Tommy was released in 1969, at the end of a decade which produced music that is still unrivaled in ingenuity. It was also a decade that produced a lot of terrible music. Tommy falls into both of these categories.
Tommy was the pioneer of the Rock Opera, an album where the songs tell a loose story. It was the first of its kind (As far as I'm aware) and the concept has been used many times since then. So, Tommy should be a brilliant artistic milestone and one of the most innovative albums of the 20th century? The answer to that is yes. If it wasn't a story about a blind, deaf and dumb boy, who enjoys pinball and is worshiped as a god. Shakespeare would have been ruined if he had attempted to adapt that story into a play, that's how ridiculous it is.
I suppose, to be fair, Pete Townshend isn't known for his story telling skills. But regardless, the album sounds more pretentious than groundbreaking. It sounds more like an album that was made because they could make it, rather than they should make it.
Of course, like a lot of bad albums, there are good points to it. 'Pinball Wizard', 'The Acid Queen' and 'Eyesight To The Blind (The Hawker)' are all good songs, and 'Uncle Ernie' has been making child abuse seem lighthearted since 1969. So Tommy isn't all bad.
Overall, Tommy is innovative, yet pretentious. It has given some good songs, but it has also given songs that are a complete waste of sound waves. To this day, I can't decide whether it is a good album or a bad one. You will have to judge for yourself.

I can't think of many albums where the cover is actually the best thing about it. Ummagumma by Pink Floyd is one of those situations. I mean, stop a minute and have a look at the album cover. It is actually pretty damn cool. I'm not a photographer, so I'm not sure how they did it in the pre-copy and paste world. I'm sure someone knows and would care to elaborate.
And now to the music. Its a double album. One of the discs is a live album, the other is the studio album. The live album is okay. I'm not a fan of live albums, but as far as they go, Ummagumma's live part isn't at all bad. They are quite lengthy tracks, with only four songs on the disc, yet it takes about half an hour to listen to them. The song 'Careful With That Axe, Eugene' is one of the best live performances of a song I have yet to hear. The sudden terrifying and unexpected scream from Roger Waters nearly sent me to an early grave, especially as I had to turn up the volume in order for me to hear it at first. 'Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun' is another good example from the live album. 'A Saucerful Of Secrets' did go on a bit, however. I think it may have been longer than the original studio version, and that was a long song.
But, then we come to the studio album. It is another half hour of the most pretentious nonsense a human being could possibly endure without being driven insane. It opens with Sysyphus. According to Wikipedia, it is a "musical interpretation of the Sisyphean challenge", which is basically some Greek bloke pushing a rock up a hill, only for it to roll down again. The process then repeats for a few thousand years. I may be the only one, but I didn't get that reference in this musical interpretation. Another horrifically bad song is 'Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict'. Don't let the exciting name fool you. Basically, it is a whole six minutes of a man making annoying animal noises, then for him to speak in a Scottish accent (Actually my favourite part of the studio album). Then, you have 'The Grand Vizier's Garden Party' (Don't ask me what that is about)and a few other delights.
Overall, the 5 / 10 ranking I gave it comes from the Live album and the album cover. If it was just the studio album, it would a lovely 0 (Maybe a 1 for Roger Waters' Scottish accent.) I would recommend buying it, however, purely for the live section and maybe to see how badly Progressive Rock can get if you don't keep it in check. Thankfully, Pink Floyd vowed never to release anything like this again, and went back to making good records.

It was about 4 years ago when I first got this album. 4 years of constant playing, yet still fresh and enjoyable with every listen. I know that is a massive cliche, but hear me out.
Led Zeppelin IV is up there with Revolver, Beggars Banquet, Rubber Soul and a few others that makes up my greatest albums ever list. And I'm not the only one. I've met many Led Zep fans over the years, and everyone of them has a look of admiration, and occasionally a tear in their eye, when we start talking about IV, such is the brilliance of the album.
I think it is the fact that one half of the album is polar opposites to the other half. Half the songs are loud, heavy metal songs, the other half are mystical Celtic folk. And, it isn't a neat "Side one: Metal, Side two: Folk" type arrangement, a bit like Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home. Its a constant mix of the two, so you are never sure whether after the fade out one song, you are going to pleasantly serenaded, or deafened. Very few albums have managed to put two conflicting styles on a single disc, without sounding pretentious or plain silly.
My personal highlights of the album are 'The Battle Of Evermore', a Celtic folk song, that is mainly just a guitar and mandolin, and Robert Plant and guest vocalist Sandy Denny singing the Lord Of The Rings/The Hobbit inspired lyrics, in that distinctive Led Zeppelin style. The other highlight is 'When The Levee Breaks'. Everything about that song is perfection. The drum beat, the guitars, the harmonica (One of the main reasons why I went out and bought myself a harmonica.)and the vocals.
If there is any weakness on the album, I would have to say it is 'Stairway To Heaven'. Not that it is a bad song, but constant radio play and wannabe Zeppelin fan-boys, who "claim" it is their favourite song in order to look "rock-chic" (Whatever the Hell that is) has sucked the life out of what was once a good song.
All in all, a brilliant album and I challenge anyone to say otherwise.

Dylan once described Highway 61 Revisited as being "just too good". I honestly believe that is an understatement. Highway 61 Revisited is easily the my favourite Bob Dylan record, and is one of my top albums of all time.
It is a fine album to show off Dylan's brilliance as a lyricist. His lyrics are manic, absurd and yet, they tell a story that can be interpreted in many different ways, each interpretation being as correct as the last.
It isn't only his lyrics, but the rock band behind Dylan that makes the songs not only thought provocative, but also great fun to listen to. The album opens with 'Like A Rolling Stone', a song that is #1 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time, a position it rightly deserves. The rest of the album varies in mood and meaning. The fast paced 'Tombstone Blues' (My personal favourite on the album), is radically different from the chilling, piano driven 'Ballad Of A Thin Man'. The album takes a less serious turn with the song, 'Highway 61 Revisited', with the unusual screeching of a police whistle between verses. Finally, the album closes with the 11-minute 'Desolation Row', an acoustic song that lacks the roar of the rock band from the rest of the album. With its surreal lyrics, 'Desolation Row' isn't just one story, but many, crafted into a magnificent finale.
All in all, I think Highway 61 Revisited is unique in the fact that it is an album with no weak links in it, as in songs that make you think, "Hmm, it would have been better if he left that bit out". All the songs have a deserved place on album that deserves to be considered one of the best albums ever. As the Mona Lisa is a painting that everyone should see at some point, Highway 61 Revisited is an album that has to be listened to at some point.

There is only one reason why Please Please Me is still popular today. That reason being, its a Beatles record. Not any Beatles record. But the first in what would be a revolutionary journey that changed music forever. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Please Please Me isn't a bad album. It just isn't a particularly great album. It is no different from any other album from 1963. A likeable album, but one that would be forgotten not long after it was released, like many artists from that time that are completely forgotten today. The only difference from those other albums is the tag: "Made by The Beatles" and it instantly becomes legendary, a classic, an inspiration for everybody to come after it. A small, rat infested B & B in Wales can become a World Heritage Site, if The Beatles had spent a night there. The same principle works with their music.
Perhaps I am being a little harsh on Please Please Me. Songs like 'Twist & Shout', 'I Saw Her Standing There' and 'There's A Place' are good songs. Others, like 'Ask Me Why', 'P.S. I Love You', and 'Misery' just sound like songs to fill the gaps between the songs that they knew the people wanted to really hear.
Overall, by The Beatles later standards, its fairly weak. Its no Revolver, nor should it be treated like Revolver. But, it is definitely worth listening to. Consider it the first step of a brilliant musical experience from one of the most innovative bands of our time.

There are few albums by The Rolling Stones that are as controversial as this album. It is radically different from anything the Stones did before, or after and has divided fans into two camps: those who love it and those who hate it. I, personally, love it.
It is often described as a poor attempt to copy The Beatles' Sgt Pepper. But, having spent many hours comparing the two albums, (Hours I could have used doing something beneficial with my life) I think the two are very different albums. If it were to be considered a rip off of any Beatles album, it would be Magical Mystery Tour. But, seeing as the two albums were released at around the same time, I don't think that's likely.
The album varies from the child-like 'She's A Rainbow', to the disturbing space rock of '2000 Light Years From Home', from the hard guitar driven 'Citadel', to the whimsical country style 'Gomper'.
It is an album that can only be made with an excess of drugs, happiness and studio time, and is definitely worth listening to, if you are a fan of psychedelic rock or The Rolling Stones. Even if it is to see what all the fuss is about. I can't say whether you will like it or not, but I can say with almost certainty that you will not forget about it anytime soon.