs feel like they should rip. But they don't.

Was it the law that every rock album had to have psychedelic tracks in 1967?

The stripped down songs show that 60s/70s country was much closer to the Greenwich folk scene than they ever would have admitted. Dolly's a true storyteller. However, early stereo recording techniques strike again! 'Here I am' has the kick on the right, rest of the kit on the left?!

Feels more like a meme than an album at this point. No matter whether you love or hate it (or both, if your name is Kurt Cobain), nothing sounded like it before, and hundreds of bands tried and failed to sound like if after. It has the fingerprints of all of the US Indie/College rock and hardcore punk of the late 80s, but the pop hooks from each each member's contribution and the sheen from Butch Vig's production turn it into its own beast.

It's Willie Nelson singing standards. That's it. Maybe you had to be there at the time.

Hits right in that sweet spot between blues rock and psychedelic. Are you experienced? You will be after this. I recommend going for the UK track listing rather than the US, feels more cohesive to me but YMMV. Both digital versions contain the same tracks regardless.

Much better when Prince focused on being funky, rather than trying to use every preset on the Revolution's fancy new synthesisers. Listen to the 2019 remasters - improvement on the original CD masters in every respect.

Probably the most equal-opportunity album ever recorded - because no matter what device you listen to it on, it will always sound like it's being played through a McDonald's Drive-Thru speaker. The 'unmastered' version floating around the web makes no difference. The master tracks have all been brickwalled. Other than that, it's a post-Navarro Chili Peppers album, and probably the best of them. Pop-rock with a tight, funky rhythm section, well played but uninteresting Hendrixesque guitar work, and some sleazy guy who raps sometimes and strains to sing in tune while you wish the backing guy led. The more laid back tracks like Scar Tissue, Porcelain and Road Trippin' show that they've learned how to reflect on themselves a bit, but on the whole the lyrics are still shallow. If it sounds like I'm being reductive... I am. But sometimes it needs to be said. RHCP's legendary status far outshines their material. They had a classic album in '91 and an interesting album either side of it, and that's OK.

Was it the law that every rock album had to have psychedelic tracks in 1967?

This album is longer than 17 seconds! This is the most blatant case of fraudulent advertising since my suit against the film, The Never-Ending Story. The first example of the moody goth-rock that they became renowned for, and they nailed it. The fact they could pivot from this to the Lovecats in 3 years, then go back to this sound as one of the biggest bands in the world is astounding.

Rock solid punk.

The album that launched the careers of Travis, Keane, and Coldplay. But let's not hold that against them... Angst meets pop. This album has tension in spades, bitter lyrics beautifully sung, punctuated by Johnny Greenwood threatening to break his guitar at any opportunity.

Ambient, Drum & Bass and Classical Indian music meld to create a vision of a future that never came. Yes, the spoken word sections can come off as pretentious and some of the synths are cheesy, but it just adds to the charm. A forgotten artifact of Britain in the Y2K era.

The closest an album has ever got to a good British sitcom. A vivid portrait of eclectic ordinary people experiencing the funny parts of life mixed with real pathos. Fun, witty, bouncy, poppy. At the same time; cynical, bitter, aggressive, and reflective. Something most of Blur's contemporaries and copycats couldn't reproduce (and something that Blur themselves couldn't balance on their poppier but lyrically darker follow-up The Great Escape).

Would have been much better as an instrumental album. Mike Ladd obviously has good mic skills, but the subject matter is all over the shop. He ping pongs from conscious-rap, to sci-fi, to sex brags based on sci-fi - and as amazing as that sounds, it's not very fun. Album closer Feb 4. '99 is the odd one out. A moving spoken word about the death of an innocent man by the police full of religious imagery and post-rock backing.

Despite me being a Brit who grew up on Queen, thanks to my parents being a fan and going through a "le wrong generation" phase, I had never listened to this album all the way through. From how it had been described to me in the past, I expected two sides full of Prog epics. What I got instead was... a Queen album. Freddie's voice is a bit softer, the guitar overdubs are a bit less obvious, and the drumming is a bit more conventional than later on. But the parts are all there, apart from a John Deacon song. If it wasn't for the fantasy elements, this could have easily been their breakthrough album In the end, it wasn't. But due to Brian May's hepatitis, they had the chance to record another album in 1974, Sheer Heart Attack. Thanks Hepatitis!

The riffs that sold a million Big Muffs.

Dusty had a great voice: powerful, but always with a slight edge of melancholy. As with all cover albums, everything hinges on how well that voice suits the material. There's a whole bunch of tracks on Side B I already knew and loved through cultural osmosis: Twenty-Four Hours from Tulsa, Anyone Who Had a Had a Heart, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, Wishin' and Hopin'. Nothing else really hits in the same way, despite the fantastically stereotypically groovy early-60s orchestra and backing vocals.

"Wait. Let’s try this again. Do you see the band on stage?" "No, I don’t see The Band, that’s a different group entirely!" "On stage, Skippy! Look, see the band?" "No I don’t!" "Get rid of those John Lennon glasses and look! There, there’s the band!" "No, that’s not The Band! The Band is performing later on. Who is onstage." Beautifully engineered, very impressive as it was recorded without overdubs. Full of 60s rock flourishes that harken back to some of its roots in gospel, boogie, country, and rockabilly - loads of piano, Hammond organ, call and response vocals, counterpoint harmonies. The bass bounces about with a vintage thud. However, it all feels less than the sum of its parts. I can see why critics and other artists raved about them; doesn't mean I have to like it.

The whole album is Latifah stamping her authority. I can't jack my body, but when the Queen orders me I feel legally obliged to.

How can a man so bitter and jaded make music that brings me so much joy?

"Ṣe o fẹran jazz?"

From the Sheffield Strip, California.

Like the Instagram stories of your friend from school who married young - goes between gushing over her 'hottie' husband one day to posting 'why are men are such snakes? x' the next. In private, despite puffing up her husband and congratulating him on their sex-life, there's a growing sense of melancholy and resentment as she's coming to terms with family life, constantly having to tell herself that she's still got it. It's relatable despite being written by a multi-platinum-multi-millionaire married to another multi-platinum-multi-millionaire. Much more rewarding than her Queen Bee singles era.

I loved this album musically, the real blueprint for 2-tone. Massive shame about the adolescent views on relationships and the misogyny on Side B.

I already loved Nina Simone. Now I have more to love.

Earnestness is underrated - especially by hipsters. The first half of the album all hinges on how sexy the listener finds Karen O's voice, with the constant moaning and jumps into the whistle register. Does absolutely nothing for me - all a bit twee. Maps is the turning point. It just builds, and builds, and builds. Intimate, close-recorded vocals sounding like they could break at any second but they never quite do. A wide palate of guitar lines and tones that are deployed with pinpoint decision. They gave up trying to be cool and gave us a modern anthem in the process. The following songs continue on the theme - like the reflections of someone on one long slow come-down as their relationship crumbles.

The songs feel like they should rip. But they don't.

Opening instrumental Generational Genocide sets me up for an off-kilter carnival. Mudhoney sold me the world, inviting me to something truly spectacular and never-before seen. I went along for the ride, had some fun, but left feeling slightly disappointed. Like true carneys.