Reviews (page 7 of 8)
Didn’t mind it, it helped to kill some time, but I don’t think it is something that I would go back to to listen again.
Don't quite know where yo start with this one, it's not exactly my cup of tea. I've been told it's minimalist, you can say that again. There were a couple of tracks that had the hawkwindesk guitar throb about them. Others that were quite musical. The two different vocal styles both worked. There were tracks that I would skip past if it came on in my car, and others that I most certainly would not. It's an album of severe contrasts without sounding like it. Would I buy it ?......No. Would I listen to it again probably not, but can't say for sure. 2 seems too low for it, but is it worth a 3? No not really. 2.8-2.9 but I just can't bring myself to give it a 3
Very interesting. The dude makes some interesting noises, but… It’s almost like he comes across something in a little jam session that sounds nice, doesn’t know how to drop it into a song and build it out so he just gets stuck. Perfect example of what I mean is on ‘Revolution’. The opening bars were awesome but a great song didn’t emerge. I think I liked it, but just when I thought I might give it a second chance, 11 minutes of ‘suicide’ killed off that chance.
Spacemen 3 are arguably my favourite band. This, their 3rd album is seen as their peak creative output by critics, but I think their best is their second, 'The Perfect Prescription', which is my favourite album of all time. However, this still in my top 30 and is one of the best examples of neo-psychedelia in the last 35 years. Admittedly it took me a few listens back in 89 to get into it as it was fundamentally different to their debut album 'Sound of Confusion' which was a straight up Stooges/MC5/13th Floor Elevators noise fest, but the drugs kept flowing into a different vein by the time they made 'Playing with Fire'. The two main men, Kember and Pierce, have two very different styles of playing and vocal delivery, which complement each other so well. Kember's fixation with drones and predominantly using 2 chords, together with Pierce's ear for simple melody, which was unified with their shared love of experimentalism and noise. ‘Honey’ is probably Pete Kember's best song on this album, closely followed by the MC5 inspired 'Revolution'. Jason Pierce's tunes are as usual beautifully fragile. The fractures in their relationship is evident on this album with separate writing credits, except for the massive ode to Rev and Vega with 'Suicide' a 9 minute psyche-out blast of 2 note noise. I never got to see them live, but have seen their later bands many times where they have played all these over the years, which I'll take! Most people won't get it, but I love it and it is a straight high 5.
This band took the artsy noise rock of Suicide, drugged and spaced it up, and made something compelling and slightly more listenable. This is also the stepping stone to Spiritualized, which is a much better band. This sounds like a prototype, rather than something fully in flight, but can hear how many bands were influenced by it, especially those from the Britpop and Shoegaze era.
J'ai aimé ca. C'est très différent et ca dérape d'une bonne facon. La seule chose est l'album est tellement mélangé avec plein de version live etc et c'est dure a avoir la releas original. 3.4
I love shoegaze
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness. - Oscar Wilde
Love Spiritualized but never listened to Spacemen 3 so I was taken aback by how straight-up psychedelic this was, but still interesting to hear just a bit of that gospel influence that will eventually really inspire Spiritualized in the back. Last song really sounds a lot like JAMC.
Not unpleasant exactly but not to my taste. 2*
Not a hit with the family.
Meh I can see that they were trying various new sounds, but I don't think it worked very well. Not terrible, but not something that I enjoy or could get into.
Playing With Fire by Spacemen 3 is listed on Apple Music as Alternative - Wikipedia calls it Psychedelic rock, and space rock. Other reviewers label it Synth Prog. Talk about throwing everything the wall and nothing sticking. I don't get this album, but then again - a UK pop album that had no traction and is compared to other albums that are not on the list? Dimery's biases become more blatant the deeper I get into this list. 2.5/5
Oh man I love it! Crazy I never heard about it before
Sounds like you're about to catch that dragon
I like the experimental nature of this but can’t say anything really stuck with me. Debating 3 vs 4 stars, the ambition will push it to 4 for me
två timmar av oljud och helvete
Largely very boring tracks.
December 6, 2023 Spacemen 3
Spacemen 3 is the band that Jason "J. Spaceman" Pierce was involved in prior to his work as Spiritualized. As a result, you still get a lot of the space rock revival sound on Playing With Fire that would later find itself on Spiritualized releases. It's a fairly airy release, as expected with space rock. Much of Playing With Fire is more concerned about creating an atmosphere but not doing much with it. That's fine for ambient music and such, but for a rock record it feels like wasting precious time. The exception to this is Suicide, which is a behemoth of a track that builds upon feedback and noise until it reaches a magnificent roar, not unlike a rocket attempting to break the sound barrier as it propels itself with unreal forces. This is followed up with the closing song Lord Can You Hear Me?, as a tender moment of aftercare. These songs alone do so much for the album.
boring
A bit guitar-interference noisy but some parts are pretty good. Way too long.
Когда пришел в церковь под кислотой 4/10
Hated it.
I thought that after the first few minutes of this, I was going to love it. Boy was I wrong. Started out hot and just became artsy noise for the remaining time.
Never heard of this band. Feels like the doors on psychedelics, but not as legendary. At first I liked it, but around the eight song got tired of it. And by the end I felt like I was on drugs too.
This album is straight out of the shoegaze / psychedelic rock phase of the 80s. Full of distortion and reverb, this album would probably be more enjoyable if the listener was as high as the artists. The inclusion of this album may have been influenced by the British bias seen with several other strange albums in this compilation.
Spacey shite a teenager could probably improvise on a Casio.
Wtf how did I miss this
Kunne ikke komme i gennem, næsten umuligt at høre på. Ikke plat ligesom cowboyder, men ikke min smag
Very interesting music, but wasn’t very fun to listen to. I could see enjoying this music live and experiencing the “show gaze” style but listening while driving found my mind wandering to other things and not focusing. May try another album of these guys.
Album 228 of 1001 Spacemen 3 - Playing with Fire Rating : 1 / 5 Mostly electronic stuff that just didn't hit the spot.
My husband had this album the day before me. At first I thought it was someone cutting their grass or pressure washing their car, it was that monotonous and annoying. Suffice today did not enjoy when I had it.
Clearly influential and you can hear the similarities to the likes of Spiritualized. I'm rating on my own enjoyment though, and it's boring. I got to the third track which lasts for 8 minutes and goes nowhere. Tedious
Started off strong and then devolved into a horrible new age wannabe
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: This could be interesting; ambient sort of a shoegaze / lo-fi precursor maybe, but could also be awful and pretentious/unlistenable after a while. AFTER LISTENING: I have had to return to this album multiple times because I kept forgetting what it sounded like. But I think it's sort of a...if goth music from this era were less dark vibe. I am anticipating that the commentary will refer to this album as groundbreaking for its recording techniques or something that doesn't really translate well into listening without context. AFTER LEARNING MORE: Sorry, I'm not reading all that. I guess for a list that loves Spiritualized and that whole vibe so much, this pick makes sense. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia authors for the Spaceman 3 page lost me at "neo-psychedelia" and "drug band." RECCOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE: Spiritualized, Suicide (the band,) taking edibles and zoning out
First time hearing of this band, going in with zero expectations. It was surprisingly decent for nursing my hangover. The lack of consistency was glaring, but for being exactly what I wanted to hear this Sunday morning, I give it 3 dog hairs out of 5. 🐕🐕🐕
75/100
Heard this one a few times and I really like Spiritualized as well. This and the Spiritualized albums are similar. This is fantastic! I think it will become an easy five star album to me .... someday.... not today though. Standouts: So Hot (Wash Away All of My Tears), Revolution, Let Me Down Gently, Suicide. 4/5
i miss adele.
Not my favorite Spacemen 3 album - Lord Can You Hear Me is a clear standout and future precursor for Spiritualized. Also liked Revolution and So Hot.
Drone. Occasionally melodic. Suicide was an inspired title - I considered it after listening to the album.
Yawn.
Not good, not bad, but quite repetitive and forgettable. I guess the worst thing you can be in art is boring.
Vaag, psychedelische rock is niet mijn ding
I really did want to like this one but this album mostly annoyed me. The stand out track for me was So Hot - (Wash Away All Of My Tears). I really love the sound of this song and unfortunately it's found nowhere else on the album. Based on the first track, I really was hoping that I was in for something special but it ended up being mostly a disappointment. Giving this album, sadly and as much as I wanted to enjoy it, a 2/5. It hurts.
Liked the start, quit after the distorted guitars began.
Decent space jams, boys. Nothing ground breaking but solid psych rock. I dig it.
Psychedelic, ambient noise rock. Simplistic one-note drones and reverb-soaked, blasé vocals. Competent shoegaze, but I am not moved.
Drags on with the songs very little lyrics for songs that play a whole two minutes after it ends not good at all
Trop expérimental, on dirait que les pièces ne démarrent jamais vraiment.
This came out in 1989, but it's totally new to me. Sounds pretty currrent (2023). Ethereal. Distortion. Paced. Easy to hear the Velvet Underground influence.
Por la canción Suicide, que es insoportable, le pongo un 2. Si no, sería un 3.
wow another UK psychedelic rock from the 80s. woo.
Flip flops between being way to minimalist space rock and way to dull and brute-forced noise rock, and no melodies to be found whatsoever. 4/10
Super super psychadelic
Issa vibe. Not something I would normally choose to listen to, as I never got into shoegaze-y music, but it’s pretty vibey.
Very boring to listen to.
Soothing
Unenjoyable
Liked maybe, 1 song. Too much for me
Unforgettable spacey vibes
Are we fr
I’ve always seen Spacemen 3 as the avant-garde dark horse of shoegaze, a group that was well on the fringes of an already esoteric subgenre. The compositions here are challenging and it’s 50/50 whether the melodic payoff is worth the trouble, but when a track hits it comes together in a beautiful way like a tapestry assembling itself in slo-mo. I get why such a patchwork album is getting a tepid reception here, but I found this an interesting listen that pushed boundaries in an exciting way.
Actually preferable to Spiritualised, probably because or the big Suicide and Stooges feel, rather than generic rawkness. Still feels a lot like all their other work though...
Never heard of this band or album. Definitely not for me. Had to skip through songs. The first album on this list I couldn't make it through. 1/5
This is like the terrible 60s/early 70s Psychelic music combined with fun bleeps and spacy stuff. So how to rate this. Feeling says 2 stars
I generally like alternative stuff, but this was just so self indulgent!
Some nice meditative psychedelic guitar. The songs take their time and we get a couple of slow burns in a row right at the top. "Revolution" kicks things into high gear with some riffs and feedback. I found myself feeling grateful for a little noise and chaos. I guess that song is more of an outlier though. Most of this album is mellow. It’s a simmer, not a boil. Even “Suicide,” the other loud and noisy track, is an 11-minute slow burn than feels more like ambient music than rock. I think that’s the standout track here. The rest of the album is good but I need to be in the right mood for it. “Suicide” is powerful though.
As I'm listening to this, I can't help but feel like it's taking forever to get somewhere but maybe this is already the destination. "Somewhere" is a concept that I'm expecting but won't be getting, and the sound is what it is. For a 2 hour long double-CD record, I don't really often want a 3 minute intro song that doesn't really do much besides get me excited for something coming next (and then not GIVE me that thing?). Am I making sense? I feel like there's a lot of building up but no climaxing. Track 1 is an overly long buildup Track 2 is boring, (possibly biased because I didn't get the climax from the buildup from the intro?) Track 3 is ... boring.. Track 4 is boring, OK maybe this is what their sound is and I need to accept that and not expect more? Track 5.. oh ok. Some distorted guitar. Is this the change I was expecting? Yea, it was. The album started roughly 18 minutes prior to this. Where was this 15 minutes ago? Where was this 5 minutes ago? This is a cool song. I like the affect in the vocal performance. Vocals were admittedly a little low energy for the context of the track though. Track 6 and 7 are right back to the spacey-ness. Now I'm having conflicting thoughts and wondering that maybe this should be the WHOLE sound of the album, and that Track 5 is now just some random song placed in the middle of the first disc. "Lord Can You Help Me" was a nice respite. I liked the odd guitar playing, and the song overall was nice. It did feel a little cliche and "done before" though. Sometimes I come across some art that I don't love or even like, but it makes me think and I gain appreciation for it because it made me think. This is obviously a really obvious and common goal for visual artists. This isn't the case with this album though. It made me think about the concept of defined sounds and what it means to push past your conventions. But it wasn't done in a way that provoked any new thoughts or discussion. It left me frustrated with the layout of the album, and ultimately led me to just be a little annoyed and a lot of bored.
Spacig
Very Spacey!
Best song(s): “… Suicide” Rating: 6/10
just noise
Spacemen 1
For me, Spacemen 3 never quite reached the heights that Spiritualized got to later. I still put them on when the mood hits though, and this is perfectly enjoyable to me honestly. Great, but not amazing.
Interesting rather than good, and very very long. I liked it, but didn't love it
Best Song: So Hot (Wash Away All Of My Tears). The only song that's been edited down to include just the good parts. Worst Song: How Does It Feel. Even if it does get to an interesting place by the end of the track, is it work having to sit through such an annoying introduction? Overall: It's just altogether too wispy, isn't it? It never feels like it settles into anything crunchy enough to wrap your ears around, and mostly just floats along in this liminal "jam" space. Meh.
I had no preconceived notions about this album, I had never heard of it or of this band before. I found it interesting. I know I'm going to have to listen to it more, and the initial listen was cool.
Minimalist, atmospheric, properly noisy. Sounds amazing coming through the headphones. "Suicide" was physically a bit draining to get through, but also kind of mesmerizing. Fave Songs: Lord Can You Hear Me?, Come Down Softly to My Soul, Honey, How Does It Feel?, Let Me Down Gently
dosn't quite get going like "recurring"
Really good shoegaze album, reminded me of spirtized then I realised the connection
Having not heard this group before, I was not surprised that one of the members founded Spiritualized. Some more languid, spacy electronica, but with some weird detours. "Revolution" just kind of jars one out of the trance. "Suicide" is a ten minute torture. Torture. I skipped ahead before it ended. Couldn't take it. I've only done that maybe 3 times with the last 732 albums. So it's sometimes interesting, and probably somewhat pioneering, given its 1989 origins, but I don't really like it and I'm a bit tired of getting more and more of this genre at the expense of others.
The description didn't sound like this album was going to be my thing...and it really wasn't...but also, it kind of brought me into a hypnotic state that I didn't particularly mind. I read a description that referred to "drone-rock" and, though I don't recall ever having heard that term, it fits perfectly.
I liked it. Yes.
Whoa this is a trippy affair. Some gospel tunes and organ but done in a totally psychedelic way… then we have songs that I couldn’t really place in time (I was surprised this was from 1989). Then there were some pretty overtly political messages. A lot to digest here…. Very unique and very interesting!
Some days I feel like this list is pranking me. Today is one of those days. I suppose it’s impressive that it’s both extremely uninteresting and also extremely irritating at the same time. Could be useful to scare pests out of your garden?
Rock psicodélico. Ni fu ni fa.
Por la canción Suicide, que es insoportable, le pongo un 2. Si no, sería un 3.
Damnit. I can see that this group was influential and groundbreaking but sweet Jesus - Monday is already hard enough without having to listen to 10min tracks of distorted guitar and mumbled lyrics.
I don't know what they were going for with this, I'm sure if I did it might deserve to be on this list but right now I just feel like I've wasted my time.
This did no nothing for me, but I never saw Spacemen 1 or Spacemen 2 so I was probably just lost.
I don't mind their sound, but the repetition and slowness was not exactly holding my attention.
I feel like calling this shoegaze is a misnomer. It's more like third eye complete dissociation staring into the void. They hit a nearly perfectly balanced hypnotic minimalism here that I love to crawl inside, lay down, and just let it wash over me. This is their best album, and I actually prefer it to what came later with Spiritualized - perhaps due to it being slightly more raw and stripped down. Sounds equally good on headphones as I imagine it would live. I would have loved to have seen them perform this in its day, but alas, I was only 9 years old, and was more into Batman than drugs.
Experimental and sparse, but still a very nice listen. Definitely prefer Spacemen 3 to Spiritualized but I can see how they may have gotten sick of this sound at some point.
Entirely inconsequential and bafflingly identity-free
Baffling. Tried to dig it without being on an acid trip but it was not too easy. My head hurt listening to it and then they would throw in a song that actually had what could be called a melody - kind of. Not a waste of time but the sort of thing you are never going to revisit again.
Words cannot describe how much I wanted this to end
This is a 2 hour, 2 disc album. Very psychedelic in sound and feeling. For a time when bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam were starting out and creating a new wave. These guys stayed the course with the love and peace, hippy sounds of the slow psychedelic Era that was big in the 70s. Take an edible, put on some headphones and get lost in the Organ.
I got too irritated to finish it.
not my vibe
Good album but many of the songs were really long with extended instrumental pieces that mainly felt like they just dragged on.
A bit dull
Long repetitive spacey guitar driven rock songs. Not for me.
Spacey and atmospheric for the most part until it reaches a climactic point of relentlessness and intensity that verges on unlistenable. Was about to give it a 2, but the subtle and gorgeous closing track Lord You Can Hear Me saves it
What is it with people who continuously uphold the drab melodic ramblings of British men when it comes to music? It's bothersome
I get what they were trying to do with “Suicide” but maybe don’t make a song that makes you want to while listening to it.
psy rock nothing out of the ordinary 5.5/10
Nice background ambiance. I found this album a little boring for some reason, whereas other 'ambient style' albums I've given more credit to. It just felt like not much was going on at any point? Maybe I wasn't interested in the sound.
Not too sure where to place them really- 1989 is a bit late for any genre that kickstarted and the songs veer between soft and lyrical and then thrashy guitar. Still it's quite enjoyable so i'll listen again sometime maybe?
Words escape me on this one.
Terribly dull
I kept waiting for it to get better…it didn’t.
I respect the vision of Spacemen 3 but the execution doesn’t fully live up to it. Their debut is better
Ok
No thanks. It sounds like they did the minimum amount of work to create a "psychedelic rock" album. I'm not even sure this can be categorized as that, though.
The shoegaze, proto-post-rock version of Hawkwind. I quite enjoyed this album, but have to admit I don't see any justification in considering this a 1001 must-hear-album.
some of the songs I liked, and others were bad 3 stars
I made more fun of these guys than they deserve. Pretty good.
IMO pass this for the Jesus and Mary chain album and spiritualized album later on
I don’t like it but I get why it’s here. Very much bridges the gap from psychedelic rock to 90s grunge/shoegaze type stuff but doesn’t fit well into any of the categories.
Ranges from soft ballads to full on rock out. A fascinating album, but not really for me.
An enjoyable album, Suicide was the one track set apart from the rest, not a challenging listen.
Shoegaze hasn't been my favourite genre on this 1001 albums odyssey so far. However, since recently seeing The Brian Jonestown Massacre, I'm warming to it. This is quite reminiscent of BJM. Textural songs which get into a vibe and sit there for the duration without doing very much. For the most part, I could happily sit in the vibe that's created. Pleasingly, there is little distortion here, which means that the tunes are discernable, unlike other shoegaze artists such as My Bloody Valentine. Finally, I can't let the album cover go without comment. Possibly the worst so far? It looks like something I could have made in junior school on their Windows 3.1 computers. Also, the word 'accuracy' looks oddly out of place amongst 'revolution', 'purity', and 'love'. Rating: 2.5/5 Playlist track: Lord Can You Hear Me Date listened: 30/07/23
I enjoyed this album overall, as it got better with every listen, and still may do so. I like the experimental and electric sounds throughout this record, it gives feel to something more than psychedelic. It makes it more unique. Suicide and Revolution were mediocre tracks IMO. They are not bad by any means and do fit the albums theme, but just have not resonated with me (yet). A sonic record I did really enjoy. Favourites: Honey / Come Down Softly To My Soul / I Believe It / Let Me Down Gently / So Hot / Lord Can You Hear Me
Slow burning far out fuzz
Que tipo de dr0ga a pessoa tem que tomar pra conseguir ouvir 2h disso?
Pretty sweet. Pretty spacey. Very nice plane music. 3.5/5
Nope. This is not good. There are some genres of music that I do not understand how they became even slightly popular and this is one of them. Maybe it is because I never did any drugs. Haha.
Psychedelic and spacey, not bad. Could’ve flirted with a 4 if it weren’t for the repetitive 11min instrumental.
Droning, almost white noise. Great music to completely ignore. Not bad but not something to actively listen to.
Pretty boring and repetitive
Interesting
The album is the definition of boredom.
IMPORTANT: do not listen during daytime. This is evening/late night music ONLY. I could probably rate it higher, but I did make that mistake and put it on at work. However 'Honey' is wonderful at all times.
noodly and not compelling
I was a bit worried when I saw that this was a British band that I've never heard of, since my history with similar bands on this list is not spectacular. However, I really enjoyed this album. I like ambient music, so space rock is pretty firmly up my alley, but this album is also very well executed. The songs flow nicely from one to the next, but each one is distinct. The vocals are a bit muffled on some of the songs, but that could also be intentional. Really cool album for relaxing whilst chemically altering your brain 4/5
Oh dear, soporific and not in a good way
HL: “Come Down Softly…”, “Lord Can You Hear Me”, “Honey”, “Let Me Down Gently” Evokes a lot of the same feelings I got from “Lazer Guided Melodies”. There’s a lot about the sound/aesthetic of space rock that I enjoy, but the cyclical, droning tendencies can bore as much as they entrance me June 29, 2023 (slightly later that day) Tangent: when I get to #500 I was thinking of sharing albums that are 5 stars to me now, but weren’t when I first listened. My first nomination to that list is “Ladies and Gentlemen” by Spiritualized, that took the best elements that are heard in this album and emphazised the blues, gospel & heavier rock influences.
Someone else here summarized it perfectly, "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." Holy hell really? 2 hours of... this? 3/10.
I listened to this a bit when it came out and was considered hipster music. I never really connected with it, but points for being the spawning ground for Spiritualized (and Sonic Boom).
Not a fan of this genre/style
This was not good. It was set of painful to listen to and put me in a terrible mood.
Mais uma dose de psicodelia experimentada. Não me impressionou.
Reminded me of shoegaze. I liked it
Not really much to note here
Melodramatic and boring
Gemiddeld album. was er niet onmiddellijk weg van
Soooooo boring.
I think i like this, but it's a little too jam-band / psychedelic guitar exploration-y for me at times.
Spiritualized <3
This was a decent neo-psychedelia album with touches of shoegaze and ambient music. This album had a lot of potential, but so much of it is all build up with no pay off. It seems as though the band spent much of their time building a mood, but that music wasn't strong enough to carry the song without a musical release that never came. There are some decent parts of this album, but nothing that hadn't been done before.
Snooooooooore
That was bad
Playing With Fire? I wanted to set it on fire.
Mostly superb
Interesting experimental styles, but felt too slow
Much better than I had remembered Spacemen 3 when I had initially run into them in the mid-1990s. This album was enjoyable overall with a few parts that got a bit overbearing for me (e.g., Che Maracas Mix). I probably wrote this band off too soon! It really isn't what I'd call an accessible album. And it is quite long. But for 1989, they were way out in a place of their own experimenting with edgy sounds and beats. May the Circle Be Unbroken was my clear favorite, mostly because I love the song so much and it was a very surprising take on this old spiritual.
Another 2-hour epic, but wow. This is phenomenal! It hits my yes button in all the right places. Not sure what's happening here, maybe I was just in the right headspace to hear this today? Regardless, I will definitely listen more often.
I believe the culturally sensitive term is "astronaut?" Though spaceman was often used to refer to an extra-terrestrial arriving on an unidentified flying object. Or Spaceman Spiff, an icon of interplanetary investigation. Spaceman is the leader in soft serve and frozen beverage machine technology and design. But don't go calling Buzz Aldrin a "spaceman," or he'll punch you in the face. There weren't even 3 spacemen in Spacemen 3. There were 2. And some other, either Earthling or spacemen, who played with them. Some of Spacemen 3 is 3-worthy. Some is 1 worthy. Their lack of 3 actual spacemen cements the 2.
I only ever noticed it when it was annoying, not for anything that I liked.
Two listens lead me to very much appreciating the distorted guitars with electronic elements.
This was cool. Never heard of this group but a few of these songs sounded familiar. A more intense Spiritualized. Side note: I really wish artists/Spotify would publish original track listings for all albums. Lord Can You Hear Me was my fave.
Not for everyone, but for fans of neo-psychedelia this is essential listening. I like this best of their three releases. More subtle than the first two, Playing With Fire glides along in the best possible way. The hushed portions of the songs enhance the overall sound. All three releases are worthy, but I would start here.
Some of this is actually not bad, but most of it is just droning noise. The bad far outweighs the good.
Never heard of this band and for good reason. As someone who enjoys melodies, what a slog to get through. Maybe they were influential on others, but the authors including this while excluding so many black artists and women from this list reflects really poorly on them.
There are many shoegaze albums in this 1001 list. Why, I do wonder, because the genre can be quite limited. This album is better than others and a nice background listen but it's quite hard to make out the highlights.
I’m not interested in weird space juice today. Spotify only has the reissued double album of this crap. I hate that. I need to hear the originally released recording, it’s a much more palatable ask. If I’ve never heard of you or your band, I’m not listening to 2 hours of it.
I think if I'd listened to this album in shirt headspace, it might have been a 5 star
Me hizo pensar en Spiritualized
Mostly just ambient noise
Bit of a cross between Pink Floyd and the Doors.
This was a weird album that sounded like a concept album. Instrumental tracks laced between some dialogue. Some songs I skipped, others I liked. Overall nothing to write home about.
Some interesting ideas here musically, a few sounds that I wish would be explored more. But so much of it elsewhere is bland. I dig the weird echo-y effects that were used in a few places, but that gag can only take us so far. The curse of this list is not the awful, 1 or 1.5/5 star hair-pulling, head-scratching enigmas, but these milquetoast, limp handshake, silent fart 2.5 or 3/5 albums that have just enough interesting tracks to scratch you behind the ear before they breeze by you inauspiciously, leaving you utterly unmoved and wondering "It's over? That was it?" I have to give it up to acts like The Divine Comedy, which at least have the guts to annoy me by fully committing to a sound and style (that I happen to hate). This is purgatory music. Favorite tracks: Honey, How Does It Feel, So Hot. Album art: So it's the name of the band, the name of the album, and a circle of what I thought were track names, but only two are. Budget must have been low for this one. The colors are mildly interesting, as is the flame font. But woof, this is forgettable. 2.5/5
Had never heard of these guys before. Pretty cool psych sounds on here. This definitely influenced the sounds of newer groups such as Spiritualized and Tame Impala.
All good stuff, except for Suicide. Too long, too repetitive.
Top Three Songs: 1) Lord Can You Hear Me 2) So Hot (Wash Away All of My Tears) 3) Come Down Softly to My Soul Bottom Three Songs: 1) Suicide 2) Revolution 3) Let Me Down Gently
On the fence about this one - it’s good shoegaze and gives the genre a good run for it’s money - but it’s a tad too too sparse to stay with you for long after you’ve moved on from it. It’s got good points - think the band Suicide with the extreme edge off - Stone Roses albeit without the pop lushness - and a gospel tint. from their peers Primal Scream. But for 7 min songs need to be a little more than just a droning repetition to be worth listening too - and unfortunately there’s a little too much of that. But it’s a nice discovery nonetheless.
Forgettable and I quickly zoned out and struggled to focus on this. I barely remember any of the songs.
Good!
I wanted to like this album. It has some shining moments (the shorter tracks in particular), but overall it lacks motion and feels directionless. 2
3 spacemen walk Into a bar, then turned around and left. There was no atmosphere.
more embers than pyrotechnics
To timer med forvrengte gitarer? Nei takk. Jeg er litt i tvil på karakteren: Albumet er originalt kun de første ni sangene, og da kunne det kanskje fått en toer. Dessverre er versjonen på Spotify nyere, og inkluderer remikser og live-versjoner. Jeg orker ikke å høre "Suicide", en 12 minutter lang bråkete sang, tre ganger på to timer.
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.
A robotic crab driven by a cat
Once all the live and remix extras were ignored and down to the original nine tracks this was ok. The quieter stretchy tracks worked best.
Too experimental for my ears.
Meh
This music makes me feel like I’m floating. I get 80s no-wave, experimental rock vibes. The drone effects tend to become boring after a while. Guitar is really fuzzy-sounding (listen to Revolution), which is very reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine. Favorite songs: Honey, Come Down Softly to My Soul, and I Believe It.
Somebody needs to teach this band what a chord change is.
Very dull. Not for me.
It's overly long and repetitive.
At first listen, the alternative sound of grungy guitar riffs, moderate tempo, and clean production was inviting. Nice sound... but pretty boring. Nothing really to keep me listening.
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.
Occasionally threatened to be interesting, but overall, just a bit too out there for me.
Boring assault on the ears
I don't know that shit was weird
Hated it. Awful crap. Sucked. Why are they making me listen to this tripe? I can't find any redeeming value whatever in this so called music. Pure torture to listen to. 0/10 do not recommend.
No more shoe-gaze albums that have Wikipedia pages where the only note is that it is on this list
Most of the album sounds like early David Bowie which would be cool if this album didn't come 25 years *after* early David Bowie. The track "Suicide" sounds a lot like the band Suicide, which doule be cool if this album didn't come 12 years *after* Suicide. Spacemen 3? More like Derivative 3
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!
Lämpenin tälle :p spotify mhmmm albumi löytyy joo spotifystä joo mhmmm vieläs 2h:nakin sieltä voi kuunnella 2 tuntia siis :)
Hard to get through this whole album
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.
So diverse, ruthless riffs alongside gentle gems, yet it seems to fit.
Fav Tracks: Honey, Che too slow and quiet (except for Suicide)
Canciones en ocasiones un tanto psicodélicas en otras un poco más guitarrero. Poco de vocal. Calificación intermedia por la sensación que te deja cada uno de los temas
Slow and boring
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.
No idea what is this
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.
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
Its a lovely combination of lush sounds and arthouse rock. Its really good. A -1 for some lyrical naffness
You can certainly hear the origins of Spiritualized. I enjoyed this.
very experimental early psychedelic music
Rock psicodélico. Ni fu ni fa.
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
I can fuck with this. Not my favorite but pretty OK
A great flowing start to a bad and harsh ending
I do enjoy some fuzzy, psych rock. This didn't all hit for me but stuff like Suicide was very enjoyable.
not bad. Although I had it on and forgot I was listening to it. So it didn't make an impact on me.
Awful
Not quite.
Finally, a soundtrack for taking drugs!!
Background music. Found myself daydreaming and not paying attention which is rare. Didn't like it that much, but wasn't offended by it. 2.5 rated up to 3.
No idea what this is but here are my predictions: - from the UK - electronica of some kind - goes for an hour or more Basically nailed it. From the UK, isn't strictly electronica but is primarily synth sounds, samples and noises etc. Goes for 2 hours and can GET FUCKED. Good god this was a whole lot of boring nothingness. 1/5.
Songs that give you anxiety!
too psychadelic for my liking
It started fine but it got very long...
Interesting. I never heard this before, and its pretty good. 3/5
Didn’t enjoy much
kind of boring, not totally without merit, but boring
Really dug it!
I want to say this was alright but I really can’t. It was pretty dull. I guess they tried hard.
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.
Liked the psychedelic aspects. Probably would have liked it more about 25 years ago
I had never heard of this band, album and I wasn't sure what to expect when I clicked play on the first track, Honey. I'm an hour in...and nothing has hooked me yet. It's lo-fi beats with boring, flat whispering layered over it. Where's the hits?! I had to turn it off. I couldn't even take it as "background noise".
- Never listened to a Spacemen 3 album before - When I saw who was in this band, I had high expectations - Disappointed, thought it was very forgettable and dull
Se ve que los ácidos o el espacio no son lo mío.
Definitely nope.
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
I did not like this music.
Pretty mellow, a little sleepy at times. Mostly instrumental, didn't really do anything for me 2/5
Boring
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.
I feel like I'm being blasted with subliminal messages. I really don't know what happened during "Suicide", but it was pretty cool. Certainly better than the band it's named after. I'm out of ideas for funny quips, so I'm just going to steal a joke from somebody in the reviews for Kid A: "This album has more drones than the Obama administration". 3/5, one point for each spaceman.
Would be great if high.
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
Oh god, feels like a stoner asking "but how do you really feel man?" and dragging you down at a party when you just want to have fun.
dreamy, slow moving, hazy, spacey. As I was listening to this I though "Sounds like spiritualized" only to find out this is the previous band of the spiritualized frontman! Though I don't think this has the tonal and instrumental variety of that band. It's a vibes album
i dig it
Very good musicians. I am sure I would’ve liked them had I heard them in my “stoner” days.
Eh
Some fun space/psych rock, I enjoyed it. Kinda weird song titles though
Started as a pretty spacey popish album ended up becoming drone, then I realized I was listening to covers of Suicide songs. Not sure if it's the version I listened to but if i wanted Suicide I would just listen to Suicide
interesting
A bit boring, isn't it? The band sounds like they have been playing guitar for not-so-long and are on a - trip - to experimentation and self-discovery. Also, they obviously have just discovered digital delay effects, overusing them in almost every song. Put all of that under the moniker of "psychedelic" or "experimental", but this album fails to reach me like others from the same genres do. 2/5
horrible
A contender for the 1001 Albums You Should Avoid Hearing Because You’ll Die of Boredom book.
4.25
That was pretty hard to listen to.
Heel rustig en zweverig, maar ik heb er het geduld niet voor. **
Not my cuppa.
Heard it before?: No Enjoy it?: Not really, a bit too somber and slow for me but quite nice atmosphere for a few tracks Favourite song: Track 9 - Lord Can You Hear Me
I must have been tired when I looked at this cover at and thought I’d be listened to a band called Specimen 3. Clearly, I’ve forgotten how to read. I hadn’t heard of this band or this album until today so let’s see how it is. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Revolution Experimental music has always been somewhat hit and miss for me. If it’s too different to what I’m used to, I’ll often have a hard time listening to it. Well four minutes into track 3 (How Does It Feel) I had completely lost interest in this album. Track was was okay, but then it was all downhill from there. I can say it was interesting at times, but that isn’t to say I enjoyed it. If I woke up one morning without kneecaps, that would also be interesting but not very fun. I think that’s an accurate simile for this album. It’s the audio equivalent of unexplainably losing your kneecaps.
Pretty annoying. A few moments of "not bad" but never approaching enjoyable. A lot of the songs felt fragmented or unfinished. Not particularly interesting in any way.
Kinda ass
I have never heard of this band. With pretty much every track I feel as if I am waiting for the song to begin - as if it is unfinished. Good background music……I guess.
Neo psiquedèlia amb tractament suposadament innovador i experimental, però com la majoria de casos semblants, la buscada suggestió emmascara un nivell de creativitat molt baix i la manca de cançons interessants a les quals agafar-se fa de l'àlbum un monument a l'avorriment
Some songs I dug. But the majority of the album just felt like "oh I guess it's better than not having music on?" so I don't know if I can say I necessarily enjoyed it. This is definitely a 2.5, but given the way I nearly hated all my 2 ratings, it's getting a 3.
The start of it made me think of what a whole album of the song just like honey by the Jesus and mary chain would sound like then at the middle it got interesting, suicide was way too long for what it was then the final track was quite nice. 3/5
Forglemmelig
Interesting, sounds like a mild shrooms trip - almost like the audio representation of that body and mental high. A gentle psychedelic haze and the droning, dream, hypnotic quality really helps elevate it. I swear I even heard some surf-rock type of riffs in there! I do think there were some duds, but as a whole it does work. I feel like it could be best experienced as an active listen rather than a passive one.
Not a 1000 list
Pretty good
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.
"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.
Yeah, kind a love this
This one didn't do it for me. And I liked Perfect Prescription a fair bit...
Rating: 5/10
I tried. But 2 hours of this? Naaaa....
This album read the book and went by it for 40 minutes straight. It's kind of impressive in that respect. Also, the album cover has threes on it for god's sake.
Was a nice listen and I'd be happy to have this as background music but there was also nothing special about it.
1/10, 10%
Not for me.
robert dimery be like including more than like 5 motown/blues/country albums: ❌ including 200 boring british alt-rock bands: ✅
A bit too experimental sounding for my taste.
Hard to understand.
Strange album, it was ok, but felt like it was building to something that never came
Yeah. Peter frampton is like The Bee Gees an example of 70s excess. But damn it, they are wonderful. So well crafted. Stand outs are of course show me the way, baby I love your way, and do you feel like we do.
2.5 stars. Vocals more spoken than sung. Repetitive in build up, heavy distortion. First part of album slow and boring, takes a while to get going. Gets better with "Revolution" to end
No es para mí
Take me to outer space, baby
Not sure how I'd classify this, but surprisingly good. Kind of like an analog EDM. ADM?
Oh, wow, never listened to these guys before but am a big fan or Spiritualized. What a fun trip.
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....
Básicamente ruido, sin ton ni son.
Parts are pretty, parts are engaging and heavy. But the songs never seem to have a structure, the loops last too long to engage, I get bored by the heavy parts somehow. The vocals are all over the place and mixed very strangely. Maybe a revisit
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.