Dub Housing

I didn't dislike everything on here, but the VOCALS really drag this down into a deserved 1. I get the sense some people who dislike Yoko for "screeching" might like this for being "groundbreaking", when really both are like a cheese grater to the eardrums.

Really interesting, knew nothing of Pere Ubu but was pleasantly surprised.

pas vraiment aimé pour etre franc. C'est bizarre et éclaté mais sans rien qui vient me chercher. C'est meme fatiguant pour les oreilles des fois. 2.5

Terrible...

Just ok

It's weird. It's original. It's sometimes catchy and sometimes it's just dizzy. I liked it musically, and the vocals weren't so annoying that it grated on me. They get the third star for keeping my interest for an entire album.

Ubu’s dance party was the highlight for me. I can see why LCD Soundsystem name dropped them.

p400. 1978. 1 star. Unpleasant mixture of Talking Heads, 13th Floor Elevators and The Doors, only without the songs or the talent. And David Thomas cannot sing. This is bloody awful. 35 minutes of my life I will never get back.

Wtaf

Pretty unique sound for this time and place. I guess we'd call this Post-Punk. I've always heard that Pere Ubu was great and have almost gone and seen them live a bunch but never really checked them out. Very cool record.

thriller is such a deeply unsettling song and i can’t decide if i like or hate it blow daddy-o guitar riff reminds me of that devil song in GH3

Pere weird imo. Lots of dissonant sounds that never really came together, seems Talking Heads - esque but not quite there

Please no. I couldn’t wait for one song in particular to be over. Just why??

Not so good. 1

Fun and chaotic as usual.

Not the dub house music I was hoping for

First album to legit make me laugh when it came on

Not really my thing. A bit too experimental and goes from okay listen to unbearable.

It's not as good as 'The Modern Dance' but not expecting a second Pere Ubu album to be in the list. Indie music in the late 2000s owes them a big debt and they've never got the acclaim they deserve. Saw them when they played that weird ATP at Altona (it was good but no Mt Buller) and they were great.

Great music supporting an obnoxious asshole of a singer.

Rating: 6/10

Oh boy. I really wanted to like it. I was firstly very impressed by the graphic art and typography. It promised esoteric edge. The music really lives up to the cover: there's intentional and tasteful styling. But, alas, I couldn't do it. The music switched between avante garde and just punk rock. Even if it was interesting, I couldn't stop grimacing. I mentioned the band to Adam who mentioned that there was a cult following of it in college, which for him means the radio people. So, yes, that explains it: I'm just not cool enough nor not cool enough to get this.

Do you like things that are wary of being liked? Then have i got a band for you.

Yikes. Somewhere between the Talking Heads and Devo. Some bits sound interesting. However his voice is like fingernails down a chalkboard to me. Enough. It's joyously art rock but not a great experience. 2 I'm afraid.

couldn’t connect, i think the lyrics in particular made it more difficult

I was leery going in, seeing how low this album is in the global stats. But I have to tell you, I really enjoyed this. Probably what a lot of people are reacting to is David Thomas' atonal anti-vocals. If you can get past that, this album is a lot of fun. It's a gleefully freaky, noisy odyssey of warped, jangling guitars, squonks, blips, and shambolic rhythms. It reminds me at times of the Talking Heads, the Residents, Devo... but this band is totally doing their own unique thing as well. I like this more each time I hear it. Bumping from a high 3 to a 4. I may be in the minority, but I'll take Pere Ubu any day of the week over the overproduced, soulless music most people listen to. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): On the Surface; (Pa) Ubu Dance Part; Navvy; Codex; I, Will Wait; Drinking Wine Spodyody; Thriller!; Dub Housing; Blow Daddy-O; Caligari's Mirror

The weirdest music I have ever listened to. I try to be open minded but this is just weird. Ubu Dance Party is the most musical track maybe the last track too. I can't really figure out any redeeming qualities. Must not be for me.

Weird, seems like a band I’d have heard of but I don’t think I ever have. 1978 huh? I like the keyboard parts, makes it kind of fun to have catchy riffs on top of the jangly clashy rhythms. Good fodder for an eclectic mix tape.

very cool

Awful.

weird as hell. it seems like black midi took a lot of influence from this. its definitely not something I'd listen to all the time but its interesting for sure.

Layered, but I think I prefer anything by Swell Maps.

Sorry Pere, I couldn't tolerate this today.

I found this one a bit jarring on the ear. Not really for me. And, sadly, there was no dub to be heard on the whole record.

Too weird

👏 Every late 70s early 80s post punk album isn’t one we must hear 👏

Good joke but April was MONTHS ago

Good album

Unusual, but also a bit too chaotic

4.5

V strange

Not sure why this is in the list

Awful

Such a frustrating album. I really like the music, very much so, but the vocals make me want to stab pencils into my eardrums for some blessed relief from the agony of hearing that voice. I've never heard anything so polarising. If this was an instrumental I'd have doubled its score.

I don't think bands that include performance art as part of their act cannot fully express their message via audio. It seems to me I'm only receiving somewhere in the vicinity of half of what they are trying to get across. Mostly what gets conveyed is chaos. Which, I didn't hate, but I feel like there was more I was supposed to experience.

This is the weirdest album Iv had on this list in a while. I surprisingly enjoyed this. So great moments on the album but also some of this is unlistenable. Can see this being very influential on future experimental bands. Not sure I enjoyed it enough to make my regular rotation though.

"Important post-punk" album. Riiiiight. It's loud and annoying. On the bright side: it's only 35-minutes. Didn't add.

Much of this was pointless noise.

What the everliving fuck was that? I hated every second of this mindless cacaphony. I was working on some data entry while listening to this album and somehow the data entry was the less miserable task. Lots of questions here. Such as, why was this noisefest made? Why does the singer sound perpetually kicked in the gut? Why is this album on this list when it could be used as a torture device by government organizations? Seriously, though, this was genuinely dreadful. I only finished it out of spite. It's between this and Locust Abortion Technician for the audio diarrhea award.

1978. yeah it was there right in the middle of it. Even their name tells you what to expect. They were there with Devo and Talking Heads too and I bet they had fun making this. I understand the need for this to exist but it's not enjoyable.

Cool cover art

It's not for me

Ranty, arty music.

Very interesting listen, and unique in the ways that it uses sound. This is what experimental music should be, a re-imagining of what you thought a “song” could be.

I've never fully got on with Pere Ubu's middle class anti-music though I really do love the last three tracks.

1/5 that was disturbing

I wasn't high enough for this.

This albums low points drag on the ground while the high points are barely above the elbow.

A lot of variety.

Chillin likt en villin

Post-punk bangerz. I really like the combination of the blunt synths and the jagged rock instruments. Sad that this is in the lowest ranked albums on this site. Shows what the masses know, I suppose

Gift med pengarna...

<<a banda mais importante do punk americano>>

Weird and wonderful, but one I would probably enjoy more given the chance to listen through a few more times. Clear influence on lots of bands I love, maybe just a bit too out there for me to properly adore.

Weird album, off rhythm off key singing, didn’t really enjoy it

классный инструментал бро

The music was alright but the vocal was terrible. Put me on edge. 2*

Suprisingly good. Never heard of them before but it was well advanced for its time.

Daban ganas de estar en el show de Pere Ubu. Gran canción de apertura para mostrar el espíritu del asunto. Me gustó.

The instrumentation and songwriting are dissonant, chaotic and frankly, all over the place. But that's nothing as compared to the vocals which are straight up absolutely horrible.

If I needed a sound track for a haunted house I might be tempted to include some of these cuts. Was not whelmed

Like a somehow-more feral Talking Heads. A record that would be playing while you were shopping, bleary-eyed, for records. Part of me, for some reason, enjoys this, but "Codex" knocked it down from a 3 to a 2. Though I'm sure the haunting, "I think about you all the time..." will visit me in my sleep tonight. Favorite track: "Caligari's Mirror"

Decent shit, hlustaði bara einu sinni í gegn og var svona hálfsofandi þannig þetta mergaðist allt saman hjá mér en það voru skemmtilegar melodiur og áhugaverðr hugmyndir, nennti samt ekki að hlusta aftur, kannski seinna!

Aika sekametelisoppa, ei jatkoon.

This is super weird. Vocally not really interesting, in fact, it's kind of annoying. I don't hate it.... But that's not saying much. 3 because I can see how they were influential

A bit mad, somewhat challenging, and yet highly enjoyable. Like a blend of Talking Heads, Roxy Music, Devo, and a little bit of Cardiacs. Wasn't familiar with them before, but interested to check out more of their stuff now. Wouldn't say I loved it, but definitely liked and, and feels like it could be grower.

This is the musical equivalent of drinking Jeppson's Malört. It's an extremely challenging experience that seems mostly to exist as an initiation into a group or a rite of passage. You get to watch your friends make that distinctive face when they realize how horrifying it tastes, and then find appreciation for a completely unique experience. It becomes a shared bond and lively conversation piece. This is not enjoyable music. But it's kind of compelling in a WTF kind of way.

This is another new one for me, and it is a hard “no thank you, please” at this time. As I listened, there would be moments that I thought that I could get into this album, and then it would turn on me. If I were hanging out in someone’s dorm room and they put this on, then I think that I would excuse myself to return on a different day.

I think it really says something about a record if you have to pause occasionally to see if the sound you're hearing is the music or a truck backing up. (It was a truck backing up.) This record is squeaky and squonky, clickety-clackety-chrunchety. The vocals aren't exactly singing, more pitched shouting that reminded me of my Granny a lot of the time. I can't imagine the day when I will say, "You know what I'd like to hear today? Some Pere Ubu." But I did find this interesting, a unique listening experience. Kind of like getting a routine MRI (I get one every year) --- I don't really like or enjoy it but it's fascinating and there's only a tiny bit of pain and fear involved. And now I have to give it a rating from 1 to 5 and pretend that the experience of music is somehow one-dimensional, as though I could nestle Pere Ubu somewhere between Portishead and Leonard Cohen instead of on some other scale entirely.

Well this is certainly interesting. When I first put it on I was not sure what to make if it but a strange zen came over me five minutes in and I stopped reacting and started listening to it. These songs have a lot of bizarre structures, instrumentation and vocals. At times they reminded me a little bit of Talking Heads but more out there. If I wasn’t told I would never have imagined it came out in 1978. It sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday. I guess this music is so unique it really never goes out of date… I listened to this a couple times. The second time went well enough. While I probably won’t add this to my library, I don’t mind hearing it and can easily listen to it again. Favorite songs: Caligari’s Mirror, Drinking Wine Spodyody, (Pa) Ubu Dance Party, Codex I’m glad something like this exists. I’m glad to have listened to this. I’m glad to know there are people who love this.

Unique, abrasive, harrowing. Not my thing at all but well produced and I can see why some people would like it. Bordering between 1 and 2 stars

Very rare moments we’re enjoyable. Some of the singing and lyrics are kinda funny. Mostly this album hurt my ears. Literally. I’m not trying to make a joke. My ears starting ringing as I listened to this.

Unpleasant

Jesus this album is annoying. The vocals are irritating at best, the organ and keyboards are cringingly crap for the most part, and the rest of the instruments are mediocre. Literally the first track feels like a fly is buzzing right in my ear while the whining vocals stabs them to bleed. Thriller! has the most ironic song title as I wanted to chuck my earbuds after two minutes. It doesn't help that the few good musical moments on here like the intro riff on Codex and I Will Wait can be found in a better form elsewhere on this list.

Anyone who thinks this 35min noisy, amateur ear-bashing is a landmark album needs help. "It's, uh, avant garde!"... yeah, nah. Spare me. I'm amazed I got to the end. 1/5.

I didn't like this. The instrumentation was totally enjoyable in parts, but each song was spoiled for me in some way by the singing. It was possibly going to get a 1.5 but then the last song was so terrible even musically that it gets a 1.

Unlistenable garbage. Maybe if they got rid of the shit singer this might have some redeemable qualities. The music itself borders on listenable at times, but then the horrible vocals come in and take destroy whatever good will the song had. Wikipedia mentions this album as post-punk and looking at some of the other bands that are classified in this genre, e.g. the Talking Heads, Devo, or Joy Divison, they had musicianship that made their weird shit listenable. Here it just doesn't work. Possibly the worst album I've heard so far.

Not even Pere Ubu's best album. I love this.

Áhugavert

Did not enjoy any of the songs, but continued to listen without interruption. Barely two stars.

1, možda samo ja ne razumim šta bi ovo tribalo bit, nije za mene nikako

This album was pretty terrible...

Probably the strangest album I've gotten in this list so far. Interesting in some parts, but just plain annoying in others.

I simultaneously love this, and I'm not fussed if I hear it again. A joyous cacophony. It's brilliant, they're making post punk a year before journalists think punk broke. It's a four star album, but due to the stupidity of a lot of the reviews on here already I want to give it 5 to correct their efforts. Stupid eejits probably think The Eagles are 'real music'.

Kinda neat. I can see how it would have been influential, but it wasn't a very fun thing to listen to.

I love post-punk and appreciate the influence this album/band had but as a listening experience it's a bit grating.

The first lyrics you hear are "I got these arms & legs that flipflop flip flop" which sets the stage for what direction the Weirdometer is heading. This album starts out weird but good - and it ends just weird. Songs like Blow Daddy-O make me wonder how their brains would decide to make these particular sounds. I get that they are purposely making their music ugly. I just don't get how they can figure out how to do it so well. It's a talent that very few have (and we are fortunate that not many others have it) Part of me is impressed by artists who create music that is so far from what others are doing. The songwriting skill in general leaves me perplexed, but this is multiplied for songwriters who write lyrics like: "I went out and stirred the air (My soup was steeped in strange ideas)" . I can at least imagine how Pete Townshend came to the place where he could write the lyrics to "My Generation" but I can't understand in any way how someone could come up with these lyrics. Finally, is David Thomas' (the vocalist's) voice really that bad? He got a job being lead singer in a band so he must know how to sing. Perhaps his singing this way is just another arrow in the quiver used to make the music ugly. Yeah the album's ugly but I kinda like it anyway.

I bought an album by these guys in the mid-80s and thought THAT was pretty out there, but it was Culture Club compared to this. I noticed that the 1001 members haven't ranked it too highly: 994th out of 1001. I was thinkin' “1” halfway through the first track, but for me to go as low as 1, the music needs to bad and unoriginal, and this is anything but unoriginal - especially in 1978. I love the title track and The Ubu Dance Party. They could be a bar band in a David Lynch movie, with the eerie lead vocals and the campy background singers. Very avant something.

This was a challenging listen, very off the wall vocals, dissonant and unsettling so it was very difficult to enjoy.

Truly awful

Bad Avant Garde

6/10

Kinda Interesting but annoying AF. That first track has a sound like a cellphone vibrating. Feels so much longer than 35 minutes.

Couldn't get past the chicken-like vocals. Sounded like inter-dimensional cable in Rick & Morty. Instrumentals were interesting though...

17th November 2021 Listened across the Wednesday and Thursday as we've had a lot going on. Sprout gave birth first thing Wednesday morning then lost 2 in 24 hours. Not sure if it was what was going on, but not for me. I'm all for messing things up, going a bit left field, but I didn't get this.

Mystery music, and dance music. Somehow accomplishes the double feat of extending time and making you want to get up and move. On that first point: Sometimes succeeding in that way is more interesting than affecting. Here, the soundscape switches up to keep things far from boring. And the gesture at embodiment doesn't hurt, either. The vocals will have to grow.

I understand how this is an important album in the history of post-punk, but generally forgettable. Caligari's Mirror and Blow Daddy-O have moments of being a recognisable song, but I find this album mostly not memorable or compelling.

Occasionally like listening to a cheese grater and a broken keyboard being played by a drunk. Post-punk mash potato. Best Tracks: Navvy; Drinking Wine Spodyody; (Pa) Ubu Dance Party

Very interesting. Had zero knowledge of this band before now. At times, this album veers towards what sounds to me like parody, but I'm not always great at being able to spot that, so forgive me if I missed the point. Musically odd and disjointed, so it had my attention at various points. The vocal melodies and performances are quite unusual, especially for the time. All in all, a little "out there" for me, but I can see how they were influenced by 60s avante garde and experimental art of all kinds, and how ahead of the musical curve they were in some ways -- a lot of the elements I hear in these tracks are familiar to me from later music.

Interesting!

I'd never heard of Pere Ubu before but they definitely peaked my interest with this album. The lyrical style is borderline ridiculous but I liked it in parts. Some songs feel like an early unpolished version of the Pixies or similar. Another album which, if it came out today, I might not care for but the fact it was made in the mid 70s makes it much more intriguing

Couple o' nice grooves, but it mainly sounds like some folks jamming/fooling around in the studio. Which is fine, though I wouldn't say it makes for a 'great' album.

There are a couple of good Pixies-ish tracks on this (early on in the album) but it's ultimately too much effort to wade through the rest of the record. Mostly shite rambly music that feels like it was knocked out in a day.

Inventive and unique in its sound, but hard to listen to top-to-bottom and just not my style.

well this is a weird and challenging listen but none that I think will prove worth the effort it demands from the listener. The lead singer's vocal style is well unique, lots of high pitched wails that match so well with the music. 3.5 stars is where I will start - let's see if further listening will earn it a higher rating

influential this may be, but can not listen for pleasure

That's what good album is about. You cannot predict what's coming next.

This album is the main influence behind the Shooting Stars "Song in the club style" round. I hit the dislike button.,

Musically this is quite interesting and fun. The vocal just ruins it though. Screechy and awful and renders some songs unlistenable. I'd like to understand why the band didn't just go out and find someone who could sing, but, frankly, I can't be bothered to look it up. 1.5/5.

mycket kasst

Ew. This sucked. I cant stand his voice, sorry.

Talking Heads if they were bad.

idk what i just listened to. lots of noise, not much good music. super weird vocal styles, almost makes the talking heads singer sound normal. did not enjoy.

Was this eclectic and fascinating? Yes. Was this (likely) a pioneer for the genre it belongs to? Yes. Did I enjoy this? At times. It gets a 3.

How the hell am I supposed to rate an artist that intentionally does its own thing? What standards do I put them to? I pity anyone who has this as one of their first albums to rate. This is a "post-punk" album. A huge stretch on the "post." It's wacky and weird, similar to Devo or Talking Heads. In fact, the vocals sound like Byrne. Note this is an incredibly inaccessible album, and only fans of post-punk could even tackle something like this... after several listens. The tracks can be aesthetically pleasing, but it appeals to niche groups, despite having characteristics reminiscent of (almost parodying) pop music. These experimental sounds are made mostly by the abuse of synths that had only recently emerged and would late dominate pop music, so maybe that's what I'm hearing? But it also stems the busy, dissonant instruments that often clash, but it doesn't bother the audience. It works, and that's why people can appreciate it. But I'm not talking about whether it works. That just means it's not complete trash. This album serves more of an artistic purpose than as a piece of media to play on radio or at a party or to a group of friends without an appropriate introduction. In fact, the only people I would recommend this album to are people really into both post-punk and surrealism... they'd have to already like Talking Heads or Devo. Can we talk about the actual tracks though? I swear I could have written this by only listening to the first two. Ok fine, here goes. So "Navvy" starts out good then the record scratching then bellowing indicates we're in for a surprise. It's melodic but the record scratching effect can be found bothersome. The overall production is otherwise fine. "On The Surface" is a decent track; I like everything besides the vocals, even that background vibration that can be found to be again bothersome. "Dub Housing" gets increasingly busier as the song goes on, and it only slightly lightens up when the vocals come back. That bothers even me. But I like the end, especially the brass. "Caligari's Mirror" has a nice gothic melody to it, but fuck those vocals... is it parodying The Rolling Stones? "Thriller" is interesting, reminding me of the aesthetic of vaporwave, but overall too conflicted to be pleasing. And then it gets into earrape. Then we get the most punk track on the album, "I Will Wait" which is probably my favorite. It's perfectly fine. In "Drinking Wine Spodyody," I like some ideas, but overall hate the sound and especially the vocals. Maybe I'm comparing the vocals too much to Byrne, who I think works really well with his music. Not here though. I don't have much to say about "Pa Ubu Dance Party" other than I don't care much for the sound... it gets annoyingly busy near the end. Then we get the fuzzy dissonant track "Blow Daddy-O" which I actually like. It reminds me of the Jesus and Mary Chain and shoegaze music of the late 80s and 90s. Kinda boring though since it goes for almost 4 minutes without any interesting shifts. The closing track "Codex" is fine. Works as an ok way to end of the album smoothly. Vocals still suck. Maybe a bit longer than welcomed. I was debating over what the final score should be. It could have been quite literally any number as I phased through the tracks and kept relistening. In the end, I'm settling it for a 2. Sure, niche people can like almost everything on the album, but there are a lot of problems that are near-universal. I'm not here to judge an artist's intentions. They can do whatever they want. But the problems I have impede on its overall quality too much to warrant a decent score. I may come back to the album if I'm feeling a little freaky, and I may recommend or play it if the opportunity arises. But yeah, this is a 2.

What is this?

Terrible

hardcore is one of my favorite genres, but what the actual fuck is this album

I respect it for its influence and musical skill but this is literal clown music. Like clowns do shows at carnivals to this music.

Not a fan...at all. Very grating to my ears. Not sure on the appeal - I'll have to wiki Pere and understand where he was coming from.

starts of great with roots of punk there and new electrical sound as the album progresses some 'experimental' sounds are used which mainly make your ears bleed

I like pere ubu but this sounded too disjointed

Swerved erratically between great and rubbish

Felt like there might be something more interesting in this music but never materialized.

Interesting arrangements to the entire album and an interesting look into post-punk from the late 70s. At times it was a little grating, but overall an ok album. Best: Dub Housing Worst: Blow Daddy-O 2.5 Stars

Like a dubbier Talking Heads on a bad trip. Only ever heard The Modern Dance by Pere Ubu before (which bangs), this is still pretty damn good - don't listen to the naysayers

Interesting...

Abrasive, rough and epic

Oh my poor ears

Wow! Ni sabía que existía este grupo y valió la pena muchísimo escuchar el disco. No crei que la música experimental se remontara a esos años. Excelente recomendación

I appreciate the experimentation but overall not something that I would go back to. I'd be grooving to it one second, and then confused the next.

Either LSD or razor blades need to be used to listen to this.

Yeah I was kind of liking parts of it, sonically really weird, and parts of it where you can see they could be a good, straightforward band, but they are choosing not to Obvious influence on Devo Pretty brave and very weird

This album was good when it wanted to be, but it also wanted to be terrible during the rest of it. It had a good mix, and sometimes each instrument complimented each other perfectly. However, more often than not, the instruments, including the voice, all sounded like they were performing different songs.

Disjointed noise

Genuinely one of the worst things I've ever heard. It wouldn't be any less than 40 years for bands like Squid to pick apart the trash from this album and form it into something manageable. Any redeeming quality any song would seem to have would be immediately extinguished with awful noises for the ears. Save yourself the listen on this one and go listen to anything else. It will be a much better use of your time.

Weird experimental rock album. Some catchy songs though.

A wildly inconsistent album from one of the most influential American post-punk, art-punk bands around. You can hear the foundations of what many of those genres bands went on to explore but the album doesn't have the consistency personally to be considered as something that ages perfectly. It's worthwhile to hear how they inspired generations after them but again just not consistent enough to go back to the full length time and time again.

A weird album

Sufficiently weird.

Demasiado raro para mi gusto

let's just say it's very experimental with a hint of creepiness

Thankfully the albums don't repeat ಠ_ಠ

Not a fan of his singing. Very experimental and jagged sounds. More noisy than musical. Like your friends in the garage trying to be a Ultra Cool New Band.

Seems newer than late '70's, some catchy other unlistenable songs

dark and groovy post-punk, better than black midi

This is a first time listen to a band I've never heard of. There are elements that reminded me of the Talking Heads and the Art Rock of the early 70s. I'm not sure what to do with this album. It was interesting, and I'm glad that I got to hear something new. I'm not sure if I liked it enough to give it 3 stars, but I'm judging the album as a whole

Des hob i jetz ned verstanden

Just straight garbage

I don't understand this at all. I don't like Beefheart's Trout face lp and I don't like this. To me it makes no musical sense. Why is it highly rated?

I think I dislike it less than it deserves...

Not a fan

What is this noise I subjected my poor ears to? This album needs to be filed ‘never open’ and buried in a desert 100 meters below the surface. There is no way in any world this shite makes its way into any musical best of list. -1000 Stars!

Not my kind of thing, but one of those things I can accept as good despite that.

.

Dub Housing? Deceiving album name... Enjoyed it mostly, but pretty abrasive vocals. *Talking Heads

Flashes of decency, but just weird post-punk vibes throughout. The flashes keep it at a 2 for me. Caligari's Mirror is a jam, but they will mix in more artsy discordant riffs that throw me off

Liked the beat throughout the album. It lost a star when the band adding their voice & lyrics. Groovy beats until Ubu Dance . Whoever sang in a voice that sounded like Tiny Tim “Tip Toe through the Tulips”, was the tipping point to skip the rest.

The first notes I wrote down about one minute into the first song were “grating and not enjoyable - frantic”. The rest of the album pretty much follows suit. The second album I get to listen to on my island in hell.

Ballsy

My expectations for this album started off strong, but much like most Pere Ubu songs, finished in disappointment. This is the type of avant post-punk that makes people, like Emily, write the whole genre off. I really did like some of these songs. While the lead singer's voice was definitely off-putting at best, it leant some interesting accessibility to the off kilter music. Like this music is artsy and really out there, but this dude can't really sing and neither can I, so you relate to his sense of urgency in just trying to relate an idea no matter what you think of him. This did cause the overall enjoyability of many of the songs to suffer though because on the flip side his voice could really get in the way of enjoying a good groove the band had going. I really flip-flopped on this record. I wanted to like it because I can hear its influences on some of the bands I like today, but it also was just so unlistenable at times. Definitely ahead of its time. I mean they had sea shanties in "Caligari's Mirror," and those are only getting cool now. This is a 2.5 that I really want to give a 3, buuuuuut...

No thanks. And trust me, I tried. Stevie, sorry this is the album on your b-day.

Dafuq

35 minutos y 10 canciones. Sigo sorprendiéndome con lo corto y directos que eran antes los discos. Empieza bien con Navvy a pesar de la voz como de gato maullando. El sonido post-punk, avant-garde no me disgusta y tenía algo de miedo ya que este es uno de los discos peor puntuados dentro de los 1001 de esta lista. No es malo y pero tampoco se merece más de un 2. Si te gustan Pavement, Talking Heads o Manos de Topo lo mismo te parecen interesantes.

There's maybe one good song in this album...

Post punk. Rarito.

First half of this didn't catch me. It felt like a lot of post-punk, experimental and awkward or jarring to listen to. I got excited about it around "I will wait" and found some fun sounds in there. Other songs like "(Pa) ubu dance party" and "Codex" got me excited with interesting intros, my excitement faded everytime they got into the meet of a tune. Codex especially was a bummer, because the intro riff feels like a perfect noodle to build a dark metal song around.

An interesting birthday gift, that's for sure. Extremely weird music, in ways that don't always work. Wikipedia calls this a seminal post-punk album. I'm not sure what I thought post-punk was, but I didn't have this in mind. I will give some credit though, some of these songs are pretty catchy and enjoyable, despite the weirdness. Maybe I'm just happy to have an American band for once. I don't like this overall, but I will say it sounds WAY newer than 1978. Favorite tracks: Caligari's Mirror, Pa Ubu Dance Party, Drinking Wine Spodyody. Album art: As much as I usually don't like black and white covers, this one is pretty nice. Looks very foreboding with the rows of disembodied windows. Getting Rear Window vibes. 2.5/5

I hate this.

Super cool Andy music, major vibes

Meh

Ja Dit is een keuze

this was fucking weird I love it 😙

that one song with the muffled scratchy sound was painful

Weird, disorientating, talking heads on acid, on acid. Thriller! made me feel ill but somehow put a smile on my face. Actually the whole thing gave me a headache, does anyone have a Panadol? I imagine seeing them live would have been an absolute trip. Edit - just realised I accidentally listened to it on shuffle the first time. 2nd listen in sequence made a lot more sense but did not help the headache. Happy to discuss my five star rating with anyone who'll listen.

Another awful one. The vocals are as bad as it gets. Sounds like a drunk donkey. 0 stars and doesn't belong on this list

Some of it's a little too punk/shouty for me, but there are some fun sounds and upbeat vibes in here.

Post punk, first track and vocals interesting. Not bad.

better than I expected, not sure why I expected like techno or some crap, it wasn't bad actually

Total garbage

It's tough to know what exactly to think about this album. It's weird and cool. There are certainly moment where I get into it. It's not something I see myself going back to because there's not much about the album that I find really engrossing. Caligari's Mirror is a notable highlight. I can definitely see how it is influential in what came after it. 3/5

Absolutely not. I would prefer this with no vocals. I made it about halfway through before just nopeing out. Sorry. The sailor song was okay. It’s like if Isaac Brock only sang drunk or something and had worse lyrics. Congrats to this album on my first 1 star!!!!!!!!

Nope. Not doing anything. I generally thought I like post-punk, I mean, I like (some) Talking Heads songs. But this was a chore to get through. I didn't enjoy listening to it at all. Some acid trip of pseudo-intellectual noise that has no defined structure at all. I understand that is the point of the album, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. 1.5/5.