1001 Albums Summary

Hipster humanities graduate here. I’d say this is a good hip-hop album for people who don’t usually like hip-hop (like me). It’s quite a soulful album, sonically and in the emotion behind the album. The storytelling and character building is also great on songs like ‘Testify’. Never going to be my favourite album as it’s not my genre, but it’s a good listen.

Having really enjoyed Songs in the Key of Life I had quite high expectations for this, but it didn’t really meet them. It’s a good enough listen, but didn’t hold my attention in the same way that album did.

Not an album I found especially interesting. There was the odd song like ‘Elected’ that was more compelling, but most songs just seemed to meander to nowhere in particular. Maybe this seemed more subversive in the early ‘70s, it sounded like trying too hard in 2026.

A truly terrible album. It’s little wonder that the members of this collective remain anonymous, because nobody would want to be associated with this garbage. Too many bizarre ‘experimental’ aspects to name, but I think many of the vocals sounding like the Gingerbread Man on the Shrek films might just take the biscuit. Hard luck if you got this album today!

This was clearly a very well performed piece of music showcasing an impressive improviser, but it’s not really my thing. The backstory of this concert is fun and makes the performance even more remarkable, but this kind of long form piano music was never going to much for me. Nice as background music.

Not a great album. It sets out to make a more ‘positive’ hip-hop album, but sounds like the kind of rap you’d have brought into a secondary school assembly. It all just feels too safe, and that sound is very similar across the whole album. The group clearly had a bee in their bonnet about how long it took them to get a record deal, but with music this mediocre I’m not sure it was a great injustice.

This album started off with some promise, but the more psychedelic it became the more the quality dropped off. You can definitely tell that the album is based on demos, it needed more refinement to be a great album.

One of the great albums- has so many classics like Sir Duke, Isn’t She Lovely, Pastime Paradise that are complemented by a great range of other songs that give a flavour of 1976 as a musical and historical moment. It’s *long* but well worth your time.

Quite an enjoyable album. At its best the combo of rock, funk, and rap works really well, with Give It Away the iconic example. There are some slower tracks too that give it some variety. There are tracks where it doesn’t blend quite as well though (especially early on) and it’s much too long. Truely a 3.5 or 7/10 if I could give it that.

This was a decent listen. It’s a nice representation of the quality of funk in this period, with a very listenable sound and a fun concept. Some songs definitely do drag on and become a bit repetitive though (there are 6 songs in 38 minutes, to give an idea). Worth a listen, but probably not a spaceship I’ll seek another journey on.

As a big Arctic Monkeys fan I was very happy to get this album today. It’s one I’ve listened to before (and some singles more), but had slightly different if still very positive impressions listening now. I’d previously thought this was quite a departure from AM, a key example of Alex Turner’s famous (or infamous depending on your view) love of mid-century Italian film scores. Listening now I can hear much more similarities to Favourite Worst Nightmare and Humbug, the AM albums that sandwich the project. On songs like the title track, Standing Next to Me, and My Mistakes Were Made for You, the blend of strings and indie comes off really well. My only criticisms would be, for the album, that there are some weaker songs in the latter half, and for the list, why this ahead of another AM album?

A good album, with a nice blend of jazz and rock that comes together in a catchy sound throughout. The only major criticism would be that that sound becomes fairly repetitive- there are little quirks on each song that keep it interesting, but broadly the album is one style done very well.

A good listen for the most part, with a nice 60s rock sound that is a good example of that countercultural moment, and is genuinely funny in places. However, the band discover acid around Track 13, and the rest of the album becomes unlistenable.

This is a solid example of late 1970s British punk, but not much more. It’s a decent listen, but it doesn’t stand out compared to similar bands of the period. As with a lot of albums on this list that seemed subversive at the time of release, they just don’t impact in the same way today.

A fine album, but nothing too special for me. The second half is a bit livelier, but the first half didn’t go anywhere for me, with a lot of long instrumental sections. Solid, but not one to stay long in the memory.

Perhaps the most extreme example of song length inflation in this period. With 4 tracks in over 40 minutes, it’s fair to say the tracks are dragged out! The sound is grand and well composed (you understand why Hayes worked on a film, Shaft, after this), but even classics like Walk on By seem so strung out.

Just did very little for me. Nothing offensively bad about it, but nothing more than background music to my mind. I’d have a hard time remembering any distinctive songs from this album.

Whenever I listen to this album, and Like a Rolling Stone especially, I can’t help but find it funny that some people’s primary reaction in 1965 was ‘I am so angry’.* A fantastic album that has such power to it from the off, keeping your attention throughout. Like a Rolling Stone and Highway 61 Revisited are probably the iconic tracks, but Tombstone Blues and Ballad of a Thin Man are other great highlights. * I get that there were historical and political reasons for that emotion, yada yada

This is a decent album, that shows a band now able to construct some catchy songs while maintaining a punk-influenced sounds. Ultimately though I think it does suffer from some of the common pitfalls of pop-punk: the sound becoming quite repetitive, the vocals having an annoying style (though less true for Armstrong than others in the genre), and themes that come across as a bit whiny, at least for me. Probably best enjoyed at about age 17!

It’s just fine. Having only heard Elvis Costello’s most famous songs I was expecting something with a bit more ‘pep’. Certainly not a bad listen, but didn’t grab me either.

A good album, though one you probably need to be in the right mood for. ‘Into My Arms’ is probably one of Cave’s best, and the start of the album is especially strong. Not all of the songs are downcast, but they are all piano ballads, to give you an idea of the tone. If that’s what you’re after it does a great job, if not it might not impact in the same way.

I had fairly high expectations for this one having listened to some of O’Connor’s most famous songs. This album didn’t quite meet them but is still worth a listen. The middle of the album is probably strongest, featuring the iconic ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, but also the strong tracks ‘Black Boys on Mopeds’ and ‘Jump in the River’. There’s less variation on other tracks, but still has a great emotional depth to it. Probably a 3.5, but I’ll lean to a 4 this time.

Pink Floyd are just one of those bands that I don’t ‘get’ at all. I just find this album so slow that it never captures my attention- for the most part listening to this I was simply bored. The title track is good, but nothing else here that stood out to me.

What an uninteresting album. The hard rock sound is fine, but it is basically a variation on a theme the whole way through. It sounds like something you’d hear on in the background of a Hard Rock Cafe and not really think about twice.

It’s fitting that most of the Wikipedia page for this band and album are taken up by adverts that it’s featured in, since this is that kind of generic, inoffensive music. It’s pretty symptomatic of the dire state of British indie music in the first years of the 2000s that this is apparently one of the best in those years. I assume they added elements of reggae and doo-wop to try and escape from Britpop, but the end result is a bland mush that is far worse.

A decent listen, but probably not that much to stick in your head. You’ll recognise the title track, and there are tunes that you’ll recognise as staples of music in this period dotted throughout the album. It’s well performed, but the fact that it is mostly covers does detract from its significance, for me.

Perhaps a definitional album of ‘easy listening’. The gentleness of it does make this appealing on one level (fitting with the genre it’s an easy listen!), but it also makes the album fairly uninteresting. This is music with the flavour taken out. Not awful, but not one that leaves a great impression either.

Such a samey album. The orchestral pop sound is fine, but it’s essentially that for 40 minutes or so. Not especially interesting.

A solid listen, with some catchy songs (Space Cowboy, Slow Burn). But I can’t help escape the feeling with this brand of ‘relatable’ pop that everything feels as if it’s been produced by a focus group, with all the small hints at different genres a little bit of targeted marketing. The pop culture references (‘horses’, ‘John Wayne’, ‘Elvis’, ‘cowboys’), all feel quite cliched ways to say ‘I’m southern!’. Listen to Waxahatchee or MJ Lenderman for some more complex and authentic indie/country crossover

A very good album that is clearly formative in the post-punk genre (maybe the first of its kind?). It’s very well composed, but maybe one I’d have to be in the right mood for to give 5*.

An album that I’m not totally sure of my thoughts about. The combination of French pop vocals (that seemed to take some inspiration from 60s music from that country) and electronic sound was one I enjoyed more than I expected. But it did drag after a while, becoming a bit samey after the first handful of songs, not helped by the length and repetitive nature of many songs.

What an absolute mess of an album. At various points it offers some good blues rock, and as a historian I enjoyed the references to the 1968 Democratic convention on ‘Someday’. But basically every song is twice as long as it needs to be, and some really drag- Free Form Guitar is a genuinely offensive listen. A real mixed bag, even within songs.

A decent enough listen, but I don’t enjoy blues enough to give this more than 3. It’s a good performance(s) given by a great voice, and it being a live album gives a nice flavour of the atmosphere around 1965. But beyond that, didn’t make a huge impression.

Aged like fine milk. Livin’ on a Prayer and You Give Love A Bad Name are good songs, but have been played to death since 1986. The rest is the most generic 80s rock you can find, complete with endless ‘woh-oh’ choruses and power guitar. Very generic overall.

Appropriately, it’s solid. I liked it more by the end, as the songs had a bit more force to them that made them more compelling. Earlier songs are still a good listen, but can fall into too much ‘man mumbles over acoustic guitar’.

A performance from a band at the peak of their powers that’s probably a great one for fans, but didn’t feel significant enough for more than 3* as someone less familiar. The band are very affable during the gig, adding some great colour to the performance, and everything is well performed. But the wider importance probably goes over my head- I read that this is a slightly rockier style than their recorded output of the time, but as someone less familiar with the band that was lost on me. Similarly, long versions of some songs might be a unique plus for a fan, but lost my interest after a while.

Probably one I’d give 3.5* to if I could, but I’ll lean generously today. Franklin is obviously one of the great voices, and songs like Respect set the standard for R&B going forward. A lot of the middle album isn’t quite as impactful, and a lot of it being covers detracts slightly too (though it was the style at the time).

I was very into the Smashing Pumpkins at one point, so I was intrigued to see what I thought a few years removed. I still enjoyed it, but probably dragged a bit this time. The start is great, with Cherub Rock, Today, and Disarm the highlights. But by the end, it’s dragging on, with songs overly long or repetitive style. A 40-45 minute version might have been closer to 5*.

A good listen from one of this era’s best folk artists. Time Has Told Me and ‘Cello Song are especially well crafted, with a quiet sound but not one that passes you by. Some songs later on aren’t quite as memorable, and perhaps fall into the folk trap of meandering for too long. Enjoyable overall though.

A pretty good listen, though only so much that Jazz can do for me. The band clearly deliver a high quality performance that captures the audience, and from what I read this is a big moment in reviving Ellington’s career. It is very long though, so as a non-Jazz fan it was probably more than I’d like. The rather drawn out emcee interludes didn’t help!

Like Joy Division, if Joy Division weren’t as good as Joy Division. The sound is definitely an attempt to emulate them, sometimes giving a decent imitation. Songs like Kick in the Eye give it a bit more range, but overall this is quite derivative and uninteresting.

An alright pop album. Two incredibly well known songs in Girls Just Want to Have Fun and Time After Time feature here, and while good they have been completely played to death. The overall sound is slightly more interesting than the average 80s pop album on account of Lauper’s New Wave background, but it still doesn’t do much for me.

Did you know these guys can play guitar? They certainly seem on a mission to show that as much as possible on this album. Songs really drag on with self-indulgent solos- the overall sound is ok, but just didn’t do anything interesting for me.

Not one that made a great impression on me. The overall sound is fine, especially in the first half. But there’s just too much that goes along far too long. Yes, I know you can play the guitar, yes I know you have a synthesiser, we don’t need a ten minute song to show it! An example of what I don’t enjoy about prog rock.

A very good album that has a smattering of classics in God Only Knows, Snoop John B, and Wouldn’t It Be Nice. We see Brian Wilson’s intricate production come through throughout to make a complex and compelling sound. Some songs do pass me by though, especially the slow songs that proceed at a glacial pace.

A great album, definitely one of the best of its genre. If you’ve seen Good Will Hunting you’ll know that many of these songs form part of the great soundtrack to that film, with Angeles and Say Yes especially memorable from the film and album. It’s not a cheery album of course, but it avoids becoming dreary in doing so. It’s being tuneful while having that depressed emotion is its real strength.

A great album that really shows Harrison’s individual talent. It’s remarkable that he could put this album together so soon after the end of The Beatles, and the sound is a combination of some of their style with some influence from Bob Dylan and The Band, who I read Harrison had befriended in the run up to making this. Disc 1 is full of classics, headlined by My Sweet Lord and Wah-Wah, but there’s nothing bad on that side. The second half tails off by the end, but still has some good songs, notably the title track. Might have been a 4.5 on account of that, but I’ll round generously.

A strange album. If this was the sound track to a film about the Wars of the Roses I might appreciate it more, but as a piece of modern music the style just feels so incongruous. I’m sure these instruments are played and arranged well, but they probably should have been left in a previous century,

A very good album that sees some interesting expansion of Smith’s sound, with this probably his most tuneful. Son of Sam and Junk Bond Trader are the highlights of a strong first half that combine his emotional style with a more lively sound, with some folkier numbers still present. It gets a bit weaker towards the end, but still an excellent listen.

A decent listen that has a nice sound, and some genuinely funny lyrics in the first few songs (‘Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock’ a highlight). But too much of this really drags on, with some songs meandering towards ten minutes. Lots of them are instrumental later on and although the musicianship is good, there was nothing that stuck in my mind.

I’m not sure that this is PE’s finest work, but still good. It’s a slightly broader style on this album, shown in lead songs ‘Can’t Truss It’ and ‘Shut It Down’ being a bit different from the ‘Wall of Noise’ approach of previous albums. As with PE always though, they offer a great historical record of key concerns in black politics (eg continued resistance to MLK Day on ‘By the Time I Get to Arizona’ and black alcoholism on ‘One Million Bottlebags’). Overall though, I don’t think it’s quite as compelling as their previous efforts. A lot of the early album is self-referential, so it perhaps doesn’t have the same feeling of originality. While still well put together, I think I prefer the more manic sound of earlier efforts. Nonetheless, a good listen.

Not bad, but nothing that struck me as that remarkable. It’s a good example of early post-punk, including the first version of China Girl (who knew?). But overall it didn’t make that big an impression on me, songs by the end especially really seemed to drag.

Well, he certainly was bad… but this album is ok. I prefer this to a lot of the other Jackson material I’ve heard, since it has a lot more force to it that gives the album energy throughout. And there are of course some classics on the album, led by the title track and Smooth Criminal. I do still think it sounds a little dated though, something I find 80s music suffers from most. And there is of course the matter of his incessant ‘hee-hees’ and ‘owwws’, which definitely grate after a while.

A good listen, with some nice tuneful 60s rock. Early songs especially are quite compelling, with a balance between good hooks and forceful energy typical of the best of this era. But overall, I’m not sure it feels like much more than a nice example of the genre. A good listen, but probably without the distinctive or unique qualities that might make it a more notable album.

A nice listen, with a bluesy rock sound with hints of African music laced throughout. Even more extraordinary that this record exists given what its members had gone through to make it! It probably washed over me after a while though. It all had a good sound, but faded into the background as songs became a bit similar.

Neil Tennant says that he isn’t good at being boring on this album, but he gives it a pretty good go. This feels a bit Pet Shop Boys-by-numbers, with lots of low key synths that meander along. There are better and livelier moments like How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously, but not enough to rate this especially highly.

A very good album that helps to lift British music out of its early 2000s doldrums. Some of the more negative reviews of this have half a point when they define this as part of the ‘indie landfill’ of these years, because the sound isn’t completely different from that (it isn’t as unique as say Whatever People Say I Am). But it definitely is a perfecting of that style, with Take Me Out and The Dark of the Matinee still guitar heavy but able to construct great hooks. Unlike a lot of ‘indie’ artists in this era, they don’t overthink it or try to be too clever- they just find a good formula and execute well.

It’s fine. I preferred it to the previous Traffic album generated for me, John Barleycorn Must Die, but it’s nothing amazing. It’s the kind of thing I always seem to hear when my parents have ‘Sounds of the ‘70s’ on in the car (I know this is from 1968, but it’s the same sound)- you won’t complain about it being on, but you won’t think too much about it either.

An album that shows some of Led Zeppelin’s good qualities, but also what I dislike about them. It’s all very well performed, and they show their knack for making a great, dramatic song on Kashmir and a shorter, punchier song on Houses of the Holy. But I feel like individual songs and the album overall drag on too long. On a great song like Kashmir a longer run time is fine, but on less special tracks it feels a bit self-indulgent.

This is a nice listen, but probably no more than background music. You’d think ‘this is perfect’ if you heard it on the soundtrack of a film set in 70s Rio or the opening titles to the 2014 World Cup. A nice laidback, jazzy sound, but probably not enough differentiation to go higher.

A good listen, with a blues-influenced style that carries some emotional punch. It has a real energy to it though despite being on the surface quite a downcast album- the opening tracks headlined by Cry Baby are probably the highlights. Though Joplin clearly has a great voice, you do get the sense that she’d been through it by the time of recording this. The result is a gravelly voice that has some impact, but I personally found a bit strangled and irritating as the album went on.

Musically, a good (if one of many examples of this) 60s rock album with psychedelic influences. The first half rattles along nicely. The second half is made bizarre by a series of narrations about ‘Happiness Stan’, which sound like the kind of thing Gen Z pay Nigel Farage to read on cameo. I found them so odd that I couldn’t really focus on the music!

A very good album, probably America’s best contribution to punk. Let’s Lynch the Landlord, California Uber Alles, and Holiday in Cambodia are fantastic standouts with a smart and funny satire. I think it’s just held back from being a 5 by just how quickly the first half especially progresses. Even by punk standards it moves at lightning pace, so it’s a bit harder to appreciate some songs individually. Still, a very good album.

A trip down memory lane for me as I really liked this album and Muse in general as a teenager. The start holds up, with the first four tracks very strong and still stirring that sense of injustice that they did when they were used as ‘I’m right and nobody else is’ songs back then (perhaps helped by the political climate as I write). It doesn’t quite hold up throughout the album, with later songs a bit blander or variations on a theme. I remember really liking Knights of Cynodia, but didn’t hit quite as much now. The start is strong enough to hold on for 4 though.

A very good album that shows a band getting into its stride. Sympathy for the Devil and Street Fighting Man are the best known songs for a reason, and Stray Cat Blues sounds great (though the lyrics make you want to report Mick Jagger to the police). There aren’t any bad songs on the album, though probably not strong enough on the whole for 5.

A great album that leads the way in a strong time for working-class British rock in the mid ‘90s. This is an album with a noisy energy, sound, and ambition, showcased best of all on Rock ‘n’ Roll Star, Live Forever, and Supersonic. Stick around until the end though, as my favourite songs probably are the final two, Slide Away and Married with Children. We don’t really see the variety that Oasis are (sometimes) capable of later on in their careers on this album, but I’ll let its force of sound keep it hanging onto a 5.

A good album from one of the 1980s’ best. Probably strongest in the middle with Girlfriend in a Coma and Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before, which are great examples of their perfecting of the ‘80s indie sound and creative lyricism. The band make an effort to evolve their sound (a somewhat odd priority given that they knew this was their last album, but there you go), and I’m not sure they fully pull it off. A good listen, but maybe not their best.

What if hip-hop went to space? After listening to this, you’ll realise it’s a question nobody should have asked. I suppose we can praise the creativity of Ladd’s concept, but ultimately this sounds quite basic in the beat behind it and the rapping. It’s average lo-fi music paired with average hip-hop, so the result is predictably underwhelming. It wasn’t actively bad, so I’ll keep it at 2.

A pretty good album, headlined by two excellent songs to open in Band on the Run and Jet that provide some great energetic and dramatic rock. The rest is fine-to-good, with nothing I’d describe as bad but nothing that blew me away either. Mrs. Vanderbilt probably my highlight of those.

This is slightly more interesting than you might expect from ABBA. It’s much more downbeat than their typical hits (you’ll probably only know One of Us), which shows of their range a bit more. The other slide of the coin is that there is the absence of any earworms to stick in your head. It all becomes quite samey, and that becomes even more evident on a longer album.

A great way for Bowie to bow out with an immensely creative album blending a range of styles led by art rock and jazz. The title track and Lazarus especially are wonderfully epic songs. The middle is slightly weaker, and probably *just* keeps this from a 5.

Probably one of the better pop albums of the ‘80s. Its grandiose blending of so many instruments and sounds makes this a well crafted album, producing some of Prince’s best known songs in Purple Rain and When Doves Cry. It does suffer from the classic ‘80s disease of addiction to synth though, and drags a bit on the less remarkable tracks. Enough to hang on for 4 though.

A very good album, probably one of the most influential over modern indie rock. The sound is a kind of proto-grunge, with noisy, guitar-heavy songs throughout. It’s something of an oasis in the desert away from the typical manufactured sound of ‘80s music! Highlights are Kissability, Teen Age Riot, and Silver Rocket, probably some of Sonic Youth’s best. It’s probably too long for an album without much variety, but a good 4.

I liked this more than other Zeppelin material I’ve heard. It has a more stripped back and acoustic sound, which makes it a bit of a full-on listen than other albums. Since I’ve Been Loving You probably the highlight in that style, and Immigrant Song of course a classic in a more conventional Zeppelin style, I’m not sure I like Plant’s vocal style enough to give it more than 4, but a good listen.

The list continues to affirm that I’m not much of a jazz enjoyer. I’m sure if you’re a jazz fan this is a great work, but it didn’t do much for me. The piano-heavy sections were more enjoyable, but the sections where it became more overcrowded with instruments tempted me to channel my inner Homer asking Lisa to ‘knock off that infernal racket’.

Yet another late ‘60s/early ‘70s psychedelic-influenced folk album on this list. It probably felt especially unremarkable to me because of that similarity, but it’s not a bad album by any means. It’s a perfectly fine listen, but nothing that stuck in my mind. One of the most 3y 3s you’ll ever find.

A fitting name, since this is one of those albums that tries too hard to be provocative. I’m sure Tipper Gore was horrified to see naked women on the cover, but it feels so tacky and cringe today. It fits the vibe of an unimpressive album, which is some derivative ‘hard rock’, with lots of over-the-top screeching guitar. A poundshop Led Zeppelin.

Possibly Britpop’s best album. The best known tracks here are of course Common People and Disco 2000, which are maybe teetering towards being played out but are so well written as satires and laments, respectively, that I’ll forgive them. Besides, there’s plenty on this album that more than makes up for the hits being too familiar. Misshapes, Something Changed, and Sorted for Es and Whizz are all classics in their own right that showcase the ability of Pulp at their best to successfully blend rock and pop with a wide variety of styles (disco and orchestral amongst them here). A classic showcase of a great moment for working-class British bands.

An interesting, if choppy in quality, album. There are some nice moments of lively indie folk on the album, headlined by Everybody’s Stalking and Another Pearl. Elliot Smith’s Figure 8 is a good comparison. However, I think the album goes on too long so that the quality declines. There’s also the random short interlude tracks, which add nothing. A strong 3 but too inconsistent for anything higher.

A good album, certainly a cut above some of the average rock of this period I’ve had on this list (Traffic, The Youngbloods, The Mothers of Invention). The album has an enjoyable, bluesy sound, but overall nothing stuck in my head that strongly. A good 3, but not quite memorable enough for more.

A great album, of remarkable quality for a debut by a 19-year old. It would be too sweeping to say that this is the ‘light’ Amy album and Back to Black is the dark and depressed one (there’s some downbeat moments here and the latter isn’t completely free of humour), but I do enjoy that we get to see a funnier and livelier side to a great artist. It’s probably at its best in the opening five tracks, which show a pop/RnB influenced sound- all are some of Winehouse’s best. The rest is probably slightly too long, but still has some standouts (‘In my Bed’), and some showcasing of her jazz background (‘No Greater Love’). As some of the reviews point out, some of the lyrics aren’t exactly ‘The Feminine Mystique’. But given Winehouse’s youth and experiences of relationships, don’t come to this for well-thought out social commentary. Instead, appreciate the genius of a generational, but tortured, artist.

One to file under ‘combinations that shouldn’t have been tried’. In this case it’s a strange mix of punk and country, which for the most part congeals into an unenjoyable sound paired with unimpressive vocals. It does pick up from the low bar set early on though, so it’s not 1* bad. Don’t fear if you get this album, but you could probably use some whiskey to get you through it.

What a remarkably dull album. You’ll recognise Two Weeks as a well sampled bit of music, but there really isn’t anything else of note here. The rest is just a meandering low key sound that would be fine as filler for a track or two on a good album, but 50 minutes of it really drags.

This album gets absolutely shredded in the most popular comments, but I’d say it’s just fine. The sound is ‘The Beatles with a side order of Funk’, which makes it quite derivative but a pretty listenable. The lyrics are pretty basic, but it does at least have some inkling of a social conscience. Nothing special, but enough for 3*.

A good album, but one that washed over me a bit. A more downbeat funk is interesting, and certainly responds to the context of the U.S. in 1971. Family Affair is of course a classic, but it became a bit too samey for me. With a livelier sound that would have detracted less, but when there’s less vitality to the album it did impact my enjoyment more. Worth a listen, but didn’t grip me.

I’d only heard the odd song by Suede, so was intrigued to hear this, and was pleased to find it a good listen. The album seems to alternate between livelier guitar-heavy songs and downtempo, slower songs. I preferred the former usually, with Animal Nitrate and Metal Mickey probably the best. It would be too harsh to say the slower tracks were bad, but they felt a bit less unique (maybe a bit downstream of The Smiths?). A nice addition to the Britpop canon, even if there might be better examples of the genre.

An interesting, but slightly bloated, follow up to Rumours. I like the generally soft rock sound that the album has, with Sara and Sisters of the Moon, but most of the more experimental numbers also come off. The title track, complete with USC marching band, is mad, but I like it. It is too long though- whereas Rumours channelled the band’s tensions into a tight and gripping album, Tusk is sprawling, feeling like each member had to have a few songs to keep them satisfied. A very good album, but would have benefited from being more concise.

An interesting one on the punkier end of Britpop. Songs in the first half especially have a lively sound that captures your attention, I’d Like to Know and Caught by the Fuzz my highlights. Alright is the most known song, but to me it’s a title that matches the description. It’s a good listen, but the album overall probably doesn’t hit the heights of the opening songs.

This was a trip down memory lane for me, as this was the first album that I really got to know inside out as a teenager. Although it’s no longer my favourite Manics album, it’s still a powerful album. The lyrics are dark and nihilistic, a product of the tortured state of Richey Edwards’ mind at the time of production, discussing topics including the death penalty, American imperialism, and sexual exploitation. The disturbing quality is cemented by the samples that feature throughout, from creepy pimps to John Hurt in 1984. But despite that intensity, it’s not an abrasive listen. Songs like Faster, Yes, and She is Suffering show a great variety of sound that contrast with the darkness of the lyrics. I think my familiarity with it made this an easy 5, but it still has a great power even for a new listener.

A good album, but probably also one that represents what I’m less keen on in Wonder’s work (Songs in the Key of Life aside). Superstition is of course a catchy classic, but nothing else on the album quite hits those heights. Although the rest couldn’t be described as bad, it basically consists of saccharine ballads. They’re nice enough songs, but probably better in doses smaller than this album provides.

The first Talking Heads album I’ve had on this list and it comfortably fits the bill for what you’d want from them. This is fun, lively, and creative art rock that shows why they are the leading band out of New York in these years. Thank You for Sending Me an Angel a standout to start the album, and although Take Me to the River is a cover, they really make it their own. Probably didn’t quite enjoy it enough for 5, but there’s nothing I disliked about it.

A bad punk album that encapsulates some of the weaknesses of the genre in its repetitive sound, whiny vocals, and vapid lyrics. Feels like a cynical attempt to muscle in on the hype of Nirvana and Green Day. That means that the sound is fine enough to hang on for 2*, but this isn’t worth your while.

I’m not a prog rock fan so this was never going to be a massive hit with me, but I found it more listenable than other albums in the genre. It definitely has more of a pop sensibility, which makes it more accessible than others in the genre. But it did still suffer from songs being too long and trying to do too much.

A fairly unremarkable album, largely a collection of covers. It’s pretty egregious that at the same time Clapton was cheerleading for Enoch Powell he was using the songs of black musicians to build his career. Whilst these covers are fine, they don’t strike me that remarkable.

I wavered a bit on this between a 4 and a 5, but in the end had to see that this really does deserve the hype. Sunday Morning and I’m Waiting for the Man are fantastic openers, and set the tone for creative and fast paced songs throughout. Nico’s occasional vocals have a slightly strange quality to them, but fit well with the eerie sound of songs like I’ll be Your Mirror. It’s experimental, but unlike most albums with that on this list, is still a brilliant and gripping listen (the final two songs aside).

A pretty average album. There are a couple of decent songs in Sacrifice and The Seed, but the rest is fairly unremarkable rap to me. It tries to blend in influences from rock and jazz, but in the end becomes a bit everything and nothing.

I don’t know why this isn’t available on many streaming services, but I assume it’s some kind of public health measure to protect people from the toxins this garbage produces. This isn’t music, it’s just noise. I read that this was meant to have a bluesy sound, which could be true if it was blues performed whilst drunk at a karaoke party. But don’t let that get the instrumentation off the hook, which is even worse- I’ve never heard professional musicians perform so badly. In all, there’s nothing here that is even a cohesive song (‘Moonlight on Vermont’ probably as close as we get). It absolutely baffles me that so many ‘experts’ rated this as some kind of great artistic statement. The claim of some that this takes *6-7* listens to appreciate is probably more a sunk-cost fallacy than evidence of any deeper greatness to be found.

This isn’t the worst album I’ve had on this list, but it’s a strong contender for the most boring. Every song is the same bland neo-soul/R&B mix that sounds like the things Tom would sing on Parks & Recreation. I know it’s a cliche to say every song sounded the same, but I really couldn’t explain the differences between any of the tracks.

A really good album by a guitarist at the top of his game. This is a quintessential late ‘60s sound, with a classic blues rock sound updated with psychedelic and hard rock influences. The cover of ‘All Along the Watchtower’ is of course the classic, but there’s high-quality tracks throughout, headlined by Crosstown Traffic for me. It’s just held back from a 5 by being too long, both in two tracks pushing 15 minutes, and an overall runtime of c. 1hr 15 that is probably too much given that the middle is slightly weaker. Still, a great listen.

One of the interesting things about Nixon is that despite his reputation as a reactionary conservative, a lot of his first term really built on what the Great Society had already achieved. Efforts like OSHA, the EPA, affirmative action, and support for the ERA continued in a pattern of federal intervention to uphold rights. He even declared that he was ‘now a Keynesian in economics’ after ending the Bretton Woods system, and his efforts in detente went far beyond what Democrats had been willing to consider. Perhaps this reflected the influence of his adviser Daniel Patrick Moynihan (himself a Johnson administration veteran) who argued that ‘Tory men and Whig measures’ were what changed history. Sorry, I realise this is meant to be about Nixon, the Lambchop album, but there really is nothing interesting about it, so had to fill the space somehow.

An album that demonstrates the borderline between a fun album and a silly album. It has a sort of classic rap sound, though a bit imitation, with opening track The Humpty Dance giving hope that this could be not a classic but ok. However, it gradually loses the plot into long, meandering songs with awful lyricism that makes the album off putting. Making a concept album about some kind of pharmaceutical attempt to create sexual satisfaction in a pill is certainly *bold* for a debut album, and the way it’s handled makes it come across as crude, instead of with deftness and humour.

This is the foundational album in Heavy Metal, but despite that I quite enjoyed it. There’s real force behind the sound, coming through best in perhaps Sabbath’s best known songs War Pigs, Iron Man, and the title track. It’s clear to see how it was so influential, including beyond Metal (listen to War Pigs and Arabella by Arctic Monkeys side by side). It does however suffer from the disease of rock in this period of excess, with some long solos and tracks that drag on a bit. Overall, a good listen though.

I was completely unfamiliar with this, but liked it on the whole. It has a nice country rock sound, with the title track and I Lost It standouts in giving a more forceful sound to a genre that can become a bit sleepy. The middle section did lose my interest a bit, but still good enough for 4*.

Maybe this album sounded good whilst high on a Friday night in a club in 1990. It didn’t sound good whilst eating my Weetabix on a Wednesday morning in the kitchen in 2026.

Some decent jangle pop, with a somewhat more downcast tone to much of the genre. The first half probably has the best of it, with the title track and Perfect Skin well crafted. But on the whole, it doesn’t have the unique touches as the best of this genre, it just felt a bit generic overall. A decent listen, but didn’t blow me away.

I dithered between a 4 and a 5 on this, just because the three most well-known songs (Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back in Anger, and Champagne Supernova) are so played out, to the extent that Wonderwall is basically a punch line now. But it’s still sufficiently brilliant for 5. We see a natural evolution from Definitely Maybe, with still some loud songs like Roll with It and Some Might Say but also some signs of broadening. A favourite of mine is She’s Electric, a jangly song that probably represents the best straightforwardly Britpop song Oasis made. Although that ‘big 3’ is played out now, I’d have to concede the power they must have had in 1995. Even with the fading of time, a classic.

A remarkable leaving note from Leonard Cohen, with a haunting quality appropriate to a musician making his final statement. The title track gets it off to a brilliant start, and Treaty is a beautiful follow up showcasing Cohen’s poetic lyrics. It’s held back from a 5 by the sound not really evolving beyond that for the rest of the album, but still an arrestingly good set of songs.

This is better than other 90s rap groups I’ve had so far (Arrested Development, The Roots), but didn’t find this that compelling even so. It’s a decently put together hip-hop sound occasionally throwing in other influences, and since I wrote about Jesse Jackson for my PhD I’ll give it points for the references in ‘I am Somebody’. Overall though, I still found it quite bland. Fine and well made, but not one I’ll return to.

Now I’ll admit that, being my contrarian self, I was quite open to the idea of not giving the very trendy album at the top of the ranking charts on this site 5*. However, it just is a brilliant album isn’t it? The well known discord behind its making runs through the whole album, shaping every song in some way but most prominently Go Your Own Way and You Make Loving Fun. Unlike sprawling successor Tusk, that fractious atmosphere is channelled into a tight and well-crafted 40 minutes of music, quite the achievement. And finally, I’m sure any British F1 fans of the right age will be taken back to a favourite race or season by The Chain (2009 for me, Clive).

Do you like random sounds that go nowhere for over an hour? Then Soft Machine have the album for you. The only thing that’s Out-Bloody-Rageous about this album is that I had to waste my time listening to it. As clear a 1* as you’ll find.

A very enjoyable album, blending South African sounds with pop rock. It’s no surprise that this was so appreciated at the time of release as a very listenable and innovative sound quite different to the fake electronic sounds of much ‘80s music. As a Vampire Weekend fan, the resemblance is remarkably clear! However, I don’t think I quite enjoyed it enough for 5, and the circumstances of its creation did sully it somewhat. For one, Simon broke the global boycott of apartheid South Africa to record there. I get that most black South African musicians of the time welcomed him, but he didn’t really need to undermine global solidarity (given that most came to New York anyway). Simon defends it by saying that he showed the power of interracial cooperation and brought African music to the world, but those things don’t mean that it made any positive contribution to the end of apartheid. He also basically stole the idea from Heidi Berg, apparently. Anyway, nice album overall.

A fairly engaging rap album, with a pretty listenable classic rap sound. It makes that sound grander though, giving it an almost cinematic quality at times. On the whole though, I can’t say that I found this especially interesting. I read that the samples are taken from a Samurai film that formed the basis of much of the themes and design of the album. To be slightly harsh, is that interesting enough to be the basis of a whole album? I can’t say I was persuaded.

An album that encapsulates my thoughts on the Foo Fighters- they have some very good songs, but probably more filler on balance. This starts off well, with the first few songs not exactly breaking new musical ground but representing a high quality example of the sounds of mid-90s American rock. It’s fairly similar to Nirvana’s hard edge, but does show some signs of evolution. Unfortunately, I think some of that evolution is towards some fairly cookie-cutter rock that had lost my attention by the end. A mixed bag.

I’m not a prog rock fan, so I can’t say the 19 minute opener to this album gave me much optimism. When I read that it was inspired by an Ayn Rand story, I lost all hope. It’s some kind of dystopian story where music has been lost, and individual genius must bring it back (yes, because that’s all there is to musical production). If this imitation Led Zeppelin was what our ‘hero’ produced, I think I’d stick it out in the darkness.

A statement of the anger of black Los Angeles around the time of the 1992 Rodney King riots, with a heavy focus on policing as you might expect. Some of the clips interspersed with the songs really make this a document of the emotions and debates around them, including the moral panic around rap’s alleged influence on the violence. Musically, more of a mixed bag. Sonically it’s mostly in the wheelhouse of the Public Enemy ‘wall of noise’ approach, including some samples from Flavor Flav’. But it lacks, perhaps understandably, some of the levity of PE, with lyrics often misogynistic and violent. There might be historical reasons for that focus, but it did lessen my enjoyment of the album.

Two classics on this album in Back in Black and You Shook Me All Night Long, but there wasn’t too much else that caught my attention. It broadly seems like they tried to make the same song 10 times, there just isn’t enough variation to make this more than 3*.

I’m not a huge Queen fan so wasn’t sure what to expect here. In the end it’s a pretty good listen, but not one that’s persuaded me to do a deep dive into their back catalogue. The songs everyone will know are You’re My Best Friend and Bohemian Rhapsody (I can’t fully decide if it’s overrated or not, but still a highlight). The early songs are probably the best of the rest, with the quality lessening a bit as it goes on- I can’t say I’d join anything The Prophet’s Song tried to convert me to. A good listen, but didn’t blow me away.

Some perfectly nice jazz, but as someone that’s not a jazz guy, it could only do so much for me. I liked the anti-apartheid context of it, and it was a nice enough listen (a bit more tuneful than some of the jazz I’ve had from the list so far). I think the best way I could describe the sound is like the theme to a kind of ‘After Dark’ discussion show from the 70s or 80s- classy, but with a bit of lightness. Overall though, it was just background music to me.

An album I did not enjoy at all. It was just the same basic nu metal sound for the whole album, with very little variation. The whiny pop punk lyrics only increased the frustration. If you asked AI to make a nu metal album, it wouldn’t be far off this.

A really strong album that eventually won me around to 5*. The double ‘My, My, Hey, Hey’ is the most famous contribution (I preferred ‘out of the blue’ myself) and bookends the album superbly. Rarely for albums, this probably improves as it goes along, with songs getting rockier as it goes to build to the crescendo of ‘Into the Black’. One with a power that really grew on me.

I’d only heard ‘Fast Car’ before, but this album really made an impression on me. In an era of fakeness and brash individualism in so much of society that was reflected in music, Chapman sounds like a prophetic corrective to a society gone wrong. Here instead we get gentle but arresting songs about longing to escape from difficult personal situations and a desire for political change- ‘Talkin’ Bout a Revolution’ was probably my highlight, on that note. The middle is a bit weaker so this is a slightly generous 5*, but it grabbed me, and I’ll reward it for that.

This album started decently enough, with a Talking heads-esque sound I imagine was precursor to their future collaborations. But that sound really shows how integral David Byrne’s presence and charisma were to making that band, as it doesn’t hit me in the same way without it. It fades towards ambient after that (even if there aren’t fully ambient songs as in the rest of Eno’s work), which did nothing for me. Enough to hold on for 3*

Duran Duran are a band anyone in the UK cannot avoid, so I wasn’t that overjoyed to get it today. It’s fine, but nothing that changed my view that they are overplayed. Rio and Hungry Like the Wolf are good songs, but I’ve heard them enough for one lifetime. The rest has an 80s pop with some new wave influence, which is a fine enough sound but didn’t really grab me. A lot of the songs went on for longer than I remembered to- perhaps a radio edit spared me previously! It’s fine, but not one I’ll return to.

A decent proto-punk album that really sets up that genre with its intensity and power. I think that intensity was probably a bit much for my taste by the end though, with a cacophony of sound that I found more grating than anything. And as is the case with pretty much all early 70s rock, it often comes in overlong tracks.

Music to fall asleep to. The sound is fine enough but it’s pretty flavourless, and we get no relief from that through the whole album with all songs very samey.

A decent sounding album blending ‘80s hip-hop and RnB, with tracks Buffalo Stance and Inna City Mamma that you’ll probably know. However, I think Cherry was much better when singing rather than rapping/talking, which there was more of as the album went on. Vibes wise, I can’t help but feel that Cherry, raised by two notable artists, was cosplaying a bit as a black working class woman? The vague social sentiments we get interspersed throughout the album feel like a bit of a telltale sign that this is all a bit inauthentic.

When I listen to jazz, I often feel like I’m looking at an abstract painting. I’m sure it’s great and took a lot of skill to produce, but I just don’t have the understanding to fully appreciate it. I’m sure a jazzman could explain why this is perhaps the most seminal jazz album, but it wasn’t something I could pick up from my listen. Pleasant enough to listen to, but didn’t feel that different from a lot of the other jazz I’ve had on this list.

To quote eminent music critic Alan Partridge, ‘that was just noise’. This really did absolutely nothing for me- 20 minute opener ‘Djed’ set the tone for an album that meandered to absolutely nowhere, with no interesting stops on the way. You could probably make something similar with the presets on a keyboard.

A good album representing the reggae rock sound of Marley & The Wailers. Stir It Up is the classic here, encapsulating a sound that is laid back, but still showing lyrical seriousness. It perhaps didn’t grab me as much as I was expecting, but still enough for 4*.

I was excited to see this come up as a White Stripes fan, though it confirmed my view that it wasn’t their best work. Blue Orchid is a great opener, and the start continues pretty strongly with the building intensity of The Nurse and the lively My Doorbell and The Denial Twist. But on the whole, this is a bit of a difficult follow up to their breakout Elephant. It just doesn’t grab you in the same way that that album and my favourite White Blood Cells does. It especially shows in the second half, where there aren’t many standouts amongst a fairly standard blues rock sound. Still a good listen, but not their best.

An absolute snoozefest. Country can definitely be a sleepy genre sometimes, and this is a prime example. Just one meandering ballad after another.

If you’ve had the misfortune of already getting Duck Stab by The Residents on this list, you’re in for a similar ‘sound’. It’s truly a mess, with a genuinely annoying sound that is difficult to describe. Perhaps an industrial machine breaking down? Fully deserving of its status as one of the lowest rated albums on the list.

Not many albums on this list have made a film made about them, but this one has thanks to the excellent Deliver Me from Nowhere. That film certainly helped my enjoyment of this album, which really gave a strong sense of the emotion and pensive feeling behind these songs. They produce one of Springsteen’s best in Atlantic City, and some powerful storytelling on songs like Highway Patrolman. I appreciate that Springsteen took the brave step of going out of his normal style, making this strong evidence of his credentials as a multifaceted musician and songwriter. Ultimately though, I think I do prefer the classic style, leaving this just short of 5.

A fun album that further cemented my sense that Brazil in the 1960s and ‘70s was vibrant for its music as well as its football (in spite of the military dictatorship). As much as ‘O Jogo Bonito’ was more myth than reality for those teams, this almost feels like a sound track for that vibe- free flowing, fun, and well executed. I’m not sure I would place this any higher than ‘nice background music’ though ultimately. A good listen, but stuck in my head more for the vibe than specific moments.

It was fine. Listening I could tell that this was a well-made album and had some interesting storytelling about New York in the early ‘90s, but there wasn’t anything that made me go ‘wow! That was a great song’. A decent listen but didn’t do that much for me.

A second album from Bob Marley & The Wailers in quick succession having had Catch a Fire a week earlier. Like that album, this is a very good listen and example of their reggae rock sound. This has a bit more energy to it though, with a bit more of a heavy sound on the whole than the laid back Catch a Fire. Not one I enjoyed enough for 5, but a good listen.

‘Did you know these guys can play guitar? They certainly seem on a mission to show that as much as possible on this album. Songs really drag on with self-indulgent solos- the overall sound is ok, but just didn’t do anything interesting for me.‘ This is what I wrote for the other Iron Maiden album on this list, and it holds up for this one too. A real lack of variety in this album that makes it a dull listen. Perhaps this was edgy in the ‘80s, but it felt uninteresting in 2026.

Perhaps one of the most effective warnings against drug use I’ve seen. I’ve heard this sound so often on any compilation to do with Manchester that this album should probably come with free stock footage of the Hacienda and Eric Cantona. But that familiarity didn’t endear me to it, as the sound became really repetitive. Hallelujah is a good song, but felt like they tried to repeat the trick ad nauseum to increasingly little effect.

Such an annoying listen. I had low expectations and it failed to even clear that bar. The first few tracks could have been worse, but the rest really couldn’t have been. A repetitive and uninspiring sound, the whiniest pop punk vocals and lyrics you could imagine, and pointless rap segments- this album had them all.

I’m writing this a few days after listening, and I’m struggling to remember anything of note from this unremarkable collection of songs. They were at least kind enough to keep it concise at 37 minutes.

An album that creates contrasting feelings for me. I enjoyed the overall sound of the album, with a consistent pace and force to it that meant it was a compelling listen (although I was losing interest by the end of this 70 minute marathon). Stan is perhaps the best track for holding your attention (it’s the origin of the term for an overzealous fan, don’t you know). However, even by the standards of rap in this period the misogyny and homophobia is off the scale, and really dampened my enjoyment. I know that Eminem was a prime target for the puritanical right including Lynne Cheney, so maybe there was an element of playing up to the hype. Even so, it holds back my enjoyment of an album with some strong aspects.

Perhaps the perfecting of The Wailers’ reggae rock sound. You get more classics on this than the others of theirs on this list, in Jamming, Three Little Birds, and One Love/People Get Ready, all seminal contributions to the modern musical canon of all genres, not just reggae. It maintains that classic combination of a relaxed sound with forceful messages, but here they feel especially well crafted. My only complaint is that, as is their wont, some songs just basically repeat themselves for 5 minutes (the title track for this album). Still though, a tidy 5*.

Some promising ideas in this album, which provides a good demonstration of the sound and anti-Reagan politics of American punk (see Kevin Mattson’s ‘We’re not Here to Entertain’ for more on that). But overall this *43* track album was too scattergun- as soon as it worked towards a good idea, it was onto the next. Worth a listen, but needed so much more refinement.

N.W.A. make a game of it on this album- seeing how many times they could say ‘fuck’ in a song, and then trying to break that record. Early tracks of course had emotional power in their articulating of the frustrations of police power in Compton, but were too abrasive for me to appreciate that much (alongside a dollop of misogyny, as is the case with most rap in this period). However, this was a rare album that improved as it went on as tracks became much more tuneful. Express Yourself, an ironically clean cut condemnation of black musical cautiousness, was a highlight that showed a much more deft touch. Good enough for 3 by the end.

An interesting but somewhat odd album. I enjoyed the overall sound, which has something of a Velvet Underground vibe to it with more psychedelic influences. A Minha Menina was probably my highlight, and a rare track that features twice (on the far inferior album by The Bees). On the whole though, I think it needed more polish. We get quite a random array of sounds in each song, and it makes some tracks a bit too cluttered and unfocused. Worth a listen, but needed more refinement to be more than a 3.

Before listening, I really didn’t expect to like this album. And I was absolutely right. The sound is fine in parts, but the over-the-top growling vocals and endless guitar solos really outstayed their welcome.

When this album was denied the Mercury Prize in 2006, Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner proclaimed in his victory speech, ‘Someone Call 999, Richard Hawley’s been robbed!’ That was taking the piss- the existence of the winning Whatever People Say I Am… means that Coles Corner wasn’t even the best album in Sheffield that year- but this is still a good listen. Hawley has a great voice and expresses the hopes and fears of love and heartbreak lucidly across the album. Just Like The Rain and Born Under a Bad Sign are probably the highlights. However, I think the slowness of these crooning tracks held it back a bit for me. Hawley’s voice has made him a popular collaborator for the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Manic Street Preachers, and Elbow, and there his voice is lent to songs with a bit more pep and urgency to them (as does some of the work in Hawley’s solo catalogue). This is a nice collection of emotional songs, but probably needed a bit more variety to hold my attention.

The only award U2 deserve these days is for the world’s cringiest band (who can forget Nancy Pelosi condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a poem from her ‘good friend Bono’). But here we get evidence that they did once have something about them. The strength of this album is in the first half, with opener Sunday, Bloody Sunday a powerful way to start (really encapsulates the frustration of a Sunday), and New Year’s Day is also a strong track alongside. In all, we get a good rock sound paired with politics remarkably more than vapid liberal symbolism. However, it does tail off in a more placid second half. Enough to hang on for 4 though.

I was ready to not enjoy this, partially in bewilderment that an Eagles compilation album was once the biggest selling album *of all time* in the US. However, it actually is a pretty good listen! The opening title track is of course iconic (transports me back to a family holiday in California where my dad pretty much only played songs from a playlist of California-themed music), and New Kid in Town and Life in the Fast Lane were nice surprises to hear next (I didn’t know they were Eagles tracks!). The rest is fine but comparatively unremarkable. Still very listenable and good value for 4 overall.

Ever wondered if there was a Boygenius for middle-aged country singers? No, of course you haven’t, but Dolly, Linda, and Emmylou were way ahead of you here. To be fair, it’s not a bad sounding album, with a relaxed sound paired with traditional lyrical themes of country. But nor did anything really stay with me. A fine listen, but nothing that special.

A really impressive debut album. The sound even 17 years later feels fresh and innovative, with an indie rock and pop sound made to sound grand whilst not overcomplicating the recipe as so many trying-too-hard indie bands did in the 2000s. Intro is a spectacularly atmospheric opener, and the rest has a great vocal interplay between Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim, largely on young relationships and emotions. VCR and Basic Space probably my highlights, but pretty much any track has an argument for it. Erred between 4 and 5 (a lack of variety is probably the only flaw), but it’s so well crafted that it deserves full marks.

I’m writing this about a week after I listened, so forgive me if details are a bit sketchy… the album has a nice sound that is relaxed and jazzy, a modern comparison is probably Charm by Clairo. H2ogate Blues is a funny take on Watergate too. It was a bit samey though in places, so it possibly lacked more ideas than that relaxed jazzy sound. A good listen, but probably not more than 3*.

A strong debut. My comments are pretty similar to when I had the follow up to this album, ‘More Songs about Buildings and Food’- it’s a fun and enjoyable album with a nice sound and some classic songs, in this case led by Psycho Killer (contrary to the belief of some, unconnected to the Son of Sam murders in their home city of New York in the year of release). Like that first one, it perhaps just lacks that final gloss to take it to 5*, something that is magnified as a debut album.

Appropriately, ‘Debut’ by Bjork was one of the first albums I rated on this list and one I enjoyed, so I was intrigued to hear more. I won’t have that feeling for the next Bjork album I get… This album just went nowhere. It’s clearly meant to put the emphasis on arrangement and ornate instruments, but it just passed me by completely given the absence of any structure on each track. Bluntly, I’d have preferred it if she’d made some songs instead of fancy arrangements for nearly an hour.

One of rock’s quietly influential albums. It’s hard to put your finger on what genre this is- punk? post-punk? new wave?- but however you categorise it this is a pretty refreshing departure for the time that would prove especially influential over New York’s rock band revival of the early 2000s. In some ways though, it is still a product of its time. There’s still some 70s rock excess with 10 minute tracks (admittedly that was on the very good title track), and I’m not quite sure that I agree with descriptions of this as a hook-led album. It’s certainly very listenable, but not too many songs stuck clearly in my mind as distinctive tunes. One that certainly is an album you should hear before you die, but not quite 5* for me.

A real classic. Springsteen’s trademark combination of raucous Americana and slow reflective numbers are brought through in equal measure, with Badlands a terrific opener that is joined by The Promised Land in the middle and Prove It All Night to conclude. But we also get some of his classic themes of relationships, nostalgia, and industrial life (Candy’s Room, Racing in the Street, Factory). A showcase of what makes Springsteen a great artist.

I’ve had quite a bit of rap from this era lately, and this didn’t rank as one of the best for me. It has familiar problems of being overly long, violent, and misogynistic, but lacked the lyrical or musical quality of other albums of this type (NWA, Eminem). Juicy is a better song, but not much else I enjoyed here.

A pretty good listen that starts well with a strong trio with Red Rain, Sledgehammer, and the Kate Bush-featuring Don’t Give Up. Those are probably the most forceful and lively songs that have the album at its most engaging. That energy is lost a bit in the second half though as things slow down, and the album sounds a bit more dated. Enough for 4*, just about.

A great album. The vibe is very different from the other Dylan album I’ve had on this list, Highway 61 Revisited, but still excellent in its execution. Despite his denials, it’s pretty clearly shaped by the breakdown of his marriage with some special articulations of the breakdown of a relationship. Tangled Up in Blue and Idiot Wind are probably my highlights- long songs from the ‘70s normally have alarm bells ringing for me, but the emotional intensity certainly made them exceptions to that rule. The return to a more stripped back arrangement really suits the mood, so this is a great showcase of Dylan’s stylistic range.

A bit of Portishead lite. It’s a decent ‘Trip Hop’ sound, and I recognised more than I expected (Hell is Around the Corner) but probably not much that will stick in my mind.

It’s not great. Definitely has the feel of a band past their zenith, with their fusion of pop and Celtic folk styles that make their big hits more of a mess here. The length of tracks doesn’t help, including some odd talking sections that add nothing- why did they think some Brummie mumbling would help a 12 minute song? Not sure why this made the list, especially when they have two already.

You know that new coffee place with impossibly hard furniture near you? This is what they play. And for some decent reason, as this is a nice sounding album on the whole, with a gentleness to most of the sound that makes it pretty enjoyable. But I did find the sparseness of that sound a bit frustrating as it went on. Some songs would show promise of being livelier, but didn’t really kick on. And perhaps this felt a bit more of a revelation in 2009- in 2026, it sounded slightly more dime-a-dozen.

At the start of the album, Ray Price asks people to let him know if you enjoyed the album. I won’t be getting my letter writing pad out. For an album about night life, the tone is incredibly melancholic. That’s an emotional balance possible to achieve of course- many such cases of great albums about being sad at a supposedly happy place and/or time- but this sounded like a dull rather than an interesting melancholia. If this was night life in 1960s Texas, I’d turn in for the evening.

Perhaps the best album of punk's initial explosion. Most of the songs are two minute blink-and-you'll-miss-it tunes typical of the genre, but there is much more depth than most contemporaries imo. The lyrics really deal with the frustrations of being young, working class, and left wing, in 1970s London, including race relations, police oppression, and unemployment in vivid ways. London Calling will do that in a more polished way, but a very strong debut.

A decent example from glam rock’s emergence in the early 1970s, with Get it On the iconic track of this album. Overall though, I think it is a bit lacking in substance, especially compared to its contemporary Ziggy Stardust. A decent listen, but you’ll find better examples of the genre.

This album starts pretty well, with a trio of good songs that have very much entered the popular song cannon (to an extent for good reason, though I would like to catapult Mr Brightside into the sun, so much has it been overplayed). The rest of the album is less interesting though, and I can’t help but feel a bit empty from it. Other reviewers have made the comparison to The Killers’ home city of Las Vegas, and I think there’s a point there. It’s made to have mass appeal, but I’m left feeling as if I’ve encountered something a bit fake because of that.

I suppose I can see why this is liked so much, but it’s not really for me. We have the three classics in the middle- the title track, Beat It, and Billie Jean- which are clearly good songs but played to death 44 years later. Overall, I just think it sounds quite dated. It by no means makes it a bad album, but the sound is very much of its time, and it’s not one that is really my taste, with lots of synth and other artificial sound. In the category of ‘good, but not my speed’.

I’ll say one thing for this album- I listened to it on a day where I needed to get some stuff done quite quickly, so the fast pace of this album was quite helpful! That’s as positive as I’ll be however. Fetch the Alan Partridge meme because this is just noise. I can’t tell you about any individual tracks, because there were no distinguishing features between them that I could find.

It’s fine, but not that captivating. Son of a Preacher Man is a classic song of course, but the rest of the album was a bit too slow to make much of an impression on me.

A real mess of a (double) album, but something of an entertaining one. The second of these albums contains ‘Hey Ya’, known to my generation as a mandatory song for every 6 year old’s birthday party music, and that is a decent representation of the listenable quality to most of the music. It’s pretty fun and energetic. However, even for a double album this really goes on and on, and its determination to feature every single musical style at some point in the albums doesn’t help. Plenty of hits, plenty of misses.

A decent listen, one that continues his family’s engagement with Pan-Africanist politics and the dilemmas of that worldview in the 1990s. It has a lively sound that makes it listenable with lots of jazzy instruments. It is a bit long though, both within individual songs and as a whole. We get intros as long as standard songs! Worth a listen, but only a solid 3* I think.

A very good album, a pretty clear improvement from their other album on this list, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, imo. The first handful of songs is especially strong, blending a rock sound with some great hooks and other genre influences including funk and rap. Around the World and Scar Tissue probably my highlights. It’s held back from 5 by a weaker back half and some weak lyricism in places, but still a good one.

At points, this was a fine background music album, with some nice melodic tracks with an interesting array of instruments. But then you'd get a next track that sounded like a phone dialing tune and that background appreciation was quickly lost.

This album has some good qualities, at times being quite listenable and certainly less abrasive than Lamar’s other album on this list, To Pimp a Butterfly. The story of the album is largely the challenges of trying to grow up in Compton, one that is told in places with impactful emotion and sometimes more from a female perspective than other rap by a man (‘Sing About Me…). However, in that process it does continue with some typical problems of the genre in its violent misogyny in places (that may be a reflection of its subject matter for social and historical reasons, but it does impede my enjoyment of an album), and being much too long. And although this is a better listen overall than To Pimp a Butterfly, it probably lacks a single or two that sticks in your mind.

A good album that shows off R.E.M.’s place as one of the best ‘80s rock and jangle pop bands. ‘Pop Song ‘89’ and ‘Orange Crush’ show how they can go beyond that with some incisive commentary on the politics and music scene of the late ‘80s. It probably isn’t strong enough to be in contention for 5*, but it’s a nice listen.

I wasn’t in a great mood for this one, and with an album this slow that was never going to be a great context. If this album was any slower it would play backwards, with this a typically ornate ‘post-rock’ album of this period. I’m sure they all thought they were really clever with their ten minute songs and range of instruments, perhaps they headed off to a nice Icelandic hot springs or ice cave to congratulate themselves. But to me, this kind of music is just so pretentious and dull.

It’s decent, but not near the levels of ‘Dummy’, their debut. We get the same trip-hop style as that album, but the slowness of this feels much more purposeful and successfully atmospheric than other artists of the type that just end up boring me. On the whole though, I’m not sure this fully gets going as it might have. As soon as we get towards one sound idea it seems to be on to the next, and that probably contributes to the lack of a classic track here, in contrast to the handful provided by the debut.

I’m not hugely familiar with James Brown’s artistic trajectory, but I suspect that this was before the livelier songs that have remained in the public consciousness. The tracks here are good well performed, but feel much slower and from an older form of Soul/R&B than evolves later in the 60s. And as is the way with live albums, we get some versions far longer than original, and others only briefly referenced in a medley. And the audience’s incessant hooting and hollering is pretty annoying too (par for the course with American audiences I guess).

I’d only heard a few tracks by Pixies, so I was intrigued to hear the album seen as their masterpiece, and I was glad that it lived up to expectations. The five highlights for my money are pretty well spread out across the album, with the punkier Debaser a great start. The jangly Here Comes Your Man at track five, followed by a moodier Monkey Gone to Heaven and a return to janglier sounds on Mr Grieves, exemplifying well the band’s ’quiet-loud’ approach. Overall, it’s striking on how one level you can pick up cross pollination with contemporaries like REM and Sonic Youth, but also the bands that immediately follow (esp. Nirvana), and even sounds even further down the road. So much of this sounds like it could be an indie album from 2026, it really does sound ahead of its time. A great listen.

It’s better than ‘Don’t Stand Me Down’, the poor album if already had from Dexys Midnight Runners, but not by much. We at least get a good song in ‘Gino’, but the rest is marred by poor vocals and a pretty uninteresting sound that tries to incorporate too much. Why are there three albums of this on the list?

A defining memory of encountering music growing up was my dad playing Tom Waits in the car and absolutely hating it. Who had let this drunk sounding guy into a recording studio? But coming back to it now, I didn’t hate it. I still dislike the vocals (at moments he actually sings properly, which makes it more frustrating!), but the sound itself is alright. On Jersey Girl especially, it paints an atmospheric portrait. I can’t say I’ll be returning to it, but I’m dreading *five* albums of this less than I was.

If you’re British and of the right age, you’ll remember the attempt to get ‘Killing in the Name’ from this album to Christmas no. 1 as an attempt to protest the most important issue of the 21st century… the pollution of charts with X Factor contestants. On the album, Rage Against the Machine tackle lighter topics of capitalism, imperialism, and police brutality, with Killing in the Name the highlight for me of strong opening tracks. The sound is a more political Red Hot Chilli Peppers, marked by Tom Morello’s excellent guitar work. It gets a bit samey and too abrasive by the end, but still pretty good.

A good album bookended by two classics with some decent songs in between, though nothing else that really blew me away. Baba O’Reilly and Won’t Get Fooled Again are classics for a reason, with a great energy that gets the album going and finishes on a high note. The rest made less of an impression on me. I’d heard this album before and it was a slower listen that I remembered. That’s not to say these are bad songs- they're all of a good quality and blend a more produced sound with hard rock well- but nor did any really stand out.

An interesting album that was a pretty fun listen, but was unlikely to really stay with me. The album is intended as a showcase of Cuban (esp Afro-Cuban) musicians and sounds, which it achieves, but its jazzy sound also suggests it comes from a broader ‘Caribbean world’ that would include New Orleans, so it’s far from detached from other music. Overall though, I’m not sure this style of music can rise above background music for me. Enjoyable, but probably needed more cultural knowledge to fully appreciate.

Not much of interest here. The vocal songs are a bit more lively and hold your imagination, but the instrumental tracks really do wander off into floaty jazzy nothingness.

Comes with a free Andy Burnham dark shirt and blazer combination. This is perhaps the iconic album of Manchester’s current cultural trendiness, and although it’s very good I’m not sure it’s quite worthy of that status. There are some great tracks to be sure, She Bangs The Drums and Waterfall probably the highlights of a psychedelic rock sound. But it does drift a bit into uninteresting places on occasion, and that’s a bit indicative of the fact that this flourishing of Manchester music had better examples than this. Very good, but maybe with an inflated reputation.

For a grungey album, this is remarkably dull. The sound is occasionally good but never leads to anything that compelling that stayed with me- you can find many better examples of American rock from this period than this. Every good boy deserves fudge, every album this dull deserves two.

I once saw one of the members of Napalm Death perform ‘Ace of Spades’ with Yard Act at Rock City in Nottingham. Having listened to this album, I understand why they didn’t play one of their own albums. It mostly consists of unintelligible growling and indistinguishable sounds as it apparently moves from track to track (it’s impossible to tell when they change really). Truly awful.

There are some real classics on this album, with the best of them I Feel the Earth Move and You’ve Got a Friend imo. If you’re in the mood for a gentle listen, it’s great. But in most circumstances, it’s probably a bit too Radio 2 to be in my very top tier. It’s very easy listening and hence lacks the edge or pace, for the most part, that would have made me really enjoy this.

This is probably the weakest of The Smiths’ most famous album trilogy, but still has plenty to recommend it. Rusholme Ruffians and Nowhere Fast in particular are great showcases of their trademark irresistible jangly guitar and great lyrics. The band also do a great line in slower numbers, but we see that less here- the title track is in that vein and quite forgettable. Still a high quality album though.

A pretty good new wave album. I can’t say I was especially familiar with The Cars beyond knowing the name, but Just What I Needed is one everyone will recognise. It’s a fine line to tread between new wave and an ‘80s before the ‘80s power pop, but they straddle it pretty well. It fades a bit in quality by the end, but hangs on for 4.

A mixed bag. There are some great songs here, ‘Right Here, Right Now’ one every sports fan has heard before a big moment, and it’s joined in the early stages by the very good, if more teasing than tense, Rockefeller Shank and Gangster Tripping. My highlight comes in Praise You, a real listenable classic. However, the formula of Fatboy Slim of basically one sample and beat for the whole song really does grate on less good tracks where the concept is less interesting. Probably more of a singles act.

Ah, here we are with jazz again. Basically the same thoughts I have with every album of that genre- I’m sure this is good if you understand jazz, but I don’t. This would be perfectly pleasant to hear in a hotel lobby somewhere, but I couldn’t tell you why this is especially notable.

I’m probably a bit harsh on this because as I write in the UK in 2026, we live under the yoke of neo-soul Queen of Boring Olivia Dean, but I didn’t enjoy this one. This is a good example of how the genre will often have an enjoyable beat, but tracks just go nowhere. Every song just seems to plod along and be pretty indistinguishable.