Germfree Adolescents

nah

This is completely subjective. Just not my thing. I found her voice insanely aggravating.

"Debuut" album van de Engelse punkband X-Ray Spex, alhoewel veel materiaal al als singles was verschenen. Nogal oppervlakkige punk met maar een paar ok nummers dat de aandacht niet vast weet te houden. leukste nummer: Identity De single "Oh Bondage! Up Yours!" creëerde interesse in meer materiaal van de band, ondanks een radioverbod van de BBC.

Okay but not something I’d listen to much

First it was super annoying Brit pop, then it was somewhat tolerable punk. Not my favorite album so far.

I am not a big fan of late 70s punk as it all sounds the same. This album is ok. Not bad, not good. Just there.

It was probably ground breaking in 1978, now it sounds like cookie cutter punk

I really wanted to listen to this and it started off with a bang. However, over time it really began to be difficult to listen to. I just didn't like it by the end.

Instrumentals were good could’ve used a different singer

They had me in the first half, not gonna lie, but oh look another song that just has power chord strumming, repetitive lyrics, and a saxophone feature! Under the right circumstances I can understand the praise for this album, but I feel like we’ve been on a weeklong stretch of albums that I really didn’t need to hear before I die. I can spend time addressing the elephant in the room (the outlandishly British accent), but I won’t. Instead I’ll say that I just really wish that every song wasn’t the same tempo, in the same key, at the same length, with the same dynamic range. What can I say? It’s BORING and at times quite annoying to sit through.

Honestly the very first note I heard I thought oh hey this could be cool! The music was spunky and different and quite interesting. Buy the voice just ruined all holes of it being good. It’s upsetting because without the awful singing the music had high potential, but I couldn’t listen to one more minute with the voice.

Well, punk. Sigh. To be fair, to me this leans a bit more to new wave than punk, but...jeeeez the big roadblock here is the vocals, as ever. Honestly the music is pretty cool - if we had someone who could sing just a bit - just a bit - this could have been something bigger. Short review/impression: head bobbing music that I can absolutely see being fun in the right situation but those vocals (and *weirdly* out of place saxophone) just make it impossible to recommend. killer bass lines tho. 4/10 2 stars

Nice use of saxophone, but I just couldn't with the voice.

Didn’t really do it for me. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood. Seemed like it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be.

Thought I would like it but didnt. A lot of songs about hygene

couldn't get through it

I wanted to like this more than I did, but it hurt my ears.

2/5

The vocals were way too grating way to much. Took a long time to get used to. Extra star for the music sounding way ahead of it's time

Not into it. Some interesting stuff in there, but largely overshadowed by the grating vocals.

Can’t stand her voice but good band

Punk with sax??? Nubbad

This is... not good. At first, I could tolerate it, but then it kept going. There is just something about punk that I cannot stand.

Not great, not inspired, the sound can be good, but some of the songs are more screaming then they are singing.

An ok britsh punk rock album with some odd lyrics, like looking magizines or having plastics bang. Another thing about this album is how thick the lead vocalist british accents. It can be a bit heavy. Very surprising to me with germfree adolescents was all the metalish riffish

I like the instrumentals, but absolutely cannot stand the singer's voice. 2/5

I tend to like this type of punk slightly more than the other punk albums I’ve gotten so far but I was not a fan of this one. Get an annoying voice with not very notable vocals

Not being the biggest fan of punk, I felt this was okay. The instrumentals are pretty sweet and the sax popping in is pretty refreshing. I found the vocals to be a little grating when she sung in the high pitch, aggressive tone. The calmer songs are cool though. 4/10

A few appealing songs: Germfree adolescents, identity. Some strong guitar riffing, ok girly vocals, but too often copycat Johnny Rotten snarls, which could be dropped.

Dit komt toch heel dicht bij herrie. **

One of the better punk albums on the list. 2.5/5

terrible timing for this album to come up. just spent 3 days watching punk bands, which is at least 1 day too many. so this was crap for a couple of reasons. 1, i've gone punk blind. it'll be months before i can listen to punk and appreciate it. 2, it would have ranked very lowly against most of the music i've heard this weekend. I get that its original from off of the time punk was new so its influential, but that doesn't mean i have to enjoy it.

A bit shit fro what i actually bothered with

Not bad, but can't be doing with a sax on a punk record.

'70s punk plus Pat Benatar vocals plus a saxophone. Also you can't understand a single word on the album, so that was unique. I understand the vibe but it bordered on annoying.

That voice hurt my ears

jag kan gilla skrikig sång och så men det här köper jag inte. blir för mycket bara.

Sem entusiasmo, pois não tem no deezer.

This album is just screaming at me for no reason, Jesus. What a God awful beginning song with 'Germfree Adolescence,' but then somehow it gets worse? What is she saying, and why does she have to scream it constantly? Please stop. I like punk but this is ridiculous. The quieter moments where I don't feel like someone has a megaphone to my ear save this from being a 1 star.

Not big fan, early punk? Need to look up more!

Meh

It was OK

maybe this was cool in 1978? 2/5.

Can't listen to it, no longer on spotify.

Yoko Ono-esque shouting that just annoyed the shit out of me. 2 stars due to quality music.

Saved Prior: Germfree Adolescents Off Rip: I Can't Do Anything Cutting Edge: Warrior in Woolworths Overall Notes: Thought I recognized the name "X-Ray Spex" when it came up on this week's Discover Weekly and sure enough. Cheeky punk rock with a sax. It's fine. Strong 2.

Waarom staat dit in deze lijst en waarom alleen maar schreeuwen als je duidelijk best kunt zingen?

Het kan toch niet waar zijn dat deze afschuwelijkheid tot de 1001 beste albums behoort? Blazers best leuk, maar die hysterische zang! 🥵

1978. Oh Bondage, Up Yours!

The songs aren't too bad, and I credit the punk, but as an album - too many of the songs sound the same.

I honestly could not finish this. Poly Styrene's voice is too much for me, it's incredibly annoying. 1+ for the tight instrumentals, as Germ Free Adolescents could have been a very decent punk release.

This kind of girly punkrock always sounds so innocent and cute. Its so boring to me. May be the best punk-rock album I've come across though, I'd give it a 3 but I'll bump it down to a 2 because of the crappy vocals. It has some great energy to it though. ... Actually Bordering a 1 because of the title track. Holy shit thats the worst thing I've ever heard. Ok first half is ok but second half is so terrible.

Die lila Batiktruppe aus dem JuZe war dosenstechen beim Sex-Pistols Gig und hat jetzt auch ne Band. An der Rotzkanne: Adelheid, die sich aber jetzt Ätzy nennt. Gebe knapp mehr als 1,5 Punkte und muss jetzt erstmal Candy Dulfer hören.

Sounds like a poor man's Blondie (and I don't like Blondie that much)

This one is mixed for me. On the one hand, I love the vocals. On the other hand, they're so constantly harsh that I wished I could just get a little break now and then. Some more contrast in energy, I suppose. Because energy is what it's made of, this album. Its main redeeming quality to me is the wonderful sax. The overall feel is a bit too much like a jingle for a children's show - direct, catchy and distinct, but a bit too much of all those things. I think if the whole album had used some of the moderation in the title track, it would have been stronger overall.

Honestly spoiled by the vocals. Otherwise solid punk!

Empezó con mucha fuerza pero después me pareció todo lo mismo 2/5

It's pretty odd, and screechy.

Too much shouting, but I liked the songs with more melody

Just pretty average punk. Not great or bad.

Not for me

Heard worse

Mad punk

Decent enough but can’t see me going back to it

very low fi punk and good fun but fuck listening to the vocals for a full album. The odd song, at the right time, i'd enjoy.

not memorable, singer was p bad but funny name

Primera canción bien, luego bastante repetitivo.

a perfectly fine album that doesn't need to be on this list

Meh

Really didn’t like it at first, then it started to grow on me

Interesting. I had a hard time finding the proper album, apparently they've changed the tracklist once or twice. I don't take that as a good sign. Anyway, it's punk music. Good energy, good angst. I generally like punk rock, but I don't really like this. At album's length it feels very flat. A few highlights of course but for the most part just not very engaging. Not sure how an album like this lands on Rolling Stone's top 500, or even on this list, unless perhaps it's highly influential. It certainly sounds newer than 1978, but hearing it for the first time now? I've heard a lot better. Favorite tracks: Germ Free Adolescents, Plastic Bag, I Live Off You. Album art: I do like this cover quite a bit. Creative, good colors, fits the album title very well. If only the music were as fun. 2.5/5

Ugh

Female sex pistols. Was alright

Definitely a punk/ska forefather. Really cool but not my fave.

OMG her voice makes me want to rip out my eardrums. The lyrics are kinda fun and appropriate. But that voice.

Oops just listened to a few songs. Sounds tight but wasn’t keen on vocals but in fairness need to listen more. Also a bit grating and full on on the morning

"I'm headed back with my pet rat" I dont know, the album was fine but nothing special. Nothing stood out to me other than Im headed back with my pet rat. 3/8.

Otra basura de album

#30 A noisy and repetitive punk album, with unintelligible shout-singing throughout. The saxophone is an interesting choice for this style of music, and is the only memorable part of the whole album. It didn't make it any better though. Glad it's over.

No jarring

not very good

this is for kids 1/5

Well .. a female punk band with a saxophone. Hmmm, her voice shrieking is a bit too much for me, sounds the same all the way through - except for the Germfree song, which is different enough to like, but the lyrics ... geez. I won't be coming back to this. it's a no for me.

What a load of crap. The only good thing about this band is the singers name.

She could have tried to sing properly at least once

Sorry I hate it. This is one of the only albums I didn't finish on the Rolling Stone list.

fuck off

Absolutely HATE this style and always have. Lasted a song and a half.

ughhh

Loše 1/5, 1/10

Really really noisy and the horrible saxophone tone was painful to listen to. I was miraculously bored and overstimulated at the same time

Moeilijk om te beoordelen omdat ik het genre sowieso niet leuk vindt. Vanmorgen toen ik haast had op de fiets werkte het wel, maar ik kan me geen andere reden voorstellen waarom je dit voor je plezier zou willen luisteren. Ik word er gestrest van

Ben niet gemaakt voor dit soort muziek. Heel kut, saxofoon ook.

Not my kind of music at all.

So much shouting. No thanks.

Nope

Someone should tell these sassy little girls to be quiet

Liked the vibe, added to my library.

Tämmöstä köyhän naisen blondieta. Meinas olla eka levy jota ei jaksanut kuunnella edes loppuun asti.

Kakkosputki jatkuu, mut ei tämäkään saanut viisaria värähtämään. Ehkä jossain feministi-iltamissa voisi toimia, mutta nyt olin himassa

On kyllä niin karseeta laulantaa että korviin sattuu. Eikä muillakaan meriiteillä kuuhun mennä.

'Als vrouwen deze wereld besturen, wordt alles beter.' Hm, ik vrees dat in de politiek dezelfde verschrikkelijke types komen bovendrijven, ongeacht het geslacht. En in de muziek is het helaas ook al zo. Deze dames hebben niks aan het punkgenre toe te voegen dat we niet al van de heren gehoord hadden. Namelijk vals kattengejank, zorgvuldig gespeend van enig talent. Muzikaal heeft het nog wel wat glamrock-achtigs, maar de zang weet het vakkundig te verpesten. Volgende plaat graag.

Not worth your time.

So far two songs in and it’s just piercing, unintelligible yelling/shrieking. Not sure I can take another 35 minutes of this. Oh, a little less shrieky. Still not good, though. Nope, back to it. Ok, finished disc one and I think I’m done. This is just bad. And I don’t see it going anywhere good.

Not my style, very repetitive album. I was not able to differentiate the songs.

👎🏻

I don't understand what they mean And I could really give a f*ck

All girl punk band from the seventies. Sounds good on paper, not so good as a listen. Only 42 minutes and couldn’t wait for it to be over. I think the 1001 Must Hear List originator was just throwing the X-Ray Spex a bone. The lead singer is just screeching way out of her range. The songs are terrible. Only bright spot is that the sax player can blow. (0.8*s) Was hoping for so much more…

At least it has some energy. 2/10

This is my brother-in-law’s kind of music. Not for me. Mainly girls yelling. No thanks!

hmm, very loud, and not vibing

A fifth 1 star rating on the trot. A new personal best (worst). But this was better than I expected, but not by much.

Bad punk with saxophones and horrible singing

Music is pretty good, I'm all ready to rock out. And then the singer starts....singing? Yelling? I don't know. She's unintelligible 90% of the time. I have no idea what she's saying. The saxophone is a really nice touch. Best song: Warrior in Woolworths

Not my style or preference. 1.5/5

Garbage album. Couldn’t make it through 2 songs.

No thanks.

Not for me

Not big into punk but pop off

I guess my 9th grade punk phase really was just a phase. And why so much saxophone?!?

The worst vocals I've heard on this list, and that's saying a lot

All those 5 star reviews, you guys are wrong. I'd rather Freddy Krueger come get me instead of listening to this album again. Acceptable track: Plastic Bag 1/5

Meh

This was a hard listen. I did enjoy moments of the sax but wow, very annoying.

it was fun! not my fav

Incredibly annoying sound and borderline unintelligible vocal performance. Particularly disappointed with the drums, as there were multiple moments of them just not being correctly in time? Even managed to make a saxophone sound shrieky and unappealing.

The vocals were occasionally sound.

En digannut, puolessavälissä piti lopettaa, lauluääni etenkin otti aivoon.

I have zero interest in this music

Wildly bad. Spotify says their lyrics are revolutionary. I thought she was screaming French until halfway through. Fuck this album and fuck the saxophone

I didn't realize how much i disliked punk until i joined this site. Even less this cringy teenage stuff

I see what they are trying, but when the singer starts to sing it's just terrible

Terrible singer with mediocre music behind it. It's bad so just save your time and listen to something else.

Never heard of this band... The album is a no from both of us

Actually hating this one. Like sandpaper for the ears.

Too loud. I'm old.

uhhh that was... something

no

fun cover art but didn’t like

no.

This is fast becoming the 1,001 albums to avoid.

70’/

This album was not for me. It was general punk pop but not very interesting or engaging at all. Great album cover though!

The entire album was noise. Just dreadful.

not for me

What

the only good part how cute she sounded as she said "warrior warrior warry-warrior"

I guess I just don't like punk. That sax really made me wanna stop listening

Didn’t even finish. I get it

Yeesh. "Grating" is probably a good summary

Bad, really hard to get through this one

i've never been the biggest punk fan myself, i like some ramones/sex pistols on the radio from time to time but there's always been a sentiment of "no you don't get it, punk is supposed to be annoying to listen to.", i don't like being annoyed. at least they had the decency to keep it short. (shoutout to the sax tho, ya love to see it)

Okropny głos. Nie mogę tego słuchać tbh

These are some of the most irritating vocals I've ever heard. Too many (sometimes one-note) melodies being unpleasantly shouted at me. I made it through, but it was hard to listen to.

What the fuck is this mastering. I'm only on the first track and it's unbearable. The female vocalist's voice is simultaneously muddy, without detail, and piercing. When the other instruments kicked in, her voice still sounded far too loud while every other element was significantly louder. This track sounds like a pre-set rhythm on a knockoff Yamaha stapled to a dying cat. It's like Poly Styrene has zero control over the volume of her voice and it's constantly maxed out, so they just turn it down during editing.

Lmao what? Nah.

I'm bored of punk now DNL

Not my style of music, the singing sounds like screaming at some points Some of the lyrics are also slightly questionable: "I dreamt of being hitler" for example I probably didnt catch the full context, but out of context that is not the greatest look

Absolute shite from start to finish.

Now you're pushing it.

You know how British artists can sing and not even sound British. This is one of those times where that never happens. The singer may be one of the worst I’ve heard on this list. The only redeeming part of this album is the saxophone. The jazz punk sax was pretty cool but not redeeming enough for the rest of the bad album. 2.5/10

La música no esta mal, pero la voz es repugnante.

Not really a fab of punk so this album was going to be a bit of a stretch for me to listen to

Never heard of this band before. Wish I hadn't.

I can see how this was progressive at the time and an influence on the future, but not for me.

I thought this was punk. This is new wave. I love punk. Aside from Talking Heads, I can't stand new wave.

Highly disliked, awful noise

Amateurlärm

DNF

Garbage

It's very erratic but that's obviously the theme they are going for unfortunately most of the tracks on Spotify are blocked for me so I can't give a decent review.

this shit sucks

no

Just awful

This was just noise, and I did not enjoy it.

Purposefully jarring singing is not good.

No.

One of those punk bands with an annoying lead singer voice

I just couldn't with this one. I thought the horns might save this but no.

bad

It was okay. I never got into them.

About as bad as the human mind can imagine.

Kass

Apologies fellas, i am late to the game but alas i am still here to review. I hate it already. Good god i’m 30 seconds in and i hate it. Lets see if that changes… Well it was the 70’s, so the vocal style makes sense, it just doesn’t sound good. The instrumentals are good, no problem with the backing track. Its just those awful vocals. The saving grace really the saxophone and thats about it. Each song sounds to the same i hate it so much. Just like kid rock, i could not finish this album. Apologies, fellas, i tried my best.

Ikke lige min kop te. Meget uforløsende punk med rigtig skrabet blæs. Bliver kedeligt i længden.

This was not good.

I was not impressed with this punk album until hearing “Plastic Bag.” “It’s 1977 and we’re all going mad!” and the Black Sabbath slow guitar and single sax make it strange and likeable. The recording quality, like most punk of the era, sounds like $%\+.

Really don't like this sound

Awful vocals

What I remembered of X-ray Specs was a lot of noise and very little music. It turns out that my memory was reasonably good. The version of the album that I listened to only has 15 of the 37 tracks available (Spotify in Brazil) which means that I have not had the dubious pleasure of listening to either the live versions on disc 2 or the rough mixes etc at the end of disc 1. I am sure that I haven't missed much. One or two tracks on a compliation of punk would be OK, but 15 tracks in a row is about thirteen too many. ( I dread to think what 37 would have been like)

Wow, that's so bad, it's like a constant whining My mother begged me to stop this torture, but I endured until the end.. it was painful

The music is good but that has to be the single most unpleasant ear-shattering vocalist I have ever heard.

no me importó en lo absoluto en una palabra: meh

Nope. Voice is the main put off.

Wow my ears were already super fatigued of listening to that voice after 2 songs. And then I had to listen to the rest of the album. Actual pain, not just dislike. Had to listen at lowest possible volume. Even HER voice sounds fatigued the whole time. It sounds like the b52s tried to make a punk album. Best lyric was “I’ve dreamt that I was hitler, ruler of the sea, ruler of the universe.”

For the love of God, DICTION!!!!!

The singer's voice is unbearable, and the band takes liberties with the instruments, including a saxophone, which doesn't fit the feel of the songs at all. The singer feels like she can only hit 3 notes and seems to find a frequency which could break eardrums if played too loud.

I can hear how this never made it. Cover redeems it. Cover art 5/5

Found a shitty YouTube upload of the album. Cool use of the saxophone, but I’m not digging the punk sound overall.

most of the album missing on spotify. Like the melody and beat but the vocals aren't great imo

Objectively bad music. Kind of felt like I had Stockholm syndrome when the title track came on. I asked myself, “is this good? Or was everything else before it so bad that I now think this is good?” It wasn’t good. Not sure I needed to listen to this one, but it’s still better than that John Zorn album.

Rownowaga we wszystkim, wczoraj peakowy album, to dzisiaj zwiedzamy otchlanie brytyjskiego punka, Germ Free Adolescents to debiutancki album 5 osobowej bandy X-Ray Spex, wedlug wiki jeden z najmocniejszych punkowych materialow z wysp, a jak dla mnie jeden z najbardziej pretensjonalnych i niepowaznych materialow jakie mialem okazje przesluchac w ramach tej listy, dziwnym trafem frontowym menem jest baba, mianowicie Poly Styrene, ktora na materiale jest odpowiedzialna za teksty i "wokale" czyli najbrutalniejsza strone plyty, bo o ile granie ani mnie grzeje, ani nie chlodzi, a jedynym zaskoczeniem jest mocne wykorzystanie saksy, tak niezbyt punkowo, a raczej skowo, ale to co pani poly przygotowala lirycznie potezna dawke punkowych oczywistosci doprawionych mocnym feministycznym stylem bycia, no ale to jeszcze nie jest najgorsza strona plyty, najwiekszym problemem podczas odsluchu byl dla mnie wokal, wiadomo ze wyspiarskie klimaty, to poziom hard zrozumienia, ale tutaj niektore traki brzmia jak giberisz, dopiero po odpaleniu tekstu da sie cos zrozumiec, moze to ze wzgledu na multikulturowe korzenie wokalistki, mlody wiek rozpoczecia dawania po kablach w hipisowskich sklotach, dopiero teraz zguglowalem sobie pania wokalistke i okazalo sie, ze podczas nagrywania tego materialu miala na zebach potezny aparat, ktory nie tylko robil ja o wiele bardziej feministycznym baboem, ale takze w tak prosty sposob byl wymowka tak okropnych zdolnosci wokalnych, cale szczescie tym razem nie musze wybierac co dodac na plejke, bo dyskografia bandy nie istnieje na spotifaju, poza livowym albumiki z 2k09, wiec material zszabrowany z soulseeka, ale rownie dobrze moglbym posluchac tego na jutubie, jakosc wokalu i tak pewnie by duzo nie stracila, takze od strony technicznej sluchac biede i brak doswiadczenia ze strony producenkiej, takze jeden z pierwszych materialow pana na produkcji, ktory zostal producentem kolejnych albumow zespolu, dawno nie wymeczyl mnie tak bardzo 35 minutowy krazek

In een woord, verschrikkelijk!

We hebben een K, we hebben een U, we hebben een T, what's that spell? KUT muziek!

Hatte nie viel übrig für den rotzig/bratzigen riot übrig. Anfangsworte des ipeners unterschreibe ich sofort, aber musikalisch werde ich nix warm. 1.4

NO.

Solo vayamos con el siguiente por favor

// Favs: Oh Bondage! Up Yours! Score: Strong 1

Soooooo. That was so fucking annoying lol. Lead singer has a gift for contorting her voice in the most mind rotting pose possible for each note. God that was just... annoying. In your face for no reason. Plastic Bag was an... experience. Though I appreciate what she was going for ok that song hearing "I dreamt that I was Hitler. Ruler of the seas"... let's just say I was not ready for that on this fine Saturday morning. But yeah, paper bag and warrior in Woolworths are the only song that stuck out to me. Just not my cup of tea.

Pants. Not nice comfy ones either, I mean pants so tight and ill fitting that they ride right up inside you and give you a nasty rash. And they're made of thistles.

Too shouty, not for me

Load of rubbish

Crap

I was not a fan of this album at all. I thought the "singing" was terrible, and it felt like it was off-beat or each member of the band was doing their own thing. It wasn't all bad but it was not good either.

Too much reeing noise. You may as well start screeching.

asd

First track started promising and just sounded the same

Definitely not a fan...

Chore to get through.

Not too bad, debbie horris like