Apr 21 2025
View Album
Lust For Life
Iggy Pop
Seems weird I never listened to this before.
Lust For Life (the song) has such a ridiculously long intro - never noticed before! I had no clue The Passenger and Lust For Life were on the same album. Ture Blue sounds like it should be in Rocky Horrors but not in a good way and its far too long. Fall In Love with Me also outstays its welcome.
3
Apr 22 2025
View Album
Blackstar
David Bowie
This is not for me. Extremely long, extremely weird tracks.
1
Apr 27 2025
View Album
Ten
Pearl Jam
Solid 3 out 5, with some absolute standouts. Jeremy and Alive obviously, but I've never heard Porch before and loved that. Release is pointlessly 9 minutes long.
3
Apr 28 2025
View Album
Moon Safari
Air
Never listened to the full album before, but it turned out I knew more of it than I expected (i.e. way more than Sexy Boy). I ended up knowing 5 of the tracks and liking all of them.
4/5 would definitely put on when its a warm summer day and I'm sat in the garden.
4
Apr 29 2025
View Album
Heroes
David Bowie
Outside of the hits everyone knows and likes, Bowie just isn't for me apparently. And I can get behind a good instrumental, but what the heck was that?!
1/5 (and it should be grateful I can't give it less)
1
Apr 30 2025
View Album
Fragile
Yes
I grew up with Yes fans for parents so it's very difficult to give this an unbiased listen. I have always liked Roundabout as tune, but generally prog rock's tendancy towards 8 minute noodling tracks is not my thing. I would listen to Runaround and Long Distance Runaround again though.
2/5 (I'd get 2.5 if I was allowed half stars)
2
May 01 2025
View Album
Bad
Michael Jackson
Is this aggressively 80s? Yes. Is MJ morally questionable? Also yes. But it's such a bop! The fact it includes Leave Me Alone meant it was always getting a minimum of a 4 (because that song is fantastic) but as a whole it's just a really entertaining record.
5/5
5
May 02 2025
View Album
Sunday At The Village Vanguard
Bill Evans Trio
I didn't hate Alice In Wonderland but I clearly don't understand the appeal of jazz.
1/5
1
May 03 2025
View Album
Axis: Bold As Love
Jimi Hendrix
I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this, but I enjoyed it far more than I ever would have thought. It is something I'll listen to again.
3/5
3
May 04 2025
View Album
Oxygène
Jean-Michel Jarre
So far in this listening experience, there's been a surprising number of albums I was subjected to by my parents. So they were apparently more culturally aware than I ever realised. I knew J-M J turning up was only a matter of time.
6 tracks and 39 minutes long! Unacceptable.
The first track's primary reason to exist is to have a new age lady play it during relaxation sessions. I actually recognised track 2, so my childhood attempts to make this fade into the background clearly failed. The space lazer "pew-pew" noises were clearly enough to be memorable. Track 4 is what pops into my head automatically when anyone mentions J-M J, which happens rarely these days.
Just not a genre, and therefore an album, I enjoy listening to much, although I can understand why others might.
2/5
2
May 05 2025
View Album
Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod Stewart
I love Maggie May. It became quickly apparent that I would have enjoyed this album more, had it just been 40 minutes of Maggie May on repeat.
2/5 (I really do love Maggie May)
2
May 06 2025
View Album
Bryter Layter
Nick Drake
I went into this completely blind, and really enjoyed it, with one (fairly major) reservation - I just don't like his voice very much. It's breathy and insubstantial. Pretty much everything else I liked. Standout tracks: Hazey Jane I, Northern Sky
3/5 (3.5 if I were allowed half stars)
3
May 07 2025
View Album
Mothership Connection
Parliament
My frustration with over long tracks is apparently significantly reduced if a track is sufficiently funky. I very much enjoyed it and will definitely listen to it again.
Also, it's my favourite album cover so far, and its not even close.
4/5
4
May 08 2025
View Album
Diamond Life
Sade
Another artist my parents subjected me to a lot in the 80s. I'm a big fan of brass instruments in general and think they almost always improve music, but by the 400th sax solo I wanted to throw stuff.
Interestingly I liked some of the album tracks more than the singles I already knew well (Cherry Pie for example) but I can't see me listening to this again.
2/5
2
May 09 2025
View Album
All Things Must Pass
George Harrison
I was expecting not to like it, on the basis that the only song I don't like on Sgt Pepper is the one Harrison wrote, but I actually enjoyed most of it a lot. I've had My Sweet Lord stuck in my head all day and liked Wah-Wah, though I can't see me ever revisiting the jam tracks at the end - I fundamentally don't see the attraction in listening to a recording of a jam session.
3/5 (3.5 if I was allowed half stars)
3
May 10 2025
View Album
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
OutKast
Based on very little, I went into this expecting to not care at all for Speakerboxxx and really enjoy The Love Below. But Speakerboxxx is great - fun, funky, catchy. I really loved Bowtie and The Rooster. The Love Below is all together weirder than Speakerboxxx, maybe with higher highs, just inconsistent.
A single Outkast album culled from the best bits of both (taking out all the interludes for a start) would have been an improvement I think, but I recognise that this was hugely influential exactly how it is.
Enjoyed far, far more than I expected.
4/5
4
May 11 2025
View Album
Lost In The Dream
The War On Drugs
I couldn't get into it at all - I listened to it and it entered my brain and immediately exited without leaving any trace it had ever been there.
As I'm leaving 1/5 scores for things I actively dislike, I guess this gets:
2/5
2
May 12 2025
View Album
The Wall
Pink Floyd
I don't think I gave it a fair enough run through, as I was pretty rushed, so marking is tricky - if I'd been in a different frame of mind, the score might be higher.
As it was, they were altogether too many sound effects slowing things down for my liking, and it's difficult to listen to as a music album when you should really be listening to it as a story.
But Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2 is absolutely enough to get it 2 stars.
2
May 13 2025
View Album
Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music
Ray Charles
So far in this list, I haven't met a double (or triple!) album which wouldn't have benefitted from a good editor to whip it into a nice 45 minute album. This is no exception, as it drags a bit in the middle.
That being said, what a voice! And I'm predisposed to love big band, brass numbers so parts of this were really up my alley. Bye Bye Love was particularly enjoyable in this style.
I think this could have been higher, but the filler in the middle brings in down to
3/5
3