1001 Albums Summary

I was looking forward to this as I had never heard of it before. I very quickly realised it was not for me. It sounded like the birth of musical theatre - wordy, too thick a texture, and melodies that wandered all over the place. I was glad when it got to the last track, less glad when I found that track to be 10 minutes long.

Kind of drifted by… Good musicianship but lacked either riffs or melodies strong enough to make it stand out.

A bizarre mixture of styles, not particularly coherent but with enough strong singles (well spaced out through the album) to keep up its momentum. As a side note, Shout was being played on French radio when we went into the local shop for the first time this summer - it was followed by Just Like Heaven. A good start to the holiday.

The production elevates some of the weaker songs, but a couple of songs would benefit from some editing - great three minute songs that are dragged out to 5 minutes or more and lose impact as a result. I do find his voice quite grating at times, there are particular inflections that sound like Eric Cartman singing.

A bit of an odd one as a lot of it just sounded like the soundtrack to a standard 70s Hollywood film. I was expected a more distinctive (possibly stereotypically Indian) sound.

Not sure it is something that has to be listened to and doesn’t really do anything new beyond what they did before, which was hardly revolutionary. However, No Cars Go is my favourite track of theirs so I am giving a bonus mark for that.

Melodies and arrangements are strong and I can see the appeal but the sound is a little bit safe for me.

Found the nine track version after the link had sent me in the direction of the 3-disc, 3.5 hour version. I don’t think their sound has aged quite as well as some of their peers, but there were some pleasant surprises here.

I only really knew of his later stuff from programs like OGWT. This was a nice surprise - chaotic and percussive. Definitely an influence on later Tom Waits.

I disliked this immensely. Poor in concept and execution - long, pretentious and lacking any memorable songs to hang the concept around.

Some lovely guitar work. Fortunately the sun was out when I listened to it as I don’t think it would have had the same impact in the rain…

I am not averse to a bit of country music but this was a bit too confederate for my liking.

I like him as a performer (his sweat drenched performances on OGWT are amazing) and I like some of these songs in isolation but as an album it is a bit much.

It is an album clearly built around the title track. It passed by pleasantly enough in the background but the sound is generic, radio-friendly rock, which doesn’t do much for me.

I just don’t think I like this genre very much. This might be an excellent example of it but, while technically proficient, I find it very shallow both lyrically and musically.

Nice guitar work and a smooth voice with the blues numbers providing a bit of a break from the gentle ballads. Overall, a nice album but I am not sure I will remember any of it by tomorrow.

A really good album with strong melodies and evocative lyrics. It has standout tracks but these are framed by the songs around them to give them more impact. The maturity and confidence of the album is remarkable given their age at the time.

Enjoyed this more than expected. Functions really well as an album; no real standout tracks but coheres nicely, with enough variety within the sound to keep it interesting.

Thought I didn’t know the band but realised I knew ‘another girl, another planet’ as one of John Peel’s favourite tracks. I was pleasantly surprised by the other tracks and could see why they were considered influential.

I love his voice and arrangements but some of the songwriting does not match the quality of the tools available, which is what stops this being a great album. A song such as River Man shows the potential for making a great album but sadly he did not have the opportunity to realise this.

I had not listened to this before and found it did lack the immediacy of some of his later work, but still has the strong lyrical imagery and ‘preacher screaming at the end of the world’ vibe that I enjoy. I think this is an album that will improve with repeated listening (as with a lot of his work) - my mark is more how I think I will view it rather than its immediate impact.

Enjoyed it a lot more than expected as I was worried it would be a psychedelic mess… Some nice melodies and gets extra credit for Golden Hair which Slowdive turned into one of the best live tracks I have seen…

I liked the segue from the prog into money for nothing but the rest of it was pretty boring. You can hear the influence of a band like The War on Drugs but their songs have a bit more to them than what I heard here.

Pretty standard jangly guitar stuff until the end where you can see why they made impact. However, I feel their subsequent albums do the jangly stuff and the experimental stuff better.

Genuinely horrific. I was concerned when it showed that some of the tracks appeared on the playlist ‘yacht rock essentials’ but what followed exceeded this concern. It was like the Pina Colada song stretched out for an album. When it said 1001 albums to listen to before you die, I don’t think the intention was for the list to push you towards your demise but the inclusion of this album is making me question that. At least it was mercifully short.

I did enjoy parts of this but found it went on a bit long. I admire the production and execution but didn’t find too many of songs grabbed me.

It is less an album more an audio documentary. The songs being punctuated by messages for the inmates, their responses to certain guards names - all these things give a sense of the setting and give added power to the performance. Granted, there is a lack of variety in the songs but the performance is incredible.

For me, the very worst excesses of rock and live albums combined into one - pointless noodling, extended drum solos, and aimless virtuosity. This was a slog.

A perfectly pleasant album but it seems like a regression given the Beatles’ exploration of experimental approaches.

A tricky one as it is of a style that I find is not very immediate and therefore it didn’t make much of an impression on me after one listen. I think it is one from the list that I will try and listen to again as I think I might enjoy it more.

I expect this will be divisive amongst a lot of listeners. I have already listened to this before on a few occasions, which helps given the length of the album. Z xx I personally really like it and John Wayne Gacy Jr is one of my favourite songs about serial killers. I think it suffers from having too many ideas at times and would have been a great album with a bit of careful pruning and focus.

Actually enjoyed this more than I expected as I had a particular dislike of their music when growing up… It is still not something that I would listen to out of choice but I didn’t hate it. The last track was the standout, mainly due to the participation of Andre 3000, which provided a nice contrast to the rest of the album.

Both progressive and regressive in equal measure… Highly influential on the blues rock boom of the early 2000s while borrowing heavily from the 70s. I did enjoy the odd moments of experimentation (use of electronic beats, etc.) and found it has aged well.

This is hugely influential on modern hip-hop and has some real highlights. Some elements do not age so well (the scratching, wearing a massive clock) but I did enjoy revisiting it.

Some good pop songs that have been somewhat ruined by overplaying and ubiquity.

Lots of character and some good tunes. I suspect that my favourite SFA album (Mwng) will not make the list so I have to mark this highly!

Not my first time listening to this but it was a good one to revisit. There is a nice variety of texture and instrumentation with some strong melodies.

There are some really nice songs, good changes of pace, and I have always loved his guitar playing. The album lacks the vitality of their live performances of these songs - I found that songs that were thrilling live were just a bit too clinical when committed to record.

My general dislike of this genre of music means it has to be exceptional to make an impact on me. This was not. There is clearly one standout track but the others were either forgettable or shallow.

I knew the name but had never listened to this but I was amazed at how influential this was on so many wildly different artists. I really enjoyed this and can see why it was such an influence.

Probably don’t love this as much as I used to. However, I still really like it and can see its influence. Rhythmically interesting with interesting structures and strong melodies.

Fast Car is one of my least favourite songs of all time. Genuinely hate it. The rest of the album was boring (if Boyzone is covering it, it is pretty bland) but I could appreciate some of the lyrical intentions.

Agree about the need for active listening as I listened to it in the background at work and could see that was not the right setting for something such as this. I could appreciate all the aspects of it but will need to listen in a dark room with no distractions to fully appreciate this.

Fantasy by Earth, Wind and Fire is one of my guilty pleasures. There was nothing here which reaches that level. They are a great singles band but the singles from this are not up to the standard of their later work.

I love Harrison’s guitar playing and there is some excellent songwriting. There was a nice amount of variety but it also went on too long and my attention was starting to drift by the end.

There a couple of obvious singles and I can see why it might have made an impression at the time, but her voice is like nails scraping down a blackboard and the lyrics are truly awful.

It is a really confident album that has excellent songwriting and a sound that has aged really well.

I enjoyed this but it lacked any real standout tracks from a first listen and I’m not sure I enjoyed it enough to warrant a second listen.

The first album I have encountered on the list where I have questioned its existence on the list. Neither influential nor very good at what it does, I am cannot believe there isn’t something else that could have taken its place. Not much to grab your attention apart from the big single, which has a decent energy.

Either there are an extraordinary number of Bob Marley albums on this list or the RNG has failed us… It was clearly a stronger album than catch a fire but suffers from a lack of variety due to the conventions of the genre.

I rather enjoyed this - some really good riffs and didn’t descend into the excesses of some 80s metal. I have never been a fan of the double kick drums so that knocks it down a bit but still better than expected.

The harmony, arrangements and songwriting are fantastic and I love the sense of melancholy that runs through a lot of the songs.

A welcome inclusion on the list and a nice one to revisit after a while. There are good melodies, it is well structured, with its standout tracks well spaced out, and its run time is about right given that it doesn’t have a huge amount of variation. I have always enjoyed how the guitar sound is both dirty and clear at the same time.

Not what I was expecting in the first half but went to more expected territory in the second. Clearly hugely influential and ‘the message’ is a classic but the compilation nature of the album means it lacks cohesion.

The pros on this one are the exceptional musicianship, really good riffs and structure. The cons are that the lyrics are sometimes a bit righteous and it influenced Limp Bizkit.

No.

I enjoyed this. It was interesting as a bridge between Public Enemy and a more modern hip-hop sound. I liked the choice of samples and the different styles of the vocalists.

The harmonies are incredibly tight but this music does very little for me and it quickly lost my interest.

I cannot listen to too much Dylan in a short space of time as I find it can get a bit repetitive however this was a great one to revisit as it is easy to forget just how great Dylan is. There are some absolute classics on here and it manages to hold attention despite its lengthy run time. He even makes me appreciate lyrics which I generally am not bothered about.

Speaking to the resident Swift fan in the house, she was baffled by this album’s inclusion given that it was made up of songs that didn’t make the cut for Folklore. I enjoyed Gold Rush and it is clearly a highly polished production, but the songs don’t really connect with me, and it descends into something quite formulaic. The song with Haim was truly terrible so it loses a point for that.

Lacks variety and doesn’t have the imagination of their later work but it is still a strong set of songs, with some obvious standouts. Mercifully short after a couple of long ones too…

I may have listened to this before but I am not sure… I did really enjoy it, though. Good riffs, excellent musicianship and good structures. Almost veered into noodling territory at the end but kept it in check.

It was alright. I quite liked their sound (goth with electronic drums) but I wasn’t really paying attention so I can’t really remember any of it beyond that.

Wow, that was a challenge. I love David’ earlier bebop and hard bop work, and fully understand the need to push boundaries, but there was very little for me to hang onto here. I know it was very influential at the time but I am not sure I like its influence as it moved jazz into an era where it was detached from any of the traditional foundations of rhythm and melody into to something far more nebulous. There were moments where it connected but not enough for me.

A band that passed me by in my formative years so it was an interesting one, given the status of the band. Black was the standout for me but I think others would join it with further listening.

Sabotage is a great single with an equally great video. Nothing else on the album reached that level but there is still a lot to appreciate. There is variety, the flow between them is fantastic, like when old friends catch up after a long time and just slip into the old rhythms, and they have an such iconic sound that it really could be no one else, which, given the amount of music that is produced, is quite an achievement in itself.

Wasn’t really expecting to like this as I had (probably incorrectly) associated her with angsty balladry. However, was a really strong album. The confidence to strip it all back to the voice in one of the later tracks was impressive and highlighted how strong her voice is. I will listen to it again, which is an endorsement in itself.

Whenever I encounter something I haven’t heard before I always mention it to Neil. The response is either that he will reel of a list of their seminal albums or that he has seen them live before. This was no different, he saw Barry Adamson perform with Nick Cave as a member of the Bad Seeds. I love the fact that this was included in this list. I don’t know what it is (seemingly a soundtrack album to a film that never existed) but it was a really interesting listen - full of variety, with a sense of underlying malevolence. Probably like a visit to Moss Side.

This album showcases the virtuosity of the performers but it has a focus; there are various points of resolution and consonance from which the improvisation is anchored. Each performer has their moment to showcase their skills but the sense of coherence is never lost. In spite of its short length, I have found that I get something new out of it with every listen. This time the drumming caught my attention; restrained and fluid, while keeping the dynamics varied. This is a truly great album that actually gets greater with every listen.

This town ain’t big enough is wonderfully chaotic and distinctive. The rest of the album descends into more standard glam fare. Loses a full star for having a song called barbecutie.

Not my favourite style of jazz but there were some decent tracks in there. It is a bit safe and lacks the dynamism of my favourite works. Not a huge fan of guitar as a lead instrument in jazz as well - I can appreciate it on a technical level but it lacks the fluidity of woodwind and brass instruments.

Not for me. Their sound grates on me and I think the theatricality masks a lack of good songs. The reason it wasn’t a one is that it wasn’t quite as bad as I was expecting.

Possibly feeling a bit of jazz fatigue… I love Evans’ work as part of a broader ensemble but did feel having his piano work as a focus did not connect with me in the same way.

The influence of this album is huge (probably one of the most influential of all time when you look at where music is now) but what often gets lost is how good the melodies are across the whole album - if you stripped back the innovation there are still good songs underpinning it. I can only imagine the impact of hearing it for the first time at that time. Fun fact: This was the album that we listened to while decorating the hall where we had our wedding reception.

This style of blues doesn’t really do much for me. It takes a genre that started as raw and honest and turns into a Vegas spectacle. The musicianship is good but isn’t enough to carry it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m an outlier on this one but I have grown to love Leonard Cohen’s music over time. There is something about his delivery, the guitar and the arrangements that connects with me. Father John Misty does an excellent cover of the last track too.

Not for me… A little bit too 1990s dinner party for my liking.

Much like with Nick Drake, I find reviewing JB is hard as the potential for greatness is clearly there but is not fully realised in his work. The voice is incredible and there are great songs but it does descend into more conventional fare at the end which doesn’t match the earlier songs.

I liked a few of these songs but it didn’t really connect with me strongly lyrically, musically or structurally. It may be one to go back to as I think it would have more impact with familiarity.

Some of the production is quite dated and it does go on a bit long, but it is a remarkable album for a 18-year old to release. There are a lot of things to like about the musicianship and songwriting but I am not sure it is one I will revisit as it didn’t connect with me in the way Little Earthquakes did.

If I was to have one criticism it is that one track out of ten is merely good rather than great. It was wonderful to revisit and be reminded just how great an album it is. Memorable riffs, melodies and lyrics and really well produced. One of the things I did love is that the last track would lead perfectly into playing Closer straight after. I will have to try this some time.

I didn’t mind the first track but what followed was one of the most boring albums I have ever listened to. The sound of beige.

I possibly enjoyed this more as it was a welcome break from a guitar heavy week. This only really functions as an album as each track in isolation is not that memorable but as a whole it worked.

I wanted to like this more due to my love of Lanegan’s work with QOTSA but found it got a little bit boring and didn’t really have anything that really captured my interest.

Not really my kind of thing but I read they were influential in the punk movement so some credit for that. Gets an additional ´Spinal Tap’ star for them packing it after their manager electrocuted themselves.

Hurt, and its accompanying video, is a spectacular piece of work, amplified by the subsequent death of June. The other covers on the album do well to reframe the originals, though some of them are stylistically too close to their original. The album is too long - it would have been better cutting off the last five tracks. As much I enjoyed the majority of the album, I am loathed to give it more than 3 as it is mostly a covers album so I can’t give credit for songwriting.

Not the biggest fan of U2 as individuals or musically but they do have some fantastic songs. I find that some of the songs on this drift by relying on the ´U2 sound’ without any strong melodies or riffs underpinning them. However, I think ‘One’ and the final three tracks are sensational. Special mention to ´love is blindness’. The whole song is great but I love the guitar solo especially - it is visceral and broken at the same time, which captures the mood of the song perfectly. I loved it so much it was played at our wedding reception - which would prompt a good discussion on the least appropriate songs to play at a wedding.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this as I only really had knowledge of his popular stuff. It was definitely more prog than I expected (and possibly hoped for) and this was a bit of an obstacle to my enjoyment of the songs underneath. As I am wont to do, though, I am giving an extra star purely for writing a great pop song (Solsbury Hill) in 7/4 time. Because who does that.

If you are going to be influenced by a Scottish band, don’t make it UB40.

The more I listen to MJ albums the more it reinforces my view of him as a great singles artist. The middle three tracks are absolute classics which are incredibly creative, bringing influences from outside the pop sphere (Vincent Price monologue, Eddie Van Halen solo). Most of the other tracks fall into whiny ballads or weak pop. The girl is mine is bordering on criminal. That dialogue section with Paul McCartney will haunt my nightmares.

I enjoyed this both for what it is and for being a rare example of a dance/electronic album. First track is fantastic and is a masterful demonstration of how to keep building a track. I will revisit other later as time pressures meant I wasn’t really concentrating on the later tracks.

I didn’t know what to expect from this and, having listened to it, I am still not quite sure what it is. One thing that was consistent was that it sounded so like the soundtrack to a 1980s movie that I should have been listening to it on a Walkman. And for this, I rather enjoyed it.

The first three tracks had a good drive and a nice spiritual vibe. It then got very beige. The Cure cover was criminal and robbed a great song of its musical and emotional depth. Automatic deduction of one star.

Fantastic live band but I am struggling to justify one of their albums on this list let alone three. When listened to as an album, the lack of variety in their sound and, particularly, their progressions becomes very noticeable.

This is probably the pinnacle of Krautrock for me. This has been an absolute favourite of mine since I bought it many years ago from MVC (which dates how many years ago). It successfully walks the line between being experimental, influential and listenable. It manages to have driving rock and ambient sounds sit next to each other without being incongruent. And it does get better with every listen.

I like the sound, I like the voice but the songs just don’t connect with me. I have been told later albums are better so we will see if any of those make an appearance…

A busy Monday with an extended after school meeting was not the day for a double album of over two hours…

The influence, aesthetic, and concept are all there, I just didn’t like the music. It may be one of things I don’t get that other people swear by…

Influential? Yes. Did I enjoy listening to it? No. I like my fir share of fairly challenging stuff but this did not challenge or provide sonic stimulation. On the subject of stimulation, this is not one to listen to while in school due to the groaning noises.

I didn’t get to see My Bloody Valentine live this week due to it being on a school night in London. This is a shame as they are responsible for one of my favourite albums of all time. My greatest regret, though, is that from seeing a band known for their legendary volume, I could have had some of the frequencies that combine to make this monstrosity removed by short term hearing damage. Offensive to at least two senses (the cover takes care of sight) and I am not ruling out the other three. Every time you thought it had hit a new low, it managed to find a way to, somehow, get worse… There are fourteen tracks on the album; thirteen of which are the same song, with the only variety provided by who it is offensive to, and the other which is a ballad with a vocoder. Which is offensive to everyone. Some might question its place on this list but it definitely meets the criteria of an ‘album to listen to before you die’. By listening to this, everyone other piece of music shines a little bit brighter, because it may be bad but not this bad. To this end, the next album this list throws at me is automatically getting five stars as it will be a work of art in comparison to this.

Just for the fact it is not Kid Rock.

A perfectly acceptable slice of post-punk. This is probably only really of note due to it containing Pretty in Pink as the rest of it did not really cut through…but solid enough.

I am a big fan of some of the arrangement choices for these songs. I am a sucker for an acoustic guitar and mandolin combo as well as pedal steel guitar. Not their best songs and sometimes I feel the vocal melodies wander without a focus but still a consistently strong album.

I once saw Ray Davies having tea at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill. I really like quite a few Kinks songs and was intrigued by the album but, unfortunately, I didn’t really enjoy it as a whole and there weren’t any standout songs. The late 60s/early 70s obsession with concept albums strikes again…

Enjoyed this more than I expected as I am not the biggest fan of modern r and b music. The production helped to elevate it and it wasn’t unpleasant on the ear.

They are just a bit rubbish really, aren’t they? Interesting fact: they named themselves after a boring chocolate bar (they didn’t even go for the mint version) and a boring surname just to show how boring they are. It gets a bonus star for being short, though. A mantra for this list: if you can’t be good, be short.

I saw Echo live due to wanting to see the support band, who cancelled and never played again. This is a pretty unremarkable album aside from the obvious standout, which is wonderful. The very embodiment of a 3.

It is the soundtrack to the PE department at a staff do. The production of the songs is a big issue for me - there is far too much going on and this means that when they want to change gear it doesn’t really go anywhere. The only song I actually like by the Killers (not on this album) is ‘When You Were Young’, which gets this right. I am not particularly bothered about lyrics but it does lose a star for the line ‘I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier’. I wouldn’t expect that tripe from a 10 year old trying to write something thoughtful.

Nothing really stood out but I appreciated it for the fact it wasn’t more guitar music and it brought a range of influences to the table.

I enjoyed the first half but started it started to lose its novelty by the end. I do really admire what they were doing as they have a really interesting and distinctive take on post-punk.

Not amazing but also interesting enough. I’m not sure it truly warrants its place as an essential listen but I did enjoy the last track.

Accidentally listened to it on shuffle so had to listen to it again in order… Fortunately, I did enjoy it so it wasn’t a slog. This has a nice line in taking conventional songs and subverting them with a nice variety of instruments.

Not necessarily the classic album it is often heralded as, but it does have some classic tracks. It loses it a bit in the middle but it is a highly impressive debut.

I first listened to this when I borrowed the CD from the library. This was even better than I remembered. It is a truly beautiful album.

There are the obvious standouts (New Year’s Day, Sunday Bloody Sunday) but, like I find with a lot of their albums, it drifts into songs that rely on the U2 sound rather than on the quality of the songs themselves.

You know what you’re getting with Billy. It was the first time Georgie had heard his music (“I’d only ever heard him interviewed before”) and it ticked all the boxes. Not for everyone - if you don’t get the politics then the music isn’t going to grab you but I admire him for what he has done musically and for being a voice of reason in an increasingly bonkers political landscape.

A bit of a shambles but I really enjoyed it. I went it to it fearing it would be the type of music that one original member would tour to provincial theatres with a bunch of stand-ins. It receives the standard bonus star for not being another boring rock record.

A tough one to review. Prince is one of those artists who I admire for their songwriting and musicianship but never quite get. There are some great songs on this but also quite a lot of stuff that doesn’t hit. When doves cry is amazing… and I love the song Purple Rain because it makes me think of the video where there is a bloke in a baseball cap nodding along, as if giving it his approval. It amuses me for some reason.

I didn’t mind it but it didn’t really have any stand out tracks for me. It may grow over time but I’m not sure I can be bothered when there are so many other things to listen to…

While the mix of religious imagery and preacher delivery is to be expected, what often is missed is how many good melodies there are in the tracks. The only issue is trying to maintain the standard across a double album, which it doesn’t quite manage.

A perfectly pleasant album with some decent tracks on there but, once again, is it really a must listen? It probably wasn’t even in a list of the top 50 albums from that year…

AKA the one with White Rabbit on. A couple of tracks stand out but the rest is just pretty standard sixties jangly stuff. Lacks a bit of an edge.

I’m not sure it was ever going to be the legendary album it was alleged to be but there are some fantastic tracks on here. It was better as a whole than I remember but does not match the consistency of Pet Sounds or have the same light and dark. It loses a mark for the eating sound in Vege-Tables.

A really good album, of which Radio Cure is probably my favourite. I probably prefer A Ghost is Born as a whole (though this is probably considered sacrilege by hardcore fans) so I will reserve my Wilco 5-star review for when that inevitably isn’t on the list.

It’s hard to think that any attention would have been paid to this if it wasn’t for Paul McCartney’s name being attached to it. The fact that it is credited to Paul McCartney and Wings belies its lack of confidence. It is very average and I can remember barely any songs from it. It only serves a purpose on this list as a way of ranking the Beatles solo output. Where George clearly wins.

I have often heard REM suggested as an influence on early Radiohead and I could really hear it in Fireplace, with the progression and guitar sound very similar to something from the Bends. Another solid effort.

Positives: I used to like driving around in GTA IV listening to the station that had Oxygène 4 and Philip Glass on it. Negatives: It becomes repetitive very quickly and lacks the variety and sense of place that other early pioneers such as Kraftwerk provided.

An album of Christmas classics that pleased the family. It has managed to retain its charm and reputation in spite of being associated with a murderer. Like when everyone in Neighbours forgot that Paul Robinson killed someone.

I like these songs in isolation but find that as an album it lacks a bit of variety and because of this it disappears int the back ground a little bit.

I’m giving this 2 as it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. It was still pretty bad but just not as bad.

It was alright.

Not up to the standard of some his later (or earlier work) but still an interesting listen. It only really makes an impact in the context of his other albums and with the back story behind it. It was still worth a listen and provided nice opportunities for some sax solos.

A truly brilliant album so the review need not go much further than to say that there isn’t a weak track on it and there are enough changes of pace to keep it interesting.

Not their best work but still a decent album. Special editions of the album added in How Soon is Now as a single and I can understand why as it does lack standout tracks and Meat is Murder is a hard sell as a lead single.

It is one of 4 albums that are rated lower than Kid Rock and so it deserves to be rated highly just to see that monstrosity where it belongs. I did really enjoy this for the ambition. It was difficult to listen to but in a way which was about challenging boundaries - it was more sound as art than music. I could definitely hear the influence on Swans and probably many more.

A big improvement on the previous Yes album, which is more testament to how bad that was than how good this is. A solid slice of prog rock that didn’t outstay its welcome. A bonus point for Rick Wakeman being a guest in Dictionary Corner on Countdown in the Whiteley days.

I wanted to like it more than I did. My main issue is with the structure of the songs as they didn’t really go anywhere or have a strong enough hook to build around. I like a lot of their other stuff but this was a bit of a disappointment.

Positives: Not as bad as the cover image suggested. They are Finnish, even though one song was called Tooting Bec. Negatives: I have been back at school for one day and cannot remember any of it other than that there was a song called Tooting Bec and it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be.

Infantile, offensive and definitely not aimed at me but I do like quite a lot of the tracks. The production is great and the vibe, though now a bit jaded, would have been quite revolutionary at the time.

I love the concept of this album and they did a fantastic job in realising the concept. There are lots of strong melodies and the songs are really nicely arranged.

I have to admit that I made it through 2 and a half discs of this and bailed. I don’t know whether this was a special edition, but 6 discs and a runtime of over 3 hours is not conducive to anyone who has a job/life. The music is pleasant enough but over that time becomes very repetitive. I am giving the mark on the basis of the songs as individual tracks rather than an album as it doesn’t really function as an album.

Genuinely hated this. Saccharine and dated. Possibly influential on Sade… and that’s not an influence you want to have. Absolute twaddle.

Lacks the standout tracks from some of their other albums but still works well as a coherent piece of work. Their use of rhythm and syncopation is wonderful but it took a bit of time to match it with the melodies of their best work.

A difficult one. Musically really strong with good samples and some great synth lines… but the descent of Kanye as a lyricist (and person) is very apparent here. He used to stand out for his ability to speak about issues… now he just talks about money, cars, and his shlong (and what he is going to do with it). He became just another rapper distracted by shiny things, albeit with superior production.

I really like Robert Wyatt’s work and this is no exception. He arrangements are fantastic and these songs really communicate the turmoil he was going through. I prefer Shleep and Cuckooland of his albums but this is still excellent.

It was the first CD I ever bought. It has great energy, riffs and melodies. The main reason it is not a 5 is that it does really tail off in the second half and that its impact has been lessened by ubiquity.

I preferred it to Brothers In Arms, which tended to drag on a bit. This was a bit repetitive but it did its thing pretty well. If you removed Sultans of Swing, it probably wouldn’t have made much of an impact…

I enjoyed this and would probably enjoy it more with a second listen. It didn’t have the same impact as his work with Fairport Convention but it was a solid album.

I really like the Pet Shop Boys. I love the story behind their formation, their sound and image is so distinctive, and they have written some fantastic songs. This is a really strong album which has some standouts (it’s a sin, in particular). It is a bit dated but their sound kind of exists out of time anyway.

I was sceptical about listening to this again as I thought it wouldn’t have the impact of when I first listened to it. I think it benefited from my not having listened to it for a while. I don’t think there is not a bad track on the album. There are the obvious singles but my personal favourite is Fade Away and Radiate, which brings a welcome touch of melancholy to the album. The drummer seemed to be having a great time too.

Probably my favourite Pixies album. A wonderful blend of chaos and melody. Also, bonus points for reminding me of playing the kazoo.

Considered a guitarist’s guitarist… not sure he is is anyone’s vocalist. Excellent guitar work, though the limitations of the genre do mean that it does get quite repetitive.

I saw them as a support band and they were confident and full of energy, considering they were pretty much unknown at the time. I don’t think this has aged particularly well as what might have been exciting at the time is a bit beige now.

I found this a little bit disappointing. Given he was the force behind a lot of the Velvet’s more experimental output, I was expecting this to push more boundaries. It was pleasant enough and may bear another listen but it didn’t take me immediately.

The very definition of a zeitgeist. Too long, songwriting lacks quality and reliant on style over substance. I am not a huge fan of the original version of comfortably numb but that was a murder. I was very glad when this was over.

I think that New Order work better as a singles band as their other material doesn’t quite hit and their sound is a bit dated. It’s at its best when Hooky’s bass is to the fore and this works well with the synths, as well as providing the strongest link to Joy Division. I have never been sure about Bernard Sumner’s vocals and there are various points here where it is does grate a bit. Not bad but not amazing.

An awful person by all accounts and some of the sounds could be made on a school keyboard (piano with strings)… But the dude knows his way round a sample and crafts some really good songs out of them. There is also good variety, change of pace and mood that keeps it from getting boring.

The very embodiment of a 3. Pleasant enough but completely lacking any edge or willingness to push boundaries. I have tried to think of more to write but I have nothing… Which is probably the most accurate critique of it.

The video of his shlong flopping out was more memorable than the album.

It isn’t particularly coherent, but my word it is spectacular. Eleanor Rigby and Tomorrow Never Knows arguably redefined popular music in radically different ways. The level of ambition is incredible.

This was a real gem. It was far more jazz than I expected and managed to get a good balance of chaos and structure. I also enjoyed the fact I got a phone call halfway through one of the tracks - the call cut out and it jumped straight back into the track and it totally messed with my head.

Pleasant enough… I’m still not sure I am ever going to get what all the critical clamour is over her work but I will keep trying…

This has aged really badly… and I don’t think it was very good before the decay of time.

I enjoyed this. A consistent album with some nice arrangements and interesting progressions.

Like watching snooker on a black and white TV, without the bright colours (of Toy Story) this didn’t have a huge amount of appeal.

This is more in line with my metal preferences. There are some good riffs and melodies on top of them. I have a fondness for ´Walk’ as it was one of the songs on the setlist of a band of metal heads at my last school.

A summary: - I prefer it to his White Stripes work. - I think 16 Saltines is fantastic. - I think the compiler of this list is clearly a bit of a Jack White fan.

Who knew that one of the other Wilson’s was alright? It was decent enough and I think I might listen to it again. I did my research and avoided the extended version. I am not getting burnt again like I did with Kid Rock.

If I cannot remember what the album was the day after listening to it, then it must be pretty bland, but not memorably awful. Two.

It is has a visceral quality that is lacking from Nevermind but loses the melodic quality that makes Nevermind stand out. It has moments of this but not enough to elevate it.

I had to think hard to remember what it was again, but I could recall some of the songs once I did. Three.

I first encountered Count Basie on a mix tape that was given to me at school. It started with Nile and ended with Sigur Ros. This was pleasant enough but started to get repetitive. It worked better as part of a mixtape. Also, I don’t think there has ever been a greater disconnect between an album cover and the music on the album.

Influential? Possibly. Lacks any kind of subtlety or variety and, when these things are lacking, the song-writing needs to be exceptional. And it isn’t.

I love ´Helplessly Hoping’ which has been a staple of my ´top tracks’ playlist for some time. The other tracks didn’t quite have the same impact on me but it was a solid effort.

A few decent tracks but ultimately very repetitive. It feels like a bit of a backwards step from Public Enemy in it not really saying anything…

Enjoyed this. Good sound and good melodies. I will definitely listen again.

There are a few highlights (Epic is entertaining nonsense) but it goes on a bit long and lacks consistency.

A welcome bit of variety. Not one I knew, which made it more enjoyable. The interplay between the performers was excellent, the rhythm section were fantastic and I enjoyed the rhythmic shifts.

I didn’t know what to expect from this and was pleasantly surprised. I felt it almost went on a journey from a retrospective of 80s hip-hop to progressing to a more 90s sound by the end.

I love this album. It has got better and better the more I listen to it. The jazz influence, the experimentation, the quality of the songs… It is a remarkable album at the end of a remarkable career.

I am on a worrying run of positivity with our recent albums. I think I listened to this years ago when it was much lauded by critics and it did nothing for me… but I really enjoyed this time. There are obvious Swift comparisons but I found the songs were melodically stronger and topically more interesting than most of Swift’s efforts. As pop albums go, it is up there…

I would probably give it five just for Venus in Furs. The mix of 60s pop with avant-garde and experiments manages to work. I particularly enjoyed the guitar this time; so overdriven that it becomes percussive.

I enjoyed this more than some of her more feted work. The songs were decent enough and I quite enjoyed the mood. However, I think her popularity is more rooted in vibes than actual substance.

Some fairly standard fare with some interesting detours into experimentation. I would argue that it does not stand out as an album that should be on an ‘essential’ list but I do like their music beyond this album and hopefully it increases their listener base.

An interesting concept with a couple of clear singles which bought them time to continue their experiment. This album leans a bit too much into dub, which limits the variety and experimentation the project was meant to provide. Later albums are better but may not appear due to them not having the novelty.

Unfinished Sympathy is timeless. I like some of the other tracks (safe from harm and big wheel) but it doesn’t maintain the quality through the whole album. It is still an important and high quality album.

It sounded like glam-era Bowie without the invention or songwriting craft.

Not his best work, but it does a job.

A lot more consistent than Purple Rain, though the highlights aren’t quite as high. I am still in the camp where I appreciate his work rather than really enjoy it.

Really not a fan of neo-soul. I could appreciate bits of it but it left me wishing I was listening to Everybody Loves the Sunshine, which it sampled at one point (I think).

This really did nothing for me. There were a few nice moments (I vaguely recall a couple of guitar bits and an off-kilter piano that reminded me of Tom Waits) but nothing of note.

There are the obvious hits but there are some really good lesser known tracks on here. I always loved the synth on Red Velvet, which provides some nice variety to the tone of the album. I have never been a fan of the skits in between tracks, which does spoil the flow somewhat.

Pretty much “on a rope” plus 13 others.

I didn’t mind it at first but then it went on… and on… and on.

It is a consistently strong album. I prefer his later work, which has a bit more anger, but this still has his trademark sense of melody and harmony.

Some of the singles are decent but, as an album, it is so repetitive, I got bored and it felt like it went on a lot longer than it actually did.

Tiny dancer is great but it lost my interest after that. I find his piano playing lacks nuance, which is a bit of a problem given it is the focus of all the songs.

The production, rhythm and lyricism are all fantastic. A breakthrough album from an amazing artist.

Cultural appropriation of the blues by a racist. He can do one.

It is very dated but it still has some decent tracks. Keep on moving’ is a strong opener and, even though it is an a cappella version, back to life is a bit of a classic. The rest passed by pleasantly enough but were not melodically strong enough to transcend the dated production.

I listen to Bowie’s Berlin trilogy of albums back to back after this. It is remarkable that, 25 years later, Kings of Leon actually managed to make an album that is a regression on what was being made that long ago.

It has some great moments (a day in the life is magnificent). However, there are some songs which are just a bit basic (a little help, when I’m 64), which no amount of clever production and harmony can cover. It feels like a bit of a regression after Revolver.

I like the album cover (don’t know why) and the bad are really tight but it went on for so long. I preferred the Latin-tinged songs to the blues-y ones (bit of blues overload at the moment). Too much of a good thing is bad, too much of this is worse.

From Apple Music’s information about this album: ‘Pyromania had infused the group’s metal anthems with an expansive pop sheen, and here they sought to channel an even wider range of influences into their sound.’ If this is them adding a range of influences to their sound then I dread to think what them playing it safe would sound like.

Rather enjoyed this. It was a nice change of pace from recent offerings and, considering it is a soundtrack album, it did stand up on its own.

This has aged really well to my ears. I think it is hugely influential. To be able to craft so many different samples into something coherent is quite an achievement.

More pretty standard rock, which I’m sure others would say is really influential but to my ears sounds like so much other stuff from the time.

Twas alright. Work It and one of the others towards the end stood out, and it was a highly polished production, but lacked a bit of the gritty side that I like from my hip hop albums.

It has excellent variety, riffs and melody. I am particularly fond of the Battle of Evermore, Black Dog, and When the Levee Breaks. Stairway to Heaven is clearly fantastic, even if it has been lessened by ubiquity.

There are many reasons to dislike Manchester United, but their association with this pillock and his whining drivel is definitely a big one. This is timelessly awful. And what is it with these terrible covers of songs by credible artists?

Not complete tosh, but not far off.

I love Holes. The bass line at the end is restrained, melodic and beautifully compliments the melody. The rest of the album has some highlights but doesn’t hit the same level. I never really listened to this back in the day so I don’t have quite the same emotional connection as I do with other albums of a similar ilk.

I really enjoyed this. Exactly the sort of thing I wanted from this list.

It sounds like what it is- a, admittedly tight, young band who are just getting started - it certainly has energy but it is rough around the edges and lacks a bit of subtlety. A couple of songs stand out melodically but, barring their age, I’m still not quite sure what all the fuss was about.

A weird one. The sound has not aged at all well (how many times will I write that about 80s albums) but there are some good songs in there behind the production. I liked First We Take Manhattan and Tower of Song. The front cover is also excellent - Leonard Cohen eating a banana.

It was decent enough and also it one that I knew but it was all just a little bit safe. It wasn’t melodically or rhythmically strong enough to mask the lack of ambition.

I knew of this by reputation but had never dipped into it… It was alright but I found myself drifting a little bit - it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t anywhere near as innovative as I might have expected.

I just found this really boring. I’m not really a fan of the genre and this do not do anything to change that opinion.

A difficult one. Musically I didn’t mind it, though not on a level with the Smiths, it was not a bad listen… However, there is a big but, and this big but comes with a huge arsehole. Morrissey was always an arsehole, but he was an arsehole who got away with it because of his way with words and his association with excellent musicians. Strip those away and you are just left with a nationalistic, bigoted arsehole. So musically it was okay, but I am not able to disassociate from the producer of this music… so he can take this one star and shove it up his arsehole.

The musicianship and voice are great but I still lack an emotional connection with the songs. The last track was not really to my taste.

I saw that this was a concept album and I was worried… It was better than expected musically and the vague notion I had of the narrative wasn’t nonsense. I still don’t like concept albums as it requires you to follow a narrative thread; if I wanted to do that I would be following 1001 audiobooks to listen to before you die.

It is difficult to appreciate this without the context of how revolutionary early rock and roll was. Without the context, it is a pretty standard (though pleasingly short) slice of rock and roll, with some decent tunes, and a complete lack of variety… At the time, though, I expect it was pretty revolutionary.

I really enjoyed this. It was a fascinating listen and an equally fascinating read about its background, influence, and impact. If no more albums of his appear on this list, I will happily investigate further independently.

From the description I was expecting this to be a bit more guitar-focused. I was thinking it was going to be more like the Bundu Boys but it was far more focused on the vocals. It passed by pleasantly enough but it I felt it lacked a bit of drive and went on a bit.

It gains a star for Mr Blue Sky. Other than that it is completely preposterous and over the top, with an occasional song or motif that cuts through. I cannot fathom how they convinced the label to spend so much money on it, but it’s commercial success seems to have justified it.

I had a very nice nap to the second half of this album. I did go back listen to it again and it was indeed a very pleasant album, which works as background music or as more focused listening. The orchestration is excellent and really adds to a lot of the songs. I do like his voice, though I understand it may be an acquired taste.

I don’t really like the genre and I wasn’t looking forward to it. The positives are: - the songwriting and was better than expected - the musicians were highly competent The negatives: - The musicians were too competent; it sounded like the very best session musicians coming together to create something devoid of personality - The vocal embellishment is unnecessary and becomes a distraction from the melody you have actually written - it was way too long, padded out with pointless covers that add nothing to the originals

Having gone to listen to Badfinger, Bad Religion and finally realising I was meant to be listening to Bad Company, I found myself listening to a completely bog-standard 70s rock album. I don’t know whether the other Bad bands would have been any better but I know that by tomorrow I will struggle to tell you anything about this album.

I absolutely love this, and have done from my first listen when it originally came out. I understand that her voice is an acquired taste and some people might feel the tracks go on too long, but the ambition, storytelling, melody, and orchestration are all sensational.

Not necessarily my favourite style of music, but I do appreciate its influence (so many of these songs are staples for young kids when they are first starting in bands) and some of the songs have achieved classic status.

This actually grated on me quite a lot. It was traditional African music dressed up for a white audience. The type of thing Jools Holland would put on to show how diverse his taste is. I also really disliked the clicking noises which triggered my misophonia. When they did keep it traditional it was pleasant, though even then it got a bit repetitive.

The main influence of this album was Max Martin, who has had a hand in some of the best pop tracks over the last couple of decades. However, I found this quite an uncomfortable listen, both musically and in the context of what emerged about her subsequent treatment. The production is anaemic compared to modern pop, the songs are not particularly strong melodically, and the vocals are poor. Not a huge amount to recommend.

I really liked this - essentially a 70s Bowie album with the vocal duties handed over. Accidentally listened to it once on shuffle so I listened to it again in the right order. This gave me a better sense of what it was about and I enjoyed it a lot more the second time. Iggy’s vocals are an acquired taste, but it still works.

This is a brutal album, which is so far ahead of its time. The only things that are stopping it getting 5 are the length (it could have been a bit more concise) and it would have benefitted from a couple of quieter tracks at the start to increase the impact of the heavier sound (like “a warm place” provides later going into “Eraser”).

I listened to this a couple of times as well as reading the background. I enjoyed it more the first time, finding it a little bit repetitive on the second listen. It has some good moments but it was like he was finding his feet again. You can hear the progression towards the sound of Heathen and Blackstar but it the songwriting is not as consistent.

There some excellent moments but there is also a bizarre tendency to veer towards nursery rhyme/knees up songs around the Joanna. As with many later Beatles albums, George Harrison is at the centre of all that is good. I think it probably should be a 5 but it is also rated higher than Revolver at the moment which is just plain wrong, so 4 it is.

I didn’t mind it but, barring the singles, it didn’t offer much.

Boring rock strikes again. It lacked variety, didn’t really have many memorable riffs or melodies. Considering I really like rock music, I seem to dislike a lot of rock music.

Far better than expected. The guitar work is great and pleasingly experimental.

It is alright but it lacks the invention or sense of melody of their later work. I do like the intermission which sounds like a silent movie soundtrack on speed.

It was always going to be a virtually impossible job to maintain the level of an album after those first three tracks, but it does a better job than most other U2 albums, with a wide range of influences being pulled in and not just resorting to the “U2 sound”.

I once had a choir and band do a performance of the title track for a local schools gala performance. They pulled it off pretty well. The title track stands out but it was a far better album than I remembered. It has a range of emotions and texture, has good changes of pace, and is well structured as an album.

I think Like a Prayer is one of the greatest pop songs ever written. It is outrageously good. The rest of the album could never meet the same standards but there were some decent pop songs on there, padded out with a bit of filler.

It was an interesting listen… more interesting than I expected. My main interest was in hearing the original version of Proud Mary, which was very understated given the subsequent versions. I probably wouldn’t listen to it again but it did not offend me or bore me.

She has an incredible voice and Respect is clearly a classic but I felt this was a bit disappointing. There were too many instances where there was so much embellishment to the melody that it ceased to be the melody that was actually written. This meant the songs lacked a repetitive base to build on. This trend for over-singing has continued with various other vocal powerhouses who would benefit from reining it in a bit.

Not sure what I was listening to but I liked it.

He has many great albums, but for me this is possibly his best. There is isn’t a bad track on it and it gets a great balance between his folk side and rock side. There is some nice variety in pace and texture, with a nice pace to it.

This was alright. I liked the range of samples and it flowed nicely but it struggled to maintain my attention and lacked a bit of bite.

I quite liked it at the beginning but it got beige very quickly.

I didn’t mind this and I don’t mind Janis Joplin’s hollering style but, barring the obvious standout (Piece of my heart), there wasn’t a huge amount to recommend.

It is less an album more an audio documentary. The songs being punctuated by messages for the inmates, their responses to certain guards names - all these things give a sense of the setting and give added power to the performance. Granted, there is a lack of variety in the songs but the performance is incredible. This is the same review as At Folsom Prison as it is basically the same album. I am halving my previous mark for that reason.

I always love it when you know a song which contains a sample then stumble across the original song (Chic Cheer - Faith Evans Love Like This). I’m guessing this is something that happens quite a lot with Chic and it is understandable as it is packed with rhythms and guitar lines that are perfect for sampling.

Like the music you get when put on hold while trying to get a doctor’s appointment for a worrying lump and then being told that they have no more appointments. But shitter.

It is average, which would suggest 3. But average in a list which is excludes other, far more interesting, albums deserves to be punished.

Though I guess I may be in the minority, I love this album. From the slow, expressive guitar work of the first track to the funk/soul of the latter tracks, it has an incredible energy.

It is a hard one to judge due to the time it was made and the limitations of the genre. So rather than think about it, I will just give it a 3, forget about it and move on.

I appreciate its place on this list, even if it wasn’t really my cup of tea. Listening it on YouTube with adverts randomly appearing did not help…

The first half is magnificent- my particular favourite is “Mother Stands for Comfort” which makes fantastic use of a fretless bass (not something that is said very often). The second half isn’t as strong but that is only because of the virtuosity of the half.

A pointless inclusion of what was essentially a vanity project. It is never a good sign when a 35-minute album feels twice as long.

This a massive guilty pleasure of mine. It is quite clearly trash but it has a manic energy that I like and some excellent, if very repetitive, riffs.

One I had heard of but never listened to. I am not a huge fan of blues rock but there is a visceral quality to this that I did really enjoy. I really enjoyed the guitar tone as well, which had a pleasing balance of clarity and fuzzy sludge.

I would probably just give this 4 on the basis of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Time After Time, the latter of which is one the all-time great pop songs. The rest of it was alright.

It is so unremarkable that I cannot be bothered to think about the mark or a comment to say. Next!

It was more interesting than Low-Life and the club elements were of interest but it did nothing to change my view of New Order being a good singles band who never really made a coherent album.

I honestly cannot believe that there are 3 Yes albums on this list (at least). I have yet to hear anything on them that makes me think that one merits a place. Too much noodling and not enough structure. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

It is a really solid slice of highly polished stadium rock. The melodies and riffs are simplistic and catchy, though it does lack some of the energy of their earlier work.

The voice and musicianship are excellent but the songs meandered by without having much impact. I found this a little disappointing given what I hoped for.

A pleasing diversion. Good musicianship and some decent songs. Nice to have a bit more variety than the usual fare.

Not really my kind of thing but it was a decent slice of blues rock, with accomplished musicians, and one obvious standout classic.

It was alright but nothing really worthy of

I really enjoyed this. My absolute favourite was ‘You’ll have to go sideways’, which was an unexpected Krautrock number in the middle of the album. It was oils have benefitted from a few more diversions like this but it was still a really enjoyable listen.

I was really not in the mood for this. I will be generous and give it a 3 but it did really grate on me at times.

Tempted to give it 5 as Arsenal just won the league after 22 years but it was pretty rubbish so a 2 it is.

A Design for Life is worthy of a 4 on its own.

It wasn’t as bad as I expected, but given I thought this was going to be the audio equivalent of watching the video from the Ring, then that is a qualified statement. Horrific warbling switches with weird hushed tones. Nope.

Pleasant enough but nothing here that really caught my attention.

Boring. The very embodiment of bog standard American rock. It might hit differently if you are crossing the Badlands in an RV… but I am not.

This was clearly influential - it was like listening to Cigarettes After Sex but 30 years in advance - and I did appreciate the change of pace. I could have done without Blue Moon (Man City have ruined that song) but, partisan football allegiances aside, it was a good listen and a pleasing bit of variety.

I have listened to some Dépêche Mode before and never quite got the fuss but I did really enjoy this. Twice. Since, once again, it was on shuffle. I liked the goth/synth sound and the melodies and rhythms combined nicely.

I could spend most of the review extolling the virtues of Sunny Afternoon, which is one of the great British pop songs, and was listened to on a sunny afternoon… However, I will ignore this to focus on the fact they wrote a song about session musicians.

Lacks the musical edge of the Velvets (though there are moments where it is lurking in the background, threatening to come out) but there is a charming simplicity to some of the melodies (the reflected sliding notes in Walk on the Wild Side are so simple, yet highly memorable). The fact that he uses these simple melodies to continue his tales of drug addiction and encounters with various members of outré society also amuses me, particularly when the BBC used Perfect Day on face value as their signature tune for a massive ad campaign.

An interesting curio, and obscure enough to not appear on Apple Music. I could hear its influence and it was nice to have something different but it is not something I am eager to listen to again.

Probably better than their previous effort and it was interesting to hear Bohemian Rhapsody in the context of an album (it didn’t add much)… and I was probably going to give it a middling mark but then that god awful rendition of the god awful British national anthem occurred and it irked me. It had no musical merit, it had no technical merit, it has questionable cultural associations, and I think it only served as a way of the overgrown poodle trying put himself on the same level as Hendrix.

An absolute classic. The best that early Bowie has to offer - it lacks his later experimentation but more than makes up for it with the quality of the songs throughout.

An incredible voice and, in isolation, these are probably great songs, but together it is very monotonous and lacked the variety needed to make it work as an album.

I did rather enjoy this. I could quite happily have put this on, loaded up Red Dead Redemption 2 and rode a horsey through the mountains.

Blueberry Hill is fantastic but everything fell into variations on the same theme, with diminishing returns. It is interesting how, until the 60s, this was often the case with albums.

It was interesting and had it some nice moments. I can’t really remember much about it today, though, so it can’t have made much of an impression.

It was alright but nothing really remarkable. Didn’t hate; didn’t love it. It just was.

It’s not as good as Rum, Sodomy and the Lash but it is still a riot, bringing a punk sensibility to Irish folk music.

This was better than Don’t You Want Me + 9. I preferred the start, where it was channeling Kraftwerk, and found it lost it a little bit in the middle, where songs tended to drift by, including a weird cover of part of the Get Carter soundtrack (if you are going to cover anything from that it has to be Carter Gets the Train…). DYWM is great, though it a bit incongruent in the album, and has diminished through overplaying.

Better than the Sex Pistols. Still don’t really like punk.

It was alright but not really my thing. Can’t really say much more than that so I won’t.

Some absolute classics on here. It contains a lot of the benchmark versions of songs from the golden age of Bacharach and David. It does lack a bit of edge and has been very influential on an awful lot of artists who I actively dislike, which means it cannot achieve a 5. Still very good, though.

This was a perfectly reasonable bit of 60s rock which left very little impression.

There are two types of album that are ranked in the bottom 10 of this list: the truly awful ones and the ones that are so challenging that they polarise the audience. This is definitely one of the latter. Did I enjoy it? At times, yes. Will I ever listen to it again? Maybe. Do I appreciate the fact it was on the list? Yes. I also like the fact that I listened to it with my 14-year old son and he felt it deserved a 4. Special kid.

No surprises here. Five every day of the week. Probably the most important album in expanding my musical horizons as young’un. Let Down was always my favourite and, though it is not particularly a force for good, TikTok has raised the status of that song considerably. My nephew, who is doesn’t have a particularly diverse musical diet, was singing along with it - something I never would have imagined.

Glad that there are albums like this on the lis and I’m not qualified to say if this as a particularly significant album of it’s oeuvre, but it did seem quite safe. Probably like the Adele of Brazilian music.

It is so influential it has a whole genre named after it. It still sounds great, despite its age, and is a lovely way to spend 40 minutes of your day.

It sounds like an album from a band who are ready to go their separate ways. It gives everyone their moment but this leads to it being an inconsistent mess. Judicious editing would have cut this down to a potentially great album but it misses more often than it hits, though the hits are great. This may have been down to a reluctance to offend members of the group… Compare this to Pet Sounds, where every song serves a purpose and has its own story to tell, and you see how much of a mess this is…

Not at all like Troutmask Replica and surprisingly accessible and coherent. I am still not sure whether that is a good thing.