Reviews by simonh

Musically beautiful. Gorgeous harp playing. And yes, I’m going to say it: a lovely vocal performance.

She sounds like a childlike cross between Björk’s strange phrasing, elastic melodies and unapologetically unusual vocal tone, and Kate Bush’s theatrical, eccentric storytelling.

It’s an album I can appreciate, even though I’m not going to add it to my go-to list. Joanna Newsom sounds as though she has emerged from an enchanted manuscript carrying a harp.

I have absolutely no idea who Fred Durst is.
On his Wikipedia page he looks like an accountant in a baseball cap.
So anyway my listening isn't clouded by an opinion about him personally. Although he seems to clearly divide opinion (and I totally respect people who want to put personality before music - I mean I myself wonder how anybody still listens to Michael Jackson)

The album title and art is completely lame, and the posturing lyrics are clearly more targetted towards adolescent incels than anyone else. The final track, 'Outro', is a long boring early podcast which I gave up on.

But... I quite enjoyed the music.

And since I wasn't praying for it to end then it must have been ok - though it won't be going on my playlist.

I enjoyed what I heard.

I would love to hear the original album but I heard enough to know that I still like 90s dance music and The Shamen were a short-lived but good part of that scene.

'Move Any Mountain' may well be a classic Shamen dance track but it's not on the original album you Spotify dip-shits so why is it the opening track on your stream? If I select an album on your wank streaming platform I want to hear that album - not what you fuckers think I 'should' hear.
Thank you.

A pleasant romp for a Saturday afternoon. I can't really find anything that distinguishes this above and beyond any other Talking Heads album I've heard before.

Do groups of spaced out weirdos still hang around Jim Morrison's graveside in Paris?
I remember visiting Père Lachaise in the early 90's and it was rammed with them. I didn't really get it at the time. After all, to my mind The Doors were mediocre has beens.

But I think the penny's dropped.

I’ve seen the word ‘boring’ in some of the reviews. I’m assuming the Ukrainian drone pilots who wrote those reviews are looking for a bit more jeopardy?
Me - a mere software developer - found it full of variety and depth if a tad long. Although length can always be mitigated by familiarity so a few more listens could resolve that.

I've always thought that any album selected for the Mercury prize, let alone the winner was definitely not an album for me, so I ignored it at the time.
But I like this.

My overwhelming feeling is one of relief that a song as good as ‘How Can I Be Sure’ isn’t actually a David Cassidy song after all!

Is Alice Cooper immortal? He seems to have been around forever. From the scary singer of Schools Out when I was 8 years old, to a kindly old uncle nowadays turning up on talk shows (including a weird and memorable chat about Cricket on Test Match Special).

Like so many old school 'has been' rock stars, I knew the singles - 'Schools Out' (not on here) , 'No More Mr Nice Guy' and 'Elected' but other than those I've never given him time of day. So I'm glad I've found out what I've been missing and why at one time he was one of the most imfamous rock stars in the world.

And it seems a reputation well earned. Great album

I’m questioning some of my life choices.

Why was I never into Bowie at the time?

Why did I take the piss out of Dave Gill at school, when he used to bend every uniform rule possible in an attempt to look like Bowie? Although, to be fair, I’d probably still have taken the piss.

I don’t think I even knew this album existed back then. By the time it entered my orbit, I had somehow convinced myself it was one of his later offerings.

It’s terrific.

After just one listen, “Station to Station” could already be my new favourite Bowie track — and not just because of the beginning.

I loved everything on here.

What a great album.

The fact that the album starts with a cover of Jumping Jack Flash immediately puts me into piss-take mode. Then Light My Fire doubles down on that. It's not until later in the album that I can stop myself giggling inside and take this album seriously.

Side 1 is primarily western covers played on a sitar. Side 2 goes back to basics and is altogether rather better. Possibly as a trailblazer it may be worthy of its place on the list...3. But as something I want to listen to again it's a definite 1.

So let's just call it a 2 shall we?

I'm still a sucker for a good pop album. And this is a good pop album. It's easy to see why she is so huge in 2026 that even her wedding gets massive news coverage, but her songs now sound very much like her songs then so I'd have expected a bit more development (conversely why kill the goose!).

This is like a bad Dexy's.
And Dexy's were shite!
So what dirt does the "singer" have on the rest of the band? Because he would be the first one up against the wall. Maybe he owns the van?

When a bloke changes his name and then goes back and renames a 40 year old album 'Introducing the Hardline According to Sananda Maitreya' - I just think what an absolute tool. I recall at the time he was rather up himself declaring this album to be the best thing since Sgt. Pepper. So he's still not short of ego is he - even if he seemed to disappear without trace after this album.

Granted he does have a very good voice and some of the songs have stood the test.
But he didn't.
Nobody likes a bighead.

Ladies and Gentlemen This is Perfectly Average.
Not to say I didn't like it. It was an ok listen. And it's very likely that if I invested enough time in this act then it's the sort of immersive, sonically dense, magnum opus that I could really get into.
Fact is I just can't be arsed with a band I've never heard of from 30 years ago that never really did anything.
I guess it's a hot day and I'm a bit tetchy.

I have problems with the bad pun title and the quite disturbing album art. It's the sort of Capitol corporate budget packaging I'd expect on a Mantovani or other easy listening record rather than a modern (at the time) beat combo.

As for the music, I was surprised the album was recorded in mono? The songs are all good. But God Only Knows is just special. It's one of a few songs that makes me damp eyed. The album could be 5 star for that song alone. But the packaging and recording takes some sheen away. Additional credit though for the train noises.

Sounds like another Aerosmith album. Lucky i quite like Aerosmith.

Well well well. If there's anyone I didn't expect to find on 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die it's Algy Ward! The same Algy Ward who founded Tank, the loudest band I have ever seen live.
This Saints album is altogether a little more restrained and even melodic in places.

First listen I hated this.
But I was listening on a set of tinny bone conducting headphones outside in the wind.
So I gave it another chance on a decent set of noise cancelling headphones. And it WAS an improvement with a richer sound and great bass.

But the fundemental problem is the same. The tracks are far too long. And all over the place.

I think the reason John Lydon's voice worked in the Sex Pistols was because everything was 3 minutes. On this they wring the life out of every track and Lydon's voice itself become less impactful and more grating.

It's such a shame, because I have loved a lot of the later stuff PiL did.
SO don't give up, John and the boys, you CAN do it!
This isn't it though.

Sandy Denny's voice is beautiful.
I thought I didn't like folk.
It seems I was wrong.

This is possibly the most British-sounding non-British band I’ve ever heard, in that slightly odd, art-school, “WTF is this?” kind of way.

I can't pin them to a genre, which is maybe the point. This is music that’s not so much genre-slippery as fully genre-fluid.

In some ways, this feels like what might have happened if prog had carried on evolving instead of becoming a museum piece: intricate, ambitious, strange, but still melodic and listenable.

The only downside is that it took me three listens to properly get my head around it, and has therefore cost me a few days on this 1001 marathon.
I'm glad I had the patience - for a change.
Me likee.
4½