I usually only listen to Paul's Boutique when it comes to Beastie Boys, but it's nice to mix things up, I like the nods to their hardcore roots and frequent shifts into psychedelic jazz and experimental groove. Better than I was expecting, and more experimental in terms of production. Enjoyed Sabotage more than usual in the wider context of the record. Starts with a really great flow to the whole thing, though it lags a bit in the middle and could probably be tightened up. In general, a highly enjoyable listen.
Been playing a lot of Red Dead Redemption so feeling particularly partial to cowboy music. At the end of the day it's quite fun, though it also feels impossible to divorce from the last 65 years of its recontextualisation and memeification, and gets pretty samey pretty quickly
Just can't really get on borde with Lorde, the over-earnestness of the vocal is hard to get past, every word annunciated as if it's extremely important, but really never going that much deeper than the surface level in terms of content. Though I wonder if I might feel differently were I closer to the kind of age Lorde was when she wrote it, and whether there's just too much of a gap in perspective that makes this harder for me to engage with.
All time classic! Though it's a little bit dated perhaps, I still think this really holds up. The production is hyperactive and fun, the energy is really infectious, the songwriting is witty and sharp. I'll even let De La Orgee slide
I mean, this was catnip as a sad sad angsty 14 year old, I still know this album back to front. Re-listening as an adult, yeah some of it is way too twee for a 31-year-old palette, but you know what a lot of it holds up, particularly the more experimental synthy bits and when they kick up the energy a bit with the guitar
One of the things that’s surprised me the most is the creative sampling and appropriating, the weird use of Enya and various little danchell references. It’s kind of one of those classic albums that you know is a classic for a reason. I’ve obv heard all the big singles from it, but then you listen to the whole thing it’s obvious why. All the same, when records are this tightly crafted, I sometimes struggle to feel a personal connection.
Just a really solid soul album, such a wonderful voice that’s brimming with charisma. Feels pretty timeless
Jam bands just aren’t for me. I get that they’re all very talented but this is just way too much self indulgent noodling for my taste
Banger! One of those albums I’ve heard a million times so a little of the magic has worn off, and Bluebell Knoll is still their best, but you can’t deny this is great
There are like, one or two good tunes on here when Brian Jones gets to go a bit psychedelic, but then the rest are just pure mid-60s blues filler. Jagger’s voice has never honked quite so hard, it’s actually quite annoying. Then there's the lyrics - hashtagproblematic at best, rancid and rapey at worst. A real slog. ¡No bueno!
Is this the most 90s album of all? I think so. It's really uplifting, makes you feel like it's 1997 and Tony Blair's gonna be great and we've ended racism and everything's gonna be OK with no disappointments / war crimes on the horizon. Hot take but I actually like the Brimful of Asha version here more than the Fatboy Slim remix (although the Phoenix Nights version will always be my number one). It's not like, groundbreaking musically, and every now and then we verge a little bit into dreaded electro swing town, and there's quite a bit of filler, but it's got so much charm that I don't really mind.
It's drum & bass init? Kind of the platonic ideal of 90s drum & bass, really smooth and kind of flawless. But then I also feel it's lacking a bit of edge, a bit of roughness and weirdness which makes dance music appealing to me. This would be a very different review were I to have dropped a zesty pinger or two before listening of course.
I have a real soft spot for music like this. I think because I went through the original 1001 Albums book from the very start at first, I listened to a higher concentration of 50s and 60s soul than most teenagers in the 2000s English countryside, so in a weird way this feels quite nostalgic to me. Burke's got a really really great voice and so much charisma, I love how the passionate moments cause the janky old 60s recording equipment to fray at the edges, and I like the playful sort of springiness to the instrumentals that gives it all so much room to breathe. Like all of the really old stuff that's come up, it's naturally a little dated, but I still like it!
Sometimes I toy with the hot take that RHCP were good actually, like this is really well produced and there's some good stuff here. But then I hear the opening track on this record and it's just a horrible mess of aural dickswinging. 'Rompin and a stompin 'cause I'm in my prime'? Really? It's way too frat energy for this sensitive boy I'm sorry. Often it's a bit of a plod but THEN there are some legit good songs on here like Parallel Universe and even Californication, and he's got a nice voice on a chorus or two, but then he starts rapping and it makes me want to throw my headphones into a canal and then throw myself into a canal. Emmit Remmus is one of the worst songs of all time, from then onwards this was a reaaaaallll slog. Still just can't make my mind up on them but giving this a proper listen has made my opinion worse. Maybe they should just stick to ballads and go to sex therapy.
Strong 'we have David Bowie at home' vibes, kinda throws into relief how good he was compared to his contemporaries - this is fine, but just doesn't have that magic. Peak 70s TOTP energy, glittery streamers and feather boas and tight trousers and big hair, which is obviously no bad thing, and I can see why my mum liked it when she was a child. But yeah I can't say there's anything really that special going on here.
I like the super long title track, like if The Doors were fronted by an Elvis impersonator, but in a fun way. Even then it's pretty much just a fun psych wigout, but not that much more. The rest is pretty much 60s filler tbh. I just can't really think of a lot to say about this record I'm sorry Iron Butterfly. Good name tho!
Nice to mix things up a bit! And it's a real nice one to boot, you can see why her voice has always been talked about as one of the best. Soothing vibes then joyful dancy vibes, fun for the end of a long week! Shout out to the wacky song about a flea. Scratch, scratch me back! The weird duet about a dead husband is very odd but I like it.
This is one of my favourites of his, the way it's cut in half between the raw electric stuff and very lovely acoustic stuff. Bob Dylan's been mytholigised so much that he's basically a meme at this point, but I still think the best moments here like Maggie's Farm and Subterranean Homesick Blues and It's All Over Now hold up, and the lyrics are just really really great poetry (even though that's a very lukewarm and cringe take). Sorry I just can't be contrary about this one, I like it a lot.
Classic album for when you’re 16 and think you’re the only person to know about the band and you feel really cool but then you just realise that all the hipster gen x dads already love it. Pretty solid psychy trip hop, but maaaaybe a bit too soft and not edgy enough for my tastes now
I usually like my jazz a bit less smooth than this but you know what the more it went on the more I was wondering over, like it worked its way into my subconscious or something. Very enjoyable!
Definition of a stone cold classic tbh! Not my favourite Kate Bush (that's The Dreaming) but still a five star record which gives you an idea of just how incredible 80s Kate Bush was. Just such an insane amount going on here, massive prog conceptual suite about ghosts! esoteric references to machines that control the weather! incredible emotional range! crazy production! a cheeky Irish jig for the lads! and all the songs absolutely slap at the same time. Masterpiece!!
A banger! My fav Radiohead record, such an intense and specific vibe of psychedelic melancholy that runs through the whole thing with such a brilliant sense of momentum. I love the tectures on this record and the guitar lines especially. Thom Yorke is a walloper but because of records like this he can still stay
When I was at uni I went to one social for the band society where they put on a gig. They were all really nice people and very talented at their instruments but also extremely naff and annoying (which I admit was a me problem, not a them problem). This is the sort of music they were making, milky tea music. Pleasant to listen to, but lacking oomph.
Kinda the point where The Kinks - who are one of my favourite bands - start to go off the boil a bit and into wacky theatrical concept town. But there's still lots of charm here and some really good songwriting at the core and its such a unique little slice of post-Imperial decline in the late 60s that everyone else in pop was ignoring. I feel like this record is them at their most eccentric and you can either get on board the weird suburbia train or you can let it chug away over the horizon. I'm all aboard baby. Choo choo!
At it's best this is some of the greatest music ever, that incredible bassline on Safe From Harm, the way those massive horns come into One Love but just a tiny bit. Occasionally goes a bit generic trip hop and coasts a bit, but then that's kinda just cos they invented trip hop to begin with. More than enough bangers here to make this a classic!
Ol’ billy catamaran at his very finest, probably the peak of his mystic cowboy wandering the plains phase, some absolutely phenomenal lyrics here and voice like velvet soup. Love it!!
A really really solid post hardcore record, perfect to blow off the cobwebs first thing on a Monday. They're on really relentless form here, and while it gets a bit samey towards the end of an hour's runtime, there's this really intense energy at the core that I really like. One of those cult records I've never got around to listening to, and I'm glad I did! Well done greasy 90s bois.
Suffers a bit from the fact that the title track is now like the go-to comedy song about fucking, and that just when that's gone there's another song halfway through that's called 'Keep Gettin' It On' where it's the exact same beat and the message is 'no, let's all remember that song about fucking that they'd use for the bit in an Adam Sandler film when he gets an erection'. It makes it kinda hard to evaluate it on its own merit, but for what it's worth this is some nice soul music.
THAT SAID I procrastinated by reading up on the background to this record and Marvin Gaye writing about sex in general as a means to get over childhood trauma and it's very interesting, so I'm adding a star
Not a huge grunge head but you know what I enjoyed this more than I was expecting, big walls of angst that feel pretty all-consuming in quite a nice way. I think these guitar tones that would have felt really dated about five years ago have benefitted from the revival of this kind of aesthetic so it actually feels quite fresh. This is still just not the kind of music I'm that into, but I was pleasantly surprised by it. 3 stars but would give it an extra half if I could.
Music from the 50s now feels like it's kinda from another world, Billie Holliday has such a famous and perfect voice that it's a bit like trying to review a faberge egg or a Ming vase or something. Once again takes me back to the weird phase of my teenage years when I was a 16 year old heavily into vocal jazz. That big sense of all-consuming melancholy that drew me to it then is still there and is kinda irresistible.
Lots and lots of fun! Bangers galore and Tina Turner is just such a charismatic vocalist - a lil bit unhinged sometimes but in the best way. mid-80s pop is probably the best pop and that's proved here. A feeeew too many weird filler covers in here for it to be a true classic but a very enjoyable one nonetheless
Mr Brightside is basically the millenial Don't Stop Believing and I absolutely fucking hate it. If it was a new song without the cultural baggage of all the worst people at a wedding shouting it at me, would I hate it as much? Probably not, idk, but of all the songs impossible to detach from their social context this is the one. As for the rest of it, there a few others that I've heard so many times they kinda just become background noise, but you know what apart from got soul but i'm not a soldier it mainly holds up - looking back they sorta have more in common with Interpol musically (like a not quite as good Interpol) than a lot of the indie landfill they ended up chucked in with.
I kinda thought this was gonna be one of those albums where the whole world knows the songs so much that it’s hard to evaluate on its own merit, but then listening to it it’s just such solid feel good disco that I found all that melt away to leave just a really fun upbeat listen
Colossal banger!! One of the all time great indie rock albums, a tower of scouse achievement, like the liver building, paddy’s wigwam, the philharmonic toilets or the pilgrim smoking area. It’s a shame the dfs adverts have used there she goes for so long that it makes you think of sofas, but there’s just so much incredible songwriting here that I don’t care. If The LA’s had got as big as Oasis, the Iraq war would never have happened
More like albums to die before you hear. Dogshit, like Spinal Tap but not funny. The only good thing about this album is that it's short. Even the cover is heinous. I hate hate hate hate it. I'm fairly ambivalent about grunge, but when I think about how it killed off shit like this, I like it a little bit more.
First off, the most 2006 album cover of all time!
This is really ambitious hip hop and kudos for the amount of big ideas going on, the production values are really slick in a 2006 way, the flow is perfect. And yet it's just lacking that bit of weirdness and edge that I really enjoy in hip hop. A classic example of an objectively good album that just ain't for me, sorry Lupe! Like, say what you want about Kanye, but in this era he would take an album this slick and just push it into a much weirder and stranger space that would be way more engaging to listen to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Really nice jazz funk, playful and a little bit weird, and what an absolutely amazing album cover! This is really enjoyable and uplifting, really fun to just get lost in while I get on with my day, to add a bit of a funky sheen to it all. Very nice well done Herbie!
It's mad how fresh this felt as a teenager even though it was a good 15 years old, and how much I loved the message. Fuck you, private school, I won't do what you tell me! Fuck you semi-detached house in the home counties!! Yeahhh!!! Listening today it feels a bit like a relic - like, you're raging against the machine but politically this is like, as friendly as the machine's gonna be for a while, sorry guys. It's the 90s, might as well enjoy it, it's only gonna get way way worse!! The music seems pretty straightforward in its composition and energy, surprisingly dated really. But then there's this earnestness and power to it that I still think is really appealing today.
The ballads on this one are a liiiiiil bit boring (sacrilegious I know), but then when Stevie’s firing on all cylinders with the upbeat pop stuff there’s really no one better. I prefer other albums of his but this is solid
A bit meh, very nice sounding but kinda dull, not doing it for me
Only listened to a few songs but I get the gist, he loves to croon and he loves the ladies. Personally I am a connoisseur of depressed Sinatra but horny Sinatra I can take or leave
Undoubted 5-stars! Huge in scope both intellectually and musically, hyperbolic as it is I really see this as one of the towering achievments of the century so far. And it's still only my third favourite Kendrick album! Sorry I don't have anything deeper to say, but love him, love this, happy days :)
PS Nothing was proved
Sorry but I fucking hate it. Genuinely what is the point of music like this, particularly these utterly tedious on the nose lyrics. It's just absolutely artless, while the music sounds like you fed all the worst Beatles songs into ChatGPT. This album is one hour long but it felt like 6. BAD BAD BAD BAD.
Da doobee doobee dooo, I like this, it's fun. Another one of those weird ones where because it's at the start of the book I first listened to it as a teenager, so it's got that weird nostalgic pull. It's quite hard to rate some soul instrumentals that by now sound pretty primitive, but ya know what, it's a good time
OK, yes, Moz is now a big racist, but HEAR ME OUT, this is a classic and his second best solo album (other than Vauxhall and I, ofc), and is full of bangers, and on its own terms National Front Disco is a really intriguing exploration of the grey area between sympathising with disaffected youth and being appalled by what it leads them to. It's just a shame it, you know, led him to Britain First, and that that's probably just my overgenerous reading of it, perhaps in a bit of denial. The Smiths and Morrisey's music is so deeply rooted in my life that I just have to allow myself to still like this one so GO AHEAD AND CANCEL ME. You're the one for me, Mozzy.
Yaknowwhat I really enjoyed revisiting this, more than I thought I would actually, I think because it's got a rawness that feels way more real than a lot of the other 60s stuff that's been on this list. There's a genuine murky intensity to the guitars that the greats like Hendrix and the MC5 had but many many others couldn't muster, and Janis Joplin just had the charisma and vibes that so many of her contemporaries were just cosplaying. RIP Janis you would have loved the simpsons.
wooo just found out how to edit - so what I was gonna say was that when it comes to this really scuzzy end of 60s rock, you really need the right vocalist to make it work. Like with Janis Joplin, all the guitar freakouts and thudding rhythm don't land for me unless you've got the frontperson who's gonna sell it, which both Janis and Iggy do really really well
I really love live albums like this, where it's not just a knock off for extra sales, but an example of the artist really in their element, I really enjoy how you can hear the back and forth between the crowd and the band, the energy he whips up, and ofc all the tunes are pretty solid bangers. James Brown - another problematic fave!!
Genuinely about as accurate a portrait of English masculinity as you’re ever gonna hear, in all its bleakness and emptiness and stupidity and silliness. When you engage with this on those terms it’s kind of a masterpiece!
Dripping, nay, SWIMMING in angst, I enjoyed this a lot and it hit the spot for a sleepy commute. Naturally the Nirvana album that includes folk songs and spirituals is gonna be my fave, but I think Kurt’s voice genuinely works best over minimal backing
Huge! When that absolutely disgustingly filthy synth line in The Sound Of The Crowd kicked in I actually shouted YES involuntarily, which is always the sign of an enormous banger. Makes you wanna dream life the way you think it ought to be, see things you thought you'd never ever sea, take a cruise to China or a train to Spain, go around the world around again and again, meet a girl on a boat meet a boy on a train and fall in love without the pain. Lags a tiny bit around the middle, before the two big bangers at the end, but I can forgive that, because this is a masterpiece. When you think about this, Soft Cell and OMD all arriving at the same time, it feels like maybe the best little period of English pop music there ever was.
There’s some really really good stuff in here where Elvis is at his best with that insane charisma, but then there’s also a fair amount of bluesy filler - for me he’s never really had a big classic record and is a greatest hits kinda guy, so this is a mixed bag
The most intensely 2000 album there's ever been? There are some bangers in here for sure, a lot of filler (much like Madonna herself these days), and it's kinda samey after a while. a lot of it sounds like scissor sisters but not quite as good - but then Madonna was there first. I feel like there's a lot better Madonna records out there than this one, but this is a fun time nonetheless
A fine example of Coz-core, nice straightforward American hardcore punk that makes you wanna skateboard and drink out of a brown paper bag, I like it!
I don’t really know what to say about this other than that it’s very pleasant jazz. If and album elicits such a lukewarm response what do you even do with it. Fine I guess!
Ya know what, I actually enjoyed this way more than I thought I would! I’ve always found JT kinda weird and rancid, even before it all came out that he was a big ol creep, so the fact I actually enjoyed this on its own terms regardless is probably testament to how good it is as pop music! A very surprise 4 stars
Oooh one of my favourite albums ever! Fun fact, kids, this was grandpa patrick's second ever vinyl LP he bought with his own money, from a charity shop in Rye, back when charity shops still had good vinyl records going for cheap. I just love 80s REM, the perfect balance between emotive songwriting and indie edge, and this is them at their peak tbh! Still holds up compared to a lot I was listening to back at that time without me having to make insane logical leaps to justify it (looking at you, Morrissey, who was the first ever vinyl LP I bought)
Got a big ol' soft spot for Van Morrison, sometimes you've gotta give in to fannying about acting like a romantic poem as you wander around a heath or some such. This is a classic imo!
This is not the 80s I enjoy sorry. Money for Nothing is a fun song but then he also dropped a surprise homophobic bit in there so come on guys can't we have any fun? I blame Thatcher (genuinely). The rest is just naff pop and really icky sax ballads. No thanks tbh, this is lame. Two stars because I guess it's listenable and the country one was kind of ok.
Sort of felt the same about this one as the last Chic album on the list, it's a good time, really solid disco fun! Sorry I can't think of much more to say!
Who amongst us on the cusp of Gen Z and milennial didn't have a phase where they thought this was the peak of music? If you say you didn't then ur lying! Looking back it's kinda naff, but then that's only because things were only gonna get worse than George Bush later down the line. But then Billie Joe and co couldn't have known that. It's like, enjoyable upbeat pop punk rock, catchy and fun.
Gotta love Prince, the fun lil purple ponce, prancing around and pontificating in his lil outfit. This is one of those ones that's classic for a reason tbh, so many bangers here, such incredible flow to the whole thing. Great timez.
No thanks!! Why is this here!! Just basic 80s rock, a big dud!!
This is such a weird album to me, it's like, three or four of the lovelist proto-indie lo fi songs you've ever heard, surrounded on all sides by the most basic plodding 70s rock. I love it then I hate it, so idk three stars I s'pose!
The best Madonna album for me and it’s not really close, excellent Balearic late 90s vibe, amazing work from William Orbit, Madonna really selling it. Good stuff well done
ngl this slapped! maybe it's cos i was wearing a new trench coat but I got really into the 50s big band vibe in a big ol' way. surprisingly fun!
I have a big soft spot for these mad conceptual swings that bands from the 60s started making. There's some really good stuff on here but also come on it doesn't need to be an hour and a half long lads!!
What a nice surprise! Didn't think this would be on here but it's a classic imo, incredibly nice and lovely vibes thank u so much. I was very very very into this as a melancholy 16 y/o and it's still doing the business as a melancholy 32 y/o too
I was curious to see how this one would hold up. I got really into it as a young'un without that much prior knowledge or experience with instrumental hip hop and thought it was ace, but was wondering whether with hindsight I might realise that this was quite entry level. Luckily I found it if anything to be even better than first time around. I have a theory cooking that maybe it's because in an age of AI generating anything you want, when an artist has gone to the amount of care and craft with assembling music entirely from vinyl samples you can feel that attention really deeply.
But then again this isn't a pitch meeting. FIVE STARS! BEATS GO BRRRR!
Again you need a person like Iggy to sell this kinda scuzziness, this is him at his best imo, just proper evil sounding noise. Luv it
I mean it is what it is, extremely early 90s rave music, when you strip away all the esoteric silly artiness it holds up pretty well as a great dance record
Big time post punk classic for me, I love the way the Bunnymen are really insanely esoteric in their lyrics but don't really make a big thing of it, instead setting it against this amazingly catchy spiky songwriting with these little moments of euphoria that burst through the gloom.
Metal!
Every time I listen to this album I'm like, yeah this is great! I should listen to this more often! It's very satisfying and raw! Then I never do until for some reason I have to, like this. Dunno why that is, if I was less tired I'd have a good theory for you, but I don't!
I mean he fucking rattles through em. Maybe all gigs should just be 20 minutes all guns blazing,everything twice as fast as it should be. this was fun! I kinda get why all these post war kids went so buck wild and horny for this stuff tbh, it’s like you’ve gone from row row your boat on a wax cylinder and your house getting bombed in the war to pure raunch overnight
While I don't think that Mr. Dogg has the most progressive views of the fairer sex, I can't deny that this kinda slapped while I was walking through New Cross today. Puts a spring in your step, makes you think, maybe I could smoke a pound of bubonic chronic every day? Once again, this list delivers a deeply problematic but quite good record.
It's a banger! not like, peak peak Joni brilliance, but there's a real groove to this one that's super engaging
It’s a real banger of the 2000s indie era, one of the best to do it, and overcomes the fact that a lot of these kinds of textures feel a bit baffling now they’re out of the zeitgeist. NOT SO with this lot. Well done gang
Really brought a very sad energy to the function (of getting the train) this morning. I got big into this album when it came out, partly because I was writing about it and was a bit depressed at the time lol. Looking back with a bit of a clearer head I can see that it's too long and a bit of a dirge at points, but then the central concept in the lyrics of imagining yourself out of grief still remains extremely moving so it still gets four stars. Now if only Nick could imagine himself out of his anti-cancel culture screed he's so obsessed with these days
I mean it's kinda just jazz samba init? About as edgy as a satsuma - nice background music though I guess??
Really bland sorry, not for me at all. Relaxing, I guess? Norah Jones was a psy-op.
A nice like, big 70s classic for a reason kinda record. Like yeah it's a bit self-indulgent at points but if you can't indulge in a 6 hour funk jam after six grams of coke and few jazz cigarettes when can ya?
Ya know what this fuckin slapped today, it's just great. I think even though The Prodigy are massive they're kinda underrated, this holds up as one of the best of the decade IMO. WELL DONE LADZ
It’s a classic for a reason and really holds up for me! Just like, really really solid songwriting, the most solid of all, except octopus’ garden of course but then who could refuse ringo his lil sing song??
I just can't get on board with gangsta rap like this that much, when it's someone like Snoop Dogg there's at least a wit and humour that's in there that makes it engaging, but with this it's just like I'M GONNA SHOOT YA and it makes me yawn. OK big tough boy. There are some good beats in here though, so idk
LET'S PRAY REAL QUICK
Problematic Dolly Parton slaps ngl, gotta love angry 60s country!!
I feel like this simultaneously is incredibly of its time when the time was kinda lame when it comes to stomp clap hey indie music, but also holds up as like, way above any of their peers. I still really like it and can remember more or less the whole thing off the top of my head. I also feel like Fleet Foxes don't get enough credit for the stuff they did after this album, there's some good stuff in there!
There's a reason that Queen are best known for their singles. This is a mess! I thought that The Prophet's Song would never end! That said, it's kind of a fun mess. So completely all over the shop that I almost enjoyed seeing what the hell they were gonna come out with next. Weird faux-prog-folk? Spinal Tap-esque prehistoric silliness? A vaudeville picture postcard jaunt? I dunno how you can review a song like You're My Best Friend' that's been so tainted by Magic FM that it's ceased to be music, but against all odds this was sorta fun.
This kinda music just isn't ever gonna be for me. It's really good for what it is though, really solid girlboss 2000s American pop. Her voice is good, there are a few bangers, I liked that one that sounded a bit like Nirvana mixed with early Black Eyed Peas. But it's also a million hours long and a lot of it is just really basic. Three stars I guess?
I feel like this is *so close* to being good music. Like, push just that little bit further into melancholy town, do more than five seconds of experimental fuzz and you’ll having something good on your hands. Sadly though this is just slightly better Coldplay
I have an irrational dislike of Fatboy Slim, and listening to this didn't change that. I think it's just totally lacking in edge, wayyy too happy go lucky for me when it comes to dance music.
Big ol' classic you just can't deny tbh. Brought a real intellectualism to the punk scene and proved that you could have raw power without sacrificing conceptual heft. Love it
A bit more fun than the rest of the blues slop in this list, there’s a fun intensity. Still not amazing though, there’s better 60s stuff out there 4 me!
Weird album, like it’s full of bangers but it’s also cultural appropriation the album, so I dunno. Did I enjoy it? Yeah. Did it make me feel a bit bad? Also yeah. So idk, three stars?
The thing about ABBA is yeah there's all those massive bangers on there but then even the album tracks slap too, even the really weird ones about kissing teachers. You just gotta love ABBA anyone who doesn't is a loooooser
It's just great init. Johnny Cash is just really really cool, and the idea of recording a classic to a crowd of prisoners is amazing, hearing them cheer about murders in the songs lol. It's just such a crazy and complicated vibe, probably problematic if you wanted to delve deep, but it's just so cool that I don't wanna ruin the outlaw vibez.
PS It's hilarious to me that on an album where he's singing about shooting people to a crowd of prisoners, some of whom shot people, they still bleep out the swear words.
Another day another banger! I love this album and I love nick drake and his smoooooth dulcet melancholy vibes. Basically tailor made for to get into as a moody teen and act like I was the only one who knew about it.
this brought an absolutely mental energy to getting to stansted airport, spending ages walking to passport control, then finding out all the trains were cancelled and joining a thousand person queue for a national express. I do love this music, The Residents are great, but my god this pranged me out.
Not like my faaaavourite Bowie but listening in the context of this as a lead in to the pure genius of what came a year later makes it kinda fun. And the title track and Fame are some big old bangers
I have a guilty love of Led Zep tbh, maybe it's the feeling of being in my dad's car as a child, or helping him make a Led Zeppelin song his ringtone. It's just funtimes good ol rock n roll to me!
Pretty good and enjoyable early techno, the kind of thing I'd go wild for back in the day after a zesty pinger or two, still nice to work to
Ya know what I like these guys and their melancholy indie country twang, good for them!
I like it, I like classic power pop when it's got a punchiness like this. is it amazing and groundbreaking probs not, but ya know what I'll take it
An all time great tbh, possibly my favourite hip hop album ever? I love A Tribe Called Quest and this era of hip hop more generally where it was lyrical and playful but also hard hitting with really excellent beats.
Good ol' honkytonk slice of meemaws apple pie down the alamo with a side of georgia peach.
I legit like this kinda shit, I like country music, this is fun.
I've got a soft spot for AC/DC tbh, is this caveman music? yes, is it also kinda fun also yes sorry
Fuck yeah all time experimental early electro goth classic I love this shit big time wooooo! Harrowing! Raunchy! Spooky! Yeahhh!! The band Soft Cell should have been!
Quite a formative post punk record for me, tbh it's dated a little bit more than others from around that time like Wire and Pere Ubu but there's still a really fun energy and very unique vibe to this album that I really like
The one and only time I'd listened to this album before now was on an unbelievably heavy magic mushrooms trip. At that time it was pretty great and sent me absolutely mental. Revisiting it sober it's also pretty great! I like this psychy folky rocky late-60s/early70s era a lot.
Hit the spot more than I thought it would tbh, good old fashioned Gen X RAWK but actually quite good!
Massive experimental weirdo banger I love it it’s great fun
U2 are one of those bands where it's a shame they turned so naff because this is actually really good. if it was by a band under a different name I reckon more cool kids would be quite into it the same way they are with other 80s post punk. that's my hot take!
SIX STARS! This album is just banger after banger after banger after banger. It's actually crazy how many amazing pop songs Blondie were just releasing one after the other. One of the best albums ever no notes
I feel like a lot of classic metal can be quite samey to be but there were quite a few little flourishes here that made it more enjoyable than usual, like the weird breathy vocal percussion on Metal Gods. Also it’s quite camp and Breaking The Law is great
It's fine, like, big 80s accessible pop, quite fun, not really for me tho sorry
I was feeling really ill and weird when I listened to this. That kinda worked I guess, this weird fugginess that surrounds the whole record. Really good but I'd tell you why in more detail if I wasn't feeling crazy xox
To me this is not just dad rock but specifically *my* dad rock. i.e. the kind of music enjoyed on an iPad four pints in on a Tuesday night while ignoring your wife and children. I think there's a kind of unabashed mania going on with Deep Purple that I quite like. If you're gonna do loads of twiddly guitar solos then actually go for it like they're doing here. If you're gonna do some mad falsetto howling then make sure you make the most of it and do it for five whole minutes. Drum solos *are* fun to listen to, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. There's a lot of groove and psychedelic sort of power going on here that I actually really like. 4 stars - the process of just becoming my dad really is happening a lot faster than I was anticipating.
Incredibly French. Maybe the Frenchest thing ever. And also the most 90s thing ever. Very saucy - my limited French skills tell me that a lot of this is him naming places in the world and saying he wants to cuddle all the ladies in all those places. Good for him. This is a fun background listen
All time classic! I love this record, love early Black Sabbath. It kinda stands head and shoulders above all the other late 60s early 70s proto metal for me. I particularly like the really moody psychedelic bits like 'Planet Caravan' and 'Electric Funeral' that show the freakier side to the band and juxtapose really well with the big rock hits
It's weird how dated this is tbh, it felt so fresh at the time but feels so intensely 2005 iPod advert now. Dare I say quite cringe? It also feels a bit unfocussed and all over the shop in terms of style, like is it going for wonky Americana or thudding blues rock or what. Still enjoyable enough tho!
Uh oh it's another smoking loads of weed at university classic! I think this holds up pretty well tbh, like you think it's the usual jangly 60s kinda fare but then there's some proper crazy experimental wigouts that they're doing at the exact same time, and I really like that contrast. Its just got that edge of actual weirdness without trying too hard to be wacky.
I don't really like prog like this, like why does it have to be 96 minutes long, it's so noodly and loooooong. It just takes itself way too seriously for me I'm afraid. It's like, really camp, but so straight that it ruins the campness. Maybe if it was the 70s and I nothing to do in my public school digs apart from listen to this over and over again and smoke weed I'd have the time to find the value in it, but it's the go go 2020s rn who's got time for that?? My attention span has been rotted away by the Rizzler and Giovanni's Italian Deli Howyoudoin? and a vape addiction! I can only process hyperpop 30 seconds at a time!!! That said the bit where it sounds like farts is very funny.
Hole > Nirvana sorry lads but it's true. This is a classic big time banger that really holds up - so good you let Courtney Love get away with *a lot* of mad bullshit even to this day. Probs my fav grunge album??
Bit of a meh one tbh kinda like the point U2 turned lame I guess, feels like it just never gets going
I'm pretty sure at one point on the first song he said he's "chooglin' on down to New Orleans" and then it ends with a song called 'Keep On Chooglin'. That kinda sums this up. Great chooglin', I love the choogle as much as the next choogler, but is chooglin' alone enough to make an album great? I don't think so unfortunately. This was enjoyable enough to work to though apart from Proud Mary which I just don't like as a song in general sorry. So y'know three stars I think.
Not really relevant but I was reading the wikipedia and this band used to be called 'The Golliwogs' because the label insisted on it even though they didn't want to??? uwotm8?????? The 1960s truly was one of the decades of all time.
It's so dumb to me that Paul McCartney was seen as naff and rubbish after the Beatles split while John was the acclaimed one, cos so much of this is naff and rubbish, insincere sentimental claptrap! I like a lot of John Lennon's solo stuff, but it's mainly the stuff where he gives in to being the petty and problematic person he really is and is spikey and bristly. there's a bit of that here, but too much wishy washiness for me to really enjoy it. Oh Yoko is peak Wes Anderson core tho and I still like it.
Probably my fave of the straight-up punk bands, probs just cos they had that slightly fruity edge (shout out bi icon Pete Shelley!). This is a bit cruder and more basic and quite repetitive than the really really good stuff that came later but tbh I just have a massive soft spot for the Buzzcocks. And look how young they look on the cover!! (apart from the guy at the front who looks about 18 and 45 at the same time somehow).
What in the fuck is that album cover lmao. I love it. Opening with a 20-minute piece in seven parts which wikipedia tells me is about "an armadillo tank hybrid who is born and loses a fight with a manticore, which concludes with the appearance of an aquatic version of Tarkus named Aquatarkus"? Yeah why not. I think this is the proggiest prog of all time. Black Midi could never.
Nor should they cos once again they progged too close to the sun and ended up with a weird bloated mess. A two-star listen but they get a bonus one for the armadillo tank guy, he's great.
HOT TAKE ALERT this album is massively overrated. Like, it's good enough indie guitar music, I enjoy it, there are a few tracks I think are really great, but I really feel like The Strokes were such a product of hype and having lots of money for PR rather than real talent - as evidenced by the fact they never really made anything good again other than the occasional song. In a just world Liars would have been the weirdo 2000s New York band who revolutionised music. I'd give it three and a half stars but I'm feeling hot and bothered today (and not in a sexy slap of the bum way) so it gets a grumpy three.
Now *here's* some chooglin'. I like blues, I find it hard to think of that much to say about this tho - it's pretty smooth and tight, like really really solid blues rock, but maybe missing that bit of weirdness and edge and intensity that you need to really really get into it?
6music dads wet dream, but also really good. I like Stereolab a lot, this is just real nice to chill and work to, but also there's such a wealth of stuff going on beneath the surface that it also rewards concentration.
It's a good time init, nice and direct riot grrrl (always cringe when i have to write that genre name) goodness, but also just holds up as a straight-up really well-crafted indie rock record.
I lowkey love this honky tonk shit. Objectively this isn't particularly good, but deep down in my soul I feel there's a lonely cowboy trying to get out. Why? I dunno. Maybe I need to unpack some stuff. Maybe I'm just having a weird mental health day. Maybe there's some kind of ancestral folk memory of my great great geegaw's time on the prairie in the 1800s. Fuck it, four stars.
Side note, apparently this guy went out with Sharon Stone for 5 weeks but she dumped him because kissing him was like "kissing a dirt sandwich". Yeeeeeeee haw.
He was never a singer, bless him. I feel like listening to Guns N Roses is a bit like watching an 11 year old boy try to act tough. It's trying to be all big and bad and rebellious but just kinda comes across sort of endearingly daft. Yes dear your guitar playing is *very* fast. Of *course* you've got lots of girls who fancy you. Your rattlesnake suitcase *is* cool (rattlesnake suitcase is a real lyric btw). I did enjoy listening to this despite it being obviously quite rancid in places - like enjoying a 4am kebab despite the burger sauce feeling a bit like it's on the turn – but is it like, *good*? Not particularly.
Big time bangers, a true classic that's both very of its time but never really dated. I've listened to this so many times and I still enjoy it every time. It's just fun init, really really really good tunes, sharp lyrics, wry wit. Everything ya want in an indie pop album.
What the hell is this lol. I think I kinda like it actually? Idk man it's pretty camp, I like all the songwriters who contributed and it captures a bit of that Nick Cave / Scott Walker kitsch-gothy pomp that I've always enjoyed. I doubt I'll ever listen to or think of this ever again, but have three stars as a treat
In the continuum of girlboss indie rock this is kinda halfway between Patti Smith and riot grrrl with a lot of wider late 80s college rock indie thrown in. Which is to say that I think it is good!
Just not my bag at all sorry Chezza, like it's totally fine music, there's just nothing particularly distinguishing about any of this. it's the middlest of the middle of the road I think I've ever heard. All I Wanna Do is fun tho.
Really really enjoyed this, more than I thought I would. I really like samba music but just never really dived in at length, it was really nice to do so. perfect music for stifling heat!!!
Probably my fave Sabbath album, Supernaut slaps so fuckin hard!! So does Snowblind. Just great stuff tbhhhhh
This some smoooooooth stuff right here. Another one of those from my phase of being a very strange 14 year old listening to instrumental jazz because this one was early in the original book. You know what I think it’s still pretty good!
So damn smooth it made me enjoy the heatwave for a bit
It's like, enjoyably 90s I guess, but pretty middling in terms of nu metal which is itself a pretty middling genre. The lyrics are baaaaaaaaaaaad. The music itself is unremarkable. You've gotta be real good to get me into nu metal, and this just aint, so I'm sorry Incubus lads (I'm assuming you're all lads) but it's two stars for you.
MOVEMENT OF JAH PEOPLE
Ya know what while I prefer my reggae a bit edgier, this did slap at times, particularly the title track which was fun to listen to on a serious level not just as the 'it's time to go out' banger from back in the day. Some of the other stuff is pretty sxc. I'd give this three and a half stars because I find Three Little Birds and One Love quite naff (Jammin' still good tho!!) but there arent half stars here and I'm feeling charitable so have four.
I really really love a lot of Simon and Garfunkel songs but ultimately they’re a greatest hits band and there’s loooootsa filler here
Probably the best bork? I think it's the best bork. Gr8 stuff, saucy and smooth like a lovely marinara and very very listenable
This was a really weird one, like I like a lot of early XTC but they’ve thrown late XTC into the mix where some of it is really amazing and some is the worst somgwriting ever. Sometimes maybe good sometimes maybe shit!
Picture the scene: lockdown 2020, I read that Pitchfork has given its first 10/10 review in a decade to the new Fiona Apple album. I'll give it a listen, I think. This is great, I think to myself. The sound of an artist absolutely firing on all cylinders, about as pure and direct a form of musical expression as I can remember, accessible and yet uncompromising. And yet, I feel that I am not the target audience. The target audience is sat across the bed from me making a hat out of a blanket and talking about Dworkin, so I tell her to give it a go.
Ever since this is an album I've mainly experienced via hearing it as karaoke through the bathroom wall while it soundtracks a shower. It was interesting to actually just sit down and listen to it all the way through on its own terms probably for the first time since it came out. My feelings are more or less the same tbh, one of those that's clearly a masterpiece but also just feels like it doesn't connect on that really deep level.
Gonna do my best to separate the art from the nonce here because that's THE MATURE THING TO DO (if only MJ had done the same thing unowhatimsayin). It's obviously this is an iconic huge album and I can see why it was such a huge hit, it's really well crafted pop, super catchy and engaging, but it just doesn't land on a deep level for me. There's also plenty of filler between the big tracks. Liberian Girl? More like LiBORINGen Girl!!!!! Maybe that's cos at the end of the day I am just thinking 'this is nonce music' but idk... ultimately we have Prince and Grace Jones for amazing 80s pop like this.
Big time classic for a reason, one of those hipster choices cool people always cite as an influence but for good reason, this is really great!!
Another of the classic-for-a-reason ones, and another of the ones that I got very into as a teenager (wonder why that lil point-dexter struggled to make friends). I think this is probably unparalleled in terms of soul music, even if that's one of the least hot takes of all time. (My hotter soul take is that Curtis Mayfield's live record is almost as good). Sue me I like to go with the canon sometimes!! Well done Marvin sorry u got shot by ur dad
This brought a big ol wedge of melancholy to my day! Haven't listened to much Elliot Smith since I was a moody moody moody teen so was curious how much this would hold up. Pretty well is the answer, I think it's more dynamic than he's often given credit for, probs because it's only the reeeeaaallly sad shit that people really talk about these days. I enjoyed this.
The The are probably the band I associate most with writing about Soft Cell, weirdly, because I was doing some cursory research on them and then ended up really drawn in by the subtle weirdness of their songwriting. They kinda became one of my favourite bands after that for a bit, so it was fun to see this come up
Really really good neo soul music, super dynamic but super subtle with so much depth. Pretty hard to find any flaws in tbh. Beyonce could NEVER. This is a modern classic
quite cheesy at times but also reminds me of being small and listening in me mum's car so it gets a pass. Very nice and pleasant and calming and tbh the songwriting holds up and boy howdy does he have a smooth and lovely voice
It's a bit mad how the Rolling Stones went from really quite shit to really quite good in such a short amount of time. Like yeah this is still basically just nicking loads of blues rock and pretending to be American like they were at the beginning, but it's just got that lil bit of swaggering spicy edge that the stuff before it didn't. The provocative take is that it's cos they were hitting the sweet spot of drug-taking but tbh I think it's just cos they got Mick Taylor in on guitar. I don't think it's a coincidence that the only truly good Rolling Stones albums are first four with him on them.
Big ol cheesy cheeseball right here, a little bit too cheesy for my tastes if I'm completely honest, the ballads are a liiiitle bit trying for my attention span. That said I do like the up tempo ones especially when he goes ACK ACK ACK ACK ACK ACK ACK and I like how ol' Billy paints a picture with his words (that sounds like I'm being sarcastic but I'm not).
I feel like I'm always slightly disappointed when I come back and listen to The Byrds because when I was younger I thought this was amazing but now it just feels a bit flat or something. Not sure why that is? On paper this should be really up my street and once upon a time it was, but there's just this kind of lack of cohesion that I'm feeling here. WHATS THAT ABOUT
I'm not really a big nu metal guy but I feel like System of a Down just had that special something that the others dont. I think it's just like a sort of campness or silliness, cos this is frequently completely ridiculous, but really engaging and fun
It's like, not the best Beatles but so nostalgic for me that I still really like it, still lots of filler but just so mad to think about how quickly they went from this to really like inventing most of modern guitar music. Big up.
Once again Thom Yorke and his friends doing enough musically to rise above the fact he's a massive bellend. Are Radiohead my ultimate problematic fave? No, that's Morrissey. But they're up there! This is in the category of classic for a reason, just about as interesting and forward-thinking as rock music can possibly get, literally no duds on the whole album. Also evokes very nice memories of being at Glastonbury 2012 and hearing David Bowie was doing a secret set but instead it was Radiohead and I was like 'ffs I'm front row for a secret Radiohead set this is bullshit' but then when they did Karma Police it was obviously really really amazing and I was like OK fair play these guys are going places.
I like this era of Neil Young where it's a bit of an out of tune mess he recorded at 3am in the morning trying to get his friends off heroin, once you let the out of tune messiness take hold it's a good ol' time
I feel like this is recently divorced mum in the mid-90s going her own way typa music, maybe booking a girls trip or something, but like, mostly good! The ballads are a bit of a drag but sometimes it's nice when music is just very direct and melodic like this, the lyrics are a bit deeper and more interesting than the very bright production lets on, and I like the little flourishes that are very influenced by jangly 60s British bands. Liked this more than I thought I would well done Aimee u dont need no man
I remember this record being insaaaanely hyped at the time and feeling like I didn't quite get it and ngl I still feel the same. What, really, is the difference between this and that band Jungle except the (obviously very good) political message. I just think it's overrated is that problematic of me?
People sometimes say when I say I'm not really into Queen that you've gotta look beyond the hits that are everywhere, there's loads of really good stuff on the albums. I had my hopes up given I didn't recognise most of the songs on here but I'm sorry guys it just didn't do anything for me. I just thought it was a bit all over the shop and not in that fun of a way. Maybe next time!
I feel if Blondie hadn't done exactly the same stuff but a bit better a bit later we'd have more time for The Pretenders. I think they're really great and I love that guitar tone. Brass In Pocket is a big time banger. This makes me wanna listen to more Pretenders but sadly I have to listen to different music for my job (it's a tough life).
Side note 1, 'Space Invaders' is an extremely Dry Cleaning coded instrumental, a few of them are actually.
Side note 2, I love how all the male members of the band look about 50 on the album cover but were probably in their early 20s. Tough paper rounds in the 1970s.
