![]() | The Essential Neil Diamond by Neil Diamond
Buy new: £11.97 / Used from: £7.55 You may have written this off as music your mum listens to. He ain't Cliff Richards. Some of this rocks in its own fun pompous way.The live songs here are very energetic & not a compromise in quality.
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![]() | Wavelength by Van Morrison
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £6.60 Lazy half arsed jazz noodling that refuses to have energetic moments can be appealing. Unfortunately it's usually as dull as dish water. This works & holds your attention. Greatest singer of any genre
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![]() | Lateralus by Tool
Buy new: £8.86 / Used from: £16.56 Dense obtuse prog metal tracks. Not much in the way of actual songs. Listen to it enough times and it starts to sound weirdly beautiful. "Aenima" has some better songs, but this is the better album.
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![]() | The Downward Spiral [Deluxe Edition] [HYBRID SACD] by Nine Inch Nails
Buy new: £9.82 / Used from: £9.99 Sounds like Depeche Mode performing Black Sabbath. First five songs are amazing. Ends with "Hurt". When it works it's amazing. Even when it's not great it's a fascinating listen.
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![]() | The Definitive Collection by Alan Parsons Project
Buy new: £5.97 / Used from: £3.99 Similar sound to Dark Side of the Moon era Pink Floyd - immaculately produced conceptual prog rock. Consistently good music & lyrics. Recommended to all PF fans.Stand out track: Can't Take It With You
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![]() | Best of Blue Oyster Cult, the [Don't Fear the Reaper] by Blue Oyster Cult
Buy new: £2.98 / Used from: £4.07 Glossy biker rock with occult, horror and sci-fi lyrics. Sounds great. A bit like an American Iron Maiden with a Rolling Stones fixation.
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![]() | Can'tneverdidnothin' by Nikka Costa
Buy new: £10.98 / Used from: £3.76 Well produced funk with vocals by the female equivalent of Van Morrison. Some of these tracks sound amazing, especially the opening song about female promiscuity.
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![]() | Road to Hell Vol.2 by Chris Rea
Buy new: £2.33 / Used from: £0.75 Sounds like Rea (the blues purist) produced by Alan Parsons ("Dark Side of the Moon" engineer) with a disco drummer. Lots of saxaphone, female backing vocals and ethereal keyboards.
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![]() | The Ultimate Collection by Emerson Lake & Palmer
Buy new: £9.97 / Used from: £9.97 Once you have the patience to sit through the tracks, you'll discover that they do play real songs with beginnings and ends with content in-between. Some of which are even good. I grew to love it.
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![]() | Bob Dylan Live 1975: the Rolling Thunder Revue by Bob Dylan
Buy new: £17.98 / Used from: £26.99 Dylan is good but can be quite boring. This is the most enjoyable Dylan music I've heard. The chaos of having so many musicians on stage creates good unpretentious rock music.
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![]() | Marquee Moon: Remastered & Expanded by Television
Buy new: £9.98 / Used from: £4.50 It's all about the two guitars playing together. Vocals, bass, drums & proper songwriting are irrelevant - they're good, just not what it's all about. Nothing else sounded like this. Nothing.
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![]() | Up from the Catacombs: the Best of Jane's Addiction by Jane's Addiction
Buy new: £3.96 / Used from: £4.63 Similar area of music as Rage Against the Machine & Red Hot Chili Peppers - funky heavy metal. Strange lyrics & even odder vocal delivery. Unusual band with real kick to their playing.
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![]() | Retrospective: the Best of Suzanne Vega/+DVD by Suzanne Vega
Buy new: £20.99 / Used from: £20.98 She talks in a sing-song way over quiet industrial music. Very unusual for a singer-songwriter. Tackles unusual subject matter so she's more interesting than all the others, including Bob Dylan.
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![]() | Rush in Rio by Rush
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £4.47 Like Led Zeppelin with the prog & heaviness emphasised. The helium vocals take a few listens to get used to. The albums are inconsistent so this 3CD live album is a good place to start.
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![]() | Genius: the Best of Warren Zevon by Warren Zevon
Buy new: £5.51 / Used from: £8.38 If Larry David (Curb Yr Enthusiasm, Seinfeld) was a singer-songwriter this is what he would create. Sarcastically cynical comedy songs with real substance. I've not tired of it and I've heard it lots.
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![]() | Super Extra Gravity by Cardigans
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £2.88 The lightness & darkness of ABBA with more obviously adult lyrics. "In The Round" is about dancing, but sounds oddly perverted with lyrics about wanting people to watch as she gets the moves right.
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![]() | Details by Frou Frou
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £4.99 Pretty whispery female vocals over melancholy dance beats. Lots of studio manipulation. Much more enjoyable than trip-hop genre leaders Portishead. It gets better with every listen.
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![]() | Haunted by Poe
Buy new: £10.84 / Used from: £3.77 Up-tempo female singer-songwriter. Dark songs sweetened by poppy production & rock inclinations. No clichéd, boring maudlin tracks like most singer-songwriters. Whole of this concept album is great.
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![]() | The Very Best Of Michael Nyman: Film Music 1980 - 2001
Buy new: £9.98 / Used from: £3.73 I hate classical music. These movie soundtracks are good. He's a minimalist so the tracks are simple & streamlined. He sounds like he's breaking the rules & kicking against the pricks.
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![]() | Showbiz Kids - The Best of Steely Dan by Steely Dan
Buy new: £9.98 / Used from: £8.49 Melodic easy listening jazz-rock with obscure sarcastic lyrics. The songs sound the same to start with but they do stand out on repeat listens. It entertains more than it should.Most of Aja is on here
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![]() | Thirteenth Step by A Perfect Circle
Buy new: £7.03 / Used from: £5.00 Tricksy, start stop prog rock. Heavy with quiet melodic bits. Strange and frequently brilliant. Their covers album "eMOTIVe" is more overtly enjoyable. Like a pop version of Tool (same singer).
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![]() | Wave of Mutilation - The Best of the Pixies by Pixies
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £3.75 Heavy indie rock with crazy lyrics about molestation, mutilation & sci-fi. Created the quiet LOUD quiet Nirvana sound. The film "Fight Club" ends with their song "Where Is My Mind?"
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![]() | Mighty Wind: The Album by Various
Buy new: £12.61 / Used from: £4.22 Pastiche of folk music.Brighter & more enjoyable than the real thing.3 different bands- married duo, soulless commercial folk & 3 man all singing group.Sounds like proper music with a few funny lyrics
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![]() | Missing You - The Collection by Chris De Burgh
Buy new: £2.98 / Used from: £1.55 Don't conform, decide for yourself! Much maligned, but this comp is enjoyable.Nice ambient keyboards & coarsely smooth voice. Spanish Train (God & Devil play poker for a soul) is great. No Lady In Red
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![]() | Someone to Drive You Home by Long Blondes
Buy new: £6.48 / Used from: £5.51 Sound like a female version of Lloyd Cole & the Commotions - a Smiths influenced 80's band who used lots of pop cultural name drops in their lyrics. Very immediate & enjoyable, with excellent lyrics.
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Listmania!




![The Downward Spiral [Deluxe Edition] [HYBRID SACD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61rQm%2BASEmL._SL75_.jpg)

![Best of Blue Oyster Cult, the [Don't Fear the Reaper]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CVCXSBCiL._SL75_.jpg)





















