Rated 6/10
A welcome first listen; I enjoyed it and will hopefully look at more of their work. I was generally less impressed with the English speaking tracks in contrast to the Zulu tracks. Two a cappella albums in two days?
Rated 6/10
An incredibly brave move with fair but somewhat inconsistent results. Not my favourite of Bjork's albums but it's pretty enjoyable.
Rated 8/10
It's a very good REM record, doesn't quite stick the landing.
Rated 10/10
The sound of repressed feelings and male angst; one of England's finest songwriter in the middle of his creative peak. Need I say more?
Rated 8/10
You can make the argument it's their best record, it's certainly the start of the beat run in their career. It's only short in a couple of places; for example, more is desired on the loud end of the dynamic range; Lover of Mine is a bit wonky; the pace very rarely gets above a walk across the whole record. They're also charming flaws.
Rated 4/10
Non-descript Britpop/Power pop, why is it so compressed? I didn't hate it, but it didn't do much of anything for me and I probably wouldn't listen again.
Rated 8/10
A really fun pop record with spiky edges and massive hits. There are some weaker tracks but they don't drag it down too much overall. Solidly above average. Still think Debbie Harry needs a good wash, rammy.
Rated 6/10
In their classic run, I've often thought this is the weakest - and another listen didn't change my mind. It is the weakest because it is so uneven, and probably as a result of the fact it's the only one in that feted run that couldn't be argued as a concept album. I liked some of the tracks very much, and the ones I didn't particularly like just passed me by.
Rated 2/10
I had a massive urge to turn it off, I hated the vocals, the polyrhythms were nice but the instrumental parts were uninteresting. Like Anohni and Foals but less good than either. Bad Sparks impressions
An extremely welcome rediscovery, I absolutely loved pretty much every note.
Rated 8/10
Final boss of disco, but she's out of my life and I can't help it let it down
Rated 8/10
I'd agree with Jon Landau, it's probably the best solo output from any Beatle. It's not quite perfect, though.
Long and plodding. It reminds me of rainy Sunday afternoons. How Ella and Louis or Porgy and Bess gets overlooked for this archival behemoth is nothing short of absolutely mental. The hit rate is low, but it's not unpleasant. I wouldn't dream of ever listening it to again, nor any of the other songbooks.
Bowie's best rock record, it's literally perfect.
Rated 4/10
Extraordinarily tough listen, it's like it's covered in molasses, it's so sweet and slow moving. Makes the achievements of Pet Sounds only a year later even more stratospheric. Help Me Rhonda and Do You Wanna Dance are enjoyable. Some flashes of enjoyment elsewhere, but subpar for me. I'd rather listen to Phil Spector production than an attempt at it.
Rated 6/10
I only knew X from Los Angeles' title track. This is very much in the same vein. Considering this came out in the early 80s and was so heavily aped, I can see how this would be a landmark recording. The punk blues parts are brilliant, I'm less sure of my enjoyment of the lyrical content. Those harmonies are best described as hypnotic, again I'm not sure if that's good or bad! I've playlisted a few tracks - so it gets a positive score.
Rated 4/10
If every song was shorter, and F*cking in Heaven was removed, I might have enjoyed this. It was a tough listen with a couple of highlights.
The melodies and song directions are interesting, but not always the most effective. The concept is really well embedded and still feels relevant. I will definitely listen to it again, it might become my favourite of theirs.
Rated 10/10
It has been my favourite Bowie album for the longest time. No change to that on a re-listen.
Rated 10/10
Final boss of AOR, who am I to argue?
