Hms Fable

Another British pop album so important that the only sentence under the Legacy tab in Wikipedia is the one noting that it is on the 1001 albums list. I understand that sometimes you need a bit of distance between an album and the review to gain perspective on it, but that's exactly why it shouldn't be on this list. It's a late 90s pop album that sounds like a late 90s pop album. It's fine, but indistinguishable from a hundred other albums that came out in the same era. It's not special or groundbreaking or technically outstanding in any way. Why not throw a couple of Days of the New or Stabbing Westward albums on here while we're wasting everyone's time? 2/5

Jesus, 1999. Were people still doing this in ‘99? Blur were forming The Gorilaz, Radiohead had moved on to Kid A, Kasabian were starting out… and Shack were making this. It’s fine I guess, it’s like a very good pub band but I can’t see any reason for it to be on this list. I got quite angry that this is included.

I think that the fact that this album is in the 1001 is the biggest joke so far. I went to dozen of record stores, I'm on Facebook group with more than 15000 music lovers, I'm digging music for more than 15 years now and no one, absolutely no one ever recommended me this. I had never even seen this poor artwork before. And you know why? Because this album is insanely generic and because it is NOT a monument in the history of music AT ALL. This 1001 thing doesn't even contains albums from artists and bands likes Phil Collins, Gentle Giant, Broadcast or American Football, but of course, SHACK IS HERE! THE QUINTESSENCE OF MUSIC. Thank you and goodbye.

Boy, Oasis really did a number on the Brits, didn’t they?

1001 britpop albums to listen to before you die by your own hand i hope the hms fable sunk with no survivors, this album was trash

2.6 - Another lukewarm Britpop entry. To quote Beavis and Butthead: "We've got enough crap over here in this country. Why do we need to go to Europe to get more?" The pretty "Daniella" ends this pleasant but forgettable record on a hauntingly mournful note.

Thought this was brilliant. Natalie's Party and Daniella are both superb and book end some absolutely brilliant 90's indie music.

"H.M.S. Fable" is the third album by the Liverpudlian band Shack and the first album after the band's reformation following their previous album "Waterpistol" and an album by an off-shoot band, The Strands. H.M.S means Her Majesty Ship which makes sense given the album cover and some of the lyrics. Yeah, I had to look that up. Shack consisted of Mick Head (vocals, guitar), his brother John Head (guitar), Justin Smith (bass) and Mick Hurst (drums). This is a very well-crafted and well-produced (Hugh Jones and Youth (Martin Glove)) album. Definitely in the pop (or Britpop) category but also has some pyschedelic and prog elements. This is one of the most happy and optimistic sounding albums given that some of the songs are about the Head brothers' struggles with drugs, which was no secret. The album starts extremely strong with two great songs. "Natalie's Party" is pop sounding and also reminds me of Cracker. Very optimistic. Guitar bridge. Strings. Chorus. Great lyrics about two lovers. "Comedy" is slower, with strings. Nice guitar outro. Again, optimistic about someone pulling him through. "When you cry it pulls me through." The next two songs "Pull Together" and "Beautiful" sound more like the pop-side of Oasis. Both songs soar. "Lend's Some Dough" may be the happiest song I've heard about drugs... kind of Beatles-esque. The second half of the album incorporates some pyschedelia and prog. In "Streets of Kenny" he's searching for drugs. Pyschedelic and prog, it kind of reminded me of the Moody Blues. Pyschedelic ending with dual lead guitars. " I Want You" moves back to more pop. Lyrical references to ships, kings, queens and Merlin. Very Love-sounding with the pyschedelic guitars. The album ends kind of sad with the song "Daniella," unlike the rest of the album. Acoustic guitar. He lost his friend Jack. Wow, I think I made the most band references in anything I've written but Shack created music that is their own. I've like everything I've heard from Mick Head both previous with The Pale Fountains and subsequently. This album is no exception. I can see why his music is revered by many.

After listening to the first song I had a feeling this was going to be a maximum 3 star, on its way to a 2. But the songs on the album changed genre a few times and the stories for a few of the songs were fairly unique. In the end I went and listened to it all the way through again.

Bland and uninspired britpop. Wished I was listening to something else almost the entire time. No more of this, please

Call the police! I'd like to report an album that's been criminally under-rated.

This one's a pleasant surprise. Never heard of Shack before but I enjoyed this a lot. I'll probably check out the rest of their catalog. Thanks generator.

Splendid

Never heard of this but it is brilliant

Yeah, this is just typical britpop. The fact this album and this band are utterly unknown to me, someone who was a teenager in the 90s in the UK and bought in, at least a bit, to the britpop scene, speaks volumes.

Mick Head is one of the greatest (unappreciated) songwriters from Britain in the last 30 years.

Great album. Very chill. I liked it so much I added it to my Spotify favorites. I especially liked the vocals / harmony.

First listen of this band. Loved this record

For some reason seeing this cover always made me think this was some kind of bad Alt Country record. Boy, I couldn’t be more wrong. This, is a very welcome surprise and the record pretty much hooked me. It’s in the vein of Oasis, very strong Britpop with great instrumentation and songwriting. I’ve got a feeling this record is gonna creep up very fast and become one of my favourites! 8,5 out of 10

Loved this, and never had heard it. I hear influences from the Beatles, the Who, the Byrds, maybe even a little Simon & Garfunkel. Will listen again.

I was very surprised by this album. I really loved it! Not only did I enjoy every song, but also how the album ties together. It has this very nice cool calm alt-rock vibe that feels modern but it is also very distinctively 90s.

Superb album!

Great album, combines the best aspects of Britpop with some Indie and Folk elements. Especially loved the harmonies and the catchiness of the songs

Don't know how that one passed me by, fantastic album

It would be hard to review this album without comparing Shack to Oasis, so I won't try. It's a band fronted by troubled brothers who sing soaring melodies about scoring heroin accompanied by strings. They're the Liverpudlian Oasis. In fact, the two bands had a sort of co-dependent relationship, even if one made it big while the other one opened for them years later. This certainly sounds like an Oasis album, but better; a glance at the lyrics reveals a song-writing talent that the Gallaghers could only dream of. Shack is one of those "what could have been" bands that nevertheless managed to pull it together long enough to make one memorable album, and this is solid stuff. Best track: Beautiful

Meh

disharmonious cross between blues traveller and oasis. it actively offends and i dont like it

This album is absolutely great. Loved every song!

From the name and album cover I thought this would be Irish jigs or something. This album is nice, it has a calming feel-good rock vibe. Definitely that late 90’s alt feel

Good stuff. I enjoyed this.

I really liked this.

The last classic album to come out of Liverpool?

Reminds me a little of All The Roadrunning or REM. Their songs are really good at both hitting all of the satisfying resolutions while also moving in interesting unexpected directions.

I liked how this album wastes no time and dives straight into the music—several great and lighthearted songs.

This was massive in the UK for a bit, but somehow it completely passed me by. It was better than I expected; the connective tissue between Oasis and Elbow.

Wasn't expecting to like it, but this is a gem of its genre! It sounds a lot like R.E.M. The strings were a wonderful touch throughout. I loved the songs that felt a little shanty-ish/adventurous/folksy, like Streets of Kenny or Daniella. At times a bit too cheesy, but it never was unenjoyable. The best songs I loved, and the worst songs were still very nice.

Some good easy listening - kind of distracting how often they changed time signature in many songs, but it felt like a precursor to Guster, so I liked it similarly.

Before listening to a note I’m wagering the reviews will be full of “another British band I don’t know” calls for more Pearl Jam or (Christ) Radiohead or whatever the hell you lame-oes like. This is stalwart melodic, heads down guitar pop that I’ve somehow never heard despite it surpassing what I remember of the avalanche of dull, post-Oasis dadrock that had me fleeing radios for the second half of that decade. They sound profoundly unfashionable and completely devoted, which pushes them up in my book.

Generic off brand Oasis

if this book makes me listen to even just one more britpop album you WILL see me on every news channel

I'm four tracks out from the end of this one and remember nothing of the first 8... This falls into a particularly bland space of turn of the millennia alternative rock and I'm struggling to see why its included on the list. On one hand, the music is fine, but on the other every song sounds like an impersonation of another, better artist. At their best, they sound like a slightly edgier R.E.M. Can't imagine ever coming back here, but it also feels wrong giving this a 2. So I'm going with a completely limp 3.

I can envision everybody screaming “ITS ANOTHER 90s BRITISH INDIE BAND! FUCK!” right now. the first side is so good but the second side drags down it a bit. 3.5/5

This album was fine. Nothing great, nothing horrible, just straight down the middle.

Managed to listen to this without knowing anything about the band, and yet it was /instantly/ identifiable as a second rate Liverpool indie band, circa 1998-200. Not unpleasant at all - there's that late 90s sweetness or production polish, and there's maybe a little bit of the La's, a bit of The Pernice Brothers, a bit of the Cosmic Rough Riders, a bit of The Thrills etc etc etc. It's fine, but totally unexceptional. Probably a three star album, but tempted to mark it down because what the heck is it doing on the list?

Not sure how this one snuck in... Its good, its fine. I like the songs, some songs were better than others. I probably won't revisit, but I wouldn't be mad if it was on. I guess it was somewhat forgettable?

Didn’t change my life, but wasn’t bad.

Scouse britpop arriving at the fag end of the movement. Best Tracks: Natalie's Party, Comedy, Streets of Kenny

Not bad, but nothing that particularly stuck with me

Hms Fable, while it at first glance seems to spark an interesting vibe with it's opening track, quickly bores. Truly one of the most mediocre inclusions on this list. I can't see how this album should be here at all. It's not unlistenable, far from it, but still. This is one inclusion I'm going to rightfully rant about, if I finally get to know which albums didn't make the cut.

I thought this was Shaquille O'Neal, boy was I disappointed

Perfectly generic. I wonder if there's Polynesian music on this list.

This sounds like they keep trying to write a theme song for a '90s sitcom but keep falling short.

I wouldn’t put this in the top 50 of 1999, much less the top 1001 all time.

There were some nice moments (Streets of Kenny, Danielle) on this but that would be obliterated the next minute by the most middle of the road Britpop indie crap. Really frustrating album

As a brit born in 82, who loves britpop and music generally i couldn't be any more in the target market for this. But even i found this average. There are hundreds and thousands if albums more deserving of this list. Its not a bad album, but its certainly does not fit the brief.

sounds like every-other ~2000's brit pop band, but without the one or two good songs that make them worth listening to. I can see why this guy did heroin to make things more exciting, still not a terrible album 2/5

Sounds like a bad Coldplay cover band. It’s not miserable but wouldn’t pay the cover charge.

It's like the non-alcoholic, diet, fat-free version of R.E.M.

Now this is some prime over-rated low-effort Brit bollocks (as judged upon hearing it in 1999, yet alone today from this list). I think their A&R man later wrote the entertaining if concerning "Kill Your Friends", perhaps as a diversion from the tedium herein. If we're now just randomly lauding tuneful obscure nautical-adjacent Beatlesy-indie I'm going to use the rest of my time to highlight Pugwash and the excellent "What Are You Like?" You're welcome.

None/5 Another day, another proof that whoever made this list is fucking retarded. When I saw the album cover, I thought "hey this could be interesting if it's something like Flogging Molly"... But ofc I was disappointed when I read "Pop/Brit Pop". This album is somehow even worse than the Robbie Williams bs I had to listen to a couple weeks ago. Good thing I can choose not to listen to this.

Utter shite. It's derivative as all hell, a bit like a Temu Crowded House over a decade too late, combined with the worst aspects of C-tier UK bands at the time like Travis. Trite lyrics and embarrassingly simple songs, coupled with a competent pub singer with zero interesting or intriguing qualities. Saccharine and overwrought string arrangements and flourishes on meandering songs that neither need or deserve them. As the 90s came to a close, in the year that we got classics like 'The Soft Bulletin', 'The Fragile', 'Ágætis byrjun', '2001', '13', 'Terror Twilight', 'The Slim Shady LP', 'Mule Variations' and exciting debuts like 'Showbiz' and 'The White Stripes', even Coldplay's Blue Room EP...*this* is what we're highlighting????

Why is this on the list? Who the fuck cares about Shack? Who even remembers Shack in 2023? Imagine the great album whose place on the list is kept occupied by fucking Shack

Pretty boring.

This is unique.

Never even heard of them. Love it-and I’m not a britpop fan. It sounds like Crowded House to me. Even so, I love it. Now in my library.

Never heard of these people but easily one of my favorite finds! Great album overall!

Music is great.

What an incredible collection of songs. This was a complete hidden gem for me. Enjoyed this a lot and will be listening again. Great album.

1999 UK. Alternative Rock, Britpop

This was really good.

Good

Really good. Has that Stone Roses 90s britpop psychedelia feel that I really like. Added to my liked albums after the second song

This is a beautiful album and worth it for just Captain's Table.

Reallly good I enjoyed it thoroughly and I’ll look at more of their albums. It was just what I needed today

amazing???

This album was 🔥

listening to this on a train ride in april felt really good

i generated this album after a day of catching up on several albums i'd missed, so i was predisposed to not like it (even *more* music homework?). when i saw the album cover, i assumed it would be sea shanties, and i was even less enthused. but then i listened to it and it blew me away. i'm writing this without looking at the reviews or the wikipedia page, so i don't know what the story is or what genre you would even call this. but it was a joy to listen to. beautiful harmonies. a total surprise!

Really nice and pleasant music to listen to. It's a nice Britpop album. I thought that there would be pirate vibes based on the album cover.

It was pretty sweet. I don't really like how it's recorded for some reason but with a bit of bass boosting it sounds on point, tho tbh I'm against doing that

I’d fuck to this album

midnight icecream

Pop Genius. A wonderful collection of lived-in songs, celebrating real life, with sharp observations and great tunes, uplifting strings and heartfelt vocals. Streets of Kenny is one of many stand-outs, a story about falling back into drug use, aching, melancholic

This was very, very good! Loved it

Vraiment une belle découverte! je ne connaissais pas du tout.

Cool

i like this

I‘ve never heard of Shack before today. Before listening, a rudimentary glance at Wikipedia shows they’re from Liverpool, which is basically a 15 minute drive from where I live. Did Shack not get very big, or have I been living under a rock? Songs I already knew: None Favourites: Comedy, Lend’s Some Dough, Daniella Is it the familiar accent in the vocals? Is it the similar sound to other bands I like? Is it simply that one of the song titles is my name? The amalgamation of all these little parts, as well as the excellently orchestrated music, gave me goosebumps several times when listening to this today. As the guitar played out the final track, the goosebumps came back, I removed my headphones, and had to take a few moments to appreciate everything I had just heard. Truly, this was a phenomenal album that I thoroughly enjoyed today, and definitely something I’ll be returning back to a lot.

idk yet

I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would.

New to me, and at times, pleasantly surprising. Worth your time!

It's a pretty good album, they know how to use the orchestra parts at the right moments, its pretty good. 7/10

Prettige indiepop, af en toe doet het een beetje aan REM denken. Verder een gezellige retrovibe. Punt is, er beklijft ook niet veel. Ik vrees dat ik ze morgen alweer vergeten ben.

Bizar hoeveel 90s muziek we te horen krijgen, waar ik nog nooit van heb gehoord. Ik begin dan ook maar weer eens sceptisch aan dit album, maar de mannen van Shack weten dat in no time om te draaien. Want het is vrolijkstemmende poprock, die me doet denken aan NL bands als Voicst of the Sheer. Internationaal heeft het wat weg van Crowded House. Zijn manier van zingen is wel enigszins herkenbaar. Het zou me niks verbazen als ik een of ander hitje toch wel ergens eerder heb gehoord. Hoe dan ook, het is iets dat bijzonder vergeetbaar is ben ik bang, maar ik vond het toch wel leuk om te luisteren. 3,5 ster. En ach, laat ik dat maar weer eens naar boven afronden, voor al die lollige bandjes die dit soort vrolijkstemmende muziek maken.

The sound of post-Britpop exhaustion. There is a much less snarky vibe to these tunes, and it owes more to the loose, jingle-jangle, 60s folk of the Byrds. A lot of late 90s bands sounded like this. Shack were one of the better ones, if less well-known. Having said that, Lend Some Dough is a horror I’m not sure how much this deserves to be on the list, but I do really like it.

A very pleasant surprise from a band I'd never heard of before. The thinking man's Britpop, as it were, as English as jellied eels and Pimms in the park.

Eh, I don't care if it's something that has been done so many times already, I enjoyed it a lot.

Late 90s rock, all of the songs were lovely to listen to

4/5

Quite liked this.