The fascinating thing about this album... Try to imagine that once there was a time, in 1967, that this was an anonymous debut by a band nobody had ever heard of, called 'The Doors'. And that you buy it, let the needle down on side A and that you hear 'Break on through'. What a debut. It's magnificent. 'Light my fire' is probably one of the best psychedelic songs ever. Did you ever realize that the Doors are probably the only rock band everyone knows the name of the keyboardist of, and hardly anybody the name of the guitar player? That's fascinating. And yes, there are some weaker moments. And yes, there are other highlights like 'The crystal ship' and 'Alabama'. It's simply a fantastic debut, with Jim Morrison's thing still inside his pants. 9 out of 10.

Most songs are really very boring, nothing's happening. However, since I am not into hiphop, it was a bit better than expected (not much). The Shiznit and Gz and Hustlas are the best songs.

It's an okay album, it's missing a really strong energetic song. But there is one incredible highlight: the song One is probably one of the most beautiful guitar based pop songs of the nineties. I would give it a 7/10.

This album kicks off with a great start. But after a couple of songs it becomes one big blur to me, with a sound totally dominated by fatiguing slide guitar and harmonica. 5 out of 10.

I actually liked this better than I expected. There's tons of energy and some songs, especially Climbatize, I do like. Oddly enough it's the hits that I really can't stand. What I absolutely loathe about this album is the 'singing', shouting, vocal horror-thingy.

Yes, well, that's a great album. Sex machine is really too long and some of the tracks are a bit too poppy, but this is clearly a great and influential piece of music.

This is truly horrible. I cannot understand how this has made the list, it really sounds like nothing, and no, that's not a compliment. It's just ridiculous, talentless would-be music. Bweuh.

An absolute killer album. Masterpiece. Everything works. By far the best album I've listened so far and probably one of the best albums of the eighties. And certainly Tom Waits' best.

Generally a very strong album, with pulsating rhythms, a lot of variation, catchy songs. But I have a problem with it, a big one. Opening track 'I Zimbra' is horrible with bizarre, ugly vocals, closing track 'Drugs' is possibly even worse. I don't know what's that supposed to be. It's simply bweuh. Strange. Too bad, without these two tracks I think I would have liked this much better than other Talking Heads albums that I own. Now I don't know.

It's a bit of a surprise to me, I can stand this quite well. I genuinely like 'Everloving', I can stand 'Why does my heart feel so bad?'. It's an interesting nowadays take on blues and gospel. Once again, just like The Prodigy, the best known songs are my least favourite.

I was afraid of it. Man, this is horrible music. Having said that, I can understand and acknowledge that this is probably a very fine album in its genre. The instrumentations are fine, carefully and well done. There's even one song that I, no, not like, but can listen to: 'Pyramids'. The absolute horror is 'Thinkin bout you'. And of course, the latter is far more popular that the former...

Pfff... I think the singing on this album is rather unbearable. Problem: it's all about the singing. It's way up front in the mix. Musically - as far as anyone can tell - it's not really exciting. One exception: Break it up, thanks to a guest appearance by Television's Tom Verlaine. Nah. Not for me. Not extremely bad either. Just meh.

Well, this is a lovely album. But it's also a bit too lovely, it's all going slow, all moody, all bedroom-like songs. You simply want to shout 'hey guys, eat some jalapeños and get going'. A bit more variation in speed, mood, whatever would have spiced things up considerably. I know this was on purpose but still: seventy years on we're in a different mood than Ol' blue eyes was when recording these songs. Also, I really doubt if this is the type of music that suits Sinatra's qualities with his impeccable timing best. Not, I suppose.

I don't think I've listened to this album very intensely often. It's quite a good album, it's got a number of strong songs. Most of them are very well known, but my absolute favourite is the very strong 'Wherever I may roam'. But there are also quite some pretty mediocre songs. Nothing's really bad, it's just not happening in for example 'Holler than them', The struggle within'' and a couple of others. Oh, and, well: it's not really the Metallica from the eighties, is it? But that's their choice, it isn't forbidden to change your style. It's just not as good.

This is horrible. Truly disgusting. It's got nothing to do with music whatsoever. This is not an album (and it isn't even op Spotify). It might work in a club, on a rave or whatever horrible surrounding, but not as an album that you listen to at home. You know what? I even fell asleep while listening the second time. 0 stars, but unfortunately that's not possible.

Oh dear. This is really not very good. How can people listen to this? In every song madam goes completely berserk on the microphone. It's a continuous bunch of vocal bombast. And the music, well, there hardly is any music. Nothing happens, nothing at all. The only song that has a bit more to it is 'River Lea'. The hitsingles 'Hello' and 'When we were young' are worst in terms of sounding like the air alarm during the Battle of Britain.

I think I can see why people like this. It's fairly monotonous but exactly that works. It's a bit too long, like many nineties-albums. This time the track I like best is also the biggest 'hit': C.R.E.A.M. The best hiphop-album so far. Although I liked the musical elements better on Snoop Dogg's album, I certainly think the rapping is much better here.

What a pleasant surprise! I don't own and even don't know this album. The image of Anthrax din not appeal to me. And I think I listened to one other album when I was of the right age, but that wasn't my thing. This is! The star of the album is absolutely drummer Charlie Benante. His drumming is phenomenal, he really carries the band and leads them through the tempo changes smoothly as grease. Best songs? I guess the obvious ones: Caught in a mosh, and Indians - that has a nice hommage to Iron Maiden. And maybe the medley. Great!

A fantastic album. The five star albums are coming rapidly now. I didn't know The Cars before I bought this album, after I read about it in the 1001 Albums-book. They are as good as unknown in Europe. I thought they were a kind of plastic keyboard-driven bubblegum-pop act, but this turned out to be a very very strong album. It's obviously very carefully made, all the songs contain surprising and original details. And there are some great melodies. What more do you need? Highlights? 'Just what I needed', of course, 'You're all I've got tonight' and 'All mixed up'. Nice one.

Pfff. I neither really like nor dislike R.E.M. It's too much middle of the road for me. And that's exactly what I think of this album. It's like pleasant background sound. You keep hoping that something will happen, whether it's a really hard rocking song or a beautiful ballad, but nope, it's like a gentle river bubbling along the countryside. I really don't understand ''You are the everything'; the instrumentation doesn't work and the singing of Michael Stipe is truly unbearable in that song. 4 stars is really too much honour. It's a bleak 7 our of 10 but that translates into 4 stars. But I just can't do that. So I ignore the methodology and adjust to 3 stars.

This is a strange album. It kicks off really well, what's probably side A of the vinyl album has good songs, good singing, nice guitar sound. But then things are going wrong with hard to listen to, very sweetish pop songs sometimes even maimed by silly female vocal choirs. Fortunately closing track 'You will never be no good' gets us back on track. This album would have been much better if at least 'Are you ready to be heartbroken' and 'Andy's babies' would have simply been left off the album. But they didn't do that. I could have given a pop album 4 stars if they had, but no.

What a fantastic album! And what a contrast with Adele I had to listen to less than a week ago. This lady knows how to sing and knows how to use her voice. But perhaps even more important: the instrumentations are fantastic. The highlight of this album (no, certainly not preacher man) is the astonishingly beautiful 'The windmills of your mind'. That song has more variation and more instrumental interesting elements than a whole disc of Adela. Probably: more than the entire discography of Adele. 'Breakfast in bed': that singing is truly magnificent. Yes, I can truly like pop music.

The songs are too long, not enough is happening. 'Ye ye de smell' is quite okay. But whose idea was it to add a 'la la la'-chant to 'Egbe mi o'? That's silly. Watch out when listening this at Spotify. O totally unnecessary SIXTEEN minute long drum solo was later added to the album, in itself kind of weird because it was recorded in 1978, seven years after the album. Weird.

What a terribly boring album. It starts off quite okay with the first two tracks, then it becomes just a pile of bleep bleep without any music. 'Chico's groove' is once again rather listenable. But that's not enough. Really really boring.

Well, this is a pleasant album. It kicks off really well with beautiful guitar work by Carlos Santana and Bonnie Raitt, as well as Robert Cray. The guest appearance by Canned Heat is typical, but Los Lobos really steals the show. Unfortunately the rets of the album is not so good. The guest appearances by George Thorogood and Charlie Musselwhite are less interesting, and the three songs without guest are a bit of a candle burning out. And the production is really eighties. The singing sounds like it's been recorded in the cathedral of Amiens. Boy, that's bad. Still, overall a good one.

The fascinating thing about this album... Try to imagine that once there was a time, in 1967, that this was an anonymous debut by a band nobody had ever heard of, called 'The Doors'. And that you buy it, let the needle down on side A and that you hear 'Break on through'. What a debut. It's magnificent. 'Light my fire' is probably one of the best psychedelic songs ever. Did you ever realize that the Doors are probably the only rock band everyone knows the name of the keyboardist of, and hardly anybody the name of the guitar player? That's fascinating. And yes, there are some weaker moments. And yes, there are other highlights like 'The crystal ship' and 'Alabama'. It's simply a fantastic debut, with Jim Morrison's thing still inside his pants. 9 out of 10.

I really don't understand what this album is doing in this list. It's utterly boring. Most songs are based on one - sometimes rather okay - sample and that's repeated for the entire length of the song. The scratching isn't original and becomes really boring. That's what this album is: boring. Utterly boring. Listen to 'N.Y. State of mind'. Hee, that piano sounds okay. It's repeated, unchanged, maybe forty times or so? The only song that I like a bit better is 'Represent'. But "like" is very very relative.

A perfect example of an album that's been horribly mutilated by eighties production. It sounds awful. The dreams are hilarious, but the keyboard sounds - especially in 'Nick of time', 'Love letter' and 'Have a heart' are nothing but disgusting. This isn't anything like blues, what I expected. It's 90% pop. Listen to that ridiculous 'woo woo woo' chorus on 'Nick of time'... The closing songs are probably the best, ' I will not be denied' at least has some proper singing, 'I ain't etc' is a rather okay piano ballad (with - it's incredible - a piano that actually sounds like a piano) and 'The road's my middle name' (cliche alert) at least has a blues feeling. I'm a bit friendly because this is what albums sounded like at the time. And the second listen was better than the first one, except for 'Nick of time'. That's really a very bad song.

I really don't understand this music. And I really don't understand why this album is included whereas Grandaddy's 'Under the western freeway' isn't. This is a very very mediocre rip-off of Grandaddy. Grandaddy has rock elements included in its music and those are completely missing here. It's a grey mass of boring music possibly suitable for a wellness facility. Musical wallpaper as we call it in the Netherlands. So yes, you can listen to it, hence for the 2 stars.

What a fantastic album. It's one of the best of the list. I mean, you just have to listen to the opening title track, no, you just have to listen to the intro of the opening track. How great can music be? It's the added value of Mutt Lange's production that gives this album so much more than its predecessors. Most characteristic are the backing vocals choirs. Those are magnificent. And this album has one of the greatest songs ever: 'Touch too much'. It hardly has any flaws, every track is enjoyable. Can I give 6 stars? 10/10

This is a surprise. I already owned this album but hardly had any memory of it. It's really excellent. Although it is supposed to be the birth of glam rock, this is far beyond any cheap, cheesy or bubblegum-like music, this is very well thought through rock. It is characterized by a jumpiness that keeps your attention. The arrangements are really strong. And yes, like more often, the big hit (Get it on) is probably the poorest or least interesting track of the album.

An album that played a big role in my life. It came out during my university years and I was totally into alternative rock, so yeah, how could I not like this. It's not perfect because it has some weak moments (Neon wilderness???), it is way too long including a stupid hidden track. But the great moments are so strong that it still deserves a 10 out of 10. 'Sonnet' is one pof the most beautiful songs of the nineties. Well there are many excellent songs, let's mention 'Space and time'. I love it.

This is obviously a very fine album. But somehow I'm missing something, I'm not really getting it. I always have that with Elvis Costello. It has excellent dynamics - 12 very varied songs in 32 minutes. And it has surprising musical features for an English 1977 album - listen to the jazzy guitar in Allison, or the sixties-vibes of No dancing. But to the end it becomes a bit blurry. Closer 'I'm not angry' makes up for that - it might be the best track of the album. 7/10

Once again an album that's part of my collection but never got much attention. It's a strong album though. It starts off really well and punky, reaching a high point in 'The wait'. But then we have to listen to a totally unnecessary and weak Kinks-cover, 'Stop sobbing' How could they make this their debut-single? 'Kid' is pretty weak too, with some country-vibes. But 'Private life' is excellent, as of course 'Brass in pocket' is. The closing songs are good too. Great album, almost five stars if it weren't for the wek songs in the middle.

This is an okay album. There are just too many songs that are a bit 'nothing happens'. However, 'Enjoy the silence' is a truly beautiful pop song. They should have changed the order of the songs, the first two are slow and boring. That's also part of the deal of making an album...

Oh dear... The opening track of this album, 'Fine Time', is probably the most appaling sonic attack I have had to endure during my first 35 albums. What on earth is that? I've got a couple of New Order albums and of course all Joy Division albums, that's nothing like this. It's a really weird album. In fact, it seems to consist of two albums of two different bands mixed randomly together. One band makes uninteresting electronic kind of danceable music, the other one is the New Order I know - though not necessarily in top form - making almost straight ahead pop music with the well known great bass lines played by Peter Hook. The only track where these two bands sort of meet is the closing track 'Dream attack' - and that's by far the most listenable track of the album. Experiment failed...

Music I totally didn't know. My first association was the Doobie Brothers, and hey, there's a cover on this album! But it definitely has a Funkadelic-vibe. Especially because of what makes this album the most interesting: the sometimes great guitar work with a markable fuzz-sound by 17-year old Ernie Isley. The use of ARP and Moog synthesizers is also noteworthy. Less noteworthy: it's a bit weird that, while they are certainly able to pen their own songs - and were once even covered by the Beatles - four out of nine songs here are covers. Summer Breeze is possibly the best song, though, because of the guitar. A rather pleasant surprise.

I do own and I do like this album, despite the fact that it's not really my genre. Upon careful listening I see three reasons. 1 The music is based on the extremely sturdy disco four-to-the-beat of the seventies. Even I can dance to that. 2 This is real music, not just dance music. Interestingly, the book mentions exactly this (I never read the book before I make my review). 3 the extensive use of analogue synthesizers, adding to the second reason. The more extreme songs I like best. 'Around the world' is honestly very boring. The biggest problem: it lasts for more than 73 minutes. Oh dear. Never do that.

What a great album! The opener is truly fantastic, what an energy, what a speed, what great melodies. This album contains a lot of beautiful melodies, accentuated by the great chants. Listen to the chorus of the most famous song: 'Gary Gilmore's eyes'. There's not a real weak moment, maybe it can become a bit too much but fortunately it's only 36 minutes. Definitely one of punk's greatest moments.

This is a really weird album. Whereas most popular music is white folks playing music inspired by music from black culture, this one is the other way around. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Bye bye love is definitely a step up from the Everly Brothers (who didn't write the song, by the way). Songs like 'I love you so much it hurts' simply did not stand the test of times. These absurdly sweet choirs, you cannot listen to that anymore with 21st century ears. And there are plenty of those. That's not really fair of course. But it's not the most exiting music ever anyway.

A very fine album. Some of these songs are even more well-known or popular in different versions, illustrating the song-writing capabilities of Paul Simon. It's very nicely arranged too, maybe just a little too soft on the ears.

Well yes, I like this one better than the hiphop-albums so far. It's got much more variation. 'I'm destructive' is really okay, even mentioning Dutch death metal band Gorefest! However, it's way too long like so many albums of this era.

Oh dear. I don't know if I dare to say this. I'm just not really into Hendrix. No doubt about his music-historical meaning and influence. But his music just doesn't do it for me. This album is also a bit ramshackle, you can hear it's not really a unity. And the sound is not optimal, especially the odd stereo-mix. Yes great songs and I want to mention 'Third stone from the sun' that isn't well known but that I like very much.

It's a bit too obvious what's going on here. Hey, we've got a hiphopband and let's let them rap over a (hard)rock background so white folks will listen as well. It does work, however. 'Walk this way' is a great novelty hit. I don't feel the same about 'It's trricky' - based on the fantastic 'My Sharona' - because the spirit of that song (fantastic guitar work) is totally missing. This album is dominated by an extremely ugly drumcomputer, it's almost unlistenable. Bweuh.

Well, that's a weird one... I had really never heard of this band, although it kinda fits my taste. This is really obscure, and no, you can't find it on Spotify (but you can find it on YouTube). It's a 6,5/10 for me and I'll round that to a four-star-rating but that is a bit too positive. It's really erratic, that's my biggest problem. Oh no, that's not true. My biggest problem is the opening track: 'Firefly'. That's by far the weakest track of the album, I would almost call it horrible. How could they choose this as an opening track? These were the old days that people went to a record store and tried listening to them... Some songs are genuinely nice and beautiful, 'Blue and grey shirt' is probably my favourite, 'Pale and skinny girl' is very nice as well.

My god, this album is way too long. If they would have skipped the last two deadly boring songs, totaling 26 minutes... And I really can's stand the singing: especially 'I used to' is incredibly out of tune. On a positieve note, the JM Jarre-like 'how do you sleep' is rather okay (but again way too long), 'emotional haircut' is a punky energy-song and the best song I think is 'call the police'.

There is no doubt this album is pure genius. It's very well thought-through. It sounds like a suite, no matter which tempo and chord changes there are throughout the songs. Motives are coming back all through the album. And the arrangements are as complicated and fine as can be. Having said that: the composition is in my humble opinion better than the music. For me it's just not happening. And it's a little outdated. That's not fair criticism, but these barbershop choirs, well, that's an acquired tasje. I haven't acquired it.

Maybe it's odd, but I had never listened to an album of Muse. In the nineties I was totally into this kind of music, but in 1999/2000 I turned my attention to jazz and no longer payed attention to alternative rock. So we just missed each other;-) And that's a pity. I think this is a very strong album. Yes, it's very like the early albums of Radiohead, especially because of Matt Bellamy's voice that resembles Thom Yorke's voice extremely. Kudo's to Muse: they succeed in what Radiohead didn't manage. On this album electronics are introduced as an element in the music, but they add something in stead of destroy everything. 'City of delusion' is my favourite track.

It might be a controversial opinion, but I think this is my favourite Steely Dan album. There is plenty of spontaneity here and some edges to the music. I totally love it, it's a masterpiece. Brilliant songwriting. Yes, it must be your cup of tea, well, it is mine. I mean, the opening of 'Do it again' on itself is enough to secure Steely Dan's place in (modern) music history.

Oh dear... This is truly horrible album. I tried to listen to this unprejudiced. I guess I was in my first year of gymnasium when this album came out and I really hated the singles of it. No I listened to the entirety of it and I really hated it. I do really appreciate the singer-songwriter Paul Simon. Just look at my appreciation of 'Bookends'. Bur this is... let's say: appalling. It's an attempt to blend African music with modern popmusic, but it doesn't work. They remain two world apart and the results are ridiculous. I mea, just listen to 'I know what I know'. This can't be serious? 'That was your mother' is not much better, with a totally fucked up accordeon and the ugliest sax solo ever. What on earth were they thinking? Yes, I know it's not really fair to listen to mid eighties music and its horrible production with nowadays ears but this is not just production. This is pop music at its worst.

Totally unknown to me... Certainly topping the hiphop-albums so far. There considerably more music here. I kinda like 'So appalling' and 'Who will survive in America'. I really don't understand why they open the album with the appalling - pun intended - 'Dark fantasy'. Why, tell me why? Interesting thought: how many of the people responsible for over 1 billion Spotify-streams of 'POWER' have listened to the original '21st century schizoid man' (with 37 million streams)?

What a beautiful album! I had never heard of Richard Hawley, this is total very pleasant surprise. It's truly beautiful music, for me most resemblant of Tindersticks - a band that certainly should have been in the book with any of their first three records. Or all three of them. Anyway, back to Hawley. This is a must hear. The arrangements are fantastic with a very tasteful use of baritone guitar, his voice is in the middle between Stuart Staples and Bryan Ferry - yes, my girlfriend was immediately interested;-) Most of all: the song 'The Ocean'... That might be one of the best songs on the 51 albums I have listened so far. Stunning.

A perfect example of an album that has been standing in my record closet for decades and that I never really listened to. and that's a shame because it turned out to be a really great record. I have a bit of a troublesome relation with Bryan Ferry as a singer - that strange vibrato... I don't like Brian Eno, but he had already left the band. The result is an album that meanders between very energetic and swinging rock and strange, very arty songs that sometimes seem to be inspired by thirties German cabaret - a bit odd for an English band in 1974 but certainly okay. The highlight of this album is easy to find: the songs 'All Want is you' and 'Out of the night' are linked in between. The former is a great rock song, the latter is a fantastic rock song. I should have given this album more attention!

My first time listening a Kate Bush album. For pop music, it's rather pleasant. At least enough is happening and there is plenty of variation, in tempo, song structure, arrangements. This is clearly an album with one masterpiece: Running up that hill is accountable for 87% of Spotify-streams and yes, it's an excellent song. The first five tracks have 97% of all streams and that is understandable as well. After these songs, the candle of this album is all but blown out. Furthermore, the at times horrible eighties production gets more and more disturbing. I must mention the absolute low of this album: Waking the witch. My dear, what happened there? Sorry, but I can't give higher than 6/10 for an album that has this song on it. Oh dear oh dear. I'll just listen to 'Running up that hill' one more time, giving it an even higher percentage of streams.

Well, what to do with this one. It's a five star rating, that's clear. It's a brilliant album, no pun intended. But I think it's really an odd one on this list. Together with Charles Mingus this is probably the only hardcore jazz album on the list. Apart from some jazzrock-albums, most jazz albums are of the rather listenable kind. Thelonious Monk isn't listenable. It's all about dissonance and bizarre complex song structures. You need to be a trained jazz amateur to enjoy this, I think. And even then... But man, listen to his solo performance 'I surrender,dear'. To me that's the highlight of this album. There is a reason that one of most popular releases was a compilation of his solo performances. He is so brilliant. He seems to master the basics material a straightforward standard, that he can do with it whatever he likes. The melody is never stated, he picks it up, turns it around, destroys it and at the same time embraces it in the most loving way, he's out of this world. It's exceptional. Another gem is the strange Pannonica with the odd celesta played by Monk. Well, it's on the list, so a well deserved five star rating. But in fact I think it should be on another list.

This is unmistakably a very influential album. On this album, that I never heard before, I can hear a lot of things that I know from other albums. For example, one of my favourite bands, Indochine, clearly have this album in their record closet. I know 'Joan of Arc' very well - I loved it as a little child. I don't know how long it had been since I last heard it, but I still love it. It has a beautiful melody. And what a surprise, I always thought that this was synthesizer music but the reason that song has such a melancholy feel is that is is played on a mellotron. Almost the most non-synthesizer instrument thinkable. It's not great across the board, though. Nice songs and a couple of not so interesting ones.

A very bleak 4 stars, in the regular scoring system a 7/10 but on the low side of 7... My problem with this album is its inconsistency. It's a mixed bag of ideas and not all of these ideas work. I mean, '...And in every home', come on! A misplaced Burt Bacharach kind of song. I like the Costello of 'Beyond belief' much better. And a very exciting moment is the intro - repeated a number of times - of 'Human hands'. The Dsus4-F6 chord progression is incredibly exciting, that is truly a marvel.

I'm really sorry, but I don't really like this album. Yes, the title track is one of Bowie's best songs. But the rest.... No, I kind of like the experimental Eno-tracks but I can's stand the opening dup 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Joe the lion'. My god, who thought these ugly choruses were a good idea? And Robert Fripp's guitar sound - mangled through a synthesizer, I think - is ugly as hell.

What a strange album. Why on earth they decided to make a studio album and add audience and even more strange: an MC to it? Why didn't they just make a proper live album? Or a proper studio album, instead of an album that has loads of flaws in sound quality - most absurd in 'Roadblock' (an outtake later added, but indeed a studio recording) The quality is very inconsistent, not just the sound quality. Best songs are of course 'Piece of my heart' but even more so 'Summertime'. That's vintage Janis Joplin. But on the same album we find 'Turtle blues'. Pfff.

Obviously not my cup of tea but I do have respect for this album and its maker. Michael wrote all the music, plays a load of instruments en of course sings. He wasn't just a pretty boy, he was a genuine and talented artist and multi-talent. The success of this album is incredible. Six hitsingles out of nine songs. I had never heard the album but of course I had heard almost all the songs plenty of times. Hey, this is the time I grew up, minor gymnasium years. At the time I hated it, I a a lot more nuanced now. The two songs that stand out for me are 'One more try' and 'Kissing a fool' - both of them are characterised by Michael's singing, where in a lot of the other tracks he sometimes appears to rather whisper that sing. 'Kissing a fool' is a weird song on this album - it is a truly acoustic song where all other tracks are defined, and a bit destroyed, by very synthetic eighties-sounds. Not my favourite album of course, but no punishment to listen to.

Oh dear... For the largest part, this is a pleasant album with attractive semi jazz, very mainstream but well made and as always with Astrud Gilberto just nice (easy) listening. But there are two gigantic failures on this album. Parade (a Banda) - or the title reversed - is really ridiculous. It's out of place, it's not nice, it's just laughable. But that's nothing. The duet with her six year old son Marcelo... Come on! The singing is so horribly out of tune, it's simply awful. I repeat: awful. Maybe she shouldn't have recorded eight albums in four years. By the way, the cd version - that I own - is extended with a number of songs with Walter Wanderley, which makes it a better album.

An underrated and neglected gem. Yes, I have it, but I could only buy it long after my Neil Young-era. It simply wasn't released on CD until 2003. And that's bizarre, because this is possibly one of the best if not the best - consistent - album in Young's catalogue. It's truly beautiful and extremely depressing to listen to. But there are such gems on this album: 'See the sky about to rain' with that wonderful arrangement of Wurlitzer e-piano and steel guitar, astonishing title track and the utterly painful 'Ambulance blues' - it's truly fantastic music. 5 stars and a welldeserved 10/10

Once again an album, or even a band, I didn't know that turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I guess I did know 'Everybody knows' (except you)', that must have been on the playlist of the alternative music station I listened to anno 1997. It's not the best song of the album, that's beyond doubt 'Someone'. Closing track 'I'm all you need' is also a gem. The music is very Scott Walker-like. Just a little less edge to it, except 'Someone' - that's why it's the best track of the album. In its weaker moments it also reminds you of Neil Diamond and even John Barry-style James Bond songtracks. Weak point is 'Wimewatching' - it never comes off the ground. It grew on my every time I listened to it. So yeah, good album.

Clearly a very classic, very important, seminal album. Any serious music lover should have this in his or her collection. Having said that, in all honesty, the reputation of the album seems to be primarily based on the three long (jam-)tracks. Although it kicks off pretty well with 'Statesboro blues' the next two songs are rather forgettable; and well, you need to love slide guitar. But then the magic starts to happen with 'You don't love me'. Clearly 'In memory of Elizabeth Reed' is magic. Maybe 'Whipping post' is even better, this is glorious music. Truly fantastic. So for me it's a 8,5/10. Could be either 4 stars or 5 stars, because of the historic significance of this album I'll go for the 5. But it's tight.

What a bizarre album. It starts pretty solid. Then we get a number of very weak songs - I really can't stand Beth Orton's voice - and then we once again have a very strong song. But it's a total Kraftwerk rip-off. And I really mean totally. It becomes even worse, because we get one more Kraftwerk rip-off and two utter Can-rip-offs. These are the strong songs of the album, the other songs are unbearable. Except for the opener 'Silence' which seems to be original and is okay. But this deserves penalty points.

An incredible album. When listening to 'On the beach' I thought: maybe I like this even better than 'Harvest'. No I don't. The problem of this album might be 'Heart of gold'. Every normal human being simply heard that song too many times. By the way, it's far from the best song of the album that's so much drowned in melancholy. There are so many highlights: opener 'Out on the weekend', the title track, 'A man needs a maid', 'Alabama', 'The needle and the damage done' and closer 'Words'. All of these tracks would probably be the best track on most albums. But not on this one. Because there's 'Old man'. That might be the most beautiful song I know. And yes, indeed, 'Out on the country' and to a lesser extent 'There 's a world' are a bit less fantastic than the rest. It's forgiven.

And yet another great album. It's great how Cash plays with his audience, how he fires things up with his characteristic shuffle, but even more so with a couple of very sentimental songs, 'Give my love to Rose' especially. 'Folsom Prison blues', 'Cocaine blues', 'I got stripes' and 'The wall' are truly great songs and performances. There's also a lowlight, with 'Jackson' and to a lesser extent the silly christian 'Greystone chapel'. Sorry ma'am, but I really can't stand June Carters (Cash') singing...

What a mess this album is. But its highlights are truly highlights. I like the long jam-like songs 'Voodoo Chile' and '193 (A merman I should turn to be)' best, but 'Crosstown traffic', 'All along the watchtower', 'Gypsy eyes', the superjazzy 'Rainy day, dream away', 'Burning of the midnight lamp' and 'Voodoo child (slight return' are brilliant. But there's also crap. The first two tracks, the bizarre 'Little miss Strange' and the soundscape 'Moon, turn the tides... Gently gently away' - oh man. This could have been a single album with nothing but highlights of music history.

This could have been a fantastic album. But is isn't, it is way too varying in quality. Let's be clear: the highlights of this album are possibly some of the best music of the eighties. Yes, 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' is a fantastic song. But it completely bleaches next to 'New Year's Day'. That is such a fantastic song! There are a couple more very strong songs on this album, but also some very weak ones. Lowlight is definitely 'Red light'. You gotta be kidding... It's horrible. The beginning sounds like a Mylene Farmer song, not exactly what you expect on a U2-album. It could - and should - have been a fantastic album. Nevertheless, this is an album that proves how good of a band U2 could be. Didn't mention it, but this is probably The Edge at his best.

This is possibly the best album of Zappa's career. And maybe I should say: I'm a big Zappa fan. This absolutely a must hear. It's one of the first and one of the best jazz fusion albums ever. And what a pity it is, that Zappa never really returned to this style. Yes, obviously jazzrock was an important part of his style, certainly in the George Duke/Ruth Underwood time of his career, but this is hardcore jazz fusion and his only album as such. Ian Underwood is incredible here. But Zappa himself even more so. I think this was the first time in his career that he really showed himself as one of the best and highly original guitar players ever. Later on he would issue three-disc-sets with only guitar solos, but here his guitar work is an integral - and important - part of the music. The long solo in Willie the Pimp and even more so on 'Son of Mr. Green Genes' are fantastic. Very renewing in tone as well. But there might be an even better performance on this album: Don' Sugarcane' Harris' electric violin solo on 'The gumbo variation' is beyond unforgettable. Fantastic album.

I don't know.... It's not my thing. It's a bit in between pop and alternative. The arrangements are very original and interesting, the music has enough variation and is interesting enough. But I miss the necessary sharpness for alternative rock, and at the same time I can't really stand the singing. Especially Régine Chassagne's singing in the closing track 'In the backseat', that's... No, I'll leave it at that. Quite an okay album that I didn't know, but not a standout album.

It's horrible. In my teen years I hated the song 'It's a sin'. It's the best song of the album. No, not because my taste in music changed so dramatically (it did, by the way), but because the rest is so horrible. 'I want to wake up', 'One more chance'... Come on. 'It's a sin' and 'King's cross' are the only bearable tunes on the album.

With the benefit of hindsight, this is a fascinating album. It's got all the elements that would make 'Swordfishtrombones' such a master piece. The elements, yes, but not the concept as a whole, and not the greatness. But is a very good album with hardly any weak moments - 'On the nickel' is a bit over the top for me. The highlights for me are 'Downtown' and the overlay sentimental 'Jersey Girl'. Yes, unbearably sentimental, but as such a guilty pleasure. Strong, just missing it, the pieces that would fall together so brilliantly on its successor.

This might be the best pop-album that I've ever heard and it contains maybe the best popsong of the eighties: 'Shout'. What an incredible song that is. I'm always complaining that there's not much happening in popmusic, but on this album that's far from reality. The compositions are very strong, the build-up in the songs - listen to the intro of 'The working hour' and neglect the sound - and the arrangements with.a very clever mix of (sometimes ugly) electronics and real instruments - it's alle great. There are five very strong songs on this album. The three hitsingles in order of quality 'Shout' Head over heels' and 'Everybody wants to rule the world', whereas the almost proggy 'The working hour' and the rather sharp 'Broken' - that's fantastically intertwined with 'Head over heels' are very strong. An album containing these songs would deserve a 10/10. But unfortunately the remaining three songs are much much weaker. 'Mothers talk' is ugly eighties music, ' I believe' is a misplaced George Michael ballad and closer 'Listen' is too long. Nevertheless, it's still a solid five star. I might buy this one.

It's probably my bad. I have never been able to get it, concerning Echo & The Bunnymen. Yes, I quite like the music, it's okay, like a less commercial - which is good, of course - version of U2 with maybe a better singer, but it just doesn't grab me. I've listened five times. And I still hardly can remember any of the songs, except for the opener 'The cutter' which might be the best track of the album. The rest just rolls along, no weak points, no strong either. Sorry.

There's no need to say a lot about this album. Just listen to the first 30 seconds of opener 'Disorder' and you know you are listening to a classic. It's haunting in every way. It can be quite something to listen to if you're not in perfect mental shape... The star of the album to me is Peter Hook. His bass playing is unlike anything done before. Together with guitar player Bernard Sumner with his arpeggiated chords he lays the foundation that lets Ian Curtis shine - shine in a very dark way, unfortunately. Absolutely fantastic album.