very reminiscent of pavement and early elliott smith. i definitely enjoyed the album, but there was a lack of hooks or distinctive instrumentation or structure to fully enrapture me
A great continuation of Lou's work with the velvet underground. Glam rock was already becoming a thing by the time this album got released, but alongside Hunky Dory, this album gave the genre the subversive edge that makes it so fascinating looking back.
Best songs are the satellite of love, perfect day, but every song is great on here - lots of pop hooks but it never feels like he's sanding down his edges at all
Super long album, but never once feels like it drags. Favourite track is ebony eyes, on the delux edition tracklist, an adorably cute ballad about a horse
Got some classic songs in it (sledgehammer, don't give up), but the songs aren't quite as punchy as other classic 80s albums
Walk This Way is an undeniably good and groundbreaking song, but other than that, there isn't much reason to revisit this album.
A lot of the beats and production sound very dated, and almost comedy-esque, and there are far superior 80s hip hop albums to revisit - the fact that this is a compilation album is very telling
Very warm listening, quite enjoyable to hear the notes of early Americana music. Wouldn't say there's necessarily any standout tracks or moments, aside from a strong opener 'Across the Great Divide'.
Feels like young summer in a very different way to Oasis - it feels like its soundtracking a fun, warm summer around Britain with all your friends, without any weight of expectations other than the fun times and making friends.
A lot of the criticism of this album probably goes on its voyeuristic lyrical content, but I think of that as a plus - it reminds me a lot of late 60s Kinks and Sgt Pepper era Beatles in its catchy ditties about British life. Occasionally the lack of sincerity does grate on you a little after 16 tracks. 'To the End' is a classic that I've never truly enjoyed, but luckily it all feels in spirit of the album.
Would recommend listening on a sunny May/June weekend.
Undeniably very good, really liked the middle section with really snappy and complimentary production (unfortunately from Diddy).
Could do without the skits and sex noises tbh
Fun genre-bending debut for Gorillaz. You can tell they haven't quite figured out their 'sound' yet, but that's what makes it so eclectic. Apparently it was one of the most common records to find in a second hand shop in 2002 as people who were epxecting hip-hop/pop crossovers were confusee of what to make of this almost massive-attack-lite album.
Would advsie listening to mezzanine-13-gorillaz to see how their sound formulated.
Favourite songs:
Re-hash
Clint Eastwood
Tomorrow Comes Today
Haven't given Ms Dynamite any thought before or since hearing on on 'Lights On' in 2011, so wwas quite suprised to find this album on here.
Was pleasantly suprised by the variety in sound - at its best moments its found like Nelly Furtado and Lauryn Hill. The main issue is that the album goes on too long, with too many forgettable songs, and some of the lyricism did make me chuckle
Girl, I have no idea what he is saying, but I am living for it
I really want to givde it five stars, but the album just doesn't draw me back the same way that other 5/5 ones do.
Purple rain is an absolute classic, and should always be listened to as an encore.
Not too much to say on it, but fairy enjoyable album
Pretty good, but he does have better
"Nice" is probably the best word to describe this album, the covers are done pretty well, and the instrumentation evokes a nostalgic feeling that would later be mined to deeper effect by the Mamas and Papas.
There isn't too much of substance outside of the covers though, and quite a bit of the album is forgettable
Unfortunately, this is really really good. I get so many parallels between Kanye and MIA, where they're both awful, brainrotted human beings, but their music during this peiod was so singular, forward-thinking, and undeniable.
Lots of personality in just about every song, hard not to like if you're even the slightest bit into hip-hop - maybe lacks a little but of the inventiveness that I appreciate with some later hiphop records
Good Bob Dylan album, not necessarily top tier for me though
Mainly earns its four star rating through Subterranean Somesick Blues alone. Could argue that song makes him to first mainstream rapper (lol)
Reminds me somewhat of Nine Inch Nails, sometimes in a good way, but not really an album I would choose to listen again
Oh my god, this is so long, no album needs to be over two hours, especially one which sounds the same completely throughout
Girlboss alt-rock, in the best way
Queer-baiting is okay when shirley manson does it
Why is there so m,uch fucking Elvis Costello?
S'okay I suppose
Fun, funky and unextected, though not consistently
Widely considered the end of Joni's classic period (though I will defend Mingus more than most), this really is an album that rewards repeat listening. There's almost no hooks, just sprawling, languid and reflective songs which eventually sink into your brain.
Favourite songs: refuge of the road, strange boy, amelia
Good-quality 2010s-era indie rock. Would listen to while driving
Fairly nice I guess - nothing particularly interesting to say about it.
Very spacey - easy top get lost in as you close your eyes and lay down in bed. Drags on a little towards the end, but the first 75% of the album is absolutely sensational. Well worth exploring
Like the B52s and siouxsie making a halloween album together, pretty damn fun
All killer, no filler
Nicely sung - I do prefer his funkier songs from the 60s
It feels a little strange to call M.I.A underrated, especially when Paper Planes is one of the biggest songs of the 2000s, but genuinely feel that the sheer eccentricity of her early work gets forgotten when discussing the grander music landscape.
Arular is probably the first album I would call an 'internet' album, as in everything feels like its spliced together from different sources and meant to be discovered on a myspace board. The beats on every song are varied, fun, and genuinly new for the time.
Genuinely giggled out loud at the line "Is your dad a dealer? Cause you're dope to me".
Can't remember the last time I felt so excited listening to an album, cannot fault it at all
I would be among the first to say that Tom Petty's brand of rock has never particularly resonated with me . He always seemed to rely on bravado and 'rock 'n roll' attitude which has not translated well into 2026 musically wise.
However, there's enough energy and excitement in most of the tracks to forgive its flaws, in particular American Girl, which is probably his best song period, gving him a genuine sense of longing and wistfullness, coupled with his best melody, that I'm not sure we see in much of his other work.
Duh, its a classic.
Would highly recommend yearning to this album lying down in bed with your eyes closed. Plainsong one of the top ten album openers of all time imo
Nice bit of Americana
I've always been told that The Who are one of the most improtant and influential bands, but I've never really understood it when listening to their music casually.
I had to listen to Tommy quite a few times before I could really make a judgement - there are some outstanding songs on here (though I much prefer the Tina Turner psychotic take on Acid Queen) and the scale of grandiose is admirable, but I fear the music never quite lives up to it, and 24 songs really do blend into each other.
'Legalise It' basically carries the whole album - a fantastic song lurically which stands up with the best of the genre.
The rest of the album is pleasant enough reggae music, if nothing particularly eye-catching. Overall, it's nice to have some reggae on the list amongst the classic rock and British overrepresentation.
I really liked the opener, basically everything else in the album was rather bland 90s-esque alt rock
Quite suprised this made it on, over Power Corruption and Lies and Brotherhood, given both of them are stronger albums and have more recognisable singles.
Nevertheless, it's a strong continuation of New Order's 80s hot streak, with the Perfect Kiss being a top ten New Order song.
Honestly wasn't too hot on this one, until Free Bird came on.... man is it such a good song, I can't justify putting this any lower than a three.
The rest of the album's okay, if reminding me a little much of B-tier Who songs.
Title track is great, and it was kinda fun to hear them do different classics under their distinctive sound, but no real reason to listen to this album past track 3 tbh
It's always nice when you're surprised by an album. My only real exposure to the Pretenders before was through their more mid-tempo stuff.
There's a lot more punk and new wave influence on this album that I thought. In particular, Private Life feels like it could be a Fear of Music-era Talking Heads album track, with the slightly more psychedelic guitar riffs. Chrissie Hynde's voice really elevates much of the material, and offers herself as a really captivating narrator, making songs like Brass in Pocket both sexual and wistful
I do love a good yearn, but wish the instrumental/production was a little more varied
Not having been a fan of Graceland, I had low expectations going into this album, but I was actually very shocked at how fun and playful it was! Paul Simon definitely works better with the instrumentation stripped down, he eminates American Belle and Sebastian energy, in a great way.
Me and Julio is a standout for a reason, would be very interested to explore the rest of his 70s catalogue after this.
Really wanted to give this a five star rating, given its pop culture importance and the sheer number of classic songs, but unfortunately, there are just a couple of songs on the album that feel dated or I have no interest in listening to again, and on an 11-track album, this does have an impact. Alas Madonna, you will do better on future releases.
Fave songs:
Dear Jessie
Express Yourself
Like a Prayer
Duh its a 5/5.
On a good day its my favourite album of all time, the creativity and claustrophobic energy of the first five tracks is unmatched by almost any other album I've had the pleasure of listening to
Undeniably influential and forward-thinking for its time, but not really for me. I think that Kraftwerk has better songs coming up in their discography, though I really enjoyed the flute on Morgenspaziergang and the start of the title track
Never the most cutting edge to do it, but always one of the most interesting, and do it with a pop sensibility.
Vanishing Point is a bit darker and grungier than Screamadelica, with the dance-optimism of the latter almost completely gone in this one, save 'star', one of the highlights.
Primal Scream really work best when the bend towards the inklings of their collaborators and let go of any pretences of being a rock band, like the instrumental, almost trip-hop grooves of trainspotting and if they move, kill 'em. Whilst I'm not sure it needs to be in the book, I'm very glad it is, and can hear its influence in albums like Blur's '13'
Trip-hop/electronica for people who don't really listen to it. I enjoyed a lot of the songs, particularly in thefirst half of the album, but as it drags on you start to notice a lack of complexity with a lot of the songs - Moby will find one interesting riff of sample and then just play it out for the rest of the song, resulting in the album losing a lot of its dynamicism that songs like Honey and Porcelain gave.
I'll still listen, but probably to individual tracks rather than a full project.
In a way very similar to Play by Moby (the previous album), in that each song just coasts along on its vibe, but every song is so immaculately constructed that I don't care.
Love Kelly Watch the Stars, Ce matin là, and La Femme d'argent
Hard to believe that this album was written before the age of twenty - every song feels like it has such a weight behind it, and Fiona's presence on each song is towering. Despite this, the hooks and instrumentation are amazing, particularly the one two punch of Slow Like Honey and The First Taste.
Wish When the Pawen would be on here too, but this is probably the best Fiona album on the list.
I like the songs that sound like Spiritualized - I like less the songs that sound like Elbow
Very pleasant, absolutely great melodies that are almost sugar sweet
The album sags slightly in the middle, but absolutely knocks it out the park with the last three tracks, though i fear slow burn captures the yearning part of my music taste the most
Probably the most quintessential Beatles album, for better or for worse. A sprawl of thirty tracks, ranging from half a minute to nine minutes long, covering more genres than many bands do in their entire career.
For some people, this would be an incoherent slog, but it just works; each song provides a break and new persepctive frmo the last one, and flows really well into each other, even when there are no sonic similarities. I think this album probably proves that Paul McCartney was the centre of the Beatles, as for better or for worse, his songs are the most representative and central to the album's identity. I never get bored of this album, and on a good day, beats Abbey Road as my favourite.
Liked Animal Nitrate, could take or leave the rest of the album, there's a reason why Suede aren't remembered as much as the other Britpop giants
Some pretty great R&B and lyrics to go along with it - production and mixing do sound noticeably dated at times
Pretty good, Alright is an all-timer, though I'm not sure it's as hooky or adventurous as some of the other Britpop albums of the time.
Same as the last Steely Dan, technically proficient, but boring and lacking in edge and surprise, though I enjoyed some of the additional textures to the music as opposed to their debut.
I admire this album more than I like it - a lot of it does remind me of the experimental tracks on the White Album, and some are genuinely engaging.
Would I listen to this album again? Probably not
I could describe few other albums like this, but it sounds like a warm bath, purely earnest and cozy. Every melody and note sound familiar, yet not derivative, and delivered utterly sincerely
Maybe lacks a bit of texture that I like from the best trip-hop actions, and suffers a little from being the first out the gate, and the sounds become more normal place, but still an incredibly engrossing and atmospheric album
Warm and cozy, probably the highlight of blue-eyed soul in Britain, at least until Amy Winehouse came along
Pretty early enw wave, with some great synth influences, particularly on the first track.
I do struggle with the lack of hooks, and the energy of the album does get quite lethargic, particularly when they aren't doing mcuh interesting with the music
Somewhat gothic, almost campy record, bringing plenty of melodrama with its dark synths. Love the touches of baroque pop when they bring in strings, really feels like a bridge between their frothy earlier work and the pop perfection of Violator
Lyrics aren't the best, but manage to work in the context of the song, as long as you aren't looking for deep introspection or societal analysis
I basically have no notes, this album absolutely rules - some of the catchiest synth-pop in the first half, to lushly-produced experimental music in the second half, which never ceases to grab your attention
One of the biggest growers on the list, every song seems to have this strange little hook and unaffected energy that worms its way into your ears.
Sounds like an American version of the Kinks, both sonically and culturally. Underappreciated by the wider public, but highly respected and loved by people in the know
Great proto-britpop, coming out years before Oasis, Blur or even the Stone Roses did. Whilst none of it does sounds particularly innovatoive with a 2026 ear, the songs and tunes are pretty timeless - the Sixpence None the Richer cover of There She Goes amplifies this for me.
Lee Maver's voice doesn't really do much for me, and I'm not entirely convinced the music landscape would be any different had the La's made any follow-up work, but they;re pretty remarkable as a one-album wonder
This is the first Pixies album where Kim Deal takes a back seat, and the album is notably lacking for it. Whilst the album sounds glossier and richer, a lot of the quick and charm of the first two has been diminished - there isn't the bass line of where is my mind, or the pop hooks of debaser on here.
It's still a pretty well realised album, but it's quite hard to justify it's placement on here, when the kim deal side projects with the breeders are notably lacking
Undoubtedly talented musically, with some great melodies, but something just falls flat for me here - none of the songs really stick with me, and the most memorable ones have a certain plastic-y sheen that prevents me from wanting to revisit this too much.
It reminds me a lot of Queen albums - a musical theatre album put through the lens of a pop-rock act.
What makes the Visitors special is the sense of weariness and unease that's only slightly present on previous albums; the melancholy that people attempt to read on Dancing Queen is on full affect here on tracks such as The Day Before You Came, arguably the centrepiece of the album. An oddly tuneless song that works in its favour, with Agnetha's distant and matter-of-fact vocal performance helping convey the numbness of the final moments of ABBA's golden period.
Elsewhere, tracks such as the title track and Under Attack are the most sonically and lyrically adventurous they've done today - I absolutely adore the legnthy instrumental start to the Visitors, slowly amping up and only getting to the (fantastic) hook around two minutes in.
There is still some fluff and standard ABBA tracks that do stifle the impact of thr album (Two for the Price of One and When All Is Said and Done), but overall a defintie artistic high for ABBA.
Cocaine-fuelled paranoia and claustrophobia. Truly some of their best and most experimental work, though, on balance, I prefer their next two albums
Some great songs and energy from the Rolling Stones, but this doesn't quite hold together as an album, with quite a bit of forgettable blues rock filler.
Sympathy for the Devil alone is enough for this to get three stars, aside from that
Really confused as to why this album is on here - it's neither well-known, influential, or good at what it's trying to achieve.
The lyrics are basic, and most of the album sounds like sub-par nursery rhymes.
Outside of Loser, I do feel Beck is a slightly forgotten/unappreciated artist, which is a shame because this album is really interesting.
Despite starting off a catchy alt-rock album, it goes off in various different directions and experiments which never feel indulgent, and are all pieced together by Beck's disaffected and lackadaisical singing voice.
Celebrity Skin is an absolutely incredible opener, full of brash energy, and Courtney Love's presence is absolutely infectious.
The rest of the album follows this more polished sound, but unfortunately does start to bleed into one
One of the most intense and boundary-pushing "pop" releases, even 44 years after its release. I can't think of another album that really sounds like it, nothing is designed to be calm, gentle or pleasing to the ear - bearing resemblence to some of the more esotric Talking Heads and Joni Mitchell work, such as Remain in Light and the Hissing of Summer Lawns.
Some of the affectations undoutbedly put people off, but for me, it sounds like unbridled creativity. If absolutely nothing else can be taken away, Suspended in Gaffa is one of the greatest songs she's written to date.
The Rolling Stones have always been a little bit of a strange band for me personally - widely considered one of the all time greats, with some of the best songs in the popular music canon, but without a truly great album to ground them and allow me to place them aside other bands.
This is probably their strongest effort I've heard to date, mixing the effortless swagger and easy-going blues rock of their sixties output with some more adventurous songwriting - particularly with Wild Horses, a top 5 song of theirs.
Brown Sugar's politics is very strange to listen to with a 2026 mindset, but the groove is undeniably fantastic, snf Moonlight Mile has some of the most tender and affecting guitar playing on it.
It still suffers from a bit of filler, but a very easy four stars.
Well, wasn't this a delightful surprise!
I'd never heard of Common before this, and wasn't really going into the album with high expectations, but I was hooked from the soul-drenched opener, produced by peak-era Kanye. The rest of the album pretty much holds up to it, though it slightly suffers form not being as esoteric or hard sitting has late registration or college dropout
Don't care whether people think this album is too normie; I absolutely love angsty guitar rock music from Radiohead. This has some of the best melodies and most memorable riffs, with shoegaze tones on the opener, Britpop sensibilities on High and Dry and Fake Plastic Trees, to a dark and foreboding closer with Street Spirit.
A lot of the album is fake angst, with Radiohead being a polite middle-class band with no troubled histories; 'The Bends' is about struggling with fame after just *one* hit, but it honestly doesn't take anything away from the album for me.
For an album that you can hear so much of in later music (namely Bowie's Berlin trilogy), it's suprisingly under0discussed. I don't think the best songs in this live up to the best songs on Heroes, and there's a slight thin-ness to a couple of the aongs, but overall holds up remarkably well.
Cat Stevens is one of the 'classic' and 'established' artists who I've never had any love for. I find his voice to be irritating, and the melody for 'Wild World' is actively grating.
However, if I were to spin one of his albums, I accept that this is probably his best, and one which (Wild World aside), I actively get enjoyment out of.
I do find his lyricism and musicality to be lacking compared to his singer-songwriter peers at the time, but I'll let him have this album.
