Rated 10/10
This triggered some very weird, specific memories for me; the last time I heard it was probably 20 years ago, and I was probably baked. As I should have been!
This was the album that legalized stoner rock, taking the filthy bong water of Kyuss and diluting it into something that would play nicely on radio waves. It's long, but there's enough variation here to ensure it never outstays its welcome.
Rated 8/10
MBV carry on doing what they're good at with zero attempts to update the formula. Soaringly beautiful in places, discordant and unlistenable in others.
Rated 8/10
There's no "Jolene" or "9 to 5" here, but I could listen to her voice all day. I'm not sure how someone can sound so innocent and yet so world-weary.
Rated 10/10
The thing I love about this album is the way you can picture the ideal listening locale: a beige 70s lounge with a lava lamp and a record player and a pack of Gauloises. It just moves.
Rated 4/10
ANOTHER Elvis Costello album. Pet theory: he ghost-wrote "1001 Albums."
"Oliver's Army" is pretty good. The rest is twee and boring.
Rated 10/10
Bowie at his absolute peak is also him at his most humbly strong. Or something. Never not interesting to listen to.
A juxtaposition between the positive energy of country and jet-black lyrics that tackle male mental health issues with admirable, almost heart-breaking honesty.
Rated 10/10
Kind of perfect. Me and all my uni friends loved this album. Davis' sax is his voice.
Rated 8/10
A more psychotropic and funky take on Martyn's slightly farty folk which reminded me of Alan Parsons' sonic voyages. Love the artwork as well.
Rated 8/10
All albums should be 25 minutes and 59 seconds long.
Rated 4/10
Do you want to listen to an album that sounds exactly like Prince, but with none of the bite?
Rated 4/10
Basically, this is British kids doing silly posh voices at school made into a whole album. No idea why it goes full Prince at one stage, and it's genuinely creepy in places. "Something for the Weekend" is admittedly quite a clever song, though.
Rated 8/10
Exactly at the midpoint between Beastie Boys and Nirvana.
Rated 4/10
This is never not interesting. Kind of Celtic folk-psyche in places, unfortunately U2-esque in others, utterly mediocre and boring in its quieter moments.
"It started up in Fife, it ended up in tears," are genius lyrics, "The Stolen Child" is awful and weird. Felt like it lasted forever.
Rated 8/10
A great album that really gives a sense of Tricky's character.
Rated 4/10
Never trust albums with the track listing on the front cover.
Rated 8/10
A new-ish album I've actually heard! Not sure if anything quite matches the cynical energy of the first track, but they've got a unique sound and the tunes are there.
Rated 6/10
I think this was the first like proper "album" I owned, on cassette, in 1996. I subsequently got into the Manics in a big way, then found them a bit depressing and trite. My declining interest was nailed when I had a very drunk and absolutely hilarious conversation with Elbow's Guy Garvey about them at Glastonbury 2013. I won't repeat what he said, but it was not complementary to the Manics.
So yeah, a bit of a strange one to revisit. I can totally see why it gave the band some well-deserved time in the spotlight, replacing the macabre, almost lo-fi production of "The Holy Bible" with a confident Britpop sheen. But this is also its weakest element; the extra layer of strings always feels unnecessary and waters down the songs, especially the title track. "Girl Who Wanted To Be God" is the strongest track here, it's perfectly placed in the album's ebbs and flows.
Rated 6/10
Charming and cock-er-nee, but also dated. Waterloo Sunset is still great though.
Rated 6/10
The only thing I can recall about this album is that their work got worse as they got older.
