Time to get freaky - this is the antidote to all the nerdy, stuffy, boring, pointless, clean wankery played by white guys and called fusion. Herbie and the Headhunters are blasting off somewhere, and you are very much so taken along for the ride - even if the journey does lose direction here and there. Great tones and production, massive hooks and a tight rhythm section delivering an incredible groove throughout - this is an album where rhythm doesn't play a supporting role, but gives the whole thing life. The solos and harmonic explorations aren't memorable but also never detract from the mood. Favourite tracks: the riff in Chameleon, the middle of Watermelon Man, the groove in Sly

Great distortion, lots of energy. Production is really my kind of thing - guitars are wide and airy, drums are big and warm with such a characterful vocal over the top. Feels pretty alive, this stripped down and fuzzed out americana! Favourite tracks: Dead Leaves, Hotel Yorba (great opening combo!), Offend In Every Way, I Can't Wait

First time listening to a Björk album end to end! Crystal clear voice and real depth to the arrangements and production come together to create something alien but warm. Great pacing to the tracks, they swell not just in dynamics but (even more so) texture. Love the variety of synth/instrument tones. Listened to this album as the sun went down, perfect match. Favourite tracks: It's Not Up To You, Pagan Poetry, An Echo A Stain, Heirloom, Harm Of Will

Interesting harmonic (and harmonies!) stuff from the start, super strong turnarounds. Lots of soul, but I do wish the clean production was a bit grittier/warmer because it can get pretty heavy here and there. Rhythm section (all Stevie?) is superb. Wish there was more cohesion and a more consistent feeling to the album because it meanders a bit much for me. Favourite tracks: Maybe Your Baby, You've Got It Bad Girl, Superstition (why not lel), Blame it on the Sun

Really intriguing sound - feels simultaneously like it was recorded by many people, but also one entirely by themselves. Great desert vibes, or maybe more like the badlands in a sort of Stroszek way. Sad, but not mawkish, when it gets emotional - Nick Drake, filtered through Kyuss and gas stop cigarettes. Favourite tracks: Ballad of Big Nothing, No Name No.5, Punch and Judy, Cupids Trick, 2:45am

Pretty far out of my usual wheelhouse, but this album explodes right out of the traps with energy and melody. The "wall of sound" is spacier and darker than you'd expect from contemporary pop, and suits the woody/grounded vibe to Dusty's voice. What is exactly as expected is the eclectic mix of styles (although a definite lean towards country-infused doowop) and moods - it feels more like a collection of singles than a cohesive album. An absolute time capsule, but only a couple of songs really stuck with me. Favourite tracks: You Don't Own Me, When The Love Light Starts Shining Thru His Eyes, Nothing

Been a few years, but time to jump back into this beauty - forget about punk, this is pure rock and roll: redefined, reenergised and reoriented for the next generation. They were far from the first band to be loud, fast and brattish but they coalesced all of that into a sound and look which endured. The album itself - raw production, old fashioned surf pop sensibilities and hooks all over the place. Part of me wants to complain about the lack of variety, but a much bigger part of me loves the single-minded approach. Favourite tracks: Blitzkrieg Bop, Beat on the Brat, I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue, Let's Dance, I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You, Today Your Love - basically the whole 29 minutes are great!

This is a band I've respected but never loved, and in all honesty have never really explored so the material here was enjoyably unfamiliar. It's a heady mix of hypnotic rhythms, cop-show theme tune arrangements and Krautrock synths with some snappy songwriting, angular production and Byrne's idiomatic voice/lyrics - a very neat perversion of pop which gets darker and weirder as the album goes along. After an eclectic start it really grew in strength up to an amazing second side. I don't just respect this album, I quite like it in general and loved a good few songs. Also: Tina Weymouth!!! Favourite tracks: Paper, Cities, Life During Wartime, Memories Can't Wait (great run of tracks across the middle of the record!), Heaven, Drugs

Nothing but boundless energy here, it fizzes and crackles where other punks might crash and bang - the saxophone is a very welcome addition! Favourite tracks: Art-I-Ficial, Warrior in Woolworths, Let's Submerge

Wire are great. This is abrasive, articulate and engaging - pretty ambitious within its short run-time! Favourite tracks: Reuters, Lowdown, Strange, 12XU

This is indeed it - the sound of people who I don't like but wish to be, doing things which I don't approve of but wish I was getting up to. Favourite tracks: Is This It, The Modern Age, Someday, Last Nite, New York City Cops - it's all good!

Even if I don't really like what Korn do, I do like that they've always gone about it in their own way. There's energy, creativity and humour all over their music so they did well to stand out from the mass of Nu Metal dross that was poured into our ears at the time - this album really represents a certain culture at a certain time. Was the world a better place when our biggest cultural concern was that mum wouldn't accept this isn't just phase it's who I really am? Musically, it's a clever album - the bass and drums are tight and always deliver some sort of sinister groove, the guitars weave against each other in dissonant melody/harmony patterns and the vocals are brimming with character. Some fun songs, but I got bored of the whole album easily enough - still not my thing, but mostly well executed apart from all the unfunny homophobia on All In The Family.... Favourite tracks: Freak on a Leash, Got The Life, Pretty

A gorgeous album, diving deep into the spiritual psyche of a musical genius. I definitely prefer my Coltrane to be freakier, but this is a landmark achievement in connecting technical prowess and complex musical ideas with sublime emotion. The gnostic theism expressed here is totally opposite to my own beliefs, but the way in which it is expressed is profound and touching as the music flows between modes, rhythms and textures with ethereal ease. The quartet is in fantastic form, with Tyner and Jones particularly effective in regulating the dynamics and mood of this suite across the record. The massive bass chords all over the album (especially at the end of Pursuance) then bring a real darkness into the sound. I miss the revolutionary energy of Giant Steps and the frenetic edge of Ascension, but this album is a different beast and testament to the breadth of Coltrane's brilliance. Favourite tracks: the whole thing, end-to-end

Kind of like a space-age Kinks, it's a celebration of the pseudo-intellectual side of the 90s lad demographic - the sort of guy who joins the Socialist Society at uni in hope of better odds than the Young Tories. Great variety of guitar effects, charismatic vocals, but the rhythm section is far and away my favourite element. Love the way that other instruments like organ and brass intervene! Favourite songs: End of a Century, Parklife (why not)!, Badhead, To The End, This is a Low

Explosive, that's the word for this standard-setting live album. Every amplifier is pushed to its limit, with the PA set to have "everything louder than everything else" - thankfully, the ferocity of the band's playing matches the intensity of their sound as Deep Purple smash down, blow up and rip through some of their most classic material. I've loved this album for years, it still sounds as fresh and exciting as ever! Favourite tracks: Speed King, Lazy, Child in Time, Strange Kind of Woman, Black Night, Smoke on the Water, Child in Time again because it's just that fkn good

Hip-hop's "bling era" passed me by as a caricature to hate on, being the contemporary counterpart to Nu Metal, so I'm coming into this pretty fresh. Fun production, great bass lines, clever lines delivered with confidence. Gotta mention the bass again! Enjoyed this way more than expected, he's a good storyteller and the album is full of tasty music. Favourite tracks: The Rulers Back, Takeover, U Don't Know, Song Cry, Renegade, Girls x3

Time to get freaky - this is the antidote to all the nerdy, stuffy, boring, pointless, clean wankery played by white guys and called fusion. Herbie and the Headhunters are blasting off somewhere, and you are very much so taken along for the ride - even if the journey does lose direction here and there. Great tones and production, massive hooks and a tight rhythm section delivering an incredible groove throughout - this is an album where rhythm doesn't play a supporting role, but gives the whole thing life. The solos and harmonic explorations aren't memorable but also never detract from the mood. Favourite tracks: the riff in Chameleon, the middle of Watermelon Man, the groove in Sly

Noisy guitar-pop with a real lean into the harmonic side of rock. Plenty of dreamy guitars washing over melodic bass lines, and lyrics that could only come from one wonderfully sweary place. It was once interrupted by a burst of punk riffage, and I got my hopes up that this album was about to take off - alas. Maybe the best pub rock album I've heard? Favourite tracks: December, Star Sign, Is This Music?, The Wildhearts and Dinosaur Jr

Praise Jah. The lanky bass genius takes us on a lush dub journey which holds true to the title. Favourite tracks: Visions of You, Bomba, Evurline, Soledad, Wonderful World

Retro-vibed pop rock, totally mid tempo and relying on lush arrangements to develop the texture instead of pushing the dynamics, having a hook (goddess on a highway chorus aside) or anything fun like that. Dreamy and dull. The singer's voice annoys me. What if Bruce Springsteen made an album of fairy-tale lullabies? Bass is far and away the best thing about this album and probably all that saves it from one star. Bored. Favourite tracks: Goddess on a Highway, pick up if you're there

You wanted the best, but they didn't fucking make it. So here's what you get. From Hollywood. Guns and fucking Roses! What an album. Pure rock and roll. Filth, danger, sex, swagger, groove, drugs, melody, hooks, sex, riffs, humour, drugs, sex, drugs, sex, sex, drugs, defiance, joy, sex, drugs and beauty all wrapped up in one iconic package. GnR grew to become a by-word for the sort of boring rock excess that they were sent to destroy, but this album is a record of them living in garages, squabbling with the law and screwing each others' women (resulting the album's best track) whilst loaded like a freight train and flying like an aeroplane. Favourite debut album ever. Favourite tracks: Rocket Queen, Out Ta Get Me, Night Train, Paradise City, Think About You, Sweet Child O Mine, Anything Goes, It's So Easy, Mr Brownstone, Welcome to the Jungle, My Michelle, You're Crazy

Not what I expected! Great lyrics but dated production - afraid it didn't grab me as much as his earlier and later work does. Favourite tracks: Everybody Knows, I'm Your Man

This is the band that The Beatles could have been. Apparently. The album opens up with a massive classic, as Macca makes his bid for stadium supremacy, and is generally successful from there on out. Although I get tired of the knowingly-vaudellian twists and turns between genres, it is indeed the very well executed sound of a band on the run. What if Alex Harvey wasn't deranged? Favourite tracks: Band on the Run, Mrs Vandebilt, 1900&85

An achingly beautiful album, tinged with regret but full of warmth and life. Drake's intricately melodic guitar is well accompanied by the best rhythm section in folk and the full band sound (especially the string/wind arrangements) really elevates this record. Expansive songwriting, poignant lyrics, spot-on production: the only thing keeping it from my very top tier of albums is the obligatory "funny" track which snaps me right out of the dark mood! This album really speaks to me - it is fundamentally morose without ever veering into self-pity and conveys a real yearning for positivity from a voice that feels compelled to wallow in negativity. "Leave the ways that are making you be, What you really don't want to be. Leave the ways that are making you love, What you really don't want to love" Favourite tracks: all of them except Man in a Shed

Fairport Convention are another of those bands where I respect their place and influence, but have never connected with at all - despite loving Sandy Denny and (in particular) Richard Thompson's solo work. The vocal work really stands out, and the group harmonies are strong and clear with some enjoyable interplay against/with the fiddle. The songs themselves are a mix of traditional arrangements and originals, and you'd be hard pressed to tell which is which - Fairport Convention did well to put their own cohesive voice on a heavily saturated style! There's definitely a lot of prog crossover too, as a few instrumental sections (especially across Matty Groves) feature tight riffs and breaks leading into expressive solos. After a bright start, the album takes a few darker and more drawn-out turns which I did not expect - the strongest moments on this record are when it goes more The Wicker Man than The Railway Children! I like this album more than expected, but would still love it to explore the darker/weirder/pagan/occult elements of the countryside. Favourite tracks: Reynardine, Matty Groves, The Deserter, Tam Lin

For a band called The Avalanches, this sounds an awful lot like beach music! It begins by drawing strongly on the late 60s and early 70s with soulful samples and a detailed wall of sound which ebbs and flows throughout each track. The album then gradually shifts to more distorted production, more break beats, more electronica and a bit more of a paranoid mood as those retro samples and vibes become increasingly ironic and subversive. Love the low end. Favourite tracks: Stay Another Season, Radio, Close To You, Electricity, Frontier Psychiatrist, Etoh, Extra Kings

After an upbeat electric misdirection to open with, something grand unfolds here. There's fire and darkness, wisdom and poetry throughout this sauntry album where no song outstays its welcome, and I felt myself hanging on wave after wave of swell-and-release for 38 minutes - sensual and powerful. Favourite tracks: Four Women, Lilac Wine, Wild Is The Wind, Black Is The Colour Of My True Love's Hair, If I Should Lose You (amazing three song run)

This beats the absolute crap out of that Best Of Bob Marley album that everyone has - way groovier, cleverer, weirder and more expressive than I ever knew this band to be! It's a classic example of reggae and the socially-themed lyrics make it a great document of a culture, all presented through a tight collection of great pop songs. Musically, Barrett's basslines really stand out, effortlessly linking those signature rhythms with the gorgeous vocal harmonies. A very good example of something that doesn't usually turn me on! Favourite tracks: Concrete Jungle, Stop That Train, Stir it Up (major breakthrough for me as a young bassist!), Kinky Reggae

Hypnotic and neurotic, this is space age dub! Great bass tone, guitar interventions and cavernous drums form the backbone of the engaging production and propel this eerily beautiful album from gothy banger to gothy banger. Favourite tracks: Into The Light, Halloween, Monitor (fk yeah), Night Shift, Head Cut

Very clever stuff, happy to rock along with plenty of soul but also sometimes veering into prog territory - before prog had a name! Earthy and folky, but not too twee thanks to consistently strong arrangements and songwriting - I just feel like it misses a wider range of moods to make the most of what this group had to work with. That said, the title track sees them stretch out beyond other song here. It feels like the missing link between Genesis and The Rolling Stones! Favourite tracks: Glad, Freedom Rider, John Barleycorn,

It opens with some bass riffing, it's got me. Great lyrics, superb flow, inventive beats, this album matches the clever defiance of old "conscious" hip hop with the brash thrust and musical vocab of anything that's come since - timeless? I miss old Kanye. Favourite tracks: The Corner, Testify, Love Is..., The Food

Regal is exactly the word for this album, as The King and his unbelievably hot band deliver a master class in electric blues. The way part of the setlist goes together as one piece, well connected by BB's compere narrations, really takes you along for the ride through just over half an hour of perfect horn stabs, sharp turnarounds, soulful vocals and that beautiful singing guitar. Love the explosions of noise from the crowd, there's some serious energy in that room! Favourite tracks: Sweet Little Angel, It's My Own Fault, Worry Worry, You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now

As a crap tribute to Jay Kay, I'm listening to this while playing Gran Turismo - perfect match. Groovy, spacey, good fun and covered in tasty playing. That said - it's a whole lot of the same thing, and it's a bit of a laugh to hear the man who'd go on to be one of the world's foremast supercar collectors calling for a revolution. Favourite tracks: When You Gonna Learn, Music Of The Mind, Emergency On Planet Earth

It's glam rock Jim, but not as we know it. This is Eno at a fascinating crossover point, applying deliberate avant-garde challenges to a musical language that begins familiarly enough but soon unravels and takes off elsewhere. There's a playful edge to the invention, so the whole experiment manages not to come across as stiff and po-faced - it's as fun as it is weird and clever. It's also much darker and heavier than o expected! Pre-post-punk? Favourite tracks: The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch, Baby's On Fire, Driving Backwards, On Some Faraway Beach, Blank Frank, Here Come the Warm Jets

I love some of Elton's songs, hate others and don't care about the vast majority of them - so my first end-to-end with him (oo-er) could be a fun ride! Favourite tracks:

Massive pop classic, amazing energy! Front-loaded with hits but interesting throughout with engaging production and a great band - bit long, though... Does it need to have so many covers and transition tracks? Favourite tracks: Welcome to the Pleasuredome, Relax, Two Tribes,

This is the tipping point, after which The Beatles (and rock/pop music) wouldn't ever be the same. Tight, folksy, clever and all the instruments sound great - though the hard pans grate a bit, as do the country/rockarolla/doowop departures. John is still my favourite. Favourite tracks: Drive My Car, Nowhere Man, I'm Looking Through You, In My Life, If I Needed Someone

Cool is hardly the word for this snappy collection of sexy hits, which goes genre-hopping with unusual confidence Favourite tracks: Hanging On The Telephone, One Way Or Another, Fade Away And Radiate, 11:59, Heart of Glass

This downtempo triphop with smatterings of world music and glistening production is as late 90s/early 00s as it gets! Ambitious, exotic and well executed but not engaging - is it really an album about humanity's difficult relationship with nuclear weapons and the experience of Indian migrants in the UK (pretty diffuse thematic manifesto....), or does it just have some newsreel samples over the transitions between fairly boring tracks? Favourite tracks: Broken Skin, Nadia, whatever it was I listened to next...

Very cool voice and some weird soundscapes, this is not the usual singer-songwriter mush I had expected - much more like a transatlantic PJ Harvey. Definitely of its time! There's a quiet power here, it's a clever and thematically strong album which makes an appealing noise. Favourite tracks: Girl, Precious Things, Leather, Mother, Little Earthquakes

A total unknown, aside from a passing familiarity with the name! Screaming guitars, swinging drums, big vocals, tasty bass and plenty of twists between genres/vibes. Started out very promisingly, got boring by the middle and kept on bloody going - would have been way cooler around 45mins. Does the list have any Wildhearts? Favourite tracks: Upon 9th and Fairchild, Wish I Was Skinny, Lazarus

If you want blood, you've fucking well got it. Far and away AC/DC's best album, this is a band at the top of their rock and roll game. Dripping with sweat, swaggering all over the place, charming and violent, this album has character by the can-full. I love everything about it - Malcolm's riffs, Angus' solos, the hard-hitting rhythm section and Bon Scott just being Bon fucking Scott. Bloody hell does this album give me energy! Favourite Tracks: the whole bloody album, as loud as possible. But especially Highway To Hell, Night Prowler and If You Want Blood

All hail Rickenbackers and suits! Snappy, sharp, sensible and striking, it blends dub rhythms with punk velocity and the clarity of a new wave. The thanking man's alternative/complement to The Stranglers? Epic bass. Favourite tracks: Pretty Green, Monday, Set The House Ablaze, That's Entertainment, Music For The Last Couple, Scrape Away

Das ist schon etwas. Had no idea going in, still not sure I do.

Jumpy - driven by melodic bass lines and a great guitar jangle playing off against the neurotic, and sometimes soaring, vocals. Can see why it's as loved by those who love it, but I'm not totally grabbed as it bounced around - at its best when stretched out and slow. Favourite tracks: What She Said, That Joke's Not Funny Any More, Meat Is Murder

A great noise, showcasing a vital band at their best. The album is strongest when it follows the actual flow of a gig in the second half, as it builds to a feedback-fuelled freak-out of a finale! Favourite tracks: Ramblin Rose, Kick Out The Jams, Motor City Is Burning

Probably the best thing any US soldiers did in the 60s. This album, which I'd never heard of, is a total shot in the arm - aggressive production, demented dada vocals, smashing rhythms and jagged arrangements make this one of the most refreshing and transgressive sounds of the time. Occasionally, a great little pop song breaks out. Favourite tracks: Monk Time, I Hate You, Oh How To Do Now (that bass!!!!), We Do Wie Du, Love Came Tumblin' Down

Oh hi, it's the 90s. I grew up knowing her as Alanis Marmoset, thanks to a joke from my Mum. She really owns her own voice and confidently delivers vivid lyrics, with a tasty (but slightly overplaying) band behind her - way better than I expected! Favourite tracks: You Oughtta Know, Perfect, One Hand In my Pocket (unexpected nostalgia from 25+ years back), Head Over Feet, Wake Up

This is why U2 are/were as big as they are/were. Great album, but not their best. Superb songs. Astonishingly good production. True story: I was walking along the river in Dublin one evening, and a grey Maserati pulled up to park alongside me. The passenger door opened and I nearly knocked right into the guy stepping out, said "oops shit, sorry mate" and carried on my way. Looked back and thought "he looks like The Edge". Carried on but looked back again, realising "ah yeah it is The Edge". And then Bono got out the driver's side. Favourite tracks: Where The Streets Have No Name, Bullet The Blue Sky, Running To Stand Still, Exit, Mothers Of The Disappeared

The Rolling Stones at their very best with their ya-yas well and truly out, and swinging all over the place. It's loose, beautiful and swaggering - you can hear the heroin dripping out of every note. Favourite tracks: Sway, Wild Horses, Can't You Hear Me Knocking, Bitch, Sister Morphine, Moonlight Mile

Country-fried rock with plenty of soul and gorgeous vocals. Pleasant but not very arresting until things pick up to over the second half! Favourite Tracks: In A Station, The Weight, Chest Fever, The Wheel's On Fire (sweetie darling)

Jagged sequencers, pulsing bass, impeccably cold production and soaring songs - this sounds like the score to a Bond film where he doesn't win. Favourite tracks: Sweetest Perfection, Personal Jesus (stone cold classic na klar), Waiting For The Night, Enjoy The Silence, Clean

More alt-girl cool rock. Or cool girl alt-rock. I can dig it, but don't love how inconsistent the style and mood are across the album. This record is best when it gets dark and quiet - when it lands, it lands really well! Favourite tracks: Shadowboxer, Slow Like Honey, Pale September

The Boss' first album with The E Street Band for a long time (just when they thought they were out...) and his first since the WTC attacks. A big, bold and often tender record, the signature Springsteen longing is mature and assured here. Lacks edge but not heart. Or length. Probably a great road album! Favourite tracks: Into The Fire, Nothing Man, Empty Sky, Worlds Apart, The Fuse, Paradise

Maybe the saddest and weirdest of Nick Drake's albums, this swansong resonates with a nuanced sensitivity and weariness which sits at beautiful odds with how well executed the record is. Gorgeous fingerstyle guitar playing, creative arrangements and idiomatic vocals. The lyrics explore a chemical ennui which connects the art with its artist. Beautiful, but Five Leaves Left remains my favourite of his. Favourite tracks: Place To Be, Which Will, Things Behind The Sun, Parasite, From The Morning

Funky and clever from the start. Soulful and visionary (duh) with plenty of emotional range. Impeccable production. Favourite tracks: Visions, Living For The City, Higher Ground, He's Missta Know It All

Downbeat and rueful chansons with New York folk twist - I'd love to hear it without the additional strings/wings that were added by the producer, they rob the album of some much-needed darkness. Monotonous but sadly not in a fun droney way, most of the time. Favourite tracks: It Was A Pleasure Then (good drone!), Chelsea Girls, Eulogy to Lenny Bruce

The P-51 Mustang combined a British engine with an American aeroplane. I do not like the Mustang as much as when you've got the same engine in a Spitfire, Hurricane, Mosquito, Lancaster or Barracuda. Half of this album is worth the hype, half has just always been schmalzy soft rock to my ears. I love the bits I love and can't stand the rest of it - but can at least respect how well they pulled it off/the fact that they pulled it off at all. Favourite tracks: Dreams, The Chain, Go Your Own Way, Gold Dust Woman. Honourable mention to the final chorus of Silver Springs, a song which it seems no discussion of this album can escape without!

Perfect title - this album is indeed very everything. Poppy and dancey to the max with massive production! There's also plenty of feeling and emotional depth here, balanced out by some top notch piss-taking and intelligently upbeat compositions. Favourite tracks: I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing, Dreaming of the Queen, Yesterday When I Was Mad, To Speak Is A Sin, Young Offender, Go West (massive upgrade to the original)

Cold, oppressive, intelligent and tight as all fuk - this is when Metallica were old enough to be world weary but still young enough to be furious. It's a great album, seeing Metallica at their most expansive and proggiest with the overly clean production (debated to death!) underlining the deliberately technical music - a definite contrast to the wilder and more organic edge to the previous albums (which are also terribly mixed for bass!) and that distinct vibe means it ends up as a lot of people's favourite Metallica album. For me, I miss the wildness and variety of the Cliff records (always loved Jason though!) as this one has too many songs which sound similar and it drags on a bit too long. Favourite tracks: Blackened, One, Eye of the Beholder, To Live is to Die, Dyers Eve