Some real stinkers in this set of albums, but some real classics too.
Kraftwerk can usually be relied upon and here's another great album, with two distinctly different sleeve designs out there. The same is true of my favourite Kraftwerk album, Autobahn.
I also rated Gris Gris by Dr John very highly, I've long liked this album, though I'm not familiar with the rest of his catalogue.
Several albums scored 4 in this set, and many of those artists would have a 5 if they had been my favourite albums of theirs! I was a bit underhwlemed by Abba's Arrival. I view Abba as masters of infectious pop, but while this album had some stunning singles tracks, the rest seemed to me to be lower quality filler.
On the 'stinker' side (remember this reflects my taste!) was a ghastly collaboration between Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Also, I didn't rate the Justin Timberlake album.
Overall, I'm still unclear about the criteria for inclusion on this list - it seems to be that some albums are here only because they were really big sellers.
I've noticed that the 1001 Albums web app includes a summary of my reviews. It claims my favourite decade is the 1960s. Not true except where constrained by the albums supplied by this list!
| 300
Nov 04 2024 |
S&M | Metallica | 1 |
3.29 |
| Oh dear. | ||||
| 299
Nov 03 2024 |
Dry | PJ Harvey | 4 |
3.22 |
| A great debut album. I have most of Harvey's albums, and I might have chosen a different one for this list. | ||||
| 298
Nov 02 2024 |
MTV Unplugged In New York | Nirvana | 3 |
4.21 |
| I've never been sure why the Unplugged MTV thing was conceived - was it a view that noisy rockers couldn't play instruments without being plugged in? Whatever, it usually offers a new view of a band. In this case I think Nirvana took the chance to play several cover versions, and in fact my favourite track here is the Bowie cover (The Man Who Sold The World). Oh, and the Leadbelly cover is good too. The album's OK, but not being particularly keen on Nirvana, I can take it or leave it. | ||||
| 297
Nov 01 2024 |
Apocalypse Dudes | Turbonegro | 2 |
2.89 |
| Never heard of this band or album before, and after a single play I'm not sure whether this album should be on this list! Re-hashed matal/glam/punk tropes with risible lyrics. | ||||
| 296
Oct 31 2024 |
American IV: The Man Comes Around | Johnny Cash | 4 |
3.9 |
| This is terrific stuff. | ||||
| 295
Oct 30 2024 |
Sea Change | Beck | 3 |
3.34 |
| Oh, a sad album. Plodding and a bit forgettable. Not for me, I am afraid so not something I'll play again. | ||||
| 294
Oct 29 2024 |
Abraxas | Santana | 3 |
3.72 |
| It's been a long time since I last played this album, and i don't think time has served it well. It's great musicianship, but ultimately 'just nice'. I've grown accustomed to recording artists writinh the majority of tracks on their albums, too. | ||||
| 293
Oct 28 2024 |
Arrival | ABBA | 3 |
3.47 |
| The singles on this album are fabulously crafted pop (though I've always disliked Fernando). The rest is really filler, so this is far from a great album. 3/5 for the singles. | ||||
| 292
Oct 27 2024 |
Peter Gabriel 3 | Peter Gabriel | 4 |
3.29 |
| This is a very smoothly produced rock/pop album from Peter Gabriel and a stellar cast of musician side-kicks. It's not my kind of thing - in 1980 I was listening to a range of post-punk and alternative music albums. The album is really smoothly and well produced. Too much so for my tastes. Top tracks for me are Games Without Frontiers and Biko. | ||||
| 291
Oct 26 2024 |
You've Come a Long Way Baby | Fatboy Slim | 3 |
3.36 |
| I can see this as a painstaking trawl through collected sound bites from a huge record collection, and assembled using a computer. But at the end of the day, it all sounds like a mish mash produced by a scratching DJ. As an album, the tracks all sound pretty samey, it's technically pretty accomplished but rather lacking in musicality and emotion. Probably fairly influential in club scenes at the time. I've played it twice now. Will I play it again? Most probably not. | ||||
| 290
Oct 25 2024 |
Justified | Justin Timberlake | 1 |
2.68 |
| This is 63 minutes of excruciating pap. | ||||
| 289
Oct 24 2024 |
Porcupine | Echo And The Bunnymen | 4 |
3.03 |
| An excellent album, but not my favourite Echo and the Bunnymen record (which would be Ocean Rain). But it still has some great songs - notably the opening slavo of The Cutter and Back Of Love. | ||||
| 288
Oct 23 2024 |
Roxy Music | Roxy Music | 5 |
3.11 |
| To these ears, this album and its follow-up 'For Your Pleasure' are the greatest Roxy Music albums - before Eno got the heave-ho. Both albums are fabulous additions to the art-rock/glam genre, and were some of the strong influences on some of those post-punk bands that followed the great UK punk explosion of 76-77. The album is full of great tunes and (at times oblique) lyrics. I listened to the US release which includes the great single 'Virginia Plain'. What a stomper! This album is a clear 5/5. | ||||
| 287
Oct 22 2024 |
Machine Head | Deep Purple | 2 |
3.59 |
| This is the only Deep Purple album I am familiar with. And after playing it through twice, I don't think it has stood the test of time (53 years since release). I think the individuals in the group are accomplished, but collectively, they make music that seems to me to be plodding and banal, particularly the lyrics. I suspect this album was influential on other bands through the early 1970s, but really in the mid-2020s it's not a very exciting listen (and not at all challenging). | ||||
| 286
Oct 21 2024 |
Let Love Rule | Lenny Kravitz | 3 |
3 |
| This is an interesting amalgam of rock and soul. But does it escape the influences? | ||||
| 285
Oct 20 2024 |
So Much For The City | The Thrills | 1 |
2.85 |
| This isn't a very thrilling record. It's all very nice, but plodding and unmemorable. Doesn't grab my attention. At all. | ||||
| 284
Oct 19 2024 |
Endtroducing..... | DJ Shadow | 3 |
3.37 |
| I played this album twice. And then discovered that I'd actually listened to a thing called "Endtroducing Re-Emagined" It's very dull and not at all engaging. Then I found the 'real' "Endtroducing...." and it's a whole lot better. Not brilliant, but rather pleasant to listen to! | ||||
| 283
Oct 18 2024 |
Gris Gris | Dr. John | 5 |
2.88 |
| This is a great atmospheric album, especially as a debut album albeit after a time working as a session musician. Creates the Sr. John persona, all swampy, bluesy and psych. | ||||
| 282
Oct 17 2024 |
Trans Europe Express | Kraftwerk | 5 |
3.13 |
| This is an excellent and highly influential album. Kraftwerk were an important band in moving from synthesisers as a means of emulating conventional musical instruments to using them as instruments in their own right. They influenced many post-punk bands, and even house music bands. | ||||
| 281
Oct 16 2024 |
Goodbye And Hello | Tim Buckley | 2 |
2.83 |
| Well, another folk album on this list. I didn't care for the cod mediaeval twiddling or the vocals, and I couldn't help but wonder if Buckley's early demise contributes to its critical standing. | ||||