Reviews (page 5 of 7)
I really like all the versions of "Suicide," but the rest of the album doesn't work as well for me. It's a bit disjointed and the production doesn't seem great. I may listen again, but I don't see myself coming back to this one often. Favorite track(s): see above
Was the one of the authors' cousins in Spacemen 3 or something?
I have not taken enough drugs to listen to this album that some guys took drugs to make for people to take drugs to.....ya know?
Eh…don’t think this is a must listen
I see the vision, but I do not hear the execution. The band was aiming for these airy, evocative, prolonged instrumentals that would turn guitars into atmospheres, and voices into characters. But sparse arrangements and flat performances leave a void of nothingness for the better part of the hour plus this thing putters on for. I feel like you can point to Spiritualized as a group that executed Spacemen 3's game plan to a great deal of success. What was a song like "Revolution" doing in the first third of this project? Unnecessarily noisy and harsh, taking me out of what little involvement I had with the albums wispy aura. "Suicide" was nice because it committed to an idea but then it went for way too long so it kinda ruined itself. "Lord Can You Hear Me" is a fair reason to JUST keep this project floating at a 2/5 stars. But man. Not by much, especially if you can endure disc 2
weird, boring and redundant.
Bit of a snooze fest, hope they’re better at being spacemen.
Not for me
A few okay tracks, but by the last few I was wondering how much longer til the damn album was over.
Ok
"how does it feel" drove me crazy- it made me feel annoyed. I liked the first 2 tracks though. revolution also kind of sucked- angry noise for no reason. suicide too like who decided minutes of synth was good- 11 freaking minutes. someone commented "good but largely irritating"- yes. the ones that arent noise are good but the rest is bad. 2.5/5
Standouts Revolution
странная музыка и названия. не ценю когда поют под нотами
Gear: SIMGOT SuperMix 4 Artwork: ⭕🎨⬜ Production: 🤏🥫🤷 Music: 👨🚒💦🔥 Rating: 👽(👽)/5
Don't have much to say - neither liked or disliked
Nakon što se konačno nešto desi podnošljivo je.
Quelques très rares moments intéressants intercalés dans des instrumentaux pénibles de 12 minutes.
Very meh
I have no issues with repetitive music, if anything. I actually enjoy it. I love Daft Punk, Air, The Prodigy, and other similar artists. But this one? I really tried to like this album. I even compared it to Daft Punk’s least-loved studio album, Human After All (‘Revolution’ kinda reminds me of ‘The Prime Time of Your Life’). But no matter how many times I listen, it just feels flat and boring to me. I admit, some are interesting, like Revolution (minus the vocals) and Suicide. Other than that, I will toss them in the fire pit.
C'mon. You're just taking the piss now. This is mind numbingly repetitive and without any redeeming quality.
Strange and very psychedelic. Has its ups and downs…
For a psychedelic album this is incredibly boring
Repetitive
Not very good.
eh
Acid? 2
I would need more time than I'm willing to spend to get to a place where I like this album.
If I was smoking the reefer or taking a lil mushroom while listening to this, I’d probably say this is the greatest thing I’ve ever heard. But at this moment in time? It’s meh.
Good for ambience, studying, or drugs.
Hadn’t heard of this group. I really wanted to like this offering but just had a hard time. Would go somewhere and then stop.
Uf, ok. Prvič po kar nekaj tednih dobim totalno neznanko. Do zdaj (prve dva, " Honey" in "Come Down Softly to My Soul"') zelo dreamy, sploh vokali so taki, mal odmevajoči, Tretji ("How Does It Feel") je insane, ker je isti ritem/isti del k se non stop ponavlja tko 8 minut. A how does it feel? K da me bo glihkar zmanjkal. Po pa kr naenkrat konc, brez nekega pravega konca? Ok, "Revolution" mi wiki obljublja, da bo shoegaze in zaenkrat je obetavno, da bo mal več se dogajal (wiki tud prav, da je band na splošno bil znan po tem, da ma minimal 'chord or tempo changes'). Yay za kitaro in bobne in dejansko stopnjevanje ritma na konc. Po pravic povedan, sm po tem hitrem prvem pogledu, k si zacahnam album in ošvrknem wiki, mislila, da mi bo album verjetn všeč. It's a bit boring. Hm, z veseljem ugotovim, da je "Suicide" predzadnji komad in sekundo kasneje z grozo, da je dolg 11 minut. Fakin repetitive droning. Fajn za razvoj glavobola. I guess ma naslov neko poanto. Zadnji komad ma tud vokale. In saksofon? Yay, konec albuma & konec mojega streaka of goodness.
Every song takes way too long to make a point, and any glimmer of enjoyment gets choked out by the drones. Gods, the drones. I don't have the patience for this shit, not today. I'm sorry spacemen, I just need some space, man.
I want to know who thinks this album is necessary to hear before you die. Why?
I thought I'd hate it. I didn't, but it also didn't leave any lasting mark. The same drum beat and keyboard droning would go on for what seemed like hours at a time. Occasionally there'd be a cool line or melody, but for the most part it was an uneventful, forgetful listen.
Revolution
It wasn’t anything crazy. Very instrumentally driven. Sounded a bit electronic, and it wasn’t too bad. I didn’t really like it, so I wouldn’t listen to it again. That being said, it was an interesting experience
Too dragged out, monotonous and repetitive for my taste, atleast from my so far superficial listening.
Sleepy whisper electronica? Nah I’m good
Not into it. The Spotify link took me to an expanded edition that is 2-disc 2-hour. I only listened to the first 9 tracks, which is what the original included. And even that was a little hard to get through, in particular the 11-minute highly-repetitive track called "Suicide".
(Just reviewing the original 9 songs, and not the extended version, because I don't have the time to listening to 30+ minutes of different versions of "Suicide".) You know how, on some albums, the first song isn't like a full song, it's sort of a tone-setting amuse bouche that comes before the real songs start on track 2? Well, as near as I can tell, today's album is a double album of just those songs. Suicide is the notable exception, but it overstays its welcome by about 5 minutes. There are bits that are interesting on this album, but not enough.
Mostly space-y background music with the occasional dissonant rock track, all ...grounded isn't the right word. Maybe - all tracks inadequately layered with breath-y vocals. Sometimes repetitive. Mostly forgettable.
Never heard anything like this.
468/1001
Not for me. Maybe I just don't like shoegaze. Maybe I just don't do drugs. Maybe I can't stand the music droning on and on and on. Maybe this album was far too long. I don't know, but I didn't like it really one bit. But it wasn't repulsive, so that's a plus.
Yeah, I hated this. Pretentious and boring.
The good is mid but the bad is bad
Meh, the use of melodic sustain, synths, and a theramin is cool I just dont think I vibe with this however, was hard to hear the lyrics and out of the 2 cd deal I only enjoyed like 2 songs. Probably goes hard if you trippin out on psychedelics
Repetitive
Beyond the time space continuum
Unless your name is Frank Zappa don’t try to give me 3 versions of the same 11 minute song on one album
Pretty ordinary - like Brian Jonestown Massacre - but nowhere near as good
Sleepy
Maybe the start of Noise Bands IMO
De neo-psychedelica van Jason Pierce en consorten zou ik beter moeten kunnen waarderen dan dat ik dat eigenlijk doe. De gospel-achtige insteek is best interessant en uniek, maar het lijkt ook nergens heen te gaan. Het heeft het monotone van shoegaze, maar dan zonder de extatische 'wall of sound', waardoor het eigenlijk best vaak saai is om aan te horen. In deze sectie van muziek heeft eigenlijk alleen dat ene album van Spritualized me weten te pakken tot de dag van vandaag. 5/10
Listening to this like “This sounds like that Spiritualized album but a tiny bit less corny and a tiny bit more dumb.” Imagine my face when I looked up Spaceman 3. I think the listening experience was 1.5, but I’ll round it up because of the lil laugh I got from making the connection.
Ehhh . . . I don't know. I only had the time to listen to this once. Definitely not enough time to really get into something like this, though it's hard to imagine it making it into my library on a permanent basis.
Maybe a 2.5. I didn't totally hate it, but there wasn't much interesting either.
Nothing music
very weird album
A steady drone of boredom. You must be way stoned to perceive any satisfaction from this album. A song starts, you expect it to build over the next 3-10 minutes, but it doesn't. Then you keep listening to see if it could get any better, but it doesn't. Then you fully expect some sonic release by the end of the song, but you finally realize you've been duped, you're left unfulfilled, and disappointed in yourself for wasting an hour of your life. Can't get it back BTW. 1 star for the fact they actually get this stuff recorded and 1 star for a few riff ideas that could be made into real songs.
Good background noise when working. If I listened to it actively I might have gone bananas.
Not really my thing. Too psychedelic, all the songs merged together and full album is 2 hours long
At first I was enjoying the chill and spacey vibe but it quickly got boring. The songs have very few changes in chords or dynamics.
Boring. For the best of the songs I simply just don't remember them, for the worst they actively started to annoy me. It's like it's too complicated for all the band members to actually play music at the same time so there's usually one member who just gets the same 4 beats and have to repeat them over and over for 11 minutes. Sometimes it even feels like one of the other band members get bored and try to do something more interesting but get shushed or something (they stop immediately) like on 'Suicide' the few times when the drummer tries to jump in Standouts Suicide Lord Can You Hear Me 2/5
Tolerable, not good though.
Mellodramatic, but not easy to listen to for long.
I thought this was an album of Kraftwerk out-takes. Pleasant, but not attention-grabbing.
The beginning of the record felt like it had something going with some cool synth sounds and guitar ambience. The ball got lost completely after a few songs, though, as it became much too uninteresting and eventless. Strong 2.
May the circle be unbroken was the only song I cared for
Really liked Lord can you hear me…otherwise, I thought this was a complete dud.
Too ambient for me right now, kinda background music GY!BE does it better
woof this kind of thing is not for active listening. some of it was pretty aight. may the circle be unbroken cover kinda crazy ngl.
Pish
Boring computer atmospheric
Revolution is a solid track, but overall it seems like the type of album that I would be told how great it is from someone living in a collective. Then they would get mad at me when I said it was boring.
This is like the opposite of reggae music but I think u need drugs to appreciate this album as much as the artist wanted you to. Me on a tiring bad Friday morning - not at all in the right mood for this. It was “cool” but not interesting
Just such a boring and uninspired album. Even the book doesn't give a good reason why it should be on the list...
Pretty, but it honestly put me to sleep. 2/5.
Sometimes I listen to music and think that I cannot imagine how anyone goes to a concert and listens to this for 2-3 hours straight and then I remember drugs.
Track 2 'Come Down Softly To My Soul' is very soft and gentle. I like this one a lot. Track 3 'How Does it Feel' is very slow, with the first two minutes being strange/psychedelic repetitive noises, perhaps reminiscent of something extra-terrestrial. The song continues to be very repetitive and have few lyrics until most of the way through. A lot of the songs on the album seem to follow a similar pattern. This album took me a really long time to get through.
There is an ode to Suicide (the band, if you haven't received that album yet in the list) on this album. I recommend listening to that album over this, the inspiration is much better.
Ehh
Wasn't for me. Too chaotic. Sounded a bit white noisy
what if the doors were lazy as shit
it's like all of the boring parts of Revolver without the fun ones
Didn't get anything out of this one. They've got some great influences but having a tough time hearing it in their music Rating: 1.7
Pretty forgettable. Nothing really interesting going on. 2/5 Won't listen again
Meh, has a couple of decent tracks (Revolution, Suicide, not really for me though.
From the name and album cover I was very much expecting a 90s dance act. Instead it was a sort of shoegazey album. Suicide was probably the most shoegaze of the lot and probably the only song that I was sort of onboard with. Mostly I found it a bit dull, it was trying to be all airy and spaced out a lot of the time and I wasn't keen.
I'm sure there's a right time and place for this. But work ain't it. It's too repetitive and uneventful. It is kinda like spiritualised but more shoegazey. Think it just didn't do it well enough to be interesting 2
I didn't hate it, but I did hate how long it was. What a stupid genre - Shoegaze. lol
If this challenge has taught me anything its that shoegaze fucking sucks. Its not music - ITS JUST NOISE!
No me gustó mucho este disco. Me pareció una experiencia disímil entre tema y tema. Siempre con una intención ambiental o de trance. Tiene momentos agradables (como los recursos de voz en off, o los momentos más ambientales/tranquilos). Sin embargo por mi experiencia de escucha, las diferencias entre duración de temas, efectos de distorsión inesperados y temas poco memorables, no puedo decir que haya sido de mi agrado.
Could have been worse. I kind of enjoyed one or two songs, but the rest were kind of too long and forgettable.
2/5
A little too mellow and out there / druggy
I can't actively hate this, but I also can't listen to it again or care to say even that much about it.
i WISH they were playing with fire. instead they were playing with sand and mud and other inert bland nothings. what da hell
this kind of dull, long, drone-y, electronic-y, shoegaze-y music is just not my thing. i don't want to yuck anyone's yum here but there is just nothing here that i'll ever want to come back to. sorry ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ favorites: lord can you hear me, may the circle be unbroken
Out on these guys. One star for the synths.
very long experimental piece. Not for me
I'd say they were playing more with wet stick than actual fire ...
what is this?
Inoffensive but not for me.
Kinda boring and repetitive.
Was enjoying this until there were two 12 min almost identical songs with no words, and then I was waiting for it to end
Boring
The second listen wasn't as painful as the first (while driving, I had to shut it off ten minutes in for fear of falling asleep), but I still would never ever ever choose to play this. Maybe if I were tripping balls. But that's it.
Some songs were okay, some I skipped. 2 hours is too long for this album.
Slow, long and overindulgent.
It was interesting at first, but too long and it started to give me a headache.
This must be how real spacemen feel sometimes...bored to tears waiting for things to get interesting. But then something interesting DOES happen...and it's driven into the ground until it's no longer interesting.
Dazed and bemused.
2/5 Turhan hidastempoista omaan makuun.
Tylsää... Kyllähän tuon työmatkalla auton kajareista kuunteli, mutta taustamusiikiksi jää.
Ei kolahtanut oikeastaan ollenkaan. Hippirokkia kasatilta?
No johan taas oli...
Sopivaa taustamusiikkia, ei oikein herätä suuntaan tai toiseen tuntemuksia. Vähän outoja kappaleita. Ei tule uutta suosikki tästä pumpusta.
Hävyttömän pitkä levy tällaiselle avaruusmaalailulle. 3 biisiä olis riittäny.
What was the point of this album?
Ganske monotont og en prøvelse i starten. Har sine verdier og kvaliteter. Oppleves enkelte ganger vokalmessig som en blek kopi av Jim Morrison. Beste låt Suicide.
I guess I'm ok with some of this, but not enough to want to put it on, and most likely would probably take it off once it got past the first couple tracks. It goes on for a loonnng time. Probably a 1.5 for me.
Interesting album, but far too long 2/5
Good start but dragged on seemingly interminably. Instrumentals in just couldn’t get into that also never seems to end. Might listen to individual songs again but this two-hour double disc was a chore
Too long, too new-age goofy. Although I was a little surprised that it was produced in 1989 and not the 60's. Its certainly chill and quiet in places, and downright melancholic in others, sometimes giving you whiplash. Like they decided their soundscapes needed lyrics. This feels less like music as it does an experience, and boy oh boy I dont want to reflect on it
Noise
Started off strong but then got repetitive fast.
ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, yeah I don't know about this one.
It's okay... really baffling why this is on the list though.
Sounded repetitive & dull but fine
Found this to be useful background music.
Boring. Very much background music but I did have to switch it off as it could not hold my attention.
Langweilig
I don’t know, I don’t smoke weed
Not for me
This album didn’t land for me at all, there was a lack of editing so even the parts I liked lasted too long. There were quite a few ideas and parts that I like but they did not come together for me at all
I have tried this band in the past and it never registered with me. Still isn’t
2 star
It's almost offensive that this album is called Playing With Fire. Revolution is the first track that actually has any grit or bop to it (five songs in!!!), and it still manages to drone on and bore. Why was How Does It Feel so long? Honestly, it feels like my time was being wasted. Can the song Suicide please end, my God. At the very least, what is here is at least pleasant, if excruciatingly boring, so it doesn't get a 1, but this album is tough.
This had some good ideas/sections, but they needed to be fleshed out because it mostly came off as erratic.
I don't think I'm in the right state of mind to fully appreciate this one. Since my psychedelic drug days are behind me, I don't think I'll ever be in the right state of mind to fully appreciate this one.
It's alright, I'm not sorry that I listened to it. Kind of experimental in some ways. The song "Suicide" is understandably pretty brutal, I ended up skipping through it. It's thought provoking for sure, if you are down for some contemplation then this is probably a good album for you.
Ugh, enough of that.
As a fan of some Spiritualized's albums it's interesting to hear what Jason Pierce was doing before. There are some similarities, and I appreciate the shifts between the louder tracks and more melodic/thoughtful tracks, but none really stand on their own for me. I could imagine this being a better live experience than an album.
I wanted to like this, but the songs are too long and don't really go anywhere. Sonically interesting for about 1.5min before feeling like they need to hurry up and move on.
Some drone stuff Quite nice landscapes, but very repetitive. Nothing that I can call a good song so far. I get why some people might find it nice to listen to, but I didn't find it yet for myself. I actually like the esthetics of track 6, but they don't seem to go anywhere. I read that it is known as a stoner band, so maybe I need some inforsment here. Track 7 pretty sweet though... The sound is growing on me. Some great guitar loops on 8. Actually wow. A much better end to the record. It sums it up into a good experience. Steel between 2 and 3
This was so boring. I guess it has its place, though, so I'm not going to give it a "1". Like, say, you're spending the day in an opium den, and want something to listen to.
That was a slog. Finally ended.
This album feels very much like a Jekyll and Hyde experience. Some of the songs are musically captivating, featuring rhythmic, synth-driven elements, where the occasional vocals blend seamlessly with the overall instrumentation. There is a soothing quality to these tracks that allows you to immerse yourself in the experience. However, there are songs like "Revolution" and "Suicide" that are startlingly loud in contrast, with reverberating guitars that suddenly pull you out of that trance. I assume this was done on purpose, but I found the shift too sudden to help me reconnect with the music. In general, this is a decent album, though I wish the arrangement of the tracks had better connected the calmer rhythmic pieces with the more intense, louder ones to create smoother transitions. Additionally, there are 2 live tracks that serve more as a distraction than anything else. I am not sure I could listen to this album as a whole, again. However, broken down into parts, this can be an enjoyable experience.
..
Trance- und Space Rock Album mit experimentellen Klangerlebnissen aber ohne Ear-Catcher. Um in tiefere Sphären des Alls einzutauchen fehlt es am roten Faden.
Very close to a one star
I don't know man. This album's not my thing. Did I have to listen to this? I don't think so. Admittedly, this album isn't garbage. Playing With Fire by Spacemen 3 (dumb band name btw) isn't completely irredeemable. The song "Suicide" is though. 11 minutes of the same droning sound with slight variances over time? No thank you. The other 8 songs on this album range from pretty forgettable to actually somewhat decent, with the clear highlight being the closer, "Lord Can You Hear Me." I have nothing interesting to say about the singing. The writing is kind of repetitive. The style isn't my thing. I don't really vibe with this album. Maybe I'll vibe with Jason Pierce's other project Spiritualized. We'll see when I get there. This album's a high 2/5.
Het bestaat
After two consecutive hip-hop records, it is worth noting sample fatigue: it is not just that you are hearing the same music looped, but the same recording. The exact repetition is exhausting on the ear. So, while Spacemen 3 may hang on a single note for minutes on end, there is the change in timbre and attack and phase, the human differences that mutate each bar. That only takes you so far and, for much of Playing with Fire, it is the moments rather than expanses that pay off. Not any specific moments. But, every once and a while, you tune into and think "That's pretty nice." I think the Pierce songs are probably a bit better, which explains why Spiritualised do the same thing, but probably a bit better. 2 Most people who have ever found themselves listening to a Spacemen 3 album arrived (as did I) as Spiritualized fans. So it is difficult to hear Spacemen 3 on their own terms. Sonic Boom’s compositions dominate here and Revolution was the single and is the centre-piece of the album. But I still can’t escape the temptation to hear it all as proto-Spiritualized. This is fatal not just to my ability to sympathise with Sonic Boom’s less naive, less earnest delivery but also to my ability to hear the two jewels of the album - Jason’s ‘So Hot (Wash Away All of my Tears)’ and ‘Lord Can You Hear Me?’ as anything but mere demos for the later, much grander Spiritualized recordings of those songs that I love. So it’s an album I find easy to listen to with affection, but difficult to get a sense of as a work of art. If any kind of sober judgement were possible - I’d bet that it’s probably a bit of a mess. And the artwork is certainly poop. 2.5/5
Ingen noter, ingen hukommelse. Sikkert kedelig, helt sikkert ligegyldig.
Favorite tracks: Suicide Kinda cool, mostly meh
Some cool musical ideas that aren't as well fleshed out as they could be.
Bunch of strange noises. Some were good though. Listenined to half because it’s like 2 hours long
They sound like talented musicians... it's a shame they are wasting those talents on producing whatever this is. This album does not warrant 2 Discs spanning almost 2 hours, that's for sure.
Blind album and artist. Noise shoegaze? Idk but this was not for me at many parts. Put me to sleep, but not repulsive.
Can't decide if I like this or it's a load of drone-y bollocks. Probably both.
Listened Before? N Booooooooring. Didn't like this one at all. They tried to put me to sleep with slow dragging music and 12 minute songs. This album is what I imagine a heroin high sounds like. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: So Hot
Had never heard of this group before but I can see the threads of this album to the current indie lo fi scene. Definitely grew on me.
This is a solid album to have on in the background as ambient music, but is not one you can do a deep listen to without being driven out of your mind by its repetition.
Some really interesting songs here, but the album is just so dang slow overall. Repetitive, methodical. In a word, mostly boring.
Not a fan.
This was ok. I read the overview of the album and I think I wanted a bit more out of it.
There’s something I fond very irritating about this music. I like a lot of the Kraut rock some people are comparing it too. But this doesn’t have nearly as much character.
I've never heard of Spacemen 3 or this album before, but if this album is anything like some of the other things coming out of England at this time (My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Stone Roses), I think I'll enjoy it. This is certainly an interesting album cover though. Let's see if the music is as interesting as that cover! Side note: this album came out on my fourth birthday. That's kind of cool I guess. I wasn't really impressed by Playing With Fire. This album wasn't bad to listen to, but it really didn't bring anything unique or interesting to the table. The overall sound was fine, but it felt like Spacemen 3 weren't really committed to owning their sound. The bands that I mentioned in my introductory paragraph do an excellent job of really living in the unique sound that they created, but it felt like Spacemen 3 were just kind of drifting through various influences. I guess if I had to summarize what I don't like about the overall sound of this album, I'd say Spacemen 3 really doesn't have a unique way of blending their guitars with the electronic elements that they're using. I expected something that played with the layering of the sound to create more of an atmosphere, but that just wasn't present here. As a result, I just kind of drifted through these songs, and most of them dragged on. However, there were a couple of bright spots on this album. "Revolution" really grabbed my attention. I loved the heavy guitar tone, and the distortion sounded great with the heavier use of percussion. "Suicide" was really good too. It was really the only song that I felt took me on a journey as I listened to it. In contrast with a lot of the other stuff on this album, it really flew by as I listened to it, and I couldn't believe it was over 11 minutes long when it wrapped up. Other than those two songs though, I wasn't that impressed by this album. When it comes to the late eighties and early nineties, I think I'll stick to my shoegaze and shy away from Spacemen 3.
Chill
Shitty psychadelic shoegaze from some obsolete British band. There is a song called Suicide on this album that is literally 11 minutes of the same two notes being played over and over ffs..... Nothing happened..... In 11 MINUTES!?! And how dare these absolute pylons ruin a classic song like May the Circle Be Unbroken. Fuck these idiots. And fuck whoever thought this was necessary listening. Garbage. Favourite songs: Revolution, Honey Least favourite songs: How Does It Feel, Let Me Down Gently... And the rest of this album... 2/5
2.3 - I just felt like this really lacked any substance to it. Some parts were nice, but it really felt like a nothing album to me
Didn't really do anything for me. I'm very up for this sort of droney representation, but frankly I just found this boring. 2/5
I wanted to like this after reading the wiki article, but just didn’t do it for me.
It's okay
This might have been better if they had added a fourth spaceman. As it was, there is nothing to recommend here unless you need an 11 minute track titled Suicide.
This album is just so eh. Fantastic guitar work but that's it. I didn't care for anything else on the album
Three songs in currently and boring is the first word coming to mind. Where is the music? Eight tracks in and I've forgotten at times music is even playing. Eleven tracks in and I really do not at all understand why this is on the list. Nothing stand out here. I like other examples of psychedelic, other examples of shoegaze, but this just doesn't meet the mark.
2 disks of droning, soporific, occasionally annoying muzak. This never really rises above terrible. Hard to understand someone recorded this and then chose to release it. And so much of it, too.
Repetitive dreck.
That was hard work to listen to. I just kept waiting for the album to end. For a couple of songs, it was okay, but then it just burrowed into your brain and likely drive someone to insanity if they listened too much to this. I’ve decided that I’m not ready to commit. So this only gets a 2.
There are times I don’t mind music being repetitive. It’s just that whatever’s being repeated should be interesting in the first place.
Cocteau Twins but worse Psychedelic guitar slop Best track is So Hot Lord Can You Hear Me Is pretty good as well Artistry has props for this one, I write 2 haiku's bc it's a 2
Interesting, but quite a lot of 'noise'.
Listened to this while playing Anachrony...still going, so not sure if I'll win or lose...but I'll probably lose. There were aspects of this album I enjoyed, but not enough to consider this essential listening. I had not realized the band had been around for so long. Good on them.
The fire was like that roaring blaze you watch on Netflix when it's cold outside
This was interesting, in a way. I can't help feeling that I should like this more, all the elements are there. It just didn't connect with me. I kept finding myself getting bored and my mind wandering while trying to listen to this album.
Another album that is more interesting to talk about than to listen to. I kept waiting for a payoff with each of these tracks, but was left with aural blue balls. This isn't bad music by any means, but this soft, intentional, gentle droning is just not something I'm into. If I'm going to listen to droning, I'm going to listen to some ambient electronic or funeral doom metal or something. This Lou Reed leftover just didn't do it for me.
Eh. Wasn’t high enough to enjoy. Just made me rage.
Interesting. Some caught my mind, but most did not. A lot of the tracks sounded the same...
I'm not listening to the demo CD. By the third track, I'm just UGHHHH with this drivel. Shit is endless. I skipped all the different versions of Suicide. I always try to listen to the album end to end, but 3 versions of the same shitty loopy song is just too much for my brain, which is wild because a lot of reviewers liked that song the most. 2*
Mmmh okayish
Really? Must I listen to this? It's sort of OK until the spoken (bad) lyrics start. After that it's just silly. Music vedfs from Enoesque soundscapes through a sort of slowed down War on Drugs, to full-on Black Sabbath fuzz riffs - but all with ridiculous spoken lyrics over the top. Hopeless.
Formles and meandering but not in the way hood ambient music does it
Some good tracks on here, but feels very earl noise/ shoegaze and wasn't for me which is suprising. Standouts: Revolution, Lord Can You Hear Me, Come Down Softly To My Soul.
Not my style
Too much psychedelic for me. I spent the whole day finishing the listening session because it was necessary to stop from time to time to take some air.
Drugs are needed for this album
I could see how this would be influential, but on the whole this is a long, boring album where not much happens. Kinda disappointing considering I’ve really been into this sort of thing in the past.
хрень
I used to like instrumental music, even more so electronic one. But somehow I cannot connect to this record.
I thought I might really enjoy this album. But I definitely did not. Way too repetitive.
Mostly cheeks 1.5
Seems like it would be more my taste, but this one fell a bit flat. 2/5
I liked this better than Spiritialized on first listen. It is kind of like grungy meditation music or music for angry yoga. It’s very droney which is where the sleepy time comes from for me. It’s not bad I’m just not real sure what would compel Me to play this
This shouldn't be on this list. We are talking about 1001 albums to hear before you die, not.. 1001 albums to put on in the background and forget about. It's fine
Wibble. Manages to be both simultaneously enjoyable and completely unremarkable. According to Wiki : "They gained a reputation as a 'drug band' due to the members' drug-taking habits and Kember's candid interviews and outspoken opinions on recreational drug use" which explains A LOT of what is going on here.
Every song on this album was at least a minute too long. If you are going to make a long song, there has to be some progression throughout; it can't just be the same thing over and over ("i.e. "How Does It Feel"). I wanted songs like "Revolution" to GO somewhere, and it just... didn't. The second song reminded me a lot of Peter Gabriel's "Wallflower," actually. Maybe it's just how the opening piano sounded, I don't know. But then again, looking at Wikipedia, the band was WAY too on drugs to think about editing. NEXT.
Suicide was 10+ minutes of f'ing aural torture. The only reason this album doesn't get a 1 based on that track alone was because I liked the vibe of the other songs (particularly Come Down Softly to My Soul and Let Me Down Gently), even if each song was basically one riff repeated over and over. Next.
At the end of the 1980's, a lot of the acts now celebrated as cornerstones of 90's neo-psychedelia were just beginning to bubble up to the surface. Established acts like My Bloody Valentine and Primal Scream were working hard on juggernauts like "Loveless" and "Screamadelica", the Flaming Lips were about to sign with Warner Bros Records, Mercury Rev had only just formed, and Shaun Ryder was probably off his tits, floating belly-up somewhere in Manchester's canals. In amongst the lot of them was Spacemen 3, releasing their third record just a couple of years before disbanding. Its members would become more notable for other ventures: Jason Pierce went on to front Spiritualized, and Pete Kember became Sonic Boom: producer for MGMT, Panda Bear, Beach House and more. I've had mixed feelings on the Spiritualized albums that have shown up on this list, but overall I think they are very good at capturing a singular mood. That mood emerges here in Spaceman 3's work, but just not quite fully formed. It's clear they're working to the same influences Pierce has had for his whole career (Velvet Underground, Stooges and Suicide, going by his Wikipedia page). But unfortunately, there's very little of interest across "Playing with Fire". While I enjoyed some tracks ("Honey" is fine as an intro, while "I Believe It" and "Lord Can You Hear Me" are tantamount to blissed-out gospel, with organ, tambourine and holy arpeggiated guitars) even they feel like there's something missing. Other songs like "Let Me Down Gently", "So Hot (Wash Away All of My Tears)" or "How Does It Feel" come across like drafts, demos, rough sketches waiting to be filled in with more colour and detail. In particular, "How Does It Feel" is a sheer buzz-kill as the third track, with a cringe-inducing spoken word over bare-bones instrumental, slowly building to… absolutely nothing. When fifth track "Revolution" comes squalling in with its overdriven guitars and its scornful Iggy Pop-style vocals, it's less like a welcome shot-in-the-arm and more like an out-of-place, demented diversion. "Suicide" is very similar, though does at least lay the best claim of any of these songs to being worthy of 70's space rock (think Hawkwind, Neu, Kraftwerk). As much as I respect a lot of the work these spacemen went on to make, and this album does have its moments, "Playing with Fire" mostly sounds like three blokes messing around in a rehearsal room trying to emulate the sweet sweet sounds of their own acid trips. A disappointing listen.
This album was a lot like traveling through space: sparkly, lots of emptiness, and ultimately quite boring.
Didn't care much for this one. Too sleepy shoegaze for me. 2.49/5
I spent most of this listen waiting for them to get the fuck on with it.... They never did.
I guess if you have to fill the plate with a 1001 albums there are going to be many that leave listeners scratching their heads asking “why did I have to listen to this one?”
Meh
-well it’s… sort of interesting, sort of not? Some of the songs just felt like King Crimson lite. It did have some really cool instrumental parts sprinkled in which I enjoyed -I was listening to Animal Collective all day when I heard this and the first song did kinda remind me of them! as a side note -Favorites are Let Me Down Gently, So Hot, and Lord Can You Hear Me
This juice wasn’t worth the squeeze
Kinda boring
I did not finish the album. I listened to all of the songs from Disk 1 but did not listen to anything from Disk 2. Disk 2 was all demos and alternate takes. I liked the song Suicide, but not enough to hear it three times. That’s the issue with the album; it feels bloated. I liked some songs, but the album is not one I’d like to finish or return to in its entirety. Standouts: Come Down Softly To My Soul, So Hot (Wash Away All My Tears), and Lord Can You Hear Me.
A couple of good tracks can't save this whole thing.
I would call this interminably dull, but mercifully it does actually have an ending.
Never heard of this artist or band. Curious to listen. Interesting. Slow but so far not for me.
Playing With Shit
Jag ser varför folk gillar det här, men det var inte för mig
Meh.
I liked the first song and thought I might not actually hate this album. I was wrong. Also, what in the psychedelic hell was that cover of Will The Circle Be Unbroken? 2/5
It’s barely music.
I liked this to some degree. I had it on it the background doing deck work/finish carpentry. All that said, I would choose something else in the future. 2.5/5
Just one long strange drug trip of drivel. I had hopes of liking this when the needle dropped, but no such luck. I’ll seek out my trance-like, guitar-driven, droney sounds elsewhere with bands like Galaxie 500.
I prolly don’t take enough drugs to enjoy this. I couple nice songs (particularly on the softer side like Lord Can You Hear Me). But over 2 hours long! Lord Have Mercy!
I wanted to like this, I really did. I got excited when I read that one of the two main bros went on to found Spiritualized… alas this ended up being all buildup and no payoff. Thought I could at least give it a 3* but it fell short. 2.5/5
Very repetitive synths and riffing loops with a drowning talking vocal. Started off as non interesting, but ok in the background. Ended as a nightmare to listen to.
# Playlist Track - I believe it # Notes - The organs and synths drone on forever. It's kind of an interesting experience at first, but it gets boring REALLY quickly. - Not recommended.
45/100
Meh- I had a hard time getting through this one for some reason
I listened to this during a concentrated work day, and it was somewhat good for that. At some point it became a bit too annoying, though, and I don't see myself listening to it in another context.
It does not surprise me that some band members went on to form Spiritualized. It’s got the same kind of feel. I don’t like them either though. I was surprised - being very much an indie chick - that I’d never heard of this lot in the 80s. Sources claim they were ‘big’ but I challenge that statement. Big in The Midlands maybe… There were moments that I thought I might have liked them 40 years ago but they are so derivative and wearisome. And dipping into my beloved Patti Smith’s Gloria was too heartbreaking because they couldn’t pull it off and just made me hanker for PS. Way too long and annoying and most songs I had to fast forward through otherwise I would have been tempted to self-immolate.
It sucks and I don’t know why I have to listen to it as part of this project. Still not the worst thing I’ve heard here.
I didn’t hate it but it was way too sparse. It felt like there were no actual songs on there
Some cool ideas, but I much prefer where Spiritualized eventually ends up. Overall too droney and repetitive, especially because my brain isn't fried on acid. 2.5/5
A bit boring really. For example the track How does it feel? Takes over 5 minutes to change the notes played for the duration of that 5 mins. Thought Revolution had potential but no. Enjoyed let me down gently and suicide though. No real 5/5 tracks for me though. Not for me really, glad I only listened to the original album and not the 2 hour reissue.
Was a bit wayward and repetitive for my tastes. Didn't really dig it.
It’s kind of cool that one of these guys later played in Spiritualized, but he wasn’t good yet in 1989
Some weird emo electronic stuff
Okay, some nice moody moments! But on the whole pretty forgettable.
Bjóst við allt öðru m.v. coverið. Þreytandi til lengdar.
Sadly I found this all rather repetitive and dreary. Favourite track: Suicide.
not a fan of ambient music in general, this was no exception
Psychedelic. I like the jam on a some of these songs but a lot just seemed a little to deep psychedelic where I said wtf am I listening to. Overall 2.5 stars. Maybe 3 stars
2 hours?! Fuck that. Especially for an album like this... I only listened to the original releases and that was already too long. I get the concept of this album and I could appreciate bits and pieces of this album, but it was just not enjoyable. Shoegaze???? I bet Kev and Brandon liked this one. Low 2.
I don't really know how to describe it but I wish more happened in this album. It had potential to be really cool but I was just waiting for more. It is killing me that I cannot find out the song that is being covered in Suicide, regardless that song was about 5 minutes too long of the same thing. Maybe in a different mood I would have liked this more but it just never took off like I wanted it to.
Un album di introduzioni per una musica che non comincia mai..
Psychedelic music has often been more about what the instruments can do than what the musicians can do. This album has some talented instruments...
2 stars
Better than I was expecting
Yeah, doing drugs don't make you worthy of an album.
Some alright stuff in between but bogged down with too much empty noise for me. Will I listen to again: 0%
Kohtuullisen hapokasta. Tämä jos joku vaatii oikean mielentilan toimikaseen eikä parista yrityksestä huolimatta jaksanut säväyttää edes vähää alusta.
Can appreciate its meditative qualities. Might have even more with some salicylic aid; but, all in all, not my mushroom cup of tea.
Interesting, not my cup of tea… But interesting…
No impact on me. Rather boring.
This is an odd pick. It's extremely competently made music that doesn't really do anything especially memorable. It didn't get much commercial success, and while it's definitely critically acclaimed, I find it hard to latch onto any of it.
✅ some really cool sounds that get bogged down by the uninterested psychedelic wandering. can hear how it helps lead to shoegaze but none of the pop appeal of that genre.
Hardly registered this. Like a boring suicide (the band).
You get a hint of what was to come for Jason Pierce and Spiritualized on the closer 'Lord Can You Hear Me?', but the majority of Playing With Fire I found dull and not at all memorable.
A snooze fest with only a few truly redeeming qualities. It’s not half as clever as they seem to think it is.
Incredibly meh
Idk wasn't really it for me They have a cool name though🤷 2/5
I couldn't really get into this one. Every song felt like it dragged on way too long. Maybe I would need to be doing whatever drugs they were all doing to really appreciate it? That said, I do think it's still worth listening to from a music appreciation standpoint so I'll refrain from rating a one star.
Not great
Does not quite do it for me
Okay
I don’t know. I just don’t think shoegaze is my thing. There are moments where I’m vibing. But mostly I find it too pretentious and grating. 2/5
Fine soft psychedelic sounds. No songs stood out to me and told me to play it a second time.
I quite liked Playing With Fire, it's a mostly mellow and chill sound with enough diversity and changeup to keep it interesting. Sure, some of the tracks go on too long and too monotonously, but I think they do enough throughout to create a cool atmosphere that doesn't get tiresome or annoying. Doubtful as to whether it merits a place on the list but enjoyable in and of itself, high 2.
Not bad, this, but not great either. Didn't know that one of the 3 went on to found Spiritualised, but it doesn't surprise me - it's the same long instrumentals and focus on atmosphere. It doesn't do it as well as Spiritualised though, and it drags quite a bit. 2/5, middling to high 2 though.
It is definitely not mainstream. But I did not find any connection to the music.
If the Beatles were writing music while on a coma induced by an acid overdose, they would have done something better than this but along these lines. I usually like psychedelic stuff, but this is not my jam at all.
Found this to be pretty uninteresting and empty feeling for the most part, sorry.
They in fact did not sound like they were playing with fire. Long, boring, and too ambient. Only something I would consider background noise, not something to pay attention to.
Honk shoo honk shoo honk mi mi mi mi
Mostly ambient sounds and tunes, not too bad but don’t think it’s too special. A slightly improvement over purely ambient tracks
A fine enough listen. Meditative, somewhat boring and uninspired, which today I appreciated. Light 2.5/5
Some barely interesting, mostly boring. 2.5/5
Way too long. It had it's 3 star moments and it had it's 0-1 star moments. I didn't hate hearing this but I wouldn't listen to it again.
I did really appreciate some of the songs on this album but some were such a literal pain to listen to :/ This album would have been better if it was 25% less experimental imo.
They really need someone who can turn those sounds into songs. I kept going from hopeful to bored to just plain annoyed. Suicide is 11 minutes long. It's that song trying to make the listener suicidal?
Alright background music. Weird mix of songs. Completely forgettable.
The album sounds like some weird and wacky space music. Which I think I would have liked more if it was at a faster tempo. Nothing really here to shout home about. Not a real fan of the singing when they did that.
Not for me.
This album was boring, really boring. It had a steady, kind of distant and faint sound to it behind the organ and the whispy singing, and it just couldn't sink in with it. It almost seems unfair that it ended with a cover of May the Circle Be Unbroken, as that's a song I adore and this was a cover I did like. But all in all, I won't be coming back to this one.
C'est juste du bruit de fond avec une voix morose qui divague par dessus, ya rien vraiment de récupérable là-dessus à part instaurer une drôle de vibe à un party
That's not my taste in musik. Boring.
Por la canción Suicide, que es insoportable, le pongo un 2. Si no, sería un 3.
repetitive and noisy without anything interesting
This is a very noisy album, especially as it goes on, and while now I'm more accustomed to albums attempting to destroy my ear drums for better or worse, I'm glad I did not listen to this record back when I first heard of it a year or two back, as I would have been ill prepared, and taken it on this album. However, that isn't to say this record is good, in fact I'd say its still a hard listen, but not for the noise, rather because it can be painfully mediocre. Songs constantly have really good ideas that seem to never go anywhere, and stretch things out to ungodly lengths for the sake of what I assume is art. I'm all for noise, but my favorite part of noise is those little melodic beats you can still pick up in all the chaos, and this album lacks that for the most part. There will be a part here, a part there, and sometimes the album mellows out enough to be boring yet enjoyable, but when it desides to yell at you, it'll do it for what feels like dozens of minutes at a time. I respect the space-y quality of it all, and for 1989 there are aspects here that feel ahead of its time, but otherwise its a slog that I can only imagine is too droning to be catchy, but too pop-y to have a life changing experience in the dark of the night. It just exists more than anything, and that hurts it greatly.
Fett oklart album Som är väldigt utdraget med långa repetitiva låtar som borde kortas ner.
Not space rock. Noise rock maybe. Not many redeeming qualities in this
A lot of tease, not much release.