4.5 stars rounded up for sentimental reasons Full disclosure: this is my favourite band. I wasn’t a cool elementary school kid who was listening to this in 1995. I didn’t become a fan until university, between Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows. I was a student figuring out who I was and my take on the world after my varsity hockey career ended. My laptop was full of Radiohead songs that I had grabbed from my brother’s computer. I threw them on shuffle on Windows Media Player with all my other music. Every time I’d hear an amazing song and had to check what it was - it was Radiohead. It happened so many times that I decided to properly dive in and never looked back. So my initial experience with The Bends was in a world where OK Computer and Kid A had already been established as classics. There was a big portion of the fanbase (ateaseweb, anyone?) that looked down on The Bends as an inferior precursor to those 2 masterpieces. Ultimately I think that’s snobbery. The Bends may not be as complex or conceptually unified as Kid A/OKC, but it’s an incredibly listenable record. I still listen to it all the time! It’s so difficult to talk about Radiohead albums without the context of what came before and after. As a follow-up to Pablo Honey, The Bends is a big leap forward. PH is ok, it has some overlooked good songs and a bunch of so-so stuff that sounds like second-rate versions of other popular rock bands. On The Bends they sound more confident, and Thom’s persona is more fully developed. Still, I don’t think anything on this album really predicts the even bigger leap they took after this with OK Computer. My main quibbles with The Bends are: Thom’s angsty lyrics didn’t age as well as I would’ve wanted. On some songs he comes across trite, a 90s Gen X cliche. And the gripes that resonated with me when I was in my early 20s don’t hit as hard anymore. But really, he was just capturing a zeitgeist and his own internal turmoil at the time. With Thom I’ve always felt it was more about the expressiveness of his voice than the literal words he sings anyway. My other critique is the reason I’d technically take a half star off: sequencing. They have two pairs of songs back-to-back that sound really similar: High and Dry + Fake Plastic Trees and Just + My Iron Lung. It doesn’t bother me as much for the first pair but the second two have a dated post-grunge sound so it’s more noticeable. I’m splitting hairs because I like all those songs but I guess I grade on a curve when it comes to this band. Planet Telex - Starting out very strong with one of my favourite tracks on the album. Thankfully, we have long since left behind its association with Jian Ghomeshi’s Q (yes, I was a regular listener before the shit came to light). When I saw them play this live I was ecstatic! The Bends - The Bends is ostensibly about the alienation Thom felt after rocketing to fame with the success of Creep. He starts off singing about finding his real friends, asking “where are you now when I need you?” By the third verse he’s making fun of himself - “they brought in the CIA / the tanks and the whole marines to blow me away” - until it all explodes into one of Jonny’s most satisfying solos. Thom belts out a final desperate cry for connection, “I wanna be part of the human race!” before deflating back down to ask again, “where are you now when I need you?” We don’t know who he’s searching for - his real friends, his girlfriend, any authentic human connection at all, all of the above? I don’t know if Thom ever really adjusted to being a star, but this is one of his only songs that seems to directly reference fame. It’s a total banger and I love it. They performed this on Jools Holland at the time and I’m probably personally responsible for 90% of the that video’s views on YouTube. Thom never sings this “straight” anymore. On the occasion they do play it, he sneers and mumbles his way through it as if he’s mocking his younger self. It’s too bad. High and Dry - I feel like there are 2 types of people: those who love this song, and those who spent too much time wanking on Radiohead message boards. This is clearly a great song and people should get over themselves. (I’m excusing the band themselves because I do sympathize with getting sick of your own songs) A lot of Radiohead songs are cited for “inventing Coldplay” and this is a prime suspect. Coldplay and their ilk took High and Dry’s acoustic guitar + falsetto formula, dialled up the romantic longing and turned down the bitterness to ride a wave of cash money. It’s fine - I like Coldplay’s first two albums! I actually came to Radiohead via Coldplay. The best part about the Radiohead clone army is that it pissed off Thom enough that he eventually blew up Radiohead’s sound and did something completely different. That intense commitment to innovation is what makes Radiohead great. Anyway I like this song and it’s too bad the band seems to hate it. Fake Plastic Trees - Even though I think this song influenced Chris Martin just as much as High and Dry, luckily the band have not disowned this one. The lyrics are pretty on the nose, but it’s Thom’s emotional delivery that gets me every time. Anyone who’s mystified that girlies are in love with Thom needs to watch videos of him singing this live in the 90s. I cried when I finally heard them play this live! Bones - One of the few songs where you can hear Thom’s English accent! (On “I used to fly like Peter Pan”) (Nice Dream) - An overlooked song that I absolutely love. Thom’s vocals sound angelic. There’s a video of him performing a solo acoustic version at Much Music that I’ve watched approx 100000x. Just - Thom and Jonny really went off on this one. The vague sinister tone, the sneering vocals, the screeching guitar, and that blistering outro solo. It’s so good! Iconic video. My Iron Lung - Despite my complaints about the sequencing, this song absolutely rips. I love that it’s a formulaic grunge song that mocks grunge (including their own song Creep). The “if you’re frightened” bridge and subsequent solo make the song for me. Bullet Proof - Not a song I put on outside the context of this album but I’m fine with it as an interlude. Black Star - I love the fade-in intro. This could have been a hit single! They had no business burying such a good song so low in the tracklist. This is where everyone puts their filler. Instead they pull out this melancholy gem that projects a failing relationship to celestial proportions. The juxtaposition of the mundane drudgery of daily life with interstellar imagery is so Thom. He does this on OK Computer with Subterranean Homesick Alien and on A Moon Spaced Pool with the devastating, perfect Decks Dark (2 of my favourite Radiohead songs!). Sulk - Thom never really sang like this after this album. I get that he changed his songwriting style but it’s kind of a shame. I guess he couldn’t have belted like this forever anyway. Street Spirit - I think this song/video helped earn them their enduring reputation of a depressing, self-serious band. It does kind of sound like a Metallica ballad. It’s a little heavy-handed but this is still a beautiful, impactful album closer. I’ll never love a band as much as I loved Radiohead in my early 20s. But that’s ok! Every time I listen to them I can get that feeling again.

From my understanding, Pete Townshend believes he was a victim of childhood sexual abuse. That’s terrible, and I’m sorry he experienced that. I think that explains the why behind the upsetting themes on Tommy. But, the way it’s handled on this album… not good. Maybe it works in the context of the movie. I don’t need to find out.

I think this is a case of coming to an album at the wrong time (wrong era in history, wrong phase of life, both?). Exile in Guyville is an iconic indie record I always heard about but never listened to til now. Unfortunately, my first introduction to Liz Phair was her very bland 2003 single Why Can’t I? It used to play on heavy rotation at the cafe I worked at in high school and I wasn’t impressed. I knew she had a past as a cool indie chick but I never bothered to dig deeper. Now that I have… it’s ok. It has an appealing lo-fi sound and I can understand why this was so formative and influential. I preferred the album when I wasn’t listening to the lyrics. I’m glad people feel seen by her particular brand of confessional frankness. Her experiences don’t really resonate with me, but I get that this can be very personal to people. I think at the time it must have been exciting and important to hear a woman sing with such raw honesty about sex and relationships.

1 stars I’ve mentioned the Netflix series Hip Hop Evolution before. I miss it, I wonder if they will ever make more seasons… a lot has happened in hip hop since they left off… Digital Underground was a very memorable part of the series, because they told the story in detail about how Shock G developed his Humpty Hump alter ego. He was a really articulate and compelling speaker, I really enjoyed that part. RIP. Now, this album. It is so unserious. I was only ever going to have limited patience for a corny, horny concept album about a sex drug. It sounds like could be fun but it’s mostly stupid. Lyrics are incredibly cringe. A lot is just gross (Freaks of the Industry, ugh). The Humpty Dance is good goofy retro hip hop fun though.

First off, I do not like that album cover. I was also not in the mood for a dreary grunge record with basically no discernible pop hooks. Apparently this is a cult classic, which I can see. It sounds like something that would be personal to some listeners and would’ve influenced much better albums. But I didn’t enjoy spending time in the headspace of this narrator and his fucked up relationship. If the goal was to reflect the mood of the a toxic breakup, then mission accomplished. I did however lol at the lyric “I got a dick for a brain / and my brain is gonna sell my ass to you” Songs I didn’t mind were: -Be Sweet (featuring the aforementioned lyrics) - especially the refrain over the outro -My Curse -I Keep Coming Back (just realized this is a cover which is why the lyrics are more straightforward and it sounds more timeless than the rest of the album) -Brother Woodrow/ Closing Prayer - instrumental closing track was fine In general I preferred the back half. Maybe I would enjoy individual songs more if I heard them in isolation but as an album listening experience this gets a thumbs down from me.

Rounding up from 3.5 stars I count myself a Smiths fan, but I don’t tend to listen to their albums start to finish other than The Queen is Dead. Some of their best songs aren’t even on their albums proper. So even though a lot of people say Strangeways is their best, I haven’t spent enough time with it. I’m so glad this game forced me to listen to it again. It’s known as the record where they shifted their sound from their jangle pop/post punk fusion. Even the record’s title seems to signal the start of an experimental new era (that immediately ended when they broke up before the album came out). But it turns out Strangeways was the name of a prison in Manchester, so I guess it was an ending after all. Lyrically, Morrissey is misanthropic and self-pitying as ever (and a tad murderous) - but still tongue in cheek a lot of the time. He’s like an emo Oscar Wilde. Not gonna comment on every song but some things I liked/noticed: -I Started Something Couldn’t Finish - the horns made me think of Britpop-era Blur. -Death of a Disco Dancer - Sounds a bit like Dear Prudence and I like how this spirals into a moody, chaotic jam. -Girlfriend in a Coma - classic Smiths, a jaunty tune about a morbid subject. Uh, I don’t think he’s too sad about the girlfriend. -Stop Me if You Think You’ve Heard This One Before - violent imagery, lies, alcoholism, and a fading romance - topped off by a great closing solo by Johnny Marr. “I still love you / only slightly, only slightly less / than I used to” - how romantic! One of their best songs for sure. -Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me - why does that extended intro sound like the Twin Peaks theme -Death at One’s Elbow - can’t you just write a love song, Morrissey? It’s always “There’s somebody here / Who really really loves you” on one hand and “there’s somebody here / Who’ll take a hatchet to your ear” on the other. It’s a shame that Marr and Morrissey hated each other and this was their last record. (But can you blame Marr? Morrissey’s a prick.) Regardless, I still love The Smiths, I happily listened to this all weekend, and it rewarded repeated listens.

2.5 stars Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The non-hits didn’t interest me much, but Planet Caravan was a chill, trippy surprise.

Very fun! A great opening track, a fun little cover of Satisfaction, and off to the races for a zany good time from start to finish. I love the energy. I can hear their influence on post-punk revival bands like The Futureheads. The most purely enjoyable album in this game so far.

2.5 stars. Some songs were pleasant but overall the album tipped into cheesy territory for me. Feeling’ Alright was nice in a movie montage/end credits sort of way.

Rounding up from 2.5 stars… the extra half star is because they influenced so many of my favourite bands. File this one under: “I wish I loved this.” Major respect to Sonic Youth for cranking up the distortion and pioneering noise rock. Their fingerprints are all over my favourite bands, from My Bloody Valentine to Yo La Tengo to Radiohead to post-Britpop Blur. I just don’t particularly connect to SY’s iteration of this sound. It kind of all blends together into a blur for me. Kool Thing rules though.

This album has a jazzy easy-listening vibe that’s pleasant enough but nothing really stood out. This record needed its equivalent of A Case of You. Raised on Robbery was a fun change of tempo but it came so late in the track listing.

3.5 stars I like the ambition and audacity that drove artists to release double albums, especially in the heyday of vinyl. But there’s just sooo much bloat. Maybe my smartphone has destroyed my attention span but you cannot convince me that Jamaica Jerk-off REALLY needed to be on this album. -Candle in the Wind - Marilyn Monroe is a misunderstood icon, and I like that Bernie Taupin and Elton tried to humanize her. This version is better than the Princess Di one. -Bennie and the Jets - that intro gets me every time. These vibes are unmatched on the rest of the record. Are the lyrics about a robot band? -Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - What a 3-song run. Ahhhhhhh ahhhhh ahhhhhhhh -The Ballad of Danny Bailey - my attention started flagging after Goodbye Yellow Brick Road… I liked this song but it’s all blending together at this point. -Saturday Night’s Alright - So sorry, I prefer Nickelback’s version. As I said in the chat, it’s because of HNIC. I cannot help who I am as a person. I think Elton is singing these lyrics in jest and Chad Kroeger is deadly serious.

A lot going on here and not nearly enough time to parse it all. I love the lo-fi sampling. The only member’s voice I can consistently recognize is ODB so it was hard to follow all the stories being told. But really sitting down to listen to the lyrics on C.R.E.A.M. was an intense experience. Could see myself giving this a higher rating on further listens.

I’ve listened to this a few times through now. The imagery and storytelling is so evocative. Interesting structure with one half acoustic and one half electric, bookended by the same song in different forms. Powderfinger is the standout for me - I’m biased because it’s my husband’s favourite Neil Young song and Hayden covers it live sometimes.

This is cool. It’s another case of a band that I respect for their influence on my favourite artists. I liked listening to this while I worked. I enjoy the repetitive rhythms and there are some cool sounds on this record. But I prefer how subsequent artists incorporated krautrock into other/new subgenres. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to put this on but I like hearing the origins behind the music I love.

This record has a soft, hazy intimacy that really appeals to me. It was my first time listening to it on Friday, but it felt like an old favourite I’ve listened to 100 times - in a good way. I wouldn’t call this a no-skip (The Murder Mystery felt like a failed experiment), but I really liked this. I’ll definitely come back to this album.

This transported me to another place and time. I was surprised this was only released in 1997, but it makes sense when you realize this was a project designed to preserve Cuban music of the past. The opening track Chan Chan made me feel like I was on vacation — or at least a fun restaurant. It sounded familiar too. I’ve probably heard some of these songs (at aforementioned fun restaurants) even though I’ve never put this album on myself. I wish I owned a house with a patio so I could host a summer dinner party and put this on. But a random Tuesday in my kitchen will have to suffice.

Wikipedia says this is post punk. Perhaps in spirit, but this is a new wave/synthpop record. It sounds like The Talking Heads made a Depeche Mode album. It sounds like the 80s threw up all over it. Is that a good thing? I’m not convinced (and I love the 80s). There’s a lot going on here, some of which I like, but it’s all brought down by this frontman and his repellant lyrics. Side note: I love The The’s song This is the Day - but it’s not on on this album. Is that song an anomaly? Infected - once I accepted how campy this is, it was kind of fun. But I did not need this couplet in my life: “from my scrotum to your womb / your cradle to my tomb” Out of the Blue (Into the Fire) - these lyrics, ugh. Heartland - “this is the 51st state of the U.S.A.” Welp. Despite the grim lyrics this had a goofy/theatrical vibe that made me think of The Divine Comedy or Blur at their silliest - but without the sense of humour. Sweet Bird of Truth - I liked the “radio, radio, radio” intro and outro Slow Train to Dawn - I think my problem with this record is that there’s something cheesy or ridiculous about each song (usually the lyrics or the singer’s delivery), but not in a fun way. The Mercy Beat - I like the extended outro.

Didn’t get a chance to do a deep dive but this was a fun glam accompaniment to my commute to and from the office. Standout for me is the Humphrey Bogart tribute 2HB, a song I already liked from the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack (vocals by Thom Yorke on that version!). Also shoutout to Ladytron for providing a name to a cool electropop band.

4.5 stars I already knew this album and it was a pleasure to revisit it. This is such a cohesive and beautiful work. Dreamy, chiming instrumentals are the perfect accompaniment to Bjork’s ethereal vocals. This sounds mellower than some of her other albums but no less raw. She sings about romance with a feral sexual energy. Apparently “vespertine” means “of the evening” - perfect. This is a record to listen to at twilight.

I really enjoyed listening to this over the weekend. Filled with classic songs, beautiful melodies, and poetic lyrics. They sound like the American Beatles. This vinyl is sitting on our shelf but I’ve never listened to it - gotta get our record player hooked back up. Also, The Lemonheads’ cover of Mrs. Robinson is really good (I had that on a mislabelled mp3 so believed it was a cover by Guster until approximately 2 years ago). Also also, The Bangles’ cover of Hazy Shade of Winter is pretty fun.

Everything that’s not Jump, Panama, or Hot for Teacher is cock rock bullshit.

I only knew Randy Newman from the Toy Story song, so I was not ready for a satirical concept album about the American south. I don’t think the satire hits the same way in 2025, because basically every song sounds like a MAGA rallying cry. Who or what exactly is being lampooned here? It’s complicated. Newman holds up a mirror to America and what we see is pretty ugly. He’s not celebrating the characters he portrays, but he’s not entirely condemning them either. And these bluesy, jaunty piano songs are tonally confusing. You can just imagine the twinkle in his eye as he wistfully sings about racists and abusive drunks. It feels wrong. What’s really upsetting is the perspective Newman is singing from, these good old boys, has been weaponized, and it’s taken over American politics. The issues he’s highlighting - racism, poverty, crises of modern masculinity - have not been solved in any way. All we have is angry people wielding power and no solutions. It’s a lot to pack into a collection of songs that sound like You’ve Got a Friend in Me. But this album is light years away from a heartwarming animated movie theme. Rednecks - Had to go to Wikipedia for context on this one. Sure, roast the libs, they’re hypocrites, etc. But for obvious reasons this song doesn’t go down well in 2025. Really though, I feel like using that slur didn’t come off well in 1974 either. It’s a super jarring way to start off an album. Anyway I guess little has changed in 51 years except things are worse now. Mr. President - I think this must have been based on Nixon, but it’s eerie listening to this during a second Trump presidency. Louisiana 1927 - All I could think was, Katrina. It’s really sad how relevant this song remained. Rollin’ - The album ends on a curiously carefree note. Just pour yourself a whiskey (or roll up a joint?) and we ain’t gonna worry no more.

I enjoyed this mish-mash of genres but it’s messed up that this album is solely credited to Malcolm McLaren. How much did the Sex Pistols impresario really contribute to this music?

Love the 3 big hits, especially Cherub Rock and Disarm. First time listening to the full album. The album tracks blended together for me but it all sounded very good. I figured Billy must have had a troubled upbringing based on his lyrics - Wikipedia says yup. It’s unfortunate he kinda went off the deep end. Is this the Pumpkins’ best album? It must be.

3.5 stars I listened to this a lot when it came out, but not lately. Partly because of the revelations that Win is, at the least, a creep. But also because I always found this album drags in the middle. The opening run from The Suburbs to Modern Man is incredible. Then it kind of starts to blur together until Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains). It’s not that I don’t like the songs in between. I think it just needed some more editing. I listened to the whole album a few times this weekend and it sounds great and I still really like it. But if I need to evaluate this as a whole album experience, the momentum just doesn’t sustain itself for the whole hour. Maybe I’m knocking off at least a half star because of Win.

4.5 stars rounded up for sentimental reasons Full disclosure: this is my favourite band. I wasn’t a cool elementary school kid who was listening to this in 1995. I didn’t become a fan until university, between Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows. I was a student figuring out who I was and my take on the world after my varsity hockey career ended. My laptop was full of Radiohead songs that I had grabbed from my brother’s computer. I threw them on shuffle on Windows Media Player with all my other music. Every time I’d hear an amazing song and had to check what it was - it was Radiohead. It happened so many times that I decided to properly dive in and never looked back. So my initial experience with The Bends was in a world where OK Computer and Kid A had already been established as classics. There was a big portion of the fanbase (ateaseweb, anyone?) that looked down on The Bends as an inferior precursor to those 2 masterpieces. Ultimately I think that’s snobbery. The Bends may not be as complex or conceptually unified as Kid A/OKC, but it’s an incredibly listenable record. I still listen to it all the time! It’s so difficult to talk about Radiohead albums without the context of what came before and after. As a follow-up to Pablo Honey, The Bends is a big leap forward. PH is ok, it has some overlooked good songs and a bunch of so-so stuff that sounds like second-rate versions of other popular rock bands. On The Bends they sound more confident, and Thom’s persona is more fully developed. Still, I don’t think anything on this album really predicts the even bigger leap they took after this with OK Computer. My main quibbles with The Bends are: Thom’s angsty lyrics didn’t age as well as I would’ve wanted. On some songs he comes across trite, a 90s Gen X cliche. And the gripes that resonated with me when I was in my early 20s don’t hit as hard anymore. But really, he was just capturing a zeitgeist and his own internal turmoil at the time. With Thom I’ve always felt it was more about the expressiveness of his voice than the literal words he sings anyway. My other critique is the reason I’d technically take a half star off: sequencing. They have two pairs of songs back-to-back that sound really similar: High and Dry + Fake Plastic Trees and Just + My Iron Lung. It doesn’t bother me as much for the first pair but the second two have a dated post-grunge sound so it’s more noticeable. I’m splitting hairs because I like all those songs but I guess I grade on a curve when it comes to this band. Planet Telex - Starting out very strong with one of my favourite tracks on the album. Thankfully, we have long since left behind its association with Jian Ghomeshi’s Q (yes, I was a regular listener before the shit came to light). When I saw them play this live I was ecstatic! The Bends - The Bends is ostensibly about the alienation Thom felt after rocketing to fame with the success of Creep. He starts off singing about finding his real friends, asking “where are you now when I need you?” By the third verse he’s making fun of himself - “they brought in the CIA / the tanks and the whole marines to blow me away” - until it all explodes into one of Jonny’s most satisfying solos. Thom belts out a final desperate cry for connection, “I wanna be part of the human race!” before deflating back down to ask again, “where are you now when I need you?” We don’t know who he’s searching for - his real friends, his girlfriend, any authentic human connection at all, all of the above? I don’t know if Thom ever really adjusted to being a star, but this is one of his only songs that seems to directly reference fame. It’s a total banger and I love it. They performed this on Jools Holland at the time and I’m probably personally responsible for 90% of the that video’s views on YouTube. Thom never sings this “straight” anymore. On the occasion they do play it, he sneers and mumbles his way through it as if he’s mocking his younger self. It’s too bad. High and Dry - I feel like there are 2 types of people: those who love this song, and those who spent too much time wanking on Radiohead message boards. This is clearly a great song and people should get over themselves. (I’m excusing the band themselves because I do sympathize with getting sick of your own songs) A lot of Radiohead songs are cited for “inventing Coldplay” and this is a prime suspect. Coldplay and their ilk took High and Dry’s acoustic guitar + falsetto formula, dialled up the romantic longing and turned down the bitterness to ride a wave of cash money. It’s fine - I like Coldplay’s first two albums! I actually came to Radiohead via Coldplay. The best part about the Radiohead clone army is that it pissed off Thom enough that he eventually blew up Radiohead’s sound and did something completely different. That intense commitment to innovation is what makes Radiohead great. Anyway I like this song and it’s too bad the band seems to hate it. Fake Plastic Trees - Even though I think this song influenced Chris Martin just as much as High and Dry, luckily the band have not disowned this one. The lyrics are pretty on the nose, but it’s Thom’s emotional delivery that gets me every time. Anyone who’s mystified that girlies are in love with Thom needs to watch videos of him singing this live in the 90s. I cried when I finally heard them play this live! Bones - One of the few songs where you can hear Thom’s English accent! (On “I used to fly like Peter Pan”) (Nice Dream) - An overlooked song that I absolutely love. Thom’s vocals sound angelic. There’s a video of him performing a solo acoustic version at Much Music that I’ve watched approx 100000x. Just - Thom and Jonny really went off on this one. The vague sinister tone, the sneering vocals, the screeching guitar, and that blistering outro solo. It’s so good! Iconic video. My Iron Lung - Despite my complaints about the sequencing, this song absolutely rips. I love that it’s a formulaic grunge song that mocks grunge (including their own song Creep). The “if you’re frightened” bridge and subsequent solo make the song for me. Bullet Proof - Not a song I put on outside the context of this album but I’m fine with it as an interlude. Black Star - I love the fade-in intro. This could have been a hit single! They had no business burying such a good song so low in the tracklist. This is where everyone puts their filler. Instead they pull out this melancholy gem that projects a failing relationship to celestial proportions. The juxtaposition of the mundane drudgery of daily life with interstellar imagery is so Thom. He does this on OK Computer with Subterranean Homesick Alien and on A Moon Spaced Pool with the devastating, perfect Decks Dark (2 of my favourite Radiohead songs!). Sulk - Thom never really sang like this after this album. I get that he changed his songwriting style but it’s kind of a shame. I guess he couldn’t have belted like this forever anyway. Street Spirit - I think this song/video helped earn them their enduring reputation of a depressing, self-serious band. It does kind of sound like a Metallica ballad. It’s a little heavy-handed but this is still a beautiful, impactful album closer. I’ll never love a band as much as I loved Radiohead in my early 20s. But that’s ok! Every time I listen to them I can get that feeling again.

I feel like I “should” be a Pavement fan because they’re a cool 90s indie band with a cult following. I’ve just never been able to get into them beyond the “hits.” This record is the most Gen X slacker thing I’ve ever heard. To its detriment for me… Stephen Malkmus sounds so bored and disaffected most of the time that I can’t get engaged. Also there aren’t enough tunes here for me? But I also didn’t hate it or anything. One thing that’s fun about this 1001 albums project is picking up on the influence between bands. There’s a lot of Sonic Youth in this record. And Pavement influenced Spoon, Sloan, Yo La Tengo (mutual influence I’d say), and Blur’s lo-fi post-Britpop phase. Also when I heard the outro to Trigger Cut/Wounded Kite at :17 it made me think Elastica based a whole song (Line Up) on it. Best songs: -Summer Babe (Winter Version) - That is such a funny title. -Zurich is Stained -Here

Four monster hits on this album. Dancing in the Dark is the obvious standout to me. Not surprised it’s his most streamed song. Re: I’m on Fire - great song but I do have a visceral negative reaction to men referring to women they want to have sex with as “little girl.” I know there’s a lot going on about “America” on this album but I didn’t have the capacity to dive in today so I had to let the album tracks wash over me.

I’ve never listened to a full XTC album before so it was interesting dropping into their 13th with little context. This doesn’t sound like the 80s XTC I’m familiar with. I’ve always felt I should dive into their catalogue more deeply because of their influence on Britpop and post-punk revival (I feel like I say something like this every second album). Not sure if this is really representative of their other music but I’d definitely listen to more. This is a pretty record, full of Beatles-esque melodies and lush orchestration. At times it sounds like baroque twee pop I would sometimes listen to in the 2010s. This was made in 1999? It sounds out of time. Songs I liked: -Easter Theatre - pagan/Easter/pastoral is a musical niche I never thought of until now -Fruit Nut - lol I guess I like pastoral pop -Harvest Festival - I will excuse rhyming “festival” with “best of all” Not so good: -Your Dictionary - had to look this one up because it sounded out of place on this album. It’s a bitter post-divorce song… I could’ve done without this juvenile spelling exercise.

This was nice enough. I’ve always liked California Dreamin’. For such a wholesome-sounding band, they sure did a lot of drugs and had some insane controversies (incest allegations?!).

3.5 stars I really enjoyed the first half or so. Tightrope is a great hit single but I also really enjoyed the flow from Dance or Die into Faster into Locked Inside into Sir Greendown. The transitions between songs are seamless - it sounded like one epic multi-part song blended together (in a good way). I like the ambition and the mix of genres and styles. The fact that the blend works and doesn’t sound like a total mess is a testament to Janelle Monae’s vision. But she starts to lose me at Mushrooms & Roses and the album never really regained momentum for me after that. But I did like the closing track BaBopByeYa. Also the sci-fi concept did not do a lot for me, but I also didn’t have a lot of time to dive into the narrative.

Was that all the same song? I can understand how in 1974, a (double!) live album of a very popular artist was a thing people wanted. But in 2025, I don’t think this is essential listening for anyone other than Van Morrison superfans. That’s not even shade - I’ve spent a lot of time listening to shitty bootlegs from shows. It’s great to have high-quality live recordings of your favourite artists. This just wasn’t for me. Also - Volume I? There’s more?!

It’s impossible for me to listen to The Kinks without thinking about their massive influence on Britpop, but particularly Blur. Damon Albarn took Ray Davies’ character sketches and comic scenes of English life and la la la’s and ran. I’m not English so I don’t understand it in my bones but I have a soft spot for these kinds of wry, whimsical slices of life. And I am kind of an Anglophile… just the good parts! So coming at The Kinks via Blur, even when this album gets really silly (that sea shanty Harry Rag, Tin Soldier Man) it doesn’t lose me. But really, when I’m in the mood for this sort of thing I’ll just put on Modern Life is Rubbish, Parklife, and The Great Escape. David Watts - I know this from The Jam album All Mod Cons and forgot it was a Kinks song til now. I prefer The Jam’s cover - it has more bite. Death of a clown - Kind of a Dylan song? Love me til the sun shines - these lyrics kind of suck. Afternoon Tea - this is the most English thing I’ve ever heard. I love it. Waterloo Sunset - Saved the best for last. Beautiful, classic song.

On a rainy Thursday in June, I was in exactly the right mood to listen to a mystical harp-playing fairy. Joanna Newsom writes beautiful poetry, dense with allusion and evocative imagery. Sometimes her lyrics are painfully poignant. It’s not on this album, but I think of her song Sadie, about the death of her childhood dog. On Ys she touches on some intense pain and it was kind of overwhelming. I focused on the lovely medieval-sounding folk music and it was a very nice soundtrack to a sleepy work from home day.

I enjoyed listening to this big band jazz while I worked and over the weekend.

2.5 stars? I don’t have much of a frame of reference to review this album. I’ve never listened to any other full Elvis album. I didn’t feel strongly about this one either way. Blended into the background nicely. At some point when I was listening to it I had the thought, “this sounds like Camera Obscura.” Surely it’s vice versa, but I guess Camera Obscura drew from this general era of pop if not The King himself, so I guess that makes sense.

4.5 stars So many great, classic tracks on this album. Sunday Morning, I’m Waiting for The Man, Femme Fatale, All Tomorrow’s Parties, I’ll Be Your Mirror… There’s a lived-in quality about this album that sounds so right to my ears (and the other self-titled Velvet Underground album too). This came out 2 years before yesterday’s album, From Elvis in Memphis. Sounds like a different universe. The last couple songs kinda took me out of it but it didn’t bother me that much since they were at the end.

This makes me feel like I’m getting a haircut at a salon with minimalist decor and an aromatherapy diffuser. Why does that album cover look so crappy? That “tattoo” looks like WordArt.

An apt album for the day after Brian Wilson’s passing - not a coincidence, I assume. I’ll admit I didn’t have a chance to give this a proper deep listen but I enjoyed listening during my work day. Don’t Go Near the Water made me realize the Beach Boys were a key influence on Animal Collective. Student Demonstration Time was…not good. Anyway I need to listen to Pet Sounds again.

From my understanding, Pete Townshend believes he was a victim of childhood sexual abuse. That’s terrible, and I’m sorry he experienced that. I think that explains the why behind the upsetting themes on Tommy. But, the way it’s handled on this album… not good. Maybe it works in the context of the movie. I don’t need to find out.

1 hour, 12 minutes, and 20 seconds of songs that are not as good as The Boys are Back in Town, plus 4 minutes and 40 seconds of The Boys are Back in Town.

Robert Plant: I’m gonna give you every inch of my love Way down inside woman you need love Squeeze me, baby, til the juice runs down my leg Also Robert Plant: '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 Do I like this album, or have I heard these famous songs a lot? I never went through a Zeppelin phase so I don’t have the nostalgic attachment or appreciation that others have. To me this is a collection of undeniable classic hits with some filler.

Nice and chill. Judging by his imagery and the Wikipedia description there’s a political message but I don’t speak Spanish so I can’t comment on how he delivered the message. Bongo bong sounds like a Gorillaz song.

I was very surprised to see this band on here. I remember Drive being on the radio and thinking it was ok. I still think so. The Incubus song I enjoyed the most was Megalomaniac, but it’s not on this album. Overall this sounds really dated and I’m not into it at all. Side note, Brandon Boyd was the only nu-metal adjacent singer that appeared on the pages of my teen mags. He has a nasal voice that I’d expect to hear from an emo singer.

I got into this album years ago because of Thom Yorke. He said the “traffic jam” sound of The National Anthem was influenced by Charles Mingus, so I had to check him out. This record really itches my brain in the right way. It actually became one of my go-to albums for research and writing papers in grad school. Maybe chaotic avant-jazz was not the best soundtrack for writing essays. And I did have some severe anxiety and perfectionism issues throughout that time… if anything, maybe this music reflected my state of mind. To this day, I still love this record. The cacophany just sounds right to me. I find it soothing, not stressful. I don’t know what that says about me.

Oh my god, this was so long. A two-hour triple album solo project from 1970 is very on-brand for this 1001 album list. I don’t care if you’re a Beatle, this is just too much for a one-day listen-and-judge. I enjoyed this fine? My Sweet Lord was the only song I knew going in. It’s a nice song. The other standout for me was Wah-Wah. I read the lyrics after…it’s a Beatles/Paul diss track? It comes off pretty petulant out of context, but this reminds me, I never watched Get Back…I should go do that. And re-watch Let it Be. Anyway I still really liked that song. I think there was a good album in there somewhere but by the time I got to the instrumental jams I simply did not care anymore and couldn’t remember the songs I liked.

2.5 stars Basically every work day since around 2011, I’ve listened to Lauren Laverne’s show on BBC 6Music. Prefab Sprout gets mentioned a lot on her show (probably listener requests) and shows up on her playlist sometimes, but I’ve never paid much attention to them. I thought I was going to like this album more than I did. The first song was very Smiths but that turned out to be a red herring. His songwriting reminded me of Aztec Camera (I really love their album High Land, High Rain), but stylistically this record is smooth jazz-pop à la The Style Council, which I can get behind… to a point. Unfortunately, this record gets cheesier as it goes on. There’s an aggressively 80s easy-listening vibe that’s hard to get past. I’m amenable to 80s pop that walks this line but this goes over it for me. The lyrics are interesting. Paddy McAloon can definitely turn a phrase. But I found the narrator off-putting a lot of the time, with his tales of cheating and self-confessed crappy behaviour. I think Destroyer took a lot of cues from Prefab Sprout on Kaputt, which is a great album I’ve listened to a lot, so I’ll give them that. Next time Lauren Laverne plays a Prefab Sprout song I’ll pay more attention, and enjoy it even. But this is not a full-album band for me.

Chill electronica with sampled conversations and street noise. A bit trip-hop, a bit spy movie soundtrack. Makes sense that he does Soderbergh movie scores. This is nighttime music. I put it on as background music as I did chores during the day, and it was pretty forgettable. But then I put it on at night while knitting, and suddenly it was a vibe. I liked the strings on Don’t Die Just Yet.

I really enjoyed this. I only knew the title track going in but the whole record felt familiar in the best way. No bad songs, just funky 70s soul vibes. I love his voice.

2.5 stars “How does it feel to be in R.E.M.? It feels good!” Almost my entire experience with R.E.M. is filtered through Scott Aukerman and Adam Scott’s hilarious, unhinged music podcast, U Talkin’ U2 To Me? The R.E.M. season (they called it R U Talkin’ R.E.M. RE: ME?) is probably my favourite, because Adam Scott was such a nerdy fan of this band since he was a teen. Because of this show, I’ve listened to all 15 R.E.M. albums, plus some extras. My tl;dr is R.E.M. didn’t know how to edit themselves. Their first EP and full album are pretty great and then they released an album nearly every year. They’re a good singles band, with huge swathes of mediocre filler leading to increasingly diminishing returns. Document is the album that produced their first big hit single, The One I Love. That and the other big hit, The End of the World (which, as Scott & Scott note, Billy Joel ripped off 2 years later with We Didn’t Start the Fire), are not bad, but R.E.M. has better singles. I like the third single from the album, Finest Worksong. The album tracks are kind of blah, but I do like the jangly stomp of Exhuming McCarthy. Adam Scott said he used to walk around his high school hallways putting his Walkman headphones on people and forcing them to listen to this song. Oh to have been one of his classmates. I also thought Trouble at the Heron House was alright. Strange is a cover of a Wire song, but not better than the original. I’ve rounded my rating up to 3 stars because this prompted me to re-listen to the very funny Document episode of R U Talkin’ R.E.M. I’m wondering how many more R.E.M. records are on here… Murmur better be one of them, because I think it’s the only one that holds up as a full album. Re: the podcast, I recommend it, but only if you will enjoy the following things: a) deranged, absurdist improv with gags that last years b) Scott Aukerman faux bullying Adam Scott about his ever more successful acting career (and basically everything) c) many tales of their early lives and careers d) oh also the music… they cover U2, R.E.M., Talking Heads, Chili Peppers, and The Boss I keep hoping they’ll do a Radiohead season. Hopefully they’ll sneak one in between seasons of Severance.

A while ago we reviewed The The’s messy album Infected, released a year after this album. It’s like The The guy swallowed this Tears for Fears album and its ilk and spit out a diseased version of the new wave mainstream. This Tears for Fears record must have been everywhere at the time. Actually, it’s still everywhere. I can’t go to Shoppers Drug Mart without hearing one of their songs. I wonder if I would have hated them at the time. Were they the Imagine Dragons of their time? There are some huge hits on this album. It’s certainly the sound of the 80s. But aside from a few highlights, this just isn’t it for me. They are very earnest and really reach for the rafters. It’s a lot. There are better new wave and synth pop bands. As it is, I can appreciate them for the 80s camp factor. Of note: Shout - I can, ahem, do without it. The Working Hour - It wasn’t a single, but this pops up on Lauren Laverne’s playlist from time to time. They were not shy with the sax on this one. The cheese is strong but I kind of love this moody, cinematic song. Everybody Wants to Rule the World - 80s in widescreen. I always feel like I’m in a movie when this comes on. A classic. I just watched the music video. The singer has a criminal rat tail/ponytail hybrid situation. Can’t unsee. They really were a dorky looking band. Mothers Talk - what even is this? A lot of clatter, it’s not catchy, it’s just corny and weird. Ok, I just read on Wikipedia this was their failed attempt at a Talking Heads song. That’s pretty funny and maybe explains it. Head Over Heels - YouTube Shorts keeps pushing this song on me, and I have to admit they got me. I didn’t even know this was by them until recently. It’s not as good as Everybody Wants to Rule the World, but I like it.

Offensively mid. Depressingly insipid. I think I rated yesterday’s Tears for Fears record too low because I did not enjoy this at all. When I saw a Crowded House album without Don’t Dream It’s Over come up, I was pretty skeptical, and I was right to be.

I don’t think this music is intended as work-from-home background music played from an iPhone (is any music?), but it functions nicely for that purpose. I only knew the first track going in, but the radio edit lol. It’s long, it’s repetitive, I probably wouldn’t have put this on otherwise. But I liked it fine.

Ah, rock bottom. 0 stars. Negative stars. I was in middle school when Limp Bizkit were at their peak. Every boy in my school thought Fred Durst was the coolest guy on the planet. I can totally understand why angry suburban white teen boys worshipped this shit! Durst’s impotent, misdirected rage sounds just as stupid now as is it did in 2000. I don’t even care if there’s something musically redeemable on this dumb-ass album (there’s little here that’s worthwhile). Limp Bizkit is thong straps peeking out of low-rise jeans, it’s trucker caps, it’s velour tracksuits. Trash then, trash now. They don’t deserve a nostalgia-tinged re-evaluation, a “time heals all wounds” reconsideration. They don’t deserve my time.

Achtung Baby is supposed to be U2’s game-changing reinvention record, so I was pretty surprised by how bland this album sounds. Aside from the obvious hits, I wouldn’t be able to distinguish the songs from their late-career material. I realized for the first time how much Mysterious Ways sounds like Elevation. Both those songs are fine, but they’re also nothing mind-blowing. Even Better Than The Real Thing is decent, I remember liking it when it would come on the radio. The Fly just sounds like a mess. I also listened to the Achtung Baby episode of U Talkin’ U2 To Me. Adam Scott kept saying when this record came out, it was like nothing he had ever heard before. They talked about U2 joining the dance-rock trend but if this is Bono & Co.‘s answer to Madchester, it’s pretty underwhelming. I like U2’s 80s post-punk sound, but I find their music got progressively more boring. I guess without this evolution, they would’ve just faded away. I watched the music video for The Fly, and I think I get it. It was an image makeover that positioned them as a cool slick band for the 90s, even in the face of grunge about to take over. It was a marketing move and it worked. But the record itself doesn’t hold up for me. Maybe you just had to be there in 1991. The obvious standout here is One. It’s a timeless classic, and sounds even better because it’s so much better than everything else on the album.

This album really encapsulates how I feel about R.E.M. - some good or even great singles, mostly forgettable album tracks. They released this like 2 seconds after the huge success of their previous album Out of Time, which featured Losing My Religion. They were just that kinda band - constantly recording and releasing material, which must have been great if you were a superfan. Off the bat, Drive is considered one of their masterpieces, but I don’t like it. It’s dreary, repetitive, and it sounds like What It’s Like by Everlast. Yes I know that song came after. (The best thing about Drive is Adam Scott’s very detailed story about it on R U Listening to R.E.M. RE: ME. He appeared as an extra in the music video before he was famous, but could never find himself in it until he talked about it on the podcast and a listener found him.) The second track, Try Not to Breathe, is a rare R.E.M. album track I really like. It has a nice melody that belies its dark/sad lyrical theme. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite is not for me, but then they pull out a classic, Everybody Hurts. I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite R.E.M. song, but it’s undeniably a good song. Also, the lyrics are simple in a good way, which is a welcome change from Michael Stipe’s often oblique wordsmithing. It’s gospel-tinged in a way that could have gone cheesy, but they landed on universal and life-affirming. Then this album goes into a lull of quite a few songs until we get to another classic. A quick note about one of the songs in the lull, Monty Got a Raw Deal - I don’t like the song, but I do appreciate that it’s a tribute to Montgomery Clift. I had a whole Monty phase and have watched a lot of his movies. But The Clash wrote a better song about him - The Right Profile. Anyway, just when I’m about to fall asleep they drop another classic, Man on the Moon. I keep thinking I like this song more than I do, because the chorus is really good. But the verses are kind of throwaway. Nightswimming is ok and Find the River is a good closer but by this point I’m exhausted by this slow, sombre album. If I were to choose a word to describe R.E.M., it would be “dense.” They have endless material and their songs are heavy with meaning but also kinda drag you down (especially on this album). But just when you’re about to get sucked under they pull you back up with a sparkling pop single. There’s a lot, I don’t like it all, but usually they have something to keep me interested.

3.5 stars It’s fun, it’s chill. No bad songs, but also nothing that leapt out at me either. A few recognizable hits that blended into the rest of the album. Definitely a cohesive record.

Bleak folky country cabaret murder ballads sung by a bargain-bin Tom Waits? This was destined to be polarizing and I was filtered out. I respect a cohesive theme and vivid storytelling, but this is not for me at all. I don’t like true crime or horror so this was a hard sell from the beginning. There’s probably a way into this type of material that could’ve won me over, but this is not it. It’s the voice, the goofiness, and the conspicuous number of female victims. It feels like he’s fetishizing violence against women. Where the Wild Roses Grow is particularly disturbing. Nick Cave said he wrote the song with Kylie Minogue in mind, because he was obsessed with her. So he wrote a duet about murdering her? But maybe it’s a good thing he did, because Kylie and PJ Harvey’s guest vocals were the best part of this album. I guess O’Malley’s Bar is this album’s litmus test. 14 minutes of a drunk-sounding man raving over Halloween music? I will pass. You can’t like everything, and I don’t like this.

All parties eventually end, and by all accounts, Britpop was a rager. This is Blur’s comedown record - the album where they broke from the hedonistic scene that made them famous. I’ve heard people say that OK Computer killed Britpop, but Blur did it themselves 3 months earlier when they released this self-titled album. The seeds were already planted on their previous album, the third in their Britpop trilogy, 1995’s The Great Escape. That album catches a lot of shit for jumping the shark on their sound, but despite the carnivalesque excess, there’s a deep melancholy running through it. I can hear shifts in their sound and increasing experimentation, especially in the back half of The Great Escape. I think they were (consciously or not) already trying to dismantle Britpop when it was at its zenith. This self-titled fifth album is why Blur is not Oasis. It’s Blur’s Kid A (though their next album, 13, gets more glory from critics). They evolved, and found something new to create. Gone are the cheeky character ditties and bouncy horn sections. Damon’s lyrics are more personal and the music is grittier and more adventurous. Pavement always gets name-checked as a big influence on this album. I don’t have the ear to pinpoint specific moments but the record has a scrappy, lo-fi vibe that feels very Pavement-y. Blur explores a lot of styles and influences here, from trip-hop to lo-fi to space rock to punk to noise rock. I like their explorations but it’s also why I took a star off - the album feels a bit disjointed, like a series of tangents. I think this gets overshadowed by the record that follows it, the masterpiece 13. Self-titled is not my most-listened-to Blur album, but I’m always rewarded when I put it on. Of note: Beetlebum - From the opening riff you can tell this was a completely new sound for Blur. A hazy, addictive track about doing heroin. “Inject this song into my veins” was never more appropriate. I absolutely love this song and it’s one of my favourite Blur singles. Definitely a case for it as their best song. This is also the hottest music video ever made, according to me and the YouTube comments section. The more you scroll the thirstier it gets. Song 2 - Blur’s Creep. This was the band’s idea of a grunge parody. Quiet/loud/quiet with nonsense lyrics and the iconic woo-hoo chorus. An accidental smash hit that gave Damon his longed-for American breakthrough (though it didn’t last). Of course, this was the first Blur song I ever heard. No matter how overplayed it is, I don’t get sick of it. Also the quintessential hockey goal song. Country Sad Ballad Man - This is where the album diverges from the pop-grunge sound of the first two tracks and starts to widen its scope. Kind of a weird song but I don’t hate it. M.O.R. - They’ve cranked up the distortion, but this frenetic Bowie interpolation could have fit right in on Parklife. I think it’s a fun song even though it’s more of a throwback. You’re So Great - A sweet lo-fi love song. It sounds like the vocals were recorded on a toaster but that was the point. This was the first time Graham Coxon sang lead vocals on a Blur album. A little prequel to his greatest triumph, Coffee & TV off 13. I don’t feel like going into a side rant about Graham so I’ll save that for another time. Death of the Party - Dark weird trip-hop-y song that gets into my head. Not sure if the title is an explicit reference to the end of Britpop, but surely that was in Damon’s mind. Great lyric: “Another night, and I thought ‘well, well’ / Go to another party and hang myself / gently on the shelf” Look Inside America - The idea of “America” looms large in Blur’s music. Damon had a pretty tortured relationship with the States, never making it big with Blur the way he wanted to (that would come later with Gorillaz). On this song he seems to be coming to terms with Blur’s lack of stateside success: “Look inside America / she’s alright she’s alright / sitting out in the distance / but I’m not trying to make her mine” At least they had Song 2. Strange News From Another Star - Love, love, love this song. A fame-weary Damon’s tribute to Bowie. While Major Tom is lost in space, Damon can’t find his way on earth. One of Blur’s best deep cuts. Essex Dogs - I love this as an album closer. Spoken word musings by Damon about his hometown over weird buzzing clattering instrumentation. Reminds me of some of Yo La Tengo’s noise jams. A great way to end an adventurous album, and points the way to their brilliant follow-up, the masterful breakup album 13 (hey I didn’t even mention Justine in this review! I’ll save that for another time too).

I don’t think I’d ever listened to a full Beastie Boys album, so I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed the blend of genres. I immediately thought, “this sounds like Odelay,” with its mix of hip hop, punk, jazz, funk, etc. The Beastie Boys were definitely an influence on Beck. Plus, Odelay was produced by the Dust Brothers, who also did Paul’s Boutique, so it’s all making sense. I can hear the through line. Odelay was only 2 years later, but it sounds much more modern. I don’t know a lot about the technological developments at the time but I do think there was big difference in how music sounds from the early 90s vs mid/late90s. That’s one of the fun things about this 1001 albums randomizer. Sometimes by chance we get thrown 2 albums in the same week that have a connection.

This is an album I’ve listened to before, and enjoy working to. My knowledge about jazz is pretty limited and I wish I had more historical or technical knowledge about this (I should really go back and finish Ken Burns’ Jazz). The piano on the opening track is interesting, like he’s hitting the wrong keys. But this record doesn’t have the abrasive edge of the Charles Mingus album we recently listened to (that I love). After the first couple tracks it settles into a more romantic mood. I would love to sit in a dark restaurant or bar listening to Pannonica.

I think this is a case of coming to an album at the wrong time (wrong era in history, wrong phase of life, both?). Exile in Guyville is an iconic indie record I always heard about but never listened to til now. Unfortunately, my first introduction to Liz Phair was her very bland 2003 single Why Can’t I? It used to play on heavy rotation at the cafe I worked at in high school and I wasn’t impressed. I knew she had a past as a cool indie chick but I never bothered to dig deeper. Now that I have… it’s ok. It has an appealing lo-fi sound and I can understand why this was so formative and influential. I preferred the album when I wasn’t listening to the lyrics. I’m glad people feel seen by her particular brand of confessional frankness. Her experiences don’t really resonate with me, but I get that this can be very personal to people. I think at the time it must have been exciting and important to hear a woman sing with such raw honesty about sex and relationships.

2.5 stars I know some very famous guys were in this band. When I hear Yardbirds I think of their cameo in Antonioni’s Blow-Up. Never listened to them til today. It has a kind of a shaggy, proto-garage rock charm. Found myself losing interest after a few tracks.

I belatedly figured out that these are all (I think) cover songs, which makes sense. This record sounds out of time. I know very little about this era of country music, but k.d. lang seems to capture it well. The star of the show is her incredible voice. I think the only contemporary song is the standout opening track, Western Stars, a Chris Isaak cover. It’s a beautiful song and this arrangement reminded me of dreamy alt-country like Mazzy Star. This is a pretty faithful cover, but k.d.‘s version has a more haunting quality. I prefer her version, it sounds definitive. I wish the whole album was like this. The rest of the album is more old-fashioned. It has a kind of David Lynch atmospheric torch song vibe that I liked. But overall, nothing else lived up to the first song for me.

Like everyone else in 2002, my dad had this CD, and it was on in the house all the time. Sure, it’s Starbucks music. Don’t Know Why was definitely on heavy rotation at the cafe I worked at. I would say this album both epitomized and solidified the template for coffee house soundtracks. As a result, I think Norah Jones elevated a lot of artists who happened to be making mellow singer-songwriter-y jazzy pop and pop/rock. But a lot of that music sucks, and this album doesn’t. She has a beautiful voice and the arrangements are soothing without being totally generic. There’s a warm heart to this record, and it’s not surprising literally everyone owned a copy. This album is relaxing and pleasant and I have few complaints about it. It does feel a little long, despite having a relatively short running time (45 mins). I think it’s because all the songs start to run together by the end and the album kind of peters out. I still like Don’t Know Why even though I heard it a million times on the job. Turn Me On is in a prominent scene in Love Actually - a movie so bad it’s good again - mostly this reminds me of watching it over and over again with my university hockey teammates-slash-roommates. Sometimes, things are ubiquitous because they’re nice. And okay, having your CDs prominently placed in Starbucks helps.

3.5 stars, rounded up with caveats If a fourth-line winger scored 20 goals, you would rate his season an A+. If your $12 million first-line winger scored only 20 goals, you’d give him a C-. You have to grade on a curve. Joy Division have a $12 million winger reputation. When I saw the iconic Unknown Pleasures cover come up, I was sure it would be an easy 5. Then I remembered why I never listen to this album. Although it has a few unassailable, transcendent classic tracks, the other songs on this album don’t live up to the renown. There’s too big of a gulf between the best tracks and the rest of the album. Influential, important? Yes. But not a record I want to listen to on a daily basis. Is it the production? I’ve read articles and watched videos discussing how the producer imposed a stark, minimalist sound onto a band whose live shows were loud and scrappy. And it seems some of the band members weren’t happy about it. I don’t hate it though, it’s cool and really distinctive. But there’s an oppressively doomy atmosphere over the album that keeps me at a remove. If this had been produced differently, with a more visceral sound, maybe I would like it more. As it stands, I appreciate the unified aesthetic of Unknown Pleasures. It’s impressive for a new band to emerge with such a cohesive vibe on their first album. But admiration is not the same as love. I wonder if there are three types of Joy Division listeners: those who don’t like them at all, those who like them but prefer New Order, and those who think JD is the greatest band of all time. I’m in #2. It feels a bit sacrilege to give Unknown Pleasures a middling review, but here we are. To switch my hockey analogy over to salaries, there’s also the internal salary cap structure to consider. Your cap allocation should reflect the hierarchy of your players as closely as possible. I only have up to 5 stars to allocate. Giving Unknown Pleasures 3 stars throws off my internal rating system. It’s closer to the albums I’ve given 4 stars than the albums I’ve given 3 - so I’m rounding up. Bulletproof standouts: Disorder, She’s Lost Control, Shadowplay

2.5 stars This didn’t grab me. A while back we reviewed Wu-Tang’s debut. I’m probably not supposed to compare East Coast vs West Coast but the two albums are from the same era and both very influential. Wu-Tang’s storytelling, lyricism, and sampling was consistently engaging. I found Cypress Hill kind of boring, but the album got more interesting as it went on.

RIP Ozzy. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It isn’t as drone-y as their last album we reviewed - it has a nice variety. Definitely a psychedelic flavour to this. My mind is kind of blown that Changes, of Big Mouth theme song fame, is a originally by Sabbath. It feels very poignant today.

2.5 stars Respect to Queen Latifah for carving space for female MCs in a male-dominated arena. The album is dated, and I probably wouldn’t put this on myself, but I also wouldn’t be mad if someone else did. Rounding up for historical significance. The songs are pretty repetitive, and even though I didn’t have time for a deep dive, the lyrics seemed pretty similar from song to song. I was super thrown off when it got to “Ladies First” - the version I know has a catchy “ooh, ladies first, ladies first” refrain. I guess that was the radio-friendly version. Notable: when I was trying to read the lyrics of the final track Inside Out, a Spotify glitch served me the lyrics of a VERY different song with the same title. I googled it and it’s a Korn song… I would really like some brain bleach now.

4.5 stars, rounding up because if you can’t give 5 stars for a Beatles album, when can you? Rubber Soul isn’t my favourite Beatles album (that would be Sgt. Pepper’s or Revolver), but I’ve been listening to it lately, well before it happily came up on here. I only have a basic knowledge of the details of their career trajectory but a quick glance at their chronology shows me Rubber Soul was the inflection point between their early work and their more sophisticated later albums. It bridges the gap nicely and there are some great songs on here. Let’s just get this out of the way: The lyrics to Run for Your Life are the absolute worst (wtf, John… it’s even worse because he was an admitted abuser). Annnnd, I’m just going to pretend it’s not on this album. Luckily they shoved it at the very end so it’s easier to overlook it. I was going to take off a star but I’ll just ignore it. Getting back to what’s good (basically everything else): Drive My Car is funny and catchy, the sitar lilt of Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, the Gallic charm of Michelle, the bittersweet reflection of In My Life. Lovely album and I was happy it was the weekend pick.

3.5 stars I feel like I’m failing this challenge on some level by not fully appreciating Led Zeppelin. Am I too old to get into them? Should I have gotten into them as a young impressionable youth? Am I just too much a dummy to appreciate the musicianship? Well, anyway, I enjoyed this album but it didn’t set me on fire. Immigrant Song though, what a way to open an album. It’s good every time. My cousin, who is Swedish-Finnish on the other side of the family, said this song makes her think of her people - “we come from the land of the ice and snow” - so now I always just think of her ancestors as marauding Vikings when I hear that opening war cry. The rest of the first half didn’t live up to the excitement of the opening song. I actually really enjoyed the folky country second half.

Track 12, You Suffer: Running time is listed at 0:04, but I think the actual song is shorter. Spotify says the lyrics are “You suffer, but why?” All I can hear is “urrrgagahhah” so if he’s really saying all that in that brief strangled growl then I’m impressed. I had a headache when I put this on, so the odds were stacked against me enjoying this album. I did actually have a laugh, though. The comically short songs, the deadly earnest political lyrics with zero nuance, the guttural screaming. I don’t think this is supposed to be funny but I just can’t take it seriously. I get wanting to channel your late-stage capitalist rage into this form. I get wanting to jump around in a crowded room while a man screams onstage. 1 star because as music, I don’t want to listen to it. But thank you for the laugh.

This is a milestone album but doesn’t age well. The misogyny and homophobia is rough to listen to. But… there is some good and important stuff in there. When they’re calling out systemic racism, they’re on point. But they don’t really stay on that topic. The first two tracks are incendiary, but the album loses energy after that. Aside from the blatant sexism throughout, the repetitive self-aggrandizing gets really boring (I know it’s a feature of the genre but it gets old super fast). The baseline disrespect for women really makes this album unlistenable in 2025, aside from a few tracks. Of note: Straight Outta Compton - a while back I watched the fascinating (Canadian produced!) Netflix docuseries hosted by Shad, Hip Hop Evolution. One of the most memorable parts was when they talked about how radical it was to have Ice Cube on TV in the music video rapping “…from the gang called N— wit Attitudes.” Operative word being gang, not group. A legendary way to open an album. Fuck Tha Police - This is the crux of this record. All the anger and injustice packed into this song I guess explains some of the misdirected rage elsewhere on this album. It’s really, really sad that is song is still so relevant. Parental Discretion Iz Advised - Eazy-E is kind of the worst, no? I like the soul sample on this (checked what it is, it’s an Isley Brothers song). Express Yourself - it’s just fun. A breath of fresh air on this album. Something 2 Dance 2 - what a random way to end this album. I can’t complain. In the 2002 reissue that I originally got linked to, there was a bonus track with awful lyrics called A Bitch Iz a Bitch - I realized it wasn’t on the original release so I’m not gonna bother engaging with it.

I like the movie, and the music goes well with it. But this is a film score, so by its very definition, it’s background music - especially with this genre. It’s nice. The last track is suitably disturbing. Is that a recitation from the novel or the screenplay? Feels like the novel. Air in general gives me nostalgic feelings about 2000s ambient electronica.

Adele has a great voice and she’s funny. I like her! But her music isn’t really my thing aside from a few songs. I was a fan of a couple of the songs off her first album, 19 (Hometown Glory and Chasing Pavements). I didn’t know she’d become an even bigger star but when Rolling in the Deep came out it was a showstopper and an instant classic. I remember at the time of 19 (2008-ish?), I guess because of the success of Amy Winehouse, BRIT school graduates like Adele and Kate Nash were getting a lot of attention. And around the same time Lily Allen and Duffy were really popular too and Adele kinda got lumped in with them. They were all successful to varying degrees but it was 21 that sent her to the stratosphere. I listened to this album a few times in 2011 but didn’t go back to it because there are a lot of forgettable ballads. Rolling in the Deep is the obvious best song. Rumour Has It is pretty fun. Set Fire to the Rain is pretty “adult contempy” as we say in my household. The other big ballad, Someone Like You, is a cut above because of her emotional lyrics and delivery. How did she sound so world-weary at age 21? I don’t care for the dreary smooth jazz cover of The Cure’s Lovesong.

3.5 stars When Gorillaz came out, I would’ve been in grade 10 or so. The whole virtual cartoon band thing was a huge part of their marketing and felt really futuristic. Although in Canada, we’d already had our own cartoon band, Prozzak, for several years. For a minute there it felt like this was gonna be a thing. Looking back, I’ve been trying to figure out how well known it was that Damon was at the helm of Gorillaz. As a Canadian teen that wasn’t on indie music message boards, I was completely clueless. I also only knew Blur from Song 2 and wouldn’t learn the name Damon Albarn for many years. It sounds like at the time of this album’s release it was an open secret, and was widely known by the time they released their second album Demon Days in 2005 (I still had no clue at that point). Anyway, if you were a Blur fan at the time you would’ve figured it out in 2 seconds, because not only does Damon make no attempt to disguise his voice, a lot of these songs sound like they could have slotted into Blur’s later albums. I kind of feel like Think Tank is a better Gorillaz album than Gorillaz is. The borders between the two bands were definitely, er, blurring, by the end (ie the end of Blur before they reformed in 2015). My main critique of this album is that aside from a few songs, they sound like Blur b-sides. It’s a couple hit singles and a collection of low-key songs. Good low-key songs! But it’s so mellow that it really blends together and there are few standout tracks. Clint Eastwood is ok, it’s funny that it was such a breakout hit because it doesn’t have the obvious pop appeal of the singles from Demon Days. 19-2000 is fun. There’s isn’t really a song I dislike on this record but there also aren’t any true standouts. It’s solid but a bit unremarkable. I’d still rather listen to this than most of the albums I’ve encountered on this list. However, Damon was clearly onto something with this debut effort. He figured out the right blend of genres that would finally bring him his longed-for American success. But I think the blend worked better for him on subsequent albums when he dialled down the trip-hop and upped the hip hop, electropop, synthpop, disco/funk, and soul. I think on Demon Days, with the help of Danger Mouse, he finally was able to distinguish Blur and Gorillaz’s sounds. Side note: I love Gorillaz in general. Plastic Beach is one of favourite albums, and I’m also very partial to Demon Days and The Now Now. As a Blur/Damon fan I feel very lucky that he’s been so crazily prolific and continues to produce so much good music. He has like 500 side projects and I like them all. So even though I consider myself a Gorillaz fan, the cartoon aspect is totally over my head. I’ve never gotten invested in the lore and I’m only vaguely aware of the characters and story. So it totally blows my mind when I go to a Gorillaz show and am surrounded by people who are clearly very, very into that. Which is cool. Maybe one day I’ll dive in. I don’t know if it’s really my thing but it is weird that there’s this whole extensive aspect to an artist I love that I know nothing about.

Is trip hop the adult contemporary wing of electronica? I like it in theory, or in small doses, but every time I try to listen to a full Massive Attack album I get bored. Overall I think I prefer Portishead, but they can be very gloomy. There are trip hop songs I really like. Teardrop is a classic, and there are great tracks on Portishead’s Dummy and Third. One of Radiohead’s great b-sides, Talk Show Host, is very trip hop flavoured. Ultimately I think I prefer this sound as a seasoning rather than a main dish. I know this album basically created this sub-genre so this must have been exciting to listen to in 1991. The instrumentation, sampling, and genre blending sound ahead of its time, but the vocals are a bit cheesy. I think the cheese factor is also coming from the fact that this sound quickly became cliche for music played at pretentious lounge bars with staff that take themselves too seriously. I don’t know if I’ve even been to a place like that, it’s just something that got filtered into TV and movies. Unfinished Sympathy is the most famous and best song on the album.

3.5 stars First half is classic Bowie, second half experimental. This was released after Low in the same year - I think Low is the better and more interesting album. I actually really enjoyed this but “for Bowie” I think this is a weaker album. Heroes is great - as a kid who grew up in the 90s, I heard The Wallflowers’ version off the Godzilla soundtrack first. They cleaned it up and re-established a more traditional song structure. I like both the Wallflowers’ pop-ified radio-friendly version and Bowie’s rougher-around-the-edges original. Oh and it’s part of the Elephant Love Medley in Moulin Rouge so of course I love it!

2 stars I’ve never listened to a full ABBA album before. I love their big hits, but this didn’t have enough of them. The first song, the title track, was great, but I lost interest after that except… Slipping Through My Fingers is a song I might have thought was cheesy before having a child. But now, this makes me cry.

This sounds like such a fun party. Normally I don’t care for live albums but this one is worthwhile. You can feel the energy from the crowd. I’ve never heard that captured on record quite this way. His crowd banter is great too. I love his voice.

A collection of melancholy romantic songs steeped with longing, punctuated by a powerful protest song. Beautiful piano playing.

I enjoyed this more the second time I listened to it, while skimming through the lyrics. Sat In Your Lap is a pretty aggressive way to start this album, but it’s funny how quickly you can adjust to Kate Bush’s particular brand of avant- pop. The songs are strange and mystical, and I can definitely hear her influence on Bjork, who I’m a fan of. Would I put this album on outside the context of this challenge? Probably not, but I’d be happy for some of these songs to show up on a playlist. I appreciate the weirdness and creativity. Favourite songs: There Goes a Tenner, Suspended in Gaffa, Night of the Swallow

3.5 stars This is a fun album. Young Americans is fantastic (love the interpolation of A Day in the Life), and Fame is fun. There isn’t really a bad song on the album (though I don’t love the Across the Universe cover), but I don’t necessarily need a full album of soul songs by Bowie. On that topic… can we just take a minute to talk about how fucking creepy and weirdly blood quantum racist it is to call this music “blue-eyed soul”? This must be the only genre that has a racial sub-category. Was this term invented so that racist American radio stations could play soul music but reassure everyone that the artists are white? That’s what I gathered from my quick Googling. That’s fucking weird and we should stop perpetuating it. I’m not saying we shouldn’t talk about race and cultural appropriation in music. As long as there’s inequity, race is part of the conversation. But I really think we can retire terminology that centres essentialized physical characteristics.

Dammit, Morrissey. He’s eminently hateable, it’s almost too easy. Actually I generally enjoyed this album, though the arrangements are kinda bland. I should have expected that, since I’ve heard some of his solo work and generally liked it. But then I read the lyrics to Bengali in Platforms (the title should have been a clue). It’s racist at worst and patronizing at best. Unfortunately, I do like Suedehead. And you can really hear his influence on Suede/Brett Anderson on his record, no wonder he named his band after that song. Anyway, although I like The Smiths and even some of Morrissey’s solo stuff, I really can’t stand him.

3.5 stars, rounded up because I listened to it all weekend and did not get sick of it This was not Deja Vu for me because it was my first time listening to a CSNY album. What stood out to most was that Neil Young sounds really distinct from the rest of the group and his song sounds like his own solo work. Helpless is a real standout. Re: Almost Cut My Hair, it’s interesting that long hair was such a rebellion then. I knew that, but it’s funny to see it so explicitly stated. I was wondering if CSNY originated the phrase “let my freak flag fly,” but apparently that was Jimi Hendrix, and they were picking up on it. Do I like Our House because I’m old? It’s just a nice glimpse into an uncomplicated domestic moment.

I first heard the name Jethro Tull in grade 9 social studies when we were randomly learning about 18th-century agriculture? A guy named Jethro Tull invented a piece of farm equipment called the seed drill. As I worked on my homework assignment, my dad chimed in to tell me there was a 70s rock band called Jethro Tull as well. Ok sure, I thought. And I didn’t think much about Jethro Tull until I had my son, and his enthusiasm for vehicles led to us flipping through books that get very specific about agricultural devices, including the good ol’ seed drill. “That was invented by Jethro Tull,” I tell my toddler for no reason every time we get to the illustration of the mechanical seed-sowing behemoth. My husband hums the opening riff to Aqualung. Anyway, this album sounds like a dorkier Led Zeppelin. The part I enjoyed the most was the “Ian Anderson Interview” tucked at the end of the Aqualung special edition I was directed to on Spotify. I gather he is the lead vocalist and flautist(!!) of Jethro Tull. I half-listened to the interview while I did dishes, and it was pretty entertaining. Highlights include him spilling the tea on his feud with Robert Plant (which he started by insulting LZ’s lyrics) and throwing shade on Muddy Waters’ music and maybe the entire genre of blues for being too simplistic?? Yeesh.

1 stars I’ve mentioned the Netflix series Hip Hop Evolution before. I miss it, I wonder if they will ever make more seasons… a lot has happened in hip hop since they left off… Digital Underground was a very memorable part of the series, because they told the story in detail about how Shock G developed his Humpty Hump alter ego. He was a really articulate and compelling speaker, I really enjoyed that part. RIP. Now, this album. It is so unserious. I was only ever going to have limited patience for a corny, horny concept album about a sex drug. It sounds like could be fun but it’s mostly stupid. Lyrics are incredibly cringe. A lot is just gross (Freaks of the Industry, ugh). The Humpty Dance is good goofy retro hip hop fun though.

This is a much-mythologized album. I think it’s cool that a female artist broke through in this way at this time. Now, do I like it? I actually had this on CD and I used to listen to it driving. I think it’s a good car album. It makes me feel like I’m on some free-spirited Jack Kerouac road trip instead of driving to a hockey rink in Burnaby or whatever. (have I read On the Road? No.) Gloria in particular is fantastic (I like it better than the original). It really sets a mood. But then the album doesn’t really sustain my interest. The songs are really similar to each other and have a rambling quality. I think the problem is I don’t like spoken word poetry, and this album is heavy on it. When I read the lyrics, I think, this is cool, very atmospheric and epic. But then spoken out loud in a pseudo-spiritual preachery way paired with the proto-punk, garage rock sound? I don’t know, it just gets really repetitive and loses me.

3.5 stars rounded up It’s a pretty tall task to evaluate one of the “best rap albums of all time” in one day with little context. Because at my core I’m a simple nerd, I hate feeling like I haven’t done my homework. I sometime hear Nas’ songs on my favourite radio program that I listen to near-daily, Lauren Laverne’s show on BBC 6Music. I’ve always liked The World Is Yours and I’m glad this challenge reminded me to listen to the whole album. I like the beats over the jazzy sampling (because I’m a noob, I’ve only recently learned this sound is called boom bap… I tend to like this style of hip hop though I’m too much of a dummy to recognize it when I hear it) and the New York storytelling. “I never sleep cuz sleep is the cousin of death” from N.Y. State of Mind, what a line. Wish I had more time to spend diving in with the lyrics and learning more about the production etc. I’m sure I’ll be back.

I didn’t fully connect with this one. I liked the songs, it’s more Bob… not his voice, which I’m fine with. It’s his deeply affected singing style, which is in full force on this album. It wore on me on after a while. And his lyrics - he’s obviously famous for them, and for good reason, but he just comes off like such a jerk sometimes (Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat, Just Like a Woman). I did however like Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (funny), One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later), and I Want You. Maybe I just need to come back to this one.

New Year’s Day is one of my favourite U2 songs. Sunday Bloody Sunday is a classic. The rest was… fine I guess. The lyrics to The Refugee made me cringe - so patronizing.

2.5 stars Part sleepy ambient, part cheesy 80s movie score, part proto-punk. It’s cool, I can see how this was ahead of its time for 1975 and certainly influential. I like the chugging krautrock rhythms but ultimately this album was kind of boring. I thought Faust, who we reviewed earlier, was much more compelling.

3.5 stars rounded up What a fun album. We haven’t had enough of that on this list. I already had a fondness for De La Soul for their work with Gorillaz. I knew a few of the songs on this album but it was my first time listening to it in full. De La Soul are funny, eclectic, a little dorky, and a bit absurdist (“Everybody in the world, you have dandruff” lol) - a great mix in my books. There are 3 fantastic standout songs on this record - (3 is) The Magic Number, Eye Know, Me Myself and I. The songs in between aren’t quite as good, though I like Buddy too. Where it gets questionable are the recurring skits (did they invent this?) and random interludes that really push the length of this album. It definitely does run long. It could all get stupid and annoying - as we’ve heard with some other old school hip hop on this list. De La are endearing enough that it didn’t annoy me as much here. And they sequenced the album well - just when I might have lost interest, they pull out another good song. Rounding up for 3 great songs and the overall good vibes. You could throw this on for a fun chill house party and I think everyone would be happy.

Like a Prayer and Express Yourself is one hell of a one-two punch to open an album. Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn’t live up to this high. Basically every pop album I’ve ever listened to has a lot of filler. This one has less than average but I wish it had been more consistent throughout. One time at karaoke sometime put on Like a Prayer and it turned into the greatest group singalong of all time. The song just keeps going but somehow it keeps getting better? It’s genius. Other highlights: Till Death Do Is Part (what a catchy song about an abusive husband… Sean Penn, I’m looking at you), Cherish

2.5 stars This was a downer. Nearly every song is about death, aging, pain, or sadness. Obviously these topics were on Johnny’s mind as he was nearing the end of his life and wasn’t well. But it was pretty tough to listen to such a sombre collection of songs, even though he does a very impressive job of making the songs his own. By the time we got to Danny Boy I couldn’t take the sad songs anymore. Highlights: -The Man Comes Around - this one is an original, I think. You could have told me this was an old classic and I would’ve believed it. -Hurt - iconic. -Personal Jesus - I love the Depeche Mode original and I enjoyed Johnny’s stripped down take.

Perfectly serviceable blues-rock. I wouldn’t be mad if someone put this on but I’m unlikely to do it myself. I have medium feelings about the White Stripes and Jack White. I like their hits, I like what they do, but never got into their albums, never felt a personal connection, and never saw them live. Perhaps this challenge will get me into them when their albums inevitably come up.

This album epitomizes the hilarious, inappropriately quaint British phrase “sex pest.” If you don’t read the lyrics, you might think this is a harmless, silly, jaunty, Kinks-by-way-of-Sex-Pistols, very English romp. But you’d be wrong. This album is what happens when you let your pervy, racist drunk uncle make a record. I’ve looked back at all the albums I’ve rated a “1” and there’s a pretty common theme: they elicit disgust. Fastest way to a “1” rating. The first song begins with the lines “I come awake / With a gift for womankind” and doesn’t improve from there. Could a singer with more rizz, as they say, than Ian Dury pull off this bawdy humour without making me want to hurl? Honestly I don’t care, he’s not nearly as funny as he thinks he is and I just regret having to listen to this mess. I know about Ian Dury because his goofy single, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick (not on this album) gets semi-regular airplay on Lauren Laverne’s show. It seems a decent portion of BBC 6Music’s listenership is fond of this guy. That song and its stupidly obvious double entendre is extremely silly, but I appreciated it as one of the random bits of English eccentricity that pepper 6Music shows. Now it’s just going to make me roll my eyes. Currently in 2025, his son Baxter (who is pictured on the cover of this record) is being played on pretty heavy rotation on 6Music with his own goofy single. Allbarone is a silly piece of EDM pop but the spoken word lyrics are surprisingly poignant. At least something decent came out of Dury Sr.

2.5 stars Some songs instantly transport me to my cafe job in the summer of 2002 - The Rising is one of them. I think it played every hour on whatever satellite radio playlist they used. It’s an okay song I guess, the la-la-la part is rousing and catchy. Some of these songs are quite emotional and they did get me (You’re Missing, for example). But do I need a whole album of mid, soft rock 9/11 songs? Sorry Boss, I do not.

I’ve very much reached old school gangsta rap fatigue with this challenge. The socio-political issues are still relevant, and I’m sure this album was important for its time. But the medium of the message is just really not appealing to me. It Was a Good Day sounds like it should be a chill good time if you don’t listen too closely to the lyrics. Check Yo Self - same sample as Shoop? I’d rather just listen to Salt-n-Pepa.

I can’t believe this album is 19 years old. It fills me with nostalgia, but also not, considering I still listen to it at least once every couple of months. The single for I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor and the subsequent album were both released during my third year of university. At the time, two of my most-listened-to bands were Franz Ferdinand and The Libertines, so Arctic Monkeys felt exactly tailor-made for me (I guess for a lot of people too, considering they rocketed to stardom). I went in hard for UK post-punk revival and Arctic Monkeys came at the tail end of it and kind of blew everyone else out of the water (at what, age 19, 20?!). This album is absolute catnip to me. It has the wry nightlife chronicles of Pulp, the gritty garage rock charm of The Strokes, a dash of the danceable post-punk of Franz, and the witty lyricism and frenetic energy of The Libertines (minus the disastrous drug habit, doomed-poet pretensions, and absolutely shambolic drama). Oh, and there’s the small detail of a very intriguing frontman… Alex Turner, a dream date if there ever was one, took on the Sheffield storyteller mantle vacated by a semi-retired Jarvis Cocker and ran away with it. Nowadays Alex is quite the seasoned performer with a very, uh, dedicated fanbase. The Arabella video might actually exceed Blur’s Beetlebum for thirstiest YouTube comments section (and for good reason). But before he became the AM-era swivel-hipped, pompadour’d rock god, Alex was a shaggy-haired, awkward-cute boy who happened to be a staggeringly talented songwriter. That’s the Alex Turner I loved best. Alex’s Sheffield is populated by shady pimps, hipster-poseur indie bands, surly taxi drivers, “totalitarian” bouncers, and night club hooligans. Few escape his pointed pen - a vapid Topshop princess, a shitty band, local thugs, the cops, and even his own buddies get sent up. He doesn’t leave himself/the narrator out of the crosshairs either (You Probably Couldn’t See For the Lights But You Were Staring Straight at Me; From The Ritz To The Rubble). It’s his arch self-deprecating attitude that keeps him from sounding like a judgemental asshole. It’s tempting to see Whatever People Say I Am as a document of what’s now being retroactively called the indie sleaze era. As James Murphy would say, “I was there.” But was I really? I was too busy watching classic movies on DVD, goofing off at home with my housemates (this is what happens when you’re a nerdy introvert in a house full of them), or holed up in my room writing essays (or more likely, procrastinating from writing essays by watching Radiohead performances on YouTube). But I did occasionally enter a club or attend a party populated by scenesters. And while we didn’t have chavs in Vancouver, we had plenty of drunk idiots and girls with bad fake tans and pretentious hipsters. It’s familiar even though I wasn’t living the lifestyle. And that’s the genius of this album. The antics that Alex depicts aren’t unique to Sheffield in 2006. His references are local but he isn’t really writing about a specific subculture or scene. He’s capturing the universal teen/early 20s experience of an underwhelming night on the town. This isn’t The Cobrasnake. There’s nothing aspirational or particularly cool going on in Alex’s stories. Right from the first track, Alex warns not to set your expectations too high before embarking on your night out. You can think of this as a concept album depicting one long, somewhat disappointing night out. There’s initial hope (I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor), a crappy show (Fake Tales of San Fransisco), failed attempts to pick up (Dancing Shoes; You Probably Couldn’t See For the Lights), putting on the drunk googles to settle for someone less than ideal (Still Take You Home), a run-in with cops (Riot Van), failed attempts to get a taxi (Red Lights Indicate Doors are Secure), and Sunday morning regret (From The Ritz to the Rubble). The outliers are Mardy Bum and Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But… . The latter is the band’s two-fingered salute to townie haters (and probably the worst song on the album). But Mardy Bum could be a flashback to earlier in the day/week. Was the tiff and possible breakup with the girlfriend the catalyst for the night out? Whether you take the album as a connected narrative or a series of sketches, it tells an impressively coherent story. Interestingly, Alex never really returned to the observational humour and nocturnal sketches of Whatever People Say I Am. As the band evolved their sound away from the scrappy indie post-punk of their debut, Alex stretched his lyrical legs towards more sophisticated wordplay and abstract and poetic themes. His nuanced love songs on later albums displayed his growing emotional maturity - but the songs on the debut have a special place in my heart. This album stands alone as a unique capsule of Alex’s viewpoint at a very specific time in his life. It spoke to me when I was 20, and the appeal never wore off. Not because it reflected my own experiences, but because I love Alex’s sharp, funny social commentary. It’s rude of me to fail to mention the rest of the band until now, but they all deserve credit for the loud, fast, energetic sound of this album (especially drummer Matt Helders). The pace of this thing is relentless. Almost every song is a banger. Interestingly, a lot of the songs start out with a heavy intro, settle into catchy verses and chorus, before ramping back up again. It’s a really fun record to jump around to. I’ve seen them live three times and it’s always the most fun when they play these songs. Whatever People Say I Am has stood the test of time as one of my all-time favourite albums. I’m not sure it’s my favourite Arctic Monkeys album (I’m very partial to Suck It and See, even though it’s not the strongest overall) but I’m always in the mood to listen to it. Sometimes bands just get it right the first time around. Even the weaker tracks aren’t that bad. A near-perfect album. Couldn’t give it 5 stars fast enough. Highlights/my favourite lines: -The View From the Afternoon The first song sets the stage for the “evening entertainment” - a little preface for the tale that unfolds on the rest of the album. It’s also a warning about the hazards of drunk dialling. Is he trying to remind himself not to call the (ex?)girlfriend from Mardy Bum? “Anticipation has the habit to set you up / for disappointment in evening entertainment” This could also be a sly reference to the hype around the band before they released their first album. After their early MySpace-fuelled success led to a record deal, the UK press was collectively frothing at the mouth with the promise of yet another ascendant indie guitar band. Arctic Monkeys weren’t just an “NME band” though. Whatever People Say I Am got pretty universal acclaim, and not just in the homeland. Alex promised a ruckus and he delivered. P.S. Anyone who read Alex’s misplaced Valentine’s card to Alexa Chung would agree there’d be nothing more welcome in your inbox than verse and chapter from Alex Turner…iykyk. -I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor An all-time banger. Like most people, the first song I heard from them. I was instantly sold and ready to accept the album with open arms. -Fake Tales of San Francisco This poseur takedown is the most 2006 song on the album and still so funny to me. As we entered the second half of the 2000s, for some reason the war on hipsters was the most important cultural issue of our time (ah, quaint days!). I wonder how many people listened to this song and quietly put away their trilby hats. Fake Tales, told from the sidelines of a crappy local band’s gig, really showcases Alex’s genius for droll observational humour. His storytelling is so vivid, I cringe every time imagining the vibe of the night. After witnessing a girl run out of the show and complain to her friend that the band was “fucking wank,” the narrator reasons that at least the singer’s girlfriend liked it: “His bird said it’s amazing though so all that’s left / is the proof that love’s not only blind but deaf” I don’t know where or what Hunter’s Bar is but I find this hilarious: “He talks of San Fransisco, he’s from Hunter’s Bar / I don’t quite know the distance but I’m sure it’s far / yeah I’m sure it’s pretty far” -Riot Van It starts as a funny little interlude about some lads’ run-in with the cops and devolves into police brutality. “Have you been drinking son? You don’t look old enough to me.” “I’m sorry officer, is there a certain age you’re supposed to be?” -Mardy Bum There are hints of it throughout, but this songs exposes Alex as an utter romantic. Mardy Bum stands out as the sole light, poppy tune on an album full of loud bangers. The song starts off as a lighthearted recounting of a lovers’ quarrel but takes an impassioned turn when Alex insists he does care about his girl: “Of course I do, yeah I clearly do!” …it gets me every time! On later albums, Alex expands his love song repertoire with devastatingly romantic heartbreak tracks like 505 and Love is a Laserquest. If anything, I think now he’s more known for his romantic songs than the dry humour of his early work. Honourable mention: Alex’s insanely charming Yorkshire-accented pronunciation of “cuddles”(“coodles”!). -When The Sun Goes Down This is why Alex is a cut above in his songwriting. Not content with simply documenting his mates’ drunken antics, he turns his eye towards the streets and is dismayed by what he sees. The song starts off with the narrator observing a sex worker with compassion before turning his scorn on her “scummy” pimp. With a few simple lines, an entire character is sketched out: “Can see it in his eyes yeah / that he’s got a driving ban / amongst some other offences” -A Certain Romance My favourite song on the album. A lyrical master class. This closing track brings us full circle from opener The View From the Afternoon. Here Alex laments the sorry state of his hometown nightlife - “there ain’t no romance around there” … as he told us himself, anticipation has the habit to set you up for disappointment. It opens with their signature furious racket before resolving into a bouncy ska-inflected rhythm. Alex decries the local chavs and barroom hooligans (“just cuz he’s had a coupla cans / he thinks it’s alright to act like a dickhead”) and throws off pithy little one-liners insulting his uncouth fellow youths (“there’s only music so that there’s new ringtones”). But just before you start thinking he’s on his high horse, he cheekily undercuts himself by admitting that his own friends are just as bad: “What can I say? I’ve known ‘em for a long, long time / And, yeah, they might overstep the line / But you just cannot get angry in the same way” And then it’s all punctuated by a two-minute outro solo that sends you to the stratosphere. You feel nostalgic and euphoric and melancholy and regretful of your lost youth. Masterpiece!

“What a warm, pleasant album,” I thought while playing this in the background as I worked and ate dinner. *Reads Wikipedia entry about the story* I guess not so pleasant after all… I enjoyed listening to this throughout the day and I wouldn’t mind revisiting it, but I don’t know if this would go up to a 4 for me after getting to know it better. Random side note: I went to school with a guy named Willy (with a y) Nelson, well before I’d ever heard of Willie. I remember teachers etc. being like, “Really? That’s your name??” I’m sure that wasn’t annoying for him at all…

Phil Esposito mentioned! This is easy listening rap. Jam band hip hop. Their frontman Huey Morgan is actually a longtime DJ on BBC 6Music but I don’t usually listen to his show because I have an irrational aversion to hearing an American accent when I’m listening to the BBC. Scooby Snacks reminds me of middle school days hanging out at my friend’s house playing You Don’t Know Jack.

3.5 stars Surely the first noise pop album? The Reid brothers ran 60s girl group melodies through layers of reverb and screeching feedback, put it in a blender with Velvet Underground and Joy Division - and invented a new subgenre in the process. But more importantly (to me), they laid the groundwork for shoegaze, which would emerge in the coming years. I’ve been waiting for MBV’s Loveless to show up on this challenge, but Mary Chain is a welcome appetizer. I’ve never fully embraced this album (other than all-time classic Just Like Honey), and I think it’s because I can’t un-hear what came after it. I don’t like it as much as the bands they’ve influenced, some of which are my very favourites - MBV, Ride, Yo La Tengo, etc. This time I really tried to listen to it on its own merit and I have to say this album rules. I like this better than another highly influential band that was doing a similar thing around the same time - Sonic Youth. This album is noisy but it’s way more melodic. The formula of sweet pop song + waves of fuzzy noise is intoxicating. I do think the ratio of noise to pop is off on this album, and it’s why I like their successors much more. Other bands refined this sound in a way that I enjoy more, but I’m glad this album finally hit for me.

This has a nice oldies vibe but it didn’t really stick with me. I did not like the lyrics of the first song. I didn’t know Love Hurts was originally by them.

It’s hard to overstate how big this album was for middle school kids in 1999. I distinctly remember sitting in Future Shop listening to this at the CD sampling area. I didn’t fork over the $17 though… I just burned a copy of my friend’s, oops. Buying a CD was a big chunk of my allowance! But I think 14-year-old me was onto something, because while you can’t deny the monster hits on this album, it’s obscenely front-loaded. The second half is ok, but not memorable. I can’t with Anthony Kiedis, so that alone limits the star potential of this album, but it does bring back good memories. Highlights (they’re obvious!): Around the World - The rapping is dumb but if you try to ignore Kiedis and listen to Flea, this is still really fun. Parallel Universe - Apparently this was the last single released from the album? I don’t remember hearing it on the radio but it’s pretty great. Scar Tissue - I feel like this video was a huge image makeover for Kiedis. Before this I thought he was a long-haired old man. I feel like there was sharp early 90s/late 90s divide in the coolness of long hair on men. Whoever told Kiedis to cut and bleach his hair knew what would appeal to the youths. Worked for me. At the time I didn’t know what a creep he was. Love this song still. Even Kiedis sounds great. I love Frusciante’s solos. Otherside; Californication - More proof that Kiedis is best when he’s actually singing and not doing his goofy-ass rapping. Memorable music videos. Road Trippin’ - Closes the album on a good note.

I used to listen to this album quite a lot in the 2000s/2010s. It’s beautiful and provides a great soundscape backdrop when you want to concentrate and do something… or contemplate existence or whatever. It was lovely to revisit it. I started to read about the meaning of the lyrics and it seems really intense so I decided I didn’t need to know the full story. The music already tells a powerful emotional story. This also reminds me of my late brother, who liked Sigur Ròs and composed a bunch of instrumental music that was probably partially inspired by them.

The opening 2 songs are great. Girl From the North Country has sentimental value for me. After that the album faded to the background while I was working so I didn’t really get to dig in. Which is a shame, because there’s a lot going on in the lyrics. I don’t know a lot about Dylan but I did watch A Complete Unknown. It seems he didn’t like the mantle of protest singer/voice of a generation that this album saddled him with. I have a feeling we’ll be hearing from Bob many more times in this challenge.

I’m fascinated to see this album on here. If this second-tier Britpop album made it, what else is on here? Will we get some Supergrass or Super Furry Animals? How far does this go? Maybe my girl Lauren Laverne’s band, Kenickie? Echobelly? Ocean Colour Scene? Surely not Menswear, right? Right??! So, Britpop… I wasn’t there, I’m not an expert, but I do spend a lot of time thinking about it. Plus, I literally just went to see Pulp the other night. I’m endlessly interested in this strange cultural phenomenon that occurred during my lifetime but I was unaware of until years later. Britpop was an era, a cultural force, and as the movement became more reflexive, an attitude and a sensibility co-opted by corporations and politicians. But I still don’t think it’s a discernible subgenre like grunge or dream pop. You cannot tell me that musically, the disco art rock of Pulp is operating in the same micro-territory as the glam arena rock/post-punk fusion of Manic Street Preachers. Attempts to define the sound of Britpop stretch the aesthetic boundaries so far that any UK alt-rock guitar band that released an album in the 90s gets folded into the morass of “Britpop.” Even Radiohead! Please. Speaking of which, about 10 years ago, I undertook and then abandoned a personal project to listen to every one of Pitchfork’s 50 Best Britpop Albums from 50 to 1. I think I got to around number 42 (Ocean Colour Scene - Moseley Shoals) before abandoning the project. Because I started from the bottom, I encountered a lot of mediocre music. A few great singles to be sure, but none of the albums were changing my life. Pitchfork’s list is clearly suspect, because they rank The Bends as the #3 Britpop album, which is patently ridiculous. Just because it was released in 1995 doesn’t make it Britpop. If you can say anything about the supposed sound of Britpop, it’s that it’s actively Not Grunge. Radiohead were clearly influenced by grunge and definitely didn’t limit their influences to the homeland. Other common musical threads you can try to grasp in Britpop-era music is unobscured British accents, hyper-local references, high energy, and a “bright” sound. There’s nothing specifically “British” about The Bends, I wouldn’t call it high energy aside from a few tracks (I’d call Radiohead many things but “energetic” is not one of them), the band actively disdained Britpop, and did everything they could to stay away from it. Anyway… the completionist in me does want to go back and listen to the rest of the albums on the list, if only to unearth a few hidden gems. But at the end of day, the cultural phenomenon of Britpop is far more interesting to me than the music. The best of the Britpop era, Blur and Pulp, is among my favourite music (honourable mention to Suede and Elastica). The rest… meh. Now, onto this Charlatans album (ranked #29 on Pitchfork’s list, by the way)… there’s a heavy dose of Madchester going on here. This sounds like Happy Mondays as sung by Liam Gallagher. Which makes sense because the Charlatans were an OG Madchester band that rebranded in the mid-90s as Britpop. All I can hear is inferior Primal Scream and inferior Oasis. And there’s a random Dylan-sounding song in there? This album is very mid. Highlight: One to Another gets played on medium rotation on 6Music, and it’s decently fun.