Clapton is (justly, some would say) suffering from lots of revisionist criticism, and while I recognize this album’s importance in establishing his solo career, I just don’t like it that much. It’s rarely an exciting listen, and the well-known tracks are the only important ones. There aren’t any hidden gems here.

Just about perfect. They haven’t sounded this good since Disintegration. Worth the wait.

It's not a bad debut, but so much of it sounds like anything you'd get in an American honky-tonk circa 1982. Better things were to come and Knopfler's guitar playing is amazing.

Hot take: this is the Cure's greatest album. Incredibly ambitious, fantastic singles and (for me, at least) zero skips. "The Kiss" is an incredible opener with amazing production (Robert's guitar just sounds evil). "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" prophecies the dense slow songs on the following album. "The Catch" is the 80s pop song every one tried to write but only Robert could. And then there's the mammoth, "Just Like Heaven," which ... read more

At some point in the mid 1980s, Robert Smith remembered that he enjoyed writing pop songs, and that he was very good at it as well. Welcome to the Cure's era of greater accessibility.
Favorites: "Push," "A Night Like This"

I see "Faith" as The Cure's first great album. "Seventeen Seconds" is good, but has too much filler and under-developed concepts. They were still looking for that signature sound which they'd almost reach here, but then fully realize on "Pornography."
Favorites: "The Funeral Party," "Primary"

Disco (esp Bee-Gees) have a STRONG influence on this record, so if that's not your cup of tea, you won't like this record too much.
Favorites: "Shine a Little Love," "Don't Bring Me Down," "The Diary of Horace Wimp"

Lucious power pop from ELO.
Favorites: "Telephone Line" (massive Beatles influences here), "Livin' Thing"

"Turn to Stone" and "Mr. Blue Sky" are tremendous songs.

Even a relatively boring record from Van Morrison has its moments.
Favorites: "Kingdom Hall," "Hungry for Your Love," "Take It Where You Find It"
Skip: "Venice USA"

Billy sees the 80s in in style, with songs about phone sex, picking up women in bars, and the pressures to remain "hip." The collection of songs are catchy as hell, and some were all over the radio in the early 1980s. Even the album's title seems directed at someone. Critics? His fans? Both?
Favorites: "Sometimes a Fantasy," "Don't Ask Me Why"
Skips: "I Don't Want to be Alone"

Everything Zep did is essential, but some LPs are more essential than others. I like this album a lot, however it feels less urgent or important than I, II, IV, Houses or PG.
Favorites: "Immigrant Song," "That's the Way," "Bron-Y-Aur Stomp"
Skips: "Hats off to (Roy) Harper"

I have nothing original to say about this album.
Favorites: "Great Gig in the Sky," "Breathe," "Us and Them," "Brain Damage -> Eclipse"
Skips: none.

There's bloat here, to be sure, and as with any opera, repetition as well. Why did the concept of a rock opera appeal to Pete Townshend so intensely? Two were completed, others were started and abandoned and nearly drove him mad. But has any other group been so associated with the "rock opera" more than The Who? I think Quadrophenia is the tighter and more engaging of the two, but there's so much greatness here, beyond the classic rock station staple "Pinball ... read more

It's almost cliché to say that this is one of the greatest debut LPs of all time, but it doesn't make it any less true. The flip side is slightly weaker than the first.
Favorites: "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love," "I'm the One", "Eruption"
Skips: "Atomic Punk"

"Heaven" is the most beautiful song Talking Heads wrote. Just a stunner. "Cities" is fun, especially if you're familiar with Phish's much slower version.
Favorite song: "Heaven"
Least favorite: "Drugs"

Their first LP without Keith. The song-writing is so-so. Largely unremarkable.
Favorite song: "You Better You Bet"
Least favorite: "Daily Records"

Maybe my favorite Police album, I go back and forth between this one and Synchronicity. The boys were running on all cylinders here. The first side is definitely superior to the second side, but the flip side is always engaging. I love "Darkness," the closer. Life is indeed easier when it's boring.
Favorite song: "Invisible Sun"
Least favorite: "One World (Not Three)"

It's remarkable that they managed to release two more albums after this one, such is the divergence that shows a band made of 4 musicians going in different directions. Two points from perfection because I really dislike "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da." Even "Revolution 9" outranks that "granny music" dreck.
Favorite Song: "Revolution 1"
Least Favortite: "Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da"

Side 2 is a stunner. Don't overlook the title track.