Every week, Classic Rock's Facebook group, the Album of the Week Club, listens to and discusses a classic album – or a not-so-classic album.
The members of the votes contribute their own reviews and grade the album, and we publish the findings, with the aim of giving people reliable reviews and the wider rock community the chance to contribute.
If you’re on Facebook and want to discover classic rock music and discuss it with other rock fans as you do, it might be just the place for you. We listen together, and comment together, and together we're building the definitive guide to many of rock's most interesting albums: a series of reviews that mix personal stories with critical thought.
Join the Album of the Week Club now.
Every album is rated out of 10. Here, from high to low, are the albums we've reviewed so far.
AC/DC - Back In Black
As one of our reviewers says, "AC/DC may not have reinvented the wheel here, but they may have produced the best f**king wheel to ever exist". Score = 9.31
Thin Lizzy - Live And Dangerous
Recorded in London, Toronto and Philadelphia, Live And Dangerous may not have been completely live, but it was still Thin Lizzy at their peak. Score = 9.23
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
Of all their records, Led Zeppelin’s fourth album, released in late 1971, remains their most admired work. Score = 9.21
Van Halen - Van Halen
Van Halen's debut album changed the face of rock music when it was released in 1978, and, for better or worse, ushered in the era of the shredder. Score = 9.21
AC/DC - Powerage
The overlooked album that became AC/DC's Astral Weeks/Pet Sounds/Exile On Main Street… Score = 9.10
Dio - Holy Diver
A debut album to savour from Ronnie James Dio, and part of the singer's Triple Crown Of Metal. Score = 9.09
Boston - Boston
Boston's debut album was mostly recorded in band mainman Tom Scholz’s basement in Massachusetts, yet went on to shape the studio work of a generation. Score = 9.06
Pink Floyd - Animals
In the wake of Dark Side Of The Moon and Wish You Were Here, Animals saw Pink Floyd show their disgust with humanity. Score = 9.04
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double rouble - Texas Flood
Texas Flood was the debut album from Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Texas cat with the hat and the Strat who hot-wired the 80s blues revival. Score = 9.02
Rory Gallagher - Irish Tour '74
Recorded during The Troubles, Irish Tour '74 finds Rory Gallagher at his electrifying best. Score = 9.01
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III
In which Jimmy Page and Robert Plant retreat to the Welsh hills and come up with something less bombastic for Led Zeppelin's third album. Score = 8.98
Supertramp - Crime Of The Century
With Crime Of The Century, Supertramp defined their signature sound and created a progressive rock masterpiece. Score = 8.98
Whitesnake - Live... In The Heart Of The City
Before all that hairspray, David Coverdale created Whitesnake as a blues-based hard rock band in the classic tradition – and this live album was their greatest moment Score = 8.97
Deep Purple - Made In Japan
Made In Japan showcases Deep Purple at the height of their powers, straddling an indelicate line between intense and indulgent, monstrous and meandering. Score = 8.96
Black Sabbath - Vol. 4
In which Black Sabbath decamp to LA to work on an album, and somehow made Vol. 4. Score = 8.94
Queen - Greatest Hits
Queen's Greatest Hits is the biggest-selling album in the UK ever, so is there anything new to be said about it? Score: 8.93
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà Vu
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young may have harmonised beautifully on Déjà Vu, but they avoided each other while recording it. Score = 8.89
Motorhead - Overkill
Lemmy thought it was too slow, but Motorhead's Overkill is clearly a fan favourite... as proved by our fan reviews. Score = 8.89
Temple Of The Dog - Temple Of The Dog
Rooted in tragedy, Temple Of The Dog's 10 original tracks are a kind of catharsis through music. Score = 8.87
Wishbone Ash - Argus
Formed from the Wishbone Ash's background in hard rock, folk and crisp, electric blues, Argus's evocative strains pioneered a twin-guitar approach that was adopted by countless other bands. Score = 8.86
Judas Priest - British Steel
Judas Priest's British Steel is an album that defined the style, sound and image of metal as we know it today. Score = 8.84
Wings - Band On The Run
Recorded in Nigeria as his bandmates deserted him, Band On The Run might just be the best post-Beatles work by any Beatle. Score = 8.81
Santana - Abraxis
Fusing Afro-Latin rhythms and West Coast rock more more successfully than previously, Santana's Abraxas was also the soundtrack to at least two European back-packing adventures. Score = 8.77
David Bowie - Hunky Dory
David Bowie found his voice on Hunky Dory, the kaleidoscopic pop collection that truly announced his arrival and began a streak of landmark albums. Score = 8.73
B.B. King - Live At The Regal
Released in 1965, Live At The Regal is the blues equivalent of The Who’s Live At Leeds – an exhilarating, honest account of an artist at the top of their game. Score = 8.73
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Jethro Tull's fourth album, Aqualung, is the biggest selling of the band's 50-year career. But is it a concept album? It's not, says Ian Anderson. Score = 8.66
Ozzy Osbourne - Diary Of A Madman
Ozzy Osbourne's second solo album Diary Of A Madman has lived in the shadow of Blizzard Of Oz for decades: does it deserve better? Score = 8.66
Status Quo - Live!
Recorded at the height of their powers in front of a rabid Glasgow audience, Status Quo's Live! is a firm fan favourite. Score = 8.64
Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet
The album that reinvented the Stones and kicked off the purple patch that had them crowned as 'The Greatest Rock'n'Roll Band in the World'. Score = 8.60
Rush - A Farewell To Kings
In which Rush head to Wales, where reader Ian Pritchard spots Geddy and Alex out sight-seeing, looking down the Brecon Valley toward Llangynidr. Score = 8.59
Dr. Feelgood - Stupidity
The first live album to top the UK charts in its week of release, Dr. Feelgood's Stupidity showcased the band at their fiery, menacing best. Score = 8.56
Joe Satriani - Surfing With The Alien
Joe Satriani's Surfing With The Alien was the album that made his name and took shredding to the masses. Score = 8.56
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
Looking back, it’s obvious that Every Picture Tells A Story was Rod’s defining moment. But is it a classic? Score = 8.55
Be-Bop Deluxe - Sunburst Finish
"It’s absolutely amazing. Every single song on there is brilliant." Iron Maiden's Steve Harris on Be Bop Deluxe's Sunburst Finish. Score = 8.54
Faith No More - Angel Dust
Angel Dust marks the point in Faith No More's career where Mike Patton asserts authority and makes the band darker, weirder, and (perhaps) more influential than ever before. Score = 8.54
Rainbow - Long Live Rock 'N' Roll
Ronnie James Dio's swansong with Rainbow contained hints of what was to come, but still delivered swords 'n' sorcery aplenty. Score = 8.54
Def Leppard - High 'N' Dry
Nearly four decades after its release, High ’N’ Dry remains a true rock classic and the springboard for all that followed. Score = 8.51
Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
Queen's third album ran the gamut of pre-existing genres and invented a new one: thrash metal. Score = 8.50
Styx - The Grand Illusion
The Grand Illusion was the first of four consecutive triple-platinum albums for Styx, establishing them as one of America’s biggest rock acts. Score = 8.49
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
Selling England By The Pound was strikingly complex yet often deceptively simple, and it heralded a different Genesis in so many ways. Score = 8.47
Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet
Fear Of A Blank Planet is a terrifying album about a generation being raised by "screens" as surrogate parents, recorded before the widespread popularity of smartphones. Score = 8.47
The Who - Tommy
Strictly speaking, Tommy wasn't the first rock opera. But it's the one that catapulted The Who into the major leagues. Score = 8.45
Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare
A devilish combination of shock-rock and Broadway pizzazz spawns a theatrical classic. Score = 8.44
UFO - The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent
Singer Phil Mogg might have been listening to Bruce Springsteen, but UFO's The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent was much more than just a nod towards the boss. Score = 8.44
Joe Cocker - Mad Dogs & Englishmen
The live album of Joe Cocker and Leon Russell's shambolic, chaotic, sex-fuelled, Mad Dogs & Englishmen rock’n’roll circus. Score = 8.41
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helping
The album that introduced Lynyrd Skynyrd's three-guitar attack and provided many with their first sweet taste of Southern Rock... Score = 8.38
The Wildhearts - Earth vs. The Wildhearts
Earth vs. The Wildhearts was a Britrock classic, and an intoxicating, hyperactive mash-up of pop melodies, punk aggression and glam-rock swagger. Score = 8.37
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Meddle is the sound of Pink Floyd distilling their psychedelic past into a scintillating future. Score = 8.36
Elton John - Tumbleweed Connection
Released in 1970, Elton John's Tumbleweed Connection was a concept album themed on Wild West Americana with flavours of country and blues. Score = 8.35
Bachman Turner Overdrive - Not Fragile
There's more to BTO than Smashy and Nicey's favourite song, and Not Fragile proves it. Score = 8.34
Aerosmith - Rocks
Rocks: Aerosmith's fourth album was sleazier than a Boston back alley and sharper than a hypodermic needle. Or was it? Score = 8.32
Rush - Rush
The sound of Rush finding their way. Score = 8.32
Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill
Steely Dan's Can't Buy A Thrill was the debut album from two of music's greatest smart-asses, or as one reviewer puts it, "Yacht rock captained by two cranky eggheads". Score = 8.32
Derek And The Dominoes: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
When push comes to shove, Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs might just showcase Eric Clapton at his very best. Score = 8.30
Queen - News Of The World
At a time when punk rock was new, Queen suddenly epitomised everything about the old rock aristocracy that the critics now held in contempt... so they released their most popular album yet. Score = 8.28
Yes - The Yes Album
Three albums in, Steve Howe joins Yes and the band finally achieve lift-off. Score = 8.27
Nazareth: Hair Of The Dog
An inspiration for Guns N' Roses and a cover featuring a bat-like creature with vicious teeth. It can only be Nazareth's Hair Of The Dog. Score = 8.26
AC/DC - High Voltage
High Voltage was the album that introduced AC/DC to the world beyond Australia, but it was not met with universal acclaim, as readers of Rolling Stone will attest. Score = 8.24
Bad Company - Straight Shooter
Recorded just three months after their debut, Bad Company's Straight Shooter was more of the same. Or was it? Score = 8.22
The Traveling Wilburys - Vol. 1
The Traveling Wilburys originally came together to record a George Harrison B-side, but ended up writing and recording a whole album. Score = 8.22
Hawkwind - Space Ritual
Recorded in Liverpool and Brixton, Space Ritual is the perfect summary of Hawkwind’s musicnauts ethos. Score = 8.20
Jimi Hendrix - Band Of Gypsys
Dull contract filler or full contact thriller? You have your say on Jimi Hendrix's live album Band Of Gypsys. Score = 8.20
Alice In Chains - Facelift
Alice In Chains' debut album Facelift reinvented heavy metal and sent grunge into the charts. Score = 8.18
Blue Oyster Cult - Secret Treaties
Secret Treaties was the third album by Blue Oyster Cult, and the one where they really figured out what it was they did: darkness, perversion, and sonic eccentricity. Score = 8.17
Kansas - Point Of Know Return
Kansas's follow-up to the massively successful Leftoverture was Point Of Know Return, a slice of intuitively melodic rock that spawned a huge hit single, the emotive Dust In The Wind. Score = 8.17
Judas Priest - Stained Class
Judas Priest's Stained Class catches the band on the cusp; the ultimate hybrid of unbridled, flamboyant creativity and refined, distilled commercial intent. It’s a true metal milestone. Score = 8.15
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells' iconic status grows as the years pass, its importance underlined when Mike Oldfield performed it at the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics. Score = 8.14
The Allman Brothers Band - Seven Turns
With Tom Dowd producing, Gregg Allman in fine voice and new guitarist Warren Haynes on board, the Brothers returned after a decade away with Seven Turns. Score = 8.13
Scorpions: World Wide Live
Recorded in The US, France and Germany, Scorpions' second live album World Wide Live showcased the band at their pyramid-building, fearsomely well-drilled peak. Score = 8.13
Cream - Disraeli Gears
Adding the headlong rush of psychedelia to the British blues, Cream's Disraeli Gears captured the original power trio at their peak. Score = 8.12
The Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion
Your reviews of The Black Crowes' Southern Harmony And Musical Companion: the exhilarating sound of a band hitting its stride... or is it? Score = 8.11
Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time
Released between two major metal milestones, Somewhere In Time is something of an underrated fan favourite. Score = 8.11
Scorpions - Lovedrive
Dovetailing perfectly with what AC/DC and Aerosmith were doing, the Scorpions added arena sparkle to their sound. Score = 8.10
Marillion - Seasons End
How could Marillion ever replace Fish, their charismatic and beloved frontman? With relative ease, it transpired. Score = 8.09
Mastodon - Crack The Skye
A sprawling prog metal masterpiece dealing with astral travel, wormhole theory, Rasputin and suicide. Score = 8.09
Robbie Robertson - Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson hooked up with producer Daniel Lanois for his debut solo album, conjuring up a fashionably atmospheric twist to his ongoing fascination with American culture. Score = 8.09
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Jeff Buckley's Grace: the ultimate example of an album that's passed into legend as much for what might have been as for what is was? Score = 8.08
King's X - Gretchen Goes To Nebraska
There are nearly men. There are underrated bands. There are the should-have-beens. And then there's King's X, and their second album Gretchen Goes To Nebraska. Score = 8.08
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Working with producer Brendan O’Brien for the first time, Pearl Jam's Vs. has a ferocity and bite which leaves the more stately Ten in the dust. Score = 8.08
Sweet - Sweet Fanny Adams
Sweet left their bubblegum-peddling past behind and morphed into a fully-fledged hard rock band on their 1974 classic Sweet Fanny Adams. Score - 8.08
Cinderella - Long Cold Winter
Cinderella shifted gear on second album Long Cold Winter, as Tom Keifer attempted to move forward before both the band and the scene got left behind. Score = 8.07
Kyuss - Blues For The Red Sun
Billed as "a fresh bong-load of potent, sticky and hairy musical salvation", Blues For The Red Sun is a landmark in stoner-rock. Score = 8.07
Rush - Signals
An album that split Rush's following clean down the middle, Signals saw the Canadian trio beginning to experiment with keyboards. Score - 8.06
Thunder - Backstreet Symphony
In which Thunder's Backstreet Symphony, the out-of-time debut by the much-loved Brit-rockers, is examined closely for evidence of greatness. Score = 8.06
UFO - Lights Out
With just eight songs and slightly over half an hour of music, is UFO's sixth studio album the one where they got it just right? Score = 8.06
Joe Walsh: The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get
Credited to Joe Walsh, Barnstorm's second album The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get was their last before Walsh jumped ship fly solo. Score = 8.06
Genesis - A Trick Of The Tail
Peter Gabriel departs, Phil Collins steps up to the mic, and it's almost business as usual for Genesis on A Trick Of The Tail. Score = 8.05
Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow
Every scene needs a song to carry its message to the world, and Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow provided two. But what of the rest? Score = 8.04
Tool - 10,000 Days
Years in the making, Tool's 10,000 Days is as long as it is challenging, and is never an easy listen. As one of our reviewers says, it's "intense, dense and immense". Score = 8.04
The Cult – Electric
How and why did The Cult transform themselves from paisley-patterned goths into leather-clad rock beasts – and does the result still stand up today? Score = 8.03
Y&T - Black Tiger
After the all-important breakthrough with Earthshaker, Y&T's follow-up Black Tiger was a defining statement. Score = 8.03
The Allman Brothers Band - Brothers And Sisters
Recorded after the tragic deaths of two band members, Brothers And Sisters found The Allman Brothers Band striving for unity and renewal. Score = 8.02
Magnum - On A Storyteller's Night
With Magnum on the verge of falling apart, everything came together with On A Storyteller's Night, an album that offered the perfect coalescing of music, themes and imagery. Score = 8.02
Tesla: Mechanical Resonance
Mechanical Resonance: the debut album by Tesla, the band formerly known as City Kidd, the band formerly known an Earthshaker. Score = 8.01
Free - Tons Of Sobs
A debut album from the youthful Free, a band with a couldn’t-care-less attitude honed on the rough-and-ready UK circuit of blues clubs and ballrooms. Score = 8.00
Molly Hatchet - Flirtin' With Disaster
The double-platinum Flirtin' With Disaster was the second album from the triple-guitar southern rock band from Jacksonville who weren't Lynyrd Skynyrd. Score = 8.00
Slade - Slade Alive!
Slade may not have been cool, but they were a better live act than most, and Alive! captures the band at their fiery best. Score = 8.00
Jeff Beck - Truth
Eric Clapton's Cream were a year away from extinction, Jimmy Page was commandeering his own juggernaut, and Jeff Beck was determined not to be left out of the race. Score = 7.99
Sammy Hagar - All Night Long
Sammy Hagar's puffed-up personality oozes from every pore during a short, sharp, scintillating set. Score = 7.98
Michael Schenker Group - Michael Schenker Group
A guitarist battling demons, a bunch of seasoned session pros and a novice singer: welcome to the Michael Schenker Group. Score = 7.98
The Sisters Of Mercy - Vision Thing
"I wanted to make a 2D rock record. I wanted something that chuntered happily along" - Sisters Of Mercy mainman Andrew Eldritch on 1990's Vision Thing. Score = 7.98
Ten Years After - A Space In Time
The first standalone album on the Chrysalis label, A Space In Time contained Ten Years After's only transatlantic hit, I’d Love To Change The World. Score = 7.98
Tom Petty - Wildflowers & All The Rest
Re-released as Tom Petty originally intended, Wildflowers & The Rest is now an expanded package that includes a batch of previously unheard material. Score = 7.97
Rival Sons - Great Western Valkyrie
After turning heads with Pressure & Time in 2011, Rival Sons returned to the studio with a new bassist and a fistful of big ideas. Score = 7.97
Neil Young - Tonight's The Night
Delayed by a record company unhappy about its misery quotient, Neil Young's Tonight’s The Night is a stark tribute to departed friends. Score = 7.97
The Doors - Strange Days
Strange Days was The Doors' second record, spawning the hit singles People Are Strange and Love Me Two Times. Score = 7.96
Thin Lizzy - Thunder And Lightning
As far as swansongs go, Thunder And Lightning crackles with undeniable zeal and energy, with new guitarist John Sykes helping to create what is Thin Lizzy's heaviest album. Score = 7.93
Riot: Fire Down Below
Riot's third album Fire Down Under might just be the finest NWOBHM album released by an American band. Score = 7.92
Captain Beyond - Captain Beyond
Legend tells us that Captain Beyond were pioneers of stoner rock, a supergroup who should have been super-massive. Score = 7.91
Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual
Ritual De Lo Habitual became the first ‘alternative’ record to sell a million, inspiring a generation of bands who would ultimately kill the idea of ‘alternative’ stone dead. Score = 7.91
Status Quo - Hello!
After consolidating the sound of the Frantic Four on 1972's Piledriver, Status Quo stuck with a winning formula on the following year's Hello! Score = 7.89
Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers
In which Deep Purple's fabled Mk II line-up return to renew their animosity with a new album, Perfect Strangers. Score = 7.88
John Lee Hooker - The Best Of Friends
More than a dozen of John Lee Hooker's superstar duets, gathered together in a collaborative showcase. Score = 7.88
Max Webster - High Class In Borrowed Shoes
High Class In Borrowed Shoes is the second album by extravagantly dressed Canadian rock eccentrics and Rush buddies Max Webster. Score = 7.86
Stevie Nicks - Bella Donna
Featuring stellar duets with Tom Petty and Don Henley, Bella Donna established Stevie Nicks as a star in her own right, away from the Fleetwood Mac soap opera. Score = 7.85
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Soundgarden may have been a little slower to hit the mainstream than Nirvana and Pearl Jam, but Superunknown catapulted them into the big time. Score = 7.84
Faces - A Nod’s As Good As A Wink To A Blind Horse
Only one of the songs has a chorus, they were "pissed" most of the time they made it and it was their second album of 1971. So why is A Nod's As Good As A Wink… so loved? Score = 7.83
Jellyfish - Bellybutton
Honeyed harmonies, subversively witty lyrics and superb musicianship? It can only be Jellyfish's Bellybutton. Score = 7.83
ZZ Top - Fandango!
One half recorded live, one half in the studio, ZZ Top's Fandango! felt like a compromise but still shone. Score = 7.82
Blue Oyster Cult: Blue Oyster Cult
Blue Oyster Cult's debut album: the first forays into sonic exploration from the thinking man’s rock band. Score = 7.81
Marillion: Fugazi
Marillion's follow-up to their Script For A Jester's Tear took Fish & Co. on a journey into the darkness on Fugazi. Score = 7.81
Lou Reed - New York
Lou Reed's New York was an angry love letter, a biting indictment, an open-hearted outpouring of empathy, despair, resignation, fury and outrage. Score = 7.81
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band: Stranger In Town
Stranger In Town is an album featuring three of Bob Seger's most celebrated songs, but it's not his most celebrated album. What's going on? Score = 7.81
Van Halen - Van Halen II
How do you follow an album that changed the world? For the most part it's rinse then repeat. Score = 7.81
Jimmy Page and The Black Crows: Live at the Greek
Live At The Greek wasn't quite what it should have been due to contractual obligations, but it was the most animated Jimmy Page had sounded in years. Score = 7.80
Iron Maiden - Killers
Did Iron Maiden's second album build on the promise of their storming debut? And if it did, why did they get rid of singer Paul Di'Anno immediately afterwards? Score = 7.79
Metallica - Metallica
Metallica's Black Album turned them from rising thrash stars to mainstream rock icons. Did the compromise come at a cost? Score = 7.79
Blackfoot - Strikes
It took ten years for Blackfoot to become an overnight success, and a week for the Album Of The Week Club members to compose the definitive review of Strikes. Score = 7.78
The Tragically Hip - Fully Completely
The Tragically Hip's third album Fully Completely was dominated by Canadian themes, propelling the band on their way to becoming 'Canada's Band'. Score = 7.74
Queensryche - Rage For Order
The Prog Metal pioneers created a new sound on the second full-length album... their own. Score = 7.73
Kate Bush - The Kick Inside
A talent who existed apart from the norm, nobody else makes music quite like Kate Bush... even at the very beginning. Score = 7.72
Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent
In which the Motor City Madman makes his solo debut, and the world is never the same again. Score = 7.72
Grand Funk Railroad - We're An American Band
Hated by the critics and operating with low expectations, Grand Funk brought in production guru Todd Rundgren for We're An American Band. Score = 7.71
Traffic: The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys
Traffic’s most restless record, with shades and styles jumbled up in the same pot, shaken into new shapes, then broken down and started up again. Score = 7.70
Can - Tago Mago
Can's Krautrock masterpiece Tago Mago was an album that realigned rock, commencing countdown for 21st-century music. Score = 7.69
Tina Turner - Acid Queen
One side of classic rock bangers, one of R&B originals: the two sides of Tina Turner fight it out on 1975 solo album The Acid Queen. Score = 7.69
Alter Bridge - Blackbird
Blackbird was the album that fully heralded the arrival of the Alter Bridge sound, the shackles of Creed shaken free for once and for all. Score = 7.68
Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick's debut album had a rougher edge than in later years, but the songwriting and sense of humour were already in place. Score = 7.68
Rainbow - Down To Earth
Out with Dio, in with the Hawaiian shirt bloke. What was Ritchie Blackmore up to with Rainbow's Down To Earth? Score = 7.67
Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle
Fly Like An Eagle is an album that sees Steve Miller navigate his way through rapidly changing musical tides. Score = 7.67
Grateful Dead - American Beauty
Having discovered they could harmonise, Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead released what many consider to be their most user-friendly album. Score = 7.66
Big Big Train - The Underfall Yard
The Underfall Yard was Big Big Train's first album with late singer David Longdon, and a key staging post on the band's long crawl to success. Score = 7.65
Journey - Infinity
It's 1978. Journey are going nowhere, but they have a plan. His name is Steve Perry, and Infinity is the result. Score = 7.65
Black Sabbath - Mob Rules
Bill Ward was gone. Everyone involved (including the producer) were battling drug problems. The following year, half the band would depart in acrimony. How does Mob Rules stand up today? Score = 7.63
Frank Zappa - Hot Rats
Frank Zappa's Hot Rats was both a pinnacle of the jazz-rock fusion boom of the late 60s and one of the first albums to be dubbed (or cursed) ‘progressive’. Score = 7.63
Robert Cray - Strong Persuader
Robert Cray's 1986 album Strong Persuader album took blues to the masses and sold more than two million copies in the US. Score = 7.62
Living Colour - Vivid
At a time when rock was increasingly looking beyond its own frontiers for inspiration, Living Colours' Vivid was a genre-mashing stake in the ground. Score = 7.62
April Wine - Harder... Faster
Harder... Faster was the eighth studio album by Canuck rockers April Wine, and spent the best part of a year on the US album chart. Score = 7.60
Rose Tattoo - Rock 'N' Roll Outlaw
Rose Tattoo's debut album is the sound of bogan bars in dusty Australian suburbs; places where only the toughest of cookies make it out unscratched. Score = 7.57
MC5 - High Time
While 1971’s High Time may well be The MC5's least influential release, it sounds the best of the three, proving that the group had plenty of gas still in the tank before drugs sank the whole affair. Score = 7.52
The Quireboys - A Bit Of What You Fancy
The Quireboys' debut album A Bit Of What You Fancy took the Stones and Faces template and used it to throw one helluva party. Score = 7.52
The Yardbirds - Roger The Engineer
With one foot in their blues past and the other in the psychedelic present, The Yardbirds' Roger The Engineer was the band's only UK album. Score = 7.51
Ratt - Out Of The Cellar
Ratt's Out Of The Cellar was a tidy serving of arena-baiting pop metal, often found at the heart of a Saturday night. Score = 7.48
Foghat - Fool For The City
Like a reverse Status Quo, Foghat played boogie blues but were ignored at home while becoming a rock radio staple in the US. Score = 7.47
Krokus - One Vice At A Time
Can we get through Krokus's One Vice At A Time album without mentioning AC/DC? Of course we can't! Score = 7.47
Masters Of Reality - Sunrise On The Sufferbus
Remember that time Ginger Baker joined stoner rock pioneers Masters Of Reality? Score = 7.47
Pixies - Doolittle
One of the albums that altered the course of rock music as we know it, how will the Pixies' Doolittle stand up to the Album Of The Week Club scrutineers? Score = 7.47
Robert Plant - Pictures At Eleven
Instead of returning with a debut solo album that aped previous achievements, Robert Plant pleased himself on 1982's Pictures At Eleven. Score = 7.47
Bruce Springsteen - Born In The USA
Bruce Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A. is big and bombastic, but you can’t argue with stadium-tooled juggernauts. Score = 7.47
Frank Zappa - Sheik Yerbouti
An album stuffed with jokes that haven't aged well, made to make a quick buck? Or is there something more to Frank Zappa's most commercial album, Sheik Yerbouti? Score = 7.47
Electric Light Orchestra - Face The Music
Released in autumn 1975, Face The Music was a US hit but missed the British chart before an Evil Woman came to the rescue. Score = 7.46
Spirit - Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus
Twelve Dreams Of Dr. Sardonicus was the album that put Spirit at the forefront of conceptual psych-rock. Score = 7.46
Helloween - Keeper Of The even Keys, Part II
Described as a "perfect album" by no less an authority than Chris Jericho, Helloween's Keeper Of The Seven Keys, Part II, has a lot to answer for. Score = 7.44
Mother Love Bone - Apple
Apple bridged the end of hair metal and the beginning of grunge, but Mother Love Bone's one album will forever be associated with tragedy rather than transformation. Score = 7.44
Humble Pie - Rock On
On Rock On, Humble Pie proved that they were not the 'minor league Rolling Stones' while busy inventing the Black Crowes. Score = 7.43
Velvet Revolver - Contraband
Did Velvet Revolver produce an album to do the legacy of Guns N' Roses proud? Or was it just another under-achieving and short-lived side-project? Score = 7.43
Golden Earring - Moontan
Dutch one-hit wonders Golden Earring prove there's so much more to their arsenal than Radar Love. Score = 7.42
Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive!
In mid-1975, Peter Frampton was a moderately successful solo artist. Within a year, Frampton Comes Alive! had smashed all known sales records... Score = 7.41
Pat Benatar - Crimes Of Passion
Crimes Of Passion finds Pat Benatar applying a tough, streetwise veneer to pop songs and turning them into arena-rocking classics. Score = 7.40
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Pendulum
John Fogerty embellished the Creedence Clearwater Revival sound on Pendulum, the album that heralded the beginning of CCR's end. Score = 7.40
Foreigner - 4
Is it pop? Is it rock? Is it both? Is is good? Is it bad? Foreigner 4 divides the critics. Score = 7.40
Uriah Heep - ...Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble
Uriah Heep's debut album was hated by Rolling Stone but paved the way for a a career that's still going half a century later. Score = 7.39
Demon - The Unexpected Guest
The NWOBHM was a broad church, and Demon's second album The Unexpected Guest was more melodic than most. Score = 7.38
Magnum - Goodnight L.A.
Goodnight L.A. was meant to be Magnum’s big chance to break America, but eventually wasn't released there at all. Score = 7.38
The Cars - Heartbeat City
The Cars hired the golden hands of Robert John "Mutt" Lange and turned Heartbeat City's sound into a celebration of studio sonics. The result? Four million sales. Score = 7.36
Paradise Lost - Draconian Times
Draconian Times was Paradise Lost’s own Black album: a slab of contemporary metal that met the mainstream on its own terms. Score = 7.36
Patti Smith - Easter
Containing her biggest hit and her most controversial song, the Patti Smith Group's third album Easter is a fascinating whole. Score = 7.34
Robin Trower - Twice Removed From Yesterday
Inspired by Hendrix but frequently damned as a copyist, Robin Trower's journey to stardom started with debut album Twice Removed From Yesterday. Score = 7.34
Muse - Absolution
Dismissed initially as Radiohead copyists, Muse were blasted into the stadium-slaying stratosphere by Absolution. Score = 7.33
Led Zeppelin - Presence
Presence is an album Jimmy Page rates as one of Led Zeppelin's best... but it was made under very difficult circumstances. Score = 7.31
The Heartbreakers - L.A.M.F.
Released, remixed, re-released, remixed, re-released: will the real Heartbreakers' L.A.M.F. please stand up? Score = 7.30
Motley Crue - Motley Crue
Vince Neil left Motley Crue, John Corabi joined Motley Crue, and Motley Crue made Motley Crue, a Motley Crue album that sounded nothing like Motley Crue. Score = 7.30
Kingdom Come - Kingdom Come
Released at the height of hair metal, Kingdom Come's debut album made waves for its startling resemblance to Led Zeppelin. Score = 7.29
Live - Throwing Copper
Live's Throwing Copper marked the multi-million-selling sweet-spot between R.E.M. and Pearl Jam. Score = 7.29
Kiss - Live II
One thing we can all agree on, surely: that inner gatefold is one of the great photographs in rock'n'roll. Score = 7.28
Leaf Hound - Growers Of Mushroom
Leaf Hound's cult classic Growers Of Mushroom was inspired by an anthology of horror stories and became an accidental template for stoner rock. Score = 7.27
Janis Joplin - Pearl
Released in January 1971, just three months after her death, Janis Joplin's Pearl was described by Rolling Stones as, "not a new Janis, but a redefined, more organised, old Janis". Score = 7.26
Paice Ashton Lord - Malice In Wonderland
Ditching Deep Purple’s full-throttle grandeur, Ian Paice and Jon Lord's new endeavour was conceived as a hybrid of the blues groups, jazz outfits and big bands they had grown up with. Score = 7.25
Buffalo - Volcanic Rock
Buffalo brought hard rock to the bars and hotels of Australia, and second album Volcanic Rock found them rocking at their lava-laden best. Score = 7.24
Hughes/Thrall: Hughes/Thrall
In which Former Deep Purple bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes and guitarist Pat Thrall kick up a short-lived AOR storm. Score = 7.24
Tygers Of Pan Tang - Crazy Nights
Two new members – including a future member of Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake – and an album rush-recorded to keep the record company happy: Crazy Nights by Tygers Of Pan Tang. Score = 7.24
Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms
Was Dire Straits' Brothers In Arms 100% arena-filling classic rock, or a groan-inducing middle-of-the-road snoozefest? Score = 7.23
Jethro Tull - Stormwatch
Stormwatch largely ditched the ‘folk’ elements that had come to define Jethro Tull's sound in favour of a noticeably harder and more ominous edge. Score = 7.23
Coverdale/Page - Coverdale/Page
Superstars David Coverdale and Jimmy Page join forces to pay tribute to each other's legacies, but does it live up to the past? Score = 7.21
Wolfmother - Wolfmother
Australian trio Wolfmother were virtually unknown outside of their local circuit, but that all changed with their self-titled debut album. Score = 7.21
Anvil - Metal On Metal
An object of both affection and derision, Canada's Anvil made the NWOBHM-friendly Metal On Metal in 1982: It gave them an international audience and their most iconic song. Score = 7.20
The Zombies - Odessey & Oracle
A psych-pop masterpiece that was a commercial flop, but it has since gained the status of a classic, regularly making it onto the ‘Best Albums of All Time’ lists… Score = 7.19
Deep Purple - Come Taste The Band
With the great Ritchie Blackmore departed for Rainbow pastures, Deep Purple regrouped and brought in an American... Score = 7.19
J. Geils Band - "Live" Full House
The J. Geils Band's Live Full House is a vivid celebration of live rock'n'roll, but is there more to Peter Wolf & Co. than the world's best keg party soundtrack? Score = 7.17
Mountain - Nantucket Sleighride
UK rockers of a certain age were introduced to Nantucket Sleighride by political broadcasting on the TV, but there was also an album attached to the song. Score = 7.17
Styx - Paradise Theater
Paradise Theater: a concept piece based on a fictional rundown venue, and a metaphor for the American dream. Score = 7.17
Chicago: Chicago II
14-legged juggernaut Chicago changed their name and forged ahead with this energetic double album that took in free jazz, hip-shaking R&B and an Abbey Road-like six-song suite. Score = 7.16
Fleetwood Mac - Mystery To Me
Mystery To Me is the oddest and most eclectic album of Fleetwood Mac’s entire career, mixing mellow rock with funk, reggae and even disco. Score = 7.16
Tedeschi Truckst Band: Layla Revisited (Live At Lockn')
Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks bow to fate's inevitable plan as the Tedeschi Trucks Band faithfully perform Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs on Layla Revisited (Live At Lockn'). Score = 7.16
Angel - Angel
Discovered by Gene Simmons and sold as a more wholesome alternative to Kiss, Angel's stage show was equally theatrical, but their music was a mix of pomp and prog. Score = 7.15
Yngwie Malmsteen - Odyssey
Yngwie Malmsteen's Odyssey was a deliberate attempt to pursue chart success, with former Rainbow man Joe Lynn Turner roped in to provide melodic ballast. Score = 7.14
Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
Is Them Crooked Vultures more or less than the sum of its Led Zeppelin/Foo Fighters/Queens Of The Stone Age parts? Score = 7.13
Triumph - Rock & Roll Machine
Triumph's second album Rock & Roll Machine was also their debut, depending on where you lived. It also mixed hard rock with ambitious prog. Score = 7.13
Georgia Satellites: Georgia Satellites
The Georgia Satellites' debut was a scuzzy blast of pure rock'n'roll amidst the glamour and glitz of hair metal... but has it stood the test of time? Score = 7.12
Orange Goblin - A Eulogy For The Damned
British heavy metal stalwarts Orange Goblin released A Eulogy For The Damned in 2012 - and it changed their lives. Score = 7.12
The Rolling Stones: Tattoo You
The Rolling Stones' Tattoo You was assembled from long forgotten songs and instrumentals jams, with choice snippets recalibrated with contemporary vocal performances. Score = 7.11
Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
America's first platinum album was a cultural phenomenon, albeit almost accidentally. Score = 7.10
Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush: Live
There's more to Frank Marino than that comparison. You know, the one they always make. But is 1978's Mahogany Rush Live proof? Score = 7.10
Groundhogs - Split
Inspired by a panic attack, The Groundhog's four-part suite Split soundtracked a psychotic reaction. Score = 7.09
Thin Lizzy - Nightlife
Two new guitarists but a muted sound make Nightlife a Thin Lizzy album that isn't quite the Thin Lizzy we know and love. Score = 7.09
Heart - Heart
In the 1980s Heart's music was retooled as super-slick AOR, the Wilson sisters rocked Dynasty hairdos and frilly corsets, MTV loved them, and they sold millions. Score = 7.06
Iggy Pop - Instinct
After the chart success of Real Wild Child, Iggy Pop changed tack and came back with Instinct , a chest-thumping pile of meat ’n’ potatoes metal. Score = 7.08
The Angels - Dark Room
Dark Room is the fourth studio album by Aussie rockers The Angels, released in 1980. Score = 7.07
Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Tarkus
Side one is an acknowledged prog masterpiece... but how much does side two drag the overall score down? Score = 7.07
Roxy Music - Roxy Music
Roxy Music's debut album was a proclamation that rock’n’roll as we knew it was undergoing a strange and irrevocable transformation. Score = 7.07
Girl - Sheer Greed
A glam rock album released in the wrong era, Girl's Sheer Greed introduced the world to Def Leppard's Phil Collen and LA Guns' Phil Lewis. Score = 7.06
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band: Framed
SAHB crept up on an unsuspecting nation, grabbed it by the balls and won hearts and minds in unison Score = 7.05
Aerosmith - Rock In A Hard Place
How does the album Aerosmith released without Joe Perry stand up after all these years? Score = 7.04
Geddy Lee - My Favourite Headache
Rush were on hiatus, so Geddy Lee hooked up with k.d.lang collaborator Ben Mink to make his debut album. The result was My Favourite Headache. Score = 7.04
Saxon - Metalhead
The dark Metalhead is another highlight from British metal veterans Saxon's late-career purple patch. Score = 7.04
Accept - Metal Heart
Teutonic titans Accept mould themselves into more commercial shapes on sixth album Metal Heart. Score = 7.03
Greta Van Fleet - Anthem Of The Peaceful Army
Greta Van Fleet: are the here to save rock'n'roll or sully it? Both opinions are available. Score = 7.02
Yes - Drama
Yes become Yeggles on Drama, bringing in two pop interlopers from Buggles to shine a light on the path towards gleaming chart success. Score = 7.02
Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe - Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe
The self-titled Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe is the album from the version of Yes that wasn’t technically Yes at all. Score = 7.01
Atomic Rooster - Death Walks Behind You
An offshoot of the Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Atomic Rooster mixed prog with furious riffs and thunderous drum beats. Score = 7.01
Girlschool - Demolition
Girlschool didn’t so much sound like they might scratch your eyes out as boot you in the balls and nick your beer. Score - 7.01
Trapeze - You Are The Music... We’re Just The Band
After the blues rock of Medusa, Trapeze shifted in a funkier, more soulful direction for You Are The Music... We’re Just The Band, supplying Glenn Hughes with the style that would define his career. Score = 7.01
AC/DC - Flick Of The Switch
Ditching the studio polish of Mutt Lange, AC/DC went back to basics on Flick Of The Switch and recorded what's often seen as their weakest album. But was it? Score = 7.00
Dream Theater - Train Of Thought
Borne perhaps from a fear of predictability, Train Of Thought was Dream Theater’s proud attempt at writing a ‘classic’ heavy metal album. Score = 6.98
Europe - Walk The Earth
Walk The Earth is the sixth studio album since Europe's reunion, and The Final Countdown – nor anything like it – is nowhere to be seen. Score = 6.98
Heart - Little Queen
"We were unusual among friends at school in that we wanted to wanted to be The Beatles rather than marry them” - Ann Wilson. Score = 6.98
James Gang - Bang
Tommy Bolin's James Gang bandmates have claimed he was at his best when high... and on Bang the chemical dependency produced fine results. Score = 6.98
Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell
How do you improve upon the most bombastic multi-million seller ever? On Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman added extra length. Score = 6.97
Starz - Starz
Are Starz the "Big Star of hair metal"? Examining the debut, self-titled album may provide some answers. Score = 6.97
Montrose - Paper Money
After announcing their arrival with a stone-cold classic, Montrose returned to the studio in 1974 to record an underwhelming second album. Perhaps they should have released them in reverse order. Score = 6.94
Procol Harum - Broken Barricades
1971’s Broken Barricades was Procol Harum's last with guitarist Robin Trower. Despite – or perhaps because of - this, it’s one of their most guitar-led. Score = 6.94
Bonnie Raitt - Nick Of Time
Bonnie Raitt's redemption came in the shape of the multi-million selling Nick Of Time after splitting with her original label and hooking up with producer Don Was. Score = 6.94
Roger Waters - Amused To Death
Amused To Dearth is Roger Waters’ proudest solo moment and a damning reflection on social disintegration. Score = 6.94
Toto - Toto XIV
Your reviews of Toto XIV, or, as it's otherwise known, Toto's contractual obligation album. Score = 6.91
Mott The Hoople - The Hoople
Mott The Hoople's final album comes under the Album Of The Week microscope. Score = 6.89
The Mars Volta - De-Loused In The Comatorium
From the ashes of post-hardcore punks At The Drive-In something stirred, and it was proggy. Score = 6.88
Motley Crue - Shout At The Devil
Motley Crue’s second album, their platinum-selling breakthrough, was an all-out attack on America’s self-appointed moral majority. Score = 6.85
Aphrodites Child - 666
Vangelis Papathanassiou's cult masterpiece 666: an apocalyptic prog tour-de-force or a pretentious load of twaddle? Just don't ask Irene Papas what she thinks. Score = 6.82
Nazareth - Malice In Wonderland
Malice In Wonderland was perhaps Nazareth's most commercial album, but it was also a commercial disaster. Score = 6.82
Nirvana - Bleach
Beneath the wilfully grubby production, Nirvana's debut album Bleach seethes with confidence, intelligence, star quality and pop sensibility. Score = 6.81
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow: Stranger In Us All
Rainbow’s unloved final album was released in 1995, after Ritchie Blackmore’s loveless nine-years marriage to the re-formed Deep Purple. Score = 6.81
Whitesake - Saints & Sinners
Saints & Sinners by Whitesnake features two songs that would later be successfully remodelled... but what of the rest of the album? Score = 6.81
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Timeless Flight
Timeless Flight: The Steve Harley album that followed the one with the big hit on it. Score = 6.76
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
Some albums are so big that the follow-up can only be a disappointment. Did Tusk suffer this fate, or is gold concealed within? Score = 6.75
The Edgar Winter Group - They Only Come Out At Night
They Only Come Out At Night sold millions, birthed two hit singles and featured an all-star cast that included Ronnie Montrose, Rick Derringer and Dan Hartman. Does it still stand up? Score = 6.73
Coney Hatch - Coney Hatch
Coney Hatch's 1982 debut album featured an underlying eccentricity that set them apart from the early 80s hair metal pack. Score - 6.72
The Four Horsemen - Nobody Said It Was Easy
The Four Horsemen knew how to to rock. Too often on Nobody Said It Was Easy they sounded like other rockers. Score = 6.71
King Crimson - Discipline
A prog album for Talking Heads fans? Or a new-wave album for King Crimson fans? Either way, Discipline sparks debate. Score = 6.71
Black Sabbath - Never Say Die!
Black Sabbath's Never Say Die! arrived as the band's original line-up began to disintegrate. History has not been kind, but will our reviewers find more to enjoy? Score = 6.70
Elf - Carolina County Ball
Elf showed what Ronnie James Dio could do before he went on to do it with Rainbow, Black Sabbath and the rest. Score = 6.69
Budgie - Budgie
A Zeppelin covers band? A Sabbath tribute act? The Welsh Rush? Or genius proto-metal pioneers? Our readers examine Budgie's debut. Score = 6.66
Cactus - Cactus
What do you get if you mix men from Vanilla Fudge, Amboy Dukes and Mitch Ryder’s Detroit Wheels? The first album from Cactus. Score = 6.64
Bruce Dickinson - Tattooed Millionaire
Brice Dickinson ventures out of his Iron Maiden-shaped comfort zone for debut solo album Tattooed Millionaire. Score = 6.63
Probot: Probot
Dave Grohl gets his mates in to pay loving tribute to his heavy metal youth on Probot's self-titled (and only) album. Score = 6.63
Badfinger - No Dice
Badfinger were besieged by Beatles comparisons and beset by bad business dealings, but perhaps No Dice's ultimate legacy is the hits it provided for others. Score = 6.61
Saxon - Saxon
Part rock, part prog, under-produced and released on a French disco label: it can only be Saxon's debut album Score = 6.61
U.K. - U.K.
The world's first prog supergroup conjures up challenging jazz fusion, fail to set world alight. Score = 6.60
Ian Gillan Band - Child In Time
Ian Gillan's return to music after a break heralded a jazzier, funkier approach from the former Deep Purple frontman. Score = 6.57
Jefferson Starship - Freedom At Point Zero
Grace Slick and Marty Balin were gone but Jefferson Airplane had Jane, an AOR landmark, and riffs from Craig Chaquico that would guide the band into the gleaming 80s. Score = 6.57
T. Rex - Zinc Alloy And The Hidden Riders Of Tomorrow
In which Marc Bolan adds some R&B to T. Rex's glam template and opinions have been divided ever since. Score = 6.57
Mr. Mister - Welcome To The Real World
Mr. Mister released four slickly produced albums. Three bombed. Welcome To The Real World certainly didn't. Score = 6.54
Hanoi Rocks - Two Steps From The Move
Hanoi Rocks' Two Steps From The Move was meant to propel the impossibly glamorous Finns to stardom... instead it became an epitaph. Score = 6.52
Lynyrd Skynyrd - The Last Rebel
A refurbished Lynyrd Skynyrd attempt to conjure up original Skynyrd spirit on 1993's The Last Rebel. Score = 6.51
Joan Jett - Bad Reputation
Originally self-released in 1980, Joan Jett's debut album was given a major label makeover in 1981. Score = 6.51
Pretenders - Pretenders II
Written and recorded under pressure, Pretenders II sought to continue where Pretenders I left off. But did it succeed? Score = 6.51
Rock Goddess: Rock Goddess
Straight outta South London, Rock Goddess's career faltered more often than it flowered, but the pioneering trio's self-titled debut is a fondly-remembered slice of NWOBHM. Score = 6.51
Joe Perry Project - Let The Music Do The Talking
In which Joe Perry escapes the dysfunctional Aerosmith family and tries to Let The Music Do The Talking. Score = 6.49
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother
Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother marked the point where the band found their way out of their post-Barrett malaise. Score = 6.49
Detective - Detective
Michael Des Barres leads Detective through an album that sounds a little like their Led Zeppelin paymasters. Score = 6.48
Lucifer's Friend - Banquet
In which four Germans and a Brit hook up and invent prog-jazz-rock showtunes. Score = 6.47
Utopia - Todd Rundgren's Utopia
Todd Rundgren's genius for FM power-pop had made him a star, but Todd Rundgren's Utopia was an adventure in full-blown cosmic freakology. Score = 6.47
Melissa Etheridge - Brace And Crazy
The comparisons with Bruce Springsteen might be merited, but Melissa Etheridge's second album saw her making a name for herself. Score = 6.46
Beck, Bogert & Appice - Beck, Bogert & Appice
Beck, Bogert & Appice was a coming together of three superlative musical minds... but did their only studio album live up to the sum of its parts? Score = 6.44
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way
John Frusciante returns and the Red Hot Chili Peppers hand over the reins. The result? Doo-wop harmonies, less funk, and critical acclaim. Score = 6.44
Diamond Head - Canterbury
Diamond Head's progressive swerve towards Canterbury: a maligned classic, commercial suicide, or something in-between? Score = 6.43
Manowar - Battle Hymns
Manowar's debut album Battle Hymns laid out the band's future path in an early, loinclothed manifesto: Death to false metal! Score = 6.41
Van der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
Van der Graaf Generator's fourth album Pawn Hearts sums up all that is glorious and bewildering about the band: unconventional vocals, confrontational music, and the unruly spectre of jazz. Score = 6.41
The Runaways - Queens Of Noise
At loggerheads with their manager, The Runaways installed themselves in the Beach Boys' studio for album number two, Queens of Noise. Score = 6.37
Billy Squier - Emotions In Motion
Buoyed by the success of breakthrough album Don’t Say No, Billy Squier teamed up once again with Queen producer Reinhold Mack to create 10 tracks of state of the art, radio-friendly pop rock. Score = 6.34
Eagles - The Long Run
Following up Hotel California was hard enough, and The Long Run showed there was life left for Eagles... but not for long. Score = 6.33
Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
He hadn't been tagged the future of rock'n'roll yet, but Bruce Springsteen was beginning to make the right noises. Score = 6.32
The Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow
The Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow was one of the most extraordinary British albums of the late 1960s, and one utterly beset by disaster Score = 6.31
Warhorse - Warhorse
After being sacked By Deep Purple, bassist Nick Simper took up with Marsha Hunt’s backing band and gradually turned them into a hard-rockin' force. Score = 6.31
The Cramps - A Date With Elvis
A Date With Elvis continued The Cramps' fascination with lust, obsession, and the darker side of rock'n'roll culture. Score = 6.30
Suzi Quatro - Suzi Quatro
The self-titled debut album by the original Queen Of Noise, Suzi Quatro, strives to prove she was more than a singles act. Score = 6.29
The Firm - The Firm
Supergroup The Firm saw Jimmy Page turn to Paul Rodgers to sort out his post-Zeppelin malaise. Our review suggests things didn't turn out as super as expected. Score = 6.28
Saga - Silent Knight
"Majestic!" says one reviewer, "dreadful!" says another. What's the truth about Saga's third album Silent Knight? Score = 6.27
Phil Lynott - Solo In Soho
Made during Thin Lizzy downtime, Phil Lynott's Solo In Soho album was less of a busman's holiday than a true break from the dayjob. Score = 6.26
Steve Vai - Flex-Able
Fresh from working with Frank Zappa, a young Steve Vai took what he'd learned and made an album no one was meant to hear. Score = 6.26
Jim Steinman - Bad For Good
Jim Steinman's Bad For Good was meant to be the sequel to Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell, but when then big man lost his voice Steinman stepped up to the mic. Score = 6.25
White Lion - Pride
What's the recipe for two million sales? A Danish singer, a genius guitarist, and a production that perhaps hasn't stood the test of time. Score = 6.17
T. Rex - Dandy In The Underworld
Touched by tragedy, T. Rex's Dandy in the Underworld was seen as a return to form by many. Score = 6.14
Iron Maiden - No Prayer For The Dying
Heralding the departure of Adrian Smith and the arrival of Janick Gers, Iron Maiden's No Prayer For The Dying also saw the arrival of very mixed reviews. Score = 6.12
Skunk Anansie - Paranoid & Sunburnt
Skunk Anansie melded together rock, punk, dub, reggae and electronica influences on debut album Paranoid & Sunburnt. Score = 6.11
Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger
An overbearing hit single became the soundtrack to the 80s – but have Survivor stood the test of time? Score = 6.11
Blue Cheer – Vincebus Eruptum
50 years on, does Blue Cheer's debut Vincebus Eruptum deserve its status as the first metal/heavy album? And, even if it does, does that make it any good? Score = 6.08
Jimmy Page - Outrider
After the demise of The Firm, Jimmy Page roped in some old friends for his only solo album, Outrider. Score = 6.08
Venom - Welcome To Hell
Venom's Welcome To Hell may have been a genuine force for musical revolution, but to some it remains unlistenable. Score = 6.06
Alice Cooper - Flush The Fashion
Recorded during Alice Cooper's "blackout" period, Flush The Fashion found The Coop exploring new sounds. Score = 6.05
Klaatu - Hope
Accidental Beatle impersonators Klaatu attempt to ride out a global publicity storm on second album Hope. Score = 6.03
Johnny Thunders - So Alone
The star-studded pinnacle of Johnny Thunders’ solo career, So Alone is not a perfect album, but its faults are easy to love... or hate. Score = 6.02
Sir Lord Baltimore - Kingdom Come
Hailed as a proto-metal classic, Sir Lord Baltimore's debut album is perhaps more 60s than 70s. Score = 6.00
Sparks - Kimono My House
Ron and Russell Mael have maintained a tireless forward momentum across some of rock’s most ingenious albums. Kimono My House was their third. Score = 6.00
Europe - The Final Countdown
In which we discuss communal music youth programs in a social democracy, and what they meant for Europe's album The Final Countdown. Score = 5.95
Smashing Pumpkins - Adore
After Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness there was nowhere to go but up for Smashing Pumpkins: Then bad things began to happen. Score = 5.94
Metallica - Reload
After dividing their fanbase even further with Load, Metallica presented us that album's leftovers a year later. Score = 5.86
REO Speedwagon - Nine Lives
In which the midwestern rockers rock a little harder than normal, but not everyone is convinced. Score = 5.85
Fanny - Fanny Hill
"They were one of the finest rock bands of their time" - David Bowie liked them, but what about the Album Of The Week Club? Score = 5.79
Samson - Shock Tactics
The album Bruce Dickinson made before joining Iron Maiden, is Samson's Shock Tactics more than just an object of historical curiosity? Score = 5.78
Jon Anderson - Olias Of Sunhillow
Jon Anderson's Olias Of Sunhillow is the tale of an alien race that’s forced to flee to a new world in the wake of a volcanic catastrophe. Score = 5.68
The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown - The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
Arthur Brown's debut album is famous and infamous for one song... but does it deserve more respect? Score = 5.65
Genesis - Abacab
In which Genesis cause controversy and dismay by turning their hand to shorter, more pop-orientated songs. Score = 5.62
Black Sabbath - Forbidden
What happened when Tony Iommi brought two familiar faces back on board for Forbidden, an album produced by an extremely unexpected choice. Score = 5.55
Bon Jovi: 7800° Fahrenheit
Bon Jovi's second album 7800° Fahrenheit failed to launch the band towards superstardom in the way its follow-up Slippery When Wet did. Can our reviewers figure out why? Score = 5.54
Sea Hags - Sea Hags
The Sea Hags: the throbbing, ragged heart of Saturday night, or more 80s rock'n'roll bullshit? You decide. Score = 5.47
Black Oak Arkansas - High On The Hog
Black Oak Arkansas: perhaps more famous for introducing the world to frontman Jim ‘Dandy’ Mangrum than for their own albums, like 1973's High On The Hog. Score = 5.46
Kiss - Music From "The Elder"
In which Kiss go Prog and alienate everyone... or not, as our reviewers clearly prove. Score = 5.31
Poison - Look What The Cat Brought In
Poison were a cheap date, but by the end of the night you knew you'd had a lot of fun. Score = 5.13
Winger - Winger
A more serious proposition than many of the Sunset Strip generation, Winger's debut combined melodic hooks with no small amount of technical skill. Score = 5.05
Genesis - Calling All Stations
Facing a future without Phil Collins, the remaining men of Genesis turned to that fella from Stiltskin. Score = 5.04
Creed - Human Clay
Criticised for being exemplars of the beige stodge-rock that followed grunge, Creed sold albums by the million. We try and figure out why. Score = 5.03
Nickelback - All The Right Reasons
In which we ask our Album Of The Week regulars to put aside any hatin' business and give Nickelback's All The Right Reasons a fair crack of the whip. Score = 4.91
Radiohead - OK Computer
OK Computer is the album that took Radiohead far into the mainstream, while retaining rockist cred – at least to some. Score = 4.90
Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Can we review Axl Rose's labour of love Chinese Democracy without talking about time and money? Probably not. Score = 4.88
Van Halen - Van Halen III
A new singer, a bass player missing in action and a distinct lack of partying: will someone make the case for Van Halen III? Score = 4.45
The Doors - Other Voices
When Jim Morrison died in Paris, the other three members of The Doors completed the sessions they'd started, and the Jim-less Other Voices emerged three months later. Score = 4.24
Michael Bolton - Everybody's Crazy
Pop balladeer and mullet king Michael Bolton used to rock. No, he really did. And Everybody's Crazy is the evidence. Score = 4.13
