1001 Albums Summary

5/10 Managed to have a good listen through. Liked it, didn’t love it. Some really good playing in there and some of the tracks were great, but it’s a bit of a mixed bag. As previously stated, sounds like a random assortment of tracks, rather than an album. Some really odd recording choices, particularly in Manenberg Revisited. Overall, I think there are some tracks in there that I’d come back to, but the album as a whole didn’t really grab me. Mandela - a bit too loose Song for Sathima - sort of reminded me of a much better Weather Report track (A remark you made) that I’d prefer to listen to. Manenberg Revisited - Like this track, but one of the instruments is recorded in a really off-putting way, like it’s clipping a ribbon mic the whole way through, but is then turned down in the mix. Tuang Guru - Like this, much better. Swings really nicely. Water From An Ancient Well - Loved this one. Smooth and playful. Plenty of little sections for each player to have a little bit of fun with the theme. Maybe a bit too long. The wedding - Nice enough, but I’d be pretty sad if this was a representation of my wedding. Quite melancholy. The Mountain - Again, nice enough, just a bit dull. Sameeda - Liked this one. Bit of a sudden change a couple of minutes in, but had a good swing to it. As previously mentioned, the muted trumpet is lovely. Bit meandering in places.

6/10 I listened to this twice, first time I enjoyed it more than the second, but I was concentrating less. It kind of washed over me in a kind of (like Jimbo said) ‘enjoying at a festival’ way. Second listen, I found it to just be a bit too ‘Indie Band with synths writing festival anthems’ for my taste. It also often relied on the same, or very similar basic chord structure or rhythm through both verses and choruses that made it a bit uninteresting in places. I think I wanted to like it more than I did actually like it. What it really screamed out to me is that they found or programmed some interesting arpeggiated synth patches, but didn’t know how to transition to and from from those patches between different sections of a lot of the songs, so a lot of them just kind of relentlessly persisted throughout. A bit like yesterday, liked it, didn’t love it. Zero - Decent kick off. Not massively keen on the driving synth that dominates the mix. Heads will roll - Liked this more than the first. Soft Shock - Decent song, but doesn’t do anything that interesting. Skeletons - Another, more low-key anthem. Dull Life - Really like this one. There’s a bit more to it, more dynamic and stylistic range, Shame and Fortune - Like this one a lot too. Not as interesting as the last one, but it’s got a great groove. Runaway - Good song, a bit samey throughout. Dragon Queen - Loved the groove in this one. Doesn’t really go anywhere with it though. Hysteric - A bit dull. Little Shadow - Nice, also a bit repetitive. Faces - Like it, didn’t love it. Similar to the rest of the album, it was just a bit repetitive.

7/10 I think the overwhelming feeling I have when listening to this is awe at the absolutely stunning vocal harmonies that are just all over the album. They elevate some good little pop songs into something much more special. It’s a bit of a mixed bag and definitely an album that works on vinyl more than other mediums as it’s very much an album of two sides. I think the cover tracks do stick out a bit. Listened to in context with the rest of their work, I’d say the quality of this could be a little overlooked. It’s no Pet Sounds, Friends, Surf’s Up or Smile, but what is? Assessed on its own terms, it’s a solid effort. I feel like the lyrics are maybe one aspect that lets things down as they’re fairly ‘lyrics by numbers’. Brian’s work is often elevated when collaborating with a separate lyricist to refine his lyrical intentions. I do love some of the choices Brian makes with his compositions though. He doesn’t always pick the more obvious chord changes and I love that. Best one we’ve had so far to me. Do You Wanna Dance? - Neat little pop song opener. It’s a cover, but the harmonies are a nice addition. Good to My Baby - Bit of a filler track for me. Nice enough, but nothing standout. Don’t Hurt My Little Sister - Fairly routine early Beach Boys fare, but lovely harmonies. I absolutely love the pre-chorus. When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) - Interesting twist on more classic Beach Boys love songs with the less standard instrumentation. Has beautiful moments. Help Me Rhonda - A brilliant, brilliant pop song. Great momentum and the harmonies are so lush. Dance, Dance, Dance - Another great pop song. Please Let Me Wonder - Quite an introspective ballad. Brian is starting to open his soul and it’s a sign of what’s to come. I’m So Young - Another cover. Nice enough, and elevated by the vocal arrangements. Kiss Me, Baby - That moment when the group vocals come in… Ooof So good. A little bit too on the nose as a ballad, but still lovely. She Knows Me Too Well - This is a proto ‘Don’t Worry Baby’. Lovely, but a little basic from a structural point of view. In The Back Of My Mind - There’s something Beatlesy about this. Some of the background percussion is also _very_ Pet Sounds. Nice little introspective closer. Bull Session With “Big Daddy” - They must have had time to fill. Pointless.

6/10 I expected to like this more than I did. The opener and closer are stone-cold classics and lift it from a 4 to a 6. But everything in the middle just doesn’t really connect with me. I like individual bits of quite a lot, but I don’t think that all of the component parts actually gel together into a completely satisfactory whole except for on Baba and Won’t Get Fooled. If they did a whole album that used those as a starting point and went from there, they could have made something very special. Side note - Roger Daltrey just seems like a bit of a try-hard in places. Overall, it’s not bad, but I don’t think I’ll go back to many more tracks than the two aforementioned ones. I just think there were quite a few bands doing the more straight-forward rock stuff a lot better than this. Baba O’Riley - Banger. I’ve always thought the folky fiddle bit at the end is a bit weird though. Bargain - Decent bluesy rock song that lost me a bit in the softer parts and was too long. Love Ain’t For Keeping - Liked this one. Had a good groove and didn’t outstay its welcome. My Wife - This just wasn’t very interesting. The Song Is Over - I wish it had been over sooner. Somehow seems to meander along despite Keith Moon trying his best to inject a bit of drive. Thought it was finishing and it was only half way through. Getting In Tune - Paul McCartney seemingly took the best bits of this wrote ‘Live and Let Die’. It wasn’t bad and had a decent groove in places, but as a whole it just didn’t really do much for me. Going Mobile - Liked some of the Instrumental parts, but didn’t grip me as a song. Behind Blue Eyes - Again, a decent enough rock song, but not a keeper for me. Won’t Get Fooled Again - Another Banger. Didn’t feel as long as some of the much shorter ones because it was actually interesting and all of the transitions and sections were much more coherent.

6/10 I enjoyed this one. The rhythm section is so tight. Really not an album for people who don’t like guitar solos though! So many of the hooks and grooves were really good, but I don’t feel like there was much development of the themes as the songs went on, though most tracks were pretty short so they didn’t drag too much. I think this one might be a little hard to judge outside of the context of the era. They were obviously doing something very American Deep South vs bands like Led Zeppelin, and I liked it, but I also don’t think a lot of the songs were that memorable outside of a few riffs here and there. I don’t expect I’ll come back to this often, but I did enjoy it for what it was. Waitin’ for the Bus - Loved the groove on this one. Not much to it, but it doesn’t hang around long enough for that to be a problem. Jesus Just Left Chicago - A bit more plodding. Pretty standard blues fare, but it’s pretty clear they have a great command of their instruments and a sense of groove. Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers - More driving, I like this one. Vocals do a bit more on this one, though still plenty of time for some soloing. Master of Sparks - Another good groove, it just didn’t feel like it went anywhere with it, really. Hot, Blue and Righteous - Nice change of pace to end side one. I enjoyed this one, particularly as a counterpoint to the rest of the first half of the album. Move Me on Down the Line - Another tight groove. Another fun solo. Precious and Grace - Good bit of attitude to this one, but ended up being a bit repetitive. La Grange - The quintessential southern blues riff. Great song, even though it again doesn’t really do much beyond a great riff, a solid groove and a bunch of soloing. Sheik - Another great groove and I really dug the vocal swagger on this one too. Have You Heard? - This one actually developed a few different ideas early on which was good, but it was a little bit plodding.

8/10 Well I was really not expecting to love this as much as I have. As a complete stylistic juxtaposition to the ZZ Top album yesterday, where they wrote one good riff and stuck with it, Genesis seem to have a hundred ideas and somehow combine them all into one coherent (to my ears), if a little bit batty, whole. It’s going to sound like a very odd comparison, but this reminds me in some ways of the Aphex Twin album Drukqs (One of my favourite albums of all time) in that it is so frenetic at points and often doesn’t settle on one idea for very long, but also has these little breathers sprinkled around, like More Fool Me and the ending of Dancing with the Moonlit Knight that just give you a minute to collect your thoughts before it lets loose again. I mention this during one of my track summaries, but this album feels like living in my brain. I can walk into a room with the intention of doing something, end up getting distracted, doing four different things before, ten minutes later, remembering what I started doing in the first place and then getting back to it. Anyway, I can really feel the folksy influence of traditional England that they’re trying to reference and I think the concept of the album does come through quite clearly. It’s obviously pretty self-indulgent in places (it’s a prog record) and it could probably have been made a bit tighter without losing anything, but all in all, that was a really fun ride that I’ll definitely be coming back to. Dancing with the Moonlit Knight - Love the way this tempts you in with a few builds that then just drop away, before it eventually goes balls-out. The change in tempo, time signature and dynamic at various points is great. This song feels a bit like my brain when I’m trying to do a simple task. It ends with a nice bit of reflective palate cleansing too. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) - Feels like they’ve listened to some of the Beatles more experimental tracks and said “you think that’s weird? Hold my beer.” It’s a more straightforward song than the first, but scattered with an undercurrent of lunacy. And that low mellotron note on the intro and outro is beefy and nasty. Love it. Firth of Fifth - The first minute or two of this is more what I was expecting from Genesis. Nice piano intro into a more straight forward rock section. I love the light and shade of this and the rhythm section really punctuates the rest of the music nicely. And it just drifts into various different ideas again and again while still sounding like a coherent whole. But does get a bit self indulgent in the second half. More Fool Me - I feel like this is them going, oh by the way, we can all sing too. Harmonies remind me of the Bee Gees. Lovely little track and another great palate cleanser. The Battle of Epping Forest - I’m a sucker for an irregular time signature. The way this track keeps changing emphasis is wonderful. The beauty of this is that, if you just had it on in the background and weren’t listen to it properly, you might miss how strange it is. Has enough little hooks to keep it from being too much of a jumble, at least to me. After the Ordeal - Another palate cleanser. Nice little track, if a bit cheesy. But I think these little bits of respite are key to the flow of the album. The Cinema Show - Quite a delicate intro and then it kicks in nicely. The drums sound amazing here, especially the little ghost notes on the snare. So deft and crisp. I feel this is a bit ponderous and, while there are bits of it I like, I felt like it maybe drifted a bit too much and maybe didn’t justify the track length. Aisle of Plenty - A pretty little coda. The overlapping vocals are nice.

6/10 This was a decent one. There are definitely echoes of this in a lot of music that would follow it, from Nine Inch Nails to the Pixies and some of the more abrasive Nirvana tracks. It was pretty non-stop, partly because of the (obviously) metronomic and unstoppable drive of the drum machine, which made it quite a lot to take in in one go. Some of the tones they dragged out of their instruments were absolutely epic, especially as a three piece, like metal being wrenched apart. While I did enjoy this, it was definitely wearing me out by the end. I think I’ll probably go back to it here and there, but listening to it a couple of times round for this was definitely a lot. Jordan, Minnesota - This is pretty relentlessly driving. Really sets the tone for the rest of the album. Vocals are oddly low in the mix. Passing Complexion - The sound of this is great, like the red mist that clouds your senses when you’re absolutely furious about something. Reminds me of Pixies quite a lot. Big Money - Liked the riff in this one. Another non-stop track. Kerosene - This one had more distinct verse/chorus sections and there was a great groove, especially after the chorus. Maybe not as balls to the wall as other tracks, but I really liked it. Bad Houses - There was a bit more dynamic to this one. There is always the almost threatening undercurrent of the drum machine driving away, but that almost emphasised the change of pace from the rest of the instruments. Fists of Love - This one had a ‘Scentless Apprentice’ feel to it. Back to the more driving, breathless stuff. Stinking Drunk - Loved the riff on this one, as well as the breakdown near the end. Solid track. Bazooka Joe - I really liked bits of this, but it felt like it was just a bit too long. Maybe the non-stop nature of the album is tiring me a little but. Strange Things - A bit of Oi! Punk. Again, pretty relentless and things are starting to feel a bit too repetitive for me at this stage. Cables (live) - I had wondered if the could pull off the massive sound of the record live. Turns out they could. Abrasive, noisy and relentless.

2/10 This sounds like a distillation of 90s pop-rock with all of the edges sanded off. I mean, it’s ok if you’re out shopping for dungarees at Top Shop, but as a ‘must hear’ album, I just don’t really get it. Her voice isn’t great, both from a control, or from a tonal point of view. It sounds like a mediocre open mic singer-songwriter that’s been given a decent budget to hire a band of pros, but made sure that she kept the reins on so they don’t do anything too interesting. With that in mind, I’ve no real idea why so many of these songs are over 4 minutes long. Aimee Mann’s fans are probably now all 50 year old women with ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ etched into bits of driftwood adorning the walls of at least 50% of the rooms in the house they kept in the divorce. It’s pretty well produced, although her vocal is a bit high in the mix and perhaps a little dry in places, which doesn’t help her. The band seems very competent too. It’s not offensively bad or anything, it’s just uninspired and dull. And way too long. I Should’ve Known - What a strange intro. Sounds like they forgot to trim off the bit where the band were pissing about before they started recording. 30 seconds in and the 90s appear. It’s got that 90s toe tapping rhythm to it, but it is bland. It’s also too long. Fifty Years After The Fair - This is twee and her slightly nasally voice that she doesn’t have great control over just helps it to sit in ‘mediocre pub band’ territory. I think she probably loves REM. 4th of July - I think this is supposed to be an anthemic ballad, but it doesn’t have a discernible hook. Meandering. Could’ve Been Anyone - The first 10 seconds sounded like something different might be happening. Then the song started and it was just the same stuff again. Real middle of the afternoon small stage at a festival stuff. Put Me On Top - I think she’s trying to do some more interesting stuff here with a few of the transitions, but this is the most blah 90’s chorus makes sure we don’t forget that this isn’t actually interesting. Stupid Thing - Boring thing. Say Anything - This actually sounds like the band are trying to do something a bit more exciting in the first half, but then it just gets worse and worse. The ‘I’ve heard everything’ bits are so so bad. Jacob Marley’s Chain - Sombre song referencing Victorian literature - check. Plodding and repetitive. Mr Harris - I think there’s a half decent song in here actually, the execution just isn’t right. Vocal isn’t strong enough and is also too high in the mix. I Could Hurt You Now - Strange verses that sound like it’s trying to be ‘dark’. Chorus is more bland pop-rock. I Know There’s A Word - That word you’re looking for? Boring. I’ve Had it - There are places where she just doesn’t hit the notes. This is another really boring one. Way Back When - Certainly not the worst verse on the album. A bit of whimsy that’s not too twee, and then the chorus is just rubbish. Forget what I said. The outro is way too twee. Piss off Aimee.

7/10 I’ve never really listened to much Neil Young outside of the radio hits, but I liked this. I do listen to a bit of early blues here and there and there are obviously big echoes of some of that music in here. The title track is a bit of a standout for me, but there are some other really good tunes in there too. In retrospect, Walk On is a bit of an odd album opener as the rest of the album is definitely more melancholic and bluesy, even on the more upbeat cuts, but perhaps that just goes to emphasise the emotion throughout the rest of the album. I’m pretty sure I’ll be back to this one as I enjoyed my second run through more than my first. Walk On - What a great little opener. I really like the transition between the pre-chorus and the chorus. It’s got a really nice swagger. See the Sky About to Rain - Big echoes of Heart of Gold in the vocal for this one for me. Nice song though. I’m a sucker for an electric piano and the Wurlitzer on this is lovely. Revolution Blues - A nice change of pace, this is a really great track. It’s got a good groove but is also somehow a little sinister. For the Turnstiles - I like this too. It’s got an old-school blues sound. Simple, but effective. Lacking in anything bassy which makes it sound a bit thin. Vampire Blues - Another decent bluesy number. Really like the chorus on this one. On the Beach - Immediately sounds more melancholic. This is one for when you’re wallowing in your own self pity. I love the dark, smoky atmosphere this evokes. There’s a little bit of hope and optimism that seeps through here and there. Dark times with a hint of dawn in the distance. Motion Picture (For Carrie) - This one was ok. A bit more pedestrian without the depth to some of the other tracks. Liked the harmonica solo. Ambulance Blues - I liked some aspects of this, others less. Liked the violin, but I’m not keen on this type of harmonica playing. That sort of rhythmical blowing on chords without picking out a note just sounds a bit lazy to me. This was too long as well. Thought int was finishing and there were three minutes left.

6/10 This was a very nice album. Paul Simon always seems like he’s singing from the heart and there’s nothing bad on this album at all, but there’s also not a lot of songs that would be troubling his ‘best of’ selection in my opinion. Honestly, I feel this is one of those ones that’s quite an odd inclusion on a list like this. It’s not his first album, it’s not even his first debut album (although his first only had a limited release), it doesn’t really do anything that groundbreaking, as far as I can tell, and it’s definitely not his best album. His voice is wonderful, his delivery is excellent and he’s clearly a very good songwriter. I did really enjoy listening to this one, though I still think I’m more likely to pop Graceland or Bridge Over Troubled Water over this if I’m in the mood for some Paul Simon. Glad to have been handed this one on a Monday morning though. Mother and Child Reunion - Nice enough reggae track. I like the melodies and the groove, but it does seem like a bit of a white boy distillation of a relatively new (at the time) music from Jamaican culture. Duncan - This is a more classic Paul Simon cut. I do like the way his vocal melodies move. Though I like it enough, I don’t think it does anything that interesting for a 5 minute song. Everything Put Together Falls Apart - A beautiful little piece of vocal work. Lovely. Run That Body Down - Another really nice track. He has such a great voice and I do like the way his vocals don’t always stick to the expected rhythm with the rest of the track. Armistice Day - Less keen on this one. There are elements that I like about it, but it never really lands on a memorable hook. Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard - Love this tune. This is the one I knew best from this album beforehand and it really is a standout. Joyful. Peace Like a River - Quite a tonal shift from Julio. Very pretty song with a sombre edge and some really nice guitar parts. Papa Hobo - A pleasant enough song, but it does kind of feel like we’re on a wind-down now. Hobo’s Blues - Jaunty little intermission. Paranoia Blues - A good little bluesy number. Good, but not really standout. Congratulations - A bit of an understated closer. Again, very nice, but it doesn’t really do anything to stand out.

9/10 Stevie really is one of those artists that, while being one of the most highly-rated musicians of all time, could still be considered under-rated. Yeah, he wrote (or co-wrote) some of the greatest songs ever, he’s a virtuoso on anything with a keyboard and he’s got one of the greatest (and most versatile) voices in popular music. But he also played nearly all of the main parts on the album too. All of the drums - Stevie. All of the bass (except the opener) - Stevie (playing a Moog). Oh, and he was the lead producer too. I feel like there are some very slight lulls in this album and it’s probably my 3rd favourite of his albums, but it’s still an exceptional piece of work. While a couple of the songs won’t be troubling my favourites lists, as a part of the album as a whole they combine to make something that flows so beautifully and really encapsulates the concept an album as a coherent singular piece of art. That opening to side two is just ridiculous too. The one, two punch of Superstition and Big Brother? Do behave yourself. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life - It’s a love song, but it’s got such a funky little undercurrent with the gorgeous Rhodes and Bass that just walks all over the place. Beautiful harmonies too. Maybe Your Baby - Again, the staccato funk from the combination of clavinet and Moog is so good. I love the way Stevie’s vocals just dive around all over the place but never seem set-indulgent or overdone. He doesn’t sound like he’s being a try hard, just that he can’t help his should taking over. That being said, this is too long. You and I - A more understated track. It’s nice, but not spectacular. Tuesday Heartbreak - Now we’re talking. What’s better than the Rhodes in track one and the Clavinet and Bass in track two? All three together. I’m not sure it’s possible to listen to this without at the very least tapping your toe. If you manage it, you’ve got no soul. You’ve Got It Bad Girl - This has some really beautiful harmonies. More of a jam piece than some of the tighter tracks on the album, but there’s so much talent in there that it’s a jam I’m happy to listen to. Superstition - I mean, it’s Superstition. The Clavinet does so much to bring the groove. The vocal is fantastic. And Stevie played everything on the track except the horns. Big Brother - Another absolute banger. Such a groove, and political Stevie somehow manages to be both funky and biting in his delivery. I love Stevie playing the harmonica and while it takes more of a backseat here than it does in some of his other tracks, it’s still so so good here. Blame It On The Sun - Slowing down the tempo for a love song, but there is so much going on here, it’s still fantastic. Little trills all over the place from the piano, guitar, even some lovely drum fills. And it still grooves. Lookin’ For Another Pure Love - The different instruments wash in and out of focus in this so nicely. Oh, and here’s a solo from Jeff Beck. I love the way all of the vocal lines compliment each other and again, the musicianship on show lends more of a jam feel to this one. I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever) - Bit more of a cheesy closer, but the way this ebbs and flows is great. And the vocal layering that builds in the second half is just great.

4/10 While I enjoyed this as a background listen, I find it quite an odd inclusion on this list. A collection of songs that weren’t written by the artist and, in every case that I could find, had been released by a different artist prior to this album being released. There also wasn’t much to differentiate these from the originals either. To be fair, that was just part of the way things were done at the time, but it hardly screams ‘must listen example of the art form’ to me. Dusty obviously has a lovely voice and when she got to stretch it out a bit it was really enjoyable to listen to, but I did find there were a few too many bland songs that didn’t really do a lot for me. I’ll happily listen to a few of these tracks again in the future on a playlist, but I doubt I’ll be actively seeking them out or bothering with the full album again in a hurry. Mama Said - I do like the vocal melody on this. It’s a nice little pop song. You Don’t Own Me - I really like the transition between the brooding versus and the more uplifting chorus. Another good little song. Do Re Mi - Another nice pop song. It’s like the way the bass moves the track around and it’s got a good groove. When The Love Starts Shining Thru His Eyes - In the chorus, it felt a bit like the lyrics had been written and then forced into the song despite the fact that they didn’t quite scan properly. OK, but not really interesting. My Colouring Book - This was a bit boring. Mockingbird - This was also a bit boring. Didn’t do a great deal. Twenty-Four Hours From Tulsa - This was a bit more interesting, but I do feel like I’ve heard a lot of songs that sound quite similar to this but do it better. Nothing - Better groove to this one and she’s got the chance to showcase her vocal control a bit more. I did like this, but again it did remind me of something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Anyone Who Had A Heart - Nice enough. Again, a bit boring. Will You Love Me Tomorrow - This one’s a bit of a classic. Great tune, but we’re also going to hear it later in this project sung by the original composer, so… Wishin’ And Hopin’ - Another nice pop song but a bit bland. Don’t You Know - Strong closer. A good groove and she got to really work her voice on this one.

6/10 Looking at this purely from a modern angle, one could consider this to be pretty tame, but given that it was released in 1973, I suspect it was far more of a fresh and heavy sound at the time. It seems to take a lot of older rock ’n roll stylings and throw a bit of aggression and attitude over the top of it. It worked better in some places than others, but I thought the general vibe was good. You can definitely hear a load of things across the album that are direct influences to bands that would follow. I bet these guys were an absolute riot live. From a musical point of view, I think you’re either going to gel with the vocal style or absolutely hate it. As someone who listened to a variety of punk growing up, it worked fine for me, except when he tried to actually sing in a more traditional way, when it just fell to pieces. On my second listen, I felt the second half of the album was stronger, but maybe I was just getting into it a bit more. I’m definitely glad to have heard this and I did really like a few of the songs. Not one for the regular rotation, but a great pick for the project. Personality Crisis - This is quite fun. A bit of bluesy r&b slapped about with a proto-punk attitude. Looking For A Kiss - This is a bit more tame and doesn’t really pull off the attempted attitude as well. Vietnamese Baby - A decent Little Rock ’n Roll number. Nothing that special but ok. Lonely Planet Boy - A softer song like this really exposes the singers voice. It works for the more punky, heavy stuff, but it doesn’t sound good here. Boring song too. Frankenstein - Again, this one doesn’t do anything that interesting. The attitude and vocal works better here and I don’t mind it, but it’s just a bit samey. Trash - This is a weird crossover between punk and jangle-pop. I can hear elements of a lot of things that were to follow in this track alone. Fun if a little too repetitive. Bad Girl - The structure of this was less repetitive and I quite liked it. The vocal worked really well with a song like this. Dirty Rock ’n Roll. Subway Train - Another decent one. There was a nice groove to it and it had a good dynamic change between the verse and chorus. Pills - Anther good one. It’s a fairly straightforward bluesy rock ’n roll number, but it’s good and has a nice bit of attitude. Private World - Another good little tune. Maybe a bit too similar to the songs that surround it, but decent nonetheless. Jet Boy - This one seemed to be going the same way as the last few tracks, but it really hit its stride about a minute and a half in. Good riffs, good pace and a good mix of vocal styles from the lead to the backing vocals.

6/10 This has always been the one out of Stevie’s golden period that I was never really sold on. It’s just a bit too pedestrian for me and I typically think that his more laid back love songs don’t stand up in comparison to his more upbeat, funky and jazzy stuff. I think they can work as part of a more varied and more structured album selection, but these aren’t some of his better slow songs, in my opinion, and there are just too many of them in one place. There are little touches here and there that I just love, but I will nearly always find myself reaching for Songs in the Key of Life or Innervisions over this. I think the mix of the album doesn’t actually help it as some of the tracks just seem a little busy and the groove gets a bit lost, which on an album with quite this many slower songs doesn’t help to give it the juice it needs. I don’t think it’s a bad album, I just don’t think its up to the standard that he can hit, which makes it a little bit disappointing. Smile Please - Nice, smooth opener. It’s a cool little track and the little nuances give it interest. It’s got a subtle groove that I like. Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away - There are elements of it that I do really like, but it does drift a bit too much. That being said, I did find myself toe tapping for the duration. Too Shy To Say - This is more boring. Nice enough, but just doesn’t do enough for me. Boogie On Reggae Woman - Classic. Such a tune. The different rhythmical elements of this track just give it so much groove. I love the way the jazzy piano just drifts in and out of focus too. Always dig a Stevie harmonica solo too. Creepin’ - Again, elements of this that I enjoyed, but it was just a bit pedestrian and not that engaging. You Haven’t Done Nothin’ - Another great groove on this one. Doesn’t really offer much in the way variety through the track though. It Ain’t No Use - I like this track. Good groove, nice layered vocals, but overall just doesn’t grab you the way his better work does. They Won’t Go When I Go - This one’s just a bit dull, especially for a 6 minute run time. Bird Of Beauty - There’s a decent shuffled rhythm to this, and it has hints of that Stevie staccato funk, but it just doesn’t have enough of a drive to my ear. It sort of lands somewhere between two worlds and ends up sounding a bit muddled. Please Don’t Go - Again, there are bits here that I like, but as a whole it doesn’t quite click for me in the way my favourite Stevie stuff does. It ends up sounding a bit too cluttered towards the end too.

7/10 This is a funny old album. It felt like a bit of a pick and mix at the beginning and the interstitial pieces didn’t really bring much to the party, but boy does this grow as it goes. Honestly, if you’d had started at Super Rich Kids, I think I would be ranking this much higher. Albums with little micro-tracks and interstitials can sometimes work really well, like in ArchAndroid by Janelle Monae, where they tie the concept of the album together, or in Boards of Canada albums where they just add little musical flourishes, but here, I think they don’t necessarily add much to the overall feel of the album. His voice is like cream in places, although there were times (particularly Thinking Bout You) where the vocal line didn’t work for his voice. There were also quite a few moments where his voice was way too dominant in the mix, but I think that’s probably due to the hip-hop production style. First time I listened through, there were bits that I liked, but on the second listen, I really started to groove with it, especially during the second half of the record. I think there’s a *really* good 35 minute album in here. But he released a 55 minute one, which just drags it down for me. Start - It’s an intro. Like he pocket dialled when turning on his arcade machine. Thinking Bout You - The verses have a nice groove, but I cannot gel with his falsetto in the chorus on this at all. Sounds so thin and forced. Fertilizer - The snippet of tune here is actually quite good, but I don’t really get the point of it. Sierra Leone - This has some potential, but it doesn’t really seem to settle on an idea until half way through, and then it’s over too quickly. Sweet Life - It feels like we’re getting into the swing of things now. The lead vocal is oddly high in the mix and the rest of the track gets a little bit lost because of it, which is a shame. Otherwise, this is a good one. Not Just Money - This interstitial seemed to actually have a bit more of a point to it, particularly followed up with the next track, but it was also hard to hear what was being said. Super Rich Kids - Another good track. His vocal is definitely at its best here. A good blend of hip-hop and Neo soul, and a nice juxtaposition between the very staccato rhythm and the smooth vocal during the sung parts. Pilot Jones - The falsetto sounds a bit better here. Again, there are elements of this that I really like, but it does seem to build momentum that then drifts away a little too much. Crack Rock - I liked this one too. A nice groove, but I didn’t feel like it added enough variety to different sections of the song. Pyramids - I really love some of the stuff in this track. Went a bit ‘dance floor rave synth’ in the middle, which I was less keen on. But as a whole, this was pretty strong for a ~10 minute track. Lost - This is a great track. A good groove, smooth vocals and all tied together with really nice instrumentation. White - Nice little instrumental. Not much to write about, in reality. Monks - I liked this one too. A little disjointed in places, but it was decent enough. Bad Religion - This is a great track. Soulful, a powerful vocal, a solid groove and plenty of dynamic in the backing. Really good. Pink Matter - Another good one. Again, a powerful, soulful vocal. The bass slaps (literally) in this one too. The track (minus the vocal) sounds a bit like it was pulled together from some Prince deep cuts, or something from The Plant Life. Like it. Forrest Gump - Another nice one. Perhaps a bit less interesting than some of the preceding tracks, but it’s not bad at all. End - A little drift away from the tail end of the album. Worked as a closer.

2/10 This doesn’t really do much for me. I think there are much better examples of similar music of the time, like Simple Minds or Tears for Fears, both of which had already released better music by the time this had come out. Weirdly, the label were apparently interested in the singer, but not so keen on the rest of the band. I think he’s the worst bit. He’s not a bad singer, but his delivery is all over the shop and lyrically it feels a bit like a teenager who thinks they’re deep. He’s also really having to work to fit some of the lyrics in with the rest of the song. I think there are some kernels of quality hidden in some of these tracks that having a really strong producer might have teased out, but even the production is a real mixed bag. I started getting more annoyed at this towards the second half of the album. Funnily enough, the version I listened to on Qobuz had a bunch of bonus tracks. They were way better than anything on the album and the production was SO much more subtle. But we’re not here to judge them by their outtakes. Overall, I’m not quite sure what to make of it. I don’t think it was as bland as Aimee Mann. But I also think that her album was more consistent and had better production. I’ll have to rank them equal. Bury Me Deep in Love - This sounds like it’s supposed to be epic and massive, but it just seems hollow. Likewise, the main lyric seems like it’s supposed to be really profound, but just feels awkward. This track was used in Neighbours for the wedding of Harold and Madge. Seems about right. Kelly’s Blues - This is a better song, but it’s also not that interesting. It’s very 80’s. A Trick of the Light - Some truly awful keyboard/synth tones on this. Very meandering and the lyrics seem somewhere between try-hard and didn’t try hard enough. Hometown Farewell Kiss - There are some nice ideas in this one, but the execution and the production just let those ideas down. And it gets more cheesy the longer it goes on. Unmade Love - This seemed to be building up, but never actually arriving anywhere. Just a bit dull. Open For You - This is just terrible. Sounds like a bad children’s Christian rock song. Holy Water - Some really odd choices in this one. A sort of steel drum synth patch and then some church bells followed by a terrible synth flute. And the lyrics are woeful. He couldn’t even be bothered to write some of them and just did do-do-dos. Underneath it all, I don’t think it’s actually a bad song, but it’s been produced to sound half way between a Christmas song and a calypso. Blinded By the Hour - Again, there are some decent elements to this one. But overall it’s a bit boring and doesn’t execute very well. And then it’s got a piano ;playing out of key in the background near the end. Vagabond Holes - Another one where there’s something decent in there somewhere, but executed poorly with bad lyrics. I particularly dislike the machine gun snare drum. Jerdacuttup Man - I quite like this one actually, but it really reminds me of something else that I can’t quite put my finger on what. The vocal delivery feels a bit try-hard and there’s too much reverb. Calenture - This is a strange little interlude. Don’t really see what it adds. Save What You Can - A ballad with tortured lyrics that sounds like the cleanest pop production of the whole album? Why not. It’s quite boring.

7/10 Radiohead are a unique band. In my opinion, it’s all of the thought that goes into the smaller elements of their songs that really elevate them, the little samples or synth parts that just emphasis a section or provide sonic interest or depth. While a lot of bands will repeat a verse with different words, Radiohead often have some completely different ear candy that separates one section or verse from another. How much of this comes from the band and how much from Nigel Godrich, I could only guess, but he’s essentially a band member at this point really anyway. This album was created out of the sessions for Kid A and released only 8 months later. To me, this does show and, while there’s a lot to like about some of the tracks, it overall does fell a bit like a b-sides and outtakes record. The highs are high indeed, but it has a less coherent sound than some of their other albums. Overall, I think this is very good and some bits of it are top tier, but they are capable of much better than this, and we’ll be hearing a few of them further down the line. Packt Like Sardines In a Crushd Tin Box - I love the staccato nature of the rhythms on this track, set against the smoother, flowing tones from the lead vocal and other instrumentation. There’s plenty of interest in the ever-changing accompaniment if you listen more deeply. Pyramid Song - I absolutely love the way the piano drags the rhythm in this track. It’s a really beautiful piece that just swells and then ebbs away again. Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors - I really like elements of this. You can definitely hear the Aphex Twin influence in this one. But it is a bit samey. These types of tracks can really work in an album, but I just think it’s a bit too long for what it is. You And Whose Army? - A decent song and it builds nicely, but it’s not one of the better ones on the record. I Might Be Wrong - That guitar riff is great and some of the rhythms here are great. There is some interesting elements that come and go through the track too, but it is a little on the repetitive side. Knives Out - Sometimes Radiohead thread the needle between sounding utterly depressed and somehow uplifting at the same time. This is one of those. Great track. Morning Bell/Amnesiac - A worse version of a track from the last album. Strange choice and only emphasises the ‘Kid A Offcuts’ nature of this album. Dollars and Cents - Quite an understated one here in some respects, but it’s got some of those great harmonic backing vocals and does the ebb and flow thing nicely again. Doesn’t sound like there’s too much going on if you just let it wash over you, but there are a load of interesting nuggets if you listen more closely. Hunting Bears - I don’t mind a palate cleanser here and there on an album and this one’s ok. Nothing too interesting really, but settles you for the next one. Like Spinning Plates - Radiohead do unsettling really well, and this is a great example. The flickering rhythms, the slow drifting of the instrumentation and vocal. Lovely stuff. Life In a Glasshouse - I feel like this one’s just a bit disjointed from the rest of the album. There are elements of it that I like, but it just feels a bit disorganised. Not bad, but just not great.

5/10 There was some stuff on here that I did really like, and it’s clear that this has had a significant impact on the emergence of the grime scene and the empowerment of disenfranchised people, which is only to be applauded. That alone makes its place on this list valid. But from a personal point of view, I found the production of quite a few tracks to be grating. There were some odd choices to have some elements of tracks dominate the mix to an extent that they were distracting from what was a decent track underneath. There were also times when the repetitively of a track just made it tiring to listen to. A two or four bar loop for 4 minutes without much variety around it just doesn’t do it for me. I often found myself thinking that if the vocal was more prominent and there was a bit more variety between verse and chorus, I would appreciate some of these tracks much more. When he got it right, though, there were some really good moments. Fix Up, Look sharp, Round We Go, Jus’ A Rascal were all great tracks, for example. I feel like if this had a more experienced hand in the producers chair and if the album had been stripped back to 10 tracks, this could have really floated my boat more than it ended up doing. Sittin’ Here - There are bits about this that I like, the overlapping vocals, the cadence of the beats, but the main melodic hook does just get a bit tiring after a while. Could do with more variety. Stop Dat - More variety on this one. The tonal elements seem a bit disjointed, but the focus is always on the vocals, beats and bass, which is always the main driver in this type of music. I Luv U - There’s more structure to this one and it probably works better because of it. I’m not massively keen on some of the sounds, but it’s a decent track. He self produced this age 16. Brand New Day - There’s a bit of theme building now. The synth bell tones that kind of dominate the mix just don’t do it for me. Under that there’s a pretty decent tune, but it is getting swallowed a bit by something that is slightly annoying and too much of a focus. 2 Far - It’s less dominant here, but there is a ‘Uh-Uh’ sample that is too loud in the mix and too relentless. I actually really like the track apart from that, the flow of the rapping is great and it’s got a good bet, but that sample is so distracting. Fix Up, Look Sharp - This is much better. The mix isn’t dominated by anything annoying. The vocals sit front and centre, the beat is beefy, if simple, the structure is good. Nice. Cut ‘Em Off - The production gives this an interesting vibe. It’s dark and brooding with a layer of aggression. Not bad, but perhaps a bit too repetitive. Hold Ya Mouf - I like this one. The beat has got a groove and there’s a bit more variety to different sections of the track. That being said, the melodic motif that runs through the duration is a bit annoying, but less dominant than on other tracks. Round We Go - Back to having a bit more of a sectional structure here and it really helps. Tracks like this one are the best ones on the album. Good grooves, great vocals and enough variety to keep things interesting. Jus’ A Rascal - This is a banger. Aggressive and driving. Wot U On? - Decent tune. That kick drum / bass is too much though and it’s quite long and relentless because of it. Jezebel - This one’s a bit annoying. The lilt of the beat/vocal/pizzicato strings just jars with me a bit. Seems 2 Be - This was ok. I feel like the nature of the album is starting to drag on me now though, to be honest. It’s not got a great deal of variety to it. Live O - Another one with an over-loud and repetitive element that dominates the mix. Does that high-pitched tone need to be that loud and insistent? Do It - I really like the vocal in this one, but I’m definitely getting to the point of being tired out by the musical content being a two bar loop that just repeats for the duration.

10/10 This album is so punk despite not really being punk at all. They do drift into a more punky sound on Shadowplay and Interzone, and you can clearly hear that influence, but the album as a whole is something else entirely. They’re clearly quite raw musicians, but they manage to produce some immensely evocative music. You would never get an album that sounded like this released today, because all the little fluffs and oddities would have been tweaked out of it before release, but to me it really adds to the overall vibe of the album. It feels like the band are teetering on the precipice of madness and trying to scream back how it feels to those further from the edge. Even Ian Curtis’ vocal, which frequently grasps quite loosely at the edge of tuning, just adds to the sense of anxiety that permeates the whole album. The production is magnificent too and was, I imagine, quite groundbreaking at the time. The little ear candy pieces like smashing of glass, and other sonic oddities that add variety and ambience to the music really help elevate it, and are clear influences on the later production of Radiohead in particular. This album feels like a real pillar for what would follow, with the emergence of alt-rock and grunge, and I really don’t think we’d have had bands like Pixies, Nirvana and Radiohead in the same way without this. Despite what others may see as flaws worthy of lowering the rating of the album, I feel that everything just melds together into something that is way beyond the sum of its parts. A brilliant, brilliant album. Disorder - Good track that’s both melodic and intense. There are some weird choices and mistakes(?) in the bass line, but the overall vibe is great. And it gets even more intense and massive as it crescendos. Day of The Lords - There’s a sense of brooding dread about this. It’s very atmospheric and massive sounding. A really great track. Candidate - This is more sparse and scatterbrained, but in a brilliant way. It drops down to almost nothing, in places but with these echoes of terrifying ambience in the background, but sweeps into cacophany now and again. Insight - Sonically, this is quite interesting, from the vocal that sounds like it’s being sung into a cardboard box, to the synth resonance sweeps. Lovely stuff. New Dawn Fades - This is quite a beautiful song to me. It sounds so full and atmospheric and builds from contemplative and melancholic to distraught and then just drifts away to a lonely beat. She’s Lost Control - Great riffs, great production, haunting vocals. Great track. It really drives, and the cluttered nature of the parts just flow over one another in quite a chaotic but visceral way. Shadowplay - Another great track. It ebbs and flows in a really nice way. The vocal harmonies are great too when they appear. The guitar sounds really good, despite being quite different than much of the rest of the album. Wilderness - Another one where it builds and drops, but with that swirling drum beat always driving it forward. Interzone - The call overlapping call and response of the vocal and how it follows the guitar line is great. The guitar recalls more of the sound from Shadowplay again with its more punk style. There’s a good groove to this one and it’s probably the most punky song on the record, but it still has that unmistakable Joy Division sound. I Remember Nothing - A dark and brooding track. The dissonant vocals that overlap one another add to the eerie ambience of the track. It does expose some of the weaknesses in Ian Curtis’ voice, but that does lend an element of madness to the sound. I really love the vibe of this one. It’s like a glimpse into the mind of someone desperately trying to hold it all together. A fitting end to the album.

7/10 This was an enjoyable listen. I felt like it got so close in places, but often didn't quite stick the landing for me. There was often a drifting quality to the songs that frequently didn't quite land on a hook that was completely satisfying. It was also a bit of a patchwork that didn't really flow that well through all of the styles it touched on and did seem to jump around quite a lot. There are big echoes of Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu in places (a very good thing), but the consistency wasn't quite there for the duration. It's clear she has a very special voice and understanding of how it works with the rest of the music, but this really has the hallmarks of a debut that she hasn't quite grabbed hold of her own style for quite yet. That being said, it's absolutely stacked with potential. Intro / Stronger Than Me - Not sure what the point of the into bit is. But the actual song is great. A nice blend of soul, jazz and hip-hop. She moves so nicely between smooth and biting on her vocal delivery. You Sent Me Flying / Cherry - the first half drifts around nicely enough, but doesn't really land anywhere until almost three minutes in. I feel like she over does the singing on this one and it gets a bit too warbly and 'look what I can do'. The Cherry bit is a nice little mini track. But why isn't it a separate track. Weird. Know You Now - This reminds me quite a lot of Lauryn Hill. I like it, and it has a good groove, but it doesn't quite land on something completely satisfying to me. Fuck Me Pumps - great track. It's fairly simple, but it has a quite naive, playful tone, which contrasts nicely with the lyrics. I Heard Love Is Blind - another one that's nice, but doesn't really find a solid hook for me. Moody's Mood For Love / Teo Licks - This one's a cover, so doesn't suffer from the same drifting nature of some of the others. I like the dub edge to the production, and it's just a satisfying jazz number. As with Cherry, I don't quite understand why these little inter-track nuggets aren't separated. (There Is) No Greater Love - A jazz standard. Really shows of her vocal in a more subtle way and she's not trying too hard on this one. Lovely. In My Bed - This is a good track. Much more hip-hop from a production point of view. Quite a lot of interesting instrumental elements too. Take The Box - another really nice track. The horns are used sparingly but beautifully. And she saves the vocal gymnastics for key moments. October Song - back to something with a bit more drive. It's another one that sort of drifts around a bit and never really lands on anything too hooky, but it is very good. What Is It About Men - this is quite reminiscent of Erykah Badu. I like it, but it's another drifter. I kept waiting for it to land on a solid chorus that never came along. Help Yourself - Hurrah, a chorus! This is really good. Light hearted, leaves good room for Amy to do her thing, but again, she doesn't overdo it. Really nice. Amy Amy Amy - another Erykah Badu-a-like. It's a good track, but another one that doesn't fully land on anything particularly special for me. Outro - It's just a bit of outro stuff. Nothing exciting. Brother - this has got a great groove to it and the vocal is top notch. Surprising that this is a hidden track as I'd say it was stronger track than a few on the main run. Mr Magic (Through The Smoke) - this is great. Hits all the right notes for me. Great groove, solid vocal, great hooks and a funky sax solo. Might be the best on the album and it's a real odd one to hide!

6/10 This is a bit of a funny album. To start with, I was really enjoying it, but I did feel it started to drift after the first few tracks. It’s very ronseal, in that it’s kind of the perfect music for the chill out room at a rave, a relaxed DJ set or an after party. Smokers delight indeed. I would happily have this album on now and then as background accompaniment, but I did have to keep skipping back while doing my song-by-song, because it frequently failed to cling onto my full attention. Some of the tracks really didn’t have enough variety to keep my mind fully engaged. Perhaps that’s partly the way my brain works, as I did have a similar complaint about overly repetitive motifs in Boy In Da Corner when we listened to that one. I suppose I’ll likely never stick this album on to just listen to it, and there are trip-hop albums that I certainly would do that with, but I can definitely see its place and it’s a very good album when placed in the right environment. A little hard to pick a rating for this one, but I think shooting somewhere down the middle is probably fair, and it’s getting 6 rather than 5 for that touch of nostalgia. Nights Introlude - A great little groove of a track that really sets the tone for the record. A good deal of this is sampled from Summer In The City by Quincy Jones, but NOW translates the vibe into something fresh. And the pads and strings that swell through sections are so 90s electronica. Dreaddoverboard - I used to run an electronica night at uni and played this one a lot. This has edges of dub, but sits firmly in the Trip-Hop wheelhouse (although NOW would disagree). The sections ebb and flow nicely, but there’s a nice drive that keeps the flow going throughout. Pipes Honour - A sparser arrangement here and a groove largely lifted from The Soul of a Black Man by Maceo Parker (legend). This is so chill and groovy. Me And You - Nice little interlude. Nothing special. Stars - Back to something more dub edged. This one’s a little too repetitive for me in places. The electric piano is a bit relentless. Wait A Minute / Praying For A Jeepbeat - Bit of a weird one. Just a sort of cluster of bits and pieces really. Groove Street - This is ok. A bit too repetitive and long, so got a bit boring. Time (To Listen) - Another interlude (Man) Tha Journey - This one’s definitely got more drive to it, but there are sections where I wanted it to throw in a bit more variety as it was getting a bit samey. Bless My Soul - A nice chilled groove. It’s not the most interesting, but it’s ok. Cruise (Don’t Stop) - A bit more variety and interest here. A nice bouncy beat and some of the samples add some nice lilt to the groove. Mission Venice - A nice, shorter track, The idea is decent, but it’s just very samey throughout, despite the dub mixing of the different parts. What I’m Feelin (Good) - This was better. Another short one, but it felt like there was just more variety to keep the momentum up. Rise - Another nice one. Not the most interesting of tunes, but a decent, relaxing little number. Rise (Reprise) - Not sure why we needed to have another 1:46 of the same track really. Gambia Via Vagator Beach - This just doesn’t really go anywhere. Too much like a hippy drumming circle in the park for me.

7/10 This feels like a big transition album looking back to the Motown of old on the second side, but working with the fresh new sounds that Sly Stone was introducing on the first side. The grit and funk on Cloud Nine and Runaway Child is just fantastic, and the grooves just drive. I think as an album, its beneficial to look at this one as a record with two sides as they are very different to one another, but it was perhaps a bold choice to order the sides the way they did, as old school Temptations fans may not have got on board with side one, but for me it really works. The second half is more trad Motown sound, and they are very good at it, despite the fact that it doesn’t really break new ground in the way that the first half did. I was toe tapping, finger clicking and head bobbing my way through it all and, although it lulled a little in the later tracks, really came together again for the closer. Cloud Nine - This is a great tune, really leans into the psychedelic funk side of things and makes me think of Funkadelic, Sly Stone and that type of music that was starting to emerge at the time, rather than the more traditional Motown sound. I Heard It Through The Grapevine - A Motown classic. Not my favourite version, but the doo-wop swing on the vocal is great. It definitely has its own feel and sounds like they’re having a lot of fun. Runaway Child, Running Wild - Back to the more dirty funk side of things, this is just great. There’s plenty going on and it evolves through its runtime into so many different areas and pushes and pulls so nicely without ever loosing the thread of the groove, whether through the half with vocals, or the instrumental half. Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing - This takes us back to some more traditional Temptations fare. It’s still great, of course, just not quite as energetic and exciting as side one. Hey Girl - This is smooth. I love the way they’re able to rotate lead vocal duties between songs to give a different flavour across an album. Why Did She Have To Leave Me (Why Did She Have To Go) - This swings so nicely and is a proper finger clicker. The lead vocal on this is SO good. Love it. I Need Your Lovin’ - Another great track. A bit more low-key, but it just grooves. Great harmonies and the way the backing vocals intermingle with the lead is just lovely. Don’t Let Him Take Your Love From Me - There’s something very James Brown about this vocal. It’s perhaps one of the weaker songs on the album as it doesn’t do anything too interesting, but it’s by no means bad, just not as good as what came before. I Gotta Find A Way To Get You Back - Lovely grit to the vocal here, and it’s got a nice drive to it. It’s another good track, but not one of the top rankers. Gonna Keep On Tryin’ Till I Win Your Love - Closing the album in style. This is great. That strolling bass line is fantastic, the horns do some lovely little things and the vocals are just excellent, both lead and backing.

6/10 There are bits of this album that I really like. Our House is a massive highlight for me. I’m a big fan of an understated little piece of ‘everyday life’ music. Stylistically, it’s a million miles away, but it makes me think a little of Starfish And Coffee by Prince. Anyway. When they got a bit more bluesy-rock, I enjoyed that too, but I’m not a massive fan of the overuse of the type of block ‘wall of sound’ vocal harmonies that they use. They work in when used sparingly, but to my mind, the mixing of them dominates without providing a satisfying amount of space for the lead vocal to shine. With that in mind, the tracks I’d likely return to would probably be those with a more clear lead vocal, and with a bit of rock ’n roll grit to the track, like Almost Cut My Hair. In all honesty, while I did enjoy this, I feel like there’s music out there that I’d go to first that focus more on the elements I did enjoy. Glad to have heard it though. Probably a 5, but Our House just tickles my sentimental fancy, so it pops up by one. Carry On - This is a good start to the album. The opening guitar line bursts with enthusiasm and the harmonies throw a great vibe over it. Could do with a bit more movement in the harmonies, but they’re still good. It then moves into decent groove half way through. Nice little guitar licks that pop up here and there through the track, and that wah tone is great. Teach Your Children - This one’s a bit more saccharine. It’s nice enough, but it doesn’t really have the grit or drive that I liked from the first track. Definitely more meandering too, though it does have a nice toe-tapping rhythm from the guitar. Almost Cut My Hair - The vibe to this one is more back to what we had from Carry On. Kind of sits somewhere between Hendrix and The Eagles in terms of feel to me. I think the more driven guitar really works here and there’s plenty of space for them to have a bit more fun with their playing. Nice to hear a bit of variety from the vocal too and less emphasis on the harmonisations. That might have got tiring if it stayed for every track. Helpless - It feels like a theme is developing here. Back to a more of a softer ballad-esque track now. Again, it’s nice. The vocal has a vulnerable edge to it that I like, but I just wasn’t really that grabbed by this one. Woodstock - The theme continues. Back to something with a bit more of a rock ’n roll edge and a bit of drive. The interplay between the organ and the guitar is really nice. The backing vocals are more subtle through the verses, which gives the lead space to breathe, although they definitely kick in on the chorus. There’s a nice ‘I’m having fun over here’ guitar solo too. Deja Vu - I thought they were going to change the formula. Nice driven start for a minute and then bam. Slow song again. I do like the groove of this one and the dynamics build nicely too. Some interesting little nuggets from the different instruments too as the track progresses. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but there are elements of this that I do really like. Our House - I love this tune. Written by Graham Nash on Joni Mitchell’s piano about the everyday happiness of their relationship. I like the innocence of it and the celebration of the satisfying mundanity of an established relationship. The vocal harmonies actually have more movement and less of a ‘wall of sound’ approach than on most of the rest of the album, which is way better. Sometimes simplicity is beauty. 4 + 20 - Nice enough piece of melancholy. Doesn’t really go anywhere, but it’s short enough. That ending is pretty good though. Country Girl - I think the album is getting a bit tired by this point. This has some nice enough moments, but it doesn’t really shine and we’re definitely on the wind down at this point. It feels like they’re trying to go with something epic, but it just seems busy and loud rather than big and grand to me. Everybody I love You - Lets finish off with some fun. Back to the more wall-of-sound harmonies. This lets loose a bit more and they get to have a bit of guitar fun, but it’s not the most interesting.

6/10 This album quite obviously exists in a very specific time and place, and that does make it a little harder on the ears than it would have been at the time, but I can totally see why this was one that broke through. It’s got rock style beats in places, it’s pretty easy to understand the lyrics, and it isn’t really offensive in any significant way. The call and response vocals have aged, as has the vocal delivery, which is very samey for the duration. There’s also the old school ‘rhyme all lines, regardless of how silly the lyrics end up sounding’ rather than any use of deeply considered lyrics, but if anything that probably helped them at the time. It’s silly, relatively inoffensive and also feels like something kids could easily rap along with. I think there’s an element of fatigue to the sound because of the tech they were using at the time. Drum machines were pretty new and didn’t offer much in the way of dynamic adjustment, compared to what we’re used to these days, so some of the snare fills in particular are pretty hard to listen to. It would also take a while before people became experts at working with the limitations of the time to pull something more interesting out of these machines. Despite its flaws, however, I did quite enjoy bits and pieces of this. It sounds like they’re having a lot of fun making it and I did find that infectious as I bopped along. I probably won’t be coming back to it as a full album, but would certainly dig hearing a song or two here and there in a playlist. And I don’t think its importance to the direction of music that would follow can be overestimated. Peter Piper - Some of the production on this immediately ages it, of course, but it’s a good opener. It’s undeniably silly, but they lean into it in such a way that it works. It’s nothing special by today’s standards, but it’s got a good groove and is great fun. It’s Tricky - Now this is a stone-cold classic. A catchy as hell chorus, solid beats and some fun rapping. Yeah, it’s very much of its time, but it’s also great fun. My Adidas - That orchestra hit scratching so clearly places this in a time in history. This one is less hooky and the drum programming is about as subtle as a brick to the face. Less interesting, but still not bad. Walk This Way - The first rap/rock crossover track? This is another classic. The production has still aged somewhat, but the guitar playing probably saves it a bit from being quite so ‘of it’s time’. It hangs around a bit too long in the outro, but it’s still good. Is It Live - More of the same as we heard from My Adidas really. Nothing too exciting these days, but a solid beat and some more silly lyrics. Perfection - This one drags and that ‘chorus’ is just incredibly low effort. Big old meh. Hit It Run - I don’t know if that’s supposed to be beatboxing or what, but it’s bad. This is a bit more upbeat, but things are starting to feel a bit tired now. The rhythms to the rapping are so samey from track to track that it’s all starting to run together a bit. Raising Hell - Back to some rock guitars, but we’re still on a similar vocal flow. Again, it’s ok, but the drums in particular have aged poorly and it’s just not that interesting of a tune. You Be Illin’ - This one’s got more swing to it. Good track, with a simple but funky chorus. It’s a bit too repetitive, although there is an attempt to inject a bit of variety here and there. I think I’d enjoy this one even more if I wasn’t 9 tracks in. Dumb Girl - This one’s just not that exciting. The ‘dumb’ sample is bad and it’s just a bit of a boring track in general. Son Of Byford - More bad beatboxing. And that’s about that. Proud to Be Black - It’s a bit too pedestrian. If they’d have cranked this up by 5-10bpm it could really pop. I’m glad a song like this ended up on one of the first big mainstream breakthrough hip-hop albums though. Something like this getting in the ears of black kids was probably empowering. And getting it into the ears of white kids could have been a bit of a barrier breaker.

10/10 This album is quite hard to listen to critically. I’ve heard it so many times, particularly as a child, that it’s almost impossible to separate the music from my personal connection with it. But I’ll do my best. This album (as with Thriller before it) is a triumphant combination of songwriting, production and vocal talent. Even listening to this today in a more ‘critical listening’ mode, there were little bits and pieces that sit deep in the mix and just throw continued variation, emphasis and interest that I’d not consciously noticed before. I think this is where Quincy Jones takes very good songwriting and elevates it with his production. And then Michael steps up to the mic and his vocal delivery (uhs, oohs, shamones and all) just smashes it out of the park. He conveys so much emotion, attitude and soul in his vocals, and even his little noises just expand on the production styling of Quincy Jones to keep momentum flowing and make sure things always stay interesting. I think if you were to give this exact same list of songs to another musician / producer combo, you’d probably end up with something far, far more mundane, but they just manage to weave pure gold out of each other and it’s a joy to listen to. Honestly, the only thing that slightly misses the mark on this album is the concept of Michael Jackson being some kind of badass. Songs like Bad and Dirty Diana have big echoes of a nerdy theatre kid thinking he’s a badass because he’s got a lead in West Side Story and gets to hold a knife. But putting that aside, I actually think this is a more consistently high-quality album that the more critically revered Thriller. But it also never quite reaches the heights of that album either. I listened to this through three times trying to find a reason to not give it full marks, but I just couldn’t. Bad - The least threatening man in the world (at least he is if you’re an adult) makes a song about being a tough guy. But it works; this is a great pop song. It probably doesn’t quite hold up as well thematically as an adult as it did when I was younger, but it really is well crafted. The way the different lines just guide you through the different sections is masterful. The Way You Make Me Feel - I have always loved the rhythm of the lead vocal in the verses on this track and how it pulls against the swing on the bass and drums. There’s just a whole load of groove to this and it’s great. Speed Demon - I always used to love this track with its completely mad bass line. I expect it’s a programmed DX-7, but it’s a pretty unhinged thing to just toss under a pop song. It’s still a good effort, but I can see why some people might see this one as a bit of a filler track. Mega 80s vibes. Liberian Girl - Quite a drop in pace for this one and a chance for Michael to show some of his vocal chops in a more exposed way. The guy had so much control. It’s another great pop song. The vocal harmonisations are really pretty, and while the rhythm is pretty stripped back, it still keeps things moving in a very satisfying way. Just Good Friend’s - To my mind, this is one of MJ’s best collaborations, even though it’s one that rarely gets mentioned. It’s so funky. Stevie Wonder (Michael’s 3rd cousin) doesn’t really appear until half way through, but when he does, he comes flying in with this really gritty delivery. Love it. This track really bounces, the synth lines are great and the overlapping vocals just keep kicking. Underrated magic. Another Part Of Me - Another one with a kicking groove. Michael and Quincy just don’t ever let things go stale. Even during a repeating section, there’s always little bits of ear candy, little riffs or lines that just keep up the momentum. I’d hate to manage a pro tools session with this many tracks, but on an analogue desk? Fuck off Quincy. Funky Bass line, quality transitions between verse and chorus, cool horns. Lovely stuff. Man in the Mirror - Home to the greatest key change in history? Quite possibly. It starts slow, but it has SO MUCH momentum and drive. Again, there are so many little bits and pieces in there underneath the main instrumentation. The lead vocal is ridiculously strong and the gospel choir is just gold. An exquisite pop song. I Just Can’t Stop Loving You - This is a more low-key effort. It’s probably the least interesting track on the album. Michael can generally elevate mediocre songs with his vocal delivery, and he does a good job here, but the lyrical content does seem a bit… dubious. Particularly given the, uh, ‘allegations’. Dirty Diana - This is almost like an audio play in places with the use of sound effects and the atmospheric production. Again, the lead vocal is super powerful. I think it’s a great song and something just a bit different from other Michael Jackson tracks up to this point, which makes it a great addition to the album. Quality guitars on this one too. Smooth Criminal - Absolute banger. Love the overlapping vocal lines all over the place, but particularly on the ‘Annie are you ok?’ bit. The instrumental break is so funky. The whole thing just moves. Bass line, that snare slap, the little staccato guitar lines. Fantastic. Leave Me Alone - This is another one that has got such drive and exquisite overlapping vocal lines. Structurally, it’s not necessarily the most interesting of tracks, but the Quincy / Michael combo just dust it with their magic yet again and turn in a very very good track.

2/10 I entered this with an open mind, having heard (but never closely listened to) Take Me Out more times than I can possibly imagine. And boy oh boy, this is just bad. First things first, Alex Kapranos just has a bad voice. His delivery is weak, his control is poor and the production just makes it even worse. Which brings me on to the other aspect of this album that I thought was awful. The production was terrible. If a producer handed this to me, I’d be speaking to the label about getting someone else to give it another go. The obsession with vocals that sound like they were recorded through two yoghurt pots and a piece of string is baffling. To a certain extent, there’s an element of punk to it, but the music just has none of the attitude and energy of a punk record, and the band are really not tight players at all, so it just sounds sloppy and cluttered. The separation between instruments is non-existent and it just ends up sounding like a muddy, jangly mess. I don’t really have much more to say about this one, really. There were some catchy elements to the songs, and I feel like, with a really good producer, something moderately tolerable could be moulded out of this, but it sounds like a demo rather than a finished album. I’m stunned that this won the Mercury Prize. Jacqueline - Quite an uninspiring start to things. He’s not got the voice for such an exposed intro to the album, and some of the lyrics are pretty tortured. Rhyming ‘spectacle’ with ‘wrecked a girl’. Ew. When the song kicks in, it’s just too repetitive and fairly uninteresting. When you’re basing a lot of the song on a two-bar riff, you need to make things more interesting around that and they just don’t. Tell Her Tonight - This is just messy. Playing staccato rhythms requires better precision in the performances than this. Fells a bit like a cluster of demo ideas chucked together. Take Me Out - The big single. I’ve never listened to this closely before, but I’ve probably heard it half a million times. God damn is this production sloppy. The rhythm guitar part somehow clashes with the lead and just leaves a cluttered mess. I can see why it was the big single. It’s got a catchy riff and the memorable chorus. But that’s about it. The Dark Of The Matinée - This is probably a better song than Take Me Out. There’s a bit more invention to it, and more contrast between verse and chorus, and it’s got a decent groove to it. But his lyrics are so rubbish, and his voice still isn’t good. This also suffers from the undefined backing and cluttered production, this time between lead and backing vocals. Poorly structured harmonies and too much ‘singing down a phone line’ effect on the backing vox just leave another cluttered mess. Auf Achse - This has such a meandering start that I’m bored before the vocals actually start. The verse is boring, but here comes the chorus. Oh, that’s boring too. Cheating On You - Is this the best song yet? Probably. Manages to bring a bit of grit to meet the production half way. Decent riffs, but it does sound a bit like The Monkees cosplaying as Iggy and The Stooges. Not bad though. This Fire - Man, I really cannot get on board with this guy’s vocal delivery at all. Again, it lacks any sort of control, but without any of the emotion to make that make sense (no anger, angst or despair). The backing vocals just double down to make it messy and hard to tolerate. This is really boring too. Darts Of Pleasure - This one at least feels a bit more interesting. But it’s still like they’ve been listening to Joy Division, not really understood what makes them good, and stripped at all away. The gang vocals are annoying. The production is messy. And they don’t develop any of the ideas into anything that good. Michael - I can visualise the jerky staccato type of rhythm guitar playing that they employ all over this record, and it’s just relentlessly annoying. This song is boring and just lacks oomph. More sloppy production too. Come On Home - Oh, this intro at least sounds a bit more interesting. But when the vocal comes in, it’s just more of the same. Meh. 40’ - What happens when you remove the limited momentum that Franz Ferdinand has from their music? This. It meanders by and he restores to shit ‘la, la, la’ lyrics. I wonder if this track was titled 40’ because they wanted to make a 40 minute album, so they chucked this on at the end to fill up the time. They even failed at that, because it totals 38m 48s.

5/10 I have no real prior relationship with this album, having only listened to the odd track or two here and there in the past, so no nostalgia hit for me. I think my key issue with this album is that my primary focus on music is the music itself, whether that be tonal or rhythmical elements. Lyrics are always a secondary factor and the music here is just not very interesting most of the time, often just a two bar sample or synth line repeated for the whole track. Also, there are occasions (not loads, but enough) when Mike Skinners delivery just seems not that good either. He’s obviously written something that was narratively important to him, and had to sort of cram it into the space with rhythm being a secondary consideration, so it jars. Those assessments aside, there are some highlights to this. The last two tracks are great, and the general vibe of the album very clearly summons up clear characters, environments and a real space in time. It also feels like a very realistic portrayal of a lived experience and I do appreciate that narrative flow that exists through the album. I’m a sucker for a concept album, so that helps tick it up a little in my consideration, but I probably won’t be hurrying back to this one. Twice was enough. It Was Supposed to Be so Easy - Not the most auspicious start to an album. Mike Skinner is no singer. The sample used for almost the full duration is quite annoying and very oddly edited. Not very interesting either. Could Well Be In - This is much better. He backs up his singing with some backing vocals that help ground it a little. The music is pretty samey throughout, but this is more about the narrative really. A much more pleasant listen though and very much establishes its place in working class Britain at the turn of the century. Not Addicted - The singing here is a bit annoying again. The verses are decent, but the chorus rubs me the wrong way. And there are bits when the lyrics just don’t fit with the rhythm, so doesn’t scan well at all and sound forced, which is pretty criminal for rap based music. Blinded by the Lights - Better again. It’s obviously pretty repetitive, but focusing on the narrative, it really works. When he leaves the melodic elements to another vocalist, it is so much for the better. Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way - Another one where the singing is better, but I feel it may have been better with a more legato delivery. The whole thing is pretty relentlessly juddery. It does reflect the indecisively jittery nature of the lyrics though, so I guess it makes sense. Get Out of My House - This one is just a bit annoying. A return to a bit of Mike Skinner singing on his own, which is so weak. The melodic content is relentless. Fit but You Know It - Back to something a bit better. Again, it’s not musically interesting, but at least there’s a bit of variation between sections. Such a Twat - Another two bar sample that provides almost the whole musical content of the track. It’s just not very interesting. What Is He Thinking? - Here we go. Another two bar sample. The lyrical cadence here is often very irritating too. As with other tracks, this moves the narrative along, but musically it’s repetitive and pretty uninteresting. Dry Your Eyes - Best track on the album by quite a long way. Musically, it’s got a bit more variety to it and it’s also subtle enough that the vocal really takes the lead and the narrative is centre stage in a way it’s not on many other tracks. It’s his strongest singing performance too and the limitations of his voice actually really work with the tone of the song. Empty Cans - I really like the ambience that this one builds. It’s dark and brooding and the tonal content sits back in the mix to leave the vocals more prominent. The synth that echoes the vocal line in the chorus is just annoying though. I fell like he should have chosen an ending though, rather than taking the cowards way out and including two endings. The second version is by far the better. If he’d have blended the two with things starting off badly and getting better it would have been very satisfying both narratively and musically.

8/10 This is a very good album with, in my opinion, a very odd flaw. It comes out of the blocks brilliantly with The Queen Is Dead. It’s a quality track and sets the album up to be something very special, but then the following three tracks just sap that momentum almost immediately. If these tracks had been more evenly distributed through the rest of the album, I suspect they wouldn’t have had as much of an impact on the overall feel of the album for me, but I just feel like the track sequencing lets the flow of the album down a little too much. The production is excellent and there is a great deal of invention and musical interest throughout. People often speak glowingly of Jonny Marr, and I can really see why, but the unsung hero for me here is Andy Rourke on bass. He has some really great bass lines and just throws in little runs and fills every now and again that bring so much life to the bottom end of the album, it’s really delightful to listen to. They also really know when to build up a great harmonic blend of instrumentation at the right moments and that, combined with the tightness of the band set against the more fluid, flouncy vocals from Morrissey really work to develop such a specific and unique sound. This is definitely worth revisiting and I’m very glad to have heard it. The Queen Is Dead - This track moves. It’s got great momentum, the guitars are fantastic and the drums just give it such a great driving pulse. The tightness and thrust from the rest of the band really lays a bed for Morrisesy’s flouncy vocal to sit satisfyingly on top of. Frankly, Mr. Shankly - This is a bit plodding, particularly after the opener. Nice enough, although it is a bit boring, but blissfuly it does everyone a favour and lasts for just over two minutes. I Know It’s Over - This is nice. Sparse to begin with and ebbs and flows through its runtime and builds later on. Little bits and pieces of subtle interest that pop in and out like the strings and synths just add some depth to it too. It’s not really got the fire of the better tracks on the album, but is still decent. Never Had No One Ever - This one’s a bit dull. Not really a lot to say about it, to be honest. It’s meandering and doesn’t really feel like it goes anywhere. Cemetery Gates - I love the rhythmic balance of the different parts of this. The cadence of the guitar line is beautiful. The bass tone is really smooth. And this is pretty much Morrissey at his best. Everything about this song is just great. Bigmouth Strikes again - Another great track. I really like the choices Morrissey makes for some of his vocal lines here. There’s so much atmosphere and drive to this. It’s got pretty much every band member hitting it out of the park, with brilliant production that ties everything together with great clarity. The Boy with the Thorn in His Side - Another really good track. There are places where the lead vocal is just a bit too flouncy for me, but there are other places where it’s quite beautiful too. The interplay between the guitar and the strings is really lovely. Vicar in a Tutu - This is a bit weaker than what’s come before. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t feel as together as what’s come before. There just feels like there’s something missing to tie everything together. There Is a Light That Never Goes Out - Well this is obviously a classic. The juxtaposition between the music and the lyrics is brilliant. Even the vocal delivery just straddles that line between extreme happiness and depressing melancholy. Again, this is an example of every part being essentially perfect at delivering on what the song is trying to achieve. So good. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others - That little volume dip at the beggining is really weird. This is another great track with plenty of momentum. Quality guitar and bass playing as usual. It’s not really as interesting as other tracks, at least in part due to the pretty rubbish lyrics. This feels a bit like they’ve released a track that they’ve not finished with some scratch lyrics. It also doesn’t offer much in the way of development or variation. Not bad exactly, just not as good as the previous tracks.

7/10 This album sort of encapsulates everything I feel about R.E.M. When they get it right, it is so, so good. But it only takes them to miss the mark a tiny bit and the songs can become a bit boring and samey. For this album in particular, I feel like the first third and final third are both really good, and in places excellent, but the middle third is just a little dull. I really enjoy the rhythmic cadences that Michael Stipe often uses in his vocals. They’re very uniquely him and really give an identity to the sound. His tone is great and the combination of power in his delivery and the edge of frailty is perfect for the band. When they peak, the instrumental arrangements are excellent, with each player dancing around each other to pull the focus around but always reenforcing the bed behind the vocal. There are some really excellent moments of backing vocal too. Some of the string arrangements (written by John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin) are absolutely beautiful. When this album peaks, it’s genuinely goosebump inducing stuff. Tracks like Man On The Moon, Nightswimming and Everybody Hurts are real works of art. But it’s just not consistently interesting enough to rank higher for me. Drive - The build and release in this song is really nice. It gives you little bursts of song that develop and change each time they come around, but keep referring back to a more delicate and stripped back section. Each of the sections stand up well, but just the way they slide into and out of them is really great. Try Not To Breathe - This is another lovely song. The interplay between the different vocal lines and their separation by using different production techniques on them is really nice. The tempo and drive of the track is fairly consistent, but they manage to keep injecting fresh energy with little drum fills and such. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite - This is a great tune. The variation between the verses and chorus are good. The strings in the chorus are really nice. The little meandering organ part in the verses is great. It’s perhaps a little bit too repetitive, but it’s a moment of levity in what is otherwise a tonally sombre album. Everybody Hurts - This is obviously a classic. It’s a bit on the nose, but to be honest it says something that sometimes people need to hear in a straightforward way. The orchestration is beautiful and Michael Stipe’s delivery is just goosebump inducing. New Orleans Instrumental No. 1 - It’s a bit of an odd, plodding interstitial. Not much to comment on really. Sweetness Follows - This one’s perhaps a little dull. It’s got this pulsing tone that beats away underneath it that imbues it with a sense of ever present dread, and some of the distorted washes of guitar are nice, but it’s not a particularly interesting song otherwise. Monty Got A Raw Deal - This is quite folky. Again, it’s nice enough, but not the most interesting of tunes. Ignoreland - Out of the gate, this is immediately more interesting. Some of the guitar tones are great. The instruments all have their little moments to shine and it’s got a really full sound. It’s got a bit of a bluesy edge, but it isn’t the most varied of tracks. Star Me Kitten - This one has got a nice ambience to it. Again, it’s just not that interesting, unfortunately. Man On The Moon - Right, we’re back on track. There’s a lot going on among all the parts here and they all bring something to the table. Nice harmonies too. It’s just a really well written song. The verses are subtle, but sonically rich, while it build to a chorus that’s just sing-along excellence that get better with added interest as the song goes on. The vocal interplay on the final versions of the chorus are just wonderful. Nightswimming - Another great track. It’s subtle, but it ebbs and flows nicely and the quality of the composition is good enough to carry it without it getting dull. It just feels exposed and vulnerable in a very pretty way. Find The River - This is another pretty song. There’s such a bittersweet tone to it and the piano part is really nice in particular. Another one where there is enough quality in the melodic and harmonic elements to give it a really satisfying feel overall, and it’s a great way to end the album.

4/10 I don't know how much of my feeling for this album is impacted by the fact that there have been 56 years of rock music that have happened since it was released and I'm unconsciously comparing it to all of that, but it just didn't engage with me. There have been old albums I've been introduced to during this project that have really grabbed me though, so perhaps that's not it. In general, I feel like there's never really a hook that grabs me, or anything particularly interesting for me to engage with, it's just a bit of a wash of inoffensive pleasantry. Not bad, just not that interesting either. It never generates the tempo and drive to really rock, but I also don't feel the nuance to make it a particularly interesting technical listen either. I think the elements of this album that I do like, I can find in better quantities, of higher quality, elsewhere. If I wanted beautiful harmonies, I'd go for the Beach Boys or (closer to this stylistically) The Beatles. If I wanted bluesy rock, I'd be grabbing Led Zeppelin, for more folky edged stuff, Joni Mitchell etc etc. And that's just considering music that is somewhat contemporary to this. All that being said, I can appreciate the musicianship present here. Their harmonies, although not stylistically my favourite, are tight. The guitar playing in particular has some really quality moments and I really like a few of the organ lines scattered through the album. There's enough quality scattered across the album to lift it above a complete 'meh', but I just can't justify giving it a score that puts it above a 2 star. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes - This is quite nice. The harmonies are good, but quite static in a way. They move, but they all move together rather than around each other. The vibe is nice, but it's quite loose in places and feels a little unfocused. Marrakesh Express - A nice, if pretty twee track. There's some subtle instrumentation low in the mix that adds depth too. It's maybe a bit one note, but decent enough. Guinevere - This is pretty, with an edge of melancholy. Makes me think of The Wicker Man, but the music in that is better. It's nice, but just doesn't grab me. You Don't Have to Cry - I'm starting to feel a bit of a theme coming on. It's nice. But it's also not that interesting to me. It's all getting pretty samey at this point. Pre-Road Downs - This seems more promising to begin with. The organ part I really dig and it feels like it's building to a chorus that just never really arrives. It has a decent rock n roll edge, but fails to deliver on its promises. Wooden Ships- Oooh. This starts well. Great groove and vibe to kick things off. The little pulling of focus by the different parts during the instrumental sections are great, as are the fleeting calls and response vocals. The gang harmonies take a more subtle role behind the lead, which works better to my ears. A good track that has a little bit of that something I've been waiting for. Lady of the Island - It's nice enough. It's a bit boring. And don't do a 'do do do' bit in a two and a half minute love song. Although the ending 'do do do' is actually the best bit of the song. Helplessly Hoping - The harmonies are nice here, with a bit more interesting motion to them. I actually quite liked this track, although it didn't offer much in the way of development. Long Time Gone - A slow rock n roll number. It's laid back and has a bit of grit to it with a nice bit of tension built through the verses, but the chorus just doesn't ever really deliver a satisfying release. 49 Bye-Byes - There're some nice moments here. It's got a bit more thrust than the rest of the album, but at moments it just sort of drifts away from the thread and loses itself a bit. Probably one of the better tracks on the album because it seems a bit more consistent.

7/10 This was certainly an experience. I feel that the enjoyment of an album like this may in part be down to the listening environment. For the bits that I could sit and enjoy with my eyes closed, I felt more engaged with it and I'm looking forward to cranking it in the dark on the home stereo. I also feel like a little bit of the magic is lost by not being present in the moment. I can only imagine the experience that this would provide live, with the volume, lighting and the naked artsy hippy woman dancing on stage. The recording is also, unfortunately but kind of expectedly for a desk recording of a band with this much going on in 1972, quite muddy, so it's hard to pick out everything that's going on. I feel like if there was a really clean multi track of this available for remixing it would be absolutely incredible, with all of the elements given fresh space to breathe in. Those caveats aside, this really hooked me in. There were lulls, and some bits did drag on a little, but in general there was so much going on that it continued to hold my interest despite the length of some tracks. In some respects you could consider this to be jazz for stoned rockers. They have a few core ideas and then just riff around them with a constant ebb and flow of ideas that circle around the core structure. It's also very up its own arse, but in the most magnificent way possible. They are super into the conceit (until the bonus track, which is hilariously 'back to earth'). You can also hear a great deal of influence that this had on music that followed. In some respects, it's über 70s, but it has elements that sound very contemporary too. I can definitely see why this is on the list, and I'm really glad to have heard it. I'll definitely be back to this and relistening in a better listening environment could even pop it up a point. Earth Calling - A tone setting intro. It's going to be weird and psychedelic. Born to Go - This is anchored in the lyrical section, but just goes off-piste through the middle. It's noisy and wacky and definitely conjures up its own atmosphere. Down Through the Night - When this settles in the aftermath of the previous track, we end up on a far more traditional base of a song, although it does have it's 'freak out jam' section in the middle. There's still the swirling morass of parts that move around it, but the riffs are solid and at feels more song like than what's come before. The Awakening - A little weird sci-fi narrative interlude. I can really visualise this as a live experience. Lord of Light - A similar structure to other tracks. They don't often stick on one thing for too long which keeps it interesting, but there is generally some kind of anchoring thread that keeps it somewhat grounded. I am enjoying it as an experience. The Black Corridor - More 70s sci-fi poetry. I can just imagine the room that they wrote this stuff in. It smelled funny and many of the people in it were passed out. Space Is Deep - This is, by comparison, a pretty normal song. It does drift into a quieter section through the second half, but never gets quite as off-the-wall as other tracks. But the variety and interest is still present. Electronic No 1 - A little bloopy-bleepy interlude. Atmospheric but not vastly interesting. Orgone Accumulator - This starts off as a decent, and far more traditional rock song. You're not fooling me this time, Hawkwind. Ah, here we go. A jamming section that just goes on a bit too long before we return to the vocals. And then back to the jam. And there's still three minutes left! This one just goes on a bit too much for me. Upside Down - This is less interesting. It's a fairly uninteresting song surrounded by a wash of phase, delay and noise. Better than a fairly uninteresting song on its own, I guess. 10 Seconds of Forever - Ah, they've intercepted some Vogon poetry for us to enjoy. Brainstorm - Despite the fact that this is nearly 14 minutes long, I actually kind of got lost in it. It's got drive, elements come and go and there's always something happening to keep me engaged. And it's got such a vibe. Seven by Seven - The calm after the storm. But the storm will build back, and quickly. The swirling tones that build and build in the background are immense. And again, it just drifts out into something more sparse, but oh, so 70s. I really like this one. Sonic Attack - I think we can guess where Douglas Adams got some of his inspiration from. I mean it's weird, but it's also kind of great how deeply into this they are and how seriously they present it. Time We Left This World Today - A great riff to start us off, with nice dual vocals. I'm just getting more and more lost in the soundscapes they create. Even when the main thread is a fairly repetitive refrain, there's just so much going on around it, it really keeps moving and rewards engaged listening. Master of the Universe - Holy shit, this one comes firing out of the blocks. It's heavy and fierce with those spacy vocals. Tones just appear and disappear into the wash of sound. It's pretty intense and almost feels like it's falling apart at the seams towards the end. Lovely stuff. Welcome to the Future - A psychedelic end point. A drifting, warped mass of vocal, wall of sound clashes that drift away into a thank you to the crowd and chanting recorded through some kind of phased delay. You Shouldn't Do That (not on the original LP!)- This hilariously grounds them when the singer asks if there are any Liverpool fans present, because the drummer supports Chelsea. Maybe they're not the space lords they claim to be. This track builds slowly before it eventually lets loose. It's not as interesting as some of the others and is a bit to repetitive. I can see why it wasn't on the LP. They do seem to have almost decided to play Paranoid by Black Sabbath for a good chunk of this too.

8/10 While there are a few bands that can claim to have laid the foundations for metal, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple being the two most obvious others, I truly feel like Black Sabbath gave metal it's soul with this album. The opening ambience of the rain, thunder and tolling bell that build into a crashing, heavy riff that lands on that disturbing, unsettling tritone interval that wavers as it rings. The devil's interval indeed. It's just so atmospheric, evocative and as heavy as a tonne of bricks. Singing about wizards, figures in black, Lucifer and all of those themes that will forever be entwined with heavy metal, Sabbath kicked the doors down with this and it's impact has been monumental. From a musical point of view, the guitar and bass create such a heavy sound, and there are some really fantastic hooks and riffs across this, and Bill Ward's drumming just drives and rolls it all forward. And then you throw Ozzy over the top of it all. Ozzy was never a great technical singer, but he was the perfect singer for this band and the birth of this type of music. He sings like a possessed madman. I remember an interview where he said he only ever heard people singing at home when they were hammered, so that's how singing sounded to him, which kind of tracks. Trying to listen to this impartially the day after Ozzy left us is difficult, but the second half of the album does lose focus and drift a little bit. That first side though. Wow. It's hard to really state him much of an impact it had. Hard to know if I'm trying too hard to not let emotion get the better of me, but it doesn't quite hold it's level enough for it's duration to get as high a mark as it possibly deserves when looked at on it's own. Black Sabbath - This track is so evocative. It's simple, but it's all about the atmosphere and broiling sense of doom that it brings. And then, after the slow burn and dread of the first section, it just bursts into life. Great riffs, heavy sound and a twist of psychedelia. Phenomenal. The Wizard - An absolute classic. Iommi's riffs. Ward's beats. Even Ozzy's harmonica. It's heavy and driving with a unrepentant push and pull between that calm and the storm. Every player gets their turn here too. There's definitely a more bluesy edge to this, but it's still building the base for metal. If Black Sabbath (the song) brought the thematic tone, The Wizard brought the musicianship. Behind the Wall of Sleep - A very Led Zeppelin intro and altogether this is more bluesy. But it's still got that darker edge to it. Less iconic than the two openers, but it still rocks hard and has some fantastic riffs. N.I.B. - More of a psychedelic edge to this one, but it still has that weight to it and it absolutely rocks. They never hang around on a section for long so there's always a sense of driving momentum and the little accents and fills they drop in all over the place, even Ozzy's little "oh yeah!"s just add so much flavour. Evil Woman - Geezer Butler gets his mention here. He's anchored everything up until now, but is more prominent here. It's a more standard bluesy rocker really and is one of the album's weaker pure songs. It's still decent, but loses something of the weight and atmosphere of the album up to this point. Sleeping Village - The unsung hero, producer Rodger Bain, gets in on the act with the Jew's Harp to add some boingy flavour. There's plenty of atmosphere here, particularly in the opening, but it's less focused and gets a bit sloppy in places. It's a bit more of a jam track and again, it's not bad, just not quite up there with the earlier stuff. Warning - Again, there are some great bits and pieces in here. Some really heavy, sludgy, driving guitars and some dirty rolling bass lines, but it's a little unfocused. It reminds me a bit of Hawkwind, but without as much instrumentation going on through the middle section to hold the interest. Wicked World - This is more like it again. Heavy, driving and atmospheric with another edge of psychedelia. The vocal recording has issues from a production point of view. Sounds like he's clipping the mic levels. Other than that, a solid way to finish the album.

2/10 The first thing that strikes me about this album is that the lead singer is really ill suited to this kind of indie-pop stuff. His voice is weak, he half sings quite a lot and his vocal lines just meanders about. This can work in the right audio environment, The Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr, The Replacements all had a similar type of vocalist, but it sat well with they types of music they were all creating. Here it doesn't. The second thing is that I can't really work out what they're trying to achieve here. There's no thrust or direction to anything. It's like they've collected all of the bits a better band have cut out of their songs and pieced them together into a sound collage of mediocrity. More by luck than invention, they have stumbled on the odd piece of quality. Streets of Your Town is trite, but competent, Was There Anything I Could Do? was actually pretty decent, but this is all dragged down by the baffling lack of any real hook anywhere else on the album. I'm sitting here writing this less than ten minutes after the album finished and I can't remember a single melody or chorus from the entire album. I feel like I should be writing more, but I've run out of things to say, so I'll stop. Perhaps The Go-betweens should have had the presence of mind to do the same. Love Goes On! - it's inoffensive jangle pop to start us off. It's not very interesting, but it's ok. At least it has a bit of pep and momentum. Quiet Heart - This is dull. Plodding. The singer's voice isn't strong enough to be as exposed as this. I think they're trying to be clever by delaying the word 'heart', but it's just weak. Shit 'breathe in and out' harmonica solo too. Love Is a Sign - What is this half-talking, half-singing, half-in-tune nonsense? God, it's so meandering. There's no hook at all, the mix is cluttered and it's got another shit harmonica solo. You Can't Say No Forever - Well at least it's got a bit more drive to it. I don't actually mind the music here. It's at least a bit more interesting and has a bit of variety to the parts, but it's all squashed down by the whiny, annoying and uninspired lead vocal. The Devil's Eye - A cluttered mid and high frequency mix, but I'm sure it'll balance when some bass stuff comes in. Oh, no bass frequencies at all in this song? Good. More meandering meh. Streets of Your Town - This track at least feels competent. The lead vocal works better with a backing vocal to reinforce it. Feels like the kind of song that ends a straight to video chick-flick as a woman, now free from an oppressive relationship drives through town in her convertible before the credits roll. Clouds - Are they trying to be The Smiths? It's not working. This is repetitive, plodding and uninspired. Can't get on with this guy's voice or lyrics. Weak sauce. Was There Anything I Could Do - This actually isn't that bad. The violin part in the chorus is quite annoying, but otherwise, it's ok. The bass line is quite good, the drums give it a good bit of direction, and the lead vocal works better with this type of track. I'm All Right - Back to another unfocused meandering half-song. It's just not very good, lacks direction and the mix doesn't help bring it together either. And his voice and vocal lines are just bad. Dive For Your Memory - Again, they just seem borderline incapable of writing a memorable hook. It's just meanders along like a lost drunk and then ends.

5/10 Neil Young writes some great tracks. He can play a mean guitar too. But when he writes songs that push towards the top of his range, I find it genuinely hard to listen to. I can hear in places that there's a decent song underneath it all, but it's like bringing me a beautiful lasagne, all the layers cooked to perfection, and then instead of a generous grating of parmesan, you pull out one of those foot skin graters and get to work on your bunions all over my meal. When he's in a lower register, things are generally better, and in songs where he's not as exposed, things can get pretty good. That being said, apart from a couple of tracks here and there, I felt this was a much weaker effort than On The Beach. I feel like this album lacks a little bit in momentum and consistency, and there's not a particular thread going through it that I can grab hold of. I think things are not necessary helped by the production, as there are a few examples of tracks that lean heavily on the treble end of things and can seem a bit clashy up top and empty down below. I might pick a few tracks from this to return to once in a while, but overall the album just doesn't grab me. Tell Me Why - An ok track to start us off. Nothing vastly exciting, but there's some nice guitar work here. Overall it's a bit too trebley and lacking in weight for me. After the Gold Rush - This is a better song, but boy is his voice nasal and annoying here, which distracts from it quite a lot. When he pushes to the top of his range, it just doesn't gel with me at all. Only Love Can Break Your Heart - This has got some nice harmonies in it, but it's a bit plodding and dull and a bit too staccato in delivery across the board. Southern Man - This is much better. It flows, it has weight and there's a good groove underpinning it. Some of the guitar playing is quite loose, but it's fun and works. There's a real swagger here and I like it. Till The Morning Comes - Ah, his voice is back at a better register here. This is quite nice. But it's over already. Oh, Lonesome Me - Another good track. It's got emotional weight, his vocal is generally working at his lower register, which is better, and I really like the subtle use of driven guitars and the little harmonica flourishes. It's a well structured song too. Don't Let It Bring You Down - This has got a nice lilt to the rhythm. The sound is nice and full and there's a good dynamic between sections. His voice is still a bit annoying in places though and it sort of feels like it never arrives at where it was heading. Birds - This is good. His vocal is just the right amount of frail for the song. The piano is nice and there are a couple of interesting chord changes here and there to keep things from being too obvious. When You Dance I Can Really Love - There's quite a cluttered sound to this and it never really lands on anything I can get my teeth into. It kind of struts around like a boxer at a weigh-in. Plenty of strut and swagger, but no punches will be thrown. I Believe In You - This has got some great elements, but again, his voice just doesn't gel with me particularly for this kind of ballad. I can see it working with a different vocalist, and I still think it's ok. Cripple Creek Ferry - A much better fit for his voice, this has got another nice lilt to the rhythm and the harmonies are nice too. Oh, and it's over.

8/10 I’ve listened to bits and pieces of Wu-Tang before, and I think I have played this once or twice in the past, but perhaps with less focus. The general vibe is great. It really feels like a consistent and complete work as a whole, which is something I always want from an album. The production is gritty and crunchy in a way that really adds to the grubby feeling to enhance the tone of the rapping. The use of various spoken word samples and other bits of chat between the group tie everything together to make the album sound like a real slice of life from early 90’s Staten Island. It’s like they’ve just been hanging out, shooting the shit and then pop into the studio and record a track, before dropping back out to carry on where they left off. I think the subject matter just seems to be reflective of the environment these guys were growing up in, and it generally just feels like they’re having a laugh and messing around a lot of the time, rather than taking things too seriously. Even the more aggressive elements are presented with an air of off-the-cuff exaggeration, rather than with much actual ill intent. Musically, there are areas where things became a little repetitive or the choice of tonal samples didn’t quite work for me, but as a whole, the vibe is of a consistent quality throughout, which probably makes it a little more than the sum of its parts. Bring Da Ruckus - This is a real gritty start. Interesting sample choices and some nice little production edits to tie the music in with the rapping. There’s a slight looseness to the production that makes it feel a little bit on the edge of collapse, but I think that works with the general feel of this particular track. Shame On a Nigga - There’s a great pace to this track. I also think it really highlights the different styles of the MCs and there’s some nice tonal content in here too that lends it a groovy swing. Clan In Da Front - I really liked the piano sample to begin with, but it gets a bit grating after a while as it’s a constant for almost the entire track. I think the central idea for the track is good, but there’s just not enough variety in there to hold my attention in the same way as the first couple of tracks. The rapping is more sparse too, which doesn’t help. Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber - While the piano sample is quite repetitive here, there is more going on so it’s not quite as irritating as it is on the previous track. There are some nice flourishes in the production here and there that breathe life into things and again, the passing around and gang vocals keep a freshness to the track. Solid. Can It Be All So Simple / Intermission - There’s a bit of an odd juxtaposition between the intensity and tone of the rapping here and the fairly chilled nature of the rest of the track. I find the bass sample a bit irritating, it’s very repetitive and the actual sound itself just rubs my brain a bit. These tracks where things are a bit more sparse and the vocal has less variety and range don’t quite have the magic to me. The intermission sections (and other little bits like it) really put this whole thing in context and add to the general feel of the album. Da Mystery of Cheesboxin’ - There’s more going on here and the pace is great. There’s more interest with variety of sample use and there’s also breathing room left in the tonal elements by allowing them to drop in and out so they don’t get as tiresome. The gang vocals also add a great bit of emphasis and dynamic, as do the more subtle spoken woird samples. Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit’ - This beat is great. So crispy. There’s also more heavy editing to the bass line sample so it’s not as relentless as some of the other tracks. There’s a lot of movement with the sample use and dynamic with the gang vocals that come and go. Another great one. C.R.E.A.M. - This fulfils the brief in a more satisfactory way than ‘Can It Be All So Simple’. The tone between the rapping and the instrumental is a bit more consistent. There are also enough other elements to make the piano sample a bit less of a focus, so less tiring on the ears. The vocal also seems to be shared around a bit more here, which adds to the range of the track. Method Man - I appreciate the musical lilt to Method Mans delivery in this, and the variety between sections allows things to breathe nicely too. The backing vocals add great emphasis and depth, as do the little vocal nuggets and samples the are injected here and there. Protect Ya Neck - This reminds me of Cypress Hill more than other tracks on the album. I think it’s the sample choice rather than anything else. There’s a solid groove to this one and again, the passing of vocal between the Clan adds great variety. Tearz - There’s a bit of a different feel to this one, with the sample choices adding a different tone. It’s a little more wound down in tempo, but it still has a good swing to the rhythm. The instrumental sections are perhaps a little long in places and the momentum does drag a little towards the end. Wu-Tang: 7th Chamber - Part II (Conclusion) - This has got a great, gritty bass tone and a solid, driving beat. There are some nice references back to other tracks in the rapping too, which helps round the album off. It’s lacking a little bit in musical variety, though there are little bits of sample usage scattered around to maintain interest.

4/10 R.E.M. have the ability to write some really fantastic tracks, but they also seem to miss the mark pretty frequently. This album has a lot of ideas that never really go anywhere. There are a few standout tracks scattered through the album, like Orange Crush, Hairshirt and I Remember California, but the lasting feeling I had when listening to this was that it was all a bit underwhelming and underdeveloped. They frequently had tracks which didn’t have a decent hook to grab onto, and some which barely diverged from a single idea, which made them a bit of a tiring listen. There were also a couple of songs that sounded like really long intros to songs that never actually arrived. Every now and then, I’d have a little ‘oooh’ moment, but frequently this was relating to a small part of an otherwise meandering track. Perhaps this just hasn’t aged well, or it’s one of those albums that you had to be there for, but I just never really felt particularly engaged in the listening process, apart from in a few fleeting moments here and there. Pop Song 89 - This is a decent jangly pop number. It’s a bit repetitive though and feels just feels a bit too safe. To my ears it sounds like they were trying to make it have a bit of grit by throwing in some more driven guitars in places, but it’s not really consistent enough to give it an edge. Get Up - There is actually a bit more drive to this. It never actually gets massively interesting though. It’s not bad, exactly, and it’s fairly catchy. I quite like the little ‘dream’ bridge section as it actually throws something a bit more interesting into the track. It’s short, so it doesn’t outstay its welcome. You Are The Everything - A twee little song that sounds like a four minute intro to a song that never actually arrives. Meh. Stand - Immediately things take a step in a more solid direction. There’s more of a drive to this. I quite like the rhythmical choices that Michael Stipe makes, particularly in the chorus. They’re not that conventional and give it an interesting lilt. It’s a decent track, but things still aren’t really connecting with me in a significant way. World Leader Pretend - I feel like this kind of meanders around a bit without ever really landing on anything. Both the verse and the chorus sound like verses. Again, it’s just not quite engaging me and I can’t find enough to get my teeth into. The Wrong Child - Another song that’s a three and a half minute intro to nothing. It just never goes anywhere and it’s pretty boring. Orange Crush - This is a classic. The little off-beat triplet bass is really nice and it’s got a great hook. There’s a decent amount of momentum to it too. Like much of the album, it doesn’t actually do much in the way of interesting development around its core ideas, but the ideas are good enough to carry the song. Turn You Inside-Out - We’re back to something a bit more plodding. I feel like there are some decent ideas in here, like some of the backing vocals, and it’s actually a song that has grown on me through its runtime. It’s got a bit more grit to it, but it just feels like it could do with a bit of a tempo boost to really drive. Hairshirt - This is quite a nice song. The problem is, I don’t feel like there’s been enough momentum in the album to allow this sort of song to shine. If there had been a bit more tempo and thrust to the previous songs, this would have worked as a nice moment of calm, but as it is, I just doesn’t resonate in the same way that it could have done. I Remember California - I really like this one. There’s a real brooding sense of discontent about it. I can definitely hear echoes of this in some Nirvana tracks. There’s plenty going on here to and nothing gets too stale either. As with the previous track, though, I feel like this would have shone brighter on a more consistent album as a moment of despair. It probably deserves better, really. Untitled - This one just doesn’t really go anywhere. Again, some decent ideas, but it just feels a bit underdeveloped. They sort of break into what feels like a placeholder section and then swiftly return to the same motif that basically runs through the whole song. It’s just not that interesting.

5/10 Making a judgement on this album is very hard. There are some really good moments in there, with My Generation obviously being the standout, but it’s such a mixed bag of styles that it almost doesn’t sound like the same band from one song to the next some of the time. Rather than being a melting pot of ideas, it feels like a collection of ideas, with Townshend writing a Beatles song, then a Kinks song, then an almost Bob Dylanish song. Honestly, this feels a bit like a band who have been given their record contract before they’ve really pinned down who they are, especially when you throw in the James Brown and Bo Diddley covers. But there are hints of where things might be going, particularly when they start to follow the intensity of Keith Moon’s drumming. There are times when he sounds like he’s not really playing the same song as them, but when they join him on the ride, they really pick things up and there’s a pace and an edge that’s missing from elsewhere on the album. I’ve also never really heard it talked about before, but The Ox really does sound like the future compared to the rest of the album. I can kind of see why they were successful here, especially in an era that was far more single focused than the decades that followed, but as an album it’s just a bit too piecemeal, despite the little flares of quality scattered throughout. Out In The Street - This has a bit of a gritty edge for the time. It sounds like a fairly standard pop-rock song in most respects, but Daltrey has got a bit of grit to his voice and the drums have got that extra bit of thrust behind them. It’s not massively exciting, but it’s decent. I Don’t Mind - Well Daltrey can’t hold a candle to James Brown, so it’s always going to sound weak in comparison. It’s got a nice little bit of swing to it, but otherwise, there’s nothing too exciting here. The Good’s Gone - This kind of sounds like a blend of a bunch of bands that were knocking around at the time. A bit of The Stones, a bit of The Kinks, a bit of The Beatles. Again, it’s ok, but overall not that invigorating. La-La-La-Lies - This is quite loose, yet quite poppy. It’s quite odd from a drumming point of view as it’s so tom heavy and the recording makes them sound very thin, but it at least gives it that little bit of something different. It’s over in no time too. So far, I feel like the band haven’t really found their own sound and it’s a bit of a mash-mash. Much Too Much - The lead in to the chorus really reminds me of Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone, which was released the same year. I kind of feel like Keith Moon is playing a different song to everyone else. He’s going a bit nuts over what is quite a sedate, poppy number. It’s quite funny to imagine him flailing around in the background while the rest of the band sing this. My Generation - Here we go. It’s got great pace, everyone gets their go at showing off, and that chorus hook is just top notch. I can really see why this took off for them, and I really wonder where they would have gone had this album not had this song on here. Would they have got another chance? It’s the first time they’ve not sounded like they were trying to more or less ape someone else’s style, and they hit it out of the park. The Kids Are Alright - Ladies and gentlemen, meet The Beatles. This is actually a pretty decent Beatles song, but it’s a Who song, so I don’t know where that leaves us. I do like it, but as mentioned on My Generation, much of this album sounds like Townshend trying to write songs that sound like his favourite bands. Please Please Please - Another walk down James Brown avenue. Another song that doesn’t match up to the original. And another song that’s at stylistic odds with much of the rest of the album. It’s Not True - I quite like this one, actually. It’s got great momentum. Despite the fact that, at it’s core, it’s another fairly poppy rock song, it feels a bit like they’ve tried to join in with Keith Moon’s intensity, which gives things get a bit more edge. It’s not hitting the heights of My Generation, but it feels somewhere between that and some of the more generic tracks on the record. I’m A Man - So we’re doing the blues now? These covers are all so odd in that they just don’t really sit with everything else, which is a pretty mixed bag as it is. It’s ok, I suppose, but it just doesn’t really belong here. A Legal Matter - I don’t really rate Pete Townshend’s voice here at all. It feels like he’s stretching for the higher notes a bit too much. This has a bit more of that My Generation edge, but with a bit of a different swagger. I feel like this might have been better with Daltrey’s more gritty and solid delivery on the vocal, but it’s not a bad song either. The Ox - They’ve let Keith Moon off the leash. I do really like the use of the driven guitars and feedback in here too, and this sounds like a pretty good foreshadowing of the kind of sound that was to come in the future, even though it’s just a bit of improv jam and not a traditional song. A really nice little ending to the album.

8/10 Björk is one of those musicians who does everything on her own terms, and this album is in some way testament to that. Going through a breakup with her husband and seeing the collapse of her family, her first port of call is to use those emotions as inspiration for an album. As she says in Stonemilker; “Moments of clarity are so rare, I better document this”. While this could be considered a bit of a tough listen for some, I feel that the quality of this album is in the journey of it. There are moments of dissonance and harshness, amidst others of beauty and sorrow, but all of that flows together to paint an overall picture of what she was experiencing at the time of writing. There are some obvious standout moments for me, as well as some bits that drag just that little bit, but even on the longer tracks, there’s often so many sections, developments and modulations that things are rarely too static. Personally, I feel that Black Lake is an absolute masterpiece that completely justifies a ten minute runtime. There are certainly some more avant garde choices that she makes, particularly during the later part of the album, but it’s all so expressive, and really sells what she’s trying to convey, at least to my ears. When compared to some of her other albums, and certainly specific songs, it isn’t quite Björk at the absolute peak of her powers, but when considering the ‘album as art’, I think this is a fine example indeed. Stonemilker - I feel like there are echoes in the strings here of tracks from Vespertine, which was the album she wrote at the start of her relationship with Matthew Barney. This is a really beautiful song. The strings just drift and flow over everything, alternating between hope and despair and the little shuffling beats also have a dark and bassy edge that add a momentum and grounding to the track. Lionsong - This has such a brooding tone. It’s a little more disjointed, which makes it a little harder to follow, but there are some really interesting ideas and I think the disjointed nature of it is thematically appropriate. That beat that comes in about 3:20 is so good. It’s not quite as satisfying a whole as the previous track, but some of the component parts are so, so good. History Of Touches - This is almost an interstitial track for Björk. Only three minutes long and with a fairly static theme, it’s interesting but doesn’t really grip in the same way as some of her more fully formed ideas. Listening to the lyrics, that does feel very intentional, and the wash of sound is sonically quite pleasing. Black Lake - A heartbreaking song. The sections come and go with pauses where a single chord or note just drones on. Emotion builds in many forms throughout, but each time drift back to bereft sadness. There’s fury in the beat that kicks in half way through as the strings build. This, to me, is one of the most visceral musical interpretations of grief, and the pulsing emotions that surround its underlying sadness that I’ve ever heard. How pretentious of me. Family - This one ebbs and flows. There’s anger and wavering tension, but it’s not quite got the emotional heft or consistency of the previous track. There are real shining moments and the song is a journey through unresolved tension and uncertainty, but it’s definitely not as easy a listen. As a soundscape, though, it’s all encompassing. Notget - If you’re not into the more avant garde end of the spectrum, you won’t engage with this. It’s harmonically non-traditional which can make it sound jarring. Definitely not one for a casual listen. Again, there are some really nice elements here. Some of the beats are so crunchy and squelchy, but the overall journey is a little all over the place. Atom Dance - This is like the start of a build out of the darkness. The little scuttering beats give it an immediacy, and some of the little string flourishes start to build us back to a more major tonality. That’s all mixed in with a note of confusion, particularly with the delivery of Anohni’s vocal parts. I really like the mix of this one too. Spatially, it’s very interesting. Mouth Mantra - This continues the more avant garde approach to things, with parts jarring against one another. When it gets moving, it’s got a great pulsing rhythm and the way the different parts overlap and flow in and out of focus can be quite overwhelming. That bass synth part that comes in about half way through is so meaty. Quicksand - So much meat and drive to the start of this one. That beat is great and gives this so much momentum. There’s stuttering sections, washes of synths and strings and Björk’s vocals which occasionally soar over everything. A quality end to the album.

7/10 This was an interesting album. The playing is obviously first class, Miles Davis doesn’t pick any slouches, but while the playing is great, and the sound is also a really interesting step away from his more traditional jazz sound of previous albums, there are areas where things just don’t get moving quite enough for me. There are lulls, which is fine, but those lulls can drag on a little too long. There also isn’t quite enough variation in the rhythm section for me, particularly in the first track. The overall feel does feel like a stepping stone from the old style to the shorter-form more rock style structure of some of the jazz fusion artists, like Weather Report and Mahavishnu Orchestra that would follow. I can really see why the trad jazz heads would have had issues with the album. There are couple of quite glaring edits in there, which detracts a little from the flow, but overall, I think this is a really important step for Miles Davis and was a really decent effort. It’s kind of weird in that it probably rewards close listening, but also background listening, but not so much the sort of half-listenening that I suspect a lot of us do while doing something else. Shhh / Peaceful - This is good stuff. The rhythm section provides a consistent bed that gives momentum to the piece (although you’d be bored as hell being those players, because they don’t really diverge much over the 18 minutes), while the keys, guitar and organ just dance around each other in little bursts and flourishes, lending and taking back phrases and ideas from each other. Miles and Wayne Shorter both take their turns and, while their presence is relatively fleeting, they deliver some really subtle but delightful playing over the top. It could do with a bit more rhythmic variety for me, but it feels like a really chilled out jam where everyone’s having a great time. In A Silent Way - This is multiple tracks in reality. It has one movement that begins and ends the piece, with another in the middle. The opening and closing are almost a pre-cursor to ambient. They sort of drift around and flow without ever really landing anywhere over a droning bass tone. And then after four and a half minutes of ambient prep, the thrust of the track kicks in. It’s definitely got that fusion edge. It comes and goes and everyone gets their turn at the forefront of the sound. It’s definitely still got more of that traditional free-form flow from more traditional jazz, but some of the motifs and tones really hint at some of the fusion sound that would follow, particularly with Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter’s future band, Weather Report.

7/10 This album has got a lot going for it. There are some great hooks, but also some really interesting explorations of sound and momentum through the tracks. I particularly liked the fact that, for the most part, it wasn’t just a verse-chorus-verse repetition with only the lyrics changing, there was constant development throughout the songs, which kept them moving and interesting right to the end. It was also much more rocky than I expected, and some of the guitar playing was great. I gave up writing about how 80’s the songs were about half way through my song-by-song. But it’s so brilliantly 80s. That’s the kind of thing that can rub people the wrong way, but I want my 80s music to sound like 80s music. Sure, I’d maybe have a personal preference for the reverb to be toned down a bit, and for some of the obvious ‘synth playing a real instrument sound’ tones to have a bit more subtlety, but it just captures a sound and a feel and doing too much to change it would lose all that. Some of the songwriting was fantastic and they never really played it safe, with the possible exception of I Believe, but that worked as a nice palette cleanser before they went a bit wilder towards the end of the album. There were places here and there were things didn’t completely connect with me, but there wasn’t really a point at which I couldn’t appreciate at least something of what was going on. All in all, a really interesting album, and, for a pop record it didn’t just do things by the book, which is always a pleasant surprise. Shout - 80’s drum machine and synth programming ahoy! It’s a good song. There’s perhaps not as much variation between the dynamic of the verse and chorus as I’d like, but it does build interestingly with new parts adding depth as the song progresses which is an interesting approach. By the end, I’m certainly enjoying where they’ve built it to. The Working Hour - This is so reverb soaked that it gets a bit lost in the wash. There are some nice elements in here, but it’s a little bit meandering. It’s all pretty competent and well made, but there’s nothing that really hooks me in. Everybody Wants To Rule The World - My son hates this song. He says the lyrics are stupid. But it’s a great song. There are a lot of parts that come and go. The band seems very determined to avoid repetition by adding extra elements, which helps to maintain variety, especially with a pretty basic and repetitive drum machine pattern sitting under everything. There’s good bits of drive, some light and shade and some great little hooks and motifs that do enough to hook you in but aren’t overdone. Mother’s Talk - I really love some of the synth lines on this. It’s got a lot going on. It’s another one where it doesn’t rely too much on hooks, but theres is so much of interest that it doesn’t need to. At about 4 minutes it just goes a bit off the wall. I don’t know if they were aiming to make a pop record, but if they were, I really appreciate that they were brave enough to do stuff like this on it. I Believe - This is a bit more mundane. It’s a pretty little song and it grounds things after the end of Mother’s Talk. It was a nice bit of a breather from the more frantic and busy tone of the surrounding tracks. Broken - This has got a great kick, especially off the back of I Believe. Again, there’s a lot going on, with quite a bombastic overall sound and elements of slightly discordant brooding in the bridge section. I’m kind of sad this is short as it is, because it’s really good. Head Over Heels - It’s interesting the way this takes some of the elements from Broken and then does something very different with them. There’s a really nice groove to this. I think in places this track perhaps more than any other sounds its age. Some of the synth and samples parts show their age in a bit too obvious a way. But it’s still a really decent track and is a pretty interesting production, the way it blends out of and then back into the elements from Broken, finishing with a live section. Listen - This has got that building feeling similar to some of the earlier tracks, but also has areas where it dips in intensity before it grows. It’s a slow burn, and it’s got a lot going for it. A really nice, brooding, almost intense ambient way to end the album.

7/10 I can only imagine that Peter Gabriel lives life in some sort of permanent fever dream. Somehow, this album threads the line between brilliant insanity and daft inanity, sometimes even within the same track. It’s creepy and weird, yet it somehow occasionally breaks out into some decent late 70’s / early 80s rock. But, as with much of the album, I can’t quite work it out. Does it need that grounding, or if it would be better if he further indulged the weirdness? As I listened through a third time, some of this started to click a lot more with me. Perhaps the abundance of cutting-edge (at the time) production techniques makes the impact lessened to modern ears. I can imagine this sounded even more crazy to people without the experience of the following 45 years of music production that I’m listening to it through. The songwriting is interesting. Sometimes ideas linger, but equally, if not more often, things jump from place to place (and then sometimes back again), which only goes to further enhance the fever dream aspect of the album. Looking at the artwork, I can only assume this was what he was going for, and in that case, he definitely pulled it off. Intruder - This is a creepy way to open an album. It’s tonally quite jarring, and I can’t quite work out if I like it or not. The close-mic ASMR mouth-noise is quite off-putting, but that’s kind of the point. I’d say it really succeeds in what it’s trying to do, but what it’s trying to do is not really something for a casual listener. I think I might be falling down on the side of this being brilliant. No Self Control - There’s a lot of this that I like, but it feels a but lacking in direction. Not in a ‘too many ideas’ way, but more generally disorganised. It almost breaks into a really good song early on and then again in the last minute, but it never quite gets there and there’s a lack of organisation in the middle that distracts. Start - This is a nice enough little interlude. Very 80’s sax, but it was 1980, so… I Don’t Remember - This is better, there’s more coherence here. It’s got a good driving beat, and it sort of falls somewhere between Bowie and Talking Heads in terms of sound for me. There’s still quite a lot going on in various places so it can sound a bit overwhelming, but I think that’s just part of the vibe of the album in general, so it works. Family Snapshot - An interesting build through the first half and then it kicks in. There’s quite a Jaco Pastorius tone to the bass, which is cool. Not his standard of playing, but not many can do that. There’s a clear narrative through the song that’s good. I wish it had a bit more of the pace, driven stuff, but it;’s still a decent track. And Through The Wire - There’s a bit more of a traditional structure to this, and it perhaps suffers a little for it by being a bit too reliant on the main hook. That being said, it’s a good hook. Overall it’s a tad on the cheesy side for me, but it’s not a bad one by any stretch. Games Without Frontiers - This starts off strongly. There’s a whisper of the tone of Intruder mixed with a more Genesis sound. The lyrics are almost distractingly stupid in the verses. It kind of struggles a bit in the transitions between sections to my ears and it’s a bit of a wandering track, but some of the elements within are really good. Not One Of Us - Another decent track. Again, I really like some of the elements, but it just doesn’t fully connect with me as a whole for some reason. It’s very staccato in places and feels like it could do with a little bit of smoothing dynamically. I do like the way it builds towards the end. Lead A Normal Life - This is quite subtle, which is great when put in comparison to the bombast of some of the other tracks. There’s still that disturbing undertone of edge that creeps in here and there, but it kind of drifts along in a pleasing way. Bit of an odd comparison, but it reminds me a little of Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works 2 with the quite pretty tone edged with threat. Biko - This is really good. It’s brooding, but has a nice rolling thrust to it too. Hard to be criticise a song that’s so strongly ani-apartheid South Africa (although it does go on quite a bit). It’s quite a grounding finish to the album, which has been a bit nutty in places, so it feels a tiny bit out of place tonally, perhaps, but it’s still a worthy inclusion.

8/10 Smile is an album that needs assessing as a whole, as it’s very much an example of the ‘Album as Art’ rather than as a collection of songs. I’ve done a song-by-song for it, but there is so much referencing of ideas from all over the album in so many of the tracks, including full sections running over into one another, that listening to the odd song is just incoherent and doesn’t do it justice. This album was a long time in the making. It was the album that pushed Brian Wilson over the edge, and for him to eventually come back around to complete a version of it must have been incredibly cathartic. However, the intervening years do weigh this album down a little. Brian’s voice is obviously weaker than it would have been 37 years previously, and he’s seemingly in a more mentally stable place. To that end, the album is a little more uplifting and buoyant than the old recordings were, which adds an extra sheen of saccharine to proceedings, which is doubled down on with the sparkle of modern production. It also means that, rather than being the groundbreaking follow-up to Pet Sounds, there were nearly 40 years of musical invention and development that had happened by the time it was released. With all that being said, there is so much going for this album. The composition and arrangement of the multitude of vocal parts just endlessly flow, dive and soar over one another. The harmonies shift and shimmer and I personally find them incredibly beautiful and, in places, moving. I also get a lot of kicks out of how silly it all is. To some this might be a turn of, but there’s a lot of humour and surrealism in there, not only in the lyrics and subject matter, but in the odd little sound effects, slide whistles and other bits and pieces of ear candy that he throws in to the mix. It’s all just gloriously bonkers, yet musically brilliant, it’s still a joy to listen to. I ran it three times just this morning, and I found new bits to smile at every time. While this was never going to match up to the mythical ’Smile’ that Beach Boys fans had been clamouring for for the previous 40 years, it was a really good effort, and for Brian’s sake, I’m delighted he could finally get the Smile monkey off his back. Our Prayer / Gee - This is the kind of harmonic composition that I refer to when I comment about more ‘static’ harmonisations from the likes of CSN&Y. All of the parts move around one another, modulating through a variety of chords, rather than sticking with a single note, or just moving with the lead. To me, this kind of thing is glorious. It’s a great intro to the album. And then we get a twee little transition that works in a snippet of Heroes and Villains before we get there properly. Heroes and Villains - An absolute classic. The different elements roll over each other and intertwine in an ever-changing blend. It’s unashamedly silly too, with the slide-whistles, laughs and spoken word bits. There’s also an undercurrent of simmering threat about it too. This one kind of encapsulates the madness of Brian Wilson. Brilliant melodic and harmonic writing that’s just a little bit unhinged. Roll Plymouth Rock - This is more sombre in tone. There are a lot of references back to Heroes and Villains and it’s almost a link track in some respects. On its own, this would be completely nonsensical, but in the context of the album, it’s great. Barnyard - A silly little number complete with animal noises. It’s mad, but the musical hook is nice, and I really dig it. Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine - Another slice of melancholy madness before we move on. Cabin Essence - Such a beautiful song. It has so much dynamic range, from the little bouncy, low-key sections through to the full sections with the backing vocals rising and falling, before it drops back and then slowly builds back up to the ending. Lovely. Wonderful - Another really lovely song. Brian’s voice is perhaps at its most exposed here, but once the backing vocals come in it’s so good. Love those ever changing harmonies so much. You could never accuse post surf-pop Brian Wilson of creating static music, there’s always something going on, some development, variation or movement taking us forwards. Song for Children - It’s kind of hard to review this album song by song. This again takes ideas from Wonderful and Child Is Father of the Man, works them together, spins out new ideas and throws in bits from other songs too. It’s really bloody good though. Child Is Father of the Man - There’s again a darker tone here. It’s sparse in places and little motifs from all over the album. As with a few of these other short tracks, on its own, it’s mental, but in context it’s great. Surf’s Up - I prefer earlier versions of this song. There are elements of it that still stand up, but it lacks the bereft beauty of the version on the Surf’s Up album. But that wouldn’t work in the context of this album, so here we are. There are still some really beautiful washes of sound on this though. Soaring harmonies and rotating vocal parts that just dance over each other, oh yes. I'm in Great Shape / I Wanna Be Around / Workshop - Another little jumble of ideas that are all nice and a little bit crazy in their own way. Vega-Tables - Yes, Brian is a strange man. But this kind of lunacy connects with me so hard. It’s funny, it has moments of beauty it’s wrapped up with some really interesting composition. On a Holiday - Another silly little one. More calls back to other songs. More moments of melancholy. More beautiful rolling harmonies. Wind Chimes - This transitions from more low-key, small-scale sections into full almost big-bang bombast as it goes along. Another one where it’s kind of hard to separate it from the album, but as part of it, it’s fantastic. Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow - This one’s pretty batty. It’s more of a soundscape than a song in some respects. In some ways it’s quite jarring against the inherently melodic nature of the rest of the album, but it feels dangerous and threatening, which (history suggests) was the point. In Blue Hawaii - This transitions us slowly away from the fiery madness of the previous track, and then boom. We’re back to something more upbeat, with the occasional echoes of sadness. It’s quite nice. Less exciting than some of the rest of the album and more reminiscent of some of Brian’s post breakdown music. But that doesn’t last for long before we dip back to a bit of Our Prayer and on to… Good Vibrations - Well it’s not THE Good Vibrations, is it? That original was magic. Here’ the lyrics have changed, the vocals miss The Beach Boys even more than the rest album, and the production is almost too clean. I mean, it’s still a really, really good track. But when you compare it to the original…

3/10 This album really shows its age, but also suffers massively, to my ears, from the fact that it’s so threadbare in terms of actual musical content and rhythmic variety. Obviously, I’m assessing this 40 years after the fact. This is an artefact from the early days of hip-hop, and there are 40 years of developments that I’ve borne witness to in the intervening years, so it’ of course going to sound dated, but what really surprised me is how much of it was little more than a drum beat with rapping in some fairly routine (and endlessly repeated) rhythms over the top. They don’t really mix things up from track to track, and the only one which really had much interest to it was Rock Box, when they actually had some musical content on the track courtesy of the guitar playing. It’s Like That stood out, at least in part due to it being so well known, but it does feel slow when I’m more familiar with the Jason Nevins mix. With that all being said, this is a hard one to rate. Historically it’s massively important. It was the first real breakthrough rap album, and paved the way for so much great music to come, but it just sounds so thin and stale that it’s hard to look back on it with much fondness aside from the nostalgic and historic angles. Within the subsequent 5 years, you’d have Public Enemy, Beastie Boys, De La Soul, N.W.A., Erik B. & Rakim and a whole lot of other artists that were just doing this so much better, with so much more of a developed and interesting sound. Extra points for historical importance, but I won’t be hurrying back down Run-D.M.C. Avenue. Hard Times - It’s obviously very 80s, but it’s also incredibly sparse. That orchestra hit and a single note bass line is the only harmonic content in the song at all. They do add some melodic inflection to their rapping, but not a vast amount. The drums are actually quite interesting to be fair, but together with the vocal delivery it’s all a bit stilted and staccato. Despite all that, I actually quite enjoyed it. Rock Box - So they were blending rock with rap from the very beginning. This At least had something other than the absolute barebones that was present in Hard Times. It’s got a bit of variety to it and it’s got some decent momentum to it too. Again, it’s aged quite a lot, but probably less than the opener. I can imagine this was pretty fresh at the time, and it’s still not bad. Jam-Master Jay - Compared to the tightens of modern scratch DJs, Jam-Master Jay is pretty loose and basic. Another track with barely any harmonic content at all. It’s very repetitive and the DJing is also not very good. Hollis Crew (Krush-Groove 2) - Another track, another lack of harmonic content. The rapping is a bit better here, but it’s still pretty dated and there’s just not enough going on to hold the interest. Sucker M.C.’s - Apparently one of the first diss tracks. But it’s got quite a boring beat, and again, it’s just a beat with some rapping and a few scratches on it. No variety in the rapping rhythms here either. Pretty boring. It’s Like That - This is obviously a classic, but for my generation, it’s probably more famous for the Jason Nevins remix, which has more pace and a much stronger and more driving beat. This, by comparison, feels fairly pedestrian. As a song, the structure is better than some of the others on the album, and there’s a bit more audio interest, but it’s not exactly musically rich. Wake Up - There’s at least some effort to add something more varied here with the sound effects in the chorus, but it’s hardly hooky. That rotating of the vocal parts (also present elsewhere) sounds so dated these days. There’s just not enough here to really grab me and it just goes on and on. 30 Days - Wow, a bassline that isn’t just a single note! It’s even got a synth chord! Those little bits aside, this is still pretty uninteresting. It’s definitely an improvement over some of the more barebones tracks on the album, but it’s still a bit sparse and pedestrian, and all of the rapping of the whole album is very samey and lacking in rhythmic variation. Jay’s Game - Similarly to the rest of the album, there’s not too much to write home about here. Some of the scratching is a bit better, but it’s still all a bit stale.

8/10 Jimi Hendrix is obviously an exceptional, innovative and inspirational guitarist. Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell are also an absolutely excellent rhythm section. But that doesn’t always make for completely satisfying music. At its best, this album is complete genius, but it does drift into moments where Jimi spends just a little too long sniffing his own farts. When it clicks, there is so much soul, groove and bite to what’s going on, and it easily drifts between funky, psychedelic and bluesy in an incredibly satisfying way. When they utilise their skills to enhance and support a song, with the song itself the main focus, there is no doubting the quality, but too often the virtuosity is the focus, and that just doesn’t grip me in the same way. As is frequently the case with double albums, you could probably make a pretty much perfect single LP version of this album with some trimming of a few songs, shortening of others, and a bit of reordering of tracks. It’s obvious that this album was instrumental in developing guitar playing as an art form, and you can really hear the starting point of a lot of great music that will follow, and with that, you can’t deny the classic nature of this record. But I also don’t think it’s one that I will frequently feel the need to stick on during regular rotation, as it’s all just a little bit too self-indulgent for my personal taste. And the Gods Made Love - This is a great ’60’s recording tricks’ intro. So easy now, but I bet it was loads of work to get this sort of sound effect wash at the time. Very cool. Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) - This is so laid back and smooth. Effortless cool. It’s loose in a great way, and Jimi’s guitar part just wonders around doing whatever he wants, always sounding interesting. Crosstown Traffic - A classic. After the first couple of tracks, it’s nice to dip into a more classically structured pop/rock song. It’s so funky and cool. They use enough variation to keep it going, but it’s otherwise pretty simple. But great, and only lasts two and a half minutes, so doesn’t need anything more. Voodoo Chile - Jimi gets to let loose here. For the vocal sections, it swings between laid back and smooth, like Have You Ever Been, and more of a psychedelic groove. The rhythm section really lays down a solid backbone for this, and some of the drumming in particular is fantastic. The rest of the band get their moments, and there’s some lovely organ playing in there too, but this one’s all about Jimi. Is it self-indulgent? Absolutely. Is it something I’ll listen to on the regular? Not really. Is it still excellent? Of course. Little Miss Strange - Ok. Why did they try and make a Beatles song? It’s a decent enough track, but it just doesn’t fit, especially with Noel Redding taking the lead vocal. It still has some of that great drumming and guitar playing, but it’s just an odd inclusion. Long Hot Summer Night - This is more like it. Back to the swaggering cool of previous tracks. It’s good when Jimi’s guitar playing is used to augment a solid track and it does slightly overwhelm in moments here. The song itself is maybe not quite as solid as some, but it’s still an enjoyable listen. Come On (Let The Good Times Roll) - A great little blues number and Jimi’s guitar gets its dedicated moments to shine. Solid from Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell. There’s big echoes of this in what Led Zeppelin would do later, although with their own twist. Proper toe tapper. Gypsy Eyes - This is little bit repetitive in places, and never really lands on anything massively interesting as a song. It does become one of those tracks where Jimi’s guitar work is the highlight and does kind of overwhelm everything else. Burning of the Midnight Lamp - This is pretty psychedelic. It sounds really full in places and transitions nicely between sections with a good dynamic shift. It’s not too overwhelmed by Jimi letting loose, which threatens to become a bit relentless, so it’s a nice departure from that. Rainy Day, Dream Away - Back to that laid-back cool. The guitar playing is (obviously) great here, but he leaves moments of calm here and there too, which is great. And he’s very restrained during the vocal sections. Great swing to this too. Top stuff. 1983…(A Merman I Should Turn To Be) - During the early section of this, there is a realtime that would echo later in some of Prince’s work that would follow. It then drifts off into an almost ambient jam section. The players all have their little moments. It oozes laid back cool. Again, it’s quite self-indulgent, but isn’t that what you listen to Jimi Hendrix for? Still Raining, Still Dreaming - This has got a great groove to it. There’s a lot going on here and the mix is so full. Another one where the focus is much more on Jimi’s guitar, rather than it being a traditional song. At this point, I’m kind of wondering if this could have been an exceptional single album, rather than a slightly too self-indulgent double. House Burning Down - Back to something more song focused here. Still moments of guitar mavericking (maverickery?) But it’s a bit more focused. Another groover. All Along the Watchtower - Stone Cold Classic. This is a prime example of the beauty of that fine balance between focus on song and guitar skills. It’s so, so good. Soul and groove for miles. Everyone playing at the top of their game. Space for everything to breathe. Exceptional. Voodoo Child (Slight Return) - Possibly the greatest guitar riff ever committed to tape. This one strikes a quality balance of guitar wizardry while returning to the main refrain and dipping in and out of the vocal sections. Incredible groove, incredible guitar playing. It’s so mean and so solid.

10/10 This album is a songwriting masterclass from Carole King. She dances her way between folk, soul, rock and r&b, never letting it sound out of place and without ever sounding like anyone other than herself. Just the way that her songwriting moves and modulates through the songs is an absolute joy and I couldn’t help but admire the construction when she landed on certain chords, it was almost magical. Her voice is great, but with that little edge of vulnerability about it that makes it connect so much more than a technically perfect vocalist would. She, seemingly effortlessly, dances between sadness and joy with wilful abandon, which only enhances the beauty of the work. And all of this is just framed with a quite exceptional production. Every instrument has its place, and the focus pulls so deftly between different lines that it always keeps your ears in the right place to pick up on little licks and nuances. It’s not often that music can really grab me in a such a visceral way, but I did find myself welling up as I sang along to You’ve Got A Friend. It’s such an exceptional song and performance. But what’s quite remarkable about this album is that You’ve Got A Friend doesn’t just sit there head and shoulders over the rest. It sits happily there at the opening of side 2, in the midst of a collection of other fantastic pieces of songwriting and recording. Bravo. I Feel the Earth Move - This is such a great song, equal parts soul, rock and folk. It’s got excellent pace, there are some really lovely bits of instrumental flair here and there, particularly the little interplay in the middle between the guitar and piano. I really like the way the focus pulls to different parts through the track, which is mixed so well. Quality all round. So Far Away - It’s a change of pace. A song of longing and desire. It’s a really pretty little song that just wanders around in the verses and then lands on a great vocal in the chorus. Somehow it’s got a lot going on, but is also incredibly sparse. The instruments get their little moments, but each are fleeting. It’s Too Late - She’s such a good songwriter. The transitions between the sections are so smooth and effortless despite the change of tone. The playing on this is so great too. The harmonies are picked for the perfect spots, and her vocal has such a laid-back ease to it on this song. She’s not afraid to drift off into fairly lengthy instrumental sections too, which are great. Home Again - The cadences of the musical movement on this song are just beautiful. The way it builds and shrinks and how that aligns with the musical movement is just lovely. It’s short, but ever so sweet, and her vocal has something to it that just cuts through the skin. Beautiful - There are bits of this song that are really great, but as a whole it doesn’t quite connect with me as much as the rest of the album. I think it’s the more staccato nature of it. The rhythm section just plods a little bit too much for my taste, and the fairly relentless snare drum is just a bit too much. Way Over Yonder - Now this is more like it. That swing. The way the bass and the lead vocal tend to move in opposing directions throughout. Her vocal that just soars and sways. It’s incredibly satisfying and beautiful, but it’s also got a real fire in its belly. And that sax solo is like a perfect cheese accompaniment to this glass of wine of a song. You’ve Got A Friend - This is such a gorgeous song. It weaves its way between a bereft sadness and beautiful optimism in such a perfect way. It is an absolute songwriting masterclass. The way it modulates between keys is absolutely stunning. The restraint of the arrangement allows for everything to live in its own place, and it still seems so full when it needs to. It all just combines into something exceptional. Where You Lead - This leads perfectly on from You’ve Got A Friend, both lyrically and musically, even borrowing some of the progressions, but throwing a far more upbeat twist. There’s some really solid playing one this track, and some of those backing vocals are superb too. It’s almost a Motown song with a folky twist. Great stuff. Will You Love Me Tomorrow? - This is perhaps a little more on the nose than some of the other songs, which have a bit more subtlety to them. It’s still really gorgeous though. The interaction between the piano and guitar parts are really, really nice, and the vocal harmonisations with James Taylor and Joni Mitchell really move things around well. Smackwater Jack - From the a subject matter point of view, this does stick out a bit from the rest of the album. It’s a great little bluesy R&B number though. It’s a nice bit of fun, and as always, it’s a very well written song. Tapestry - This is a beautiful, wandering piece. It floats around without ever landing on anything to concrete in quite an ethereal way, slowly moving up keys through each verse and then stepping back down to start again. This is a really great album track, with no real centre to it, but as a wash of music between songs, it works so well. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman - Another songwriting masterclass. Again, the dynamic and tonal variation between verse and chorus is genius, and the way it builds to the chorus is exceptional. It drifts back down to the verse so smoothly too. The dynamic variation in this song is so fantastic. It goes from soft, almost whispered to full on balls-out passion and I’m here for it every time.

5/10 This feels like a bit of a mixed bag of an album. Background reading suggests that there was a bit of a divide between Dave Mason (who wrote half of the songs) and the rest of the band, and it feels very much like that, in that it’s a bit of a jumble of styles from track to track, rather than a smooth blend that one would hope for. There are some really nice bits and pieces across the album, and a few of the tracks are very good, but it struggled to maintain momentum for me and there was a bit of a lack of anything vastly memorable. Having listened through a couple of times, I can’t particularly recall any standout melodies, for example, as I often do with other albums that I listen to. I also found that, in places, the mix became quite cluttered and it felt a bit like some of the instruments were fighting for space with each other, rather than working sympathetically with one another. They are obviously talented musicians, and when they left themselves space to breathe and everything connected well, you could really see the potential, but unfortunately, there wasn’t really enough there to grab me and, alongside the uneven flow of the record I found it a bit of an disjointed experience over all. You Can All Join In - This is a chirpy little number. It’s nice enough, but it’s a bit lightweight. Sounds like they’re having great fun, but there’s just not enough to grab onto for me. And there’s not much in the way of variation either. Can’t fault the mix or the playing though. It’s tight and well produced. Pearly Green - There’s a bit more grit to this one. There’s a touch of the Hendrix of it, without the level of virtuosity. The playing is still great, of course. But it never develops too much and the vocal sections are a bit too limited by on the lead guitar and vocal playing the same notes, which swamps the rest of the music too much for my taste. There’s a bit more interest to the instrumental sections though. Don’t Be Sad - This is a decent song. It feels a bit cluttered in places, which isn’t helped by the mix, where a lot of the mid range in particular feels crowded. But when it brings everything together it’s very satisfying. There are some really nice little movements in the music that tie all of the parts together nicely, and it’s probably the best overall track so far. Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring - There’s a great groove to this one, and I feel like we’re getting into the swing of things now. The organ in particular is great in this track. This is a really solid composition and all of the instruments get their own space, so the mix feels really clean. Great track. Feelin’ Alright? - I’ve heard this before. It’s got another nice groove and some of the percussion is great. It feels a little busy in places, but this does open back out in cleaner sections, which works as a juxtaposition. There’s a bit more of a jazzy blues edge to this, which is nice. It’s got a good toe-tapping quality to it too. Vagabond Virgin - This is closest to the quirky tone of the intro song. Some of the timing on the vocal is loose in a way that just rubs me the wrong way. Some of the instrumental bits are quite nice, but it’s a bit of a mixed bag for me, which feels fairly disorganised and just doesn’t quite connect. (Roamin' Thro' The Gloamin' With) 40.000 Headman - Bit of a change in pace now. There’s something of The Eagles about sections of it. It’s decent, and even some of the slower bits have a nice psychedelic edge to them too, with that little twist of folksiness. But it never really landed on anything with much of a hook that grabbed hold of me, which was a bit of a shame. Cryin’ To Be Heard - This is a bit of a meandering one through the verses, but it does come back together a bit during the choruses, although they’re a bit brash and don’t last that long. Again, I’m not finding too much to grab on to here. There are bits that I like, but it does feel a bit disorganised in general. No Time To Live - I feel like Phil Collins may have been a fan of this. There are echoes of this in some of his stuff that would follow. It’s more of an organised piece than some of the others, and it really allows space for everything to move and weave around. It feels like there’s something a bit more to get my teeth into on this track and a really good balance between light and shade too. It’s a patient composition, without getting boring, which is a decent achievement. Means To An End - A complete change in tone now. It’s a good song, despite the fact that it doesn’t really run on that well from the last one. Sounds like they’re having great fun and there’s a solid pace to it with a decent groove. There’s more here that grabs me and I found myself bobbing my head more than I did with much of the rest of the album, and it felt like it had much better hooks to it, especially in the lead vocal. Nice change of tempo at the end too. A good finisher.

6/10 This is a bit of an ‘almost’ album for me. While some of the tracks have got real drive and that massive collapsing wall of sound that My Bloody Valentine are known for, there are also areas where that is a bit lacking. I also think that extends to the mix, where the focus of the sound is a bit jumbled through the album, where sometimes the noisiness of things overwhelms, and some where it is a little too in the background, but there’s not a satisfying flow as to how that happens across the record. It’s just a little bit uneven. The band’s sound became far more established and refined on Loveless that this just doesn’t quite scratch the itch in the same way. This is obviously an important record that inspired a lot of music that would follow, in both good and bad ways. Funnily enough, I feel like there are a lot of 90s bands that listened to this and then picked the least interesting bits as inspiration. With all that being said, when it gets things right, this album is massive and magnificent. It can be quite oppressive and tiring to listen to, but at its peak it’s a noisy, dirty spectacle of a record and a stepping stone to better things down the road. Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside) - It’s an interesting start to an album, for sure. It’s quite dissonant. It’s also quite one-dimensional, particularly the flatness of the snare drum, but the wall of sound is quite satisfying in some respects. Could do with more variety, but at least it sounds different, which is something. Lose My Breath - This is another interesting one, it’s kind of like a fairly run of the mill song idea that’s peering out of the mist and edged with chord choices that make it feel quite dissonant again and edged with anxiety and threat. Cupid Come - This is a more traditional song and feels like the kind of thing that saturated mainstream pop rock for the next decade, but there’s enough grit to it to elevate it above that, especially the haze of fuzz and noise at the end. (When You Wake) You’re Still In A Dream - This is a more like it. Really good pace. Again, it’s got a very 90s sound, particularly the backing vocals, but there’s so much grime and drive to it that it really kicks. It doesn’t do anything particularly interesting in terms of variation or dynamic change, but it’s a really decent song. No More Sorry - The shimmering, rumbling noise of this is cool, and the way it drops out is a great effect. But there’s not a great deal to it. It feels like a slightly underdeveloped idea. All I Need - Again, this feels like there’s a song under there trying to get out, but the stylistic wash of it all just swamps it. It’s all a bit too trebley for me unfortunately, even though I appreciate the sonic adventure of it all. There’s just not enough tonal variation for my tastes. Feed Me With Your Kiss - Back to something more driving. When it kicks, it really kicks. They certainly don’t go for the obvious mixing choices and the subtleness of the vocal, combined with its position in the mix is an interesting tone against the heavy, driving thrust of the rest of the song. I can imagine this is beastly live. Sueisfine - This combines some of the best elements from the album so far. There’s a bit more going on compositionally, the heavy noise and calm vocals work really well here. It’s frantic and noisy, heavy and driving. Great stuff. Several Girls Galore - This is back to more of a noisy wash, with elements of dissonance, but it has its moments where everything gets brought together really nicely. It’s got good drive to it and some of those distorted tones just cut through in such a nasty way. The vocal does feel a bit disconnected from the rest of the track in the mix though, which is a shame. You Never Should - Another more traditional song, but so noisy and gritty. They’re determined to be as noisy and in your face as possible, without ever being vocally aggressive. This is one of the more satisfying songs on the album, where everything is pulling in the same direction, without compromising on the massive driving wash of sound that they’re always striving towards. Nothing Much To Lose - Again, this feels more coherent, without any compromise to the overall sound. There’s a bit more structure, but the vast wash of noise and distortion still dominates and creates an epic soundscape for the song to live in and peak through from. Great stuff. I Can See It (But I Can’t Feel It) - This is a bit more pedestrian. There’s still a wash of noise, but it’s less overwhelming than on other tracks and I can’t really work out if that’s good or not. It feels a bit more straightforward and generally a bit less interesting as a result. Overall, not really the most interesting track on the album, but has some nice elements.

2/10 Well this is a dull little meander through the musical interests of The Bees. It very much feels like a band who have worked out a whole load of different ways to say what they want to say, but haven’t actually worked out what they’re trying to tell us yet. While the musicianship is nice and tight, the production is, on the whole, excellent, they seem completely incapable of writing any good hooks, choruses or melodies. It’s banality incarnate. Nice but uninteresting. And there’s no grit or edge to it at all. Instead of a smoky jazz bar with nice wine, we get a room full of people vaping and drinking alcohol-free rose. Instead of the weed-soaked swagger of a reggae festival, we get a white-boy dreadlock filled drumming circle in the park. Instead of prog-rock psychedelia on mushrooms, we get nitrous oxide balloons in the back of a limo. It’s all a pale imitation of what inspired it, made worse by the fact that most of the tracks just give us one fairly uninspired idea and just roll with it for three minutes. I kept waiting for something to happen, and nothing did. In fact, the second time around it just went from being almost intensely Mundine to downright irritating. It gets an extra point for the production and musical abilities on display, but this is really fighting out out with some of the clunkers on this list. Punchbag - This is a nice, breezy summers day intro. But then it just… carries on. There’s no hook. The vocals are a bit of a dirge and it’s just not that interesting. It’s well produced, but would it hurt to throw in something catchy? Angryman - This is a more promising start. The vocals are a bit annoying, but if it kicks into something, it’ll be forgivable. But no, all evidence so far suggests that these guys don’t know how to write a chorus. The solo section at 3 minutes is cool, but it’s fleeting. It’s just another song idea that’s underdeveloped and doesn’t really lead anywhere. No Trophy - Another one that feels like a great vibe, but doesn’t go anywhere. It’s like they’ve understood the technicality of a lot of the genres they’re trying to ape, but just don’t understand the soul of it. This is the best song so far, but there’s just no character to it. Binnel Boy - They’ve found their toy box. Again, this one starts out nicely enough. But it goes nowhere at all. No hook, no chorus, just vibe. And vibe alone does not make a satisfying track. Sunshine - Another “oh, this is nice” moment until I realise the track is halfway done before anything has happened. And what happens is just a slight development of the initial idea, nothing fresh. Meh. A Minha Menina - Newsflash, I think they’ve tried to write a chorus. It’s not a very memorable one, but it’s something. Sonically, this is probably one of the least interesting on the album so far, but it’s an actual song. Seems to be one or the other with these boys. Feels like an unfinished demo outline of a song and the production is at its weakest so far here. This Town - Another meandering slice of niceness that never goes anywhere. It’s just the same idea for 3 minutes. There is a very slight variation between sections, but there’s no dynamic change or any significant structural change, it’s just bumbling along being nice until they fade out when even they’ve got bored. Sweet Like a Champion - This doesn’t even have any of the pep of previous tracks. It might work quite well as a tonal shift if the rest of the album had more hooks or connected better, but amongst this album, it just feels like a bit of a dirge. But it is more of a structurally sound song than the rest of the album, which is something. Lying in the Snow - So they’re doing a Pink Floyd now. But they haven’t earned it. It doesn’t fit with the rest of the album, at all. But it does at least have some motion to it, some variation and dynamic change. This is probably the most competent song of the album, but it’s still a bit boring and doesn’t build up to the grandiosity that it hints at. Zia - This seems like a nice little interlude. But what’s that? It’s the second longest track on the album? Nice, but meandering and, amidst the banality of the rest of the album, it’s just another nice slice of nothingness. Sky Holds the Sun - Give me a bloody melody already, Jesus. This whole track is a three and a half minute intro to nothing. The vocals just feel like scratch vocals that they meant to replace but never got round to it. The music is nice, but it’s just boring and goes nowhere.

8/10 The greatest strength of this album is in the intimacy of it. Everything is recorded so close up and presented in such starkness that it feels like you’re almost stood beside Nick as he performs. You can even hear his breaths and the movement of his fingers over the fretboard, and that only enhances the beauty of the work. And when it hits, this album really is beautiful. Personally, there were a few places where things lulled and became a little repetitive, particularly when an idea was played out over a longer running time with less variation than personally appeals to me, and I also found the resonance in the guitar on Know to be quite grating to the ear. Aside from that, though, I felt that this was a really pretty portrait of an artist and his state of mind at this time of his life. There’s elements of sorrow, but also of hope, all presented with a starkness and restraint from a lyrical point of view, but with a guitar that delivers momentum and pace, with little ideas and motifs presented from around the fretboard while the pensive delivery of the vocal almost sounds reluctant in a way, that only adds to the intimacy of the production. Pink Moon - This is a really beautiful song that is elevated by the recording and production. He clearly sings at quite a low volume, but it’s presented in such a way that you feels so close to Nick as he sings that you’re almost inside his head. Even the simple piano line just flows out of nowhere and adds an unexpected depth. It rolls around in a really lovely way and then it’s done. Place To Be - The way that the guitar lilts and pulses adds such a satisfying rhythmic bed to this, and then his vocal that almost lazily flows over the top of it is such a pleasant blend of staccato and legato movements. The guitar can be quite deceptive, because there are some lovely little melodic edges that sit in the high register over the chords that there’s a rolling movement that exists outside of the lower, more prominent bed of the guitar part. It’s lovely. Road - The recording of the guitar in this track, even more than the first two, feels like you can almost hear every tiny sound of his fingers as he plays. It’s like he’s playing right next to your ear. I love the slight dips in tempo he takes here and there that just emphasise the structure of the composition. And he doesn’t overdo the vocals, just allows the guitar part to keep its focus and augments with a little bit of vocal flavour. Which Will - The guitar playing is so deft here, with the chords able to ring out over the picked elements. It’s always moving, but that doesn’t stop there from being a clear and solid structural bed that rings through. Again, the vocals are sparse but effective, anchoring the guitar as it flows and moves through the track. It’s incredibly well balanced and emotionally moving too. Horn - The last song was comparatively quite busy, but this allows a moment of pause to gather one’s thoughts before we move on. It’s sparse and open, but also quite pretty. Things Behind The Sun - There’s something very melancholic about the chord choices during some sections, but it lifts into something more optimistic and hopeful in others. I’m less keen on this track and there are a couple of places where it jars with me slightly, it feels a tiny bit rushed to me and a little too forcefully played, if that makes sense. I think the tracks work better for me when they’re more fleeting and this is a bit more long-form. Know - There’s some resonance on the guitar in this track that grates on me and the fact that it’s just the same bar played for two and a half minutes doesn’t help that. The vocal is actually really nice, but that guitar. Not for me. Parasite - The guitar movements are quite subtle on this track, but it is perhaps a little bit repetitive as the cadence of the guitar line remains very similar throughout, even with the changes in chord. Again, the vocal is an almost ethereal presence that drifts over the top of everything and provides a bit more variance to things. There are bits that are absolutely beautiful, but I do wish for a little more development in places. Free Ride - There’s a bit more variety to this and it benefits from it. Again, we feel so close to things that you can even hear his breath. There’s some fantastic drive and momentum to this one and the balance again between the staccato guitar and legato vocal is great, with the added twist that they meet in the middle for the sections that the vocal echoes the guitar in a really lovely blend. Harvest Breed - This movement of the guitar line as it moves up and down the scale is really nice. Again, it doesn’t offer a wide arrange of ideas, but it is so brief that that doesn’t really matter. From The Morning - I really like the guitar work here. There’s extra little variations and movements in there to make things have an added element of momentum. There are also some really nice choices of chords in there too. It’s really well paced and pretty and the vocal line really perfectly straddles the line between melancholic and optimistic. A great closer.

7/10 On my first listen of this, I was almost ready to write it off as something a bit lightweight and lacking in substance, but on listening to it a second time, there is actually a lot more quality at play than one would initially assume. There’s some really interesting songwriting across the album, with plenty of structural variation, instrumental breakdowns, and even a little bit of fun with time signatures at one point. But it’s all presented with this bubble-gum pop-rock sheen that gives it a more mainstream friendly tone. I can hear big punk rock echoes across the album, and quite a few of these tracks wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a Ramones record if they had a bit more grit to the production. It’s all pretty good stuff. I suspect there are a whole bunch of bands that have been influenced by The Go-Go’s, from the Madonna and The B-52’s to Green Day and No Doubt. I’d probably almost call this proto-pop-punk in the way it takes a lot of the structure and energy of punk and twists it with a softer, more user-friendly aesthetic. I would prefer there to be a little more grit to this, as well as a little more prominence of the low end, particularly as some of the bass lines are great, but lacking a bit of body, which would really elevate it to my ears, but it’s still pretty bloody good and interesting for a record from 1981. There are a couple of lulls in places, but overall, it’s got a lot more quality than one might think, it’s really great fun, and fells like a genuine gateway album to what was to follow. Our Lips Are Sealed - This is a decent little pop-rock song. It’s got a good, chugging backbeat that gives it good drive, and there’s a good bounce to things. It doesn’t quite deliver on the hook that I was looking for, but it’s a decent little opener. How Much More - This has got great pace and a really good pop riff. It doesn’t do anything vastly interesting, but it’s a chirpy little track that does everything it sets out to. I bet this kind of thing is great fun live, there’s just so much pep to it that it’s almost impossible not to move to it. Tonite - This is a lot like an old school punk song, but presented as a girl group pop song. Yeah, it looses a bit of the grit because of that, but it also gives it an extra sheen of production and bounce that makes it interesting. Good fun. Lust To Love - The tempo for this compared to the previous tracks makes it drag a little bit. The sparse vocal led section in the middle is great though, and I do like the way the backing vocals play around the lead. This Town - Ooooh. Chuck in a bar of two why don’t you? Fantastic to hear in a pop record. This is really good. There are a lot of ideas and it never hangs around. I can’t help but wish for a little bit more grit and weight to it, but the songwriting is really fantastic. We Got The Beat - This is also good, but I fell like it could do with being a tad faster and it would be great. There’s a bit less variation to this and it leans a bit more on the surf rock motifs, but it’s not bad at all. Fading Fast - This is a bit more pedestrian. It’s just a bit more by the numbers and it doesn’t manage to land on a particularly satisfying hook. It just doesn’t quite have the substance or musical invention of some of the other tracks. Drags on a bit much too Automatic - This is a bit plodding, but there is some sonic interest in there. While I’m not a massive fan of the track, I do appreciate the attempt to do something a bit different, it just doesn’t quite connect with me. You Can’t Walk In Your Sleep (If You Can’t Sleep) - Back to something with a bit more drive to it. I like the bass line and it’s super bouncy. It’s also pretty silly, but in a really good way. There’s actually quite a bit more nuance and quality to the songwriting than one would necessarily credit it for, and it’s another one that I can’t help but move to. It’s just good fun. Skidmarks On My Heart - More good fun. It’s got a good chorus, it’s got some interesting breakdown sections and it’s got that toe-tapping pace that they seem so good at. Another great slice of fun. Can’t Stop The World - Another chirpy, punky pop number. The way the verses chug along, building up to a song-along chorus is pretty good. It’s not the most musically inventive song, but it’s more fun and another toe-tapper.

5/10 This is one of those albums that is pretty hard to judge 60 years after its release. It’s kind of hard to believe that it was recorded in 1967 really. That’s the same year that Sgt Pepper’s was released, for goodness sake! That being said, there are elements of it that betray the era a little more than others. In particular, some of the distorted tones and overdrive they use sounds less intentional and more like the result of poor recording techniques, especially when it’s layered across the whole mix, rather than being added piecemeal in different tones to the different aspects of the tracks. I can appreciate what they were going for, and it’s a stepping stone to more established sound processing that would follow, but there are places where it just doesn’t gel with my ear, which has the output of 60 years of audio processing developments fed through it. Underneath all of that, though, I found the album to be just a little too patchy and, in places, self-indulgent. On Sister Ray, for example, there were a lot of good ideas, but as an unedited 17 and a half minute jam session, it just spends too long farting around and gets lost in itself far too often. The Gift, on the other hand, engaged me far more than I expected, despite its element of self indulgence. Unfortunately, the moments of quality were outnumbered by the ones that didn’t really connect with me. It feels a bit like they spent more time focusing on the weirdness and the sound while forgetting to throw enough thought at the actual songs, which is a real shame. Big points for influence (although is this album specifically as influential as their others? Probably not). Small points for enduring quality, at least for my personal tastes. White Light/White Heat - This just seems like a reasonably decent 60’s track recorded incredibly badly. It’s a fairly standard rock ’n roll number, with a bit of a freak-out section at the end, but the sound quality is awful. Not in a heavy, distorted guitars, driven tube amps kind of way, more in a malfunctioning microphones kind of way. Meh. The Gift - A one bar bass riff and drum beat repeated for 8 minutes? Ok. But I actually found myself getting quite into it despite myself. It was quite hypnotic and the guitar was doing enough to maintain variety. I also enjoyed the slightly absurdist narrative, which has a weird enough edge to be right up my street. But there didn’t seem to be a vast amount of relation between the narrative and what was going on in the guitar. It was all a bit disconnected. But it also worked in. A funny way. I may well come back to this one. Lady Godiva’s Operation - This is a nice slice of 60’s psychedelia. It’s ok, but it drags on a bit much with not too much variance throughout. It’s all just a bit repetitive and too long. When Lou Reed’s vocals come in, they’re just a bit crap and are too loud in the mix. But when it all starts falling apart in the last minute, it starts feeling a bit more interesting again. Here She Comes Now - I know this from Nirvana covering it. It’s a nice, subtle little song. It’s a pretty basic verse, chorus, verse format, but it’s a solid little composition and it doesn’t outstay its welcome. I Heard Her Call My Name - This calls to mind one of those live TV recordings you’d hear of 60’s bands in terms of the production. Not very good and very throwaway to be shown on TV once and then never seen again. And then the lead guitar kicks in and it’s just way too loud and feels only loosely related to the actual song. It’s like when Marty McFly starts going crazy in 1955 and the rest of the band just stops playing and stares at him. A bit like the opener in some respects. It’s another ‘meh’ from me. Sister Ray - There’s a decent driving groove to this one to begin with, and some of the swells of feedback and grit are pretty cool, especially for 1967. But good lord, does it drag on. There are some really interesting and innovative bits in there, but there are also bits where they go from ‘free-jazz’ to ‘free-fingers-from-connection-with-brain-and-flail-about’. It’s all just a bit too much for me, and I feel like they’ve spent a bit too long sniffing their own farts while Andy Warhol tells them they’re geniuses.

7/10 Nick Cave makes some really dark, menacing music, his voice occasionally wavering between singing and speaking like a man teetering on the border between reality and fantasy. The album starts off strong, with pulsing, brooding threat seeping out of every tone. Sometimes that threat drifts and drips from the speakers and sometimes it tips into manic urgency as the music drives away behind him. It’s a really interesting and gripping opening half that is sometimes uncomfortable to listen to, and can sometimes hint at something really pretty, but there’s always that undercurrent of grime and mania that persists from song to song. I really enjoy his use of sound effects and fleeting slices of tonality to inject further emphasis and musical variety into his songs, and the opening set rarely seems to rest without throwing something new and uncomfortable your way. But as the album progresses, things do start to slow a little. The variety and interest seems to drain away a little from The Kindness Of Strangers onwards, which isn’t helped by a 15 minute song that musically is pretty repetitive, although remains held together by the psychopathy of the narrative. Things just get a little stale by the end, and I can’t help wishing he’d released a 40 minute cut of the album with a slight resequence of the track order and dropping a few of the less interesting numbers. That first half of the album, though, is absolutely fantastic and the rest is decent, but just doesn’t quite hold up to the same standard for me. Song Of Joy - A bleak and brooding start to the album with little pulses of hope here and there that break through the gloomy bed. The distant elements in the background that sweep, throb and occasionally swarm to the foreground add a massive amount of depth and threat to the track. Nick Cave’s delivery is as dangerous and menacing as ever. Really good stuff. Stagger Lee - There’s a good groove to this one, especially in the bass. There’s a sense of urgency to the vocal delivery that drags forward against the groove which brings great momentum to things. It’s very sonically rich and dynamic with chords that ring out or drift away and the use of sound effects make things so visceral. The build at the end is so darkly evocative of terror. Henry Lee - This is a prettier track, but there’s still an undercurrent of menace. It’s like PJ Harvey is bringing the beauty and Nick Cave is bringing the threat, while the instruments straddle the two. It’s more stripped back than the previous tracks, but it allows the vocal parts to take prominence. Lovely Creature - There’s a driving pace and urgency to this straight out of the gate and we’re back to some more sweeping swells of noise that bring more of that grimy threat to proceedings. It feels like this is a constant build, getting fuller and more grimy as the track progresses, but never really revealing its destination in the best possible way and then just drifts away into the night. Where the Wild Roses Grow - It’s Kylie! I love the way her vocal is recorded here, it’s so closely recorded and feels really intimate as a result. Perfect for the part of a murder victim retelling the story of her murder. This is a more straight down the line song than others on the album, but it’s a beautiful and masterfully written song. It doesn’t lose the melancholy, but spins it into something more open and pretty. The Curse Of Millhaven - Wow, the intro to this jerks you straight out of the calm of the previous track, and then the swell subsides into a really pacy number. Love the organ. It’s perhaps got a little less grim depth than other tracks, but boy does it move. The variation in instrumental focus between the verses really keeps it interesting. I’d say it probably goes on a little too long, but it’s still really good. I bet this is fantastic at a live show. The Kindness Of Strangers - We’re back in calmer waters now and more into an actual ballad that the album title promises. It’s nice enough, but it’s not massively interesting. While the sound effects use on other tracks really add to the depth, I found the use of the woman in the background actually distracted from the song a bit here. Crow Jane - This track does meander just a little bit too much, and off the back of the last track, I feel like the pace of the album is seeping away a little too much. It just kind of plods along and it doesn’t really carry the same menace as earlier tracks. It also doesn’t really offer much in the way of variation or development through its duration either. O’Malley’s Bar - This has got some bite and swagger to it. But it’s also very long, and doesn’t do much interesting musically to justify the length. Narratively, there’s enough content, but personally, I feel like lyrics always come second to music and when the music doesn’t evolve or vary enough over this amount of time, things can start to become stale. It’s not bad, it’s just long. Death Is Not The End - A Bob Dylan cover with quite the gang of guest stars. It’s a bit plodding, hymnal, and fairly uninteresting. Not much to note other than PJ and Kylie are back, and Shane MacGowan and Anita Lane pop by too. It rounds out the album nicely enough, but unfortunately, things had been winding down a bit in the second half anyway.

6/10 There are elements on this album that are so, so good. Brown Paper Bag is a classic and there are really compelling parts to a large number of the tracks. Some of the bass lines are absolutely fantastic, there’s some interesting chopping and blending of breaks, and the mixes with vocals are, on the whole, really decent blends between dance tracks and songs. But it’s all just a bit too much. I get that for Drum ’n Bass, tracks need to be structured for DJs to mix them in and out of other records and that having lengthy sections is good for ravers on the dance floor, but isn’t that what 12” mixes are for? Part of this is personal preference, but I suppose this is where my love for more “IDM” artists comes from. There tends to be more variation, structural change and less reliance on a single great loop than there is in more dance floor oriented electronic music. And it’s not just the length of the tracks that wore me down. This is a LONG album and, given that they also released a single disc version, which is literally just the first disc rather than the best of both, it feels like there wasn’t necessarily that much thought put into track selection and sequencing before they put it out. It’s like they just said “oh, we like these 22 tracks, let’s release them”. That sounds like a lot of complaining, but in part that’s because the parts of this album that I love, I really do love. I return to this album every now and again and really enjoy it as background music, but I would never just listen to it in a focused listening experience, because it just doesn’t feel rewarding enough to justify that kind of listening. Had the album been 40 minutes of album cuts of the best bits, this could have been a 10/10 album, but unfortunately it’s just way too flabby, both track by track and as a compilation of songs. But don’t worry Roni, I’ll still be back. Railing - This is a great intro track, full of skittish energy and a really cool synth tone. It gradually builds with extra drum breaks and then drops to a smoother break. Vocals are great too and it ends perfectly into… Brown Paper Bag - An absolute classic. That call and response between the bass and guitar is so good. There’s lots of ear candy and little bits of percussion that flicker in and out to keep things interesting. It’s a great build up and then the main hook kicks in. It’s repetitive, but it’s supposed to be, right? And still, there’s plenty of that ear candy to keep momentum and interest. There are a variety of sections to keep things moving and while the focus is obviously on the bass, there’s some interesting stuff going on at higher pitches too. New Forms - This is nice and atmospheric from the off. There’s a nice bouncy lilt to the break, which is complimented by the MC, who drifts between different paces in her lyrics. It’s got a great sung vocal too. It’s less driven than BPB, and has a more verse/chorus structure, but it’s another great track, with some really cool little touches scattered around. It manages to stay pretty fresh and interesting, despite being nearly 8 minutes long. Let’s Get It On - A slower pace to kick us off here. It’s brooding and atmospheric and it’s got some great bass. And then here comes the DnB. There’s still some variation in here and little touches for variety, but it does feel a bit more relentless than previous tracks. The bass line is decent, but just a bit too samey and there’s maybe not enough harmonic content to give it as much of a hold on the ear. The later section does add a bit of a twist on things at least. Digital - It’s got a cool intro with the panned arpeggio and little effects. The half-sung, half-spoken vocal is nice too. The sparing use of some of the melodic content spreads things out nicely and there’s some nice little elements like the little phased beat that pops in here and there. The beat has a nice lilt to it too. Despite that, 9 minutes is quite a long time to be listening to that arpeggio and unchanging drum break. Obviously it’s a dance track, but for at home listening, that can get a bit tiresome. Matter Of Fact - There’s more going on here. The chopping of the breaks is pretty cool, especially in the stereo field. We get plenty of audio effects and trickery scattered around things too. But it never really kicks into gear with a particularly satisfying flow. Mad Cat - Atmospheric start. And then the slightly stilted beat comes in and we never really progress much from there. It’s good, it’s just very repetitive. This track is an example of where my electronic music interests lie from an at home listening point of view. This track sounds exactly like something Squarepusher would put out, but he’d go through this loop once or twice and create 200 variations so things are almost always modulating and changing, whereas more trad DnB producers would be happy with that loop playing for 4 minutes. Heroes - This has more of a song structure. Having lyrics tends to reduce the draining effect of repetitiveness because of lyrical variation, although there’s less variation here than there could have been. It’s a decent track though and the vocal hook is good. It’s got that chilled DnB feel that makes it a nice easy listen. Share The Fall - As with the previous track, the lyrics add more continuous variation to this. And there’s more going on here to keep things interesting too. It’s got a greatcoat that pulses along. The vocal just doesn’t quite do it for me. A blend between the style of the previous track and the variation in this one would be fantastic. Watching Windows - There’s a bit more of a dub flavour to this one. It’s got a good groove to it and it’s nice to have something at a different pace. While I do quite like the general feel, it doesn’t completely connect with me for some reason though. I think it’s the vocal, which never really grabs me. I do really enjoy the change in tone and the general swagger of the groove though. Beatbox - Decent little interlude. Doesn’t offer a great deal, but it’s only short. Morse Code - This starts off nicely. Nice simmering pad synths with the morse code beeps flickering in and out. Thankfully the morse code doesn’t extend through the whole track. Again, this is great, has a good beat, a nice bass line, and there’s quite a bit of decent variation and ear candy in the backing, but things are just a bit relentlessly repetitive for focused listening. I do like it, but these things can get a bit tiring. Destination - Another one where things are great, solid beat, quality bass line, some cool horns, but they don’t really offer much in the way of variety. Things are switched in and out, and there is a decent amount of ear candy, but it is very dance-floor orientated. Intro - An intro to the second disc. Crispy and crunchy and not very long. Hi-Potent - This is something a little bit different. Much more melodic over the first minute. The break that comes in drags lazily at things creating a stilted feeling, and then the track proper track kicks in with a really great bass line. When the drum break doubles up, the energy picks up even more. This is a really great track and I’m going to stop complaining about the lack of variety because it’s a bloody drum and bass album. It gets even better when the more melodic elements start dripping back in during the second half of the track. Trust Me - Another really decent start to a track. Skittering DnB drums and a reasonable bass line, but then it doesn’t really do much. This one is really short on interest beyond the basics though and is just a bit boring. Change My Life - There’s a bit more going on here. More harmonic elements thrown in, with a little more variation in general, like the occasional snippets of vocal or horns. Long though. Share The Fall - I like the way this one shuffles through different combinations of breaks early on. That descending bass tone is pretty mean too. Two and a half minutes and we’re actually getting a completely different section. Hurrah! I like the way things come together after the vocal section, and how the drums and bass combine to create a sweeping dynamic that swells across the bar. Decent. Down - Another nice one. Some good quality harmonic content. Some sections where we’re left with some of that content centre stage. Another mean sub bass. Some quality little pieces of editing and ear candy. Ticks all the boxes really. Jazz - This one’s a bit more plodding. I quite like some of the elements, but as a whole it just doesn’t maintain audio interest in the same way. The bass line in particular just isn’t that exciting. Hot Stuff - That slightly lagging break in the intro is cool. Then we’re into more sonically interesting territory. The crumbling pad/melody sounds great. There’s sections where we go into breathy pads that wash over everything too. As a sonic breather from the rest of the album, it’s really interesting and a good break from some of the more frenetic tracks. It’s a shame this wasn’t placed earlier in the album really. And then we get the beat kicking in. There’s some quality editing of the breaks here too, which keep things moving. Ballet Dance - There are some interesting choices of sounds in this one. Things bounce around between various different samples and other tones, while the beats sort of stagger along. The bass line isn’t very interesting and things seem a little disorganised, but there are some interesting ideas in there nonetheless. And after nearly two and a half hours, we’re done. Unless we want to listen to the 5h 14m Anniversary Edition. Yeesh.

8/10 I’ve never really given Pulp much of a chance in the past, Britpop was never really my bag, but there’s a lot more to this than I was expecting. Jarvis Cocker plays the role of disaffected outsider really well. He rolls between being sarcastic, sinister and sincere as the tracks roll by, and it’s all backed by a really comprehensive and dense arrangement from the rest of the band. There’s a load more synth parts than I was expecting, from the subtle to the full-bodied, and the sound design in general is really good. There’s a decent level of variation between the tracks, all while maintaining a consistent sound, as they drop to sparse, menacing moments before launching into crowd-pleasing choruses. There are a couple of lulls here and there and it didn’t always manage to maintain my full interest through some of the less sonically and musically rich tracks, but overall it’s a really decent album with some absolute bangers thrown in for good measure. Mis-Shapes - This is a really compelling start. It builds and builds in intensity and then drops away and builds again. The way it swells and drives is really nice. It never really lands on even ground, which might be annoying elsewhere, but really works for the first song on an album. Pencil Skirt - And the intensity drops away. It’s quite delicate, but there’s a slight bit of edge to it too from Jarvis Cocker’s vocal delivery. Some of the synth washes are really nice. It’s almost a bit sinister and it does get a bit of drive that builds by the end. Pretty decent. Common People - This is obviously a complete classic. It’s a great pop song and a great satirical skewering of the British class system. That driving bass line along with the stacatto synth arpeggiation under it all chugs along and gives it some really great momentum. I don’t think I’d ever really given this the credit it deserves for the quality of the instrumentation. The mix is so full without being muddy. And the chorus has such a great hook, with the intensity growing from chorus to chorus. Brilliant. I Spy - This is dense and dark. Again, it’s pretty sinister and reminds me a little of Nick Cave particularly during the more whispered vocal sections. Again, it’s a very full sound that shifts and moves, particularly as the strings move to higher pitches and intensity. Disco 2000 - Another 90s classic. Another brilliant chorus. I love the lead guitar in the chorus and the way it gets punctuated by the synth chords and the end of each run. Each verse chugs along before the pre-chorus drops and then they just go for it with the chorus. It’s such an uplifting piece of songwriting set against the bitter vocal from Jarvis Cocker. Live Bed Show - This is more sombre. It sounds so wide. There’s a slightly ethereal edge to some of the higher register parts that wash around the top too. It’s got a good thrust to it, but never quite lands on as solid a hook as elsewhere on the album, but sonically, it still offers a lot. Something Changed - There’s a sort of baroque pop edge to this. I don’t know if it’s the string parts that emphasise that, but I think it’s also the lilt of the groove. I really like this one. There’s quite a lot going on across the different instrumental parts, but it all ties into a pretty satisfying and pretty whole. Sorted for E’s & Whizz - Is the ‘In the middle of the night’ section the most Britpop Pulp ever sounded? I think so. There’s some really nice elements to this, particularly some of the synth parts. It’s a bit more of a plodder to my mind and isn’t really one of my more favoured tracks on here. F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E. - Oooh, I like the sparse, sinister nature of this. It’s icy and the skittering percussion bits that come in and out are great. And then it kicks in almost out of nowhere. The chorus is more high energy, but still has an edge of menace about it. Good stuff. Underwear - This is another that threads the line between creepy and uplifting. It perhaps doesn’t hit quite as hard as some of the others on the album, but it’s not a bad track either. Monday Morning - This kicks off with a great groove and atmosphere. It’s ever changing and only settles on a style for a short while before the throw in a double-time section, or a complete transition to the chorus. It almost feels a bit disorganised, but it’s also executed well enough that it actually flows really nicely. Some of the soundscapes they create during the slower sections are great too. It’s a bit weird, but it’s also really good. Bar Italia - This is a bit more pedestrian again. It’s a well written song, but it’s a bit more basic and straight down the line than the more interesting cuts on the record. It sways nicely enough and the dynamic between the verses and choruses is nice, but it just feels a bit mundane.

9/10 This album is all about vibe. The way all of the parts just dance around each other creating grooves that just bounce around giving so much movement to the sound is fantastic. And when they're at their best the vocals do the same thing, the lead and backing vocals twisting around each other, emphasising and enhancing each other, sometimes with call and response, sometimes with straight backing harmonisations. In terms of pace, the album leans towards the lower tempo of reggae and, on a song by song level, I tend to prefer reggae with a bit more pace. But as an album, this just begs for you to lean back, close your eyes and groove. There are places when things just drag a tiny bit, but they are relatively fleeting and, even on those tracks, there's still typically enough of a groove to keep things moving without getting bogged down. Concrete Jungle - A song like this could sound a bit all over the place if there was any sloppy performances on it, but it's so tight. All the little staccato lines groove around each other, the backing vocal harmonies support the lead vocal so well and it conveys the sombre tonality of the lyrics while still bopping. Slave Driver - This takes the intensity down a notch while it notches up the intensity of the lyrics and vocal delivery. There's sadness in the delivery despite the groove. It's not massively hooky, but it's good stuff. 400 Years - The backing vocals really make this song. Set against the lazy yet sharp presence of the instrumentation, the legato vocal harmonies add real weight and also deliver a great hook through the 'woah' sections in particular. Great tune. Stop That Train - I love this song. There's something almost gospel about the slower parts, but the chorus is just exceptional. The main vocal melody is brilliant and it'll stick in your head for days. The interplay between the drums, bass, organ and guitars is just peak reggae and behind the vocals? So, so good. Baby We've Got A Date (Rock It Baby) - Another quality song. It's perhaps a little more one note than some of the other tracks and lacks a bit of the depth. It's smoother in it's delivery and doesn't have the same lyrical gravitas, but it's a nice groove. Stir It Up - Yes, yes, yes! Everything about this hits so hard. That bass line is killer. It's both laid back and driving. The way the lead and backing vocals play around each other is beautiful, and the melody is so simple but brilliant. This whole song is just the embodiment of vibe in music. And that clav solo. Ooof. Kinky Reggae - Swagger. This grooves so hard. And Marley is at his off-the-cuff best with the vocal delivery. It's like he just opens a tap and all of his nonchalant cool just flows out. It's not as varied and interesting a composition as others on the album, but it's all about that vibe. No More Trouble - Taking it back to something more weighty. There are some really nice moments when the instruments all play in unison, breaking from the typical reggae flow, which adds a nice little bit of variety. It lacks a little bit in hook, but it's a nice little tune. Midnight Ravers - The vibe continues somewhat from the last track, but the combination of the vocal parts is so good here and adds that touch of quality that raises this one up. The percussion adds a bit of depth to the groove here too. It's interesting to have a song like this in that themes and musical sections have repetition in them, but it's not a typical verse/chorus structure and doesn't have a repeated chorus lyrics either. Good way to end things, I think.

4/10 Having only heard bits of Muse before, and never being convinced to seek out any more, I always used to dismiss them as “Budget Radiohead”. Turns out I was right, but not in the way that I’d originally meant. They’re actually “Big Budget Radiohead”. Strip out all of the grit and charm of a band who do things on their own terms and replace it with over-slick production and stadium pleasing musical choices and this is what you get. It’s cold. But there are moments when things teeter on the edge of being pretty good. Knights of Cydonia and Assassin have some great, heavy riffs, for example, but those moments are too fleeting among the easy ‘stadium rock’ choices of much of the rest of the album. And I don’t like Matt Bellamy’s vocal style at all. It seems to be always delivered in this drawling, legato manner that just washes over the top of everything. It wouldn’t be as bad if he switched it up a bit, but it just feels like he’s whining and crying about everything from start to finish. In short, my opinion on muse hasn’t really changed. There are times when they sound a bit like other bands that I like, but if I want to listen to that, I’d rather listen to those other bands do it better. Take a Bow - Well they’ve found the arpeggiator on their synth. Make that multiple. I think this is supposed to be building to something epic. But it’s still building and it all sounds a bit thin. It finally kicks in and it just clomps along. The pace never really picks up. It’s stadium rock with synthesisers by numbers. Starlight - This starts off with a bit of weight for the first few bars. And then the piano kicks in and we’re in stadium corporate rock (Coldplay) territory. Meh. Every choice they make is the obvious one. There are hints here and there that they could do something that sounds decent, but they don’t bother. I mean, it’s not like it’s completely unforgivable, it’s just uninteresting. Supermassive Black Hole - The big hit. It at least has a bit more swagger to it. But it still feels a bit of an artificial swagger, if that makes sense. It’s all too clean and calculated. It straddles the line between a pop song and a rock song and doesn’t really satisfy either brief for me. Map of the Problematique - It builds and builds and builds and… never gets anywhere. Songs that feel like an endless intro just bug me. Thing is, I really dig unresolved tension in music, but in something that is supposed to be massive and epic like this, it just feels like they never bothered to write a chorus to go with all of that tension build-up. It has got a toe-tapping drive to it, but it’s also annoying. Soldier’s Poem - What happens when Matt Bellamy tries his best to sing like Thom Yorke and the rest of the band try to sing like Queen? This is what happens. It’s ok, I suppose. Pretty forgettable though. Invincible - Ah, another Coldplay song but with Matt Bellamy trying to sing like Thom Yorke again. It takes two and a half minutes to kick in, and when it does it’s so anaemic. Fuck me, this is thin and boring. Give it a bit of welly, lads. Oooh, 3:40 or so, something happens! Is it going to kick off? Oh, no. Just a shit (really shit) guitar solo. Assassin - Oh god, this is actually good. Actual pace and intensity. It’s a bit Queens of the Stone Age. Except now Matt Bellamy has ruined it with his whiny little voice. This could actually be decent, if a little straightforward, but it doesn’t really offer much in the way of development and the insipid vocal just takes all of the weight out of it. How annoying. Exo-Politics - This one has some decent riffs and weight. The chorus is still pretty run-of-the-mill stadium rock, but it’s not bad. There’s even some somewhat interesting sound design in there. It’s got a decent driving pace to it too. Still not keen on his voice, but it’s less distracting here than it is on other tracks. City of Delusion - This is another one that has a decent amount of pace to it. The drums are pretty good on this, in particular. They don’t hold on too long to the build up sections, and it has a decent amount of variation. The string arrangements are pretty cool too. His voice is still annoying though and it all seems a bit artificially grand somehow. Hoodoo - Got enough reverb? And a weird spaghetti western guitar intro? This vocal part reminds me of something that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s a bit dull, and then when the other parts kick in it does that ‘building to nothing thing again. And then drops back away to the dull thing again. Knights of Cydonia - This has got a bit more of that western feel to it, but at least it’s more interesting. Not a big fan of the guitar tone though. Sounds super scratchy. It’s all a bit messy, especially given the context for the rest of the album. Not a big fan of the gang vocals, they sound very wet mouthed. When it kicks in it’s a really great riff. Nice and heavy and again, quite Queens of the Stone Age. But the gang vocals come in again and it just doesn’t do it for me. It’s a decent enough song though.

8/10 The Pharcyde fall into that sweet spot of hip-hop for me. They’re skilled rappers and lyricists, they create great, bouncy grooves, and they always sound like they’re having a great time. The sample selection on this album is really excellent and there’s a great blend of jazzy, funky flavours that really support the vibe of the tracks. The approach to lyric writing shifts from comedic to puerile, but always with a knowing wink, and there are also hints of political commentary throughout, although these never take centre stage. There are a couple of potential complaints that are common notes in hip hop, particularly around misogyny, homophobia and transphobia, but in actual fact, I feel like these things, while dating the album a little, are actually approached in more of a lighthearted way that actually pokes as much fun at the rappers as it does at any outsider, which is fairly refreshing. And let’s not forget this was an album made by a load of LA kids in their early 20s back in the early 90s. Personally, I think that the song sequencing on the album could have been a little better, as three more laid back tracks towards the end did lag a little, when they could have added a bit more dynamic variation if they were placed elsewhere, but other than that, it’s a high quality album that’s just a lot of fun. 4 Better Or 4 Worse (Interlude) - A nice little jazzy intro. Not much more to say! Oh Shit - This has got a nice bounce to it. I love the general vibe of the rapping, it’s really lighthearted and fun. They pass the lead around which gives a bit of variety. It’s a shame that the backing is basically the same the entire way through, although there are a couple of parts that they bring in and out, but the focus is so drawn to the vocals that it has less of an impact than it would otherwise. It’s also possibly a bit transphobic, but I feel a bit like he’s laughing at himself rather than being nasty. It’s Jiggaboo Time (Skit) - A little bit of silly fun between tracks. 4 Better Or 4 Worse - There’s more variety between verse and chorus here, as well as variety within sections too. It’s all delightfully silly, particularly the interplay between the rapping and spoken vocal. The blend of all of the little vocal bits and pieces is great. It all weaves in and out and creates a really cool blended collage effect. Quality. I’m That Type Of Nigga - There’s a real pace to this one. The flow of the rapping is really good too. The gang vocals against the horn samples sound massive and just continue the feeling of fun that they’re putting across through the album so far. The use of little cuts and changes to the track to emphasise certain vocal phrases works really well too to keep things interesting. Soul Flower (Remix) - This is so upbeat and full sounding. The use of little sound effects adds a lot of depth. They all just sound like they’re having so much fun making this record, it’s great. Despite the fact that the core track doesn’t vary much, the fact that various sections drop in and out means there’s a constant feeling of change and movement, especially when they trade vocals from verse to verse. Great track. On The DL - The pace drops a bit here. The instrumental melody perhaps clashes a bit with the intensity of the vocal delivery in places and the slightly frenetic energy of the beats. There’s a bit less variety to this in general. It’s not bad, but it’s not as engaging as when they’re in full party mode. Pack The Pipe (Interlude) - Another little breather. Officer - There’s a really nice lilt given to this by the piano sample, which just drags the groove a tiny bit. The beat for this is great. It shuffles really nicely, but has a decent momentum to it too. This is another one where it’s all so silly and entertaining. The lyrics and narrative are so good too. As with some of the other tracks, there’s less variety to the instrumental, but the vocals lead things so well that it hardly matters. Solid. Ya Mama - A whole song filled with ya mama jokes? This is The Pharcyde at their most puerile. It’s decent, but it lacks a bit of the variety and depth that some of the other tracks have. All a bit of fun and they have a really unexpected little vocal harmony that they chuck in the middle, which is cool. Passin’ Me By - Another change of pace. Stylistically, this stands out a bit from the rest of the album and they actually reign in their delivery a bit to accommodate the more relaxed nature of the track. There’s a good change of pace between the verse and chorus too. It doesn’t have the same level of fun and frenetic energy that a lot of the rest of the album has, but it’s a nice little diversion and is an obvious single too. Otha Fish - Another laid back one. They could probably have split these two tracks to create more of a dynamic flow to the track sequencing. It doesn’t have the variety of Passin’ Me By, but there are some nice slices of rap-singing that work really well, although they are perhaps a little high in the mix. It’s not bad, but it feels a bit weka when placed back to back with the previous track. Quinton’s On The Way (Skit) - An interlude like this just goes to emphasise the silly, fun nature of the group. They’re all just a load of kids having fun, not taking themselves too seriously. Pack The Pipe - Another one that keeps the tempo dropped. It’s jazzy and has a good groove to it. Again, I feel like the sequencing of the album lets this down a bit, as it’s a decent enough track, but suffers from coming off the back of two other more downtempo tracks. Return Of The B-Boy - And we pick the tempo back up. That bass line is great. There’s a shaker/hi-hat that runs through the whole track that’s quite grating though. Other than that, this is a really solid track. The vocal flow is great, there’s a load of swagger to it and it wraps up that feeling of these guys having a great time making some solid tunes, with a few nice references to hip-hop groups of the 80s.

7/10 There were parts of this that I really enjoyed. The musicianship was, as expected, fantastic, and when the parts all span and twisted around each other, it created this wonderful, constantly moving soundscape that was really engaging. I particularly enjoyed the use of irregular meters in the opening track, which gave things a really satisfying lilt. Some of the vocal parts I was less keen on. Jacqui McShee does have a tendency to get a little shrill and use wavy little trills that just grate on me a bit. When that’s toned down, her vocals can be lovely, but if she starts getting a bit too high pitched, it does detract from things. Bert Jansch, on the other hand, has this really earthy, unique voice that just blends in with their sound. There was the odd lull through the album, and also a few moments where there were issues with the recording, but by and large, I enjoyed my time listening to this, and I’m sure it’ll get a few more spins. Light Flight - Oooh. Love me a wacky time signature choice, and moving between 6/4 and a bar by bar alternation between 5/4 and 7/4 certainly is wacky. I do really like this. There’s obvious skill in the playing and all the parts just move and roll around each other really nicely. The secondary vocal is perhaps the weakest part for me. It’s a little on the shrill side, but it doesn’t detract too much from how good the rest of it is. Once I Had a Sweetheart - I’m a bit less convinced by this one. It’s more stripped back and the vocal does too much of the wobbly trill things that don’t do it for me. When it gets busier and louder it sounds like the tape is being overdriven too, so it gets a bit distorted and loses clarity. It just didn’t really engage me, to be honest. Springtime Promises - This returns to the parts dancing around each other in a far more satisfactory way. This a nice lilting movement to the track and some really solid guitar work in particular. I also like Bert Jansch’s voice. It’s quite unique but tonally works so well for this type of music. Lyke-Wake Dirge - This is very pretty. It’s obviously funereal and feels like a nice blend of pagan and christian traditions. The vocal parts are all lovely and it is very evocative. Train Song - Quite a jazzy number, with an edge of blues to it. It’s got a really nice pace to it and when that drops away there’s a cool swagger to the groove. There are some really tasty progressions in there too. Particularly in the second half, there’s some truly excellent playing too, with a fiery and dextrous dynamic. Hunting Song - A woodsy, folksy song that sounds quite trad. It slowly builds as it goes, with the extra percussion that comes in half way through adding an injection of pace and movement. The two guitar parts complement each other so well and there’s barely a break for breath at any point. The alternating vocals give it an interesting tonal shift through different sections. Sally Go Round the Roses - We’ve pretty much landed on a folk rock song here. Its shuffling rhythms, provided by the various parts all at once add a really good drive and swing to things. The bass is particularly good. It’s definitely more straightforward, but it’s also really decent. The Cuckoo - Another nice song. Again, I do find the vocals to be a little on the shrill side for me. The slow lilt that the bass lends to the always moving guitars strikes a nice balance. It doesn’t offer too much in terms of development through its duration, but it’s not bad. House Carpenter - Something about the use of the sitar just doesn’t quite gel with me. Probably a personal thing. But I also think there’s just a bit too much of a focus on the high-end for this song and it lacks a bit of weight. As usual, quality playing, but it doesn’t quite connect with me in the same way that other tracks have.

6/10 There’s just no way I could do my usual song by song review for this album. It’s just too long. But let’s leave the gripes for later. The first thing to note is that Ella’s voice is just magic. It’s spine-tingling, goosebump inducing magic. She has so much control and presence, but also has this laid back swagger that makes it sound like she’s just rolled in off the street, been handed a lyric sheet and bashed out each song on the first take with a glass of wine in her hand. The perfection of her timing as she slides effortlessly from note to note is something to behold. The orchestration is also absolutely exceptional. Nothing sticks out or gets lost anywhere at all and the balance is just beautiful. As for the recording? There are over 70 players on this album, which was recorded over a three month period in 1959, and it sounds like it’s happening right in front of me over 65 years later. It puts a number of the (much later) recordings on this list to shame. The songwriting is quite obviously of its time. There are some really lovely tunes in here, and Ella lends things such emotional weight with her delivery, from light hearted and fun, to sad and sincere and everywhere in between. Personally, I have a preference for her more pure jazz output, rather than this more pop/classical jazz and have a particular soft spot for her work with Louis Armstrong, but that doesn’t take away from the quality of what’s on display here. There are obvious lulls in places and there’s a lot of stuff that obviously sounds very very samey. Which leads on to the big negative of this ‘album’. It’s not an album, it’s a box set. It’s just too much. Partly this is down to the era that this was released. The album as a concept was only really starting to form at this point, and had been, essentially, a collection of songs, rather than a considered artistic whole up to this point and, arguably a good few years into the 60s. This isn’t really intended as a singular listening experience, more as something that you’d stick on a disc or two of here and there. So where do I land on this? At its best, it’s gorgeous. I love listening to Ella sing. But this is just excessive. I’ve really struggled to pin down a score because of that, but I guess I have to put a pin in there somewhere. I’m just very sad that this is the only Ella ‘album’ on the list.

6/10 I've never spent much time with the Stones in the past. I've heard the obvious hits, but never dug much deeper. Honestly, I found this very hit and miss. When it was good, I did really enjoy it, but when it was bad. Oh boy. Mick Jagger's vocal sounds quite different across the album, which is a bit weird, but on a couple of tracks, it just sounds terrible and really takes away from the rest of the track. Jigsaw Puzzle and Factory Girl were both big lowlights for me. Really awful vocals ruining otherwise decent songs. Often I felt myself thinking that I'd be happier putting on some of the blues music that this was obviously inspired by, as this lacked a bit of the grit and authenticity that you get from the old school blues guys. There was also quite often very little significant development across the tracks, which was a bit of a shame. It kind of works when it's a bluesman with a guitar, but when you bulk it out like this, I feel like it needs a bit more. That being said, the band was great. They were tight, there was some great grooves and some of the guitar work was first rate. But hard to call this to be honest, but it's pretty much straight down the middle for me. Sympathy For The Devil - A fantastic start to the album. It's actually got a bit of a slow build. That bass line is a banger, but it's been aped so many times that it seems a bit overdone these days. Guitar solo tone is pretty harsh and is too high in the mix. Great mix of percussion in with the rhythm. It doesn't really develop a great deal in the end though, which is a bit of a shame. No Expectations - Nice bit of slide guitar. This is a good little slow number with a bit of swagger. The guitar parts and the piano blend together into a really nice tonal bed. It doesn't really develop much, but it's a pretty decent little tune. Dear Doctor - Country territory now. It's feels like it's trying too hard and I don't like the half shouted gang vocals. It all just feels a bit insincere, without being tongue in cheek. I feel like music like this has to be in one camp or the other to really convince. It's a miss for me. Parachute Woman - I quite like this. But I like the blues that this is quite obviously inspired by a lot more. Give me Howlin' Wolf or Muddy Waters over this any day. It's a really good track actually. Just doesn't have the authenticity that the real trad bluesmen would give it. Jigsaw Puzzle - Nope. Don't like the slurred three note drop in the vocal melody at all. Sounds so non committal and half arsed. And the vocal melody just repeats through the whole song. The actual track is decent. It's got some great honky-tonk piano and a real nice groove, but eurgh that vocal is really distractingly bad. Street Fighting Man - There's an interesting emphasis to the rhythm of this. It gives it an interesting, almost lopsided thrust to it. Again, the vocal is not great. Too much time alternating between two notes. When he goes away from that, it's much better, but it's just a bit annoyingly repetitive. The song also doesn't offer much variety in general to be honest Prodigal Son - Oh, this is much better. Again, I'd prefer to listen to some old school delta blues, but there's a really good driving pace to this and the guitars sound great. Oh. It's a cover. And it seems they didn't credit Rev Robert Wilkins for writing it on the original sleeve. Nice. Stray Cat Blues - This is ok. It's got a nice swagger and a solid driving beat. It never really lands on a solid hook anywhere though, which is a shame. The component parts are decent, but it just never does enough to really grab me. Factory Girl - The guitar work for the intro is really nice. Oh god, the vocal. Is he going to sing in a strained way and fail to hit the high notes the whole way through? So flat. So drawling. Eurgh. Sounds like that guy from Puddle of Mudd trying to sing About A Girl. The rest of the track is really good, but I can't really hear it because of the unforgivable vocal. Salt Of The Earth - Sounds like a Bob Dylan song. It's pretty good. The piano part is great and the blend of the rest of the band sounds so full. It's got some solid drive to it and the backing vocals really add depth. There's enough variety between sections and the vocal line really ties everything together well. Nice little gritty jam at the end too.

4/10 There are some decent ideas scattered around on this album, but overall I don’t think things clicked very often and often sounded like disparate ideas thrown together in quite a haphazard way and then not mixed particularly well. It kind of feels like a home demo of something that could end up being pretty decent with the right producer at the wheel. But no. There are about 10 featured musicians on the credits and two producers (including Mike himself), so this isn’t just a home studio effort. I hear a lot of what artists like cLOUDDEAD, Boom Bip and Prefuse 73 were doing at a similar (perhaps slightly later) time, but their work is far more conherent. What those artists manage to achieve is a general through line in their music that tends to tie the variety of their musical stylings together in a satisfactory way. Mike Ladd seems to have had a thousand ideas and then not considered how to balance, blend and distribute them in a way that is ultimately musically satisfying. That being said, I could see the promise in this and there were moments when things did click into place, like elements of Airwave Hysteria, some of the parts of To the Moon’s Contractor (although that didn’t justify it’s runtime) and the later stages of Feb. 4 ’99 as a few examples. But ultimately, this didn’t manage to engage in a sustained way, despite the scatterings of interest that appeared here and there, which is a shame. 5000 Miles West of the Future - I can hear what this is trying to do. It doesn’t quite blend together that well though. The bass line hints at something more robust, but never really delivers and there’s a couple of odd note choices in there that ruin the flow. It all just feels a bit disjointed. I think the vibe is ok, but musically it just doesn’t really come together very well. Airwave Hysteria - This sample used in the intro and in a few places just doesn’t fit with the rest of the track. I actually think the verse is decent. It reminds me a little of cLOUDDEAD, but not as good. The scratching bit is quite nice too, but it’s all a bit of a jumble. Quite a few ideas that again don’t blend all that well together. And there’s a sample that is quite disonnant against the bass which doesn’t work. Planet 10 - Again, the vibe of this is decent. The beats are nice and subtle, but the singing doesn’t work. He’s tried to make it ‘alien sounding’ but he’s not succeeded in a musically satisfying way. It just shits on the rest of the track, unfortunately. Takes More Than 41 - Now this is shit. Discordant, badly mixed, and terribly sung. Bladerunner’s - Another disjointed intro, but when it kicks in it’s got a nice groove. I like the bass too. There’s a guest rapper who’s better than Mike is. Not a great look. Again, the different sections feel really disconnected acted from one another and don’t flow. It’s like he’s made a bunch of ideas and jammed them together. There are some interesting changes as the track grows, but it starts getting cluttered, which is ultimately unsatisfying. No. 1 Street - This isn’t bad to begin with, but it gets tired. The mix is bad and there’s a big resonance on the bass that’s horrible. His delivery doesn’t seem particularly considered either. To the Moon’s Contractor - There’s some interesting stuff in here, although there’s not enough development or variation to justify a ten minute runtime. There’s some nice bass playing in there though, and some of the harmonic elements brought Air to mind. It is just a bit on the bland side though. I Feel Like $100 - This kind of sound collage in hip hop is wonderful when it’s done right. It’s not done right here. The mix is terrible and things just jar against one another, but not in a satisfactory way. If you can feel some thread of continuity pulling through things like this, they can work well, but this is just too crowded and muddled. The Animist - This has a nice groove to it. The lyrics are not good though. Overall, not that bad, but there’s probably not enough to grip me and not any real hook to engage. The beats were nice and head-bobbing though. Red Eye to Jupiter (Starship Nigga) - I quite like the energy of this one, but again, the chorus lyrics are a bit try hard. It’s quite noisy, but I think that’s part of the charm of this. Things actually blend reasonably well. Not bad. Welcome to the Afterfuture - This one isn’t bad either. The beat has a nice bit of groove and drive to it. But it just never really goes anywhere. Another odd sample to finish it off, Wipe Out on the Wave of Armageddon - This starts really nicely. The swelling pad sounds are nice, as are some of the synth tones and pitch sweeps. There’s a weird and jarring shift at about 3 minutes that doesn’t flow and things start to fall apart from there. Feb. 4 ’99 (For All Those Killed by Cops) - This isn’t bad either. Nice to see some proper fire in his delivery. Another jarring turn at about 3 minutes in that doesn’t flow with everything else and then we drift away again. Some nice elements, though. The beat is lo-fi and crispy and the pulsing bass is nice, as is the melodic line. Decent finish.

6/10 This was an interesting listen. It had a distinctly 80s edge to it, despite being released in 1974, so there must be some element of this being ahead of its time. It also had places where it sounded very reminiscent of David Bowie. From a songwriting point of view, I didn’t find that there were too many memorable hooks that stuck with me past the end of the record, which was a bit of a shame. The vibe was often really good, but it rarely completely engaged me, despite the overall appeal of the sound itself. When they allowed things to get a bit weirder, things were pretty fun, although perhaps less synthy than I was hoping for (now that Eno had left the band, maybe that was to be expected). They do conjure up some really good grooves here and there and some of the guitar playing was particularly decent. There was a slight lack of balance to the album, in that a few of the tracks didn’t stylistically blend particularly well with the rest, like If It Takes All Night and Triptych, but sometimes that can be a really useful device to add a bit of intrigue to an album. It’s probably not an album I’ll be coming back to that often, but there were certainly some interesting aural flavours that were worth hearing. The Thrill Of It All - A good song to kick things off. There’s a nice pace to it that drives it forward with a tight and solid rhythm section. There’s plenty of instrumentation that comes and goes, with the strings and sax offering some interesting flavour. Solid guitar work too. Three And Nine - I’m a bit less keen on this one. It’s a bit more laid back, but it doesn’t really offer much in the way of interest outide of the main theme. There are parts of it I like, particularly the rhythm of some of the vocal lines against the track and some of the vocal blend of lead and backing. Nice, but not overly exciting. All I Want Is You - There’s some cool guitar playing on here. I like the overall vibe and it feels super 80’s, so must have been ahead of its time. There’s nothing about it that really grabs me hook-wise, unfortunately, but I did enjoy it. Out Of The Blue - There’s some great playing on this. Some really nice sweeping phasey parts too. I like the little breaks that they throw in here and there, and there’s a real driving thrust to it too. It’s quite Bowieish, and I like the slightly off the wall descent into mania at the end. Sonically, it’s a pretty interesting track. If It Takes All Night - A fairly straight rock n’ roll number, but with more modern production values. It’s decent, but it does sound a bit like Bryan Ferry trying to ape Elvis a bit too much. I kind of feel like this might have been the jumping off point for Huey Lewis & The News. Bitter Sweet - This is atmospherically interesting. It’s quite grand in a way and the climbing and falling piano is interesting, before the thudding, plodding weirdcore section, which is the kind of thing Mike Patton would take in an even heavier direction almost 20 years later with Mr Bungle. It’s pretty bold and wacky. Triptych - This is also a bit of an odd one. It doesn’t really offer a huge amount of diversion from its fairly plodding rhythm, despite the always moving harpsichord tone. It never really gets grand or big enough. Not for me. Casanova - This has got a really nice swing to the rhythm. Some of the best vocal delivery on the album, too. This is a proper head-bobber and it’s got a bit of grit and attitude to it too. It’s still got that twist of weirdness, bit it’s more anchored and has some really cool guitar work too, which pulls against the synth parts nicely. A Really Good Time - I quite like the attitude to the vocal and the way it sits against the rest of the track. There’s some nice rhythmic choices too, particularly with the descending beats that the band hit together. There’s a nice ambience to the instrumentation here too. Nice track. Prairie Rose - The groove of this is good. There’s a nice drive from the drums and the blend of the different dynamics from the staccato rhythm section and the drawn out vocal and slide guitar is nice. It feels like this track does do quite a bit of hanging around on one thing for too long though. More solid guitar playing, but the vocal sections are maybe a bit too broken up and repetitive. Not bad though.

3/10 I don’t know what happened to this band. They seem to have completely lost any ability to write the type of music that they’re actually good at making about 15 minutes into the sessions for this album. Two of the three big singles (Time to Pretend and Kids) had appeared in earlier forms on their indie label EP a couple of years before this album came out, and the only one that comes close to it, but still isn’t in at their level, is the other single. It’s kind of maddening. Their good songs are bombastic, euphoric, electro indie and when they do that, it’s great. But they seem to not want to do that for the rest of the album. Oh, and their lead singer is bad. With the high energy, big production stuff, it kind of works. The lead and bass lines are the stars and he’s the cheerleader during those, but when he’s left more exposed, oh boy. It feels like the producer is constantly trying different techniques and effects chains to make the vocal better, but it comes across as pretty scattergun and doesn’t really hide how weak the vocal is. Oddly, the guy who takes more of the backing vocals seems a much more competent singer. Maybe he’s just shy. This album is definitely held up by the singles, and I’d happily dip back in to those, but that’s all that’s elevating this album above the real cloggers on the list. Time to Pretend - This is an electro-indie banger. It’s got some interesting sound design, some great hooks and it moves. The beats are good, it’s got real weight and it screams ‘dancing, arms aloft at a festival in the rain’. Vocally it’s not great, but they are not the main focus of the track, so they work. Solid. Weekend Wars - Stripped back and thin, the weakness of the vocal is more exposed here. This is just a bit meandering and doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. It does offer development into different stages, but it feels like someone’s just muted a bunch of channels in the mix and we’ve got about half of a track. The Youth - Another wandering, meandering and thin song. It’s just rubbish. Doesn’t offer anything at all, plods along and then ends. Electric Feel - Another single! This has got a nice little groove to it, and some of the synth work is pretty decent. It is still quite thin in places and never reaches the height and weight of Time to Pretend. It just never really quite delivers on its promises. Decent enough album track, but still feels a bit bland. Kids - The other big banger of a single. It’s got a meaty, solid bass line and the intersecting synth lead lines are cool under that wash of pads. Again, the weakness of the vocal is compensated for by the scale and weight of the track. It’s very hooky and falls into the same category as Time to Pretend. Festival anthem. 4th Dimensional Transition - Another song that doesn’t really offer anything. Plinky synth lines that don’t go anywhere, and insistent percussion that bashes away, completely at odds with the rest of the track. It feels like it’s building to about the 3 minute mark, but it doesn’t build to anything except a drop off and some random guitar strumming that drags on for a minute. Rubbish. Pieces of What - Oooh, more terrible singing. This is the sound of an unbearable twat with an acoustic guitar around a campfire, but with an outrageous amount of reverb on his vocal. There’s obviously a bit of instrumentation, but it’s all very by the book and uninteresting. It finally kicks in 2/3 of the way through, for about 30 seconds, inexplicably, but the drums are splashy and bad, and then it just drifts away and… that’s it? Of Moons, Birds & Monsters - Sounds like pretty unspectacular indie rock, but with synths and a very muddy mix. He still can’t sing. Oh, that’s a bad guitar solo too. When it builds up the soundscapes it’s at least a bit more interesting, but the quality of the rest of the (non single) tracks on here has left me with less patience for this than I would normally have. The Handshake - It’s a fairly plodding little number with some arpeggiated synths. There’s a bit more to this than some of the other tracks. Rhythmically, it’s a bit more interesting in places and some of the synth washes are nice. Do we need a minute of ‘We got the handshake’? And with added whistling. Great. Future Reflections - This feels unfocused and I couldn’t help but lose attention to this multiple times. It’s just a bit uninteresting as a song. There’s at least a bit of an attempt to make it sonically interesting with some of the production, but it’s just a boring song.

7/10 When this album hits its highest points, it is really, really good. At its best, it’s an understated and subtle display of great songwriting and musicianship. The first couple of tracks, for example, are just excellent. It rarely blows your socks off, but it just wraps you up in a blanket and feeds you a metaphorical warm bowl of soup, while you sit back and sink into the audio delights. But there are flaws here. I feel like this is a bit of an exercise in clearing the decks for George Harrison. A lot of these songs are ones that were rejected by The Beatles, and it feels like he’s just throwing all of his ideas out in one big splurge, perhaps without casting enough of a critical eye over the combined consistency and quality of the collection. There are bits that drag, songs that don’t quite meet the highest standards, and just a bit of an overwhelming mass of music on display. I also feel like there are places when Phil Spector’s ‘wall of sound’ really swamps the songwriting and clouds a very good song under an overwhelming wash of instrumentation that actually detracts from the experience, whilst also often washing out any dynamic range. As has been stated a couple of times already for the longer albums on this list, there is a really excellent 9 or 10/10 45 minute album in here, it’s just a shame that there’s an extra hour that saps away some of the magic. I’d Have You Anytime - I really like the way he plays with switching between bars of four and three in the transitions here. The guitar playing is excellent too. It’s really chill and a pretty listen. My Sweet Lord - Obvious classic. It’s just a really well written song. It’s got a solid rhythm section that drives it, and I really, really like the transition of the last line of the verse into the chorus. It’s a bit sickly sweet in some respects, but it’s still a really good song. Wah-Wah - There’s a lot going on in this song, it’s a very Phil Spector production. In some respects, that doesn’t really give things a lot of room to breathe and it loses something from the dynamics because of it. It’s not got the most compelling chorus either. It’s a good song, but not a great one. Isn’t It a Pity - Another solid track that builds nicely from a stripped back start, into something more full by the end. When the bass appears it feels so weighty and rounded. There are some nice chord choices in there too. It’s a nice song, but it does drag on a bit. What Is Life - This has got great pace to it. It’s another very full, wall of sound production, but there is a bit more dynamic range to it, which really helps the flow of the song. Really solid chorus and there’s a lot of movement among the instrumentation that keeps things rocking along. If Not For You - I really like the cadence of the bass chord structure. It’s a Dylan cover and it’s good. Some nice slide guitar playing. Funnily enough, it sounds a bit like a Bob Dylan song done by a Beatle. Who’d’ve thunk it. Behind That Locked Door - It’s a pleasant little country song. There’s some nice guitar playing, and I like the piano part too. It’s simple, but effective. Pretty little ditty. Let It Down - This is a dreamy number until it builds into something more bombastic in the chorus. Some more great piano and guitar playing in there too, but it never really quite lands on something particularly coherent and engaging for me really. Run of the Mill - Love the little toying with the emphasis of the beat during this with a few bars of three thrown in to pull things off kilter. The horn parts are nice here, along with the piano work. It’s an understated song, but it has a little edge of magic to it. Really nice. Beware of Darkness - Again, there are some quality transitions here, with some interesting chord progressions. More lovely playing too. It’s just a really nice wash of a song. It just sweeps over you and wraps you up. Apple Scruff - Ah, blow in and out harmonica playing. Sounds like a small child that might have some musical potential. This song is, frankly, a bit of a mess. The singing isn’t great, there’s too much bad harmonica playing, and it doesn’t really do anything interesting. Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll) - There are some nice elements to this, but it feels a bit unfocused and like there’s just a bit too much to the production. It would probably work a bit better if it was stripped back a bit. It just sort of drifts along without ever really getting that interesting. Awaiting on You All - This has got a lot more to it than the last track, straight off the bat. It’s still very busy and that wall-of-sound production does unnecessarily clutter things. It’s a really decent song, but there’s just too much going on. All Things Must Pass - Is it just me, or is this ‘The Great Gig In The Sky’, but released three years earlier? It’s good. The horns are not great though, and again, I feel it’s over-orchestrated. Solid songwriting though. I Dig Love - This is cool. I like the use of different rhythms, and the space that allows. It doesn’t ever offer a great deal of development though. More quality playing, as usual. Art of Dying - Holy 70’s theme tune intro, Batman. There’s a great pace to this. It’s kind of like if The Beatles had joined with a mariachi band to write a knock-off James Bond theme. There are some great elements, but some of the horn sections don’t fit and it never really lands on a memorable hook. The vocal almost feels like it’s from a completely different song, one that has a completely different energy. Isn’t It a Pity - As if to illustrate that this album is too long, George gives us a second version of a song that is already on the album. At least this one is shorter. It’s got a bit more going for it as well, with some extra developments and a nice build of instrumentation. But why did we need the 7 minute version of this? Hear Me Lord - This is decent. Great playing again. Solid piano in particular. But it’s a little bit dull. I’d probably have more patience for some of this if the whole album was more concise, but it’s getting a bit tiring at this point. Out of the Blue - And as an answer to my prayers, he chucks in an 11 minute track. Thanks George. Again, good musicianship. There are some great ideas in here, some really good grooves and some of the guitar work and tones are really, really good. But it ends up riffing on the same ideas for too long. It’s Johnny’s Birthday - Like it. It’s weird but fun. Plug Me In - This kicks off really well. Great drive, quality playing and a good bit of fun. It’s very much a rock ’n roll electric blues number, but everyone’s letting loose and having a great time. The freedom of the playing gives it plenty of interest too. I Remember Jeep - More blues, less excitement this time. It feels a bit more slap-dash. It’s not bad, but it’s also not vastly interesting, and goes on for fgr too long. Thanks for the Pepperoni - This is another one that’s more like Plug Me In. There’s a bit more to it. The playing has a bit more interest to it and there’s a great pace to it. Not sure we needed 17 minutes of blues rock jamming to end the album though. I’d have more time for this if it hadn’t already been an hour and 40 minutes of music, I expect, because it’s very good.

10/10 How do you review an album of this scope? It’s pretty much the culmination of everything Stevie had learned up to this point. He took a year off his standard ‘album a year’ schedule and spent a bit of extra time working on something new. And boy did it pay off. It touches on his personal journey, politics, fatherhood, love and music itself and it does it all with so much groove, drive and musical talent that it’s, frankly, a little bit silly. It flows so beautifully from track to track, but touches base on some of the most heartfelt love songs, some of the funkiest jams and some of the most brilliant pop hits you’re ever likely to hear. And because it never stops shifting and moving, it fails to ever really slip into the ‘lull’ that other double albums often fall into. Yes, there are some songs that aren’t quite as brilliant as others, but given that there are at least a handful of 11/10 songs on the album, the 9/10s don’t really do much to drag down the average. And that’s without considering the album as a whole. It’s just an exceptional piece of work that just sits tall and proud above the sum of its (quite considerable) parts. I’ve listened to this album three times today and I’ve just started on my fourth. Listen closely and I guarantee you will find something new in so many of these tracks even on your 20th, 30th or 40th listen through. Some of these compositions are so thick with talent and musicianship that it’s almost hard to appreciate it in your first few runs through. But he also never lets that overwhelm things, throwing in something more stripped back now and again to let your ears settle before something massive comes cresting over the hill. Oh, and to chuck out a 4 track EP with limited edition releases of the original LP that’s as good ‘A Something’s Extra’, is frankly ridiculous. Fair play Stevie. Love’s In Need Of Love Today - This is a beautiful tour of Stevie’s vocal range, from the subtle to the soaring, with bits of grit and fire thrown in for good measure. Instrumentally, it’s relatively restrained, but the playing is so good. It’s laid back, but tight and has a great groove to it. This is quite like a jazz piece in that there are some defined chord structures and motifs that are then just riffed on in a more freeform way. Have A Talk With God - I love the blend of synths used on this track. It creates a really interesting soundscape, with the sample and hold driven pad in the background and the sharp, staccato tones, along with that fat, smooth bass. And then layer on those vocals and harmonica lines. Lovely. Village Ghetto Land - An overtly political vocal set over an almost baroque synth composition? It’s a bit of a strange blend, but allows the lyrics and vocal to take centre stage, which I think is the point. His vocal is excellent as always and it pays to have variation on any album, let alone one this long. Contusion - So much going on here. In stark contrast to the sparse arrangement of the last track, this is so full, almost to a hectic degree. Fantastic synth and guitar playing in particular. It’s got bags of attitude and drive and some really interesting rhythmic changes. I love this track, there’s always some little bit that I hear like it’s new, even though I’ve heard it so many times. Sir Duke - Well, it’s Sir Duke. It swings, it grooves and it kicks. If this doesn’t get you moving, then I presume you have no reflection. There is no fault to be found anywhere in this song. Exceptional composition, supreme playing and a perfect vocal delivery. How can you follow this? I Wish - Oh, so this is how you follow Sir Duke. It takes the pace down a notch, but, oh lord. That bass line. The horns on this track are absolutely spectacular. There’s so much movement all across this track and again, there are little nuggets all over the place that just beg from repeat listens. Knocks Me Off My Feet - What a love song. The vocal to this are just exquisite. There are some great grooves, the drumming is brilliant, and some tasty little transitions that play around with sequence lengths a little bit and makes things flow in a slightly unexpected way. Pastime Paradise - Another classic. That shuffling rhythm is great and it builds so nicely throughout. It’s got a pretty unique flavour to the composition and instrumentation for a pop/funk/soul tune too. The vocals are, as always, excellent. Summer Soft - The piano in this is so good, the way he kind of shimmers over the keys, tickling this beautiful bed of tone. And when it kicks in, it’s got so much vibe and energy. Great, toe-tapping rhythms, more fantastic vocal riffing and an abundance of key changes. Ordinary Pain - This is more stripped back, but it still just grooves. The synth bass is just great too. And then it just changes into a completely different song half way through. The second half is also decent, but is maybe just a bit too lacking in dynamic range. Some more hidden gems in the playing though. Isn’t She Lovely - A song that pretty much sums up the feeling of wonder a man feels on becoming a father. Is it self-indulgent? Certainly. Is it sickly sweet? Absolutely. Does it perfectly encapsulate the feeling that it is trying to put across? Without a doubt. It’s a brilliant pop song. It’s got some sick harmonica solos in it too. Joy Inside My Tears - The pace drops for something with a really nice slow groove. There are some lovely little fills from some of the instruments in here. It’s all just so warm and tasty. Black Man - This is so funky. All of the parts give so much movement and that bass in particular just shifts. It’s a really good political track too, even though one would perhaps not refer to people as yellow or red these days! It’s perhaps a touch long, but I get the point he was trying to make. Ngiculela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing - Another change of pace, but this time with an almost lazy swagger to it. Again, the vocal is excellent, soaring and then biting. Is it a hit single? No. Is it a really decent album track? Yep. If It’s Magic - This is a beautiful song. So stripped back and just allows a focus on Stevie’s vocal, front and centre. A little palate cleanse and dropping of the pace before… As - So, so, good. The little lead key part that just trips its way along is gorgeous, the groove is rock solid, the chord structure just takes you on a funky journey. Oh, and the vocal… Woof. Is this Stevie’s greatest vocal performance? Maybe. The strength of the opening lines of the second verse are just special. His growly bit in the middle eight. The vocal runs at about 5:50. It’s a brilliant, brilliant song. Another Star - This one SHIFTS. Good lord, no double-album closer has a right to be this good and have this much pace and groove. The horn parts in particular are great, but again, all of the parts are so, so good. Just listen out for some of the little guitar licks that just sit there being amazing. Stevie just lets loose on his vocal too. (Extra EP - I’ve not had enough yet) Saturn - Another great song in its grandiosity. It’s just massive, but it’s got really good dynamic range too, stripping way and then building again. Quality musicianship again. Ebony Eyes - Love the phased backing vocals in this. It fells quite silly in its presentation with the little talk boxy bits, and the call of “Saxophone right here!”, but this is again, so quality. I feel like Vulfpeck probably listen to this before every recording session. All Day Sucker - How dare he release a tossed off bonus EP that’s THIS good. This is so funky, there’s so much going on and it’s hook central. Oh, and that lead guitar? It sounds so good and just bounces around the stereo field and you just can’t help but chase it with your ears. Easy Goin’ Evening (My Mama’s Call) - What a way to close everything down. It’s just so chilled and lazy, but it swells and rolls and it’s so cool. I mean you wouldn’t buy it as a single, but to close off the extra EP of a double album? Yes please.

6/10 From a technical standpoint, this is a really great album. The quality of the playing is excellent, and they’re a really tight unit. They also create some really great soundscapes and interesting sound palettes, particularly for a record from 1971. But I found that, while I appreciated the technicality of the music, it often didn’t really connect with me on an emotional level, or really have much in the way of memorable motifs that hooked into my brain. They also have a tendency to go wandering off (pretty typically for prog, I suppose) and lose reference to the core thrust of the track here and there. When they allowed themselves to work a little more tightly to a fixed centre, things were better, even when that centre shifted throughout the track like it does over the duration of Starship Trooper’s three parts. There were some sections of these tracks that were superb, and I did find certain instrumental flourishes really grabbing me, but my interest also ebbed and flowed a little too much for things to fully connect. Yours Is No Disgrace - A great attention grabbing intro that messes around with meter and rhythmic emphasis, and then we dive into some proper spacey driving music. It’s really cool. The vocal harmony section is nice enough, but didn’t really grab me, and then they fire back into it. It’s so tight and the playing is so good. The arpeggiated leads are particularly good. Some of the ideas and playing are very good, but things do lull a bit and drift slightly too far away from the core ideas for my tastes. When it’s good though, it’s great. The Clap - This is a nice little piece, with the ebbing and flowing of the tempo really adding a bit of interest to the feel. Supremely talented playing, obviously and reminds me a bit of those old school delta blues players. It doesn’t really have much in the way of a memorable tune, but as a technical exercise, it’s great. Starship Trooper: a Life Seeker, b. Disillusion, c. Würm - Technically, three tracks. This concedes the need for a more central hook to riff around and it benefits from it. They still get to go weird and experiment with effects and synth lines, but things have a more grounded centre. The middle section blends this idea with some of the frantic, technical acoustic playing of The Clap and then the staggered vocal harmonisations build a great bed of sound. The slow build of the final section adds a lot of grit to things and there’s some really great drumming in particular in there. Even though this track did wander about a bit and touch on a load of ideas, it felt more centred and focused than what has come before. I've Seen All Good People: a. Your Move, b. All Good People - This has gone quite folksy. Again, it feels like there’s a bit more focus here. It’s a pretty slow build. Some of the vocal rhythms are pretty nice. And then we hit a bluesy swinging development. Solid playing again, but I’m struggling to be massively engaged by it for longer periods while it noodles away. A Venture - This has a nice lilt to it. Again, I find myself admiring the technical nature of it rather than being emotionally engaged. While a lot of the surrounding instrumentation is great, the central vocal theme to this just doesn’t grab me, and then the piano solo bit is just a bit boring. Sounds like a banging guitar solo is about to happen when they fade out too. Perpetual Change - This feels like it’s calling back to the opener with its intro, but it doesn’t develop into something quite as driving. Again, there are some great bits in here. When they get to the call and response vocal part, that’s really nice, but it does, on occasion, become a bit meandering and listless. But there is some fantastic playing. And the bit where it just starts panning the whole track to the left before pilling more stuff around the stereo field is really great.

9/10 B.B. King has always been a bit of a blind spot for me. I did have a period when I listened to a lot of blues, but tended to focus on more of the early blues singers like Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson and King just kind of passed me by. But this is a really fantastic live album. I often find that live albums can be a bit iffy, failing to capture the real feeling of interaction between the artist and the crowd, but here, the balance is pretty much perfect. You can get a real grasp of King’s charisma and he has the crowd eating out of his hand throughout, and that live energy is really successfully captured on the record. The playing across the board is so good, and they thread that line between being so in sync with one another while having that slightly loose swagger that lends a great deal of soul and coolness to the delivery. King’s vocal ranges from low and subtle to gritty and fierce, which adds another level of dynamic to the music, and when he lets loose on his guitar, he pours soul and vibe from his fingers. It’s rarely exceptionally complex, but it’s all about the emotion that he pulls out with the notes. Of course, it’s a blues record, so the compositions are all of a very similar style, though there is a reasonable blend of pace across the album, but there’s not likely to be much that jumps out as groundbreaking. But that’s not what you listen to a blues record for really. It’s all about feel, and this album has it in spades. Everyday I Have The Blues - The way the rhythm section pulls this forward is fantastic, seemingly playing just ahead of the beat early doors to get things shifting. His voice is just brilliant, as is his guitar playing. That’s to be expected, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive. Quality playing all round. Sweet Little Angel - And now things slow down. Such cool swagger about this., and he’s got the crowd eating out of his hand. The growl of his voice is just excellent. There’s nothing too complicated about the composition, but it’s all about the feel here, and there’s a great guitar solo. It’s My Own Fault - And we just smoothly slide into another track. More brilliant singing, more cool swagger, more charismatic crowd work. There’s some nice jazzy piano playing here in particular. So much vibe. How Blue Can You Get? - The band does some great work on this one. Despite B.B. telling me to, my focus is nearly always music first and some of the interplay between the piano and horns in particular is great. Quality drumming too, and some more of that fiery grit to his voice. Lovely stuff. Please Love Me - Let’s pick up the pace! There’s so much energy and groove to this, it’s impossible not to tap ones feet while listening. There’s quality guitar soloing as usual and the band play with such great expression. They’re the perfect balance of tight and loose to make it sound like so much fun. You Upset Me Baby - There’s a really weird bit at the beginning of this track, where they start playing something, it sharply cuts out and then something else starts playing. Weird. Anyway, again, they’ve got so much cool swagger about their playing here. King really allows plenty of time for the musicianship to take centre stage, which also gives his vocal great impact when it does come in. It’s all just so much fun. Worry, Worry - This is a masterclass in live blues delivery. Quality lead guitar work, a fiery and emotive vocal delivery, along with a bit of crowd banter, all backed by a band that knows when to strut along and when to flex. Woke Up This Mornin’ - This is pretty frenetic, but it’s a nice switch up in pace and the slower delivery of the vocal offsets it nicely. And then we drop into a great swinging groove. So much soul. You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now - Similarly to Worry, Worry, this gives us a slow build up with some fantastic lazy guitar solo work and then the vocal kicks in with some gorgeous piano lines just tinkling along behind it. Love the switch back and forth between vocal and guitar on this one. Help The Poor - There’s a bit more of a latin twist to the rhythm on this track. It dances around so well in more of a laid back, smooth way. There are some great little vocal flourishes here and there that jump out from the generally subtle delivery and really work to add some spice and fire. It’s not the most exciting of tracks, but it’s only short and closes the album nicely.

6/10 I really liked the tone of this album. It was musically interesting, there was some really nice arrangements among the instrumentation and I enjoyed the subtle delivery of Bill’s vocal. I also appreciate the fact that he does often stray away from the verse/chorus/verse structure, which adds an interesting twist to songs like these and makes things a bit less predictable. When all that came together, there were some really special moments, but I also found there were times when things just meandered a little too much away from the thrust of the track and kind of got lost to introspection. There were bits of tracks where I was just begging for things to be a tiny bit better organised, such as some of the drumming performances, which were just a little too sharp against the rest of the song, or when a sequence repeated for a little longer than it needed to, which was a shame, because often things were so close to being fantastic. To my mind, this is somewhat of a melancholic wash of an album that, were I walking in the rain and having a difficult time of things, it would feel like the warm hug of someone sharing my pain. Perhaps this is one of those ‘right time, right place’ releases that I’m not quite in the right mental place to truly embrace. But regardless of that, it was an enjoyable listen and may well be one that I make my way back to again in future. Jim Cain - This is quite pretty. The shimmering guitar that drifts between the foreground and background is particularly nice. There’s not much to the composition, but the accompanying instruments add some great depth to and variety to the different sections. It’s calm and fairly subtle, but it’s great. Eid Ma Clack Shaw - There are elements of this that are decent, particularly some of the string parts, but the staccato rhythm that persists through the whole track is just a bit relentless and tiring on the ear. His voice is obviously of a certain type, but it feels weaker here than in the first track too. The Wind and The Dove - This is better again. The cliche ‘Arabian music’ in the intro is a bit of a strange addition, especially as it just stops about 30 seconds in and only returns in the final 30 seconds. The modulation between a slightly threatening minor tonality in the verses to an almost melancholic major key in the chorus is really nice. Rococo Zephyr - There are some really nice moments in this, but I feel some of the sections are a bit to repetitive and the drum mix is a bit too sharp and aggressive and takes away a little from the rest of the chill nature of the track. It’s a decent track, but it just doesn’t quite come together as nicely as some of the others. Too Many Birds - There’s something quite bleak about the lyrics to this. It’s got a nice little rhythmic lilt to it, although I again feel like the drums were a little overplayed in a couple of places. It’s got a fairly bittersweet sound to the composition with some quite uplifting motifs in the instrumentation offset by a quite melancholic performance in the vocal, which I quite like. My Friend - There’s a really interesting transition into a dark passage at about 50 seconds which is great. And then it works its way out into something more upbeat quite subtly. Earlier in the track, the drums feel too sharp on the attack again, but the rest of the track does sort of catch up to them as it progresses. It’s not my favourite on the album, but I quite like the structure of the composition. All Thoughts Are Prey To Some Beast - There’s a slow build to this is the instrumentation becomes more dense. The brass has a really nice tone. Again, there are some bits of this that I really like, but it feels a little like it doesn’t quite come together in a completely satisfactory way and the the core motifs are just a bit too repetitive. Invocation of Ratiocination - I think this refers back to some of Bill’s earlier experimental lo-fi work. It’s quite a nice sound wash, but doesn’t offer much development. Faith/Void - This is really good. Some of the subtle playing in there, like the electric piano, and some of the guitar flourishes, are quality. But by god does it drone on too much. I agree we should put god away, but I’m not sure I need to hear him sing it that many times. This could have been a really good 4 minute song, but it’s nearly 10 minutes long. I have no problem with long songs, but they need to offer a bit more than this.

8/10 The best thing about De La Soul is that they don’t take themselves too seriously. Hip-Hop can, from time to time, become far too serious for its own good, with beef between different rappers, diss tracks and violence, particularly in the more gangsta rap side of the ledger. De La Soul are the antithesis of that. They’re having a good time, they’re making music that’s fun and has great grooves, and when they decide to rip on someone it basically boils down to the, pretty tongue-in-cheek, “you stink, have a wash”. It feels almost as fun to listen to as it must have been to produce. This success of this type of music often rests on the sample selection, delivery of lyrics and the production and, by and large, the quality of all three across this album is very high. There’s great melodic selection, some really funky grooves, and enough audio interest to reward closer listening. They also have great lyrical flows that don’t just stick to basic rhythms, but are also delivered with a melodic edge that helps tracks to really gel as musical compositions, rather than just sounding like rappers with a backing track. The production is also, by and large, excellent, with tracks moving between large scale sample collages, down to more subtle, lyrically focussed efforts. The little skits and pieces also help to tie things together and aid the balance of the album. They also reference back and forth to different tracks here and there, which helps to paint this as a complete work, rather than a selection of tracks. Unfortunately, however, there are a few lulls here and there, and some occasions when the momentum of the album slides just a bit too much for this to get full marks. As is so often the way with albums of this length, it could really have benefitted from a more judicious track selection, as this could easily have been a 10/10 album if it was 40-45 minutes long, rather than a very, very good album that’s an hour and change. Either way, I was glad to listen to this again, and I’m sure it’ll be on again in the not too distant future.. Intro - It’s an intro. Quite a cool way to introduce the group though and sets up the album as some silly fun. (3 Is) The Magic Number - Straight out of the traps with an absolute classic. The melodic edge to the rapping adds a musical edge that can often be missing in some hip-hop records. Sample use and scratching add some variety through the track, and the main hook is just excellent. Banger. Change In Speak - There’s an interesting offbeat lilt to the rhythm here with the two drum loops playing against one another. The sample choices and blends are great. The rapping is subtle and flows well, and just like that, it’s over. Cool Breeze on the Rocks (The Melted Version) - A little skit to continue from the intro. Not the original version, due to sample clearance issues. Can U Keep a Secret - Suitably silly. This is kind of like a stupid takedown of diss tracks, and I’m here for it. Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin’s Revenge) - It’s perhaps a little too stilted from a rhythmic point of view, but when they start layering up the samples, things start to flow a little better. It’s a bit of a classic really, and they again have some great hooks and memorable lines. Ghetto Thang - The flow of this is really great. It’s super smooth. It’s less hooky than other tracks, but the bounce of the groove is fantastic, and there are some great choices in the rhythmic flow of the rapping, with good variety in syllable use to drag the emphasis around. Transmitting Live From Mars - A nice little intermission track. A few great sample choices and it creates a very evocative little piece to prepare us for… Eye Know - Another Classic. It’s harmonically rich, the grooves are great and the rapping is top notch. Sample choice is excellent here and it’s super funky, but with a nice chilled edge. It feels kind of timeless really, like it could have been made yesterday. Take It Off - Another fun little interstitial track. You can just hear how much fun they're having and it really adds to the vibe of the album. A Little Bit of Soap - More comedy, more great sample selection. Tread Water - There’s a bit more urgency to the beat on this track It moves really well, but it’s perhaps a bit lacking in hook and variety compared to the real prime cuts on the record, but it’s got great groove, and it’s a very worthy album track. Potholes in My Lawn - Another classic, and this might be one of the silliest yet. Yodelling and Jew’s harp samples? Why not? This was the first hip-hop song played on Mars, weirdly enough. Musically, it’s a bit thin on prominent and consistent tonal samples, but it makes up for that with the scattergun silliness of it all. Say No Go - And we’re back to something more consistent in flow. It leaves the focus on things more toward the rapping here, but there are some great samples in there too, particularly the little lead guitar. A proper head bopper. Do as De La Does - This one’s pretty silly too. Another one where they’re just messing around and adding to the fun vibe of the album. It doesn’t do a vast amount other than that, but it’s still got a good body moving groove to it. Plug Tunin’ (Last Chance to Comprehend) - The groove to this is decent, but it lacks a little bit of the magic some of the other tracks and kind of plods along without ever giving enough of a hook, or displaying enough range to be vastly interesting. De La Orgee - Kind of takes things away from the silly vibe of the record for me. It’s largely been fun and games up to this point, and it just feels a bit jarring. There’s been more adult content before, but it’s not been as blatant and in your face as this. Buddy - This is better. Solid grooves, nice bass line, some solid tonal samples to give it musical interest and some nice passing of the vocal around the group. It’s not massively varied, but it’s decent. Description - Another little interstitial track. It’s got a nice vibe. Me Myself and I - Classic. So much vibe and so hooky. There’s some great production on the samples here to give this a unique flavour and the sample choice is perfect. Superb flowing verses and then a banger of a chorus. No notes. This is a Recording 4 Living in a Fulltime ERA (L.I.F.E.) - Less hooky, but this has a great vibe, and it grooves really nicely. Production is fantastic and there’s some really solid scratching on there too. The vocals have more prominence here than other tracks and it’s a cool juxtaposition in styles against the previous track. I Can Do Anything (Delacratic) - This is cool. More fun with solid beats. D.A.I.S.Y. Age - This is ok. It’s a little bland and stilted and doesn’t really go anywhere. Can’t help but feel this could have been given the chop.

4/10 This is the album of a man coming to terms with the end of his life. Largely, the songs relate somewhat to that context and, at its best, it’s a poignant and touching piece of work. Unfortunately, it isn’t actually at its best for all that long. When the frailty of his delivery works with the style of the songs, there are moments of magic, like Hurt, I Hung My Head and First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, but there are also times when it just doesn’t connect and the weakness in his voice becomes a weakness of the song as a whole, Bridge Over Troubled Water being a fine example. There are parts of that song that just soar with the correct vocal delivery, but here it just falls flat and sounds weak. And things aren’t helped by the production. In places, things sound super sharp and crisp, but there are places where Johnny’s vocal mic is way too hot and it throws distortion over the main focus of the track while the rest of the instruments are super clean, so it just sounds off. There are also a few areas where the mix of instruments feels a little jarring to my ear. I think one issue with this album is the length. If it had been kept to a tight 35 minutes, this would have probably worked far better. Cut out some of the lulls and I might have been more engaged in some of these tracks. But the truth is, the tracks on this album that I like are almost exclusively tracks that I would choose the original to listen to over Old Johnny Cash’s rendition. I appreciate what Johnny was going for with this, but, despite a few genuinely lovely moments, as a whole it was just a bit wide of the target. The Man Comes Around - This is ok. I quite like the transition from verse to chorus, but it’s a bit too repetitive for fairly big chunks. His voice has echoes of what it once was, but it’s faltering and doesn’t convey the power that would have benefitted this song. Hurt - This was a genius track selection, taking the song of a young man struggling with life and reframing it as the song of an old man coming to the end of his. The stripped back nature of the orchestration works so well. It’s a shame about the clipped vocal recording as it would sound better clean to my ears. The dynamic growth of the track is brilliant and the way it just rings out at the end is perfect. A brilliant performance of a brilliant song. Give My Love To Rose - This is nice enough, I suppose. It’s pretty simple, but it’s just not vastly interesting. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Oof. The weakness of his voice here really doesn’t work. The instrumentation is a bit odd too. I think there’s a couple of mellotron parts in there that don’t work well with the acoustic instruments in this mix. Fiona Apple’s vocal is just weird too. This is just bad. I Hung My Head - This is better. The frailty of his voice works better with the song and the way that the dynamic of the track changes with the instrumentation is nice. It’s not over-orchestrated like the previous song was either. First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Again, stylistically this works. It’s sparse and poignant. The instrumentation is subtle and mainly takes up the lower register, with only the arpeggiated guitar offering some brightness. It clips the vocal again near the end, which is annoying, but this was a really decent track. Personal Jesus - This is a bit of a mixed bag. I actually quite like the arrangement and the track itself, but the slightly lazy drawl of the vocal just takes something away from it for me. I just don’t quite believe in the delivery. In My Life - This is such a pretty song and it is quite a poignant delivery in a way, but it’s also quite a weak delivery that takes something away from the purity of the melody to my ears. I do not like the glockenspiel at all. It’s just sounds rubbish. Sam Hall - This is just an old country song. It sounds like a thousand other country songs and there’s nothing there to elevate it above that. I don’t hate it, and I quite like the bouncy rhythm of it, but it’s just nothing special and lyrically it’s just boring. Danny Boy - Oh do fuck off. It’s an overplayed song, his timing is all over the shop, and it’s boring. Desperado - Another one where the instrumental is nice. Another one where his vocal doesn’t connect and it just gets worse when Don Henley comes in for some random lines and is recorded too hot. Big old bucket of meh. I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry - At least this duet actually connects a little bit better than the two previous ones. There’s just so little pace to this that it feels like it’s almost at a standstill. Tear Stained Letter - I quite like this song actually. It’s got a bit of zip to it. The piano part gives it a bit of momentum and dynamism. He actually sounds a bit invigorated in his delivery of the vocal here too. It’s not the most exciting song in the world, but it’s decent enough. Streets Of Laredo - Well this song seems longer than three and a half minutes. It’s just the same four bars round and round again. I know it’s supposed to be about the story, but it’s just relentless. We’ll Meet Again - Calm down, Uncle Albert. This is just bad. His vocal is bad, the orchestration is uninspired and it’s just a terrible way for Johnny Cash to wave goodbye to the world. Oh, and the shit gang vocals have just come in. Shit Sandwich.

3/10 As someone who never really pays attention to lyrical content until a number of listens in, hip-hop can be a very hit and miss genre for me. I appreciate the rhythmical flow of a rappers delivery, but if the focus is lyrical, rather than rhythmical, it often doesn’t connect with me, especially if the rest of the track is musically limited. Unfortunately, this has had a significant impact on my enjoyment of this album. I did find myself bouncing to the beats, but by and large it’s so musically uninteresting it’s unbelievable. Obviously the focus is supposed to be on the lyrics, but this is music, so the music itself should be important and it’s just not. Some of the sample selection feels like RZA and Method Man have challenged themselves to create a whole album using only samples from records they found in one particularly small charity shop. Some of them tonally jar with each other, while others are just really odd choices. The amount of times this record has a single bar loop that repeats relentlessly for three and a half minutes with little to no production flair outside of a few extra samples chucked in here and there make the whole production feel so phoned in and bland. When Method Man actually adds a bit of verve to his delivery, things can get a bit more energetic, but there are often times when he just drones on in a very uninspiring way and, combined with the limited musical content, it’s just a recipe for boredom. With all that being said, there are a few really decent tracks on here, so it’s not a complete clunker, but as a whole it was pretty uninspiring. Tical - This doesn’t do a lot for me. The beats are ok, but musically, it’s pretty weak. The flow of the rapping is actually decent, but there’s so little drive to the rest of the track that it just drags. It’s like they’ve just grabbed some random samples and thrown them together without much thought. Biscuits - Another one where the harmonic content just seems to be randomly played and looped. The rapping is decent. The beats are decent. The music is shit. It could possibly work as part of a more varied piece, but it just drones on. Bring The Pain - This is MUCH better. More pace, a melodic bent to the vocal delivery, tonal elements that actually work together. It’s still light on harmonic parts, but those that are there actually work with the rest of the track, rather than against it. Really liked this one, but I’m not completely sure how much that’s by comparison to what came before. All I Need - Continuing from the last track, this continues with a similar level of consistency. The gang vocals are nice, the beats groove along well. It’s not the most musically interesting, but it’s well paced and all gels together well. What The Blood Clot - A one bar discordant piano loop and a two note bass line for the whole track. And some irritating backing vocals. Not very good and boring to boot. Meth Vs. Chef - This is better again but, apart from the occasional pause in the beat and some samples it’s another single bar loop that just runs for the entire track. Sub Crazy - There’s at least some attempt to have different musical sections here. They’re still not very interesting though. Meh. Release Yo’ Delf - What’s this? Some actual tonal music? I mean, it’s a riff on Gloria Gaynor, and the horn part jars against the vocal line, so it’s not exactly great. When it’s stripped back to the beat, rapping and horn sample, it’s pretty good, but when everything is playing together with the singing it’s a bit of a jumbled mess. Feels like he’s trying to write an anthem, but it just doesn’t pay off. P.L.O. Style - This one is ok. Again, it’s a very short loop that doesn’t change for the duration, but at least this loop is better than some of the others. The extra samples give it a bit more life and, again, the vocal delivery is good, but it’s all just too samey. I Get My Thang In Action - Decent pace, more variety in the delivery of the rapping, actual fills in the drum breaks and other instrumentation that doesn’t just drone through a one bar loop. Hurrah for musical variety! The musical content is still pretty thin, but there’s so much more emphasis on the vocal delivery that it carries this much better. Mr. Sandman - There are bit of this that work well, but it’s just a bit messy overall. There’s a lot of background noise going that just makes it sound cluttered. The use of the Mr Sandman sample is a bit weird. I appreciate the fact that there’s a bit more variety and range to this, but it just isn’t executed very well. Stimulation - Another track, another random assemblage of samples. Still some decent rapping, but it’s all very one-note. When he gives the lyrics a bit more range and dynamic to the delivery it works so much better, but this just drones on like the bass line. Method Man (Remix) - A remix of a track from another album on this list. Vocal delivery is better here. The track has a bit more range to it too and the samples actually work together, which is novel. Not a bad track to end what has been a fairly underwhelming listen.

8/10 The first time I stuck this record on, I was drawn to some elements of it, but it kind of washed over me a little without dragging me in. After a couple more runs through, particularly after paying closer attention for a track by track breakdown and then letting it wash over me again, it just kept getting better and better. There’s so much to like about this. It’s brash, it’s noisy, but there are also hooks and melodic elements that just bubble out from the cacophony, or force their way out from the noise. In some ways, one could call it unfocused, but there’s an element of ‘stream of consciousness’ about it. It’s like a Kathe Koja novel in audio form, it’s grimy, punky and not the easiest thing to parse at first glance, but there’s so much life and experience poured into it that it feels like a very specific life, time and place distilled into a grubby piece of art that sometimes borders on horrific. You can definitely hear the influence of this on some of the more punky grunge bans like Mudhoney, L7 and Nirvana, so it’s really interesting to hear the genesis of that sound that would take on its own life only a few years later. The fact that the vocals are sparingly used adds to the sense of disorientation really works, because when they do appear they centre the record again before it spins off into more fire and fury. There are a few lulls here and there, and it’s not exactly the easiest of listening pieces, so it’s not going to get top marks, but it was a fantastic experience nonetheless. Schizophrenia - The way that the bass doesn’t just pick the obvious root notes for the chord choices and the impact that has on the feeling of the progression is really nice. It plays with song structure a little, but doesn’t drift so far as to become disconnected. They’re not afraid to be sparse, but they also never allow the momentum of the track to be lost. There’s a lot to like about this. There’s good grooves, hectic noise and great dynamic changes. Catholic Black - This comes out of the blocks with great pace. There are some solid riffs in here and it becomes pretty frantic in places. Again, they’re not afraid to make things a little experimental and have a drastic tempo change. It’s nice and hooky while still being brash and noisy. Beauty Lies in the Eye - This creates a very thick ambience with Kim Gordon’s voice barely revealing itself through the noise. It threatens to take off, but remains restrained. Stereo Sanctity - This is great. It takes that noise wash from the previous track and injects it with some real energy. The drumming, in particular, is great. It feels like he’s just about clinging on to the tempo, which really adds to the raw, frenetic, almost psychotic feel of the track. There’s more going on within the noise than there might initially appear too, and the slow build from the breakdown is great. Pipeline/Kill Time - More frantic energy and ebb and flow here in the first half. They tread a fine line, throwing memorable little riffs here and there, but never allowing things to take too mach of a focus. Then things drift into an echoing cloud of feedback. There are some great tones that they pull out of the guitars that just taste like anxiety. Tuff Gnarl - This one feels like they’re stretching things a bit far. The more traditional song elements don’t really connect with me and I don’t really gel with Thurston’s vocal delivery. When it drops to the noisy section, it’s a bit uninspiring until it starts speeding up, which is pretty good. But overall, it’s a bit meh. Pacific Coast Highway - There’s a lot of attitude here. I love Kim Gordon’s vocal delivery. Everything is so brash and threatening, and then we drift away to a more stripped back section. Things are almost pretty, but the distorted tones maintain that menacing edge. Hot Wire My Heart - This feels the most like a traditional song on the album. Turns out it’s a cover of a Crime song, which is why! It feels a little bit run of the mill compared to the rest of the album because of that. We still get the noisy cacophony of the Sonic Youth sound, but it loses a bit of the spaced out, avant edge that the album has developed until this point. Cotton Crown - There’s a lot of interesting work being done between the two guitars here and there on this track, with Kim Gordon and Steve Shelley keeping things just about pinned down with their rhythmic and tonal core. And the vocal sections that bookend the sludgy, noisy centre have enough hook to frame it all with something that you can cling on to after the track has ended. White Cross - The drumming here is fantastic. Again, we’re into frenzied fury territory. This is a really fantastic track. So much tempo, rage and some fantastic combinations of rhythm and attention grabbing riffs. Master-Dik - This has some great rhythms, not just from the drums, but some of the bass and guitar that just peek out from the wall of noise. The vocal is more prominent here than on most of the other tracks. It feels like it’s on the edge of collapsing quite a few times and then things just about cling back together again, which creates a really interesting effect. The ending is brilliantly weird.

6/10 This is album is significantly greater than the sum of its parts. Jerry Lee Lewis is not as good a singer as he thinks he is, and certainly not as good as some of the singers who recorded more famous versions of many of these songs. It’s also essentially a covers album, with Jerry only having a hand in writing two of the songs on the album. That’s not exactly uncommon for this type of music at the time, but still worthy of note when comparing this to other ‘essential’ albums. The band are, in the most part, excellent. There are great performances all round for a lot of the album, although they do have a tendency to try and attack songs with just a touch too much pace here and there, which leads them to struggle to hold things together. When Jerry lets things flow, his piano work is also excellent, but it’s clear that he can also get quite carried away with trying to show off and throws to many glissandos and trills all over the place and has a tendency to overplay when he gets a bit too worked up. But despite all that, the energy and feel of this recording just elevates things above the level that they would otherwise be. The delivery is often electric, and it’s hard to avoid tapping along as they blast through song after song. The attitude and ferocity of the fun they’re obviously having on stage really comes through and spin a real thread of gold through the performance. It’s not necessarily a collection of great songs, but more a record of an invigorating performance. Mean Woman Blues - This has way more pace than I was expecting. It’s a great rock ’n roll song, but it definitely feels like he’s aping Elvis, who had recorded this 7 years previously, in his delivery in a couple of places. When he forgets that it’s better. It’s brash, fast paced and has bags of attitude. High School Confidential - Another good, pacy number, but it feels like he’s trying too hard to give it everything and his timing goes a bit all over the place later on. Money (That’s What I Want) - I’m not that keen on his vocal delivery in places here, it’s a bit hit and miss. Again, it’s a very competently delivered rock ’n roll performance of a well written song. Sounds like they’re having a lot of fun. Matchbox - A bluesy number. He certainly likes sticking his own name into songs, doesn’t he? There’s a great little swing to this. Again, a solid performance. What’d I Say, Part 1 - The pace goes back up again. Apparently, this Ray Charles composition is the first ever soul song. Jerry Lee certainly didn’t get the memo with his straight rock ’n roll cover of it. It again feels in places like they’re just trying to play things as fast as they possibly can, which compromises things a bit for me. What’d I Say, Part 2 - For the second half of this song, they control things a bit better, and it works better. He can generate some fantastic grit on his voice. Great Balls of Fire - It’s obviously a classic. But I don’t actually like the incredibly affected delivery of the lyrics, particularly the ‘goodness gracious, great balls of fire’ lyric. Great performances all round apart from that though. Good Golly, Miss Molly - So much energy and drive and great performances. His vocal just isn’t as good as Little Richard’s though, is it? He definitely believes his own hype and can’t rein it in, even when the other musicians are having their moment in the spotlight he can’t help but throw glissandos all over the place. It’s quite funny really. Lewis Boogie - Only the second song on the album that he wrote and he had to put his name in the title. It’s actually one of the weaker songs on the here. It’s decent, but it’s just a fairly one-note standard blues progression with some nonsense lyrics. The guitarist has a great little solo. Your Cheatin’ Heart - A bit of variety, but his crooning isn’t actually great. When playing more up-tempo stuff, the delivery works, but it’s just over the top for this type of song. His piano playing is ace though. Hound Dog - A classic song. The band, as they are most of the time, are smashing it, but again, he just can’t provide the nuance in his vocal delivery to give it the feel that better vocalists would get out of this song. Give me this instrumental with a more controlled singer and we’d be on to a winner. Long Tall Sally - More Little Richard. Another great song where the vocal just isn’t as good as the original. And again, the band are smashing it, although they are on the edge of trying to attack this with too much pace, but you can’t deny the energy. Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On - There’s a load more groove to this because they’ve slowed things down and allowed room for it to vibe, but things get too cluttered when they start going for it. The band are on decent form, but actually, a bit of the magic is kind of lost when they lose the ferocity.

4/10 Elvis was obviously a legend, responsible at least in part for the breakthrough of rock ’n roll to a mainstream white audience. Listening to this, you can get a bit of an idea why. He takes some really great tracks like Ray Charles’ I Got a Woman and Little Richard’s Tutti Frutti, sands off the edges and presents it in a pretty boy package that has just enough edge to make it feel rebellious to teenagers, but not so much edge that their parents ban it from the family record player. But to me, that sanding off of the edges just dulls the quality of these tracks. I’ll happily listen to Ray Charles and Little Richard’s versions of these tracks now and again, but have literally no reason, with modern access to music, to ever chose the inferior product that Elvis provided. And that’s before we mention his voice. It just rubs me the wrong way. When he’s crooning, it’s bad enough, but when he puts on that affected seal-like quick legato into his phrasing, I find it massively irritating and inauthentic. As a 70 year old record, it sounds remarkably clean as a recording, the band are largely doing a good job, and I frequently found myself tapping my feet along to the music, but what I enjoyed, I enjoyed in a way that I’d enjoy a decent cover band at a wedding. I’ll enjoy them while I’m there, but would never choose to listen to their versions of classic songs over the originals if I had access to both versions. And there were quite a few tracks that I wouldn’t even bother with the originals either. Extra points for cultural impact and importance, but I this won’t be troubling my speakers again. Blue Suede Shoes - This is obviously a classic. It’s also a pretty straight cover that adds a bit of pace to the original but not much else. Elvis approaches it with a swagger and you can see why he took off. The recording sounds great and it’s a solid rock ’n roll song. I’m Counting On You - This kind of crooning nonsense just doesn’t do it for me. It’s a competent composition, but boy is it insipid and boring. I Got a Woman - Ray Charles wrote it and did it so much better. Elvis puts on his awful, affected whooping style to his vocal which is just terrible. It’s a decent enough performance from the band, but why would I listen to this when I could listen to Ray instead? Ons-Sided Love Affair - Looks like he was the first one to actually record this one! More of that affected vocal that’s just irritating though. It’s pretty thin gruel, although the band perform well enough and there’s some nice bits of piano. I Love You Because - More crooning crap. It’s boring. Just Because - This is pretty uninspired too. The guitarist sounds like he’s struggling to keep up with the pace. It’s just a bit sloppy all round, sounds very thin. I quite like the rhythmic thrust of it, but it’s just not got enough substance to be any good. Tutti Frutti - See my comments about ‘I Got a Woman’. Give me Little Richard over this any day. It’s a good song, but this version just doesn’t do anything to justify itself over listening to the original, just sands off the edges and strips it of drive. Sloppy guitar solo too. Trying To Get To You - Softer, worser, slower, weaker. Daft Punk wrote a song about how to make a better song than this. It’s just boring. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You) - At least there’s a bit more pace to this. But there’s more of Elvis’ affected gulping vocal that just rubs me up the wrong way. It’s also not very interesting. Can’t help tipping my feet to it despite myself, but it’s more of the same really. I’ll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin’) - Croon. Yawn. Blue Moon - Even slower. Even more crooning. And it’s just the same thing round and round for two and a half minutes. Even Elvis sounds like he isn’t arsed. Money Honey - This just sort of plods along and doesn’t really give me much to chew on. It almost feels like they’re slowing down because they’ve got a bit bored themselves and are just starting to phone it in. Elvis is still giving it a bit of effort, but again, I just find his vocal grating. And we’re done.

10/10 The thing that kept coming to mind while listening to this album was just how good Marvin Gaye’s vocal performance is, Every note, from start to finish, is absolutely stunning. The instrumental composition and performances are also exceptional, but it’s so hard not to have your entire focus pulled by the vocal that you have to make a conscious effort to absorb everything else that’s going on. But just discussing the vocal performance here does the album a massive disservice. It’s a remarkable piece of social commentary, a masterclass in mood and tone, and an intensely personal exploration of the world around Marvin Gaye circa 1971. What’s also important to note is that releasing something like this was an incredibly bold move. Motown had typically been a hit single factory up to this point, and Berry Gordy didn’t even want to release the title track, only to turn back round and ask for a full album when it became their fastest ever selling single. It’s a fascinating work that really toys with the idea of this being a selection of individual songs, rather than a unified piece, and there are places where you can’t even tell where the transitions between songs happens without keeping an eye on the track count. There is so much groove and soul to this album that it almost drips out of the speakers, but it’s all laced with a deep undercurrent of wistful melancholy that just hooks into the emotional side of the brain and holds on tight. And with all of that said, it’s actually an album that is far greater than the sum of its parts. Looking at individual tracks, one might not fully appreciate the gravity of the work, or truly connect with the string of feeling that threads through the whole album, but listened to as a whole, it is a truly remarkable work that only gets better with repeat listens. What’s Going On - What a song. It’s got such a groove, an absolutely stunning vocal performance, and manages to be a successful social commentary without bashing you over the head with it. The composition is brilliant, with so many different elements that provide depth and nuance without overcrowding. It perfectly balances the groove with a feeling of melancholy to present a really unique tone.The strings are great, the percussion gives it a little bit of pep underneath everything. And the production is fantastic too. So well balanced. What’s Happening Brother - This is kind of a part 2 to ‘What’s Going On’. It carries the tone of that first track but takes the groove in a slightly different direction. I love the almost aimless stroll of the bass line. The backing vocals add a different flavour, and again Marvin is on point with the lead. It feels effortless. “And tell me, friend, how in the world have you been?” The delivery of that line gets me every single time. Flyin’ High (In The Friendly Sky) - And we drift into a dreamy number about heroin addiction. It’s a bit meandering, but when you connect it with the subject matter that really hooks things up and makes sense. There are some stunning moments in this and it touches base in various places in a remarkable way before drifting off again. Save The Children - And we slip into another track. Marvin’s voice soars and oh good lord, that vocal tone. It’s so rich. This track builds in intensity as the drums gradually become more full, and the saxophone drops in with some great little hooks. The final minute throws in a different groove, it’s almost like a different track and an intro to the next track. God Is Love - The combination of the funky bass, slow strings, the subtle groove of the drums and Marvin’s vocal doubling makes the hairs on my neck stand up every time. There’s something about this track that just hits me so hard. It’s just exceptional all round. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) - And quick transition, the groove sticks around but the tone switches to more of a lament. There’s a lot going on in the instrumentation for a lot of this album and it’s easy to miss it because Marvin’s voice just demands your focus, but when the instrumental section for this track has it’s moment, the players get to shine. The groove of the bass, some brilliant horns, piano, percussion, celeste (I think?), strings, the whole works. Right On - Continuing the theme of the second half of ‘Mercy Mercy Me’, there’s a bit more space for the players to have some fun. This is such a great, jazzy groove that oozes soul. There are places where it maybe drags a tiny bit, but there are also some really beautiful phrases and riffs that pop out here and there, and Marvin’s little bits and pieces of vocal are a delight. Wholy Holy - This is a more sparse effort that softly ebbs and flows. It feels like the parts drift away from each other and then just thrust back together again in little bursts. It keeps teasing little resolutions, but quickly returns to points of tension, setting us up for the finale. Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) - Marvin’s vocal through the intro here is the epitome of soul. It’s so smooth and when he doubles up it’s so, so clean. The groove is restrained, but it just pulses so nicely. The build of the instrumentation is pretty special, too. The control of how instrumental parts dip in and out is exceptional. I absolutely adore some of his vocal harmonisations in this track. And then we get that lovely piano and vocal duet before the congas come in and we drift away.

3/10 I went into this album hoping that I’d be opened up to something great that had passed me by because it’s not in the typical genres that get recommended to me. Unfortunately, any good will I had was fairly quickly decimated by the horrific production style of Jack Antonoff, who has seemingly never heard of the term nuance. I assume his middle name is Anton, so he shall henceforth be referred to as Jack Off. Underneath a lot of the production fuckery, there are actually some decent tunes in here. There are some nice vocal hooks, some good pieces of rhythmic delivery and some promising musical structures, but there is literally no dynamic across this album at all. It’s like Jack Off has just pumped every track through a maxed out compressor and then a brick wall limiter, programmed every note of the synths, samples and drum hits at full 127 MIDI velocity and then cranked Lorde’s vocal so loud that it completely dominates the mix. It’s actually painful to listen to. This production style really doesn’t help Lorde’s vocal delivery either. When she drops into that indie-girl, infantilised, breathy, ‘can’t pronounce my Rs properly’ voice, it’s made worse by the fact that it’s so in your face. She clearly has a decent voice, but she insists on putting on this affect that just drains my tolerance and rubs me up the wrong way. But with all of that said, this album has actually left me moderately interested in taking a listen to a Lorde album that Jack Off had no hand in, because it feels like there might just be something in there worth hearing. And for that, it gets a slightly better rating than I was expecting after the first couple of tracks. Green Light - There are bits of this that I like, and bits of it that I really don’t. The dance piano chords that are completely lacking in dynamic are awful, and I just don’t gel with the club anthem sound at all. When things are stripped back, it’s pretty good, with a nice pulsing but restrained bass. I also find that she sings in a style that sort of drifts in and out of this weird affect that seems to have become popular. It’s kind of an infantilised breathy talk-singing that is common among female indie-pop vocalists. Sober - This is a bit better off the bat, but I feel like it’s going to get worse. Oh, it has. What the fuck are those horns? Other than those, it’s actually not bad. I feel like it tries too hard to force a driving beat in, and this would work better as something more restrained. I can feel a bit of Björk influence here, but it’s been given way too much of a pop sheen. Homemade Dynamite - More indie-girl singing. Again, there are elements of this that are decent. Some of the rhythm in the delivery of the vocals is nice, but it’s all just so overproduced that there is no dynamic range to this at all. Some of the synth sounds are crap too. The Louvre - How is it possible to pronounce your Rs as Ys? And what the hell is that “broadcast the boom, boom, boom” bit all about. Crap. There are elements of the sound design that are actually ok here, but it’s all so compressed and limited that it just becomes a brick wall of sound that has no nuance at all. Liability - This is actually quite nice, and she reins in her voice affect except for in certain places. But by god, how compressed is this vocal? It’s had every bit of dynamic range punched out of it, so the emotion is forcefully stripped out of the track. Hard Feelings/Loveless - The theme of this album strikes again. Some decent ideas, and if produced with a sympathetic nuance, something half decent could have been pulled out of this, but it feels like a half-baked idea that’s overproduced to the point of being almost unlistenable. And then, apparently this is the same track? It’s not. And it’s shit. The singing is worse. The production is worse. And it seems to bear no relation to the rest of whatever this track is. Sober II (Melodrama) - Go and listen to a Joga by Björk. Hear the subtlety in the string arrangements and the dynamic range that builds through the track, combined with the airy clarity of the vocal performance? Yep. None of that here. Obviously, this is not the same track, but there could be a half decent track hidden in here, but it’s just smashed over the head by Jack Antonoff, compressed to fuck and buffed with in your face sample choices. Writer In The Dark - Did they put the microphone literally inside her mouth? Mouth noise (that you can almost hear the automation cutting out between phrases) and compression galore. Vocals way too loud that it’s distracting. It’s supposed to be an emotive ballad, but it’s more like someone drunk and shouting in your ear about how sad they are. Again, a production that I’m struggling to pick out the actual song from. Supercut - A boring indie-rock song turned into a (yet again) over compressed, dynamically strangled club track. Big bucket of uninterested. Liability (Reprise) - As with the earlier version of this track, there’s actually something of value in here somewhere, but it’s clouded by this producer who is continuing to completely throttle every one of these songs. Perfect Places - Another attempt at an arms in the air club tune. That piano that echoes the vocal line now and again is so low effort, it’s unbelievable. This is a bad, pedestrian song made worse by Jack Antonoff.

4/10 Youth And Young Manhood one of those albums where, if the best songs were the album tracks and there were some really good stand out songs in place of the weaker ones, they could really be cooking with gas, but they don’t really ever elevate far above decent garage blues rock. I feel like I’ve seen a hundred bands doing something quite a lot like this and I’m not quite sure why these guys were actually picked up by a label. Apparently their bass player had not even learned the bass when they got signed. Weird. Anyway. This is generally some fairly by the numbers blues rock, with a few moments of quality scattered through the album. A lot of the songs don’t really have a great deal of variety from start to finish, which I often find a bit of a chore to listen to, especially when listening with a focused ear. There are some decent grooves and riffs here and there, though, that keep things ticking along. One of the biggest issues I have is with Caleb Followill’s vocals. A lot of the time I find his delivery to be pretty grating. He often sings in a kind of drawl that involves a lot of sliding up and down to notes, consequently drifting in and out of tune far too often for my tastes. On the faster, more energetic tracks, it kind of works, but any time his vocal is more exposed, I found it pretty irritating. Other than that, this is a fairly ok album. It’s probably a decent stepping stone in their development as a band, but it’s not one I’ll be bothering to return to much in future, as there are a decent number of bands out there that do this kind of thing in a way I find more engaging than this. Red Morning Light - This isn’t bad. It’s got a bit of pep in its step and a decent swagger to it, particularly from the rhythm section. It’s a bit samey throughout though, with the main guitar line essentially following the same chord structure the whole way through. Things do change around it, but it could do with a bit more range to elevate the track. Happy Alone - A nice bluesy rock number. Similarly to the first track, there’s not much change to the core structure of the song, but there are sections where there’s a bit more variety in the instrumentation, which changes things up a bit. I still like the attitude of it and it’s got a decent bit of groove to it, but I’m going to need a bit more variety soon. Wasted Time - There’s a bit more range to the different sections here, which is good. The rhythm section is holding down a solid base to things, but the actual riffs don’t quite connect with me. They’re ok, but not vastly interesting. Joe’s Head - This kind of suffers from the same issue as earlier tracks. There’s not much variety in there at all, at least tonally. There are changes to things, but the vibe is very static throughout. It’s ok, but not vastly hooky or engaging to my ear. Trani - This just isn’t that interesting. It’s very plodding, Caleb’s lead vocal drawl is just mumbled and ill-defined, which is fine for a more up-tempo track, but drags this down. And when he starts screeching towards the end, it’s just terrible. California Waiting - Thankfully we’re back to something with a bit more pace to it. There’s some hooky elements which are decent, but I’m still struggling a bit with the lead vocal. It’s like he can’t quite be bothered to fully commit to hitting the note he’s supposed to and he does some more screeching near the end too. The rest of the track isn’t bad, but it’s also not vastly interesting. Spiral Staircase - Oooh, when things kick in on this track, it’s great. The vocal delivery is much better here, it’s got a bit of bite to it, and it works well with the pace from the other instruments. There are some great little guitar licks here and there, as well as some nice rhythmic stops. Best track yet. Molly’s Chambers - Just that little bit more effort to the vocal lifts things quite a bit. It’s hooky, it’s got a bit of attitude and it’s got some good playing on there too, and doesn’t outstay its welcome. Nice. Genius - It’s an ok guitar riff, but it’s pretty repetitive and only gets broken for a little bit here and there. I don’t feel it’s strong enough to hold a whole song like this, to be honest. When they break into the middle eight and solo section, things get better. This has got a solid, toe-tapping groove to it, but I find the over-reliance on that riff a bit of a let down. Dusty - This is a bit similar to Trani. Not that interesting, quite plodding. It threatens to get a bit more interesting in places, but never does. There are some really awful guitar tones on this too. Holy Roller Novocaine - This is a promising start. Nice, rumbling bass line and a guitar that starts to build. The pay off is decent. It’s a nice, hooky little chorus. There’s nothing spectacularly innovative or complex about this, but it’s got a decent vibe and good dynamic range. Talihina Sky - This is quite nice. Again, the vocal delivery seems a little half-arsed and rubs me up the wrong way. This would have been a nice change up in pace on the album proper, and is perhaps an odd one to stuff on as a hidden track.

6/10 I listened to this album a few times when it came out and have always enjoyed the vibe of it, but it never really had a great amount of staying power with me. Having gone through it again with fresh ears, I’ve got a better understanding of why. Aside from Default, which is a really solid track, there are rarely any really great payoffs for the vibe and structural build of the surrounding work. If they’d have managed to pull off four or five really hooky choruses across the tracks, they could really have delivered something special, because everything else here is great. The production is solid, there’s a really nice blend of instruments, some fantastic non-typical drum grooves mixed in with enough straight four stuff to maintain the momentum. The sound design is also solid and there’s loads of ear candy all over the place. But all too often it builds a great foundation and then doesn’t add anything particularly hooky or memorable on top of it, and that’s a massive shame. I enjoyed the vibe enough that I actually stayed pretty interested throughout, but I was just willing them on to deliver something banging to reward all of the promise. This feels like something of a halfway house between The Bees and Alt-J, in that it creates a similar vibe and has stylistic echoes of Alt-J (who’s debut actually came out a few months after this), but also suffers a little from the fatal flaw that The Bees had, which was that there was nothing memorable about their music at all. Not to say that this is anything like as bereft of engagement as that album was, but there was a touch too much of that, and not enough of the other. That being said, this is pretty good background music, so it may get a few more spins here and there. Introduction - Arpeggiated synth, whistling, vocal pads and atmospheric drums. I think we know where we’re going with this. Nice build to the first track though. Hail Bop - This has got a good vibe to it. Some nice chords in the vocal harmonies and there’s a bit of bounce to things from the synths and beat. There’s quite a lot of variety in the sound design which adds some nice depth too. A pretty solid start. Default - This track has always been the standout one on this album for me. It’s got a great pulse to the rhythm and there’s a really good balance between the synths and other instruments. It’s super hooky, but also just a bit weird too, which just catches me the right way. There’s some pretty cool production tricks and ear candy in play that just give it extra vibe. Firewater - This reminds me of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s ‘Spread Your Love’. Not tonally, but the composition. Anyway, this one’s a bit more plodding. It feels like it’s building a lot, but never really hits the payoff. The synths feel fairly extraneous from the rest of the track here too, which is a shame. Waveforms - This has got a nice shuffling rhythm to it. The vocals build nicely too. I really appreciate the depth to the sound design, as there’s a load of variety if you listen deeply and it does build quite a lot from start to finish. It’s a nice little listen, but it unfortunately never really lands on a particularly satisfying hook to pay off the build. Zumm Zumm - Again, a good groove to this, with some cool little bits of production. It feels like it’s working up to something again. Will it pay off? Doesn’t seem like it. It kind of has the slightly frantic feeling of being in a queue for the toilet while you’re absolutely desperate, only to get to the front of the queue to find it’s the door for the smoking area. Where’s the payoff gents? Hand Of Man - This is pretty stripped back. Some really nice interwoven guitar lines in there. It’s kind of a nice wash of sound, and there are some pretty pleasing harmonies. There’s not much variety to it, but the whole vibe of it is great and it’s a pleasant little listen. Love’s Dart - Slightly ruined by the fact that this (and another track on the album) are used as musical beds for a podcast I listen to. This is pretty nice. Some of the vocal harmonies remind me of something that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s got a nice vibe to it. The drums could be a little more varied, but it’s another nice wash of a listen. Wor - There’s a bit more of a payoff to things here. There’s quality build up, some really nice pace and rhythm to it. When some of the guitar and drum combos get moving, it’s quality stuff. It’s just good fun and there’s plenty of audio interest, as seems pretty standard with this production. Storm - More good build up. More interesting drumming. They often seem to eschew the more obvious beats for something with a bit more variety, which is nice. Unfortunately this one, again, feels a bit like it’s all verse and pre-chorus, but they forgot to write an actual chorus to go with it. Life’s a Beach - There’s an interesting vibe to this. Like surf-rock with a middle-eastern twist. Some nice harmonies, more good grooves, some solid synth work. The breakdown in the middle is pretty lush too. But again, they seem to be allergic to the big chorus that all of the good work is crying out for. Skies Over Cairo - And here’s the other half of that podcast bed I mentioned earlier. Again, great vibe, but it doesn’t really go anywhere that exciting. Silver Rays - More decent sound design and a darker vibe. This synth lines are a tiny bit too piercing in places for me, but when the track drops to the more sparse arrangements the vibe is good. There’s lots of movement across the different parts, so it’s an interesting listen, but again, not too much of a hook anywhere.

7/10 This was an enjoyable bluesy album when it got going. The first side did take a while to get moving, with a bit of meandering and not too much in the way of memorable songs, but things did start to improve towards the end of the first half. One issue I had was that, for chunks of the album, Jim Morrison just doesn’t seem that interested. All too often he just leaves the band to it and just jumps in here and there and, as a result, there’s quite a lot of the band just plodding on. They’re obviously great at what they do, and are a tight, solid blues rock band, but without any of the engagement of the vocal it just feels a bit cold in places. When he showed a bit more energy, things did come alive a bit more for me, particularly with the title track, Crawling King Snake and Riders on the Storm, which were highlights. What I did enjoy was how much the band felt in the pocket. There were some solid grooves and some really nice interplay between the musicians, which is always rewarding to hear. Perhaps Jim was too busy vibing off that to pick up the mic except for when he felt he could contribute. Either way, it was a slightly mixed bag of an album, but the highs were enough to elevate things and the strength of the musicianship made it a worthy experience even on the less memorable tracks. The Changeling - A great, funky little intro. Jim Morrison has a nice bit of growly vocal fry to his delivery which gives a bit of edge to things. There are some good riffs and there are some little switches up here and there that add variety, particularly with the solos, but it’s nit necessarily the most memorable song. Love Her Madly - There’s a bit more swing to this. It gets a bit fairground in places, but it’s a pretty groovy blues rock number for the most part. There are some nice little bits of instrumental flair here and there that add a bit of extra depth too. Pretty decent. Been Down So Long - This slows things down a bit. It’s got quite a strutting rhythm, but it does tire a little after a while because it just keeps on going. There’s the odd fill here and there, but in general this is really more of a jam track than anything else and it’s not vastly interesting. Cars Hiss By My Window - This just plods along. There are big sections where Jim Morrison doesn’t sing and the band just play along like they’re just waiting for him to get involved. They’re a tight unit and they play with a good groove, but it’s ultimately not that engaging even, apparently, to the singer. L.A. Woman - And Jim Morrison becomes a bit more interested! It’s got a good rumbling bass line and a sense of urgency. Nice interplay between the different instruments too. There’s a bit more verve in the vocal delivery and a good dynamism to the playing in the various sections. It’s a slightly unnecessarily long song, but there are at least various phases that it moves through to keep things more interesting, and they mess around with tempo in there too, which is always fun. Best on the album so far. L’America - Nice moody intro, but it feels a bit thin, like there could be more going on to enhance the ambience. It takes a couple of minutes and then drops into something more typically The Doors, before it drops back out again. It’s all a bit of a meandering hodge-podge of ideas and psychedelia. Hyacinth House - This is pretty nice. I like the cadence of some of the riffs and rhythms and the song feels it offers variety in tone through different sections, rather than relying on one theme throughout. Jim has a bit more to do and doubles up nicely with some extra backing vocals. Crawling King Snake - There’s a laid back swagger to this, but there’s enough going on that it doesn’t drag so much as earlier tracks and Jim seems a bit more invested. There’s some really great subtle quality to the playing on this that’s really fun to listen to. The WASP (Texas Radio and the Big Beat) - There’s a good bit of attitude to this. Some really nice playing on there too, but it does have that tendency to drag just a little, like some of the tracks from the first side of the record. And there’s nothing particularly memorable about it either. Riders on the Storm - This one’s obviously a bit of a classic. Again, one where Jim Morrison feels like he’s actually engaging with the band in a more significant way. Some solid riffs and hooks in there and it’s on that catches in your head. As with L.A. Woman, it does perhaps drag a bit and the storm effects seem a little unnecessary, but it’s a good way to round out the album.

7/10 The quality of the musicianship and production on this album is outstanding. Things are super clean and you can hear every part occupying its own space, which is great for noticing all of the little bits of flair within the playing. They are also just super tight and in the pocket together, writing some great hooks and some solid grooves. When all of that comes together, there are some truly great moments on the album, but I did find the standout moments to be a little fleeting. There were times when some of the tracks lost sight of the actual song part of it all and get a bit lost in the noodling. When they allowed the song to take centre stage and the rest of the musicianship to work around that, things were great. To my ears, the David Palmer led songs didn’t really grab me as much as the Donald Fagen ones. Fagen has a bit more swagger and edge to his delivery and it just gives a bit more feel to the tracks and I felt that was lacking a little on some of the others. The first time I listened to this, it kind of washed over me, but I got a lot more feel out of it the second time. By the third time, the wash maybe returned a little, because there isn’t a great deal of stylistic variety. But overall, it was a solid, enjoyable listen and I’m looking forward to their other albums as we come across them further down the list. Do It Again - A nice percussion infused drum beat to kick us off. There’s a lot of feel to this, and some really nice hooks. The vocal line on the chorus, brief as it is, just oozes smooth quality. Some of the solo bits are a little self indulgent, but when they drop back into the chorus, all is forgiven. Really great stuff. Dirty Work - This drops back the pace and swings a bit more. It doesn’t offer as much range as the opener, but it’s still a smooth little track. Kings - Again, there’s a nice groove to this and the blend of lead and backing vocals in the chorus is great. Quality musicianship again and I can just imagine the guitar face going on during the solo. They throw some really nice rhythmic variety into some of the lines that sit further back in the mix and it adds a good deal of flavour. Midnite Cruiser - This is pretty nice too, although I could do with something to lift things soon, as it’s starting to feel a bit too stuck in a soft-rock rut. On its own, this is a decent enough song, but it just lacks a bit of grit. Only A Fool Would Say that - The vocal delivery here gives things the lift they needed. The band grooves really well again, and the vocal takes us along with a bit of swagger and drive. Everything’s so tight and smooth and we get some more quality playing, but things don’t overshadow the actual song. Reelin’ In The Years - There’s a bit of a change to the feel here. It’s got an insistent, driving rhythm, and the cadence of some of the chord changes are really nice, but they keep bringing things back together into an engaging, memorable chorus. And they make sure everyone gets to have their fun with some noodling. Fire In The Hole - Oooh, a nice bit of piano taking the lead. Some of the chord changes are unexpected, which I often appreciate, but the chord sequences do perhaps get a little lost in places. When they settle again for more piano soloing, it’s solid. There are some really solid moments and the groove when the guitar solos come in has got so much feel. Unfortunately, I don’t think the song part is as string here, so the core of the track feels a little weak. Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer Under Me) - This is more mellow. It has its moments, and it grooves along nicely enough, but it doesn’t really kick into a higher gear and doesn’t do much to hold interest beyond being pretty nice. Change Of The Guard - The rhythm section struts along nicely here. The bass line in particular is great. I think the stops in the groove going into the ‘change of the guard’ vocal are top notch and break things up well. Again, this is super tight, well played and produced. Turn That Heartbeat Over Again - This is a bit meandering. Can’t deny the quality of the musicianship, but it just feels like they wander about too much and nothing really sticks in the mind. There are some really decent bits, but they kind of feel a bit disconnected, which is a shame.

3/10 Country music is not a genre that I typically spend much time with and, as a consequence, I feel like the bar I set for it is much higher than other types of music. When I hear really top-tier country, I can engage with it, but the more middle of the road stuff often just doesn’t grab me at all. It’s typically a very formulaic genre with a very consistent sound between different artists and, if you like that sound, there’s a lot to enjoy, but it’s rarely for me. For the most part, I found this to be ok. The more energetic tracks did get me tapping my feet, and the songs were so short that they rarely outstayed their welcome, but it all just felt like a wash of country, none of which really stuck with me for long after the end of each track. There are also a couple of really odd aspects to this album. Firstly, the bass is way too loud, it almost overwhelms the lead vocal, which is super weird, especially as, from a compositional point of view, it’s the most basic element of the whole thing, largely just plodding away. When it’s given that much prominence, it doesn’t really benefit the songs. The other thing is that, for a good few of the tracks, the engineer seemed to just give up part way through and drop the faders. The fade outs were inexplicable, as sometimes there would be a change in the song, a solo, or Waylon would still actually be singing, and the producer would give up and end the song. Which was super weird. Overall, while this isn’t something I’ll be going back to, I also didn’t find it particularly terrible or offensive. But I’m, also glad it was only 27 minutes long. Honky Tonk Heroes - I was not convinced at all by the intro to this track, but once it kicks in, it’s decent. There’s not a great deal to it, composition-wise, but it’s pretty good fun and has a decent swing to it and a bit of attitude. Weirdly, they throw a slightly interesting rhythmic change in at the end that sounds like it’s going somewhere, but fade it out. Old Five and Dimers (Like Me) - This is so slow and plodding, and this type of croony vocal just doesn’t really do it for me. This song just sort of exists and then stops existing without much more to remark on. Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me - Similarly to the previous track, this just sort of plods along. It’s got a bit more to it when the fiddle comes in, but it aside from that it just doesn’t do enough to grab me. And then it fades out while he’s still singing! So weird. Low Down Freedom - This has got a bit more pace and dynamic to it. There’s a bit more range to some of the instrumentation too, particularly some of the less front of stage parts. I’m getting a bit more out of the range of the lead vocal too. It still feels quite ‘country by numbers’ to me, but it’s fairly enjoyable. And again it fades out while he’s still singing! Omaha - The pace is still up. There’s not a great deal to it compositionally, but it’s got some backing vocals to add a bit of extra variety to things, which works quite well. It’s not bad, but it’s also not vastly interesting. At two and a half minutes, I guess it doesn’t need to be though. You Ask Me To - A return to the more croony vocal delivery that rubs me up the wrong way. The solo bits are quite nice, but overall, the dominating and uninteresting bass line and overly hard strummed rhythm guitar aren’t helping me to enjoy this. The best bit of the track gets faded away. Ride Me Down Easy - This just plods along, with very limited musical content. It’s maybe got a bit more going for it tonally than some of the other slow songs, but it’s still not really gripping me. But it does have a proper ending. Ain’t No God In Mexico - A bit of pace again. As with previous tracks, thinhgs get moving a bit more when the players get to have some solos, but it’s not the most engaging track and it’s so short it almost doesn’t get going before it’s done. Black Rose - Stick your thumbs in your belt loops and chew on a stalk of wheat, this here’s some country music. It’s got a nice lilt to it. It’s so unapologetically country, particularly with the vocal harmonies, but it does it pretty well and had me tapping my toes. We Had It All - More croony stuff. A very thin composition and it feels quite stylistically different from the rest of the album. Too much reverb and the bass seems even louder than the rest of the album. What a bad way to end the album.

9/10 Well, well, well. This is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for from this project. A band from nearly 60 years ago that I had no prior knowledge of, but have absolutely blown me away. For an album recorded in 1968, this not only sounds super fresh today, thanks to the quality of the production, but also stylistically pre-empts a lot of bands that I love from later decades. They create an absolutely superb blend of rock, funk, soul and jazz, with a little twist of other bits and pieces for good measure. It’s like if you chucked Dave Brubeck, Tower of Power and Cream in a blender, with a pinch of country and folk spice blend. The balance between smooth, funky and jazzy is pretty damn good, and they mix things up enough from track to track that things never get stale. And that’s before I mention the musicianship. They are so tight. So controlled. So in each other’s pockets that it’s an absolute treat to listen too. The drummer and bass player in particular are superb, but there’s not really a missed step anywhere on the record. The compositions are complex, without really losing touch with the feel, and they can switch tempo and style at the drop of a hat, flitting between something very focused and something a bit more freeform as they go. There were perhaps a couple of slight lulls here and there, and there’s just a little bit of something holding me back from giving top marks, but I’ve massively enjoyed this and will definitely be back. Variations On A Theme By Erik Satie (1st And 2nd Movements) - An interesting intro. It’s played with a pretty straight bat to begin with and then they start getting a bit weird with it. Lots of phasing and grandiosity, perhaps hinting at what’s to come. Smiling Phases - This busts down the door. It’s frantic, yet controlled. So much fun. The vocalist is great, as is the drummer. In fact, they’re all doing solid work here. It’s a brilliant blend of jazz, funk and rock. They just keep throwing changes in there too, but it’s still very coherent. Love some of the solo sections, and it packs so much in to 5 minutes. Exceptional stuff. Sometimes In Winter - And now a folksy, easy listening type track. Sure, why not? It’s well put together and actually makes for a nice settler after the controlled chaos of the previous track. I mean, it’s cheesy as anything, but it’s well written and well executed. More And More - Enough of a rest, let’s kick up the pace again. This is like a proto Tower of Power. It’s not as frantic as Smiling Phases, but there’s loads of groove and attitude to it. It’s got great tempo, and some of those horn fills are just great. Love David Clayton-Thomas’s vocal on this. The rhythm section is so solid too. And When I Die - A plodding little folksy intro, but it doesn’t take long before they up the pace and add a bit of jazzy swing to things. Bobby Colomby is an exceptional drummer. For a song that varies tempo so much, this is so, so tight. It’s cheesy, but they know it and embrace it. That ‘yeehaw!’ is hilarious. It just sounds like they’re having so much fun, but when that’s wrapped up in something so technically proficient, it massively elevates things. It’s really, really good. God Bless The Child - This is smooth. It’s cheesy, but brilliantly so and it sounds like a blend of Weather Report and Tower of Power. Some of the organ chord choices are super lush. The bass playing is quality and they pull the rhythm around but stay so tight. There’s a lot of feel to this too. And why not throw in a mambo style latin section?. They’re really very good. Spinning Wheel - The chorus of this is so good. I feel like the section after the first chorus section drifts a little, but it’s pretty brief and good lord, that chorus is funky. The trumpet solo section swings so hard too. Love some of the little rhythmic fills they chuck in. And that flute bit is superbly silly. You've Made Me So Very Happy - And we’re back with something smooth again, but they throw in some super funky sections too. The way the horns and bass echo each other in some of the riffs is superb. This song does perhaps drift a little in places, but there’s still so much quality in the musicianship. Blues, Pt. 2 - There’s a slow build to this. It’s got a lot of vibe to it, but it takes quite a long time to get going. When it kicks in though. Ooof, that strolling bass line is great, with such subtle control from the drums. And then the drummer gets his go. Again, Colomby is not just in the pocket, he is the pocket. We’re just rotating through the players now. It’s self-indulgent, but so good. They’re all on such form that it’s a great listen, and there’s so much touch and feel to what they’re doing. This does just drift from section to section, but that’s the point really. And why not play some little slices of songs you like. That bit of Sunshine of Your Love is banging and there are a couple of other bits of songs in there that I know less well too. But it’s all good. Variation On A Theme By Erik Satie (1st Movement) - And we go full circle. Nothing to add, except that this whole thing was great.

9/10 Paul Simon writes music that is deceptively deep and complex. There’s so much going on, but there are enough fantastic hooks and choruses that the nuance could easily get missed if you weren’t paying attention. His vocal delivery is, seemingly without exception, flawless. He has this laid back, conversational lilt to his voice that he can flip into a more driven, engaged pace at the drop of a hat and it’s so satisfying to listen to. The blend of his more folksy rock roots and the music of southern Africa is a stroke of genius and the production does a great job of blending those styles, even though it does lean a touch too far into the 80’s gated reverb sound to make it truly timeless. The southern African guitar style that uses really arpeggiated lines that dance around each other in a staccato, rhythmical way is something I’m fond of anyway with bands like Bhundu Boys and Four Brothers, but it brings so much rhythmical style to the more anchored drums that the whole album has this body moving groove to it that’s hard to resist. The fretless bass typically sits between the two worlds and there are echoes of Jaco Pastorius in the tone and delivery, which is always pleasing. This is an album that gets regular replay with me already, so it was never going to get a low score. There are a few lulls here and there that keep this from being a 10/10 album for me, but the strength of the songwriting, hooks and the demand for focused repeat listening, while also offering reward for casual ears too sits makes this a really solid record that I’ll no doubt be back to again soon enough. The Boy In The Bubble - A very good start to the album. The bass line is great. It’s got some great hooks and his vocal is just quality. The slow build of the backing vocals is nice too. It’s not stylistically or dynamically that varied, which is probably the only drawback, but it’s a lovely kick off. Graceland - And now we’re pumping. This just shifts along with a beautiful, bouncing rhythm. Some of the reverby guitar lines are just exceptional. They’re subtle, but add so much depth. I love the little blend of staccato bass and lead guitar lines that skip around together. It all just keeps you grooving and sticks in your head. I Know What I Know - The combination of the different guitar lines in this track are nice, as are the blends of backing vocals. Everything sort of dances around each other, but it’s all grounded by the kick drum. I would often find that a bit relentless, but the fact that it everything else is shifting so much gives it real purpose. It’s not vastly varied across its runtime, but its still really good. Gumboots - This charges along at a clip again. I really love the delivery of the lead vocal on this. He sings in a relaxed way, but leans into the frantic nature of the song at points too. It’s not necessarily the most interesting song on the record, but it’s a solid album track. Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes - Fantastic song. The blend of different guitar lines and the dancing bass are just great. There are so many different sound textures to the different elements of the track and it just melds together into this smooth, danceable, understated production. The horn sections provide a dynamic change that keeps you on your toes and, again, the vocal delivery is just so, so fluid and effortless. You Can Call Me Al - Another banger. That synth chord line that opens the track is absolutely iconic, the bass line is immense, the ‘call me Al’ vocal when he goes high is just perfect. The rhythms are so solid and everything just compliments everything else so beautifully. It’s an absolute masterpiece. It’s got a palindromic solo too, so yeah… Under African Skies - A change of pace now. There are some beautiful harmonies in here. Again, the bass line is great and provides a lot of the rhythmical drive to the track. There’s a lovely flow in the dynamic of the track too as different parts ebb and flow. Homeless - So lush. Ladysmith Black Mambazo bring it here, it’s like a bed of voices, but there are loads of cool little vocal flourishes that pop up all over the place to add rhythmic range and interest. There’s a great groove to this too, which is achieved so well using only voices. Crazy Love, Vol. II - There’s such beautiful guitar work on this track, with the arpeggiated, intertwining lines of the verses and then the more legato, delay enriched lines in the chorus. There are so many parts that contribute subtly to the tone of this one that it really does reward close, repeated listening. I think this would be an easy one to overlook, but it really is lovely. That Was Your Mother - This a more swinging number with a folksy rock ’n roll base. It really moves and fells like it speeds up as it goes. It’s pretty impossible not to jiggle your way through this one. It’s not the most complex composition, but it’s another solid album track. All Around The World Or The Myth Of Fingerprints - The intro and chorus are so solid. Great rhythmic choices and drive. Lovely change of dynamic between the verse and chorus too. The lilt of his vocal in the verse is so good, and the chorus has some really engaging guitar lines. It’s another toe tapper and if anything, it ends too soon. Give us another chorus Paul!

8/10 This record is kind of hard to pigeonhole. There are elements of country, rock, folk, even soul and funk that bounce in and out of the sound, but it all still has a fairly consistent ‘The Band’ sound about it. There is an edge of rawness to the playing and production that gives it a more folksy, earthy feel to it, but when they want to, they can tighten things up and knock out some really excellent, connected hooks that are super engaging. I really enjoyed a lot of the songs, and even the ones that I didn’t connect with as much had elements that I really dug. There were really shining moments of performance from across the group, with some quality vocal harmonies and some really nice piano and guitar playing in particular. As an album, it certainly conveys a very specific vibe, and everything, despite the different genres they touch on, has a pretty consistent tone, which helps with bringing things together as a coherent whole. There are moments I absolutely love and some that I find less engaging, but as a whole, it’s a high quality record that has a few absolute bangers and served as inspiration for a lot of bands that would follow. Across The Great Divide - I love the tone of this. It’s folksy rock, but there’s a good deal of soul to it too. There are some nice vocal harmonies and the variety of different elements from the different instruments provides depth to the composition. The organ line that sits in the background is great, for example. It’s just really engaging and has great drive to it. Rag Mama Rag - It’s a proper country start, with a great swagger. That piano is fantastic and the overall energy is infectious. Hard not to move to this one. It’s got a bit of a raw edge which really works for it too. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The pace drops and the vocal delivery is very evocative in this one. It’s not a perfect delivery, but that kind of works in its favour to make it feel more raw. The dynamic swell into the chorus with the backing vocals and the aggressively struck piano chords and drums is top work. When You Awake - This feels a bit less well organised, but there’s some quality in there. I suspect the vocal delivery isn’t for everyone, but I really like that edge of strain and just hanging it together that it suggests. It’s a bit more of a wandering track that doesn’t ever really find its centre, but it’s still not bad. Up On Cripple Creek - Love this song. The limping cadence of the rhythm is just so good and it’s really funky, with all of the instruments just bringing so much feel. Piano, guitar and rums in particular, but everything’s so good. It’s got a banger of a chorus too. Whispering Pines - There’s a bit of a Beach Boys feel to this. Some of the chord choices are really beautiful and the general ambience is lovely. The vocals on a prettier song like this do perhaps feel a bit more stretched, but it’s a fairly minor quibble. Jemima Surrender - More of a rocky number now. Some great piano playing that just adds quality flavour to the track. There are some great bits of synchronicity between the instruments when they join together for a few key hits and chord changes. The main elements aren’t vastly memorable, but there are a load of bits that are super satisfying. Rockin' Chair - This is a bit of a mixed bag. Some elemets of it a really good, but it does kind of drift in places too. It feels a bit like a jumble of ideas that don’t always flow that smoothly together. The chorus is great though. Look Out Cleveland - The tempo kicks up again and we’re into a rocking number. I like the difference in feel between the verses and choruses and the way the chorus slowly drops before rising up quickly. It’s a great musical effect. Jawbone - They play with tempo a lot here, which is pretty cool. The verse is a little disjointed, but I absolutely love the chorus of this song. Everything comes together so well, and then when they break into the solo it’s equally excellent. The Unfaithful Servant - This is a little on the plodding side. There are some nice bits, but overall, it’s not that engaging to me and lacks a bit of the variety or catchy nature of the better songs on the album. King Harvest (Has Surely Come) - Back for another really funky little number. Some quality playing on this. The vibe is great, but it never really lands on a memorable hook, which is a bit of a shame. But I’ll still enjoy it for the vibe. The solo section is top quality and a great way to round off the album.

8/10 Despite being fairly obsessed with Blue, Court and Spark is not an album that I’ve listened to that many times. I’ve spun it the odd time here and there, but it’s never had as much airplay as it probably deserves. I think part of the reason for that is that I typically prefer a more sparse orchestration than this for her work. The more full band sound can take away a bit of the intimacy that’s inherent in her best work, and it doesn’t quite get its hooks into me in the same way. With that being said, this is still a great album. Joni composes in a very non-traditional way, with her combination of chord choices and rhythmic delivery often providing something counter to the obvious. That could go one of two ways, but with Joni it’s that little element of surprise and wonder that keeps me engaged. Her songs are also frequently one narrative thread, rather than a standard verse, chorus, verse structure, but for me, that just takes me on a wonderful journey, alongside the previously mentioned choices she makes in her composition, and it doesn’t need the more traditional structure to centre things. There are some really fantastic tracks here and I really enjoyed giving it a more close inspection, but I do feel that, as a whole, this album is just a little bit disorganised. It stylistically bounces around a touch too much, with the final three tracks almost feeing like they don’t quite gel with the rest of the album. There’s also the odd lull here and there that allowed my attention to drift just a little bit. The funny thing is, I’ve finished listening to this, only to find myself singing songs from Blue instead. I’ve really enjoyed this and I’ll definitely be back, but I’ll probably stick on Blue first. Sorry Joni. Court And Spark - I love Joni’s piano playing. She makes some really interesting chord choices, and her style is so unmistakably her. It’s a wonderful composition, and her voice is so good as always. Her songs can often be so fleeting, but somehow also have so much to say. Help Me - While my preference for Joni tends to be her more bare-bones arrangements, there’s so much quality in this song. Loads of little bits of instrumentation and rhythmic choices that are so engaging to the ear. It’s got drive and groove, but it’s also so smooth. Free Man In Paris - This is more rocky than I was expecting. Again, there are some really lovely little riffs and lines that reward deep listening. The momentum of the track is excellent and her vocal is so good, particularly the control of her pitch sweeps. The rhythmic stops sections are just brilliant too. People's Parties - This is a bit of a prototype of the kind of sound she’d explore in more depth on Hejira. It doesn’t feel as refined as that album, but there are some really great moments here. She approaches her vocal rhythms in such a great way in which lines can roll from one to the next over parts of bars, rather than always in full bar counts, which is such a great way for the cadence of the vocal to change across a verse. The Same Situation - Some of the sound design here is so nice. The effect on the guitar (I think? Sounds like a synth) in the background adds a beautiful, subtle depth. The song kind of meanders along, but it’s the meandering of a lazy walk in a picturesque landscape, rather than anything aimless. Car On A Hill - This has got a really pretty start and then we get some really unexpected chord changes as we move into the delightfully odd middle section. It’s perhaps a little out of place, but I feel like weird quirks like that should be celebrated. Some gorgeous vocal harmonies in this ones too. Down To You - Things are more stripped back to begin with, just letting the piano and vocal shine. And then there’s this tension that builds, and floats away before we’re back to the sparsity. It’s hard to pin this one down as it drifts and shifts as it goes along. Some moments of pure beauty that drift away from some almost uncomfortable moments of tension. It’s almost a collage of musical ideas. Just Like This Train - This is just very beautiful. She wanders her way through the song which sort of evolves as it goes, with interesting changes to rhythm and feel that might last for a bar or too, but just tweak that feel and inject such flavour to proceedings, but never derail the thrust of the song. Raised On Robbery - This is quite a change. It’s a pretty straight rocker, but it’s so good. There’s some grit to it, but not too much, and it’s got so much drive. Love her vocal delivery again. Perhaps an odd change of pace in the context of the album, but why not? Trouble Child - More typically Joni now. There’s some beautiful guitar playing here and the cadence of her compositional choices are so satisfying, injecting these little off kilter moments that bookmark some impressively pretty passages. Great little jazzy edges here and there too. Twisted - And now we’re pretty much full-on jazz. It’s a cover, but it shows a different side to Joni’s vocal. She’s so, so good. The little bits of vibrato, the switch between spoken and sung delivery, and those little staccato runs. Excellent.

3/10 Aside from the hits, Dexys is a band that I’ve never spent much time with. Looking at the history of this album, I suspect this wasn’t the best place to start. It wasn’t well received, happened after the band had shed over half its members, and they ended up splitting not long after its release. In all honesty, I can see why. There are some real indicators of quality that bubble along under the surface here, and the band are clearly skilled players, with some really great bass playing a particular highlight. But they spend a lot of their time getting in their own way, particularly when it comes to the vocals and spoken word sections. Kevin Rowland has a very particular way of singing, but it also seems to be delivered in levels, so sometimes the affectation is fairly mild and works really well and others, like the opening track, he sings with the slurring mispronunciation of a deaf person who is speaking based on a life of lip-reading rather than hearing speech. At least it’s tuneful for the most part. They also seem determined to make every song as long as they possibly can. You could probably make a pretty good version of some of these tracks by trimming them to 3-4 minutes, but having to hear compositions that don’t offer vast variation over a 12 minute period is just hard work. The spoken word sections are seemingly intended to evoke some sort of concept or narrative across the album, but either the message didn’t really get to me, or they never really committed to the process, because they often just felt tacked on and unnecessary. All in all, this was a bit of a jumble that could probably have been made into something decent with another round of studio time and a good producer, but unfortunately it ended up being a swing and a miss. The Occasional Flicker - This is kind of plodding and Kevin Rowland seems determined to sing in his most extremely affected way. The actual track is pretty good. There are some great piano lines in particular, but it all drags on too much and spends too much time being hidden by the warbling vocal that descends into having a chat for a good chunk of the song. There’s a good song in there somewhere, but they didn’t find it. This Is What She's Like - A minute of inane chatter from one paranoid friend to another. Ok. Then another minute of very drawn out intro. When they bother starting the track, it’s not bad. When singing like this, Rowland’s vocal style is a bit less annoying. The vocal melody is pretty meandering though, but the chorus hook is pretty good. The breakdown section in the middle is quite nice and there are some good harmonies as things build back in, before things kick up a gear, which is pretty good, before another inexplicable pause. I feel like this could have been a really good 4-6 minute track, but it’s a meandering 12 minute epic without enough ideas or range to justify it. Knowledge Of Beauty - This is nice enough, I just don’t feel they’ve done enough to earn the patience for a track like this. It’s fairly pretty and has a nice little country twist, but the vocal is way too loud in the mix, and it’s way too long and it sounds a bit like Kevin’s been drinking quite a lot as the song goes on and he’s had too much by the end. One Of Those Things - There’s a bit of cool swagger to this track. The spoken vocal actually kind of works here as part of the intro. The track has a good vibe, but it just doesn’t really go anywhere. There’s some really good playing in there. Solid bass playing in particular, and the band are doing good work to add musical variety, but the core structure just keeps on plodding. It all sounded the same indeed. Reminisce Part Two - Another rambling spoken intro. Only it’s not just the intro, it’s the whole song. The music in the background is nice enough, but this just feels a bit of a jumbled, directionless record at this point. Listen To This - Here comes something better! There’s more structure, the vocal works better with the track and it feels altogether more coherent. It’s not a brilliant track, but it’s pretty good. There’s a bit of urgency to things and there are some nice little riffs here and there, and there’s a bit of dynamic and variety too. The Waltz - Another meandering, country tinged track. Again, nice touches here and there, the piano playing being a highlight, but it’s just a bit rambling and WAY TOO LONG. If you’re going to write songs this long, they have to offer something to justify the length. This does build, drop and build again, but it takes too long doing it and it just drags because of that.

6/10 Bit of a funny one this. I really enjoyed my time with it, but I also don’t feel like any of it was particularly memorable. There’s not really anything in the way of a hook or melody that’s really stuck with me after listening through a few times, and it all felt like a bit of a vibe wash, rather than an engaging collection of songs. Looking at the two sides of the record, each side was very much of a type, and it did feel like one song just sort of ran into another without a vast amount of change happening, like these we’re all songs written to guidelines rather than anything more personal. It almost felt like you could drop the needle anywhere on the side and it wouldn’t be appreciably different from anywhere else. His voice is fantastic, and there is some really great playing here, with some of the little solos and bits of flair, often from his piano playing on side two, which did provide some standout moments here and there. On the flip side, the recording was not great. I kind of got over it after the first couple of tracks, but every now and then something would clip and I’d kind of wince a little at it, which did hamper my enjoyment a little. Overall, while this was a very pleasant musical world I was happy to inhabit for 40 minutes, and I did enjoy it as mood music, I don’t really feel like any of it really got its hooks into me and is likely to stick with me now that the album has ended. For me, I much prefer his more driven, up-tempo work and I’m more likely to spin that than come back to this any time soon. Let The Good Times Roll - Great swing. I love the freedom that he sings with. It flips between creamy smooth and gritty at will and it’s so good. The recording is a bit of a letdown as this would be really good to hear without the distortion, but it’s a quality start otherwise. It Had To Be You - Leaning more on the smooth side of things now. There’s some really nice, subtle piano playing in here that just seems so easy and cool. It’s just butter for the ears. Alexander's Ragtime Band - This is a bit more bombastic, which is a bit more affected by the audio fidelity. There are some fantastic moments in this, but I don’t find it to be the most interesting of compositions. It’s a decent, enjoyable listen, and there are some really cool little solo bits, but it also doesn’t feel vastly memorable. Two Years Of Torture - Some more quality vocal work here, along side some quality soloing from the sax. It’s just cool. This is all vibe and that smoky jazz club vibe is always a good thing. When Your Lover Has Gone - More laid back, buttery goodness. The dynamic is great. Some lovely, chilled and subtle bits that are punctuated with the big band blasts. Deed I Do - His vocal here is so good. Some of the work is so subtle that it’s almost not noticeable, but that dynamic control he has and the little bits of vocal fry are just glorious. This is just a warm blend of quality playing and singing. Lovely stuff. Just For A Thrill - A flip to the second side and the big band has been given the boot in favour of a string section. Again, this is lovely. Beautiful piano playing in the second half and things just swing along nicely. You Won't Let Me Go - More solid work, particularly in the vocal department. He drops to some great deep tones in places here that are so good. I’m glad the piano is getting a bit more of a workout on this second side. Tell Me You'll Wait For Me - There’s a lazy quality to this. Super smooth and laid back. It’s a bit too Disney, but there are little bits of flair in the piano that really pop. Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin' - Ah, this is great. There’s just something a bit more engaging about the composition here for me. It’s still a bit Disney, but the way all of the instruments work with his vocal makes things gel better. Am I Blue - It’s still good, but it could also just be the previous track, there’s not really much to differentiate things at this point. It’s a very nice experience, but I doubt I’ll be singing any of these songs this evening. Come Rain Or Come Shine - Some really nice vocal and piano playing again here. It’s all lovely, and everything, but it also just blends in with everything else here, if I’m being brutally honest.

5/10 I can hear the direction of travel that The Smiths are taking with this album, but for me they haven’t really quite hit on the winning formula that they’d reach on The Queen Is Dead the following year. All too often, Id’d find myself waiting for a hook or an engaging chorus to land and it never really arrived. The framework for things is there, but unfortunately there was rarely anything that really grabbed me and demanded my attention. I mention it in my track by track, but it often felt a little bit aimless, like they were searching for something they couldn’t quite find in the same way that I was as a listener. There were also places where the blend of the band and Morrissey’s vocal just didn’t gel all that well. It probably wasn’t helped by the mix, which typically placed a reverb-soaked Morrissey far too prominently and relegated the band to background artists, but when things don’t gel in the juxtaposed styles that The Smiths often have between band (jangly, staccato) and vocalist (more of a lazy drawl) it can feel quite jarring. I also found the frequent use of sampled material seems a bit strange, as they often just seem to be added for the sake of it rather than any specific purpose. They work well in places, but in others seem to stick out like a sore thumb. As is sometimes the case with albums by artists whose other work I know better, I found myself singing songs from a different album after this one was over. The sound got into my head, but none of the songs did, which is a shame. It was an ok sound on a fairly uninteresting album, and there’s not really any likelihood I’ll be hurrying back this way again. The Headmaster Ritual - A jangly little intro with some decent riffs thrown in for good measure. The opening of the vocal promises more than it delivers. They keep threatening to break into a hooky chorus, but it never arrives. It’s one of those ‘almost’ songs. Not bad, but also not very memorable. Rusholme Ruffians - A cool, upbeat bass line to kick things off. Morrissey’s voice is a bit odd against this instrumental, it doesn’t quite gel. The song doesn’t really vary much either, so it just feels a bit relentless and uninteresting. Even that cool little bass line just feels stale by about half way through. I Want The One I Can't Have - Some great guitar work here. This is a better song, there’s more variety between the sections and it’s got great pace. What She Said - This sounds like the band and Morrissey are almost playing a different song to each other. Morrissey is too loud and swamped in reverb, the band is playing some pretty driven stuff, but Morrissey is flouncing over the top. It all just feels a bit aimless. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore - Things are much more aligned here between music and vocals. Things are a bit meandering though. I have no problem with soundscape type tracks, but there has to be something more to grab onto than there is here, and feel like the album as a whole at this point has been very thin on things to really connect with. Nowhere Fast - There’s a bit more verve to this and the verses are really great, but then there isn’t really a chorus, just some sort of bridge bits and instrumental sections. This could be a really great track if they’d bothered to write a chorus. The guitar lines in the verse sections are quality, and the vocal is solid and compliments it well, but it just doesn’t deliver on its promises again. Well I Wonder - This one’s quite nice. It’s got a good blend of tones from the instruments and a satisfyingly complete sound to it. There’s decent momentum and the bass keeps things rolling along. It doesn’t do anything vastly exciting, but it’s a nice listen and a good vibe. Barbarism Begins At Home - This is a great track with lots of movement to it and it feels very well balanced. There are some great little hooks from the instruments and vocals. The blend of almost frantic work from the guitars and the lazy drawl from Morrissey create that distinctively Smiths sound that is the backbone to their best work. Really nice bass work too. Meat Is Murder - This is pretty good. It’s a bit more meandering and plodding, but it has quite a nice sway to it. There are some good riffs and lines here too, but it all just drags on a bit too much without enough variation for my tastes. Not a terrible way to end the album, but it is pretty long and dreary.

8/10 I wasn’t expecting this to be as consistently strong, or as well produced as it is. I obviously know Sultans Of Swing, and it’s the jewel in the crown here, but the album as a whole is a really great blend of solid songwriting, incredibly tight playing and understated flair. There are a lot of solos, flourishes and riffs that are exceptionally delivered, but it never feels like showing off and, importantly, is never presented in a way that overshadows or gets in the way of the core song. The production is so crisp that you can hear every element of each track with extreme clarity, which makes repeat listening very rewarding, due to the aforementioned moments of flair that pop out all over the place as each track progresses. The vocals are unspectacular, but ground the songs really well. Anything more and it might have ended up sounding too showy, but it strikes a great balance against the rest of the playing. Mark Knopfler takes centre stage, as expected, but there are some really great moments from the rest of the band here and there too, which keeps things interesting and don’t let this become a one man show, which is always nice. While this isn’t necessarily my go to type of music, it was an engaging listening experience throughout and, while there were some lulls, they were fairly fleeting. A worthy addition to the list, no doubt. Down To The Waterline - This is smooth. The production is great, with every instrument having its space and the clarity of the tone and precision of the playing really shining. The control that they all have is so good, and the playing feels so fluid. The musicianship is obviously top tier and they allow themselves space to indulge, but also don’t let it overwhelm the actual song. Water Of Love - A change of pace here. It’s not quite as engaging as the opener, but the quality of performance and production is still so good. It just feels like it’s lacking the verve and range of Waterline and is just a bit too country for my tastes. It’s a nice, warm listen though. Setting Me Up - The rhythm of the guitars layered together is so good here. It’s all got a great swing and swagger. Again, it’s perhaps a bit too country blues for my tastes, but when it’s delivered this well, it’s kind of hard to not get sucked in. Six Blade Knife - Smooth. It’s got a little bit of grit to it, and some of the little flourishes from the guitar are so subtly delivered, but super cool. It’s a really decent, laid back track full of vibe. Good stuff. Southbound Again - More swagger. That staccato riff on the guitar has got great feel to it, and the little accents from the lead that just pop in now and again add great flavour. There’s nothing too complex to the structure, but the feel is so good. And it’s over in a flash. Sultans Of Swing - We all knew it was coming and here it is. This has got better pace than I ever really remember. It somehow shifts, but they also give it this laid back edge, like it’s built for dancing while having a lie down. There are more killer guitar licks in this one song than many bands have on an entire album. And none of it overshadows the actual song either, which is quite the balancing act. Everyone knocks it out of the park here, with even little touches of flair from the rhythm section here and there. They’re so tight, the performances are insanely good and the production lets you hear every bit of it in exceptional clarity. Beautiful. In The Gallery - This is solid too. It’s got swagger and feel in spades. The rhythm guitar tone and playing are quality in particular here. It’s not necessarily the most interesting or varied song, but the little moments of virtuosity hold your attention and keep things moving along while the rhythm just keeps things bouncing along nicely. Wild West End - This has got a different vibe to it. It’s pretty cool and has a really nice flow. I started off thinking I wouldn’t be that interested but the longer it went on, the more I got sucked into the vibe. Another quality track. Lions - This isn’t grabbing me quite as much, it’s feels a little less grounded than the previous track and some of the vocal delivery seems a little bit forced. the blend of smooth and sharp just seems a little bit less balanced than elsewhere. It’s still decent, just not as engaging for me.

4/10 This should be an album that clicks with me far more than it does. It came out just before my 16th birthday, had heavy guitars and angsty lyrics and followed in the footsteps of bands like Korn, Slipknot and Machine Head that I was already listening to. But Linkin Park were never a band that I’ve ever bothered with. I’ve heard all the big hits, which were impossible to miss in the early 00s, but nothing engaged me enough to dig deeper. Perhaps because I was already indulging in heavier music, this band that were a gateway for many people didn’t have much to offer someone who had already gone in the deep end. Listening to it now, a few things really jump out at me. First, it sounds so of its time that it’s almost laughable. The scratching, the rhythmically uninteresting rapping, the loudness wars mastering, it’s the dictionary definition of 2000’s production. Secondly, this is very much an anthemic pop record. It’s like someone gathered the most palatable aspects of bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit and wrapped them up in an emo NSYNC bow. Not that there’s anything particularly wrong with that, and again, it makes them a perfect ‘first heavy band’ for those just diving in, but it just isn’t my bag. The production to my ear is terrible. Despite the ‘quiet verse, loud chorus’ that they try, the over-compressed nature of it all just makes it lack the oomph that that dynamic change ought to have. The guitars in particular are so compressed that they feel like a wall of tone, rather than organic pieces of musicianship. There’s so little space for the instruments to breathe and it ends up feeling like an assault on the ears that you have to work hard to pick the parts from. From a song-writing point of view, they can obviously write heavy anthems, but frankly, the bits that I liked the most just reminded me of similar bits from songs by other artists that I like much more than this. It’s also all very, very samey and something about it just doesn’t quite feel genuine to me. Essentially, the ingredients are all great, but something about the meal doesn’t taste right. Extra points for being the gateway drug for so many. Papercut - Oof, the scratching does not kick this off well. The riffs are ok, I guess, but there’s no dynamic range at all. This type of rapping does not gel with me, particularly the strong emphasis that doesn’t really highlight the lyrics, but just adds a sort of soft aggression to the delivery. The singing is very pop too. One Step Closer - A big single. This verse reminds me a lot of Korn, but if Jonathan Davis was replaced by Nick Carter. It’s a great chorus, but the production just gives it this plasticy edge that makes it not sit quite right with me. I had this song in my head after the first spin through the album and my head canon version is better than the reality of it. Over-compressed and lacking dynamics, it’s a shame really. And the shut up bit near the end makes him sound like a budget Zack de la Rocha. With You - I think there’s too much going on in some of these songs. Even the quieter bits here are just stuffed full of too much and again, the loudness war mastering of this just makes it relentlessly lacking in range. There’s no subtlety to it. This one doesn’t have much in the way of hook either, it’s just a bit of a wall of bar long guitar chords for a chorus. Points Of Authority - Again, this feels quite Korny in the verse. It feels a bit corny in the chorus, as it happens. The scratching might as well be a bloke in the background just shouting “Year 2000” over and over again. The riffs here are pretty good actually and the rapping is better. But the balance of all of the parts is just bad. There’s not space for everything to have its place, everything just sounds like its competing with everything else to be heard. Crawling - Another big, big single. And there’s some actual dynamic range. Hurrah! This verse could have been clipped from an NSync song, but builds into the chorus. Perhaps a bit too much going on as it builds for my tastes, but when it hits, it’s a proper nu-metal anthem. Well written for what it is. Not really my bag, but I can see why it grabbed people. Runaway - Again, there’s a bit more dynamic range here. And again, it sounds like Backstreet Boys playing Korn in the verse. The chorus is ok, but it’s all a bit music by numbers and just isn’t grabbing me. By Myself - They really can’t have any sections where they don’t overdo the instrumentation can they? It’s like an assault on the ears. It’s more of that anthemic pop-metal that feels like it’s had its charm produced out of it to make it as radio friendly as possible. They really love those ringing, compressed chord structures, don’t they? In The End - Ah, the biggest hit single? Too much going on in a ‘quiet’ verse? Check. Unashamedly basic rapping? Check. Full bar compressed chords that follow a super basic structure? Check. It sounds like I hate it, but I actually don’t. It’s a well written, really decent pop song produced to sound heavy. But it’s also so boyband and so, so 2000. Fair play. A Place For My Head - More pointless scratching. There are some actually interesting rhythmic choices here so it stands out a bit from the other tracks. While I like some of the choices here, there’s nothing that really grabs me either. There’s a bit of a radio-friendly Machine Head about this. Forgotten - Some of these songs I can hardly tell when one ends and another begins. But there’s a bit of dynamic range again here, and some more rhythmically varied riffs, so that’s to be applauded. It’s very pop-rap in the verses. Again, nothing that’s really grabbing me though. Cure For The Itch - Ah, someone’s listened to Endtroducing. This is just not very well done though, is it? No subtlety to it at all. Pushing Me Away - At this point, this could have just been a repeat of any one of the album tracks from this album, it’s all just blending into one for me. It’s over-compressed, dynamically squashed and nothing in there grabs me. And my ears are tired.

4/10 On first listen, I quite enjoyed this. As with most of these albums, my first run through happens while I’m lying in bed reading, so I can get into the vibe. As background music, I was putting this somewhere in the 5-6 range. It’s not groundbreaking necessarily, but it’s got some decent grooves, her voice is good and it’s fairly inoffensive. The more I listened to it, however, the less value I saw in it. There are elements of musicians that I really enjoyed here, like Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu as particular examples, but it all felt a little bit lightweight by comparison, and there often wasn’t enough range or depth to the compositions to really expand on the base ideas and develop a really rewarding experience with a more focused ear. It really feels like there are a bunch of half decent starting points, but they are rarely developed into something beyond that, which is a big shame. I wouldn’t say this was bad overall, but it was definitely over-long and could have benefitted from the editors blade slicing a few tracks away entirely, and cutting some of the more repetitive ones down. I also kind of wonder what an album between Ms Dynamite and her brother Akala could be, as I felt that the hidden track really showed potential and was one of the strongest things on the album. Natural High (Interlude) - Can you have an interlude before anything else has started? I don’t think so. Bit of a dub edge to this, which is nice. Dy-Na-Mi-Tee - The big single, and I’ve probably heard this a thousand times without ever playing it myself. It’s always bothered me that the chorus bit after ‘dynamite-ee-hee’ is flat. It’s a decent enough pop song other than that though. Anyway U Want It - This is fairly boilerplate R&B. Some nice flute lines, and it bounces along nicely enough, but it’s hardly that memorable. Put Him Out - This has got a bit more zip to it and has my toes tapping. This chorus is so 00’s though, and it’s pretty Missy Elliot lite. Some of the piano stuff adds a nice bit of range to the sound, but again, it’s not one that’s going to stick with me. Brother - A song about Akala! This is a decent slice of life from working class London. It doesn’t offer a great deal of variety, but it’s well produced and her voice is great. A nice little down-tempo offering. It Takes More (Bloodshy Main Mix) - This is quite Lauryn Hill. I mean, it’s not as good, but it’s not bad either. The bass sound is pretty cool and her vocal delivery is quality. It’s got a solid groove too. The rapping section is good too. Like it. Sick 'N' Tired - She’s got good flow. That main riff is a bit too repetitive and irritating. But the rest of the track has got a nice blend of legato and staccato texture. It’s a shame the verse and chorus don’t have much to differentiate them, which makes this drag. Afraid 2 Fly - The string samples are bad, hurried and don’t fit. There’s also some weird, noisy samples that just make this sound cluttered. This is a miss. Nothing that grabs me and poor production, should have hit the cutting room floor. And its too bloody long! Watch Over Them - This kind of feels weird as a straight acapella, because it really sounds like she was singing to a backing track that was then removed. It was ok, I suppose. Seed Will Grow - One of Bob Marley’s many kids appears here. This has got a nice bounce to it. It’s not got a vast amount of variety to it, but the duet nature of it gives it a bit of extra interest and the groove is good. There’s not enough depth to hold up to too much close scrutiny though. Krazy Krush - Again, this has got a decent groove to it, but it’s pretty thin. The initial idea is ok, but it just keeps on doing the same thing the whole way through which doesn’t really keep the attention, which is a shame. Now U Want My Love - A bit of a reggae edge to this, but here voice isn’t at its best. Again, the base of this track is pretty decent and it’s a nice little chilled album track that’s got a decent groove, but doesn’t develop a great deal. Too Experienced - Well this one is rubbish. The synth sounds are really odd choices. It all just seems like a weird bunch of sounds chucked together, rather than a song. There are some nice bits in the vocal delivery from both of them, but the instrumentation is terrible. Gotta Let U Know - I think I’m getting tired of this by now. This is pretty uninspired stuff and I feel like I don’t remember ever hearing this before, despite the fact that I’ve heard this album three times today. It’s just pedestrian and uninspiring. All I Ever - This one feels aimless too. The chorus is pretty bland, but ok for what it is. The verses are a bit weird and lack any sort of direction. The guitar part just sound like someone doing some weird arpeggiation exercise, rather than playing a song. A Little Deeper/Get Up, Stand Up - This is again, quite nice, but it never goes anywhere. It feels like a proper beat wants to come in, but it never does. Nice enough, but nothing special. The hidden track is pretty good. Great flow from Akala. The production is decent, and the combination of his rapping and her vocal is really good. I reckon an album of the two of them together could be really good.Probably the best thing on here.

3/10 This is a compilation album comprising songs from two previous albums and an EP. So it doesn’t belong on this list. With that out of the way, the music here is ok. The vibe is really good in places and I bet they’re a really great live act, but unfortunately that doesn’t seem to translate into the studio. It’s all just a bit too lacking in grit and rage. It’s quite punky, but it all feels too clean and sanitised, like the singer wanted to be in a punk band, but hasn’t really got enough angst to pull it off. Apparently he was a postman and 6th grade teacher before the band took off and that kind of makes sense. It also sounds like the rest of the band would prefer to be playing more indie-rock stuff, so it often lacks the pace and intensity that is implied by the vocal. It felt like a lot of the album just rolled one song into the next and there was nothing particularly memorable about any of it. I’d often forgotten everything about the last track by half way through the following one, which was a particular achievement, given that most of the songs aren’t even three minutes long. The one memorable song on there is the big hit that was so overplayed that it’s pretty annoying to hear at this point. Perhaps it’s only memorable because it’s been burned into my brain over the years? Basically, on this evidence, The Hives seem to take elements of bands that I do like and roll them up into a package that I don’t, without ever really adding any hooks, or reasons to listen to this over any of those aforementioned bands. But I still reckon I’d enjoy them live. Hate To Say I Told You So - The big hit, straight off the bat. I mean it’s ok, but it was so overplayed at the time that I’m tired of it already. It’s the same chords round and round, the guys voice is quite annoying and it doesn’t have enough aggression to it to justify the simplicity, in my opinion. It’s sanded down punk rock. Main Offender - This is a thrashy garage rock type song, but it feels a bit too slow to me. It’s quite plodding and the singer is wrecking his voice with an intensity that doesn’t match the pace of the music. Supply And Demand - This is very stilted and doesn’t really flow for me. There are some awful noises in here that, again, don’t really match to the snaded-down punk rock of it all. It’s just so mild and lacking in grit. Die, All Right - This has got a bit more pace to it, which is good. The verse has got a decent bit of drive to it, but the chorus doesn’t follow up on that promise. Untutored Youth - This is actually a bit more punk, but it still all feels quite sanitised. Where’s the anger? Where’s the ferocity? Outsmarted - This has got a good riff to kick things off. There’s more pace, and a bit more drive and ferocity to things here and it’s pretty good. This is when the formula works. Add intensity, and I’ll start buying in a bit more. Mad Man - Again, this is ok. There are some bits of variety here and there and it’s got a bit more intensity to it. It’s not vastly interesting, but it’s not bad. Here We Go Again - This has got a decent riff with a nice cadence to the rhythm. BUt again, it’s not overly memorable or particularly engaging past that point. A.k.a. I-D-I-O-T - The vibe is good, again, the drive and attitude is better here, but I also don’t think this is very memorable. They write decent punky-energy songs, but don’t seem to be very good at writing memorable hooks. Automatic Schmuck - This is ok. Again, energy good, vibe decent. There are some nice little bits of writing here that give it a bit more range and variety, but it almost feels long at only 2 minutes long and I don’t think I’ll remember it by the time I’m half way through the next track. Hail Hail Spit N' Drool - I’m starting to sound like a broken record. If I was going to listen to music like this, I’d want something more grimy, punky and with something more to say. And I can’t remember how the previous song went, so I was correct. The Hives Are Law, You Are Crime - This is plodding and uninteresting. Half way through and nothing’s happened. And now it’s finished. More repetitive riffs, but not even any vocal. Big old pile of ‘meh’.

6/10 This album was created off the back of a massively successful remix of ‘Missing’ from their previous album, and it continued a change in direction for the band. This was indie pop going electronic, and to my ears they did it reasonably well. The first thing that came to mind here for me was Lamb, whose debut album came out the same year as this. There are also elements of Portishead and Massive Attack in there too, amongst others, but unfortunately, this album doesn’t enjoy the same quality and subtlety of composition or production as those other groups. While some of the production is very good, it does kind of sound like they are feeling their way through the production, rather than being full comfortable with the change, and from time to time it does feel a little bit in limbo between the two worlds of sound. There are some nice bits of programming, but I found these moments often didn’t develop enough, and the songs often felt a bit stale and repetitive by the end, especially as the instrumentation was often pretty sparse. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it. It was good background listening, and was fairly engaging in places, although it did have lulls here and there. Looking back, I also didn’t find anything particularly memorable about any of the tracks and, ultimately, I didn’t feel that there were that many really good hooks to rival Missing, so while it was enjoyable enough for a few spins, I’ll probably revert to my trip-hop favourites rather than revisit this any time soon. Before Today - This is good. Reminds me a lot of the more poppy end of Lamb, although this came first. The drum programming is good, in particular, but the rest of the instrumentation is a little thin. I enjoyed it, but wish it developed a little more. Wrong - There’s a bit more going on here with the pads in the background and a few more melodic elements. It’s a bit more of a basic house beat, but it moves things along nicely. Again, there’s not loads of development across the track, but it’s a decent pop/house track. Single - This has got a bit of a darker trip-hop flavour to it and her voice sounds great. The production is sparse but really good here, with elements floating in and out, but never overwhelming the vocal at the forefront. In fact, the whole thing is pretty sparse but in a very pretty, vibey way. Really nice track. The Heart Remains A Child - This is a bit more throwaway pop. It’s still got the more electronic beat to it, but this is a fairly mundane indie-pop song. It’s reasonably well written, but ultimately fairly uninspiring and forgettable. Walking Wounded - This one was written by Spring Heel Jack. They certainly love a snare rush. I think this type of skittering drum programming can be really great, but it feels both a little overdone and also lacking a little in variety here, which is a shame. This just feels a little disjointed in places. The core idea is pretty good, and some of the sections are really good, but in places it just feels a bit try hard. Flipside - This is pretty good but feels pretty dated, particularly the little spoken bits. The production is more full, although there’s not too much variety, which is a shame. I quite like thee double-tracked vocals, but it does sort of drift after a while because of the repetitiveness. Big Deal - This is good again. It has that sparse, dark trip-hop edge to it again. It feels like they’re trying to force a a hooky chorus into this one, but it’s just not really grabbing me. I think the vibe is great, the production is really decent too, but it’s just not engaging me in the way that better songs of this style do. Mirrorball - Back to a more trad 90s indie-pop song, with slightly too aggressive electronic elements. This would be a better song with more subtlety to the production, but the blend isn’t great and it’s another fairly forgettable pop song. Feels like there could have been something there, but they just didn’t pull it off. Good Cop Bad Cop - This is another decent one. Again, quite Lamb-like, but not as well executed. Some of the beat programming is great, but it still feels a little limited, and while the main hook is decent, I don’t think there’s enough range or subtlety in the track for it to stick. Wrong (Todd Terry Remix) - Ah, the old 90s trick of sticking a couple of club remixes on the end of the CD. The original track was quite dancefloor oriented anyway, so maybe a slightly odd one, although it’s definitely got a more club vibe to it. Loads of reverb, piano arpeggios and a four on the floor beat. Classic 90s, but not my bag. Walking Wounded (Omni Trio Remix) - This one’s quite boring. A repetitive drum beat, a fairly thin composition and the vocal being so spread out over the track, that most of the time we’re just listening to the repetitive break, bass line and a slow pad. Meh.

8/10 As a big fan of funk and soul from the late 60s into the 70s, this was always going to be an enjoyable listen. I’m familiar with some of Hayes’ work, though I’m not sure I’ve ever sat and listened to this one before, but I’m glad to have been handed the opportunity. The Bar-Kays are always worth listening to, and they create a really solid base for everything to work over here. They’re super tight and play with such feel that it’s hard not to get lost in the flow of the tracks. And then you throw on the flourishes over the top, particularly from the keys, which just roam around between soulful, funky and jazzy, adding little bursts of nuance and flavour all over the joint, it’s just glorious to listen to. The extra instrumentation from the strings, horns and woodwind just go to add depth, swells and punctuation to the whole thing, but it never feels overdone and really helps to engage the ear on songs that are pretty lengthy efforts. Top that all off with the buttery soul of Isaac Hayes’ voice and you really get a special blend. His delivery is often understated, not trying too hard to take centre stage, but delivering soulful lines like the smoothest man alive. His dynamic control is great and while he flows along beautifully for the most part, he also knows when to up the intensity enough to bring extra depth and range to a track. Sure, he gets a bit self indulgent on the intro to the last track, but frankly, who cares. I suspect I’ll be spinning this again soon enough and it might be time to dig a little deeper into his back catalogue. Walk On By - A great build and then it drops into something so smooth, the Bar-Kays doing great work as always. This is a proper 12 minute song, so many builds, different sections and developments, but it keeps referring back to the core song, so it all feels unified. All too often with long songs, they’re just a normal song with too many verses. Not here, this is a journey. The playing is so good and Isaac’s voice is, as promised, like hot butter. Some of the high tones are a little on the harsh side, but those moments are fairly fleeting. Solid stuff. Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic - This one doesn’t have as much development through its runtime, but it’s so undeniably funky and groovy that it can just roll with it and work. There’s some top notch playing on here from everyone, the piano being the obvious standout, but there are some great little fills and bits of flair all round. A really enjoyable funky experience. One Woman - He needed to stick something a bit more soul croon on here, and if you’re doing that make it something like this. The interplay between the lead and backing vocals in the chorus is just soul gold, and his voice is so, so good. The string runs and builds are top quality. By The Time I Get To Phoenix - Props to the bass player and drummer for not falling asleep while he rambles on for half of the runtime here. At least the organ player just needs to hold his chord. This isn’t as strong as the songs on the first half, but it’s still some decent soulful stuff. His voice is fantastic as always, and there are some really beautiful pieces of playing from the musicians again. Some of the little piano fills are gorgeous and the little horn, flute and string flourishes give things so much flavour. It does drag a tiny bit and feel a little self-indulgent, but if listening closely, there’s still a lot to hold the ear.

10/10 While I was too young to have felt the hit of this album on release, Nirvana were really the big band of my teenage years. Amongst all of the alternative music of the time, they were the ones that spoke to me the most and coming back to this album is like catching up with an old friend. And it holds up so well. Even early on, there were glimpses of Kurt’s pop song sensibilities and ear for a melody, but this album is where those sensibilities flourished into a ‘right place, right time’ blend of pop-song simplicity, punk energy and angst-ridden attitude. One of Cobain’s biggest skills was his ability to combine all of his disparate influences into simple but emotionally effective songs that hooked into the disenfranchised feeling among young people at the time. The album bursts into life with probably the biggest song of the generation. It has dynamic range, catchy hooks, simmering tension and enthusiastic aggression in spades, and it never really lets up from there on in. Sometimes the dynamic shifts exist within a song, sometimes it happens song to song, but that fluctuation of tone and intensity gives the album a rolling momentum that demands your attention as it races by, with the solid drive of Krist and Dave providing a pulsing bed that is an often under appreciated part of the Nirvana experience. The production is perhaps a tiny bit too poppy and clean, and a little bit more grit to the sound might have helped to my ear, but that’s potentially a minor personal gripe that comes from hearing all of Nirvana’s output a million times, and doesn’t detract from the overall vibe and energy of the record. At his heart, Cobain was two forces fighting with each other. The experimental, furious punk and the Beatles loving pop-song writing music nerd. Those two forces balance perfectly on this album, which I think is why it impacted the world the way it did. It was angsty and energetic, but it was also accessible and hooky. And it still sounds that way today. Smells Like Teen Spirit - The song that woke a generation and launched a scene into the stratosphere. It’s essentially impossible to listen to this song without over 30 years of baggage associated with it. Pretty much everyone has heard this so many times that it’s now more a part of pop culture history than it is a single piece of music. But underneath all that, it’s a damn good song. The jangly intro, the drum intro that precedes the full weight of the band firing out of the speakers, it’s just iconic. It’s got everything, the soft, clean verse, the slightly psychedelic pre-chorus and then the heavy, furious roar of the chorus. It’s so simple, but there’s no fat to it at all. It’s like a pop song strapped to a bomb. In Bloom - This continues the dynamic shift style of Teen Spirit, but it’s got a real groove during the verses, and builds so nicely as the guitar comes in, Dave Grohl fires a burst of drums and the chorus kicks in. The vocal harmonies are raw and excellent, adding depth to things. The crumbling groove of the solo is so good here too. Again, it’s a simple song in principle, but its a masterclass in dragging as much out of an idea as you can without overdoing things, and using dynamic and structure to give a song growth and momentum. Come As You Are - Another iconic track. It’s got more of that psychedelic edge to it with the watery chorus on the guitar and the ‘don’t have a gun’ backing vocals. I always think of this as being more of a chilled track, but there is a lot of energy that bubbles away underneath things during the chorus and solo in particular. The sound is so full here, and Kurt’s vocal is really deftly delivered too. Great stuff. Breed - Back to the full-bodied intensity of the heavier stuff we’ve heard earlier. This is more reminiscent of Bleach than the rest of the album to this point, but it’s got a really solid pop chorus. The weight of the bass is great on this one in particular. Lithium - Another single, another great pop chorus, another soft/heavy dynamic switch between verse and chorus. Again, there’s a pretty good groove to the verses and, while there’s not the ferocity of some other choruses, it’s so hooky. The melodies are great and it’s easy to sing along to. Great pop rock. Polly - This is so simple, and tonally it’s a nice little breather in the middle of the album. But it’s also a song about torture and rape, so let’s not relax into it too much, eh? Some really nice subtle harmonies in here. Territorial Pissings - And after the calm comes the storm. It’s beautifully noisy and punky. The drive of the drums and bass in particular, even during the quieter bits is just brilliant. Cobain’s vocal is at its most intense, falling apart level. And it does everything it needs to in just over two minutes. Drain You - I really like the vibe that the backing vocals generate on this. Again, it’s a super simple song, but it’s got so much drive and they throw in an almost creepy little middle eight section that drops away and builds so nicely. The execution is just top drawer. Lounge Act - Back to that groove that they drop in now and again. I think the rhythm section feel of Nirvana is actually an underrated part of the band. This is almost a jangle pop song with distortion and screaming. I absolutely love the transition from verse to chorus on this song, there’s just something about it that feels so satisfying to my ear. Stay Away - The rolling drive to this that threads the whole song is so good. It’s got a brilliant bass line, so much fury and momentum and the vocals are epic. Again, the simplicity is almost perfect and the ending sounds like the studio has collapsed around them. On A Plain - This is such an uplifting song. The soaring vocals and backing. vocals, the drive, the intensity. The middle eight has this dark edge to it, but the transition back to the verse just kicks that uplifting feeling into gear again. It’s just quality. I went to school with some kids who insisted he sang “I’m on a plain, I’m Kurt Cobain”. Unimportant point, but I always think of it. Something In The Way - This track really shows off the nuance of Kurt Cobain’s performing ability and songwriting. Again, it’s simple, but it’s so packed with emotion that you can almost hear the cello weeping. He could channel emotion into a song like almost no one else. And he was actually a decent singer with great dynamic range, which is something the can often be overlooked. Endless Nameless - And here’s the other end of his dynamic range. I love that they were never afraid to do this cacophonous noise thing. There are moments through the album, and more on In Utero, but when they left this off the first pressing Cobain was furious. This is his nod to Sonic Youth, I think. It’s just brash, noisy fun.

7/10 This album feels oddly more than the sum of its parts. At no point did I think any of it was spectacular, and I frequently recalled versions of these songs that I much preferred to these ones, but despite that, I really enjoyed my time with this. It was a proper warm hug of an album. His voice has its limits, in range more than control, but the relaxed, smooth tone of it really gelled everything together in an satisfyingly listenable package. In some places I did feel that the orchestration was a little on the basic side, but there were some deft pieces of musicianship here and there too that just gave things enough of a lift that the momentum never really dipped enough to lose me. When I first looked at the details of this, an album of jazz and pop standards by a country stoner, I was sceptical, but I think he really pulled it off, and I may well find my way to this when the right listening moment comes along. Stardust - This is quite nice. His voice is smooth and comforting without being spectacular and the guitar work is very good. It's obviously a classic song, and it's a nice listen, but I doesn't really feel special in any way. Georgia On My Mind - Willie seems to have a very nice voice, but a fairly limited range. You can hear him reaching the lower and upper limits at points, but when he's in the middle it's smooth. Another classic song, another nice performance. Some nice background elements like the piano and harmonica that gives it something a little extra Blue Skies - This has an unexpected bit of pace. The bass playing here is super strong and has a great wandering groove to it. Another warm hug of a song, and again, some solid moments from the background players. All Of Me - This is a bit more meandering and goes a bit too far in the direction of twee for me. It's nice enough, but it's all very straight and simple, perhaps not giving enough nuance to the cover. Unchained Melody - It's certainly an understated version of this track. I can't quite work out if that works in it's favour or not to be honest. I think perhaps it's just a little dull and doesn't have enough drama, but it also has an endearing charm to it. September Song - This one drifts a little too far into dull territory for me. There's nothing really there for me to grab on to and if I was looking for a song like this, I feel like it needs a spectacular singer to hold it together. On The Sunny Side Of The Street - Another absolute classic. It's got a great shuffling swagger to it, especially the bass on a stroll and the piano dipping in and out with it's jazzy trills. It's never going to live up to Ella or Louis, but it's pretty damn nice. Moonlight In Vermont - Such a beautiful song. I know the Ella and Louis version of this like the back of my hand and it's so, so good. But this really lends something different to it. It's got a laid back warmth to it that I really like. Not my favourite version, but a good one none the less. Don't Get Around Much Anymore - Another slight lull. It's ok, but it's just a bit plodding and doesn't quite have the warmth of the better songs on the album. Someone To Watch Over Me - The album is petering out a little here. It's another one that just kind of plays things by the book and doesn't add the ornamentation to grab the ear, or quite provide the warmth and vibe to fully engage. Not that it isn't nice, it just isn't special either.

7/10 This was a bit of a grower for me, and I also think it's one of those vibey albums that would really hit the mark in the right headspace, and wildly miss it in the wrong one. It's got that indie electronica sound that feels a bit like a mix up between Björk and Alt-J, but with a dash of Boards of Canada thrown in for good measure. All good things, and when you let it settle over you, it creates a very satisfying atmosphere of sound, but just never quite hits the heights of any of those acts. This isn't about big hooks and choruses, and if anything, the lack of those just leans into the unresolved tension that drifts over the whole album. It's got a throbbing heart that pulses away underneath it all and a sparse quality that allows a lot of the sound design to weave it's way in and out of focus in a pretty satisfying way. It has lulls here and there, it's not entirely consistent, and it doesn't have any individual songs that would draw me back in paticularly, but as a vibey whole, I think it's pretty good. It's cold, it feels fairly bleak too, and it really captures an almost cyberpunk feeling of darkness and depression. It's the soundtrack of a side character in a Philip K Dick novel who's having a really shitty life, and I guess that kind of thing appeals to me when I'm in the right mood. If I Had A Heart - A slow build of a track that broods and pulses. It's very soundtrack worthy and the vibe is nice, and it works great as an atmospheric intro track, but doesn't really provide it's own hook and just throbs along. When I Grow Up - Another atmospheric grower of a track. There's a bit more going on with the vocal, which moves things along. Some nice synth patches and lines here and it does gain a bit of momentum near the end, but it takes a long time to get moving. Dry And Dusty - Similarly to the last track, this is pretty sparse and then slowly builds and fills out. It never gets that thick, but there are some cool little bits of synth programming here and there. It never feels like it does more than create a vibe though. Seven - This is a bit fuller and has more of a traditional song structure. It's still got a laid back subtlety to it, but the drums give it that bit of drive and zip. It maintains the uncertainty to the sound and never feels fully resolved, but that's part of the sound of this album really. Triangle Walks - The increase in rhythmic interest continues with this track. The push and pull of the different drum sounds create a nice shifting bed that undulates beneath the tonal sounds. It's got a satisfying vibe that still seems determined not to commit to resolution in a solid hook. But that's a vibe that I quite like in the right situation. Concrete Walls - The warbling, drifting synths and vocals here create a slightly unsettling sound. It's like something between Múm and Boards of Canada and that drifting broodiness works really nicely. It's musically quite simple, but the sound design and atmosphere make it. Now's The Only Time I Know - This goes back into a more structured form. It's a bit Björk lite, but without the payoff of a solid chorus. I think the fairly relentless rhythms lose a bit of the eeriness from other tracks, which takes away from the intriguing vibe. I'm Not Done - I quite like this one, it's a bit more of a traditional structure, but has a pulsing drive to it that pushes it forward, and the ambience is good. Keep The Streets Empty For Me - Another slow, pulsing effort. Some of the distorted synth tones that wave in and out are great. It doesn't do anything vastly different for it's duration, but this is all about the creepy, dark vibe and I really dig it. Coconut - It's got a decent enough vibe to it, but it's not as dark or consistent as previous tracks. The lack of vocal for the first half makes it seem a little more repetitive, and it's a long one too. When the vocal comes in, I feel like it pulls together a bit better though and I was quite enjoying it by the end.

8/10 At it's dynamically varied, inventive and virtuosic best, this album is absolutely magnificent. The smoothly pulsing ebbs and flows of the work take you on a real journey as the songs rush, stride and drift by. The drum work in particular is so strong. I just kept having my attention grabbed by little adornments and rhythms that were there for a moment and then gone, and it's all delivered with such control over the timing. In general, the musicianship is just wonderful and, with one particular exception, doesn't ever descend into self indulgence. That one exception is Moonchild, which does drift a little too much into avant garde farting around. That would be more forgiveable if the track didn't account for over a quarter of the runtime. Perhaps with a few more listens, loud, in a dark room, this would start to enchant me a little more, so I will give it that time at some time in the future. I can hear so many other bands who would follow in various parts of this, from Black Sabbath to Pink Floyd that it's influence is undeniable. I've heard this album a number of times before and it still manages to delight and surprise, something I'm always happy to experience. 21st Century Schizoid Man - This has got riffs for days. It varies between heavy and jazzy, driven and frantic. The speed and tightness of the playing is so good all round and they can so smoothly change tempo, it's super satisfying. Some of the ride cymbal rhythms really jump out at me as being of such high technical quality, in particular. And that cacophony that they wind everything up into is fantastic. I Talk To The Wind - There's more of a folky edge to this one and the flute work is just lovely. It's far more of a straight down the line song, but it's a great palate cleanser after the opener. It's such a nice vibe, but the drums keep the little hint of frantic yet restrained mania to provide a slight edge to things. Epitaph - This is a great song. It soars with a fantastic grandiosity and there's a deftness to the dynamic flow of the sections as parts come and go and the chord structures ebb and flow. But it's all narratively held together by the focal that anchors at all. Really nice. Moonchild - Back to something with a bit more of a folk edge, at least to begin with. It does drift quite a lot into very sparse, noodly sections that lose a bit of momentum. I think with focused listening in a dark room there's probably more in there, but it's not as engaging in passing as the rest of the album up to this point and it does drag on for quite a long time. It does, however, all come together into something very pretty by the end. The Court Of The Crimson King - This gathers up the highlights of everything on the album up to this point and blends it into a really satisfying journey of a song. The grandiosity, the dynamic and tempo ebbs and flows, and the virtuosity of the playing, it's all there. At points it's subtle, at others epic, but it's all woven together in a satisfying narrative arc

8/10 This is a really great debut, particularly from an, at the time, unsigned band. While they haven’t fully hit their stride yet, Led Zeppelin are only a few steps away from hitting the heights of what they would achieve in the albums that followed. In its best moments, there is some truly special work on this album, from the dynamic range of Babe I’m Gonna Leave You to the hard rocking excellence of Communication Breakdown, but there are also times when things don’t quite hook up in a completely satisfying way. I feel like there are little drifts here and there, and some of the tracks that would no doubt have been epic live experiences don’t necessarily translate quite so well onto record, like the call and response guitar and vocal solo in You Shook Me. It’s probably also worth highlighting the outright thievery of Jimmy Page for a number of these tracks. Zep did start to swing more to truly original compositions as their career progressed, but the uncredited plagiarism on display across this album is a real shame. In the blues tradition, there’s no problem covering, adapting or borrowing, just give credit where it’s due, eh Jimmy? But that aside, this is a really enjoyable and fascinating listen. It’s the sound of a band finding their sound, creating (or stealing) some fantastic songs and putting them together into a really competent package in preparation to continue their journey in future albums. This will rarely be the first Zep album that I choose to put on when I’m in the mood, but that’s as much due to the quality of their later work rather than a low opinion of this. Great songs, quality album, better yet to come. Good Times Bad Times - It’s a good start to the album. Solid if unspectacular bluesy rock, with some strong work from Bonham and Page in particular. Robert Plant gives us a few hints of what he can do, bit it doesn’t really catch fire just yet. Babe I'm Gonna Leave You - We’re starting to lift off now. The soft opening with just Plant and Page is excellent, and the dynamic switches are really great. The vocal is that typically languid style to begin with and then he drives it harder into the soaring sections later. This track is patient in its delivery and shows great restraint to save top gear for key moments. You Shook Me - Back to something more trad blues. That languid, pitch sliding on the vocal and lead guitar is great and there’s some really solid harmonica playing here. It perhaps lumbers along a little bit too long, particularly at the pace it moves at. I feel like this is one of those ones that would be a fantastic experience live, but doesn’t quite hit the same way on record, particularly the vocal and guitar call and response at the end. Dazed And Confused - This has more of the slow blues thing from the previous track, but throws in more pacy sections to pick the momentum up here and there. There are some really quality riffs here and about halfway through, things really take off. It takes its time over certain sections, but it’s a really great journey of a track, and every member of the band really shines. Your Time Is Gonna Come - The intro is perhaps a bit disjointed from the rest of the track, but when it drops to the stripped back organ line and the band joins in, it’s so, so good. It’s folk, bluesy and rocky in a brilliant blend. It’s fairly straight down the line, but it’s executed so well. Black Mountain Side - Some Bert Jansh playing here. It’s apparently a pretty straight take off of how Jansch played this himself before Page stole it and failed to give credit. It’s very well executed, but this is probably the most stark example of uncredited thievery on this album, as even the playing style is so closely copied. Communication Breakdown - Ok, you’ve got me back on board gents. That riff is top tier Page work. This is the kind of Zep stuff that I love. It’s driven, exciting and so hooky. It’s a fantastic slice of heavy blues rock and every element of it is engaging and invigorating. Quality. I Can't Quit You Baby - Back to a song with some fantastic tempo and dynamic changes. It simmers along and Page and Plant get to show off their chops while Jones and Bonham lay down a super cool groove. They strike a brilliant balance of all of the different elements here and it’s such a satisfying performance all round. How Many More Times - There’s a great swing to the opening of this and that psychedelic guitar effect is great at building the vibe. It’s another one of those journey songs like Dazed and Confused and there are some really top notch riffs in here, and moments when the band just come together in a beautifully connected form that gives everything such drive and impact, especially those triplet breaks. It’s a pretty glorious way to end the album.

7/10 As is often the case with such early albums, it's very hard to listen to this and really understand the context of it with almost 70 years of music history between its release and now. But apparently Buddy Holly has been credited with popularising the two guitars, bass and drums rock band formula, so to say he's had an impact would perhaps be understating things. There are definitely echoes of this music that I can hear in a lot of bands that would follow, and the production of the album is excellent, particularly given its vintage. There are some really great songs here, particularly the more upbeat numbers and, while there are lulls here and there, the fact that not a single track bothers the three minute mark, the lulls are fleeting. From what I've read, Buddy took some of the 'hiccuping' vocal style from Elvis, and it's a sound that grates on me. It's the 50s equivalent of the indie girl voice, an unnatural singing style that's done because it's in fashion, despite the fact that it's overdone and immediately dates a record. But Buddy's take on it, while annoying at its worst, is actually more musically pleasant than Elvis' version for the most part and is more subtly used. It's a big shame that we never got to hear where Buddy would go from here as, to my mind, he blows Elvis out of the water with this, and he was only 21 at the time. While I enjoyed my time with this album, I doubt I'll be back to it all that often, but it does get a couple of bonus points for musical significance. Oh, Boy! - It's a classic. Great jangly rock n roll guitars, lovely backing vocal swells and hooky sing along melodies. Not a big fan of the Elvis inspired hiccup vocal embellishments, but they're fairly restrained here and he throws a nice bit of grit onto his vocal now and again, which is great. Not Fade Away - The vocal hiccups kind of work ok here. It's super simple, but there's a great swagger to the vocal delivery and guitar playing that I like. It's got a toe tapping quality, doesn't offer much variety but gets its job done in short order. You've Got Love - I'm not generally a massive fan of these old rock n roll ballads, but this isn't too bad. Feels a lot more sincere and endearing than the Elvis equivalents, so that's a plus. Maybe Baby - This is a bit more rockabilly and almost edges in places towards a sound that the Beach Boys would develop. Again, some great laid back swagger to the vocal delivery. It's just got a good vibe and it's pretty slick. It's Too Late - Back to a more croony ballad stuff. Less keen on this one and the odd reverb choice in places is a little jarring. It's ok for what it is, but I'm not exactly fully engaged by it. Tell Me How - The tempo picks up a bit now and there are some really nice moments, but it is a little dull and he threatens to throw in some of that vocal affect that just doesn't gel with my ear. That'll Be The Day - A good little swinging number and while he does a bit of the hiccup vocal, it's used rhythmically and sparingly. It's got a decent little hook too Not bad. I'm Lookin' For Someone To Love - This has got some zip to it and some really nice guitar work. The vocals do go a bit far for me, but I can just imagine how engaging this stuff was in the mid 50s. An Empty Cup (And A Broken Date) - There's a nice vibe to this. It's not the most memorable of songs, but it's a warm, engaging song and it sounds great. Send Me Some Lovin' - So there's a theme here. These ballads are just not grabbing me too much. It's pretty pleasant, but the vocal affect here is at its most stark and jarring on this track. Again, it's pretty inoffensive and it's well produced, it's just not really my thing. Last Night - Well it's another ballad. Some nice vocal harmonies and it sounds like they're trying to do something interesting with the vocal blend. Rock Me My Baby - Solid groove here and it's almost proto surf rock in places. It's a good song with some quality dynamic range and development. It's just a shame that this is the most criminal of his vocal try hard performances, otherwise it would be brilliant.

10/10 Where do you start with the biggest selling album of all time? It can’t be shit, can it? Well no, it’s not. But it’s not just brilliant because it sold loads, it’s brilliant because it is an exceptional blend of songwriting and production, topped off with one of the greatest and most unique pop vocalists to have ever been committed to wax. The key thing that stands out to me listening to this in focused listening mode is how much of the quality of this record comes down to the layering of fundamentally simple structures, intertwined with some truly brilliant motifs and phrases that hook your ear and don’t let it go. If you were to listen to each multi-track layer on these songs in isolation, they would nearly all sound boring and simple, and would have vast periods of silence between the moments of playing. But when everything is built together, you get these shuffling, fiercely funky rhythms that force your body to move, and these undulating washes of sound that bloom and pulse into exceptional soundscapes that variously drive, move and embrace the ear. And then you throw Mike over the top of it. His vocal control is ridiculous, and if you listen to all of the different vocal tracks that he lays down, there is so much nuance, inflection and inventiveness in what he delivers that it’s impossible not to be enraptured by him. Again, in isolation some of his vocal ticks sound ludicrous, but built into the production, they add depth and funk to the vocal in such a unique way. Apart from the cringeworthy little dalliance with Paul McCartney (not actually a bad song, but pales in comparison to the rest), there isn’t a missed moment, and I still wouldn’t skip that one. All in all, Quincy and Michael are just a match made in pop music heaven. They both bring out the absolute best in one another and this was them at the peak of their powers. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin’ - The staccato and shuffling rhythms of this are just so good. There’s nothing overly complex about the songwriting, but it’s the layering of sound that makes it special. The call and response with the backing vocals is quality and the way the music develops towards the end and drops into the ‘mama-say mama-sah’ section is glorious. Baby Be Mine - This is smooth, but it’s the climbing cadence of the synth and bass parts in the chorus that really get me. There’s some absolutely outstanding funk guitar and synth playing in this song, a lot of it just rolling along in the background minding its own business, but adding so much feel to the groove. And when it catches your ear now and then it’s hard to avoid smiling. Try not tapping your feet to this song. Did you manage? If so, you’ve got no soul. The Girl Is Mine - Ah, the big clunker of the album. It’s a well written pop song, but boy is it cheesy and that little conversation bit is spine-tingling cringe of the highest order. If they’d re-written the vocals and maybe not done it as a duet, it could have the foundations of a decent song, but they didn’t. Also, Paul. I think Mike is more into boys anyway, so the girl probably is yours after all. Thriller - Another triumph of production and layering. So many of the riffs and lines are just one bar long, but it doesn’t get boring because there is SO MUCH going on. Instrumental parts come and go and just build this poly-rhythmic melting pot of groove. Just listen to the transition out of the chorus. Woof. Even the different verses have variation in the instrumentation that are subtle, but give extra depth to the songs. And the chorus hook is just iconic. Beat It - Time to throw some rock into the mix. The intro is brilliant and that riff is absolutely killer. It has a bit of a lagging swing to the beat with the snare only hitting on the four, which adds a cool pulse. The vocal is great too and plays so well with little bits of backing that bounce off the lead, along with some really nice choral pads to give extra weight. And then in pops Eddie Van Halen for a quality bit of shredding. Why not? Billie Jean - That bass line. This song is so simple, but so, so effective. Again, it’s a masterpiece of production. A song this simple could easily become boring and repetitive, but the little bits of instrumentation and backing vocals that drift in and out through various sections just grab your interest and keep things moving. From the string swells to the horn lines and the funky guitar strumming, there’s always something fresh to keep the groove moving. The vocals are so clear, singable and memorable that this is pretty much a perfect pop song. Human Nature - I love the vocal delivery on this song. It’s soft, but there are some really beautiful phrasings, like ‘does he do it that way’ and the backing ‘you are the one’. It’s such exceptional control and precision of phrasing that it’s glorious. The blend of instrumentation is again so good. There’s an edge of funk to the guitar, but the warmth of the different pad sounds just create this thick embrace of sound that’s so good. Some of the synth sounds do date this a little if you listen closely, but lost in the wash they don’t stand out too much. This is cheesy as anything, but I’m here for it. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) - Bringing back the funk. So much to love about this one (except perhaps a paedo singing about pretty young things), from the switch from the staccato of the chorus into the more legato feel of the verse, the slap bass, the call and response ‘na, na, na’ vocal. It’s all so good. There’s one synth riff that comes after the two main lines of the verse (after the ‘pretty young thing’ and ‘tender lovin’ care’ lines) that I adore. So simple, but so funky. And this track is stuffed with little riffs, lines and moments like that. It shifts, it moves and it grooves. The Lady In My Life - The call and response between the synth and guitar kicks this off nicely. It’s an interesting use of the kick to place emphasis rather than provide a steady beat through the intro. It’s smooth and cool, but when it really kicks into gear at ‘lay back in my tenderness’. It’s super funky and again, the layering of so many different parts just creates this bed of shifting, pulsing sound that drives and swings away under Michael’s vocal. And his vocal has more of that exceptional control and nuance. He can drive it, he can soften it, he can throw in little bits of vocal fry and trills, along with his occasional whoops and other vocal ticks. It’s just magnificent in pretty much every possible way.

9/10 The Pixies are a band that, along with Sonic Youth, shaped the development of the alternative rock scene that would emerge through the late 80s and into the 90s. While Sonic Youth leant on the more experimental noise edge in their 80s work, Pixies took a bit of the experimental edge away, added a touch of pop sensibility to their songwriting and bundle a load of insanity into the stylings of Frank Black on the lead vocal. Variously undulating between different levels of sanity, he often sounds like a man screaming his "theories" into the cold wing of a mental institution that he is the sole resident of, and it’s genius. The rest of the band provide a really solid footing and the production of the rhythm section is so strong. Kim Deal’s bass in particular is a massive highlight to the Pixies sound, and David Lovering provides a really solid, stable tempo that grounds a lot of the rest of the ebb and flow of lunacy that drives away on top of it. They prove in various places how competent they are at writing hooks and brilliant melodies, but they only allow fleeting glances into that before they bring you back to a wash of feedback and distorted guitars that crumble away the edge of those poppy moments. You can hear so many different slices of different styles of music that they reference, but it all blends together into this melting pot of experimental, noisy insanity. Those little moments of light among the menacing tone of much of the album are actually one of its strengths, and when that’s combined with the trademark soft/loud Pixies dynamic, it makes for a pulsing, throbbing journey of a band that teeters on the edge of control. The second half of the album does drift a tiny bit, which is the only thing that keeps this from top marks, but other than that it’s a really brilliant album that is so uniquely Pixies in sound that I’ll be back to this time and time again to revel in the mania. Debaser - There’s a great poppy groove to this, and even the backing vocals have a sweet edge to them, but it’s given this psychotic finish by Frank Black. It’s a great song that’s equal parts fun pop-rock and screaming insanity and we’re only just getting started. Tame - Kim Deal’s bass playing is so clean and the drumming is super crisp too. There’s a brooding weirdness about the verses and then, again, things go loony into the chorus. It’s noisy and unhinged. You can definitely hear the influence on Nirvana here in particular. Wave Of Mutilation - This is just a brilliant song. Some of the chord sequences are so satisfying, especially the descending four chords at the end of the lines of the verse. The vocal has less of the lunacy, but it still has a layer of brooding threat to it. And it’s all done in two minutes. I Bleed - This starts off fairly calmly and just builds with more discordant elements thrown in as it goes. I love Kim Deal’s backing vocals in this, they’re somewhere between sweet and unhinged. There’s not too much to the song here, but it’s all about the noise and the choices they make in the production. It feels like it’s falling apart around itself and they’re deliberately pulling things in and out of key, like someone teetering on the edge of madness. Here Comes Your Man - And this is straight down the line surf pop-rock. It’s so hooky and well produced, and it’s just a great song. There’s an edge of that madness to it, but it generally feels like it’s being held under control. There’s light and shade on this album and moments of light like this serve to anchor the darkness in a really effective way. Dead - And, as if to prove my point here’s a descent into darkness. It’s noisy and abrasive without being overly aggressive. The vocal is almost hidden amongst the noise and they throw in these hooky moments now and again, but it’s a controlled, pulsing journey of evolving deranged ideas. Monkey Gone To Heaven - We’re back to another slice of pop-rock gold, but this time with more of the bands trademark noisy insanity infesting it as it goes. The rhythm section is so strong again, they sound so good and their parts are simple, but so precise. The addition of the cello really adds something to this. It’s quite beautiful in places, offset by the increasing insanity of the lead vocal. The screaming of ‘god is seven’ over such a beautiful bed is, frankly, genius. Mr. Grieves - This is frenetic and confusing as they bust their way through 3 or 4 genres in a two minute song. Stylistically it maybe steps a little too far from the rest of the album in places, but that probably just makes it all the more suitable. They can’t help but be a little loony in everything they do. Not my favourite, but it’s a suitably odd part of the album. Crackity Jones - This has got so much pace to it, it just rolls along. Again, love Kim Deal’s bass here, it’s so round and punchy. It’s a frenzied burst of a song and then, bang, it’s done. La La Love You - There’s a great atmosphere to this. The drumming is great in particular, but the production in general is top notch. It’s like the love song of a stalker with the slightly creepy whistling and discordant elements that drift in and out. It could be overly simple if it wasn’t for those noisy, experimental edges that just give it a fantastic edge of weird. No. 13 Baby - This reminds me a little of Meat Puppets. It’s a solid composition that moves through a range of different sounds and stages. It perhaps lacks a little bit on the hook front, but the overall sound is great and the way it drops back out to the quiet sections is excellent. There Goes My Gun - This is another ’collapsing in on itself’ song. There are great hooks and riffs in this, and it’s all so atmospheric and well produced and it just falls apart at the edges and then it’s done. Quality. Hey - The opening guitar riff is so slick and rhythmically satisfying. It’s super groovy, and then it drifts into something that sounds almost like My Bloody Valentine if you took away a few of their reverb pedals. This song ebbs and flows, but it’s got a bit of something about it that I really like and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Great stuff. Silver - Pistols at dawn. There’s so much vibe to this. The production is again fantastic and the dual vocal lines are brilliant. It’s super creepy and threatening. Gouge Away - We get some more of the classic soft/loud dynamic here. It builds and drives in places, but it doesn’t really land on anything that grabs you quite as much as some of the stronger tracks on the album.

7/10 Having heard bits and pieces of Primal Scream in the past, but never fully engaging, I wasn’t really quite sure what to expect from this album. What I definitely wasn’t expecting was what I actually got. Apparently this was made as an alternative soundtrack for the 1971 movie of the same name and, with that in mind, this makes much more sense than it otherwise would. These a lot of sound design work that swirls and washes around the music here, and the actual ‘song’ moments are relatively fleeting. There are grooves and pulses that drive things along, but a lot of this album is about imparting a vibe on the listener. That’s perfect for soundtrack work, but perhaps a little unfocused for a pure musical listening experience. That being said, the sound design work was, for the most part very enjoyable and I did find myself lost in the work as it poured out of the speakers. The mix is, for the most part excellent, particularly the use of the stereo field, as sound effects and ear candy throbbed and whooshed from side to side, adding a real depth to the sound. It was however, from time to time, a little bit confused, especially in the high frequency spectrum where some of the elements overwhelm the rest of the track, which is a bit of a shame. If things had been a little better balanced, those sections of tracks would probably have worked that little bit better for me. As a soundtrack, I can imagine this being very effective, as an album it is maybe less so, but it was still an enjoyable and rewarding listen, despite being a little inconsistent. Burning Wheel - It’s a slow build into the album but when it gets there it feels super 90s. The sound design is great and there’s a lot going on all over the stereo field. Underneath it all it’s a fairly standard yet decent 90s rock song that’s pretty brit-poppy, but with all of the extra production and audio trickery all over the place it brings a different aura to the track, which is cool. Get Duffy - This is pretty nice. It’s got an electronic jazzy sound to it, kind of like Bonobo, Air or Cinematic Orchestra. It’s a change of pace from the opener, but it’s a decent track with some nice bits of composition and production. It kind of drifts around all over the place without ever landing on much that feels particularly significant, but it’s a nice ride nonetheless. Kowalski - We’re back into more energetic territory now. Some of the production of the sound design is pretty in your face and probably overwhelms the music a little too much now and then. There are some cool riffs in the bass here and there and the whispered vocal works quite well. There are some really nice crunchy drums in there later on too, which I really dig. Again, a nice journey if a little aimless. Star - This kind of feels like a blend of the other tracks we’ve had so far. It’s got that smooth electronica edge to it, but there’s a bit of bite and grit to it too, along with the busy soundscaping. It delivers a nice hooky chorus too, which helps to give the track a bit more direction and centre. If They Move, Kill 'Em - Proper movie soundtrack type stuff here. It’s got a good groove and some decent hooks to it. There’s a lot going on, with different instrumentation and sound design dropping in and out, like fragments of guitar and sitar. It’s a nice mood piece. Out Of The Void - There’s something quite proto-Gorillaz about this. It’s got that lazy, drifting sound with the laid back, slightly drawling vocal. Again, it’s got a constantly shifting and moving soundscape that encompasses the central song, which just meanders along inside of it all. Stuka - We’re back in with a pulsing electronic, almost dubby sound now. When the effect swamped vocal comes in it switches the inflection of the rhythm in a really nice way. It’s all very soundscape focused again, drifting along with a super cool vibe and a good bit of groove to it. Medication - And now we’re almost in Rolling Stones territory. It’s got a good groove to it, and it’s landing those hooks nicely. There are some great riffs here and a nice, memorable chorus to centre things. Oddly, there is a distinct lack of the sound design that permeates the rest of the album, so this kind of sticks out by virtue of its relative normalness. Motörhead - A cover of a Hawkwind song, which kind of seems fitting for the all encompassing washes of sound design we’ve been experiencing throughout the album. This one again has more of a traditional song core to it, but there’s plenty to enjoy around the edges too. Trainspotting - Similar to If They Move, this is some more movie soundtrack fodder. It’s got a cool swagger to it, especially in the electric piano, and there’s a lot of interesting sound effects used to enhance the beat, which is nice. Another one that drifts along as a great listen, but refuses to grab you by the throat, preferring to just tickle your ears. Long Life - An almost ambient, drifting soundscape of a song, but it has that core of a song here. It washes around, but there’s a solid beat that ticks along and gives it something to grip on to. This is another one that I like as an experience, but there are not really any specific standout moments and it’s all about vibe. But the vibe is really good.

10/10 It’s moments like these that make me appreciate this album reviewing journey all the more. I already know and love Radiohead, have seen them live, have listened to all of their music, but for me, my introduction to them was when they started diving into the more electronic end of things, Kid A onwards. I’ve listened to and appreciated OK Computer before, but have perhaps never listened to it in as much depth as I have today. It’s glorious. The songwriting just flows, with songs almost endlessly developing and advancing, but they also know when to throw in something a little more subtle and static when the need arises. It’s art rock for the sake of the music, not for the sake of calling it art rock. The production is remarkable, as they undulate between sparse, bare-bones icy clarity and the cacophony of sound that almost overwhelms the speakers, filled with thick instrumentation, grit and distortion. The way they flow from idea to idea, without ever losing the thread of a song is remarkable. They throw in these almost poppy singles here and there through the album that work within the flow of the album, but have a slightly more radio friendly sound, but never derail the album. Every song has something different to say, all in a slightly different way, but it all blends into an all encompassing sound and thread that shifts, undulates, ebbs and flows. And in amongst all that, there is the overall vibe of the album. It’s a melancholy, but incredibly beautiful and, at times, uplifting album. I often see beauty in despair and this album encapsulates that feeling perfectly. It’s a singular piece of art that startles and delights. Airbag - What an opening. That riff is great, the drum fill is quality and then it thins out for the vocal and the bass comes in sparingly but impactfully. This builds and falls, ebbs and flows, with little tweaks and flurries of interesting effects use and ear candy. And there are some really fantastic hooks in there too. Paranoid Android - So many good riffs and some top quality pushing and pulling of the meter during the breakdown section. The vibe of this track is immense. It has the dynamic range of the Pixies, the melancholy of Joy Division, the ear for melody of the Beach Boys and the experimental edge of Can. And that’s all wrapped up in an evolving, adventurous pop song. It’s glorious. I could write about the different sections at length, but I write too much already. Subterranean Homesick Alien - That warm bath of synth/e-piano is so lush. They really know how to act with restraint in places. There are some busy elements here, but some of the guitar and electric piano lines are subtle and fleeting. There are so many beautiful arpeggiations and movements, and they also throw in a slight edge of distortion here and there that makes it feel like things are starting to crumble at the edges. It’s so good. Exit Music (For A Film) - Now we have something more stripped back. The changing dynamics of this album are so good, and this is no different. It never builds to the cacophony of other tracks, but there’s a really satisfying development as the various instruments come in and out, from the mellotron choir to the biting bass synth. It’s all so pretty, but with an edge of grit to it. Let Down - Good lord, it’s just banger after banger. There are some incredibly beautiful moments here, and there are so many ideas that the effortlessly shift through, never losing the thread of the song, which is such a hard thing to do. Some of the ideas start off seeming unfocused and then they just pull the focus wheel and everything sharpens up and clarifies, it’s just gorgeous. Oh, and I LOVE the arpeggiated synth outro. Karma Police - Oh, my, god. We’ve only just hit Karma Police and I’ve spent the last 5 tracks rambling about their greatness. This is melancholy pop perfection. The way it builds and drops away to the piano and vocal for the ‘this is what you’ll get’ section is absolutely glorious. There’s so much subtlety to the composition, but it all anchors around a simple core thread that just grips and engages the ear. Fitter Happier - It’s an interlude track, but it’s all vibe. The music and sound effects beneath the vocal is actually underrated in the depth and nuance it gives to this track, and it flows so well out of Karma Police. Electioneering - Out of the back of the interlude, we get some real pace and drive. The shifting, climbing and falling of the guitar against the vocal is great, and the drumming has got so much energy. It’s perhaps not got the level of inventiveness and variety of some other tracks, but it’s the perfect injection of vigour after Karma Police and Fitter Happier. Climbing Up The Walls - That evolving bass synth is great. This is another one that builds, washes and drifts, almost crumbling at the edges in places, even in the vocal which keeps saturating until it descends into a screaming wash of distortion. There’s a thread of clarity from the strings that hold the crumbling edifice together. No Surprises - The clarity and precision off the back of the last track is so effective. It’s a simple, yet incredibly potent song, another that does the build of instrumentation that drops out into something more sparse here and there. Another great poppy little number that still hangs on to the momentum of the album. Lucky - There’s a darker undertone to this, but it rises up into some incredibly beautiful, uplifting moments of clarity out of the sound wash. Those transitions are so smooth, that you hardly notice them until they’re done. Another remarkable song that’s composed and produced with such subtle dexterity. The Tourist - We finish off with another song that threads that fine line between sombre and uplifting. There’s so much depth and warmth to this track. There’s some really beautiful playing here from Jonny Greenwood and Philip Selway. This is such a calming way to end an absolutely genius album, while still having layered complexity, fantastic composition, musicianship and production.

4/10 It seems that I revert to an overuse of the word ‘nice’ when I land on music that is reasonably pleasant, fairly well executed but ultimately fairly unengaging to me as a listener. And this is another of those ‘nice’ albums. As an experience, it was inoffensive but fairly bland. There was nothing that really hooked me in or grabbed hold of me and it just passed me by in a wash of niceness and reverb. And boy do they massively overuse reverb. Not only that, but the reverb itself is really artificial sounding, because it sounds like a massive space, but with no tail, like no real space could ever offer. Very odd. When this album first washed over me, I enjoyed it more than on a focused listen, when the repetition and lack of inventiveness became more exposed. In a funny way, they kind of sound like an indie band cosplaying as a folk band, rather than being an actual folk band, and the result is a kind of like wallpaper music, but the wallpaper is an expensive designer print that has been appropriated from some traditional origin. It doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that this album came out just a few years after Brian Wilson’s Smile, as this feels like it’s taken a lot of inspiration from some of the work on that album, but without the same songwriting ability, range or edge of insanity that carried that project. There’s just no sense of adventure to this at all. Not that it’s really bad, it’s just not very interesting either, and I don’t feel like they’ve actually got anything to say. The aesthetic is nice enough, if I’m in the mood for something like this, there are many albums of greater substance and quality that I’d jump to ahead of this. Sun It Rises - Talk about setting your stall out early, twee campfire vocal harmonies with lyrics about woodland life that give way to folksy acoustic guitar twiddles. It’s fairly pleasant, but so soaked in reverb that things are getting kind of washed in together, and then it sort of tails away. White Winter Hymnal - This has got some nice harmonies, but there’s not much to it really. It’s not bad, but I think it’s made to sound bigger than it is by the mixing, and there’s not much under the surface apart from a sheen of pleasantness. Ragged Wood - This is better. There’s a bit of pace to it and the instrumentation has a bit more depth to it. There’s some good dynamic range and the nice vocal harmonies persist.There’s quite a jarring change in the middle, which is a bit odd and then it builds up nicely again from there, but never gets back to anything that interesting. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song - This is another ‘nice enough’ song. Too much reverb again, especially for a ‘bloke with a guitar’ track. It loses all levels of intimacy that a track like this should have. Underneath it, the track is fairly pleasant. Quiet Houses - This is very repetitive. I’m not sure what they’re trying to get at with this one at all. Some of the ideas are ok, but they are dragged out to the nth degree. He Doesn't Know Why - I don’t know why either, to be fair. It’s kind of meandering and all gets lost in the cacophony of reverb and instrumentation. The rhythms are very stilted and the melody just wanders around. Then it ends with some unrelated piano playing that I don’t know the purpose of other than to somehow say “look, we really play these instruments”. Heard Them Stirring - More ‘nice’ music that doesn’t really do anything apart from exist. I’ve really nothing more to add, and apparently, neither did they. Your Protector - This one builds quite well to begin with, but then sort of plateaus. It’s got a bit of toe-tapping rhythm to it, but it’s still fairly bland and unengaging. Meadowlarks - This is quite a nice song that loses itself in the swamp of reverb. The verses to meander around a little, but when it thickens up it’s very pretty, although again, so much reverb. Blue Ridge Mountains - There’s a nice bit of melody to this and while it gets thicker in sound, it never lands on a satisfying denouement. And that hammered single note piano line is really bad. Oliver James - This one seems pretty nice again. It’s got a pleasant chorus, but there’s not a great level of development, except for wandering around the core thread of the song again, and then it just drifts away into an overly reveberant acapella vocal.

6/10 I can’t help but get a vibe of the performative ‘look at me, aren’t I weird’ about Syd Barrett, like a man playing the Blue Peter theme tune on two recorders up his nostrils as some kind of busking ‘performance art’ in a provincial town centre. He was obviously a troubled man, but I feel like he definitely leans into it and tries to be kooky. Perhaps his real troubles started when he leaned further into being the real life version of the character we hear on this album. Who knows? Anyway, on to the album. It’s a bit of a mixed bag. There were rarely moments that I hated, but there were certainly moments where it did step a little too far over the line into self indulgent farting around. There were a load of really great ideas spread across the album and when I felt the thread of a song managed to maintain itself while they played around with sound it worked really well. Some of the vocal harmonisation and sound design were of particular note and a lot of the studio work they obviously did on this brought great results across the whole album. It did, on occasion, feel a bit like they were trying loads of ideas to see what stuck, and at times that lead to some odd decisions, such as the strange panning choices and some vocal takes that clipped the levels in quite an unpleasant way. But as the album went on, I kind of felt myself drifting into the zone of the album and it started to get its hooks into me just a bit more, although never quite enough for the more jarring elements to throw a spanner in the works every now and then. This was certainly an interesting one to hear, particularly as it’s so far away from what Pink Floyd would become, but I doubt I’ll be hurrying back to it very often. Astronomy Dominé - This is quite meandering. It’s one of those tracks that has lots of build up, but never really reaches a destination. There’s a collection of somewhat decent ideas and moments in there, but they’re stitched together in a fairly incoherent way. Lucifer Sam - This has got a good bit of drive to it and actually lands on some decent hooks here and there. Although it does stray quite close to sounding like the soundtrack from a 60s spy tv show in places. The mix is all over the place, with some sections being incredibly unbalanced to the right channel, which is odd. There are some really cool bits of effects use here and there that add a bit of extra depth and range to the sound, which I appreciated. Matilda Mother - This is more of a folksy number. There are some nice vocal harmonies in there and some interesting rhythmic approaches. While things do wander off in slightly odd directions, there is a general thread that holds things more or less together, which helps with overall coherence. Flaming - This has another little edge of folk about it. I mean it’s also twee and kooky, but it feels performatively so. It’s too coherent to be completely mental, but they try and stray off the rails and do get a bit too self indulgent in the middle where it drifts away into almost random tinkling. At least they wrap it back together again at the end. Pow R. Toc H - Another oddly right balanced mix to start off. This is a drifting, meandering piece, that seems to be all about the vibe. I actually quite enjoyed this one and there felt like a bit more purpose to the psychedelic soundscapes and effects they were using. It was hardly a conventional song, but it was a pretty good experience nonetheless. Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk - This feels like it straddles a sound somewhere between The Kinks and The Doors. It does wander off into little avenues, but it’s quite an enjoyable journey and it does feel like there’s a central thread that holds it all together and it doesn’t ever get too thin and erratic. Interstellar Overdrive - There are parts of this that are really great. When they get the pace up and build a swathe of sound, it can be satisfyingly yet almost terrifyingly all encompassing, but they do collapse into fragmented moments that are a tad wanky and self indulgent. It’s a fine line to tread and at times they have a foot either side of it, but overall, as an audio experience it’s pretty good. Some of the effects work and sound design is just fantastic and I can imagine something like this sounding remarkable in 1967, whereas it may sound less otherworldly and strange to modern ears. The Gnome - This is another performatively mad song. I mean, it’s very silly, but some of the progressions are actually very nice. The production of the creepy whispering bit is very cool too. I ended up enjoying this more than I expected to. Chapter 24 - There are some really nice moments to this, particularly some of the harmonies, but it does drift off into a bit of a meandering wash at various points. It also clips really badly late on. Bit of a swing and a miss for me, this one. The Scarecrow - Another slightly meandering effort. I quite like the slightly unexpected pacing and flow of Barrett’s vocal, but as a whole, it just feels a little too twee and aimless apart from that. Bike - A suitably ‘listen to me being weird’ end to the album. But it’s also a pretty good song that blends nicely across different ideas and threads, which could easily be lost under the silliness of the vocal, but is actually well structured and pretty accomplished from a musical and atmospheric point of view. It does end with a fairly deranged sound collage, but in this instance, I quite like it as the closing act.

6/10 Cards on the table, I was never a britpop guy. I was too busy binging on grunge and punk at the time It was popular, but I'm always happy to give a chance to something I may have overlooked in the past. I obviously knew the big singles, it was hard to miss them as a living being in the late 90s, and this album starts off strong. I expected Beetlebum to be a tone setter, with its languorous vocal delivery, backed with a solid rhythmic base and some good melodic hooks to give it energy, but things seem to vary pretty wildly from then on. It kind of feels like a melting pot of different ideas, from both a musical and production point of view and it doesn’t really flow all that well as a result. It’s quite front and back loaded for me, with a big old lull of inconsistency in the middle. After the first couple of tracks, the consistency really dips and I found some of the tracks were fairly dull and uninspiring, despite apparent attempts to inject some experimentation and verve to proceedings. The production was odd, in that from one song to the next the vibe and tone would change from crisp and full to almost four track cassette demo levels of quality, which was quite jarring. I felt that the second half picked up quite a bit and some of that experimentation started to enhance the music, rather than feeling so disconnected from it. There was some great songwriting in places; interesting chord changes, nice harmonies and that aforementioned rhythmic base all contributing. There were also some tracks that leant towards the Gorillaz sounds that Damon Albarn would work with later in his career, which I enjoyed. I think this album has the makings of a very good 40 minute album, but as it is, it's just a little bloated and inconsistent, particularly in the middle. Beetlebum - A britpop classic. It’s almost lazy in its delivery, but the dynamic change into the chorus is great and the subtle backing vocals are solid. I like the way the vocal pushes and pulls the emphasis of the beat here and there. Song 2 - A throwaway joke of a song that becomes your biggest worldwide hit? Of course. It’s very simple and short, but it’s another classic. It’s got great energy and solid hooks, and that’s all it needed. Country Sad Ballad Man - You couldn’t drop the intensity much more. This is a fairly meandering little number. It feels like Graham Coxon is doing his best to inject something into it, but it just kind of plods along and Damon Albarn doesn’t sound like he’s particularly arsed about it. There are some nice moments here and there, but it does plod along a bit too much for me. M.O.R. - This is more interesting straight off the bat. Some cool guitar work, and when it launches into the song proper, there’s much better energy. The melodies are pretty good, and there’s a good bit of variety in the dynamic, which keeps things moving along. It’s not spectacular, but it’s pretty good. On Your Own - This is a bit of an odd one. It sounds like they’re trying to do two different things at the same time. There’s some semblance of an attempted anthem, alongside some sonic experimentation that sort of drowns out the base song, and it doesn’t really pull off either thing. It all just feels a bit muddled. Theme From Retro - We’re on to a wash of sound that just drudges on. It’s another lean towards experimentation, but it’s not experimental enough to actually be interesting. There’s no drive or variety to it at all, it just kind of exists and then stops existing. You're So Great - There’s something quite Dinosaur Jr about this track. It’s pretty nice, but compared to the rest of the album so far it very much feels like a demo, rather than a finished track, which is a bit odd. Death Of A Party - And we’re back too full on production. There’s more than a hint of Gorillaz to this. It’s got a bit of creeping menace to it in the verses and a nice switch up into the chorus. The organ part is great, and it’s got a good swagger to the rhythm, and Albarn’s delivery works much better on this one. This is much, much better. Chinese Bombs - Another stylistic switch up. This is almost punky, it’s got some good energy to it and it’s super noisy. Pretty good, but the stark changes in production style is confusing me quite a bit. It doesn’t feel all that coherent. I'm Just A Killer For Your Love - This is a bit cleaner, except for the vocal. The post chorus development is pretty good and has a bit of cool swagger to it. On one hand, I quite like the tone of this, but it doesn’t necessarily add in enough range or variety into the dynamic to really keep me fully engaged. The thrust of the rhythm is good though. Look Inside America - Good morning lethargy is a fairly fitting opening lyric for some of the tracks on this album, although not this one. It’s another stylistic switch up, but there’s some really good drive and pace to this one. The strings feel a bit forced, to be honest, but the pre-chorus and chorus are solid. The breakdown is a bit weird, but in a good way. Although it switches styles about a bit, it all feels like it’s pulling in the same direction, which is pretty satisfying. Like it. Strange News From Another Star - It’s got an interesting intro and then drops into something more plain. But it’s a good kind of plain. This is a really solid, relaxed effort that builds nicely into different sections. It’s quite Bowieish, even in Albarn’s vocal delivery. The production is simple but effective, and the sparing use of soundscaping really helps develop the dynamic depth , and then it launches into a noisy burst at the end, which it feels like it’s earned. Another good one. Movin' On - And the drive is back. I feel like this album has saved some of its best work for the end. This is hardly reinventing the wheel, but its got a good bit of zip to it, the experimental work all serves the narrative of the song and doesn’t overwhelm and there’s some really good build and release of tension and range. It definitely kept my attention, and had me tapping along. Essex Dogs - This is a cool end to the album. It’s got another edge of Gorillaz to it, and sonically, it’s really interesting. It’s got a really solid groove, and the subtle sung vocal that drifts in and out behind the spoken word vocal is great. Again, the experimental edge enhances rather than overshadows, and it ebbs and flows in a really satisfying way. A quality closer. And we get a bit more experimentation as a bonus track, which is a bonus bit of fun.

8/10 This was a pleasant surprise. It hits right in my wheelhouse of hip-hop that has a fun edge to it, along with a good sense of melody. It’s very well produced and there are only hints here and there that make it feel like an album from as far back as 1992. There’s a decent amount of experimentation and depth to the production that helps to lift it away from the pitfall that hip-hop can fall into of becoming overly repetitive. With thin productions, that can become very tiring on the ear, but when, by and large, they thicken things up with a depth of sound and also throw in enough variation between sections and add in extra musical flavour here and there, it rarely drags. I particularly enjoy the amount of singing that they mix in with the rapping, and even the rapping itself quite often has a melodic delivery that’s really nice. There was a good range of tempos across the album, with tracks that barrelled along, like Mama’s Always On Stage, and then the more laid back grooves of People Everyday. The rapping was generally very good and didn’t get stuck in too much of a formulaic rhythm, and some of the backing vocals that supported the lead were often of really high quality. As is so often the case with albums that came out during the CD boom, this is perhaps a little on the lengthy side, and there are there are a few tracks that don’t quite live up to the highlights, but as a whole I thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to checking out their other work. Man's Final Frontier - A great little opener. It’s funky and has great pace too. Some quality sample choices and some fun scratching too. It’s very well produced and there’s quite a lot going on too. Definitely a solid way to introduce the record. Mama's Always On Stage - There’s a real melodic edge to even the rapping delivery here and it’s really good. The pace of this absolutely shifts, and it just flows brilliantly from section to section too. It rarely stays on one theme for long, and that keeps it interesting. Another great track. People Everyday - The tempo drops here but it’s got such a cool swagger. I love the original Everyday People, and the sample is given a different inflection with the pace and lilt on the beat that’s really satisfying. The switch between the rapping of the verse and the sung chorus works really well. Blues Happy - An interlude. Not much to say other than that they sound like they’re having a great time. Mr. Wendal - This reminds me quite a lot of De LA Soul. It’s got a really solid groove, and there are some really nice bits of flair to the music here and there that just add a little touch of variation and interest. It does perhaps drag on a little too long, given the main theme is ever present, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless. Children Play With Earth - The bass line here is quite fun, but it’s a fairly unfocused track that just drifts into a fairly meandering but of spoken word. It’s just lacking the central thread to pull it through and almost feels half way between a song and an interlude. Raining Revolution - This has got a nice laid back groove, and the blend of singing and rapping is again very good. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer a vast amount of variation or depth to the track for most of its length, so it does drag a little bit. Fishin' 4 Religion - This is solid. It’s got great pace and some interesting cutting of the beats here and there too. There’s a lot of depth to the instrumentation and the backing vocals, making it a rewarding listen. The synth bass sounds comedically dated, but I kind of like it for that. This is half way between a hip hop track and a Prince track, and it’s really good. Give A Man A Fish - This is another cool song. The bass line is good, and the party gang vocals add a different twist to the vibe. The verses perhaps go on a tiny bit too long. The chorus is good too, although there’s a slight disconnect between the parts rhythmically that jars a tiny bit. A pretty decent, bouncing track though. U - This starts with something that’s more like another of those musical interludes, but once it kicks in it’s another really great track. So much pace and a really solid groove between the bass and drums in particular. It’s got a brilliant singing rap to the main vocal, and the bits of backing vocals that drop in here and there are quality too. I couldn’t help but bounce to the groove of this. There were a couple of bits that were a bit on the repetitive side, but there was enough going on that that didn’t really dampen the fun. Eve Of Reality - Another interlude. It’s a nice, calm build though. Natural - I really like the vibe of this, and the verse is really good. The vocal delivery is great and it’s got a nice flow to the music, but when it hits the chorus, the string synths just slightly miss the mark for me. It’s a shame really, because this is a decent chilled out little track otherwise and has a nice bit of pace and feel to the groove. Maybe it’s a minor gripe though as the rest of it is just a great vibe. Dawn Of The Dreads - Something with a bit more swagger now. I really like the lilt to the vocal and the grooves are good. It’s perhaps a little stilting in some of the production and could do with being a little smoother, particularly the drums which stutter a bit too much in places. But it’s still another enjoyable track. Tennessee - This is another good one. Reminds me a little of What I Got by Sublime for some reason. I think it’s just the thrust of the groove. More solid half sung, half rapped vocal delivery. As with much of the rest of the album, this has got me bouncing along to the beats. It’s not as musically rich as some of the other tracks, but it’s got hooks that just grab you and bring you in. Washed Away - This is another that has delivery quite like De La Soul. It’s got a nice vibe to it, but it’s a bit too repetitive for me and doesn’t necessarily add enough depth and range to the instrumentation to give it the range that allows repetitiveness to get a pass, particularly when it goes on this long.

8/10 On first listen to this, I was worried that the production techniques and standards had aged this too much for me and, while that was a slight issue in places, the general feel of the album sucked me in and kept me engaged enough to largely let that slide. Sure, there were moments when the slightly aged scratching techniques and drum fills that lack dynamic nuance did stick out a little, but as a whole, I found myself swept up in the vibe. The strong moments on this album really are super strong. Bring Tha Noise, Louder Than A Bomb, She Watch Channel Zero?!, for example were excellent tracks. The production was full and interesting, there was a lot of range to the different sections of the songs, there were some quality hooks and the delivery of the rapping didn’t settle into anything too formulaic. But there were also some weaker moments, many of which were tracks that suffered from that old hip-hop chestnut of the ‘prominent, repetitive and annoying sample’. When this happened, I did find my attention wandering a little, particularly on the longer examples. There were also a few interludes that seemed a little pointless. I’ve noted in the past that albums of the late 80s and early 90s seem to lean much more towards the hour mark and beyond, presumably the advent of CDs allowing more space to fill, but I feel like this often ends up with a looser collection of tracks than would have otherwise happened. My focus on music is largely on the music itself, so I can’t comment too much on the lyrical content. The bits I did pick up sounded decent, and it’s good too hear some political and social focus in the content, but it was also a nice blend between that and some slightly less serious stuff, which was nice. I’ll likely give this a few more spins here and there in future and it may grow on me a little more. Cultural importance probably knocks this up a mark too. Countdown To Armageddon - It’s an intro, but it’s also quite funny that it’s recorded in Hammersmith for the BBC. Bring The Noise - It’s a classic. There’s a bit more of a melodic edge to it than I remember, with the horn samples across both the verse and chorus. The back and forth between Chuck D and Flavor Flav are great and there’s some decent depth to the production too. Don't Believe The Hype - There’s a cool rolling groove to this, and I like the way that Chuck D drags the emphasis of the beat around with his vocal delivery, not always sticking to a simple, flat approach. The verses maybe drag on a little too long, but that’s probably a personal thing with my focus on music over lyrics. Cold Lampin With Flavor - The sporadic depth of the piano samples in this one adds some great melodic flavour, and there’s some clever little bits of cutting to the beats. It’s got a really good, body rocking beat to it. The siren type sample is perhaps a little overwhelming and relentless for me. But again, there’s quite a lot going on underneath that to give it extra interest. Terminator X To The Edge Of Panic - Bringing the DJ to the forefront cool, and this is pretty good for the age it is, but the precision of the mixing and scratching is not up to the standard that later DJs would hit, so it feels a little dated. The groove is solid, despite that, and it keeps your toes tapping. Mind Terrorist - This is just a bit repetitive. I like the beats, but it’s just basically the same thing over and over for a minute and a half. Louder Than A Bomb - There’s a nice funky edge to this, not just from the sample choice, but the cutting of the beats enhances it too. And the vocal delivery is quality. It’s so thickly layered and dense in places, but it allows space for the vocal to breathe as it builds too. The production is some of the best on the album thus far. Great track. Caught, Can We Get A Witness? - There’s some great pace to this one, it positively shifts, but it’s still got a really funky edge to it. Some of the funk guitar samples are so good. The transition into different sections is so smooth and adds plenty of variety as the track progresses. It moves so much that it never gets the opportunity to get stale. Another solid entry. Show 'Em Whatcha Got - This is another that is almost an interlude track. It’s more or less the same thing round and round for a couple of minutes. The vibe of it is good and the lyrics are important, so that’s the purpose of it, but it’s a little too repetitive for me. She Watch Channel Zero?! - This is solid. The Slayer riff is solid and adds some great energy to it. Who knew the Funky Drummer break would work so well with Angel of Death? Some great moments of production in here and it’s a proper head bopper of a groove. There’s a nice mix of input from Chuck and Flavor here too, which is nice. Great little bits and pieces of other effects samples too. Fantastic track. Night Of The Living Baseheads - This album is at its best when it changes things up and isn’t too focused on a couple of prominent samples that dominate the mix. This has a nice break in the middle and again at the end that add a bit of range, but it’s a bit relentless with that horn sample otherwise. There’s actually quite a bit of range to this, but it’s just too overloaded by that sample, which is a shame, because it detracts from what sounds like decent work underneath it. Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos - The piano sample is subtler here, so doesn’t dominate the mix in the same way, which allows everything else space. This has got a nice, driving groove and some of the break chopping is really solid, particularly working well with the bass line, which is great. There’s that depth to the production again that there’s quite a lot going on that reward close listening. The little moments that are almost sample collage are really nice too. Security Of The First World - It’s a nice enough beat, but that’s literally it. A pointless inclusion. Rebel Without A Pause - The transitions on this one are a bit jarring and the high pitched sample is pretty tuneless and annoying. It’s kind of hard to concentrate on anything else because it just overwhelms everything else. There’s some nice scratching in the second half, but it is, as mentioned previously, a fairly old school interpretation of the art. Prophets Of Rage - This is much better. Variation between sections, good momentum to the beats and lyrical delivery and some interesting layering of samples. There’s some nice bits of scratching that are more subtly used to enhance the song and some more good audio collage sections. Party For Your Right To Fight - Some great sample choices here. There’s a good flow for a lot of the track and it’s a really nice twist on the Beastie Boys song with a strong political point. It’s got a solid bounce to the beat and has a decent amount of depth to the production too. A decent way to end things.

8/10 The first thing to mention about this album is the recording and production. It’s simply magnificent. If you’ve listened to this album on crappy headphones or speakers and in any way enjoyed it, you owe it to yourself to hear this on a proper system. The dynamics in particular are just glorious. It goes from quiet, almost whispered and sparse production up to these thick, full sounding passages. The strings are beautifully recorded as they ease and swell their way under the rest of the instrumentation. And there’s so much nuance to it. There are little bits of instrumentation that sit deep in the background, but add a quality to the music that isn’t particularly apparent on the surface. Dusty’s voice is really controlled in both feel and dynamic, going from the almost whispered, close-recorded start of Windmills Of Your Mind, through the smoky soul of Son Of A Preacher Man, to the full bodied peak of Don’t Forget About Me. The album as a whole does lean a little too far towards the more poppy side of things here and if there had been an edge more of the smoky soul to some of the song choices, I would be pushing this hard towards a higher rating. The song choice is largely good though, and the album pretty much flies by. This is one of those albums that you could stick on in the background and it would be a perfect bed to a great many things, but it’s also super rewarding when you dedicate some focused listening time to it. I suspect I’ll be back to this again fairly soon, and there’s a good chance it could retrospectively get pushed further up my rankings, as I feel, as good as it already is, it might be a bit of a grower over time too. Just A Little Lovin’ - I love this smooth soul sound of the 60s and 70s. The strings in particular are delightful and evocative. Her voice has just the right edge of smoke to it and there’s a laid back lilt to the delivery, which sits nicely against the more drive on the drums. It’s a shame it fades out so soon really. Great opener. So Much Love - When she goes up to those high notes, she really hits it, and along with the backing vocals, it’s buttery smooth. It perhaps leans a little more towards the poppy side of things, but it's still a brilliant production. Again, some great work from the drummer to inject a bit of extra verve, but it’s never overplayed either. Son Of A Preacher Man - An absolute classic. Again, that edge of smoke on the vocal is beautiful. The horns are so deftly balanced, injecting emphasis and nuance but never overwhelming. The backing vocals are an absolute delight. The inflection of Dusty’s vocal is brilliant, especially during the middle eight and final chorus. It’s an exquisite work. I Don't Want To Hear It Anymore - This is another track where the strings do a magnificent job of bringing stacks of vibe into the recording. Her voice is great again, the inflection she uses brings that edge of despair to the delivery. It’s a decent song, but the performances and recording are again the stars of the show. Don't Forget About Me - The guitar and electric piano in the intro are great here. It’s got a really nice change of feel between verse and chorus, and there’s a nice laid back swagger to Dusty’s delivery. Not an amazing song, but the feel is still solid. Breakfast In Bed - The groove that kicks in with the drums is really good. A lot of the playing is subtle, but full of feel. It’s pretty understated, but it’s undeniably cool. It’s got more of that toe-tapping swagger that seems to be the hallmark of this record. Just One Smile - This is more a more laid back ballad. There’s some more great subtle playing. I really liked the odd moment of flair from the guitar, and the use of dynamic change between the different sections really gives it a solid flow. The Windmills Of Your Mind - There’s something quite intimate about the recording of the vocal here. You can hear the subtlety of the mouth noise like she’s almost whispering the vocal. It's very restrained at the start and gradually builds and almost moves with a slow pulse as it grows. By the end, it’s got a load more zip and the dynamic has completely changed from the quiet restraint of the intro. A great production. In The Land Of Make Believe - This drifts around in a quite lovely bed of sound. I feel like it never really lands on anything particularly hooky or memorable and it perhaps pushes her vocal to slightly too high of a register to be completely comfortable, but it was still a pleasant and enjoyable wash of a song. No Easy Way Down - Smooth. Super smooth. It goes back to that laid back swagger, but again just dynamically ebbs and flows. Some of her vibrato here is just exceptional. There’s an edge of gospel to this, and I find that the little references to blues, soul, gospel etc really add an extra depth to the surface level pop of this record. I Can't Make It Alone - Another one where the strings and the vocal are really the highlights, but every part contributes. The strings in the verse are particularly excellent, and the vocal delivery of ‘something in my soul’ is so good. It fades out a little too quick, but it’s another lovely track nonetheless.

8/10 This is an album that I know very well. It’s an excellent blend of electronica, jazz and pop that for the most part works equally well as background music as it does with a more focused ear. Air create sumptuous sound beds, with evolving synth lines and pads, sweeping string arrangements, and wonderful elements of ear candy that provide nuance and momentum to their arrangements. And amongst all that, they have a really good ear for melody. Whether focusing on a jazzy Rhodes piano, a close mic’d intimate vocal or even a tuba, in the case of Ce Matin La, they deliver real moments of melodic and harmonic quality that dance and wander in and out of the weave of the other instrumentation. I think the bass is probably also an underrated element of Air’s work. They write strong and mobile bass lines that give solid drive to their tracks, and form a rolling base that allows the other elements to flutter in and out and provide the airy top to that strong foundation. There are moments on the album where the momentum does dip a little, and that focused listening experience can drift a little into something a bit more repetitive and slightly less defined, but those moments often serve as palette cleansers between the more focused, hooky tracks that steal the attention back and engage the ear. At its best, this is brilliant, at its worst, it’s still very enjoyable and I’ll no doubt be back with it again in the not too distant future. La Femme D'Argent - That bass line is just so good. This track eases its way through movements and sections with such an ease. There are solo sections that offer delicate and nuanced performances, some really lovely bits of synth programming and ear candy and a beautiful build of soundscaping that delivers depth and smooth quality. It’s easy to dismiss this as background music, but there’s a lot more to it than that to my ear, and it doesn’t drag at all for a 7 minute song. Sexy Boy - Quality. Another great bass line, that high pitched ringing tone that responds to the first bass note is beautifully well placed. There’s some really lovely ascending chord progressions in the electric pianos. The structure has form almost of a dancefloor track, and there’s still an edge of that to the production, but it just wraps you up in a warm, jazzy cloud rather than thumping you with energy. The Moog solo is brilliant in such a lazy way and plays really nicely against the Rhodes. There are so many lovely bits of playing and composition that reveal themselves under the surface. All I Need - Some more lovely synth work to open this up and then a really deft little guitar line. There’s perhaps a little less depth to the production here, but Beth Hirsh’s vocal is lovely, with some great backing vocal pieces thrown in here and there to back it up. It’s a pretty pop song infused with that electronic edge that gives it a flavourful twist. Kelly Watch The Stars - There’s almost a fierce edge to the bass here, which gives things a bit of bite. There’s perhaps a little too much repetitiveness here in the vocal, but there is still some decent variety in the other sections, with the arpeggiated piano and some more bits and pieces of synth work. It’s not the most inventive track on the album, but still a pleasant listen. Talisman - There’s a slow intro to this, but when things ramp up, there’s a really nice shuffle to the beat. This is a track that lacks the musical development that the better songs have. There are some interesting production changes and tweaks of the instrumentation that keep the sound moving along, but the thrust of the composition is a little too centred on the same motif. It’s not bad, but it’s not the strongest either. Remember - This has more of a standard song structure, so maintains more interest as it runs along with the verse / chorus structure adding variation. There’s some lovely interplay between the strings and synths and there's an almost overwhelming depth of sound that modulates the dynamic really nicely. By the end, the spooky synth tone and electric guitar add an extra edge to the flavour too. You Make It Easy - Beth Hirsch is back and this is another beautiful effort. The bass line continues driving the song, and the rest of the instrumentation provides a bed, but allows space for the vocal to breathe. The strings are great here, and again the little bits of ear candy, primarily synth based, just give an extra layer of audio interest and depth to the production. Another great alt-pop song. Ce Matin La - Just the bass alone against the shaker gives this a body bouncing start, which drops away into some really pretty string and synth work. And then when things drop back in, the Tuba link is perfect in its simplicity. It’s such a strong hook in its soft, lilting delivery, set against the arpeggiated guitar. This is just a really lovely track. It has an uplifting, almost ethereal vibe to it. It’s just lovely. New Star In The Sky - This holds itself back and weaves around lightly for a while and then drops into a really gentle groove. It’s got a nice hook to it, but perhaps does wander off a little too much here and there. It’s really beautiful background music, but perhaps loses the the thread a little too much to be as engaging as some of the other tracks. Le Voyage De Penelope - More laid back, jazzy work. There’s some really nice synth work in here with the modulating depth of the LFO. It could be overdone, but there’s enough surrounding musical work to allow it to not overwhelm. It’s not a spectacular track, but it’s still a nice blend of sounds to close things out.

5/10 This is a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde album for me, in that a decent chunk of it feels like there are some decent rock songs that have been massaged into anthemic pop-rock shape by an overenthusiastic producer, while some of the weaker songs have been given a far more straightforward and gritty sound, but don’t really deliver the hooks and songwriting chops of the overproduced ones. One of the things that often turned me off about the overproduced songs, Kevin Carter and The Girl Who Wanted To Be God for example, was the over instrumentation of the tracks. A lot of the strings seem to offer fairly basic padding to the songs, rather than anything particularly interesting, which is a similar story with the harp parts, and it generally towns down the verve and vibrancy of the underlying songs, which is a real shame. It’s almost like these parts are added for the sake of building a ‘bigger’ sound, without any concern for whether it’s actually a ‘better’ sound. When left to a more straightforward rock band instrument lineup, there’s a lot more grit and weight to things, but those overproduced, anthemic production standards just push this too far away from the kind of sound that really engages me with music like this. This overproduction does ease during the second half of the record, which helped to engage me a little more, and there are some strong parts too. Everything Must Go and Australia lean more towards the kind of sound that grabs the ear, and when the production allows the bass and guitar in particular to sit further forward and provide a bit of overdriven grit to things, the sound was way better. The songwriting was pretty good in places, but did have a tendency to meander a little on the weaker tracks, sometimes becoming a little uninteresting and repetitive, but when they landed on a hook, there were some solid moments. Overall it wasn’t a bad album, but I don’t think it was a massively good one either. That’s not to say I don’t see some value in it, but it feels like things were just taken in a direction that doesn’t suit my ear, and the balance of the album, on the whole, feels a little too uneven for me. Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier - There are some nice riffs here and there on this, but it doesn’t quite connect with me. There are some decent moments, but it just doesn’t connect into a coherent whole for me and kind of feels a bit meandering and unfocused. It feels a bit like James Dean Bradfield stretches his vocal a bit too much in places as well and that makes it sound a little stretched. A Design For Life - You couldn’t accuse this one of being unfocused. It’s got good hooks and decent pace, and the pre-chorus into the chorus is really well structured. In all honesty, the production is all a bit too soft for me and if this had a bit more grit and drive to the sound, I think I’d like it more. The strings are just a bit obvious and it feels a bit like the edges have been sanded off the composition. It’s a decent song, but needs a bit more fire for me personally. Kevin Carter - This is another nice moments song that doesn’t bring the component parts into something focused and coherent to my ear. It feels a bit like there’s a decent rock song under there somewhere, but it’s been put through a pop music producers ear, which has made it lose its edge and urgency, so it just feels a bit flaccid as a result. Enola/Alone - There’s a bit more to this. The guitars and bass are given more prominence and there’s a bit more drive and grit to it as a result. The melodic elements to the chorus are pretty good too. It’s a little meandering in places and doesn’t necessarily offer as much development as it could, but tonally, it’s much better. Everything Must Go - Following on from the last track, there's a bit more fire to the production here. There’s a great melodic flow to the chorus, and I like the transition out of the back of the chorus too. It’s got a good bit of momentum to the rhythm section. It’s perhaps a little cluttered and the drums could do with sharpening up to give a bit more clarity, but otherwise it’s a pretty decent track. Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky - This is quite pretty, although I feel like the harp glissandos are already feeling a bit overdone on the record without this one where they’re drastically overused. Again, it all feels a little too overproduced and a bit more restraint would have worked wonders. The Girl Who Wanted To Be God - A promising start leads to something that again feels unnecessarily augmented with strings. When the strings drop out, this is much better. There’s more space for the lead guitar and vocal to breathe and it helps to give everything a bit more punch. Look, I love a string arrangement, but they just feel like they’re there for the sake of trying to make it more anthemic, but it just softens things too much without adding real value. This could be a really good song, but it's kind of ruined by being overworked. Removables - This is tonally a lot better. It feels a bit like a demo in that there’s a decent skeleton to it, but it feels a little underdeveloped. It’s kind of a stark difference to the preceding track, which was overproduced. Another one where there's something there that, to my ears, they haven’t quite found the heart of yet. Australia - This is more like it. Again, the band are given more space to breathe, it has a bit more drive and the production suits things a lot more. There’s still an edge of the anthemic production to the chorus in particular, but it takes a more subtle backseat and lets the band get on with being a rock band. The melodic choices here are great and it has some solid hooks and a nice guitar solo. Pretty good. Interiors (Song For Willem De Kooning) - Things meander a little bit too much here, particularly the vocal, the melody of which just seems a bit forced to me. It never really lands on anything to give the song a solid centre and just sort of flounces about. The production is a bit more gritty and rewarding here, but unfortunately the song is less gripping to me. Further Away - The production is sticking with the more rocky side of things now, which is doing the music a lot of favours. There are some nice melodic movements here, particularly in the chorus. It’s not particularly interesting in its development of ideas, and it does get a little bit repetitive as a result, but it’s otherwise a pretty decent little song. No Surface All Feeling - Another where the production delivers more of the sound that I’m looking for. It’s got a decent bit of weight to it, and some really nice dynamic shifts between the verse and chorus. It builds nicely as the bass and guitar ramp up through the verse and then the weight kicks in with everything except the vocal, which stays pretty limp in the chorus, unfortunately. Give this a bit more emphasis and drive to the vocal in the chorus and we could be cooking with gas. Unfortunately, it just falls short in that part.

8/10 I came into this not quite sure what to expect. I went through a time in my life where I listened to a fair bit of jazz, and still take the time to indulge now and again, but the reference to samba in the title would probably have steered me slightly away from this historically. I’m not sure why, really, but there you go. The truth is, I would have been wrong to sidestep this. Almost as soon as it got moving, the quality of the musicianship just jumped out of the speakers. Stan Getz typically takes the lead and struts around, but when the two of them weave their playing around one another, it’s an absolute joy to behold. The little references to each other’s playing, the harmonisations and the back and forth are so good. The nuance in the sax playing is top drawer, and Getz can go from a laconic, laid back drawl of a sequence into something with real zip and vigour and take you on the ride with him with every note. The first time I listened to this, some of the backing musicians kind of got lost, as the main two are pretty prominent in the mix, but on second run through, I pushed the volume to get a bit more clarity on their work and boy was that rewarding. The louder I had it, the better it got. It’s easy to miss the depth of sound to the rest of the band (two bass players and two drummers/percussionists? Yes please), but when you push the levels, the clarity of this just opens up and delivers a really compelling and full sound, and a greater appreciation for the quality of the work. There were the odd moments where things did wander a little to f for me, but those moments were fairly fleeting, and they soon pulled things round. It’s not getting top marks, but it’s definitely getting more spins and might even move itself up in my opinion the more I listen. Desafinado - The sax playing here is so deft and subtle that it sounds almost simple, but there’s a lot of understated complexity to it. Some of the runs and motifs are absolutely delightful, but it’s never overdone. The guitar is also excellent and brings a nice change of pace, but the sax is the star of the show here. It wanders around with purpose drifting through the movements with the rest of the band in an effortlessly cool way. Samba Dees Days - There’s a bit more zip to this one. I fell it does ramble around the core motifs a little more, so does drift a little far here and there, but it does gather things up now and then to keep things centred. The back and forth at the end is great though. O Pato - We get a lovely little swing to the groove here. Stan and Charlie dance around each other in a really beautiful way when they’re playing together. There’s moments where we get to focus on each instrument, and Charlie Byrd gets a bit more focus with a couple of solo sections, but when their playing intertwines, there’s magic in the air. Samba Triste - And now on to something a bit more sultry. There’s some fantastic guitar work in the middle of this, while the guitar has its solo section. The rhythm section takes a bit of a back seat in general on the album, but the quality of the bass did reach out to me here, which was nice. We also get some more of that understated sax playing that’s not too showy but full of emotive nuance. Samba De Uma Nota So - Some of the runs on the sax here are just brilliant, I can almost hear Getz smirking as he glances out over the mouthpiece at the rest of the group. And we get some bass soloing too! It’s quite low in the mix, which is a bit of a shame, but it’s there. It might perhaps be lost a bit because it’s only one of the basses soloing while the other plays some simple lines. Or maybe they just want this cranking. Happy to oblige. There’s a nice amount of extra percussion to add a bit of bounce and movement, and I couldn’t help but get a bit lost in it, which is what really good jazz can do. E Luxo So - We’re back to something with more fizz to it again. The way the sax takes its time before launching into moments of intensity is lovely, and there’s some of my favourite guitar work on the album here too. Some of the note runs between chord changes in particular are just gorgeous. This is a proper toe-tapper, but it has enough nuance to push and pull the feel about in a really satisfying way. What a lovely track. Baia - This has more of a shuffle to it, but again, that push and pull between Getz and Byrd is so good. Things do drift a little here and the middle section gets a tiny bit bogged down and muddy while Stan wanders around and the focus just gets pulled a tiny bit, which is a shame. It’s the kind of thing that’s a bit more excusable with this being a longer cut, and it does pull things back around for the final third, where we get some more brilliant interplay between the two.

6/10 This album was obviously massively influential and key to the proliferation of gangsta rap, so it's historic importance is without question. It has aged fairly poorly in quite a few regards though, and some of the lyrical content was dodgy even then. With that being said, it's easy to complain about some of the lyrical content of this album, but much of this can be attributed to the marginalisation and ghettoisation of black America during this time. If you essentially criminalise people’s existence and make their lives very difficult to live, why would they adhere to your standards of decency and morality? Would all of the group stand behind these lyrics today? Probably not, but they were young men lashing out in all directions. That doesn't make the worst offenses any easier to hear, but it does offer some explanation. When it hits its heights, this album is really very good. The grooves are funky, driven and insistent and the rhythmic flow of the rapping is great. The more socially conscious lyrics are also great and tell an important story. But at it's weakest, there are some very poor parts. It's over long and some of the tracks are very thin and uninspired. I think Eazy-E is far and away the weakest rapper of the group and he has some of the most crigeworthy lines and delivery across the album. The rest of the guys have their weak spots, but he seems to be the standout with some of the most heinous offenses. This is not really the kind of hip hop that really floats my boat, so it was never going to be troubling the top of my rankings, but at it's best it's a decent and important reflection of it's time and place. Straight Outta Compton - It’s a reasonable start. Bags of attitude, and a nice bit of drive to the beat and the bass, but it’s a bit too repetitive, with only brief pauses and a bit of scratching to break the monotony of a two-bar loop for over 4 minutes. Fuck Tha Police - There’s more groove and swing to this, with a bit more variety even in the verses, and then we get more of a break into the chorus. It’s angry but justifiably so. As Malcolm X said, "You don't have a peaceful revolution. You don't have a turn-the-cheek revolution. There's no such thing as a nonviolent revolution.” This track is a classic. It bounces, it grooves, and it carries a message about how marginalised groups feel while they are criminalised and oppressed. Gangsta Gangsta - Another great funky groove. There's good flow to the rapping, some nice use of sound effects here and there too. The chorus adds a bit of variety, but it is generally a bit repetitive and could do with a bit more range. Some of the sections they throw in for variety also sound quite disconnected from the rest of the track and don't flow that well. If It Ain't Ruff - Again, the groove is decent here, but it's all a bit one note. It needs a bit more depth and range to it to really hold focus. There are some nice moments here and there and it does get me bobbing my head, but it's not one of the strongest cuts on the album. Parental Discretion Iz Advised - There's a theme going here, another decent groove that's overused. One bar going round and round for 5 minutes just doesn't really do it for me. The rapping doesn't seem quite as good here either. There are moments where things seem a tiny bit forced, others that are decent, but it's a mixed bag from that point of view. Odd flex from Eazy-E to admit he's bad at sex, but you do you fella. 8 Ball (Remix) - This one is not good. The music is stilted and too slow, has aged incredibly badly and the whole thing just doesn't flow very well. It's erratically put together, the lyrics are pretty terrible too. Something Like That - The pace picks back up again here, but other than that, it's still not great. The repetitive nature of it all just doesn't engage and it's very thin on harmonic content, so it doesn't really scratch that musical itch. The beat bounces nicely, but it's too thin otherwise. Express Yourself - And we're back in the game. It's funky, driven and super cool. Obviously a great amount of the credit for this goes to Charles Wright and co, but there's actually a good use of the samples, rather than just a loop of one short section, and the rapping is artfully weaved around the music to actually give a bit more range and variety to the track. Great track. Compton's N The House (Remix) - Musically, this is super thin. It's just a sporadic beat and some scratching. The rapping and lyrics are pretty weak too. It all seems pretty hollow and self congratulatory, but without anything particularly funny or interesting. Meh. I Ain't Tha 1 - Good lord, I'm willing to forgive some of the lyrics on this album, but this is total cringe incel level shit. The music isn't bad, but offers no variety so gets boring very quickly. I bet Andrew Tate has this as his alarm. Sheesh. Dopeman (Remix) - And we're back to something with very limited tonal content. It's all very scattergun and disconnected and feels very undercooked and far too loose. The rapping is not particularly great either. The album is really sliding towards the close. Quiet On Tha Set - Wahey, we're back! Good pace, a solid, funky beat and a bit of range and variety to the production. There's also a decent amount of depth to the vocal delivery. A lot of the samples are fairly repetitive, but they're split up well and augmented with extra bits and pieces to keep things moving. This is solid. Something 2 Dance 2 - This sounds very much it's age, straight off the bat. It's got decent pace though and there's some really nice bouncing of the vocals back and forth between the group. It's all a bit of fun, has a decent groove to it, despite the aged sounds. Plus it's where Squarepusher got 'let the bass kick' from, which is cool. A nice way to end.

8/10 A huge amount of popular music from the subsequent 70 years can be traced back to Little Richard. He was instrumental in the movement that transformed rhythm and blues into Rock and Roll, he was a flamboyant and vivacious performer and his vocal style can be heard echoing through the years in voices as diverse as James Brown, Robert Plant and Freddie Mercury. The number of artists who cite him as a pivotal influence is simply staggering, and his place in music history is set in stone. As an album, this sounds a lot like what it really is, a collection of singles. That’s exactly what an album was in 1957, so that’s to be expected. But it’s so full of fire, drive and fun that it’s essentially impossible not to get hooked into the groove and tap your toe or bob your head. I can only imagine what a Little Richard show must have felt like in the 1950s. It sounds like it’d be pretty riotous even now, but 70 years ago, it must have been completely off the charts, and this album does a fantastic job of capturing that vibe and presence. The musicians all do a fantastic job and there’s bags of energy from start to finish. With that being said, and despite the occasional change of pace, the biggest criticism of this (and other early rock ’n roll music) is that it’s all very much pinned on the 12 bar blues as a backing, so things do get a bit samey after a while. There are some fantastic hooks and solos scattered across the songs, but the underlying music was very much established and adhered to throughout. That’s not really a criticism, more an observation. From a production point of view, the vocals are perhaps a bit too loud in the mix and the music can get a little lost. They also get a bit distorted when he gives it full beans, but I think that may well be an intentional artistic choice, as it gives that little something to the louder parts of the delivery. This is an album very much worthy of listening to for any music fan and, while I may not revisit it often, it has certainly cemented its place as one of the pivotal records in the development of modern music in the west. Tutti-Frutti - Welcome to rock ’n roll. “Whop bop b-luma b-lop bam bom” is quite the way to kick things off. It still sounds vibrant and urgent to this day which, given that it is almost 70 years old, is quite remarkable. His vocal delivery has verve and bite, there’s swing and pace to the band and it’s got some great hooks. What a song. True, Fine Mama - The intensity drops a little here, but it’s still insistent and has a great bit of edge to it. The piano and sax have some lovely moments, but it would sound way more pedestrian without the little bits and pieces of bit that Richard throws in with the rawness of his vocal delivery. Can't Believe You Wanna Leave - This is a bit more mundane. It’s well produced and performed, but is more of a slow toe tapper. Again, there are some great moments from the lead vocal, but it doesn’t deliver the full-bodied drive of the more pacy numbers… Ready Teddy - …like this one. So much pace, some great soloing and that dropping in and out of the band for Richard to give the vocal some beans is just great. Some of his runs are so, so satisfying and it’s kind of hard not to move to something like this. It’s a bopper and hard not to have a grin on your face with stuff like this. Baby - This swings. There’s some solid piano work in there, which is a little too far back in the mix, which is a little bit of the shame. Another nice sax solo in there too and Richard’s vocal delivery is, as usual, vivacious and compelling. Slippin' And Slidin' - We get a bit of a different lilt to the rhythm here, which is nice. There’s a bit more subtlety to the vocal delivery here, which makes for a bit of a change. It’s another decent song with a couple of nice solo sections. Slippin’ and slidin’, peepin’ and hidin’ is a particularly amusing lyric given what he got up to later in his life. Long Tall Sally - Another classic. It’s another in the canon of ‘Richard sings something while the band stops and then they all come back in together to kick the beat back in’ songs. It’s a really great song and his vocal is absolutely top notch. Quality grit, drive and control to it. Miss Ann - Another change of pace. This is another one with great swing and a toe-tapping vibe. These songs are decent and break up the higher energy ones well, but they’re not the most musically interesting. Good vibes though. Oh Why? - This follows on from the previous track really. It’s another decent one, but these slower numbers don’t have the get up and go of the more pacy numbers. But the album would be relentless if it was all bangers, I suppose. Rip It Up - There’s a slightly different feel to this with the staccato horns adding a bit of a different flavour. The drums are pretty cool on this one too. It fits to the standard formula of the rest, but that slightly different sound that they put together is welcome. Jenny, Jenny - His little falsetto ‘whoo’ is so good here. It’s a very one-note song, but you can just feel the energy of the performance firing out of the speakers. I can imagine this being one hell of a party in 1957. She's Got It - Another great vocal intro, and a pacy, swinging groove. It feels like they’re maybe pushing this one to go a bit too quick, in fact as it gets a little loose in places, but it’s so full of verve and energy, that you can forgive it. A lovely way to close out the album.

5/10 The more I hear of them, the more I feel that R.E.M. fall into that category of bands where I really love some of their songs, but there’s not a single one of their albums that I love from start to finish. I feel like they have actually written 4 or 5 really good albums worth of music, but have spread those albums out over 15 releases and chucked in a load of waffle to fill up the gaps. This album has its moments, and the one two punch of End Of The World and One I Love is brilliant, but on a lot of the other tracks, I am often just begging for a more engaging hook or melody. There are hints of them and lead ups to them, but I often find that things just wander around without ever finding a solid centre to hang the song from, so things feel a little aimless. The vibe in general is great, the production is solid, the drums really punch and they move fairly effortlessly between the more jangly guitar side of their sound and the more heavy, driven elements of some of the songs, and some of the harmonies are lovely. But too many of the tracks feel like vibey fillers rather than engaging songs in their own right. I think I could probably pick an REM song out just from the vocal melody, even if it wasn’t being sung by Michael Stipe. He has a very distinctive melodic writing style, and when he allows himself to settle on something catchy, there’s magic to be found, but when he gets a bit more loose, I find it more of a struggle to maintain an interest. Often I feel like they overwrite some elements while underwriting others, which results in songs that have a fairly boring chord structure repeating for too long while the vocal just wanders around without ever honing in on something memorable or hooky. And even that could work if you built it around a chorus that delivered that musical centre, but that rarely came along. I can appreciate the development of sound and tone that R.E.M. developed, and you can hear bits of it all over the music that would follow in the subsequent decades, but the overall package isn’t one that does enough to stick with me long term. Finest Worksong - The production of this is great straight off the bat. It’s got a solid punch to it, and a real sense of space. There are some really nice moments, particularly in the blend between lead and backing vocals and the odd little flourish of guitar, piano and percussion here and there that add nice moments of nuance and depth. It’s a pretty strong opener. Welcome To The Occupation - And we’ve fallen back into the more dynamically and musically flat end of R.E.M.s work. It’s nice enough, but it kind of does more or less the same thing the whole way through with only minor flourishes of dynamic change. Yes, the chords change between verse and chorus, but the vibe and dynamic remains very one-note. It doesn’t quite deliver on the hooks either, so it all just feels like a bit of a wash of pleasant but unspectacular music. Exhuming McCarthy - There are some nice dynamic and tonal changes in places this song, but it’s also a bit meandering. The guitar strumming pattern seems just a bit sloppy and repetitive. Again, there are some nice moments, especially during the stripped back sections, but it’s very plodding and overly insistent without having the bite and anger that justifies the insistence. Disturbance At The Heron House - This one is a bit better. There’s a bit more variety and range between verse and chorus, and moments where things are allowed a bit more dynamic movement. Things do meander about a bit too much though, and it feels like Michael Stipe is singing along trying to find something that really works, but never quite finds it. Strange - Ah, what a great intro. Michael Stipe adds a bit more drive into his delivery here, and alongside the more chugging nature of the guitars, it gives it a much more interesting edge. I quite like it, but it also never feels like they ever really find the chorus this song is looking for. It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - A classic. There’s a great pace to this and it has all of the elements that I’m looking for in a song like this. The instrumentation ebbs and flows during the verse, the pulse is great and there are interesting little bits of musical nuance here and there, and then we launch into a brilliant, hooky chorus. It’s got dynamic range, a relentless verse vocal that makes the chorus seem more fluid and smooth by comparison. Solid backing vocals too. The One I Love - Another great song. It develops through different sections really nicely and rarely stands still for long. It has a slightly laid back pace to it, but the drums really give it a bit of drive and attitude that dust some spice into the mix. Michael Stipe has found his melodic hook writing stride by now in the album, and this follows on from the previous track in that vein. A one two punch of quality. Fireplace - This gets a bit darker in tone and it pulses along, but as with some of the earlier tracks, it never really finds its centre. I feel there’s a bit of a clash of styles in that it could have been made to be more brooding, but there’s probably a bit too much energy for that to really work out, and it doesn’t have enough of a melodic focus to latch on to the energy either. I can’t say I’m a massive fan of the sax work either and find it a bit jarring. Lightnin' Hopkins - This has got some great drive and a bit of bite to it. It almost doesn’t sound like R.E.M., so it does stick out a little, and Michael Stipe sings with a bit of a rasp that is quite uncharacteristic. The drums in particular are good here and there are some really solid riffs, but I’m just not quite sure what to make of it. King Of Birds - We’re back to a more classic R.E.M. sound now, but with a rolling military style drum beat. It’s quite drony during those sections, but it does find a bit more of a solid groove through other moments. But there’s nothing particularly melodically satisfying about it. Oddfellows Local 151 - I like the vibe of the verse here, it’s pretty brooding and pulses nicely, with the lead vocal using some nice dynamic range and taking moments to soar above the almost malicious tone of the instrumentation. But then the chorus is just rubbish. It’s more or less the same thing as the verse from the band and MIchael Stipe just Singing the same line about a firehouse again and again. Give this a strong chorus and it would be great, because the verses are great.

9/10 I’ve heard this album a few times before, but never spent the time to really focus on it. First thing to note is that this is a really spectacular blend of a lot of musical styles that I really love. Jazz, funk, soul and an edge of electronica all weave their way in and out of one another in a really unique way. There’s so much going on that it keeps your attention, and really rewards repeat listening too, which is generally the hallmark of a great album. With hip-hop, the musical content can often take a bit of a back seat, but the vocals and the music are all part of one coherent whole here and the singing and rapping are not given the overwhelming prominence, which allows the quality and complexity of the music to shine. There are times when I, as a musically focused rather than lyrically focused listener, find hip-hop to be an overly repetitive genre, but there is no way this album could be accused of that. The leaning on, for the most part, fresh musical recordings rather than samples really gives this album its own identity and some of the musicianship is really exceptional. Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper and more just bring so much quality and nuance to their parts that it’s hard not to get sucked in to the mood of each track. There are moments when the depth falls away a little and we find ourselves a little more stuck on a more sparse, repetitive track, but those moments act almost as palate cleansers so that you an refocus for the next epic. This far in and I’ve not really touched on Lamar’s vocal. His delivery is generally pretty understated, with intent and feel conveyed through rhythm rather than intensity, more often than not. He does ramp it up now and then, but that general restraint makes it more impactful when he does inject a slice of venom. And the lyrical thread is strong too, touching on life as a black man in America, discrimination, personal struggles, the pressures of fame and more. There are moments when he slips a little back into the more classic hip hop tropes with hints towards misogyny and financial bravado that I could have done without, but there is a chance that those were intended as more tongue in cheek references to the hip-hop of old. His pacing, rhythmic flow and his ability to switch up emphasis and rhythmic cadence is excellent though, and that kept me interested more or less throughout. I think the slightly thinner, more repetitive moments do hold this album back a tiny bit, as does its length. 80 minutes is a long old album and I feel like he could have said everything he needed to in 60 without losing the quality and depth that he built, especially by chopping the Tupac bit from the end. As a rapper, he can say what he needs to with verse and didn’t need to end the album that way. Wesley's Theory - There’s a lot going on here. The depth of the music is fantastic and there is so much variation and nuance to the composition that it keeps the ear busy at all times. No one part dominates, not vocals or beats, which can be more typical in hip-hop, and there’s a wide range of harmonic and melodic content. But it’s also all very coherent and creates a slightly unsettling edgy vibe to the tone. A very good start For Free? (Interlude) - A nice jazzy interlude. I mean it seems lyrically a bit silly, but there are some really nice rhythmic choices in the delivery. I think the music is great, as is the cadence of the delivery, but I’m not a big fan of the lyrical content. King Kunta - This is a bit more stripped back to begin with, but it builds nicely, allowing all of the elements time to grow and breathe. The back and forth between Kendrick and Whitney Alford on backing vocals is great. There are some really effective key changes and musical drop-outs that let the musical impact hit that bit harder. The shuffling beat and solid bass line give things a solid groove with a nice edge of funk to it. Lovely. Institutionalized - Again, we get a stripped back start. This reminds me a bit of Plantlife and the sound design of it is great. There’s some really interesting editing of the vocal with the double layered elements and panning work on the touches of backing vocals. The beat bounces nicely and he drifts on and off the beat in a really satisfying way. There’s less complexity to the instrumentation, but there’s enough range and production nuance in what’s there to never let things get stale. These Walls - And now we gat a more traditionally structured verse/chorus song. It’s got a nice jazzy edge to it and the sung vocals are top quality. There are some really nice guitar licks and riffs and it all just flows and floats together in such a satisfying way. Again, the production is top quality, with all of the elements getting their space and a really finely struck balance between sparsity and depth through the different sections of the track. U - This is almost free-jazz rapping. The production techniques are really effective at creating almost disturbing experience with the way things cut in and out and pan, and that really backs up the erratic, bereft nature of the track’s themes. This could be hard to parse for some, particularly as a background listen, but it’s a really, solid and effective exploration of self hatred. Alright - Running nicely on from the previous track, some of the instrumental flavour continues onto this, but it lifts up tonally and gives us a solid, rolling beat that forces the momentum. There are some nice instrumental elements, like the sax in particular, that add extra variety to the sound and stop things from getting too stale. The vibe is great too. For Sale? (Interlude) - Much better than the previous interlude, this has a nice blend of synth tones and a more jazzy funk sound. It’s also almost completely absent of any beat apart from a subtle güiro type sound, but still has a solid groove. It ebbs and flows really nicely and there’s a really warm, all encompassing harmonic bed of sound that drifts around the vocal. Really nice. Momma - I think the beat here is great. It’s super loose, but it’s got a lot of feel to it and the sounds used are really interesting for a hip-hop track. There’s so much vibe to this. The backing vocals are gorgeous and the rest of the backing track is super smooth too. Again, it’s another where things could get stale, but there are enough little moments of nuance or sound design to keep things moving along and keep an interested ear engaged. His delivery is really nice here too; smooth but with an edge of insistence. Hood Politics - Oooh, the feel of this intro is nice. I was hoping we’d get more of it, but we quickly shift onto something else. This one has some more of that cool vibe, but it does end up being a little bit too repetitive for once, both lyrically and musically. There are some little changes here and there that add a change to the feel and break the monotony, but not as effectively as previous tracks. I think perhaps the more repetitive elements are just a little too dominant, but it’s still not bad, just not as good. How Much A Dollar Cost - He’s really not afraid to break from the beat and build these harmonically rich passages is he? The slight lazy lilt to the beat is super cool and the sound of it has such great depth. There’s a very rich, downbeat soul sound to this and some of the strings in particular, add something really special, despite not being anything overly complex. Another really lovely track. Complexion (A Zulu Love) - Bring in the funk. This has so much groove to it and the sound design of the beat is strong too. As with a lot of this album, there are some really gorgeous passages of instrumentation that just drift in out of nowhere, like the piano in this one, and some of the instrumental changes are so deftly written that you hardly notice that the entire sound of the track has shifted. The Blacker The Berry - That beat really hits. There’s a real feeling of rage to this and the soundscaping is almost unnervingly icy in its tone. This is less varied and full than some of the other tracks, but I think the focus is meant to not be drawn away from the lyric, which offer a purposeful and effective expression of anger. You Ain't Gotta Lie (Momma Said) - And we’re back to something more full. There are so many parts going on that it’s easy to miss some of the depth to songs like this. There are some really lovely little riffs that just pop in and out from guitar, piano and synth. That variety just enhances the smooth groove of the main themes, but keeps things shifting along in such a satisfying way. I - Ooof, I love ‘That Lady’ by The Isley Brothers, and he uses the sample really well to create something fresh. This pops and shifts brilliantly. It’s got pace and bounce to it and it's super hooky. Again, he’s not afraid to drop things out and develop sections that build on little ideas and flesh them out. It’s a shame this is as short as it is before we get the spoken word section, which is making a point, but isn’t really part of the song per se. Mortal Man - The warm wash of tonality that sits behind the prominent bass here is great. It’s kind of muddy, but in a really pretty way. There’s some lovely slices of instrumentation here too from strings and horns in particular. Some of the Rhodes piano is really pretty too. His vocal is insistent and injects the drive to an otherwise laid back vibe. Another great one during the musical section. And then it gets a bit weird and self indulgent as Kendrick cuts up a Tupac interview to make it sound like he’s having a conversation with him. I get that there are some important and relevant subjects covered, but it’s just a bit weird. He’s been making his point with music up until now and doing this just seems unnecessary.

7/10 This was a nice little surprise. I’ve heard bits and pieces of The Cars before, and may have even spun this record once or twice in the past, but it was nice to get a refresher and listen to it as a while with fresh ears. As an overall feel, there is a lot to like about this. There’s a power pop feel to quite a few tracks, they’re hooky, infectious and have a decent amount of drive to them. The first three tracks in particular just jump out of the speakers and grab your attention, I haven’t got Just What I Needed out of my head all day. On first listen, I did feel that things started dropping off in the second half, but on relistening, I think there’s more quality there than I first heard and it’s only really the last couple of tracks where things start to lose their way. For an album that is quite poppy in tone, there are actually some really interesting choices in terms of structure and composition. Just What I Needed really builds nicely, and the instrumental structure ebbs and flows through the track so that it’s not just a static pop song construction. In fact, they often get quite a lot done in each of their tracks, despite the fact that most of them are only 3-4 minutes long. The production is by and large great, with everything having its place, and great restraint shown with the synth parts to not allow them to dominate the mix, which may have been tempting for an album in 1978. They’re also better instrumentalists than might initially be apparent from the pop sheen of the production. Listen out for some nice fluid guitar solos and some lovely rhythmic blends between the instruments, and you get drawn a little deeper into the music. That said, the last couple of songs do start to get a little dragged down, both pace and production wise. Things get a little muddy and plodding, which unfortunately slows the momentum of the album down as it winds to a close. Regardless of that, I had a great time with this album and will probably take the time to check out some more of their stuff. Good Times Roll - It’s an interesting start with a lack of commitment to where the beat is, which always makes for a cool intro. It’s got a nice pulse and some solid synth lines that augment rather than dominate the sound. The variety of rhythms across the parts is decent too. The ‘Good Time Roll’ vocal harmonisation reminds me a lot of Good Day Sunshine by The Beatles. Nice opener. My Best Friend's Girl - It’s a cool stripped back opening that’s begging for audience participation at a live show. The way the music kicks in is really satisfying with the diving synth and drum fill. There’s a nice strut to the groove, and some really nice riffs and licks. It’s also super hooky, particularly with the vocal harmonies. Another quality track. Just What I Needed - This is a classic. It starts off with quality intro and then the tension build up in the verse as it progresses is great. Then it lulls you in with a break to a synth line instead of a chorus, before building back up again. The chorus is SO good. Hooky pop rock perfection. The ebb and flow of the intensity and instrumentation in the verses is great for maintaining interest, and the lead synth part is superb, despite its simplicity. This one has been hanging around in my head all day and I’m here for it. I'm In Touch With Your World - This is slightly mad in a really fun way. It has echoes of Oingo Boingo about it with the edge of creepiness, and it’s a great way to follow on from such a great pop song. There are some lovely little bits of sound design in there and it keeps threatening to get more coherent and then pulls the rug. Don't Cha Stop - There’s a solid, driving groove to this, but they’re not afraid to break out of it and go a bit off piste with bits like the drum roll driven section. It’s another hooky song but also has some interesting songwriting choices and some cool guitar work too. It feels like they are gathering a lot of influences and creating a really satisfying blend of sounds and again, the depth and subtlety of the electronic instrumentation is great. You're All I've Got Tonight - And now for something more heavy that almost goes stadium rock in places. The synth work is cheesy but excellent, and there’s a good, driving energy to this that I really like. They switch things up rhythmically now and again too, which keeps things fresh. The musicianship is also great. Bye Bye Love - We’re continuing the stadium rock theme now. This perhaps has a bit less of varied interest in terms of the depth of instrumentation and compositional chops, but it’s still a decent effort, and some of the synth work is cheesy gold, especially the filtered synth arp leads. Moving In Stereo - Pace wise, a much more pedestrian song. There are elements of it that are great and it has a very 80s sound despite being a record from 1978, but it doesn’t offer as much quality and impetus as the rest of the album, and as it’s the longest song on the album it does drag a bit too. All Mixed Up - Again, the pace of this stays low and it becomes a bit cluttered and overwhelming in terms of the sound. There are some really decent elements in there, but it all gets a bit lost in a cacophony of sound that doesn’t help the song along to my ear. It’s a shame the tone of the album dropped towards the end of the album, but I suppose a band like this gets nowhere without trying things in the first place.

3/10 This album is the equivalent of that photo of builders eating their lunch on the steel beams of the RCA building while it’s under construction, or the painting of dogs playing poker. The fact that so many people have a copy in their house doesn’t actually mean that they’re peaks of their respective art forms. While the title track is an absolute all time classic, for me this just massively tailed off from that point on. Sure, there are moments here and there, but by and large it feels to me like music that’s been written by committee, rather than someone with an artistic need to create. There are some nice riffs, the occasional groove and even the odd bit of grit, but for the most part, it felt pretty soulless. Very competent, yes, but on the whole just incredibly bland. The production is decent; everything has its place, and there is clarity to the sound, but again, it all just felt a bit too slick and lifeless. It’s like the band gathered up all their influences, pieced them all together using the Penguin Guide to Songwriting, and then pulled out a belt sander to makes sure there were no edges anyone could possibly snag themselves on. And that more or less covers the inoffensive parts. At its worst, this album is saccharine, uninspired and beige. In fact, it’s kind of remarkable that it didn’t really manage to evoke any emotional response in me at all. It was just pretty flat, boring and obvious. I wonder how many people bought this album on the strength of the title track alone? In all honesty, this feels like music for people who don’t really like music, but prefer to avoid silence and being left alone with their own thoughts at all costs. But fair play to the Eagles; this is the American Dream writ large. Make something competent enough for people to embrace, inoffensive enough to not turn them away, and with with one aspect that captures the zeitgeist. Add in a dose of incredible luck with the timing and exposure you get, and cling onto that for as long as you can and wring every cent out of it that you can. It gets a point extra for the title track, but it’s luck to get that. Hotel California - A song that’s almost impossible to listen to without the baggage of it being almost permanently included on every radio station or shopping centre playlist for the last 50 years. It’s got a great groove to it, it’s super hooky and their playing is super tight. Quality soloing too. The use of little licks to break up the vocal parts is nice, and there’s a good blend of dynamics. A classic, no doubt, but a classic for a reason. New Kid In Town - This is pretty pedestrian and flat. I mean, it’s perfectly nice, but it’s pretty boring. It just doesn’t do anything particularly interesting or invigorating. It takes a handful of soft country, a handful of soft rock, stirs them up and buffs them to a slick sheen of inoffensive edgeless music soup. Meh. Life In The Fast Lane - A solid riff to kick us off. It’s got some grit and drive to it, which is good, but it doesn’t quite grab me for some reason. I think they just don’t have the authentic attitude or edge to be fully convincing. There are bits of it that I like, but it’s just too clinical for me. It’s like a group of middle-aged dentists cosplaying as Deep Purple. The component parts are pretty good, but it just feels a bit soulless. Wasted Time - This is saccharine. Cheese central. Nothing wrong with a ballad and there are elements of this that remind me of Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, which is a great Elton John track, but has so much more soul than this. The other thing it reminds me of is Community Property by Steel Panther, which is a complete piss take of this type of song. This is really, really bad. No real hook, massively overproduced and less edge than a snooker ball. His vocal delivery of ‘baby’ also made my toes curl. Wasted Time (Reprise) - That song was so bad they couldn’t leave it alone and had to drag it on to the second side of the record. Victim Of Love - Much better. A solid riff with great feel leads into a pretty heavy, crunching riff. The vocal seems more convincing here too, and as a whole, this verse has got a good bit of swagger and grit to it. But it all just falls apart when we come to the chorus. It seems to foreshadow some of the more offensively power ballad tracks of Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams. It’s just too much cheese in the wrong kind of way for me. Cheese that is trying way too hard to be sincere. Pretty Maids All In A Row - This just plods along like a soft rock lullaby. It just feels like it’s got literally nothing to say and, oddly the production makes the bass have such prominence that the softness of it isn’t even particularly well indulged. The strings are awful, just doing the most by the book thing you could possibly imagine and sounding super thin. If you’d have thrown in some sleigh bells, this could have been one of those sad ‘I’m alone at Christmas’ songs. At least then it would have felt like it had a purpose, even though it would have still been a shit purpose. Try And Love Again - More saccharine soft rock and it’s pretty low energy too. There are some nice moments of musicianship here and there, but they don’t really serve to elevate this. It all just feels like a wash of beige sound. Even the drum fills feel like they’re being read from a book of drumming basics. It just doesn’t really evoke any feeling from me whatsoever. The Last Resort - Cut my life into pieces. Just make sure none of those pieces contain this song. Plodding, flat, boring, uninspiring. It’s soft pop rock by numbers and again, it just feels like they’ve got nothing to tell me at all, but they’re going to keep trying to tell me that nothing for way too long and way too repetitively.

7/10 I don’t really know where I fall down on this. As with most live albums, there is the element of disconnect here that is a natural part of sitting down at home listening to music that is being performed in a completely different environment, with the connection between musicians and audience absent. You can still feel the enthusiasm and vibe of what’s going on here, but it’s never going to be as engaging as the real thing. Putting that to one side, there are some moments of spellbinding quality here. When the band is in full flow, the command of their instruments and the tightness of the performances are excellent. The vibe of the performances and the quality of the tone, both instrumentally and vocally was also spot on. My preference among these songs is when they have a thematic centre, typically focused on a vocally led section, that they can drift away from and return to here and there as they indulge their more jam-oriented sections. When they lose that thread a little more, things get a bit too self indulgent and that more noodly end of the spectrum tends to lose me a bit. That’s not to say there aren’t moments in there that I really like, it’s just that everything feels a bit more dragged out and tenuous during those extended solo and jam sections. And that’s where the real flaw to this album comes for my tastes. Three of these songs together total over 55 minutes of the album. It’s just a bit too much for me. I still actually enjoyed some of those tracks as more background music, but with a more focused ear, my attention started to wane, especially in the sections where they stripped things back, or latched onto a single theme for too long. And herein lies the conundrum. Some of those self-indulgent moments just wandered off too far for my personal taste, and it was a little on the long side, but it also feels too good to be a three star album. So it’ll just sneak its way into 4 star territory. Statesboro Blues - A good, weighty blues start to the album. It’s a fairly standard bluesy number, having been written by Blind Willie McTell in the 20s, but it’s well executed, the vocal delivery is excellent and the musicianship is fantastic. Great energy too. Done Somebody Wrong - This has got decent swagger and pace to it. It’s another cover, this time of an Elmore James song, but it’s a good one. The sound is satisfyingly raw, the harmonica and guitar work are really evocative. The vocal work is sparse, but it carries that same swagger as the rest of the instrumentation so works really well. They’re very tight and controlled as a band too. Stormy Monday - There’s a nice drop in pace here. They’re certainly dragging a lot out of the original, which was only three minutes long, but there’s some really solid work as they pass the soloing work around the band. I find organ work in blues like this really satisfying, and the organ solo is great. I can just imagine the guitar face that went along with some of these solos. It’s another good one. You Don't Love Me - We’re moving into something a bit more rhythm and blues territory here. The pace is great and there are some really satisfying hooks and licks. Again, the vocal, while being relatively sparing, does exactly the right job. It’s got an edge of grit and swagger to it, but it shifts the focus along a little bit and then gets out of the way for the rest of the band to indulge. When we get to about the seven minute mark, things do descend into a bit of self indulgence. There’s some nice guitar work and then eventually the band starts to get involved again. But it does drag on. I can imagine that this might work well enough live when there’s a band and crowd connection going on, but listening at home it all just feels a bit unnecessarily self indulgent. They do eventually break back into a tune about 14 minutes in, before drifting away again. This kind of thing just loses me a bit, unfortunately. Hot 'Lanta - This is more of a jam type of song straight off the bat, but it doesn’t drift too far from its centre, unlike the more wayward sections from the last track. It doesn’t have the vocal sections to give it that central hook to deviate and return from, which is perhaps why it doesn't connect with me in the same way as some of the others. The synchronicity of the band is top quality though, and there’s a lot to enjoy about this when you get lost in the flow. There’s even a decent drum solo in there. In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed - This one just kind of riffs around the same theme for thirteen minutes. I mean, they’re very good at what they do and there are some really nice moments. The musicianship is excellent, they’re super tight and flowing together, but it all just goes on for too long. Again, I think this is an audience connection thing. In the live environment this is recorded in, I think this comes across better. Not to say I’m not enjoying the groove and playing, but it’s a bit much for me, particularly for a track that doesn’t have a vast amount of variation or a vocal hook to return to now and again. Whipping Post - I know this from Frank Zappa’s version from the ‘Does Humor Belong In Music?’ concert film, which is excellent. Likewise, the core to this is great, but boy oh boy do they go off piste. Unlike the last track, there is at least the central vocal section that they return to now and then, which is a fantastic vocal hook The riff that follows it is top notch too. But as a home listener, I’m not convinced that I need this song to be 23 minutes long. Again; great musicianship, a quality song, some brilliant moments, but it’s all a bit too much for me.

8/10 The first thing that hit me about this album was how much it reminded me of Kate Bush. She has a similar tone to her voice, and makes some similar melodic decisions now and then during her songwriting. There’s also a depth to the production and a nuance to the vocal delivery that is reminiscent of Kate’s work. Good job I’m a big Kate Bush fan! This album has tremendous range to it, while at its core being the product of one woman and a piano. The instrumentation that is used to build around that core is fantastic, but never overwhelms what Tori is trying to bring across with each song. Her vocal delivery is exquisitely nuanced, ranging from delicate to fierce, and even throwing in some twists of humour here and there. She doesn’t often let her compositions settle into anything too basic, and even when the core structure presents something more simple, the orchestration creates a real dynamic shift across the tracks that keeps things moving in an interesting way. I love the very sparing use of heavy distorted guitars to add grit and texture to various sections, but she never allows them to become permanent fixtures of the sound. Likewise, there’s some full orchestral sections on a couple of tracks, but the sparing use of those elements really allows them to have a fresh impact when they are used. The dynamic depth of this record is so, so good. It goes from whispering, stripped back quiet to full-bodied, almost hammered piano lines with a cacophony of sound behind them. A lot of music, particularly in the modern era, really does a lot to strip out dynamic range, but this kind of depth really brings life and emotion to music in a really evocative way. There were a couple of places where I felt things either got a tiny bit haphazard, or perhaps lulled a tiny bit, and the echoes of Kate Bush did make me inclined to head of in that direction after this finished, but it was certainly an intriguing work and I suspect I’ll be giving this another few spins in the not too distant future, and probably checking out a few more of her albums. This has the feel of a grower to me, so we’ll see where I sit on it in a few month’s time. Crucify - This is a nice start. She’s got a very Kate Bush-esque vocal tone and delivery style. The piano roams about in a really nice way, and has some quality dynamic control to it. There are some really nice vocal blends across various sections too. It’s maybe a bit too heavy on the reverb, particularly on the drums, but theres a lightness to some of the piano and guitar parts that offsets that a little to my ear. Girl - There’s a nice distribution of different instrumental parts through this that make it feel like it’s in constant motion. It builds into a cluttered cacophony at one point, but it all feels purposeful and then falls away into a more sparse arrangement. It feels a bit more structurally confused in places, but it’s a decent and interesting song nonetheless. Silent All These Years - This treads a really fine line between being really beautiful and absolutely heartbreaking, both profound and flippant. It’s very stripped back for the most part, but the delicate ebb and flow of the instrumentation really adds depth. I love the way the track modulates between the different sections, and the recording of the vocal feels very intimate. What a great track. Precious Things - It’s an interesting, if slightly off-putting start with the breathy rhythm, but when it settles into the rest of the track, it works really well. There’s some really deep and unnerving sound design here, and the reluctance to ever let this pin itself into a standard structure of rhythmic flow is really, really nice. It soars, dives, broods and pulses. Winter - She’s got great control of her voice, and the little touches of vibrato during this intro are great. It builds a falls really beautifully and the arrangements and dynamic range are so good. It’s more of a straightforward structure than some of the other tracks, but the arrangement, particularly of the orchestra as it builds to its dramatic peak is just exceptional. It’s a fine example of dragging absolutely every ounce of range out of a fairly straightforward underlying composition. Happy Phantom - This is much more of a quirky little number. Again, there are huge echoes of Kate Bush here, but I’m here for it. It’s obviously a bit more piano focused, but she’s not afraid to be a little bit weird with her production and composition approach. It’s almost got an edge of jazz to her approach in places, and this is a really nice little diversion after the more dramatic Winter. China - She’s found her reverb control again. It’s very pretty but feels a bit more safe than the better tracks on the album. She does inject a little bit of extra depth in a couple of places, but I find this to be nice, rather than special. Leather - Another one with a bit of a jazz edge to it. It fells wonderfully exposed, and she uses a little bit of distorted guitar to add some really interesting texture, as she has done previously. Again, the dynamic range of this record is superb, and she does it again here. The vocal delivery is great, and she adds some great little moments like the ‘fat cigar’ line. Mother - This one roams about the same central premise for most of its length. It still has that great dynamic range to it, her vocal is excellent again, and it’s another emotional and evocative performance. It's perhaps a little unfocused to my ear, as it gets a little lost in its own musings. That being said, it generally finds its way back eventually, so it’s not exactly bad, just didn’t connect with me quite as well as others. Tear In Your Hand - This has got a bit more drive and groove to it. It feels like more of a straightforward pop-rocker, but it’s got undeniable quality and feel to it. It’s hooky enough to engage the ear and while it lacks a little of the dynamic nuance of other tracks, it’s still really engaging. Me And A Gun - The intimate, close-mic’d nature of this is so effective. It’s a truly harrowing song about a real, lived experience and the production choices are so exposing and serve the song and its subject matter so well. The decision to leave the lyrics completely exposed in acapella also feels very important. Little Earthquakes - There’s a lovely depth to this. It’s back to being a bit heavy on the reverb, but the doubled vocal lines are great. The way it changes tone as it modulates up and down her vocal range is really nice. The thrusting rhythm that sits at the heart of this is great too. It’s another where the dynamic range and increasing intensity of the instrumentation works so well to deliver feeling into the song. It’s a journey of a song, moving through a range of tonally distinct sections. A really great way to wrap up the album.

6/10 Queen’s third album. Can they disabuse me of the notion that they are a singles band, rather than an album band? Lets see. From the opening track, this kind of feels like there are some fantastic raw ingredients in the mix, but that they haven’t quite harnessed them into a completely satisfying and coherent whole just yet. The fact that we then jump into the album’s one true classic kind of reaffirms that opinion. When they find their stride and swagger, they can really pack a punch, but those moments are a little too thin on the ground on this album. I feel like Queen are kind of finding their feet here, and there are little touches of compositional and production techniques that would define their sound in the years to come, but are not necessarily the most refined at this point. As we progress through the rest of the album, it feels stylistically, a bit all over the place. A pop song here, a heavier rocker there and a dip into prog up next. There’s nothing wrong with experimentation and variety of course, but it does make for a slightly disjointed listen. There are some sections that flow nicely though. Tenement Funster through to Lily Of The Valley flow really nicely together and hint that there is potential for the band to develop their sound and production techniques into a more rewarding album band. Perhaps that comes with albums that follow this one? Freddie’s voice is absolute magic as always, and even when they’re drifting off piste a little, they undeniably sound like Queen. There are some moments of exquisite quality, moments of almost ridiculous lunacy, but also a few too many moments of wayward idea throwing and the occasional dip into drudgery. When they get it right, they get it oh so right, but they’re a band that seems happy to experiment, have some fun and then, when the stars align, produce some of the greatest songs ever written. Unfortunately, there was a little too much of the former and not enough of the latter to really keep me connected to this one. It was good, it just wasn’t great. Brighton Rock - This is a decent opener. It’s got some solid, heavy moments and some great riffs. It perhaps loses its way a little bit when it gets a bit too noodly, Freddie’s part is fairly limited here, but that riff at the end is quality. Killer Queen - An absolute classic. From an album point of view, it’s quite the change in tone. But besides that, this is chock full of hooks, that very specific Freddie Mercury swagger in the vocal delivery and that unique Brian May guitar work. The well positioned backing vocals and harmonisations are fantastic, and there’s a lot going on here production wise too. It’s got that edge of weirdness despite being , at its core, a brilliant pop song. Tenement Funster - This is great. It’s got more quality riffs and the vocal has a great bit of edge and bite to it from Roger Taylor. The delivery of ‘gimme a good guitar’ is perfect. There’s some proggy edge to this one too and some interesting use of effects. It’s also got a really solid, driving groove to it. Flick Of The Wrist - And we transition beautifully out of the last one into a Freddie led work. It’s definitely got its quirky moments and it transitions between almost 70s metal, via prog to some quite poppy moments in places. It’s wacky, interesting and sounds great. There’s just so much going on! Lily Of The Valley - Another seamless transition into more of a ballad. Freddie’s vocal is great (quelle surprise). It builds and falls, has solid harmonies and still allows Brian May to do his little bit of characteristic guitar work too. Nice. Now I'm Here - A nice build into this, with some cool little panning and delay effects. And then we kick into a nice driven groove of a track. Some elements of this are great. There are some great riffs, particularly in the non vocal sections, and some solid drumming, but it doesn’t really grab hold of me the whole way through. In The Lap Of The Gods - You can hear elements of Bohemian Rhapsody in here, with the dynamic changes, piano led parts, vocal harmonisations and more. It’s obviously a lot more raw and not as fully developed, but you can hear this kind of work developing into something more later down the line. It’s decent enough, and there are some really nice sections, but there are bits that get a bit repetitive, and others where it drifts a little too much. Stone Cold Crazy - Ah, what a solid riff. This is pretty much an early metal song with Freddie Mercury on vocals and it’s great. Those little touches they thrown in to their compositions (like the cut out to the ‘stone cold crazy’ vocal harmonies) are so much fun. It’s a simple but effective rocker of a track. Dear Friends - A lovely little Freddie interlude and I’m always happy to hear him sing. It’s very pretty, but gone in an instant. Misfire - This is a proper pop-rock number. It’s reasonably catchy and incredibly chirpy. It’s got good pace and a toe-tapping drive to it, but it ultimately feels a bit of a chuck away pop song rather than anything with more substance. Bring Back That Leroy Brown - Do you remember that time when Queen got together with George Formby and wrote a song that sounds incredibly reminiscent of ‘Knees up mother Brown’? Well luckily they recorded it and put it on this album for the sake of posterity. Despite that, it’s brilliantly wacky, very catchy and so well put together. It feels very, very silly, but it’s executed so well that it’s still super enjoyable. She Makes Me (Stormtrooper In Stilettoes) - This is quite ponderous and boring. It just doesn’t go anywhere or do anything, and it’s got Brian May on lead vocals, so it doesn’t even have that sparkle of Freddie magic to free it from the drudgery. Big old bucket of meh. In The Lap Of The Gods... Revisited - And we return to the themes of In The Lap Of The Gods from earlier. More foreshadowing of Bohemian Rhapsody, but this is a bit more coherent than the earlier take on the track. It’s very, very good actually. It soars and dives, it’s got great riffs, some quality gang vocals and closes that album out really well.

4/10 An indie-rock focused album that won a Mercury Music Prize in the 2000s and barely got a sniff of success outside of the UK? Let’s see if it lives up to that shining overview, all we? In actual fact, I think there is a little bit of something to this. Unlike previous Mercury winners Franz Ferdinand, with whom critics compared them, I feel like there’s actually a bit more of a consistent vibe to this, a few more hooks and it generally engages my ear a little more. I found myself tapping my feet along with some of the rhythms and it did manage to drag me into its world now and then. Unfortunately, despite having some decent moments, things do kind of get swamped here and there by underdeveloped structures and repetitive songwriting. They do drift in and out of a generic indie-rock sound across the record, but at least there’s some attempt at developing a bit more interest and nuance to the sound, even if they don’t always pull it off. There were times when they built some decent sonic interest or grooves, but were let down by the lack of development of those ideas. Perhaps that’s a little churlish when most of the songs are under three and a half minutes, but I could have done with a bit more adventure to expand on the central ideas of the songs. In terms of overall sound, I don’t really get the ‘new rave’ label. Yeah, it’s got some synths on it, but it leans far more towards higher-tempo indie rock with a couple of synth lines than dance music to my ears. I suppose it’s a label meant to say ‘this will go down well at 1am in an indie club’, but it hardly screams ‘rave’ to me. The biggest problem I had with this is that the elements of it that I liked had been done in better and more inventive ways by other bands. Chuck me a Gorillaz, Electric Six, Everything Everything or M83 album and I could pick out elements of those that were my highlights on this album, but form part of a more stylistically and musically satisfying whole than Klaxons manage to offer. All in all, not awful, but not particularly great or memorable either. Two Receivers - It’s a decent enough start. Some nice driving drums and atmospheric synth work. It feels like it’s building to something. When the next section comes, it still feels like it’s building to something. I mean, it’s ok, but it seems to constantly hint at a destination that it never arrives at, and it’s a bit too repetitive while doing it. Atlantis To Interzone - Good lord, that ‘DJ’ casio keyboard sample is a terrible way to start things. It gets a bit better though. There’s nice pace and drive to it, and then it breaks into something akin to Electric Six. This isn’t bad really. The pacy verse vocals are a bit too on-the-nose 2000s indie for my liking, but the rest of it is pretty good. The way it’s put together doesn’t quite click 100%, but it’s a decent effort. Golden Skans - Ah, a single. Another that’s decent enough. The vocal lines in the pre-chorus and chorus feel a bit overwritten and could do with a bit more space. It also drags on a little too much through some of the sections, making it a bit too repetitive. Quite an achievement for a song that clocks in under three minutes. Add some variation lads! Totem On The Timeline - Generic 2000s indie rock beat - check. Generic 2000s indie rock riff - check. Generic 2000s indie rock vocal line - that’s a full house! It’s pretty derivative, but it’s got decent energy to it. It’s not bad, it’s just another one off the production line. As Above, So Below - The pace drops for this one. It’s a bit more plodding and the production is overly saturated, but in a way that isn’t particularly pleasant and doesn’t really fit the tone of the song. It’s a fairly by the numbers indie rock song, but it’s made worse by that odd production decision. Isle Of Her - It feels like there are some decent ideas in here, but the organisation of them just doesn’t expose them in a completely satisfying way. It’s almost got the tone of a Gorillaz song, but there’s not enough of a hook anywhere and it feels a bit disorganised and gets stuck on its ideas, rather than expanding on them. Gravity's Rainbow - There’s more pace to this and a decent shuffling little rhythm to it. Some of the guitar work is actually pretty good too, and I quite like the bass line and tone. There’s some nice range between the verse and chorus. It’s not necessarily the most inventive or innovative song, but for a two and a half minute pop-rocker, it’s pretty good. Forgotten Works - This has got a bit of underlying pace and drive to it from the bass and drums, but the rest of it is pretty monotonous and repetitively uninspired. I feel like this song was just washed over me and didn’t really offer much in the way of inspiration or intrigue. Magick - This is quite frantic from the instrumentation, but the vocals don’t match the intensity of it and the stilted vocal lines during the verses go on for too long and become quite irritating. I think there are some moments in here, but again it feels like a mish-mash of ideas and intensities that doesn’t quite achieve its goal or really feel completely coherent. It's Not Over Yet - This is a cover, and it’s not bad. Proper indie club night fare. There’s a good dynamic and pace shift between verse and chorus and it’s got some good hooks. I’m not ever going to be choosing to listen to this personally, but I can see why it was successful. Four Horsemen Of 2012 - This has got a bit more to it. The drive and grit of the instrumentation and the vocal actually match pretty well. It’s noisy and brash and has a bit of something about it. It doesn’t feel like anything particularly new, but it’s got a bit of weight and interest to it. It’s another that could get repetitive after a while, but it's only just over two minutes long so doesn’t get the chance.

5/10 I never really gelled with the White Stripes when they were around, but I did eventually connect with Jack White and some of his solo work that followed. Maybe I’m in a better place to get stuck in to them as a band with that increased familiarity in my pocket. The album kicks off with some solid, heavy guitar work that inspires confidence, but I find that the production is all a bit strange. The drums are very splashy, not just from a playing point of view, although I could do with fewer ‘cymbal crash at the start of every bar’ passages across the album in general, but also from a production point of view, where the cymbals are very bright and brash. Weirdly, aside from the bright cymbals, a lot of the drums sound like they were recorded in the corner of a slightly boxy room on a single microphone, which is a slightly odd choice when some of the other parts are so clearly recorded. It just sounds a bit messy and sloppy to me. That represents a lot of my feeling about this album, in fact. Stylistically, it feels quite muddled, with tracks veering wildly across styles, but without even a consistent production style to pin them together. I’m all for variety and range, but a lack of internal consistency makes it all feel a bit patchwork. Quite a few of the tracks feel like early demos, where there are solid moments and then bits that sound like they’ve not quite been worked out properly yet, and there are even some quite odd choices to keep takes together that drop a beat here and there. I feel like the bones of a really good album are actually evident here, and there are a few tracks where things get together really nicely, My Doorbell and The Denial Twist, for example, but often those moments of coherence fell away as the next track rolled in. I feel like some of the choices on this album fall back on the ‘look at me, I’m a kooky man’ persona that Jack White likes to promote, which if you buy into that probably work, but just feel a bit calculated to me. If you’re really kooky, it’ll show in your music without you having to try this hard. Apparently, the album was recorded inside two weeks at Jack White’s home studio. The cover photo was produced in a five day photo shoot in that same location. Maybe spend more time on the music and less on the aesthetic, eh? When Jack White gets out of his own way, he’s great, and the music world needs people like him. I’m still looking forward to listening to more of his work, both solo and as the White Stripes, but this album was just a bit of a swing and a miss for me. Blue Orchid - It’s a solid, meaty riff and that guitar tone is great, but the drums are a bit splashy for my taste. It’s a slightly odd mix in that it feels like the guitar takes up a large amount of the audio spectrum but the rest of the parts are quite thin, so it feels a bit sonically gappy. It’s a decent enough song though, and it’s got some good hooks. Short but sweet. The Nurse - This is a bit odd. It’s plodding and not that melodically interesting. The little bursts of guitar and drums are weird and jar massively against the song. It just feels a lot like a song that’s trying to scream “look at me, I’m kooky!” There’s probably a song in there somewhere, but it’s been very oddly orchestrated and produced. My Doorbell - And we’re back on the right track. It’s got a great shuffling groove and some solid hooks. The vocal seems to lose prominence in places, like he’s not bothering to control his mic position at all. But it’s a really good, toe-tapper of a song. Lyrically it’s very repetitive, but in this case it kind of works for the hooky nature of the composition. Forever For Her (Is Over For Me) - We’re back to something a bit more plodding and (in places) splashy. It builds quite nicely, but compositionally it’s quite limited. I quite like some of the sections, but as a whole it’s just a bit too jumbled and messy for me. Little Ghost - This is a bit more stylistically and structurally focused. It’s pretty country, and sounds almost like it’s designed to sound like it’s recorded at some kind of hoedown. It doesn’t really offer much development or variation, but it’s over in just over 2 minutes, so I guess that works. The Denial Twist - They’ve found that groove again. This is solid, with some great hooks from the piano in particular. There are some good developments of the themes, and it’s got great energy and vibe to it. When they hit their stride like this, they’re great. There’s so much swagger and attitude to it. Great track. White Moon - And we’ve slowed down again. The calmness of things is often punctuated with big thumps and, again, too many cymbal splashes. The stilted, staccato nature of the drums and the more intense sections just jar for me. It just all feels a bit unbalanced an inconsistent, even within a single song, let alone across the album. Instinct Blues - This starts off really well and then in places it drops away like he hasn’t quite worked out how to transition from section to section. There are some good riffs in here and the sound and style is more consistent, but it just sounds like an early demo of a song idea, rather than a finished song. Sounds like the finished song would be really good, it's just a shame he didn’t get that far before he released it. Passive Manipulation - More of an interlude than a full song. It’s more plodding, staccato stuff, and then it’s done. Take, Take, Take - Jack White launches into this with great swagger. There are some really nice rhythmic breaks in this and it’s one that feels much more complete and consistent again to begin with. The break to the “take, take, take” bit is a bit odd and then it takes them a couple of bars to catch the rhythm again, which furthers the oddness. Again, this has started to feel a bit jumbled and demo-like, because the production is a bit muddled and there are even a few glaring timing issues in places. The bones are there, but it’s just not coherent enough. As Ugly As I Seem - Another stylistic switch-up and it tonally sounds like it’s from a completely different album. It’s a nice song and feels far more straightforward and by the book than pretty much anything else on here. It’s nothing spectacular, just a nice little acoustic number, but at least it’s internally consistent. Red Rain - Sometimes, I can find Jack White’s voice to be quite pinched and grating. This is one of those times. There are some decent riffs in here, but again it’s all a bit of a jumble. Moments of quality, surrounded by moments of Jack White showing off how kooky he is. And it never really develops any of the real quality into anything that particularly grabs me and holds on. I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet) - Moments of Jack White straining to hit notes that he can’t quite reach over some nice piano work. It’s a nice little slice of Memphis style blues. It’s ok, but not spectacular. Another one where the production and compositional style is far more coherent and consistent, so it’s perhaps more of a flowing track to close things.

6/10 This is my second dive into the work of Steely Dan, having been impressed but not blown away by Can’t Buy A Thrill. Let’s see what's changed two years and two albums down the line, shall we? As the album first washed over me, it felt very much like that. A wash. It was a pleasant, even moderately enjoyable listening experience, but one that had little to no temperature variation, just coasting along at a set, lukewarm temperature. But Steely Dan are, if nothing else, a tight and talented group of musicians, and sometimes a first listen doesn’t really expose the nuances and quality of a group like this. Unfortunately, the second and third run throughs just kind of plodded along in the same vein. The musicianship is excellent, the band is super tight and they can write some engaging enough music in moments, but it’s all incredibly one-note. There is little dynamic variation within each track, and even from track to track, and apart from the odd moment here and there, there was also very little in the way of rhythmic dynamism either. With their debut album, I felt there were a few more moments that stood out and grabbed hold of the ear, but here, more or less the whole album seemed to just start, exist, and then end with nothing particularly noteworthy happening in between. It was, as may be revealed by my track notes, a very ‘nice’ experience, but a largely forgettable one. Perhaps it’s the perfect kind of music to stick on at a dinner party where it gives you a stable bed of music with a bit of groove and a nice ambience, but nothing vastly more exciting than that. But I guess I enjoyed myself enough that it just creeps its way the high side of average. Rikki Don't Lose That Number - This is a pleasant little song. There’s some quality playing, particularly from the piano, which has some nice bits of flair but isn’t overplayed. The transitions between the different sections of the song are really nice and it’s got some solid harmonies and quality hooks. The guitar solo is great too. It’s all quite understated, but pretty effective. Night By Night - This has got a nice groove and feels super fluid. It’s lacking a bit in bottom end, which would have helped it to have a bit more weight to it. The horn parts are really nice, with the variety between staccato in the verses and the swells in the choruses. The playing is deep in the pocket and it all pulses and flows nicely. Any Major Dude Will Tell You - This is another nice but not really spectacular song. The playing continues to be excellent, and it’s such an easy and smooth listen, but it’s never going to grab you by the balls or change your life. The electric piano is a particular highlight for me and I it was a solid and enjoyable listen, but still fairly unspectacular. Barrytown - Another entirely pleasant experience. It sort of meanders around without ever landing on anything particularly memorable, but the journey is pretty nice. So farm the album has been pretty one-note. It’s a nice note, but it does start to wash over you a little after a while. East St. Louis Toodle-oo - And now we’re served up a Duke Ellington cover that’s a little bit different at least, but it sounds more like it was written to be the soundtrack to some kind of slapstick comedy silent movie. It’s a complete tonal departure from everything we’ve had up to this point, and it’s all just a little odd. Quite a funny way to end side A though, I suppose. Parker's Band - I think part of what has not helped my enjoyment of this album is that everything’s very dynamically flat. There aren’t any particularly raucous or subtle bits, it's all just... there. It starts, it flows along nicely, and then it ends, not ever really deviating from its path. This is another of the same ilk. It’s more niceness with nothing particularly special about it. Through With Buzz - Contrary to my comments on the last track, there are some slight moments of tempo and dynamic variation here that give things an interesting edge. They’re fleeting, but at least make for a change of pace. But it’s all over in a minute and a half. Pretzel Logic - There’s some nice swagger in here. It’s still fairly one-paced, but it’s got a decent groove. There’s the odd breakdown that moves things around a bit, and some of the vocal harmonisations are pretty good. It’s perhaps a little too laid back for my taste and could do with a bit more get up and go, but again, it’s solid if unspectacular. With A Gun - We get a bit more zip with this one. It has its moments, but it’s another that very much picks a lane and chugs along enjoying itself with no deviation at all. Sometimes, with an album like this, I start to struggle to find fresh ways to say that a song is pleasant but just a little bit boring. And here we are. Charlie Freak - This is a bit more instrumentally sparse, but it’s so dynamically one-note that the piano in particularly almost feels robotic in its delivery. If you told me it was a sampled piano playing a MIDI score at 100 velocity for every note, I’d 100% percent believe you. And now we've got some sleigh bells. Is this their Christmas single? It’s very, very rhythmically stilted and I think I’m getting ready for this album to end. Monkey In Your Soul - There’s a bit more grit and space here, which is nice. It’s more bluesy and it’s got a slightly quirky, cheeky edge to it. The groove is decent and it strides along nicely. I feel like this could have been used to break up some of the more samey tracks earlier in the album, but it’s nice to finish off with something a little bit different.

4/10 I was quite looking forward to this one. My initial expectations were based largely on the title track, which I’ve heard countless times over the years. It’s a pretty great blend of frantic, heavy and theatrical, all rolled into one high-camp and fairly ridiculous track. Sadly, after enjoying my journey back through the opener, the rest of the album went downhill fairly quickly. There were moments where it threatened to break back into what makes that track special, particularly through Paradise By The Dash Board Light, but for the most part, this albums was disappointingly boring. I mention during my track breakdown the similarities to Bruce Springsteen, and artist of whom I have little fondness and, while I typically prefer Meat Loaf’s voice to that of The Boss, that wasn’t enough for me to find this anything more than a fairly mundane stroll through some fairly uninspiring rock songs and even less inspiring ballads. And those ballads. Woof. I just do not buy the vocal delivery at all. It feels emotionally disconnected and insincere, which is something that really needs to connect for a ballad to have meaning for me. The musicianship was largely solid, the production likewise, but it all felt a bit by the numbers. There was nothing particularly edgy or exciting about the large majority of the album, and besides the two above mentioned tracks, the camp over-theatricality didn’t really extend to the rest of the album. It gets a few marks for those two tracks, but in all honestly, it didn’t do anything to make me want to bother revisiting it again in the future. Bat Out Of Hell - It's certainly an up tempo start to the album and then it works its way through some slower sections before we even get to the vocal. It takes metal, turns up the camp and theatre of it all to eleven in the most unapologetic way possible. There are so many changes and tweaks to what's going on that it often doesn't give you a moment to think before it shoots off again. It's kind of gloriously mad and frantic. There's some great musicianship and so much energy. It almost sounds like Meat Loaf is sprinting around the studio as he delivers his vocal in an over the top theatrical presentation. High camp, theatrical hard pop rock fun for all the family. You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) - And just to emphasise the theatrical feel of things, we get a spoken word intro. This one is a bit less pacy and has an edge of Christmas song sound to it, which is partly the percussion, but the cadence of the melodies takes it that way too. It's sounds more halfway between a stage musical song and a Bruce Springsteen one, but without having to listen to Springsteen sing, which is a plus. It didn't really grab me as much as the opener, but it's not bad. Heaven Can Wait - This one isn't as interesting. it retains the theatrical presentation, but it's a little bit of a one trick pony and that trick isn't actually that good to my ear. It just feels a bit insincere and emotionally disconnected from the kind of ballad that it's trying to be. The piano playing is great, but it kind of feels like ticking a box that says 'must include a ballad'. All Revved Up With No Place To Go - Rhythmically, this is very stacatto and plodding. It does swing a little in places later. Again, I'm getting more Springsteen vibes from this. The sax is massively overdone without actually offering anything vastly interesting. It's not a bad composition, necessary, but it's all quite by the numbers without offering anything particularly engaging. It suddenly becomes way better for the last 30 seconds of the song, but it's too late by that point. Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad - Another ballad. Another plodding and quite boring song. It feels like they're trying to keep that theatrical tone to it, particularly with the strings and reverb heavy drums, but it just feels like it plods along without offering significant dynamic change or a particularly believable vocal delivery. He's obviously a great singer, but I don't buy what he's selling on his ballad performances. Meh. Paradise By The Dash Board Light - This is more promising. There's a great swing and drive to everything here and Mr Loaf is a far more enjoyable singer when he's got something with a bit more zip and grit to play with. It's obviously way more bluesy rock, but there are some nice tempo switch ups and variety to the composition than the last few tracks. The piano work is great fun. It's kind of weird that this song is presented as a single entity, because it's really not that. The cut to the second part is quite jarring and feels like transitional music from a musical rather than part of an actual song. There's some really nice bits and pieces in amongst this, but there are also some less enjoyable bits, it's a bit of a mixed bag. Some of the changes and transitions just take the steam out of this a bit too much, which is a bit of a shame, because there's a lot to like about quite a lot of this song. For Crying Out Loud - Again, I'm not really buying these ballads. He gets a bit too shouty in places and the composition is very overwrought. There's nothing particularly hooky or memorable about it, it's just a bit boring while trying to be impactful and dramatic. The dynamic shift into the second half is an improvement and works better for Meat's vocal talents. It still feels very over written though, and not in the 'god, this is fun' way of the title track.

10/10 I’d been an admirer of Aretha Franklin’s work for a long time before listening to this album, and there were a ew standout tracks on here that I was already familiar with, but this album as a whole was a fresh one to me. It kind of goes without saying that Aretha has one of the most controlled, nuanced and distinctive voices in the history of recorded music, and you will find reference to her vocal talents all over my track by track breakdown. But that would all be for nothing, if the songs and music didn’t at least come close to providing a worthy backdrop to her abilities. And thankfully, here they step up to the plate in an almost majestic way. The band stride confidently along the line of giving exactly the amount of space for Aretha to do her thing, while still allowing themselves to step into prominence when she provides them the space. They consistently deliver a locked in yet smooth and fluid groove with all of the dynamic range and control that's needed to bring a living, breathing pulse to the music. The song choices are fantastic, with a really considered range between slow jams and higher tempo grooves that tickle towards edges of funk. There's also a nice mix of covers, songs written for Aretha and self penned tracks, which all adds up to a superb blend of quality. And that all ends with the unexpectedly spectacular final song that just blew my socks off, written by Aretha’s little sister Carolyn. There were a few moments that were perhaps slightly weaker than others but, frankly, the highs did enough to balance out any slight dips. So it’s safe to say they nailed all of the ‘non Aretha’s voice’ parts too. But final word should go to that very thing. Aretha owns every song she sings. She has so much effortless quality and delivers the required emotion out of a melody every time. From soft, sultry moments to soaring, driven highs, via vocal trills and vibrato that just seem tossed away like they’re second nature, she’s an absolute joy to listen to time and time again. The Queen of Soul indeed. Chain Of Fools - Such a groove to kick off the album. The alternating and then unified backing vocals are quality and Aretha eases herself into things so smoothly before giving a little taste of her vocal gymnastics here and there. There’s so much feel to the band here and it’s super tight, full of movement and has so much soul. Money Won't Change You - Her vocal delivery is exquisite but feels so effortless. She can chuck in a lovely bit of grit when she wants to and she can flick her way up and down scales and runs with reckless abandon, never losing the thread of the groove or melody. There’s a really great pulse to this that gets handed off between the different parts, but they also all come together at points to really drive home the rhythm. Super solid again. People Get Ready - A nice change of pace now. This one has some absolutely fabulous moments, the piano and guitar in particular add some quality nuance in places, and there are some really lovely chord changes. It’s slightly more of a meandering track, but Aretha just keeps delivering to give it undeniable quality and heart. Niki Hoeky - This has got a great rolling rhythm and the little horn stabs and swells give it that little extra dose of feel. It really makes you move. The bass work is so deep in the pocket you can barely reach it and it just strolls around brilliantly giving a pulsing tonal heartbeat. Some of the high notes she hits are stunning and there are more little runs and trills that just blow you away but are never overdone. Love the little breaks for the guitar too. Quality. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman - Carole King’s songwriting just gets deep into my bones. This is just a spectacular song. The harmonies in the chorus are stunning, the slow lilt to the rhythm in the verses oozes groove, and the subtle brass parts just add a gorgeous warmth to the song. And then you get Aretha just delivering a vocal masterclass of vocal and emotional control in her performance. It’s got bags of dynamic range, it ebbs and flows and it’s got an absolutely killer hook. Since You've Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby) - Back to another solid groove. Aretha is smashing it again. It’s super tight and well put together, and the horn parts are great, in particular. It’s perhaps a bit less hooky and focused than some of the other tracks, and relies a little too much on repetition of the ascending scale motif, but it’s still a solid, tail shaker of a track. Good To Me As I Am To You - What a great, jazzy intro. The piano and guitar playing against one another is top notch. It’s a slow groove and Aretha just delivers again and again. She really knows how to push and pull her vocal intensity. A lot of the players get their little moments in here too, and it’s a great all-rounder that really delivers a great range of dynamic and passion. Come Back Baby - The bass line here is brilliant. It just strolls all over the place and gives everything another solid pulse. The call and response of Aretha and the backing vocals is great too and this is just a a super solid uptempo bounce of a track. It’s kind of hard not to be uplifted by a song like this. It’s not the most deep and meaningful of songs, but it’s and absolute beast of a good-time jam. Groovin' - Damn right they’re groovin’. This is smooth. It’s got that laid back soul feel to it that has enough zip to give it drive, but is relaxed enough that you can just chill while you bob your head. The little offbeat climbs from the band and backing vocalists during the verses are just slow soul perfection. Aretha gives a more restrained performance, for the most part, and here trills and vibrato at that low intensity just go to further prove her vocal control credentials. What a great track. Ain't No Way - Good god, this is excellent. It’s another slow jam, written by Aretha’s sister Carolyn, who is credited with backing vocals. If that’s her doing the high vibrato into a descending run, vocal talent must run in the family, because that is spectacular. This track is just a groove that does exactly what it needs to, which is provide a superbly written backbone to let Aretha just do her thing over the top. It’s chill inducing stuff and, again, she knows how to push and pull that dynamic. She’s got exceptional range, not only pitch wise, but the intensity and firmness of her delivery is so flexible, and she knows how to drag every bit of feeling out of a song. What a way to end the album.

3/10 I came into this expecting to not really jive with it, but to at appreciate the pop quality of it. Good pop songs, well produced with competent vocal performances. I knew some of the singles beforehand so had hopes, as Rock Your Body is a really solid pop song with a decent groove to it. And in reality, for the first 6 tracks, that was what I got. A Mickey Mouse Club graduate trying his best to be a slightly more ‘street’ Michael Jackson with some decent songwriting and production behind him. Yes, I wasn’t a massive fan of most of those tracks, but there were a few decent moments and I could appreciate what they were going for. I never really bought his delivery and, to my ear, Justin Timberlake does a fantastic job at being the 21 year old that 12 year olds think is the coolest 21 year old, but that other 21 year olds think is icky and are careful not to leave their drinks unattended when he's present at a party. For a few songs, the songwriting and production (and occasional flashes of performance quality) does a good enough job to keep it ticking along. Señorita isn’t bad. Cry Me a River is, retrospectively, awful, but it’s a really solid pop song. Rock Your Body is great. But after that point, the insipid qualities that are present in the first few songs start to swell and envelop everything. There are still the odd moments here and there, when Pharrell Williams remebers the brief, but frankly, as the songs dragged on, I felt a bit like Artax from The Neverending Story, unable to bring myself out of the swamp of sadness, or in this case, beigeness. It gets a couple of extra points for the first half, and if they’d have made this a 35 minute album, it wouldn’t have been nearly as bad, but I expect more than this from a group of artists and producers that were (apparently) aiming for Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind & Fire and Angie Stone. Sheesh. Señorita - Well it’s a pretty cringeworthy intro, but it’s a well written and produced late-era Michael Jackson style pop song. By late-era, I mean lacking the charm and quality of hook inherent in MJ’s earlier work, but it’s still got a good groove. Justin is a very good pop singer, but he’s nowhere near the standard of MJ and he just sounds like another cookie-cutter pop star who wants to be like MJ, but doesn’t have anything particularly unique or special to offer. And the call and response and spoken word parts are just toe curling. Like I Love You - I just don’t buy his delivery. It’s like someone trying to be cool, rather than actually being cool. But putting that aside, this has a pretty decent groove to it. There’s depth and sheen to the production, but it all feels very calculated rather than organic. There’s nothing particularly memorable about any of the hooks here. I mean it’s not bad, it’s a very well produced pop song (with some very, very MJ moments) but it feels completely disposable. (Oh No) What You Got - There’s a nice shuffling groove here, and there’s a lot there that contributes to the rhythmic flow of the track. But there’s no real hook that grabs me here either. It’s like a beige wash of pop that has enough of a funky groove to it to grab people who aren’t paying a vast amount of attention. But I’ve pretty much forgotten everything about it by the time the next song starts. Take It From Here - This is a well produced track with some particularly lightweight and insipid vocal delivery. I’m not one to put too much focus on lyrics really, but these stuck out to me as being particularly awful. It’s very, very repetitive and even the odd bit of production trickery to add variation can’t save it. I think underneath it all, the bones of something with potential is in there, but they haven’t managed to eke anything of significant quality with this effort. Another completely forgettable little pop song. Cry Me A River - This is one of the big hitters. In hindsight, it’s also one that shows Justin up to be a colossal prick, basically publicly shitting on Britney Spears despite seemingly being the big problem in their relationship. Not the last time he slid through, squeaky clean, while throwing a woman under the bus. Remember Janet Jackson? Yeah. Anyway. It’s a very well written pop song. It’s got a solid groove to it and is actually quite interesting from a sound design point of view. His vocal is pretty try-hard, but serves the song pretty well. It's not really my bag, but it’s easy to see why it was successful and why people like it. Rock Your Body - And here’s the best song on the album by a long way. This one’s actually a knock off of a really good MJ song. It’s got great rhythmic choices that sit really nicely against one another and create a really funky groove. It's got solid melodic hooks in the vocal, and a variety of sections to add diversity and range to the track. The vocal, and particularly the lyrics do lean a little too close to being cringeworthy, but it can just about slide through because the rest of the track is so solid. Nothin' Else - Ah, so they listened to Paint It, Black and decided to make a weak-sauce version of Liberian Girl from the main riff. Interesting. Or, as it happens, not very interesting. It’s more insipid stuff. There’s one synth part that really doesn’t blend in with everything else, which is super odd. But the rest is just another beige wash of well produced but ultimately meaningless drivel. Next. Last Night - He's trying SO HARD to be Michael Jackson. He’s not succeeding. Even the composition here is super limited. There’s very little going on and it’s very repetitive. There are touches here and there that are nice enough, but as a whole it’s just uninspiring and lightweight, again. There were moments during the opening few tracks, but this is falling off a cliff fast. Still On My Brain - I feel like I’m just repeating myself at this point. This is another weak Jackson-a-like song. There’s no real memorable hook to it. The vocal delivery is actually on the stronger end of the spectrum for the album, at least in part because his Stars In Their Eyes mimicry is the closest he’s got yet to his hero. But the song is now fading out and I already can't remember how it went. (And She Said) Take Me Now - Well this is a rhythmically decent start at least. It’s got quite a nice groove to it, but again it’s a bit of a wash of forgettability above that when it comes to the melodic and harmonic content of the composition and production. It does have the odd moment of interest, particularly when the layering builds up and there’s a bit more depth and nuance, so it’s not all bad, but it’s not going to find its way onto my favourites list any time soon either. Right For Me - This is a vaguely interesting beat that pretty much repeats as is for four and a half minutes with some uninteresting vocal nonsense over the top. I’m not even sure what they’re trying to achieve here. It’s dull, it’s uninspired and it inexplicably drags on for far longer than the limited idea has any right to do. Let's Take A Ride - It’s a very stilted start, and then we’re into a repeating pattern of a backing track that only changes by adding some fairly poorly designed synth patches to add flavour. There’s no hook to this at all, it’s just sort of generic R&B singing, the effect of which is somehow lessened by the doubled vocal that creates a more distant connection with the lead. It all feels very forced, while at the same time being utterly generic. If you asked AI to write an early 2000s R&B pop song, it would give you this. Never Again - Weak sauce. It’s supposed to be a heart-wrenching ballad, but I just don't buy it. Timberlake is to busy trying to throw in vocal gymnastics that he forgets that he should actually inject some kind of emotion into the song. He sounds like a whiny little boy, and the backing is so by the numbers and generic that it almost completely passes me by. And how on earth did they drag this crap on for four and a half minutes. It’s shit.