Rated 10/10
Just so insanely talented, those changes in key and rhythm are crazy. And not quite post-punk, something more interesting that's jazz and reggae-influenced. Their cover of "Heard it on the Grapevine" is amazing as well.
Rated 6/10
The only album of the 60s that sounds like people from the 90s imagined albums of the 60s sounded. Crazy and light and good-natured fun.
Rated 4/10
The watershed moment when Morrissey went from Introspective Insecure Caring Morrissey to Irrationally Angry Blobby Morrissey.
Rated 6/10
Very mid.
Rated 10/10
Living up to their name. A smorgasbord of rock, switching between Floyd-esque prog, Zep-style riffs, and even a Sabbathy detour into metal.
Rated 10/10
Not sure if it's intended as such, but this just feels like such a massive middle finger up at white rock music. Like, these guys are saying we can do it just as good, if not better. Fuck you. Especially fuck you Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Rated 8/10
Such a perfect little time capsule of this era. Blockbuster pop with so much production value that it practically blinds you with how shiny it all is. Yes, it's kind of meaningless, but who cares when it all sounds this good?
Rated 10/10
The second time I've heard "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" in a week! And this version is just as good as the Saint Etienne cover. Maybe Young's best album as well? Bittersweet but kind of hard at the same time.
Rated 10/10
Usually dance acts admit to starting out as rock bands (Daft Punk were literally named after a review of a former incarnation), but with Doves it was the other way around; they started as SubSub, then became Doves, then became a UK brand of soap.
And it really shows. The songs sound indie, but they have the same building structure and repetitive melodies as dance tracks, as well as demonstrating a cogent understanding of sonics.
Rated 8/10
Super enjoyable.
Rated 10/10
Like a warm bath for your brain.
Rated 10/10
"Girl VII" is one of my favourite songs ever, so I might be a little bit biased. That track is a haunting eulogy to a life that never was.
The rest of the album is great, too, a precursor to both Britpop and house, but also existing in its own time and space, somewhere between Ealing comedies and the swinging sixties.
"Australia" is such a banger. Loved the way all these tracks transform into something else halfway through.
Rated 8/10
My enjoyment of this album was substantially mitigated by the thought of having group sex with these people now.
Rated 8/10
Gets points for maintaining utter desolation without ever becoming cheesy and patchy like their earlier work. My favourite Smiths album by a very long margin.
Rated 10/10
So easy to write this off, but it's class, so much better than "What's The Story," because it has an element of doubt in tracks such as "Cigarettes and Alcohol" and the one about lasagne; a wobbly lack of confidence that proved to be completely unfounded but nonetheless gives the album a more human quality that's missing in Oasis' swaggering and thunderous later work. I also love the way that it's just the teeniest bit shoegazery.
Rated 10/10
Obviously indebted to shoegaze and dreamy goth pop, but also doing its own weird and beautiful thing. Liz Fraser is such a treasure.
Rated 10/10
A perfect concoction of punk and pop with a hint of disco, shaken with feminist vigour — and it still tastes as good as it did back in '78.
Rated 4/10
[vocal sample with drum beat]
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
[dramatic music sample]
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
[middle 8]
FAAATBOOOY SLIIIM IIIS SHIIIT
FATFATFAT BOYBOYBOYBOY SLIMIS SLIMIS SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT
[new dramatic music sample]
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
FATBOY SLIM IS SHIT
Rated 6/10
This grew on me. Like a cyst.
