Fascinating album—you can hear a lot of new wave influence on here. There are parts that sound as if someone lifted The Talking Heads and dropped them in the UK. Is it the best album? No, but if you go into it with a curious mind you’ll get a good bit out of it.

This is one of the first major albums I can recall hearing where The Beatles had a noticeable impact on the generation of music makers who came up after them in Britain. The group shines here on their second album—all their most notable hits are here, along with a few songs that come in and surround you like a warm hug. Honestly, this album is like greeting an old friend at times. Hello there, “She’s Electric!” Ah yes, “Morning Glory,” how could I forget about you? And here’s good old “Wonderwall”, whose signature guitar progression carries us through the album. There’s a reason this album is noteworthy—and a reason it reinvigorated Brit Pop for the decade following its release. Absolute gem of a listen.

Really fun start with Evenflow as the second song. By the end of this album, I too was begging for someone to release me. All the songs (aside from the ones that became big hits, like Evenflow and Jeremy) all sound the same.

This is a beautiful album, one that overcame me with emotion listening to it. It felt perfect for the end of summer, that melancholy departure of warm days on the beach in favor of an approaching autumn chill. Honestly makes me wish I had a convertible, so I could play this while driving with the top down along a coastal highway. I think I’ll have to listen to this one again soon.

This album felt very ahead of its time, and yet very influenced by the twenty years that came before it. A lot of fun, even if Costello has some weird views about women in some of these lyrics.