TheReverendDuke

Tighter the the glorious messy sprawl of Exile On Main Street, this caught the Stones in the middle of one of the hottest album runs in rock history. So many standouts. Sway, Sister Morphine, Bitch, Wild Horses, Dead Flowers… the list goes on.

A monstrous album. A one and done masterpiece that featured Chris Cornell at his best (his vocal run into the guitar solo during Call Me A Dog will have every hair on your body standing on end) and had the guys from Pearl Jam playing with a singer you can understand! Epic stuff. So grateful to have had the opportunity to catch them live.

It’s a struggle to pick a favourite Zep album for my “5”. This one isn’t always my favourite but as an introduction and a statement o intent it’s damn near perfect. As debut rock albums go, it’s up there with the likes of GnR and Van Halen. the difference is that Zeppelin surpassed their debut and the others never came close.

Prince’s masterpiece. Even better in extended box set mode. The scope of material here is breathtaking. A genius in his prime.

Just a stone cold classic game changer of a record. Perfect from beginning to end. No notes. If it wasn’t for this record Liam Gallagher wouldn’t be walking like a monkey around stadium stages around the world.

There’s some great songs on here but the production is horrible and those keyboards make it almost unlistenable. More recent releases of the title track are stunning in comparison. Not an album I revisit often, preferring demos and live versions of the majority of the songs here.

The sound of a band treading water. Suicide Blonde is excellent and The Stairs is my favourite INXS song but otherwise it’s pretty inspiring stuff.

It’s the INXS album that everyone knows and rightly so because it a perfect introduction to the band. I was aware of them but uninterested until my then gf dragged me to a show at Wembley Arena so she could lust over Michael Hutchence. The gig was great and I bought the album and Listen Like Thieves and became a fan. Standouts are the funky Need You Tonight and the gorgeous Never Tear Us Apart but New Sensation and Mystify are excellent too. The cover of their cover of The Loved One is unnecessary though.

A great experimental album after playing it safe with X. It a shame they didn’t tour with it and we just got a warm up gig at Paddo RSL and the Concert For Life where they played a few songs from this we hadn’t heard before. Love the driving rock of Heaven Sent. Communication and Taste It are excellent and I love the 60’s pop throwback Baby Don’t Cry. Beautiful Girl is a standout ballad.