One of the best from a man who has arguably never put out a bad album in 40+ year career. This album is one of his darkest, with musings on life and death. But there are glimmers of beauty and hope throughout. The Earth Died Screaming is one of the all time great openers.

The album that cemented 2Pac as one the greats. Cohesive production, great lyricism and some very honest and vulnerable subject matter. Dear Mama is rightly held up as a highlight.

Definitely one of my favourite albums. The energy in the performances is unmatched and Iggy never disappoints with all the howling and yelping.

Absolute classic. Guitar, bass and drums all amazing. Influence on British music is undeniable.

Great album, has a really raw DIY sound which sets it apart from much of Fiona Apple’s earlier work. Possibly only second to When the Pawn… in terms of her best works.

Can see why it's a classic. Clearly influential. But not my favourite King Crimson.

Some great songs. Very much of it’s time. Some a bit cringe nowadays. But overall still a key album from the era.

Strong album, some great songs on this. Shows a band on their way up who would deliver their masterpiece a few years later.

Absolute classic. Guitar, bass and drums all amazing. Influence on British music is undeniable.

Classic prog. And with a playfulness and lightheartedness. Some amazing songs on this. Couple of average instrumental/interludes. Yes would top this with Close to the Edge.

Enjoyable enough. Songs do tend to blur into each other. Prefer their next two albums.

Quite enjoyed this one. Recognised a fair few songs too.

Pleasant enough but didn’t really grab me. A lot was about to happen in popular music at the time and this does feel like it’s from a previous era.

Definitely one of my favourite albums. The energy in the performances is unmatched and Iggy never disappoints with all the howling and yelping.

Some really good songwriting on this, let down by the generic 90s pop rock production. Reminds me at times of Elliott Smith, Liz Phair and the Beatles.

Not a huge fan of Metallica. And what I knew most about this albums is that there’s no bass in the mix. Gives it an odd, ‘thin’ sound. But I adjusted to it over its runtime.

Didn’t expect to love this so much. Very on the nose but it works. Tracks like Anger and Is That Enough immediately hooked me.

Getting strong Kate Bush vibes from this one. Especially Happy Phantom.

This is probably my least favourite of Nick Drake’s 3 albums but it’s still brilliant and beautiful. The guitar hook on Haney Jane II is etched in my mind.

Great album and hugely important moment with Dylan going electric. Gates of Eden, 115th Dream, Outlaw Blues. Every song is amazing.

Encapsulates the sound of electronic music, specifically acid house, at the time. Similar vibes to The Orb. The albums picks up with Cobra Bora and into Pacific 202. The latter reminded me of Todd Terje.

Huge album at the time but it’s never truly clicked for me. Always ended up going back to their other albums. But Rolling People never gets old.

What a way to go. Dropping one of your best albums then dying a few days later. Bowie was a showman to the very end. Blackstar, Lazarus, Dollar Days. Every song is perfect.

Final Smiths album, rounding off a near perfect discography. You can hear the divide between Morrissey and Marr opening up in both the lyrics and the instrumentation. But it’s still a cohesive, fitting end to one of the defining 80s bands.

An enjoyable, pleasant listen. But not much more than that. Felt quite safe and middle of the road in terms of the soul style it draws on. Still, recognised a few of the songs on it.

Solid debut by Steely Dan where they were still finding their feet as a band (before they would become a two-piece). But the foundations for their brand of lounge pop, which they’d go on to perfect, are clearly there.

For a long time Pet Sounds was all I listened to of The Beach Boys. I think this was the album I listened to next several years later. A very different listen from a wearier sounding band. The title track and Feel Flows rank among their most beautiful songs.

Great album, has a really raw DIY sound which sets it apart from much of Fiona Apple’s earlier work. Possibly only second to When the Pawn… in terms of her best works.

First Neil Young album I ever heard. And I’m still discovering new albums and sounds from him many years later. This is one of his mellower albums, being predominantly acoustic. But the songs still hit hard and deal with heavy themes. Don’t Let it Bring You Down is one of my favourite songs.

Appreciate lots of people love the first two Zep albums but I genuinely think they got better as they went on (until Physical Graffiti). Still a great album but it’s never truly clicked for me or something I get the urge to return to. What Is and What Should Never Be and Ramble On are some of their best though.

One of the best from a man who has arguably never put out a bad album in 40+ year career. This album is one of his darkest, with musings on life and death. But there are glimmers of beauty and hope throughout. The Earth Died Screaming is one of the all time great openers.

Pleasant album. Songs don’t really go anywhere but there’s some nice grooves.

Like a lot of people I imagine, I heard these songs first via Nirvana’s unplugged album. Overall, the songs here are more frenetic and loose sounding, giving them a clear identity outside of those covers. Aurora Borealis might be one of my favourite instrumentals too.

Funnily enough, listened to this the other day for the first time in years. This was the first album I ever bought. Remember being thrown by many of the songs on first listen but coming back to them years later a lot of it clicks. Love Albarn’s falsetto vocals on songs like Gravity and Man Research. Feels like a prototype for Gorillaz as a concept in many respects, but was still the beginning of a great run for the band.

Pretty enjoyable pop rock. Surprised by how ‘epic’ some of the songs are with multiple sections and long runtimes. Songs like Scene from an Italian Restaurant in particular. Others like Vienna give strong Macca vibes.

This all felt a bit shallow and glossy. Could be some good stuff in here but it feels cleaned up and overproduced.

Not a huge fan of The Doors and don’t get why they are so revered. This was more hard rock orientated than others I’ve heard. Some decent tracks but overall kinda blurred into one.

Another Doors album straight after the last. This is definitely stronger than Morrison Hotel. But still sounds a bit flat and one note in places. Standard blues rock. Riders of the Storm deserves sone credit but it’s still failed to convince me about this band.

Not much redeeming about this one. Completely boring bunch of songs with little to make them stand out. And some really obnoxious lyrics and melodies that bordered on cliche. Hard to believe he was so popular after listening to this.

Overall this album is front and backloaded with some amazing songs. The 1-2 punch of SMBU and Breathe is hard to beat. And Narayan though to Fuel my Fire is a strong way to finish. Issue is the songs in the middle are a bit of a step down. However, can’t deny the strength of those other tracks. Huge amounts of energy throughout. RIP Keith.

One of my favourite Smith records. And the last while he was alive. Tied with self titled as his best. Which is fitting as both essentially bookend his career, going from low-fi recordings to a fully realised sound like on here. Incredible melodies and guitar playing as always across some of his most beautiful and haunting songs. A singer-songwriter classic.

Very strong memories from listening to this album when it first released. Had just discovered At the Drive-In prior and their impact on my taste was huge. This was like a more progressive version of their last album. The energy on this never lets up, sometimes making it quite and exhausting listen. But the musicianship and ambition here is clear. Roulette Dares is a standout.

A clearly important album in the melding of country and rock. Everything sounds so distinctly American, with the storytelling of the former on full display in songs like Wheels (one that stood out immediately). While Hot Burrito #1 and #2 have a darker more rock-orientated edge. These guys set out the blueprint for a lot of modern bands like Drive-by Truckers and Jason Isbell.

The most experimental and best Hendrix album. Lots of sonic experimentation mixed with obviously amazing guitar work. 1983 is so hypnotic and a total trip to listen to. When I first heard this many years ago I struggled to appreciate it as so much of it is druggy, hazy and not like Crosstown Traffic or the cover of Watchtower, but listening more over the years it’s clear that this is a classic of the psychedelic rock genre.

The moment Turn to Stone comes on you can’t help but feel invigorated. It sets the tone for the rest of the album, which is full of vibrant, uplifting melodies and arrangements. The album does feel a bit front loaded, with some less memorable songs until Mr Blue Sky hits. Definitely one of ELO’s defining albums and a major release in the pop/prog genre.

Always surprised when I put on Enter the Wu-Tang to see that it was released in 1993. And it helps explain its significance. The album set the blueprint for hip hop for much of the next decade. Songs like CREAM are timeless and Chessboxin’ is a fav. The sonic palate does feel quite thin compared to later releases clearly inspired by this, but it’s influence can’t be denied.

The album that cemented 2Pac as one the greats. Cohesive production, great lyricism and some very honest and vulnerable subject matter. Dear Mama is rightly held up as a highlight.

Overall, pretty average moderate rock. Liked Luna as it felt different to most other tracks which all have a similar tone. American Girl was one of the better songs here. Def not one of their strongest albums.

Surprised I never got round to listening to this. Overall, excellent alt-pop with plenty of hooks, great production and strong vocals. Standouts were The Louvre and Hard Feelings.

Couldn’t put my finger on the reason this pretty standard post-punk sounded off. Then I realised it was all the brass sections. This album is really channeling that 80s production before it became ubiquitous.

Had only ever heard Maggot Brain (which I love) so was good to hear more from Fubkadelic. This is definitely not as essential but still has some fantastic, infectious grooves. The riff to Doo Doo Chasers is so good.

Understand it’s a cult classic, and there’s some good stuff here but it’s also a bit repetitive. Plus it has this odd wobbly sound over the top of several songs. I guess it helped pioneer psychedelic rock, and clearly whatever they were on made them think this sounded good. Enjoyed the song Reverberation the most.

Remember the hype around this when it first came out. Felt like quite a front loaded album, but it didn’t have much sticking power to me. A lot of people liked the real life lyrics but I always found them a bit shallow. View from the Afternoon, Dancing Shoes, When the Sun Goes Down and Certain Romance stick out in my mind as the one I enjoyed the most.

Went in with average expectations given how bad some pop from this era can sound, but ended up really enjoying it. Classic 80s synth in the vein of early Talk Talk or Tears for Fears, both of whom I love. The title track is excellent.

I got into Radiohead just before this album came out, so I have fond memories of the buildup and release. At the time, it felt like a return to the guitar-driven sound the band had previously made, but looking back now, it seems more like a combination of all their styles up to that point. This also makes it longer than most Radiohead albums, and at times, a bit bloated and unfocused. It still includes some of their best songs like There There, but it could definitely have done with some trimming. Back then, I worried the band’s best days were behind them, but luckily In Rainbows arrived a few years later and is rightly considered another classic. As for HTTT, it’s definitely one of their albums I’ve returned to less often.

Only decided to listen to this after the news of Chris Cornell’s death. Should have listened sooner. Amazing riffs and incredible vocals throughout. Soundgarden’s magnum opus and one of the defining albums of the grunge era.

Reminded me of other artists at times, not least Prince on tracks like Wishing Well. But overall left me pretty cold.

For a long time I avoided Pink Floyd. Maybe it’s an age thing but in recent years I’ve realised that yes, they are great and yes, Wish You Were Here is their best album.

Not much about this country pop album stuck with me. Very polished and sanitised in terms of sound. Can imagine it being very popular but overall sounds inoffensive and forgettable.

Never listened to this before but I can definitely hear its influence in a lot of what I have. Stuff like Yuck’s first album was clearly influenced by this. Similarly, songs like December clearly owe a lot to Alex Chilton and Big Star. Overall, really great, fuzzy early 90s indie rock/pop.

Probably my favourite of all the Joni I’ve heard. And there’s a lot of good stuff. One of those albums where the cover perfectly matches with the music itself with themes of travel and wandering. You can hear clearly how the melodies and lyrics influenced others like Joanna Newsom. Not as instant as other work but gives you something new every time.

When I first hear this album I was pretty underwhelmed. Compared to his earlier folk and electric work I didn’t really connect with what is essentially an bunch of love songs. But it’s also probably why it’s held in such high regard. It’s Dylan at his most vulnerable, with less cryptic and more relatable lyrics. The sound overall is clear and rich, and it feels like he’s singing an octave lower which again makes it more accessible. Over time I’ve come round to realising that this is pretty much a set of perfectly constructed songs.

Didn’t really grab me. Though I preferred the second, more psychedelic side.

I get why it’s popular. Every song sounds epic and played/sung like his life depends on it. But beyond a couple of tracks, it doesn’t really do it for me.

The first Dylan record I ever listened to and one I’d still (unsurprisingly) rate among his best. Rolling Stone is one of the true great openers and what follows really shows the range and versatility of the instrumentation he gained from going full band and electric. Ballad of a Thin Man remains one of my favourites and Desolation Row gets better every time - the way it builds both musically and lyrically is why he’s considered one of the great wordsmiths.

Had only previously heard Decoration Day and Dirty South. Was put off by this being a double album but overall was a really good, coherent listen. Particularly enjoyed the monologue and songs around George Wallace at the end of disc 1. Great music on this, only let down slightly by the lack of contributions by Jason Isbell.

Have had a few attempts to get into Genesis without much success. So this double album was a bit daunting. On the third listen some of it started to stick, in part due to Gabriel’s very recognisable vocals (big fan of his solo work). Standouts included In the Cage, Back in NYC and Lilywhite Lilith. So enjoyed this way more than I expected. But no idea what the concept is.

One of those huge, acclaimed albums that just passed me by. Overall, great pop soul and clear why it was a hit. Second track in particular has that recognisable Mark Ronson production. Title track and Tears Dry On Their Own were the standouts for me. Listening to it in retrospect, it’s hard not to wonder if this would have been her opus or the beginning of something greater.

Obviously the vocals are the standout here. Raspy but with great range and power. Album feels unfinished in places which is unsurprising given Joplin died before its completion. Half Moon was a standout.

Feels like one of those albums where its influence is slightly more notable than the music itself. While it helped to establish thrash metal as a genre I was surprised how DIY and punk it sounded at times. Especially the vocals. Decent overall.