Sometimes you know you’re listening to a life-changing album the first time you hear it. Led Zeppelin’s debut, Black Sabbath’s first record, Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite For Destruction, Firkin Well Live by Dumpy’s Rusty Nuts - stone cold classics, one and all.
Except not everybody agrees. The history of music journalism is littered with stinking reviews of albums that would go on to be held up as iconic records. Of course, there are several reasons for this. Taste is subjective, for one. And sometimes there may be personal axes to grind. Who knows, the journalist might have got out of bed the wrong side that morning (that’s obviously not true - music journalists never get up in the morning).
