Nina Simone's voice is very commanding and demands the listeners attention. The instrumentation is grand and the swells add to the emotion of the singing and lyrics well. Some parts are a bit hokey, e.g. "my name is Peaches." Probably not very fair considering this was released in 1966 but it doesn't flow very well as an album, and some songs just abruptly stop which is quite jarring

My immediate thought within seconds of pressing play is that this sounds like something that would play over a montage of Jimmy carrying out a scheme in Better Call Saul Nothing too crazy, just a nice relaxing time that settles into the background (in a good way). I find it quite hard to articulate what I like and dislike about jazz so I'll just say I appreciated the emphasis on the organ. If I had to guess, Jimmy Smith played a part in a lot of prog rock bands that followed shortly after this adopting the organ. Would give a 3.5 if I could

I enjoyed this more than I expected to. Sounds surprisingly good for a live album in 1960. I had a preconceived idea that this was going to be quite slow so I was pleasantly surprised by the energy, like on I've Got My Mojo Working. It maybe does blend together a little bit but that's probably down to me having little exposure to this sort of blues

This is the first album I've heard before, though not that familiar with it and always meant to listen to Beastie Boys more. I like the variety in sounds between hip hop, funk and hardcore punk. It keeps the album from getting repetitive or stale and it still flows quite well Highlights: B-Boys Makin with the Freak Freak, Flute Loop, Heart Attack Man

I heard Sixteen Saltines on Rocksmith 2014 and liked it so expecting good things. Didn't like it as much as I remembered (still liked it though) and not a huge fan of the album as a whole. Often went in one ear and out the other. Felt somewhat derivative as well, e.g. Love Interruption is a bit like a weak knock off of Led Zeppelin III. Not bad overall though Highlights: Weep Themselves to Sleep, Sixteen Saltines

I don't need to listen to this to give it 5/5, it's been one of my favourite albums for a long time (I did anyway though). I wish they had done more psychedelic stuff like Ramble Tramble Highlights: Ramble Tramble, Lookin' Out My Back Door, Ooby Dooby, I Heard It Through the Grapevine

2 of my favourite bands in a row. Love this album, I've always thought of it as a bit of an overlap between Kyuss' heavy stuff and QOTSA's later catchy sound, with a little bit of Josh Homme's weirder side coming through like on I Was A Teenage Hand Model and You Would Know. Plenty of crunchy and off kilter riffs that I associate with Josh's style of guitar playing. I personally wish they had gone with the earlier version of If Only from the Kyuss/QOTSA split EP though. Highlights: Mexicola, Regular John, You Would Know, How To Handle A Rope

Ordinarily I find long, jammy live albums quite boring but this was good, great performances and it didn't feel too overdone. Nice as a bit of relaxing background music (in the best way possible, not an insult). I'd gove this more of a 3.5 buy I'll round up to a 4 Highlights: Trouble No More, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, You Don't Love Me

One of those acclaimed bands I never put the effort into listening to. Don't think I recognise any track titles but a little wary of it being a double album Not a huge fan really. Nothing particularly grabbed me and I caught myself checking when it would be over a couple of times, though to be fair I only managed a couple or listens. Maybe needs a few more listens Highlights: Sara, Sisters of the Moon

Pretty good, not really got that much to say. I'll need to come back and give this a few more listens Highlights: What's Happening Brother, What's Going On

Good lord another double album, struggling to catch up after a busy week as it is This is fine enough but it just makes me wish I was listening to the Allmans. And of course it drags on for far too long

Another classic album I've never listened to for whatever reason. Liked this one a lot more than Tusk, didn't realise how many songs on it I had already heard Highlights: The Chain, Dreams, Gold Dust Woman

Only a few tracks in but I don't think this is really my thing. As often as I found something I liked, something else I disliked kind of ruined it. I liked the drums around halfway through Ny Batteri, but the brass parts were sort of annoying and put me off the song again Only going to give one listen as it's not my thing and I'm not feeling compelled to put it on again. Respect it and see why it's acclaimed though Highlights: Olsen Olsen

A bit of daft fun, hardly the most original thing in the world but nothing to take too seriously. Justin Hawkins' vocals can be pretty funny but I'm guessing that was intentional, the whole thing feels pretty tongue in cheek. I doubt I'll come back to this anytime soon and the more I think about it I don't really understand why it's even on the list, but there's nothing actually wrong with it Highlights: Stuck In a Rut, Get Your Hands Off My Woman, Love on the Rocks with No Ice

Hadn't listened to this one in a long time and expected to like it a lot less than when I was a teenager, but it's still class. I think my biggest issue with it is the gulf in quality between some of the best tracks and the weaker ones, it seems pretty big. I could remember exactly how most of album sounded, but the other few I had no idea. Not that those tracks (like Take It As It Comes) are bad, just a noticeable dip from the likes of Break On Through and Soul Kitchen. There seemed to be a bit of a recent trend of dunking on The Doors but after listening to this again I don't think it's warranted at all. Highlights: Break On Through To The Other Side, Light My Fire, Soul Kitchen

Probably more like a 3.5/5. This started pretty well, quite liked the first 2 tracks (especially the heavy surf rock kind of sound on the first) but it kind of trailed off and I wasn't as interested. Picked up again a bit on the last couple of tracks. This doesn't like The Smiths either and I could be making it up but I feel like I've heard the exact vocal melody of We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful on a Smiths song. Not a Smiths expert rough so maybe I've actually heard that same song before. Hearing "England for the English" on National Front Disco is also a bit uncomfortable with the sort of stuff Morrissey has been saying in recent years Highlights: You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side, Tomorrow, Glamorous Glue

I wasn't keen on this in the first couple tracks but it picks up. I think it's because of Young's quite shrill voice, which is front and centre, that I find off putting on the title track. That's not to say I don't like his singing, I generally do on the rest of the album. He kind of reminds me of Chris Goss a little bit, especially on Don't Let It Bring You Down too. I think the variety in sounds and instrumentation give this, between the piano and it prevents the album from becoming stale but none of it feels out of place. The guitar playing is inventive and Young plays some nice, catchy licks. Might need to come back to this later, really enjoying it Highlights: Don't Let It Bring You Down, Til The Morning Comes, Southern Man

I've never listened to Mudhoney, so I was hoping this would be more in the vain of Soundgarden grunge than Pearl Jam. Pretty simple and punky, the range is pretty limited but they're good at this style. A lot of people seem to compare this to The Stooges but I don't really hear it, it reminds me more of early 80s hardcore and early Nirvana. Good either way, surprised at the quite low average score (I listened to the 1988 track listing which is only 23 minutes) Highlights: Chain That Door, In 'n' Out Of Grace