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The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter

The Incredible String Band

1968

The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
Album Summary

The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter is the third album by the Scottish psychedelic folk group, The Incredible String Band (ISB), and was released in March 1968 on Elektra Records (see 1968 in music). It saw the band continuing its development of the elements of psychedelic folk and enlarging on past themes, a process they had begun on their previous album, The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion. Instrumentally, it was the ISB's most complex and experimental album to date, featuring a wide array of exotic instruments. In addition, the album captured the band utilising multi-tracks and overdubbing.Upon release, the album peaked at number five on the UK Albums Chart and number 161 on the Billboard Top LP's listings in America, becoming the group's highest charting album in both countries. The album brought critical and financial success for the band, including their first solo tour and a Grammy nomination. It was considered their most ambitious work to date and had a large impact on the psychedelic folk genre.

Wikipedia

Rating

2.14

Votes

10009
Genres
Folk
Rock
Psychedelic Rock

Reviews

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View Author
Mon Sep 27 2021
1

Really enjoyed this. Of course by enjoyed, I mean I tolerated it. By tolerated it, I mean I'd rather smother by body in chilli and get fucked by all members of The Incredible String Band wearing condoms laced with razor blades, whilst my Internet search history is read to everyone I've ever met, than ever listen to this ever again.

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Sun Oct 17 2021
5

I feel like this is not going to help with my headache. This is so fucked. A lot of effort for a lot of shitty music. Laughably bad, but in a way that makes it really funny. If this is just a stupid parody, it's the most genius thing I have ever heard. Ok, It's like everyone, even Wikipedia, is agreeing that the album is a masterpiece and a soulful vision of the future of world-music, but for gods sake they play the kazoo! I could give this album a 5 or a 1 and nothing in between. Goddamn, what a listen. But definitely worth the listen. If you ever want to listen to something different. Listen to this. Perfect album 5/7 Ok I was joking and was going to give the album a 1 for it's obvious and inherent BADness, but after seeing one of the most popular reviews of it on this site, stating that it's a : "soul-shaking" and "a once in a life-time album", as the only actual review of an album on the profile, and thinking of the fact that he might've had the dedication to make new accounts again and again, just so he could get this album and give it a five and an over-the-top good review, makes me feel so warm inside. Maybe they had the exact same ironic humor as we do today, and chose to make something really beauti'fæl, but the lyrics and messages are so sincere and good that they make me think that maybe they were all just tone-deaf, or unimaginably high when making these tunes, but no matter what I love this. And I admire this. But holy shit is it bad. "A Very Cellular Song" Is very silly. Thinking of myself as a very small amobea, wiggling and seeing another one of myself being created from myself as well as riding backwards on a giraffe and laughing is great. This is very cute, but its still so silly and weird, like why wouldn't they conform to the norms and divide this piece up in multiple songs instead of having these akward endings multiple times in the middle of the song. This is quite a weird listen. I feel like I've really spent some quality time with these guys, and if I'd been high I don't think I'd ever be able to go down again. I arrive at "The Water Song" and realize, again, how crazy bad these sounds are. How did they manage to make water flowing sound bad? This is so fucked, why do I genuinely like this? I'm at "Three Is a Green Crown" and it's actually so good, what the fuck is going on. I feel all my worries and daily struggles slowly resolve and vanish in a misty nothingness. "Swift as the Wind" has arrived and I feel how the mysteries of the world hath entered me and begun their everlasting gnawing of my down-beaten and cold heart, and finally a beginning of an understanding life has come its way. "Nightfall" has come, and I am ready to go to sleep. Conquer my mind in it's real place of stay; my dreams. I have listened to the whole album again. This has truly been a sight-gaining experience for me, and I am not going to forget it, "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" has landed itself a spot on my 1001 list, and it's there to stay. If music is art, and the purpose of art is to make you think, and not least /feel/, this album can easily be called some of the best music.

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Fri Feb 10 2023
5

still wagering whether this is me coming off as an insanely pretentious snub, but goodness, The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter is nothing short of a transcendental experience; a wildly bizarre (such is the craziness of this record that i had to place two synonyms back-to-back to describe it) journey into the depths of folklore and mythical treasures that are deeply evocative and original in their take. they tell the tales of sea shanties and minotaurs and innocent children in mysterious but beautiful villages, and speak of every single one as almost religious, that you can’t help but feel its sacredness oozing off every single syllable. none of it makes any real sense, and yet it manages an odd relatability that even i cannot understand. of course, this is music made by a band who were higher than the heavens; whose minds conjured half-baked fables that they smoothly pass off as real (a song about a children-eating part-man-part-bull creature should not be as alluring as it is, and yet). their buzzed state not only shows up in the lyrics (equal parts sloppy and mind-bogglingly brilliant), but extends to the music itself, where they layer vocals and stuff a menagerie of instruments into every song. they run the gamut here, pulling influences from Gaelic, Sikh, Indian, and Scottish music, combining them into such softly psychedelic compositions that have no other effect but to hypnotize. the music is so complex — rich in texture, blitzing through space and time — but the ethos of The Incredible String Band is so deliriously simple: to make music that feels like flying… and gosh look how high they soar.

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Wed Nov 11 2020
1

Untalented people learned what a sitar was, and for some reason recorded an album

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Thu May 20 2021
1

I can not imagine how much acid was consumed to make this horrible piece of shit.

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Fri Jun 11 2021
1

So many drugs. They look like the Manson family. They sing like its the fucking middle ages. Horrendous nonsense. 1/5

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Mon Aug 17 2020
5

What can I say about this album that hasn't already been said? I don't even know why I'm typing, its as if I feel an impulse to express how this album affected me, so that it in turn, can affect others in the same extraordinary way. I'm not a rock geek, or a Pitchfork snob. I'd like to think I know good music when I hear it and to say this is "good" music, or even exceptional is nearly an insult to it's majesty. My opinion is that there are only a few albums that truly resonate within one's life, that doesn't merely ask, "why" but how one's "being" can fit into this infinite cosmos that we call "life". Am I being dramatic, yes. But it is a soul-shaking record. In my opinion, "Koeeoaddi There" is one of the finest songs ever written. The lyrical picture Robin Williamson paints is nothing short of religious, and I'm not overstating that. This is a once in a life-time record. This album takes a minimum of 3 listens to understand, and once you start to unravel the mysteries and meanings in the lyrics, it will afford you life-long pleasure. The Beautiful Hangman's Daughter means something different to me every time I play it. As much as I love "5000 spirits or the layers of an Onion", this album has an x-factor of unknown origin that transcends time and the confines of psychedelic folk rock. I know all of this sounds pretentious but don't take my word for it, buy it.

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Mon Sep 27 2021
1

The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter. What the shittin' fuck is that? She is such an ugly little, fat cunt. I'd have a right good go on her tits though. Fuckin' sign me right up for that, just not for this dogshit music.

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Fri Jan 21 2022
4

From reading through the reviews, I can tell this is either a love or hate album and I kinda get it. A lot of psychedelic music that was coming out in the 60’s was just… terrible and I think this album treads the line between atrocious and genius a bit too well. You can tell they were high af making this. A lot of the lyrics and sounds feel like they could have come from a child’s imagination. Which, to me, is not a bad thing, it brings a more wholesome and almost innocent tone to the tracks. Another thing that I’ve found with 60’s psychedelic music is the pretentiousness and seriousness of it all. This album doesn’t take itself seriously which I think helps make a more positive listening experience. In all of the weirdness and experimentation, you can tell the band members are all very talented at what they do. The backing instrumentals never feel messy (although I think the variety and layers of instrumentals would put some people off) and the lead singer actually has a lovely voice. I liked the use of harmonies with the backing vocals. I actually really liked it and it was an enjoyable listening experience. Fave track: The Minotaur’s Song Least fave track: Three is a Green Clown (Bonus points for being a homegrown Scottish band)

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Sun Jun 12 2022
5

4.6 - To describe a work of art as "original" sets it on an impossibly teetering pedestal that can fall at the scoff of someone with deeper music knowledge. But to my ears, this record is an original. First, it captures and integrates so many seemingly disparate sounds - from sea shanties to troubadour ballads of the middle ages to Indian folk chanting... Second, there's an organic feel to this record, performed by not so much a band as an artistic collective, or a commune of misfits supporting some larger spiritual endeavor. The strange echos on "The Minotaur's Song" make me picture a large, rickety parlor room outfitted with a few tape recorders, where a group of music students has gathered to share joints and jugs of wine and sing in rough choral harmony. Most songs on this record don't simply unfold, they seem to sprout - twisting and gnarling and blooming in different, unexpected directions (see "A Very Cellular Song"). Third, the lyrics read like poetry with strange imagery, dredging up childhood memories, with the odd reference to transcendentalist philosophy. ("Setting your foot where the sand is untrodden, The ocean that only begins. Listen, a woman with a bulldozer built this house now. Carving away the mountain whose name is your childhood home.") It's a work of audacious ambition - by all rights it should never have been created: the recordings too unrehearsed, the lyrics too obscure, the singers and players not quite up to snuff. And there are definitely parts of the record where you can hear everything unravel ("Swift as the Wind"). But, taken together, the record glows with childlike wonder and a sense of vast creative possibility.

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Wed Oct 26 2022
1

There's a dog on the album cover. Why did he or she have to get dragged into this? Look at them all. You suspect that, away from the camera, they make The Wicker Man look like a fucking Richard Curtis film. My guess is that the dog is casting a confused and frightened glance to the right following repeated - and failed - attempts to get the photographer to notice that the dog was constantly blinking twice, in a desperate attempt to be free of the clutches of these farm-dwelling lunatics and their weekly ritual sacrifices. Anyway, on to the music. I'd have rather spent 49 minutes listening to the dog playing with a squeaky toy, or maybe munching on some kibble. Prime cut: Nightfall. Yes, the last one. I made it through. It's the one track that suggests that the band don't usually make scarecrows out of human carcasses.

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Thu Feb 16 2023
5

"It had a large impact on the psychedelic folk genre." As in what not to do? Okay, now that I got the joke out of my system, this isn't nearly as terrible as I was expecting based on the reviews. I was expecting a complete mess, but it was actually, often, pretty and relaxing. Some places were weird, yeah, and you can just write off the lyrics (which is what I did), but it wasn't nearly as off-putting as other comments are saying, at least to me. Okay, fuck it, I actually unabashedly love this album. I was sad when it finished. I laid back and closed my eyes and it was as great of an experience as some of the top psychedelic albums I've listened to. The nonsense lyrics, the warm instrumental variety, everything worked. So, long story short: expected to hate it, fell in love. 5/5.

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Mon Feb 08 2021
3

Revolutionary album. A bit crazy...you can tell that the band was experimenting with many different styles. Defenitely influenced by psychedelics. Love this crossover of folk, pop, rock and more.

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Wed Jul 26 2023
3

You can only imagine the amount of Acid that was consumed in the making of this album

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Sun Aug 22 2021
2

So random! Holds up spork! Do drugs, kids!

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Thu Jul 22 2021
1

Like hearing a cancer diagnosis. Horrendous.

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Mon Sep 28 2020
4

Beautiful ballads, loved it!

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Mon Jun 28 2021
4

Wyspy nareszcie obrodzily albumikiem, ktory jest dla mnie calkowitym zaskoczeniem, dodatkowo pozytywnym zaskoczeniem, bo jak inaczej mozna okreslic psychodeliczny folk prosto ze szkocji, the incredible string band to duet mike herona i robina williamsona, ktory stworzyl naprawde ciekawy stylistycznie material, zarowno jesli chodzi o czesc liryczna, jak i wykorzystane instrumenty, bo tych jest tutaj od groma, a ich dzwieki sa tak egzotyczne, ze polowa nazw nic mi nie mowi, guitar, gimbri, penny whistle, percussion, pan pipe, piano, oud, mandolin, jaw harp, chahanai, water harp, harmonica, tak sie prezentuje repertuar pana herona, natomiast williamson troche skromniej, ale nadal bardzo orientalnie, sitar, Hammond organ, guitar, hammered dulcimer, harpsichord, slychac ze album nagrany przy wykorzystaniu mocnego overdubowania, ale jednoczesnie brzmi nadal jako jednolita kompozycja, pojawia sie na plycie takze kilku muzyantow studyjnych, ktorych glowna rola sa spiewy w harmoniach jak na swift as the wind, jak zabawy overdubem, to nie moglo zabraknac wykorzystania kanalow i przestrzennosci dzwiekow, szepty zza sceny, dzwieki przemieszczajace sie z jednego kanalu na drugi, stopniowanie decybeli, najwiekszym zbiorem zabaw dzwiekiem na plycie bedzie najdluzszy trak, czyli a very cellular song, ktory jest kondensacja brzmienia tej plyty, co do tekstow, to obaj tworzyli swoje kawalki oddzielnie i slychac to po ich kontencie lirycznym, williamsonowe sa o wiele bardziej zawile przez wrecz katujace wykorzystanie idiomow, czy tez nawiazan metafizoczno mitologiczno spirytualistycznych, najbardziej to oczulem na kawalku the minotaurs song, pisanego z prespektywy tytulowej bestyji, natomiast heronowe kompozycje wydaja sie byc mniej skupione wokol wnetrza, a staraja sie interpretowac to co nas otacza, chociaz cellular song jest jego, jesli chodzi o wokale to przypominaja one w niektorych momentach wrecz qawwali, zwlascza gdy odpali sie jakas sitarka, na plejaka dodaje wspominanego cellulara, the water songa i nightfalla, dawno nie bylem tak pozytywnie zaskoczony muzyka wyspiarska z tej listy

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Wed Sep 06 2023
4

I wish I hadn't known this was one of the lowest rated albums on this entire list. I really do, because I think I probably would have given it a 2 or 3. It's fine, if a bit amateurish. I like the hippie folky weirdness of it. But y'all are overreacting so much that I need to offset your frankly insanely low ratings and adjust the average rating here a bit. This album isn't great, but it isn't even in the bottom 100 on this list.

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Thu Jan 18 2024
4

I love this kind of thing—psychedelic, bizarre, folky, funny. I enjoyed their use of unconventional song structure and ethno-folk traditions (really working the WEFT in there before it was chic). Some of the material ran on for too long or felt rather made up on the spot, but as far as creating something unique and experimental, and evidently influential, it earns the 4 stars.

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Fri Dec 11 2020
3

Can't say I've heard anything quite like it. Violently 60s. Somewhere between hymnal and Renaissance music, with some added eastern flair. Can't say I'll listen again, but it's cool to know this exists. Favorite track: "The Minotaur's Song"

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Thu May 27 2021
1

That's incredible! That I listened to it and I'm still breathing.

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Thu Apr 29 2021
1

Probably the worst album I’ve had on this so far.

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Thu Jan 20 2022
1

Absolutely horrific. Just a bunch of discordant sounds and strange instruments. Awful, just awful. Totally ruined my dinner cooking experience.

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Thu Feb 24 2022
1

02/23/2022 Truly one of the worst things I've ever listened to. Both horrible and annoying from start to finish. Absolutely terrible. I'm angry!!!

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Tue Apr 19 2022
1

I have no clue here… Koeeoaddi theme was alright at the start fine the singing was bad but instrumentally it was alright then all of these extra sounds render it unlistenable. The minotaurs song somehow sounds worse there’s theres these really annoying backing singers who start all making what I think was Minotaur noises it’s still listenable though. Witches hat would be alright filler but just little bits like putting in the flute ruin this track . And now for 13 minutes of this band from hell in a very cellular song, we’ll it’s really a multi parter, maybe I’am numbed to the sound of this band but I felt this song was still overdone but it was better done than the previous songs ( especially the first few parts) it does drop back in the normal weirdness of this band but to have 6 minutes of sanity was nice. Mercy I cry city is okay in terms if this album but there are just too many sounds pasted on. Waltz of the new moon isn’t that good but it’s still the problem of this band adding way too many elements to their songs. But it flows nicely into water song at the start a nice pace breaker then it adds in all the weird jangly noises. Three is a green crown is up next, at the start the extra bits were lower in the mix so I was actually gonna complement this one but it got real poor as it progressed, still the album’s best! I would like the intro to swift as the wind but the ah’s made it annoying; actually this probably applies to the whole first bit, then it goes into a slower near unlistenable bit which doesn’t work well for the song, the first bit gets repeated and song done. Nightfall makes sense as the closer a much slower/ shorter piece it’s very meh. Overall I hated it there’s only one album I’ve herd that’s worse and I given that a 2 but this album just feels like a 1 y know.

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Wed Jun 15 2022
1

It's a cross between traditional Irish folk music and psychedelic rock. You'd think it would be an interesting combination that might sound pretty good. But boy, would you be wrong. This is awful.

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Fri Sep 16 2022
1

More like... The Incredible Shit Band!

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Sun Oct 02 2022
1

This wins. By that I mean worst album I’ve ever heard 🥇

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Thu Sep 01 2022
5

Beyond wild. Fantastically dreamy. One of the best psychedelic albums I have EVER heard. I must must must hear the rest of The Incredible String Bands discography. Wow. This artist may have made the whole album generator invaluable for me. I am blown away. This style of music is just amazing!

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Wed Feb 02 2022
4

This is what I come to this site for. Weird and wonderful things that I might not otherwise have stumbled across. It deserves more of a listen than I was really able to give it. I'm not sure when I'm going to be in the very specific mood that will require but I am looking forward to it.

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Thu Mar 03 2022
3

Psychedelic folk from 1968 that makes Syd Barrett's life-altering solo work look restrained and coherent. Gentle and mental. Why did nobody play this to me at uni? I demand a refund!

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Wed Mar 17 2021
1

No tengo de los champiñones adecuados para escuchar esto.

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Thu Nov 16 2023
1

I wish I could go back to when I never knew this album existed 1/5

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Sun Nov 19 2023
1

I've taken shits far more enjoyable than this.

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Fri Jun 25 2021
4

Some really solid psychedelic folk music. 8.0/10

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Fri Jul 09 2021
4

This album makes me wanna live in a forest

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Fri Dec 31 2021
4

Not sure what it is about this album that seems to inspire such vitriol in people. I think it’s cool and unique:)

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Fri Mar 18 2022
4

I wasn't initially sold, but it definitely grew on me. Very cool early psychedelic album. I was hooked by the end. Not a perfect album, but a cool piece of 60s rock pioneering.

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Wed Jun 29 2022
4

Peace, love, communal living, esoteric mysticism, sitar, gimbri, shenai, oud, harpsichord, panpipes, penny whistles, and 13-minute suites about molecular biology. (7/10) FT: Koeeoaddi There, A Very Cellular Song

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Fri Jul 22 2022
4

Maaaan, all the one star reviews this got I was expecting some Comus-level weirdness, but it's actually a pretty straight forward listen? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Comus should really be on the list, teach these weeners a lesson in just how far psych folk can twist your melon! Fave track - "A Very Cellular Song", I reckon. "Swift As The Wind" was another highlight...

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Thu Sep 15 2022
4

This is what happens when you give a bunch of hippies a load of instruments and some acid. This album is a really good snapshot of time. I wish I knew about this when I used to take acid. So, get high, take off all your clothes, put this on, and dance like a butterfly in a sunny meadow

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Sun Sep 24 2023
4

This is some whimsical shit. Not everyone is gonna like this (evidently). I think this record is best experienced through a thick haze of nag champa incense and weed smoke. You're transported to 1967 at the height of the counterculture. There's also a lot of medieval music influence on here which is dope to me. The singer's voice can be a bit much on here at times but I really appreciate the diverse instrumentation the band provides.

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Fri Jan 26 2024
4

Off the beaten path cool funky stuff.

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Fri May 21 2021
3

Barely skates three stars for interesting weirdness but the utter monotony of the vocals injures any virtue in the words and music.

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Sun Feb 14 2021
3

Sounds like a modern hipster band

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Thu Jul 01 2021
3

"Hmm, an experimental album from the 60s. I am not going to like this." It's fine. It gets a little hard to listen to toward the end, but for the most part, the album maintains direction and melody. Those, alongside the more traditional Celtic underscore, really help; it prevents the experimentality from seeming too indulgent. Still, I don't think I need to listen to it again. Recommended season: Spring

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Fri May 21 2021
3

Love folk, hippie stuff - better still the band is Scottish!

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Wed May 26 2021
3

When I first started this album, it didn't really grab me. But it grew on me as I worked through it, and there are some legitimately great songs on here. I like the interesting instrumentation, and the song structures are experimental without being too far out there. I can also see a through-line from this to the modern-day psych rock and fuzz folk that I have listened to, which makes this interesting historically as well. So, even if I didn't really *enjoy* listening to it, I did find it interesting, and that's worth a couple of stars.

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Wed Sep 29 2021
3

This is closer to a high 2 just based on enjoyability. However, the group really tried to use exotic instruments and maintain their folk roots, which I have to appreciate. I remember it took me AGES to get into some of the Beatles' psychedelic offerings, and I figure this is similar, albeit a bit worse in its execution.

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Sun Nov 07 2021
3

"I think drugs have done some good things for us, I really do. And if you don't believe drugs have done good things for us, do me a favor. Go home tonight and take all your albums, all your tapes and all your CD's and burn them. Because, you know what? The musicians who made all that great music that's enhanced your lives throughout the years... rrrrrrrreal fucking high on drugs. Man, the Beatles were so high, they let Ringo sing a couple of tunes. Tell me they weren't partying. (singing) "We all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine." We all live in a-do you know how fucking high they were when they wrote that? They had to pull Ringo off the ceiling with a rake to sing that fucking song. (Beatle voices) John, get Ringo, he's in the corner. Ooh, look at him scoot, grab him! Hook his bellbottom, hook his bellbottom! He's got a song he wants to sing us. Something about living in a yellow tambourine or something. Ringo, Yoko's gone, come down, we can party again! They were real high, they wrote great music, drugs did have a positive effect." -- Bill Hicks

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Sun Oct 15 2023
3

It's fine and parts I enjoyed. And then there's parts where the singer sounds like he's having an orgasm and I'm like duuuude stoooop.

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Fri Jun 23 2023
2

Mumford and Sons meets Belle & Sebastian, a sitar player, Nico, an 18th century sailor & Bob Dylan. I don't need to listen to again but not unlistenable. Actually went on a bit.

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Mon Sep 27 2021
1

The hangman should of hung his beautiful daughter before she released this fucking garbage. Album cover looks darker than an episode of jim’ll fix it too. Would not recommend even to a deaf person.

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Thu May 05 2022
1

One of the few albums that compelled me to check the Wikipedia entry. Who was responsible for this travesty? There was a surface resemblance to traffic and john barley corn. But scratch the surface and it was quite unattractive underneath. Yikes

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Wed Jul 27 2022
1

Sorry. I'm sure that the Incredible String Band thought they were creating something beautiful and groundbreaking. But this is fucking horrible.

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Wed Aug 10 2022
1

This album’s being on this list and lauded by so many people I respect makes me feel like it’s a big joke and I’m not in on it. I wish there are a 0/5, because 1 feels too generous.

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Thu Mar 09 2023
1

I'm usually open to most genres of music and I enjoy most folk music and can appreciate the musicianship and skill. After listening to The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, I realize there are exceptions. If you take the worst aspects of Donovan's psychedelic period, mix it with the most intolerant Irish Rovers songs fronted by a horrible singer, you have the Incredibly Horrible String Band. My lowest rating on this list is reserved for unlistenable, grating, abrasive music I can't stand (usually metal and rap) and I can add this to the lowest of the low. More proof that "folk" music can be played by all, it's just somehow someone thinks this is essential, what???

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Thu Mar 16 2023
1

This sounds like the band was high on LSD and stayed up all night reading Lord of the Rings and The Bible. First, the instruments other than the guitar sound extremely sloppy. Also, the lyrics are absolute crap; I’d highlight one, but there are so many. The singer sounds bored, too.

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Thu Jul 13 2023
1

It's just a bunch weirdo forest hippies making crap music. Even my dog looked at me & wondered what the hell is this. Hard no.

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Mon Nov 13 2023
1

I'm pretty glad that this 60s folk didn't really gain popularity as it's not really for me. If I want to listen to music I may hear in a Dungeons and Dragon's campaign, I prefer Led Zeppelin. Maybe at a Ren Faire this would be appropriate, but outside of that. I don't think I would ever listen to or recommend this music to anyone. It's not for me.

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Mon Dec 18 2023
1

I caught the influence of this record echoed in Monty Python (listen to The Minotaur Song and tell me you don’t hear The Lumberjack Song). I’d like to give this album a higher rating for the Python association but yeah, nah.

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Fri Dec 22 2023
1

I went through all the stages of grief listening to this. Is this from 1968 or 1668??

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Sat Jan 20 2024
1

Fucking seriously?! I've never skipped through an album on here faster.

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Fri Feb 09 2024
1

So many people on the album cover but not one of them stopped to think that maybe this was shit. Sounds like music that a cult would make under the delusion that they're talented musicians. I feel a bit sorry for the children and the dog on the cover - sorry that you've been immortalized as having a part in this album by way of your faces. Unless you actively contributed to making this music, in which case you deserve the shame!!!

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Wed Nov 01 2023
5

9/10. Kinda bad really, I can't say I really like any one element of it, but somehow strangely it makes sense in the end. And it's the most calming album I've ever heard. it puts me in such a good mindset. great bus music.

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Thu Nov 02 2023
5

Super weird, super cool. Loved this.

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Fri Feb 23 2024
5

HL: "The Minotaur's Song", "A Very Cellular Song", "Waltz of the New Moon", "The Water Song", “Nightfall” I have to confess, I listened to THBD before, since among the worst-ranked albums on this website, it was the one I was most curious about by far. How could a 60's psychedelic folk album be that bad, I wondered. I just wanted to put on a couple tracks for a laugh, but ended up listening to the whole thing in a daze. Now, the worst thing I can say from that experience is that the violin in "Cellular" felt like the sonic equivalent of chewing aluminum foil, but since it's just one element in this sonic maelstrom of kazoos, mandolins, & nursery rhymes, I didn't find it all that offensive. In fact, listening to it again today, "A Very Cellular Song" may be my highlight of the album. And that violin is easier on the ears when it returns in "Three is a Green Crown". I know in the past, I've put on an album with low expectations and have been pleasantly surprised. But here is a moment where, bracing for an absolute slog, I instead found one of my favourite psychedelic albums. To be fair, the album cover is less Odessey and Oracle and more The Wicker Man. The vocals are unrefined, it's true. And the album as a whole is a dog's breakfast, with instruments thrown together with little regard to how they'd actually sound in the same recording. But I can't detect any cynicism in the experimentation the way other contemporary rock acts introduced "world music" elements. While on paper, the concept behind this album sounds like the most pretentious thing ever, I can't recall a single moment where THBD takes itself seriously. In my opinion, that’s its greatest strength.

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Sun Mar 10 2024
5

This is insane. It's utterly batshit insane. I hold a minor maxim about art: the more obscure the art, the more the artist actually believes it. There is no rating for ?!?! I think I love it.

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Fri Mar 15 2024
5

This is terrible but if it's considered a masterpiece by people who know better than I do, who am I to judge?

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Sun Jun 05 2022
4

Классный альбом. Я их с 1-ого курса университета знаю по песне Water Song, когда услышал её на радио "Аэростат". Альбом цельный, музыка хорошая.

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Thu Jun 30 2022
4

Psychedelique Folk, c'est surprenant mais j'ai toujours aimé la flutte et la production de cet album est très bon pour ce genre. C'est psychédelique ca il n'y a aucun doute. De la a mettre un 1 comme certain, je crois que c'est exagéré car il y beaucoup d'album coté très haut qui son influencé par ce type de musique. On donne crédit ou le crédit est dût. 3.90

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Fri Sep 16 2022
4

Is this genius? or utter shite? (both?) It's brilliantly bomkers, without doubt one of the highlights of this list so far.

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Fri Sep 16 2022
4

A difficult album to judge. As a pop/rock/dance album it's utter shite. I doubt even folk fans would rate it. But there are moments of sheer originality in the songwriting and performance that makes it a worthwhile listen (if you're into something a bit strange). In particular I enjoyed the opening Koeddi there and the sublime witches hat.

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Thu Sep 22 2022
4

I recognized the title, and that's because it's one of the worst reviewed albums on this website. So imagine how much I start sweating when I immediately get lost in and enjoy the first track. Do I have brain damage? Short answer is no. I'll be honest, there's quite a few tracks on here that really work for me, and there's another chunk that ranges from just okay to pretty grating. Like "Swift as the Wind," the moaning on that one earned a skip from me. I can understand someone hearing this album and hating it. But for me, the sitar/jaw harp psychedelics on here is done quite well. I'll take something this weird and inconsistent over a lot of the barely psychedelic '60s rock albums we get. If you're gonna do this, you gotta commit! ISB here seems to have committed, perhaps to a fault (and maybe they should be committed in another sense), but a lot of this scratched an itch for me. I quite like it, this makes three great and unique listens in a row for me! Favorite tracks: Nightfall, Koeeoaddi There, Water Song, Green Crown, Very Cellular Song. Album art: A (Manson-y) family photo, I know we've had at least one album already that looked like this, maybe a Crosby Stills Nash? I wish it were something crazy psychedelic. 4/5

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Wed Dec 14 2022
4

Weird album, but actually it grew on me over the listen, so I listened again and liked it more. Weird shit, but in a good way. 3.75/5

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Wed Dec 21 2022
4

Really nice! Super hippie vibes, with great and different instruments sounds.

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Wed Feb 15 2023
4

I've seen people say this is a "love it or hate it" sort of album, with quite a few people on this generator going for the "hate it" route, but quite honestly, I've neither. I just think this is alright and really interesting, with a sort of folk-psychedelic vibe going on that may be annoying at times but really works at times. There are times when the hard acoustic guitar, such as on "Swift as the Wind", goes really well and sounds great, with the dreary vocals adding to it. I just fail to understand how this apparently the fifth worst album on this whole list, as it reminded me a lot of Pink Floyd's first album on here, and yet that has a almost a whole star on this album. Guess it just goes to show that artist bias is most certainly a thing. You know what? This gets a 4, it may not have earned it totally, but it won't move the number too much any way, and I wanna help it get up a bit.

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Wed Mar 01 2023
4

ouais ouais ouais ça me parle

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Fri Mar 03 2023
4

I think this is the Incredible String Band's best release. A great example of late sixties psychedelic folk. It may have sounded dated in the 80s and 90s, but so many artists have jumped on the train, this sounds refreshing now. There are great individual tracks (A Very Cellular Song), but overall, this floats along like a single work in a dream-like manner. A great listen.

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Mon Mar 13 2023
4

Despite other reviews, this is a great unique album that really shows inspiration. I have yet to dive into the meaning of everything but it’s already great, love his vocals at well

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Mon Mar 20 2023
4

Give a bunch of Hobbits acid and this is what you'll get. I was really excited after I hit play and was met with the style of this record. And although I can't say it got worse, it's hard to say if it got any better. I got tired of the mediaeval theme relatively quickly but I would be lying if I said I didn't like the idea. It's quite unique. No songs really stood out to me unfortunately it was all good but not amazing. Personal Enjoyment - 6.5 Songwriting - 7.5 Lyrics - 8.5 Originality - 10 Production Value - 9 Artwork - 9 Overall - 8.1

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Thu May 18 2023
4

Why the shit is this rated so low??? I really enjoyed this listen a lot, a magical pastoral folksy trip back in time The only criticism I could think of are the “rough” vocals, but they’re no worse than Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen, and they fit perfectly with the music

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Wed Jun 28 2023
4

A lot better than my previous album, The Red Hot Chili Peppers. These guys blow them away. Pretty listenable and not worthy of the 1 star hate though all the funny reviews did make me laugh.

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Mon Jul 17 2023
4

Nothing but good vibes, listening is like hanging out with a group of friends and just jamming together having fun.

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Wed Jul 26 2023
4

There's something about Celtic music that just goes unreasonably hard. Combine that with Sgt. Pepper-like instrumentals and you got yourself a certified banger.

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