216
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2.74
Average Rating
20%
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873 albums remaining
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1950s
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Perfectionist
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10
5-Star Albums
19
1-Star Albums
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You Love More Than Most
Albums you rated higher than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sister | 5 | 3.02 | +1.98 |
| Hot Rats | 5 | 3.36 | +1.64 |
| Five Leaves Left | 5 | 3.47 | +1.53 |
| The Velvet Underground | 5 | 3.53 | +1.47 |
| The Wildest! | 5 | 3.54 | +1.46 |
| So | 5 | 3.55 | +1.45 |
| Low | 5 | 3.55 | +1.45 |
| The Velvet Underground & Nico | 5 | 3.62 | +1.38 |
| Trafalgar | 4 | 2.63 | +1.37 |
| A Love Supreme | 5 | 3.63 | +1.37 |
You Love Less Than Most
Albums you rated lower than global average
| Album | You | Global | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | 1 | 3.71 | -2.71 |
| In The Court Of The Crimson King | 1 | 3.6 | -2.6 |
| Diamond Life | 1 | 3.42 | -2.42 |
| Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs | 1 | 3.39 | -2.39 |
| The Band | 1 | 3.37 | -2.37 |
| The Chronic | 1 | 3.33 | -2.33 |
| The College Dropout | 1 | 3.31 | -2.31 |
| The Slim Shady LP | 1 | 3.29 | -2.29 |
| Rust In Peace | 1 | 3.24 | -2.24 |
| Paranoid | 2 | 4.2 | -2.2 |
Artist Analysis
Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| The Velvet Underground | 2 | 5 |
| David Bowie | 3 | 4.33 |
Least Favorite Artists
Artists with 2+ albums
| Artist | Albums | Average |
|---|---|---|
| The Rolling Stones | 3 | 2 |
5-Star Albums (10)
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Popular Reviews
Rocket From The Crypt
2/5
What if Elvis Costello did The Pogues but in an American accent?
I realise that makes it sound good (maybe even great) but the songwriting is unfortunately not that strong. After four songs, I realised this album wasn't going anywhere. A shame.
1 likes
Manic Street Preachers
4/5
Another one I bought when it was released. I didn't particularly like it at the time but my tastes have changed over time.
This is a brilliant album, to be honest.
Do yourself a favour and head to Wikipedia to read about the disappearance of Richey Edwards, the MSP lyricist. Then look at the paintings on the cover (they are by Jenny Savile). And pay attention to the tension between the lyrics and the music. Nothing is accidental with this album.
I'm both sad and happy that I grew into this album.
1 likes
1-Star Albums (19)
All Ratings
The Velvet Underground
5/5
Perfect length. Started listening at 22.45 on headphones. It worked really well. I knew maybe 2/3rd of it and the songs I didn't know, I enjoyed.
Great start to this project. 5/5.
Miles Davis
3/5
I like cool jazz, it turns out. Do I like it enough to listen to an entire Miles Davis album? Possibly not. It got quite repetitive but okay for background. I did not like the last track which has singing on it. That felt old.
Kanye West
1/5
Absolutely not listening to this guy.
Black Sabbath
2/5
This was certainly an album with a lot of instrumental solos. Sure, it is a landmark album but I feel like it's more a historical curiosity than an actually good album. It gets very muddy in places, it's repetitive despite the short length, and perhaps one or two solos could have been omitted.
I'm glad I listened. It's okay in places and I can see why it's so influential. This album just doesn't wow me.
AC/DC
3/5
This was a great album for a sunny Sunday afternoon. Good Aussie rock.
Cyndi Lauper
3/5
This was a joy.
The first half is the commercial one: the hits, the camp synthpop and a slightly overwhelming production.
The album really settles into its own on the second half (what I suspect would be the Side B on a vinyl): playful New Wave pop with nods to B-52s and Split Enz.
Cyndi's vocals are great throughout and there is an arch playfulness to her that none of her contemporaries (Madonna, Sheena Easton) never managed.
This will go on repeat.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
This was a surprisingly great listen. So great that I listened to it three times in a row.
While I'm not the biggest fan of Young's vocals, there is a vulnerability to them that works really well here.
A tough album to grade because I think he's best within the CSNY combination and also this isn't his best solo work - but there is undeniably something special here.
Liz Phair
2/5
This is peak 1993 American grunge/lo-fi. You can tell where subsequent acts like Snail Mail, boygenius, and Courtney Barnett got their inspiration. Courtney Love pilfered a lot as did more slick acts like Alanis Morrisette and even Sheryl Crow.
But that doesn't mean that I liked this album. It's of its time and place, and that makes it an interesting and groundbreaking album. It's a historical curiosity. Glad I listened but never again.
Lloyd Cole And The Commotions
4/5
Lloyd's "Love Story" album is one of my favourite 1990s albums, so when this one turned up as my album, I whooped because I've never listened to his work with the Commotions.
And unsurprisingly I bopped along to this album very happily. The jangly indie pop is the sound of where I live (quick check: yes, this band was formed in Glasgow) and I adore Lloyd Cole's signature vocals. Listened a few times while getting ready for work and added more than a handful of songs to my playlist.
An album to slot in between Aztec Camera, Belle & Sebastian, and The Go-Betweens. Good stuff.
Beatles
4/5
Even on their early just-finding-my-feet days, this band was something else. The album starts with It Won't Be Long at full throttle and, while there are some slower songs, never really lets go.
I'm not going to bother with "oh but they got better.." because obviously this isn't The White Album. This is great: short, snappy, intensely energetic, and fully committed.
Joan Armatrading
3/5
Someone whose name was familiar but I hadn't heard the music.
Joan's voice was great and her guitar skills excellent. The music was good. The production (for 1976) was insanely good.
It's just not my sort of thing.
Still, you can hear the line from this album straight through to Tracy Chapman, Tanita Tikaram and even Amy Winehouse and Raye. So even if it's not my sort of thing, mad respect.
Al Green
3/5
Title track is a stone cold classic. And then the album dipped into background music. Don't get me wrong: this is smooth as heck, but the smoothness also blends together.
Would I play this album on Sunday mornings? Sure would. But it doesn't go any deeper than that for me.
Sade
1/5
This is so dull. 80s jazz-easy listening that plods along with umpteenth sax solos and sterile production.
Legit the first album where I felt like giving up after the first three songs.
Air
2/5
The Roots
3/5
Steve Earle
1/5
This is so Springsteen-coded that it hurts. Springsteen for my tiny hometown. It's not bad but it's not exceptional either. The lyrics are hackneyed.
Bob Marley & The Wailers
2/5
Soundgarden
2/5
Back in 1994 my friends played this a lot and I remember liking it, though I never bought the album. Fast-forward 30 years and wow time has changed either me or the album.
There's a lot of filler. There's a lot of unbearable grunge grind which has not aged well. And yes, there are some real killer tracks as well and Cornell's voice is incredible.
But this is not nearly as good as I remembered.
John Martyn
2/5
Judas Priest
3/5
Goldfrapp
4/5
Baaba Maal
2/5
Deerhunter
4/5
I didn't know this band but they are completely up my street. Going into heavy rotation, though missing out on full marks by a whisker.
Talking Heads
2/5
The B-52's
3/5
Spiky nerdy pop. Delicious.
Public Enemy
3/5
Apparently I like hip-hop? Minus one star for that Anthrax track which was unnecessary.
Sly & The Family Stone
2/5
Youssou N'Dour
3/5
Sheryl Crow
3/5
Grateful Dead
2/5
I finally know what music is playing at those neighbourhood gatherings where people sit around bonfires and whittle spoons.
Frank Ocean
4/5
The Young Rascals
2/5
It is pretty groovin' so it does what it says on the tin. It's also uneven with some early 1960s sounding tracks, easy listening, soul, and psychedelic pop. Pleasant enough but the first time I've asked: why is this included in the list? The Zombies, the Easybeats, and, heck, The Monkees all did this better.
Prince
3/5
When it's good, it's very very good. When it's bad, we'll throw in a guitar solo. The 80s production lets it down badly in places.
It is singular, it is Prince in all his glory, and it's flawed. Hallelujah.
The Velvet Underground
5/5
Am I a Velvet Underground fan without even realising it? Second 5/5 album by them. This is incredibly good.
It starts with the lyrics "Candy says I've come to hate my body / And all that it requires in this world" - what an extraordinary, fierce opening - and it never lets up.
Fragile, angry, beautiful, quiet, intelligent, determined, vulnerable, and singular.
Lana Del Rey
2/5
Jesus, Jack Antonoff is a one-trick pony. Lana's voice is distinct enough, but the production is the same whether Taylor Swift or LDR.
This is dull.
The Teardrop Explodes
3/5
Folks. This isn't Britpop. You cannot call everything that's British and has a slight pop feel "Britpop". Britpop was a brief music thing in the mid-90s.
Now back to this album. I'd heard of The Teardrop Explodes but never heard any of their music. This is a lot of fun, actually. You can immediately hear who they've influenced: Bloc Party, Maximo Park, The Young Knives and even Franz Ferdinand. The jagged edges of the rhythm section and the detached vocals. Fun!
Personally I would have loved some snarly guitars instead of the synths and the horns, but you can't get everything. Treason is probably the most radio-friendly track and one you could sneak onto a playlist, but I like the more meandering tracks better.
All told, a very high 3. I was tempted to throw it a 4 but I'm stingy like that.
Steely Dan
2/5
A couple of good songs (notably Dirty Work) cannot rescue this album from being easy listening rock sludge.
Green Day
2/5
It was okay? Holiday sounded like an American version of Blur. The hits were good. The rest went on and on.
I wouldn't revisit and didn't save any tracks. Low 3/high 2, but settled on a 2.
Abdullah Ibrahim
3/5
Never knew there was such a thing as South African jazz but I like this. I also suspect there are a lot of things I don't know about this artist and why this album was made. Calling your first track on your 1985 album "Mandela"? Yeah, there's a lot to unpack and I can't find much info.
Bee Gees
4/5
This was a surprise - and an excellent one too. Early 1970s baroque pop with echoes of Moody Blues, Beatles, CSNY, and country. Not everything works ("Remembering" and "How Do I" border on easy listening radio pap) but overall this is an album I'm really happy to have found. "Walking Back to Waterloo" is immense.
Amy Winehouse
3/5
Primal Scream
3/5
The Band
1/5
This was tedious and self-indulgent. The sort of music a certain type of guy finds "important".
Brian Wilson
2/5
Something about this project does not sit right with me. Did Wilson genuinely want to do this project or was he manipulated into making BWPS? I've read quite a bit about this project and I'm really not sure.
Musically, it lies somewhere between 1960s Beach Boys and a Gershwin-esque exploration of pop music. It is both pop and classical music. At the same time it sounds like a pastiche rather than authentic. I cannot put my finger on it, but it sounds sterile.
An oddity.
The Pogues
3/5
Jane Weaver
3/5
Going into this completely unaware of anything, but what a record. It hits like Shearwater meets St Vincent but in a Northern England way. I'd definitely go and check Weaver out live because this is great stuff.
Silver Jews
2/5
This album sounds like The Jayhawks mixed with Pavement. Lo-fi alternative country, in other words. It is a bit too "oh I'm edgy!" in some places but the ideas are good. I think if it had been edited a bit more and had a clearer sense of identity, this would have resulted something great. Standout track: Transylvania Blues.
I'm going to spin Jayhawks's Hollywood Town Hall after this finishes.
Led Zeppelin
4/5
Ms. Dynamite
3/5
A delightful surprise: the missing link between Lauryn Hill and Amy Winehouse.
Peter Gabriel
5/5
I had only heard Sledgehammer from this album before going in, but I was familiar with Gabriel's reputation as a formidable musician.
However, nothing prepared me for this stonking great album. I was listening on a pretty crap set of headphones and it sounded killer. Switched to the proper set-up and So sounded even better. How is this possible? Great!
And that's before you get me started on the songs. Intelligent pop music with hooks to spare and interesting little books everywhere. I realised I had heard "Don't Give Up" with Kate Bush before - on that track I really fell in love with Gabriel's tone of voice.
I was so in the zone with this album that I was shocked when it ended after just 46 sublime minutes.
Sidenote: I found it interesting that this album was released about a month after Tim Finn's Big Canoe album. Two 1970s art school kids in a weird band going big 80s pop with wider cultural commentary. But oh wow, Gabriel's album just drowns out what Tim Finn achieved with Big Canoe. So does everything Big Canoe did but just better and stronger. Must've felt pretty devastating to release the album you thought would be your big commercial breakthrough and just a month later Gabriel's album lands. Ooft.
Boston
1/5
"Rock and roll band, everybody's waitin' / Getting' crazy, anticipatin' / Love and music, play, play, play, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah"
And that's the lyrical depth you get with this album.
I did not enjoy this. 37 minutes of tedious 70s American rock with beer breath and unwashed jeans. Utterly charmless and I'm not sure why this was included on this list of essential albums.
Parliament
2/5
It was cool (so cool!) but funk is not my thing. Others will LOVE this.
Bob Dylan
2/5
This album did not need to be 72 minutes long.
David Bowie
5/5
What a pleasure to spend my Sunday morning with Uncle David. Obviously not my first spin of this album and my listening to it is filtered through memories of people and places.
Art Decade is incredibly moving. Always Crashing In The Same Car gives me shivers.
Jurassic 5
3/5
Leonard Cohen
3/5
This was gorgeous and textured. A very high 3 as I will not go back and listen again, but what a beautiful album.
Fairport Convention
2/5
Sandy Denny's voice is gorgeous but sadly also the timbre I find genuinely annoying after a short time. I love her voice but I need to hear other types of vocals in-between songs. No, it doesn't make sense to me either.
Anyway.
This album is the sort that I associate with drifting into one of the further-away stages during festival season. You come close to the crowd: everybody looks like they run an organic farm and has a dog named Fred. And you just don't know enough about carrot-growing to fit in - even if the guitarist on stage sounds great.
Don McLean
3/5
Took the advice of a fellow reviewer and started the album on the fourth song, then ended by listening to the first three songs. Great decision.
This is a mellow folk-pop album languishing in the shadow of the inescapable title song and 'Vincent'. I loved 'Winterwood' and 'Empty Chairs' but other songs felt like filler.
However, minus one star because McLean is (allegedly!) a POS.
Eminem
1/5
This is the hip-hop version of South Park.
Ian Dury
2/5
I've never been a fan of Ian Dury but there's no denying his massive influence. Listened to the album. Onwards.
The Gun Club
2/5
I didn't mind this .. until I read the lyrics which are problematic to say the least. So, I'm deducting marks for that utter nonsense. The album is post-punk with rockabilly and Americana influences. It isn't super-special but I can see how later bands were influenced by it.
I'm in the midst of a stream of mediocre-to-bad albums and I'm hoping for some decent stuff soon. Please.
Blur
4/5
In 1994 I lived in London and this album blasted through my headphones as I worked a terrible job. I still know all the words and that's really where this album shines. The songs have small observations scattered throughout them that Albarn never bettered.
It's not the romanticised seediness of Suede's concrete estates in small towns, but rather middle-class mundanity: cheap holidays abroad where you shag whatever; going through the motions while dating; compulsory family get-togethers; traffic radio because you are stuck on the motorway; the routine of everyday life in an England where the dreams of Swinging Sixties are peeling away.
Parklife is an era-defining album. Its ordinary Englishness set to music deeply indebted to Beatles and Kinks resonated with a generation growing up under the austerity of Thatcherism. The album also led to some utterly terrible copy cats (notably Blur themselves on their awful follow-up The Great Escape - the less said about that album the better).
Parklife's actually not my favourite Blur album (and Blur isn't even one of my favourite 90s acts) and it's a high 4 album for me.
(Don't miss This Is A Low - possibly the most beautiful song ever about the Shipping Forecast.)
Solange
2/5
Nice but not for me.
Tim Buckley
3/5
This is interesting as heck. I recently had both Fairport Convention and Don McLean, and although this album can superficially be described as "folky ren-fair singer-songwriter" somewhere between them, the contrast is wild.
The rhythm section does really cool stuff in the background, the song structures are more experimental, and his voice is never straightforward. When this album gets good, it really transcends it's late-1960s origins and it's easy to imagine some of the songs being released anytime between 1965 and 2025 (with production tweaks, ofc).
However, this album is also frustrating. For every Pleasant Street or Once I Was, there is a Goodbye and Hello or Knight-Errant.
I'm glad I listened. Buckley is like the wild, frustrating American cousin of Van Morrison (Northern Ireland) and Nick Drake (England).
Emmylou Harris
2/5
Her voice is so haunting in the best way. I just wish the songs were stronger and the production better.
I pivoted straight to her "Wrecking Ball" album after this one.
Stevie Wonder
3/5
David Bowie
4/5
Genuinely one of Bowie's most moving albums. Extraordinary.
Hole
3/5
I don't think I've listened to this band in 25 years, but I have a lot of time for Courtney Love.
"Celebrity Skin" is a fantastic song and I really rate "Use Once and Destroy". But grunge gets really samey for me after a few songs and this album is no different.
Still, leaps and bounds better than Liz Phair and far more inventive than Soundgarden.
Courtney, it's not you. It's me. A three.
Neil Young
4/5
A stone-cold classic.
Led Zeppelin
2/5
If you look in the dictionary for a definition of "uneven" this album cover pops up. Half the songs are good, bordering on great (and my god Soundgarden lifted a lot from Led Zep). The other half are truly terrible and cringey. "Tangerine" felt like the obvious inspiration for Spinal Tap, for instance.
I'm not sure this album needed to be on this list.
Coldcut
1/5
I love Lisa Stansfield's voice. Love it. So that gets one star.
The rest is not for me. Repetitive and patchy.
Penguin Cafe Orchestra
3/5
Creedence Clearwater Revival
2/5
If you grew up in the US, this album is probably deeply ingrained in you. You probably heard it at BBQs, heard cover bands do CCR songs at the local country fair, and tapped your foot whenever the songs came on the radio.
But I'm not from the US and this album doesn't resonate with me at all.
And, if I'm being honest, it feels weird to listen to four white guys playing blues-rock.
The Doors
4/5
Let me make this clear: Jim Morrison was a terrible lyricist.
Having said that, this was a cracking album to get on a sweltering Saturday. If you can ignore the terrible lyrics, The Doors is a tight and inventive 1960s rock band. Ray Manzarek is a stand-out but the dynamic between the band members is great. They must have been extraordinary live.
The obvious big-hitters are here - Light My Fire and Break On Through - but the Brecht/Weil cover (Alabama Song) and the whimsical The Crystal Ship shine brightly. On the other hand, their cover of Backdoor Man sees Morrison posturing and pouting in the worst possible way.
An album that's undeniably great but not perfect.
Big Star
3/5
Your favourite band's favourite band.
I cannot believe this was recorded and released in the 1970s. It sounds more like late 1990s to me: Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley and Flaming Lips obviously loved Big Star to name just a handful.
But this is a desperately sad album which is clearly cobbled together from outtakes and it's history makes it clear that this is the sound of depression. A difficult listen, in other words, and one that feels voyeuristic at times.
Knocking off a star because while this album is really up my street, I felt uncomfortable listening to it.
Jack White
2/5
Marianne Faithfull
4/5
Oh this was a tremendous discovery. Dark, moody and synth - this slots in next to albums like Bowie's Low and Reed's Transformer in my head.
I'll have this on repeat for the rest of the day. A very high 4 - on another day it might be a 5.
Ray Price
3/5
The title track is incredible. I was so stoked to discover a whole album full of songs like that, but sadly no other songs came near. Maybe because the song was written by Willie Nelson who is a certified legend.
The rest of the album is a good piece of classic country like the songs my grandmother used to play, but Night Life is something else. Let me put it like this: it's no surprised Price later recorded music for David Lynch.
A strong 3 despite me not being a country fan.
fIREHOSE
2/5
U2
4/5
This album hits differently when you're a European of a certain age. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the dissolution of the Eastern European block, Glasnost, the siege of the Kremlin with Yeltsin climbing tanks. Achtung Baby captured that zeitgeist - and I don't think anyone expected U2 to be the band to do that.
An absolute classic.
1/5
I'm not cool enough for this.
The Soft Boys
2/5
Fairly underwhelming. A 2.5 if there ever was one. This should be up my street, but it never goes beyond a meh.
Derek & The Dominos
1/5
Eric Clapton is a POS.
Ella Fitzgerald
4/5
Personally I would have chosen Ella's Cole Porter Songbook (I prefer Porter to the Gershwins), but this is still stellar work. There's no mistaking Nelson Riddle's work on this but this is all about that stunning voice.
Highlights (if you don't want the entire 3+ hour experience):
But Not For Me
Let's Call This Whole Thing Off
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Someone To Watch Over Me
Love Is Here To Stay
They Can't Take That Away From Me
Fascinating Rhythm.
I Got Rhythm
(But really her Cole Porter Songbook is the one to scope out)
Black Sabbath
2/5
A lot better than the first Sabbath album I encountered. Less of a historical curiosity and more a cohesive album. I mean, it's still very silly in places and the mix is muddy, but it's okay.
Overall, Black Sabbath is not for me.They're an influential band and pioneers within their genre. I get that. The music just doesn't grab me at all.
Muddy Waters
4/5
After having Clapton and Jack White recently, what a great joy to get the real deal with Muddy Waters. I'm not even a blues fan Dan but this is immaculate stuff.
Lightning Bolt
3/5
I respect this a tonne. A difficult but rewarding listen..
Christine and the Queens
3/5
Decided to listen to the French version.
It took me a few songs to get into this album - it is pop but not pop built around hooks, if that makes sense - but by the fourth song I was really liking the vibe.
Intelligent and interesting. The soundscape is immaculately sculptured and Rahim's vocals are excellent. The production is perhaps a bit too slick in places but I am guessing that's the Japanese City Pop influence (I struggle with JCP, admittedly).
An easy 3.
Frank Zappa
5/5
Oh, I LIKED this. First time listening to Zappa and it was a fantastic surprise. Jazzy and psychedelic music that never ever got boring.
And I was delighted to discover that Belgian art rockers dEUS used the bass line from Zappa's Little Umbrellas on their debut album. I love when I can trace references and influences like that.
This one is going into the Repeat Listen pile.
Foo Fighters
2/5
This is a decent generic US rock album from the mid-90s. It sounds exactly like you'd expect. I had heard maybe three songs before and the rest of the tracks were unsurprising.
Does this mean it's a bad album? No. It's slightly too long but it's fine. Better than Soundgarden and not as good as Hole.
If there was a way of giving a 2.5 - right in the middle of the ratings system - I would. It's just .. there.
The Kinks
2/5
Finally listening to this album. I have been meaning to dig into it for years - I came of age during the 90s British indie era, and this album has been on my radar ever since.
And it turns out that I don't like it that much. I can hear a lot of Blur in this (especially the vocals) and Neil Hannon is obviously a devotee. It just doesn't scratch that itch in my brain. It's whimsical when I needed it to go deeper, and predictably when I wanted it to go weirder.
This reaction is absolutely on me. Maybe if I had encountered it during the 90s I would have loved it.
Little Simz
3/5
This was a good surprise. I didn't pay much attention to the lyrics but just let the music and beats flow. I definitely like hip-hop more than I thought I did.
The Isley Brothers
3/5
Stephen Stills
1/5
This was awful. Turns out you can be a rock legend and still need others to produce actually listenable music. In the bottom five albums I've heard via this challenge. And I LIKE both Buffalo Springfield and CSNY.
Roni Size
2/5
Not for me and that's okay.
Nick Drake
5/5
This is perfection. No notes.
Moby
2/5
This has aged very, very badly.
Dr. Dre
1/5
John Coltrane
5/5
This is immaculate.
Sepultura
3/5
Decent stuff. I saw them support this album back in 1996 and really enjoyed the show. The vocals are not the best thrash vocals around but the percussion is excellent. Would I listen to this everyday? No, I wouldn't but I still rate this.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
This is pretty underwhelming, even if historically it makes sense why this was included. A bunch of covers (the original artists all better) and a band still finding its identity.
This is an album that should be replaced in future editions.
The Cure
3/5
This felt longer than 43 minutes. It also felt quintessentially Cure. I dig.
My Bloody Valentine
3/5
This was a really cool record. I like the wall of noise and the refusal to give into their pop sensibilities (which are always lurking). I'd call this a noise-pop The Go-Betweens album if MBV weren't so doggedly themselves.
Hugely influential, but the best was yet to come.
Choice tracks: Cupid Come, Sueisfine, and Feed Me With Your Kiss.
Television
4/5
I first discovered Television through NZ band The Verlaines. Why were they called the Verlaines? Oh. Tom Verlaine? Who's that?
And so it goes. Television has influenced so many bands: some familiar to you, some unfamiliar.
Marquee Moon is a great introduction to the band: it's a lot more angular art school meets prog rock than you might expect from the bands who mined Television's sound. I really liked how it took unexpected turns (much like early Split Enz - actually, Tom Verlaine and Phil Judd really sound similar) and musically it hits interesting places.
Listened three times because I could not let this album go. It's been a long while since I last listened to Television, but they'll slide into regular rotation now.
Laura Nyro
2/5
I first tried getting into Nyro in the 1990s when a wave of Lilith Fair adjacent artists cited her as a influence. But I was never hugely into the Lilith Fair vibe and it follows that I never gelled with Nyro.
But decades on, maybe?
Laura Nyro is technically brilliant and her songwriting inventive (plenty of folks can hear her influence on Joni Mitchell and Tori Amos, but I'd argue even Taylor Swift has listened closely). She is so very clearly GOOD. What she can do with her voice is great.
But it still does not work for me. Alas.
Charles Mingus
2/5
This started out like such an interesting hybrid of mid-century jazz, orchestra leader jazz, early 20th classical, and world music.
But I got frustrated because every time the music got really REALLY interesting, it reverted to a pretty big band motif.
Is it bad to say I wish it had gone weirder?
Destiny's Child
3/5
An incredibly easy listen - and that's a good thing! A nice mix of big bangers and then more chill stuff. I could have done without the last four songs but overall incredibly smooth. Good place to see and hear where Beyonce got started.
Tori Amos
3/5
Jimi Hendrix
2/5
This is a tough one to rate.
On one hand you have absolute incredible, timeless songs and virtuoso guitar skills. On the other hand you have 14 minutes long songs that sound like jam sessions and the whole album veers from one thing to another (interspersed with a lot of solos).
One reviewer noted that Electric Ladyland sounded like a bootleg compilation, and I'm inclined to agree. There are so many ideas here but a real lack of focus or curation. If Hendrix had gone on to make more music, I suspect this album would have been a footnote in his story.
It'll have to be a three.
JAY Z
2/5
Having listening to Kendrick Lamar, this album isn't really doing much. The lyricism isn't there for me. The flow isn't working.
I'm learning a lot about hip-hop through this project and a few other things (incl. that I like hip-hop!). I am now confident enough to say that it's an album of its time and leave it at that.
Roxy Music
3/5
Bitter-Sweet is a long-time favourite song of mine thanks to the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack. What a joy to hear the original version (Thom Yorke covers it on the soundtrack).
But overall this is a curious album. The first half is rather anodyne, but the second half digs deeper and weirder (side A & side B?). I much prefer the second half but I need to live with this album for a while before making the final verdict. I think I really like it but I am not sure?
As always, Phil Manzanera deserves all the roses.
The cover is absolutely awful and does the music no favours.
The Cardigans
3/5
Stylish Swedish lounge indie with a surprisingly strong bite underneath all the surface sugar.
Nina Persson is one of the coolest singers imaginable.
Standout track: Losers.
Beatles
4/5
Kraftwerk
4/5
The Byrds
4/5
Bob Dylan
3/5
For a Dylan album, I didn't hate this too much.
The War On Drugs
2/5
Oh. This sounds like Bob Dylan if covered by the Killers. Disappointingly bland.
Van Halen
2/5
Tedious. There are a few glimpses of interest throughout (Ain't Talking About Love, for instance) which saves this from a complete bottom-ranking, but overall this isn't great.
If you are looking for accessible fun party rock, AC/DC is right there.
T. Rex
4/5
No notes. Just swoon.
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
3/5
I have a neighbour called Pete. He's had a few strokes and doesn't walk too well anymore, but if you sit him down at the right time, Pete will tell you stories. Stories like the time he hitchhiked from Scotland to London when he was 17 or how he stopped his friend from getting beaten up by Glasgow gangsters. Maybe even the time he helped one of the Rolling Stones guys move a piano. Pete's got stories.
And this album reminds me of Pete. Just a guy telling stories - this time with the aid of a guitar and a twang.
Just like Pete, Ramblin' Jack Elliott is a charmer and a raconteur. Never the leading man, but the sidekick with a twinkle in his eye. I liked this a lot.
King Crimson
1/5
Well, this was terrible.
Beyoncé
3/5
Ash
3/5
Indie Thursday down the city centre. Sticky dancefloor and that really cute DJ who never made eye contact with anyone. A brief fling smoking cigarettes. 1970s polyester shirts matched with corduroy miniskirts.
That's this album. Except it's the b-tier version.
Still some great songs: Goldfinger, especially.
Circle Jerks
3/5
Pretty much what you'd expect from classic punk music. Short, sharp, and to the point. It's not my scene but I respect it.
Gorillaz
3/5
Todd Rundgren
3/5
No, it doesn't make sense but that is the beauty of this record. It is parts easy listening, parts Weimar-era stomps, parts early computer game music, and parts drugs.
When this album is good (like "Zen Archer" holy moly) then it is extraordinary; when this album is bad (like the syrupy "Medley"), then it's a real chore.
It'll have to be a midway score but it's a great & interesting midway score.
Elvis Presley
2/5
I grew up in a family obsessed with 1950s US pop culture. I've heard a lot of Elvis in my life.
Listen, he took black music and made it palatable to folks like my family. If you listen to his version of Tutti Fruitti, it's just a pale imitation of the energy and verve Little Richard brought.
I've heard a lot of Elvis in my life. He was a commercially viable, marketable white kid that brought black music to the white mainstream. This album is historically interesting but for the real deal you have to listen to the people he copied.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
3/5
The White Stripes
2/5
Joe Ely
3/5
This is almost alt-country in places. Not my genre of choice, but I can hear how Ely must have influenced bands like REM, Grant Lee Buffalo, and Wilco.
Boxcars is very, very good.
Wilco
2/5
There is no reason for this list to have three (THREE) Wilco albums on it. This one is inessential and overly long.
Simon & Garfunkel
4/5
The Only Living Boy In New York. Oh gosh, how to even begin to rate an album that contains one of my favourite songs ever.
On the other hand, it is pretty straightforward. This is an album which would be most bands' The Very Best Of or Greatest Hits. For Simon & Garfunkel, it's just another album. An album with some crazy sequencing, to be fair.
It will never be a Desert Island Disc for me (though Only Living Boy is a Desert Island Song) but it's very good.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
2/5
It sounds like debut album of a young American dude who liked Rolling Stones, Bowie, and Bob Dylan. I know Petty was capable of much more so this feels like a very odd inclusion on this list. Every song is short and slightly underdeveloped.
Very mediocre and forgettable. Huh. I really expected much more from this.
Stan Getz
3/5
As smooth as can be.
Miles Davis
3/5
I got this album the day after a Stan Getz bossanova album, and the contrast made me laugh. The Getz album is pretty easy-going and perfect for a dinner party. Bitches Brew is something very, very different.
Let me put it like this: this album is like abstract art. If you want a pretty painting of a beautiful woman, you don't go looking at abstract art. If you want conventional song structures, harmonies, and memorable riffs, you don't play Bitches Brew.
This is my first time with this album and it's deeply fascinating. Is it something for Sunday mornings with my boo? Nope. Right now I'm listening to it on headphones while grading papers, and it's pretty fantastic for that. Feet tapping, head nodding. I won't go back to this over and over, but it's an album I'll keep in hand for when I need it.
Good stuff.
Carpenters
2/5
CHIC
2/5
Booker T. & The MG's
3/5
Hugh Masekela
3/5
This is music we need to hear right now.
The Jesus And Mary Chain
4/5
The sound of Glasgow. God, what a great album.
When a band becomes a product.
The Rolling Stones
2/5
Realising that the Stones is a singles band to me and that there is little quality control over each album.
New Order
3/5
Skunk Anansie
2/5
The Rolling Stones
2/5
Second Stones album in just a few days and I'm sticking to what I said about Beggars Banquet: the Stones feel like a singles band to me, not an album band. So much mediocre, forgettable filler.
But Wild Horses is incredible.
Sigur Rós
3/5
This was such a lovely, calm listen. Not quite a 4 star album because it was a smidgen too long, but I enjoyed it a lot.
The Damned
3/5
Weird how this guy sounds like Alex Kapranos.
Anyway, decent stuff.
UB40
1/5
No.
Pixies
4/5
My first ever listen to the full Pixies experience, though I knew a handful of songs. This is so good, verging on great.
Gouge Away, Debaser, Here Comes Your Man. Obvious highlights.
It's going into high rotation and on another day this would be a five star.
Buck Owens
2/5
Those 32 minutes really dragged. I don't mind (some) country but Buck Owens represents that hack-eyed type of country which makes my skin crawl. The sound of country fairs, drunk uncles, and clouds of cigarette smoke.
No thank you.
Astor Piazzolla
2/5
You know when you wake up and you crave a really good breakfast bagel, but all you have in your cupboard is some novelty cereal you bought on a whim?
In other words, I was not in the mood for this at all.
Iron Maiden
2/5
This is pretty camp. It's definitely a step up from Black Sabbath but it's still incredibly unserious music.
Metallica
3/5
This is the album that the guy next door in the student dorm kept playing over and over. So, despite myself, I know every note.
It's a decent album. Not my thing but I'm forever grateful that my neighbour wasn't into worse music.
The Undertones
2/5
This was decent until it hit the very unfortunate cover of Under The Boardwalk. Yikes.
I recommend checking out "True Colours" by Split Enz instead for your 1980 post punk new wave fix.
Fela Kuti
3/5
Just like Bitches Brew by Miles Davis, this is a great album for getting some writing done. And I kept forgetting it was a live album because everything sounded crisp and perfect.
Not one for everyday listens, but this album goes straight into my "will revisit" folder.
Public Image Ltd.
1/5
This is genuinely awful.
Rocket From The Crypt
2/5
What if Elvis Costello did The Pogues but in an American accent?
I realise that makes it sound good (maybe even great) but the songwriting is unfortunately not that strong. After four songs, I realised this album wasn't going anywhere. A shame.
R.E.M.
4/5
I only know REM from their big 90s hits, do this was a really fun record to discover. Now I love me some jangly guitar, so Murmur made me very happy.
I'm going to live with this album for a long time, I'm certain.
Standout track: Pilgrimage
Björk
4/5
A delight.
Sonic Youth
3/5
I always feel like I'm going to like Sonic Youth more than I actually do. Still good stuff but not, you know, transcendental.
Deee-Lite
3/5
This was a lot of fun. Early 90s NYC dance music full of style and attitude. Perfect for a Sunday morning.
Bruce Springsteen
2/5
John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
1/5
I'm not listening to Eric Clapton, that POS.
Creedence Clearwater Revival
2/5
I think I said this with the last CCR album, but I am simply not American enough to connect with them. I didn't grow up listening to them and I have no memories connected to the songs. So, I'm listening to them from an outside position and it's not clicking.
I'll give CCR this: there was a long stretch during the first song where I really felt myself leaning in. Then the song reverted back to being dull again.
I guess what I'm saying is that not having the right cultural context for this album just makes it aural sludge? It's not awful. It's not offensively bad. It's just something that leaves me cold.
Kraftwerk
4/5
I like Kraftwerk a lot and this is a classic. If people only think of them as electronica, some of the instrumentation will surprise you.
Incredible Bongo Band
3/5
This was a really fun listen. I saw it pop up and my heart sank, but this was really a solid good time.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
4/5
The first half was incredible. Powderfinger is also fantastic. Didn't rate the second half as much but that's a mood thing for me. A strong 4.
Yes
2/5
It's so prog.
The Prodigy
4/5
Banger after banger after banger.
Sonic Youth
5/5
First time listening to this album and it's genuinely fantastic. Arty noise pop, what's not to love?
Jungle Brothers
3/5
Bob Dylan
3/5
These songs are so much better when covered by people can sing. And jesus, that harmonica does my head in.
Suicide
2/5
This was genuinely difficult to gauge. I didn't think it was particularly inaccessible or out-there. The record felt very modern and approachable.
But I also hated Girl. It felt exploitative and devoid of ideas.
So, a mixed bag. A very mixed bag.
Alice Cooper
3/5
My ex-girlfriend twirled into my life with Alice Cooper and a love of comics. We were 19 and she was clearly too cool for me. I never listened to Alice Cooper, really. I should have. This is great, fun rock. Theatrical and camp.
Supergrass
3/5
In late 1994, so the story goes, Supergrass were introduced to Sir Cliff Richard as "a young group aged just 18 who just released their debut single". To which Sir Cliff replied he started at age 17. In a magazine a year later, Gaz Coombes of Supergrass recalled his response: “Yeah, but I bet it wasn’t about snorting coke.”
Perhaps apocryphal but it's a story about quick wit, a finger up against the establishment, and utter confidence. And that pretty much sums up this album.
Fun times.
My Bloody Valentine
4/5
Beautiful and fantastic. Almost a 5 but one dong (nothing is) dragged it down.
Louis Prima
5/5
This is fantastic. I am now in love with Keely Smith.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3/5
R.E.M.
3/5
I really wish I liked REM more. I bought this album back in 1992 and have lived with it ever since. And I just cannot get into it? I never reach for it, I never think about it.
This is obviously a great album. Find the River is such a stunning song. Ditto for Drive. But I cannot swing more than 3 stars because the album as a whole doesn't get under my skin.
Manic Street Preachers
4/5
Another one I bought when it was released. I didn't particularly like it at the time but my tastes have changed over time.
This is a brilliant album, to be honest.
Do yourself a favour and head to Wikipedia to read about the disappearance of Richey Edwards, the MSP lyricist. Then look at the paintings on the cover (they are by Jenny Savile). And pay attention to the tension between the lyrics and the music. Nothing is accidental with this album.
I'm both sad and happy that I grew into this album.
Ice Cube
1/5
Awful.
Portishead
3/5
Buffalo Springfield
3/5
Clocking in at 33 minutes, this should be an easy peasy listen but it veers from the sublime to the 'why are they trying to be James Brown' which makes it hard to firm an opinion.
The harmonies are great. The banjo less so.
The Zutons
2/5
A nothingburger of an album if there ever was one.
Cowboy Junkies
4/5
This was a sensational album.
Marvin Gaye
3/5
Jethro Tull
3/5
David Holmes
2/5
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades
2/5
Megadeth
1/5
Mustaine is a homophobe. Automatic one star.
But also: his vocals are atrocious. It's all just a bit silly teenage boy wearing too much deodorant & thinking he's cool.
Ryan Adams
2/5
I watched a singers' roundtable on BBC with Ryan Adams, Janis Ian, and Neil Finn from Crowded House - just three singer-songwriters jamming and singing each other's songs.
Except Adams.
He'd signed up for this show and just refused being part of the conversation about songwriting. He became animated when they jammed on his own songs but otherwise nothing. What an unprofessional dick.
And I think that sums up everything about this album. It should be good but his ego stands in the way of it all. There are pockets of good songwriting here but it gets buried under the weight of Adams' own self-importance.
And the production is incredibly anodyne, btw. Adding one star for When The Stars Go Blue but this is a 1.5 star album for me
The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
3/5
Love
3/5
I didn't expect to like this after the first song, but the album really grew on me. It's disjointed but in a really interesting way and there were tonnes of ideas. Listened three times and will revisit. Not strong enough for a 4 but a high 3.
Sugar
2/5
This felt like a letdown. Generic 90s alt-rock and I genuinely expected better from Bob Mould.
Fiona Apple
3/5
Choosing Tidal over When The Pawn .. is a CHOICE. Tidal is a perfectly fine debut album that showcases Apple's gorgeous voice, but it's an album where she's still finding her feet.
Tidal is a 3 but When the Pawn .. would be a straightforward 5, no contest.
Jeff Buckley
5/5
This album. THIS ALBUM.
Thirty-one years since its release and this is still one of my favourite albums. Deeply romantic, introspective and fiery. There was nothing like it back in 1994. Still isn't.
Leonard Cohen
2/5
There are some great songs on this album: Tower of Song and Everyone Knows - but the tinny production values are horrific.
Leonard Cohen
3/5
Aretha Franklin
3/5
Pretty good. Aretha obviously has a killer voice but the backing band & arrangements didn't match her skills.
Dr. Octagon
1/5
Motörhead
2/5
Eh. I find a lot of metal to be camp as hell. This one too. A great time but it's hard to take seriously.
Beck
2/5
Elvis Costello
3/5
I own this one already, so I was singing along from the start. Along with Lennon/McCartney, Costello is one of the finest singer/songwriters that Britain has produced (sidenote: check out his collaborations with McCartney - it is exceptional). And so, yes, the songwriting is killer.
It's a tight record: Costello plus the four members of the Attractions. You could argue that it's also a bloated album with 15 tracks (was that really necessary?).
I have a lot of time for Elvis Costello and while this is not an essential album to include on this list, it was a great way to kickstart my morning.
American Music Club
2/5
Tracy Chapman
3/5
David Bowie
4/5
I'm visiting Berlin right now and this album hits differently when you can see Communist era housing out the window. Chills.
The Doors
2/5
The Police
2/5
Mother was unironically my highlight.
Meat Loaf
4/5
This was fun.
Richard Thompson
4/5
I don't usually gel with folk, but this was extraordinary in parts. The Calvary Cross was spine-chillingly good.
Patti Smith
2/5
First time hearing this iconic album. It was exactly what I expected from it and also nothing like it.
Years ago my now-husband and I went to a Patti Smith art exhibition at a big gallery. The art was carried by attitude and determination, but not much raw talent. There was a hush surrounded the exhibition, though. A sense of "I cannot believe Patti Smith herself will be here later today."
And so this record carries that too. Attitude, determination, some but not much raw talent, and a cult of personality.
I liked some songs: Elegie and Free Money. But overall, Smith as an artist doesn't work for me.
Taylor Swift
2/5
Taylor and Max Martin borrowed deep from Robyn's playbook for this. There are some decent radio hits here but I'd rather listen to Robyn's original cuts than this.
Best song: Style.
If mostly for the fact that Harry Styles wrote the pettiest little reply in 1D's Perfect and you can mash 'em up with no problems. "if you want someone to write your breakup songs about, then baby I'm perfect"
Venom
1/5
No.
MGMT
2/5
I should be the target audience for MGMT but I find them a one-trick pony. Revisiting this album did nothing to change my opinion, sadly. Kids is still a behemoth of a song, but nothing else matches up.
Isaac Hayes
3/5
Chill background music. Good for writing.
Scissor Sisters
2/5
Listen, I bleed glitter. I owned this album back in the day. And yet I've never been wholly convinced by Scissors Sisters. Revisiting this album reminds me why: there isn't much there once you peel back the layer of their influences.
I can see why the album's been removed from the current edition.