Fucking awful, if liking a modicum of melody or rhythm is a crime then send me to the chair. Despite it being critically acclaimed I can find no merit in this album brief moments where it seems like it might stumble into a cohesive tune are few and far between and never actually come to anything.
Solid, pretty dark, a bit of a slog in subject matter wise and there are no out and out bangers but good production and musicianship and pretty consistently decent
Just sort of passes by, no ebb or flow as an album, only real stand out track is cars as it has a bit of punch but otherwise it’s just pretty decent early electro pop - it’s fine. 3.2
Good album. Prefer the tracks with vocals especially the Beth Orton one. Need to be in the mood, best suited as music in a public space or when driving, wouldn’t sit down and put it on jus to listen to it as a full album but wouldn’t skip any tracks if the come on in a shuffle. 3.7
Percussionists wet dream. Sounds like music made for trendy late night bars. I liked it, the 15 min drum jam on the last track may have been a bit much for me but overall good stuff if you are in the mood or want something to play in the background to set atmosphere.
3.4
Hot take: this album is good but not great. It on occasion slips perilously close to tedious due to long songs with no real change of pace and Torn curtain is a weak closer.
Overall I like it and standout songs like the title track are excellent but overall it’s a solid album not a classic for me.
3.5
Very nostalgic, overplayed at the time but on re listen it’s a very good album. Actually more breadth than I remembered some tracks to me sounded a little “Massive Attacky” and the singles are good when you haven’t been bombarded by then on ever advert.
3.9
I like this, BB’s best album. When viewed against the hair metal / hair rock of the time of its release it stands out as being a bit different, a bit of a blend of metal/ rock/ funk/ hardcore with an 80’s production sheen.
3.4
Great debut album, by and large short sharp songs with only one or two that feel a little filler.
4
It’s OK, when they let things like melody and song structure shine through it’s actually quite good but too often it gets a bit tuneless in the name of being a bit hard edged. 3
It’s fine. Listened on the drive to work, was inoffensive, none of the tracks really grabbed me. Probably a little too long but overall a pleasant enough, if a little borning album.
2.8
“I hate the world and my parents” in album form. It made me want to pierce my eyebrow and wear mascara to rebel against society.
It’s good in places, but in others it’s fucking awful, especially that song with Fred Durst, a 30 year old shouting I hate you for 4 mins is a hard listen.
If it’s your genre I am sure it is seminal, for me it’s 4 or 5 good songs among a barrage of self hate filled teenage petulance set to repetitive Nu Metal groves.
2.2
Not my cup of tea but can appreciate why it is a revered album, the drumming and guitar work are really good and Tommy Iommi knows how to write a riff but if your not into this style of early metal it’s a bit of a slog.
2.5
I really like this Album, I think RW’s voice sounds a lot like Thom York, good songs, Walker Bros inspired arrangements. Really solid. 3.8
Of its time, the covers generally are good versions or in some cases improved versions of the originals and the 1 Jagger/ Richard’s song is one of the stronger on the album but I just can’t get excited about this era of British Invasion rhythm and blues. Objectively a good album but not my wheel house.
2.8
Good album, has some of Neil Youngs best songs in it. His voice sometimes grates on me after extended exposure but at 34 mins this is a sweet spot.
4
The good songs are good unfortunately I could only identify 3 on the album with the best being sort of standard vaguely industrial electro pop.
Nothing on it is bad per se it’s just not particularly great
2.7
Expected to dislike this but I really thought it was good. Expected the production to be good but the actual tune- smithery was excellent, it had more depth than I expected so if this is what teenage girls are listening to nowadays it’s way better than the boyzone of the 90s and 00’s in my day.
I wouldn’t seek it out but if it was put in I would be perfectly happy.
3.3
Like a few Beetles albums has way to many songs, 20 tracks is just too much unless you have a dozen or so bangers and unfortunately this has 5 good tunes (2 of them are all time
Beetles greats - While my guitar gently weeps and blackbird) but the other 15 tracks are fine or in too many instances total bollocks.
Maybe it’s a post war, memories of rationing, bang for your buck thing but as an album it is totally devalued by the sheer weight of its filler
2
Really good album, good tunes and I really like his voice. I had been recommended this when it came out but didn’t get round to listening to it but glad I did
4.2
MSP have been a favourite of mine for decades. This album can be heavy going lyrically but James Dean Bradfield is an excellent tune smith.
There are some real highlights that come when JDB’s music strains through with his melodic sensibilities against Richie Edwards lyrical content.
Overall a great album that stands up for me even when a lyric like “he’s a boy, you want a girl so tear off his cock, tie his hair in bunches, fuck him, call him Rita if you want” is not the darkest on there! 4.2
Everyone likes to shit on U2 but that’s just because Bono is a twat, I think everything they done from inception to 1992 was great.
This album sits in the middle of their output during that period, classics like Bloody Sunday and New Year’s Day carry some of the less dynamic songs but overall it’s a really solid album especially for its time, I imagine it would have sounded pretty great against a back drop of New Romantic pop.
3.4
Great album, really varied, good guest spots, I really like her voice.
A melodic hip hop classic
4
Can appreciate the quality, song craft, lush arrangements but to me this style of music is background music for an Italian restaurant, it jus can’t hold my attention.
This is music to listen to in 1993 the back of your parents 1991 Sierra Saphire, when clyde 1 is in the background and it’s this, simply red and stings solo output on rotation. Pretty non descript early 90’s dance pop.
But to be fair it’s the best version of non descript, early 90’s dance pop because the Pet Shop Boys made it so it has some good choruses and flourishes
The bit in the song Yesterday when I was mad where it devolves into a Base Generator - lite track with Neil
Tennant rapping literally made me piss myself.
2.9
This done nothing for me.
The man who sailed around his soul was the most interesting track, the vocal style must have been what Southpark aped for the Catholic Boat theme.
I found it boring and a bit insipid
2
I remember buying this when I was a teenager, listening to the opening track and thinking this will be up my street….. and some of it was, the more avant guard, art rock wig out stuff, whilst I am it sure was exciting in 1967, deducts points for me.
I like it overall but feel it could have been a stone cold classic if it had less…. How do I put this…. art bollocks?
3.4
This just sounds like “Novelty Indie”
to me…. But the novelty wears off after one track and is replaced by an intense tedium.
1.4
One of their darker albums
It’s a good album if you are in the mood for it, but you might not be in the mood for its all too often.
3.3
I can imagine sitting in a blues club, knocking back a few and watching this performance perfectly happily but this style of old blues is just not something I ever put on to listen to.
I can appreciate his voice, his soulful guitar work the quality of the band but it’s just not something to actively listen to for me.
2.3
People my age only say they like Credence because of the Big Lebowski. They have some bangers in their catalogue but this album is mainly just bland blues jams. John Fogertys voice carry’s it and
Another banger from Taylor, I liked the tunes, the 80th synth undertones and production.
Of this was released in 1989 by Stevie Knicks Davy McPhee would love it but he is not man enough to allow himself to like it now
3.6
Great example of early hip hop evolution, crisp beats, great riffs. A short sharp hit of 80’s electro / hip-hop excellence.
3.7
Another great hip hop classic. Great samples, great beats. One of the best of the era 4
Breezy 60’s folk pop elevated by a couple of great songs in California Dreaming and Monday Monday.
A perfectly pleasant album.
3.3
A great album, beautiful guitar work and I love his voice.
4.7
Great album. Probably best Nick Cave album. Into My Arms is one of the greatest live songs written. A classic.
4.4
Truthfully I think this is better than quite a few Beatles LP’s of the Beatles LP’s, a lot of it is pretty throwaway but I think there is enough good stuff to make it a solid album. In Momma Miss America the influence on so many songs in the last 40 years is clear, the baseline and drums sound fresh today. I think this album is a good example of Paul McCartney in general he can write a banger likeLive and Let Die one minute and total dross likeWild Honey Pie the next - he is prolific, occasionally sublime but lacks filter… I don’t dislike this album.
3.1
I liked this album. Wildfires is a stand out track. Good background music, play through quality. It has some musical variety and no real low points.
3.6
Restaurant music, made me hungry. This is just not something I would ever intentionally listen to. I can appreciate the musicianship and I’m sure it’s a quality example of what it is but it’s so out of my wheelhouse it’s hard to judge
2.2??
I really wanted to like this album, I actually listened to it twice to see if it would grow as I liked Paper Planes when it came out but I really could get to grips with the repetitive “Electro Dancehall”
It is really critically lauded but I couldn’t listen to this album again if I tried.
1.3
I like this style of music although on this album I am not as keen on the sort of serious stuff, I much prefer the how do I win my baby back pop stuff…. Also disappointed that they have included the worst cover of I Heard It Through The Grape Vine that may ever have been released on record .
Overall decent 3.1
One of FL’s most consistent albums, some great melodies, and interesting choices. Minor criticism might be that perhaps it’s a smidge indulgent, maybe a little conceited but it’s hard to criticise a band for sounding like they sound and FL have always been stoically off kilter. Overall one to check out if you are not already a fan
4.1
Another one of these albums that sits in a genre I just wouldn’t listen to, feels like background mood music for a bar to me. It’s perfectly fine but doesn’t hold my attention and once it had finished I didn’t retain any memory of specific tracks.
2.2
This is what I think of when I think of 70’s folk rock. If it’s your thing this is probably a great album, if it’s not it’s fine. I am in the latter camp, there are some good tracks and there are some forgettable ones.
2.6
I don’t care if any of the underlying songs have any merit it’s drowned by the saccharine, sanitised late 90’s production. I don’t even think Britney has a good voice unlike some other paedo baiting sex pots of the period.
1.0
I am ambivalent about the who, they have some great tunes but I can’t stand Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend is a nonce.
Separating the art from the artists this album is decent, couple of stand out tracks, couple of good covers, nothing really let’s it down
3.3
As a Gram Parsons fan I like this album, it’s essentially a precursor to his work with The Flying Burritto Brother and solo output. The covers are good and as far as late 60’s Country Rock goes you can’t go wrong with SHOFR.
It’s not something I’ll listen to all that regular but whenever I do it hits a spot.
3.7
Great album full of R&B soul classics. Great guitar work, cover versions are strong as is the self penned tracks.
Not my go to genre but can’t ignore the quality.
3.8
Not a massive fan of their full discography but I like this album as it seems to be the one where they decided to be a bit tuneful and groovy, as much as Kraftwerk can be such things. I think you can hear the influence of Georgio Moroder / Donna Summer I feel
Love which was released the year prior in this album and it’s all the better for it.
3.4
I really liked this, I am aware of Supertramp but I am not aware of ever listening to them with the exception of Blinded By The Light.
Lots of good books, tight groves and poppy ear worms considering their prog AOR labelling.
Happily put this on in the car again and do another end to end listen.
3.7
I really like this album but I do think that Nevermind is better. There are one or two songs I don’t dig; Very Ape, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter and Tourette’s but the rest is great, love the drum sound and guitar tone
4.2
Can imagine this being the shit at the time, I usually struggle with anything further back than late 60’s but I enjoyed this album, the songs were short and punchy enough to have me tapping my toes happily.
For me it’s solid for older generations I expect it’s seminal.
3.4
A 90’s hip hop classic, re listening as a middle aged man I wish they would remove the skits and intros and just get on with the music and the glamorisation of the gangsta life comes off a little childish but you can’t argue with the tracks.
Would have been a 5 in my teens now it’s 4
Some great songs but some that are a bit flat, far too much Theramin which distracts from what are often exquisitely lush underlying arrangements.
I can see this album being quite polarising, overall I like it also feels like a missed opportunity.
3.3
I like NY but I struggle with his voice over longer periods. This album gets a bit tiresome for me, it just does not have any really great songs on it that said, Neil being average is still pretty good
3.4
Floated by very agreeably, great voice, pretty songs. Good album.
3.7
Awesome, great songs, great voice, fantastic arrangements a classic
4.7
Belter of an album, what a way to start and the funky base lines, snappy drums and synth orchestration never let up. 80’s pop perfection. 4.6
Firstly, one of the great cover artworks of all time.
Some of the more accessible poppy tracks to me sounded like they were a big influence on early Wham!. I liked some of the tracks but there wasn’t enough strong hooks or ear worms, one of those albums that you need to listen to again as afterward you forget most of it even if you quite enjoyed parts of it, the problem is that its not good enough for me to want to listen to it again.
I would definitely frame the front cover and hand it on my wall though.
2.4
Personally I think Mezzanine was their best album but they could and probably should have had 3 on this list.
Listening to this in full again I can see why it is so revered, it hangs together very well as a whole and has some stand out tracks, hard to believe it’s 35 years old, holds up really well and has clearly been a massive influence in the years following.
4.2
Yes Bono is a self aggrandising prick BUT! … that should not mean that one cannot appraise U2’s output fairly, I stand by my assertion that 1980 - 1992 U2 were a top quality rock band and this album serves as strong evidence to support this. It’s maybe 10 mins too long, maybe lacks one more higher energy track but these are not fatal flaws , it’s a strong album and deserves recognition as such
4.2
Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven and Nothing Else Matters are decent tunes but the rest is just the chuga- chuga- boom- boom - growl formula that make Metallica generally tiresome for me.
1.9
I really like this album, it doesn’t have a banger like Born Slippy but it’s at times hypnotic, surprising and varied.
I’m not big into techno stuff but if it’s of this quality I can dig it.
3.7
I am not a jazz nut but I enjoyed this, it’s very much music that evokes a relaxed mood for me. It’s not something I would put on often but in the right setting I would be happy to have this as playing end to end
4
I really loved this album when it was released, it’s still great but 25 years on it’s does feel a tiny bit one note and the vocal production choice to have some sort of fuzz effect on every track grates a little.
3.8
It’s a bit too long and repetitive, the basic blues jams with distortion gets a bit tiresome, there are some really good tracks in there but it’s too padded out to be a classic.
Solid if unexceptional.
3.4
A cracking album, breezes by with great songs, tight vocal harmonies and the sound of late 60’s / early 70’s California.
3 of the best to do it, doing it best
4.5
Can appreciate how good a song writer Carole King was but I found this album a little insipid, it’s seems like subsequent covers of her originals always popped more.
Well written, well sung, well played but it didn’t really hit the way it maybe should have
2.9
I didn’t gel with this album. The singles are ok but the rest was just pretty bland New Romantic synth pop, no other tracks stood out.
2.2
Some great grooves, hard hitting riffs and if you are in the mood for RATM nothing else will do.
It’s a great album that for me is slightly let down by Zak de la Rocha’s vocals which after a couple of tracks grate a little, best listened to in instalments if possible.
4.2
Much as I would like to dislike this due to my dislike of Morrissey as a character…. It’s actually a really solid album, Suedehead had a great opening guitar riffs, Everyday is Like Sunday is a classic and the rest is pretty high quality.
Overall separating the art from the artist it’s objectively a bit of a banger
4
Lacks the dynamism and variety of both Funeral and Neon Bible. It’s not a bad album but it’s a bit boring and samey.
3
There is a lot of lore around this album but it’s not their best outing. There are some soulful moments and the vocals are great but it lacks standout tracks to be a stone classic.
3.3
A Sabbath album I can get behind. Much more mature than there early stuff, the album where they seemed to balance heaviness, melody and grove best.
The track FX is just filler and pointless but otherwise it’s consistent with some great tracks.
4.2
I haven’t listened to this album in quite sometime and going doing so again I get why the Libertines had a loyal fan base. The songs get to the point and there are lots of ear worms throughout.
3.8
This sounds to me like it would be the full soundtrack to an unreleased Bill & Ted movie from 1993. It’s basically throwaway cock pop rock pish, admittedly with some hooks.
2
One of the best albums, one of the best songwriters and guitarists from the best decade. It’s a banger
4.6
A collection of boring, insipid songs sung by female Morrisey. 1.2
Public Service announcement; Do not download the 2hr + special edition , the original 40min 10 track release is on Spotify.
I thought I was going to really like this album but it was only OK and only just OK. I listened to it twice to make sure I had been paying attention as I usually listen whilst driving/ working / doing housework but I probably liked it less 2nd time around, it’s not that it’s bad it’s just that it’s not that good, there are a couple of decent tunes but the rest for me was petty pedestrian, sort of reminded me of the Only Ones who I felt the same about but then they had a mega banger that is missing from The Soft Boys catalogue.
2.3
Not a massive Reggae fan but this album floats by amiably. Catch a fire and Stir it up are stand out tracks.
3.2
The 2nd half is better than the 1st but that’s a low bar…… it’s still pish.
1.3
I really like this album, I do enjoy YYY’s synth heavy phase in general. It doesn’t have any of the really punchy tracks found in their earlier stuff but as a sort of shoegazy album with good underlying Melodys I think it works well
4
This album is where KOL and I parted company back in the day. Edgy as a satsuma, firmly formulated to fill arenas full of teenage girls, shame that they fell off so sharply after 3 great albums but you can’t blame them for wanting to be successful.
2.3
What an album! Foo fighters only had 2 good ones and The Colour and The Shape was their breakthrough so people often forget how good the debut was. If they stopped after 2 and Dave Grohl didn’t become a Bore-Rock superstar this album would be lauded as an essential classic.
The two weaker tracks for me are still decent (big me and for all the cows) and Exhausted is perhaps the best song DG has ever written, certainly musically I think so.
It’s a banger
4.7
It’s hard to judge this objectively having a strong affection for J.C. Listening end to end this is an album of frequent highs with a couple of glaring lows, it would have benefited greatly from a little more consideration of the songs to be covered, Bridge Over Troubled Water is a weak effort against the original, there are plenty of better renditions of Danny Boy and In My Life doesn’t gain anything by the composition and JC vocal style.
Johnny’s voice remains a powerhouse even shortly before death, Personal Jesus, Hurt, I Hung My Heart and I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry are inspired cover choices, The Man Comes Around is a great JC song. Often brilliant but occasionally flawed.
4.1
I get that he is the Godfather of Rock and Roll and I get why he was an icon and loved by all but this era of R&R does not do anything for me, it’s too far removed from anything I can relate to. Yes, if before this you were listening to Artie Shaw and Bing Cosby then fair enough it probably sounded exciting but 70 years down the line it sounds basic, boring and repetitive.
1.3
Bowie has never been a consistent album artist for me. He has frequent moments of genius and you have to appreciate the breath of styles he covered in his career but this album has always just been fine for me. Nothing terrible on here but maybe a bit boring. Young Americans, Fascination and Fame are the best tracks.
Overall perfectly pleasant with some good grooves but not very exciting.
3.4
Made me hungry and put me in the mood for a Margarita. Honestly probably the first time I have listened to Latin Music outwith a restaurant or bar setting, I must say, in the car driving to work it feels out of place. I can appreciate that if you dig this genre it’s a banger , even I recognise some of the songs but it’s just not in my register, I would never put this on so it has limited value for me.
2
I feel like I knock out 3’s a lot on here but not all 3’s are the same. This album is a quintessential “strong 3” it’s better than lots of other 3’s but it would need a reasonable amount of improvement to be a 4.
I like PF, he seems like a good chap, he has some catchy tunes, the live format suits well as it gives some more dynamism to his tracks and allows him to show some guitar chops but it’s over long and suffers from being a bit bland in parts.
Pete can take solace that he has crept on to the safe side of average, he is the middle of the middle, he has a safety blanket to protect him from relegation to a 2, he can relax and know that he hasn’t embarrassed himself, he is above and below 2/5 of the field.
He also definitely pumped Justin Hawkins from the Darkness’s maw at some point too.
3.0
This is garbage. Repetitive, basic bitch nu -punk bollocks. Having listened to it I now know that Pretty Fly For a White Guy is an almost note of note rehash of Come Out and Playz
This is music for angry 14 year olds with notes from their doctor to get out of doing gym class. Teenage angst peddled by 30 year olds with bad haircuts
1.3
JJ had a great voice, genderless and powerful and some of the songs on this record are great but for me the production lets it down a little. That said the highlights are frequent enough to make this a really good record if not quite great
3.4
Thing about Morrisey albums is that he picks talented songwriters to take care of the music and arrangement and he only writes the lyrics so really he is the Bernie Taupin of the operation. To me it’s all about the tunes, bad lyrics can definitely drag songs down but no quality of lyric can elevate bad music.
I don’t like him but I do like his albums, that’s not an endorsement of the monumental ball bag that is Stephen Morrissey but rather an objective recognition of his taste in song writing partners.
4.0
Sounds like the background music for a Stasky and Hutch montage. When it locks into a grove it can be good, the baselines stand out for me but the songs are too long and after a few mins of a prog jazz jam I am over them.
I sort of want to be able to say I like Zapa but it has a little to much jazz sax and guitar noodling to really hold my attention so doesn’t give much enjoyment.
2.3
I really didn’t like this album. I generally thought I liked Elvis Costello but this was annoyingly bad, I have no idea why it’s on the list as E.C has done so much better stuff. All of the songs felt way too long, even the short ones and sonically it was repetitive and boring, there is literally not one hook on here, it’s like a different artist from My Aim Is True.
1.4
Things I like about Pearl Jam 10: Big Riffs catchy hooks, high energy, great melodies
Things I don’t like: Eddie Vedders unintelligible, hurdy- gurdy vocals.
Scrapes a 4 because the former are so strong they offset the latter just enough.
3.6
Started well, the music on the first 2 tracks was actually pretty decent, lo-fi guitars punctuated by pretty orchestration but I’m afraid Nico’s voice and delivery ground me down early. The rest of the album just grated even when the underlying tracks may have had some merit I can’t take her singing.
1.9
As a 17 year old I liked this album more than I should but then to be fair I was 17 and it appears I probably skipped more than half of the tracks. Cant deny that Scar Tissue, Other side and Road tripping are great tumes but the rest is pretty monotonous. The worst thing about all Chilli’s output is always Anthony Kiedis his purile sex raps are awful, he can’t write lyrics and can’t sing so is an interesting choice of frontman.
I am sure he thinks that Emit Remmus was a genius subversive move to avoid the cliche of having a song called Summer Time….. but then he is a Latot Tnuc.
2.3
Lacks the highs of Loveless but it has some good tracks and is probably a bit more accessible for non MBV fans.
3.0
Any album that has The Sun Always Shines on TV and Take On Me included is going to be worth a listen. The rest is pretty inoffensive 80’s electro pop.
3.2
If Massive Attack, Air and Mazzy Star had a depressed baby. Great tracks, amazing vocals, pure mood and vibe. Awesome. 4.6
I didn’t really dig this. There just wasn’t any tracks that I remembered after it ended. I feel like it could benefit from repeat listening but who has time for that.
DB was an icon and produced some of the greatest music ever so it feels a bit shitty to be down on a late career album that was released just a few years prior to his death but I didn’t really enjoy it and I really wanted to
1.8
I fucking hate AC/DC - I know people love them but then people are idiots. I find their tunes tiresome, once you have heard one you have heard them all and I can’t look beyond the weirdo Paedo baiting Jimmy Crankie outfit and purile sex meteors.
Gets a point for You Shook Me All Night Long because I like the chorus.
1
Really solid album, lush arrangements and enough good songs to carry someone slower patches. It maybe doesn’t have a real stand out track that reaches the heights of Waltz #2 but there are no real low spots, even the less favoured tracks have a quality to them.
4.2
Really good album. Some great base lines and funky drumming, it’s best when it’s being funky but even the slower songs are pretty good.
4.2
If this is your genre I can see why this album is a classic, I enjoy the funkier more upbeat tracks, some of the jams are a bit long. Whilst it’s not something I would listen to much the baselines and drumming would keep me engaged.
3.6
I don’t really like a lot of modern hip hop so I went in with an expectation I might not like this but I was very wrong! Such musicality, loads of great samples and instrumentation that give it a real texture and musical sophistication reminiscent of early De La Soul and Tribe Called quest.
I really dug this, the variety and musicality of the tracks were so good I found myself nodding along to a song about washing one’s ass!
Probed my preconception on modern hip hop wrong.
4.4
90’s classic from a quintessential 90’s band. Strong singles and some solid album tracks - one or two that I can take or leave but nothing terrible. Overall quality + nostalgia makes it a big thumbs up in my book.
4.2
Again with Sabbath I have to be in the mood, I get why people love it but it’s not my go to. Drumming is great and there are some great riffs but after a strong start on the first 3 tracks for me it gets a bit repetitive and some of the songs would benefit from being a little shorter. I also always feel like Planet Caravan is an obvious album closer and whilst it’s my favourite song on the album seems miss sequenced to my ear.
They are the best at what they do bombastic drums, hard riffs, they did have a great influence on generations of metal bands to come…. I’m just not a metal head so can’t rate it as high as other surely will
3.2
Separating the paedo piece of shit from the music… I still don’t like this.
I’m sure in the 50’ s it sounded exciting but it’s just a guy with an annoying voice banging on a piano and whooping.
Obviously there are a couple of tracks that have entered into legend and it would be churlish to deny JLL was a key figure in an important moment in the evolution of rock n roll, but for someone born in the 80’s it’s rudimentary and boring
1
Describe this album:
“Proggy Sabbath lite with extensive, extensive flutery”
Sounds awful.
It’s actually alright 🤷🏻♂️.
3
Floats by like a funky sailors cap caught in a summer breeze.
3.3
I remember listening to this album on a school trip to Paris in 98, it’s a good album, when it hits it really hits, a couple of the tracks are a little flat and long for me but overall it’s interesting, in parts groovy and pretty unique.
3.6
Hard to judge this, I like songs with a story and some of them on here are pleasant enough if the mood takes you but I would never feel like listening to the whole album. Like a lot of the very old albums on here they are just too far removed from my era / taste.
I like later stuff that was probably influenced by this (see Dave Alvin) but that’s because the music is way more developed and interesting.
2.2
I really like Gram Parsons and listening to this I can hear he must have been very influenced Merle Haggard.
Country isn’t my comfort zone but if it’s done well I can dig it, good stories, plenty of lap steel and some tight harmonies. There are some stand out tracks on here and in general I like it.
Totally appreciate that if you don’t like the genre you won’t like this album but this is an example of high quality country music of the 60’s / 70’s.
3.4
Jazz isn’t my bag but as background music this album is pretty good.
Can understand why it is on this list. I won’t go out of my way to listen to it again but can appreciate why it’s a classic for Jazz fans, it actually has some hooks.
3
The first band on this list so far I was unaware of so went in with no preconceptions. Felt like some sort of punk - lite to me, not quite raw enough to scratch that itch and not quite musically or melodically interesting enough to sit as a good rock / pop album.
I sort of wanted to like this but to me it sort of sounded like a Crowded House trying to sound like The Stooges - sounding like one or the other is great, but the middle is meh.
2.4
Coming off give em enough rope London Calling must have been perplexing for committed Clash fans at the time, first time I heard it I wasn’t sure what I made of it. The title track, Rudie Can’t Fail, Clampdown and Train in Vain have always been stand outs but over the years I have now grown to appreciate the album as a whole, it’s super eclectic in a way few albums are and shows why that clash were more than just a punk band.
The covers of Brand New Cadillac and Wrong Em Boyo really are surplus to requirement in my opinion but the rest is strong enough to maintain classic status.
4.6
Some good riffs a couple of good tunes (walk this way, sweet emotion are classic tracks) a few that just pass me by. If you want a quintessential 70’s rock album you could a lot worse but for me overall it’s solid not exceptional
It’s fine. 3.0
Generally I like Steve Earle but this album is pretty pedestrian 80’s country rock, the title track and someday are great and there are a couple of other inoffensive ditties but nothing that really stands out like S.E at his best. Its good, not great.
3.2
Soaring highs but being honest there are some portions of meandering self indulgence. Cant argue with his voice but sometimes less is more and he is best when straight singing. When the tracks hit they hit big and that carry’s the album to being one that people should hear before they die.
4.0
I think this is one of their best if not their best. Manages to be consistent but has variety. I understand keeping your drummer happy but Yellow Submarine doesn’t do anything here. Songs like Elenor Rigby, She Said She Said, And Your Bird Can Sing and Tomorrow Never knows stand out for me, unlike many Beatles albums there is no real trash filler as to be fair, unnecessary as it is, YS has a catchy chorus and is harmless enough.
Bearing in mind this hit in 66 it’s apparent to see why it had such an impact.
4.2
I’m a Boss fan so of course I like this album, puts me in the mood to undertake some working class struggle in New Jersey. The track Factory, in hindsight sight, does sound like Bruce Springsteen doing a satire of Bruce Springsteen but it’s not really the lyrics for me on this album it’s the epic dirge ballads and bombastic pop sensibilities …. I dig them
4.1
3 killer songs on an album of 17 tracks just doesn’t cut it. Breaking The Girl, Give it Away and Under the bridge are indisputably great songs but the rest is filler, they all sound like rehearsal room, sex funk jams rather than complete songs.
2.2
I love prince, his aesthetic, his attitude, his ambition, guy is a legend….. That said, when it comes to listening to full albums of his there will always be a chance of some liberal use of the skip button. In 1999 there are some bangers, the album is front loaded so starts super strong but the 2nd half feels to long and doesn’t appeal as much driving to work on a rainy Monday as it might in an 80’s Minneapolis night club or certain other settings / situations I am unlikely to find myself in anytime soon.
The problem with being prolific is editing, Prince released 39 albums from 1978 until his death in 2016, that’s more than one per year….. just because you write a song doesn’t mean you should release it!
3.3
I can imagine anyone who bought this on the basis of hearing Bohemian Rahpsody being perplexed by the George Formby/ Noel Coward style ditties that are peppered around. It sounds like a comedy album at times. As always Brian Mays guitar tone is great and the singles are strong but not much else to see here.
2.4
I’m not a Deep Purple fan, to me it’s just basic bitch early heavy rock. You have to appreciate the musicianship but then again it’s hard to keep attention in a non gig setting to 10min long mid song jams and solos.
Does nothing for me, I expect it does loads for some but I am not arsed about listening to it again.
2.3
Pretty basic bitch 80s rock but they are cool guys and were in Back to The Future 3 so they get an extra point for that.
3
I do like the inventiveness of the music in this album and fix up look sharp is a banger but I need to be in the mood to listen to more than a track or 2 at a time nowadays. 2.7
Starts very well, maybe a bit of filler in the middle 3rd. You can hear the influence of American bands like Pavement and Sonic Youth. The singles are all great, Beetlebum might be my favourite Blur song.
Overall a strong record and given it’s came 18 months after The Great Escape it’s Testament to the Blurs ability to sound completely different from prior themselves and pull it off.
4.2
In hindsight sight as a 40 year old the lyrical content on many of the tracks seems somewhat immature, gratuitously violent and misogynistic….. but the beats are strong, the samples groovy and you have to appreciate how influential this album was
4
First time I heard this album I liked come of the tracks but Edwyn Collins crooning grated on me a bit. I like E.C but I am afraid the same is true today. RIP it up is a great song and some of the other tracks are interesting but it’s held back by the vocals for me.
2.6
I really like this album. Hadn’t listened to it before but was a passing Beck fan based on his 90’s output so when listening to this I was really surprised by the style. I can hear a lot of Nick Drake and some John Martyn on some of the tracks. It’s not one to get you out of bed ready to face the day but it’s really great song writing.
4.3
I remember not being fussed about this album when it came out, I had seen FF live and they were good I bought the album but I don’t think I ever listened to it in full. On reappraisal I don’t know why it didn’t grab me at the time. The songs are punchy, funky and melodic and it’s a well balanced album. It may have been the Orange Juice comparisons the music press were making at the time but to me this is far better version of art school indie rock.
4.1
Sounds like the pet shop boys soundtracking Miami vice with Leonard Cohen singing…. I actually dig it!
3.7
Pretty insipid organ forward 60’s pop rock. The 15 min wig out at the end is boring after 3 mins. Not a fan.
2
It’s probably not really fair or relevant for me to rate this album. It’s not something I would seek out to listen to. In the right setting i.e having a mojito in a trendy bar or eating Latin food it’s perfect but driving to work on a Monday or doing the house work or sitting in the local boozer on a Saturday it just does not translate.
I can appreciate the quality, the musicianship and the vibe but it’s not sit down and actively listen music to me so i can only rate it so high.
2.5
Coming back from Nam and being laid off from the factory has never sounded so good! An album full of singles….. literally, they released 8.
The moment that Bruce’s stirring dirge balladry met 80’s production values and went stadium with snappy gated drums and synth pads that make this nostalgia bomb the absolute banger it was, is and always will be.
YEAH!!! 💪🏼 4.7
Clearly a very talented folk guitar player, I always wanted to check him out on the back of Johnny Marr saying he was a major influence, but for me this album lacks something, it sounds like a sort of pound shop Nick Drake, none of the songs really grab me and there are no memorable Melodies, it played, it didn’t grab me, it didn’t offend me and when it finished I had no inclination to listen to it again.
2.3
When this album came out I thought MJ was a tough SOB white guy with cool hair, I had a lot to learn.
This album is a catalogue of catchy 80’s pop, Dirty Diana, Smooth Criminal and Man in the Mirror are stand outs for me but listening to it again I was amazed how many massive tracks feature on one album. It’s not my go to type of music but you can’t deny the quality and constancy of the output of MJ during this era
4.1
Big Talking heads fan but I don’t think they really crystallised their brilliance until Fear of music. You can hear glimpses of the funky, alt pop brilliance to come on this album but some of the songs feel a little twee, art school for my liking. Psycho Killer is a great single and there are some great choruses.
In isolation it’s good but great, viewed as part of their full cannon it’s better
3.3
I never really got into this when it was released, just felt a bit too
Polished and poppy but in registering I think it has grown on me a little. Milk is a great track and what I seen as sterile in the 90’s has sort of transformed to competence and quality. It’s not an essential for me bit I can now understand why it went platinum
3.3
I liked this, moody, sparse hypnotic at times. I imagine it would be a really good night time driving album.
3.8
Floated by quite nicely, a decent slice of America. Perhaps the covers were not needed but a good album to play on a summers day
3.4
I get why early 60’s teeny boppers loved this but to me this is like proto One Direction era Beatles, a few catchy pop tunes with shitty 60’s production, a couple of covers that are not as good as the originals and some filler.
The Beatles cemented their place in musical history when they started to experiment and their albums were not aimed at 14 year old girls.
2
I always felt Eels were underrated, this fine introduction and their next two albums, Electro-shock Blues and Daisies of the Galaxy are fantastic so I never got how their sales dropped off so steeply after Beautiful freak.
A great balance of hooky, interesting edgy, melodic, perhaps there is a slight tendency toward slightly dour tones but overall definitely one of the 90’s under appreciated bangers in my opinion
4.2
I have a real few live of Paul Simon, something about his compositions, guitar playing and voice just soothes me.
You have to give it to a wee white guy who opens with a banging Reggae track out of nowhere, the album then lilts into more familiar folk guitar balladry before another curve ball in Me and Julio down by the school yard which is a decade long breadcrumb to the Afro beat style that would come with Graceland. The thing you have to recognise with PS is that he can make these wild oscillations and still knock out bangers in whatever genre he chooses.
4.6
Smooth 80’s yuppie pop…I sort of dig it.
3.1
Pet Shop Boys early stuff is great. Really good electronic sophisto-pop is how to best describe it. Hooky, poppy melodys with a much deeper musical sophistication on closer inspection.
4.2
I think this is a great album. She gets a little cookie at times and often people hold that against her but I like that it’s a little off kilter. The tracks have breadth and whilst some don’t quite land often the music and vocals are amazing and it’s always interesting. The collaboration with David Arnold Play Dead with its massive strings and soaring vocals is a fantastic song…. Regardless of the Vauxhall Vectra being a shit motor.
4.2
I don’t like Jay Z, I don’t like his voice, I don’t like his mongaloid face, I don’t like his P-Diddy 2.0 sec pest vibe but separating the artist from the art this album has some merits. Ignoring the boastful self mythologising some of the underlying tracks are good, there are some great sample choices and tunefulness that makes it understandable why some hip hop fans revere it.
2.4
I like CT, I will admit that 37 mins is optimal length for their albums as too much after that the vocals probably go from being a strength to a weakness (they might start to grate)
Solid album some of their best tracks on here. Dreamy, melodic, unique and the right length!
4.1
Prog just ain’t my jam. I have never craved long organ solos and you can change time signatures as many times as you want but in the words of Shania Twain…. That don’t impress me much!
1.8
If Courtney Love wasn’t a junkie tabloid darling then latterly Hole may have gotten the credit they deserved for their musical output.
This album has 2 or 4 weaker tracks, with a little trimming at the time it would
have been a tight package indeed but there is still alot to like, I got Big Star with CL vocals on some of the tracks and the singles are strong.
3.7
Bonus points for the frankest, most relatable lyric of the Madchester scene “Son I’m 30, I only went with your mother cos she’s dirty”
In parts groovy, poppy, funky and underwhelming it’s hard not to boost up the score due to liking what they stood for, an important album with some great tracks but it does have some flat spots too.
3.4
Like all Beatles album there are some great songs surrounded by a lot of filler at best, tat at worst.
Come together, Something, Here Comes the Sun, and Sun King are excellent but none of the rest is even particularly memorable one way of the other.
4/17 isn’t a an acceptable hit rate even when the good songs are so good.
2.8
The intersection where jazz lounge singer meets Motown and Stax. Her voice is great and most of the songs are of a high quality, it doesn’t have a Sinnerman on there but there are quite a few tunes that seem instantly familiar.
3.8
Done quite a bit of fingering to this album back in the day given its ballad content so it has to get a full extra point.
4.2 / actually 3.2
It’s pleasant enough, Stars of Track and Field is a highlight and whilst overall I do appreciate Belle and Sebastian I always thought they really hit their stride on Boy With The Arab Strap where Isobel Campbells vocals really helped vary the dynamic.
3.7
I wanted to like this but it just does not have the tunes, a couple of times when a good or catchy drum pattern appeared and it threatened to perk up it fizzled out.
2
Nah, not for me, it’s too…. Jazzy. I actually liked Kind Of Blue it had a chilled vibe you could put it on and relax whereas this has too much going on and I found it somewhat discombobulating. I guess I’m just not a jazz guy…. Unless it’s cigarettes or mags.
2
Dylan is somewhat mercurial for me, sporadically excellent but often underwhelming. blood on tbe tracks is one of his better outings. I must say though I do t know how Jimi Hendrix’s estate did not sue him for lifting pretty much a note for note copy of Redhouse for meet me in the morning.
This is album is good even if, like me you are not a Dylan worshiper.
3.9
You can’t deny the breadth of style that they crammed into this album, unfortunately though, diverse as it may be its didn’t land for me, just not an album I would listen to again.
2.2
After not enjoying Bitches Brew I was Sceptical on more Miles Davis but I loved this. Shh/ Peaceful was like an extended intro to a song that never came but it had something about it and In a Silent Way had something that often I can’t find in jazz albums, hooks and grooves at times you could have told me it was a Sigur Ros B side track from the 2000’s and the guitar work was great. Turns out I am, in some
Instances, a “Jazzer”
4.2
I prefer their early 80’s sophisto- pop era but this album strays strong and has a few good tracks. Solid, not exceptional but it has boobies on the cover
3.2
Janes addiction summed up for me: their good stuff is really good, their less good stuff is pretty shit. Overall this album fits that framework, the good stuff maybe slightly overpowers the shit so it gets a 3
One of the best albums ever recorded, it blew me away at the time, 30 years later it’s still amazing and it will be in another 30.
5
For me part of maturing and getting to an age where I give pretty much no fucks about other people’s opinion of me is admitting that The White Stripes are overrated, they have a handful of really good songs across their catalogue and hats off for showing that a two piece band can fill large venues but a lot of this album is pretty rudimentary and boring, Jack Whites voice grates almost as much as Meg Whites drumming and their best songs/ ideas are on the singles so you need not buy the whole album
2.3
A hip hop classic, an album that shows that the art form need not be all bitches, hoes and keys of pure Colombian.
The skits get in the way of the music; lose them and it would be a perfect album, to others it’s part of the charm but to me they are break the flow and add nothing
4..5
I’m not a massive Zeppelin fan, Jimmy Page is a paedo, something that people just seem to ignore because Zep had great riffs or whatever.
To be fair this is a good album, Tangerine is a favourite of mine and immigrant song is a great way to start an album
3.7
A really good album, Redondo Beach is the only really weak track, stylistically it doesn’t suit the album’s overall sound and vibe.
3.7
You could stick Purple Rain the song at the end of 2 hrs of recordings of wet farts and still have a decent album.
I am not arsed about the beautiful ones, computer blue and darling Nikki but the rest fucks.
4.5
Sunday Shining and Even After All are good songs, the rest is pretty mince.
1.5
I’m actually like this, is it an album I would pull out often, no. Is it essential listening? Probably not, but I like the Scott Walker like lush musical arrangements and I can live with Neil’s affected croon because he wrote My Lovely Horse for Father Ted.
3.2
A near perfect album, the only song I can’t get along with is Everyone but then Glad Tiddings hits and makes the world right again.
4.7
Instrumentally I like this, catchy punk tunes sometimes given an extra layer of interest by the inclusion on sax…. But my god does the singing hurt my ears, get its punk but it’s not so much that it’s bad singing it’s the tone of voice that really pulls this down for me, I could only listen to 1 or 2 tracks at a time
2.3
Great tunes and one of the best male singers of all time, I was turned on from the opening line to the last note.
4.6
Would she go down on you in a theatre?… no, but then she wouldn’t write and entire album moaning about you breaking up with her so swings and roundabouts 🤷🏻♂️
In all seriousness there are some good tunes on here but the lyrics are tiresome woman scorned narrative and she really needs to look up the definition of irony…. Rain on your wedding day is just bad luck.
2.7
Pretty pish apart from one song
2
The musical manifestation of a yawn. A bunch of middle class kids in their 20’s owe their life to this record in as much as their dad put it on to get their mum in the mood to get pumped on a ski trip to Morzine back in the day.
Nothing against DG, he has had a successful career and seems like a nice fella but this is never an album that anyone has to hear before they die.
2
Respect to Muddy Waters, he has an inimitable voice and influenced some of the great 60’s and 70’s guitarists but listening to an album like this in 2026 it just doesn’t offer much in the way of musical interest, it’s basic, repetitive 4 bar blues with little melody. I think it’s an age thing, my taste really only gets satisfied from tbe mid / late 60’s onward and even then it really hits in 80’s and 90’s so it’s hard to objective judge this.
It’s probably essential to some people, was possibly groundbreaking at the time, certainly I imagine it was exciting but that’s an era beyond my pallette
2.8
Probably my favourite B&S album
3.7
Not my wheelhouse but I actually liked big parts of this album.
It sort of sounds like the music that would be playing in a 90’s movie where a scene takes place in an ‘underground’ club.
Pretty decent for a non metal fan.
3.1
The man, the legend! A guitar visionary with two of the best backing him in Mitch and Noel, An incredible album that offers acid rock, ballads, pop and modern blues like no other. No one but Jimi sounds like Jimi.
5
JAZZ! 👐
Not my go to genre, background music fine but I find it hard to really engage so can only rate it accordingly. 2.3
Background trendy bar music. I am sure I have heard this sitting in Hillhead Book Club drinking a flat pint of a shit lager whilst some DJ sticks this in and buys himself time to take a shit.
I listened to it end to end and then instantly forgot anything specific about it.
I didn’t dislike it, I just didn’t really retain any of it…. Other than the flashback
2.3
A great album, blends jangle pop, country (later expanded on by Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke in the Flying Burrito Brothers) Psychedelic rock, power pop and folk. It doesn’t really benefit from the extra tracks in the reissue on Spotify.
A very influential band who in another universe could have been as big as The Beatles.
4
The first time I listened to The Band was The Last Waltz movie, going back and listening to their catalogue afterward at the time I was underwhelmed but over time I have grown to appreciate them much more. These guys were just top drawer musicians and had 3 of the best white male vocalists of all time in Danko, Manuel and Helm, who is also the best singing drummer alongside Karen Carpenter.
4.1
Clearly a big influence on At The Drive in. There is a lot to like but it’s not without its flaws, it’s too long because the songs are too long, they lose immediacy and impact by dragging on.
3.1
Fells like two albums cut and shut together…. Albeit pretty high quality albums think I actually prefer the more mellow stuff on side 2
4.1
Boring boogie - blues
Award for worst band and album name.
Not for me
2.1
I get that loads of people love sabbath and lots of artists I like quote them as being an influence but for whatever reason I literally couldn’t find anything more boring than listening to a full Sabbath album. That sort of early 70’s dad rock just doesn’t do a thing for me.
1.5
There are some great songs in here but it suffers as an album from length, some judicious editing could make this amazing as it is it’s very good.
3.9
