I quite liked Absolution when it came out, but that was the only Muse album that I'd listened to. In hindsight Absolution has the same issue Black Holes and Revelations does - it's fun enough, but at the end of the day (much like Coldplay) it's just Radiohead with more radio-friendly polish and less depth and talent.

I’ve never really listened to CCR - they fall in that gap between what my parents listened to and what I listened to. This was … pretty good!

Fast Car is such an incredibly perfect song. The rest of the album is quite good too, though it’s not something I can see putting on often.

Fast Car is such an incredibly perfect song. The rest of the album is quite good too, though it’s not something I can see putting on often.

Not my cup of tea at all

I have a lot of nostalgia here, from playing my parents' Beatles 45s as a kid. This isn't my favourite era of their career, but it's still a ton of fun. I'm still not sure that anyone does pop rock better.

I can see why this made the list, and Burke has an incredible voice, but overall I found the album pretty flat and engaging.

My first time listening to The Smiths. I really quite enjoyed it. Might even listen to it again…

I love Leonard Cohen. He's one of my favourite songwriters. But if I'm honest, at lot of his albums drag on a bit, or aren't particularly well-structured as albums. This one's no different. It still gets a 4 for Bird on a Wire, The Partisan, Lady Midnight, and a bunch of other good stuff.

I know next to nothing about swing or big band, but this is a fun, up-beat thing to listen to.

Never heard of these guys. Are they culturally significant or talented enough to make a “must listen” list? I guess it’s better than another album from The Police.

I'm sure if this had been part of my youth I'd have loved it. But coming to it now, it's so shouty and grating that I have trouble uncovering the genius. I can see why it's on the list, but it's a skip for me.

Sometimes some smooth, laid back, guitar-driven rock that's incredibly cleanly recorded is just what the doctor ordered. In those cases, you could do a lot worse than this.

In solidarity with Min from Slow Horses, I want The Scientist to be played at my funeral. No one will get the joke, which will make it all the better. As an album, this I suppose, is a fine execution of early 2000s post-grunge "alt rock". I have somewhat of a soft spot for melancholic, guitar-driven music, but it's all a bit too clean for the melancholy to stick, you know? It's like everyone heard Radiohead and thought "we can do that!" .. but they couldn't. Anyway. It's not as bad people make it out to be, and it probably belongs on this list. But I'm not gonna listen to it again. (Except for The Scientist, when I'm dead).

I'd never heard of The Only Ones before. Really enjoyed this. Feels a bit like the Violent Femmes, although it predates them. Will listen again.

Another first listen for me, though I knew Brass In Pocket. Chrissie Hynde has a fantastic voice (IMO) but jeez it is forward in the mix. Almost painfully so with headphones. This was a solid, enjoyable album. I've seen it called one of the best debut album of all time, which seems a bit over the top. I think you can hear the influence it had on later rock music though, so for that alone it deserves to be on the list.

Although I quite enjoy proggier metal, I don't think I've put much time into prog rock (apart from DSOTM). This is pretty good, although so very 70s (especially the vocals). Probably won't listen to it again, but glad I did.

How often do you listen to a 76 minute album, from an artist you've never heard before, get to the end and wished it kept going? This is just fantastic.

It turns out that 54 minutes is a lot of minutes to listen to Beck. I've always thought that I'd love Beck if I put in some effort, but I've always bounced off his music. Here I am, bouncing off it again. Yeah, it should be on this list, but I won't listen to it again.

I guess Dinosaur Jr are in the same bucket as Sonic Youth for me - hugely influential on the bands that had a major impact on me. So I can listen and enjoy it, but it doesn't quite make a connection.

Pretty decent for late 90s/early 2k post-grunge alt rock. A bit quirky and fun, but I probably won't play it again.

Kinda interesting late-Beatles-ish psych pop.

Hadn't listened to Joni Mitchell before, but I like this quite a lot!

I have anti-nostalgia for AC/DC. It was the music of the people I didn't like, and didn't want to grow up like. That aside, this is really solid album, albeit one that's not to my taste.

This is a long way from my taste. If it were on in the background while I was sitting in the sun drinking beer, I wouldn't get up to turn it off. But I'm not in the sun drinking beer, and I don't have to get up to turn it off. So....

Didn’t hate this, but also didn’t think I’d ever get to the end of it.

I’m not deeply into rap, but you have to respect this album. Yeah, it can be a touch repetitive, and the yeah bois year a bit thin. But it’s still awesome.

Perfection

This is a hard listen. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t to be bored. For such a sexually explicit album lyrically, it’s somehow lacks any sense of joy.

It’s like a homage to Nick Cave, without his wit or talent.

Really struggling with the vocals on this one. Musically it's fine.

I haven’t listened to this before, but I have a soft spot for Automatic For The People and Monster. This was great.

I gave "It Takes A Nation..." 4 stars, and this is better across the board, so it's gotta be a 5.

This kinda grew on me as I listened to it. It's definitely its own thing, so gets points for that. Mostly it felt like a joke that I wasn't in on.

This is great fun. Makes me feel like in a Bond movie (in a good way)

It has been a while since I listened to this, but I still think that it's brilliant. Perhaps if it wasn't Bowie's parting gift I'd see it in a different light. But it was, so I can't.

Not really doing much for me, which is weird, because they remind me a bit of Cloud Cult, who I adore.

Look, I tried. I'm 3 songs in and I think that'll do. For someone with such an amazing voice, she somehow manages to convey no emotion. Weird.

I only have a passing knowledge of The Stone Roses' existence, though I did recognize Fools Gold (which IMO's the stand-out track). The albums was fine, but nothing more than that.

I've never intentionally listened to ZZ Top. This is some pretty solid bluesy rock. Fun listen.

Pretty funky fun, but the back half lost me a bit.

A bit hit and miss, and a bit too Springsteen-y in places. Not terrible but probably not worth a re-visit.

I have trouble connecting with the folkier songs. Unlike, say, Simon and Garfunkel, I don't have history with Donovan and the time/genre gap is too hard to bridge. They just kinda bounce off me. On the rockier stuff though, you can either feel Jimmy Page's contribution, or hear the influence Donovan had on Led Zep (it's hard to untangle which tracks Page played on). Season of the Witch is, and the kids say, a banger. Overall - I think with a bit less sitar and a bit more guitar, this would have aged a lot better.

This was a nice surprise. Weird enough to keep me interested. I'm adding to my list to listen again.

Got through 2.5 tracks. This one's a skip for me.

Say 'synchronicity' again. Say 'synchronicity' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherfucker, say ‘synchronicity’ one more Goddamn time! Not gonna lie: I like Every Breath You Take. It’s like Sting decided he could actually sing for one song, or at least it’s a song that leans into his vocal abilities. Hopefully this is the last album on this list from The Police.

I really want to give this 5 stars, but Disposable Heroes and Leper Messiah are overly-long fillers, particularly by comparison to some of the other pure brilliance on here.

A competent but pretty forgettable straight rock album. The Otis Redding cover was decent. Dunno why this album is considered a "must-listen".

Getting this and Bowie's Blackstar in the same year was both incredibly special and (obviously) incredibly sad. I adore this album. No filler (unlike some of his other albums). Hey, that's the way to say goodbye.

Like I said for Dinosaur Jr - I can listen to an enjoy Sonic Youth, but it never fully gels. This is pretty good tho, particularly Kool Thing.

Fine as a background music, but it's not really my thing.

I liked this more than Goo, and knew a handful of tracks. Like every Sonic Youth album I've listened to though, it does seem to drag on.

If you'd asked me an hour ago to name a single Fleetwood Mac song, I'd have struggled. I'd heard of them, but that was it. The first track didn't really inspire much confidence and I thought the album was going to be a real slog. But, to my surprise a) I know a bunch of the songs and b) it's a completely killer album. I'm listening to it a second time through right now. It makes me happy.

This is a really fun album, but I'll be honest, there's only so much of this level fun I can listen to in one hit.

Being so laid back is both this album's blessing and curse. If this was ~40min it'd be great, but at 65min it verges on repetitive and boring.

Lots of people seem to be rating this based on now-80yo Morrison's political views, which I find a bit strange. The album itself is .. fine? The recording/production isn't great, but otherwise it's listenable.

I think I have to sit down and listen to this more carefully. When I'm paying attention, I like it, but I tuning out, and next thing I know 5 tracks have gone by. So, I guess I'll give it 3 stars. I feel like it'll end up being a 4 after a few more listens, though.

Doors-y and fun for the first half, but dragged on a bit in the back half for me.

When Joplin (supposedly) said to Leonard Cohen "we are ugly but we have the music", I'm not sure she was right about the former, but she definitely was about the latter. This is my first time hearing her at all, and holy shit she's incredible. This is the first album I'm gonna give 5 stars to on my first listen.

It's a bit too slow and smooth to really hold my interest for 55min. Didn't hate it.

This is probably a 4 for pure enjoyment, but its significance and influence (and being a debut!) give it at least 1 bonus star.

67 was a pretty solid year, it seems. This is pretty close to 5 stars for me, but I can't help but feel that the last few songs pull it down overall.

The opening riff from Ain’t Talking About Love amazing. The rest of the album is trash.

I had no idea what to expect, but I really enjoyed this album.

This is an old favourite of mine, from back when I first started trying to branch out from my teenage grunge/metal tastes. I still find it really easy, chill album to listen to, without it getting boring. Love Norah's voice.

Better than I expected, and although it's not really in my lane, I've added to my list of albums to revisit.

You know, I'm not sure I'd ever think "hey I want to listen to CCR!", but this album is a ton of fun to listen to. Better than Bayou Country, which came up in the list earlier. 4 stars - will listen again.

I quite liked Absolution when it came out, but that was the only Muse album that I'd listened to. In hindsight Absolution has the same issue Black Holes and Revelations does - it's fun enough, but at the end of the day (much like Coldplay) it's just Radiohead with more radio-friendly polish and less depth and talent.

I got through the first 6 songs. Not convinced that another 14 songs are going to change my opinion. Musically I don't hate it (and don't love it, either), but vocally and lyrically it's really not my thing.

I went into this album completely cold and was delightfully surprised. It's eclectic, weird and expansive, but still very musical and enjoyable (despite mostly falling into genres I don't listen to much). Songs that I'm sure I'd never heard before felt quite familiar, which was bizarre but wonderful. I think I'll re-listen to this a lot.

Well, this was a lot of unexpected fun. I knew the singles, but nothing else. It has aged really well.

I'm not hugely into blues, but this was great (if a touch repetitive). Will listen again.

I went through a Sinatra period, but TBH these days it only really works as background music for me.

Lots of reviews saying this was dull and repetitive, but I thought it was pretty decent fun. I don't think I need to listen to it again, but it wasn't terrible.

This was pretty fun, though long! It also has a lot of Beatles to it, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but 74 minutes is a lot.

"Arcade Fire - I liked their album that came up earlier. I wonder why I'm finding this one kinda boring and annoying...". {checks review of Funeral} "Oh. Never mind".

I’m trying to get my 1001albums mojo back, but this 80s soft rock is really not helping. The list of things I’d prefer to listen to is almost infinitely long. Well, infinity minus however many albums The Police released.

I was not looking forward to this when it came up, despite having a soft spot and some nostalgia for Dolly. While I don't hate country outright, it's not my usual go-to. This was pretty great, though.