Reviews (page 4 of 8)
It's one of those bands that break and fall with the singer. He's ok, a bit to soft and mediocre for my taste. The music is OK too but it's seems that the moments where they could to progressive/experimental they chose to go for something radio friendly. Nothing wrong per se with that but, you know, it's not something that deserves to be on this list. One could even argue that this is something from the fringes of Britpop that aged badly.
They channel R.E.M. on a good portion of this album but to lesser results. To me, Streets of Kenny is the only standout. The rest is listenable. Not a bad album at all. 6.5/10
It's fairly standard easy listening rock. Starts out with Natalie's Party which is quite fun. The rest is all chill and relaxing. Except for Streets Of Kenny, which I wasn't a fan of. Best song: Natalie's Party
ahoy uf de hms fable, bitte alli an bord! eus erwartet en 47 minütigi mittelmeer rundfahrt voller mittelmässigkeit, aber obacht ungefähr ide hälfti sind durchus vereinzelti qualitätsbrisene spürbar. hebed sie sich ah dene stelle eifach ah de reeling fescht, denn cha nöd vill passiere. ganz en schöni reis wünsch ich ihne! ah und fast vergässe: iceberg straight ahead!
Favorite Track: Captain’s Table
Natalie’s Party // Comedy //
Not bad but this is a very odd pick.
Overall: 5/10 It's not bad but it's soooo generic and boring and sounds like every post-Oasis british band from the 90s. I liked the vocals I guess. Fav Song: Beautiful Least Fav Song: Captain's Table
Brit-Pop where the dash location represents the quality of the music, mid.
Reminds me of Oasis, but better. 3.5
Plain old music. Inoffensive, fine in the background, nothing essential. I did enjoy listening to it.
This was alright The problem I had with it though, was that it sounds like many other British bands of the time. Nothing was unique, memorable, or stood out to me. Sounded ok, but just a bit meh 3 ⭐️
It was okay, not my favorite.
I had never heard of this before. Went to wikipedia and it really has nothing significant on the album. So I don't really think this should be on this list at all. Upon listening, definitely reminded me of Oasis a little bit and thought it was way to generic for the first few songs and didn't hear anything groundbreaking. However, it did get a little better as the album went on. Really liked the Captain's Table song. Couple songs in the middle were pretty good. Overall, I'd give it 2.8 and round up to 3
Felt like I was going to enjoy this after the first fee tracks, but then began to drag. This album doesn't do anything that wasn't done better dozens of times in the decade that preceded it
This is normally not my genre, so I was surprised that I generally liked this one.
Sort of fine. New to me band. Nothing I didn't like but didn't hit me as something I want to hear over and over. Not quite sure what the significance that brought this album to the 1001 list.
It sounds like the beatles did a lot of drugs. not bad, just boring. 50 seamen lol. 3.
This is 90s Britpop I can appreciate. Most of the songs are enjoyable enough, although as a background setting. Shack saved the best for last with Daniella, which is a great song that I wish more of the album resembled.
Giving it 2.75 / 5 so I’ll round up to 3 stars. Nothing special. Idk what makes this one of the greatest albums of all time. It’s fine… but I wasn’t blown away by any of the tracks.
Favourite songs: Beautiful, Comedy, Natalie's Party, Cornish Town Least favourite songs: Streets of Kenny 3/5
Not my mood this morning but fun nonetheless
A new find
Some really good songs, but a bit unforgettable
Voice forward. Too much the same “sound”
Not hard to listen to, but not memorable either.
I disagree with those saying that it's just another shitty Britpop album and whilst I'd be inclined to agree with them, as I hate Britpop as a genre and through browsing the list of albums it seems that the afore mentioned tend to make up a fair portion of the albums, I think lumping this with the others doesn't do it justice. It clearly has the Oasis-fueled Britpop elements that I've heavily grown to hate living in a town just outside Manchester, but it also holds some pretty cool prog and psychedelic rock inspirations that I think elevates this album a fair bit. Plus I like the vocals on most of the tracks I was pretty far from enjoying everything on this one, but some tracks I'll definitely be coming back to, like Pull Together and Daniella. A high 3.
Some of the songs are too poppy and some sound like Irish folk music, which I don't enjoy, but when they play actual Britpop, it's pretty fun. I also really liked the final track, which sounds like it was inspired by Led Zeppelin.
3.5
Hey, they weren’t bad. Nothing special, just nice inoffensive music
kinda cute at times leaning more towards a 4 than a 2
I liked this, and with it coming out in 99 they were just slightly ahead of their time. But it reminds me very much of Starsailor or Travis, where it’s good but nothing is great or special enough to endure
it was FINE
Pretty decent 3.5/5
"HMS Fable" do Shack é um álbum que fica aquém de grandes momentos memoráveis. Apesar de suas faixas não se destacarem ou deixarem uma impressão duradoura, ele consegue se manter agradável ao longo da audição. As músicas não possuem um grande impacto, e é o tipo de álbum que, mesmo sendo repetidamente ouvido, tende a ser esquecido facilmente. No entanto, não é uma experiência ruim – é apenas uma produção que se mantém na média.
Glimpses of interest but generally quite bland - tried quite a few times to get into it but something about it was off. It’s kind of part Britpop part sea shanties and part indie and it feels like it doesn’t know what it wants to be. It gets better as it progresses but not enough to win me over.
01) Natalie's Party - 6,0 02) Comedy - 6,5 03) Pull Together - 6,5 04) Beautiful - 6,5 05) Lend's Some Dough - 6,0 06) Captain's Table - 6,5 07) Streets of Kenny - 6,5 08) Reinstated - 6,5 09) I Want You - 6,0 10) Cornish Town - 6.0 11) Since I Met You - 6,0 12) Daniella - 6,5 TOTAL: 6,29 (63/100) Current ranking: 296/386
British bias showing through again. It's alright, but nothing special. Sounded very Brit-pop meets jangle-pop.
Another britpop album? I'm nearly half done with this list and it really feels like the UK has a stranglehold on the people who wrote this book.
H.M.S. Fable is the third album by Shack, originally released in 1999. Never heard of this group before. This is some pretty solid power pop/britpop. Definitely indie-influenced. A lot of this is acoustic-guitar driven which is pretty dope. The hooks are very catchy and have that 90s indie pop vibe. I wouldn't necessarily call it a must-hear, but it was a nice listen.
79% Best: Natalie's Party; Comedy; Beautiful; Streets of Kenny; Re-Instated; Must-Hear? Not quite
Kinda bubblegum poppy for the most part. Nothing bad, but nothing really stuck for me either.
I listened to the album. It was playing in the background and nothing stuck with me. So it didn't bother me, but it didn't impress me either. A certain feeling of boredom remains. 3/5
Identi-kit Pop Rock. Indistinguishable from dozens of other late 90's bands.
Album 580 of 1001 Shack - H.M.S. Fable (1999) Rating : 3 / 5 Another group of lads from Liverpool and some more Brit Pop that is ok but not sure why it is on this list. Another band who sounds a lot like Oasis. Not bad but nothing necessarily noteworthy.
pre: to the best of my knowledge I have never heard of this group before. I don't mind this, it's perfectly fine background music, but I'm not really sure what made this get included on a great album list. It's like the arithmetic mean of 100 other bands in this genre.
Cool cover! Another just fine UK album that didn’t really need to be on here. But I didn’t hate this one.
Extremely British album, this one taught me that a band from Liverpool is called "Liverpudlian," what the hell? Only the Brits, I tell ya. Anyway, I liked when this leaned into the more folksy sound, other than that, fairly generic. Favorite tracks: Comedy, Daniella, Streets of Kenny. Album art: A little drawing of a ship superimposed on a burlap sack or something. Not much going on here. 3/5
Sounds like romcom rock. Not a bad thing and has its place. It’s a good album with good songs but in the britpop vein it’s rather average.
Hadn't heard of Shack before today. Not bad, but hardly essential.
Just a disclaimer: My ratings are a reflection of my own personal taste and nothing more. I didn’t mind this one, but there was really nothing special about it either. I’m not sure I understand all the vitriol in a lot of the reviews, but I do agree with the notion about its relevance and placement on this list of 1001 Albums. Probably won’t listen to it again.
Eh, better bands were doing better stuff at the same time this came out. It's not bad, it's just nothing really special or defining about it.
Very accessible, but you can tell there's no substance
Not a bad listen, but a very generic one. There wasn't much to distinguish between all of the tracks. Daniella was a nice change of pace but, again, wasn't anything really memorable. "Pull Together" was the catchiest of the bunch and is the one I'm most likely to listen to again.
Not heard of these before. I liked it. Jangly 90's poppiness
It was an easy listen but no standouts and nothing particularly great about it. Put it on the three side of a 2.5 but just barely.
3.75
Alright! Weirdly reminiscent of Simon & Garfunkel.
Kann man gut hören.
Interesting. Had never of them. Not my favorite and not bad. May listen again.
It was ok. 3
Sort of mid, but that's not always a bad thing.
Pretty, jangly, poppy, Mersey. I'm not feeling open to this due to the clean production and conventional poppiness. But Michael Head's tenderness comes through the sheen, enough so that I'll revisit this when the hype around the reunion of clear reference point Oasis has died down and I need a good song to get me through something. The three stars are subject to change.
Can't not hear Oasis "Pull Together" and "Streets Of Kenny" are standouts
I confess to never having heard of Shack before, much less this album. Well I have played this album a couple of times. It seems to be well-written, maybe a bit overproduced, but ultimately quite dull to my ears.
It's alright. Nothing special. Everything they do has been done better before them.
Sometimes it doesn’t leave you much impression but there were some nice lush moments and some bigger moments that has potential with a different singer. Not a bad singer but not very interesting either.
Inoffensive, but bland. 3 stars.
Middle of the road Indie. Not good, but not bad 3/5
You walk into a college party in 1997, but it's a movie. They couldn't afford to get popular bands to fill the soundtrack, so they found a close recreation, and used that instead. That's Shack. This is a compliment. It sounds like 90s poppier college rock, but on a budget.
Probably a 3.5 star album for this list. They sounded like a muddy version of Oasis. 3 or 4 good songs though.
Yet another album released at the tail end of the brit pop era… and so it sounds, Nice melodic indie pop, but nothing really standing out at this point in time that several bands had not already done in the 2-3 years before.
Nothing special.
Meh. S'alright
Not bad.
Ovaj ne nadahnuti spoj rema i oasisaje tad u britanskom tisku slavljen ko spas gitarske glazbe to više govori o britanskom tisku nego o bendu 😃btw nme je proglasio 332 najboljim albumom svih vremena 😃
a pretty decent album. nothing mind blowing though, not sure how this made the list
Enjoyed the melody of the album and the acoustic guitar
A bit Oasis, a bit Stone Roses, not as good as either and way too long, but it passed the time enjoyably.
Not every album needs to change the world, and if this album treads some familiar post-Beatles sounds then it's none the worse for it. The songwriting and arrangements are top notch, and while you might not be blown away Michael Head's gift for a nagging melody will start to worm its way into your skull. 3.5 really, but a very solid three stars.
As an indie kid of the 90s I am shocked I haven’t heard of this at all. Pretty decent yet extremely generic of some of the key acts at the time: Oasis, Stone Roses, Charlatans, Cast, Super Furry Animals, all with a healthy dose of Beatles-styles production and orchestration. When this works it is nice, when it doesn’t it sounds like Standing on the Shoulders era Oasis… Best: Captain’s Table
Why is this album here?
Interesting….
This was okay. I liked it but I wouldn’t listen beyond this.
Sin mas
Comedy is a great track. As is, I Want You. I rather like this.
I like this. Sits somewhere between The Coral and Super Furry Animals but very much their own thing. Never heard it before but will listen again.
Similar to you guys, I had no clue these guys existed. Wasn’t particularly blown away myself but it was very listenable while working. Call album cover too 😆
On the one hand, this is some fairly generic Britpop, and I've seen a lot of reviews about the author of the book being biased towards Britpop. Maybe, but also US bands are definitely overrepresented on this list (compared to all music worldwide), and the list will never please everyone. If I curated the list, I know that there are plenty of albums I would include on this list out of personal passion, and I hope this album was chosen for similar reasons. Looking at comments on YouTube, a lot of people love this album. (Although I have found that there are lovers of almost every album and artist on this list.) Anyway. This album slowly won me over, and once I heard Streets of Kenny I understood why it had been chosen, but that is easily the most recognisable song on the album. So are Shack a one hit wonder or an underappreciated gem? For me, this album sounded at worst like Colon, from Fast Show's Indie Club, at middling like a transitional track from Teachers, and at best like late-era Beatles or Pink Floyd - Since I Met You and Beautiful with their big celebratory sounds.
I wouldn't have this on an infinite loop for my play list but I would potentially use it as the soundtrack for my next indie film.
Good and pleasant, just a bit inconsistent. I also don't necessarily mind when artists emulate other artists, but there were a few too many times on this record where I thought they were aping someone else. 3/5
Though the second listening was kore enjoyable than the first one, each day I am trying to understand better what the criteria is to have an album listed as one of the 1001 you need to listen to? This album isn't bad, but what makes this album better than countless other bands I have not found on this list? The potpourri of styles, ranging from '60s folk through '80s alternative is okay, but nothing special... then again, I was never a fan of modern music coming from Liverpool, and seeing as this is constantly mentioned about the artist involved I say whatev's
3-4
This is fine. Some reminded me of Crowded House, some R.E.M., especially later in the album.
Completely fine, kinda fun, british alt-pop sound. They are a little cheeky, and have (to me) a Fountains of Wayne vibe. Nothing smashing, but a decent listen. Enjoyable.
I don't know anything about this Liverpool band, so none of my usual anecdotes. Unfortunately, it's quite a forgettable album, I enjoyed most of it while listening, then puff it's gone.
I would like this more if it were sea shanties.
Standard 90s fare. Last track is the stand out. Shifts tone quite frequently, bouncing from fast and happy to slow and sad; this was sometimes effective, sometimes startling.
Maybe way too much nineties for me *now* -- Third Eye Blind like -- but I prob would have liked it in the 90s.
Another Britpop band from the 80's/90's eh? This album was an alright listen, a little flat and bland at times. I found myself forgetting it was on while I was working, but all-in-all it was fine.
Hoped for sea shanties got middle of the road Brit pop. Hard to even gauge an opinion on something so middle of the road. Much like being married to me - hard to criticise but equally hard to love 2.5
Easy going. Not super into it, but it was good background music.
It was okay. A little bland.
Alright
A solid 80s offering that likely will be lost over time.
It's not that I hate this album, but how did it even end up on the list? It's basically the definition of a mediocre 90s britpop record. Not a single song caught my attention—that's how bland it was. I didn't necessarily mind it, but did I like it? Eh... Have there been far worse entries on this list? Absolutely! Still, including one of the many britpop records that had been around at the time just doesn't make sense. It's painfully obvious that this list was made by a British person. 2.5 stars
Not bad not great
I wouldn't call this bad but it sounds a bit generic. Sounds very 90s early 00s, but nothing is special about it.
Not bad album started strong with first two songs for me then kind of fizzled out but I didn’t mind the listen.
I don't love it, but I don't hate it. I really liked Comedy, Streets of Kenny, Reinstated, . This might not be in my regular rotation of relistens, but I also wouldn't not relisten to it. It fits the roadtrip vibe as I drive home for Christmas.
Well Shack passed me by at the time. Damning it with faint praise it’s pleasant. Nothing radical sounding very much like the Britpop of the time with a 60’s harmony twist. 3.5/5.
The first couple of tracks, I started thinking it was a standard alt-rock album. But then, something weird happened. Somewhere around "Streets of Kenny," I started getting in to it more. The song felt like a cross between REM and Blue Oyster Cult (in a good way). And the sudden cutoff was a pleasant surprise. The quick transition to "Re-Instated" was cool, too. But it shouldn't take halfway through the album to be like "wow, that was cool", you know? I'm not always expecting the first track to hit (although that helps), but it shouldn't take THAT long. Top tracks: "Streets of Kenny," "Re-Instated"
For a brit-pop band I've never heard of (no small feat), this is predictably unassuming, unremarkable, plain vanilla 90's alt rock record. Next.
Pretty derivative, but enjoyable enough (except I hate the end of Streets of Kenny. It ends so abruptly that every time I check my phone to see if my music was interrupted for a call. That alone is worth losing a point). Favorite tracks: Natalie's Party (really liked the chorus and the outro), Lend's Some Dough (catchy), Captain's Table.
Listened to it once, not a big impression, not bad, not all that interesting. Decided to give it another listen. Same opinion. Some parts that are a bit cool, some parts that seem fairly derivative, overall not much in the way of unique, the sound itself was either copied by other bands or it's copied itself.
quite good, catchy, indie rock
Interesting
first listen nice sound at times but pretty forgettable
I kind of liked this, especially the last few songs.
Some good songs, very different kind of music Slight oasis vibe
I'm not going to go so far as to say that this album deserves to be on this list. It's rather unremarkable. But on second listen, it's actually rather nice in places. I like it a lot more than other albums this list is trying to ram down my throat. It actually reminded me of Oasis at first, but then I realised it actually sounds like the Stone Roses but good.
This album was chill and easy to listen to, but I didn't find it very inspiring overall. There were some nice moments. I preferred the slower songs in the minor keys.
This was entirely new to me. Folksy indie rock with slight edge. I liked it, but likely won't seek it out on my own.
Thoughts before listening: Never heard of this band or seen this album cover, so I have no idea what to expect. I'm sure I am way off but the cover looks like it would be like sea shanty punk or something....it'll probably be some sort of dance music though. Review: Should have known it was mostly forgotten 90s/00s British pop rock. I was ready to hate on this, and after the first few songs it got better. This started out sounding like Oasis or Blur retreads, but there are some pretty unique and cool songs on the second half of the album such as "Streets of Kenny" and "Re-Instated". Overall this probably isn't one of the 1,001 best albums I've ever heard, but I'll give it 3-stars for having some interesting moments.
Quite nice
- Again Britpop, ABER irgendwie mit einem coolen folkigen, alternative Twist. - Hat mich ganz gut unterhalten, ist jetzt aber leider nichts spezielles hängen geblieben. 3/5
Tolles Album
This list of 1001 albums is very British. This album isn’t bad, but if I died before hearing it, I’d be OK with it.
Never heard of this band but I mostly enjoyed it.
Thought this was going to be terrible, but it's really just unassuming britpop that doesn't say anything interesting but has a few nice songs Favorite Tracks: Comedy, Pull Together
Hard to imagine anyone will hate HMS Fable but will anyone really love it? It’s a great sunny day driving album, very bright, nice melodies. It deserves more listens. 7.6/10
Never heard of this group. It was listenable, but didn't seem to merit including in this list.
Meh
This was a solid album. Good songwriting and nice melodies make it standout amongst Brit pop/rock. Twelve songs with a total run time under 48 minutes and a good variety ranks it even higher for me. Makes perfect sense that they have label connections to the Lightning Seeds and Noel Gallagher as some moments in their songs definitely lean into that sound which is not a bad thing at all. One of a handful of bands so far on the list that I knew nothing about, but that I will be revisiting.
Overall I was mostly bored with this. A few parts that struck a chord with the emo kid in me, so rounding up from 2.
Sounds like some late 90s radio friendly rock. Like british gin blossoms. Not a bad listen but nothing really stood out.
Enjoyable enough
More and more I see that determining cult albums is very subjective. It was clear with so much questionable artistic expression like rap. This is very light pop, with hardly any previous or subsequent life, but I liked it, subjectively, of course.
Started out really poorly but the last 3rd was excellent. Makes it hard to rate, I'll never listen to the album again, but I'll probably pick some songs out and give them a go.
I was ready to pan this so hard but several people that I respect quite like this album so I gave it another pass just in case I was in a bad mood when I first heard it or something. I still didn't enjoy it. But I didn't loathe it like I did on the first listen-through. It's pretty generic 90s soft rock and that's never going to appeal to me. Sure, it has shades of Oasis and that's alright. And yeah, maybe a few of the songs have some clever lyrics. That's worth something. The guitar tones and production values are killer and I'm here for that. But where it falls short is that it's just... listless. The Shack boys never seem to muster enough energy behind any of these songs for me to really give a shit. And so I don't.
El brit-pop está en el origen de todo lo que hace Shack, pero con un estilo propio, muy melódico y sencillo. En este sentido destacan los dos primeros temas del álbum, "Natalie's Party" y, especialmente, "Comedy". Más adelante, "Lend's Some Dough" es una alegre invitación al baile. Con destreza pop el álbum se va deslizando entre estupendas y sencillas armonías hacia un final en el que, para mí, destacan los ecos "beatles" de "I Want You" y "Since I Met You" con su sarcástico "sólo se vive dos veces".
Aggressively mediocre and would not be on the list if they were not British. Bland lyrics, fine enough music I guess. Light 3.
This was okay. Felt a little derivative of oasis
Reminded me a lot of Oasis. I’m sure if I gave this more time it would grow on me but it didn’t grip me in one day.
напомнило (мой опыт с) элбоу: вроде местами интересно, сторителинг, музыка приятная, вокалист старается, метафоры и паны, но почему-то веет отчаянием от этого
It’s fine, it’s late 90’s Brit-pop. There it on the background and no one will complain. Will I ever revisit it? Probably not
Good LP, enjoyed it and would be happy to heat again.
OK. Sounds like a lot of other stuff from the time.
Nice album, pleasant melodies that only reveal themselves after repeated listening.
Never head of them. This needs a relisten.
I don't know what it is supposed to be. As a slow shant album it gets there.
Escuchable. Sin más.
Brit pop assez générique, plutôt agréable sans être transcendante. L’impression d’avoir déjà entendu ça plein de fois. Ce genre de musique marche aujourd’hui principalement avec la nostalgie de ceux qui l’ont aimé à l’époque. “Beautiful” est celle qui me reste. C'est du pré JJ72. “The Streets of Kenny”, “Natalie's Party”... “Cornish town” est cheesy à souhait. Après c’est toujours plus soutenable que tout le hip-hop que je me tape à côté, donc 3. Ca n’a pas grand chose à faire dans cette liste mais ça devait faire une bonne première partie pour Oasis.
I really like the instrumental compositions for the most part. I'm not sure why, but I'm not feeling the vocals. Maybe it's the mixing on some of the tracks.
Britpop. Ni fu ni fa.
Escuchable. Sin más. Un 3.
Good 90s British Rock. A la Oasis and Hootie & the Blowfish
Melodic but kind of annoying Britpop.
okay
It was fine, which is about all I can say for it. Nothing outstanding, and just an odd selection for the top 1001 albums. Very much a product of its time, although does sound a little like Ted Leo before Ted Leo.
I wasn't big fan of the first half - the vocals seemed very monotonic and uninspired, and had a generic feel throughout. But wow the second half was amazing ...
I enjoyed this. They're not The La’s, but there’s plenty here to keep you listening. Natalie’s Party recalls Oasis somehow; Streets Of Kenny reminds me so much of The Moody Blues; Reinstated begins with a brass intro straight from the Burt Bacharach songbook; and in Cornish Town, Michael Head sounds so much like James Taylor. The band can be poppy or folky. The songwriting is stylish. Never heard of them before.
Decent pop/alterative. Not really my thing
Britpop. Ni fu ni fa.
Pretty interesting story, neat album but not my favorite. Less good than the kooks
A perfectly decent Britpop record. Sort of feels a bit Oasis-adjacent, or is that my limited knowledge of Britpop showing? Anyways, never been much an Oasis guy, but I enjoyed this listen fine enough. Sounds like an album a really good local bar band would put out. This sound was probably about ready to be phased out by 1999, and as such, I'm sort of confused as to what about this album is revolutionary enough to warrant its place on the list, beyond the list's heavy UK bias.
3.5/5
it was good i giess idkk
Gutes Brit Pop Album. Hat jedoch ein paar Längen.
Never heard of these, and Im surprised they dont have much bigger appeal. I really dont like that Oasis / Ashcroft / Cast sort of thing, and this is very much in that Britpop bracket, but didnt really mind this. Very generic, but considering I usually hate this sound I think its quite an endorsement for me! Some very suspect lyrics and times, and often an annoying delivery, but overall not bad. Streets of Kenny was probably my favourite. Wouldnt return, but not bad
Never heard of these before, strange that a cult Scouse band would slip under the radar, guess they weren't active long enough to crop up. Didn't mind this, shades of crowded house and Travis but thought it was delivered better than either of those. Really hope some Shack fans were inspired to visit Kensington by Streets of Kenny, sounds quite mysterious in the song (though the lyrics suggest they are trying to find drugs which is on point). If it wasn't Scouse I'd be less interested I think, not really an essential album on its own, but nice enough.
I didn't mind it at all. Beautiful was pretty good. The album suffers from a bit of a lack of identity, lots of decent songs but I'd struggle to pick up on a specific sound. Nice songwriting though.
This was a pretty pleasant album but didn't do much else for me. Highlights: Natalie's Party Streets of Kenny Since I Met You
Decent . A folky, less talented version of Oasis, albeit a smidge less annoying.
Well, I see I'm the odd one out here, but I liked it. I also couldn't tell you a single song on it, but it was good chill tunes.
Late 90s safe rock
Occasionally has Barenaked Ladies upside. Really remarkable for late 90s Britpop in that it doesn't completely blow chunks. It also doesn't sound EXACTLY like the other 259 late 90s Britpop albums on here. It mostly sounds the same, but not EXACTLY the same.
Passable I guess? Really not sure why this is on the list. Didn't mind it but would never intentionally listen to anything on this album again.
Pleasant, hooky rockers with a strong pop sensibility. Kind of a middling album when held up against other Britpop albums, and I find the vocals to be a bit rough. But this album certainly is not without its charms. Fave Songs: Comedy, Reinstated, Daniella, I Want You, Natalie's Party
Natalie's Party is a warm starter. In fact it's kind of just a warmed over kind of album.
Streets of Kenny haha what a shithole
A very 90’s alt rock album. Sometimes sounds a little REM-ish
Escuchable. Sin más. Un 3.
It's mixed and mastered well, and very upbeat and happy. Very listenable and sounds like it would make good garage band music. Songs are different enough to keep it interesting but all laid back. British people.
A few standout tracks for me like Pull Together. Enjoyable listen.
Really well made album. Nice flow and every song feels well constructed. It picked up for me around captains table and streets of Kenny. I do get the feeling that this album was written for a musical that I haven’t seen before and feels like many of these songs could be in a old-timey version of Rent. Nothing wrong with it. I am surprised to see it ranked QUITE so high on all these “top 500 lists, so someone just have a soft spot in their heart for this album one never heard, but honestly I am also not surprised to see it so well received. I just don’t think I’d ever care to revisit it. It’s a very good but also feels like a little non-descript product of its time. 3/5
Mjög kósí í heildina, þó það hafi ekki verið fyrsti væbinn sem ég fékk.
Either I don't remember them or I'd never even heard of Shack....let's go... First/immediate thought: I could have dated this right away with the 90s overly-crispy massively-compressed production. It was a bad era in the studio. I'm finding it hard to separate the sound from the songs. I like the melodic nature and especially a song like "Beautiful" - love that intro, there's a lot of power-pop influence shining through here (Beatles, Jellyfish, Nilsson), and even into the chorus with the strings. Hard to not hear a little Oasis albeit with more dynamics. In the end tho...ehhh....it decent I feel like this is an album I'd likely have ranked higher if I had any nostalgic love for / knowledge of it. In other words, how have I ranked Oasis higher than this album? Were they that much better? Probably sadly admit it's because of familiarity. Maybe these guys really should have been what Oasis were. Or maybe it's just another melodic Britpop sugar-high album that sounds good while listening to but I'm going to forget about tomorrow. 6/10 3 stars.
Wasn't great, wasn't awful.
Rating: 6/10 Decent Britpop album. Starts off excellent with the first three songs, then gets a little boring afterwards. Sounds like Oasis but not as good, the highlights were incredibly enjoyable, the use of strings was very tasteful. Favorite songs: Natalie's Party, Comedy, Pull Together, Captain's Table. Worst songs: Streets of Kenny, Re-Instated.
Wow this gets a lot of hate in reviews. Its pretty decent singer songwriter stuff with good production. It doesn't breat new ground but if REM (which it resembles a bit) made it, it would sell in the millions.
Album started really strong and didn’t completely hold that momentum, but overall really tuneful and enjoyable. Best song: Natalie’s Party
I expected absolute trash, but surprisingly, its pretty chill! Captains Table is my fav.
First song Natalie's Party is a great powerpop gem, second song comedy has really nice production and will probably be a grower. The third song Pull Together sounds like a Oasis knockoff track (not in a good way) I also liked Lend Some Dough, Captain's Table and Streets of Kenny. Cornish Town sounds like a British R.E.M track and I am here for it. Overall, a bit uneven but a very enjoyable listen. I would give it a 3.5
very folksy. Decent, but no songs really stand out.
Meh
pretty same-ish 90s alternative.
I really wanted to like this more but it just didn't stand out.
One of the least offensive 90's alternative albums I've ever heard. Absolutely nothing about any of this distinguishes itself from all the other "clean" sounding 90's alternative music I've heard. Seriously, as soon as a song ended I forgot about it. This is the definition of a 3 star album to me.
Decent, but again pretty generic. If you’ve heard one song in the album you’ve heard em all. 6/10
I thought that the album was pretty good. I don’t know if I would listen to more of their music, but other than that 3/5!
It's good. Really good. But didn't blow me away.
Why is this here? It would be poor if it had come out six years earlier, when it sounds like it should be from. It's worse than Gay Dad's To Earth With Love. It wins a few points for the fact I was still relieved not to have Napalm Death or Jimmy Smith.
Rock alternativo razoável, não empolgou
It's fine? It's pretty generic stuff and completely forgettable. 2.5/5
Solid 3/5
Got better towards the end, but overall just not very interesting. Very generic and non offensive. 2.75/5 Won't listen again
To be fair today and yesterday were probably the least engaged I've been with this list in quite a while. I vaguely liked both this album and the previous one (moreso the last one) but I can't really pinpoint anything I liked besides the overall sound and maybe one or two songs between the two. I liked comedy and I liked some of the genre changes of this album but in general it just sounded like a bland 90s britpop album.
Me rappelle certaines chansons de Robbie Williams de la même époque. Heureux mariage de rock et de pop. Belle trouvaille que l'enchaînement abrupt de Re-Instated après Streets of Kenny.
A catchy compilation of songs from the last days of britpop era. It's a lovely album but at first listen it's not something that is unique and outstanding. It was still a good listen though.
Good! Underrated Britpop.
the last song is the best
More alt-rocky than other britpop albums that I've heard, but not necessarily better.
Nothing special; not bad to listen to though.
Kinda bland
4/10
First impressions for this album were that it wasn't bad, but there was nothing here that was profound or that stood out for me. It was fine. On my second listen today, I started to think that maybe there was a bit more to it...but then, nah. It's still just meh to me.
Listened Before? N Surprisingly good! I did not expect to like this, and I actually loved it. I'll be revisiting this multiple times. Added to Library? Y Songs added to playlist: Pull Together, Beautiful
Not my thing. It was alright, but nothing outstanding in my opinion. Some tracks were more interesting than others, but the uninteresting ones bring this one down a decent bit.
Not sure what’s so amazing about this… sounds pretty unremarkable. Kind of like the strings at first but they kind of just are always hanging out. Almost no dynamic range on this record... About as good as a decent local band, TBH. Hard to imagine this is in top 10,001 albums let alone 1,001. Must be a regional thing. Captain’s Table and Streets of Kenny try to be a little psychedelic… kinda cool but still lackluster. It’s not terrible but not particularly inspiring. I'll go with a 3, some of the tracks are growing on me, and I'm glad that I gave it a listen because I normally wouldn't have given it any time of day.
Decebt guitar based rock. Imagine Oasis if the Gallaghers were educated middle class boys - this is what they'd sould like.
Nice vocals.
Wry similar to other Liverpudlian bands - it’s a shame the others are more well known than them. Enjoyable.
A bit generic innit? 3/5
Decent Brit-pop. No big standouts for me. Occasionally the singer sounded like Michael Stipe to me.
New one for me, it was decent listen, fairly generic brit-pop, it just doesn't stand out from other albums from that era.
It was fine. Nothing really stuck out to me and I won't re-listen.
It was fine. Couple of the genre changes were jarring, not necessarily bad but not expected. But overall fairly generic. Not sure why I had to listen to it.
Honestly just pretty average and forgetful. Harmless late 90s rock but nothing stood out. As middle-of-the-road as it gets. 6/10.
Generic Britpop. Is it bad? No, i don't think so. Would i sit down and actively listen to it again? Also not really. It's great background music.
A bit more on the rock side of Britpop. Not many highs or lows, just fair to middling.
Good solid northern British rock with a shade of Oasis and Beatles
There’s nothing particularly outstanding about Shack’s “Hms Fable,” but it’s good enough to place itself right into the ‘90s conversations alongside contemporaries like Oasis.
Not bad by any means, it just misses the spark that would make it exceptional. 3/5
The first song I did not like the second song starts to warm you up a bit and I did enjoy Pull Together, Lend's Some Dough, Captain's Table, and I Want You. While the album overall is ok, it doesn't really leave me wanting to hear it again.
Eh, pretty bland. I don't recall ever hearing of this band and in 1999 my media bubble was far from impenetrable - did they have a very low profile, or are they just extremely forgettable? 🤷 "Cornish Town" actively pissed me off. Fave track - ehhhhhhhh... I think I checked the track name of "Since I Met You" so let's say that one.
2.5
It was fine I guess
Liked it, but just didn't have the something unique to take it over the top
3/5. Some really beautiful songs in this one but most of them are pretty forgettable. It’s a solid one, just some filler for sure.
started off decent, but fell off at the end, overall okay, strong 2, weak 3
A few fun songs but many just don't make much of an impression. I like the minor variations in instrument arrangements that they use, and I think they pull those off well. 5/10
It's alright. Nothing crazy interesting, but competent music.
hombres fomes
It’s completely fine britpop.pleasant enough.Nothing amazing.Not really memorable at all.Kinda completely forgotten only 2 minutes of listening to it.
Enjoyed it but not quite enough to buy the album.
Very nice, but can't see what makes it special. On one listen anyway.
3,5
Never heard of this before but It definitely sounds like a lot of other music released around the time. It's upbeat and fun but also kind of bland at the same time. The production is really good though and I enjoyed the variety of singing styles and songs. The last song was really interesting compared to the rest of the tracks. Score: 70 Art: 70
For a genre I really enjoy, this was incredibly mid. While I don't think the album is bad, I've heard this sound done better many times. It starts to come off as a parody at points. Best songs were Captain's Table and Daniella.
Bona descoberta. Brit pop de banda maldita arrastrada per la consumició de drogues, amb unes lletres que relaten l'adicció i unes melodies més que decents
Not bad
Enjoyable. If I had first heard this at a different time in my life, I may have been a big fan. Sounds a lot like that one La’s album, or some of Oasis. Typical Brit-Pop, I guess.
Pretty alright. I have nothing bad to say about this, but there's also nothing too special. The vocals weren't my favorite, but the strings were beautiful. Fave track(s): Lend's Some Dough
early britpop, sounds like a down tempo Stone Roses.
This album doesn't shout listen to me it shouts thank you for buying 2 for 1 chinos at the GAP on lazy Tuesday afternoon. Still good but unremarkable in most ways.
Wanneer je een relatief slechte film kijkt waarbij je op het einde de hoofdpersoon heel content met zijn / haar levens keuzes weg ziet rijden in een auto, de horizon tegemoet. “Natalie’s Party” vind ik echt een nummer dat je daarbij op de achtergrond hoort afspelen.
Would've probably given it a 2.5 if I could but it was just kinda unmemorable, not really my style but I didn't hate it
At the time of this little ditty, I was inching near a high rating. I then quickly realized that we had been getting so much garbage music in the recent days that this was just not horrible. Modernized sea shanties are a cool vibe, but not much beyond that. Can't say I'll be jamming out to Streets of Kenny on my way to work, but maybe if I was in the right mood I would revisit this.
Pleasant, but not exciting. Wouldn't switch it off, but wouldn't play it by choice, and I would not be upset if I never heard it again. I'm not surprised that I'd never heard of this band before today.
3/5 I didn't really love this album. I'm sad, but it seems like I don't like Britpop much. Maybe I just haven't found my band yet or something, but it just fades into the background. The music on this album felt dreamy but also felt fuzzy or out of focus? The best song was Daniella, obviously, because it was the most different sounding one.
Same score as yesterday's but I definitely enjoyed it more, BritPop WAS my era after all... Nothing that stood out but it ticked along in the background nicely so that's okay.
Lots of 90s rock sound here, mixed with the Liverpool/Beatles influence. Nice record.
Unmistakable sound of Liverpudlian jangly guitar Brit pop (La’s, Cast, Lightning Seeds, etc). A delight, but not necessarily essential!
mostly okay brit pop, some nicely arranged and layered songs, particularly the folky-sounding ones
I did enjoy this album! I'd never heard it (or this band) before.
Not bad, liked most of it. Would listen again.
I wasn’t impressed with the first couple of tracks, but the album did grow on me a bit. There’s nothing groundbreaking here. It is well made melodic Britpop and nothing more complete with Beatlesesque moments, occasional orchestration, and emotionally satisfying anthemic moments. The closing track is phenomenal though and ends the album on a melancholy and unresolved note.
A pretty average britpop album. We've already heard better ones than this, and there are plenty of excellent ones still to come on this list
i have listened before!
Decent listen this. Never heard of them before which is mad because they’re from Liverpool
Never heard of these which is baffling. I feel like if I heard this album on release it would have rated higher but now I feel I’ve heard this album so many times. Extra point for being scouse. Decent. Bonus points for having a song about Kenny.
24th January 2023 Listened throughout the day while working from home and gym and chill in the evening. Nice bit of indie, good songwriting meaningfully sung. 3.5 if I could.
good not great
Some nice folksy pop tunes
Pretty good light britpop. Saved a couple songs to Spotify, I'd never heard this band before
Didn't hate it but nothing made me want to listen again. One and done.
Not bad, and certainly not britpop in the Oasis/Blur sense; it’s more akin to The Clientele. Some strong tracks in here, but on average, not a standout album.
It's not a bad album, but it's kind of generic. Some of the songs have a nice change but besides that, I would say it's a very 90's British Pop Rock sound if you're into that you're probably going to enjoy it...
Was actually surprised by this album. I liked it more than I expected. Doesn't mean it was amazing just exceeded expectations. Had unexpectedly strange elements of traditional (Irish) music in the instrumentation/melody but still stayed true to that very late 90's/early 2000's English sound - the big, ringy drums, crunchy, almost shoegazey at times, guitars and unforgivable vocals. Reminded me of Oasis at times. Pull together was probably my least favourite track. Theres something weird about the vocal sound I couldn't get past. Too muddy and hard to understand or maybe too much compression? (which Jay Ray will find funny coming from me). Natalie's Party was the stand out track for me which was a little disappointing to have the opening track be the best one on the album; but, it picked up again for me with Streets of Kenny (which actually might be the better track of the 2 - very atmospheric, a lot of tension, the abrupt end. Feels like it would be great live.) Daniella was also a great closer, it was a nice break from how full on the rest of the album was and really made me focus on the lyrics. Overall with albums like this I find it hard to differentiate my modern day subjectivity from my nostalgia. I had never heard of this band before this but growing up in Ireland and around the UK its very much so a sound I have a soft spot for regardless of who it is. Unless it's utter dogshit, which, I don't think this album was.
Zwischen 2-3. Ich runde mal ausnahmsweise auf.
Sokay
I think I just don't care for britpop. This was a big nothingburger for me. 2.5/5
That had a couple of cool moments, but nothing I couldn’t live without. Not a bad way to spend 45 or so minutes, but hardly essential. C
Solid post-Beatles pop from a journeyman band with all the tools. This is the sort of record that you hear and think there must be lots more like this out there—just good pop music that’s not groundbreaking but has no serious flaws. But it’s not that common at all. The songwriting, musicianship, and especially the brothers’ harmonies are all strengths. That’s why you can listen to the record the first time and think these must be famous songs; I must have heard them before, even though you haven’t. Glad I heard it.
Pretty generic, but not bad
Most of this album was pretty mediocre, and felt almost like a more pop-y R.E.M., but I did enjoy some songs when they decided to change it up, and the last song was really quite good. I think the album would've benefited from more soft spoken songs such as that one. Other than that pretty middle of the road.
Cool bandje! Kende dit helemaal niet.
Hartstikke sympathieke muziek, maar ik vergat ernaar te luisteren.
Nice.
Good songs on this album, but nothing special
A very average brit pop with an interesting themeing
Teilweise sehr ruhig. Ingesamt weniger catchy Melodien. Nicht ganz mein Ding.
To all appearances (at first) a watered-down R.E.M. from across the pond. But about halfway through the record, the background arrangements reveal a kind of British-folk ambiance which sunk the H.M.S. Fable just deep enough into my mind's ocean. I wish there were more to read on the band and the record, but I guess the deep listening responsibility lies with the listener here.
I've never heard of Shack before but they got some catchy songs but not my cup of tea. I don't think I will go back and listen to this album again. Hms Fable still gets 3/5 from me as I can see the appeal.
Mixed reviews…I had never heard of this band and at the time the album would’ve resonated with me…now, though, the 90s alternative rock genre sounds weak if you’re hearing new music from the time.
mid album, 5/10
Pretty solid late 90’s rock but nothing that broke the mould or made it stand out too much
I didn't love it, but it was fine. Sounded like a generic British rock band but that's not completely a bad thing, the music was enjoyable but not very memorable overall. I'll probably forget all the music in a couple of days but it was fine for what it was