371
Albums Rated
3.06
Average Rating
34%
Complete
718 albums remaining
Rating Distribution
Rating Timeline
Taste Profile
1960
Favorite Decade
Blues
Favorite Genre
UK
Top Origin
Wordsmith
Rater Style ?
38
5-Star Albums
32
1-Star Albums
Breakdown
By Genre
Top Styles
By Decade
By Origin
Albums
You Love More Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Eternally Yours
The Saints
|
5 | 3.06 | +1.94 |
|
The Pleasure Principle
Gary Numan
|
5 | 3.15 | +1.85 |
|
The Predator
Ice Cube
|
5 | 3.25 | +1.75 |
|
Chirping Crickets
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
|
5 | 3.29 | +1.71 |
|
L'Eau Rouge
The Young Gods
|
4 | 2.32 | +1.68 |
|
Tommy
The Who
|
5 | 3.33 | +1.67 |
|
I Should Coco
Supergrass
|
5 | 3.35 | +1.65 |
|
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
The Kinks
|
5 | 3.38 | +1.62 |
|
The Fat Of The Land
The Prodigy
|
5 | 3.4 | +1.6 |
|
My Generation
The Who
|
5 | 3.41 | +1.59 |
You Love Less Than Most
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Crime Of The Century
Supertramp
|
1 | 3.4 | -2.4 |
|
Smash
The Offspring
|
1 | 3.36 | -2.36 |
|
Channel Orange
Frank Ocean
|
1 | 3.33 | -2.33 |
|
Melodrama
Lorde
|
1 | 3.31 | -2.31 |
|
A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector
Various Artists
|
1 | 3.3 | -2.3 |
|
The Blueprint
JAY Z
|
1 | 3.19 | -2.19 |
|
Ritual De Lo Habitual
Jane's Addiction
|
1 | 3.19 | -2.19 |
|
Make Yourself
Incubus
|
1 | 3.08 | -2.08 |
|
Murder Ballads
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
|
1 | 3.08 | -2.08 |
|
Golden Hour
Kacey Musgraves
|
1 | 3.08 | -2.08 |
Artists
Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Beatles | 6 | 4.83 |
| The Doors | 3 | 4.67 |
| Oasis | 2 | 5 |
| Jimi Hendrix | 2 | 5 |
Least Favorites
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 2 | 1.5 |
Controversial
| Artist | Ratings |
|---|---|
| Radiohead | 5, 2 |
| Fleetwood Mac | 2, 5 |
| The Who | 5, 2, 5 |
5-Star Albums (38)
View Album Wall
Popular Reviews
Guided By Voices · 3 likes
1/5
Their eighth album. Rock / Indie. The production is awful, the vocals are terrible, the musicianship is bad and on and on. This sounds like a shitty demo tape by some drunk kids in a garage.
Anthrax · 2 likes
1/5
Their third album. Thrash Metal. I was first exposed to Anthrax in the 80s where I saw piles of rotten, bloated, stinking, diseased farm animals being burned. The stench was enoigh to make you gag and your eyes burn. It took a week to wash the smell and feel from your hair and skin. This album is my second exposure to Anthrax and the resulting experience was mostly the same.
Jefferson Airplane · 1 likes
4/5
Their second album. Psychedelic Rock. Peak Flower Power / Counter Culture music. Grace Slick has a great voice. Somebody To Love is a classic track! The tracks with Grace Slick on lead vocals are the better and more powerful ones. This is pure San Francisco, Haight / Ashbury Hippy Stuff and I'm all for it. Some of the tracks are 'Groovy Baby, Yeah!' Ha! Some lovely harmonies. White Rabbit - this track is a mushroom infused Alice in Wonderland trip.
Janis Joplin · 1 likes
5/5
Her second album. Rock. Wow ! What an opening track ! Move Over, the vocals and that lead guitar, and then we get Cry Baby ! Some start to an album. Her authenticity and passion leaps out at you in every song. Janis is shooting for the stars on this one and gave us a performance that could fill the universe. I'm approaching three hundred albums off this list and this is as good as anything I've heard. Fantastic !
Pet Shop Boys · 1 likes
2/5
Their fifth album. Pop / New Wave / Electronica. As always I like Neil Tennant's vocals. The album is also well produced. It misses the zing and urban feel of their previous albums though. The album feels very safe with no stand out banger. I hope some of their earlier albums are on the list as they are far better.
1-Star Albums (32)
All Ratings
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
Sing A Simple Song was my favourite track.
Funky Album.
The xx
2/5
Dour. Millennial Blues. As an album it tells its story but there isn't a track here I'd say to someone 'hey listen to this song'
Björk
4/5
Brilliant. Great vocals in her unique style and the use of synthesised drums, bass, strings, bells and all kinds of sound samples is amazing. Violently Happy is perfectly placed on the albums journey. There's More To Life Than This, Big Time Sensuality and One Day are also stand outs. Loved it.
Bob Dylan
4/5
Great start to the album with that intro to Like a Rolling Stone. It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry is a good track as is Highway 61 Revisited. Nice F Scott Fitzgerald reference in Ballad of a Thin Man. Desolation Row is an eleven minute long poem witha line about Cinderella I loved. Classic Bob Dylan album with harmonica and organ sound and those poetry like lyrics.
Beatles
4/5
Released same day as Kennedy was shot. 22nd Nov. 1963. Album cover is a classic. A photo by Robert Freeman. Mix of cover songs like Roll Over Beethoven - Chuck Berry and Please Mr Postman - The Marvelettes. Originals like All My Loving - McCartney and Little Child - Lennon. The song writing is getting more complex after the Please Please Me album. They're evolving.
Cat Stevens
4/5
Lovely vocals. Hard Headed Woman, Wild World and Miles From Nowhere are good tracks. I like the depth of the drums and bass in the latter. I also like the album sleeve.Tea For The Tillermam is a beautiful way to end the album. Father and Son is an all time beautiful song and a classic. What a charming album!
Kraftwerk
3/5
First track is twenty two mins. Half of the album. Samples, synth. Clockwork Orange sound. Seminal. From here, Gary Numan, Human League, Depeche Mode etc. 80s pop. Genesis for electronic music. Influential and groundbreaking.
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Very blues and rock n roll. The classic Jagger vocals and Richards guitar licks. Happy is a track with vocals by Richards which is rare. Rip This Joint is up tempo. Shake Your Hips has that Mississippi Delta feel. All Down The Line a good track, guitar, rock n roll.
Minutemen
3/5
Punk, Funk, even early Grunge. Poems. Punchy short songs. Their 3rd album. 45 tracks. Double album. Bass guitar heavy. Corona is a good track, as are #1 Hit Song, Two Beads At The End, Shit From An Old Notebook and A Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing. Some songs sound like The Sex Pistols, some like Joy Division. Some even sound like early RHCP or Strokes songs. Better than I thought it was going to be.
3/5
I get that this album is held up in high esteem by many. And the first four tracks are good. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For is good and With Or Without You is a particularly good track. After that great start the album loses me a bit though and I get bored.
Nine Inch Nails
2/5
Their 2nd album. Recorded at the house where Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson Family. A concept album, the downward spiral of a man into suicide. Techno, punk, heavy metal. Nihilistic, incel, dark, deliberately abrasive music. 90s rage, school shooter vibes. The concept is fine, the darkness and the journey etc but the delivery is average.
Paul Simon
2/5
His 7th album. African inspired sounds. African backing vocals and choirs. Homeless has good lyrics and a good sounding choir. You Can Call Me Al is the signature track and a great single. Overall, disappointed. Heard so much about this album but I wasn't into it at all apart from one good song.
Thelonious Monk
3/5
His third album..A jazz jam session of sorts. Five tracks for 43mins. If jazz is your thing this is a seminal album. It's still a good listen anyway. Great musicianship. Enjoyable.
Tracy Chapman
4/5
Debut album. Many producers turned her down. Eventually it got done and became one of the biggest selling albums ever. Talkin Bout a Revolution has great lyrics and vocals. The whole album does really. Baby Can I Hold You is beautiful and the classic track Fast Car is just wonderful. Behind the Wall is an acapella song about DV. Why? Is a very good political and social track. Amazing album.
Iron Maiden
3/5
Debut album. Rock / metal. Really good guitar licks and bass throughout. Excellent vocals at times. Prowler is a solid intro to the album. Remember Tomorrow, good lyrics and vocals with nice guitar licks. Phantom of the Opera an epic seven minute rock opera track. Transylvania a good rock instrumental. Final track- Iron Maiden a good fun rock, ending track. Fun album, punchy and a toe tapping head banger.
Liz Phair
1/5
Debut album. Indie / Lo Fi / Grunge. Not a fan of her voice. Clanky music. Poor production. Some good lyrics but also some awful too. Explain It To Me is terrible with a grating sound. Girls! Girls! Girls! Awful monotonous bilge. Tracy Chapman did female angst so much better. No redeeming track on this album. The one and only time I'll ever listen.
Rush
3/5
Their 8th album. Rock / Prog Rock and some synth. Tom Sawyer, Brilliant track and great intro to the song and album. Vocals and bass good on this one. YYZ is a good rock instrumental with nice bass licks. Limelight, a track about fame and quotes Shakespeare. Good song. The Camera Eye, an eleven minute track of rock, prog and synth. I kept waiting for this one to take off but it never got there. I enjoyed the first four tracks of this album, after that it went a little off for me. Nice vocals and lyrics throughout though. Solid album.
Alice In Chains
2/5
Their second album. Metal / Heavy Metal / Grunge. Themes of depression, angst, death, rage, war and drugs. The music is cliche Grungey Metal, the lyrics are okay and an occasional sign of hope. A dark journey overall though. Lyrically there is a story, musically it goes nowhere for me. It's almost a caricature Seattle, Grunge, Metal, early 90s album.
Tricky
2/5
First solo album. British hip hop, urban, groove vibes. Main vocals by Martina Topley Bird. Sounds a bit like Lilly Allen before Lilly Allen. Some good lyrics like in the track Black Steel. It's okay, solid enough album but just not my thing. Decent production.
Stephen Stills
3/5
First album with his new band. A double album 1hr 12 mins. Song of Love is a very nice opening track with good guitar licks. Jet Set is a nice track. Album is Rock n Roll, Blues, Country, Easy Listening A solid middle of the road album, nothing stands out but nothing here is awful either.
The Who
5/5
Debut album. Rock. A bridge between the Do Wop of the 50s and early 60s to the harder sounds to come. Bass guitar throughout is outrageous! Out in the Street is a good opening track. My Generation is an all-time classic, that bass ! The Kids Are Alright is another classic. Cool and iconic album cover. Brilliant album.
The Prodigy
5/5
Their 3rd album. Smack My Bitch Up and Breathe are two absolute bangers to open up with. Boom! Rave, dance, techno beats, DnB. Funky Shit is good, as is Serial Thrilla. Firestarter is another fantastic 90s dance track. This is Essex' finest dance banger of an album. Energisinh, urban, dirty and very slick production. 👌
Louis Prima
4/5
Swing music. Sax, trumpets, piano, double bass. Vocals by Louis Prima and Keely Smith. Some intentional gibberish lyrics, fun. The whole album is very catchy. Some glorious musicianship. Just a Gigolo/Ain't Got Nobody is a good opening.The Lip and Oh, Marie are good too. Basin Street Blues/When it's Sleepy Time and Jump, Jive An' Wail are both superb! A very fun album.
Talk Talk
1/5
Their third album. Rock, New Wave, Pop. The first two tracks are a real downer. Especially I Don't Believe You. Dull and droning vocals. This album sounds like hold music on the phone or a Doctor's waiting room music. They're annoyed and pissed off with someone or something but fuck knows what or who. Dull. Goes nowhere musically at all.
Wu-Tang Clan
3/5
Debut album. Hip Hop. Good beats throughout. Good lyrics at times. A hip hop album that still influences the genre to this day. Good tracks include Wu-Tang 7th Chamber, Da Mystery Of Chessboxin' , Method Man and Protect Ya Neck. Solid album.
The Black Crowes
3/5
Debut album. Twice As Hard is a nice intro to the album. Followed by Jealous again which is also good. Hard To Handle is an Otis Redding B side cover and the best track on the album. Overall the album has a good start with the first two tracks. Then goes a little generic until Hard To Handle which is a great track but then the album falls back a little again to the end. Rolling Stones vibes throughout. Solid album.
MGMT
4/5
Debut album. Indie / Pop. Time To Pretend is a banger to open up with and great lyrics. Electric Feel is another really good track, both the melody and lyrics. Kids is a superb track and the best on the album. Pieces Of What and Of Moons, Brids and Monsters are also good tracks. Really good production on this album. Very good, some bangers and some depth.
The Mothers Of Invention
4/5
Debut album. Frank Zappa. A commentary on the music scene and society. Satire. Psychedelic rock, concept album. Zany. Lyrically ingenious throughout. Has to be listened to as an overall journey. What is astounding is this was made as early as 1966 ! Gloriously weird, ingenious and maddening. Brilliant ha !
Iron Maiden
2/5
Their 3rd album. Metal / Heavy Rock. Lyrics are good at times and the themes aren't really dark at all given the album title and cover. Decent drumming and guitar licks. It's a cliche metal album though and almost a parody of the genre at times. It also gets a bit repetitive musically. I enjoyed Iron Maiden's self titled first album more.
Mariah Carey
1/5
Her 6th album. The production values for this kind of thing are obviously off the charts. More whining and OOoooOOOooooOOs than actual words. She doesn't sing songs, she moans scales. 90s cliche throughout. Like an hour of Dinsey credits music. Musical pollution, in the case of the People v Mariah Carey this is the case for the prosecution.
Bee Gees
1/5
Their 9th album. Soft Rock / Easy Listening. Harmonies are great as you'd expect from the Bee Gees. Israel - Awful lyrics, 'Where there's sand, beautiful sand' lol ! The pre disco Bee Gees have great voices but they're wasted here on singing such beige songs. Remembering is a truly awful song which is followed by Somebody Stop The Music which is hilariously ironic. Trafalgar is the best track and very much like a John Lennon song. Not a good album.
Radiohead
5/5
Their 3rd album. Airbag and Paranoid Android are two opening tracks that let you know this isn't 'Brit Pop'. The album stands up today with it's themes of media obsession, paranoia and dystopian technology. Karma Police is such an amazing track. No Surprises is also just wonderful. Fitter Happier is a glorious interlude. So alternative for 1997. Beautiful.
Pantera
2/5
Their 6th album. Heavy metal / Thrash metal and some Grunge type vibes. Walk is a track that's lyrically hilarious and not in a good way. RE..SPECT ! WALK! Over and over again. This album sounds like the same bass and guitar chords played over and over again at either fast or super fast speeds. However you also get a track like This Love which had a clichè Grungey vibe. Hollow- The final track, odd ending to the album. Starts out as a Grunge ballad and cheesy. I get it, if you're a Metal / Thrash Metal head this album is important. Just not my thing.
AC/DC
3/5
Their 7th album. 1st album with Brian Johnson. Hells Bells is a great intro track and a track with a great intro. Back In Black and You Shook Me All Night Long are both brilliant rock tracks. Solid lyrics and guitar licks throughout with some great drumming too.
Spacemen 3
3/5
Their 3rd album. Psychedelic/ Electronic. Many influences here, including Lou Reed, Pink Floyd and Joy Division plus more. Lyrically poetic, spiritual and melancholic. My favourite track was Suicide, long brooding. It's hard to say much more. The album is a whole, not singles. I liked it.
Portishead
3/5
Debut album. Won the Mercury prize. Trip Hop. Strangers, I like this track. Nice lyrics and sound. Wandering Star is also a nice track with good lyrics. Glory Box is a lovely track. A mellow album with soft vocals throughout.
Supertramp
1/5
Their 3rd album. Rock / Prog. Struggled with this one. I'm just not into this type of prig stuff. They're a tight band and it's well produced but meh.
The War On Drugs
4/5
Their 3rd album. Indie Rock. Under Pressure and Red Eyes are two good tracks to open with. Burning is another good track. The lyrics throughout the album are lovely. Production is tight. So easy to listen to. Such a nice album. Melodic, calm yet deep. Porch, scotch and contemplate life kind of music.
Oasis
5/5
Debut Album. Rock n Roll Star, what a way to introduce yourselves on track one ! Tunes like that and Live Forever and Supersonic are so punchy and upbeat in an era where moody Grunge was ruling the airwaves. Shakermaker is also a good track ! Supersonic an absolute banger ! Cigarettes and Alcohol spoke to the working classes in the UK so much! Oasis best album and a seminal moment in Indie music in the UK.I love Married With Children as the last track, so funny.
Kelela
1/5
Debut album. Electronic / RnB. This is a very tightly produced album. I'll give it that. However, musically it doesn't change in tone or pace at any point. It goes nowhere. A boring collection of monotonous shades of beige.
Lana Del Rey
1/5
Her 7th album. In order to rescue eleven monotonous dirges of tracks that have a whispy voice singing standard lyrics, the producer way over compensated and made this poor album even more distant. Female artists have told me their stories and struggles elsewhere with far more soul and spirit. I don't believe you Lana.
Lorde
1/5
Her second album. Argh ! Three days in a row. An album of... I love you, I hate you, I'm bitter, I'm better than you, I moved on, I need you, I made out with a guy tonight now I'm crying in the back of the cab. And I made an album about it all using my laptop blah blah bland.
Jorge Ben Jor
3/5
His 14th album. Funk / Latin Funk / African Funk. Ponta De Lanca Africano is a very dancy, funky opening track. Taj Mahal is an interesting track. Rod Stewart lost a case for plagiarism of the music for his hit song Do Ya Think I'm Sexy. The Brasilo-Portuguese lyrics are not a barrier to enjoying the funky, soulful energy of this album.
Beatles
5/5
Their eleventh album. Great album cover too! Come Together, what a start ! I love George's guitar on this and Ringo's drums. Something, just beautiful. The best love song ever? Wow George! Octopus's Garden, delightful! Here Comes The Sun, once again George flexes on this album. Oh! Darling, Paul's growling vocals! George Martin's production throughout this album is insanely perfect! Because, such a good track ! Carry That Weight and The End, what a way to go outb! This may be the best album of all time.
Suede
3/5
Their second album. Alternative Rock. The band's move away from 'Brit Pop'. We Are Pigs, nice track with Bowie esque vocals. In fact Bowie's influence and sound is all through this album. It's grandiose and somewhat pretentious but has depth. Bowie / Glam / Brit Rock. Daddy's Speeding is a good track. The Power is one of the pretentious tracks, Ha! New Generation is nice. This Hollywood Life is gloriously dramatic with a random sax intro. Is this album really good or a huge self indulgent wank whilst doing your best David Bowie impersonation?
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
3/5
Live album. Folk / Americana. My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) - Great lyrics. 'It's better to burn out than fade away'. This album is obviously poetic with some great lyrics. It's hard for me to identify with though. The great plains of the US and wondering yonder etc is a world away from working class England, endless grey and urbanisation.
N.W.A.
4/5
Their debut album. Fuck The Police is a great track. Nice beats and lyrics. These young men are angry and frustrated. Yes they're violent and misogynistic. So was Johnny Cash or The Rolling Stones when they sang protest songs or about sex. N.W.A. aren't lying, they're pissed off and putting their story in your face. Express Yourself is a really good track. Something 2 Dance 2 is my favourite track.
Rufus Wainwright
3/5
His third album. Oh What A World is a gorgeous opening track. I like the album cover on this album too. The album is a bit like Thom Yorke sings West End tunes. Vocally, after about four or five tracks Rufus starts to grate on you. Nothing here is great but nothinng here is bad either. It's also a well produced album.
Elton John
4/5
His fourth album. Tiny Dancer is a beautiful opening track. One of his best songs. Levon is another good track. Elton's vocals and melodies combined with Bernie Taupin's lyrics are in full effect on the whole album. Production is good for 1971. Very good overall. Although I suspect there will be more Elton on this list which will be even better.
Nina Simone
4/5
Her sixth album. Four Women is an absolutely mesmerising and haunting track. The vocals are beautiful and the lyrics haunting. Lorde and Lana Del Rey, THIS is how you do it. Dramatic, passionate, soulful, real unfiltered music sung by an intense artist with something to say. Fuck off Taylor Swift! The range of emotion and that voice is magical.
Paul Weller
2/5
His second solo album. Sunflower is a good opening. Nice guitar licks. Never heard this album before. I was expecting something more up tempo and The Jam like. This is quite mellow and tired sounding vocally. If you think about the artists and bands around on 1993 this is kind of 'Dad Rock' sounding. As Weller goes this is Diet Pepsi. I prefer the full sugar of Coca Cola that is Weller in The Jam. A tad same. Nice production though.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
4/5
Debut album. Funk / Hip Hop. This is an important album and a huge step forward for Rap / Hip Hop. The beats and tech used were crazy for 1982. The track Scorpio is a good example of this. A grounbreaking album. Dreamin' has great vocals. The track - The Message is an all time brilliant tune. Great beats and lyrics. Ahead of it's time.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
5/5
Their fifth album. Ramble Tamble, what an opening track ! Guitar licks, vocals, lyrics and that instrumental. Epic! Before You Accuse Me, good track. Run Through The Jungle is superb ! Fogerty's vocals throughout the album are great. Six of the eleven tracks were singles. Five of which got to the top five in the US.I Heard It Through The Grapevine is a glorious cover. This album is one of my Dad's favourites. A solid collection of good old rock n roll.
Fatboy Slim
4/5
His second album. Electronic / Dance. Right Here, Right Now and The Rockafeller Skank are two quintessential 90s electro tracks. Love the sleeve on this album too. Gangster Trippin is also a good track. A masterpiece of repetition, samples and beats to move to. Praise You, what a banger. This track also has one of the great videos!
American Music Club
2/5
Their third album. Somewhere is a decent track, a bit cheesy. The kind of tune that'd be in an 80s high school movie during a montage sequence. Hhhmm... a pretty bland album. There's nothing awful about it, however it doesn't grab my attention anywhere along the way either. I like my toast with butter and or jam. This is plain brown dry toast.
The Doors
5/5
Their sixth album. Rock n Roll / Blues / Psychedelic. Changling is a great opening. Jim's vocals and that organ ! Love Her Madly is a great second track. Jim's vocals throughout the album are so good, the lyrics poetic, the band is tight and Morrison is dangerously raw sex ! L.A. Woman is eight minutes of perfection, what a track. Riders On The Storm, another epic track ! Seven minutes of poetry from Jim Morrison. The music is so tight. Fantastic song !
Sex Pistols
5/5
Debut Album / Only Album. This album was seismic when it came out. It's a huge punch in the face not only to the music establishment but the UK establishment and society as a whole. It sent out shockwaves ! The entire album so punchy, so busy. Johnny Rotten is ranting at you with a glare. He's young and pissed off with all the bollocks. A seminal album that spawned countless bands and artists in it's wake. One of my top five albums ever !
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
2/5
Their second album. Middle of the road Americana, folky type stuff. The musicianship is great obviously with these guys. Woodstock is a decent track. A hippy long hair song. Our House is a wonderful track. THE outstanding song. I really want these super talented guys to reach out and grab me but they just don't on this album. Well, only on one song.
Run-D.M.C.
2/5
Their debut album. Hip Hop. Grounbreaking for a Hip Hop album at the time with harder beats and lyrics. Jam Master Jay is a track that's an example of this. A hugely influential album. It's Like That is the satndout and most famous track. I get the album's influence, it just seems a little flat to me now.
The Killers
5/5
Their debut album. Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine is such a cool yet dark opening track. The tune belies the dark lyrics. The next four tracks are all 2000s anthems. Mr Brightside, Smile Like You Mean It, Somebody Told Me and All These Things That I've Done. Half an album of bangers! The final track, Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll is also a great track. Such a punchy and dancy album. Brilliant!
Blondie
4/5
Their third album. Hanging On The Telephone and One Way Or Another are two really catchy opening tracks with great vocals. The album cover is cool. Pop Rock / New Wave / Punk Vibes. Debbie Harry can really mix up her vocal delivery to great effect. Heart Of Glass is a fantastic song ! Melody, vocals and lyrics.Will Anything Happen is a good track, could easily stand up today in 2025.
Prince
4/5
His fith album. Opening track, 1999, is a classic 80s tune. Fantastic track. Delirious another very catchy track. Let's Pretend We're Married, another cool 80s sound. Funky pop throughout the album. Sexy lyrics, naughty vibes, shake your ass music. Little Red Corvette is a funky track too.
Brian Wilson
4/5
His fifth album. It's the 12th June 2025, Brian Wilson died today 😢. Brian Wilson is a musical genius. He can hear entire symphonies in his head. He was also a floored man who overcome major mental health issues. This album is him riffing, playing with ideas and having fun. His catalogues of songs will live forever. Thankyou Brian ❤️
The Pogues
2/5
Their third album. Irish Folk / Punk. I love the energy of the album and Fairytale Of New York is a classic Christmas No.1 and fantastic song. Other than that the album is a lot of diddley dee, diddley doo over and over again. Great music if you're on the piss in an Irish pub. Fiesta is a well known punchy track.
JAY Z
1/5
His sixth album. Rap. The production budget and values are humongous. The other thing on this album that is humongous is Jay Z's ego! We get it, you were poor and now you're not. He's not believable or humble. A couple of catchy tracks but overall it's the bragging of a bell end.
Incubus
1/5
Their third album. Rock / Nu Metal. This isn't Grunge nor is it Metal. It's a whiny attempt at nihilism from someone who needs a hug from their Dad. Every song sounds the same. The album doesn't go anywhere. This is one of those cliche 90s sounding albums, a bad mainstream attempt to rock.
Johnny Cash
4/5
His thirty first album overall and second live one. Classic Johnny Cash vocals and lyrical story telling. Big balls playing in a maximum security prison. I Walk The Line, A Boy Named Sue and Folsom Prison Blues are all great songs. The music is basic but the stories in the lyrics and the vibe of what he's doing and where he's doing it is great.
Robert Wyatt
3/5
His second album. Experimental, Psychedelic Rock / Prog. He became paralysed halfway through making this album. This is an odd, psychedelic, whimsical album that could only come out of England. Gloriously weird in a way.
Otis Redding
4/5
His third album. Soul. Those vocals, the horns, the whole sound. A perfect Soul album. Respect, a classic track. My Girl, beautiful. Wonderful World is another classic ! Lovely album.
Les Rythmes Digitales
2/5
Second album. Faux French Electronica. Why is that a genre !? Ha. Not very innovative for 1999. Some of the tracks sound like New Order or the Eurythmics from ten of fifteen years before. Hypnotise for example. I prefer Daft Punk for this kind of thing. Is that a Ski Lo sample half way throug the album Haha! The album is well produced though.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Their third album. Rock / Blues / Folk. Immigrant Song - Track one, Boom !Vocals, rock guitar and bass licks, great drums. Great song. Celebration Day is another good track. Out On The Tiles - A very cool sound. Again John Bonham's drums are great. A solid album but this band are so good they have better.
The Police
2/5
Their fifth and final album. This album has an odd pace. It's lyrically dark at times which is no bad thing. This was the final album by The Police and for me it comes across as a band about to go their separate ways. I'm also not entirely a fan of Sting's vocals here. The albums sound is also very generic 80s Pop Rock at times. I prefer their earlier stuff.
Peter Tosh
3/5
Debut solo album after being in The Wailers. Reggae. I don't mind a bit of Reggae. Very much, chill out kind of music. This album is suitably mellow. No single track stands out, nor is anything bad either. A very simple, solid, melodic Raggae album.
Deep Purple
3/5
Their fourth album. Hard Rock / Rock. Speed King - I love the bass licks on this one. A hugely influential sound that went on to inspire many Hard Rock and Metal Bands. Somewhat "Spinal Tap" at times but also some great drumming. Child In Time - whilst an epic track it is also overblown, pretentious and self indulgent. However that's ROCK ! Right!? Decent album if a little cheesy.
Fela Kuti
2/5
Live album. Funk / Soul. Only five tracks for sixty one minutes of run time. An album of jamming and very long solos. The drumming is, of course, fantastic and crazy from Ginger Baker. Great musicianship from a very random collaboration here. It's okay, just not my kind of thing. I prefer Ginger Baker with Cream. Felt Kuti is someone I'll have to look into more.
Funkadelic
4/5
Their third album..Funk / Rock / Psychedelic / Soul. The opening track is a ten minute long piece of genius level guitar work from Eddie Hazel. Hit It And Quit It - Has a great funk sound. Super Stupid - Hell of a track! Hendrix esque licks ! This album is experimental, funky and book ended by two ten minute tracks. Plus there are even some farts lol !
Willie Nelson
2/5
His 22nd album ! 22 albums! It's an album of cover songs. His persona is 'outlaw country music' This is a departure and an album of pop covers. A very mellow album. Sipping whiskey on the porch kind of thing. There's nothing discernibly bad about this album. It's...umm...nice.
The Clash
4/5
Their debut album. Punk. A seminal Punk album. A lot of peole consider this Punk's best album. The musicianship is far superior to The Sex Pistols. However I prefer Never Mind The Bollocks energy. The Clash do have some slight elements of pop which I think is clever of them and widens their appeal. White Riot is a superb track.
Grateful Dead
2/5
Their fifth album. Folk Rock / Country. A huge band with a huge following. 'Dead Heads' are world famous. This album though, it's very bland, generic, Hippy long hair music. Boringly inoffensive. Diddly Doo, Diddly Dee, far out man, let's get some Scooby Snacks.
Sinead O'Connor
4/5
Her second album. Sings, writes, produces and composes all her own music. Her voice is haunting. Every single track has gravitas. Sinead O'Connor has something to day and I totally believe her. Nothing compares 2 U is a beautiful track and one of the iconic songs not only of the 90s but by any female artist ever. This isn't 'You Go Girl' type stuff like many female artists today. This is intimate, emotional, raw, poetic and at times confronting.
Lauryn Hill
3/5
Debut solo album. Rap / Hip Hop / R n B / Reggae. She has a great singing voice as well as being able to rap. The album showcases her range of talent. It's also a very personal album. Well produced. Doo Wop (That Thing) is a very cool track. It's a decent album, however I'm not blown away by the all time great, genre defining album this is supposed to be.
Belle & Sebastian
3/5
Their debut album. Indie Pop. This is twee. Almost offensive by how inoffensive this album is. It's nice easy listening if you're having a quiet Sunday. Folky, Pop, Indie with a cardigan on. An average album, some nice harmonies. A little toe tap here and there. Electronic Renaissance is a decent track. I Don't Love Anyone is also pretty good.
Caetano Veloso
2/5
Debut solo album Bossa Nova / Latin / Psychedelia / Rock / Pop. This is something I'd never usually pick out for myself. That's why this journey is so cool. New sounds. This isn't my thing, however I appreciate the musicianship and art. Cool album cover art.
The Incredible String Band
3/5
Their third album. Scottish Psychedelic Folk Rock. This album is wildly bizarre. A lot of acid was consumed here. I don't know if they're sincere, fucked up on acid or delivering genius level parody. Maybe a bit of all three. I do get some Monty Python vibes at times. To say this is experimental is an understatement. It makes me want to go live in the forest with pixies. It is somehow whimsically beautiful. Only the UK music scene could serve this up !
Steely Dan
2/5
Their sixth album. The production here is so good. Crispy drums, clear bass, clean guitar. A superb job, its just a shame it's done on such a boringly beige album of songs. I was expecting much more from such a revered band. Lyrically boring too. This gets a two out of five purely for the producer. Albums like this are partly why punk happened.
Doves
2/5
Their second album. British Indie Rock. These guys are one of those bands The NME would drool over as being the next / current band of the moment., like Elbow too. They never quite got there though. This album for example, it's okay and many tracks have promise but end up flat and go on for maybe a minute or two too long. Then Coldplay went massive and ran off with the Doves football.
Cypress Hill
3/5
Their debut album. Hip Hop. Great beats. Fun lyrics mixed with violence and darker themes. Stoner Hip Hop. Good production and funky album. I prefer their album Black Sunday but this is fun and pretty chilled out.
Beatles
5/5
Their ninth album. I am actually emotional writing this. The White Album ! A collection of different styles of song, wonderful poetic lyrics, sounds that were grounbreaking at the time and a production from George Martin that is flawless. This is an example of a perfect album. Too many amazing tracks to write about here. I'll never tire of this album. It's as magical now in 2025 as when I heard it years ago as a child. Best album thus far !
Aerosmith
3/5
Their fourth album. Rock / Hard Rock. A solid rock album. Sexy lyrics, good vocals. They borrow a lot from the Stones and Led Zeppelin. An influential album that probably helped bring along 80s Hair Metal and bands like Van Halen and Moltey Crew. It's a good album. The band are tight.
Radiohead
2/5
Their seventh album. Indie Rock / Electronica. A bit experimental, well mixed. Less political than previous albums and more personal. Bodysnatchers is a good track. This is a solid album but I prefer OK Computer and The Bends. For me this one keeps promising you a great time but somehow keeps falling short. Still, an average Radiohead album is better than most.
Slint
2/5
Their second and final album. Rock / Experimental Rock. A tense, foreboding and anxiety ridden album. Spoken word lyrics and sung vocals. Changes in tone mid song throughout. Let's face it this is weird yet strangely cool at times. I quite like Nosferatu Man. Each song is maybe a minute too long though. A strange one this.
ZZ Top
3/5
Their third album. As soon as this one opens you're in a musty, smoke filled pool hall / biker bar. By the end of the album your beard is two feet long and you're riding a Harley. Blues infused rhythm that does exactly what it says on the tin. La Grange is a classic track.
Miles Davis
2/5
Jazz Fusion. Only two tracks for 38 mins of run time. A hugely influential and controversial album on the Jazz scene. Jazz is hit or miss for me. Some albums are cool. The rest aren't. I don't know what to do with this one though. An oddity.
Robert Wyatt
1/5
His seventh album. Prog Rock. See! This is my problem with a lot of Prog. It's self indulgent, pretentious wank ! I love whimsy, I love chaos and eccentricity. However this feels false, forced and contrived. I prefer early Pink Floyd for this kind of thing, it's more authentic. Also Robert Wyatt appears on my list earlier with Rock Bottom from 1974. Which is better.
Jeff Buckley
3/5
His only album. The circumstances of his death in 1997 are pretty crazy. Hallelujah is a great cover song. Buckley nails his version. This is actually a really nice album. It's very well produced. Buckley maybe over eggs the vocals at times and it's a big sound.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
5/5
Is there a more chilled out album in existence than this !? Classic Reggae beats. Themes of poetry, religion, faith, love and sex. Jamming and One Love are great tracks. This album takes me back to the 80s and the local West Indian Rastas chilling with a ghetto blaster. Really good album. Waiting In Vain is another good track. This album is just gorgeous!
Flamin' Groovies
2/5
Their third album. Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Blues. As soon as the opening track, High Flyin', kicked in I immediately thought Rolling Stones ! Also some Elvis rips here too. It's a decent enough album. Standard Rock n Roll and Blues riffs. They do a Shakin' All Over cover which is nowhere near as good as the original.
The Saints
5/5
Their second album. Punk. Very good musicianship for a 70s Punk band. Plus horns !? Horns in Punk !? It works Ha ! Lost and Found is a good track. This is polished Punk. Trumpets and harmonica in places. They make it work though. At times you can hear The Strokes. Brisbane based Punk band. No, Your Product - Cool track. Orstralia, really good track. This lot are The Strokes twenty five years before The Strokes. Really good album !
Fleetwood Mac
2/5
Their twelfth album. What do you do after making Rumours, one of the best albums in history, you make a twenty song double album whilst on cocaine and rambling, musically, all over the place. FM had a free pass after Rumours and they experimented whilst being fucked up. The production is also very tinny. It's tough to follow up an all time great album but the drop off from Rumours to Tusk is a huge one.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Their second album. Rock. The first few notes of the album hit hard as we start off with Whole Lotta' Love. A classic Rock track ! Very sexual 'Cock Rock' album. Big vocals, big guitars and big drums. Unapologetically in your face. One line from Ramble On says - 'Twas in the darkest depths of Mordor, I met a girl so fair but Gollum and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her.' The album is pure overblown, indulgent Rock and it's good. Ha !
Queen
4/5
Their second album. Rock. Fantastical song lyrics, complex song structures, huge vocals and massive Rock guitar and drums. Yep, this is Queen ! Fuck me, Freddie can belt out a tune eh ! He nails Father to Son. This is an album with a wall of sound. Seven Seas Of Rhye is an absolute banger of a Rock song. Queen can be a bit marmite to some people and although I love my Punk, I do love me some grandiose Queen !
Jefferson Airplane
4/5
Their second album. Psychedelic Rock. Peak Flower Power / Counter Culture music. Grace Slick has a great voice. Somebody To Love is a classic track! The tracks with Grace Slick on lead vocals are the better and more powerful ones. This is pure San Francisco, Haight / Ashbury Hippy Stuff and I'm all for it. Some of the tracks are 'Groovy Baby, Yeah!' Ha! Some lovely harmonies. White Rabbit - this track is a mushroom infused Alice in Wonderland trip.
Fela Kuti
3/5
A Nigerian musician, this album criticised the Nigerian Government and is thought to have led to the murder of his mother and the destruction of his commune by the military. Funk / Soul / Jazz / Afrobeat. The opening track (there are only two) Zombie, was a metaphor for the Nigerian military. Greatly influential album for the genre. Amazing musicianship.
Black Sabbath
4/5
Their fourth album. Rock / Heavy Rock. Ozzy Osbourne died today. A legend of Rock ! This is a hugely influential album. Sabbath laid the groundwork for Heavy Rock / Heavy Metal / Hair Metal. This album also has melody and shows glimpses of a softer side. Ozzy can really sing ! Changes is an example of this, lovely track. Supernaut, what a track ! This is a really good fucking album !
Joe Ely
1/5
His second album. Country. Cornbread Moon - opening track, fuck me that was shit ! Ugh ! This album is corny as fuck. 'The trees bend becuse of the wind, almost all the time' Wow ! Well fuck me ! What lyrics ! The production and tones are all off. Apparently he somehow found himself opening for The Clash at a gig. He had beer thrown on him and was spit on by the British Punks. I don't blame them.
Violent Femmes
4/5
Their debut album. Acoustic Punk !? Ha ! And a Xylophone. Blister In The Sun - Classic opening track. This sounds like an album from 1993 not 1983. Kind of ahead of it's time. Add It Up - liked this one. Very Punky. This album is a great expression of teenage angst and frustration. Very alternative given the 'synth pop' of the time. This.predates the slacker, Gen X, Grunge, Fuck You movement that was to come.
Sonic Youth
3/5
Their seventh album. Grunge / Alt Rock / Avant Rock. Swimsuit Issue, brilliant track. I like how the album alternates between male and female vocals for the journey. I like the Kim Gordon tracks best. She's got the vibe down. Organe Rolls, Angel Spit is a cool track. A solid alternative album.
Django Django
4/5
Their debut album. Art Rock / Indie. Great blend of styles. This album has great production. It's something different and has a brilliant energy and vibe. I want to go see this band. This is cool 2010s Indie. I was hooked right from the introduction, so Groovy and easy to listen to. It does get ever so slightly bloated at times but there was not a bad track on the album. Kind of electronic version of 60s psychedelic stuff. WOR is a fantastic track
The Black Keys
2/5
Their sixth album. 21st century Blues ? I guess. Very good production. Howlin' For You is a decent track. The album is pretty bloated. Twenty one tracks for one hour and seventeen minutes. When does repetition become dogma? This is all very samey. I am bobbing my head along now and then but it isn't really grabbing me, musically or lyrically.
The Cure
3/5
Their eighth album. Gothic Rock / New Wave. Plainsong, the opening track is very much like Atmosphere by Joy Division. I get that vibe from it. Disintegration is a moody, atmospheric and introspective Goth Rock album. Pictures Of You accompanies the opening song brilliantly. Each track washes over you like a wave seamlessly. Great production. It does get a little bloated, some tracks are unnecessarily long. The Same Deep Water As You is nine minutes.
Iggy Pop
3/5
His second album. Rock / Punk. Album produced by David Bowie. Opening track, Lust For Life is a well known classic. The Passenger is also another good one. The rest of the album feels like a bunch of Bowie knock offs. A bit Bowie wannabe. A solid album but thats it really.
Dexys Midnight Runners
2/5
Their debut album. Punk / Ska / Soul. I like the horns. The band are clearly tight. I'm not exactly sold on the vocals from Kevin Rowland. Musically the energy is there and I enjoy the sound. Its those vocals, they just take me out of it. Geno is a good example of this. Really good band, get a new singer.
Beastie Boys
2/5
Their fourth album. Hip Hop / Rock / Punk / Rap. It's a busy fucking album. Sabotage is a cool track, it also happens to have one of the best music videos of all time. Good production on the album. This is a solid album for sure. It's just that, for me, it had one stand out track and then a bunch of ... meh !
808 State
3/5
Their second album. Electronic / Techno / Dance. Very much of it's time. I see the Hacienda, sweat, ecstasy, bucket hats and Adidas. Or loved up Summer of Love 88 raves in farmers fields. The album sounds like a cliche now but these were some of the pioneers of this sound. Cobra Bora is a good track. Just a good old school techno album. At the time it must have sounded like the future.
Stevie Wonder
4/5
His eighteenth album. Wow, this is a one hour and forty four minute long double album. His eighteenth ! By this stage you'd think that he'd be running out of ideas or just phone it in. Nope. Magnified vocals, production and delivery. Isn't She Lovely is a beautiful song. Sir Duke is another good one. The album is an epic, sprawling mess of genius song writing and musicianship. It's fucking long though.
Pink Floyd
5/5
Their eighth album. A concept album that takes the listener from their first breath in life to their last. Topics include, but not limited to, greed, mental illness, time and fame. This is a true album. You can't just listen to a single track. You have to go on the journey. This is flawless and is easily a top ten album of all time. I do prefer early Floyd with Syd Barrett if I'm honest. However I cannot deny the genius of this album.
Black Flag
2/5
Their debut album. Punk. It's a decent enough Punk album but they're late to the party by four or five years. The sound is also a bit hollow as well as the lyrics. Earlier Punk had authentic and real world, harsh messages. This seems more like an angry fourteen year old pissed off with his parents. There's much better and believable Punk than this from the 70s.
The Go-Betweens
2/5
Indie Pop. Their Sixth album. Smith's inspired sound only with less depth lyrically. Very middle of the road, safe and chilled album. Nothing really stands out. I mean, it's nice, but yeah, I don't need to listen again.
Culture Club
2/5
Their second album. New Wave / Pop. Everyone knows Karma Chameleon, the opening track. An 80s Pop classic. I always liked Boy George as vocalist. He has a good voice. There's some catchy beats, synth, trumpets and all sorts. A few good tracks to tap your foot to but a lot of filler too. Pretty cheesy. Boy Geroge's voice and Helen Terry's voice do not compliment each other. One huge hit and a bunch of meh.
Johnny Cash
4/5
His first live album. The best live album ever !? Maybe. Going to a prison and singing about murder, drugs and fighting etc is ballsy. Ha! The audience are as crucial to the album as Johnny and the songs. Great set list and Johnny Cash doing Johnny Cash things.
LL Cool J
1/5
His fourth album. Rap / Hip Hop. I can't believe this was 1990. It sounds a little ahead of it's time. Cool beats throughout but the lyrics are pretty crappy. Mama Said Knock You Out is easily the stand out track. The album also too long. It over stays it's welcome. Decent production. Apart from that one track, I lost interest fast.
Drive-By Truckers
1/5
Their third album. So, yeah, Lynyrd Skynyrd, we get it, you're Southern USA Good Ole Boys and can play an instrument or two but why did you have to bore us for just over ninety minutes ! Dead, Drunk And Naked is a parody right !? Birmingham - Ugh ! What a fucking awful song. The vocals, shit ! This album, hmm, are they serious or is it satire. Ha ! Either way it's fucking bad AND it's 1 hour and 33 minutes long ! I'm 122 albums in and only a Mariah Carey one (Butterfly) was worse so far.
Cocteau Twins
2/5
Their sixth album. Indie Rock / Shoegaze. Atmospheric, ephemeral, Indie Pop. Very dreamy, vocally sounds like gibberish. It's na bit same. Nothing here is spectacular but nothing can exactly shit either. A nice album...just..
nice.
Small Faces
4/5
Their third album. Rock /:Psychedelic Rock. A concept album. Whimsy and British eccentricity abound on this one. Rene, I liked this track and I don't know why exactly. Song Of A Baker is good one too. Lazy Sunday is classic track. I really like Steve Marriott's vocals throughout the album. Stanley Unwin's narration on the second half of the album is delightful and reminds me of A Clockwork Orange. The entire second half is gloriously bonkers !
Dolly Parton
2/5
Her eighth album. Country. A very short and very sweet twenty seven minutes of solid old Country Music. Nice vocals, nice songs and ...ummm..it's nice. Not much else to say.
Neil Young
4/5
His fifth album. Rock / Folk Rock. I'd never been a huge fan of Neil Young. I saw him live at a festival in Western Australia. He performed just before the Arctic Monkeys. This was in 2008 I think. He was good and I got him that day. He had an aura and really nailed his set. As for this album. I really like it. I cant put my finger on it. It's simple yet punchy.
Ella Fitzgerald
4/5
A box set album of Gershwin songs that is three hours and fifteen minutes long ! I've entered the world of Jazz and climbed it's Everest ! Ella Fitzgerald's voice is absolutely enchanting, no doubt about that. This is maybe the ultimate chill out album of all time. Great arrangements. The whole thing is pretty much flawless really. Yes, it's looooong but so what, lose yourself and this world for three hours and relax. Yes, I listened to it all.
Silver Jews
1/5
Their fourth album. Indie Rock. After yesterday's three hour long epic Ella Fitzgerald journey it was nice that this album was only thirty five minutes long. Otherwise this is a forgettable album.
Orbital
2/5
Their second album. Electronica. Hypnotic Dance loops. Repetitive and almost primal in a way. It's a chilled out, come down kind of album. The production is good. HALCYON + ON + ON is a decent track. It's an okay album but most of the tracks are too long and it gets boring. Without chemical enhancement it's a tough listen.
The Offspring
1/5
Their third album. Punk Rock. Parody Punk. Utter shit ! Vocally annoying, lyrically pathetic and musically flat. Forty six minutes was forty five minutes too long. No stand out track. I've listened, no need to come back again.
Jungle Brothers
2/5
Their second album. Hip Hop. Some funky beats you can bounce along to. Lyrically flat and mostly forgettable album. Nice that it's not Gangsta Rap though.
Pet Shop Boys
2/5
Their fifth album. Pop / New Wave / Electronica. As always I like Neil Tennant's vocals. The album is also well produced. It misses the zing and urban feel of their previous albums though. The album feels very safe with no stand out banger. I hope some of their earlier albums are on the list as they are far better.
Donovan
3/5
His third album. Rock / Folk / Psychedelic Rock. The opening track, Sunshine Superman is a Hippy, Swinging 60s classic. Another one of those whimsical and eccentric psychedelic albums I can't help but enjoy. Three Kingfishers is a stand out tune. This whole album is part of the peak 60s Flower Power scene.
The Cure
3/5
Their fourth album. Rock / New Wave / Post Punk / Indie. One Hundred Years is a dense and atmospheric opening track which sets the tone for this album. Very Joy Divison esque. Dark and Gothic too. Distorted guitars sound good. The edgier version of The Cure before they went 'Pop'. A solid album.
The Sabres Of Paradise
1/5
Their second album. Electronica. Hmmm, interesting. Ambient Electronica? Rhythmic and maybe even primal at times. The production is crispy clear. Duke Of Earlsfield - This is a track that is almost nine minutes long and goes absolutely nowhere which is endemic of the entire album. One hour and fourteen minutes and you go nowhere, there's no journey here. As I write this 23/4/2025 this is the eighteenth worst album on the list. Seventeen others must be pretty stinky.
2/5
Their debut album. Post Punk / New Wave. Uncontrollable Urge is a nice punchy opening. Definitely an odd cover of (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction as track two. Ha ! Beach Boys riffs mixed with eccentric Post Punk style and lyrics. Mongoloid, this track's music reminds me of Transmission by Joy Division. Love the quirky side of the album but overall it's a bit hit and miss.
Adele
4/5
Her second album. Pop. Rolling In The Deep is a great opening track. The vocals are superb and a good beat. At the time of recording this album she was only 21 and a talented singer songwriter. The production is as slick as can be. Before Adele became somewhat of a cliche, there was this. Top ballads and a great voice. This isn't even my kind of thing but I can't deny how good it is.
Daft Punk
3/5
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KISS
1/5
Their fourth album. Hard Rock / Metal. The all time biggest sell out Pop Rock band. Shit lyrics, basic musicianship and strained vocals. The most talented part of KISS were the people in their marketing department. This isn't sticking it to the man, this is the man. Utter shit. !
The Bees
2/5
Their debut album. Rock. This album is a mix of styles brought to you in a smooth and very chilled way. Nothing here is outstanding but nothing is objectively bad either. The production wasn't great. I can imagine some hipster coffee shop in Shoreditch playing this in the background as they serve you a coffee for twelve quid by a barista with a beard and a top knot, his name is Xander.
Talking Heads
3/5
Their second album. Post Punk / New Wave. With Our Love is a decent track. Also the drums on this one at one point reminded me of The Sideboard Song. I wonder if Chas n Dave will appear on the list, Ha ! Very nice production on this album. Funky, catchy tunes. The Girl Wants To Be With Girls is another good track. A solid album, liked it.
Fiona Apple
4/5
Her debut album. Pop / Indie. For a young woman of nineteen at the time the lyrics and melodies throughout are incredibly mature. I like her vocals. Shadowboxer is a good example. Slow Like Honey is a beautiful, smokey track. Lovely lyrics and vocals again. I liked her authenticity. I believe her. Very solid album.
Nightmares On Wax
1/5
You are currently thirty seventh in the queue. Please hold the line. Your call is important to us and we will be with you shortly.
Pearl Jam
4/5
Their debut album. Grunge. This is a fantastic debut album. From the perspective of 1991 this was a new sound and direction. The style and vocal delivery have been copied a million times since but this album was before the cliche acts that followed and is full of great tracks.
Billie Holiday
3/5
Jazz. What a voice! Smokey Jazz at its best. The instruments sound great and so smooth next to her smokey voice. These are straight up songs about love and losing love. No nuance or symbolism. Just honest and up front. Very chilled and relaxing.
Nirvana
4/5
Their third album. Grunge / Rock. Nevermind is the most polished of the Nirvana albums and their masterpiece. In Utero is the more raw sounding and abrasive brother. There isn't really a bad track on the album. Rape Me is probably my favourite track. At the time, after Nevermind, this album absolutely cemented Nirvana as the best of the genre and maybe the world.
Dire Straits
4/5
Their debut album. Rock. For a debut album this is so slick. The band are super tight. Some great riffs and solos. Knopfler's blues guitar is so smooth. Sultans Of Swing is, of course, a classic track. A really good album especially for a debut.
The Allman Brothers Band
2/5
Their third album (Live). Rock / Blues. This is okay. Good musicianship and sounds great for a live album. It is basically an album of seventy eight minutes of jamming that meanders and doesn't really go anywhere. I've heard it now and doubt I'll revisit.
Elbow
3/5
Their fourth album. Indie / Rock. Lyrically the album is very good. I am not entirely sure about the delivery though. Radiohead do this way better for me. There are some nice horns and strings. Mirrorball and Grounds For Dicorce are good tracks. A bit of a middle of the road album.
The Doors
5/5
Their debut album. Rock / Psychedelic Rock. What a debut! Quite possibly the best debut album ever. The opening two tracks are perfection. Break On Through (To The Other Side) and Soul Kitchen are iconic tracks. There is no bad song on the album and then after all that they finish up with The End ! Argh ! It's outrageous that a band can be this good on debut. Morrison's vocals are mesmerising, the lyrics superb and the band are so tight. A near flawless album.
DJ Shadow
2/5
Debut Album. Hip Hop / Electronica. I'll give it a generous two out of five because the samples were good but overall I was bored.
3/5
Their fourth album. Rock. This is an attempt at an epically grand album. There are a couple of peaks (which have been endlessly overplayed ever since) but overall I find it a little flat. I really want to be in to it but ultimately the album keeps letting me down. The production is good and there are some nice lyrics.
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
His fourth album. Rock.
Mumbley Joe mumbles to us something about living, loving, working and fucking can all get a bit rough. At least I think that's what he said before he went back to Mumbleton, N.Y.
A bit dull and those vocals... yikes !
Baaba Maal
3/5
World Music. Maal mostly sings in Pulaar, he is from Podor in Senegal. The little I know of Senegal involves wars and famine. I can't imagine what Baaba Maal's upbringing was like and what has influenced him. I can only guess at what themes are on this album due to the language barrier. Musically there are some high points with expert musicianship and production.
Frank Sinatra
4/5
His tenth album. Jazz. Peak Frank as he seems to effortlessly belt out songs in his style. A very relaxed, whiskey sippin' album to chill out to. Great arrangement on the album too. What more can you say ? It's Frank.
Pere Ubu
3/5
Their second album. Rock / Post Punk. Well this is a whacky one. Weird and wonderful. On The Surface was my favourite track. Imagine going to see these guys live in 78 ! That would have been an experience. The album is definitely a cacophony of sound. I like it. Disjointed and unusual but I did feel like a I went on a cool 35min journey. Fun ! Also some excellent musicianship and production at times.
Stan Getz
4/5
Another sunny Sunday here in Western Australia. I'm sipping coffee and have the NRL game on tv with the sound on mute so I can listen to this album. I am relaxed and super chilled. I've never heard of this album before now. It's timing is perfect for my lazy Sunday. Anyone but the Storm ! NRL ...
Metallica
3/5
Their third album. Metal. Not a huge Metal fan, however this was a technically very good album. Master Of Puppets, the title track, is a good example of this. The Thing That Should Not Be is also a good track. Orion was my favourite. A solid album.
Sly & The Family Stone
3/5
Their fifth album. Rock / Soul / Funk. Cynical lyrics reflecting the disillusionment of the times. So much going on with Vietnam, Political assassinations and Watergate about to explode. Musically very good too. I love the bass. Really a good album.
3/5
Rock / Psychedelic Rock. Proto Punk, chaotic, craziness. Are the vocals good ? Not really. Can they play guitar great or drum well, keep rhythm etc ? No, not particularly well. However, it just works man ! That Energy. The album sounds like it is ten years too early.
Turbonegro
3/5
Their fourth album. Punk / Hard Rock. I actually found the music quite catchy and fun. Love the energy. Lyrically though, I've absolutely no fucking idea what they're on about ! Ha Ha ! Something about ass, mother fuckers and blowjobs.
Michael Kiwanuka
5/5
His third album. Soul / Indie. Themes of social injustice, love, loss and hope. The production is very tight. I've Been Dazed is a good track. You Ain't The Problem is also very good. This album feels both contemporary and retro at the same time. It is clearly well thought out as a whole journey. The vocals are excellent. Living In Denial is a really good track. A new album for me and a pleasant surprise.
Supergrass
4/5
Their second album. Rock / Indie / Brit Pop. Loved it. A perfect album to listen to whilst I was walking the beaches of the Indian Ocean on another sunny day on Western Australia. Some great tracks, including Richard III and Going Out. A fun album.
Kanye West
3/5
His debut album. Hip Hop. The production is slick. The skits are lame. The music is okay. The lyrics are pretty good at times. It's an okay album for me but probably not something I'll come back to.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
His eleventh album. Soul. The themes are powerful and Gaye seems very heartfelt. The album is cohesive and the vocals are wonderful. There's no stand out track for me. Theis album requires listening to as a whole. Beautifully done !
Wilco
2/5
Their fourth album. Indie Rock. On the one hand I like the quirky instrumentation. However, on the other hand the album's pacing and the tone of the vocals are so dour it leads to being Bravo. Oscar. Romeo. Echo. Delta.
Terence Trent D'Arby
2/5
His debut album. Rock / Soul. This is plastic 80s music with awful production. D'Arby has a good voice but everything else on this album is not so good. Of the one hundred and sixty seven albums I've listened to so far, the track Rain is a low point. Sign Your Name is the best track but everything else is meh.
Miles Davis
3/5
Experimental Jazz. I like experiment and the non linear. The sounds and tone of the album would definitely go well with acid. Even without I am seeing shapes and colour in my mind. I don't 'Get' the album, I don't think you're necessarily supposed to. On any given day, depending on your state of mind, it will make you feel different ways, including displeasure. It's wonderfully weird and an enigma to me.
Miles Davis
3/5
Ha ! Back to Back Miles Davis, yesterday was Bitches Brew (1970). This one is more chilled and structured. Each instrument's sound kind of washes over you and bathes you in relaxation. I'm not even a Jazz fan, or am I now after these last two albums !? Very enjoyable.
Morrissey
4/5
His fourth album. Indie Rock. Damn you Morrissey ! Your politics and ideas on some things seem crazy to me. You often come across as a rude and unpleasant bloke. However your music and lyrics just pull me in. I dislike you and love you, you fucking glorious bastard !
5/5
Their second album. Rock / Brit Pop / Indie. There were a couple of fucking good sunmers in England in the 90s. 1995 was one of them. Sunshine, East and Central London was my hangout, little bit of Cornwall thrown in. This album was everywhere. Punchy sing a long anthems throughout. From Hello to Don't Look Back In Anger to Cast No Shadow to Champagne Supernova and all in-between. My mates and I, road trips, gigs, pubs, chasing girls, no cares in the world and waking up feeling that anything was possible. Man, I had a great fucking summer that year ! Also where the album cover was photographed there was a pub called The Green Man where we would often meet for beers.
Al Green
4/5
His fourth album. Soul. The opening track and album title song, Let's Stay Together is a smooth, bona fide classic. Great lyrics delivered by that silky voice. In fact we get that throughout the album. La-La For You continues in the same vain. I like the photo for the album cover too. Old Time Lovin' is another good one. This album is a chilled out groove the whole way through.
The Libertines
3/5
Their second album. Indie Rock. I went to their early gigs and had a great time. They had really good energy. Can't Stand Me Now is a good track to open with. From there I liked the pace of the album. It's cheeky and punchy with some gritty lyrics. I like The Ha Ha Wall too. Also, imagine going to your record label in 2025 with Arbeit Mach Frei on your album. Decent album although I prefer Up The Bracket.
John Lennon
4/5
His second solo album. Rock. We're all complicated beings. We have all compromised our beliefs at times, let ourselves and others down. We are a juxtaposition of right and wrong. Lennon's messges in this album range from beautiful and right on to absurd and hypocritical. This album is a journey through all of that and I like it. The production is great too. Lennon's best work comes with the ego check that are his mates in The Beatles, however this is good.
George Jones
2/5
Country. A bit sappy and each track is musically identical to the previous one. Especially with that cliche, whiny guitar sound. It's a relaxing and chilled album I guess. Jones' vocals are nice enough. The album is short and does exactly what it says on the tin.
Yes
3/5
Their third album. Prog Rock. This one is wonderfully complicated and catchy at times. Inevitably though we get the indulgent masturbatathon that is ten minutes of noodling. In fact we get it on track one. The talent is obviously extremely high here. There have been other Prog albums on this list I have surprisingly really enjoyed. For me, this one is okay. I'd give a 2.5 but happy to round up to a solid 3.
Green Day
3/5
Their seventh album. Punk Rock. The opening track, American Idiot and then Boulevard Of Broken Dreams are my two favourite songs from the album. I am just never convinced by how authentic Green Day really are though. Musically there are lots of power chords, some good bass playing and drums.
Frank Sinatra
2/5
Jazz. His ninth album. Is this the original break up album ? Sixteen songs of heartbreak. Sure, Sinatra's voice is that silky smooth vessel we all know and love and the music, well, it's nice. However it got boring pretty fast and by the end it all sounds the same. At the time though he was the man, just before Rock n Roll exploded.
Foo Fighters
3/5
Kudos to Mr Grohl playing every instrument on the album. I am totally on board with this cathartic experience for him in the wake of Kurt Cobain's death. I don't really have one outstanding track from this album but as a whole it's solid and well produced.
Guns N' Roses
4/5
Their debut album. Metal / Hard Rock. That opening track is such a statement. The band are super tight and Axl's vocals are great. Welcome To The Jungle Indeed ! Yes, this track along with Paradise City and Sweet Child O'Mine have been overplayed for almost forty years now but they are certified, good fun bangers. The rest of the album is of course power chords, indulgent solos and cock thrusting but so what !? It's hedonistic and a good time for 53 minutes.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
2/5
I enjoyed Nicholas Cave in Con Air and Face Off but this attempt at being in a band makes me feel like he should put this particular bunny back in the box.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
His seventeenth album. Soul. Love the production on this album. Every note is crystal clear. Whilst not my favourite Stevie Wonder album, it's composition is as you'd expect from this genius. A very smooth and chilled album.
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
Debut album. Soul / Funk. That opening track is one hell of an introduction. One of the smoothest / coolest instrumentals ever. I quite like all the organ noodling. The album is funky and these tracks have been put together well. Is the album Earth shattering? No, but it's fun and does what they set out to do.
Buena Vista Social Club
2/5
Brroke my front tooth today and the nerve is exposed. It's so painful and may well get infected. I have a five day wait for the dentist. Some music, blah blah. Cuba, arrrghh my tooth ! Pain.. fuck off..militant Taylor Swift fans scare me more than a nuclear Iran..I am incoherent..my tooth..fuck off Prog Rock...whatever.. bollocks...I'll have to soak myself in gin until Thursday (Its Saturday)... where did all these bats come from !
Cream
4/5
Their second album. Rock / Psychedelic Rock. Love those Clapton, Blues licks. Sunshine Of Your Love is the obvious classic. It always makes me think of De Niro in Goodfellas. Ha. The rest of the album is solid. Tales Of Brave Ulysses is a very good track. Mother's Lament is...umm..interesting. Great album. Great album sleeve too.
Steely Dan
2/5
Debut album. Soft Rock. Super safe, middle of the road Rock. It's all very nice and well played but I can't get a thrill out of it. Reelin' In The Years is a good track. The rest of the album is...umm..nice, and that's all.
3/5
Their fifth album. Prog Rock. This is clearly complex and requires highly skilled musicians to compose and play. The album is brilliantly whimsical at times yet also over the top. I cannot deny it's magnificence on many levels. The opening track alone is a journey. However I can also understand why a group of kids just behind this generation stripped music right back to it's simplest two or three minute track form, as this kind of album is just not accessible to the average kid with a guitar in his garage in the working class mid 70s areas.
Hot Chip
4/5
Their fifth album. Electronica. How Do You Do, Don't Deny Your Heart and Night And Day are all good tracks. Flutes is too. I am enjoying this. The Synth / Alt Pop / Indie vibes are working for me. Really nice album.
PJ Harvey
4/5
Her second album. Rock / Indie. Raw, emotional and, I think, most important of all l, authentic. The album is produced really well. Rid Of Me is a nice juxtaposition of whispered and in your face vocals. Rub 'Til It Bleeds is a really good track. I also like 50ft Queenie. Yeah, a good album.
The Strokes
5/5
Their debut album. Rock / Indie. One of the great debut albums and one of the most important of the new millennium. Is This It, The Modern Age and Soma are three brilliant tracks to open with. For me, guitar, Indie music had gotten pretty bland on the whole by the late 90s. The Strokes came along and breathed some fresh air into music. Their energy too. The was a big album by a cool band again. So many good songs on this album in addition to those first three Someday, Alone, Together, Last Nite, Hard To Explain and New York City Cops. Yeah, I love this album.
The Band
2/5
Their second album. Rock / Country / Folk. Distinctly average Good Ol' Boys singing about Dixie, Tennessee and a harvest. Cripple Creek sounds like it's full of frogs. One and done for me on this one.
Duran Duran
4/5
Their second album. Rock / New Wave / Pop. Fantastic opening track. Rio along with Hungry Like The Wolf are two quintessential 80s Synth Pop bangers. The bass on this album is brilliant. The production is so crisp. The album art is very cool. The entire thing is just great, excessive 80s Pop. Lonely In Your Nightmare and Hold Back The Rain are also two good tracks. This is a really fun Pop album.
Fleetwood Mac
5/5
Their eleventh album. Rock. This is such an intimate and authentic album. It's a high definition view into the lives of a Rock band who are immersed in love, sex, drugs, creativity and ego. The tracks themsleves have been written about for forty eight years now. I can't really add more. Rumours is a giant of an album that will stand tall in the pantheon of popular music forever.
Christine and the Queens
2/5
Second album. Pop. Interesting, a double album. Once in English and once in French. Euro Lorde? That's how it feels to me. Crystal clear production. Some decent Synth stuff and samples. It's all a bit generic though and nothing really jumped out at me. The French version is the better one.
Koffi Olomide
2/5
Some of the World Music albums I've listened to have been real eye openers and fun. This one is okay. Some nice melodies and sounds. Nothing special though.
The Lemonheads
2/5
Their fifth album. Indie Rock. Every song is the same middle of the road blandness. The vocals aren't great either. The album is...just...boring.
Black Sabbath
4/5
Their second album. Rock / Metal. War Pigs and Paranoid are one hell of an opening ! Planet Caravan changes the pace before Iron Man kicks in with that classic riff. It'd be cool to go back to 1970 and play this to see reactions. A genre defining moment.
Björk
4/5
Her fourth album. Pop / Electronica. I've had this album and Debut (1993) from Bjork come up so far. Both hugely enjoyable. Bjork has an other worldliness and way about her that I cannot help but be drawn to. This album sounds great. The music, the sounds, the vocals. Everything. I can't pick out a single track here. The entire album is a beautiful journey.
Tangerine Dream
3/5
Their fifth album. Electronica. Avant garde and captivating. These guys were doing things ten or twenty years ahead of time. Not for everyone, but an important stepping stone in electronic music.
Ray Charles
4/5
Soul / Blues / Swing. Here in 2025 this album is a window into another time. Beautiful songs and arrangements. Ray Charles vocals are silky smooth. His piano playing marvellous. Timeless.
Spiritualized
3/5
Their third album. Rock / Indie / Shoegaze. Fifty eight collaborators and eighteen months of production. As well as a near twenty minute last track ! An epic and grandiose idea. Brilliant at times, a bit flat at times too. Way better than most of the mainstream at the time though.
Run-D.M.C.
4/5
Their third album..Hip Hop. The first four tracks are really good ! Walk This Way (feat. Aerosmith) is a classic track. Then we get to Hit It Run which is one I really like too. This album and the Run-D.M.C. (1984) album are huge in Hip Hop history. I prefer this one of the two.
Beastie Boys
3/5
Their debut album. Hip Hop. This is a very playful and entertaining album. The fusion of Rock and Hip Hop os very cool. I had a lot of fun listening to this album. However yesterday I had Run-D.M.C. Raising Hell, from the same year and I liked that better.
Harry Nilsson
4/5
His seventh album. Rock / Pop. Gotta Get Up and Driving Along are real nice opening tracks. Down is also pretty good. Without You is a great ballad. The production on this album is brilliant. Coconut is delightfully bonkers. Jump Into The Fire is cool ! A really good album !
The Modern Lovers
2/5
Their debut album. Rock / Punk. Roadrunner is a good opening track. Lyrically fun and I don't kind the vocals on that at all. The album sounds like a drunken jam session by The Doors, The Strokes and The Stones. Only they're meandering and not really making much sense at all. Old World and Pablo Picasso are not good songs, ha. Very average.
Peter Gabriel
2/5
His fifth album. Pop. This is such a slick 80s album. I actually quite like the production on this one. Don't Give Up is a good track. Gabriel's vocals compliment Kate Bush really well. Overall it's a nice album but it just doesn't really grab me at any point.
Buddy Holly & The Crickets
5/5
Debut album. Rock n Roll / Pop. Oh Boy ! What an opening track. The energy, the vocals, brilliant. Not Fade Away, Maybe Baby and That'll Be The Day are all timeless classics.The songs are simple and catchy. This album is one of the foundation stones that popular music and Rock n Roll are built on.
Guided By Voices
1/5
Their eighth album. Rock / Indie. The production is awful, the vocals are terrible, the musicianship is bad and on and on. This sounds like a shitty demo tape by some drunk kids in a garage.
The Isley Brothers
3/5
Their eleven album. Soul / Funk. A hugely influential album that's been covered and sampled countless times. It didn't blow me away and I felt it meandered a little. Some great funk sounds. A solid album.
Janis Joplin
5/5
Her second album. Rock. Wow ! What an opening track ! Move Over, the vocals and that lead guitar, and then we get Cry Baby ! Some start to an album. Her authenticity and passion leaps out at you in every song. Janis is shooting for the stars on this one and gave us a performance that could fill the universe. I'm approaching three hundred albums off this list and this is as good as anything I've heard. Fantastic !
Green Day
2/5
Their third album. Punk / Rock. Skate park pop punk for twelve year olds. These songs would be good for a support act at an Avril Lavigne concert. Nasal, bland and inauthentic. The production is good though.
The Everly Brothers
2/5
Their fourth album. Rock n Roll / Pop. Hmmm, pretty bland. The lyrics are awful. I know this was 1960 but even so the lyrics are so dumb and the music flat. They even make Lucille sound shitty. Thank fuck society exploded into all directions and people had things to get wild about other than 'girls' to put into songs.
Rahul Dev Burman
2/5
Shalimar Shakti de ... 🤠 🤔
Adele
3/5
Her third album. Pop. Hello is a really big opening track. Fantastic. Adele's voice is just great and it hits hard. When We Were Young is also one I like. The rest of the album stays in that safe 'Pop' lane. I am left wishing she'd take more risks both musically and with the subject matter. Unbelievably talented, safe.
Japan
3/5
Their third album. New Wave / Pop. To say this album was influential might be a bit of an understatement in a way. Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet didn't just take influence, in places they outright copied it. Not a huge fan of the vocals on this one, decent album though.
Emmylou Harris
2/5
Her nineteenth album. Country / Folk. It's a very nice album. Well written and put together I guess. I can't say anything bad about it but it doesn't really grab me either. It's a nice album. That's all I can say really.
U2
2/5
Their seventh album. Rock. I've tried and tried and tried again over the years with U2. They just don't do anything for me. Like this album, it isn't bad but it doesn't do anything for me at all. It's bland and I was bored.
The Who
2/5
Their first live album. Rock. I love The Who., previous albums from them on this list have gotten a five from me. I am not a fan of this live album though. I am sure being there was epic for all involved. However as an album it's just okay.
Willie Nelson
3/5
His eighteenth album. Country. Stripped back music. Simple sounds with great lyrical stories being told. I am not a huge fan of Country but this is a good album.
Paul Simon
2/5
His sixth solo album. Rock / Folk / Pop. This is a pretty mellow and, to be honest, dull album. I like Paul Simon's vocals and there is a catchy melody here or there. Overall though the album doesn't really do anything. It's actually quite boring. Where's Art to put some fire into Simon's belly !? Ha. Cars Are Cara...ummm, what to even say on that song..
Arctic Monkeys
5/5
Their debut album. Indie / Rock. What a debut ! One of the best debut albums of all time ! I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, Fake Tales Of San Francisco, Mary Bum, From Ritz To Rubble, all bangers ! The best of British Indie Rock. Lyrically brilliant, musically superb. An album you can dance and sing along to. A real energetic masterpiece of an album !
Rod Stewart
2/5
His third album. Rock. I do like his vocals. His raspy voice is cool. However this is a collection of fairly unremarkable songs, with the exception of Maggie May. The That's All Right cover was a bit hokey. One fantastic song with seven others I can take or leave.
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
2/5
Their seventh album. Country / Folk. One of the tougher albums to get through of the two hundred and twenty odd albums I've had so far. Track three was a noodly, doodly, diddley doo instrumental, and at that point I knew I was in for a long two hours. Still, I did it. I've heard the album and it's filtered through my brain along with thousands of other albums I've heard in my life. This particular one will get filed away deep out in the back of my conciousness and gather some dust. Anyway, I've this strange urge to watch The Dukes of Hazzard so I am signing off...
Public Enemy
4/5
Their fourth album. Hip Hop. Whoa ! This takes me back. A friend at school loaned me this one on cassette and I played it over and over and over again. I'm not even a Hip Hop guy but this album is so good. My favourite track is Can't Truss It but the whole album really jumps along. Great production too.
AC/DC
3/5
Their sixth album. Rock. Brilliant intro and first track. Highway To Hell is a classic Rock song. After that it is all a bit same, same over and over again. However it's a solid Rock album and AC/DC doing their thing. I prefer Back In Black though.
Jeff Beck
3/5
His debut solo album. Rock / Blues. Beck's guitar licks and sound are, of course, great. This sound would inspire so many other musicians and bands. As for the songs, they're all good with the exception of Greensleeves. What can I say, a good album, but didn't blow me away.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
1/5
His ninth album. Rock. This is what happens when you give a horny Jeff Dahmer some MDMA and access to a music studio with musicians in it. By the end of the album you envy the murdered and having your corpse fucked seems like a more enjoyable option than having to listen to this.
Curtis Mayfield
4/5
His third album. Soundtrack for the movie of the same name. Funk / Soul. I have no idea what urban ghetto life for black people was like in 1972 USA, but I am happy for Curtis Mayfield to give me some of his takes on the subject while being smooth as silk. Good storytelling combined with funky jams. Cool as ice.
The Sonics
3/5
Their debut album. Rock. I saw a documentary on Punk where they also explored 70s Pub Rock in the UK. This reminds me of that scene. Up tempo covers of old two or three minute songs. Its just good fun. Raw, energetic and dancey.
Ray Charles
4/5
Soul / Jazz. How can this be abrasively smooth !? Ha. A big band, Charles' soulful vocals, a delightful and chilled album. All these tracks and the sound are timeless really. Thirty eight minutes well spent.
Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart
3/5
Visions Of You is a nice opening track. From there it's a mash up of influences from all over really, kind of mixed in with pop fusion. An interesting listen.
Public Enemy
3/5
Their second album. Hip Hop. In your face, militant and loud. Some thoughtful, funny, silly and poetic lyrics. Chuck D sounds particularly good. I think overall I liked Apocalypse 91 better but Yeeeeaah Boiiiiii ...
Common
3/5
His fourth album. Hip Hop / Soul. Smooth, soulful, jazzy vibes. It's a pretty chilled sound throughout. The production is crisp. Lyrically a little up and down but overall a decent album.
The Undertones
2/5
Their second album. Pop Punk. Pretty average. I was soon bored and it's not even a long album. I didn't like the Under The Boardwalk cover either. Overall a bit dull.
Jethro Tull
4/5
Flutes are amazing. This one time at band camp, Sheryl played Beethoven's 6th Symphony in V major using one. It was quite the performance. After the ovations were finished we had lashings and lashings of fish tacos for supper. Wonderful times. Wonderful.
Malcolm McLaren
3/5
Musically this is a fun album. Some good sounds and vocals. It's a lot of fun. However I am not a fan of Malcolm McLaren's shtick. He was a guy who was happy to use people and appropriate to gain notoriety and fill his own bank account. So a bit of an oddity for me. A fun album put together by a dick head.
The Divine Comedy
2/5
I've zero recollection of this album from the mid 90s. No wonder really. Questionable lyrics and themes. Talking a load of bollocks really. There is a quirky Britishness to it, sure. However it's a forgettable album, which is exactly what I'll do now.
The Replacements
4/5
Their third album. Indie / Rock / Punk. My first time with this album. Really liked it. At times I wondered if it was Post Punk, Punk or ahead of it's time and pre Grunge, Grunge. Black Diamond and Seen Your Video are particularly good tracks. Good energy, fun album.
Nas
4/5
Debut album. Hip Hop. As debut albums go this is up there as a real good one. Hip Hop isn't a genre I am super knowledgeable on but this album has great flow and beats. The production is slick and the lyrics go hard.
Napalm Death
1/5
I used to be a cleaner in this shitty club in Dresden. This fucking awful band were playing and I was backstage waiting for my shift to start. I went to take a dump and found this gammy cunt in a wheelchair shouting out loud in agony that he wished if only he could jerk his paralysed dick off while listening to two guys boff a tranny in the disabled toilets. After the gig I had to clean up his tears and then the jizz in the bathroom. I quit the next day to take a better job picking lobsters out of Jane Mansfield's ass.
George Michael
3/5
His second solo album. Pop / Rock. Freedom! '90 is easily the stand out track on this one. His vocals are fantastic. The production is good, maybe a bit echoey. It's a quality album but meanders a little and lacks another punch after Freedom! '90. Always liked George though, a brilliant artist. I just think he has better songs elsewhere.
LCD Soundsystem
5/5
Albums like this are why I enjoy doing the list. First time hearing it. Absolutely loved it. The ingredients review at the top is a perfect summary. I need not add to it. Instead I've poured a crispy cold Stella Artois, it's 103°F here in Western Australia. I'll enjoy my beer and burn my English Pommy skin as I sit out in the yard and let this album wash over me again, whilst also forgetting about The Ashes 🏏
Tim Buckley
2/5
His seventh album. Pop / Folk / Psychedelic Rock. Sex obsessed drunk asshole rambles for thirty nine minutes.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
His third album. Rock / Psychedelic Rock. Still the best to ever pick up a guitar. That sound he generates with the psychedelic production is just amazing. The album does meander somewhat but when Jimi is leading the way I've no issues with that at all. As for the album's ending, is there a better two track ending on any other album ever !?! Two monumental songs in All Along The Watchtower and Voodo Child (Slight Return). Genius.
Jeru The Damaja
3/5
Debut album. Hip Hop. The beats and flow were pretty chilled to listen to after getting back from the beach. Sure, some of the themes haven't aged well, however overall I liked it.
Elvis Presley
3/5
His tenth album. Rock n Roll / Rock. Early Elvis and 68' Comeback Special Elvis are my favourite versions of the King of Rock n Roll. This album has two absolutely brilliant tracks with In The Ghetto and Suspicious Minds. However the rest of the album is fairly cheesy filler. That voice though !
Afrika Bambaataa
3/5
As a historical and influential album on the Electro and Hip Hop genres this is an important one. Obviously, now, it sounds so dated but it's a pioneering album, and you have to start somewhere. Some interesting sounds and beats for 1986.
OutKast
4/5
As I fired up the album generator today I actually said out loud to the Universe maybe no Hip Hop today (I've had a lot this last two weeks). Then this popped up with over two hours run time. So as I begin I am saying out loud to the Universe that I hope Margot Robbie does not knock on my door today ! 🤔
As for the album. It's bloated, indulgent, over produced, has some bangers, some mingers and everything in between. It was actually a pretty fun two hours overall... oh, who's that at the door ?...
Lynyrd Skynyrd
3/5
Their debut album. Rock. This is an exercise in separating the artists from their art. These guys were arseholes, however they could write, play and sing some good songs. Free Bird is the stand out track on what is a fairly solid debut album. Some catchy licks throughout.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
His second album. Folk / Rock. This is more a poetry recital than an album. Each track ia barely sung and the music is very simple and soft. It's good storytelling, simplistic and melancholy. I quite liked it. A thoughtful journey.
Alice Cooper
3/5
His fifth album. Hard Rock. This wasn't the Glam Rock / Cheesy Rock I expected. It's Rock with aome Blues and Jazz sounds through it. Some fun lyrics and good riffs. The album is short, sharp and quite punchy. A lot of fun.
Gillian Welch
3/5
Her third album. Country. Nice vocals, nice songs and nice musicianship. It was all...nice. no more, no less.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Debut album. Folk. My second Cohen album in four days. More of the same really. A barely sung poetry recital with good storytelling and simple music. It's a thoughtful journey and well put together.
Sleater-Kinney
4/5
Their third album. Punk / Rock / Indie. Authentic, angsty, distorted, shrieky, messy and punchy. The album is kind of all over the place but it works for me. It's also nice for a 90s Indie Rock album to be short and to the point. I liked it.
Gary Numan
5/5
Debut solo album. Pop / Synth / New Wave. An extraordinary and deeply influential album. Right from track one the mood is set, Airlane sounds way ahead of it's time for 1979. The dystopian and almost oppressive feel mixes in with an other worldliness for such an atmospheric album. I totally identify with Numan's 'I don't fit in' vibe. Track after track hits home. Then there's Cars, what a song ! A wonderful album !
The Rolling Stones
3/5
Their eighth British album / Tenth in the USA. Rock. Gimme Shelter is an absolute cracker of an opening track. You Can't Always Get What You Want is a great closing track. Sandwiched in between are a bunch of songs where a bloke from Dartford, Kent tries to convince us he's from Kentucky or something. It meanders a bit really. An extra point because of two brilliant songs.
Bon Jovi
3/5
Their third album. Rock / Metal. Peak 80s Hair Metal Faux Rock ! Is it cheesey ? Yes. Is is simple? Yes. Does it have catchy lyrics and provide some good fun ? Yes, not everything has to be Sgt Pepper. This album does exactly what it says on the tin. The album isn't trying to do anything other than make you dance and sing along, and I am fine with it.
SAULT
2/5
Their third album. Soul / Funk. Race is not something I am.bothered about, either way. What's it mean to be black ? What's is mean to ne white ? I don't care. I'll judge those I meet on how they are as a person, it's that simple for me. As for the music, it meanders along and was uneventful on the whole.
Various Artists
1/5
Blah !
Blah !
BLAH !
The Doors
4/5
Their fifth album. Rock. Roadhouse Blues is a really good, sexy, opening track. Waiting For The Sun is a cool psychedelic change of pace. I like Peace Frog too. The rest of the album is good enoigh but I prefer The Doors and L.A. Women overall.
Anthrax
1/5
Their third album. Thrash Metal. I was first exposed to Anthrax in the 80s where I saw piles of rotten, bloated, stinking, diseased farm animals being burned. The stench was enoigh to make you gag and your eyes burn. It took a week to wash the smell and feel from your hair and skin. This album is my second exposure to Anthrax and the resulting experience was mostly the same.
Curtis Mayfield
3/5
His seventh album. Soul / Funk. Some nice lyrics combined with an introspective tone and soft funk vibes. A nice album.
Frank Zappa
3/5
His second album. Psychedelic Rock. Willie The Pimp is a really nice jam as is Son Of Mr. Green Gene's. From there it loses it's vibe a little for me. I do like Zappa, I love Freakout, Mother's Of Invention. This album is good though.
Missy Elliott
2/5
Her fourth album. Hip Hop. Missy Elliott has a cool voice for female Hip Hop. Some nice beats but lyrically I found it boring and a bit self indulgent. Pretty average.
3/5
Their fifth album. Soul / Funk. This is a very busy album. Lots of sounds and styles being fused together. It's a Soul, Funk, Jazz, hint of Raggae and Rock album. Definitely a cool and relaxing listen. Nice.
Shivkumar Sharma
3/5
Light Classical Hindustan. These world albums are often a nice surprise. This one was too. Beautiful sounds and musicianship. Very relaxing too.
Prince
2/5
His ninth album. Pop / Funk / Rock. Slick production, sexy lyrics and a funky Pop sound. All the things I expect from a Prince album. However this album still somehow manages to miss for me. By the time Slow Love came on I was bored, and I stayed that way. I thought this album a bit directionless and tired.
R.E.M.
4/5
Their fifth album. Indie / Rock. I've always been a fan of R.E.M.
Whilst this may not be my favourite album of theirs, it is still really good. Well produced, great vocals and cool general vibe. Also, I'll see your We Didn't Start The Fire, Billy Joel, and raise you It's The End Of The World As We Know It, R.E.M. ! The One I Love is a really good track too. Good album !
Underworld
3/5
Their fourth album. Techno / Electronica. Juanita: Kiteless: To Dream Of Love is an epic sixteen minute banger to open with. From there we have New Wave, Drum n Bass, Dance and even Goth vibes. Underworld have better albums, this one was okay.
Beck
4/5
His eighth album. Rock / Folk. This isn't the cartoonish, random, witty, in your face Beck. This is melancholy, thoughtful, dour Beck showing us life can punch anyone in the mouth at times. The production on this is crystal clear. I like the use of strings when they show up and Beck's vocals are on point. A surprise from Beck for me and I liked it. All in all, very good.
Bauhaus
3/5
Their second album. New Wave / Post Punk / Rock. A very Joy Division esque opening track. Hair Of The Dog. Of Lilies And Remains and Dancing are good tracks. Industrial production and plenty of reverb. All in all it's a pretty good album. Cure Division !?
Kacey Musgraves
1/5
Her fourth album. Country / Pop. Slow Burn is an apt name for the opening track. This album is slow and man does it burn your ears. The next track starts with the listing of the days of the week trope and that's about as good as the lyrics get on the album. This is soulless, inauthentic, auto tuned bilge.
Gene Clark
2/5
His second solo album. Folk / Country / Rock. The White Light track is about as close as it gets to outright copying Bob Dylan. That whole track could be construed as a rip off. The album does have some good lyrics and storytelling throughout though but just how authentic is it ? It's an okay album but that's all.
Blur
4/5
Their third album. Britpop / Indie. In England at the time I thought Britpop was a fun and colourful change from Grunge and hearing how tough and bleak life is for the disaffected. Instead bands like Blur, Oasis and Pulp etc told us we can still be disaffected but live forever, get drunk, fuck, take Es and Whizz, dance with girls and boys and just be common people. This is one of those albums. It's not too serious or dour, it's colourful, upbeat, whimsical and fun for working class people to bop along to and still say fuck off to all the shit.
Mike Ladd
1/5
"These goldfish know jujitsu, better watch yo'self"
Ghostface Killah
2/5
His fifth album. Hip Hop. The production on this is really very good. Other than that it's full of pretty shitty lyrics, overused tropes, crap skits and is just too long, it went on and on. Yesterday I had a Mike Ladd album that was so bad I gave it a one. This album too is going to lower my average. Another bad Hip Hop album today (there are some great ones on this list). This scores two based on the production.
Eagles
3/5
Their fifth album. Rock. The title song, for good or ill, is an all time classic. Everyone knows that track. The album overall is musically proficient, there are silky smooth harmonies and sweet noodly little guitar solos throughout. In some ways there's absolutely nothing wrong with this album, which is also what is wrong with it and the album is a prime example of why, by 1976, we needed Punk.
Paul Revere & The Raiders
3/5
Their fifth album. Pop Rock / Rock. A safe, middle of the road, 60s Pop Rock album. Some nice sounds and songs. Kicks and I'm Not Your Stepping Stone being the best tracks.
Dolly Parton
2/5
Three great talents and some lovely harmonies. However this is depressingly slow with no stand out track. Thirty eight minutes is not long but it sure felt like it. Even for 1987 this was outdated. These ladies have far better material elsewhere.
Sonic Youth
3/5
Their third album. Inide / Rock. Starpower is a good track. A very atmospheric album with some good production. I don't know, it's neither good nor bad. A solid yet middling album.
Beatles
5/5
Their third album. Rock / Pop. Those two opening tracks are great, If I Fell, And I Love Her and Can't Buy Me Love are all stone cold classics too. This is probably their most 'Pop' album. John bring cheeky and in your face while Paul is hitting us a little more softly. Wonderful album.
Tom Tom Club
3/5
Their debut album. New Wave / Funk. Wordy Rappinghood is a delightfully bonkers opening track, very funky. Genius Of Love is hard not to bop along to and is also slightly mad. I really like the album sleeve. Overall it's a fun album and something I'd never have known about if not for this list. Enjoyed it.
Love
3/5
I just wanted to use the word sobriquet as I read it on another review here and learned something new. Also this was a nice album with lovely arrangements.
Jimmy Smith
3/5
Smooth, charming and chilled.
Janelle Monáe
3/5
Her debut album. Pop / Soul. Very slick and well produced. Some great vocals too. It went by quick for a sixty-eight minute album. Very busy with nice arrangements. Pretty good.
The Auteurs
3/5
Their debut album. Rock / Pop. Some nice British wit and sarcasm in the lyrics. Overall a decent album without any real banger on there. Indie Brit Pop filler type thing.
Mj Cole
3/5
Debut album. UK Garage. Some catchy beats and couldn't help bopping along. Is this a ground breaking album worthy of deep takes and discussion. No, but it doesn't want to be. It's a bit of fun, well produced and an uplifting tempo.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4/5
Their third album. Rock / Punk / Electronica. Zero is a really cool opening salvo to have on the album and followed by the energetic Heads Will Roll. Enjoyed those first two tracks. In fact the first half of the album is actually very good. It does a drop off a little after that but is still good and well produced.
Beatles
5/5
Their sixth album. Rock / Pop / Psychedelic Rock. My favourite Beatles album sleeve and maybe even my favourite Beatles album. Every song is unique and so well written. I could write an essay on each track. I won't, all I can say is this is a masterpiece. In My Life has to be one of the finest songs ever made. I've a deep emotional attachment to this album for various reasons so I am unapologetically giving it a five. This album was their great leap forward.
Khaled
2/5
World / Arab Music. I've nothing I can really frame this with, this is very much out of my zone. Musically there are some good catchy beats, lyrically I had to look things up and can identify with some of the themes. It's just different, but nice. 2.5
Duke Ellington
3/5
Jazz just isn't my thing. I can appreciate the great musicianship and that's about it really.
Donald Fagen
2/5
Debut solo album. Rock / Pop. Whilst there isn't really much wrong with this album in many ways it's still as middle of the road and safe as can be. There's no edge and not much depth with some pretty standard tropes and themes.
Pixies
4/5
Their second album. Indie Rock. Brilliant production, angsty lyrics, that bass sound, cool backing vocals and well timed changes in tempo. A fine 'alt rock' album that was an obvious influence on many who followed.
Dinosaur Jr.
4/5
Their second album. Grunge / Indie Rock. Raw, energetic, noisy, incoherent, moody proto Grunge. The wall of hard guitar sound is great and non stop. The album's unpolished sound and imperfections are what makes it. I enjoyed listening to this one throughout.
Joni Mitchell
4/5
Her fourth album. Folk. I find the likes of Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Janis Joplin and whole host of singer/ songwriters from the 60s and 70s so much more authentic and real than the female artists of today on the whole. This album feels like a raw, wide open window into her very soul.
The Flaming Lips
3/5
I was combing my hair as this album played. I saw a bird out the window, as it flew majestically by, a helicopter appeared and sucked it up into the rotor blades. The bird was turned to mincemeat as it's stomach contents and innards sprayed onto unsuspecting people below. Talk about Feeling Yourself Disintegrate, poor bird.
Can
4/5
Their fourth album. Art Rock / Psychedelic Rock. An album and group I'd not heard of until today. I am blown away that an album from '73 is structured this way. It sounds futuristic even in 2026. I loved the sounds and atmosphere it gave me. The drumming is just superb. A really good new discovery today with this album.
The Verve
4/5
Their third album. BritPop / Indie. Bitter Sweet Symphony and Sonnet are two fantastic opening tracks. The Drugs Don't Work and Lucky Man are two fantastic songs too. The rest of the album meanders somewhat. As an eighteen year old working class lad in council estate Britain in 1997 this album was a huge influence, still is. Probably a comfort album for me but still a four out of five.
The Style Council
2/5
Their debut album. New Wave / Pop. A bit of a strange mess this one. The album is all over the place. A Gospel is an embarrassment really. Some odd choices all round.
Billy Bragg
3/5
His third album. Rock / Folk / Punk. At the height of Thatcher's 80s Britain where we were told there is no such thing as society, a voice like Billy Bragg's was needed. Collectivism and a message that we really are all in this together. The songs are well written with some great and charming lyrics. His vocals can grate somewhat after a while but nonetheless the messges are clear.
Buzzcocks
4/5
Their first studio album. Punk. Punchy, smart and uplifting energy. Good, solid Punk riffs and overall a fun album. It has the energy and not the gritty lyrics of other 70s UK Punk albums, which in this case is a good thing. The album does exactly what it says on the tin. I also liked the unusual ending for a Punk album.
Beck
4/5
His fifth album. Alternative Rock / Indie. I like it, Beck's satirical and surrealistic approach with his cheap aesthetic works for me. This album is one of his best. The New Pollution, Derelict, Novacane and Where It's At are all good tracks. Good album.
David Bowie
4/5
His eleventh album. Rock. Once again Bowie seems ahead of his time. So many sounds, beats and themes from this appear through the 80s and beyond. This album is artsy and maybe even pretentious but what global Rock God isn't !? Ha. This album is a very solid four out of five and one of Bowie's best.
XTC
3/5
Their ninth album. Alternative Rock. A decent enough album. It flows quite well and has whimsical, fun and hard hitting lyrics. The influences on this album are obvious with who they're trying to sound like. That last track, Dear God, certainly packs a punch in terms of it's subject matter.
5/5
Their eighth album. Pop Rock / Psychedelic Rock. A masterpiece! The album's structure is flawless. Each track is a delight. With A Little Help From My Friends and Lucy In The Sky are two amazing tracks. However, the final track, A Day In The Life is one of the finest songs ever written! An incredible song. This is one of the great albums. I adore it. Thankyou John, Paul, George and Ringo, not forgetting Mr Martin too.
TV On The Radio
3/5
Their third album. Indie Rock. I don't know how I feel about this one either way. Was it captivating ? No. Was it awful ? No. The fifty minutes of the album came and went without me disliking it I suppose. I'd give it a 2.5 if I could, right down the middle. I'll round it up to a three for decent production.
Einstürzende Neubauten
1/5
This sounds like Martin Bormann got high as fuck on uppers, broke into a Black n Decker factory and let his rage spill out...
Screaming Trees
3/5
Their seventh album. Grunge / Alt Rock. Hmm, Grunge Light. The album is okay. I mean the songs are all nice enough. It's all jusy very middle of the road. The album could really be titled 'Beige' by Screaming Trees. 2.5 out of 5 but I'll round it up to a three here.
OutKast
2/5
Their fourth album. Hip Hop. Good production and some okay beats. Mostly though it's jusy shouty shit. Half an hour too long at best and to be honest it's so boring !
Keith Jarrett
4/5
The background story to this and the resulting performance is astounding really. This is an artist, story and album I'd no clue about until today. Amazing.
k.d. lang
2/5
Her debut album. Country. Lovely vocals. Overall though an album of dour Country cover songs is an album of dour Country cover songs.
Talking Heads
4/5
Their fourth album. Post Punk / New Wave. Crosseyed and Painless, Great Curve and Once In A Lifetime are all brilliant tracks. The bass playing throughout the album by Tina Weymouth is superb. The entire album is relentlessly good, it's speeds on by. A fantastic album.
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
2/5
Their second album. Prog Rock. Some Prog albums on this list have genuinely surprised me and I've enjoyed them. This one not so much. Yes they can play overly complex music but none of these tracks feel like songs. This album makes me feel like a passive consumer of the music when I'd rather be an active participant, i.e. Punk.
Le Tigre
3/5
Their debut album. Indie Rock / Punk. Deceptacon is a really catchy opening and the album's best song. The album has a lot of good tones and beats. Musically it is very good, lyrically it is a bit preachy, but at least they have authentic feelings and ideas and aren't doing a late 90s Spice Girls.
New Order
3/5
Their third album. Post Punk / New Wave. Musically I love this album. It sounds fantastic. Unfortunately, like many others, I can't get past Bernard's vocals. He's off key enough to take me out of the album. There is a moment on each track where I wince. A decent album but could have been much more.
5/5
Their seventh album. Rock / Pop. Well, well, well. I get this the day Andrew got arrested. Very apt. Anyway fuck that piece of shit and his family. This album is gloriously brilliant and The Kinks at their best. Lyrically poetic, whimsical and yet meaningful. Great music too. A beautiful album.
Talvin Singh
3/5
Debut album. Electronica. A pretty chilled Electronica album with some nice beats and tones. Ok was ok. I'd give it a 2.5 rounded up to 3 on here.
The Byrds
2/5
Their sixth album. Country / Rock / Folk. I am on a run of a lot of country this last week or two. I listen to all albums in full. I don't skip a single note. That Country twang and diddley doodling on every single track in the genre is going to give me PTSD. It's like scratching finger nails down a chalkboard.
The White Stripes
5/5
Their fourth album. Rock / Alt Rock. The album is stacked, right from those opening bass notes all the way through to the end. Lyrically playful and poetic throughout. Seven Nation Army and The Hardest Button To Button are my two favourite tracks, but honestly the whole thing just rocks.
The Sugarcubes
4/5
Debut album. Alt Rock / Post Punk. The Post Punk band that had Bjork as the lead singer before she went solo. As such this album is the suitably bonkers journey you'd expect. The album is short, sharp and great fun. A really good album. Birthday is a brilliant track. Bjork is an absolute treasure.
Soul II Soul
2/5
Their debut album. House / Soul / Hip Hop. The production is crisp and there are some funky beats but it does get a bit one dimensional and boring. Back To Life is the obvious banger and was a huge hit at the time. The rest of the album felt pretty dull. African Dance made me think of Ron Burgundy's flute solo in Anchorman 🤔
Richard Thompson
4/5
Their second album. Rock / Folk. When I Get To The Border is a real nice opening track. The whole album is actually a nice surprise. Finding gems that were previously unknown to me is a large part of what this journey is all about. I Want To See The Bright Lights is another real good track. A very, very good album. Thirty six minutes flew by.
Television
4/5
Debut album. New Wave / Rock. Fantastic guitar work throughout the album. The overall sound as a whole is clearly a huge influence on many bands that followed. The title track was my favourite from a very good album.
Ice Cube
5/5
His third album. Hip Hop / Gangsta. I am a white guy who grew up in a working class area of 1980s London. I was introduced to Hip Hop in the late 80s. That era of Hip Hop / Rap is still my favourite kind. Late 80s / Early 90s. The lyrics, beats, samples and vocals are so good from that era. This album is one of those. Really good and socially on point. I am a fan of all genres and by no means a Hip Hop oracle but this shit is good !
Manic Street Preachers
4/5
Their fourth album. Britpop / Rock. I wasn't a Manics fan back in the 90s. I couldn't quite put my finger on why, I found them kind of a annoying. As I get older my nostalgia gene must be kicking in. Whenever I revisit them now I enjoy the music, vocals and lyrics. This album isn't their best but it is quite anthemic with a big sound. A good toe tapper and sing along album. 90s me was such a music snob, I'd tell him to get over him/my ..self ..
Tina Turner
3/5
Her fifth album. Pop / Rock. What a voice ! Tina Turner's vocals are about as powerful and bold as you can get. The 80s production on this, by contrast, is pretty fucking awful. Even What's Love Got To Do With It is ruined by the production. Cliche 80s sounds and beats. The 3 that I am giving this album is all down to Tina Turner's voice.
The Fall
2/5
Their fifteenth album. Alt Rock / Pop. Musically this album is really bloody good. It's just those vocals ! Mark E Smith's delivery takes me out of each track.
The Byrds
2/5
Their debut album. Rock / Folk. A rip on the Beatles and Bob Dylan, a very average version. Still, this is way, way better than that Sweetheart Of The Rodeo bollocks !
Sarah Vaughan
3/5
Jazz is not in my wheelhouse. I am not qualified to judge Jazz albums. The vocals are great and overall the album sounded smooth. That's all I can say.
Ramones
5/5
Debut album. Punk. One of the best debut albums of all time. Also an album of mega influence. It's short, sharp and punchy. The complete opposite of the Prog and huge stadium Rock bands on the other end of the spectrum at the time. I like all that too but Punk was needed to strip it all back again. 29 mins flies by.
Britney Spears
1/5
Debut album. Pop. Bubble gum, American white girl, cheese Pop, sung nasally while utilising fucking awful production.
LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE 😢 😭 !!
(as in leave this shit well alone)
Kate Bush
4/5
Her fifth album. New Wave / Art Rock. Running Up That Hill is a fantastic opening track and would sound better than most stuff if dropped today. The entire album is a fascinating journey through the mind of a woman who seems other worldly at times. Her vocals are great. The production spot on.
Pink Floyd
4/5
Their ninth album. Prog / Psychedelic Rock. For me this is a case of two things being true. On the one hand this is a masterful and seminal album. On the other it is also a self indulgent wankfest. These guys would sit in a studio enjoying the smell of their farts. Seminal Fart Rock !
10cc
3/5
Their second album. Rock / Soft Rock. The Worst Band In The World is hilarious. Great humour. The album is experimental, whimsical and taking the piss. It's almost like they're trying to make an anti album. I found it oddly fun.
Rocket From The Crypt
3/5
Rock / Punk. High energy Punk that powers on relentlessly and even throws in some horns. Not awful, not great. Right down the middle. 2.5 out of 5..
Ian Dury
3/5
Debut album. Pop Rock. Having grown up around Billericay, Shoeburybess and Burnham on Crouch I've met a few Dickies, Joyce and Vickys. This quirky and whimsical album is something I guess you'll either get or simply just hate it. It is a piss take but also much more than that. I suppose you kind of had to be there to get this one.
Muddy Waters
4/5
Blues. Soulful, gritty Blues with great performances by all the musicians and Muddy Waters himself. The slide guitar, the harmonica, the piano, the vocals. All brilliantly done. Mannish Boy is a great opening track. Fantastic album.
The Stone Roses
5/5
Indie Rock. For me, this is one of the great albums and up their for best debut album of all time. The lyrics, vocals, guitar sounds, the swagger and the clothes. As a young fella in 80s England I loved their whole vibe. It was all a bit bleak in working England and this album seemed colourful and dancy, it spoke of love and loss and life in a way that made me feel positive about myself and my mates around me. I love every track. 48 minutes of perfection.
Ash
4/5
Debut album. Indie Rock. Anything that kicks off with a Tie Fighter has to be good, and this is ! Lose Control is an aggressive banger to open up with. Goldfinger and Girl From Mars are two excellent tracks that follow. Yes, there are maybe a couple of what feel like filler tracks in the middle but Angel Interceptor picks things up again and we then get a decent run to the end. A very good album.
Big Brother & The Holding Company
5/5
Their second album. Their last with Janis Joplin before she went solo. Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Blues. Does it get any more freakout fuck the power acid Rock than this!? Janis Joplin's vocals are gravely and aggressive, the Bluesy guitar sounds great too. Piece Of My Heart is a stone cold classic song. The faux live sound works for me. I liked and enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
Astor Piazzolla
3/5
I feel like I shoild be in a fancy smoking jacket, silk trousers and soft comfy slippers for this album. Sitting on a chesterfield armchair sipping expensive brandy. Instead I am in my cheap jocks and a vest top sipping water under the air con on a 40c day. Not my usual thing but enjoyable enough. Sounded like the score from Twelve Monkeys in the latter half. Ha.
Brian Eno
3/5
His third album. Experimental / Art Rock. Firstly, and unsurprisingly, the production on this is excellent. This is the bridge between Eno the Rock Star and Eno of the Ambient Music. This era of music fascinates me. You have this experimental stuff and Prog Rock with it's hugely complex music, huge stadium Rock bands, Glam Rock, Pop as always and then Punk comes along and punches everything right in the face. Then we get Post Punk and the New Wave. 1974/75 to say 1983/84 with all those nuances and directions in music was some era !
Supergrass
5/5
Indie / Brit Pop. Their debut album. A cracking debut, set at a frantic pace. I'd Like To Know is a real good opening track, it also sets the tone and there is no let up from there really. Alright was a big hit at the time and rightly so. Lose It is also a good track. An excellent album, a toe tapper throughout.
De La Soul
4/5
Their debut album. Hip Hop. The humour and delivery style are great. Funky beats and fun to listen to. Decent production too. The skits are kind of lame in 2026 but I can get past that. This is definitely one of the most important and best Hip Hop albums ever.
Happy Mondays
2/5
Their second album. Indie Rock. This was pretty average. The production of this album was a drug fuelled bender and it shows. I often think that the Happy Mondays only have one good song and that wasn't on this album anyway.
Funkadelic
4/5
Their tenth album. Funk / Psychedelic. Probably the best Funk album of all time. Some of those guitar and bass licks are amazing. A real fun album. I love fried ice cream!
The Dave Brubeck Quartet
4/5
I always find these Jazz albums hard to review as they're so far out of my wheelhouse. This one though is definitely my favourite on the list so far. Very smooth and chilled.
Pavement
3/5
Their second album. Indie / Alt Indie. A bit middle of the road slacker rock. Neither bad nor great. Some good lyrics here and there. Felt like drop out stoner music. Like, whatever dude.
Madonna
3/5
Her seventh album. Pop / Dance. Good production and an ethereal tone throughout. This is a long way from the bubble gum Pop Madonna of the 80s. A solid album without blowing me away.
The Specials
2/5
Their second album. Ska / Reggae. The always difficult second album after a successful debut. This one is mediocre to me with odd changes in tone. Some tracks were reminiscent of cheesy 80s supermarket adverts on TV. Their first album is far better.
Solomon Burke
3/5
Soul. Solomon Burke's vocals are fantastic, beautifully sung throughout. The songs themselves are simple and enjoyable. Thirty four chilled and enjoyable minutes.
Depeche Mode
5/5
Their seventh album. New Wave / Synth Pop. Firstly the production on this is pretty much perfect, flawless. Perosnal Jesus is a high point. Enjoy The Silence is an all time banger ! What a track, a timeless classic ! Policy Of Truth is also very good. The ominous overtones throughout are just right without being overbearing. What an album !
Billy Joel
2/5
His fifth album. Pop / Rock.
Chandler Bing was such a middle of the road, boringly beige man. He was a number cruncher at some faceless corporation, he drank coffee at the same place every single day, could only get laid by his best mates sister and hid his fear of anything unknown or remotely edgy with lame attempts at humour. He is welcome to listen to this middle of the road album as he walks around in his beige outfit harassing women who can clearly see he barely has a wank in him.
A Tribe Called Quest
4/5
Their debut album. Hip Hop. Definitely a nice change of pace from Gangsta Rap. Clever and streetwise lyrics with some positivity too. The production is excellent as is the vocal delivery. Can I Kick It is a great track. A fantastic Hip Hop album.
Jane's Addiction
1/5
Their second album. Alt Rock / Rock. Really fucking annoying vocals. Obvious is a fucking awful track ! The album is a mess and all over the place. I've been on a good run of albums for a few weeks. This one brought that to a crashing halt. In the words of Jane's Addiction... Stop ✋️
George Harrison
5/5
His first solo release after The Beatles breakup. Produced by Phil Spector and features the likes of Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Billy Preston among others. An album on an epic scale, the remastered version is two hours long, the 50th anniversary version is four hours long !
What can I say !? A wall of sound indeed, with lyrics, arrangements and musicianship of the highest quality. I could write an essay on this but I see others have already covered that and have done it well. So I'll just say this epic is an absolutely beautiful album. The quiet Beatle ! Ha genius !
The Who
5/5
Their fourth album. Rock / Rock Opera. The original Rock Opera. Beautiful Rock. Grand. Epic. Loud. The 60s metaphorically summed up in an album. Trigger being questioned by Slater.. "Nah, you're deaf, dumb and blind these days Trig, I bet you're a wizard on the pinball machine"... what's not to like. A fantastic piece of art !
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
3/5
Their second album. Latin / Salsa / Cha Cha. It was kind of a fun albim. It was good. This genre of music is outside my usual tastes. Glad to have heard it though.
Sonic Youth
3/5
Their fourth album. Indie Rock / Alt Rock. Thankfully it wasn't all Hair Metal and slow motion high kicks in spandex during the 80s. There was a more ominous flip side under the veneer of all that 80s gloss and this album is part of that. The album broods along oppressively in it's tone and tackles some darker themes. I thought it was good without being blown away.
Taylor Swift
1/5
Her ninth album. Pop. Totally inauthentic. For the real thing see Carole King, Joni Mitchell Stevie Nicks, Tracy Chqpman, Amy Winehouse even Alanis Morissette. All authentic at the very least. There are plenty of amazing female artists, not this algorithm driven mustard shit !
Frank Ocean
1/5
His debut album. Pop / R n B. This was a rough fifty five mins.
Animal Collective
1/5
Their eighth album. Pop / Alt Rock. I am 362 albums in and never given a score of 1 to three albums in a row until now. Thanks to Taylor Swift, Frank Ocean and this shite. There is actually some great music out there today and there was in the 2010s too, however it tends to be found under the radar. The stuff that gets spat out in the main from around 2009 onwards is pigs swill. Popular music took a terrible nose dive from this kind of era onwards. Utter bollocks !
The Smashing Pumpkins
4/5
Their second album. Grunge / Alt Rock. Overall I like it, the distorted guitars, the drumming, the lyrics and melodies etc. Billy Corgan's vocals do grate on me after a while. An Alt Rock classic though.
Baaba Maal
3/5
World Music
Something I'd never heard of. An interesting enough journey. Some nice musicianship with a pretty chilled out vibe. No idea what the songs are about but with this kind of thing I often like to make that part up in my head as I go along.
Nick Drake
4/5
His third album. Folk /Acoustic. A 100% authentic, raw, beautiful and even tragic album. Simple melodies and soft vocals. Twenty eight minutes of complicated simplicity from a man struggling on the inside but still able to make something beautiful on the outside.
Goldfrapp
3/5
Their fourth album. Pop / Electronica. Ethereal, dreamy vibes. Very soft and smooth vocals. It's all a bit same as it doesn't really go anywhere. Decent enough album.
The Young Gods
4/5
Their second album. French Experimental / Industrial. Well, this is bonkers and I found I am all for it. It's all over the place structurally and I've no idea what they're on about but really enjoyed this.
Marvin Gaye
4/5
His thirteenth album. Soul. The title track is an all time smooth and sexy classic. The whole album is wetter and harder than a vintage Peter North compilation video. Great smooth vocals with freaky and funky sex melodies. Bites bottom lip.
Depeche Mode
3/5
Their sixth album. New Wave / Synth Pop. I am a huge fan of other Depeche Mode albums. Violator being an example. This one is a bit too brooding for me and falls flat. It's good bit that's all.
Jimi Hendrix
5/5
His debut album. Rock / Psychedelic Rock. It's 1967, your debut and the first track you drop on your album is Purple Haze ! From there it keeps coming, Hey Joe, The Wind Cries Mary, Fire, Foxey Lady, Are You Experienced. Not only a great debut album but up there with some of the great albums of all time.
Teenage Fanclub
3/5
Their third album. Indie Rock / Alt Rock. This is pretty cheesy. Some decent enough melodies to tap your toes to but not much substance beyond that. Creation Records definitely used very similar production on a certain band from Manchester and their debut album a few years later. Metal Baby and Pet Rock could be a proto Oasis tracks musically. 2.5 rounded up to a 3 on here.