Too heavy for my tastes with a frenetic rhythm guitar that tends to match an impressive high rpm drum beat. The effect of this is a wall of noise that makes a repetitive, uninteresting ear assault. I enjoyed the intro of most songs but found I lost interest after the first drop. Welcome Home (sanitarium) is a pleasant mid-album interlude and there are a few great moments in Orion which I really enjoyed. Also, there are killer guitar solos throughout. In general, highly skilled musicians creating a sound that I don't particularly enjoy. The album finishes with the alluring intro of Damage Inc, luring you into the false sense of security before giving way to the ear pounding which I guess is "Thrash metal" - not a fan.

My opinion on this one will be biased. Released when I was 17 it became part of the soundtrack to my university days, particularly Kids which was played in every club night I can remember during my first year. After what is probably my first critical listen, the album is more varied than I remembered but just sings to me of the noughties, an optimistic time pre-financial crash and pre austerity, where me and my fellow millennials were coming of age. It still feels like a youthful and fresh, but if I'm honest, there are probably some tracks that I would find fairly average out of context. However, I will never hear electric feel, kids, or time to pretend without being transported back to that time.

First ever critical listen of any Depeche Mode. This album felt like an uninteresting slog with a cool 80's vibe. I found the music dull and vocals contrived and pretentious. At its best moments I was reminded of Morrissey but without the humour or the brilliance. Generally found the album very boring and I doubt there will be a repeat listen.

First listen to this album although I had heard of TVU as I'm fan of Lou Reed's Transformer. First impressions were really positive, a varied and interesting album that encourages repeat listening. Some vocals like Sunday morning sounded Dylanesque, then others with Reed's cool delivery. I listened blind then looked at the date and couldn't believe this was made in 1967. I can totally see how it has a reputation as being ahead of it's time. I can see myself getting into it even more after multiple listens. A win for this project from my perspective.

Any single track was an enjoyable, if formulaic, rock track but altogether the album became an amorphous chain of "rock noise". Quite enjoyable but nothing special. Floaty was a highlight in that it had more variable rhythm and vocals. It struck me during the guitar solo in Oh, George that there were very few instrumental breaks or guitar solos in the album, further adding to the feeling of simplicity. Not a bad album but lacking depth in my view.

An interesting mix of bougie cafe music with rambling guitar solos, blues and latin vocals. Why don't we utilise the bongos in rock music any more? Am I supposed to light a spliff, play air guitar, or dance the salsa? All questions I was pondering before being distracted by an electric organ solo. I enjoyed the album but I can't decide when I would listen to this. Maybe I'll throw a house party, make some punch, a prawn cocktail, vol-au-vents, and fire up a cheese fondue (car keys in the bowl please).

One of the first thing I noticed about this album is the excellent production quality. I am a real fan of a natural and live sounding production and this album gave me that "in the room" feel whilst still providing good isolation of the wide range of instruments. Musically I found it pleasant and pretty but not groundbreaking. A nice blend of folk and indie with quite simple and intimate songs. I'm more likely to use as inoffensive background music rather than a deeper listening. That being said, I probably will mark this for a repeat listen.

A great listen. Apart from the unexpected lyrics of Run Charlie Run, the album was a funky delight. Upbeat and soulful vocals. The style seems to leap around all over the place a bit and at first I thought it was very short but I've now realised that Papa was a rollin' stone was missing from the album in Tidal (weird/annoying!) which accounts for it's shortness. I enjoyed it like taking a funky little journey back in time.

I feel like this is quite context dependent. I can imagine enjoying this live, on a hot humid night, in a outside bar under corrugated iron roof, dancing around plastic chairs and drinking cheap rum. As it is, I quite enjoyed listening out of interest but can't ever imagine myself listening to the album again. I think it deserves more than 1 star on the basis of artistic merit and being an interesting historical recording of folk culture. Personally, not my thing though.

Quite a cool groove and still sounding surprisingly fresh considering how hip-hop sounded generally in 1990. I have always liked how rap sounds in French, the flowing nature of the language suits flowing verse. The problem is, despite the best efforts Miss Onslow, I don't speak French. I feel like understanding the lyricism is 80% of all rap music. My typical British ignorance of foreign language limits this to a 2 star album for me, I'm afraid.

What an absolute banger. I was instantly into this album that begins with almost punky vocals, chaotic rhythms and dissonant guitar riffs. I can hear influences on Tropical Fuck Storm (a favourite) that can't be coincidental. The album mellows out in the second disk into some gentler tracks but still with lyrics that raise eyebrows and a grin. It is a great mix of musical complexity and variety, organised chaos, humour, and lyrics with occasional beauty that doesn't take itself too seriously. An instant favourite for me.

I often think Dylan is overrated, particularly if you let recent performances cloud your appraisal of him. Listening to this album has been a great reminder of why he deserves his acclaim. It's raw, soulful, politically challenging, simple but beautiful. Like all good folk music, it somehow makes me feel nostalgia for a place I've never visited in a time 30 years before I was born. My advice to skeptical listeners is to try to listen to this album in isolation, putting aside preconceptions of Dylan and ignoring the subsequent hero worship. It's a truly great album and probably his best.

I remember the hype about this album. I don't mind a bit of sampling and looping but this has the feeling of someone experimenting with a new technology for the first time and people liking it just because it's novel. I find the first 30 seconds of each track is ok, bit of a groove, 3 mins later I'm bored stiff from hearing the same looped rhythm and lyric samples for the thousandth time. This album might have seemed fresh and interesting once but I don't hear any long term musical merit and I don't think it will stand the test of time.

To me slipknot has always been "metal for the mainstream". I remember them being played on music channels like Kerrang! at the time alongside Nickleback, which says it all. Listening as objectively as I could manage, I didn't hate it. There were some good moments and tight musicianship although I didn't enjoy the vocals at all. I still think it sounds contrived and too refined, maybe too commercial? I just can't get the image of those uniforms and silly masks out of my head.

Very enjoyable listen. Reminded me of my Grandad. I can't say I'd ever listen to this on my own though. As much as I appreciate the music it's not to my taste.

Firstly, I love Joni Mitchell's Blue which might even make my top five of all time. Then a lot of her later stuff I find a bit bland. That runs true with this album, vocally still great but the music is somehow less raw than her earlier stuff and sounds a bit schmaltzy. Dare I say "middle of the road"? I am reminded of my primary school music teacher shamelessly playing over-sentimental tunes on the school piano for singing assembly. An average album from a great artist.

Although I can't understand the language I liked the vibe of this album and there was enough going on musically to engage me. Definitely a fun listen with a good spectrum of sounds but not something I can see myself ever listening to beyond this project, just not a genre to my taste.

Listened to this one blind and first impressions were that it was pretty cool. Quite Bowie esque.. as the album progressed it sounded more and more like Bowie and when I got to China girl I finally caved and read the overview... The problem I have with this album is that although it's quite a cool groove, with gravelly but not entirely unenjoyable vocals, David Bowie exists. So I'm left asking "Why don't I just listen to some Bowie".

Incredibly underwhelming. For the most part the lyrics were contrived and shallow (dare I mention Shanghai Lil?) but then there were a couple of tracks that I thought were surprisingly well written, only to find out they were covers along with half the album. Maggie May is an enjoyable classic but can't carry the whole album. The only bit that turned my head was the instrumental intro to Amazing Grace at the end of "That's all right", then Stewarts quavering vocals kicked in and I nearly spat out my coffee through cringe.

I really liked the bluesy tracks on this album which began with 'Been Down So Long' and was a recurring theme throughout. The production quality is excellent, great isolation but still giving the feel of a live performance. Things got a bit weird with 'L'America' in a way that I've come to expect from the doors and I'm never quite sure I really enjoy. The album finishes with "Riders on the Storm" which is a really cool track and further cements my opinion of the Doors as a band that lurches from cool to weird and back again. A decent album but not one that I'll return to.