Reviews by pops

It starts so strongly, I was fully ready to pair an off-the-shoulder top with a bold red lip and throw a 1980s yuppie dinner party, but by the end I was getting a bit bored with it.

I don't want to play armchair record label executive, but I wonder if this album would have done better with a less creepy cover? Because I don't think its commercial failure is down to the songs - this might be one of my favourite discoveries so far.

I bought the title track on cassette single in the 1990s (complete sidebar, but how the hell did that format make a comeback?) but then it was used on an advert and was so overplayed, I got sick of it. It's been long enough now that it had gone back to being a banger, but after hearing so many variations on the theme on this album, I might be getting tired of it again.

I've always really liked Love and Affection, but I think I had the idea that a whole album of Joan Armatrading might be a bit earnest for my tastes. I was wrong - I enjoyed this a lot, and it's frequently funkier than I was expecting.

She’s clearly very talented and I liked a lot of the songs individually, it’s just all a bit… tasteful?

I’m partial to a bit of Billy Bragg and this is him at his best.

The thing that surprised me most about this album is how much G Love's voice reminds me of Jack White. This could do with some of White's energy too - the laidback, lazy sound is enjoyable for a few tracks, but then my attention started wandering...

When it comes to early 1990s US indie/grunge, it can be a fine line between 'we don't want to be corporate sellouts' and 'we're shambling and self-indulgent on purpose, take that David Geffen!' So, the fact that the Wikipedia entry treats it like a badge of honour that Mudhoney didn't go with a major label for this didn't fill me with confidence. I ended up liking it though - I feel like if they had wanted to sellout, there would have been actual buyers, which isn't always the case.

When I heard Dolly Parton had died, I headed straight to YouTube to watch clips of her with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt from Dolly’s 1970s TV show. This album is a little slicker than those performances but their voices still sound so beautiful together, and Farther Along made me go a bit misty eyed. The world is just generally a sadder place without Dolly.

I think the Darkness got tarred with the novelty band brush (the outfits, the album cover and releasing a Christmas song with a pun on 'bell end' in the title probably didn't help), which might be why no one really bought the follow up. However, I also think they just genuinely loved hair metal at a time when it was deeply unfashionable. Permission to Land is campy (and patchy), but there are also some great tunes.

Funny, angry, catchy as hell, and the perfect length - it's like they worked out the exact moment at which any more of Jello Biafra's voice would start to get annoying, and stopped there.

It’s a little saggy in the middle, but aren’t we all? Apart from that, I liked this atmospheric album, especially as it’s really not what I was expecting.

It’s pleasant, but it didn’t massively grab me.

Some great tunes and I enjoyed this a lot, but there is something slightly depressing about how even the most politically progressive bands of this era were still absolutely fine with sexism.

By coincidence, I heard Fix Up, Look Sharp the other day for the first time in years, and was reminded what a banger it is. You can still hear why this made such an impact at the time, and it stands up better than I expected. It's such a striking debut.

In the best possible way, this sounds like something Bill & Ted would like. It's a good mix of musical virtuosity and dumb fun.

I listened to a cobbled-together YouTube playlist that was missing some tracks. But what I heard, I enjoyed.

You’re Going to Miss Me is such a tune, but I’m not sure that pioneering the electric jug is that much of a boast.

I suspect I have higher than average Morrissey tolerance levels (for his music rather than his opinions), and I like a lot of these songs. But if you've got Viva Hate and Your Arsenal on the list, you probably don't need this too.

So much to love about this classic, including that when Paul McCartney got a parking ticket, it inspired him to write a song about wanting to cop off with a traffic warden. I feel like “people with normal jobs can still be sexy and not just live lives of soul-crushing conformity” isn’t something you hear much in ‘enlightened’ 1960s pop. (Also, his guitar solo on Good Morning Good Morning is fire.)