I can see how people can love this but going into this I knew I wasn't a Springsteen fan and this just reinforces that for me. It's very booming, slow, stadium music that is good at what it is but what it is isn't for me.

Pre listen: Hell yeah. I've been meaning to listen to more Fiona Apple and going into this Criminal is a banger! Post: Big fan but not as good as other work I've heard before from her. Feels like a less extravagant Regina Spektor style singing even if the music style is heavier. Highlight: Never Is a Promise

Pre Listen: Going into this I've never really listened to much Muddy Waters but his reputation does precede him so I was expecting classic blues but beyond that no expectations. Post: It's funny how when something becomes so classic it is hard to fully comprehend it. So much of this sounds almost like parody from 65 years of music after. I think with releases like this it is impossible to judge something like this. It seems a lie to say I went in blind because this brought nothing new to the table for me musically because everyone has stolen so much from his work since. I can see this becoming another favourite live album for me. So much of his and the bands energy comes through well here. The mixing is excellent too with exactly as much audience needed to breath a bit of life into the record, but I've no idea how the remaster changes the original release so I am curious about that. As an aside it's interesting that Newport is only notable to me because of the Jazz festival so I thought that the festival would be newer, not that this would be Muddy performing at the same festival. Also finding out Nina Simone released a set from 1960 meant I checked the lineup and it was a hell of a year for the festival (without going into crowd behaviour) Highlight: Feels so Good (hard to choose this one cause it maintains a quality throughout)

Pre: I've listened to some Velvet Underground before but that's mostly been from their debut with Nico and some from Loaded. It just occurred to me that I'm familiar with both Nico's solo work and Lou Reed's but not John Cale (I'll confess I did have to Google that). I do at least know Pale Blue Eyes well but I have been meaning into more VU anyway. Post: Okay I forgot about After Hours. On the whole this album is decent but to me it rarely goes far enough off the path to become that interesting. The Murder Mystery feels like the track oddity that tries enough to pique interest at least, not that it really seemed to work. On the whole it does seem like a transitional record between avant garde beginnings to traditional rock of later. Highlight: After Hours (even though Pale Blue Eyes may be the overall better song)

Pre: I've been meaning to listen to more Silver Jews as they are a band I have heard enough songs I've liked but I've typically bounced off each album I've listened to so far. I also did not realise until checking the background of this that Stephen Malkmus was a founding member! I can't remember how I first heard about Silver Jews but I know I started listening to them after the Courtney Barnett cover of We Could be Looking for the Same Thing. Post: I think one of my takeaways of this is that I'm not a huge fan of David Berman's vocals. My favourite moments are when either he is not singing or someone else is on vocals. Thinking about it this makes sense how my most listened to songs by them are either group vocals or through a cover. I was surprised how much of this I would say is country, I always placed them as mostly folk and indie rock. It seems to lean closer to country for the second half but sadly this is where it starts to leave my interest. Maybe I'll come back to this album for the first few songs but it's unlikely I'll want to revisit the latter half. Highlight: Slow Education

Pre: Well first of all I've listened to the album dozens of times so not sure I can remember a pre-listen. Though going into this it is my least favourite of the 'Top 4' of Dark Side to The Wall, though this does still place it as an amazing album. My memory of this is basically some amazing songs and some lengthy intermissions between that vary in quality (I'll leave any ideas of what that means to me up to you). One issue that does kinda bother me about the idea of this site/book is that you don't really need to listen to this album I think. It certainly wouldn't be my Floyd number 1 recommendation and if I'm being honest you don't need to listen to all the Pink Floyd albums before you die, 2 or 3 would certainly do with more if you actually like them. Funnily enough as a background to this, I received this for Christmas this year and hadn't listened to it yet, so it's one of my most recent albums I've gotten. That's a nice contrast to Kind of Blue which I saw on sale the weekend of that appearing in this list (not that I've listened to it yet but cmon I've been busy!) Post: Okay I thought I preferred Animals but this may feature David Gilmours best work. Both halves of Shine On has some of the best guitar work around. The other side of this though is that I think this has some of Waters' weaker singing even when his songwriting is strong. The same could also be said for Wright and his synths which can be interesting like on Have a Cigar but ultimately I think the album is worse off for them. Welcome to the Machine really does cause so much momentum to stop that it could be fine on another album but the quality of everything surrounding it shows too big a gulf on pretty much every front. Speaking generally of Shine On, but this does cover the whole album, one of my favourite parts of this record is listening to each instrument not in the lead role and appreciating how often they will deviate from the same timings or pace of the song in a way that stills feels sonically cohesive. It's not unique to the record, especially from Floyd, but it is quite noticeable here. Ultimately I'm giving it a 5 but it feels like a forgiving 5 because of WttM. Sucks that for me this album has such a weak spot but as a whole it just hits too good for me to deny it. Highlight: Wish You Were Here (c'mon now, it's crazy to think another track here could top that!)

Pre: As always with many of these Dylan's an artist I've been meaning to listen to more of. I've mostly been a fan of what I've listened to at least. I've never been a huge fan of his singing though except for a few exceptions so we'll see if my opinions have changed. Post: Kind of insane to think of any way to judge it because it was 1966. I don't think the album stands up on its own nowadays really, but it is interesting as a piece of music history. It's funny how a lot of Dylan's music is timeless except this one highlight which is such a specific moment to capture. Maybe I would be one of those crazy booing people after all! Truth betold I'm not a huge fan of Electric Dylan, hell I can't stand Like a Rolling Stone, so this isn't much of a surprise. Maybe I would be one of those crazy booing people after all! I did go see A Complete Unknown yesterday though in fortuitous timing. Since then, and because of this album, I have been listening to more and more Dylan so maybe I'll come back to this album in a bit with a different view. No doubt my thoughts will vary heavily listen to listen and day to day, such is the obvious result of the album a day review. Highlight: Mr Tambourine Man

Pre: If you're gonna choose 1 Gorillaz album you'd choose Demon Days but okay sure let's go back to the beginning. I think I remember having this CD but I don't think it was played often since I can only recall the two hits. It'll be interesting to come back to it after getting more into Del and Handsome Boy Modelling School though. Post: A lot of the songs here are kinda rippers until Damon starts singing and then everything kinda lowers to about 50% fullness. Like on M1 A1, the instrumental is quite good until we get to the vocals and then everything strips back slightly but in my opinion not for the better. I don't think I have an issue with Damon's singing usually but it's interesting how it sounds a bit work-in-progress here and got better with later Gorillaz releases despite all of Blur preceeding this. It's interesting to see where a lot of the Gorillaz later stuff comes from but most of this album felt like filler or at least as something of a first step towards later work. Clint Eastwood and 19-2000 are still great but they are adrift amongst the rest of this. Highlight: 19-2000 (Specifically not the remix because I've had arguments about which is better before and I'd like this codified here)

Pre: It's funny to get this right after Gorillaz. In my heart they're the winners of the britpop battle! Plus they're the only one I actually would want to go see at least, despite not listening to too much Pulp other than a handful of tracks over their albums. Post: Cocker's lyrics are either bang on and excellent, albeit cheesy, or they are just a complete whiff for me. But lyrics aren't everything and thankfully Pulp are excellent but on the whole this didn't hit. It's a shame I didn't find anything new to come back to from this listen though. It's a strong vibe but not one that does that much for me. Shockingly, I may not like Britpop all that much outside of the hits. Highlight: Disco 2000 is still a complete banger

Pre: 2007, Christmas time, my brother got Mothership by Led Zepplin for CD and I remember him almost discarding it aside (this was peak kerrang and emo at this time), but it led to me absorbing everything there. I fully believe the opening to Good Times Bad Times (the album opener too) led to me drumming a few years later. It's still hard to think of drummers competing for best drummer with Bonzo. It was really my gateway into Rock I think, or at least Classic Rock. A couple Black Sabbath CDs, some Blue Oyster Cult and Machine Head by Deep Purple and pre-teenage me was locked into 70s rocks for years to come. 2007 also had Guitar Hero 3 and I don't think any year before or since has affected me as much as that Christmas. Anyway some years down the line Spotify happened, and whether that helped or hindered musicians as a whole aside, I got to go back and revisit all the artists I learned from Games, films and Best-Of albums I knew front to back. Annoyingly this is my least favourite of the numbered Led Zepplins but still I haven't dug into it as much as the others so I'm excited nonetheless. There's a few songs here that I've listened to so much that they've detached from the Album completely so it'll be good to see them more in context, not that Zep albums have every really prioritised cohesion of songs. Post: John Paul Jones man. I think I overlistened to Immigrant Song for too long that I started skipping it. I can't believe I missed the bass on that. It's interesting how orchestral Friends is, it really feels like the precursor to the later highs of Kashmir and No Quarter. Bonham on Since I've Been Loving You feels held back in a way that really helps propel that song. His drumming feels so much more deliberate and it really helps being a good sense of unity from the group as it builds and builds. Out of the Tiles is not a held back Bonham and it too is glorious. Yet another album that trends from one genre to another so I guess I was wrong about Zep albums then! The latter half really goes more blues until it's the only thing left. Hard not to think about the creditation of the songs at this point but that's a whole other matter! On the whole though I liked this better on this listen than past times. It's not Zep IV or II but I'll come back to this more than I used to. Highlight: Since I've Been Loving You

Pre: Never heard of him, never heard of any of the songs. Post: I bet this hits so much better if you're American. The guitar is decent at least, sometimes actually great. Wasn't a fan at the start and around 4 songs in I was more on board, but the slower ones kinda lose me a bit. I am impressed that it has a lot more Latin influence than I expected, like the accordion on Bakersfield. Big fan of the first song immediately name dropping a car. I wish I could hear genres I listen to often like Rock or Metal and maybe Funk the way I hear Country. I think I'm blind to a lot of the clichés in those genres now. Highlight: I Hear You Knockin'

Pre: My knowledge of Depeche Mode consists solely of Enjoy The Silence, Just Can't Get Enough, and Personal Jesus. Now we're in new territory though. Post: Wasn't feeling it in the first half but by the second it rips. I'll come back to this album. It feels like the genesis of many Synth artists now like Makeup and Vanity or Scattle, surprisingly more than Carpenter. The weird ones here are the highlights though, it reminds me of Angel Dust by Faith No More, especially Pimpf, as an album that's truly not afraid to be weird. The album as a whole is a pleasant surprise to me that I'm gonna come back to this a few times I think. Side note: The Smashing Pumpkins cover of Never Let Me Down Again also rips. Highlight: Never Let Me Go (Aggro Mix) (Yeah it's technically a bonus song but that's some good stuff).

Pre: Yeah it's hard to qualify this as a pre-listen cause this is one of the first albums I bought on CD and listened to for many a car journey. Still, because of that I haven't listened to it in years so it's good to come back to it. Post: I know a good amount of this isn't Sabbath originals so it's interesting to see how a lot of it does come across heavily bluesy before they really found their footing. Coming back to this though I was mostly surprised how Ozzy doesn't seem to have found his footing yet really, which is hardly surprising for a debut but compared to Paranoid released the same year it's an interesting difference. Despite that though everyone else is on point. Geezer Butler is one of the reasons I wanted to learn Bass and this album has some amazing work in spades. N.I.B. has some excellent highlights from everyone all round. On the whole though I'd rate this album higher if I hadn't listened to the proceeding albums from them and what they're capable of. The Wizard, Black Sabbath are highlights to me but on the whole this does and is a band that hasn't quite found it's footing yet. Highlight: N.I.B. (Specifically the Geezer noodling at the start)