"Joni's the greatest songwriter ever. And what a record. She writes as this omniscient narrator on this album, surveying everything from above, commenting on this world of women and predatory men she's created, and she has such power and agency as she does it. I've read about how music critics – male critics, let's be honest – struggled with this record at the time. Records like Blue, which touch on a woman's emotional struggles from a subjective standpoint, were so much easier and more comforting to them, I suppose. I love how she intimidated people, and didn't care. 
There's a great unreleased bootleg of demos of this album, called The Seeding Of Summer Lawns. Joni's got all these jazz cat musicians in, but she's written all these complicated flute and horn parts for them already, and sings them all, as they're all in her head. It's unbelievable. I can't speak highly enough of her, and of this."

"Most of the albums I’ve chosen are from the 1970s – they are ones that moulded my style. So, Wishbone Ash invented twin harmony guitars in heavy rock [they were also a huge influence on Iron Maiden]. I used to go and see them when they played in Leeds or Sheffield or Barnsley – they were on circuit a lot in the early 70s. I was a bass player then, and they had a great bass player [Martin Turner] with a good style, with really cool vocal harmonies. Argus felt groundbreaking – it was a big explosion of rock and Wishbone Ash were a pretty loud band. It was a good grounding for me to learn their songs - this particular album is a concept album so you learned the whole thing. That’s how songs get into your psyche. In Saxon we used the twin guitar harmonies occasionally – we don’t want to copy anybody, but it is a theme, it is in there."

"When I heard this I was just completely floored. I was like 'What the fuck is this?' [Laughs]. Radio was amazing, it was so good. Similarly to Public Enemy, I heard this album and I wanted to know how he did it – I just had no idea how. He was talking my language and speaking to me but in styles I had never heard or experienced before. I wanted to know how he did this. The whole album is fire; the beats were hard and the rhymes were hard. It banged and undoubtedly became the sound of a generation. It was almost like punk rock in sentiment, urban punk rock which is effectively what hip hop is. It didn't matter which part of the world you were from either when you listened to this. The people that got this record were all going through the same shit. The worlds might have been somewhat different, but it was the same oppressive shit and it united people."

"It's very strong. This album makes me cry. It's the first album of Toumani's albums that I listened to and I started crying right away. I didn't know why I was crying. I was crying for happiness, I was crying for sadness. I couldn't explain it. I was crying deeply. That's why I always say that music can heal people, because it can take you somewhere you don't control. Many artists can take me to their world and through their world they can take me to my own world, to my past. For me, crying can heal many things. You can process many experiences that you didn't have time to digest. With time, you digest them and you learn how to heal yourself, to be at peace. Listening to good music, music that you like, you can really help yourself, to heal your soul, step by step, day by day. This record is really deep."

"This is the Keith Sweat album I like the most; you never get a second chance to make a first impression. The production of Teddy Riley… he was just the man. And Keith Sweat is a sexy name. It has a lot of character; it's like he was born to make this record. It was his birthright, just through that name alone. I was in the seventh grade I believe when it came out, and got it straight away. There's a song called 'Right and A Wrong Way' and it starts with these two chords, and then it just goes "BOOM"! Back then, we used to sit and doctor our speakers - I had these house speakers and I took the covers off and rewire them, trying to be technical. I'd lay the speaker down on its back, and I'd sprinkle powder in the woofer just for my own amusement. And then… BOOM! [mimes powder explosion]. That's why I remember that album."

"It's an overlooked record I think. They were in the midst of breaking up. They were writing separately, and here you can really tell the differences between the Lennon–McCartney and George Harrison songs. What I find really interesting about the record is how it's not really polished. 'Glass Onion' is as unique a song as I've ever heard, and with self-reference: 'I told you about Strawberry Fields', 'the walrus was Paul'; I mean all that stuff! It refers to things the fans were talking about. It's a spectacular album. It doesn't connect like Abbey Road or Let It Be anywhere near as fast because the songs are all over the place. In the days when album covers and packaging meant so much, it was just a brave statement to say it doesn't have a title and leave it white. There is no title anywhere on the record, that's fantastic! Just the solo photos of the band inside. It's a strange record."

"I was later than James on Public Enemy, he’d be copying all the raps. You’d go down his house and he’d be rapping ‘It Takes A Nation Of Millions’ to the record, like I’d be singing along to Ian McCulloch, which was really disconcerting - he really nailed it. I guess <>i>Fear Of A Black Planet is the bigger, more obvious album but it just felt like the rap equivalent of London Calling to me. It was really extensive and scattershot, obviously ‘Fight The Power’ was the main point of entry, but ‘Burn Hollywood Burn’ and ‘Who Stole The Soul?’ in particular are some of the best angry lyrics ever written. It felt like some sort of peak. I love the idea of NWA being the nihilistic, horrible Sex Pistols and Public Enemy being The Clash. I always loved those comparisons, and that album reminded me of a time when you thought things were possible. Before you were defeated."

"When my eldest was a baby, I'd take her on tour, and this album was an important part of the kit. There'd be a battle after the gigs to get her into the car and I'd be all, "Put Tumble Bee on quick! Put Tumble Bee on before she kicks off!" And then everything would be alright. So I'd like to thank you, Laura, for saving my life a few times [laughs]. 

This is a really wonderful album for children, well-crafted and beautiful, that doesn't dumb things down. I still listen to it now, quite happily, without the kids. Becky and Niopha have babies now, and we had them on tour with us when they were both about six-months-old. That time in my life is very much done, but it was really lovely. I remember Becky standing backstage, and breathing out, going, ‘Oh my God, I'm in a quiet room with a clean dress on'. I remember that feeling too [laughs]."

"I'd loved the previous albums but then Attack & Release came out and they'd worked with Danger Mouse, who is one of my favourite producers and was doing great stuff around then with Gorillaz and Martina Topley-Bird, and he'd done The Grey Album thing too, and I think Gnarls Barkley came just after this. Quite an unusual choice of producer for them, because they'd been doing quite hard stuff before that. Not rock rock, but y'know. It was just an amazing blend. Danger Mouse has got a real swing to the stuff he does, and he'd put a surrounding swing to it, combining two quite raw musicians - and an amazing vocalist - and it's just this incredible album. I've seen them a couple of times - and I think I built my expectation of them up too much - I mean, they were amazing, but I think I was expecting it to be the pinnacle of all gigs."

"This 1971 album by Hollywood arranger Jimmie Haskell is a rare case of the Topographical Album. It reimagines a future sovereign state of California in the wake of a catastrophic earthquake along the San Andreas fault - creating a gigantic inland lagoon where most of So-Cal sits today. If you're a Mapster that's into Maps - then this is the record for you - and from that perspective this has the greatest sleeve ever made. (Folds out into a giant map of said post apocalypse America). For heritage rock completists: this record features a cover of the Band's 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' and Joe Walsh ( who would soon be joining the Eagles) features heavily on a couple of tunes. Generally though, Approach with caution - even though it's a fun record and a bold attempt at a new musical micro-genre, it also has the faint unwelcome smell of the rock opera."