Imogen Heap - Ellipse
75

I'm certain hidden in the 70-80s user score range there are some hiddden gems that the community are underrating. However, this album is not it. Tidal is a really good track though.

Gustavo Cerati - Siempre es hoy
100

Siempre Es Hoy is Cerati in full flex mode and I am 100 per cent for it. Whereas Bocanada was dreamlike and slow, this locks in on the beats and grooves, it's hypnotic and alive.

It's not fair how much musical talent this guy has, he is experimental but accessible at the same time. It's sophisticated but unpretentious. Above all, it's incredibly enjoyable.

Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
75

With a tag of "hard rock" and a user score of 88, I was looking forward to Physical Graffiti. Unfortunately, I didn't hear any "hard rock" at all. I heard grandad rock, I heard Rock and Bike Fest rock but I did not hear "hard rock".

I was hoping for a little kill your grandma music. Instead I got music that she'd enjoy.

The Rover was decent and so was Kashmir, otherwise at 1 hour 22 minutes it was boring and blended into a nothingness.

Talking Heads - Remain in Light
93

Hello, this is a public confession. I originally banished this album to my "unwanted" pile. This was a terrible mistake. This album pulsates, and the rhythms are delicious.

I don't Remain in Light, I Remain in Shame at my judgement.

The Cure - Pornography
85

Whether it's The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, or that crazy Deathconsciousness album that I listened to recently, this Gothic Rock genre resonates with the negative and depressing side of my personality so well. It sounds great, and I just love how dark and amazing it sounds. I love this genre.

Reverend and the Makers - The State of Things
80

You may recognise them from FIFA09!

Honestly, this album had some really good tracks.

Maybe you didn't know that Joe Carnall, musician in this band, was a history teacher in the Sheffield area. My obscure claim to fame: as a supply teacher, I once covered Joe Carnall's history class.

On an unglamourous closing note, I was also hit by a pint of urine at a Reverend and the Makers gig.

Ween - Quebec
85

The Mollusk was a bit too weird for me. However, I loved the toned down weirdness that Ween channelled into this later album. It felt a little less random and a little more mature.

The best compliment I can give is that I was listening to this as background music but I just had to turn it up.

85

Reasonably fun, but it's of those albums which holds back. It's entertaining but it's polished, a little more for mass appeal, the music doesn't authentically go into full throttle, in my opinion.

It's how I imagine the smart A* kid who wears glasses would do rock. It's accomplished but he doesn't want to upset his audience or parents.

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
86

I've been living under a rock for 30 years, but at last I listened to some Bob Dylan. Folk with a little electric! Good

Abor & Tynna - Bittersüß
84

Not one for the purists as I am highly suspicious of auto tune. Nonetheless, this is very enjoyable electropop. It's polished and good fun.

The sibling dynamic is very wholesome. Of course, Tynna has the stage presence and takes the spotlight, meanwhile her brother sits in the shadows. It's hard to imagine that their real life dynamic is anything other than like this.

And let's be honest, they were robbed at Eurovision, as Baller should have been the winner.

Or if you ... read more

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
100

One thing I dislike about this website is how much music gets rated superbly because of how deep or dense it is, despite the fact it is DREARY and NOT ENTERTAINING! What is the point of music if you need a dissertation to enjoy it?

Then you get an absolute banger of an album like this, and somehow we've arrived at a collective user score of only 84?!

I can't believe how well Bloc Party have aged, I haven't listened to this since probably 2007 and the drums and melodies are so ... read more

SOPHIE - OIL OF EVERY PEARL'S UN-INSIDES
86

Well that was a bit weird!!

It sounds unusual, it doesn't conform- it feels like an extremely powerful statement of identity. To the open-minded it's liberating but you just know that small-minded people will hate this. But she has out-created all of them, and for that, you have to love it.

In fact it has been a good week for weird albums as I recently discovered Frank Zappa - Hot Rats, which I also love.

My favourite other good but weird albums are Secos & Melhodas and Tori ... read more

Joanna Newsom - Ys
70

Her voice was boring and Bjorkish, and I really don't like Bjork. The pace of the music was static, it never went anywhere in 55 minutes.

The top critic review says "It's a vivid and beautiful painting". Great, put it in an art museum then.

The Cure - Disintegration
95

This album makes you want to start planning your own funeral - and that's a compliment.

I've chosen 'Lovesong' as my final track. Guests crying, the air thick with my memory, the curtain closing on the casket. It's a beautiful thought.

God, I'm excited for Halloween.

King Crimson - Red
70

How this album is 90 out of 100 I'll never know. It has all the charm of a concrete bunker.

Gorillaz - Demon Days
90

My toddler can't say many words but he understands plenty. Usually on the journey to his grandma's in the morning before I go to work, he is restless and kicking around in his car seat, anxious about being separated.

However, if you put him this album on he just relaxes and listens to it, like today, when I asked him as I dropped him off, "Do you like the music?" and he replied "yes", his face crinkling into a cute little smile!

And I fully agree with him. Demon ... read more

Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
87

Occasionally an album comes along which vaporises and obliterates your understanding of genre.

Pink Floyd - Animals
65

I must admit I was fairly excited to listen to this, as I liked the aesthetic of the album cover, and I love my leftist literature as much as the next man. However, I just cannot get on board with this. It's just so incredibly and obviously pretentious, it's practically begging you to notice it and to like me, like me, like me. Please listen to these dense and complex structures and melodies I've created, along with my class analysis, my music is sooo profound. Please, just get ... read more

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
65

Okay so there were some riffs in here which were interesting. I sense they were going for grief but it was much too polished and didn't haunt me or resonate emotionally in any way. In addition, it critiques but it feels sorry for itself. Where's the bite?!

I get that taste is personal but my overall feeling is that you can't trust the vast majority of people. When they get together they make bad decisions, such as voting for the Nazis and arriving at a user score of 93 for this.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Perimenopop
82

It's consistent with the sound we know her for. It's nice background music, I'm glad she's back and creating.

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Recent Review Comments
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On zygote's review of Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
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