Fuzzy

I was expecting much out of this one, but it was pretty solid. It's like a better version of Ryan Adams,, and not problematic (hopefully). Maybe a hint of songs:Ohia too. This is just some very good alt. Country rock. Nothing all that special, but still pretty solid. Low 4.

I liked this. But some of the influences are a bit too close to the original

This is a great example of a clear side A and side B go a record. The first half had great and memorable 90's bangers, then the second half wasn't outright bad, but they all clearly sounded like B-sides. Just very middle of the road songs that weren't all that memorable. 3/5

Acclaimed by no more significant a name than Michael Stipe as the album of 1993, it certainly epitomises the Neil Young/Crazy Horse influence on the music of the decade and is no doubt viewed as a key Americana album of the time. I do hear elements of the Band and Donovan on later tracks on the album, but I'm struggling to hear any major inspiration in the musical style and approach of Grant Lee Collins. A bit so so I'm afraid - I only know the name from a track on a freebie CD with Q magazine from '94.

Better than expected.

Buen disco; pensaba que eran más country debido a su nombre. Se merece un tres.

A really good album but one that I think needs repeat listening to get into. I think this one might be more than a 3 stars actually but I'd need to sit with it a little longer

A very typical non-grunge 90s sounding artist. He is talented but nothing overly special that I feel I missed by not having heard this album before.

Not bad in any way. Just not real exciting.

I'd like to enjoy it more, but it's just a 3 for me.

this did nothing for me. this list would be so much more impactful if it was cut in half or more, but instead we find ourselves wasting years

Its OK nothing out of this world

Another album where the first song promises a lot more than the rest of the album delivers. If the rest of the album were like The Shining Hour, it might have gotten a five from me. As it stands, the rest of the album is extremely derivative of Bowie, Young, and Mellancamp, along with all the late 80's, early 90's alt bands like R.E.M., Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam. Hell, the opening few chords and the vocals of Jupiter and Teardrop are a straight rip from Ziggy Stardust. It's fine. His voice does get irritating by the end of the album though.

This feels very alternate reality. What if alt country became the Nirvana? It's ok but really doesn't feel culturally relavent

Pretty good.

solid album, three stars

3.5/5

Was okay, but nothing really grabbed me by the ears

No justification for my opinion. Didn't like it that much

Angenehm zu hörendes Rock-Album. Manchmal etwas quietschende Stimme. 3/5

Country vibe is not for me either but record quality was better than other albums that i had listened lately.

I am always down to find more Alt-Country as it is becoming one of my favorite genres to listen to, and Grant Lee's Buffalo happens to be an album I know nothing about. For this being Grant Lee's debut album, it feels very lived in and aged with a nice youthful voice at the center of it all. It is an album that is comforting and feels right for a much more stoic and isolated lifestyle as Grant strums his guitar in such a pleasant fashion. There is something about Americana and Alt-Country music that really hits me just right and once again Grant Lee seems to tap right into that well. Sometimes there just isn't a whole lot to say and I feel that way about Fuzzy, it hits all the beats I want it to and does it in a pretty memorable way thanks to a small but notable variety of sounds. Nuff said!

mid

Eerste helft van het album is erg sterk, daarna zakt het best wat in, net teveel voor een 4

Another album that justifies its place on this list. Never heard of this band, but there are some great songs here. Lovely voice too, reminiscent of Frank Black at times. Favourite tracks: The Shining Hour, Jupiter and Teardrop, Fuzzy, Stars n' Stripes, Dixie Drug Store.

When I saw "debut album" and "rock band" on the listing for this album I was quite excited. GLB are not an act I have ever heard of, and with rock being my bread and butter I had high hopes I was going to find something on here I would like. On this occasion I feel like the handy-dandy Wikipedia heading misled me, and I should have paid closer attention to the genre listing as country off to the side. Because this is rock in the loosest possible sense. Don't get me wrong I didn't dislike this album, the lyricism and vocal performance were very solid and a lot of very novel and interesting stories were woven in the songs here (Dixie Drug Store particularly stuck out to me and is probably the album's highlight for my listening ears), but overall this feels very of its era. You can tell this was released when R.E.M and Nirvana ruled the world, with its softer music and vocal focus, vocals that don't squander the focus but feels quite departed from the genres (both rock and country) who have planted their flags in the ground. Not unpleasant. but not overly noteworthy. Worth a listen once, though I'd hesitate to return to it too soon.

Meh...After a while his voice just grated and was so whiny. It felt a little fuzzy and he was just a little emo and sad but in a 90's almost alt rock way. A couple of songs here and there might have made me fall in love with this but as a whole album experience, I just kind of felt empty

With such a glowing endorsement by Michael Stipe, I had high hopes for this. And I’d say this album mostly delivered on those. There’s really strong musicianship throughout and I love the storytelling too. I wish they would’ve sprinkled in a few more songs like the first track, it was the best one to bop to, but overall I thought this was pretty great.

This was actually pretty good, some nice tunes, Jupiter and Teardrop was a highlight

This will be interesting - I've definitely never heard this one before. The guy on the cover looks a bit like a guy my ex was cheating on me with - with that little chin beard fuzz, maybe thats what the album title is about? Okay, I'll try not to let that influence my objectivity. The acoustic nature of this would have been right up my alley in 1993. And so far this is maybe better than the jangle pop that showed up everywhere a few years later. The quiet-loud-quiet in "Jupiter and Teardrop" is on target for the time, certainly showing some Pixies influence and jiving with thier tour with Paul Westerberg. Okay - yeah, I know "Fuzzy" - this is a great track. "The Hook," although lyrically deeper than the Blues Traveler song of the same name, is a plodding 4 minutes - I prefer the jauntiness of the Popper's harmonica. Interesting use of falsetto in "Stars n' Stripes" - Grant Lee Phillips has what I would imagine is a polarizing voice. Is he singing with a regional accent or is that pretentiousness? Some of these tracks are just a synth or two away from shoegaze or dream pop. I find myself thinking of how much better these songs would be if Jeff Buckley had written/performed them. "Dixie Drug Store" is not great - like a bad take on "Tangled up in Blue." Had I heard this album in 1993 I probably would feel differently, but there are many other albums from that time with a similar alt-country, indie, acoustic sound that don't feel stuck in time like this one. It's okay. But I likey won't be searching this one out.

Listened

It was like a good style, kind of had bits of REM, Jeff Buckley, and Neil Young but without the special sauce. Very difficult to remain engaged through the whole album. Still a nice sound though with some good music and lyrics

GLB is on the receiving end of a personal pet peeve here: it's fine, but when it's a conventional, guitar-led singer-songwriter it HAS to be better than fine. This is uncomplicated, and, being blunt, uninspiring alt-rock with a suspicion of Smashing Pumpkins-lite style grunge. Instantly forgettable.

Pretty standard adult alternative. Underwhelming but not offensive, granted I'm not usually. one for much from the 90s.

I really like his voice. The songs have this slightly country'ish / folksy rock sound, similar to Wilco. I really like the intro track (The Shining Hour). I could imagine this album growing to a 4 with more listens.

There’s notes of Jeff Buckley and Ryan Adams in here, but it definitely feels like a product of its time. I would have likely enjoyed this more if I’d discovered it within the same decade it was released.

The band sounded vaguely familiar but the fact that I can't recall ever hearing any of this music isn't surprising. It's deeply forgettable, softer than the grunge that would have been huge at the time but too affected to buy the emo feelings they're trying to sell. Stars And Stripes was okay.

Enjoyable. Not amazing but good. Probably won't be relistening though.3/5

The '90s really were something, weren't they? Zero memory of these guys, but I saw the music video on Spotify, and yeah, this is a '90s indie rock band.

Correct, rien à dire c’est un peut mid et that’s it

Never heard of the group, wasn't aware of any of their music, but half way through this album it was heading towards a five star review. Enjoyed the opener, got hints of Bowie in Jupiter and Teardrop, hints of REM in Wish You Well and both of those went into the liked songs Spotify playlist. The Hook sounded quite Dylanesque, but it was nicer, because he wasn't singing it. However, after this, it sort of dropped off the hill. Dixie Drug Store was memorable as an intentional Sweet Home Alabama rip off, but I'm not a fan of Sweet Home Alabama anyway. The rest of the songs lacked the impact of the first 5 songs, which is a shame. A high 3 stars.

A surprisingly good album for me from an artist I was not familiar with. Fuzzy is the stand out.

There was a glut of this sort of thing in the early Nineties - vaguely folk-inflected alt-rock, chasing Stipe chasing Dylan but with little of the grace or wit of either. Mostly this just reveals how difficult it is to do what those artists do, because when you fall short the results are vaguely embarrassing. "Dixie Drug Store," for example, is just a "Tangled Up in Blue" knock-off set in New Orleans but by somebody who may or may not have ever actually been to New Orleans. And there's a track called "I Hear America Snoring," which is about the level of subtlety we're operating on here. Figures that they're an L.A. band - that great conglomeration of people alternately pretending and not pretending to be from somewhere else. At least it all sounds pretty good - but there's nothing here I'm going to want to hear again.

There's nothing quite wrong with this album, I just don't particularly like it. The writing is solid, and the production is quality. It's qualified as rock, but hinges on grunge, especially considering it came out in 1993. Songs like "The Hook" and "Dixie Drug Store" are actually rather good and made me want to believe this album could score higher for me, but alas.

This was nice - reminds me of James in places, some good songwriting and quite listenable. I think I had heard the name but never listened to the album. I'll be back. Walking through the fields of Manitoba with Stoic while I listened, that feels like one of those moments you take for granted while it happens but look back on wishing you could repeat it. 3.9

This album is a sonic blueprint of 90's rock. A little dated in that regard, there are still some solid tracks here.

717/1001 2026.10.06

Not quite rock, not quite soft rock. Overall pretty boring

Overall not a bad listen. Truly nothing notable here though.

Titillagið er næs og nostalgískt, hitt er áheyri- en jafnframt óeftirminnilegt. Dugar í 2,8.

Not much to say about this; it's a bang average album to me. Not bad, but not great. I did really like Jupiter and Teardrop tho (my fav song and first listen of the album)

This is one where I would do three and a half if we could

100 percent not familiar with this. not by name. not by tunes. nothing. and it’s really good.

Not bad but I wouldn’t go back to it

Not so good

HUGE upgrade from the last album I got. I really liked this at the start, it slowed during the middle a bit, but the end picked it back up. Enjoyed

It not terrible, but it's not music I would normally listen to. Also, just WTAF is "Gothic Country"?

Their bio says somehow they never reached mainstream success. I have a theory, their music isnt that good.

This album really surprised me There’s something in almost all of these songs that I really like This album is not at all what you’d expect going off of the cover Maybe like 2nd best song I’ve heard called the hook Favorites: the hook, shining hour, soft wolf tread Like 3.5/5 probably

Went in blind. Had no idea about this. Great songs.

Interesting album and great execution. Every song feels intentional, well played and it hits in the right places. An album for any time of day.

That was a pleasant surprise. I went in to this album knowing nothing, never heard of it or them. There is little surprise in me loving something from the early 90s though, it's my era and most of the music I truly adore is from early in that decade. This album slots straight into that whole early 90s melancholy vibe that I love so much. Great voice, good tunes, and puts me in a calm mood. A revelation.

Awesome!

The perfect album for this grey, cold and rainy day.

Had never heard of GLB, was a pass

When I saw the album cover, the artist’s name and the album title, I was worried about today’s listen. I had absolutely no expectations going into it. My guess was that I was about to get some sort of 90s country or cheesy pop country album and, I must admit, I was dreading it. Against all odds, not to quote Phil Collins, I absolutely loved this album! This was nothing like I expected. There’s so much variety throughout, with great musicianship, catchy melodies and songs that immediately grabbed me. It never settles into one predictable sound, and that variety kept me interested from start to finish. “Fuzzy” and “Grace” were particular highlights, but there genuinely wasn’t a track I wanted to skip. Everything on the album is worth a listen, and this has gone from something I expected to struggle through to an album I’ll definitely be coming back to. One of the great things about this challenge is stumbling across albums like this. I went in expecting absolutely nothing and came away with a brilliant new discovery. Favourite tracks: “Fuzzy” and “Grace” were both great tracks. Least favourite tracks: Nothing. Every song is worth a listen. Album artwork: Cheesy and definitely not a reflection of how good the music is. One to forget!.

Yacht tock

i don’t believe one thing this guy says or does. nice photo too my dude.

Idk man

Low 3. There's some musically interesting stuff in here and the lyrics are alright, but it drags like crazy at times. Also Buffalo's vocals work for some songs and absolutely do not for others.

Solid songwriting. That’s it. Grant Lee Phillips can write a good song. The issue with this record at the time was that there were a number of other artists and bands mining similar territory and this record, like all GLB records, was purchased by the same people, including me. R.E.M., The dB’s, Don Dixon, Let’s Active, Chis Stamey and several others just did it better. The best tracks in this album are midway. I know people like the title track, Fuzzy, but it’s further down the list for me. The Hook, Stars n’ Stripes and America snoring are the best of the bunch. Grant’s vocals are terrific and that makes the album enjoyable. A little more melodic variety would have made it great. 3/5

He kinda sounds like Bono, but I won't hold it against him cause the songwriting is pretty good.

This is definitely a case of I already know and love this album. I actually think Mighty Joe Moon is better, but yeah this album is great. Grant Lee Phillips has THE voice.

It doesn't often happen anymore that I am really surprised by an album. This was a really great listen. I really like the Alt Rock / Americana vibe they got going here. It's soulful and melodious but still loud and energetic at times. I really liked the atmopshere on here. Surprised to see this was a band as well, rather than just one guy.

Exceedingly average songs that go nowhere existing in some narcotic space without the warmth of the drug. Occasional cool guitar sounds.

**An ok album

Alt-Country/Alternative Rock/Americana Favorite Songs: The Shining Hour, Fuzzy, Soft Wolf Trend Least Favorite Song: You Just Have to be Crazy Well…it’s a good album…there’s plenty of songs that someone might enjoy here, but if I may, I’m just a little confused on why this was selected as one of the 1001 albums to listen to. I hate to say, but I did thought that some of this might be forgettable, and I’m just going to ignore everything else from the album, really. …meh, whatever. It’s still…a good album, but it’s not one of my favorites. 7/10

I had never really heard of this one before and the first track didn’t give me a lot of hope. Generic 90s alternative rock and nothing more. Then Jupiter and Teardrop opens up and it’s like I’m listening to David Bowie meets peak Bon Jovi or something. The next few songs try to fight it but it slowly starts to creep back into that mushy generic alt rock sound until we hit America Snoring and the vocals start to soar and break us out of the rut. We finish with Grace which almost devolves into this funky Alice In Chains feel (which I like) and then You Just Have to Be Crazy which might as well be a country song. Interesting little progression

Enjoyed this one!

Liked the broody REM vibes on this. I think this one will grow on me if I give it a few more listens.

Another album that I liked but never jumped over to something I loved. There were parts of it that sounded like REM by way of Drive, but without any of the darkness or menace in that song, and I finished the album feeling like they'd missed an opportunity. it's not bad?

The acoustic guitars and the distorted electric guitars mix well together. It's a unique rock album. It's an amazing album! It's not very well known and more people should listen to it!

Gritty, dirty, with an alt rock flavor. This is really good, one of the he most pleasant surprises from this list so far

A decent, fairly mellow album. Nothing really stand out, but I was pleasantly surprised that this wasn't something awful. This list has me a bit skeptical every time a band comes up that I've never heard of, and today was a nice surprise.

Dull, sadly

Upon reading the Wikipedia entry for this album, I was excited to listen. Fell a little flat for me but not unpleasant.

This was an unexpected one. Never heard of GLB and was expecting from the cover a grungy 90s thing. But it’s full of variety, reminding me of The Water Boys and a bit of Velvet Underground too.

Ah Grant Lee Buffalo. This record rocks… Americana and folk infused rock with some country influence sprinkled about. I owned a copy of Mighty Joe Moon after seeing these guys open for REM in ‘95. Always enjoyed the music. Hard to say if I like this one better than Mighty Joe Moon since I’m much more familiar with the latter. But after two listens, it’s got a better edge to it. Went back and relistened to MJM and it wasn’t as compelling as I’d remembered. In any event, good trip down memory lane and this is some very solid folkrock.

Surprised to see scores as low as they are. For me this sounded like Jeff Buckley if Jeff Buckley had a whole album of good songs. Every song was good, production was good. Singing was a bit of an acquired taste but it was interesting. Frankly I think Grant Lee Buffalo missed it's window too 80s for the early 90s but also too indie for the early 90s. in 98 or 2002 this would have been a hit.

90's nostalgic feel. Raw & angsty.

Proper hidden gem this one. Melodic throughout and played with gusto. The title track, Dixie Drug Store and America Snoring are all top notch songs.

I liked the first song and I got excited. But I didn’t really love the rest of the album…it was kind of REM dad rock to me.

A decent album that could be newer

Det är rätt bra. Men jag har inte hunnit lyssna så mycket, tror det skulle bli bättre med fler genomlysningar. Men det är livet. Dags att gå vidare. On to the next one.

Quite nice!

4.5

Unfortunately not enough here to keep my interest. Sounded too much like other bands (U2, Hoodoo Gurus) that I’d just rather be listening to

this was quite pleasant! I was expecting something else (not sure what) from someone called Grant Lee Buffalo but I was quite content to just sit and listen through. I guess a little bit grungey and also a little reminiscent of some of the Go Betweens album we had (or will have soon)

Yeah you could tell this was from an era but nothing grabbed me

I have a very fuzzy memory (no pun intended) of this band being involved in some one-line gossipy story that I’m assuming involved a band member dating an actress or something, and anyway the take away was that they were sort of pretentious. I get that now. I thought it was pretty good when it was on in the background, but I liked it much less when I could actually hear it.