Reviews by tjehl

Easily the most underrated of thrash metal’s Big Four. The classic Anthrax lineup is a powerhouse and they never seemed more fully developed than on Among The Living.

Their New York-inspired punkier approach to the genre makes Anthrax quite distinct when compared to the other heavyweights - and makes for some perfect stadium singalong choruses.

Another great example of the people behind this list finding a Mercury Music Prize nominee and cramming them on here.

Sunshine Hit Me is actually rather nice and pleasant - but it’s neither truly innovative or influential. There’s really no good reason for this to have a spot on a list like this.

Calexico are masters of blending their indie rock with a wide array of Latin sounds and genres.

It’s always an enjoyable ride exploring the desert landscape with these guys.

80’s music doesn’t get much better than this. Many people tried, but Tears For Fears really mastered the formula.

While Side One contains the two most instantly recognizable songs, the album eventually peaks with “Head Over Heels”.

Go take a look at the list of musicians appearing on this solo debut. It’s insane.

PJ Harvey’s greatest album vocally.
The songwriting is absolutely gorgeous and she never misses on yet another masterpiece.

I’m probably not the target audience, but even if I was, most of the beats on All Hail the Queen are quite bland.

Latifah delivers some great bars along the way and “The Pros” is an absolute highlight - overall it’s just not that interesting, no matter how important of a record it might be.

A most fitting album title if I ever saw one.

All The XX want to do is tease you.

“Intro” is such a great piece of music promising an album full of power and energy - at least that’s where it leaves us after leading up to it the entire time.

Unfortunately this is the second The XX album on this list delivering nothing but intros, teasing us, promising a grand outro - only to abruptly ending everything without ever progressing.

There’s absolute no reason you should actively listen to this album. It’s harmless and at times rather good, when it’s just playing in the background.

But you could honestly play it in a supermarket without offending anyone.

Chicago was a brute force of sheer creativity starting with their debut album and all the way up through the 70’s.

Their complex jazz rock and many records exceeding the 1 hour marker was somehow what people were looking for. I for one completely understand.

It’s impressive that Genesis was able to produce one of the greatest prog albums of all time, when you read about the problematic writing and recording sessions.

It’s too rare of an occasion that I get to listen to the entire thing in one sitting … And while that’s shame, I wouldn’t want it to be even a second shorter.

Short, fun, energetic and catchy.

Quite the incredible pop-punk release from 1979.

If you invited people by your house to listen to Pink Floyd and then only listened to this, you could ruin a lot of friendships.

Piper is lacking a lot of what would later make Pink Floyd a household name; it’s just as exciting as most of their post Dark Side-releases.

It’s a psychedelic trip through the weird wonders of early Floyd. It’s unclear if they knew what they were doing at all times, but it almost always works - even though the mixing will make you fear for the condition of your stereo.

Portishead returns to the stage with new musical inspirations and a sense of maturity - especially on Gibbons half.

Some of the instrumental ideas are more grotesque and noisier than ever but they still retain their iconic Portishead-sound.

It’s not the peak of their career (since they pretty much started out on top); buts it’s more than just a solid return to the stage.

I hate how much I enjoy this.

It’s pure creative insanity… And of course it comes with ups and downs.

I a frenzied pursuit to distance himself from his boy band past, Robbie Williams’ debut is a mediocre britpop album that just happens to also contain one banger rock anthem and a legendary ballad.

Let’s not kid ourselves and pretend like every Beyoncé record is a life altering.
This is a good pop record, but it’s really not that special compared to some of her other achievements.

About halfway through someone maxed out the volume of the bass - and that’s when this album really gets going.

Other songs rely too heavily on plain electronic ideas, without offering anything new or exciting.

It’s not a bad record.
It’s just not as groundbreaking as people would like you to believe.

Edgy blues for edgy boys.

I could listen to this era of Can all day.
It’s absolutely gorgeous.

I’m honestly tired of the amount of British post-punk on this list - it’s excessive to say the least.

But… You know…
When it’s good, it’s bloody good.