Playing With Fire

(2/5). like space itself this album is vast and occasionally pretty, but mostly empty.

Shoegaze has never really worked for me, and this was no exception. Not bad for background music, though. 2.7

This one grew on me by the end. Thought Suicide was the best thing on here but at over 10 minutes long, was there any need to put 3 different versions on an already overlong album.

Not enjoyable. Even the cover of Will The Circle Be Unbroken was a dirge . Did not finish.

22/10/2026 Unfortunately, not for me. Too long, too boring, 2 stars. Spotify listeners: 118.5k

a few decent songs but also annoying and repetitive

Disc 1: Good intro song "Honey". Getting more psychedelic as it goes. I like his voice. So Hot, Lord Can You Hear Me is more melodic than the other ones. Suicide it's not that good compared to others in this album, why does it have so many alteranate versions. It's an album that should not be this long, why are there so many demos and stuff. Did not finish it, but what i listened was kinda good 2/5

Unresolved Buildup: the Album Poor production, vocals, and lazy atmosphere to boot. Quite shit

Pretty good. Almost a 4 but not quite. If I heard this album around 20 to 25 years ago then I probably would have really enjoyed it.

Decent enough, but the songs felt a little unfinished.

I really liked this. There were parts that drug it down, but, overall, it got to the 4 for me.

A bit bland

I’m happy to get to hear a Spacemen 3 record that I hadn’t heard before; I’ve always liked what I heard of them before. This is nice blurry shoegaze-psychedelia spacey kinda stuff. Just my kinda thing. Fave tracks: "Revolution" and “Suicide,” which remind me of my favorite stuff from the Velvet Underground (and, in fact, Suicide). And "How Does it Feel," which reminds me of the Spacemen 3 track that I know best, their later 45-minute-long “Dreamweapon,” which I recommend to anyone who also gave this album five stars but hasn’t heard it. Will listen again and I bet it’ll end up downloaded on my phone.

Re-heated Spiritualized nachos still taste pretty good!

Not bad but mostly meh.

Listens: 1.5 Standout Tracks: Not really It's all very samey sounding, which, being adjacent to the shoegaze genre, makes sense. That being said, I was not particularly interested in hearing nearly two hours of shoegaze psychedelic rock today. And then you mix in all of the new-age hippy bullshit and religious references and you've got me disengaging pretty hard. This album also fails the litmus test of mentioning the 1001 Albums book in the Wikipedia article summary. No, actually I lied. Its not in the summary. It's directly below and it's basically the only thing the article mentions. There's virtually no other information about the album, how it came to be, any accolades it might have received, etc. So, yea. Do I hate it? No. I ascribe "hate" to music I actively dislike and go out of my way to avoid. But this can be filed under wholly forgettable and I will never think about this album again beyond writing this review today.

The last song was a jam.

Zzzzzzzz..... 1/5.

i like girl on fire

Previously unknown. The parts that aren't boring are annoying.

I feel like I got into a nice state of "flow" while working and listening to this. It is a long album, however, and it feels even longer than it is. I liked it, but I can understand why someone wouldn't. I am glad that someone made an album that sounds like this, and I'm glad it's on the 1001 list. Favorite tracks: 'I Believe It', 'Revolution', and the cover of 'Any Way That You Want Me' on the bonus disc.

Honestly pretty pleasant. Experimental while still being very listenable. I really loved "So Hot" and wish more of the songs had sounded like that one!

Well this was shit

Mesmerising and meditative in parts

SORRY!!!!!! I didn't listen to this yesterday, but I can get to it today. It's almost 2 hours long, though. idk not feeling it. It says psychedelic but not in a 60s way, and I'm pretty sure that's the type I enjoy lol. It's ok, I guess. Skipping how does it feel cause why is that 8 minutes of absolutely nothing? This avant-garde bs is so not me. Skipped another song. It's too much just holding the same note. Like, okay, Yoko. I've skipped 3 songs so far. Make it 4. This AIN'T FOR ME. Oh my God, there is a 10+ minute song. Yeah, I feel bad because this is the second album I've had to skip songs (the other one being that god awful beck album), but really it's just bad. Unfortunately, I am not going to finish this. it's bad.

I was initially looking forward to listening to this one since I saw that one of the members went on to Spiritualized sometime after, but then was extremely disappointed. It’s just a whole lot of fluff. Some pretty parts, but they don’t detract from the rest of the album that’s either insignificant or irritating.

I'd never heard of them before, and I wish that were still the case. Sadly not.

I've got a headache while I was listening to the album

Did not like it.

Boring, hurts my ears, can't hear the lyrics. Altogether pretty bad

Eh... I don't know

1,5

Ech, had high hopes here. Didn't like it, too meandering.

Felt like I was in a dream listening to this - loved the psychedelic ambient blend

A little weird (trippy/spacy, particularly instrumentals and breathy singing) but it was ok

First Listen Favorites: Honey Let Me Down Gently So Hot (Wash Away All Of My Tears) Honorable Mentions: Lord Can You Hear Me I Believe It

Hey, did anyone have real trouble playing this record? I only heard fuzzy electronic garbles, indistinct moaning and mumbling, and drawn-out, irritating, tuneless rambles. I don't know, maybe the stream was corrupted.

626 albums in and my patience for absolute tomfoolery on this list is wearing increasingly thin. What the fuck is this

decent but a bit too repetitive in the end

Very good album. Very surprised that this is their third album in the 1980s, and sounds amazing today.

Was expecting something more psychedelic, but ended up being more stoner. Just ok. 6/10

A strange album that didn't really grab me.

The audio level mixes were all over the place on this one. One song it's really quiet, on another it's piercingly loud. It wasn't the song dynamics just it was mixed terribly, and it's not in a charming way whatsoever like some albums lo-fi elements can be. The album also was a bit too repetitive for my liking. I'd personally say I can like drone music (like Flood by Boris) but definitely albums more like this I don't. I simply just didn't have a good time with this album, I don't think I'd return to this one. Highlight Song/s: "Honey"

Meh. Interesting for sure. But I feel most songs seemed to drag on for too long. Especially Suicide. Goes on for so long and built to nothing really. None of that is to say I hated it. But I just didn't really care for it in the end.

This is a nice surprise. Like the Spiritualized albums, I wasn't expecting much out of this. Turns out this is the kind of loud shoegaze-y bullshit (complementary) that I'm into. I bet I'm going to spin this quite a bit for the next few months, forget it, and then be delighted when I stumble back across it. "Suicide" is incredible. That constant drone of the main riff, the ever-increasing crescendo of fuzz. One of those songs that sort of feels like you're going insane in a good way. Best tracks: "Honey" "How Does It Feel" "Suicide"

Not great. Felt like it was acting super provocative with nothing to show for it.

I liked this album. kinda dark, not the basic british pop group from the 80's that is typical of this list.

If more than three minutes of this album is actually someone playing an instrument and not just some high school garage band doing one lick on a looper pedal and letting it go for waaaay too long with some noodling, I'll eat my socks. This album asks the question "How does it feel?" a lot, and it's bad. It's greatest sin is how abysmally boring it is. I enjoy psych rock, shoegaze, and fuzz. This is a terrible example of any of those things. I had a different shoegaze album yesterday (Nowhere by Ride) and I really enjoyed that. To follow it up with this other side of the coin, I can see how people would hate shoegaze as a genre if this is all they were exposed to.

Couldn't finish

This is boring.

I was pretty excited about this on paper, but it was pretty disappointing. It took three tries to listen to it. I just kept tuning it out and forgetting I was even listening to anything, so would have to restart it. I love space-rock and psych, but this is just somniferous. Even when it starts to "rock" it just becomes so ceaselessly repetitive that I lose interest really quickly. I wish this was better. I feel like it MIGHT be something I could come to appreciate with multiple listens, but there is also nothing about it that makes me want to invest time in that.

This reminded me too much of My Bloody Valentine so this was a big HELL NO from me.

Fint nok! Jeg kan meget bedre lide Spiritualized

Foretrækker Spiritualized pladerne vi har haft, men god dreamy larm ikke desto mindre!

Sounds a lot like an noisier version of Spritiualized (great). Suicide was a really good track!

I’m just not into it and I think the album likes it that way.

This album does absolutely nothing for me. I understand the idea behind the repetition, drones and hypnotic atmosphere, but I never get pulled into it. Instead of putting me in some kind of trance, it just makes me want the songs to stop. The repetition becomes irritating rather than immersive, and I honestly struggled to even finish the album. I can see why some people love this kind of psychedelic minimalism, but it is simply not for me. At all. 1/5

I don't recognize this artist nor any of the track names by title. So I'm basically going into this blind. This is very boring. I feel like they just forgot how to rock. They're certainly doing the other halves of Psychedelic Rock and Space Rock, but there's just no rock to be found here. Why are the drums seemingly completely missing? [Spacemen 3]: Our new album is called "Playing With Fire." [Interviewer]: So does it sound like you're playing with fire? [Spacemen 3]: Oh Lord, no.

really interesting. evokes garagey sounds in the realm of the stooges while also featuring drone that reminds me a lot of the velvet underground. all with christian lyrics paired with drug themes. never heard anything quite like it, but i enjoyed it. favorite tracks: Come Down Softly to My Soul, Revolution, So Hot (Wash Away All of My Tears), Suicide

Como esto todavía se considera rock? No lo volvería a escuchar.

It's a vibe, just not one I'm throwing on too often

This rules. Didn’t quite hit like Spiritualized does for me, but it’s always cool to trace an artist’s work back to their earlier stuff, see what elements of their sound carry on to the next project! Suicide is badass!

3.5 if I could! Really liked it and see the evolution to Spiritualized

sehr spannend, viele interessante ideen

A couple of songs here show that these guys actually knew what constitutes music. That's the only thing keeping this rating above a 1.

1 star for each spaceman

This started out ok and then I hated it. I assumed it would be electronically based on the name of the band, but it wasn't super electronic for the first two songs. Then it changed to electronic-y mixed with other things, and I hated it. A lot of spoken word over sound. Long songs. Not for me.

Didn’t really actively listen — was working on some stuff at my computer — but nothing I heard really reigned in my interest. And a bit too slow and space-meditative and drony and repetitive form my tastes. Then by the end of the record, it was grating.

Alltså två och en halv minut på samma dissonanta gitarrackord med minimala variationer i en pipande synth det kanske är musik, men det är inte min musik! En etta

I love Spiritualized, so I figured I’d love this. I was right.

Experimentele piepjesmuziek: Mike Oldfield kwam ermee weg bij Tubular Bells, maar deze gasten lukt het niet om er wat boeiends van te maken. Sterker nog, gaandeweg wordt het steeds irritanter. Bij 'Suidice' floept deze meuk definitief onder de Frans Bauer-grens. Het jengelende gekras doet letterlijk pijn aan de oren, hoe zacht ik het ook zet. Dat was zelfs Pere Ubu nog niet gelukt. Driewerf gadverdamme. Met knallende koppijn en bloedende trommelvliezen zet ik de plaat af.

Het is even zoeken en aannemen welke nummers bij de originele plaat horen. Ik vaar maar op de opmerking op wili dat de twee bonus nummers bij de originele cd horen en dat de rest later is toegevoegd. Van vage buitenaardse jaren '60 geluiden wordt over het album heen langzaam opgebouwd naar een soort Chemical Brothers zonder dikke beats, zodat een opzwepend geheel ontstaat. Halverwege zit de eerste climax met I Believe It en Revolution. Suicide sluit de tweede helft af. En komt nog eens terug in een live-versie, die warempel nog fijner is. Twee maal dit nummer achter elkaar is niet logisch. Ik had alleen de live-versie als afsluiter gebruikt. Maar buiten dat is dit een echt opgebouwd album in onze lijst. Toch een pluspunt in een album-lijst. Af en toe hoor ik in mijn hoofd I Think I'am in Love van Spiritualized door de muziek heen. Hun album gaf ik ook een 5. Lees ik terug, dan schrijf ik daar dat ik geen fan ben van jaren '60 muziek, maar de mix met jaren '90 klanken toch heel fijn vind. Dat geldt hier ook en dat kreeg deze band al voor die jaren '90 voor elkaar. Vet!

Ik had hier uiteraard nog nooit van gehoord, maar inmiddels is het dan wel geinig om weer eens wat 'nieuwe' muziek te horen. Of althans wat ik nog niet eerder had geluisterd. Het doet me ergens denken aan bands als My Bloody Valentine met hun shoegaze, maar ook aan Stone Roses met hun madchester-achtige psychedelica. Het is heel spacey en er zitten hele lange ambient-achtige stukken tussen, die vooral buitengewoon saai zijn. Wat ik bij andere albums al eerder heb aangehaald, is dat het van mij best traag mag beginnen en een opbouw mag hebben, maar ik zit altijd te wachten op een climax. En als dat dan niet komt, is dat voor mij uitermate teleurstellend. Oftewel, ik heb hier allemaal niet zoveel mij. Ik sta er in het begin open voor, maar inmiddels is het track 7 en ik begin me te vervelen. Het ellenlange Suicide brengt vervolgens iets meer dan ambient saaiheid, al zou ik dit niet live hoeven te zien. Ik stel me er bij voor, dat de muzikanten met hun rug naar het publiek met hun gitaren over de luidsprekers aan het schuren zijn om maar dat ene gekke gitaargeluidje eruit te krijgen. Zo te lezen moet je er ook heel veel drugs bij gebruiken, want zo stonden ze bekend. Ze hadden het wat memorabeler kunnen maken allemaal, door een goede overdosis erbij, maar gelukkig voor hun is ze dat bespaard gebleven zo te zien. Anyway, meer dan 2 sterren vind ik dit niet waard. Ik ga dit nooit meer opzetten en ik ga het vrij snel weer vergeten.

begon wel zeer slecht.. maar met Revolution kwam het plots interessant... Suicide was ook zeer goed... zeer wisselvallig dus...3,5 sterren

I enjoyed Disc 2 more than Disc 1.

I’d never have called myself much of a Spiritualized fan but I’ve ended up throwing every possible star available at both ‘Lazer Guided Melodies’ and ‘Ladies and Gentlemen…’ when I gave them a critical spin through the challenge. And now it’s the turn of proto-Spiritualized. You can hear more or less every partially-formed idea that would end up in the Spiritualized canon right here in its fledgling form, and even some complete songs that would subsequently be rearranged and repackaged under that moniker. I think it’s a little unnecessary to have included this in the book but I’ve appreciated it nonetheless. It’s not as good as its younger siblings; it’s noisier, shoegazier and rougher around the edges, but when it finds its groove, there’s still plenty of psychedelic post-rock gospel goodness here.

not listening to part 2, 2/5

Lindo album psicadélico!

A nothing album

Seems you’d really have to be in a mood. I was glad to be introduced to this, but I don’t know if I’ll turn a thought to them again in the future.

New to me, but really liked it. Took a couple tracks to get into, but ultimately found it very cool and fun to have on while I did some cooking and chores. Will have to revisit stoned.

Lotta psychedelic nonsense happening here. I wasn't really into it

This is very much a Not For Me as well. Boring as anything. Made it about 5 minutes in, spread over three songs.

Naja

Waaayy too long. No album needs to be 2 hours. Stubbornly, I am forcing myself to listen to every single song on every albums and god did I question my decision on this one. 2 stars as some songs were alright

Thought it was fine. "Come Down Softly to My Soul" and "Let Me Down Gently" were my favourites. As someone who loves guitar i was surprised to find the guitar tone very scratchy and unpleasant for the ears. Maybe that was the point, but i didn't always care for it. And I'm not sure how much i like how it alternates between electronic songs and guitar songs. Doesn't always blend well. But the album is put together pretty well otherwise.

Ruimterock. Ik ben erachter gekomen dat ik er wel van hou eigenlijk. Dit is geen album wat blijvende indruk maakt, maar ik heb me er ook niet aan gestoord. Tijdens het werk luistert het prima weg. 3,5 ster ongeveer.

This is #day762 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… I hate that Spotify doesn't let you listen to the original tracklist. Like, you have to hide a dozen songs to listen to what you actually need. Anyway, here's to those fuzzy wuzzy doodles from the late '80s by Spacemen 3. It all feels like noise for the sake of... noise, which I kind of don't mind, but I wouldn't choose to listen to this record again. Would The Perfect Prescription have been a more apt inclusion? Let it be a 3 out of 5. Looking forward to #day763.

Some cool ideas in here but damn this drags. There’s one song that it feels like Radiohead may have borrowed ideas from for Planet Telex.

Ik heb alleen naar de originele nummers geluisterd en niet naar de bonustracks en live versies. Voor mij was het wel genoeg. Het pakte mij niet. Ik kan er niet zo veel mee. Het klinkt een beetje als ruis.

Ik snap arie wel. Soms zijn er dagen dat je een makkelijk verteerbaar album nodig hebt of iets wat je al kent. Kost even te veel energie om in een experimenteel lang album te luisteren, helemaal als de omstandigheden er niet naar zijn. Ik wil er wel wat langer naar luisteren op en ander moment maar ik loop al behoorlijk achter met mijn albums. Ik hoor wel leuke dingen zoals lord can you hear me en af en toe lijkt het alsof ik er in kom, maar heb dan niet de rust om er in op te gaan. Omstandigheden/vibe waren er dus niet om een album zoals dit te kunnen beoordelen. Het album pakt mij niet direct maar misschien is het wel een 4 of een 5 maar kan ik niet blijven hangen dus het blijft steken op een 3. We moeten dooorrrrrr

T zal dan wel weer aan mij liggen, maar ik vind het niet zo heel knap gemaakt. Tzal vast ook niet de bedoeling zijn geweest, ik denk dat de insteek wat meer in het psychedelische, hypnotiserende heeft moeten liggen. Misschien dat de titel al een beetje prijsgeeft wat de omstandigheden zouden moeten zijn wanneer je naar deze muziek luistert. Ik was vandaag aan het werk, ik moest autorijden en ik moest verantwoordelijk zijn. Misschien is dat de reden dat ik het niet zo leuk vond.

9.4.26 Pretty vibey but I don't think I'll be revisiting. Favorite Song: Suicide Rating: 2.5/5

There have been some tough listens on this list so far but this is right up there: it's basically an hour or so (on disc 1 - more to come on that point...) of outro. And not the 'Layla' kind of outro, the kind where they just leave the instruments making noise to avoid having to conclude a song. I try to avoid making comments questioning why someone wanted to include a record in the book, but I am at a loss as to why someone picked this, over so many others, to go into a list of the 'best' albums. 'How Does It Feel' is a particular low point. Secondly, a hill I will die on is that even with the best records, a second disc of live tracks, demos and other assorted versions of album tracks is nothing more than padding and 'added value' from the record label to shift units to those who wouldn't otherwise bother. If it's that good, release it in its own right. But when it takes and album like this to the two hour mark, I am OUT with a capital O. Listened to the bit that was considered good enough to make the list but not a second more.

I didn't enjoy this too much. I found it rather boring, actually. Maybe at the time it came out, I would have felt differently. But I don't think this music has aged particularly well. There just isn't enough here to grab and hold my attention.

I almost made this the first album I didn’t listen all the way through, it does sound more like conventional songs after the third track but I did have to force myself to listen through this

Feels like the soundtrack to a 90s movie about Christopher Eccleston working as a driver for the London Underground who discovers the joy and wonder of psychedelics when his flatmate brings Shirley Henderson home one weekend and she Manic Depressive Pixie Dreamgirls him from afar.

They sound more tired than i am while listening to this

Fantastic, backloaded

Halfway through the song Suicide I too contemplated ending it all. It’s albums like this that make me wonder ‘do I really need to hear ALL 1001 albums before I die?’