Just perfect. Nourishment for the soul.

Stark, mechanical at times, ambient at others. Hearing the track Heroes in the context of the album is fascinating also. It’s clearly genius at work (not just Bowie’s). It’s a fascinating listen and you can hear the genesis of a lot of artists that come later. Can’t say I enjoy this album as much as I admire it. Still 5 though!

Pretty classy. Still sounding good.

Worst sound quality in history, but still an amazing album. Have to listen to it all....flawless.

Dated a little bit, but some absolute bangers!

Rambling at times, but the highlights make it worth the while

Nile & Bernard on fire here. Not sure it's their finest work, but it's up there

Not for me

Ok. It's got Enter Sandman...know this. Rest is new to me. Just wasn't in to Metal back in the day, but got to say there is quite a depth to this. It's good. Still struggling with an entire albums worth at once, but can see why people are into this now

Interesting. Surprisingly fresh sounding. Not really my thing, but was a fascinating first listen

Hmmm. This bit of Britpop hasn't aged well at all. Was never a massive fan in the first place and it's not got better over the years. Top it off it's an awful compressed recording that hurts the ears.

There must have been some great drugs around in the 60s...this is completely nuts! Poor man's Sgt. Pepper.

Manages to sound so very of it's era, and yet there is such freshness and energy in the music that it still leaves you in a state of awe. It's a towering achievement. The variety of tracks is astonishing given some of the boundaries of dance music usually. Everything from Jazz flute to Jean-Michel Jarre is put in the pot and the result is just staggering. Love it!

Just because you did it first, doesn't mean you were any good at it. 3rd rate pub band, who just happened to do something a little bit like punk before punk. Not for me.

This is the album you get someone to listen to as the gateway to the Smiths. It's the most polished and complete set of tunes they did. It's lost a little of the rough edge of earlier releases as a result, but for me it's their masterpiece album. No fat on it. 36 minutes of Marr & Morrissey at their peak. And then the inevitable happened and they split up. You just have to ignore what Morrissey turned into later though.

Ok - this is actually pretty damn cool! I'm not really into Jazz, but this is entry level enough that I can enjoy it. Still enough structure and groove here for me to enjoy.

Just feels like poetry set to music to me. Relentlessly dark....just didn't speak to me. A slog.

How did I miss this in the 80s? Fantastic debut album. Owes a fair bit to Souxsie and the Banshees, but thats no bad thing. Way ahead of it's time. Still sounds fresh as a daisy even now. Musicianship is top notch also...must have been an awesome band live. Great find.

Tried to get into the Cure back in the day and couldn't.... Tried this..and still don't get it. Pass

Giving this a first proper listen to be honest....the reputation of it being a heavy listen putting me off for years. Was struck much it sparkles out of the dark backdrop. It's got Jazzy elements and reminds me of Kid A era Radiohead at times as well. Meanwhile there is the sense of echos of years gone by in the production. His voice is waning - and that gives it a weird power. All in all, a fascinating listen. I'm pleased I invested the time into it finally. It's not a heavy rotation album, but I can see me coming back to this from occasionally from now on. Hell of a full stop of a hell of a career.

This won the Mercury prize??? Just awful. I really tried, but it's just relentless nothingness to my ears

More big band, but you can hear the soul coming through. Class act. Well worth a listen.

Was ok.

Just perfect. Nourishment for the soul.

Oh dear. Simply shouldn’t be on the list.

Hmmm…..Jaaaaaazzzz. Nice! Actually didn’t hate this (although not really that into Jazz as a rule). The musicianship is off the charts….really solid groove underpinning all the tracks with real variety. Might even listen to it again!

Never judge a book by its cover. Absolutely no way I’d have spun this up without it being on this list. Lovely 60s warm recording. Music itself is solid good, without ever really taking off. It’s held back somehow…. Solid 3

Not really my bag, but would say it only went downhill from here.

Not for me back in the day and it’s only got worse since then. Just sounds toxic.

Stark, mechanical at times, ambient at others. Hearing the track Heroes in the context of the album is fascinating also. It’s clearly genius at work (not just Bowie’s). It’s a fascinating listen and you can hear the genesis of a lot of artists that come later. Can’t say I enjoy this album as much as I admire it. Still 5 though!

Was initially pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t just Bragg and a guitar. There is actually some music production going on. It actually has some 80s sheen to the music. But he doesn’t half bang on. Glad I gave it a go. It’s good that artists like Bragg exist and indeed there will be plenty of people who love this. I’m just not one of them.

Evocative of its era probably because you couldn’t escape it back in the day. Not listened to the whole album since then…says a lot I think. It’s the rock equivalent of empty calories. It’s not bad, but it just leaves me a bit cold. Something is missing…. Then of course you get to the hit singles. Its impossible to be objective about these tracks any more… I’ll happily leave it another 15 years before listening again!

For rap this is actually pretty decent! It’s not really for me, but I can get why this one is on the list. Solid 3

Ahh - one of the pillars of a CD collection in the 80s! I’ve never been the biggest fan as I’ve always found Paul’s voice sounds whinier than usual on top of the amazing lush backdrops created by the supporting musicians. I get the cultural appropriation problem (and it’s a big problem), but the irony is that I’d probably have never heard these musicians without Paul Simon fronting it. It’s still well worth a listen and it’s also an exceptional recording. Solid 3. Was never more than that and I’ve not changed my mind over the years.

Solid debut album, but nothing here that I overly enjoyed. Pretty samey after a while. Better things to come?

Oh yes! This made it onto the list…. The intro to Right Here Right Now is like a time portal back to the late 90s. What Normon Cook did with his Atari ST is just astonishing looking back. No library of samples, just a stack of floppy disks he’d amassed with samples he’d created. Sometimes the greatest innovations are driven by the technology being just good enough for a genius to take it to another level (a bit like the Beatles and a 4 track recorder in the 60s). There - I said it….genius! Having said that, the singles are the majority of the standout tracks on the album. Having said that, the rest is far from filler and it’s fascinating to hear the singles surrounded by the rest of the album (often is). Solid 4.

For the record, I love a lot of KB’s music, but this was an album I always struggled with. Reminds me a bit of Radiohead with Kid A many years later….an album so wilfully not what went before and clearly the work of an artist pushing the boundaries. Neither are the best introduction to the artist either! Listening again now it’s actually aged like fine wine, or I’ve reached a point where I can appreciate this more. Going into rotation. Love it.

RIP Brian. Pet Sounds is a masterpiece and the recent remastered version (note - not the version this site links to) lifts the fog of the original mixes so you can now clearly hear how much is going on in the mix. Simply amazing what was achieved using 60s studio technology. So many layers to the various tracks. All of them interesting and original. Finally it has God Only Knows - quite simply one of the greatest songs of all time. Achingly beautiful and somehow still manages to give me chills every time I hear it. Genius at work.

I know this is a cornerstone of Jazz and I’ve tried over the years… Just don’t get it.

Well I bought it back in the day. Not been spun since then. Listening back, it sounds ok. But I’m struggling to see what all the hype was about now.

Most modern thing I’ve ever seen on the list, and something so new I’ve bought it on vinyl since the comeback. Can’t quite believe it’s 6 years old already. The production is retro and overdone to the point of getting in the way of the music sometimes, but overall it’s a wonderful set of songs that really do reward multiple listens…ideally the album in full. A modern day Bill Withers? Solid 4. Maybe even a 5.