Reviews by owen

I expected to be less into this than I was back in the day, but I enjoyed it a fair bit; there are some good tracks on here.

The highlight here is Roygbiv, but maybe that's because I've heard it before and built some familiarity. Otherwise, I generally like it, but it's a bit background music-y.

This is horseshit. Making bad music and calling it art isn't clever or profound.

Far too long, and though some of it is amusing, lots is just cheesy. Could easily have dropped everything from "Packet Prelude" onwards

Highly enjoyable. Love how shambolic it is. Sure, Pete Doherty doesn't have a strong voice, but it sounds just right for this material. Feels like a five to me today.

I can't get past Eddie Vedder's voice, which though not a _bad_ voice per se, is one that is absolutely not to my taste. This drags an album which would have been a three (or even possibly a four) down to a two for me.

I said on the Wilco release that I was ready for Dad Rock, but maybe this is a bit too far. I liked it but it all felt a bit too safe; I doubt it's something I'd return to. Side note; I remember when this came out thinking Paul Weller was old, but he was only 35!

Kashmir is outstanding, but I also liked some of the less heavy songs here like Bron-Yr-Aur and the rest of side 3 & 4. Of all the Zep albums we've had so far, I think this might be my favorite.

I liked it, but felt it wasn't quite as strong as Fear Of A Black Planet. Good beats though, and I like the contrast between Chuck D's and Flavor Flav's voices.

You can draw a line directly from Roxy Music to this then on to Duran Duran. The guitars in Alien reminded me of "Girls On Film". Overall I liked it, though I think Duran Duran were better with a melody. First track is standout with its Moroder style synth line.

By all accounts I should like this more than I do, but for some reason I've never been able to get into The Beta Band. It's fine, and reasonably enjoyable, but it doesn't really grab me. Maybe I'll have a revelation at some point in the future.

No denying that he's a good songwriter, but there's not enough variation in tone here to keep my interest, and I don't particularly like his voice.

Solid 70s British punk. A lot of Buzzcocks best stuff wasn't on studio albums though; given that compilations seem to be fair game on this list, maybe "Singles Going Steady" would have been a better inclusion.

I expected this to be fairly dreadful, but it was a bit better than that - yes, that's clearing a low bar. What a mess "If It's In You" is, though. What possessed them to include that on the album in that state?

TBH I'd be happy if this album was just 20 minutes of "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)" followed by 20 minutes of "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)". The rest is decent but not outstanding, but those two songs (or two variants one song?) are just fantastic.

Huh, just had Yankee Hotel Foxtrot a few days ago and said there that the only Wilco I'd previously listened to was this album. Bought this when it came out largely because of Bragg, and I'm finding I like the Wilco aspects of it more now than I did then. You know what, maybe it's because I just had to endure Alexander 'Skip' Spence, but this feels like a five. Highlight: "She Came Along To Me"

The mixing here is really bad; some instrumentation fully in one channel. I thought this was mostly sorted out by 1969. Anyway mixing aside, this is still fucking terrible .

Ok, I agree that there are too many Elvis Costello albums on this list, but I think you have to review each one in isolation. As such, I'm giving this a 4; I liked this quite a lot. I enjoyed the two note guitar solo in I Want You.

I hadn't listened to this before; my only encounter with Wilco was Mermaid Avenue. I was expecting to find this bland "Dad Rock" but I ended up really enjoying it. Maybe I'm just Dad Rock demographic now.

I like her voice, though I understand that it's not to everybody's taste. The material was a little schmaltzy for me. Overall I preferred the Ella/Gershwin album.