Reviews by k-dot-r

Björk gets five stars. I like her earlier stuff even more, but this is still great.
She is one the greatest and most underrated artists.

The Kid A of Americana, full of glitchy beats and autotuned vocals. Sounds like the past being dragged kicking and screaming into the future, and absolutely not what anyone expected.

Fun, if sometimes fairly forgettable, 80s rock, with a few great songs and a bit of filler. An artist I first knew through GTA V, and the song from there is still his best in my view, but a guy who deserves (a wee bit) more recognition. Possibly sounded a bit out of place at the time - it's very old school rock & roll, and far removed from new wave / post-punk. Without that comparison, and with the distance that time brings, it's a solid collection of songs.

Bubblegum pop, with no pretence of being anything better. Not even good as far as pop goes, and should not be anywhere near consideration for a list like this.
I really really really really really really dislike this

Some songs sound like a washed out Pearl Jam copy, others like a Midwestern Kula Shaker, at least one sounds like James Blunt decided to try his hand at flute-based fusion.
A band I previously only knew as a clichéd punch line, but turns out they are OK. I'm not sure why they went to all the bother to get Alanis to guest (on two tracks) but then (aside from half a verse) bury her in the mix - but it was nice to hear her anyway!
There's got to be *something* played between the good songs on an 'alt-rock 90s college hits' radio station - it might as well be this.
Better than I feared, but not as good as I had hoped.

Less punk, more rock; less pop, more mature; less "running naked through town", more "we really like The Cure"; less power trio, more rounded sound.
Quite a departure, I remember being blindsided by it when it first came out. An important album in the history of the band, with two of my favourite blink songs, but falls just short of full marks for me.

Sounds like an American version of Elvis Costello, but it turns out he's English too! A wonderful mix of punk energy, rock n roll instrumentation, and country influenced lyrics (in places).
Lots of lovely little rhythmic quirks, including some great reggae influences and the Bo Diddley beat turning up (as it so often does!)

Loud, fast and heavy (but still with a slide guitar song). The template for so much of the (pop-)punk that followed, without quite the success achieved by the bands who followed. They absolutely deserve a place on the list, but narrowing it down to one album would be tricky. This album would definitely be in consideration

Like "This is Hardcore" by Pulp, it was a huge departure following a highly successful album. Sounds like a band bored of churning out the same old stuff, but taking their first steps into a new world of sound. Very Bowie and Scott Walker influenced, and very self-indulgent, and sounds more like Last Shadow Puppets than AM - did Alex get confused who he was writing for?
I liked it but didn't love it at first listen (seven years ago now), and fully expected this to change over repeated listening. Unfortunately, it never did.

Danish indie from just before landfill indie swept away all the good stuff

Pish

Québécois, et en français, et je l'ai jamais entendu. Je l'ai aimé beaucoup, et je crois que j'aimerai la plupart de leurs autres chansons. Quatre étoiles

What the American indie kids were doing while the world was looking the other way - which is a bit of a shame. Not sure how much promotion this had in the UK, but it could have been huge with the right marketing (probably involving minimising their American-ness!)

Highly polished expensively produced hyper pop. Not for me, but not entirely without merit

A geordie duo, both actors, who love a melodramatic bombastic story song. An interesting choice, with no clear roots in time or place (accents aside), and which i thoroughly enjoyed

Hella catchy, with bizarre but engaging lyrics, by a band who clearly don't take themselves too seriously.
One review (quoted on the wiki page) called it "Led Zeppelin for psychotics," which is probably about right!

Madgibbs!
Sounds so Wu-Tang influenced, it would have been more surprising if The Chef didn't turn up! Loads of other great guest verses too, especially Mac and Earl, but Freddie remains the star of the show.
Production is flawless (of course)

Genius

The end level boss of early 70s British prog - the folk and mythological influences, numerous overdubs, Storm Thorgerson artwork, and impenetrable lyrics are all present in abundance

A loose concept album, the main theme seemingly being that the world sucks, and people suck, and the guy singing sucks, and you probably suck too. Not as depressing as that sounds, but far from uplifting!
Could have scored anything (except 1 🌟) depending on how I felt when I listened, but I came round to basically agreeing with him about how sucky *all of this* is!