Like nothing I’d heard before when I first heard it. It’s very late night, moody, and reflective. For chilling with good friends. Which is exactly what we did. Still revisit it from time to time.
Alright look - I know it’s good. And there are classics here that would have stood to mark U2 as a globally important band for all time, even if they’d retired after this album. But there’s always been something about the second half that, for me, never quite matched the excellence of the first (minus Bullet the Blue Sky, where the politics also supersedes the musicality a bit too far). For me, Achtung Baby was their high point.
What music should sound like if stripped back to its very core. A man and his guitar singing without pretense, over-production or distraction. Short but powerful. And Northern Sky isn’t even on this album.
Gonna get vilified for this. But I played this and heard, rather than listened to it. It washed over me and although still largely accessible was less annoying than I expected it to be.
Amazing album. If it sags anywhere it’s midway through the second side, but I’m really hunting for a negative and struggling to state one if I’m honest.
Live blues. Is what it is. Shorter tracks better. But as a live album you’d probably have gotten more by being there.
aka The Rolling Beach Beatles, with the Genesis of a good album, but wrapped in pretension.
Sorry to say I’ve never got the appeal of rap/hip-hop (whichever this is). Most tracks very repetitive and I was more impressed by whoever found and weaved together the quirky samples, than by QL chanting all over them. So ironically might have enjoyed the instrumental album version more.
Never heard of this (or her). A mixed bag of songs and styles - but on the whole positive. Might listen again at some point.
Awesome. Still sounding 20 years ahead of its time. Goes down nice with a cup of tea and a slice of cake.
Better than I thought it would be. Always found DD to be a little bit earnest, but this wasn’t bad. Rio and Save a Prayer still the better singles.
Only 3 songs available on Spotify (though Wikipedia suggests that is the full original album). Starts bright, but repetition soon sets in. As a single, it’s fun and upbeat. But by the end of 3 songs I was starting to want it to funk off.
At this early stage in their career, lead singer trying too hard to sound like Chili Peppers. Occasional glimpses of some good ideas. But wrapped in a lot of forgettable dross. Thankful it was a short album. They got better.
Never would have chosen this. But it caught me in the right mood. Where it’s good, it’s very very good. But one star knocked off for the 4 or 5 tracks that are just a bit too weird and kept it all going about 20 mins too long.
If Badly Drawn Boy had soundtracked Charlie Brown/Peanuts. Quirky, and atmospheric. But I enjoyed.
Never liked Bowie. And was expecting this peak Ziggy period to be the pinnacle of his pretensive bollocks. Was surprised to find not so at all. Rock-y and riff-led, with hints of Beatles and Cat Stephens, listened twice through back to back. And enjoyed.
Had I first heard this when released in 1995, it likely would have had appeal, and I’d be reviewing it now with the benefit of 30 years’ worth of fond nostalgia. But I didn’t, so it’s wholly new. So it’s just ok.
Was a fan of mid 90s trip-hop. And this Latin themed version of it is quite atmospheric (if a bit drawn out and repetitive in places). Had on background - probably best way to listen.
Had no idea what genre this was (from the artist or album name or the cover) before it started. But it ticked all the “country” tropes from the very first note to the last. Which is fine for about 4-5 tracks. Beyond that, very samey. Feels like this is how Disney would have done a country album. And I bet all his other albums sound exactly the same.
Have loved their second album for years. But for some reason I never listened to this, their debut, before now. On first listen (on Friday), I didn’t find the appeal - too much like early 80s punk for my liking, and Tracks 1-3 all sounded like one long single song). But liked it more by Sunday. And Alright is an anthem obviously.
As with jazz, I find some blues tracks have a good starting idea that soon gets lost in too much self-indulgent, repetitive looping. This album has some of that, but also some genius tracks too. Where it’s good, it’s great. Where it’s not it’s tiresomely turgid. A good example of where less can be so much more.
All about the riffs. Better than I was expecting.
The latest in what seems to be a higher than expected number of operatic and overly theatrical albums among this 1001 collection... Not a huge Kate Bush fan and I’m sure this isn’t her best album. Interesting and irritating in equal measure.
Doubt it’s very trendy to say it… but who gives a folk. Actually quite enjoyed this.
An obviously epic opening track. Track 2 had a 90s indie feel (which, in 1968, was quite ahead of its time). Track 3 was crap however, and after that a mixed bag.
So much to unpack here. It’s a real (B)Eton Mess of an album. Some tracks are the big chunks, others are more the cream that connects and binds it all together. But from where they came from with their first album, it is fascinating listening.
I’m sure the lyrics have some deep meaning given it’s supposed to be a “concept” album (usually code for inaccessible). But the melodies and production were spot on. Never listened to XTC before (was expecting them to be a US all female hip-hop trio - pleased they were not). May dig out more.
Being from the 50s gives this a bit of a nostalgic feel. The fast big band jamming feel can sound fun. And the songs are short. But none of this compensates for the excess of scatting and pratting about that makes this overall just a bit too annoying.
Besides the overplayed Back to Life and the lesser played Keep on Moving, I was unfamiliar with all of this. But there isn’t much to the rest of it. Just a bunch of half-baked ideas that meander nowhere in particular. It has an undeniable summer feel, but while the pre-programmed drum machines provide the spine to each song, Jazzie B’s preachy rapping, and the jazzy flute (that suffers from too much jazz noodling), are irritating. So I know this is a reputed classic, but I just didn’t get why.
Not been a fan of Green Day (which is to say they’re a band that just simply passed me by - see also Foo Fighters). But this was bouncy and brash, and the production was clean. Liked.
Odd one this. Sounds like something that should be likeable, but yet adds up to less than the sum of its parts. A bit too earnest. Round myself paying no attention to the lyrics. Just.. meh.
Very niche. Listened only to a couple of tracks, which I found inaccessible. I’m sure it has its audience. I’m just not part of it.
Bought this when it came out. Have revisited it periodically ever since. Building on earlier collaborations done with Massive Attack, this was a complete change of direction and sound for EBTG. But it was, and remains, a modern, sleek, wistful, genius album. Love it.
Logged in, saw this was today’s album. And sighed. A 60s country album FFS? And yet… it reminded me so much of music my Nan used to listen to. I never heard of the singer before but her voice is strong and really soared to the high notes. Songs are short, and predictable in the chord changes. But overall it’s actually quite sweet. Music from a simpler time.
Crap.
Only had time today to listen to first 4 tracks. But it fairly well rocks and bounces along. Lust for Life and Passenger the obvious hits. Didn't get to find out whether, after a few more tracks, it starts to get all a bit samey (was starting to sense that it might). Will give it the benefit of the doubt.
Liked first track. But everything else just a coming of age, rough bag of noise that all either started to sound the same, or otherwise was just a dirge that rambled nowhere. If it wasn’t for me then, it certainly isn’t now.
Expected little to like (repetitive rambling songs with 27 verses). But found plenty (little bit of folk, plenty of rocking belters, and reams of poetry). Coming late to the Dylan thing perhaps, but really enjoyed this.
Legendary. The tracks released as singles, plus a few others, are the tentpoles holding the rest up. And they hold it all up high. But as a 7-8 track EP, with some of the ‘fat’ trimmed, it would have been perfect. Pretty close though.
Listened while on a sunlounger by the beach, drifting in and out of dozing, it seemed very atmospheric. Both something, and nothing. A handful of peculiar tracks that were little more than a string of nonsense samples that could have been jettisoned. Otherwise - fine.
Impossible to hear the hits objectively, such is their level of overplay since 1983. The rest is mid-fare 80s filler.
Catchy songs, clean and crisp production, make this a fine example of 70s folk-rock Americana. Liked.
Looked it up on Wikipedia first, which says “it is widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz records of all time.” It also says “the album comprises a single continuous composition—partially written as a ballet—divided into four tracks and six movements.” Figured it would be a slog on that basis. Which it was. If you imagine yourself at a Miami hotel, mid 1960s brat-pack era, perhaps on the set of Goldfinger, the first track works. But too much of the rest sounded like a band being dragged blindfolded through treacle to nowhere in particular.
Like a large bar of chocolate - sweet, and sickly - it is best consumed in small doses. Soaring vocals, aided by crisp production, show obvious talent. But too much of it just starts to grate after a while. She sings album tracks like she’s giving a concert performance - but quality is not evidenced by volume alone.
Sighed when I saw it as today’s album, still gave it a couple of tracks, but then gave up. Samey and repetitive, and the lyrics come too fast to really be able to hear, understand or appreciate them. I’m sure some people like it. Not for me.
Five Stars for Tutti Frutti as a song. But as an album, it’s the law of diminishing returns. All subsequent tracks are essentially variations of the same lead song. A cracking opener then. But thereafter… repeat and repeat again.
Distorted prog rock pretension? Or pioneering geniuses? I loved The Bends and OK Computer when originally released but lost the thread with everything they released after that. But this somehow clicks in older age. I was in a ‘Fuck off and leave me alone’ mood today - which probably explains it.
First song started promising, but even at only 4 mins long was at least a minute too long due to needless screaming and wailing. When that started up again on track 2, barely 2 mins in to a 10 minute long song, I called time. The album may have gotten better. I’ll never know.
So boring. Stuck it out for 4 tracks (or maybe it was just track 1 stuck on repeat - I really couldn’t tell). One star for the backing beats and occasional jazzy samples, but otherwise lost patience with it quickly. Hope we’ve seen the last of rap albums in this list…
It’s fine. In its day, probably great. Will probably get a nostalgia bounce from anyone familiar with it, but otherwise (as a first listen) it just sounds derivative of everything Gallagher-esque that soundtracked TFI Friday in the mid/late 90s - e.g. the heavy guitar riffs, and that now slightly irritating way that one syllable words used to get stretched into two syllables (“Yeee-oooh” instead of “you”).
I felt there must be a very specific frame of mind that you need to be in to enjoy this. But couldn’t work out what frame of mind that is - borderline psychotic? Stoned? Being neither, I merely endured most of this. And having not found anything approaching even 3 stars by half way, I gave up.
Latin/Calypso music from nearly 70 years ago?? Jesus! This album generator better throw up something decent soon if it’s going to continue to hold my interest.
We’re back on track. A band that’s not for everyone, but this album (on a par with, yet often overlooked next to OK Computer) is awesome.
One of those albums I recognise from the cover without ever having listened to it before. Very mellow, and of its 70s era. Not sure about the two tracks with the orchestra which seemed like bolt-ons. But otherwise quite enjoyed.
Made it half way through track 2, which was enough to confirm my instincts. It’s all unbearably awful impenetrable noise. Apart from Play Dead, I’m not aware of anything Bjork has ever done that can be described otherwise.
Meh. Never listened to this before though it was huge on release as I recall. Every song being of a similar tempo made them all just blend together. By the end, apart from the massively overplayed ‘Take Me Out’ I couldn’t immediately recall any song.
Boring and very repetitive.
I actually loved God Only Knows way before Love Actually. The other hits on here (Wouldn’t It Be Nice and Sloop John B) still sound great. But these are the tent poles of the album. The rest is a swirling mixed bag that blends together - perhaps due to the same sounding instrumentation and of course the distinctive harmonies. Not as great as many people laud it for. But still pretty good.
Yeh it’s ok. Neither bad nor great. Functional, and will satisfy Elvis fans (of which I’m neither one, nor not one). Just a solid, safe 3 stars.
Ah, prog rock. In the right hands, can be intricate, detailed and epic. Would take multiple listens to know if this is though.
Quite the find. Could see how some may find the breathy, fit-as-many-words-into-a-single-line style might grate. But I didn’t know this (or her, really) at all, and liked the moody, late night feel.
Loved this when it first came out. And it still holds up well. Like the production and the fact that their sound seemed unique. Enjoyed revisiting.
Orbital are EDM pioneers. Apparently. But I’d understand why people might think this to be like electronic prog rock - lots of overly long tracks of semi-improvised ideas tied together over endlessly looping drums. Orbital have produced some bangers - but you have to really hunt them out. And there were none to see here. Bit of an Emperor’s New Clothes album., this. But there are better ones.
Track 1 is a good opener. Track 3 is a classic. Probably won’t play track 2 much though (at least not publicly - “who” is coming?!). But it all seemed to tail off after that opening. ‘Funky soul’ is always better than earnest ‘soul searching’ - but the second half of the album had too much of the latter.
Jeez (I thought). If the algorithm is throwing up a second PJH album in less than a month, there are maybe a few more to come. Which boded badly given the last was an impenetrable mess of noise. But yet… this is undeniably much better than her last entry - more tuneful, rocky, and less angsty. And it was starting to sound like a Pretenders/late 90s Radiohead mash up (a good thing), when Thom Yorke showed up as if to prove my point - so an extra point awarded for that. Hope her other albums are more like this one than the last one.
Found this to be very unique when it was first released. An album made for late night winding down. Her breathy voice could relax anyone. Bit of a classic for me.
Undeniably Dolly Parton was unequalled in the Country arena. And some of the harmonies here are very sweet. The songs (like most country music) are formulaic ‘by numbers’ songs, which immediately sound like you’ve heard them before and know how they go. I’m not the target audience here but I’m sure it ticks the boxes for those who are.
Strange one this. For 1993 it sounds very modern and progressive. But found it not so much something to listen to, as to just hear. Like atmospheric background more than a collection of tracks to critique. In that context it was about 15 mins too long too.
I like Blur in the same way as I like the Beach Boys - on the surface, their most accessible songs are the ones you already know, and those are mostly genius song-writing (if perhaps a tad overplayed these days, but that’s hardly the band’s fault). So Songs 1 and 2 here are excellent. But most of the rest stray too far into psychedelic weirdness - like a sub-par Radiohead/Bowie mash up - which I’m sure reveals its genius if you persevere through multiple listens. I just don’t have the time for that.
There version of this album available on Spotify was missing all the original hits. So it’s mostly a late 80s (i.e. dated) mix of synth heavy house with cheesy vocals and rap. But if the hits were here, they would elevate the whole thing. So am judging it on what I know it’s supposed to be more than what this version is.
20 years into her career, Private Dancer (the song) was my first awareness of Tina Turner when it appeared on Now 4 (I was 8). Since then she was very much my parents’ ‘thing’. But since we’re in a period of revisiting albums by recently passed artists, I came to this with an open mind. Very much of its 1984 period, but also quite soulful. The hits and album tracks (I listened only to the original 10 track album length) blend well - it’s just tails off at the end with the Beatles cover and “1984”. Otherwise great.
Unique and with so many well crafted songs. When I first heard it (in Adam’s car) I had never heard of her before (“Alan is who….?”). But from there began a 30 year love of this album, which I regularly revisit.
Sorry, no. I’m not doing it. An ‘E’ for Explicit marked against every single track? This early in the week?? It will be an album of moody, nay ‘aggressive’ (c)rap music, no doubt with the N-word liberally scattered across everything. It’s not that I’m offended, it’s just boringly formulaic, repetitive, and indistinguishable from every other rap artist, and I have better things to do today. Star rating therefore indicative of nothing, as I did not/will not/shall not (probably ever) listen. That is all.
Had heard of them, but not heard them before. The fact it comes from 1988 makes it timeless - because it sounds like nothing that came from 1988, and arguably could be from any year since (but mid 90s in particular). There are indicators of what was to come later from the likes of Pearl Jam, the Chili Peppers and even Nirvana in here. A bit ashamed not to have discovered sooner.
Folksy and bluesy, mellow and melodic. All in just the right combination. The songs felt simple, yet also intricate. Really enjoyed this more than many of the previously unvisited albums I’ve encountered for the first time here.
Nope. Next?
The multi-tracked vocals make it sound like 70s folk, and I remember the style from him doing the Good Will Hunting soundtrack. Very melancholic, and a bit like Nick Drake. But gets a bit samey and downbeat if you listen to too much - which, at 16 songs, this unfortunately is.
Each track starts well, with time schemes that, while unconventional, still work. But pretty soon the repetition and the jazz noodling sets in. Too much of it sounds like a free-jamming session, albeit the tracks are just short enough to keep this in check. Take Five is the classic here, and is memorable for having an actual melody. But the surrounding songs dilute the overall star rating.
I love Brothers in Arms. This, their first album (of largely unfamiliar songs) made me think of other more familiar DS songs in their later catalogue. Which suggests that, guitar noodling talent notwithstanding, their songs always were a bit samey. This being the first album, and a perfectly pleasant one, you can’t really accuse them of samey-ness yet. So have scored as if a brand new sound. And on that basis it works.
Takes me back this. I don’t mean the album, but the sound of a baby crying that starts Track 1. All very unsettling. Which is true of the rest of the album. The jazzy funk sound (mostly samples, so not attributable to them) would be fine if not for the rapping over the top. Which is, like Kanye before it, mostly too fast and too packed with rap lingo to make any sense. I’m old and I don’t care. It’s not the worst, but it is still a rap album. I’m not listening to 75 mins of it.
A little bit bubblegum-y, this is perfectly fine pop on a single listen. A bit like Badly Drawn Boy, without some of his weirdness. But I think the catchiness and their constant need to name check American cities (perhaps to underscore the wannabe Californian-ness of the well polished sound, vocal harmonies and even a direct lift of Monkees lyrics) would start to grate on repeated listens.
“It’s just another bombtrack”. But like a whole album of them. It speaks of youth, freedom, rebellion, togetherness, friendship. And that’s just my associations of this album before you even get to how good it is. Awesome.
One half of a genius pairing in the decade before. And even if it’s overplayed, Imagine is a beautiful song in its simplicity. As is Jealous Guy. So top marks for those. The remainder here though are fairly forgettable.
Elton John at his mediocre is still better than many artists at their best. This album swells under its orchestral production but occasionally that, plus the length of most of the tracks, gives them a pretence of ‘earnest seriousness’ that isn’t always justified. Tiny Dancer is awesome. But as the first track, it causes many of the following songs to sound like variations of it, rather than alternatives. Still pretty good overall though.
Imagining myself in a cool hat, sipping whisky, cigarette in hand, watching this being performed in an underground jazz bar, late at night in 1961 absent the modern world’s distractions, yes.. I can glimpse its purpose and soul. But on the delayed 8.19 to Paddington, it loses something.
At a restaurant once, I chose a starter because it came served with banana curry flavoured ice cream. The idea intrigued me, and included 3 flavours I knew I liked. But all mashed up together? Surprisingly it did actually work on that dish, but because it was served in a small amount. I couldn’t have eaten an entire bowl however.
Too earnest and self-satisfied with their own determination to be as gloomy and morose as possible, they forget to include any positive attributes in this album (so far as I could tell after 3 tracks, and before I gave up completely).
Lyrically, this is Nick Cave + a little bit of sunshine. But I rarely acknowledge the lyrics and the musicality here is surprisingly better than I’d been expecting. As a package it’s all still a bit pretentious. And too long. But nowhere near as bad as I initially feared it might be.
Wasn’t expecting to like this much but it started out surprisingly better than I thought. Short, tight sharp songs -at least for the first 4 or 5. But then it got needlessly shouty, and by ‘Tony’s Theme’ I’d had enough. Stuck with it to the end only because it was a short album, but they were needing to redeem themselves in the second half, which they didn’t.
Not as clever as it thinks it is. Like an Indie mash-up of B-sides by Moby and the Fun Lovin’ Criminals. But I couldn’t find a hook that grabbed me through all the layers of samples, bleeps and distortion, all of which felt overused to disguise a lack of tunes. It’s well produced - perhaps over-produced, and as such just felt like a good example of where less could have been more.
Hmm… alt-Britney I thought on seeing this. Sugar-coated pop, I thought. And it’s 80 mins? Sheesh… But then, it’s better. Lush production aplenty, and it’s all probably too long. But this “take me serious” album has been done before, and successfully, by Madonna, Janet Jackson (Rhythm Nation is a classic), and others. And this deserves to be in the same league. She has the voice, some of the sassiest, and the songs support that. I actually quite enjoyed.
Never heard of them before. Each track quite slow, but once I realised this was how it was going to be I kind of relaxed into it. Very mellow and contemplative overall. And just the right length. Liked.
I remember the title track from when it was released (and really liked it then, as now), but apart from that and This Woman’s Work, the remainder is a bit too clever for me. The lush orchestration disguises any obvious access points, and she is (obviously) a bit kooky and weird under any spotlight. So 4 stars for the two tracks I mention, minus 1 for the rest.
1995. Mid-Uni. Long hair attempt underway (but not quite working). I was well into Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden and the like. So this would have slotted in perfectly. Which makes it all the more baffling that it (and everything they’ve done since) passed me by completely. But coming to it 30 years late, this seems like a good debut album. Maybe they’ll amount to something.
Well this will wake you up! It starts with a pace, a rawness and a gutsy determination to dare the crowd not to be immediately enthused and engaged… and doesn’t let up. Soul music to its very core.
Better than Kanye. But still not really my thing. Could have been better had it not been so cliche-ridden. Why don’t rappers know what a Thesaurus is?
Every fibre of my being tells me to hate this. But… I don’t. Maybe it’s because I’m familiar with some of the songs, which are quite catchy in their own right, and the occasional vocal peculiarities, grunts and shrieks seem more incidental than central (a trait that she reversed in her later albums to the point of becoming extremely irritating). For now, she stays just on the right side of weird and quirky, and as a debut that makes this interesting and intriguing.
