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

I've tried to get into Nick Cave a few times but it's never grabbed me and to be quire frank, I don't think is going to change that as I'm finding it a little boring. It's almost entirely a showcase for Nick Cave's voice with minimal piano, guitars and drums backing him and I don't actually like his voice that much. It's fine, I don't hate it, but I don't like it enough to really enjoy it being front and centre. That serious lack of variety makes it feel like a slog. I found Far From Me to be the only time there was any sort of switch up as the instrumentation picked up the intensity a little bit I agree with another comment on here that said this feels like an oscar winning movie that people feel that they have to like but to each their own. 2.5 Highlights: Far From Me

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-m trying my best to write up something at least vaguely insightful on each album but this is just boring rubbish. The only song I felt actually stood out and I even slightly wanted to go back to is Part 2. If Do You Realise?? is supposed to be one of their most popular songs then I just don't get the appeal. I would write more but I just can't muster a second listen Highlights: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Part 2

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

Don't know how to feel about this one. It's well done but it just feels too daft and silly, like half of the songs with the vocals removed would be the soundtrack to hijinx in some sitcom. I couldn't have said who A Message To Rudy was by but I've heard it in so many adverts, Sainsbury's ass song. Not sure if that's reflective of ska as a whole but if it is, it's probably not for me Highlights: You're Wondering Now

I'm a bit torn between 4 or 5 so I'll go 5 and say it should be a 4.5. Kicking myself for not listening sooner, there's a couple lesser known (as far as a Beatles song can be) that I don't think I've heard, like Something. I Want You (She's So Heavy) is right up my alley, providing a change of pace with smooth, slick verses and massive, atmospheric guitars in the second half. The clanging metal on Maxwell's Silver Hammer seemed like a good idea at first but it quickly grew annoying and it would have been a lot better without it. Octopus' Garden is a decent song, just a daft little thing but it's noticeably weaker than the rest of the album. Quite liked the second half as well which a lot of people seem to put down. There maybe aren't any particular standouts (though I like Sun King quite a bit) but it flows really well and offers enough variety to prevent the album from getting tiresome. Also, the production is class, George Martin was a genius Highlights: I Want You (She's So Heavy), Something, Sun King

I like Talking Heads quite a lot but I never want to come back to this one. There's something kind of annoying about it, With Our Love comes to mind when as the verses out me on edge (which im guessing was pribably on purpose) in a way I don't like and its not enjoyable to listen to. The first half relies a bit too heavily on staccato guitars and so a lot of it sounds quite samey. The album picks up a bit in the second half though, tracks like Take Me To The River are a lot better The subsequent 3 albums are leagues better overall though. 3.5 Highlights: The Good Thing, Take Me To The River, Artists Only

I groaned a little when I saw this was a double album as I feel they more often than not don't actually warrant being that long. Saturday Night's Alright caught my eye though, a GTA V classic I appreciate the pretty broad variety in sounds between songs, but I find the gulf between the best and worst tracks pretty huge. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding is a winding prog pop epic, Bennie and the Jets features some great driving piano and synths and Saturday Nights Alright is a cool hard rocker. The honky tonk stuff towards the end made me roll my eyes and unfortunately Elton John also succumbs to the "white English guy doing reggae" on Jamaica Jerk-Off which I find so stupid (also what a name). Unsurprisingly, if this wasn't a double album with a lot of fat trimmed off I would probably rate it pretty highly. 3.5 Highlights: Funeral for a Friend/ Love Lies Bleeding, Saturday Night's Alright, Bennie and the Jets

I'm not the biggest Slayer fan in the world but this is a bona fide classic. A pummeling, nonstop 28 minutes that continuously punches you in the face and when it's done, you want to put it back on This also deserves respect for the massive influence it had on death metal (side note, Pleasure to Kill by Kreator should be on this list for the same reason) and setting such a high bar for thrash metal (along with Master of Puppets and Rust in Peace) that everyone has tried to meet for nearly 40 years This is absolutely the best produced 80s thrash album, it sounds fresh without sounding too sleek and lifeless like a lot of modern metal does Highlights: Jesus Saves, Raining Blood, Piece By Piece

I've always felt that I should like Foo Ifghters but their music too often feels a bit too safe to me and lacking in a bit of personality. I quite like a few tracks here and whilst most the rest are decent enough, I just don't have much desire to listen to them again. Unsurprisingly, I gravitated more towards the heavy and chaotic stuff on this like Weenie Beenie, which is class. There is something quite charming about this being recorded nearly solely by Dave Grohl though. I appreciate Dave a lot but more for work he's done with other bands (QOTSA especially) so I feel like I'm missing out Highlights: Weenie Beenie, Wattershed Good Grief

This should appeal to me and whilst it's not bad, it does feel a little bit unengaging. I appreciate how multilayered it is. Not a huge fan of the vocals but they do blend in well with the music and avoid distracting from it, which I suppose maybe was the point. This was a bit of a challenge so I can see this being the kind of album that needs quite a few listens to really get into, so I could see myself enjoying this a lot more later I wrote all of the above on the first couple of listens and was going to give it a 3 but I'm currently on my 3rd listen and it's clicking much more. I actually quite like it now Highlights: Living In Another World, Time It's Time

This is alright. There's some decent hooks and I quite like the production. Not a big fan of Chris Martin's voice at points, especially falsettos, but I wouldn't say he's a bad singer. It does feel a bit plain after a point, I've probably trained myself to let Coldplay go in one ear and out the other though Highlights: High Speed, Don't Panic

This came across a bit amateurish to me, like it was trying too hard and only further emphasised Suzanne Vega's inexperience. She does a weird talk singing with such awkward and stilted vocal melodies that just annoy me I read this described as stripped back but it's anything but. There's synthesisers and all sorts of effects all over that drown out the singing a little bit and take away from the lyrics. Especially on the first track, everything is just drowned in reverb to the point of distraction I'm not diametrically opposed to what Suzanne Vega tried to do here, the guitar parts are decent and the bass lines are quite good. I like how her voice sounds and there are some ambitious moments utilising various instruments but it comes off sloppy. I could see myself liking some of her later stuff if those issues were polished up a bit Highlights: Neighborhood Girls, Freeze Tag

Nice and pleasant. Well produced, especially for a debut. It sounds intimate but the slight reverb on the vocals helps give it a bit of a larger and more dramatic sound. A nice use of different instrumentation and creative harmonies too There is just something that's not quite grabbing me and compelling me to listen repeatedly though. I would've liked maybe slightly less emphasis on the vocals (which are good, mind you) and more instrumental sections to provide a bit of variety, give some breathing room and break the album up a little bit. Still good though Highlights: Your Protectoer Quiet Houses

My favourite pop album and probably one of my 10 favourite albums ever. Depeche Mode built on their very strong synth pop foundations and by giving a more prominent role to the guitars which adds that little extra something that was maybe missing from previous albums (which I love too, to be clear). Absolutely zero filler and is a joy to listen to from front to back. Very evocative through the moody and dark, but also kind of uplifting tone Best album I've had so far and one of the easiest 5's I'll give Highlights: literally everything but especially Enjoy The Silence, World In My Eyes, Personal Jesus, Policy of Truth, Clean

I had never heard of Penguin Cafe Orchestra and had no idea what to expect going in. It's pretty bizarre but there's a sort of simplistic and sober beauty to parts, like Giles Farnaby's Dream, a jolly little ditty, contrasted with some quite awkward and maybe even unsettling moments (Milk and Pigtail come to mind) Experimental music often turns me off because it's usually either pure wankery or the creator was obviously trying too hard to make something unusual but this comes across as sincere, like they really were just trying things to see how they sounded A challenging listen, but I enjoyed it. I can't imagine 'I want to listen to Music From The Penguin Cafe' will pop into my head too often so preferably I'd give a 3.5. 3 seems too harsh so 4 it is. Also I love the album cover Highlights: Giles Farnaby's Dream, The Sound of Someone You Love Who's Going Away and it Doesn't Matter

I do try my best not to make sweeping statements like 'I don't like x genre' but The Offspring's brand of punk is not for me and it never has been, even when I was an angsty teenager. I've always gravitated towards hardcore stuff like Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat and Black Flag so I was pleasantly surprised that there are some moments like that on here. Bad Habit which is more in vain of the 80s hardcore stuff I like. Gotta Get Away has quite a bit of Nirvana in it too, that one's decent. It did get a bit tired towards the end though, it was starting to go in one ear and out the other and I was just looking forward to it being finished about 3/4 through The vocals are passable for the most part, but sometimes I can't really stand them. What Happened To You? came on and immediately reminded me why I don't really like this 90s style of pop and skate punk. Smash uses that awkward strained style of punk vocals that I can't really stand I don't see the point of the narrated parts either. I thought they were going to go for a Songs for the Deaf thing (why the hell isn't that on this list, by the way?) where it would recur consistently, but it's only at the start, once at the end of Genocide and at the end of the album. It didn't add anything and just felt like an afterthought Not a bad album but nothing special either Highlights: Bad Habit, Gotta Get Away

Musically this is quite decent, nothing mind blowing but for 1971 it was probably quite fresh. The drummer performs some nice fills and that weird, off kilter thing he does on En Melody is interesting. I like the bass too, some fun, prominent bass parts and the tone is good too.The strings add a bit of variety and dynamism so I'll give it that as well My main issue is the spoken word vocals whispering right inside my ear. I don't mind them when he actually sings but when he's just talking it sounds like a French car advert. It's also pretty annoying hearing 'Melody Nelson' every minute or so. Like i mentioned, I liked the instrumental of En Melody quite a bit (the drumming and bass are great) but the laughing and squealing halfway nearly ruin it I see why people really like this but I can't rate it very highly because of the incredibly distracting vocals Highlights: En Melody

I've tried to get into Nick Cave a few times but it's never grabbed me and to be quire frank, I don't think is going to change that as I'm finding it a little boring. It's almost entirely a showcase for Nick Cave's voice with minimal piano, guitars and drums backing him and I don't actually like his voice that much. It's fine, I don't hate it, but I don't like it enough to really enjoy it being front and centre. That serious lack of variety makes it feel like a slog. I found Far From Me to be the only time there was any sort of switch up as the instrumentation picked up the intensity a little bit I agree with another comment on here that said this feels like an oscar winning movie that people feel that they have to like but to each their own. 2.5 Highlights: Far From Me

It's okay. It isn't really anything that you couldn't find plenty of other 70s bands doing, besides maybe the organ, but even then Deep Purple did a much better job of blending organ into hard rock Credit where it's due, Traffic did make use of instruments atypical for rock (flutes, organ, saxophone) so that does provide some variety. Everything is executed well enough, the writing just isn't that compelling or memorable. In fact the most memorable part is how alike Steve Winwood's voice is to Peter Gabriel's, especially on Empty Pages. That could be viewed as a compliment but to me I'd rather just listen to Genesis Highlights: Glad

I complained about sparseness previously with Nick Cave, but I like how Will Oldham uses it here. The space that the minimal guitar, bass, drums and piano creates a melancholic and introspective atmosphere that builds upon the lyrical themes and Oldham's vulnerable vocals. The instrumentation isn't always necessarily sparse, for example Nomadic Revery (All Around) actually has a pretty cool guitar solo towards the end, it's just unusually hidden behind Oldham's voice. Another Day Full Of Dread also features a solo, this time front and centre, which sounds full of potential to be a shredder but it's as though the player can barely get through it (in a good way, if that makes any sense, in that it adds to the downtrodden tone). Sorrowful but stunning at the same time I liked this quite a lot, it seems like something that may take a lot of time to sink in and could hit pretty hard at a low or vulnerable point for the listener. Wish this was on Spotify so I could listen to it from start to finish without stupid Google adverts completely ruining the atmosphere Highlights: I See A Darkness, Madeline-Mary, Another Day Full Of Dread

This is decent enough, but it feels like something is missing and I can't put my finger on it. It starts fairly strong but I lose interest by the end, which isn't great for a 37 minute album. Don't Lie To Me sounds a little bit like The Murlocs so I like that one. Feel is cool too, a little Zeppeliny to begin with and segues into what could be a Ziggy Stardust era Bowie glam rock tune I like In The Street musically but the vocals on the verse are pretty annoying, a nasally kind of wail that overpowers everything. I don't think I'd say I dislike anything but there's too much that doesn't hold my attention to rate it highly. Highlights: Don't Lie To Me, Feel