Reviews by henry-winchester

Jazzy trip-hop with a distinctly Parisian twist. Has not dated nearly as badly as other music of this era, moves along nicely, but it is too long.

What an unexpected delight. I love the way "Without You," probably the definitive modern love song, is followed by the playful absurdity of "Coconut," then "Jump Into the Fire" takes us on a psych-rock odyssey. And it does all this without ever losing its focus or missing a beat.

Just the most lost-sounding album in the world; distant vocals amid swirling guitars. Occasionally a little too discordant, but impressive and influential overall.

I'm guessing there probably wasn't much like this when it came out, and it still sounds fresh and vibrant. Occasionally gets a bit Muzaky, but I don't think this detracts from the album overall.

Razor-sharp, unpretentious heavy metal.

Wonderful, mournful 60s blue-eyed soul. You Don't Own Me is chilling and perfect.

My knowledge of The Doors is embarrassingly poor, but this seems like a step away from psych-rock and towards noodley blues.

One of those albums that seems a lot scarier than it is.

Feeling ill, so I'm listening to this and reading Dickens. Somehow they go together!

I never got on with Elbow's first album, and it out me off listening to their later stuff. But this is phenomenal and I wish I'd given them a second chance at the time. The only track I don't like is "One Day Like This," which EE used as its hold music and I'll forever associate with stressful calls.

Love it. Boundary pushing indie pop; jaded romance.

Ushered in a new era of bland, limp-wristed, badly sung indie. Too many songs about stars. Did not like one bit.

50% decent hip-hop with a touch of trip-hop, 50% utter cringe wannabe gangster. It gets a star for being a welcome antidote to the bland indie that dominated UK airwaves at the time.

My favourite Beatles album is "The Best of the Beatles" (from the ages of 7-11 it actually was because it was the only one we had on tape). I was excited for "The White Album," and the crescendo of "Back in the USSR" followed by the melancholy crush of "Dear Prudence" (my favourite Beatles song) is a hell of a way to open an album and set its tone. But there are some duff tracks here too: "Ob-La-Di" and "Piggies" have dated awfully, and I'm sad to say I found the whole thing more irritating than enjoyable.

One star for the "Money for Nothing" intro. The rest is insipid, cringeworthy music for 80s dads to listen to in their Ford Cortinas. Not sure why a band from Newcastle are trying to sound like they're from Nevada too.

Probably should have listened to this before Christmas! Good though, a nice change from the heavy rotation Christmas songs of the 70s/80s/90s.

I like the way he rhymes "friend" with "end" and "fire" with "fire."

Terrific voice, but the songs all start to sound the same after a while. It's a shame we never got to hear her doing more experimental and interesting stuff. And we missed out on a Bond theme!

Grunge was a reaction against stadium rock, and this is a reaction against grunge: small-scale, personal, lo-fi; with an air of reluctant self-pity replacing anger.

Went for the stereo version. So many good songs it's hard to pick a highlight. Beautiful, genre-bending music that was way ahead of its time but also nostalgic.