Reviews by tjehl

What can I say? Dolly is hard to hate.

I think it’s rather unfair to include a greatest hits on this list.

What’s that?
It’s a regular studio album?

His 18th studio album?!

Jesus!

Stevie Wonder doesn’t miss a single beat on this monumental achievement.

Let’s all agree that there are plenty of “Imagine” covers out there - thank you.

Kenza is also too long and could have easily been shortened by removing “Imagine” and the Arab version of “C’est La Nuit”.

Now that we’ve moved past the negatives - this album is just a jam!

It’s hard to sit still when Khaled does his thing and I find it difficult not to be instantly charmed by both music and vocals.

Raï is one of the many African genres I have only briefly delved into before this.
I doubt this’ll be my last encounter though.

U2 fully knew who they were at this point - even though it’s definitely their harshest and least delay-filled album.

It’s no wonder they became one of the biggest rock bands ever, when they could produce material like this.

Especially Side A is completely without flaw - Side B is not as instantly recognizable and catchy, but War is a classic nonetheless.

I would definitely have chosen a different James Taylor album, but I guess they wanted “Fire And Rain” on the list.

When he gets too bluesy on Sweet Baby James I lose interest - but at every other moment there’s just no denying the quality of Taylor’s vocals.

Had this nightmare of a record been two minutes longer, I would have needed to call in sick from work due to stress.

Muddy Waters plays a mean blues (probably), but if he wants to change my opinion on blues being repetitive and rather boring, he shouldn’t play “Got My Mojo Working” twice in a row.

Behaviour is to its core a rather sad listening experience. That doesn’t change the fact, that I always leave the Pet Shop Boys in a good mood - depressing lyrics or not.

I enjoyed this way more than I was prepared for. While side two is at times a bit heavy on the new wave, side one is packed with bangers and classics.

Cindy Lauper possesses a mesmerizing attitude and songs to back it up; how could you not enjoy “Time After Time”?

I have rewarded The Kinks everything from 2 to 4 on this list so far.

Arthur is the Kinks album that finally makes them deserving of the highest rating available … and then some.

It’s easy to compare 60’s-artists to The Beatles, so I will do just that, as Arthur is as good as anything the Fab Four released - it’s a quintessential 60’s release deserving of all the praise you can thrown in its direction.

The Beatles’ main song catalogue consists of 188 original songs. Only 22 of those were written by George Harrison.

Listening to the creative powerhouse that is All Things Must Pass those numbers seem completely outrageous.

Harrison somehow never makes a wrong move on what is undoubtedly the greatest post-Beatles achievement by any Beatle.

From the minimalist cover to the crystal clear Joan Jett production, this is quite the unique punk album for a 1979 release.

(GI) is dirty, gritty and at times perfectly ugly especially due to the sneering presence of Darby Crash. They’re overdoing it with the live version of “Shut Down (Annihilation Man)”, but other than that it’s just a fun ride.

It’s no wonder Pat Smear went on to become a touring member of Nirvana with a calling card like this.

Run-D.M.C. came along with “Rock Box” and it changed everything.

First of all - I really hope this is the last The Smiths album on the list. Morrissey has long overstayed his welcome by now.

Side One is surprisingly good and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Side Two on the other hand starts out fine, but then goes on to become everything I really dislike about The Smiths - especially the last 3 songs are just shite.

The Saints bring along a few “new” ideas, but they never have the courage to fully rely on them.

This was the first The Who album I owned, so I may be a bit biased.

Then again - name me another album that both starts and ends this strong?

It's hard not to be charmed by Jamiroquai and the iconic Jay Kay. Everything is groovy, slightly futuristic and psychedelic (for a 90's record), while still being comfortably stuck in the 70's.

Along the way the band constantly, but ever so slightly, seem to loose more and more grip of the situation before the end almost collapses in long instrumental passages leading to nowhere.

Never heard about Death In Vegas before, but I can see that they, as well as so many, many other albums on this list, were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.

Maybe we should start not including every nominee, right?

It might be the English and not the German version included in the book - but when it comes to Kraftwerk, I don’t care.

If it’s available in German, you damn well listen in German.

Animal Collective never fail to surprise and with Merriweather Post Pavilion they further developed their unique sound.

It's rarely fully perfect product, when you decide to experiment as much as AC does; but it's always exciting.