Thu Feb 03 2022
2
I don’t know what the right drug to pair with this is, but it doesn’t seem to be coffee.
This is a Random Album Generator.
One album a day.
From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Playing With Fire
Spacemen 3
1989
- Album Summary
Playing with Fire is the third studio album by Spacemen 3, released in February 1989. The original CD version included two live bonus tracks recorded in the Netherlands, and an ensuing release on Taang! Records included two more b-sides from the "Revolution" single. A reissued version from 2001 has an entire extra disc of demos and rarities. The album was featured in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In a similar musical borrowing to those on the band's prior albums, the song "Revolution" bears more than a passing resemblance to "Black to Comm" by the MC5.
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Thu Jan 13 2022
4
where is spacemen 1 and 2
Thu Jan 20 2022
1
Like a garage band of college dropouts tried to make an album inspired by the generic new-age music playlist they heard in the waiting room of the “discount massage parlor” they frequent.
Fri Oct 14 2022
5
"Playing with Fire" is the third studio album from the English neo-pyschedelia space rock band Spacemen 3. The two main members of Spacemen 3 were Pete Kember "Sonic Boom" who went on to produce indie bands and Jason Pierce "J Spaceman" who went on to form Spiritualized. Well, forget what they went on to do for the time, this here is quite the album with some very high, high points. The music is pretty much an intersection of The Velvet Underground, The Stooges and Suicide. Yet, it is their own, almost a genre unto itself. Spacey keboards/organs, multi-layered guitars. Yes, I'm in. "Honey" gets things going with an organ giving a church feel (not the last time). A slow guitar repetitively playing one note a la The Velvet Underground. Spacey keyboards. Distorted lyrics. A love song. Alright, let's go and wake me up on song five, "Revolution." This is hard rock...distorted guitars, drums. The lyrics obviously mimicking The Stooges..."I'm sick. I'm tired." A song promoting drug use. Getting told what to do by people and the government and fed up. Ends in guitar chaos. A brilliant song. Let's continue the brilliance with "Suicide," an 11-minute ode to the band of the same name. Distorted, reverbed guitars. Repetitive noises and beats. A repetitive drone sound. This song reminded me of what Spiritualized would become. Great guitar end. The album ends with another great song "Lord Can You Hear Me." A very soulful and spiritual sounding song and a cry to God for help. At first I thought I was listening to R.E.M.'s "Everbody Hurts" with the slow guitar. A fitting ending. Being a a fan of The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Suicide and Spiritualized, it was pretty obvious that I would be a big fan of this album. The songs that I mentioned are some of my favorite songs of the 1980's. A very high album recommendation from me.
Wed Dec 15 2021
2
'Playing With Fire' is considered a psychedelic album but what is heard can be far more confusing. The use of minutes-long wave synths repetition combined with the sudden and unexpected instrument added here and there makes it a disconcerted presentation overall. Hollow, flat, and almost dull become fitting descriptions of the album arrangement - it feels as if the record is unsure of "how" it wants to be, not necessarily "what" it wants to be.
Wed Mar 31 2021
1
What a big dumb nothing burger
Mon Nov 29 2021
1
Playing With Fire either shrinks into the background, contently becoming invisible turn-of-the-decade ambient music or it gets all spikey and post-punk and noisy when it randomly feels like it (but the Skeptics already got there and got there better). This album retcons itself, with the late 80s album art being the only memorable thing about it.
Sun Jun 20 2021
4
I really like psychodelic rock and this is not an exception. Didnt knew the exitstence of this guys before and that is why i love this generator.
Thu May 13 2021
3
its good but largely irrelevant
Thu Mar 24 2022
1
J'écris ces quelques lignes dans une colère noire: cela fait maintenant plusieurs semaines, que dis-je semaines, cela fait maintenant plusieurs mois que Robert s'amuse à nous distiller des albums d'une banalité effarante, dénués de tout intérêt. Chaque matin quand je me reveille et me rend sur mon générateur, qui autrefois fut mon générateur favori, je ne vibre plus, je suis résigné d'avance à voir un nom complétement inconnu s'afficher sur mon écran. Une fois l'album lancé, 30 secondes me suffisent en général pour décréter que l'album sera inintéressant. Je n'ai rien contre les Spacemen 3 en particulier, ils ne sont pas plus nuls que les autres, ils arrivent tout simplement au mauvais moment. Pour l'ensemble de l'oeuvre de Robert, je vais donc accorder la note de 2/5 à cet album, faisant d'avantage office de bruit que de musique. [...] Mea culpa, j'ai écrit ce review avant d'avoir fini l'album, les Spacemen 3 méritent amplement ce 2/5, voir même plus puisque je vais leur accorder la note de 1/5 la faute à l'horrible Suicide présent sur l'album en tant que 8ème piste.
Thu Mar 03 2022
5
Ooh, I am diggin' the drones. Noisy, repetitive, driving. This is exactly my thing. Hints of 60s punk (MC5 and Stooges), 70s krautrock, and 80s no wave, this really hangs together. It's a collage of musical references built into a whole new thing. The NY Times obituary for Lou Reed referred to him as the godfather o f"high IQ, low technique" rock and roll. and that's exactly what this is. I could listen to this all day. I never knew where to start with Spacemen 3 (although I am long time Spiritualized fan), but I think I need to rush out and buy this record. I have been listening to this all day. It's magical noise.
Fri Sep 02 2022
5
Jack_Nicholson_maniacally_nodding_yes.gif Awwww yeah, this is exactly my jam. Hypnotic, repetitive, drifting in and out of ambient. You can see the foundations of what would become Spiritualized but it's not as lush - raw, jagged edges. Fave track - "Revolution" and "Suicide" are both bangers....
Fri Feb 03 2023
5
Meditative, exploratory, hypnotic. Warm and fuzzy, cold and brittle. A universe of music. Animal Collective took a lot from these guys, especially their patience. Never heard this band before, look forward to learning a lot more about them.
Fri May 21 2021
4
Excellent stuff. Weirdly reminiscent to early 1970s pink Floyd
Wed Jul 14 2021
3
I really liked some things about this, the way the tracks built up energy was interesting and Suicide was cool. However, it was kind of mind-numbing sitting and listening to an entire album that's this minimalistic/repetitive. 6/10
Wed Dec 29 2021
3
Pretty good, but this feels like another example of the people writing the list skipping over the obvious classic for a second or third best choice. Why this album over Perfect Prescription? Why Warehouse by Husker Du over Zen Arcade? Why Blue Lines and Protection by Massive Attack over Mezzanine? Head scratchers, the lot of 'em.
Mon Apr 18 2022
3
A puzzling album, ambitious in its sonic soundscapes but half formed in some of its ideas - many songs start and fade out without ever building. Somewhat ahead of its time, the psychedelic rock predicts later artists such as Mogwai, Primal Scream and My Bloody Valentine, an intriguing listen but not a satisfying album.
Fri Jul 02 2021
2
I knew Revolution already so wasn't expecting such a spaced out quiet bore-fest! I did like So Hot, but it's a very short pretty song. Not a revolutionary listen, but not 1 star either.
Fri May 14 2021
5
Psychedelic
Thu Feb 10 2022
5
cool
Wed Mar 23 2022
5
Cool as shit shoegaze
Mon Mar 28 2022
5
Vaya, muy bien.
Thu Apr 21 2022
5
Surprisingly good. Feels like a precursor to MGMT and maybe even some BMRC
Thu Jun 23 2022
5
oh shit! I thought this came out in like the early 2000s like “huh, this is a pretty good alternative album” blows my fucking mind this is from 1989 anyway, beautiful album a bit long, it’s got some lengthy slow-jams but I’m all for that, 10/10
Thu Aug 18 2022
5
Dreamy, driving. Witnessing God through a frosted pane.
Thu Oct 13 2022
5
Yeah, kind a love this
Thu Jan 26 2023
5
Best played loud. This is my type of music, so where some may fine it grating, I get a sense of euphoria as the noise hits me and takes me on a ride
Thu Mar 16 2023
5
this was pretty great! just weird enough to be interesting, just poppy enough to be listenable, just ambient enough to work to. really scratched an itch for me
Thu Mar 30 2023
5
Perfect mix of VU, Suicide and Stooges, as noted in some other review. Only really started to listen to Spacemen 3 when Spritualized was releasing Ladies and Gentlemen and had ignored them before, but yeah, this is still great.
Thu Apr 06 2023
5
New to me, no prior knowledge. Looked at the track list after listening on YT and realized my playlist didn't include 2 tracks, "Honey" and "Suicide", so I didn't initially hear it in album sequence. 1 Honey - calm beginning with added vibrating electric sound; interesting arrangement 7/10 2 Come Down Softly to My Soul - It's pretty mellow. I'm getting a weird Partridge Family/Simon & Garfunkel mashup vibe. I'm kinda diggin' it! 8/10 3 How Does It Feel? - very dreamy sounding, kinda space-like vibe, slow build-up without losing the dreamstate; hypnotic 9/10 4 I Believe It - another space-y feel with an organ; interesting 8/10 5 Revolution - much more electric, lyrics primarily spoken; the electric sound is fitting with the lyrics 8/10 6 Let Me Down Gently - Another hypnotic piece with a steady drum beat, organ enters; oh, I get it. The drum is a heartbeat and the organ represents the emotions, at least the lyrics make it seem that way. I like this one! 8/10 7 So Hot (Wash Away All My Tears) - simple music and lyrics, very peaceful 8/10 8 Suicide - more electric guitar than the others, feels like the state of mind one would be in based on the title, no lyrics 5 minutes in, added feedback 7 minutes in, 8:40 the added drums feels like we're almost at the climax, 9:50 feels like spinning out of control, 10:40 begins to fade out, 11min ends; certainly feels like being out of control 8/10 9 Lord Can You Hear Me? - musically feels like Simon & Garfunkel again with an added smattering of electric guitar in the chorus, ooh a little sax now; extremely interesting sound 8/10 I could see this feeling monotonous to some people but listening to it as a story, I find It very compelling! It sounds like a story of a person going through the stages of a breakup. I plan to look up the story behind this album. I liked it without knowing the intent. I think it may be more impressive knowing the storyline to drive it though. I would give this one another listen for its unique flavor! Although, I think this is likely a love it or hate it sound for most people. Creativity makes this a 5-star for me!
Sun Jun 20 2021
4
Wonderful album!!
Sun Apr 11 2021
4
Surprisingly good
Sun Apr 25 2021
4
Noise and madness with beauty mixed in.
Wed Apr 14 2021
4
No idea who this was before i heard them but i quite enjoyed the vibe
Thu Jun 03 2021
4
WHOA! I've never heard of this band and now I need to know more about them. LOVED THIS.
Thu Jun 17 2021
4
I am familiar with Spacemen 3 through the album Recurring which has some brilliant moments. This album also has brilliant moments. Starts off with dense hypnotic music that draws me in. Then suddenly Revolution comes on and I think I've morphed into listening to a Stoofes song. Brilliant! More hypnotic sounds culminating in the 11 minute gem Suicide. The only version of the album I found was a 2 hour deluxe edition with some live tracks, alternate takes and other bonus material that proved too much for a single listening session but taken as a 50 minute or so album I think this is great....better than Recurring. 4 🌟
Thu Jul 08 2021
4
Some of the best ambient/space rock I've heard. Spacemen 3 is fucking right
Mon Jun 14 2021
4
Interesting
Mon Nov 15 2021
4
That was great. I heard of these guys before, but never got to listen to them. Definitely something I want to delve into.
Fri Nov 19 2021
4
Cool minimal psychadelia
Thu Dec 23 2021
4
Ziemlich psychedelic, ambient, geil.
Sun Jan 02 2022
4
Never heard of this group before and only saw that it was listed as neo-psychedelia which sounded interesting. After giving it a listen, I did enjoy it but it didn't sound really unique or ground breaking. Some songs are a little too long but overall the album doesn't out stay its welcome and I will be checking out some of the other albums from this band. Unfortunately can't give half stars so I round up to 4 stars.
Thu Jan 20 2022
4
Really cool sparsely populated psychedlia. I'd be interested to see where this band went.
Thu Jan 27 2022
4
Sounds like mighty boosh
Fri Feb 18 2022
4
Very Spacey
Sun Mar 06 2022
4
Very good album, with kind of progressive vibes, a lot of synthesizer with prog riffs, but sometime very repetitive.
Wed Mar 09 2022
4
I think this is actively changing my life; I am also a musical artist, and I think they get what I’m trying to do? Sorry, this is just the first time I’ve heard that. Also, the organ on “Let Me Down Gently” is so beautiful. 3.75
Wed Mar 16 2022
4
I used to live this album when I had more time/attention span/weed to smoke to long repetitive albums
Wed Aug 10 2022
4
Ladies and gentlemen, we are floating in space.
Wed Aug 17 2022
4
Not very easy to listen at first, but gets better and better each time you try again.
Thu Sep 01 2022
4
If you have a day where a touch of experimental space rock is the tunes du jour, this album is near perfect. Melodic, sensical, and reliably less annoying than other experimental pursuits out there, "Playing With Fire" will break the monotony in a good way with its own kind of it. It may not change the world, or even rock it a little bit, but somehow this album was the respite that this reviewer did not know they needed.
Fri Sep 02 2022
4
Oh, wow, never listened to these guys before but am a big fan or Spiritualized. What a fun trip.
Fri Sep 02 2022
4
Not sure how I'd classify this, but surprisingly good. Kind of like an analog EDM. ADM?
Thu Sep 08 2022
4
Take me to outer space, baby
Wed Nov 02 2022
4
This was new to me and very cool. While I don't love the emphasis on/glorification of drugs and suicide in the lyrics, I loved the experimental psychedelic electronica vibes, and when I looked them up I realized Spacemen 3 were a precursor to Spiritualized (who I love) which makes sense and explains a lot. So this was awesome, would definitely listen again.
Fri Dec 09 2022
4
4.25
Wed Dec 21 2022
4
interesting
Mon Dec 26 2022
4
Some fun space/psych rock, I enjoyed it. Kinda weird song titles though
Wed Jan 04 2023
4
i dig it
Thu Jan 05 2023
4
Aj karamba, usunelo mi notke albumowa, bo jestem prawie pewny, ze cos notowalem o spacemenach 3, zwlaszcza o krazku laaczacym w sobie kosmiczne granie z psychodelia, bazujacym na motywach gospelowych, wiec doswiadczenie ktorego nie mocno rarkowe
Wed Jan 11 2023
4
Arty, out there and intense. Definitely gets one's ears to ringing. One likes the all-in oddity and willingness to go both big and weird. Definitely set the stage for Spiritualized. Hard-edged music resonates more richly the more abstractly it's presented, one thinks.
Wed Feb 08 2023
4
Really dug it!
Mon Feb 27 2023
4
Finally, a soundtrack for taking drugs!!
Thu Mar 09 2023
4
This band came up in my recommendations not long ago and they really worked for me. Glad to see them get an entry in the list. Best track: Lord Can You Hear Me
Mon Mar 13 2023
4
Its a lovely combination of lush sounds and arthouse rock. Its really good. A -1 for some lyrical naffness
Thu Mar 16 2023
4
This album punches above its weight for me. I’d definitely throw this album on in the background of the imaginary parties I throw. It’s missing just a little something that would push it to a 5, but a strong showing to be sure.
Wed Mar 22 2023
4
4.1 - Another happy discovery in the Spacemen 3/Spiritualized back-catalog. No surprises here - spacey dirges that descend into scratchy chaos inflected with bluesy shoegaze and whiffs of gospel ("Lord Can You Hear Me"). Highlights: white noise at the end of "Revolution", "Come Down Softly on My Soul", the static-y percussion on "Let Me Down Gently" over a single-note bassline that pulses like a heartbeat.
Thu Mar 30 2023
4
So diverse, ruthless riffs alongside gentle gems, yet it seems to fit.
Wed Apr 05 2023
4
Lämpenin tälle :p spotify mhmmm albumi löytyy joo spotifystä joo mhmmm vieläs 2h:nakin sieltä voi kuunnella 2 tuntia siis :)
Thu Apr 13 2023
4
This is an album I'd listen to while in a taxi on the way to the airport early in the morning, staring longingly out the window, after I'd just made a big life decision to finally move out of my hometown and get a fresh start somewhere else. It's an album that creates great atmosphere, but this music would work much better as a movie soundtrack. This isn't something I want to actively listen to.
Mon May 01 2023
4
i'm partial to a bit of spacemen 3 and their offshoots of spiritualised and spectrum and you can see their influence in bands like the brian jonestown massacre and all of the subsequent modern psych music that's about. this album isn't quite as good as 'taking drugs to make music to take drugs to' which apart from being one of the best album titles ever invented is also spacemen 3s best album.
Thu May 04 2023
4
more embers than pyrotechnics
Thu May 25 2023
4
Me hizo pensar en Spiritualized
Thu May 25 2023
4
I think if I'd listened to this album in shirt headspace, it might have been a 5 star
Fri Feb 19 2021
3
1989. Key Songs: Honey, Lord Can You Hear Me
Fri Apr 30 2021
3
Sowing the seeds of greatness to come..
Fri Feb 26 2021
3
3.8
Wed Jul 14 2021
3
Pretty boring. I see where they're coming from with the old psychedelia feel but the production just ends up getting in the way. 5
Sun Jun 06 2021
3
Quiero escucharlo again
Wed Jul 14 2021
3
5/10. How Does It Feel? Bad, because I swear the sound of this song is designed to give me a headache. Aside from that song though, which gets better after the first 5 minutes or so, the rest of the album sounds good enough, but I found parts of it a little dull.
Fri May 21 2021
3
Good
Mon May 24 2021
3
It felt like a mix between a trippy jam and the Pixies. Not bad for background music.
Sun May 23 2021
3
Very minimalist, very psychedelic. Not something I would regularly listen to, but cool listen.
Sun Jul 25 2021
3
instrumental - good pace. enjoyable instruments.
Wed Jul 28 2021
3
Very unique psych rock sound.
Fri Aug 27 2021
3
very accoustic. never heard of em though. Good listens but onhe song `suicide` is really really painful vomit.
Sun Sep 05 2021
3
Kind of expected to hate this (I'm not entirely sure why, something about the whole presentation put me off. I think I could have gotten way into this much earlier in the development of my tastes. Now it's striking me as frequently self-indulgent, and lacking in range. Even so I generally enjoyed listening to it OK.
Mon Oct 18 2021
3
Hmmm, late 80's Pysch Rock/Shoegazer music, whilst seeing some merit in the originality and creativity must admit I prefer Jason Pierces later work with Spiritualized than this rather raw output. "Revolution" & "Suicide" are a little to heavy on the fuzz/psych for my taste and I find the whole album a little self indulgent at times. Top Tracks for me are "Let Me Down Gently" and "Any Way That You Want Me" (which I found Reminiscent of the Beach Boys) which are much more mellow and precursor to the Spiritualized modus operandi I think. Don't get me wrong I do see the credit and influence they have had on music, just a little to heavy for my taste.
Wed Dec 08 2021
3
Its ok
Thu Dec 16 2021
3
Very good album, though not as good as their first two. 7/10 1. Lord Can You Hear Me? 2. So Hot (Wash Away All of My Tears) 3. Come Down Softly to My Soul
Fri Jan 14 2022
3
Starts with a mythical, synthy vibe. Transitions to heavy rock after several songs (hits good), then back.
Thu Jan 20 2022
3
Nice
Sun Feb 20 2022
3
gotta be one of my favorite genders, I love psychedelia, it wasn't a perfect album, but I still love this goddamn noise and vibe
Thu Feb 24 2022
3
Some of the stranger tracks on this really brought it down. 3/5.
Mon Feb 28 2022
3
This album was putting me to sleep until song 5. Revolution did wake me up and was a good dose of noise with excellent bass lines. Suicide is also quite good and would be excellent for an escape scene in an action movie. The original album has nine songs. Once these songs are out of the way, the music is better. There are some gems in the three bonus songs and the 2nd disc. For example, the cover of "May the Circle . . .”and both the alternate and live versions of Suicide are quite good as are some others on disc 2. Why didn’t these songs make it to the main card? I should be rating this 2. If I make my own 45 min. album with greatest hits from both discs I get to a 3. Holy too generous Batman.
Wed Apr 06 2022
3
This was pretty interesting to me. Sort of a more modern sounding Pink Floyd. I need to listen to this again. 3 stars for now, maybe going up on further listens.
Thu Apr 07 2022
3
I’m usually not a big fan of shoegaze/soft core stuff like this. But this one’s pretty alright. Also just thought about my last album and it def felt like a black womans version of a bob dylan album
Wed Apr 20 2022
3
I like space rock, or at least I thought I did. Turns out I like a specific strain - namely that howling, swooping variety based on motorik rhythms as pioneered by the likes of Hawkwind. Perhaps I just like Hawkwind. With Hawkwind, you felt like you were on a truly cozmik psychonautic rough ride; Spacemen 3, at least on this album, prefer to float in the stratosphere. It's deep in atmosphere and no doubt scratches a certain itch. 'Lord Can You Hear Me' is a pretty, haunting tune. 'Revolution' is the closest they come to achieving blast off. Perhaps a little too spaced out for my liking overall.
Wed Apr 20 2022
3
This was better than I expected. Not sure what I expected, though. From the cover art - looks like three different kinds of bands. But 'neo-psychedelia describes Spacemen 3 pretty well. Only a few tracks were really grating. The rest were pretty listenable. I might dive back into this band, if not this album, again sometime.
Thu Apr 28 2022
3
I'll be honest, not really my type of music. I find it a bit boring and repetetive. It's not bad or anything, fine to have in the background, but nothing really going on here.