Wtf? I don’t care how great the singers are, the songs are trash and so is the producer.

Hendrix was a phenomenon: the voice, the guitar, the look, the early death. This almost obscures any critique of the music itself. Hey Joe sums up the phenomenon, some of the rest of the album doesn’t. 4

Just no.

Just no

No

Not my thing

Self-indulgent, but at the time, they had a point.

Music - yes Lyrics - 😑

Didn’t listen

Very eighties vibe -yes!

Mixed bag. Probably would’ve enjoyed it when young.

May be the fatger of punk but the kids are better looking.

More innovative than their early pop stuff but still not a great fan.

Why not?

I knew by the cover I’d hate it. Listened to three tracks for 2 seconds each which confirmed my hate. 👎

Oh come on, he’s not that good. Where’s the evolution, man?

2 for being 80s but generic forgettable 80s.

Sounds like cheap Sex Pistols. Just another imitator.

Amazing, unique voice! Some of the songs would be quite ordinary without her vocal talent. A very influential singer, controversial for all the right reasons.

Ravi Shankar was obviously influential on western pop music but i just can’t bear the sound!

Sounds very Van before the booze gt his voice. Quite nice.

Heard of them but never actually heard them til now. Very 60s. I like it.

Yet another Cure soundalike. Great name but couldn't be bothered to listen to more than 10seconds of each track.

Not my kind of music, just couldn't listen to it. Nothing against the artist eho was probably good at her job.

I didn’t know Bush’s music beyond her Wuthering Heights hit til i listened to bit of this album. It doesn’t mean much, her songs, just cute pop music. Meh.

I don't understand what’s definitive of the music. Soft pop, nothing memorable.

More mediocrity. Is this the theme song of people had nothing to offer but very do angry about having nothing yo offer that they decided to punish everyone else?

I keep failing to see whats influential about music that sounds so obviously derivative. Maybe i am just too old for this.

I have to agree with one reviewer who said there is just too much ego in this album. Mixed bag: definitive overall sounds but discordance over-used and yes, lead is bit whiny.

I wasn’t a fan if Cash when he was young, nir of country music but I’d give this album a 6 if I could, compared to most of the garbage on this list. Cash has a quality in his voice at this age that young ones just can’t produce: suffered experience. All the shouting and wailing just can’t match what Cash brings to other people’s songs that transcends the original artist. I’d give it 5 for Hurt alone but Bridge Over Troubled Waters outdoes S&G and that’s saying something. Even Danny Boy sounds okay.

Another one of these influential must-hear bands you’ve never heard of and which sound like a compilation of sux other bands. It was listenable but a bit tedious after a while.

Costello’s voice and style are distinctive, more so than a lot of albums I’ve reviewed on this list. I wouldn't listen again though.

I appreciate the greatness if these three women but I just can’t bear the sound of their voices together.

No, just no. I can’t say more. Other reviewers have summed up the complete waste of talent on this endless noise.

New to me. Must’ve bypassed Australia. Quite like the sound.

I saw one reviewer divided the world into those who love ABBA and those who pretend not to love them. Well, I don't fit into either category. Yes, they've released some all time pop favourites and yes, they're iconic but that doesn't mean I want to listen to them. I took in a few soundbites of three songs and they all sounded like any other ABbA song. Pass.

There a sameness through the the tracks that tells me, yes, its that Coldplay sound, their definitive sound. Is this album influential ? Is Coldplay influential? Not a fan do hard to say.

Another I've never heard of. One listen doesn't justify me to decide whether an album was influential or not if I’ve never heard of them. Who did he influence? Who did he make an impact on? Some niche group? Music critics? I don't mind the voice but again, is his music more different to his contemporaries? Pass

Must be my age but I liked the album, even though I was only a kid when it came out. Easy listening.

Descendants of vikings, these people be. Not quite my thing but certainly different.

Ok but that’s all

Two iconic songs, the rest I can listen to easily, if not more than once. If this had been one of the first albums on this list that I rated, I’d have given it a 3, maybe 2. But Ive listened, or not listened, to such much shit, that Im giving it a 4, just in protest.

Good voice, bit same-sounding across the album though. The album didn't light any fires in me.

I quite liked CSNY but this is fairly forgettable.

Wtf? I don’t care how great the singers are, the songs are trash and so is the producer.

I don’t feel qualified to judge this one. I don't like the music. Like Ravi Shankar’s sitar, it’s like fingernails on a blackboard to my ears but who knows? Maybe he’s a genius.

Mostly laidback easy listening. I quite like it, which is showing my age, I suspect. I’d heard of Country Joe but never heard him. Until I started rating these albums, I didn't realise how much my musical tastes must have been formed by being a child in the 60s, wistfully missing out the hippie years and instead, being forced to listen to dire disco music by the time I was a teen. Giving it a 3 for nostalgia.

Three for the music, one for the racism. Always the question: can you separate the art from the artist?

‘I can’t stand it!’ She warbles. Yes, agreed. Special - not.

I listened to a bit of each track and they’re all a bit samey: The Pogues meets Coldplay playing covers in an Irish pub and The Chieftains walk in for a bit of the craic and for a guest appearance. Nice, but iconic? No.

In the 65 albums Ive rated so far, I can only consider one or two of them as memorable. Vast numbers of derivative tracks, little originality, loads of pretension. There must be some iconic albums somewhere on the list, surely? But this is not one of them.

Well, that was different. Like a palate cleanser in a 50-course meal at a Henry IV banquet. 3 for audio refreshment. What’s next?

I haven’t yet worked out yet whether I’m supposed to rate on whether I like an album, whether I think its iconic of it’s genre and decade or whether i think it’s been highly influential for later artists. Not being a pop/rock professional, I can’t really judge by anything other than ‘like’. So …. It’s nice, she’s talented, what else am i to say? Not going to buy it, though.

I remember I bought this album for the cover - so cool - and then grew into the songs afterwards. But Neil Young makes it, really, cos in retrospect, without his reedy voice shining through, they’re just a nice country rock band. ‘Helpless’ is timeless but I found ‘Country Girl’ meant the most to me, 46 years on from that first listen. Listening laced with nostalgia from my youth.

Not much variety on this album. Springsteen has a good voice but a limited range, both vocal and musical, at least on this album. I was never a fan so I don’t know his other albums. But at least it IS music - unlike some of the albums on this list - so hmmm.. 3

Just pop songs, that’s all. No idea how it gets labelled ‘influential’ or ‘must hear’. I could quite happily have not heard this album before I die.

I’ve taken to checking out the authors of the reviews and it’s fairly clear that if you hate Lennon or Dire Straits, you just love Screaming-Cats-Electrified-By-A-Cattleprod-type music. Lennon seems pretty polarising anyway. If you grew up with the Beatles you usually love him. If you cut your milk teeth on hip hop or punk, you think he was just a bullshit artist. I didn't bother listening to the album as I already knew the key songs enough to remember most of their lyrics. Not my cup of tea now or then. Was the album influential? Probably. Do I need to listen to it all before I die? No. Two stars.

Although I like folk music and can appreciate the craftsmanship in these songs, the album didn’t set my heart beating any faster. A 3 for Linda Thompson’s voice.

Nice pop music, nothing mind-blowing. ‘Weather with you’ very catchy. I remember it now. 3 for the catchy song, 2 for the rest.

‘ In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 497 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time’ says Wikipedia. On one listen, I’m surprised it was that high. I’ll admit, I’ve never heard of this band til now and I didn't need to. It says nothing to me. But I’m increasingly convinced how consequential you think an album is depends on where you were at in your life when you first heard it. Meaning anything you heard in your teens and 20s will probably seem more consequential than when you’re older. I’m probably far too old for it cos it just sounds like the same stuff the neighbourhood boys were bashing out at the local hall in the 70s.

Started out well but became a bit theatrical without the charm. An odd fit but not without some merit.

I didn't remember this album, these songs, til I started playing it - and they were suddenly so familiar that I realised I must have bought it. I know i had one Yes album back then. I’m sure I've Seen All Good People was a hit. Memories of listening to my transistor radio under the bedclothes late on a school night surface. I enjoyed this album for its nostalgia value, but god knows what anyone born after 1980 would make of it. I think their brains are hardwired differently now. A 4 for the memories. Won’t ever listen to it again, though.

Not my cup of tea but an amazing voice. Giving it a 4 in response to the wanker reviewer who called this ‘secretary music’. And that was the most polite name he called it.

Listened to 30 seconds of three tracks then gave up. Which is what they should've done. Taking the trash can out is more enjoyable than submitting my ears to this.

So dated! That classic synth-pop sound! Took me back to my heyday, trip down memory lane and all that. But they were fairly generic for the era. I could’ve been listening to one of a number of bands. 2 for the nostalgia .

Hendrix was a phenomenon: the voice, the guitar, the look, the early death. This almost obscures any critique of the music itself. Hey Joe sums up the phenomenon, some of the rest of the album doesn’t. 4

Great title track, got a bit bored after that.

Don’t know them, seem competent. Inspirational? Myst hear? Nah.

No, just no. 0 if i could.

Another band I’ve never heard of that sounds like a dozen others.

Nice and easy. Reading the reviews, I see the 90s babies hate it with a passion. That’s ok, I hate the gear-grinding white noise they call music. Having said that, Sweet Baby James is a bit meh, so 2.

I laughed when I saw this guy come up on this list. I mean, really? Inspiring? No. Mandolin Wind is probably the best track, a nice nostalgic pop song. So 2.

Nice enough. I don't hate it, so 2

A 2 for historical interest

I cant listen to this nowadays but I appreciate the sentiments.

There’s nothing else quite like that Neil Young sound that makes me feel like I’m transported to the American midwest (even he mainly lived in California). There’s something so laidback on the surface but do much angst underneath. Ive always liked his music though I don't play it a lot but this is not my favourite album.

Never heard of them. I think I tuned out of the 90s because band were just rehashing the musical trends of the past three decades and thinking they were so cool. This is not punk, just pop with punk influences. Having said that, these boys have a bit of talent if not much originality, so 2.

‘ "Guarantee you anyone born after 1982 is not putting this in their 1001 albums to listen to list"’ says one of the highest rated comments here. I’m born before 1982 and I’m still not putting it on my list. Nor am I going to pan it. It doesn't appeal to me but to give him his due, musicality and talent etc, I’m giving him a 3

I missed the Go-Betweens heyday probably because as I was living in England in the 1980s. I didn’t recognise any of the track names but as soon as I heard them, I thought: this sounds so Australian! Then I recognised Lindy Morrison from the APIA household insurance ads from a few years. What a comedown. But anyway, nice nostalgic music for a scene I wasn't part of: 2

Beautiful voice, so talented and musical. A breath of fresh air amidst the overriding male BO of most albums on this list. Having said that, I wouldn’t listen again, as it’s not quite my style. But a 4 at least.

I think punk rock was exciting at the time but it comes across as dated and, well, a bit banal in 2025. But maybe that’s just me , ageing.

All the kids giving this album/artist a rave must of been born yesterday, to find it do inspired. As another reviewer said, sounds like an algorithm created it out of a tick-a-box list. I was tired of it after 3 seconds with the whining voice/ lyrics. But I’ve heard worse, so 2.

Unrateable. 1 for originality and it was the 60s.

One hundred albums in, I have to wonder why we need to listen to a thousand? If 500 of them are as forgettable as this one. She has a nice voice, that’s the best one can say about Idlewild. 2 for the voice.

Original, creative, unlike a vast number if albums on the list. I wouldn't buy it or even listen again but he deserves st least a 4

Nope.

An acquired taste. Interesting voice but it reminded me of Kate Bush without sounding anything like Kate Bush, and I don’t much care for Bush. Maybe the lyrics are good but I can’t get past Harvey’s voice.

The sort of music thats playing in the background of a bar in a nightclub in an 80s movie, probably something about friends and lovers. It’s not bad, it’s not good. When there’s only a scale of 5 in the ratings, 3 seems too much approval.

This takes me back to early high school and its not a pretty memory. Sounds so dated now, that canned pop music sound. Reminds me a bit of The Sweet, but funkier. No better than a 2

Meh, it’s listenable because its nostalgia fir my youth, but i hear to many other bands in the songs. 2

Hey, it’s Joni Mitchell! But not at her best. And I’ve never bern a fan, she doesn't speak to me or for me. But hey! She’s a bucket and a half better even on her off days than much of the dross on this list. 3.

Too dated to decide if it was influential. Just 60s pop, nothing special. 2

The album cover put me off - I thought Bonny Billy must be another heavy metal headbanger band. So I was pleasantly surprised when the music began. I thought maybe even a 4, but then it turned out Billy was another kind of headbanger, the melancholic rather than the angry sort, so it dropped to 3. Then to 2 as it got very samey. I don't need this stuff. Maybe it appeals to young men?

The 90s really were a crap decade for original music. Listened to this yesterday, must be forgettable as now can’t even recall what they sounded like.

I’m not keen on covers usually. These are no exception to the rule. Pleasant enough but not gonna light my fire.

I see REM are considered Indie Rock - I’m not a fan, so to me it just sound like pop music, perhaps because I only know their big hits. They are certainly talented and have a distinctive sound, but I couldn't listen to the whole album. So a 4 for being influential, not because I like them especially.

Beautiful, melancholy music, all thats left of this sensitive soul. More gifted than 90% of the albums on this list.

Meh. Boring guitar, boring lyrics, just another rock band banging away and saying nothing much.

A clear 5. I’ve nothing else to add that other reviewers haven't already said, except to note the sheer variety of moods and music in this album, the range they cover, is exceptional. El Conda Pasa is quite transcendent but The Boxer really touches the soul.

I suppose if you came of age musically in the 90s, you might think this album/band something special (‘incredible! Just incredible’! gushed one reviewer😒), but to me, a child of the 60/70s, they just sound like a dozen other bands of the same genre. The lead can sing sort-of, and had an almost-distinctive voice, not quite cos he really sounds like someone else better known, but that's the high point of this sound. One more angst/not angst but cool band doing what they did back then. 2 for the voice and it didn't hurt my ears. Second thoughts, its too teenage male doing what teenage males do, regardless of decade, so 1. I’m not, and never was, a teenage boy.

I had to search my memory to come up with a Todd Rundgren song. Not exactly memorable. I see dome reviewers raved and gave this nothing in particular album a 5. 🫢 Perhaps they’d just listened to 5 heavy metal albums in a row?

I enjoyed this more than I expected to. But then, I like the 60s psychedelic sound, nostalgia and all that. 3

If someone here has classical music training, it doesn’t show. Just a mid-70s rock band with one big hit. Being played on rotation on a radio station doesn't mean ‘great’, it just means ‘background filler’, 2

Every nothing-much album that turns up on this list reminds me that the brilliant Midnight Oil don't appear at all. In fact, no Australian bands appear on it. Anyway, This album is just nothing. Leave the singing to daddy.

I enjoyed this more than I expected to. I only knew Creep til now, which does nothing for me, but i might actually listen again to some of these tracks, especially Street Spirit. 3

Just no.

Not a fan. I can understand how one album got on this list, but another five?

Meh. Guy has feels, wants to express himself, wants to tell the world his feels are different to everyone else’s feels. Wants to make money from his feels. Wants to be someone. So male, so millennial. Meh.

Never a fan, and creepy attitude to women 👎

I saw Wings live once in Sydney, not sure why. I was never a Beatles fan though obviously I recognise their influence. But Paul always seemed the most lightweight of the Fab Four, the most ‘pop’. This album bears that out: catchy tunes, Paul’s signature voice, cute lyrics. Curious that the previous album i rated from this list was a Stones’ one. They couldn’t be more different. But would Wings have made it without having a Beatle at the helm? Probably not. The album isnt show-stopping, just solid middle-of-the-road pop with some extra zing.

Sounds like someone else. 2 for the voice.

I only ever liked one Prince song - When the doves cry - and its not on this album.