Reviews by pops

I've always been more of a Dylan dabbler than a hardcore fan, but this is my fourth Dylan album and I've loved them all. Maybe by the end of this project, I'll be a full-on obsessive, writing blogs about his lyrics and defending his 1980s output.

It's fun in a trashy 1980s way, but not that memorable.

I was surprised this was a hip hop album as Mike Ladd doesn’t sound like a rapper name. After listening to it, I’m still not sure he sounds like a rapper - the production is more interesting than his flow.

They could also have called this Sludge.

There’s a great photo of James Taylor and Carly Simon standing against a railing, I presume on a boat - she’s in some sort of bikini, he’s in a white suit, they are both wearing leis, and they look hot as hell. I mention it because the man in that photo looks like he should make much cooler, sexier music than this pleasant but slightly bland folk rock.

I was a child in Britain in the 1980s, so it goes without saying that my parents had this album. I know the first four tracks really well, but couldn't really remember the rest of it. Turns out there's a reason for that as this is incredibly front-loaded, but I can see why it was the 80s dad rock album of choice.

Apparently Pitchfork described this as "the type of record that demands solitary reverence", and I'd agree - I definitely don't think it benefitted from listening to it on YouTube, where it was interrupted by jarringly cheerful adverts for Monzo. Even without the right conditions though, this was very atmospheric.

Soul Mining by The The was one of my fun discoveries on the list, but I wasn't keen on this one at all. It sometimes feels like he's going for Tom Waits but accidentally landing on a pretentious INXS.

I appreciate Shankar explaining Indian music to Western audiences, but those intros also make this feel like musical homework.

I liked this a lot - it's musically inventive, but Lost and Rich Kids in particular still have great tunes. I certainly don't think it's a harbinger of the end of society like the second-highest rated review does.

Elvis was many things - including an icon - but maybe he wasn’t an album artist?

I’d never heard this before but you know who clearly had? Rod Stewart. I get why you’d want to steal from this fun, groovy album though.

This was a lot of fun. It's always a good sign if I'm surprised that an hour-long album has finished, instead of checking Spotify to see how long is left to go.

Lorde, I was not familiar with your game. (To be honest, I only really know her from Royals and that video of her shushing the crowd at one of her gigs when they try to sing along.) This was a revelation.

I feel as if I should like this more than I did. It's got a great, jazzy soul groove, but maybe it doesn't have the tunes?

It's a testament to how much I love Pulp (and Jarvis Cocker) that I think their album about finally becoming successful and discovering it's not all it's cracked up to be is witty, dark and incisive, rather than whiny and obvious.

As someone who is more of a casual Nick Cave listener than a die-hard fan, I’ve previously swerved this album as it’s a double. Turns out that was a mistake, as it’s now my favourite. Loved it.

At its best, this is sublime. An edited highlights album would be any easy five stars. But about a third of the way through, I was ready for a break - I'm essentially listening to it in instalments.

I listened to this on headphones while out and about, and had to fight the urge to try to shake my hips in the supermarket.

So, I think this project has officially converted me to jazz. I listened to all of this and enjoyed it - if it had been an expanded two-hour live album by (to pick an artist whose live album I really didn't enjoy) the Grateful Dead, you'd better believe I would have just listened to the tracks from the original release.