White Ladder

Don't think it was that bad. Pretty nice, pretty relaxing just to have in the background

Seems very independent and truthfully made in an innocent way that at times can be a bit too simple. The commercial musicianship here gets a bit repetitive but surprisingly can work in songs. Babylon is one I’ve heard before that I can get behind while also understanding the opposition to this certain sound. A few songs were surprisingly catchy and enjoyable so nothing to complain aside from the somewhat uninspired sound.

Bland and safe sound, nothing offensive.

Gray indeed. Meh.

nice but long and kind of boring

3/5

Pretty good easy listening soft rock. Nothing special just average Another album that I question why is it on this list? 3/5

i'm sorry but it's not the 90s and i'm not incredibly basic

Ok now this is mad vibey and the music is solid

This is pleasant music, with all the positive and negative implications of such a characterization. Individual moments combine strong melodies with heartfelt delivery, giving the songs a deep emotional resonance. But it also can have a middle-aged mom adult contemporary vibe - safe, inoffensive, and a bit boring. Probably a better record than I give it credit for, but I think others (Jason Isbell comes to mind) deliver this style of music much better.

People probably ate this up in the 2000s Mid I guess. 3/5

right so not for me. i have to agree with all the other reviews saying its sad girl staring out of window in a rom com music. not fun, not great, maybe just boring idk

Yet another album that was huge in the UK and sorta popular over here. I've never listened to more than the two hits that made it in the States, "Babylon" and "Sail Away". Both are pretty classic 90's hits, but I don't think any new ground was broken on this album. His voice is nice on most tracks, music is kinda vanilla, it's satisfying but it's not must-hear-radio. The listening counts are high, impressive, with "Babylon" at 229M, "This Year's Love" at 283M and "Sail Away" at 119M but no song has fewer than 6.5M. This is an average release at best, I'd never include it in a Top 1001 list. Two good songs, a few of the tracks are super boring including the uber popular "This Year's Love". 3 stars but more like 2.5... This is one of those ones you had to grow up on or adore at the time, it's weak and dated now.

Bland.

Never even heard of the guy before. He's really good.

I'm sure this album goes nuts for Ed Sheeran fans/coworkers

A very bland pop-folk album with some touches of electronica, I didn't noticed it back then and it stayed unremarkable from my pov. In the end I really hoped the album was shorter. Anyway I have the impression David Gray is the grand father of Ed Sheeran or the like. Favorite Songs: Please forgive me (I was not yet irritated and it has some catchy tunes).

I like to listen to these albums and then peruse the Wikipedia page to get additional info. Good lord this sold a ton of copies! I never would have guessed. But then again it's soft pop that has a taste the masses enjoy. It wasn't my favorite but I don't think it's actively bad

Affected vocals and trite production values. Hard to understand how this was so popular 28 years ago.

Completely fine but very dull

The sound of your mum and dad cleaning the house on a Saturday morning - a day wrecked before it even begins. That said, not unpleasant.

I have, of course, heard Babylon. I assume when I was a kid and watched a ton of VH1 music video content. Can't imagine it made much of a splash on MTV, but who knows? I watched both. Anyway, this is fine if rather bland and boring. The random electronic beats that come in here and there are funny.

I didn't know Gray very much except from the radio-friendly "Babylon" and "Sail Away" which my wife loves very much. Now, listening to the whole album, I do enjoy him and think that, with his Folktronica, he has a lot more to offer than other people after him he often got compared to like James Blunt for example. It's a great album with a sweet, mellow yet serious style. I'd trust Mr Gray. Not everything works, but that's by the by.

Not as sparse as singer-songwriter albums tend to be. The instrumentation on some tracks is pretty nice and detailed. This album is well produced. That being said, it’s still wasn’t that great. It felt too laid back for me. I didn’t outright hate any of the songs, but they weren’t memorable at all. This album is fine but nothing special.

I was pretty into this record in 1997. It is still pretty OK, the songs are solid, some good, but the production is really well done, which boosts it a point for me.

I do love a live album, but no idea how this could be top 1001. Too much influence of white Guys from English-speaking countries.

Banger after banger

One of my all time faves

Comes out the gates with some sauce; PLEASE FORGIVE ME and BABYLON. Rest of the album loses some steam, but with lyrical intrigue; WHITE LADDER comes to mind.

Started strong but trailed a little. Good not great on the hole

This album sounded so hauntingly familiar the whole time like I had heard it in commercials or tv so often. I liked it

Must have picked up some of this through osmosis though a late 90s grocery store. His voice was almost twangy or rough, which made me think how this lane of soft rock music later got absorbed by country.

It’s nice to listen to pleasant acoustic love songs once in a while. Nice but not exciting. I added “Babylon” to my Generator playlist.

Not a big fan of this in-the-feels white-boy singer-songwriter type of music, but I can see why everybodys mum will fuck with something like this. Really is background music for looking out the train-window on a rainy day.

4/5 - Enjoyable listen with a few songs that I recognize and enjoy.

I was very happy when this album ended. I never want to hear this again.

One of the 90s best

My oh my

Really cool album. Feels like a whole album of 90s house remixes of folk music. Super interesting and really engaging the whole way through

Pretty generic and boring. Reminds me of James Blunt, Coldplay, etc.

3.5/5 I don't want to like it but there are a lot of good songs here

A lot of memories behind some of these songs. Never listened to the full album before, but enjoy it.

I saw the album cover and was praying it was some kind of trip hop / electronica album and I was happy before releasing it’s kinda ? Singer songwriter pop rock sorta whatever thing this album is. Theres not too much to critique however so take that at its will.

One of my recurring criticisms of albums on this list is that they are either too repetitive, boring, dull, or lack variance. This album should really fall into that description, as it has all of the elements that these albums contain. But, for some reason, I actually find this a pleasant listening experience. Is it one of the best things I've ever heard? No. It's just a nice, relaxing pop album from a very British singer that has some really intricate parts to it.

I rather liked this album, it was easy to listen to.

I was surprised to read just how popular this album apparently is in the UK, having barely been aware of its existence until now. But I enjoyed it.

I once read an article about artists whose sales had fallen off a cliff. It included an interview with David Gray, and he came across as very philosophical and honest about White Ladder being his commercial peak. So, while I don’t quite understand why this slightly dull album had people in such a chokehold, I genuinely hope Gray is still raking in the cash from it and generally living his best life.

babylon was inescapable for like a three year period when this was released, despite nobody liking it. i guess that's where the ed sheeran comparisons come in. points docked for a godawful cover of a great soft cell song.

The hits are excellent, of course, but the rest is a bit much of a muchness.

no

Album Review 088 White Ladder by David Gray (1998) Rating 2.5/5 Beige ladder.

I suppose, technically, some of these songs have stood the test of time, in the sense that you still hear them now and again - Babylon, This Year's Love and Sail Away seem to pop up regularly on coffee shop playlists and at open mic nights. Unfortunately, I suspect this is because they're inoffensive, "lowest common denominator" songs that aren't likely to annoy anyone or make you start moshing inappropriately. The songs are okay, but not exciting. I find his singing style a bit annoying - why sing "beyck agin" when you come from Cheshire?* I'm glad he recognises that Say Hello Wave Goodbye is an absolutely fantastic song, but I wish he'd left it well alone, instead of turning it into a bland acoustic imitation of a Van Morrison song. I'm sorry but a star has been removed for that crime. *oh! He's trying to be Van Morrison. I can't believe it took me until the last song to figure that out.

Dull then. Dull now

Innocuous

A neat sound I don't think I've heard much of anywhere else. It does seem a bit like the songs were written from a place of real emotion, and then later recorded once the feeling had completely passed and Gray simply couldn't be bothered to tap into that emotional space to give us something sensory. I could see this being really good background music in a coffee shop of the same era that doesn't have takeout cups and the sofa in the center of the room has an impression from someone who sat there for three hours reading a book and not actually hearing what music was on.

It's not as awful to give this album 1/5, but it's boring record and the production annoys me very much. 3/10

Just okay

Meh. Boring.

This album was not even nearly as bad as the comments made it out to be. I am not an avid sentimental music enjoyer but I liked this album.

Day794 - i wasn’t expecting to hear this album on the list it’s one of my favorites. babylon is perennially on my end of year most listens

It's hard to critique this album objectively since it was sooooo overplayed when it was released the second time. Ultimately, the songs are too sentimental for me.

My sweet David Gray. There's something nostalgic about this for me, and I wasn't even alive when this came out. I agree with some of the lower reviews here -- generic rainy-windowpane pop-rock, Y2K indie movie vibes, something you'd find preset on your phone for alarms. But also, it's really pleasant and really sweet. But also, it does all kind of blend together. But also, I feel peaceful. Fave tracks: - Please Forgive Me - Babylon - My Oh My - We're Not Right - Nightblindness - Silver Lining

Unexpectedly really good!

Truly takes me back to watching Girl Next Door with the homies. More nostalgic than true quality I suppose.

Oh for fuck sake, do I really have to listen to this?? Surely it can't be as bad as I remember it being when every cunt bought it after Babylon was played on the radio 40000 fucking times a day. Can it??? Not actually terrible music, just really, really boring. Which is actually like the worst thing that music can be IMO. It reall is just music for people who don't really like music. Like Coldplay. Halfway through the first song and I'm struggling. I'm happy to just give it a 1 and move on with my life.

A nice easy listening album. A couple famous songs which are lovely.

Sleepy 90s coffee shop acoustic

A nope from me! The vocals are just too whiny-sounding for me. It's pretty much all downhill starting from the only good track "Please Forgive Me." I hate to say it but to me it just sounds like a bunch of Britpop slop to me. Definitely not a fan of this, nor do I think this could be saved by another listen. Highlight Song/s: "Please Forgive Me"

Bleurgh

I'm going to be so honest this album is so bland and going i literally feel asleep during it 😭

Pretty safe and standard, but not everything needs to be groundbreaking. He has a great voice. Excellent music to just kinda chill out to, especially late at night. Favorite Song: Babylon

Only heard Babylon before. I can see why people like him.

Solid but and soulful, but not something I'd seek out.

Felt like I've listened to this album before, but I haven't. It's pleasant enough but very generic. Babylon is the standout here though have heard it hundreds of time but never took any notice of the artist or album.

Would have given it 4 stars because I did not know this and was very surprised by it in a good way. I find the average rating to be too low so I'll add an extra star. For sure will listen to this again.

This album is completely average.

2/5. The word of the day is “unremarkable.” Nothing on this album stands out to me whatsoever. Instrumentally it’s passable but uninteresting indietronica, and the lyrics/vocal performances are not good enough to cover for the boring instrumentation. I could imagine some of the songs from this playing in the background of a montage in some crappy straight-to-streaming film.

I’ve heard Babylon hundreds of times without actually knowing the name David Gray. Not really a fan of Babylon, maybe just how often I’ve heard it and the settings I’m hearing, but the rest of the album was pretty nice.

This album makes me feel like a mostly content 40 year old British mom in the 90s thinking back on my high school boyfriend with a mix of longing, regret and ultimately, acceptance that it wasn’t meant to be. In a good way.

Love the vocals (reminds me of Elton John), some interesting progressions/arrangements, a little one note at times, but damn, this is a solid album all around. Best suited for an overcast day

This album came out when I was 9 but I remember Babylon and This Year's Love. When I'm in the mood for a melancholy raspy crooner, this hits the goddamn spot. He's not trying to do a ton on most tracks - he knows his sweet spot (being wistful & forlorn over some nice chords) and he nails it. I really enjoyed this. One big exception: We're Not Right had such weird production choices - behind a pretty standard acoustic guitar and two part vocal harmony, that distorted bassy synth right from the beginning, then a weird percussion rattle and a high synth UFO riff after the first verse!? I liked it for the surprise if not much else. Then right back to the pensive, doleful singer-songwriter wheelhouse baby. I'm gonna be keeping this one on rotation

I was actually pretty into this album back in the day, or was I? Babylon is still a pretty charming song, but the rest of the album doesn’t quite hold up. still very pleasant.

I loved this album when it first came out, but the more I listen to it, the more I think it's more about the time and place I was in. It's good, but not as awesome as I remember. I was a bit sad about that.

Is this fantastic or mostly nostalgic? Maybe its both - Don't know, don't care - its a 5 from me!

Irgendwie interessant. Aber nur irgendwie.

einige lieder sehr cool, andere sehr langweilig

Przeleciało, nie zwróciło to mojej uwagi

wtf, this incredibly tedious soft rock album was the fifth best-selling record in the UK in the 2000s? 1 star

Boring early 2000s tv show music. Wasn't offensive but like.... not a stand out at all. I enjoyed my listen in the way that one enjoys the feeling of cotton.

A classic. It's aged surprisingly well and while I prefer Gray's "Sell Sell Sell" (so much heavier on the vitriol), this is a four-star album. Nightblindness is still the stand-out song after all these years.

I think I’ve heard a song or two from this album, but I haven’t heard the thing before. It was actually pretty good.

So funny story a couple days ago me and my beautiful fiancée were having a lovely Valentine’s Day dinner and giggling at one of the songs playing on the playlist - because it was one of those 90s songs that everyone kinda knew - kind of a hit? But not really? A deeper cut for sure. But not even me, a guy who prides himself on knowing every fucking song, knew the name of the artist or song. We just knew it as the song where the chorus goes like “sinnamaHA, sinnamaHEH.” Turns out a couple days later I’d learn the song is called “Babylon,” and it’s by David Gray. Ended up really liking this. Super solid singer/songwriter stuff, it could definitely grow on me even more over time.

Thoughts before listening: British dude doing folky acoustic songs with electronic beats. I think that's right. Does he do the song "Babylon"? If so that's a good one. Review: Called it. This is fine although not really my thing. "Babylon" is still a banger though. 3-stars

generic Gray (keine Wortspiele) c

Melancholy

Perfectly pleasant

A couple of good songs but pretty average. I didn’t hate it

I could not get enough of this album when I was in college. Something about his gentle melancholy pulled all of us in - his songs were featured in so. many. soundtracks. But I ain't mad. (And yet, I can't help but bleat like a goat when singing along to "Babylon." Tell me I'm not the only one.)

3.5 arguably a 4

no fue mi estilo, canciones muy lentas

A live album is just a badly recorded compilation. Enjoy this guy's music but not live albums

This is a favorite of mine. Discovered it back in the 00's, most likely because of a blog or something. Back in those days I devoured everything about popular music and soundtracks, both genres that benefited from the blogosphere and the fan ecosystem it encouraged. I still listen to this album from time to time. It's good for my soul.

One of the biggest selling products around the turn of the millenium. Babylon and this year’s love were all over tv programmes at the time and its influence on the Ed Sheerans, James Blunts and Tom Odells of this world cannot be underestimated. I still thought he sounded like he was trying to be Bob Dylan with his vocal timbre. A pleasant but not earth shattering listen.

I liked one song enough to save it to my library and the rest of this album was just noise to me, I’m sorry to say.

Eh

Blind album and artist. Kinda meh honestly. Glad I tried it but won't revisit. Too bland

David Gray is where boners go to die and vaginas go to dry.

I'm two songs in and I can already say with CONFIDENCE that this sucks. It's upscale-mall background music, made specifically for people who "don't really listen to music". Checking back in post-listen and the remainder of the album did nothing but solidify my initial reaction. What a pile of shit.

extremely production-driven singer songwriter stuff, probably an influence on the likes of bon iver. if anything i think the effect is a little more complicated because while justin vernon always kinda sounds like a half-present ghost, david gray's very grounded and twangy singing adds a much earthier wrinkle to all the ephemeral soundscapes. idk how much the actual material is doing for this but it seems at least good, and i rly like the sound and chemistry of the elements. definitely some beautiful cuts on here

Ihan ok. Ei kuitenkaan iskenyt silleen, että jaksaisi kuunnella uudestaan. 2,5/5.

A bore of a record.

Very enjoyable singer/songwriter stuff. Couple great tunes including Babylon. 8.5/10

Really liked this one

Kender ham ikke to be honest men dejlige melankolske følelsestunge sange, god vokal, fine arrangementer, god stemme, ømhed og kraft i skøn forening, uhaaa as we speak lidt mundfløjteri, fedt

Ift. at det er Irlands mest sælgende album nogensinde var jeg ikke så begejstret? Synes det var hyggeligt og rart i baggrunden på kontoret, men der var ikke noget der stod stærkt ud for mig

I love David Gray, and this album was the theme of my year abroad in England back in 2000/2001. This gets a 5 for that alone

It's kind of like an older and whiter Mike Doughty, who I adore. This not so much. It's tolerable.

Nostalgia wins.

I am not old enough or white enough to like this.

I suppose this is music for people who don't really like music ...

Didn't know anything about this one going in, but I was pleasantly surprised! It's a collection of fairly standard pop-rock songs, but the songwriting is pleasant, and there's a delightful combination of 90s influences in the mix such as downtempo.

I can’t believe this album baited me into thinking it was going to be great with Please Forgive Me. Man, it REALLY lost momentum after that and Babylon and petered out by like the fourth or fifth song. His voice and style reminded me a lot of Bob Dylan, if Bob Dylan didn’t do the weird inflections in his voice so often.

It starts out as a delightfully chill listen, but David Gray gradually ditches the cool instrumentals in favour of a very bland acoustic sound. It seems the white ladder just leads to Ed Sheeran. Standouts: Please Forgive Me • Nightblindness

I really liked what was going on here, but struggled to stay interested as it felt like he used up all his interesting ideas in the first half.

Eh, not really memorable imo but not offensive. Very American (derogative).

Partly heard before

my ex cancelled meeting for a David Gray concert with the girl he dumped me for, so sorry David but your melodic pop is going in the bin in retaliation.

Inoffensive but not very exciting. I don’t mind listening to it, but I would never do so by choice.

I’ve loved this album a long time. Gorgeous songs I can sing along to. So uncool and yet so good. I’m all in.

Okay

Sappy and 90s but good listening.

I really like David Gray… cool voice with good instrumentals behind him. Sold 7.5/10

Recognized the opening song right away. Reminds me of early 2000s TV shows. Pretty chill vibe, if a bit on the sad side. 6/10 Pretty Good

Forgetable

Congratulations Babylon for making it on the Guantanamo Greatest Hits! Why does a singer/songwriter need a 9 minute cover song to finish the album?

This ablum isn’t bad, and it’s not something I dislike, but as a full album it didn’t really click with me and felt a bit monotonous overall. “Sail Away” stood out as a track I enjoyed more than the rest.

It's not a bad album by any means, but I find it difficult to picture the person this album is for. To me, it sounds mostly like background noise. Like this album belongs playing at a coffee shop or on the soundtrack of a CW show. I like the music and the lyrics, but I can tell I am not the intended audience for this particular album. Still and enjoyable listening experience, I'm just not sure if I'll end up revisiting it anytime soon. My favorite song ended up being "Sail Away."

Classic early 2000’s album

Some good songs but overall mediocre.

Starting to realize I don’t hate British pop like a lot of people do I do think this one’s super generic; the dude sounds like that Verve album we got last month without the bangers, but I just can’t bring myself to hate it. It’s like a fast food burger, where you gotta make sure you limit yourself and you shouldn’t go in expecting a masterpiece, but it’s engineered specifically to be tasty. I don’t think I can give it higher than a 3 because other than the first song nothing really left a huge impression on me, but none of the rest of the music hurts to listen to.

BORINGGGGG!!!!!!!!

British bias once again, but this actually has some decent music and lyrics behind it. Has a bit of Ryan Adams to him. Maybe with a touch more electronics. Coldplay? Anyway, fairly listenable but not terribly memorable.

Kinda boring for an album. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this album didn’t really get exciting. All the songs also felt a little too long and I really don’t know how I feel about it. I didn’t really like the album, but it didn’t sound bad.

Another first for me, I've never heard of David Gray before this listen. I have to say though, this may be one of the most uneventful listens so far. There were some decent songs here and I was pretty excited after the initial folk and electronic fusion in the beginning. Unfortunately, the rest of the album isn't anywhere near as interesting as that opener, instrumentally at least. With that said, I still enjoyed this album, I just don't think it did anything special for me. I did enjoy the song Nightblindness a lot, it has one of the better choruses here. The song The Year's Love is a great piano ballad. I'm not sure why, but the vocal performance on this song sounds very much ahead of its time, it feels like something that's been replicated by many poppier singers in the 2010s and 2020s. Maybe it's the raspy vocal performance or the nature of the melody itself. Still really loved it though. My favorite song on this album has to be Sail Away. David's vocal performance sells this one for me. It's a very strong performance with a great lead melody. Not much to say for this one, was pretty easy listening. David Gray's a solid writer and a really good singer, but I think a lot of the songs, especially near the middle, left a lot to be desired. With that said, I'll admit that this album may grow on me in the future, maybe I'll grow to appreciate and understand its more. I do think there are some incredible songs here. Did I need to listen to this before I die? Why not?

Quite beautiful.

I was quite excited to do this because the three songs I knew (Please Forgive Me, Babylon and Sail Away) are all bangers, and because Gang Of Youths ripped them off so well on Forbearance. It's a shame that the rest of the record is quite dull.

It really isn't good. BUT I have that weird nostalgia thing for it, because my parents had it on repeat when we went on holiday once, so it really sunk in. It's objectively a bad album but I have a weird fondness for it.

Turgid and dull crap.

It's fairly corny stuff but I do like Babylon. After that, the vocals get a little nasally and whiny for my tastes. The mostly slow, folk-rock kind of tunes aren't offensive but nothing much is forcing me to sit up and take notice. The drums and keyboards make this a bit more interesting; some of the instrumental passages are the best parts. I'm trying to figure out how to describe the vocals, and why I dislike them so much, but it brings to mind the worst kind of soft rock bands. The cover of Say Hello, Wave Goodbye is pretty good though. It looks like this album was huge in the UK and Ireland - maybe you had to be there? ** for Babylon and SHWG.

It was nice to listen to while journaling

Not terrible, but very bland. The type of music I would expect in the waiting room of a dentists office.

Boring. 2/5

Śliczny album, mega przyjemnie się go słucha. Bardzo delikatny i popowy, ale wracałem do niego już kilka razy. "Please Forgive Me" jest sztosowe, sekcja rytmiczna jest mega crisp. Skoro o tym mowa jednak mam wrażenie, że spora część linii perkusyjnej była wygenerowana komputerowo, jest zbyt regularna i robotyczna. Ale mimo to brzmi naprawdę dobrze. Będę wracał, jak będę miał ochotę na odrobinę spokojnego plumkania.

Звучит все однообразно После 5го трека становится уже плохо от однообразности пения

Boring as shit

These songs have no business being 5+ minutes. The best thing about it is some songs sound like the end of a rom com

This is… not great. As bland and generic as the man’s name. It’s astonishing that this was so massive

Top Songs: Please Forgive Me Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

I feel torn on this album. I like David Gray a lot and this is almost certainly his best album. However, it definitely isn't an album I would say someone needs to hear before they die. It's pretty normal singer-songwriter pop music overall. For nostalgia reasons it is a 5/5 for me, but if I'm being honest it is more of a 4/5 in reality. It starts incredibly strong with "Please Forgive Me" and "Babylon" which are genuinely great pop songs, and it ends fairly strongly with "This Year's Love", "Sail Away", and a great (if perhaps a bit long) cover song, "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye", but if I take my nostalgia goggles off I have to admit that the middle of the album doesn't maintain the momentum of the beginning or rise to the same level as the final group of songs. So, 4/5 it is.

I feel like if I took the things I hated most about Van Morrison, Dave Matthews, and Bob Dylan this album would be the result.

What is with the UK's obsession dull men with duller names that churn out soulless singer-songwriter stuff that couldn't offend your gran? This was dreadfully boring. I knew 'Babylon' as it was huge chart hit at the time, but I didn't know the artist. It was just one of those songs you heard on the radio, but didn't know who sung it and never felt any urge to find out the singer. This is the type of non-offensive music that they play in a supermarket. This is what I worry people think Elliott Smith will sound like when I recommend him to them.

At times, it sounds like a mix between Elton John and Bob Dylan. How’s that possible? The track Babylon is definitely the highlight and doesn’t fit that description somehow. 2.3/5.0

One of my most favorites of all time!

David Gray – White Ladder (1998) ist das vierte Studioalbum des britischen Singer-Songwriters David Gray. Es entstand zwischen April und August 1998 in seinem eigenen Heimstudio in London und mischt akustische Elementen mit elektronischen Beats, was sich im Genrebegriff Folktronica widerspiegelt. Das Album enthält mehrere später erfolgreiche Singles, darunter „Babylon“, „This Year’s Love“, „Please Forgive Me“, „Sail Away“ und „Say Hello, Wave Goodbye“. „Babylon“ gilt als sein bekanntester Song und wurde auf der Neuauflage des Albums 2000 in die Charts gebracht. Die Produktion wirkt bewusst zurückhaltend und nutzt eine reduzierte Instrumentierung mit Gitarre, Klavier, programmierter Percussion und dezenten Samplern, was den introspektiven Liedern Raum gibt. Besonders die melodischen Balladen wie „This Year’s Love“ oder „Please Forgive Me“ sind prägnant ausgearbeitet, während „Babylon“ durch seinen eingängigen Chorus besticht. White Ladder war kein sofortiger kommerzieller Erfolg bei seiner Erstveröffentlichung, doch nach der Wiederveröffentlichung 2000 wurde es zu einem der erfolgreichsten britischen Alben der frühen 2000er, mit langem Chartverbleib und beachtlichen Verkäufen. Bewertung: Ein sachlich produziertes Album mit konsistenter Stimmung, das Gray weltweit bekannt machte und eine Reihe starker Songs bot, die seinen Stil aus nüchternem Songwriting und moderner Produktion definierten.

The perfect album for my break up day hehe

how do you rate an album where the second song is one of the best songs ever made and the rest are a load of shite

Decent.

Electronica met instrumenten, best leuk

Rating: 5/10 Meh.

I’m over a year into this journey and I have to finally proclaim that the author is just full of shit. His taste in music is mediocre at best. I hope someone in the future who knows what good music is writes a book that supersedes this one. As for this album? It’s boiled chicken that’s unsalted. White and bland as hell. Fuck David for recording this album and fuck the authors for picking it to listen too. This isn’t music; it’s Muzak.

Snårk

Enjoyable - Relaxing and Memory of it playing on the radio everywhere - in stores, restaurants etc…

I actually enjoyed the radio friendly tracks. The kinda album best enjoyed at low volume while driving. Way too long tho and the deep cuts aren't rewarding. If it were ten mins shorter I'd give it three stars. As for its inclusion on this list, I can tell you as someone who lived through this period of pop music, David Gray, particularly "Babylon," was ubiquitous. It's an accurate snapshot of its era. For better or worse.

Boring.

I was excited to get this album! I am already quite familiar with 2 songs on this album- Babylon and This Year’s Love. Those are my favorite songs from this album.

Ну, в целом приятно

it was okay ig

I'm grateful to live in a time where AI music exist and people like David Gray will realize that they have nothing to offer to the music history.

Pretty low-key stuff. I suppose this was the beginning of the 2000's singer-songwriter movement for men but I really need a little more stuff going on in the songs. It's not nostalgic for me and I found it to be pretty boring and forgettable. Rom-com music for sure, it obviously has floated a lot of boats (based on its commercial success) but not mine. If I didn't know that it was influential for the time I don't think I'd ever remember that I had listened to it unfortunately.

3+ Stars (9/15)

EVERYTHING I hate about bad music can be found in this spawn from hell AKA 'White Ladder' I hope I die before I start liking shit like this.

Starts and ends very strong, album had some really popular radio hits, rest of the album is ok. Definitely something I'd listen to again.

If ever an album perfectly encapsulated the turn of the millennia, this is it.

sounds like greys anatomy

So decent songs on here.

днбшные ритмы прикольно, но в целом минус-вайб...

Alice Cooper very extravagantness ideas come to musicality in this album. Just was not my cup of ☕️

Favorite Track: This Year’s Love

Not my type of genre, although it was still very good

I'm going to start this by saying that due to sentimental value, it is impossible for me to rate this objectively. With that being said however, it doesn't change my score. Every single song has a timelessness, both in theming and in sound production. Songs like "Sail Away", "My Oh My", and "Silver Lining" all sound like they are brand new, even though they came out almost 30 years ago, and his cover of "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" is so delightful that I didn't realize it was a cover for the longest time. In my opinion, it is a no skip album. Every song on this album is absolutely fantastic and a must listen.

This album feels personal and like a hug sometimes, dont love his voice in some songs but at the end is great and also a bit experimental

Beautiful collection of songs, and David has a captivating voice. Favorite track: Babylon

Nice singer-song album. A warm atmosphere and David Grays pleasant voice,

Nice very chill nostalgic and easy listening

Coffee shop slop

David Gray is something of an interesting guy. My local radio station (remember when radio stations had character before corporate media conglomerates sucked the soul out of the creative artform?) would play "Babylon" all the time. One of those songs played often enough that captured the sound of the radio station, one of many stripes if it was a good one. KFOG (San Francisco) was a good one indeed. Back to David Gray: he might be the most random dude to pretty much inadvertently make one of the longest charted albums in UK history while being a fairly ordinary musician/dude (read: no known mental health issues/not an alcoholic or drug abuser). This guy made some album that catched as much fire as Dark Side of the Moon. White Ladder starts out pretty hot, but fizzles out (unless you like that sort of boring 'adult contemporary' music) near the end. Overall a fine record, nothing spectacular like the sales and chart figures would indicate, but can be defined as Douglas Adams once succinctly wrote about the human race, it's "mostly harmless". Babylon is still the highlight, along with Please Forgive Me and Nightblindness, but there's not too much more to this record than what you can grasp out of the first couple of songs. David Gray is a fine singer who made a fine album that won the music lottery in terms of sales. That's really great for him. There are plenty of worse people that have won the music lottery and have gone off the deep end mentally or socially or have some other negative social consequence. Now to meet someone, anyone, that calls themselves a diehard David Gray fan, just to see someone on the street that can name more than two or three albums this dude made if not for White Ladder alone. I'm sure there are dozens of these people, just probably not in the United States.

Hits are still good, but the style in general is so dated that nothing else will penetrate my brain. 3.5

Misschien is het commercieel, misschien is het populair, een combi van singer-songwriter en wat beatjes. Het heeft in ieder geval heel erg de weg gewezen voor Ed Sheeran en dat soort lieden. Maar weet je wat? Het is gewoon erg lekkere muziek, en dat heeft het voor op zeker 90% van de meuk die ons door het 1001-boek wordt voorgeschoteld. In een lijst met betere muziek had dit misschien iets lager gescoord, maar het gemiddelde is door alle punk en andere rotzooi gewoon gigantisch omlaag getrokken. Dus bij deze.

Met dit album werd mijn treinrit wel een erg lange zit. Man, wat een saai album. Als vroeger dat hitje Babylon op de radio voorbijkwam schakelde ik om algehele futloosheid te voorkomen al over op een willekeurige cd. Blijkt nu dat dat het meest enerverende van zijn album is.

Je verwacht bij het luisteren van een snoblijst, dat daar toch wel wat obscure dingen in staan, samen met iconische albums die bij iedereen in het trommelvlies gebrand staan. Maar daar valt David Gray toch niet echt onder? Dit is gewoon enorm generieke muziek uit eind jaren 90/begin 00s, in het genre James Blunt etc. Wat je de hele dag kon luisteren op skyradio. Ik ken niemand die in die tijd met een David Gray t-shirt rondliep. Ik ken ook geen festivals waar David Gray een headliner was, laat staan op het affiche stond. Goede onderzoeksjournalist die ik ben, ben ik daar wel even ingedoken. Ik vind dat hij in 2001 op Werchter stond en in 2006 op Pinkpop. Verder een handjevol optredens in Tivoli Vredenburg en het Carre in Amsterdam. Tja, ik ken zijn oorwurm Babylon, dat slechts in 2 edities van de top2000 heeft gestaan. En dat is het wel een beetje. Heeft hij dan nog een wiki om van te smullen? Hij is schijnbaar geboren met een soort van maagband en hij is fan van Manchester United (wat in deze tijden zwaar moet zijn). Niks van een drugs- of alcoholprobleem, hij slaat voor zover wij weten zijn vrouw niet en hij heeft zo te zien nog nooit door rood gereden. Oftewel een en al saaiheid, net als zijn muziek. Het is ook weer niet slecht genoeg om er nu per se uit boosheid een laag cijfer van te maken. Een vergeetbare 3 dus.

Nice voice and good mellow sound throughout. Its kind of depressing more than soulful at times though. Not an album I would listen through in its entirety again but a song or two at a time on a bigger playlist feels like something I might do after today.

The Good: We get to climb a ladder! The Bad: Doesn’t stay white too long as we have dirty boots on… The Ugly: Finding out the ladder leads nowhere… I am not going to repeat what has already been written ad-nauseum, however, fuck you Mr D adding this… As I am totally unfamiliar with the artist, listening to the first song was not that bad. And then came the second song… and the third and all of a sudden the album was done. The above is not an indication that the experience was enjoyable, instead, I found that all songs sounded pretty much the same and I started to get really bored with the whole damn thing. This is NOT something that needs to be listened to before one dies. Period. 1 1/2*

Great songwriting. Production was great. Very much a product of its time

This surprised me. Dont know this artist. But love the album

I didn't hate it, just didn't feel standout enough.

“The protagonist and his love interest have broken up, he’s fighting with his best friend, and he’s lost his job because he yelled at his boss while standing up for his principles. Cut to a montage where all the characters look sad for a while before they sort out their personal problems, followed by the protagonist making up with his best friend. At the end of the montage, it’s two days before prom and they’re hatching a grand romantic gesture to get the girl back. We need a musical cue.” “Well, look what I have for you…”

Jason’s Deli Classics. American Idol core. English dude that sounds like an American. The Bob Dylan twang. He kind of sounds like the animals from the south park episode where they get shoved up Mr. slaves butt. 5/10

Good album. Didn't realize how many of these I've already heard.

Not sure about this one. Never heard of him. His voice was fine, the songs were fine. I think I'd be ok if I had continued to never hear of him.

Certainly living up to his namesake. That was appropriately very Grey and Beige. For a second there I thought I was walking through a supermarket. It was not unpleasant, but it was pretty dull and boring and not quite a 3. So 2.5 stars

pretty good

This album holds up well for the most part. Some classic tracks but admittedly some filler as well.

Dette gjør ingenting for meg. Høres kompetent satt sammen ut, men aner ikke hvorfor jeg hører på det.

Meh, ble bare bakgrunnsmusikk som ikke ga meg altfor mye. 2/5

Var ganske chill

yea it's fine. It's got a song from Scrubs and that's nice too.

NGL, I forgot I was listening to music for a minute there. And I had headphones on. It's a little strange that anyone thinks this has anything to do with folk music. Just because there is a soft acoustic guitar in there somewhere does not make it folk!

Great melancholy

This charmed me icl

Inoffensive but boring as hell and didn't move the needle one bit. Just another meh album that I've forgotten about already. It sounds like the soundtrack to a coffee scene in Dawson's Creek or Gilmore Girls.

wgwag music but i'm so happy this isn't more dour post-punk that i'm bumping it up a rating

omg this was a pleasantly surprising album for me! i really liked this. it was perfect for my 5am angsty foggy coffee filled morning commute to work. it soothed me

I can see why and where the influence to other people comes from objectively very good

I feel like it should be pouring rain on the blacktop when I listen to this album. Maybe that is why Ireland loved it. Meanwhile, say you have a breakup montage and need to stare at the highway while you drive at night and loud cry to music in the background - you might enjoy this album. It provides melancholy atmosphere well. What it doesn’t do is add that connection that makes you bleed with David Gray.

Boring.

Despite being alive and conscious when this album was big, I wasn't familiar with any of the tracks. I tried to keep an open mind after seeing that it was a singer-songwriter album from the 90s on Dave Matthews' record label. I really tried. Unfortunately, my fears were confirmed almost immediately. The lyrics are painfully trite. The music is unbearably bland. David's vocals are just about listenable when he isn't doing a bad Dylan impression. A purer expression of unoriginality would be difficult to find. This is music for an open mic night, not an essential album list. Dreadful. Simply dreadful. Solid 1

This album is a bit of a puzzle to me. A friend gave me this on CD when it first came out, touting it as a new big thing. And I listened to it quite a lot, which even in the context of that moment is a surprise because this is decidedly NOT my preferred type of music. Not even close. But in the moment we really enjoyed listening to this. I probably have not listened to it since 2000, and listening to it again all these years later I find myself wondering why we all liked this album so much. The music is pleasant, but fairly basic and repetitive within each song. His voice is not very good at all. Lyrics are pretty good - but also fairly emotionally repetitive. For whatever reason it captured our attention and feelings back in 1998. In fact, it sounds fairly generic - like the sound of late 90s/early 2000s. I'll have to chalk this up to it happening at the right place and right time and people enjoying the shared love of something new. For me, it didn't age well at all however, leaving me bemused by our having collectively made this a smash hit at the turn of the century. There was nothing wrong with that, and sometimes you just have to look back and cringe (which I say with a smile).

Ok, solid 3

Late 90s singer songwriter stuff. It's pleasant enough as background music but not much more for me I'm afraid. Acoustic guitars with some light electronics.

That was pretty good.

Obvious nostalgia factor

That was some of the most mid white people music

I was so excited for this album. I wanted to listen to it a while ago but I checked aoty and it had very few reviews and like a mid seventy so I skipped over it. When I saw this on 1001 albums it meant I had to listen and thank goodness because I really love it. My favorite songs are Babylon, this years love, sail away, and silver lining. Someone said this album is a little samey and I totally disagree, all the songs feel really unique. It also sounds so ahead of its time in my opinion, it sounds like something from 2000s or 2010s written in the late 90s. Story time: I remember the first time I heard Babylon I was working at my job which I still have 2 years later but I had just started and it was a really small location where I was all by myself. I was working on closing and cleaning up and everything trying to remember everything listening to music and Babylon by David gray came on. I was not as adventurous back then so if I had my phone in my hand I would’ve probably skipped, but I was working so I couldn’t and man it just stuck with me. I loved it and I loved David gray so I ended up listening to more of his songs and he’s just amazing!

Dave Matthew’s lite and initially don’t like Dave. Songs were bleh, singing bleh, instruments bleh

No private session used for Spotify. I think I avoided this album after it came out because of the omnipresence of "Babylon", which is a shame because this album is quite pleasant. I saw David Gray at a festival and he even seemed annoyed by the weight of the popularity of his song.

Nice, easy listening but idk if it's for me

The first song felt like Moby a bit. The second had me feeling good. The last few were more like Elton John and Bob Dylan. Didn’t expect this album to be like this but I enjoyed it! 2.5 in my heart

It has aged a bit and his voice is not that good so not very good overall. Some catchy things but not my style. 2.5/5

David Gray has a beautiful voice and I think the thing that really stands out in this album is the lyricism. The messages stand clear and the songs are lovely. The only thing I’ve been thinking while listening to Babylon is that the background music almost doesn’t fit his voice and message. I feel as though it should be almost more acoustic and less synth involved as the vibes kind of don’t match up? Going further into the album he does introduce more guitar and piano (with the occasional odd sound that still feels off) but I do believe the vibe matches up more and I can really appreciate the soul and emotions that poured into this album from him. His voice reminds me of Mt. Joy a little bit, which of course I love. Overall I think this album was more a work of complex language rather than sound that catches the ear, but I did enjoy it and following along to the lyrics.

Fine låter. Kunne ha fått en stjerne til om produksjonen hadde vært bedre.

A great album. Great song writing. I just wish it wasn't so damn depressing

A couple of bangers. Rest is a bit bland

this album is giving NOTHING oh my god. how does he have 3.2M monthly listeners on spotify. you people need to get a grip. saved: n/a.

Start the car

The drum machines and other instrumentation lack coherence. 2/5

Nice vibe to this album Fave track: Sail Away

Being a childhood car trip staple counts for something I guess. 3.5/5

I had only heard a couple David Gray songs before today, and I kinda like his style and his sound, but I find his voice kinda interesting but also easy to grow tired of. I like his music and arranging, so I did enjoy this album, but it did start to kinda all sound the same by the end. Three stars.

I seem to have hit a rich vein lately! Forgotten how great this is—an album full of understated emotion and folktronica charm. It was a big part of life when our youngest was born, and my wife loved it. Babylon and This Year’s Love still shine, but the real standout now is his haunting cover of Say Hello, Wave Goodbye—a perfect, bittersweet closer.

Always liked the sound of David Gray. And White Ladder is a great representation of his work, he’s just a strummin’ and a singin’ very comfortably. Have heard a few songs; Babylon and Sail Away, which are great, but there’s not a skipper on the album. All songs are good. L = (3.4*s) A couple songs had a Dylan influence. J = (3.9*s) Hoping to hear another one from David as this is the only album of his I’m familiar with.

I could not stand the song "Babylon" when it came out and it was totally overplayed. Still don't like it today but it's not as cringe inducing. Something about Gray's singing style rubs me wrong. White Ladder is a late 90s skipper for me. Not sure why this album is/was so popular. I'm waving goodbye to this one...1.12 stars.

Hard to believe White Ladder is one of the highest selling albums of all time in UK. Not that it's bad, as I actually enjoyed the album, I'm just not sure what it did that it stormed the charts for a couple of years. I was only previously aware of Babylon which I still enjoy. The rest of the album is more of the same in mostly the same mold. The songs are somewhat melancholic indie folk, so I'm not sure why they resonated so much with everyone. Perhaps David Gray was just in the right place at the right time. Glad I finally listened to this whole album even if I don't think there will be many times I'm in the mood for this in the future. 2.86 stars

It is aggressively middling but it's alright, think there are good songs on this but the programmed drums and general production make it seem a bit compressed and bland. Would be better as a Stephen fretwelly raw acoustic album I think. Never annoyed but felt like I could have enjoyed it a lot more with a few changes.

Lovely voice but can get a bit one-note, especially if the song is sub-par. I was going to give a 2, but White Ladder and This Year's Love were cracking. Babylon is the stand-out. The album sounds really dated - not a bad thing, but definitely, "music in the background of Richard Curtis movies" -esque.

Another that I heard played by my parents a lot so kinda nostalgic. Babylon and this year's love are good songs, but it's hard to say that any of the rest of it is that interesting. I'm going to say 3 for nostalgias sake, but I feel that's probably generous

Bland late 90s adult contemporary barf.

It’s got an easy listening vibe without feeling cheesy or dated. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - Please Forgive Me - Babylon - This Year's Love - Sail Away

𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳 is pleasant enough, built on soft electronics, gentle strumming and an everyman kind of sincerity. The songs flow easily, but that smoothness also flattens the impact — there’s not much that truly sticks once it’s over. A couple of melodies rise above the rest, yet the album mostly settles into a safe, grayscale mood that never fully grabs me. Solid but not exciting.

I completely missed out on this in the early 2000s, probably because it didn't fit my musical preferences during my wild party time, but listening to it 26 years later, I didn't miss much. It's a bland, boring record, and I can see how this led to Coldplay, James Blunt, Ed Sheeran, and the likes, which is not a compliment. I just didn't hate it as much as I did my 1-star ratings - it's like muzak. You don't hear it until you start listening, so therefore, 2/5.

When it got to Babylon, I had that “oh this song” moment. It’s incredibly generic 90s/00s music that you would hear in like a CVS. It’s fine. No wow factor.

When this came up, I didn’t recognize the name David Gray and I didn’t do any research on him before listening then Babylon came on which I instantly recognized and have heard countless times and I liked - just never enough to go figure out who sang it.

It’s fine. It’s the white bread of background music.

I'm sure someone gave me a tape of this at the time and I quite liked it. Hadn't played it for many years though, and on this listen.... Well. He started of sounding like Bob Dylan, and didn't improve from there. Can only be a very low 2.

Not listened to this for a while. I forgot how good it was! The subtle little drum and bass under pinning ‘Please Forgive Me’ hooked me in. It’s quite a dreamy and gentle album. He even manages to make a Marc Almond cover sound ok! Highlights are ‘Silver Lining’ and ‘Babylon’.

While there is nothing wrong with David Grey. He, along with similar artists like James Blunt and James Bay are just beige, boring listens. I would not chose to listen to any of their albums unless I had severe insomnia. Admittedly Babylon is a good track, but what was he thinking with that Soft Cell cover? That made me sit up rather than nod off, but for the wrong intended reason. Competent but bland.

I took a photography class in college, and this was the only CD they had for the boombox in the dark room. Red lights, faint chemical smell and near darkness blends well with this album.

So boring. What is influential about this?

music to battle insomnia

so boring

The singing ranged from average to above-average between songs, without really having any emotion. The production really carried this project.

Can’t get the Babylon earworm out of my head now…. With distance of time this does not hold up that well but pleasant enough…. Say Hello and Wave Goodbye which I know is a cover os my favourite track on album.

Ahh. The CD everyone was listening to at one point. It’s held up. The songs are personal/reflective. The production is understandably low key, but all the same it just works. Please forgive Me was the wedding song for one of best friends (now sadly gone far too young) and a permanent reminder of younger days as a result. 5 for deeply personal reasons.

Remember the hits. Album kind of all sounds the same though.

I guess we blame this guy for late 90's early 2000's folk singer songwriting trends but this album is pretty good.

Pretty good - chill music for a rainy day.

это очень скучно.. искренность не равно 6минутная унылая хуйня

Éxito fulgurante y breve. Armado a través de Babylon. Y nunca más se supo de él a nivel de exitos. Please forgive me, es otro buen tema. Pero, como Doves (con otros dos discos que me gustan mucho) no deberían estar en este listado. Es un disco disfrutable, pero lejos de ser imprescindible o aportar nada nuevo. Sí es cierto que incorpora algo de elementos electrónicos pero no es Beck que maneja mucho mejor tanto el folk como la electrónica.

6/10 Favorites: We’re Not Right This Year’s Love

It sounded like it had a commercial Bob Dylan feel and a stepping stone towards Ed Sheeran. The singles were nice but the rest didn't do it for me.

David Grey - Not for me, bland. There are some nice moments but then he keeps singing 2

Bumped up from a 3 for sentimental reasons

Packed with hits. Good song writing

The singles are great, fantastic vibe with some surprisingly daring production which raises the typical singer-songwriter game. It’s surprising how many hits are on this 50 minutes. Very sweet closing things out with an unusual Soft Cell cover too. If I was to critique I’d say it’s slightly too long which allows some lesser cuts into the mix which are less inspiring.

The David Gray album is a tough one to rate for me, I know way more of it than I expected, I like his voice, I like the production and occasionally the simple beauty of the songwriting hits me, but just as often it fades into the background a bit too easily… I think I’ll have to settle on a solid 3

Really liked it and the vocals are great!

Enjoyed this quite a bit

Eh. Extremely unforgettable for me.

Sure, a bit dated but great at the time

Good for what it is. I remember seeing him play some of these songs live on TV in his heyday with a real band and they came across so much better. I didn’t really connect with it though. Some great songs that didn’t seem to really benefit from the addition of electronics. Made it all sound like it was perhaps trying too hard to be “current”, when they would have been better off being performed more organically. Not essential to hear.

Schön entspannte Musik. Ging bei mir eher als Hintergrundmusik durch, muss ich nochmal zu anderen Gelegenheiten hören. 3/5

Not what i usually listen to but it was well produced and consistently good. I think my favorite song is sail away. 4.2/5

Has its own unique feel and sound, good, sticks pretty safely and consistently to that sound and makes a lot of the songs end up feeling the same, not as good But nice enough to be worth a listen

What a bland nothing album. The wikipedia summary basically only talks about its sales because there’s nothing of note in the music itself. David Gray also has mentioned that White Ladder’s success paved the way for Ed Sheeran, so I guess we can blame him for that too

It is completely impossible to listen to this kind of music without being overcome by violent thoughts.

Hearing Babylon brought me back

Unmemorable.

This is my guilty pleasure kind of music. It's corny and likely unoriginal but goddamn I vibe hard with it.

Isn't much different than any other color ladder.

Ahead of his time. It sounds like early to late 2000s but came out in late nineties.

I’ve loved this album since high school. This Year’s Love still makes me cry, apparently