Reviews by pops

This is why I signed up for the generator. I’d never heard of The Young Gods before and based on the reviews, I would never have sought this out (even the good ones didn’t make it sound like my cup of tea) but I really enjoyed it. Who knew I liked Swiss industrial rock with a dash of the theatrical? Not me.

In the 1990s, I mentally filed Arrested Development under “rap for people who don’t really like rap”, but after listening to this album, I can see that was unfair - there’s some good stuff on here. I still think Mr Wendall is patronising though.

By all accounts, Van Morrison is a deeply unpleasant person and he sings (as a review I once read put it) like a man trying to attract your attention across a crowded pub. But music works in mysterious ways and this album is a thing of beauty.

Just when you’re thinking this could be by any generic 1960s British band, along comes a track that makes you realise why The Who were exciting.

I bought this album in 2001 on the strength of Hate To Say I Told You So, but would have struggled to name another track on it. After re-listening to it in full for the first time in years, I quite enjoyed it but I think that’s still the only song I’m likely to keep playing.

I’m only 25 albums in but this is my second by the Stones. The first was Sticky Fingers, and although I liked this one, it suffered a bit by comparison.

I knew Blister in the Sun, but because for me that song walks the very fine line that separates amazing from annoying, I never tried listening to anything else by the Violent Femmes. Turns out they can walk that line for an entire album - I really enjoyed this.

It’s very atmospheric - my office briefly felt like a spooky Louisiana swamp. And Walk on Guilded Splinters is such a tune.

I discovered PJ Harvey at the right time - she definitely spoke to me as a teenager. But even without the angst, this is such a great debut from an artist who arrived fully formed. I also don’t think she gets enough credit for the tunes - Sheela-na-gig is straight up catchy.

It’s Springsteen at his most Springsteen-esque (there are songs about cars! And factories! And the chorus of The Promised Land sounds like someone doing a Springsteen impression!), so it’s unlikely to convert a non-believer. I’m fully on board with the Boss though, so it’s five stars from me.

Some absolute bangers, but it goes on a bit. If he’d wanted to make some edits, cutting out the grim sex skits would have been a good starting point.

If it was 2000 and a friend invited a few people back to their flat to hang out after the club and put this on in the background, I bet it would sound fantastic. I listened to it in 2025 while cleaning my kitchen, so it probably lost something.

Prog and 1980s soft rock aren’t my favourite genres, but put them together and you get… something that’s still not my cup of tea. Good drumming though.

I started off loving it, thought it dipped in the middle, but they pulled me back in with the last track. Always good to go out on a high.

I feel like I should appreciate the ambition and that it wants to be more than just another indie album, but I also don’t really want to listen to it again, so…

I don’t think the generator needed to add a year - everything about this screams 1989. Still, timelessness is overrated and I really enjoyed this.

I’ve always thought that Don’t Tell Me is Madonna’s most underrated single and that American Pie is her worst. The rest of the album is somewhere in the middle - and largely forgettable.

The banger to ballad ratio is maybe better on a couple of his other 70s albums, but still a classic.

I always thought of Exile on Main Street as their classic, undeniable album but I think I’ve been underrating this one. Loved it.

I really enjoyed listening to this (once I found it) but it might have been five stars if some of the tracks didn’t drag on a bit too long. Who says a funk band doesn’t know when to stop? Me, but I say it with love.