‘I’ve listened to 200 albums this year and 10 stand out’ | Music | Entertainment

We’re spoilt for choice in the age of streaming, with most albums available at our fingertips after a quick search.

Be it YouTube compilations or the proper release on Spotify, getting your hands on the latest album or even a classic couldn’t be easier.

As the legendary Bob Dylan points out: “Everything’s too easy. Just one stroke of the ring finger, middle finger, one little click, that’s all it takes. We’ve dropped the coin right into the slot. We’re pill poppers, cube heads and day trippers, hanging in, hanging out, gobbling blue devils, black mollies, anything we can get our hands on.”

With that being said, there’s never a bad time to reconnect with a classic album. And having listened to more than 200 of them this year so far, including offerings by Paul McCartney, PJ Harvey, and Pulp, I’ve put together a list of 10 classic albums worth revisiting.

1. Marianne Faithfull – A Secret Life

The sad passing of Marianne Faithfull earlier this year prompted a return to some of her lesser-known works. Those pieces buried deep in her discography which are just as brilliant as her prominent hits.

A Secret Life, an album Faithfull made with “magic” producer Angelo Badalamenti (who features later on this list), may be the pinnacle of the ‘As Tears Go By’ songwriter’s career.

The 1995 release features should-be classics like ‘Love in the Afternoon’, ‘She’, and the album’s standout song, ‘Losing’. A Secret Life remains a stunning departure from her expected sound, with the 1995 release placing Faithfull into an art pop and chamber-like blur.

2. Paul McCartney – Ram

Similar to Faithfull’s style departure, Paul McCartney moves on from the soppy style of his Beatles songwriting days and seems to invent indie pop with his second solo album, Ram.

Writing alongside wife Linda McCartney, the ex-Beatle found himself out of favour before and after the release of Ram, which has since been reappraised as one of his very best releases.

It certainly is some of his best work – and it may be the greatest album he ever made outside of Wings and The Beatles.

The likes of ‘Long Haired Lady’, ‘Smile Away’, and ‘The Back Seat of My Car’ highlight the domesticity and isolation McCartney fell in love with during his time in Kintyre, Scotland.

3. Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks

Being out of favour with critics and crowd is not unique to Paul McCartney, as Bob Dylan found himself clawing back his critical acclaim after a string of poorly received albums.

Blood on the Tracks reinvented the folk singer turned electrified rocker as his series of tender tracks, rumoured to be inspired by his divorce from Sara Lownds, still stand tall to this day.

The album celebrated its 50th anniversary in January, and would begin a period for Dylan where the songwriter was simply untouchable.

Fan favourites like ‘Simple Twist of Fate’ and ‘Tangled Up in Blue’ feature alongside some of Dylan’s most staggering works, like ‘Idiot Wind’. A live version of the nine-minute epic from the ‘Hard Rain’ live album is a must-listen after a return to this classic.

4. Masayoshi Takanaka – Seychelles

Contrast the bleak and brilliant of Blood on the Tracks with an album sure to soundtrack your summer, Seychells from Japanese guitar legend Masayoshi Takanaka remains an extraordinarily sweet album.

With Takanaka rumoured to be gearing up for his first-ever headline show in the UK next year, what better time to fall in love with the 71-year-old’s instrumental flair?

His 1976 release, Seychelles, is a masterstroke in moving music, with songs like ‘Oh! Tengo Suerte’ and ‘Tropic Birds’. They’re not just instrumentally blissful, they’re also refreshing pieces of work.

5. Leonard Cohen – Death of a Ladies’ Man

Those who want to keep in form with the Blood on the Tracks aesthetic, however, would do well to dig up a copy of the sadly forgotten Death of a Ladies’ Man from Leonard Cohen.

With Phil Spector producing the album hot off the fallout with The Beatles’ McCartney, the wall of sound choices made on Cohen’s first departure from acoustic folk has his bold songwriting backed by even bolder sound.

Saxophone thrills, lyrical chills, and Cohen is in fine form the whole way through this release. ‘Memories’ remains the best Cohen song by a country mile.

6. PJ Harvey – Rid of Me

While there have been some major instrumental changes in PJ Harvey’s work as of late, the post-punk roots always remain. Those who listened to her latest album, ‘I Inside the Old Year Dying’ may want a bit more of a kick, and where better to get it than ‘Rid of Me’?

Her second album – released just a year after debut album, ‘Dry’ – features some of her very best songs. The Steve Albini-produced album is a riot from song one and features many of the songwriter’s most open tunes.

Those performance-art like thrills can be heard in the B-side, with ’50ft Queenie’ remaining a staple of Harvey’s live sets. Meanwhile, a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ is an outstanding moment from Harvey’s earliest works.

7. The Cure – The Head on the Door

Where the gothic rockers may be best known for their depressing read on the world, there was a time when the legendary, Robert Smith-led group were kicking around in new wave excess.

The Head on the Door marks the first album to depart from their slightly pop-oriented sound, heard on tunes like Japanese Whispers and The Top.

While it may pale in comparison to their ‘Disintegration’ release just a few years later, The Head on the Door is a wonderful bit of homework from the Smith-fronted group, who released brilliant songs like ‘In Betwen Days’, ‘Sinking’, and ‘The Baby Screams’ around this time.

8. The Rolling Stones – It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll

Mick Jagger and the veteran rockers that comprise The Rolling Stones got a bad rap following the release of Exile on Main St. The album is seen as the pinnacle of their work – even guitarist Keith Richards says it is where new listeners should start.

But a few years on from their perceived peak and the band were still roaring along with some of their very-best works. It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll is a mesmerising release, one which has the band enjoy a lighter, but equally thrilling, instrumental style.

A hidden gem of a release and a classic at that. The Rolling Stones redefine themselves as exactly what the title would suggest, and the return to blues rock basics is a thrill from start to finish.

9. Angelo Badalamenti – Twin Peaks

Badalamenti was responsible for producing Marianne Faithfull’s underrated ‘A Secret Life’ – and just three years before his collaboration with the veteran songwriter, he made one of the best-ever soundtracks.

The Twin Peaks music still holds up, as does the show from late Hollywood legend David Lynch. The pair had a read on one another’s creative talents like no other – and it shows on the accompanying soundtrack.

From an iconic main theme to some beautifully written moments like ‘Night Life in Twin Peaks’ and ‘Freshly Squeezed’, the predomenantly instrumental album is a delightfully orchestrated piece which is as good as the show it was written for.

10. Pulp – We Love Life

With their first album in 24 years set for release in June, Pulp’s previous studio release, We Love Life, remains a hidden gem of their discography.

The Jarvis Cocker-fronted group shook off the hang-ups of This is Hardcore and stepped out of the shadows with this release.

Music legend Scott Walker produced the album – and the band found themselves carving out a fresh sound for themselves.

Delicate pieces like ‘Birds in Your Garden’, ‘Weeds’, and ‘Wickerman’ remain some of their very best efforts, while ‘Sunrise’ has since become a staple of the group’s recent reunion tour.

So there you have it – 10 classic albums you should revisit. Happy listening, everyone.