My 1001 Albums Journey

342

Albums Rated

3.22

Average Rating

31%

Complete

747 albums remaining

Rating Distribution

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Taste Profile

1980

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Favorite Genre

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5-Star Albums

1-Star Albums

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Albums

You Love More Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts Brian Eno	5	2.79	+2.21
Leftism Leftfield	5	2.9	+2.1
Signing Off UB40	5	2.97	+2.03
New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84) Simple Minds	5	2.97	+2.03
Killing Joke Killing Joke	5	2.99	+2.01
Better Living Through Chemistry Fatboy Slim	5	2.99	+2.01
The Last Broadcast Doves	5	3.04	+1.96
Another Music In A Different Kitchen Buzzcocks	5	3.08	+1.92
Welcome To The Pleasuredome Frankie Goes To Hollywood	5	3.12	+1.88
Lost Souls Doves	5	3.16	+1.84

You Love Less Than Most

Album	You	Global	Diff
Ten Pearl Jam	1	3.91	-2.91
Jagged Little Pill Alanis Morissette	1	3.72	-2.72
Born In The U.S.A. Bruce Springsteen	1	3.69	-2.69
Born To Run Bruce Springsteen	1	3.63	-2.63
Illmatic Nas	1	3.6	-2.6
Blue Joni Mitchell	1	3.49	-2.49
Blonde On Blonde Bob Dylan	1	3.48	-2.48
Tonight's The Night Neil Young	1	3.24	-2.24
American Beauty Grateful Dead	1	3.24	-2.24
GREY Area Little Simz	1	3.24	-2.24

Artists

Favorites

Artist	Albums	Average
Doves	2	5
The Smiths	2	5
Oasis	2	5
Brian Eno	3	4.33

Least Favorites

Artist	Albums	Average
Bruce Springsteen	2	1
Neil Young	3	1.67
Joni Mitchell	2	1.5
R.E.M.	3	2

5-Star Albums (36)

View Album Wall

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols

Popular Reviews

Black Holes and Revelations

Muse · 2 likes

5/5

Wonderfully over the top production. Great songs roll on over and over. No-one's going to take us alive indeed.

The Joshua Tree

U2 · 1 likes

2/5

The moment when the business part of music business took over and they sold their souls for the yankee dollar.

Young Americans

David Bowie · 1 likes

4/5

The "plastic soul" album. Some interesting vocal arrangements. Perhaps Across The Universe could have been replaced by one of many outtakes from sessions but a solid piece of work nonetheless.

The Last Broadcast

Doves · 1 likes

5/5

Just a wonderful album from start to finish. Sequenced nicely to give it flow and appropriate breaths.

American Beauty

Grateful Dead · 1 likes

1/5

A horrible slice of Americana.

4-Star Albums (96)

1-Star Albums (17)

D.O.A. the Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle

All Ratings

Peggy Suicide

Julian Cope

4/5

Julian certainly had a lot to say and as such this album doesn't suffer from CD bloat as many did around this time.

Ten

Pearl Jam

1/5

A lesson in tedium. The opening and closing bass lines of the album are the highlights. Whiny vocal throughout does nothing for me.

Can't Buy A Thrill

Steely Dan

3/5

The singles are obviously the standout tracks. Overall not unpleasant.

Tidal

Fiona Apple

3/5

A very accomplished album for a teenager. A great variety of styles across the set giving the album depth.

The Genius Of Ray Charles

Ray Charles

2/5

In Our Heads

Hot Chip

4/5

The first "new" album that wasn't in my copy of the book. I totally missed it at the time of release. A very enjoyable album. Will be looking out for a physical version of it.

Deja Vu

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

2/5

Easy listening. The stand out tracks for me are those written by Crosby.

Rio

Duran Duran

5/5

An almost perfect slab of pop, rock, dance. John & Andy channel Chic through driving funky basslines and sharp guitar work.

Welcome to the Afterfuture

Mike Ladd

3/5

I found it a very interesting album musically. Like so many records I didn't really enjoy the voice but it varied enough to keep my interest.

Master Of Puppets

Metallica

5/5

Probably their best work, 8 tracks over 55 minutes. Thrash with healthy nods to a more mainstream metal.

Who Killed...... The Zutons?

The Zutons

3/5

An interesting listen, plenty of variety. 'Nice' probably covers it but surprised it's in the 1001 albums we must hear.

Blunderbuss

Jack White

4/5

It seems Jack had lots of ideas coming into this album. Some them come off really well, others needed to be more refined. all the same an exciting solo debut.

Sheer Heart Attack

Queen

4/5

Great rock album, I tend to forget about how good they were before the 80s.

Homework

Daft Punk

5/5

Just a fantastic album. Had to play it a second time.

Iron Maiden

4/5

A fine example of NWOBHM. I would probably lose the ballad which seemed obligatory around this era.

Hot Fuss

The Killers

4/5

Their first and best album. Contains the ubiquitous Mr. Brightside (last time I looked 410 weeks on UK chart). Clever sequencing by front loading the album with all the singles to get you hooked in, you can almost forgive Everything Will Be Alright by the end.

Songs Of Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen

2/5

Pleasant enough, not something I would be wanting to listen to again. By then end of the album I was glad there was no more. Off to listen to some Joy Division to cheer myself up after that.

The Beach Boys Today!

The Beach Boys

4/5

This was a pleasant surprise. No surf songs. Spectoresque in its production at times. But as the 1001 book says "...containing what is easily the worst track in this entire book ..", at least in the modern era we can block a track. Definitely an album I'll come back to. RIP Brian.

Electric Warrior

T. Rex

3/5

It's hard to know what influence it had on release. Now it seems very much of its time. The "bonus" tracks don't really had much to the experience. The stand out tracks are the most that still get played to death.

Getz/Gilberto

Stan Getz

3/5

The La's

3/5

They run through their favourite bits of the 60's.

Illmatic

Nas

1/5

40 minutes of my life I won't get back. I just don't get this style of rap.

Bitches Brew

Miles Davis

3/5

One I'll come back to. I want to understand this one more. Perhaps a tad on the long side.

1989

Taylor Swift

3/5

Perfectly palatable pop. Similar to La Roux or Chvrches from the same period.

Court And Spark

Joni Mitchell

2/5

Pleasant enough. Raised On Robbery brings a welcome gear change and is the highlight of the album for me.

Siamese Dream

The Smashing Pumpkins

4/5

Here's Little Richard

Little Richard

4/5

Hms Fable

Shack

3/5

Not one I had heard of before. It's OK. A nice bit of variety in there. I wouldn't turn it off but then again I doubt I have the urge to go, I really want to listen to Shack today.

Surrealistic Pillow

Jefferson Airplane

3/5

Wild Is The Wind

Nina Simone

3/5

An interesting collection of (mostly) cover versions. I enjoyed her delivery on these.

Treasure

Cocteau Twins

4/5

17 y.o. me would be disgusted with me not giving this 5* but hearing it back it certainly has its moments but probably not as consistent as I remember it. I still love the production and the bands overall sound.

The Last Broadcast

Doves

5/5

Just a wonderful album from start to finish. Sequenced nicely to give it flow and appropriate breaths.

Led Zeppelin II

Led Zeppelin

4/5

The Band

2/5

I guess you can hear their influence on later artistes. Didn't really grab me at all.

The Köln Concert

Keith Jarrett

3/5

Not something or someone I had heard of before. I found it an interesting album to listen to especially considering it is an improvised piece. Definitely coming back to this one.

Zombie

Fela Kuti

3/5

Loveless

My Bloody Valentine

5/5

if you are going to listen to one shoegaze album this would be it. sonicly very dense at times with seemingly everything mixed to the middle, this gives a claustrophobic almost intoxicated feel. The vocals sometimes are just another noise in this hubbub. at times I would describe this as cocteau twins clashing with the jesus and mary chain. personal note: strange how I enjoy this but am not of fan of sonic youth or pixies etc. - must be the vocals. And yes, lowercase as a tribute.

KE*A*H** (Psalm 69)

Ministry

4/5

Thirty odd year on and this doesn't sound as subversive as it probably did on release. Just a cracking industrial metal album.

Jagged Little Pill

Alanis Morissette

1/5

Painful. Apparently the 13th best selling album of all time. I first heard this while following the 20 Million Club podcast, wasn't impressed then and it still doesn't do anything for me.

The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground

2/5

I appreciate that it has had a world of influence but I'd rather listen to those than this. Similar to Dylan in that covers are so better than the original.

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Arctic Monkeys

5/5

One of the "new" albums (i.e. not in my version of the book). Not a false step here. Very assured debut (fastest selling debut at the time of release). An Indie classic.

Is This It

The Strokes

3/5

Revolver

Beatles

5/5

Here Are the Sonics

The Sonics

3/5

The smattering of originals amongst this predominately covers collection fit nicely. Frantic at times but fun all the way through.

The Only Ones

3/5

Nice example late 70s new wave/ not quite punk / rock. The stand out track is Another Girl, Another Planet, found on many a compilation album over years.

Boston

3/5

I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting.

Aladdin Sane

David Bowie

5/5

Roots

Sepultura

4/5

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme

Simon & Garfunkel

3/5

Tonight's The Night

Neil Young

1/5

Eli And The Thirteenth Confession

Laura Nyro

2/5

She's a fine singer but I was done after about 10 tracks.

Orbital 2

Orbital

4/5

A interesting piece of IDM. For me not their best album but a solid collection all the same. The newly released extended version has some excellent additions.

Blue Lines

Massive Attack

5/5

Live Through This

Hole

2/5

Led Zeppelin III

Led Zeppelin

3/5

A side is good, flip side a bit too folky for my taste.

Chemtrails Over The Country Club

Lana Del Rey

3/5

An interesting mix of tracks. She has a magnificent voice but doesn't always let it shine.

Black Sabbath

4/5

A fine album. You can hear the influence they had far and wide. Apparently recorded in just 12 hours. In 12 hours these days they would still be miking the drums. Not as accomplished as it's follow up but an excellent debut and set the path for things to come.

Imagine

John Lennon

3/5

A lot better than I was expecting. Nice Spector production.

On The Beach

Neil Young

2/5

Southern Rock Opera

Drive-By Truckers

2/5

The Wildest!

Louis Prima

3/5

Garbage

4/5

Unknown Pleasures

Joy Division

4/5

No doubting the influence this album has had. There are fine tracks on here but a bit of filler too. Martin Hannett's production is dark, dense and doomy.

Fever Ray

4/5

Weird album but I felt compelled to come back for a 2nd listen. Should mess with my algorithm!

The Age Of The Understatement

The Last Shadow Puppets

4/5

Unmistakable Alex Turner vocals set against cinematic 60s style orchestra backdrop.

British Steel

Judas Priest

5/5

An excellent example of British metal of the late 70s/early 80s. The band were probably a bit old to be considered part of the NWoBHM. This is album is all killer no filler.

Spiderland

Slint

2/5

Art for arts sake? The last track is ok

Warehouse: Songs And Stories

Hüsker Dü

2/5

Sounds like a bunch of yanks trying to play The Jam ... badly. Overly long, would have worked better if it was culled to a single album.

Time Out

The Dave Brubeck Quartet

3/5

I Against I

Bad Brains

3/5

The Low End Theory

A Tribe Called Quest

3/5

Smile

Brian Wilson

4/5

An interesting concept to re-visit songs writeen decades earlier and record them as a solo project without any other Beach Boys. The songs are fantastic but they need redoing?

More Songs About Buildings And Food

Talking Heads

2/5

It's an ok album, the cover version is the highlight though. You can see which direction they were heading.

C'est Chic

CHIC

3/5

The singles are good but there are some very average tracks here too. The production is excellent and Bernard Edwards bass is the star of the show for me.

Tracy Chapman

2/5

A lot better than I remember. Perhaps I've mellowed in my old age,

Document

R.E.M.

2/5

just another (tedious) REM album. Highlight is "Fireplace" with the addition of sax.

First Band On The Moon

The Cardigans

4/5

Fun piece of Indie-Pop. Nice nod to Black Sabbath not only in their cover of Iron Man but also in Heartbreaker.

Tusk

Fleetwood Mac

3/5

Amongst the usual MOR pap that FM usually churn out there are some really interesting tracks giving the double album some much needed variety.

Pornography

The Cure

4/5

Production seems a bit muddy at times but that probably adds to the dark feel of the album. A stand out in the genre.

Moondance

Van Morrison

3/5

Rattus Norvegicus

The Stranglers

4/5

Sweetheart Of The Rodeo

The Byrds

1/5

Kid A

Radiohead

4/5

Immigrés

Youssou N'Dour

4/5

One World

John Martyn

4/5

A really interesting listen. A more diverse album than I was expecting having only really heard Solid Air previously. Added to my "have to find on vinyl" list.

Risque

CHIC

3/5

The singles are good, the ballad is dreadful, the rest is just very mediocre. There's no doubting the musical proficiency on show but the songs lack substance.

The Downward Spiral

Nine Inch Nails

5/5

My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts

Brian Eno

5/5

At Newport 1960

Muddy Waters

4/5

Murmur

R.E.M.

2/5

The Rolling Stones

3/5

Nice Anglicisation of the blues making it more accessible.

At Budokan

Cheap Trick

2/5

Stand!

Sly & The Family Stone

4/5

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Simon & Garfunkel

4/5

Side 1 is excellent, side not so much.

John Barleycorn Must Die

Traffic

2/5

All Hope Is Gone

Slipknot

3/5

Not a bad album, probably a victim of the CD era making it overly long. Sometimes less is more.

Dookie

Green Day

2/5

evermore

Taylor Swift

2/5

Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes

TV On The Radio

3/5

Ritual De Lo Habitual

Jane's Addiction

2/5

If I Should Fall From Grace With God

The Pogues

4/5

From Elvis In Memphis

Elvis Presley

2/5

Savane

Ali Farka Touré

3/5

Blue

Joni Mitchell

1/5

Moss Side Story

Barry Adamson

4/5

The Coral

4/5

Sign 'O' The Times

Prince

5/5

Prince at the peak of his powers. He wanted a triple album but comprised on a double. Filled with absolute gems.

Automatic For The People

R.E.M.

2/5

Another Green World

Brian Eno

4/5

Added to my (virtual) collection. An almost ambient album that benefits from repeat listens.

Permission to Land

The Darkness

4/5

Black Holes and Revelations

Muse

5/5

Wonderfully over the top production. Great songs roll on over and over. No-one's going to take us alive indeed.

Electric

The Cult

3/5

Not a patch on its predecessor, fun nonetheless. More commercial and rock oriented, The Cult discovered ACDC’s chords laying around and used them to good effect.

Hard Again

Muddy Waters

4/5

Just good solid blues.

Shaft

Isaac Hayes

3/5

The World is a Ghetto

War

3/5

Signing Off

UB40

5/5

Forever Changes

Love

3/5

Let It Bleed

The Rolling Stones

2/5

A bit too country flavoured for my taste.

Paranoid

Black Sabbath

5/5

42 minutes of perfection.

Group Sex

Circle Jerks

4/5

Suzanne Vega

3/5

Coat Of Many Colors

Dolly Parton

2/5

Astral Weeks

Van Morrison

3/5

I enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting. Perhaps it was just ideal Sunday afternoon listening.

Every Picture Tells A Story

Rod Stewart

4/5

Brothers

The Black Keys

4/5

Germfree Adolescents

X-Ray Spex

3/5

Proof that punk was attitude more than music. At the heart of this are three minute pop songs. The use of sax sets them apart from the rest of the movement. Overall a fun album. (A great band to use in 6 degrees of separation given their later projects)

American Beauty

Grateful Dead

1/5

A horrible slice of Americana.

Bryter Layter

Nick Drake

3/5

Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols

5/5

3 minute "pop" songs played with energy and attitude. Cutting edge at the time, classic now. RIP Soo Catwoman

The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

Pink Floyd

3/5

The Message

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five

3/5

A mixed bag, the ballads are very average indeed but the hip hop/rap tracks are excellent. Would have benefited from the inclusion of The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel.

In Utero

Nirvana

2/5

Nothing special or anything we hadn’t heard before (which I guess is why Albini was chosen to produce). Highlight is probably the addition of cello on a couple of tracks.

Hotel California

Eagles

3/5

Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs

Derek & The Dominos

3/5

A mixed bag (as you would probably expect for a double album), I wasn't pleasantly surprised how much I didn't hate it.

The Rise & Fall

Madness

4/5

Lust For Life

Iggy Pop

4/5

Cracking album. What stood out for me was the number of tracks that got a new life via covers, reworking and film.

Honky Tonk Masquerade

Joe Ely

1/5

Appetite For Destruction

Guns N' Roses

4/5

Out Of The Blue

Electric Light Orchestra

3/5

Country Life

Roxy Music

3/5

Tanto Tempo

Bebel Gilberto

3/5

Talk Talk Talk

The Psychedelic Furs

4/5

Bookends

Simon & Garfunkel

3/5

Moving Pictures

Rush

4/5

Frampton Comes Alive

Peter Frampton

2/5

Easy to see why every bargain bucket and 2nd hand shop had over supply of this.

KIWANUKA

Michael Kiwanuka

4/5

Live And Dangerous

Thin Lizzy

4/5

An excellent collection of Thin Lizzy material, now how much is live we will never know.

Bug

Dinosaur Jr.

3/5

461 Ocean Boulevard

Eric Clapton

3/5

Fragile

Yes

3/5

Wonderful Rainbow

Lightning Bolt

2/5

Leftism

Leftfield

5/5

Sea Change

Beck

2/5

Joan Armatrading

3/5

Pleasantly surprised by this one. A variety of styles, Will come back to this one in the future.

Kilimanjaro

The Teardrop Explodes

4/5

The Sounds Of India

Ravi Shankar

2/5

At Folsom Prison

Johnny Cash

4/5

Entertainment

Gang Of Four

4/5

Common

2/5

Like a lot of hip hop, this would be better as an instrumental album.

Seventeen Seconds

The Cure

4/5

Arrival

ABBA

3/5

Shalimar

Rahul Dev Burman

3/5

Manassas

Stephen Stills

2/5

I don't think anything from the CSNY stable will really grab me. This has so ok moments but I don't think I'll be coming back to it.

Diamond Life

Sade

3/5

Amnesiac

Radiohead

3/5

The Village Green Preservation Society

The Kinks

5/5

The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

5/5

The sound of a band of a band brimming with confidence and hitting their creative peak. Superb.

Rum Sodomy & The Lash

The Pogues

3/5

Different Class

Pulp

4/5

Their commercial peak but certainly not my favourite. It seems they finally found a formula that resonated. If I never hear Common People or Disco 2000 I won't be disappointed. The rest of the album is really enjoyable.

Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

Bill Callahan

2/5

Not too bad. With that sleeve I was expecting at lot worse. Once again the vocal lets it down for me.

The ArchAndroid

Janelle Monáe

3/5

The Slim Shady LP

Eminem

3/5

Licensed To Ill

Beastie Boys

3/5

No doubting the cultural influence it has had. Is it a favourite of mine? Absolutely not, but you have to give it a nod. An excellent cameo from Slayer's Kerry King on a couple of tracks.

OK Computer

Radiohead

4/5

It is a fine album. The highs are really high but a bit too much filler to warrant 5*

The United States Of America

3/5

Frank

Amy Winehouse

3/5

London Calling

The Clash

5/5

Music in Exile

Songhoy Blues

3/5

School's Out

Alice Cooper

2/5

Neon Bible

Arcade Fire

3/5

Solid album album, so really good songs and a quite a bit of filler.

Playing With Fire

Spacemen 3

3/5

Wanted to enjoy this more than I did being a fan of Spiritulised.

Punishing Kiss

Ute Lemper

3/5

I found the last track punishing but the rest was enjoyable especially when Neil Hannon shared vocal duties.

At Mister Kelly's

Sarah Vaughan

2/5

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

The Smashing Pumpkins

4/5

Made In Japan

Deep Purple

4/5

Fantastic example of what a live album should be.

Groovin'

The Young Rascals

4/5

Electric Ladyland

Jimi Hendrix

5/5

Deserter's Songs

Mercury Rev

3/5

The Dreaming

Kate Bush

4/5

Led Zeppelin

5/5

Parallel Lines

Blondie

4/5

Kenya

Machito

3/5

Pacific Ocean Blue

Dennis Wilson

3/5

A few interesting moments in an a diverse album.

Back To Black

Amy Winehouse

4/5

Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1

George Michael

4/5

BEYONCÉ

Beyoncé

3/5

Highly Evolved

The Vines

4/5

Pleasantly surprised by this. I was expecting a Get Real one-trick pony but there is real range here.

Dusty In Memphis

Dusty Springfield

3/5

Dry

PJ Harvey

3/5

Greetings From L.A.

Tim Buckley

2/5

Live At The Harlem Square Club

Sam Cooke

4/5

Green River

Creedence Clearwater Revival

3/5

That's The Way Of The World

Earth, Wind & Fire

3/5

A Little Deeper

Ms. Dynamite

2/5

The Marshall Mathers LP

Eminem

3/5

Let down by a very mediocre second half.

Born To Run

Bruce Springsteen

1/5

39 minutes of my life I won't get back. The sax solo on Jungleland in the highlight it doesn't compensate for the grating voval throughout.

Illinois

Sufjan Stevens

3/5

At Fillmore East

The Allman Brothers Band

4/5

Born In The U.S.A.

Bruce Springsteen

1/5

Bland American guff. Not a redeemable feature about this album

(Pronounced 'Leh-'Nérd 'Skin-'Nérd)

Lynyrd Skynyrd

4/5

(What's The Story) Morning Glory

Oasis

5/5

Hot Rats

Frank Zappa

3/5

A Wizard, A True Star

Todd Rundgren

3/5

The Joshua Tree

2/5

The moment when the business part of music business took over and they sold their souls for the yankee dollar.

Teen Dream

Beach House

3/5

Movies

Holger Czukay

4/5

Berlin

Lou Reed

2/5

Red Headed Stranger

Willie Nelson

2/5

All That You Can't Leave Behind

3/5

Stardust

Willie Nelson

2/5

An interesting collection of covers but hardly essential listening.

Innervisions

Stevie Wonder

4/5

Cafe Bleu

The Style Council

3/5

This comes across as Weller having lots ideas and wanting to get them out rather than a coherent album.

Dirty

Sonic Youth

2/5

The music is OK, vocals make this a difficult listen, particularly the Kim Gordon tracks.

After The Gold Rush

Neil Young

2/5

There are some great songs on this album, unfortunately Neil Young "sings" them.

Juju

Siouxsie And The Banshees

5/5

Shleep

Robert Wyatt

3/5

Mermaid Avenue

Billy Bragg

3/5

An interesting concept to the album, well executed. Would I listen again? Probably not but I can see why it's on the list.

Daydream Nation

Sonic Youth

2/5

Definitely Maybe

Oasis

5/5

Has to be one of the best debut albums made.

Dear Science

TV On The Radio

4/5

My Aim Is True

Elvis Costello

3/5

The Stone Roses

5/5

An easy 5* from me. The band arrived with so much swagger on this album. In I Am The Resurrection we have one of the best closers ever.

Hail To the Thief

Radiohead

3/5

Seems a bit overly long (too much filler?). Still OK though with some belters on there.

The Real Thing

Faith No More

3/5

There's No Place Like America Today

Curtis Mayfield

3/5

The Stooges

3/5

A couple of decent tracks. You can understand the influence but a bit too inconsistent to make it more than average album.

Planet Rock: The Album

Afrika Bambaataa

3/5

A compilation album on the list? A nice collection pulling together 4 years of Afrika Bambaataa 12" singles and showing us the best of early hip-hop. Arthur Baker is prominent on the early tracks using beats that he would use elsewhere (yes, I'm looking at you New Order).

Two Dancers

Wild Beasts

3/5

James Brown Live At The Apollo

James Brown

3/5

Post Orgasmic Chill

Skunk Anansie

4/5

Underwater Moonlight

The Soft Boys

4/5

White Blood Cells

The White Stripes

3/5

Swordfishtrombones

Tom Waits

2/5

Young Americans

David Bowie

4/5

The "plastic soul" album. Some interesting vocal arrangements. Perhaps Across The Universe could have been replaced by one of many outtakes from sessions but a solid piece of work nonetheless.

Truth And Soul

Fishbone

2/5

So much going on on this album, jumping from one style to another. It doesn't lend itself to a coherent piece of work. It is almost like a soundtrack to a modern musical theatre.

Beauty And The Beat

The Go-Go's

3/5

Nice little collection of 3 minute pop songs

Club Classics Vol. One

Soul II Soul

4/5

Violator

Depeche Mode

5/5

A magnificent album, nothing to fault on it.

Talking Book

Stevie Wonder

4/5

The Bends

Radiohead

4/5

Solid album underpinned by Just, High & Dry, the title track. A bit of filler in-between but I guess us time to be prepared for the next masterpiece. Street Spirit is just a perfect way to end an album

Led Zeppelin IV

Led Zeppelin

3/5

Third

Portishead

4/5

The Next Day

David Bowie

3/5

Guitar Town

Steve Earle

1/5

Ágætis Byrjun

Sigur Rós

4/5

Sunday At The Village Vanguard

Bill Evans Trio

3/5

Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black

Public Enemy

4/5

Kimono My House

Sparks

3/5

A really strong album, holding up surprisingly well 52 years later. The switch from US to UK did wonders for their sound.

Head Hunters

Herbie Hancock

3/5

I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You

Aretha Franklin

3/5

Larks' Tongues In Aspic

King Crimson

3/5

Bone Machine

Tom Waits

3/5

A Night At The Opera

Queen

3/5

A curious blend of absolute classics and mediocre filler.

Step In The Arena

Gang Starr

3/5

Not usually my thing but a really solid album.

With The Beatles

Beatles

4/5

Some interesting covers and solid originals

The Doors

4/5

Paul's Boutique

Beastie Boys

4/5

Sonically interesting, would have been 5 stars for an instrumental version of the album.

808 State

4/5

An excellent piece of electronic music just as the 80s came to an end. Pacific 202 is a standout track.

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Wilco

3/5

Home Is Where The Music Is

Hugh Masekela

3/5

D.O.A. the Third and Final Report of Throbbing Gristle

Throbbing Gristle

1/5

Younger me would have lapped this up, older me puts it in the pretentious arty bollocks category. AB/7A is a standout (for good reasons).

The Sun Rises In The East

Jeru The Damaja

1/5

The Notorious Byrd Brothers

The Byrds

3/5

Fear Of A Black Planet

Public Enemy

4/5

Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

The Flaming Lips

4/5

Damaged

Black Flag

2/5

Transformer

Lou Reed

3/5

Your usual 70s blend of absolute classics and bang average filler. Bowie & Ronson do a great job on production.

Chore of Enchantment

Giant Sand

2/5

Chore being the operative word. Sprawling, eclectic but ultimately tedious.

Africa Brasil

Jorge Ben Jor

3/5

Whatever

Aimee Mann

2/5

Twee.

Surf's Up

The Beach Boys

2/5

New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84)

Simple Minds

5/5

Here Come The Warm Jets

Brian Eno

4/5

Eno assembled a cast of thousands for this and it shows in the diverse work across the album. I particularly enjoy Fripp's work on it, the solo on Baby'S On Fire is bonkers.

Get Behind Me Satan

The White Stripes

3/5

The Idiot

Iggy Pop

4/5

The album starts strong but ultimately peters out.

Killing Joke

5/5

I came into this only knwoing a couple of tracks off the album. I have been missing out on an absolute post-punk classic. Very little to fault on this. Every member contributes to leave this feeling a complete work.

McCartney

Paul McCartney

2/5

Apart from Maybe I'm Amazed the album comes across as a bunch of demos, perhaps just a product of the technically available at the time. On Kreen-Akrore maybe there is something in the joke that Ringo wasn't the best drummer in The Beatles.

Lady Soul

Aretha Franklin

3/5

Heaven Or Las Vegas

Cocteau Twins

5/5

Probably the most accessible CT album on release. Lush sounding, still sounds great today.

Sheet Music

10cc

3/5

Dirt

Alice In Chains

2/5

A bit more metal than the other Seattle bands. Still has that annoying drawl though. Will I be listening again? Probably not.

Queen Of Denmark

John Grant

3/5

1984

Van Halen

4/5

Slipknot

3/5

More fun than I was expecting.

Tapestry

Carole King

3/5

Blood, Sweat & Tears

1/5

Welcome To The Pleasuredome

Frankie Goes To Hollywood

5/5

A masterpiece of 80s production from Trevor Horn and the team. Spawling double album that contains all the #1s. Perhaps could have been a brilliant single album although where you would cut 20 minutes to make the limitations of vinyl I don't know. Two records just adds to the 80s excess.

Pet Sounds

The Beach Boys

4/5

A great sounding in general. I guess if you want a Spector sounding album you just go hire the band (Wrecking Crew). The instrumentals feel like filler. This is also why we didn't need Surf'd Up on the list too.

New Wave

The Auteurs

3/5

GREY Area

Little Simz

1/5

Talvin Singh

3/5

Takes you on musical journey around the world. A really interesting album.

Cloud Nine

The Temptations

3/5

Pieces Of The Sky

Emmylou Harris

2/5

Dust

Screaming Trees

3/5

An OK album, a bit more variety than your standard grunge fare. It is Lanegan's voice that shines through, raising the album above so many others of that era.

I Should Coco

Supergrass

3/5

Not my in my go to britpop albums but pleasant enough.

Phaedra

Tangerine Dream

3/5

Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde

The Pharcyde

2/5

Natty Dread

Bob Marley & The Wailers

4/5

Parachutes

Coldplay

4/5

Very competent debut.

No Other

Gene Clark

1/5

It's A Shame About Ray

The Lemonheads

3/5

Plods along nicely, nothing special to write home about.

Odelay

Beck

3/5

The Dust Brothers production is excellent. Unfortunately ill still have Beck's dull voice and dodgy country twangs. 2.5 stars

Play

Moby

4/5

An album that has been ground into our consciousness by licensing all the tracks to all manner of films, TV shows, adverts. I don't mind it, certainly takes me back to a certain point in time.

Brutal Youth

Elvis Costello

4/5

I'm Your Man

Leonard Cohen

3/5

Not normally a fan of LC, but the 80s production works with his voice.

Let's Get Killed

David Holmes

4/5

An enjoyable piece of 90s Electronica. I really must go check out his film soundtrack work.

Casanova

The Divine Comedy

4/5

The Velvet Underground

3/5

It's OK, more accessible than the earlier material, but still not a pleasant listening experience.

Like Water For Chocolate

Common

2/5

A reasonable example of chilled hip-hop/rap. Not my thing but easy enough to listen to.

They Were Wrong, So We Drowned

Liars

2/5

I don't usually like doing this, but I have to agree with Chas.

Fleet Foxes

3/5

Perfectly adequate piece of modern Americana. You can imagine them mid-afternoon at a festival with this washing over you. Inoffensive.

Ill Communication

Beastie Boys

3/5

The Holy Bible

Manic Street Preachers

4/5

Oracular Spectacular

MGMT

4/5

Strangeways, Here We Come

The Smiths

5/5

Cupid & Psyche 85

Scritti Politti

2/5

A fine example of mid 80s pop with its synths and Fairlights but Green's voice is a little underwhelming.

Legalize It

Peter Tosh

3/5

Green Onions

Booker T. & The MG's

3/5

White Light / White Heat

The Velvet Underground

2/5

Tough one for voting. It sounds terrible, However you can hear the influence on others. Covers of these tracks sound better than the originals. A reluctant 2*.

Lost Souls

Doves

5/5

A fantastic "debut" for this incarnation of the band..

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

2/5

Once you get past the tortured vocals there is a very mediocre album underneath. Fortunately it's only 30 minutes long.

Live!

Fela Kuti

3/5

Blonde On Blonde