258
Albums Rated
3.22
Average Rating
24%
Complete
831 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1960s
Favorite Decade
Post-punk
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
30
5-Star Albums
15
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Coral
The Coral
|
5 | 3.01 | +1.99 |
|
The Stooges
The Stooges
|
5 | 3.26 | +1.74 |
|
The Yes Album
Yes
|
5 | 3.31 | +1.69 |
|
Raw Power
The Stooges
|
5 | 3.32 | +1.68 |
|
Songs Of Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
|
5 | 3.38 | +1.62 |
|
Hail To the Thief
Radiohead
|
5 | 3.44 | +1.56 |
|
Parachutes
Coldplay
|
5 | 3.46 | +1.54 |
|
Fear Of Music
Talking Heads
|
5 | 3.47 | +1.53 |
|
Unknown Pleasures
Joy Division
|
5 | 3.47 | +1.53 |
|
Jazz Samba
Stan Getz
|
5 | 3.56 | +1.44 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Pretzel Logic
Steely Dan
|
1 | 3.4 | -2.4 |
|
Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park
|
1 | 3.39 | -2.39 |
|
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
|
1 | 3.38 | -2.38 |
|
The World is a Ghetto
War
|
1 | 3.36 | -2.36 |
|
Hysteria
Def Leppard
|
1 | 3.21 | -2.21 |
|
Honky Tonk Heroes
Waylon Jennings
|
1 | 3.14 | -2.14 |
|
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Genesis
|
1 | 3.07 | -2.07 |
|
Behaviour
Pet Shop Boys
|
1 | 3.04 | -2.04 |
|
BEYONCÉ
Beyoncé
|
1 | 2.86 | -1.86 |
|
Guitar Town
Steve Earle
|
1 | 2.81 | -1.81 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Metallica | 3 | 4.67 |
| The Stooges | 2 | 5 |
| Bob Dylan | 2 | 5 |
| Queen | 3 | 4.33 |
| Pixies | 3 | 4.33 |
| Radiohead | 3 | 4.33 |
| Led Zeppelin | 5 | 4 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Pet Shop Boys | 3 | 1.67 |
| Steely Dan | 3 | 1.67 |
5-Star Albums (30)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
The Smiths
3/5
To quote another song: I've never been through a smiths phase. That doesn't feel like changing.
I don't exactly dislike it, but I can't really fathom the clamour. I've heard better indie bands, I've heard funnier bands, I've heard better self deprecation in music. Morrissey has an interesting voice, Johnny marr has some nice guitar bits, but I don't feel like shouting from a hill about it.
2 likes
Bill Evans Trio
2/5
I enjoy the sound of these instruments but musicwise I need a bit more of an actual song. Some motifs that they riff on a recognisable tune they are playing around. But this collection just felt like a bunch of long jams with no sensible grounding.
It was strange to listen to an album, described as one of the best live jazz albums and just hear the audience talking over it. Jazz people are weird.
It's just not for me, but it didn't leave me upset or anything.
1 likes
The Mamas & The Papas
3/5
This was fine. Monday Monday and California dreaming stood out.
Unfortunately the middle tracks felt a bit generic, not like awful, but not really interesting.
1 likes
Genesis
1/5
No. It was like proof but with all the likeable bits removed. There was no fun left in it. Then to make it a double album was just cruel.
1 likes
Metallica
5/5
This is probably a 4.5 star album. It's amazing. I imagine some days I will think it's a 5. Heavy and experimental. Maybe a little long.
1 likes
1-Star Albums (15)
All Ratings
Metallica
5/5
This is probably a 4.5 star album. It's amazing. I imagine some days I will think it's a 5. Heavy and experimental. Maybe a little long.
R.E.M.
3/5
A couple of highs, but I didn't find it especially inspiring. Some great vocals lines, harmonies and counter melodies though.
Earth, Wind & Fire
3/5
Started very strong. Lost my interest a bit in the middle. Africano was back to the funk that I enjoyed. But the lull in the middle kinda ruined the fun.
ZZ Top
4/5
Great blues playing. None of the hits I know by them but pretty consistent. Enjoyed it
Frank Ocean
2/5
Nice soundscapes. The vocals didn't really keep me engaged though. It was pretty chill
The Temptations
3/5
I did enjoy this, but I think I was expecting to recognise a track or two and didn't. I may have to give it another listen without that thought in my head. I like the sound of it though.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
Had a great voice. I just want taken by these songs.
The xx
4/5
Great album, but a weird choice as they made 3 albums and I'd suggest this is the 3rd best. It doesn't have the same atmosphere the first 2 created.
Prince
3/5
1999 is a bop, buts too long and I got bored. The rest of the album follows the same path, good grooves, not much in the way of songs. I wasn't too fussed
Red Hot Chili Peppers
3/5
Some great stuff, some dubious. They probably could have cut a bunch of songs and made a pretty great album. They didn't.
Otis Redding
4/5
Great voice. I enjoyed this. Didn't know he wrote respect, although Aretha version is better. A bunch of good cover versions too.
Ian Dury
4/5
Fantastic album, interesting lyrically, diverse musically and very individual.
Queen
5/5
Amazing album. Pretty much bonkers, but the musicianship is incredible, it has enough massive hits too balance the firsts into weird genres. Just brilliant.
Little Richard
4/5
Fun rock and roll. Upbeat and exciting.
Anthrax
4/5
A good thrash album, could hear a lot of Metallica and maiden vibes in it. Will have to listen again.
Coldplay
5/5
Great album. Really draws you in to their sound.
Genesis
1/5
No. It was like proof but with all the likeable bits removed. There was no fun left in it. Then to make it a double album was just cruel.
Ice Cube
2/5
Well... The backing tracks were brilliant and I really like the cadence of the rapping. But I just can't get past the lyrics. It's like an Andrew Tate fever dream, just awful. By the time it reached the duet where he was being misogynistic but Yo-Yo got the last word everytime felt like he knew he was doing it but he did it anyway. Gah.
David Crosby
2/5
I wanted to like this, but I kept finding myself drifting off and not listening. I kind of remember the first track. Alas. At least the title felt ironic.
Kate Bush
4/5
The first side of this album is awesome. The second is bonkers. I think I'll have to listen again with the lyrics to find out what is going on.
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
This was kinda fun. Although, I hate do ya think I'm sexy, so that was annoying. It felt fortunate it came up on a hot day.
Emmylou Harris
2/5
Emmylou has a lovely voice, my wife compared her to Joni Mitchell. But I generally dislike country music and the backing to all these songs falls heavily in to that category. I found it quite annoying to listen to. The Beatles cover was slowed down, and the gaps were filled with things that I didn't want to hear. Nevermind.
The Go-Go's
4/5
Really liked this. Got some 60s vibes, got some punky vibes. Weirdly reminded me of the manic street preachers in parts.
Wire
4/5
Pretty great, fun upbeat riffs. Didn't overstay it's welcome. Looks of energy.
Jefferson Airplane
3/5
A bit of a mix. I really enjoyed the tracks with Grace's vocals on them, white rabbit and someone to love are incredible tracks... But most of the ones with other leads sounded like someone trying to be Paul Simon, it just felt a bit derivative. Not sure I rate it as an album particularly.
B.B. King
2/5
I loev his voice and his guitar playing, but I didn't really enjoy this band set up. I'm not sure jolly trumpets and jazzy piano really put me in the right mood to enjoy the blues. He has other recordings I generally put on instead.
Nirvana
5/5
This was great. I've not listened to much nirvana beyond nevermind, but I really enjoyed this. I'll be listening to this again at some point.
Gorillaz
3/5
This first album is a right Hodge podge, Clint Eastwood is good, 19-2000 is tremendous, but it feels very experimental. I think they found their feet in demon days.
Death In Vegas
3/5
One song sounded like Kasabian ripped them off, another like public service broadcasting were heavily influenced by them. Then I read Wikipedia and they got sued for the Kasabian one cos they ripped someone else off. The Iggy pop track was fairly forgettable.
I dunno. They appear to be influential but it didn't influence me much.
Wu-Tang Clan
2/5
The sound of this was good. The rap rhythms were nice.
I have no idea what they were rapping about and I got distracted and went to put up some coat hooks, so I guess it didn't do enough to keep my attention.
The hooks looks nice though.
Pixies
4/5
This is great. I prefer Doolittle and I guess that's just cos it's a bit more song-y. Winner.
Garbage
2/5
I thought I would like this. I did not. It felt very dated. It felt like it didn't know whether to be rocky or poppy or industrial or sassy, so it failed at them all.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
Very busy. Not terrible, but by the end I was fed up of it. Go west sounds like a parody and the conchords parodied them better.
Beatles
5/5
It's Revolver. You could argue it's the best album by the best band ever.
Interesting, quirky, a bit stupid, just really good.
Great wedding band too.
Beastie Boys
3/5
This turned out to be more varied than I expected, which is a good thing. Sabotage is ace, but 12 sabotages would be too much. I really enjoyed hearing live music backing as opposed to just samples on a rap album (at least one that wasn't nu metal).
Portishead
4/5
This was a good choice for an Easter Sunday listen. Great sounds, nice sparse production.
There are some fascinating notes on how they created their own samples on the Wikipedia article too. She has a great distinctive voice too.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
My dad never listened to led zeppelin. Hated Robert plants voice. The bloody weirdo (my dad, not Robert Plant).
Meant I had to discover them on my own later, meant I missed out on a lot of references and jokes over the years and later on spent a lot of time going "oh... Stairway, I see".
They're quite good aren't they. Even if I'm heavily expecting all the allegations to be confirmed (those that haven't already) the second they all die and even if they ripped off 75% of all their riffs.
This one is especially good.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Hmmm. His voice isn't quite the behemoth it was by this point, although perhaps that adds to the charm of an album about death released days before he died. But it meant there weren't really tunes in the same way as his earlier stuff. I really like the title track, but the rest didn't capture me this time.
Elvis Presley
1/5
I tried. I tried twice.
Blue suede shoes was a fun start, but it's such a damp squib. Like a floppy nothing record.
I got bored. I got bored twice.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
There are 5/6 amazing songs on this, since I've been loving you is one of my all time favourites tracks... But there are also a bunch of stuff that also exists in a very meh kind of way.
Since we're judging whole albums I have to knock it down a bit.
I think my "out of 5 stars" ratings are very inconsistent
Ray Charles
4/5
This was pretty great. Considering I don't generally like country and western, brass or double albums this was stellar.
I got slightly bored by the last 4 or so tracks, but it was a fun bop.
Queen
4/5
Really enjoyed this. Queen are great. Still a bit rough here, hadn't gone their song writing yet.
Marilyn Manson
3/5
I did not want to listen to this on a nice sunny Sunday, but it actually started ok. Very 90s industrial metal (makes sense with NIN producing it). The tracks running to beautiful people had a nice groove and I thought it would be alright, but after that lasted ages and didn't really change, other than to get more forgettable.
When these albums get a bit meh I like to read up about the album to see why it's on the list and it essentially says they all took loads of drugs and were dickheads to each other until one of the original band members left.
Great, that doesn't help me like it.
It started good but turned into the sort of music they'd put on in spiders (classic hull metal club) which would make me go into the other room upstairs which was likely playing jimi Hendrix or Aretha franklin.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
2/5
Nah.
Each song was the same. They found a groove, repeated the same few words then faded out. I'm sure there is some Bob Marley that could win me over a little, but this is far from it.
James Taylor
2/5
James Taylor is weird. His guitar playing is great, his song writing can be good. But his voice is just too smooth, like it's too nice, there's no edge, I can hardly pick out any emotion from it. Some of it kinda works, but when he goes into his, I guess, seduction tracks it's like: what is this? Some kid at school who's never talked to a woman trying to copy the bigger kids but having no idea what he's saying. "I'm a steamroller baby" jeez. On that note he does love to drop a G-bomb every couple of tracks and I get bored of religious stuff quickly.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
The Jesus and Mary chain are great. Every so often I wonder if their stuff is too simplistic, but it's just sooo good I remember that is a stupid thought.
I think of them as like a rockier New Order. Love it. Psychocandy is better album, so this can only be 4/5.
Scissor Sisters
3/5
This is a great pop disco album, the second half drops off a bit, but it's still enjoyable...
However that comfortably numb cover is abysmal.
It sounds like a 12 year old kid made it on fruity loops. I hate it so much. I can't find a redeeming feature in it, it's like they made it too fast, too emotionless, too computerised, too shit.
I've had the conversation loads of times and everyone else seems to love it which is probably why I have a healthy distrust for society as a whole. The idiots.
LCD Soundsystem
3/5
I enjoyed this, but it didn't captivate me. I kept finding myself in the other room doing something else by track 6.
I'm going to see them live soon. Hopefully I'll stay more focussed on them then.
Don McLean
3/5
Don McLean is ace. American pie is brilliant (though the chorus gets a bit boring). Vincent is a masterpiece. I usually listen to his greatest hits so this feels not as good, which is a harsh comparison.
Saw him at Glastonbury once. I was very happy.
System Of A Down
4/5
It does not have the tracks I know on it, but I do love how quirky they are. More metal bands should be this fun. More every genre of bands should be this fun.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
This is a weird album.
It sounds like the rolling stones having a drunken party that lasts too long and nothing is coherent enough to be a memorable hit.
Then I read about it and that is exactly what happened. Loads of drugs, loads of session musicians etc.
It's not bad, it's just not great and it's long.
Apparently everyone who slated it loves it 10 years later, so ask me again in 2035.
The La's
4/5
This was very good. Lots of 60s and 70s elements. You could hear a lot of more recent bands influences, especially the coral I felt.
I enjoyed it and will listen again.
The Shamen
1/5
I can't really take this music seriously. It sounds like the music they play in the menus of 90s computer games. A big part of why you'd always go straight to the sound menu to turn them off.
My sister liked this sort of stuff before she grew up. Thankfully we can talk to each other now.
It's like when you're in the keyboard lab at school and you press dance01 and get these terrible incessant hi hats then you just play the same repetitive thing over them for 15 minutes to avoid having to talk to whoever it is they paired you up with that week.
There is an element of nostalgia, but that is a dangerous thing. Lots of people these days pretend things were good as they have memories of them from being a kid. Maybe their childhood was just awful.
Fiona Apple
4/5
This was brilliant. Pretty arty, a bit mad, weird percussion on a lot of it. The lyrics felt almost like she hadn't finished them there is a lot of repetition, but it works.
Glad I've found this album. I'll be listening to it more.
1/5
I couldn't get into this. It felt like it had elements of things I like in it, but as a whole I found it boring.
Then they had the gall to test me with 13 minutes long versions of the stuff I didn't enjoy. Gah.
I do not like war.
PJ Harvey
3/5
I enjoyed this, I've never quite found a pj Harvey albums that really captures me. I saw her live once and she was amazing, but her albums never quite do it. This one might be the best I've heard. I'll give it another go.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
This good stuff. I think I preferred the acoustic parts on first listen, however I may have to give it further goes.
Weirdly thrasher just reminds me of a mix of have you ever seen the rain and everybody's talkin', like quite a close rip of in some parts... but I can't seem to find anyone else saying the same online which is unusual.
Anyway. Fun album.
The Offspring
2/5
I was not expecting to see an offspring album on a list of albums I needed to hear. I'm not sure why that would be the case. I don't hate them, I just never considered them that important. Maybe I'm underestimating their pop punk influence.
Anyway, I wasn't really into this. I didn't mind some of their Americana album, I feel they try to be the rockier side of pop punk (as opposed to Greenway or blink) but none of this got me too excited and I'm afraid that Dexter's vocals do grate after a while, I read once that he has a lot of processing on them, so maybe that is what bugs me about them, but I dunno. Either way the songs need to be really good for me to want to listen, and I'm not sure these were.
Waylon Jennings
1/5
I can't really take this music seriously. It just sounds like he's taking the Mick, but he's clearly not. But he's using a silly voice and it all feels like stereotypes.
It's not as nauseating as some country, but it's not good.
One song about freedom had a fade out, that bugged me.
The next track was just a rip off of universal soldier by Donovan but without the meaningful lyrics, and with a naff bass line.
I haven't actually heard a honky-tonk on it yet... Oh apparently honky-tonk can refer to the bars or the music they play country music in, even though all are named after the piano.
Not for me I'm afraid.
R.E.M.
4/5
This was great. Better than the last rem album on here. I feel their singles are a lot stronger than their album tracks, but this felt like it had a lot of singles on it.
Everybody hurts should really be a trial to listen to but Michael Stipes voice is exceptional and it sounds brilliant. Also there are some great backing vocals on these tracks too, man in the moon being a favourite.
Fatboy Slim
3/5
The hits from this are tremendous. It's incredible how he could pull samples together and make them such impressive cohesive tracks. Especially considering how long ago it was and what technology was available.
Also though he loves having his name mentioned in tracks, it's a bit Shakira Shakira. Plus they're very long and the non album tracks are pretty repetitive.
The hits made it good.
Kelela
3/5
I'd never heard of this. It was pretty good. But some of the drum machine stuff was annoying. I reckon I could find 3 or so tracks that I really like, but from one listen I can't pick any out, everything was very similar sounding, but not in a terrible way.
Might have to have another go.
Sex Pistols
4/5
I really like this. The pistols have some great songs. The guitars etc are exciting sounding with some cool riffs. Johnny rottens vocals for me drift between inspired pronunciation and annoyingly grating. I think I'd like the whole thing slightly more if they lowered his vocals into the mix a bit more, let the punky music be a bit more in your face. But they have at least 7 tracks on here which are brilliant and that's more than most albums manage.
The Stranglers
3/5
This started very promisingly, I like the baselines and the crunchy guitar tones and the organ sound. All upbeat and fun. But it seemed to drag a little by the last few songs.
Arcade Fire
4/5
This is pretty great. Not quite as great as funeral, they are consistently good though as a band.
Problem is... we know win butler was a knob head, so it somewhat overshadows me listening to them now. I dunno, a huge amount of artists have the same things. Can't people just not be horrible so I can listen to their music without guilty intrusive thoughts about whether I should even give them the time of day. It's infuriating and selfish.
Idiots.
The Specials
2/5
I don't like this. That first track, is it used on jools Holland or something? Or a radio jingle? I dunno. Maybe when it came out it was fun, but my head associates it with a bored middle aged drunken booze up where everyone is wearing a suit and trying to explain how they're more successful that you. Ick.
After that the other songs are worse.
That one near the end that was a bit 60s is alright - I can't stand it (ironic title there). But then I lost interest at the keyboard solo.
I really like ghost town what they did and I expected that I might find some gems in here, but it was like playing the epitome of "not my sort of thing".
Nope
Thelonious Monk
3/5
I like how this one sounded, but I couldn't get into it. I couldn't really pick out any motifs or parts to recognise. It just meandered along.
The overall sound reminded me of time out by Dave Brubeck only that album has recognisable songs. So I prefer it.
My star ratings are all over the place. Maybe this is a 2.5.
Jeff Buckley
5/5
Great album. One of my favourites.
I think I would have preferred him to end on a bigger chord for the last note. Other than that it's all brilliant. You can hear how much he influenced 90/00s indie all the way through it.
Ramones
3/5
This was a little disappointing. I knew a couple of them and quite like them, but as an album it doesn't do much, just kindof trundles along with the same rhythms and sounds in every track. Similar to the sex pistols the vocals feel like they're mixed louder than I want them to be. Which is a little ironic since his vocal style means it's hard to pick out the words anyway.
They're not as aggressive as the pistols and not as witty as someone like the buzzcocks.
Must try harder.
Amy Winehouse
4/5
Solid album, she has a great voice. It all sounds good.
My only criticism was that it was crazily over played when it came out so it used to grate on me a bit...
...also I couldn't really give a crap about her drug habit or how crappy her boyfriends were, and that's all you ever heard about at the time but that's just cos our press are useless. But again it made me not want to like her music.
But I should.
Cos it's good.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1/5
This was pretty tedious. It sounded like a band who were under the impression they were brilliant and therefore didn't really need to try to do anything good and just played any old nonsense that came into their heads.
The time and a place one sounded like a bad version of cream. The final rock and roll number was vaguely fun for a bit, but again just veered into a nonsense after a bit. I'm sure it was a lot of fun to make in the studio... Assuming they can remember any of it.
ELP were huge right? We're all their fans on drugs or something??... Oh, hang on...
Slipknot
3/5
Pretty aggressive, quite powerful sounding, however there are so many kick drum hits. Just bin that double kick pedal please.
It was a long album, I feel it could have been shorter and I still would have understood that they are quite angry.
I find it quite hard to bother listening to the vocal when they are produced in this way, it's not that I don't want to, it just blends in with everything else, it's not very dynamic... so I'm not really sure what they're angry about. But they sure are angry.
Maybe they don't like mayonnaise. That's understandable. It's everywhere too, hard to escape mayonnaise. Frustrating times.
Anyway, I reckon delete 1/3 of the kick drum hits and drop about 4 songs and this would be knocking on the door of a 4. But as it is it's a 3.
Fugazi
3/5
This is good. But I feel like I'd rather be watching them live than not quite feeling the aggression and bite while lounging about in my living room.
Still sounded like they were singing about Ribena.
Makes me thirsty.
Linkin Park
1/5
Linkin park are one of the most baffling bands ever for me. They are so huge and loads of people who's musical opinions I highly respect say they are amazing. But this is just awful.
It's like listening to to pj and Duncan trying to do metal. I can't take any of it seriously, but it's not funny, or fun, so I can't see what the point is.
Awful vocals, awful whiny instruments. Nonstop fake record scratching. It might be real scratching. God knows. Who cares.
You know that bit in teenage dirtbag where they needed to sensor the fact that kids in America take guns to school and they used a silly record scratching sound, I assume as a bit of a joke. Well this album has an entire track based around that same effect.
Always on in metal clubs, always filling up pages of guitar magazines. Just everywhere. Just shit.
Hate it.
Cee Lo Green
1/5
Well that was abysmal.
I was hoping a ceelo green album called the soul machine would have been more to my tastes.
This was just some bloke having an ego trip and inviting all his new famous friends over to pretend they're edgy.
What a load of toss
Steely Dan
2/5
It's hard to put.my finger on what I wasn't keen on here.
I'm certain all the musician are top notch and are playing at their best... but it was boring, there was nothing to grab my attention or trigger my intrigue. It started, it went on, it ended.
I couldn't tell you much about it beyond that.
It just very wet, like those bits of sponge cake or whatever that you get in a trifle that have gone all floppy and have the consistency of mush and the flavour of not much and you can't wait to get back to the cream and strawberries.
It did not spark joy.
Bruce Springsteen
3/5
I feel like I'd enjoy this more if I'd got the hang of all the lyrics. Maybe I'll have another listen sometimes.
It was ok. Felt like a bunch of Springsteen songs.
Adam made a Cain though. Ooof. Great track. Reminded me more of nick cave. I'd love to hear Bruce doing an album of that style of stuff.
It sounded like the saxophone had smoked 20 packs a day. I feel like all the favour the Cain song gained was lost again with a gristly sax solo. Like I said, I'll try again one day.
Talking Heads
5/5
This is great! Nice and short too so I had it on a few times and it kept getting better. Even the extra track on Spotify without any discernable lyrics were fun.
Bobby Womack
3/5
It's not like it's bad, but I can't tell you anything I liked about it.
It vaguely reminded me of things I like.
I listened to it twice to try to figure out how I felt and I still don't know.
I don't expect I'll listen to it again
...Oh there was one track with a really nice snare drum/clap sound...
The Verve
3/5
I find it hard to separate these tracks from the lad culture it seemed to epitomise, which I heavily disliked. But will have a go.
Bittersweet is quite good, it is catchy, but the sample gets annoying after a while and I've heard it so many times - blah. Sonnet is brilliant, love that song. Drugs don't work is good, pretty catchy. Lucky man is meh, my memory of it is better than it is. The rest of the album is pretty forgettable. A few of them sound like stone roses b sides.
I remember buying this album and being underwhelmed by it following the hype. My opinion hasn't changed.
Stan Getz
5/5
Upbeat and fun. This was refreshing and not too long.
I'm tempted to give it 5/5. There's not much to say I just enjoyed it. Even the saxophone was good.
Snoop Dogg
3/5
This is alright, some fun beats and snoop has a nice "flow", plus he's quite funny. But man is it repetitive.
Every song must contain:
12 n-words; 8 words insulting to women; 5 times mentioning his own name in case you'd forgotten what you were listening to; at least one reference to Dr Dre and 17 dubious puns on the fact he has the word dog in his moniker. (My favourite being (knick knack paddy whack").
Shakespeare eat your heart out.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
3/5
This is better than the other Bob Marley one, but I could have done without it.
Maybe I need to sit down with the lyrics, but repetitive nature of each track reminds me why I don't listen to dance music.
Stephen Stills
4/5
This is quite fun. Some nice instrumentation, a nice folly/bluesy Americana cross. Love some of the gospel choir vocals.
Felt quite rolling stonesy at times.
Enjoyed it.
The Beta Band
3/5
This is nice. They have developed a very distinctive sound which I like, but I do find a lot of the songs are similar and I realised that I thought a lot of them sounded like dry the rain (of their 3 EPs), but none of them felt as good as dry the rain (of their 3 EPs) which is a bit of a shame.
Still a nice listen.
The Beach Boys
3/5
This doesn't do much for me. That's probably a controversial opinion, but it sounds like a lot of potentially fun upbeat pop songs that just aren't exciting to listen to. They all feel restrained and I'm not sure if that is because they're trying to accentuate the signature harmony vocals or because the arrangements are so big. It's like they copied Phil spectres approach.
Apparently the second half is more introspective ballads, but I've had it on 3 times (I was convinced I must have missed something) and all I remember is the weird bit at the end where they seem to be talking about who is their favourite record executive. Very weird.
Leonard Cohen
5/5
So, I didn't really know Leonard Cohen growing up. We didn't have any of his CDs and my whole opinion of him was that So long Marianne was probably his happiest song.
So baffled me surprised when my dad did some tedious thing on Facebook (that's where old people go to watch adverts) where he listed his 10 favourite albums and lo and behold in the middle was this gem.
So why had my dad, the main influence on all my music growing up, the reason I play an instrument, the reason I ended up in bands, the reason I like some yes albums, never played me one of his top 10 favourite albums?
Probably cos he's an idiot.
This however, is a delight. The guitar playing, the tunes, the lyrics. Beautiful.
Kanye West
4/5
God damnit. This is really good isn't it. For someone so eloquent and thought out in what he is saying here it is appalling to see that is such a massive tool.
I imagine those who have been fans of him since this time must feel devastated. It's inventive, it's interesting, it's funny. I read the wiki and it said no one would sign him cos he wasn't doing Gangstar rap. Good. I can't be arsed with Gangstar rap. Anyway, that also made him innovative. I'm not really keen on the "chipmunk" samples, but I've heard worse examples than on this record.
What a shame.
Louis Prima
4/5
This is pretty mad. It was very enjoyable. The Wikipedia notes described his singing as demented gibberish, which felt a little harsh, but I can see why.
I'm glad to have heard other songs by King Louie.
Dusty Springfield
2/5
Hmmm, this was very slow.
Like, the most upbeat song was son of a preacher man.
I just couldn't get into any of it.
Meh
Radiohead
5/5
Great album. It was the first album they released after I was introduced to them and thankfully was a return to more guitars (I never got on with amnesiac).
Fascinating rhythms, an interesting range of vocal approaches, incredible weird timing guitar work. I feel like this album is heavily underrated even by Radiohead fans.
Merle Haggard
3/5
I thought this was gonna be awful, but it was ok (once I'd found the right album - who has more than one album called the same thing??). Some of it was pretty bluesy, which was nice.
I can't reconcile the "hard man" ex con lyrics with the sound of those tracks though. My rough and rowdy ways sounded like a nursery rhyme.
It's probably a 2.5/5, but I'll be nice today and go 3.
Alice Cooper
3/5
This is alright. I love 70s rock music, but I feel with Alice so much is about the theatrics and you don't get that from just the audio.
The production sounds a bit lacking, so it didn't blow me away, but the songs are fun.
I dunno, I think I want to like it more than I do. He's incredible live though.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
4/5
Well, this was brilliant and better than I expected too.
Great country blues playing. Tuesdays gone is literally all the aerosmith ballads. Crying seemingly particularly ripped it off though. I could hear a bit of Anthony Keidis' vocals in simple man too. I guess they've been very inspirational to a lot of bands.
There was a bit of a dip in the 2nd half of the album, but it's ok cos...
...Free bird absolutely wails.
The Stooges
5/5
The songs on this are great. I saw Iggy live recently and he played a bunch of them and it was ace.
I was however a little disappointed by the sound of the album, until... The Iggy mixes came on and they were exactly how I wanted to hear them. Brilliant.
4/5 for the Bowie mixes
5/5 for the Iggy ones!
Van Halen
4/5
I expected to dislike this. I read a lot of guitar literature where everyone just goes on and on about van Halen. I'm quite contrary and that didn't help, but also I feel his guitar tone is over rated and although he may have been the first to play the fast tapping style guitar in metal he was surpassed by later players. Furthermore that guitar solo in jump is pants and totally unnecessary in a keyboard based song. So I've never really taken much notice of them...
But actually, this was a lot of fun. It was very enjoyable, the tracks were catchy and they weren't taking themselves too seriously. I liked it much more than I thought I would.
Machito
2/5
This was ok. Upbeat etc... not really my thing...
...but I spent the whole time thinking it sounded like the music they play in the background of old films when the two romantic leads have popped to the balcony for some air during a dance they are attending and they have a, usually somewhat sexist, disagreement along the lines of "Dorothy, I know you're a swell dame who has aspirations to work in a male dominated field, but have you considered dropping all your principles and marrying me instead of that?" To which Dorothy would reply "How could you think that of me, you know I'm really good at that male dominated field and that I am fully deserving of a position in it regardless of the sexist nature of America at large during this time period (read: any time period)" and then after the man has walked off somewhat put out by the lady's very predictable dismissal we see another shot of the lady genuinely considering packing it all in cos the bloke has a dimple in his chin or something.
If it was a musical this would be where she sings the song about how he's a rotter, but like a totally fit one. Either way it all leads to the final scene compromise where she gets to work in her field in some capacity while they ride off into the sunset on a horse and cart that says just married on the back.
Bebel Gilberto
2/5
This just felt like background music. It was fine, but I felt little emotion either way from it.
Steve Earle
1/5
I watched a video on a social media recently when a lady said "you can hate this country music" and played some. Then she said "you could hate this country music" and played something else. It repeated about 10 times with the last line being that you can hate any one or more of them, but you can't hate them all. She was wrong.
This is just pants.
Play a different bass line, please!
Also, do country musicians just put on the weird voice, since it seems to come and go in songs that they ham up?
I'd listen to more to find out, but I'd probably hate them too.
Simon & Garfunkel
5/5
This is incredible. I think I played it 8 times yesterday. Doesn't get tiresome, just brilliant.
Paul Simon's songwriting is sublime and Garfunkel's harmonies just always seem to go in unexpected directions, but nothing feels weird about them, they're just so well thought out.
The Go-Betweens
2/5
Yeah, that was pretty meh. I knew one song, it's ok. It wasn't unpleasant to listen to, but it didn't keep my attention.
It sounds like a lot of stuff I like, there are bits of badly drawn boy, crowded house, the Mary chain etc in there, but none of these songs really got to me. One track sounded like a rip off of echo beach.
The Stooges
5/5
This is pretty mad for 1969. Essentially a punk album years before anyone even considered this. It's a great mix of strong riffs and more Avant garde noise which sits together really well.
Pixies
5/5
Tremendous. Most of my favourite pixies tracks are here.
Great dynamics, great instrumentation, great singing.
Yes
Portishead
3/5
I like this, I like the sounds. I feel like I preferred the songs on their earlier albums, but it has some cool soundscapes.
I did however find it easy to be distracted away from it and meant that it has taken me a few goes to think I've heard enough of it to write a review. Not totally sure why.
Leonard Cohen
4/5
This is a nice album to listen to. It didn't strike me as well as his first album and the fact that one of the songs was so like so long Marianne just reminded me of the other one which I prefer.
I suspect if I sat down with the lyrics I'd learn to like it more, but for now it is a good, but not the best Leonard Cohen album.
Donald Fagen
2/5
This guy is a successful, professional musician and this album is apparently autobiographical, so I am somewhat confused about how bloody boring this is.
Has he not heard of sex, drugs and rock and roll?
It started with some dismal 80s synth sounds, sequed into some dreary saxophone, it did have some nice harmony vocals bits, but lyricwise I got bored when he wouldn't shut up about someone called Ruby, and that was only song 3!
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
This is just glorious. For the longest time I didn't care for it. I took it for granted, thought it was just soft rock. But I was being silly. It is huge. It is great.
The songwriting is incredible. The guitar playing is out of this world. The harmony vocals and unbelievable. Have you ever watched a live band try to play the chain? You have to have a band at the top of their game in every instrument and vocal part. It's beautiful.
Def Leppard
1/5
This just sucks. I dislike everything about it. If AI made a rock album I suspect it'd sound like this. It just feels soulless. I guess the saving grace is that it is exactly how they wanted it to sound, so it's not like a good band that just made a bad recording.
I hate the drum sound, the production, the guitar sounds, the guitar playing, the fact that it's like heavy rock with all the heavy bits removed, I dislike the vocals, the backing vocals and just how it makes me feel in general.
Interestingly it has clearly influenced a bunch of things I do like and I was trying to figure out why I liked them. Some of them had better guitar parts, or at least parts that are played more naturally and not mixed to sound sterile. Also though I'm not sure there is a song on this album that doesn't lumber along at about 104bpm. It's so slow. There is no upbeat number, just naff big plodding snare hits with canyon reverb on. Gah.
Foo Fighters
3/5
I dunno. I've never really been into the food, I thought maybe the first album would be exciting and more raw than the later stuff, but it was a bit forgettable. I think their second album is where he hit his stride.
It's fine, but I feel like the hype around the band isn't really justified and certainly not with this album.
Beck
3/5
At school this was the album that all the people who liked cool music liked. I'd you wanted to be cool you had to like this, this and the 2 Gomez albums which are pretty similar sounding I giess. I was never cool.
I like some of it, but as an album I've never been too fussed. It's alright.
Our daughter seemed to like dancing to it, so that has helped. Not sure it's quite a 4/5, but 3 seems harsh. I dunno.
Public Enemy
4/5
I really enjoy the sound of this, it's very chaotic. There is so much going on. Chuck D's rapping has a great rhythm too. I think for a first listen it was so crowded I can't say I took a lot from what he was saying and since it's supposed to be quite a political record I might have to give it another go.
There were bits were it cut to live audio from gigs which jarred a little, but overall it was pretty good. I think I'll be listening again.
Queens of the Stone Age
4/5
This is enjoyable. The sounds of it is nice, it's pretty hypnotic, which is good when in the mood for it. I think it's pretty clear their songwriting improved for later albums. But it's a promising debut I guess.
SAULT
2/5
This didn't really feel like an album, more like a bunch of sketches of what might become songs. Some of these were cool, but it didn't feel like it was ready for me to hear yet.
I dunno, I wasn't inspired I guess.
Dusty Springfield
3/5
The difference in the quality of the songs across this felt huge, some of the early ones were pretty meh. But once the Bacharach and Carole king ones kicked in the whole thing lifted. Dusty's voice is great too.
Seems a bit of a miss to not have I only wanna be with you on it, but I'm glad it popped up afterwards as a bonus track on the version I put on.
Motörhead
3/5
Ace of spades (the song) is amazing. It was a shame the album starts with that as everything else gets compared to it. And everything else falls short. Some of the early tracks are pretty good, but as it goes on so much of it feels like a pastiche to ace of spades... Then jailbait drops. Man, I hate the "it was a different time" schtick, it's grim listening regardless of the instrumentation. Plus it rips off Alice Cooper's schools out something rotten, which I'm sure was a deliberate school reference, but somehow Sully's the superior song by association. After that the album never reaches any heights worthy of pulling it out of that mire.
Such a shame following the stellar opening track.
Bob Dylan
5/5
I have a few go to Dylan albums and this wasn't one of them. It might be now.
The guitar and vocal arrangements are so powerful and make stuff like masters of war all the more intimate and damning.
There are so many great songs on this.
Towards the end there are a few of his stream of consciousness ones and it usually depends what day it is as to whether I love them or I'm indifferent. If there are any criticisms to be made it is probably the that last couple of songs don't really give the album the send off that it deserved and since they are the last ones you're left thinking of them immediately afterwards. Like an odd aftertaste to a brilliant drink.
However considering it is an album of such simple instrumentation the variety in the style of songs and performance are impressive and the ending doesn't take away from the incredible tracks earlier on.
2/5
Instrumentally this was alright, possibly good. Vocal tune wise it was ok, the lines felt slow and the timing of them stressed the lyrics so much... Then there were the lyrics. No. They were so corny and naff. It felt like listening to someone who thought they were a poet but hadn't grasped any of the subtleties of the art form.
When you take those words and write a vocal tune/rhythm that brings it all to the forefront I couldn't hack it.
Yes
5/5
I love this album.
There are several eras of yes. It feels sacrilegious considering how high rick wakeman is regarded in the household I grew up in... But this is the best yes era. Pre-rick. This and time and a word have their best songs on them and for me this one pips it.
If you came up with a riff, you could make a song. If you had 2 one could be a chorus, if you had 3 you could include a bridge. Every yes track here has like 19 and all of them are catchy, it's like a prog abba record.
It's great and utterly ridiculous.
The Stone Roses
5/5
Why did they make a track which is waterfall backwards, no, actually, that's fine. Just use it as an experimental b side.
I reckon if you take that off this album is close to flawless.
So many hits.
The drums and bass are incredible.
The guitar lines are beautiful.
Ian brown balances the right amount of pomp and confidence against what the song needs.
Great stuff.
Taylor Swift
3/5
Now, I love Taylor swift. She is a tour de force of songwriting and business acumen. She is an incredible role model for women in the music industry and with 11 albums out she should certainly be on this list a few times.
Evermore, however is not one I would have chosen for this accolade. It sits in her repertoire as a lower quality sequel to folklore... Which should be in this and would be an easy 5. Evermore is just not that album.
The soundscape is similar, the themes aren't bad, but it just doesn't come together as an album full of great songs. It's just fine. It doesn't have the hits and the overall album doesn't leave you with any sense of awe, so I can't give it more than a 3. In some ways a 3 seems generous considering her abilities and other output.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
In my memories this was full of meandering middle 8 that's drift off into nothing like a doors album might, but on this listening I just enjoyed it all. The first 4 tracks are all killer, there is a bit of a drop off before communication breakdown, but all in all it's enjoyable, not there best, but good. Although as always with zeppelin I wonder how many of these songs they ripped off other people. Probably most of them.
Robbie Williams
3/5
I listened to this a lot growing up thanks to my older sister, I actually thought I remembered it being better, but perhaps I remember some from his 2nd album too - I've been expecting you. This albums has 3 great songs on it. Angels, old before I die and let me entertain you. There are some ballads that are ok and some fairly dodgy other ones. His lyrics are hit and miss, but fairly of the time - listen to anything by oasis... Speaking of which old before I die feels like an oasis track, I know Robbie was a big fan at the time.
It's alright, he has a great collection of singles. I suspect he has better albums. I generally like his output, except when he put out swing when you're winning, but that's cos I generally hate swing music.
Black Sabbath
5/5
Early Sabbath are amazing. So many great songs, and great riffs here.
Ozzy's voice is so strong when he wails it out.
Excellent all round.
David Bowie
3/5
This is solid. It's an interesting album that you notice more with each listen. It doesn't strike me as one of his essentials and I think of the newer ones blackstar is better.
If I listen to it more it might reach a 4, but not at the moment.
The Killers
2/5
I've spent far too much of my life trying to figure out why people like this so much. I even went to see them at Leeds festival were they were boring and utterly blown away when the pixies came on after them. Don't get me wrong Mr brightside is amazing, somebody told me is a pretty solid track. After that however... There are like 2 others which show promise but the choruses are so ploddy. I used to think I hated his voice, or his delivery, maybe it's a bit of that, but it's also the choice of lower register in the choruses and the slowness of them. It loses all the momentum built up in the verses. I should say that they have some great bass and synth lines
The second half of the album is largely forgettable and I couldn't tell you much about it. The last song however I know because I just don't believe him, if he really liked indie rock and roll he'd have put more passion into it. I appear to have been proven right by their future albums moving away from that genre.
I find myself singing bits of them later which tries to trick into thinking they were good.
While I'm over analysing this can someone explain. I've got soul but I'm not a soldier. Catchy word play and all, but is he suggesting that all soldiers have soul? That only soldiers have soul? Maybe I don't have soul.
Radiohead
3/5
I mean, it's Radiohead, it's good, it's interesting, it's layered and intriguing... But I never put this one on, it's not got the songs I enjoy especially on it, it's got great atmosphere but it doesn't spark joy.
I heard things this listen that I hadn't heard before and it's all good, but I just don't enjoy it compared to most of their other output.
The Prodigy
3/5
I was expecting more of this album. The tracks I knew are great and I'd heard a lot of good things about their live sets, but beyond the singles this didn't really live up to the hype.
Three really ones were exciting still, but as the album tracks went on they just didn't have to synth hooks that really make the hits stand out. Then there was one that sounded heavily influenced by a who synth line, which was pretty cool, but then one that felt like they were trying to remake one of the singles again, complete with Asian sounding middle 8. The energy is still pretty high throughout which is good, but I think I'll just be seeking out the hits in the future.
Steely Dan
1/5
Man, this is such uninspired middle of the road dross.
The mid seventies was a great time for music and loads of the people on this being session musicians some of them must have played on some great stuff around this time. They're all clearly very talented musicians, but to me it is just drab.
Ah man, even the ending is disappointing. The last track just stops. No grand finale here. Meh.
Bill Evans Trio
2/5
I enjoy the sound of these instruments but musicwise I need a bit more of an actual song. Some motifs that they riff on a recognisable tune they are playing around. But this collection just felt like a bunch of long jams with no sensible grounding.
It was strange to listen to an album, described as one of the best live jazz albums and just hear the audience talking over it. Jazz people are weird.
It's just not for me, but it didn't leave me upset or anything.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
5/5
I've loved this album for years. If I could score this higher than a 5 I would. It's amazing. So many of the jazz albums we've had on this just feel like random nonsense that start, play for 8 minutes then end.
This one is amazing. Each track has a motif, the musicians play around with parts the others have played and it means everything flows like actual songs. It's cohesive, but the musicianship is still amazing. Each performer can capture you at any moment.
Then there are the time signatures. Having such interesting time signatures but having them in songs in a way that you don't really notice until someone points it out is always brilliant. The timings haven't just been shoe-horned in, they all work.
Fantastic.
Queen Latifah
3/5
This is the sort of rapping I tend to enjoy, no gangster rubbish.
The backing tracks are good and there are some nice themes in there, but she seems to spend most of her time rapping about her rapping and since I'm listening to her rapping I don't need her to describe her rapping.
If she had rapped about a wider range of stuff I might have been able to get into this, but on this one it was like, when are you going to tell me how great your rhymes are... Oh, literally the second line in every song.
But if a shame.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
This was quite good. Better than the last stones one, but it was really long, I don't need an hour of 3 minute stones tracks.
The more interesting instruments really helped in - marimbas etc. A bunch of the singles are pretty good.
Apparently on the American release they took 4 of the album tracks out and put paint it black in. Immediately I'd rate that album higher than this.
Neil Young
4/5
The first half of this albums is a clear 5 star. But the second half drops off a little, it's still good but it's not the same level as those initial 5 or so tracks.
Perhaps with a few more listens this would become a 5. Very enjoyable though!
Elvis Costello
3/5
I like the style of this record, it sounds crisp. I prefer it to other of his we reviewed. I think it does get a bit samey in the middle though, but then it isn't too long and therefore is alright. Watching the detectives is a great finisher. I can only assume it wasn't on the original album... Hold on... No, just the American release. Classic.
It's good, but it's not mind blowing.
Muddy Waters
4/5
This was a great choice for today, I loved the party atmosphere that it evokes. The backing vocals shouting, the wild harmonica parts. Brilliant.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
This is brilliant. The annoying history of what did and didn't make which version of the album release meaning that the version linked is an hour long rather than 40 mins feels like a shame, but then they did the stupid thing of leaving the singles off the original UK album so it's understandable.
There is definitely a 5 star album in there and I suspect with a few more listens the album tracks would become more familiar and I'd give it 5.
His playing is beautifully subtle at times and he can switch up between styles and solo approaches depending on the song which I don't think I'd really registered before. I also think his vocals are fairly under rated. The band around him don't over play it and there is always room for the parts.
I'm so close to giving this a 5.
Fun Lovin' Criminals
2/5
I don't know about this being in this list.
I don't mind them, I saw them back in 2001 and they were a fun time. Some nice grooves, some ok relaxed rapping, nothing feels especially ground breaking.
The scooby snacks track has a great chorus, but the verses just kind of exist. I dunno, I just can't get particularly excited about this. It's not something I'd expect someone to tell me I needed to listen to and I'm not sure I did.
Al Green
3/5
I thought I would like this more. Let's stay together is incredible, but a lot of the rest of it is just nice and flows by without much thought. He has a great voice and the playing is nice, everything is pretty smooth, I just didn't find anything particularly inspiring or memorable.
Buena Vista Social Club
3/5
This is nice, the rhythms are fun, it's all nice and soft. I expect if I was in Cuba and I saw a group playing this stuff it would be the absolute highlight of my trip... However sat in my living room in walthamstow it doesn't really hit the same spot.
It's like watching the world music bit on Jools Holland on repeat.
Sparks
4/5
This a lot of fun. The lyrics are mad. The tunes are mad. The sound is very 70s rock. My dad likes it. My wife likes it. This town ain't big enough is awesome!
Very happy to listen to this today.
Cocteau Twins
4/5
I'd not listen to Cocteau twins. It took a while before I got into this, but I started to really like it. Reminded me of sigur ros.
Her voice is great. Some of the guitar tones are a bit woolly, but I guess that adds to the ethereal sound.
Looking forward to listening to more by them.
The Byrds
2/5
This didn't do it for me. Tambourine man is a great cover, the guitar riff is brilliant. But all the others just felt ploddy. None of them seemed to have any interesting instrumentation and any that had a riff, they just stopped playing it as soon as the vocals came in.
I like folk rock, I like Dylan (who wrote most of the songs), I like British invasion music that according to the wiki the byrds where acclaimed to be alongside at the time. But I couldn't get into this.
Rush
2/5
First track awful. Like a kids first recording.
Track 2 better, except that awful "oriental" riff which was weirdly out of place. twice.3rd track was dreadful. 4th started well, but from the chorus onwards it sucked.
It all sounds like a bunch of kids who have heard a few prog rock albums and thought they'd have a go. It contains a naivety which looks to a lack of understanding of what makes this stuff good. It's full of naff cliche, like the awful section in the first track that had a guitar being tuned bit in it. Ick. But actually it's a signed band's 4th album. I've no idea how this was the one that was successful. I hope their previous albums don't come up to listen to if this was considered the big improvement.
Depeche Mode
3/5
Some of this was incredible. Enjoy the silence is immense. But some of it felt like a gothic human league and I can't decide if that is something I want to hear. But hear it I did.
New York Dolls
4/5
This was pretty fun. Like if the rolling stones were more fun, but less good. It was much more enjoyable than the stones albums we've had on here.
Sleazy, rocky, good times.
Reminded me a lot of the 70s rock I grew up on.
I'll definitely be listening again.
Pixies
4/5
This is solid pixies. The sound from their previous albums is all there, but the previous albums just have some better songs on them. None of these quite stand up to where is my mind or monkeys gone to heaven, as good as they are.
Nitin Sawhney
3/5
This was fascinating and eclectic. Started like portishead, but went off into mouth drumming and one track in the middle that sounded like seal.
It wasn't my favourite thing and some bits were influences I don't really enjoy, but overall the unpredictability was very enjoyable and the soundscape was good.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
I dunno, I don't hate this. I just don't really want to listen to a whole album. I suspect a greatest hits of the pet shop boys would be all I ever need to hear. Every so often there is a really nice tune in there like the one played in it's a sin (which reminded me of Cat Stevens' wild world somehow), other than that it all feels quite in your face. They don't seem to deal in subtlety.
I don't find it particularly exciting or inspiring I'm afraid.
Tori Amos
3/5
This was pretty good, interesting. But a few times it did feel a little "Disney" which isn't my thing.
I also felt I spent most of it comparing it to the Fiona apple album that came up on here a while back and I much prefer the apple. I wanted it to go a bit wilder and push things more. By all accounts her later stuff did this more, so perhaps I'll be looking out for a later album next time.
Jimi Hendrix
4/5
I really enjoyed this. I knew a bunch of them, but overall it just felt a bit more interesting than I remember from their first album... And little wing is just glorious.
The Dictators
4/5
This was pretty good. Id read a bunch about it being a really early punk album (I think they forgot about the stooges), but it started out by sounding like kiss. Although it did go more punk later, but I guess more Ramones punk than the more aggressive side.
It was pretty fun. I'll give it another go at some point.
The Undertones
4/5
This is great. It sounds very fresh. I would like to have another listen. I really enjoy this type of punk (buzzcocks et al.) but I'd not heard a full undertones album before, or if I had, not this one. Cos this one is brilliant. I wonder what I'd feel without the later added hits to it. But I still think it'd be great, teenage kicks actually feels like it slows things down a bunch, it is a relatively low tempo track.
All in all very good and one I'll put on again.
Guns N' Roses
5/5
This tremendous. One of the best rock albums ever made.
The guitar playing is sublime, the energy is brilliant. The tunes are great, it manages to be heavy and poppy in a way that most bands can't muster.
I should mention that some of axel lyrics are pretty derogatory. I've marked down albums for that before, although, I think the ones I did were worse on that front. But it's not great. Unfortunately for the laws of fairness I love the songs and I don't take much notice of the meaning behind the lyrics here so it's gonna stay as a 5 for me.
David Bowie
4/5
So like a sleazy rolling stones with Avant Garde piano. Sure.
David Bowie never sits still.
I'm not as familiar with these tracks beyond genie and the cover.
It's good, the piano gives it all an unexpected edge. Makes it all feels less predictable which is a great move.
The Youngbloods
3/5
This a weird album, some of it sounds brand new and some sounds really dated, I wouldn't have guessed it was made in 1969 for the most part, but that is also biased by the band name which sounds quite modern. It's interesting, but I didn't exactly love it.
Tom Waits
4/5
This was good. I wasn't convinced at first but I just had it on the background and I found myself drift in and out and by the end wished I'd drifted in more.
It's pretty long, but maybe I needed that much to get into it, although I suspect if I were concentrating more I'd feel the length was annoying
We'll have to see when I put it on again.
Metallica
4/5
This is a lot of fun, a few stand out tracks, but maybe not the consistent level of master.
I wasn't that keen on james' vocal in justice the track, but overall I liked it. I read afterwards about how this is the album they turned the bass right down. I can't say I noticed especially but I did notice there was some booming in the drums which might have been because there was a lot of space in those frequencies. It certainly didn't ruin the album for me, but I wonder if this would be marked higher if the bass was also as in your face as the guitars.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
4/5
It's all pretty good. They have a cool sound and some great songs. I'm not sure they had a double albums worth of great songs and as is often the case with double albums that is a bit of a shame and it does drag a little. Although since many modern albums are about an hour long anyway it wasn't the worst example I'd heard.
The singles jumped out a lot, but then the 3 big ones are particularly catchy.
The Mamas & The Papas
3/5
This was fine. Monday Monday and California dreaming stood out.
Unfortunately the middle tracks felt a bit generic, not like awful, but not really interesting.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
3/5
I really like Costello's voice. I really like his musical choices in terms of style and the parts... I just don't seem to like the songs that much. I think this is the best of the ones we've had so far, but I still don't really love it.
I suspect one day it may all come together and I will really like but as it is I merely quite like it.
ABBA
2/5
This started off fairly interesting, the first couple of tracks sounded like a cool indie band but each had a weird really over the top poppy twang bit at the end of a line, or a poppy turnaround or similar. It felt interestingly promising, but after that this felt like musical theatre, fairly empty sounding verses with complex story telling lyrics and then an over the top poppy chorus which didn't necessarily seem to fit with the rest of the track.
Some of us I know, obviously, but I remembered the tune and lyrics which are alright. I didn't remember the faux reggae feel of the rhythm. Ick.
Not for me I'm afraid. I'd like to hear the earlier abba al ums to see if they were more to my tastes in their heady full on pop days.
Metallica
5/5
I love this album. I like how it starts as a solid rock album and pushes further and further into metal dragging anyone who wasn't sure they'd really like metal along until it's too late. I like how as an album of heavy rock and metal it is not sexist in anyway. I love the energy and the guitar playing, the song structures are great. Hetfields vocals are both amusingly somewhat camp and yet fit the music perfectly.
Queen
4/5
Yeah, this is pretty fantastic, you can hear them developing the sounds that became prominent in their next few albums.
There are some songs on here that stand up to anything else they did too. Killer queen is flawless, stone cold is incredible, lap of the gods and now I'm here are unbelievable too.
If I'm being picky I'm not a fan of Freddie's vocal tunes on Brighton rock and it's a little frustrating that's how the album starts.
But it's very evident that they were 4 incredible musicians.
Traffic
2/5
I mean, it's ok. It's not inspiring. It's pretty forgettable. I wouldn't bother seeking it out again. You can tell it is the same era as cream but with none of the excitement. Meh.
Lorde
4/5
I adore lorde's debut album and so when this came out I was always comparing it to that, and in my opinion the first is better. Therefore I always just kind of dismissed this regardless of it's hype.
But listening back now I really like it, she has a really interesting way with words and tunes that seem to subvert my expectations of where the song is going. Her hooks are fascinating and the production work behind it has some incredible ideas in it.
I'm not so fond of the fact that it went a bit dancier and I still don't really like all of the lyrics "the light up floor" always felt awkward, a bit like when bloc party started singing about sudokus. However I suspect it is this same weird approach to lyrics in other tracks that I actually really like. Plus I enjoy the hounds of love reference drum fill.
I can't decide if I enjoyed it enough to make it 5 stars. Maybe her debut is 5 and this is a very high 4.
Carole King
3/5
Over the years I've listened to this album a bunch of times and although there are a number of great great songs on here even if her slower version of will you still love me is not as good as the faster better known one... I just can't get on with it as an album, all the other tracks come across as the sort of song they'd use as a theme tune to a family friendly 70s sitcom.
I've tried, I really have, and it's not like terrible. But it is not my bag.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Joni Mitchell had such an interesting approach to tunes and praying. Maybe it's just what I'm used to but it makes it all sounds very fresh and intriguing. I'm gonna have to listen to this one a few more times.
Silver Jews
3/5
His phrasing and voice remind me of Adam green but the overall effect doesn't have the innocent charm of the mouldy peaches. I get the impression with a few listens there may be some magic or insight within the lyrics that didn't jump out on a first listen. A lot of it kind of plodded through, it was ok, but it hasn't made me desperate to look more of them up.
Led Zeppelin
3/5
I'm pretty familiar with their first 4 albums, this one started similar and it was good. But it's another bloody double album. They just go on so long. I preferred the bluesier tracks on this. I guess all of it was ok, but it just didn't hold my interest for it's entirety. I'm sure I'll have another listen at some point.
Paul Simon
2/5
Simon and Garfunkel made some of the greatest most magical music of all time and I find that Paul Simons solo stuff just doesn't have that heart to it. Even Graceland, the best of his stuff, can't touch the S&G output for me. I'd love to one day hear the version of this album they recorded together before art's vocals were binned - I heard that the arrangements were simpler and that would likely be more up my street. The demos on the end of this album were more intriguing for me than the album itself.
Norah Jones
4/5
I don't really want to like this. It is the favourite album of my old Catholic school's head teacher. I feel like that should sum it up... It's very inoffensive... However... It's just really good isn't it.
Really well played and catchy and the sounds are lovely. Damnit.
Dolly Parton
3/5
I thought I'd hate this, but it's alright. There are some great harmonies. Some of it is a bit predictable in a country sort of way. I still hate that twangy vocal they love to use. But it was better than I thought. However I've had it on at least twice now and I keep just walking out of the room to do other things so it's not exactly captivated me.
Iron Butterfly
2/5
This didn't really do anything for me. Some alright organising parts, some of which reminded me of the doors, but then I'm not a huge fan of the doors.
The Doors
4/5
I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Previous listens to the doors have been very long winded unnecessary instrumental jams. This was more concise, with some great driving blues tracks. I hadn't noticed the influence jim Morrison must have had over Ian Curtis too.
The middle 8 of hyacinth house is very similar to that really good horrors track too: still life.
It dipped off a little in the second half for me, or maybe I was just more able to be distracted by then. However overall it was very enjoyable.
Belle & Sebastian
4/5
Belle and Sebastian have such a nice way of singing about some fairly dark stuff. The tunes are so lovely and simple and the instrumentation matches his voice so well.
This one doesn't include a lot of the songs I personally like of their output, but it is a really great album to listen through.
Buffalo Springfield
3/5
I don't know what I expect here, but I liked it. You can hear the Neil young influences, a nice American rock album. I think I was concerned it would go a bit country, but only the second track was a bit like that and not so much. Another one I would like to hear again.
MGMT
4/5
The dirty synths on this album are incredible. It's so warm and fun. So often tracks with synth as the main part sound a bit stale.
I remember this album coming out and getting it, it had a big impact on the music everyone was playing at the time.
It starts really strong and only really loses momentum in the second half when there are a couple of guitar strummy tracks that are good, but not really on the same level. The vocals are still strong they're just missing the synth hooks of the others.
The Clash
4/5
There is so much to love here. So many great tracks, but... It is really long, they could have dropped half of these and had a clear 5/5 album, but they didn't.
It's still fun and good and interesting and diverse, but not everything is fantastic.
Pet Shop Boys
1/5
Another pet shop boys. Don't get me wrong Neil has some nice tunes, but I just don't enjoy listening to this. Last time we had one someone said it was perfect 80s pop music, that maybe true, but then I absolutely hate 80s pop sounds and production. The generic electronic drum sounds, the crass bass sounds, the amateur sounding synths, the awful orchestra hits.
Growing up in the 90s everyone I knew loved 80s nights and those sounds used to grate on me then and the pet shop boys take it to a whole other extreme.
I wondered if I'd like it with some real instruments and I realised that there some heavy similarities in the feel of the tracks to the lightening seeds, who I enjoy but find fairly un-confrontational. Hopefully there are more lightening seeds than pet shop boys left to listen to.
Bee Gees
2/5
So this is the early beegees pre falsetto. Seems fairly well crafted I guess, but there is no identity here. One song sounds like a rip off of the weight. One sounds a bit early pink Floyd, one is maybe beatlesy, then there was a classical concerto, did the opening track even have any audio on it at all? The jumps back and forward didn't help, the fact half of them make them sound American when they're from the isle of man felt jarring.
It's not really bad, but it's not cohesive and if I'm talking about the album as a whole it feels pretty messy.
The Beach Boys
3/5
I just don't really get the beach boys. Their big tracks are out of this world, but the others are just there and I find them fairly forgettable. Quite a few on this sounded like they were gonna be Christmas songs with the prominent early jingly percussion.
I guess I just fins it hard to understand the impact this album had at the time. And this is what people are thinking when they can't get their heads around why the Beatles are amazing. But there we go.
Id happily put on a greatest hits anytime, but if this is their best album I'm not fussed about their albums.
The Byrds
2/5
This is another with a billion extra tracks that make it double the length it's supposed to be.
The single "get back" was pretty naff and reminded me of their other album. But in their credit, the Moog sounds on natural harmony are great and it made the whole thing way more interesting.
The rest of the album kind of went on. The songs are just a bit slow and I struggled to get into them. Every so often there would be an interesting part or sound, but it was gripping. Maybe the lyrics were strong, but none especially jump out after this listen.
Kraftwerk
4/5
This does all the things I've been wanting the other synth albums we've had recently to do. It gives room for all the sounds, it has dynamic and the songs build nicely.
The balance is then skewed because so many of the songs are soooo long and don't really have much in terms of vocals to carry you through them. Plus I'm not a fan of the vocoder effect they utilise a bit.
I enjoyed it more than I expected.
KISS
4/5
As a pompous glam rock album this is pretty on point. There are some great tracks, like Detroit, shout it out and Beth, but then there are some creepy ones like great expectations. It's pretty enjoyable, but I find their studio sound to be a little underwhelming. A low 4 I think.
Charles Mingus
2/5
This was a bit frenetic. I was pretty calm when I put it on and it didn't really grab me. I think if I'd have already been a bit ruffled I would have hated it.
I'm not really a jazz person and this isn't the album which is going to turn me into one.
CHVRCHES
3/5
This was alright, some really nice synth sounds and her vocals are cool... But it was a lot, there wasn't much in the way of dynamics and I felt some of the interesting synth parts didn't have space to breath because of it.
I think if it was a bit more stripped back on places the differences in the tracks would have stood out more, but as it is I found it hard to pick them apart.
As an individual track I think I'd like these, but as an album it felt pretty samey.
Super Furry Animals
4/5
The harmonic noise they have on their tracks is glorious. There are few other band who create such lush warm drones. His voice is great, the tunes are interesting and the lyrics are fun.
It's not my favourite SFA album, but it's bloody brilliant.
Joy Division
5/5
This is brilliant. The lyrics, the parts, the energy, the unnerving sound seems to reflect everything they were trying to put out.
I think the only criticism is that I find the snare sound to be pretty isolated in the mix, I can see how it works and probably adds to the atmosphere of the sound, but I guess I would have done things slightly differently.
Easy 5/5 though.
The United States Of America
3/5
There were some interesting bits here and there. It got very beatlesy at at least one point. The use of synths in the otherwise fairly hippy poppy tracks was kind cool. But overall I was really drawn in much. It was fine I guess.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
This pretty great. I much prefer the upbeat stuff to the ballads and living for the city is just awesome.
The tunes are great, Stevie's voice is smooth, but has an edge when he wants it. The sounds are great too.
I would have preferred more of the bigger riffs Stevie does so well. Good stuff though, and the production is lovely.
Spiritualized
2/5
This started well, but as it went on I lost interest.
I can hear the way it influenced some other music and how it sat alongside things like the verve, but it wasn't really up my street. The tunes felt a bit simplistic and naff at times and there were several points where it just turned to cacophony, which my wife asked me to skip and I happily did.
Eminem
2/5
Hmmm.
Great beats, often enjoyable rapping, Eminem is a really funny guy with some clever lyrics that make him stand out from other rappers, but man does he like to just go off on some rant about nothing and just try to say as many trigger words as possible.
He spends so long trying to convince everyone on here that his words aren't a problem and that anyone who's bad will be bad regardless, but he protests too much. I'm certain he knows he's lying but he's made a career out of it so doesn't want to change now.
It's a shame cos when he tells a story, like on Stan, it can be really quite moving
The Gun Club
4/5
This was pretty enjoyable, bluesy and punky. My only real complaint was that for those two styles of music the production was a bit too nice. I would have liked to hear it a bit less polished, a bit more gnarly.
Id happily have it again though.
Cypress Hill
2/5
I think this is likely the sort of album that inspired loads of others, you can definitely hear where some of the besties boys may have got their sound from.
It's all fine, I just got a bit bored after a while. The backing tracks were good and aggressive, just not really for me. I'm not exactly their target audience though.
Radiohead
5/5
This is better than 5/5.
Every track is incredible. It's so much more than a rock album, it's unpredictable, the tune choices are fascinating the instruments are incredible, the vocals are out of this world.
Too good.
Alice In Chains
3/5
It's a lot heavier than I expected, which is good. The guitar playing is pretty great, I'm not a massive fan of the American rock sound, they always seem to go big and stay there. I prefer a bit more nuance.
Not being overly familiar with all the output it feels very similar to pearl jam vocally (I'm sure I just don't know enough. And it has elements of Scott Weiland and Chris Cornell, although I am more familiar with (and prefer) bits of their work.
With it not having too much in terms of dynamics or movement into other genres it was a lot at nearly an hour long. An acoustic ballad wouldn't have hurt to break it up a bit, or perhaps something less stereotypical.
I may try again one day, I quite liked it.
Lauryn Hill
2/5
I wasn't really into this. It's not really what I like and I'm afraid the in your face religiousy-ness of it just put me off further. Doo wop and everything is everything stood out a lot as tracks that I preferred. The backing music was alright in places, but then that click in nothing even matters was driving me mad.
I'm sure she is making valid statements and from what I've read makes some good female perspective views, but I just didn't get on with it.
Sam Cooke
4/5
Great voice great songs. Good energy. Comparing live albums to studio albums feels weird to me, they're totally different beasts.
This was pretty great, but it did make me realise how much of this music is the same. A track started and I went through at least 3 songs of what I thought it could be before the vocals sand a 4th option to exactly the same backing track. Cupid is killer though and a few other ls are just total classics.
Miles Davis
4/5
I was not expecting to like this. But I did. It all felt brilliantly controlled and sounded great. I wasn't intensely listening, but I'll happily give it another go and try to do that.
I think I assumed it's be more aggressive and Avant Garde jazz, but ion this listen at least t was really good.
Beyoncé
1/5
Oh man, I thought this might be were I listen to a whole Beyonce album and at least learn to appreciate her. Nope.
Not this album anyway.
Didn't really do anything for me, some of the bass lines were alright. The singing was meh, the lyrics I noticed were meh. I thought perhaps since it was a visual album that the videos would put better meanings behind the songs. We watched one. Perhaps we choose the wrong one. It was essentially just her in her pants. I dunno.
This did nothing for me. I still don't understand the clamour. Maybe one day.
Suede
3/5
I think I wanted to like this more than I did.
Animal nitrate is incredible but none of the others really hit home with me.
Some of the others had cool sounds. It got a bit Bowie at points such as when a bass sax sound comes in. The vocal pronunciation is interesting and quirky.
I may revisit this, but I'm more intrigued by hearing a different album by them.
Moby
3/5
The darker sounding atmospheric ones here were pretty cool, some of those I knew as singles. His sparse piano parts were particularly nice.
But whenever he tried to do a more upbeat track it felt like someone doing a really bad impression of fatboy slim.
As such as an album it didn't really hold my attention so much.
Cut out the naff ones and have a shorter album moby. I'm surprised record labels don't force that to happen more often.
Van Morrison
4/5
This was enjoyable, I thought it was gonna be like the first track all the way through and I was wrong, there was some nice variation. I knew the title track but I had no idea it was van Morrison.
Jean-Michel Jarre
2/5
This largely passed me by. It's not that the synths weren't nice, but they weren't especially ear catching or memorable... With the exception of oxygene part 4 which I knew from being the tomorrow's world theme and in my head I had attributed to kraftwerk.
Part 4 aside it was largely forgettable, but I guess it wasn't unpleasant either.
Cocteau Twins
4/5
This was brilliant. Very ethereal. Lush and warm. The vocal were sometimes Kate bush-y and other times otherworldly. Just a lot of fun.
I'll definitely listen again when I can really indulge in it.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
4/5
Great bluesy numbers. Janis' voice is brilliant, weirdly aggressive at times. Piece of my heart is incredible.
There were awesome guitar sounds in there too. Will definitely listen again.
Beach House
2/5
This was fine. Like, the tunes and voices were alright, a bit mgmt in places, but the instruments were just nice. Too nice. I felt like they just lacked a bit of edge. A bit of interest. And because of that it was a little bit boring.
The Last Shadow Puppets
3/5
I'm somewhat conflicted here. I quite liked it. But also it very much felt like it was trying to be an album from the 60s/70s rather than one influenced by that sound. Did it bring anything new to the sound?
I also cannot decide if the lyrics are good or if they are trying to hard. I never really got into the arctic monkeys and I wonder if that is affecting my judgement a bit here.
Some of it reminds me of the coral, who I do like.
Oh, then I don't like you anymore came on and to me that just sounded like an arctic monkeys song anyway.
It's fine. I'm just not sure I see the point of it. Some nice harmonies though.
Steely Dan
2/5
This was probably the least rubbish of the steely Dan we've had to listen to. Had a couple of songs I knew on it, but it still all a whole level of boring beyond what I actually enjoy.
There are probably some clever bits in it, but it feels so stale to my ears. I keep reading that steely Dan's production is amazing, but I can't imagine it capturing anyone's attention for long enough to notice.
The Afghan Whigs
2/5
I didn't know the Afghan Whigs before this. A lot of the backing tracks were exactly what I like, I could hear lots of interesting bands in some of their parts and sounds. Really liked them...
However, I just didn't like the vocals, I didn't like his style, or his tunes and from the little amount of lyrics that I figured out I wasn't overly taken with them either. I think with another singer I'd have loved this band, but then it wouldn't be this band I guess. Oh well.
Duran Duran
2/5
Rio isn't a good song. The verses are boring, the guitar sounds arent great, the verse guitar stabs are at least a nice idea. The best bit in the track (and therefore this whole album) is the arpeggio synth in the drop before the choruses.
Hungry like the wolf probably has a better tune, but other than that it is fairly meh.
None of the others have anything really worth of praise.
They put in more arp synth to lesser effect in other songs. The nice guitar stabs in Rio are mimicked poorly by themselves on other songs.
Any good bass work is entirely undone by the awful repeated boing note in new religion.
Would happily never hear this again.
Nico
3/5
This felt more interesting than good. These days I love and I really enjoyed the guitar playing on track 1. I'm not sure I ever became comfortable with Nico's voice and the baroque arty Ness of it felt a bit forced at times. Gave me an opportunity to read about Warhol's group of people though which is an interesting, very influencial part of 60s culture.
I enjoyed of stripped back it all is and there are some lovely guitar parts.
Sade
2/5
This is not for me. Every so often there was a great baseline, like Quincy Jones was suddenly there, but alas, it didn't turn into a Michael jackson hit, it was just another slow Sade track invoking a nightclub with dim lights in a seedy area of town.
If it wasn't teasing Jackson pop it sounded like the music backing to an 80s film I really don't want to watch.
If anyone asks me why I dislike the saxophone they should sit through this and it should all be explained.
Like the vibe wasn't intrusive. And the odd bassline was great.
The Cars
4/5
This is pretty fun, new wave art rock or something. Some funny queen style hits of harmony, some funny lyrics, lots of fun parts. Some really good synth and guitar parts in here too, felt very ahead of its time for 1978.
Just what I needed is an absolute banger.
I feel like I wanted to like it more than I actually did, but I enjoyed it a lot all the same.
Suzanne Vega
4/5
Really nice. None of the vega tracks I know, but a similar feeling and sound.
I'm not a huge fan of the 80s chorused guitar, but it sits nicely with her voice.
Interesting lyrics and nice guitar playing. Usually an interesting tune and she has a great voice. I'll have to listen again.
Michael Kiwanuka
3/5
This was very nice. It felt nice, it sounded nice. It wasn't especially challenging, but I enjoyed it.
I'm a bit surprised it won the mercury prize and I'm a bit surprised the Wikipedia article for a mercury prize winning album doesn't tell me more. But that kind of sums up the music too.
Kraftwerk
3/5
I don't think I enjoyed this as much as the previous kraftwerk one, but I still liked it. It was catchy, the synths were nice. I could hear all sorts of things that were influenced by this. I could hear PSB and even some Laura marling style arpeggios in there. There was a lot of similarities to the synth parts pink Floyd were putting out around the same time.
It was good.
Led Zeppelin
5/5
This is pretty brilliant. I always think led zeppelin are generally over rated and I still think that is true, but it doesn't stop them being brilliant.
Some of the riffs here are majestic and there are a number of classic moments that deserve high praise.
Plants vocals are fascinating as he adjusts his vocal performance to match the songs really well and the drums and bass are spectacular.
I think I want to dislike zeppelin more than I do.
Bob Dylan
5/5
This is album that made me love Bob Dylan. It's a tour de force. There are so many interesting things in every song, there are so many things he does that other people would shy away from
False starts in songs, no choruses, words that hardly fit into their lines, songs that are essentially nonsense alongside song really deep emotional lyrics. It is all over the place and held together by his genius and the great backing band. An easy 5/5.
Fugees
3/5
I have quite enjoyed this. The tracks sounds good, they sound like they enjoyed making it. I'm not sure I was too bothered about everything they were rapping about, but it was a fun ride. Better than expected.
Paul Weller
3/5
Paul Weller fans are weird, they often have the same haircut and always tell you he's great and that they've seen him 15 times. With that in mind I'm not sure what I expected here, other than to not like it. And I was wrong, this is very nice. Some great playing, some lovely tunes.
I'm not any of the songs themselves were tremendous, I only really remember wild wood after the fact and there was an element of something missing. My wife said it was like James Taylor, but he didn't have the incredible silky voice and I thought bits of them sounded like Hendrix, but without the spectacular guitar parts.
There was also that rubbish line about moon pyjamas and stars in your eyes. Ick.
I'm not sure it's a 4, but it's a strong 3 from an album I wasn't convinced I'd like.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
3/5
I feel like expected more from this. As a rock and roll album it felt a bit tame. Like it was ok, but it wasn't exciting.
American girl stepped it up a bit, you could hear some of the swagger of Bowie in there a bit, but it felt a bit too little too late.
It was fine.
The Smiths
3/5
To quote another song: I've never been through a smiths phase. That doesn't feel like changing.
I don't exactly dislike it, but I can't really fathom the clamour. I've heard better indie bands, I've heard funnier bands, I've heard better self deprecation in music. Morrissey has an interesting voice, Johnny marr has some nice guitar bits, but I don't feel like shouting from a hill about it.
Solange
2/5
There were some nice bits in this, but it felt more like a sketchbook of demos than an album. I'm sure it was intentional, but none of the songs seemed to fit a normal structure and as such just felt like a bunch of jams on a part or 2. Interspersed with some guys saying stuff.
It wasn't awful, but it didn't capture me.
Kacey Musgraves
3/5
This was alright. Felt more pop than country, which is likely a good thing for me. I'm not overly familiar with the genre so it's not surprising that could hear some similarities between this and some of the Taylor swift stuff I've heard, but this was all of the softer, less exciting, nature. A few of the ambient sounded reminded me of soft pop of the 90s, like savage garden or that ilk.
I'm not blown away, I won't be seeking out more, but I didn't dislike it.
Guided By Voices
3/5
I didn't mind this. Another one though that felt like a bunch of ideas rather than fleshed out songs. But I liked them more than the others that felt like this. I reckon either I'll listen again and really like it, or I'll find another album by them that hits home with me a bit more. But for now it's a high 3.
DJ Shadow
3/5
This is nice. It's pretty chill, the grooves are good. There are some nice synth sounds.
I don't know that would choose to put it on ever, but I have enjoyed having it on.
Prince
4/5
I don't know what to do with this. There are 3 or 4 tracks here which undeniably awesome. But there is also what feels like a bunch of filler. I think it makes sense in the context of the film, but on an album they feel pretty meh.
Plus they have that 80s production sound that I've never really enjoyed.
Prince was clearly a genius, but I have always found him fairly frustrating as an artist. I saw him live a few years ago, cost a fortune and 90% of the songs I knew were reinterpreted for different instruments/styles and he even cut the guitar solo in purple rain. I'm all for artists to be artists, but I struggled with that.
This album sits either at a low 4 or a high 3. I suspect I'll go 4 cos the few hits are ace. But I still find it a frustrating listen and rarely put it on.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
3/5
I had no idea what to expect here... Then I heard the first track and my heart sank. Country nonsense. So I checked how long it was. It looked like about 7 hours. Gah. i hate that country twang vocal thing. Off it goes...
However, I actually like the bluesyness and some of the guitar work is great. It's all upbeat, it's fun, some nice harmonies, reminds me of oh brother where art though. Oh no. I liked it. It was too bloody long though.
Violent Femmes
3/5
Blister in the sun is incredible. I was really looking forward to this album. But the rest of it is like a teenage boys fantasy or something.
The bass parts sound cool, very attacky, but the guitar parts on all the other songs were fairly generic, blister in the sun has a cool riff, nothing similar is elsewhere.
It's not like I hated this, I just had higher hopes considering how interesting and unique the big single was.
Jimi Hendrix
3/5
I like a few of the tracks, it's pretty experimental is places, but it goes a bit far for me sometimes
There is a bunch of long jam bits where I lose interest. I love his playing and I like his voice and delivery.
I think there is enough here for a solid album, but this double album just dragged to me.
Supergrass
4/5
This is great. Sounds great, great energy. Lots of fun to listen to. I really like the overall sound, it's very wide and full, really drives home the grooves of the tracks.
I think my only complaint is that I think the songs are a bit lacking. They're not bad, some are brilliant, but it's not an album where I am captivated from start to finish, I am by the sound, but not by the songs themselves, so I can't give it a 5.
Cream
4/5
This is really good. I knew quite a few already, but I realised part way through that I always think of cream as a hard rock/blues group, but they're not really. They have some hard rock like sunshine and they have a lot of bluesy stuff, but there is a lot of experimentation to it all and there is a lot of pop-sensibilities. It's really interesting music. I feel like the ones I already knew (from their greatest hits), plus 1 or 2 others stood out more than the rest, but I guess the rest had a bit more experimentation to it.
Pink Floyd
5/5
This is just one of the best albums ever made. It's hard to even find something to criticise. Beautiful, dark, thought provoking, instrumentally brilliant, the synths on this record are out of the world. The guitar playing is just stunning. I even like the saxophone.
The Pogues
4/5
This is fantastic. I hadn't listened to a lot of the pogues before, but this was really interesting. His voice is great and the musicianship is brilliant.
Made me realise why Irish parties are so much more fun. They are all dancing to jigs and we are listening to agadoo.
Parliament
4/5
This was a lot of fun. I'm never generally impressed by a fake radio broadcast in an album, people do it all the time and it can sod off. DJs are annoying. I listen to albums rather than the radio to avoid them.
But other than that this is pretty stellar. Very funky (as you'd expect) and enjoyable.
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
There are some incredible riffa on this album and he has a knack of writing vocal lines that really suit his voice. I absolutely loved it. I think I'd found their "mellon collie" album a bit hard to get into, but this one felt a lot more cohesive.
I'm tempted to give it a 5, but I think it falls slightly short. It might get there with relistens.
Dead Kennedys
3/5
I enjoyed the music and the messages of these tracks but I never really got into the vocals. It's a very distinctive style that maybe I'd grow to like on more listens, but I don't know that I liked the rest enough to persevere.
I enjoy other versions of holidays in Cambodia and California Uber alles is a classic, but the rest didn't quite hit right for me.
Gram Parsons
2/5
There were a few points were it picked up tempo and I thought it was ok, but for the most part it was just not something I wanted to listen to.
I didn't really listen to the lyrics so maybe they were good. But I don't really care.
Love hurts is a good track I guess, but I prefer other versions.
The Coral
5/5
I love everything about this album.
The songs, the harmonies, the weird lyrics, the instrumentation.
It's short, it comes in aggressively, manages to be aggressive and folky and somewhat relaxed all at the same time. Then it ends.
Brilliant.
Tracy Chapman
3/5
I like a protest song and this is essentially a protest album. My only issue is that it's a bit nice and I keep drifting away from it only to be brought back by a dark/thought provoking lyric and I go "oh I wish I'd been listening closer to that". But that has happened on 3 separate attempts to listen through it, so I can't mark it that high.
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
I don't know what I expected here, but it wasn't this. I think I expected hip hop and it felt more like Latin or African beats with some djs talking between the tracks and then a couple of tracks were they mention barn dancing. The world music beats were pretty nice, the rest of it was also on there.
There was a bit Eminem has referenced, so I guess maybe it's influential in a world I'm not part of. It was fine.
The Yardbirds
4/5
This a fun album, the qobuz version made no sense in terms of tracklisting, but once I realised I'd listened to it all it felt like a good length.
The tracks sounds exciting and fairly fresh considering it's a million years old. One of them had a very similar feeling to a mouldy peaches track which made me realise quite how far the yardbirds influences stretches to.
Fela Kuti
2/5
I'd never heard of Fela Kuti, it started of fun and interesting, but 4 songs that last 10 minutes each and meander around a bunch got tedious.
By track 4 I didn't care for it anymore.
808 State
1/5
This is god awful
Creedence Clearwater Revival
3/5
I was hoping for a bit more here. I know their hits and they're great, he has a cool voice and they play some good riffs, but for the most part this album was alright. The couple that I knew stood out massively. It'll be interesting to hear their other albums and see if I feel they are stronger.
Echo And The Bunnymen
3/5
I only know one echo song and it's not on this album... But it is amazing. This one started and the first track was very very very joy division, the middle 8 went somewhere else, which was nice. Don't get me wrong, I love joy division, but it was a bit too close really.
The later tracks were more influenced by rather than sounding exactly like, It is a nice sound. Has a cool atmosphere, I'm not convinced any of the songs really grabbed me though.
5/5
This is an incredible album. The last of muse's stellar 4 album run. It's the most colourful one, the brightest, the most ridiculous, but also the last one where they managed to contain the pomposity. It's beautifully over the top, the synths and guitar compliment each other perfectly, Matt's voice sours, Chris's basslines drive throughout and the drums groove in each track. It's just brilliant.
Pantera
4/5
Ace riffs. Brilliant grooves. There is a lot to like here. I'm not massively taken by the vocals, but they're solid. My biggest meh is the guitar solos but that is a style preference dimebag has all the chops, but I'd have preferred some.more.tunefulness, but probably the next person ranking this thinks they are tuneful. Fun album though.
Throbbing Gristle
1/5
This was a slog. A bunch of field recording conversation over the top of random 'musical' sounds. I could have done without bothering. The fact this is lauded as their best effort is absolutely mad to me.
The Specials
2/5
I'm not really into ska and two tone. I find it all just too samey, I was hopeful though as Rudy is pretty good, but it didn't really go anywhere after this. Much too young is catchy but it's just the same thing forever. I can't be bothered with it all.
Eric Clapton
2/5
This was fairly dull. I love the bluesy stuff Clapton did with the blues breakers and the yardbirds and cream, but his slow solo stuff is pretty meh. I shot the sheriff is the only one I knew and I've never really liked it. Blah.
Soundgarden
3/5
I really want to like this. Chris Cornell was a genius, black hole sun is just beautiful... But 70 mins is long and there is not enough variation on songwriting or production for me. It feels like a 90s American rock album where there isn't a lot of subtlety (beyond the elegance of his singing) and I find it draining to listen to. I don't know at what point I started zoning out from it. But I did
Alas.
Everything But The Girl
3/5
I only really knew missing from everything but the girl even though they are from near where I grew up. This is nice. All the songs sound like missing, but it is a chill sound. Her voice suits it really well and the breakbeats remind me of massive attack or portishead, or even a bit of David gray. My wife liked it. I liked it, but I didn't love it. It felt like nice backgrounds music.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
I was thinking this is the least great Simon and Garfunkel album, it'll probably be a 4 at best... But it just kept having another great song. It feels a bit biased to give it 5, as in my head they hadn't really reached their greatness here... but I can't justify a 4. The harmonies are too good, the rhythms are too interesting.
Although that Bob Dylan pastiche one has some moments of meh... Fine, just cos of that one it's a high 4, but not perfect.
PJ Harvey
4/5
I enjoyed a lot of this. I think it's one I'd like to come back to. It feels like something that'll grow on me with a bit of time. There were some really cool bits that I don't think I gave enough attention to.
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
This very short compare to most here. I love green onions, some of the other tracks were a bit meh, but there were a few others that were very nicely put together, one sounded just like need your love so bad, but had a different title. An enjoyable ride, though not quite as good as I hoped knowing only the title track.
Beatles
4/5
This is so good. There are so many incredible moments, fascinating ideas and playful joyous bits of music in here and since I am very familiar with it the double album was isn't as annoying as others (but still, it is looooong), but it's more that in there they have some stuff that should have been b-sides, that should have been deep cut tracks that only avid Beatles fans needed to hear. You can't have revolution number 9 on a 5/5 album, you just can't. As clever as it was at the time, as forward thinking. But there is easily a 5/5 album in there, probably a long one. while my guitar gently weeps is just glorious. Blackbird, USSR, dear prudence, I will, helter skelter, there is so much greatness... but they added more that wasn't 5/5 and it must just be a 4, which makes me a little sad.