Reviews by k-dot-r

A hugely underrated artist, with this as one of the shining lights in her back catalogue. I enjoyed my time with this album, and feel it might be even better than her debut (which got five stars from me).
An absolute joy

Solid, like an aussie Sam Fender / Brandon Flowers hybrid, but without the bit of magic that would elevate it to being an essential listen. A good nomination, and better than many of the albums in the book!

Some songs sound a bit like Barenaked Ladies, others like Idlewild, some are classic rock sounding, others pretty folky. A lovely album, by a band I only knew by name before I started the new nominations, but who I will definitely explore more once this is over - another "after-the-list list" album!
A great suggestion, and well worth a place in the book.

Passable post-punk, from one of the (slightly) forgotten bands of the era. Sounds a lot like early U2, with hints of Joy Division and a very English vocal inflection. Good, but not great, and unlikely to make any future edition of the book purely because post-punk (and England in general) is already well represented (and perhaps overly so).

Yes!

A classic of classic rock, much copied and much parodied, and well worth a place in the book. I'm not sure what it would replace though; maybe an expansion (to 1,501 albums?) is overdue?
As for this album, it's a cracker and a great nomination

A voice as smooth as silk, and as sweet as honey. A few songs in I was thinking he reminded me a bit of someone, and then Sampha turned up to answer the question of who I was thinking of.

A lovely album, and a great suggestion

Feels like it was released about 5-8 years later than it was, which I guess means it was (a tiny bit) ahead of its time. Hints of Midwest emo, and the various bands and genres that spun off from there

Only listened once, which felt like plenty, but fragments of the songs stayed with me the rest of the day. I'll definitely come back to this, if only to listen a couple more times (and without distractions) - and I'll come back to edit this review when I do.

Not as good as contemporary reviews (and my memory) would have suggested, but a solid fragile Americana effort. A little more variation of sound, style and dynamic range would have been nice.

Perfection

Somehow manages to be both boring and annoying, a tricky combination to pull off.

Sounds like Train (or Toploader), with the last vestiges of any soul or grit removed.

He presumably didn't aim to make the blandest album of all time, but he might have done it.

Might not have been exclusively sold in identikit coffee shops from Seattle to Santiago, but perhaps should have been.

Whiny voice, irritating guitar, ineffectual production, boring songs.

A commission should be established to decide who gets to cover Jimi - Mr Mayer does not deserve this permission.

A rip-off of a bunch of other (better) albums, which isn't even a good representative for the nonsense that people occasionally used to pretend to like, usually while drinking cheap wine.

No.

Prog folk Americana PNW rock opera, with hints of a few other genres as well. Reminds me of Biffy, Flaming Lips, Roddy Woomble, and many others at different times.
Maybe a bit overblown and pretentious, but not overly so. The different voices for (almost) each character works well, an idea clearly taken from (traditional) opera.
A band I will explore further when I have the time.
Scores precisely 3.5, but I'm choosing to round up!

How is this from 2006? So mediocre 80s stadium rock, it must have sounded like a relic when it came out. Ok, but no better. Other bands and artists have covered this ground in a much more enjoyable and entertaining way. Sounds like a whole bunch of other albums already in the book, but a tiny bit duller.

Brilliant

A cracker of a pop album, bringing guitars back to the foreground, while also showing off her voice and attitude. One minor quibble is that the link took me to the (slightly shitty) 'clean' version of the album, with no scary swearing and, more importantly, missing the excellent bonus tracks of the GUTS (spilled) version - it's well worth finding the upgraded expanded album.
An album I have listened to a few times, thanks to my daughter loving it, and an artist I hope to see given time and space to develop her sound and style.
Wonderful

Very French, although sung in English. Very European, with a clear American influence. Very repetitive, but constantly shifting and evolving.
An album of contradictions, with a huge impact on the electronic music that followed.

I'm not sure we need another Springsteen album on the list, and I'm not a huge fan of including live albums. However, I loved this, and it is such a famous show (and had a proper polish before release) that it probably deserves a place. Either way, a great nomination.

What? No.

They have one good song, and it ain't here.
A nonsense theme, with a few good tracks, but nothing worth revisiting.