Reviews by k-dot-r

Pop-country, sounds old fashioned, but i still liked it. Not necessarily enough to include it in my 1,001 list (when I get round to it), but it was a pleasant way to pass some time.

Noisy punky proto-grunge, by a really interesting band who were a clear influence on loads of huge acts. An album I would have loved to have heard sooner; as such it gets my vote to go in the book.

A wonderful album, with moving instrumentals and engaging lyrics (or sampled conversations) when they used them. Lovely to hear Aidan Moffat show up, and talking Scots. I never realised until I heard "R U Still in 2 It" that I hadn't heard the word 'pictures' (to mean movies / cinema) in a song. It's these wee moments that make an album, and remind me why I give Scottish bands bonus points. Except I can't in this case, cos they are already getting five stars!

Their first album, but not their best. I would have been seriously freaked out by this had I heard it at the time, since I was 11 when it came out, but listening now, having loved Korn for years (and seen them live a couple of times), it is simply astounding.
Some tracks are pretty disturbing, but that was what they were going for, so I can't even mark it down for that.
As a starter for an important band (and genre), as well as on its own merits, this should probably be in the book.

Another folksy Americana album; I take it pretty much everyone who ever listened to Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, or Johnny Cash has, at some point, gone into a studio with four chords and a book of story lyrics.

It's good, but not really anything unique, and it would, in my opinion, probably have to take the place of something similar sounding if it was to find a place in the next edition.

The sound of the end of student life for me - I've got a couple of the 7" singles from this album in my collection, and a lot of fond memories of most of the songs.
For this reason, more than strictly on artistic merit, I have to give this full marks.
A wonderful album

Dark and gothic, but with real tunes in there as well. The cover of Summer Breeze felt weird at first, but then I liked it a lot.
A clear influence on lots of bands I love, but I (slightly) prefer those bands to this.
A better album than many in the book, but maybe too extreme for some listeners, and perhaps not the best introduction to heavy music.
One for folks who won't get scared!

Enjoyable and interesting, but without a stand out track that I loved. A really good album, but from a time, place and style with plenty of representation in the book already.
A pleasure to have heard, and an artist I look forward to exploring more (after this list)

A classic, by a band who definitely deserve to be in the book. Maybe the next edition!

A forgettable and bland 80s pop staple, like plenty of others that did make it into the book! Absolutely not what I would choose to listen to, but clearly not terrible; just not for me.

A masterpiece, by an artist who is almost forgotten by the mainstream, but well deserving of a renaissance. He's just Scottish enough for a wee bonus point too, even if he wasn't born here!
A lovely inclusion, which made my day brighter with every note.

A formative album for a few of my friends who were a bit younger than me, and had maybe not really listened to albums when this came out.
The emo "American Idiot", which I mean as a compliment!
Well worthy of inclusion in the next edition of the book - in place of any one of a bunch of albums I disliked!

Electro-influenced folksy Americana, not great, not terrible.
Better than a bunch of the filler in the book, and would be a worthy inclusion to show a different style and genre.

Canadian landfill indie. Pleasant but unexciting, like the filler in a playlist when you don't want wall to wall bangers. Better than some stuff on the list, and it would be well worth having some more bands from outside of the USA/UK, but there would be better choices.

Nonsense - like a soundtrack to a dull movie, with more instrumental tracks than actual songs.
Works as a showreel for a producer, or as a sample bank for other artists, but not as a coherent collection of actual songs.

I would not have scored this highly after one listen through. Luckily for them (as if they care!) I had plenty of time to listen again and again (and again) until it started to make some sort of sense (or i lost my mind a bit).
Odd instrumental choices, bizarre lyrics (when they bother with them), time signatures chosen seemingly at random. This feels like the crossing point from psychedelic music to early prog rock and, after some time to get to know it, I loved it!

Over produced dance music, like what would happen if someone like Calvin Harris had significantly less talent, way too much time on his hands and, on at least one track, decided to poorly remake Treefingers from Kid A.
Albums of dance/EDM/electronica (even with a smattering of acoustic instruments) tend to drag pretty quickly. The use of studio flummery to create a second voice from the same artist was vaguely interesting, but why would you not just get someone with the vocal qualities you want for the song?
Not for me, although I can see why some folk might like it.

Absolute pish, why was this nominated? It is like the background music in a shite tv show for stupid people.

Not a single good track here, just repetitive beats and terrible singing.

Possibly worse than that Nico album I had to endure a few years back; certainly the first since then that I thought might be the worst album ever recorded.

I was literally wishing for it to be over, thankfully it only lasted 39 mins, but it's 39 too many.

Zero stars

Batshit crazy British psychedelia from a time when half the music industry was on LSD (and the rest were pretending they were!)

Fun effervescent Americana, with lovely lyrics and interesting musical arrangements. A real treat on a cold winter's day