I like the lead guitar riffs, the drumming is tight, and the lyrics are pretty fun. It all feels a little... not one note, but more like it's stuck in the same gear the whole way through with a little break for track 5.
Track 8 is a bit like a rocky blues-inspired take on I Am The Walrus. (If you read this and, unlike me, know anything about music feel free to cry in despair at my take on this).
Opinion on Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine: see above
Track 1 was a good opener but it reminded me of another band. I don't know. I feel as though I've heard it before.
Track 2 was OK.
I am up to Track 3 and wondering what exactly made this essential listening before I die..
'how do you sleep' (track 5) makes me feel as though I'm falling through an endless disco in slow motion. Honestly it just gives me a hankering for some Pulp and a cup of tea.
call the police (track 7) is only intensifying this feeling.
I would have been very happy if black screen (track 10) had been the last track. pulse (track 11) sounds like the Nokia ringtone drunkenly yapping away at a party.
Look, this album made me feel things. Mostly a strong desire to be listening to any of the albums that inspired it. But this is good. Right?
Woah! From the opening track I know this is going to be special. I can hear the inspiration for one of my favourite bands from when I was back at uni: amiina
Track 1: Well this was a little jazzy. That said, I felt as though I was listening to a less keyboard-forward Muse album.
Track 3: OK this is like that really modern jazz that I don't understand. Also why do I feel like I'm sitting a plane that's just taking off while being chased by police cars for the last minute?
Track 4: This is the bridge between the Beatles and Hozier that I never knew existed. You're welcome.
Track 5: I Might Be Wrong, but this is a bop.
Tracks 6-8: Eh.
Track 9: Oh this one is really cool too.
Track 10: Back to Muse vocals.
Track 11: Am I about to throw stones at this track? (pun intended). No because it's kinda jazzy too.
Overall: I never realised just how samey a lot of male British groups sounded before listening to this.
After the generally 'meh' feeling inspired by previous albums in the 1001 albums book, this one blasted through my ears and made me feel a thousand things.
Firstly, I felt a little bit of awe. I never realised that genres could fuse together so... majestically. I didn't quite know what to make of the first track apart from "woah".
Then I Talk To The Wind came on and calmed it all down. The flute (was it a flute?) and then the brass (was it brass? I wish I actually knew something about music!) were mind-blowing.
Epitaph is a bit more meh, and the reason this album is getting 4.5 stars.
Moonchild feels a little like a lost out-take from an early Pink Floyd album, but I guess that's the genre. I know this is going to sound w***ily pretentious, but I... like it?
The Court of The Crimson King feels faux grand with a merry go round interlude before the drums kick in. It sounds like a prog rock version of the Pentiment soundtrack (again, sorry to all music-knowers out there. This comparison is a bit meh).
Will listen to the whole album again tomorrow because I need to meditate a little more on it.
oh no. This is bringing back memories of buying this album as a teenager. I will never forget the disappointment I felt after the high of Welcome to the Jungle wore off.
20 years has not helped me to enjoy this album more.
Another day, another artist I've never heard of.
The album cover had me utterly intrigued. As did the tales of the band's live show exploits.
But on to the songs! I didn't take notes as I listening so I'm just going to give my overall impression: I loved the genre fusions, and the really tight sound they came up with. A solid 3.5!
Wait.... no singing? Just jazz? Am I ready for this?
OK so. I have never listened to a jazz album (or even jazz tune) before, so I wasn't listening to it with any idea of how it compares to other jazz tracks/ albums.
This felt really sophisticated but not pretentious.
OK this was another throwback album.
It still slaps.
This sounds a little like a film score in places.
Also what the heck is with the song about a serial killer?
Overall, yes it's musically quite nice, but I'm not sure about the lyrics. Gonna give the album a 3 overall (2 for lyrics, 4 for music as I do like the orchestral bits. It's a lot more exciting than some of the guitar-heavy indieboi music one hears).
Deep Purple has always been on the outer-fringes of my musical orbit. Blackmore's Night was the closest I'd got to listening to Deep Purple before.
I was not expecting the stone cold bangers on this one. The drums! The drums!
How tight an album this was! The "Studio Chats" felt really modern- it's the sort of thing 2026 fans pay to get on an album variant. Here they sprinkle them in to give a studio/ jamming feel.
The music was absolutely solid. Some of the chord sequences/ progressions felt a bit 80s rock, but I don't care about that because the musicianship was absolutely next level.
4.5, but rounded up to 5 because I would love to listen to this one again
Is this easy listening? There's nothing offensive about it, but there's nothing that truly excited me about it. I would absolutely, in a heartbeat, put this on in the background at a dinner party if I didn't want to point on classical music. But I didn't get swept up in any of the tracks and want to repeat them.
Solid. Inoffensively bland. Musically strong. Just not my cup of tea.
I know, I know. All hail to the Radiohead. I just didn't feel it.
Track 1 is ready to go viral on tiktok.
From the opening bars of track 1, my expectations plummeted.
Look, I get that they're trying to be chill, music you could hear your Leonard Cohen/ Dolly Parton-obsessed friends playing at a hangout, but it's just too earnest and without hooks.
Some songs are more fluffy but all of them have held up incredibly well
When I saw today's album was 2.5 hours, I strongly considered pausing this listening project for a couple of days so I could listen all the way through. But it's only 9am and it's my day off so I have no excuses to listen all the way through in one go.
By Wrong (track 2), I am convinced that even though I have never heard of this band, I have heard them and their disciples in Kingston's Bentall's Centre in the early Noughties.
Single (track 3), and I wonder whether Dido is one of said disciples.
The last tracks are live, and have dragged up both the rating and opinion of EBTG. Hearing the songs performed live and hearing the audience adding clicks and whoops makes the songs more enjoyable.
This truly was of its time. I enjoyed some of it- after all, it's nigh on impossible not to enjoy the sound of Lennox's voice. However it didn't really resonate with me so much.
I'd never listened to an Oasis album before, and was pleasantly surprised to find the music different from all the thuggish tabloid exploits I knew them for.
I was more of a Mis-Teeq fan back in the day and never listened to more than Dy-Na-Mi-Tee back in the day.
This album did actually dig deeper than I expected (hah), but not much. It's decent if you're into your British r'n'b.
Watch Over Them was kinda surprising due to it being acapella but then it slid back into electronic music. By the time A Lil Deeper slides round I felt a bit disappointed.
Oh!! Hidden track at the end! OK this is the nostalgia hit I needed.
A nice change of pace from the Noughties music I've been listening to!
Catchy tunes
My biggest takeaway from this project is that big band and jazz can actually be really fun. This is one of the really fun albums.
I'd love to know how they came up with names for the tunes. Teddy the Toad? Is this a Wind in the Willows tribute, anthropomorphic character, or a diss track?
What an opening track!
Bit underwhelmed by the 2nd disc. Not that it's not good, but it lacks the rock-infused punch of the 1st cd. That and who needs a second cover of when will we be married?
All the same I feel like the Waterboys walked so Fiddlers Green could run
I've heard about Springsteen's legacy so it's exciting to be listening to his music at last.
You know what? The lyrics for Cover Me are pretty touching.
Working on the Highway is messed up. Kinda wondering whether this inspired Coheed somewhere along the way as their darkest tracks always have an upbeat kick to them.
Downbound train is sad.
I know I'm on fire!! What a voice!
Overall, I liked the rock and pop mix on this album. I'm really glad I listened to it, but it's not music that speaks to me, you know?
But as I was on the Spotify page, I saw a new Springsteen song had just dropped: Streets of Minneapolis. That song and the way it moved me makes this album a solid 5: Springsteen is a good egg.
Musically meh. Happy to tour Russia.
Overall a catchy and pleasant album.
I've never been able to enjoy Wild World. Yes Cat Stevens has a nice voice and is good at writing pleasant tunes but I'm just not a fan
