It was far too overblown, if they had reigned in the excess and probably held some songs back that went out as b-sides it would have been much better. Noel was believing his own hype too much - we did not need All Around the World to be that long and have a reprise! They lost their soul after this album for sure (and founding members), none is worth bothering with. But their first album is at their raw best.

Roger Taylor actually had the highest voice in Queen, he hit some insane notes on their early albums.

Dude Ranch is the Blink album that annoys me - all those tacky interludes between songs where they make fart jokes and fool around.

Pretty sure it was double A with We Are the Champions. You are right though, it is catchy and fits in a live setting but who really wants to sit and listen to it?

It is the end of side 6(!) that does it for me. It has kids singing and dub versions that aren't very interesting at all. I quite like how sprawling it is, outliers like Lose this Skin hidden away, but I don't like pure throwaway.

I feel it is one of those songs that isn't great in itself but it works as part of the whole album. They could have had it as a shorter outro for a song rather than of itself though.

This is tough, some songs can be a real grower over time and work as part of an album. May as well keep them somewhere, storage is cheap.

Parklife could do without the instrumental tracks too.

In hindsight they shouldn't have been so strict having singles separate to albums. But the 45rpm single was a big deal then, they didn't want people to feel ripped off with 4 singles per album and they could still churn them out. Just too many weak covers on the early albums for me, and it would work better as a historical document having them on there.

It is probably a lot easier to be anonymous these days in music. And getting to number 1 isn't as big a deal - there was a time it felt like knowing who was big in the charts was unavoidable. They were on the one radio station you could tune into, on the chat shows on the few channels you could get, be on the back of the newspaper or magazines where you got all your news. Sales are much lower and it relies on streams. One hit wonders in the past there would be some kind of expectation to follow up with something, that would create interest in itself and airplay. If it flopped, people knew about it.

I like Sufjan Stevens' Michigan and Illinois albums. Huge records full of interesting, quirky folk songs about the states history, wildlife, characters, cities etc. They have such a warm feel to them, nice musical interludes, it is like having a road trip around an idealised maybe 1960s version of the states. There were rumours or plans for him to do all 50 states which I would be very interested in, but it never materialised.

The Boo Radleys are mostly known for Wake Up Boo but they have such depth to their music, some excellent shoegaze early on, experimental weirdness in Giant Steps, bittersweet pop in Kingsize.

Lucky Man too. That album was big generally though, in the UK anyway.

Dunno, when I think of landmark years in music it does tend to be new and exciting artists that spring to mind. Later albums by old bands can be interesting but rarely as good as when they were at their peak. For many it is familiarity they like over anything else. How much Skrillex do people even need!

If two Skrillex records defines a good year then I may just stop listening to music and burn all the records I already own.

Bit sad if the best year in music is marked by lots of old acts releasing new stuff.

Dunno, it is something religious people like to try. "What if God came down tomorrow and showed himself, would you believe then?". I just think it kinda depends really, that is all very theoretical. Even accepting that possibility they see as a win. What would it take to change my mind on evolution - I guess absolutely rewriting basic biology, hundreds of years of understanding, thousands of peer reviewed papers and the teachings of millions of eminent scientists who all would flip it on its head. That is the same as "nothing" essentially. Or to somehow believe in magic.

That was the thing, I got into the Manics around 98/99 when they were heading more into mellow chart territory. They never played stuff like that, so seeing the Holy Bible in full was like a dream come true. It was in the grounds of Cardiff Castle too.

It is increasingly common, especially indie and rock acts. They can tie it in with a re-release and tour that album playing it in full. I have seen a handful of bands do it, the Super Furry Animals did their first two albums. Manic Street Preachers did the Holy Bible followed by a greatest hits encore. I saw Boris do one album and I didn't even realise it was a full album set. Fucked Up did one too, the David Comes to Life album. Works well for cult acts with older legendary albums that maybe they don't play many tracks of live in a normal set. Really exciting for the hardcore fans then.

When young for sure, partly as I may have bought a record and it was just new. And I didn't have a lot of other options. Now, almost exclusively though, no. But potentially daily or a few times a week. And it can take me back to certain times and places for sure. But if I have so many choices to listen to I will move on for a time.

While true, you need to seek that out a little. There was something about the inlay, I could read and re-read them while the music was actually playing.

It'll do that yep, same with pee. And if you leave it in a hot car.

Low - Just Like Christmas

UCLA, UNC, OT and NCAA WTF BBQ?

Depends on how it makes you feel. If someone was a sex pest then it can just make me feel gross if I hear the music. Sometimes you can separate it a bit if things are less clear cut, it was a violent episode or a long time ago. If don't feel like I would do it purely on principle, but I wouldn't support them financially I guess.