Reviews by mkw

One of the things I've learnen from going through this list is just how much I despise PJ Harvey. I don't care how authentic or feminist or indie she is - she sucks.

Very pleasant Jazz. Shorter tracks played by incredibly skilled musicians.

This was quite incredibly boring. This could be fine as background music, but honestly there's plenty of other albums that do the same thing better.

Honestly this seems more like a collection of tracks, than a cohesive album. That means a lack of direction, but it also means that there's a ton of variety, and no stretch of tracks really outstay their welcome.
I think this list has more psychedelic rock than could be called essential, but this is one of the better offerings.

I have no idea what makes this an essential album. It was wildly successfull at release, but I'd put money on the success was build on the album being great as background music. Everything is competently performed and put together, but nothing interesting hoppens.

This really isn't great art, but it's so catchy and high energy that it's difficult not to enjoy the ride.

I should love this. Incredibly discordant, dark, and brooding.
I just also find it fairly boring.

Not remarkable, and not terrible. I think I prefer my folk more folksy.

I know I should like this, but I absolutely hate her affectations.

I absolutely hate that singer. Second album from them on the list so far, and the overwhelming feeling listening to both is that the band is great, but the singer and his affectations ruin everything.

Difficult album to review. There's a lot of genuinely great ideas here, but every single track feels a minute too long. The vocals are great, but it's hard to shake the feeling that a lot of the angst and cynicism is slightly fake.

Very clearly 80s, but still manages to sound relevant. I knew most of the tracks without having heard the album as a whole.

I absolutely hate this. I fully accept that there is some skill on display here, but it's absolutely not for me. It's not just that this overly smooth music isn't my taste, or that I'm bored, it makes me irrationally angry. There's nothing in the sound that's the least bit challenging. Vocals are uninteresting, even if the voice is great. There's a thousand sax solos, but none of them are interesting.

I loved this when it came out, but honestly it hasn't aged well. The hits are still bangers, but most of the appeal was the novelty of the sound, and the whole "virtual band" vibe. That has faded away over the years, and the remains are honestly slightly boring.

Okay, so. I don't think this album is anywhere near as bad as the reviews suggest, but at the same time I really struggle to understand how this is, in any way, essential listening.
A very convincing, but maybe not all that challenging, country album.

So very Jazzy. The opening track is incredibly smooth, but leads in to a Captain Beefheart appearance. Things get wilder from there.

The sound of 90s radio.

I've always been frustrated by Manic Street Preachers. They have fragments of absolutely amazing ideas and melodies, but they always seem to back off or give up before completing them.

I'm not big on grunge, so this was always going to be a long 40 minutes. There's honestly bits of this album that I enjoy, but it's disconnected, and drowned out by the sheer amount of everything else.

Pretty clear that this was spun off from Talking Heads, and also pretty clear that it's a different singer.

I love this album, and I think it's obvious how much this influenced other artists and genres, but I have a hard time shaking the feeling that something is missing.

Horrible person getting trashier by the day. That does not change the quality of the album though.

I have never listened to a complete Kanye album before, and I never understood the hype. I get it now. I still don't enjoy him as a rapper, but the beats and the production - and even some of the lyrics - are just above and beyond.