A quintessential record of the Summer Of Love, ‘Surrealistic Pillow’ was released in February ’67, and was promoted well into that very famous summer. This is the album that epitomises psychedelic and acid rock. How many films and TV shows have used ‘White Rabbit’ as the soundtrack to a trippy drug scene?

The debut album from one of the most promising new artists of the past 5 years. Spanning genres, SZA kinda reminds me a bit of when Frank Ocean came onto the scene. For me, she has the same type of creativity and artistic integrity.

I don’t know enough about Reggaeton to have a fully formed opinion on this, but what I do know for certain is that I don’t need 21 tracks of it in a row.

This album was a major standout for me last time I did the challenge. I wasn’t at all familiar with Big Star’s music, or so I thought...

This album was a powerhouse. In 1996 you souldn’t go anywhere without hearing Sheryl Crow. I’ve never given Sheryl Crow the time of day, really. As she had such major commercial hits, I never thought of her further than that. How wrong I was. This record is great.

Third album by the whimsical Sparks. With this record, the band (now essentially a duo of the Mael Brothers) relocated from the US to the UK. They shifted their sound to a more prog rock/glam rock type sound, slotting in nicely amongst contemporaries Roxy Music and David Bowie.

Dirty stankin’ blues. Another classic from the stable of Chess Records. ‘Moanin’ in the Moonlight’ is a compilation of singles that had been previously released between 1951 and 1959 by Howlin’ Wolf. These songs pre-date rock ‘n roll.

‘Something Else’ is a bit of a shift in sound for The Kinks. Following their success with hard rocking singles ‘You Really Got Me’ and ‘All Day and All Of The Night’, as well as the more poppy ‘Sunny Afternoon,’ the band released this, their fifth studio album.

This story is really sad. I had heard of Selena (mostly because I knew of the biopic starring JLo), but knew nothing of her or her music. I gave the album a spin first before researching. I then listened again after the research. Selena was well on her way to becoming a star.

Miranda Lambert, another artist I’d never listened to before, is one of the good. At 24 tracks, this 2-CD album (I think these days it’s more accurate to call it 2-volume), titled ‘The Nerve’ and ‘The Heart’ respectively, is a lot of country listening.

The breakthrough record by Scottish indie pop band, Belle and Sebastian. While this was their second record, it was their first for indie label, Jeepster Records. Amazingly, one of their conditions of signing was that they would not release singles, do any press or promotional events or appear in any promotional material.

I’ve never listened to The Pharcyde. I blame my ex-housemates for that. But seriously, I hadn’t listened to them before today and I’m quite upset about that. I’ve listened to this album 3 times today. And that’s not because I was looking for things to like about it, it’s because I was looking for more things to love about it. This is exactly what I’m looking for in a Hip Hop record.

Muddy Waters was an absolute genius and the epitome of Chicago music. Signed to the great Chess Records for a large chunk of his career and flanked by Willie Dixon on bass for most, if not all of his recordings.

The first time I really remember taking notice of her was at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards when she performed her new single, ‘You and I’ as alter-ego, Jo Calderone. I loved the theatrics, her piano playing, the choreographed dance and then out of nowhere, rock god, Brian May, from Queen, joined her on stage as Dave Grohl cheered her on.

Search all you like, you won’t find a bad review about this record, their debut record as a husband & wife duo.

Sweet vindication. Last time around, one of the artists that I felt was grossly overlooked was John Mayer. Full disclosure: I’m a big fan and I’ve listened to this album probably at least 500 times in itself.

I can just imagine being in the thick of a most pit, drenched in sweat and cheap beer in early 1980s L.A. In that context, this album hits all the right notes.

The eponymous debut album by The Stooges, a landmark album in proto-punk, was released just 10 days before the original Woodstock festival in 1969. The Stooges, by way of this record, along with contemporaries, MC5, The Velvet Underground and even The Who, laid the groundwork for New York Dolls & Ramones.

This listen was a three-and-a-half-hour marathon of impeccably produced songs weaving a thick part of the tapestry of 20th Century music. A 4-disc collection of every single that Phil Spector produced. Artists the likes of The Ronettes, The Crystals, Darlene Love, The Righteous Brothers, Ben E. King, Ike & Tina Turner, Nat King Cole, and his own band, The Teddy Bears.

This album sees Ronstadt transition from country artist to pop artist. It enjoyed 4 weeks at #1, 51 weeks in the chart (missed out on a year by one week) and was nominated for four Grammys, winning one for ‘Best Country Vocal Performance Female.’