Reviews by berl1nchair

There are a couple of really good tunes on here (Reelin’ In The Years and Do It Again), but most of the rest of it is smoothed out so much, it’s completely frictionless and leaves absolutely no impression. Which is a shame, as they are obviously talented musicians, and can write a song, but I’m just left hanging out for some distortion, edge or just anything I can grab hold of.
The very definition of a 3-star album for me.

Interesting jazz, nothing too earth shattering to my ears but worth a listen.
I find jazz hard to rate, I liked it but I'm not sure I'd ever go back for another listen.

Funky Monks.
Unfortunately hard to listen to in Australia, with the full set not available on either Apple Music or Spotify - had to listen to it off Youtube which is always a bit of a pain.......
Anyway, worth the hassle! Great garage/early punk, with ramshackle musicianship, attitude and rough production. Loved it. Get this onto streaming so that I can listen again more easily!!!

Post punk, close to perfection. You can hear them honing their style which would morph into the darker, bigger sound of Disintegration and Pornography.
‘A Forest’ is a masterpiece. ‘Play For Today, ‘Secrets’ and ‘At Night’ are also fantastic, but it all sounds good to me.

I love the way Aretha just sings the shit out of any song put in front of her. Yet it never feels overblown like Mariah Carey or some crap like that. Truly she was the Queen of Soul.

Not really a bad track on here. The last couple veer towards softer, ballady style, which I didn't love, but the rest is so damn good this can only get 5 stars.

I'm familiar with their later work, but not at all with this album. Which is a shame, as I bloody loved it!
Fantastic post-punk tunes, with really fab basslines, wonderful songs and overall a marvellous package.
Highly recommended, I'm a bit surprised at the level of hate in some of the reviews!!

I thought this would be harder going than it is. It's loud, it's weird, but it kinda holds together fairly well. Some of it is just noise for noise's sake, but there are some actual tunes in amongst all the weirdity.

Had forgotten how influential this was, and how much Tricky was all over this album before he struck out more on his own.
Trip hop before it was called that, with a couple of massive singles in 'Unfinished Sympathy' and 'Safe From Harm', and the rest holds up pretty well now, even 35 years later.

It does the job, gets you up and moving, but not a lot more substance than that. ‘Red Alert’ is a certified banger, but a lot of the rest is just filling time. And the interludes scattered through it are annoying.

This is the kind of music that Spinal Tap were making fun of. Overly serious, overblown bollocks that is quite tedious to listen to. As much as I enjoy the fact that they do something different by including a flute, it does make it kinda hard to take seriously. Anybody else think of Allison Hannigan in American Pie when they hear a flute?? 'This one time, at band camp.......'
No? Just me then..........
Anyway, this kind of prog just bores me to tears, with po-faced lyrics that try to be serious but are kind of ridiculous, and not enough of interest musically.

A couple of good songs with strong songwriting (Marlene On The Wall, The Queen And The Soldier) whereas the rest tends to blend into the background a bit. Could do with a bit more varied instrumentation (which she did later in her career) to make some of the other songs stand out a bit more. However, I do like her vocals and it's not an unpleasant way to spend 36 minutes.

The only track I was familiar with before listening to this was ‘Life During Wartime’, which is a good one, but most of the rest of the album is not up to this high standard. I found it hard to get into it, with David Byrne doing his usual weird vocal stylings, but somehow less engaging than in most other Talking Heads recordings that I know.
There is plenty going on here, but I’m just not sure I’d be rushing back in a hurry to listen to it, especially when there are other Talking Heads albums that do it a lot better

Interesting what got onto the charts in the mid-90s. A couple of killer singles here (Novocaine For the Soul, Susan’s House), and the rest meanders on without ever coming close to scaling those heights again. Your Lucky Day In Hell marks a slight point of difference from the rest, which often has Mark Everett mumbling in a low voice over some unremarkable indie noises.

Such a shame that MJ tarnished his legacy so badly in later years, because when he was young, funky, and still black, the dude kicked some ass!!!
This album starts to strong with Don’t Stop, backed up with Rock With You, Workin’ Day and Night, Get On The Floor, and Off The Wall. Killer side 1!!!
The ballady numbers on side 2 are decidedly weaker, before a return to the disco for the final track.
Overall, a very good (but not flawless) late 70s gem.

Kinda schizophrenic album, it's really all over the place with the songs from the 3 different vocalists.
I quite like some of the McVie and Nicks songs, most of the Buckingham ones seem to stick out like a sore thumb, but they do have their appeal.
Can't really rate this any higher than a 3, on account of lack of any killer tracks and 20 tracks without much to say.

Can’t say I’ve listened to a lot of Eno, apart from his 90s album Nerve Net that a friend of mine had, and Oz band Icehouse covering ‘Blank Frank’ and ‘Driving Me Backwards’ on some radio telethon back in the 90s - bizarrely enough!!
This is a marvelous mishmash of guitars, early electronica and other weirdness, which I really enjoyed. Lots of interesting moments and songs that I will have to go back to and listen more to really pull out all the pieces that make up the whole.

Quite liked this, was familiar with 'One Day Like This' but not the rest of the album. Speaking of 'One Day Like This', what is it about that song that makes me go all misty-eyed and wistful? It's a beautiful piece of art, and I could listen to it a thousand times over.
The rest of the album never quite hits those heights, but there are lots of wonderful moments. 'An Audience With The Pope', 'The Fix', 'Grounds For Divorce' are all fantastic, with clever lyrics and lovely arrangements. Whilst Guy Garvey's voice might not be technically brilliant, his down to earth singing carries the songs with an element of truthfulness.

After Murder Ballads, this is a very calm, somber departure. Marking Dirty Three’s Warren Ellis’ elevation to a regular member of The Bad Seeds, whose contributions can be heard in the quieter moments. A series of love songs, deliberations and thoughts put down with minimal backing, letting Cave’s voice shine through.
Opening track ‘Into My Arms’ is just beautiful, and one of my favourite songs to sing along with in the car (baritone ftw). Other key tracks ‘Are You The One That I’ve Been Waiting For?’, ‘People Ain’t No Good’ and ‘West Country Girl’ (reportedly about PJ Harvey).
A beautiful album, highly recommended for a quiet, thoughtful Sunday afternoon.

I copped some hate recently for suggesting that Beggars Banquet (the album immediately preceding this one) was not all that it’s cracked up to be. Listening to this today, I stand by that assessment - Let It Bleed is just a whole lot better for mine.
Similar formula to a degree - 2 big, classic hit singles (Gimme Shelter and You Can’t Always Get What You Want), but the big difference is in the quality of the rest of the album. Here, you get Live With Me (possibly my fave Stones track ever), a quirky country version of Honky Tonk Women, Love In Vain, even Monkey Man stands up tall. Midnight Rambler, well, rambles on for a bit long, but it all seems a bit better thought out and better executed than the mess of the album tracks on BB.

A solid 3. Nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible either. Agree with others noting that this probably is borderline in terms of deserving a spot on this list, but there is plenty worse!