Ruth and Martin's Album Club

The concept behind Ruth and Martin’s Album Club is simple: make people listen to a classic album they’ve never heard, then ask them to review it.

Compiled here are the blog’s greatest hits, as well as some new and exclusive material, each entry boasting a comprehensive introduction by all-round music geek Martin Fitzgerald:

Ian Rankin on Madonna’s Madonna. J. K. Rowling on the Violent Femmes’ Violent Femmes. Chris Addison on Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. Bonnie Greer on The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. Brian Koppelman on The Smiths’ Meat Is Murder. Anita Rani on The Strokes’ Is This It. Richard Osman on Roxy Music’s For Your Pleasure. And many, many more.

‘Have you discovered Ruth and Martin’s Album Club yet? It’s just brilliantly written, and now I want to listen to all the great music’ Dara Ó Briain

‘I love Ruth and Martin's Album Club. Classic albums (and oddities) given a fresh hearing, and Martin's capsule reviews remain the best in the business’ Ian Rankin

'Music geek paradise. Like the chat you have in the pub after the gig, with the shamanistic roadie who has seen it all. But, unlike that guy, these guys care what YOU think, and don't nick all your fags’ Hugo Rifkind

‘I grew bored of music criticism a long time ago because the writer has been taken out of it and most read like glorified artist biogs. Ruth and Martin's Album Club works on a more personal, human level and has become my favourite music website’ Martin Carr, The Boo Radleys