Reviews (page 3 of 9)
2/10
Moments I enjoyed, wouldnt say its psychedelic slop but its close. Something I have noticed is sometimes on the "bad" albums the song you finally enjoy is when you've gone through the entire thing and are now on another album. That happened here with "Hedgehog Song".
Man the Celtics fucking suck. Fire Joe mazzulla and trade Jaylen brown for Giannis. I didn’t listen to this album.
Some pretty tunes that scratch that psychedelic itch. A whole lotta stuff is being thrown at the wall. I found myself a little lost from time to time on what was happening (because it listens like a theatrical soundtrack). Sometimes I would be reawakened by fun bits or doze off for another 5 mins. I wont be returning, but I had a little fun. Lots of instruments and eastern influence. 2.5 stars
so many psychedelics
This is what being followed by a friendly but annoying bard must have been like in medieval times...
Bit more hey nonny folk, influential on psychedelic music I'm sure but I find this sort of thing a bit grating. This level of hippie feels very performative, I think if was just the musical style without all the whimsy I'd find it a bit more palatable. That's on me I suppose, doesn't make the music bad and I can appreciate it's pretty impressive for the time. But I wouldn't choose to listen to it. 2.5.
Considerably more bizarre than I expected from the album cover. Trippy, confusing, sometimes repetitive, sometimes surprising. Don't fancy listening again.
Initially thought this was some traditional folk type thing initially, but it's more than that. Really quite psychedelic in parts. But weird too. Not bad, but not something I'd c come back to. I bet they had some fun though 2.5
For those who don't know, The Incredible String Band was a Scottish psychedelic folk group founded by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Robin Williamson, Mike Heron, and Clive Palmer, though the latter left the band early on. They are considered pioneers of the genre, alongside the development of world music and the British 1960s counterculture. In fact, this third record of theirs, The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, proved influential on the direction of Led Zeppelin's self-titled debut. So already, the historical and cultural significance of this band and this record has been laid bare. How does it all hold up? Well... It's definitely a psychedelic folk album, that much is apparent. I apologize if that's not much of a statement for or against this record, but I'm realizing after getting a couple of records in this genre that it might not be my thing. I wouldn't say anything on this album is played badly, as the musical prowess of Williamson, Heron, and the rest of the session personnel is well illustrated across a variety of instruments. The guitar playing from the main duo serves as a nice anchor for these compositions, which are further embellished by harpsichord, Hammond organ, sitar, and so on. Plus, Williamson and Heron themselves have soft, reasonably good vocal deliveries for their respective penned tunes. Yet, by the same token, I don't feel like I connect well with how these songs are largely ramblings on mythology, religion, and general mysticism and esotericism, applied loosely to a modern context. We run through the likes of minotaurs, witches, wizards, and all manner of mythical beings and fables riddled with mystique and obfuscation for the sake of it. Hell, the centerpiece of this record, the 13-minute stop-and-go of "A Very Cellular Song", is all about personifying an amoeba, with an entire passage describing the process of mitosis as making a new friend for the cell. It certainly makes me wonder how many drugs were partaken during the writing of this record, cause it is bonkers at the cost of focus as these tracks seem to wander. Again, I don't hate it, but I feel indifferent to these meandering tales of whimsy. I can recognize the cultural and historical significance of The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter and The Incredible String Band in general, and there is some artistic merit to it. But I'll admit that I'm not certain about listening to this record again anytime soon.
scary
More interesting than enjoyable
I’m too sober to enjoy this.
This was very interesting. One foot in hippie 60s and another in world music. Sounded a bit dated, but it still was an fun listen.
Folk ain't my thing but good
I think it's very apt that there are just no hits on this album on Spotify. Every listen on there is probably from people doing this. 2/5
This gave me a headache
tiene sonidos interesantes, me sentí en outlander y en heidi. tiene una canción de 13 minutos??? y otra que habla del agua??? la mitad de las letras no entendí ni el idioma
If leprechauns were real and they made shit music this would be it!
Not the kind of weird I was hoping it would be
Nah mate, bit boring and a bit weird.
Not for me
I understand people hating this, because listening to this at work, my mind was really focusing on the more "grating" elements while I was doing other things and it just felt like it wasn't working. But for the last songs I payed more attention and it was quite charming. I do understand that this is how most people listen to music so the rating isn't surprising really. Swift as the Wind I really like.
First thought... oh wow a side project of Nico (yes the one from the Velvet Underground) I haven't heard of! Second thought... oh wow, Monty Python made a great parody on Folk music! Third thought... damn it's neither... they MEAN this! I love me a bit of psychedelic music, but this album shows that being stoned is no guarantee for good music. It's not for lack of trying, they threw everything at it. Sitar, recorder, mouth harp, bouzouki, you name it. In the genre of bad bands, I think I may prefer The (also "incredible" in one sense of the word) Shaggs. This sounds too much like a kids' school play where they are told to sing "medieval". However - it is not completely without merit, so a one star it is not. The craziness alone adds at least one star. It may grow on me.
I understand now why they all abused substances back then
Uh
"your wish is not granted unless it's a fish" indeed A very cellular song is absolutely bonkers and brilliant, fuck yes kazoos
Colorful instrumentation and creative arrangements can't redeem songs that would need a prodigious amount of drugs to be enjoyable.
I didn't come here to listen to sea shanty nursery rhyme fable "songs"
"Acid Folk" would be a better genre if I had some actual acid. But I don't
This is some wierd hippy dippy crap.
Get's me ready for the Renaissance Festival I guess it is fine for the time and context
This album, and more specifically its sound, belongs in a Renfest. For clarity, that’s not an insult from me. Were it to be an unheralded act at a random bandstand with haystack benches and sunwarped floorboards ‘neath a gnarled oak, I would watch the whole show, sipping my cold ale and munching my scotch eggs and welsh cakes. I would probably even tip.
nic mi sie nie podoba poza okladka, praktycznie asluchane dla mnie, niektore fragmenty piosenek byly ok
Arghhhhhh! Poke out my ears please! These past two days have killed my motivation to continue this project!
I’m not sure why but I get the vibe that this was made specifically to be listened to by cults.
When it comes to folk, The Incredible String Band outshine Dylan — more inventive, more daring First time listening ISB and love it!
Not for me, too pirate-y or Ren Fair-ish.
i knew after a few seconds that this is going to be hard to get through
Jamás había escuchado algo de ellos. ¡Qué emoción! Me da Joanna Newsom vibes.
fine
After reading the reviews first I procrastinated listening to this one, but now I've gotten around to it and was pleasantly surprised. Is it good music? No, absolutely not. It makes me want to do a shit ton of LSD and dance in the forest with my pants off. But was it entertaining? Yes, yes it was.
Eh. It started off interesting and then they interweaved lyrics with Christian undertones.
Haven't heard of them. It's like somebody introduced Syd Barrett to George Harrison's sitar dealer. Interesting but not really a thing I'd listen to 2/5
Folksy psych interesting
lmao
Sheesh people do not like this album on this website. As a Deadhead who likes psych folk music, I don't think they can be THAT bad. Then again I like the Grateful Dead and their 20+ minute songs they play live. So am I really the best judge of character for all this? Yes. Yes I am. Pay attention to me people, I'm an expert. People declining to listen to expertise is exactly what went wrong with this country promoting anti-intellectualism since people thought Alex Jones was a smart person. Wait where was I Oh yes, The Incredible String Band. Didn't hear them until this album, and it's a pleasant surprise. A bit over indulgent at times, but really just a hallmark of 60s music up to that point at times. The eclectic mix of instruments make this a pretty ambitious album for its time and it's executed mostly well. Some criticisms people have of this album are a little valid, but come across as a people whining and being vapid. It's very much a 60s album to the T, but I can think of much worse music of this type that isn't on the list. A Very Cellular Song is something that would benefit from streaming if you could just pick parts of the suites you want to hear and ignore the others. My Deadhead senses tingled during the "We Bid You Goodnight" from the beginning, so I can't fully dislike it. Some stuff like The Water Song is simply below cromulent. But overall, not too shabby. It's very much for people of a certain music taste, but this album and the band influenced British counterculture to a degree that affected the rock music of the time. Alright I'm out of things to talk about this band I got more albums to sort through. Just remember: don't trust people on this website and trust your gut. Trust me, most of those "lowest rated" albums on this list are fire. Find the good in people, seek out the cost of freedom, and buy real estate in an imaginary place. tl;dr: scottish folk album in the 60s with an eclectic usage of 'eastern' instruments that's pretty good aside from a tiny percent of cringe stuff you would expect from a normal 60s record
33 - The Incredible String Band - The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter - Rating = 1 Wow - another unlistenable offering… just shit… why was this recorded and why do I want to hear this? Dylan-esque with flutes and sitars and just noise… absolutely not. Another one that should have a Zero. Point. Zero NOTE - I’m about done with this exercise… too many just shit albums. I get it that we’re talking about 1000 albums and I’m only 3% of the way through… but in those 33 records, I have 12 records with a 1… 2 ranked with 4 and only 5 with a 5… yes I’m picky… but give me something… If we don’t get a little better in the next few days I may be done here.
2/5
Oh boy. Certainly not for me
If medieval minstrel folk music filled with flutes and whistles, handclaps and finger snaps is your thing then you are in the weirdest fucking human group. I’m sure in the 17th and 18th century this might have been a thing but there is a reason it died the fuck out. Things get better with time. This didn’t. Technology is the reason this sort of stuff no longer exists so there was absolutely no reason to do it again 2 centuries later. Since it is all the same-ish with some of the boring nonsense longer that others, there is no point in getting granular. For me, the handclaps at the first part of A Very Cellular Song was the only near highlight. Sitars and jaw harp. Holy crap. I’m out. Good night. 1/5
I might never listen to this ever again, but i loved it and I really admire them for their totally out there vision. Waltz of the new moon is beautiful. Three are some Susan's or lyrics as well. Tightrope walker taking one step at a time. I hear that the emperor of China used to wear iron shoes with ease. We are the table cloth and also the table. Brilliant. I'd love to hear them with drums
This was a wild, wild listen. So much going on. I found it pretty distracting in bits and I wouldn't eat it in one sitting again in a hurry, but it was definitely a ride.
Ok, a whole album is a bit much but with the right chemicals I’m sure this is a lot of fun
I listened to this whilst grouting a patio on a bank holiday and it did not fit the bill. The ludicrousness of the lyrics overshadowed what seemed like some decent, but dated folk playing.
God, hippies are so annoying.
No interest here. This did nothing for me. 1.0
- after seeing the album art (the photo of the dozen or so people on it) and hearing the first few seconds of the first track, my immediate thought was "this is definitely love-cult music" - the sound effects, the Indian-sounding vocal ornamentations (google is telling me this is called gamaka), the trillion different world instruments, and the whimsical subject matter is such an interesting combination. I can't imagine an album like this getting a Grammy nomination today, and I almost don't believe that it earned one even when considering the time period in which it was made - I imagine this is what traveling bards or theatre troupe might sound like when moving from village to village in the 15th century, delighting little kids frolicking in the town square - apparently Robert Plant said this album influenced Led Zeppelin I, which is very interesting -- I can hear it a little, if you imagine a track like "Your Time Is Gonna Come" without the powerhouse of Bonham's drums bringing it fully into a rock focus - still, the mildly out-of-tune violin sliding around and popping in and out of the whopping 12 minutes of "A Very Cellular Song" is a little hard to sit through - on the one hand, I appreciate the vision -- they were going for combining all these different instruments with esoteric nature themes and ancient nursery rhyme-sounding lyrics to make a totally new creation, I think, but anyone playing this record purely for enjoyment seems impossible. who was this actually for, and what was the listening environment the artists intended for their audience? - these are not so much songs as they are musical rituals, it feels like -- there are periods of complete stops and starts, with half-sung, half-spoken words in the quieter parts before it picks up again with lyrics that multiple people join in for, and it all feels like the pacing and cadence of an ancient church service or act of worship (of nature, trees, fairies, idk) more than a coherent "song"
4/10 Sounds like I'm hallucinating a Beatles album. Some highlights throughout, but a good chunk of the album is erratic snippets of various obscure instruments, and very odd lyrics and vocals. Best track: Koeeoaddi There Will I revisit?: No
Tried to find something redeemable with this. Couldn't finish the 2nd listen
Trash. Like a bunch of mid-talented middle schoolers decided to make an intentionally quirky recording, only the musical talent isn't really there, the concepts are sophomoric, and the compositions just suck. Listening to this is pure masochism.
what actually is wrong with it though. Just cuz its got some boing boing sounds in it who doesnt like a boing sound.
Yes! This is my jam. Give me more of this any day of the week. Love it.
This wannabe Tolkien shit is one of the major food groups of British 60s rock and good gravy it’s terrible
I think this is meant for a shroom trip through the forest
I don’t even think they know what they’re doing.
More like The Incredible BOring Band. Get this outta here it sucks
Weird and painful but kind of interesting 2 stars
The incredible dog on a string bamd more like. You can still smell the wood smoke, lentil stew and B.O. wafting through the decades. 2/5. Would have been 1/5 but for the whimsical idea of riding a giraffe backwards.
Brave brave sir Robin ran away, when danger reared its ugly head he bravely turned and bravely fled...minstrels on acid, horrendous
This is pretty odd, very much folk psychedelic.
Very weird psychedelic folk album. I liked all the different sounds and instruments, but it’s not really for me.
genuinely feels like the instrumental is mocking my ears no matter a track; the most decent I think is the Waltz of the New Moon and Three is a Green Crown (and maybe Nightfall), but in general, the album feels satire.
I would usually add a star for originality and there definitely were original moments on this album but as a whole it was just too painful to listen to. I can't recommend it at all.
first listen super weird and i love it
boring as hell
Quite a medieval-sounding album, but I am sure they had their own little fan base at some point. Overall, it feels like a theatre performance, but it's alright leaving everything run in the background.
2.5
Not for me
Not as bad as reviews would have me think! I think the experimental aspects of this album turned people off, but it's fine. This album is fine.
An album you should 100% avoid before you die. This is what they play in purgatory. Also the album cover creeps me the fuck out. It’s like the family of cannibals in the woods waiting for people to get lost.
I would urge everyone to listen to this record. That way you will witness what true shitness it.
not my music
It sounded like I was listening to music from a Renaissance Fair. I could see the connection to some of the early psychedelic music from the 60s, but overall it was pretty out there with some extra instruments just going crazy throughout. Maybe I need to listen to this while high to really understand it.
not bad by any means, nice bit of psychedelia
This one was a weird one. It's like acid-folk or something. Personally I think it sounds like: "Song night at the local semi-christian savior cult. With the cult leaders garage band who plays whatever instruments they could get a hold of, likely because nobody used them so they were cheap/free". If you told me that this group had never written a song before but just showed up and improvised the entire album in a day, then based on the lyrics and how the music doesn't keep rhythm with the vocal at all, I'd believe you. The most positive thing I think I can say is that it was so weird and B-movie bad that I was never bored and it was always kind of funny how lazy, weird, made-up-on-the-spot, the rhymes feel. I honestly planed to give this a 2, but the sheer morbid curiosity I feel for it manages to drag it up close to a 4 because I might actually return to this some day. Don't do drugs or join cults, kids Standouts The Minotaur's Song A Very Cellular Song 3/5
Pretty good folk
Awesome band from the era, influential in many levels
A Very Cellular Song //
Weird vibes
Album #96 The Incredible String Band: The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter Wow, so this is easily the lowest average I have seen for an album yet. It appears to be some sort of hippy psychedelic folk album from the 60s, reminiscent of another album from this list that also had a very low score, Gris Gris by Dr. John. Safe to say I didn’t like Gris Gris, and I was very worried about this album. However, after listening, I am genuinely stumped as to why this is the album which has upset so many people. Have ye no whimsy? Do people genuinely love their monotonous concrete jungles so much that the very thought of people expressing joy in pastoral community living enrages them, and they can’t see it as anything other than bullshit? I am not going to defend every element of this album, but really there is no need to; this album does not attempt to be anything other than what it is, which people embracing the land with music. As far as albums go this is as close to fantasy that I have heard, the instruments make you feel as though you have just woke up in the middle of the woods and were discovered by a tribe of fairies; the vocals are raw and imperfect which is exactly what is needed to support such a mysterious atmosphere; it doesn’t feel like this was a group of professional musicians, rather just a community expressing themselves through art. To be honest, I don’t exactly yearn for this lifestyle myself, but I have never held resentment towards those who do, and I can certainly feel the urge to return to nature when listening to an album like this. Maybe my enjoyment stems from the fact that I am still chasing my child-like sense of adventure and this kind of gives me Zelda vibes, and maybe I’m rating it a touch higher than I would normally because it’s average led me to believe that it would be horrible, but I really can’t see how getting this album would ruin ones day. This album feels like finding a dusty old book in the back of the library and being transported into it. Best Songs: Koeeoaddi There, Waltz of the New Moon, Swift as the Win Worst Song: Three Is a Green Crown Score out of 10: 7
You know what. It's not OFFENSIVELY awful. It's just AMUSINGLY bad. Would never play this when company's over, but I may relisten to it alone in sarcasm. Some of the musicality isn't half-bad. I enjoy Celtic folk melodies, and there's an occasional tasteful flute. The sitar is wild. But you know what, I can almost appreciate its sheer lunacy. Could rank it even higher when I listen to it on drugs.
I kept thinking "is this a joke?" while listening to this. 2 instead of 1 stars cause I appreciate the funky instruments
Folk coupled with Indian themed weirdness. Not for me, perhaps a curry house for some of it or a summer solstice event in an open field.
As if early Genesis met Jethro Tull. But it’s not as good as either
Random folky gibberish. Fine in places but not all that enjoyable / no desire to listen again. The last couple grated and I had to turn it off.
A blend of irish folk, minstrel music, and another 60s bands that discovered the sitar and really shouldn't have. That said, there was a lot of variety here and the album certainly wasn't boring. Would I listen to it again? Probably not. Will I remember it? For the rest of my goddamn life.
I would say the love children of the Mansons and Hobbits conceived in a great lake of LSD; Indian gods looked down upon this and gifted a sitar. Goat horns so Satan had a hoof in this cackling with delight. Greek my mistake. Dionysus poured his wacky wine therein. Bansuri flute? The pantheon of India smiles thusly. I think I saw Spock frolicking by singing about Baggins. Kirk cancelled his Heavy Metal endeavour. Christopher Lee came back from the grave as his last wish to the universe to hear this one more time. Yes, not his first rodeo. Dear god very cellular song sounds like Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Paul Simon from Graceland. Could this merry band be time travellers, or celestial influencers posing as African deities? As a folk album it's decent. Lots of eastern influence you can hear the workings in of microtones. A credit to the variety of music on this journey for opening me up to the possibility of liking something I never would have sought out on my own. This is a 3 for me. I'm likely never to listen to its like again, but will fondly recall going from abject abhorrence to enjoyment for what it is.
Favorite Track: A Very Cellular Song
A incredible Stringy Nope from me. Not my thing at all, wafflely mythical lyrics.
Makes me wonder if music in general was just a mistake.
Well this is weird and twee.... I'm sort of unsure what the target audience is here... Like who's listening to this willingly? Moreover, who is putting this on a list of albums that I must hear?! Wild.
Masterpiece! I love it! Koeeoaddi There is a masterpiece. All other songs are perfectly amazing.
There are only two songs on this album, that didn't want to make me wish the hangman hung me.
Absolutamente increíble
0.5 - Please Kill Me
Not the worst thing on this list just incredibly lame. Proof that not all hippies made good music. Favorite track: Koeeoaddi There 1.5/5
Psychedelic folk really should not exist. Throw in the word 'experimental' and my knees start to weaken (not in the good way). Maybe its a 'should have been there' type of album?
Overall it just felt a little too cheesy for my own personal taste. I could not finish listening to it.
The string band was not, in fact, incredible.
I remember the folk music scare from the late 60's. The crap almost caught on. Anyway this was a difficult listen and I'll admit to listening thru maybe half a song before I skipped ahead.
Genuinely disappointed that I didn't like this. Sometimes I forget that just because something is innovative, doesn't mean it's good </3
I can't believe this list has The Incredible String Band and The Incredible Bongo Band (the bongo band clears this band by miles). I do kind of feel band giving this one a 1, since it isn't the worst thing ever and has some creativity, but DAMN I could not listen to this out of tune moaning for another second. This has to be the worst vocalist on the entire list. This album couldn't end soon enough, everything just kept dragging on, especially that 13 minute song. High 1.
I was excited to see this, but I thought it was 'A String Cheese Incident". Oops, so I listened as much as I could to this, the looked up the other band, because I know people that LOVE them. Well I don't really like either one!
Simplesmente uma das coisas mais esquisitas que já ouvi e isso fez a experiência sem bem divertida, ainda que o disco tenha semelhanças com Fantasy Metal (em temática e não em sonoridade) que não é um gênero que curto. Gostei mais do que eu imaginava! As músicas mais longas ajudam a construir a narrativa e manter o disco coeso, "Waltz of the new moon" é uma faixa que merece atenção
I personally liked this I really had no problem with it, it wasn’t amazing and it wasn’t horrible, I freak with the weirdoness
Felt very surreal, couldn't get into it.
2/10 que pesadilla.
unbearable
Trash
1. Have absolutely no idea what to expect from this. I'm in such a bad spot to be honest. My life is going so horribly, as always really. It's 100% my fault btw. I'm a pathological idiot. And this song is not really making me feel any better. Okay i actually hate this song. 2. Jesus christ, this is not okay. 3. No. Okay, maybe it's because i'm in a bad mood, as i mentioned before, but this fucking album is pissing me off. I don't wanna be such a hater but does this actually count as music? And song number 4 is exactly 13 minutes long so I'm giving up. Sorry.
Fairytale folklore music. I appreciate what they're trying to do, but it's not something I'd listen to on my own. The diverse instrumentation is probably my favorite part of this album, like the sitar, for example, as well as the abundance of other strings and percussion, many of which you don't often hear. The style of singing is very free-flowing and resembles storytelling, but lacks rhythmic interest or coherence that would make it memorable. I guess I prefer listening to music that I can sing along to. There's clearly a lot of talent on display here. It's just not quite the thing for me. Strong four to a light five
Look at that photo - how can you not like those people? British (mostly Scottish, I think) hippies, late 60s, letting their freak flags fly freely. So, you know, I'm already disposed to like them. Which is handy (for them) since their singing is, um, not the most tuneful. (That's how you know they're folk singers, lol.) But not just folk - psychedelic folk; listen to all the groovy stuff going on, all of the exotic instruments (sitar, gimbri, hammered dulcimer, penny whistle, pan pipe, etc.). Because of when I was born, I'm probably overly inclined to think hippies were the coolest people ever, which might translate into me overrating this album. But I think I have to end on 4, because of the singing (and also, I think, the melodies themselves were, at times, sort of . . . meandering?). I think we're rating these albums based just on the music, but if we included things like influence on future acts, and strength of artistic concept and ambition, I might be slightly tempted to give them 5 stars. But, as it is, 4 stars, for me.
I liked how playful it is and I wanted to get into it, but I found myself unable to enjoy it moment to moment. Probably mostly because of the main singer's voice. Maybe it deserves another listen but it didn't make me want to return
Hasta no prestando mucha atención me estaba molestando en los oídos.
Interesting folky psychedelic tunes
Such a cool record, perfect for a foggy wednesday morning in Norfolk :)
weird. The highlights were water sound effects and some silly lyrics. there’s a time and place for this and it’s not here and now for me.
when I was listening to it, my wife came in and gave me a wtf look
Honestly, it started off strong. The first track had me thinking I'd enjoy this. It only got worse. Gets a 2 because some elements were ok.
I quite enjoyed the outro to A Very Cellular Song, but that was about it. I can appreciate they were influential and innovative, but that doesn't make an album enjoyable to listen to.
imagine an album recorded by one of those summer camps for artsy high schoolers but the campers are actually all homeschooled by ren faire fanatics
Acid folk
Really enjoyed the arrangements on this album, a spectacular, atmospheric kalaidescope of traditional folk melodies, medievalism, world music and madcap invention, including the kazoo. The intensely irritating vocals, however, spoil it, tunelessly delivering childish doggrel as though it's profound wisdom, and ignoring folk's long tradition of narrative songwriting.
bit boring
I’m sure it’s good and all but had to sack the horrible histories lyre tunes after a bit
Not my thang per se but I did rather enjoy it.
This was interesting, but wouldn't listen again. Sounded like some random people just picking up instruments and having a stream of consciousness. Was difficult to finish, but I appreciate how it could influence later music. The Minetaur's Song did at least have some recognizable melodies though.
Alright this album is clearly ridiculous but I kind of appreciate how every song is just a bunch of different shorter vignettes and the Minotaur’s song fucking cracked me up so a 4 it is
I think this is perfect example of the hippie aesthetic, fundamentally talentless musicians guided by misunderstood eastern spiritualties skipping around a maypole that somehow comes together to be vastly more than the sum of its parts. Sometimes you just get an 83 win world series team, it makes no sense.
This is some hippy Wicker Man shit, and I am here for it. 3.5
I'm not too averse to a bit of freak-folk. There's a line of sight from bits of this record right through to more modern stuff like Devendra Banhart, or even The Beta Band (in a certain light, to my mind anyway). That said, it's a bit too willfully eccentric to be a relaxing listen for much of the time. Inventive and interesting though.
IMO this is way better than its rating. I totally get this isn’t for everyone.
Standard-ish 60s folk/psychedelia. Lyrics of Minotaur Song are so bad they must be an attempt at parody, it's like Monty Python Argh what a drag.. A Very Cellular Song! Actually painful to listen to with multiple instruments seemingly doing their own thing. Best track - The Water Song 2 stars
Early 67 - Band stirs album and tastes. "Needs more Acid don't you agree? OK. Can you hand me the Acid Licorice? Thanks, whatever you do, don't slip on that banana peel and pour all the Acid into the album. There's enough Acid for every 1967 album in the UK in there! Can you even imagine? Oh my god, an album with that much Acid would be almost unlistenable so whatever you do, don't slip on that banana peel Licorice. Licorice? Licorice Nooooooo!!!!"
OK.
All that money spent on anti-drug PSA’s and they could have just handed someone this album and said “if you do acid you’ll end up liking - or maybe even making - music like this” and drug use as we know it could have been eliminated. I just want Rick James to walk into these people’s house, sorry yurts, and start stomping on their instruments and yelling “they shoulda never given you Scottish hippies sitars!”
Definition of far out
really annoying psychedelic belle & sebastian
No
fascinating but not particularly good
What a bizarre album. I kinda respect its sheer wackiness and its variety of instrumentation, and the melodies aren’t bad either. Definitely not for everyone, though.
Very folksy
If acid trip was a record.
I’m just a hair’s breadth away from giving this a one. It’s so ridiculous as to feel inauthentic to me (although I truly think they believe in it fully). It isn’t so different from Piper at the Gates of Dawn and other experimental psychedelia from the time though. And so maybe it deserves some credit for that.
Songs about Minotaurs? No drums? What a bunch of nerds.
Very boring. I'm guessing it was very popular with hippies that keep on living in off grid communes even now at age 80. The psychadelic elements I like, but the country influences I don't. 2.5/5
1.7
This was the worst album yet.
war nicht ganz so meins, aber auch nicht super schlecht
This is exactly the type of album that shouldn't be on this list. There are enough 60s hippy psychedelic folk records on the list already. This one seems particularly bad and unnecessary.
Nothing incredible about this.
Marvelous job by the lads from Edinburgh. We’re well aware that the album is kind a “different” — but that’s actually its greatest strength. It’s melodic, incredibly rich musically, and you can clearly hear many influences from the region the artists come from. The metaphorical lyrics perfectly complement the fantastic atmosphere. Seriously, people — how can anyone not like this?
I kind of liked this!
So you show up at Woodstock on Friday afternoon. Richie Havens kicks it off. Nice. Joan Baez is headlining tonight. Fuck yeah. But the rest of the lineup is full of this absolute dogshit. I don't care enough to read up on these guys, but I do hope they had a nice little career on the ren faire circuit. Side note: After the album ended, the song "Painting Box" came on and it was worlds better than anything on here. Do more like that, you weirdos.
Ehkä iteltä puuttuu semmoset tossuhousut ja tietty aate että tää jaksais rakennella pitemmälle tajuntaan. Nyt jäi vaisuksi
Meno aika hippi. Ei oikein päässy fiilikseen koskelantien ruuhkassa jumittaessa eli två points
Nyt oli sen verran hippimeininkiä, että ois vaatinu muutaman jointin pohjille ennen tän kuuntelemista. Ei irronnu ei.
Ollaan kyl taas kokeilevan keittiön äärellä. Soppa se on tämäkin ja tulihan se syötyä. Annetaan nyt kakkonen kun nauratti ihan.
Tämä saattaa olla paskinta paskaa mihin olen koskaan kuluttanut aikaani. En ole juurikaan näitä tässä rojektissa mukana olleita albumeita googletellut, mutta tähän piti oikein perehtyä. Ilmeisesti tätä on siis oikeasti pidetty ihan mestariteoksena, ja ainakin Bob Dylan ja Robert Plant ovat ilmeisesti olleet innoissaan tästä. Kuinka sekaisin pitää huumehista olla, että moisen mielipiteen pystyy muodostamaan? Siis oikeasti, ihan uskomatonta paskaa. En oikeastaan nähnyt edes meemiarvoa tässä, niin paljon vitutti ihan kaikki tässä. Pakko oli jättää kesken!
I found it difficult to take this album seriously. As I listened, I kept expecting The Incredible String Band to bust out in a spirited rendition of Monty Python's "Sir Robin", as the clop-clopping of coconut shells ring out in the background. I considered the possibility that "The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter" is one of those occasions when something is soooooo bad it is actually good. But then I kept coming across lyrical gems like "He can't dream well because of his horns" -- perhaps someone had dropped a little too much acid in their youth. That said, if your natural bent is toward "goofy" and "whimsy", then this album might be for you.
Ok, I have to admit I was pretty high and had two scotches when I listened to this album. At first I was going to give it a 3 rating. But once I got right, damn, the album got somewhat good. Got to give them 4 stars.
This album is what happens when the only Beatles songs that you know are the George Harrison ones made between 1966 and 1967. Besides the first song, everything on here is just mumbo jumbo garbage. If you're going to put the word incredible in your band name then you had better back it up, and this band does nothing incredible. Just a waste of time, and an album that I couldn't recommend to anybody.
I didn't understand it, but I didn't hate it.
Some good ideas without the talent to implement.
some pretty boring 60's folk hippie stuff. feels like a bad version of fairport connection or something
oh god. never again, please.
Okay, I'm gonna need whoever is on the committee that picked these albums to tell me exactly why this is on the list and who they thought it influenced, besides Ren Faire minstrels. I'm calling bullshit.
I am speechless
the unlistenable string band
Unlistenable.
The only word that comes to mind is... interesting. Not sure if that's in a good or a bad way... probably a bad way.
Fuck this shit. There may be elements to the music, or production that I don't comprehend, but this was irritating.
No just no. Folk is a tough genre, you NEED a good voice and this guy didn't have it (nevermind the psychedelic aspect)
Boy, it’s a hard album to ignore. It really won’t let your mind wander too far. It’s like when Jack Napier fell into the Vat of acid and became the Joker. Except it was a Celtic chap that fell into the acid and Boy howdy was there a lot of acid involved with this record. I’m glad it exists and I’m so happy to be done with it. I want to give it an extra star for being unique… but I think it belongs in the special 1 star club because it is a special album and two stars would not honor that fact.
I legitimately do not understand what this album is doing on this list. Equally perplexing, I cannot, for some reason, rate it 1. The albums I've rated low previously were simply not my cup of tea but I don't know how this album could possibly be anyone's cup of anything.
Honestly have nothing good to say
Gather ye fairy folk around this campfire — there's a peculiar witches' brew warmin in the cauldron 'ere. If we're gunna hippie, let's answer this riddle right and hippie out like no others might. Careful now! Lest these idiosyncratic Scots take you to another la la la la la — la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la, la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la, la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la, la la la, la la la la la land. And there they'll do what's wrong as long as they can — but with a sense of humor, man.
Folk, psychedelic folk, indescribable... Many love it, many hate it. I for one love it!
not for me
Not my music.
4/10… psychedelic folk / *1968
There were good moments and not so good moments - moments that I’d put on again and some I wouldn’t
Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there.
This was horrible. I couldn’t listen to the whole thing.
Some bullshit a ren faire band would play and I’d throw my 20 dollar mead at them
I thought this was so cringe. There were a couple of decent parts or instrumental moments but I just couldn’t listen to this
Naming your own band “incredible” but then being awful is fun
Cant believe you can just pick up instruments you’ve never played in your life, play with no sort of rhythm or measure and whine into the mic for 49 mins and make money off it.
If this comes out at the function it's probably time to call it a night. Hated it less than I should.
Stop singing, please. This would be a reasonable listen if it was purely instrumental. A bad acid trip.
Not for me. Felt like someone making fun of the 60's obsession with renn faire music. But, no...it's just too earnest.
Psychedelics have been getting a lot of positive press lately as a way to ease depression and anxiety, as well as other benefits. This album is important because it reminds us that they are not a magic bullet and there are incredibly bad side effects, such as rambling incoherently and thinking things are interesting that are not. This was one of the more ridiculous albums (I hope) that is on the list. If someone made a parody of terrible 60's psychedelic music, it would have been impossible to do a better job than this album.
feels like folk stories and childrens tales were adapted into song, very peaceful yet fun
The album was interesting. I almost added it to my library until I heard “The Water Song”. That water sample in the background made me “dance”, if you know what I mean. It was a really cruel joke that didn’t appreciate.
Absolutely mad - I love it.
Quelques morceaux chiants mais un bon ensemble
I wasn't really sure if I was going to give out another 1-star review, but here we are. Multiple times through this album I was cringing to myself, thinking "Oh no, this is bad", and begging for the session to be over with. I started out with a tentative hopefulness thinking maybe this is just what the 60's and 70's were like. Even The Beatles dipped their toes into this sort of Indian vibe pretty heavily. But I was quickly met with seemingly pretentious lyrics, unbearable vocals, and experimentally unpleasant compositions. I just couldn't recommend this to a single person with good intentions.
'Your wish is not granted unless it's a fish'; 'He can't dream well b/c of his horns.' The only reason this is more palatable than Pentangle is b/c they're Scottish rather than English and that somehow, tho it's a cluttered mess of Brit-Isle-foppery, moments of genuine mysticism do shine thru. Not nearly enuf tho, and the quirkiness of these tracks deprive the record of what you could call spiritual/mythical experiences. Thing is, I'm not saying there's no folkloric tradition to celebrate from this part of the world. I just go to Astral Weeks for a dosage of that magic, not an album that tries too desperately to be an ancient landmark. I went to a summer camp called Shire Village, of all names, so I can relate to this album art. But I'm not a fucking wizard.
Favorite songs: Koeeoaddi There, Nightfall Compelling at times but frequently drifts into mystical noodling.
the not so incredible string band
I can totally understand how a Psychedelic Folk album is one of the worst rated releases out of the entire 1001 albums to hear before you die list, but after listening to this album in full I have to say I feel the hate is a bit unjustified and there are far bigger stinkers on the list that have much better general receptions. I found this project to be quite a mystifying and really fun project even if it isn't lyrically the strongest thing in the world. The production really makes your mind bend and stretch out to some new uncharted territory without ever being super extreme. I am not usually a fan of very whimsical or "Fantasy-like" projects but this album really immersed me in a world full of travel and culture that ranges from your typical renaissance era European sounds and even more diverse noises showcased with a Sitar and more aquatic water noises to add depth to the psychedelic elements. I can totally understand why most wouldn't enjoy this a lot or feel pretty lukewarm to the project, but I found it a very interesting exploration into the European Folk scene and some of its' more Psychedelic branches that showed a lot of promise if I ever choose to dive deeper into this band.
Het begin klonk wel leuk. Daarna vond ik het raar en irritant
A Very Cellular Song has a good first 5 minutes, but it’s too long at 13 minutes. Mercy I Cry City has a good chorus, but the lyrics are otherwise trite. Overall there’s a little too much sitar and 60’s psychedelic folk stuff happening to of much worth. A lot of contemporaries did it better.
Quirky, remarkable, ground breaking in a way. A difficult listen unless you allow yourself to sink into the strange sonic world of ISB
Utterly terrible but also listened to the whole thing because it was a fascinating mess that kept being interesting. ADHDer’s dream. Will never listen again.
听起来有点原生态有点神秘有点民谣
Nowhere near as bad as some would claim, but still very uneven. There are some moments scattered throughout here that I really liked, but it's hampered by a lot of decisions that just drag the experience down.
this was coo coo crazy
I was expecting to like this one much more. Unfortunately it didn't touch me. The instrumentation is beautiful at times, the songs are interesting. But something didn't click. It wasn't a bad listen in any way, but nothing really stays with me after this first listen. So, it a 2.5
- I don't hate or love this as much as others on this site, lol. - It's obviously experimental and folkloric - in terms of the instrumentation and the dark fairy-tale lyrics. And feral. - The winds area nice touch, and the instruments have nice tone and precision to them. The squeaky instruments like the sitar/recorder thing can be a lot, but they're used pretty sparingly and for effect. I really like the use of percussion and organ, throughout. The instrumentation actually feels restrained (except the weird water sounds on The Water Sounds, lol), which is unexpected since this all is very psychedelic. - The tone of the lead singer's voice also generally is melodic and in tune. I also liked the back up singing/choir feel -- they weren't overwhelming like that kind of thing can often be. The harmonies were often out of tune - I think that was supposed to be for effect, too, but it could be annoying in its dissonance. I got a Neutral Milk Hotel/Decemberists feel at times. - Those couple long songs are definitely too long, and the album could be a lot shorter, for sure. - This was an interesting listen (way more interesting than the Adele album I got yesterday). I'd say it's a 2.5... I was going to say that it's not something that I'm going to add to my collection or listen to again, but it's been growing on me, lol, so maybe I'll round up because it's unique. - I think my cat likes it.
I really wanted to like this outing, as I read up before listening, folk, trad, Indian, sitar, but the voice on these tracks unfortunately I didn’t like, could been so much better, but I suppose in the 60s this was “wild”
I mean there is hippie 60s music and then there is this.
Often comes close to good, then dives right back into bullshit.
Absolute dreck. About as close to entirely unlistenable as any record I've ever heard. I am having to be really nice to myself today after having forced myself to listen to that garbage yesterday.
Favourite: Swift as the Wind
Overall Rating - 2.30/5 (4.60/10). Weird and vaguely unpleasant. Not much else to say.
Nope... Nope... Nope. Nope, never again.
Incroyable album acoustique.
I wish I could give this 0 stars
Weird
This was not a good album at all, the vocals were fine but not anything special, the background music was kind of grating after a while, and really it was just a boring album 49/100
Una mezcla entre Donovan, Syd Barrett, y luego le meten fumadas indias rollo George Harrison. Sin más, pero no es malo.
Pretty awful stuff. They used any instrument they could just to say they did, with no regard for whether they could play it or if it fit the song. Abysmal singing as well, sounded like the dude was being tortured at times.
A very…interesting album
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter - The Incredible String Band (1967) 3,2* Nao sabia qm eram ent fui pesquisar. Resultado: é uma banda de psychedelic folk, q pelos vistos é um genero de musica que surgiu de uma cultura onde as pessoas usam droga, ou "substancias psicadelicas" cm diz a wikipedia, para experienciar sinestesia e estados de consciência alterada 😍🥰 Mt interessante Am i a ouvir um kazoo? 😭😭😭 Demasiados instrumentos, interessante mas mt atoa A very cellular song são tp 5 musicas numa lol Estas harmonias tds fodidas q eles fzm... Nao gostei mt. Eu a ouvir isto numa altura foi tp: isto é oq flauta? De bisel? Piccolo? UM COMBOIO A APITAR? 😭 Na mercy i cry city, na frase "sometimes i think u keep forgetting that u dont know me" aquele "me" ta bue crazy harmonia mm atoa a subir meEeEEEeeE mas eu amei mt agahahahaha Amei a harmonica nesta música, tp genuinamente, nnc pensei dzr isto (acho q era uma harmonica no caso) Isto é tp uma junção de música indiana com música medieval Este album foi bue estranho de ouvir, no entanto acho q se ouvir mais vezes começo a gostar mais Conclusão final: ya efetivamente parece um album de gente q anda nas drogas Melhor ainda: ouvir isto estando drogado eq deve ser do caralho
malo mystical vajb, gotivim kad dobijem neki ovakav album, al isk mid
Pretty good.
not a vibe. quite hard to listen to
Hated everything about this. Did not finish. Can I give zero stars?
I'm not high enough for this.
How is this even a thing? The lyrics are ridiculous. The singing is horrendous. And the music sounds like an elementary school band recital. There was a lot of LSD used in the making of this album and not in a good way.
I had to look this musical style up as I was unfamiliar with it. Apparently ISB was a pioneer in “Psychedelic Folk” music in the 60’s. After listening to the album, I’m certain you need to be on psychedelics to enjoy it. The over enunciation of the lyrics, the call and response from the band, and the out of tune harmonies were annoying from the beginning on without any reprieve. The album gave traveling minstrel vibes that made we wish they moved on to the next village. I wanted to be kind in my review, but this is really bad music. Whomever thought this was good enough to make this list, either now or 60 years ago, needs to do a stint in Bellevue.
These folks are amazing. No, definitely not the dirty, talentless hippies in this “band” - I mean all of the great people who wrote one star reviews of this album. While I usually love skewering terrible albums on my own, the community did such a great job, I’m not sure I have anything new to add. So, I curated some of my favorite quotes from the reviews, collected while dutifully listening to the entirety of this soundtrack from purgatory. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did, because there will be nothing enjoyable about your listening experience. • I wish I could go back to when I never knew this album existed. • It's a good thing they didn't tune the instruments, so it matches the vocals. • I’d rather listen to the meth head at the bus stop down the road beatbox and fart. • So many people on the album cover but not one of them stopped to think that maybe this was shit. • Like a Monty Python spoof of an early Genesis album. • This is "The Velvet Underground and Nico" for folkies. • Why did someone think that a recording of a bunch of off-key drunkards in a country pub is something I should listen to before I die? • No tengo de los champiñones adecuados para escuchar esto. (“ I do not have an adequate amount of mushrooms to listen to this.”) • Even if you're not a big fan of the kazoo, these fuckers have you covered with panpipes and harpsichords. • Holy hell..... somebody put the wounded animal singing out of its misery already. • Like hearing a cancer diagnosis. • I feel like I’m tied to a post hanging over a fire whilst they dance around in circles singing these songs in their weird cult. • This is the music folks would listen to before a dragon would come and burn down their thatch roof village. • I want the creator of the 1001 list of albums to go to jail for this. • I can’t sing and I can’t play a music instrument so save my life. However, neither would prevent me from being a member of this band. • I am growing weary of white people. • Have you ever known you're going to hate an album within the first 10 seconds? No? Try this one. • You’re in a cult, call your dad. • Scottish psychedelic folk is exactly as good as it sounds. • I want to fight everyone on this album cover, including the small children and the dog. • I regret electricity was wasted to play this in my home. • No situation really calls for this type of music, unless you're like some magical swamp creature. • This album should be in the other book: 1001 albums you should avoid at all costs.
Missed opportunity, the ASPCA would have raked in the donations had they featured the dog on the cover in one of their commercials.
Yeah, this is boring. I didn't need to listen to this.
This album is not bad at all. It has character and that is not something that you can say about a lot of albums on this list. Sure, it's not exactly what I listen to usually, but it's fun and is respectable.
The trouble with all these late-60s hippie albums is that it’s tough to distinguish between riding the bandwagon and genuine creativity that happens to align with what’s just become popular. In this case, you can’t possibly argue that this is anything new, especially for its time. Pink Floyd’s debut album mirrors this exactly in terms of instrumentation and composition – with the only major difference being melody (much folkier here). Unfortunately, the music is very sparse in terms of musical ideas. The melodies are wandering, failing to be catchy in the slightest, and musical motifs are (depending on the track) either completely absent or unmemorable enough that they may as well have been absent. It prompts the question: what is this group’s strategy for building an audience, for getting their music out there? Koeeoaddi There is a fun, if energetically inert, intro track. Sitar, reversed sitar, a clear melodic vocal, and boingy sproingy noises. Everything you need for good old-fashioned folk psychedelia. But the album is definitely wanting of percussion. Instead we get the bewildering The Minotaur’s Song, a sort of medieval tavern chant that still lacks a beat. The vocals are messy, frenzied, and not at all in tune. It even combines piano and jangly acoustic guitar to get a sound approaching that of a lute. I think, in 2026, only a very specific crowd would listen to this sort of music unironically. Perform it, sure. Any pub in the British Isles could sound like this with enough lager. But listen to it? Later, we get the similarly bizarre A Very Cellular Song, which introduces an accordion and harmonica to the mix. And, would you believe it, there’s percussion! (It’s hand-clapping.) It turns out the song title isn’t kidding: the song is heavily compartmentalised into four or five sections that are (musically) completely unrelated to one another. But this ain’t no Shine On You Crazy Diamond. The parts are so sharply separated, in fact, that there are moments of complete silence between them. And you start to wonder why it’s all lumped together under one song. (In the name of experimentation, right?) Boingy sproingage returns in part three of the song, along with some interesting flute lines, but otherwise there isn’t anything fresh here. The lyric “slithering and squelching” appears not once but twice in the same verse. Mercy I Cry City is easily the best song here. It's Dylanesque and pulls off that style pretty well. The acoustic guitar is played with enough gusto that it takes the place of percussion: it’s punchy, sweet, and to the point. The following song, Waltz of the New Moon, is also strong. 2/5 Key tracks: Mercy I Cry City, Waltz of the New Moon
A challenge. This album sounds like a burnout hobbit's drum circle. Like the other hobbits go about their merriment free of shame but look down on these people. What too much pipeweed does to a mf. I wanted to hate it. I TRIED to hate it. But I listened to the whole thing with unbreakable curiosity. I never liked it, but I couldn't stop it either. Weird stuff
Cult-adjacent family folk music is such a fun trip. Lyrics are based at times, absolutely insane most others. This would've been 3 stars, if it wasn't for the last handful of tracks. Anti-minotaur propaganda (and many inaccuracies) will not be tolerated.
high highs en low lows. psychedelische folk met de nadruk op psychedelisch lol
I didn’t mind this.
In terms of quality, 1/5. In terms of, this is so bad I need to share this trainwreck, 4/5
Super nervig schlecht gesungen und klingt wie kaputte Musik ausm elbenland
Hippy shit
Who's ready for some naked bonfire dancing?? This music will take you there. This could be the soundtrack to the original Wickerman, the one with Christopher Lee. Will you be part of a ritual sacrifice after listening to this album??...Only time will tell.
I'm trying to imagine the reaction of my grandparents to something like this if my parents brought it home in 1968. I've not heard the theory advanced before now, but I wonder if this band's existence contributed to the breakup of the Beatles. Or inspired Lester Bangs to go into music journalism. If these people were joking, I might give it two stars, but it appears they were dead-serious about this. I enjoyed reading that the amoeba section of "A Very Cellular Song" was covered by actor Nigel Planer, in character as Neil the Hippy from The Young Ones on the LP Neil's Heavy Concept Album in 1984. That's exactly who this album was made by and for. The fact the organizer of this project thinks that I need to listen to this before I die makes me once again question the entire exercise. OK, I just clicked on "Reviews" to read what others said about this album and it made my morning.
It was fine and then I got sick of the sounds. It was too repetitive
It's really weird. Just odd. Some songs are listenable and some feel like a bad acid trip.
This is almost in so bad it’s good territory. But uh. No it’s one of the worst things I’ve ever heard in my life
Meh
Wild. A little too many mentions of Jesus for me to rate it higher.
This was painful. It’s like nails scraped down a chalkboard.
At the time of my listen this is #8 lowest rated of the project, but this was so much better than that. It did sound a bit novice in a folky way, but the music was so serene and chill that it was easy to get lost in the soundscape. I do tend to tune out lyrics so that probably helped in my case, but this was overall a mellow and nice listen.
I tried to convince myself this was camp, I really did. But by 35 minutes in and “Three Is A Green Crown,” I just couldn’t do it anymore.
some moments sound like its nico singing literally
Look, I originally gave this a 2 because it felt like there was some musicality here but after reading the 5 star reviews some of you need to be punished. This is not a celebration of world music and they weren't drawing from other cultures or engaging with them in a meaningful way. Please don't give them a 5 because you've never heard a sitar before, we can change you. The song writing is so low effort and I truly despise the Gilbert and Sullivan-esque Minotaur Song.
Just a bunch of lads having fun
If garden gnomes recorded an album
Only enjoyable with substantial amounts of acid
Be class at dalby forrest after a smoke or in the hippy tent at glasto. I.was young when I got into them. Still got a soft spot for them, but music for witches, wizards and gnomes doesn't do it for me as much these days.
Not my bag, but take it for what it is: campfire music. Wouldnt have the same effect sat watching TV at home or cooking an omelette I openly laughed out loud on Wind is The Swift which i dont think was the intent.
Whatever drugs they took recording it I feel like I needed to listen to it
The vocals become very grating after the 18th minute of cellular song and there is no respite following that. The wailing on swift as the wind sounds like he’s trying to wake up from the nightmare that is this album. First song is alright. They can thank me for the 2 stars.
Too long and an awful mix, but I like some of these songs. I think Scottish folk singing makes 60s psychedelic music more interesting to me. The low rating on here is surprising, like yes they're not hitting notes all the time but it's nothing like The Shaggs, and their singing is *way* more pitch-accurate (and comprehensible) than bob dylan on his royal albert hall bootleg.
Strange and boring.
I think the best I can say about this is that it didn't hurt my ears or offend my senses. But it certainly isn't an interesting album. Perhaps it was influential back in 1968 but does nothing for me in 2026.
Very creative. Scottish but with a lot of eastern influence.
Acid folk right in the heart of the 60s revolution.
Me senti em uma comunidade alternativa dos anos 1960. O álbum é bem rico em elementos musicais. CVJ Vivian.
Find it interesting that there's no real song structure or choruses. It's a stream of thought writing style. Can see how it would pair very well with drugs. Very Alice in Wonderland, nonsensical, random lyrics. Favorite song: A Very Cellular Song
This was as Swift As the Wind.
This is just not my thing. Just not my style of music at all. I didn't enjoy it.
People seem to really hate this one. I’m not sure where the hostility is coming from. It’s unusual, sure, but I didn’t think it was unlistenable or grating. It’s Celtic folk meets 1960s rock with some ambient sounds in there. Wandering but inspired. I kind of had a hoot and a holler listening to this.
Different
Not my music at all
It was fading heavily into the background for me, but I was certainly attentive starting from the Water Song. The rest of the album continued to be a bore, though.
not a big fan of folk music but this was alright
Kind of like The Decemberists, but more like the kids from college who liked acid a little too much.
If you ever need a reason to not do drugs, here it is.
344/1089 - Another one of the low rated ones on the website. I think this one loosely inspired Geogaddi by Boards of Canada if I'm not mistaken, and I'm a huge fan of that album so I'm interested to check this one out: It's gimmicky and somewhat poorly executed but it's not horrible and too interesting to be a 1.
Is that Nico on lead vocals? (I know it's not, but the resemblance is uncanny)
More like the solid at best string band
The Incredible Stringband The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter 2* I have a friend who loves these guys, he grew up listened to it as his mom was a hippie in her youth, everyone yelled at him when he'd out it one because it just brought everything to a stop If I still played D&D I would use this as background music and I can see hints of good in it but it's not something I will ever listen to again
Thought this was bloody lovely
they are clearly very dirty hippies but i like it
Well it's hard not to be biased when an album you haven't heared before is rated that low. In some moments in it's begining I kinda felt like I might force myself to like it. But luckily, I didn't had to. Did I loved it from the first listen? I can't tell, but I guess only a bit. But after a lot of pop or mainstream rock albums this one feels SO refreshing, so stimulating to listen to an album that doesn't follow any conventional tropes. I'm starting to feel like a lot of albums in this list (especially towards 21st century) are here for a reason that they've started some short-lived trend or had some popular single, but albums like these remind me that there's also an albums, that offer a new unique experiences, new thoughts and new feelings. It's when the limits of music are vanishing is when I'm starting to remember why I loved music in the first place.
Y'know, looking down at the bottom 10 worst rated albums on this website, there's a few elements you can very easily pick up on. They're all largely experimental albums, which all make no attempts whatsoever at accessibility. They're loud, they're dissonant, they're atonal, they're tuneless, they're noisy, they're random — and they're just plain weird. It's the kind of music that would send the average music listener running, screaming, for the hills. Unless you have the kind of ears that can attune to something like 'Kollaps' or 'D.o.A' or 'Duck Stab!' (which I seem to have), how could you possibly parse it out? How could anyone **like it**? How is this **music**? The only exception is 'Devil Without A Cause', and that's by Kid Rock, so, y'know, fuck him. He didn't even have the decency to make 'Graduation'! Or, well, I thought that was the only exception. 'Cause just scanning across this band's name and this album's title, I had no reason to think it wouldn't fall in line with 'Scum' or 'Trout Mask Replica' whatever. Y'know, I figured this was just another obscure experimental album I'd never heard of that some Big Important Critics™ think is **high art**, though I'd probably find it just really boring. But, no, it's **not** an experimental record — not entirely, anyway. This is a **folk** record. Or an acid folk record, but still. And ... y'know, I knew a lot people on this website aren't keen on folk music (goodness knows I've had **my issues**), but ... what could **this** have done to've earned such a low score? As I'm writing this, it's only 0.01 points lower than 'Junkyard' by The Birthday Party, which I didn't find myself terribly fond of. Heck, this album's 0.07 points lower than John Zorn's 'Spy vs. Spy', which I absolutely hated; it's one of the few albums down in the bottom 10 where I think it **deserves** its spot. I just couldn't fathom this thing's crimes. What did it do to piss so many people off? Well ... I'll offer this concession up front: it **is** ... strange in parts. Very strange. I mean, there are times where it plays so hard into its Renaissance Faire folk thing that it toes right up to the edge of being parody. Heck, in points, it crosses the line entirely. It's by no means an easy album to "get." Either you do, or, well, you're ready to slap this thing with another 1. Me, though? I think I did. And I'm gonna say the nice version of this: I think y'all're completely over-reacting. I get it, of course. This is all a matter of taste, and it takes diff'rent strokes to move the world, and all that. I wouldn't knock anyone for not gelling with this thing; heck, there were times where I fell off-board with it. Occasionally, I'd hafta wonder, "What even is this? Why is this still going? Goodness me!" But when I'm into it and this thing is on point ... goodness. I can't remember the last time an album from this list gave me this kind of front-to-back experience. I think the key to this album is that ... well, I don't think you're supposed to think too hard about it. And, y'know, I'm never an advocate for not thinking about what you're listening to. You should be critical about what you listen to, of course. But this is one of those times where ... gosh, you just gotta feel it through. Close your eyes, take the step, and deal with it as it comes. Simple as that. And as far as **I** dealt with it ... I don't wanna say it's "trancendental"; that might be a bit of an exaggeration. But it **is** incredibly gripping. There's just this strange energy coming off of it. I mean, with how hard it can dive into its strangeness and Renaissance Faire folk ... if you're willing and able to just let it take you, it can be utterly magnetic. There were only rare moments where I got snapped out of it and wondered "What am I **listening to**?" and "Gosh, is it **still going**?" And thankfully, they were truly rare. I'll tell you, these moments were contained strictly to side two. I'unno, the energy was still strange, but all the same it felt ... different. As if sides one and two were written by different people entirely. And I'd say it's "The Water Song" and "Three Is A Green Crown" particularly that broke the spell for me for a bit. Something about the water sounds on "The Water Song" just weren't right, and I did find myself a little critical on how "Three Is A Green Crown" handled its Indian raga thing. But then, as I took a breath and kept listening, I slipped right back in. Suddenly, "Three Is A Green Crown" didn't sound so off anymore. Looking back, it's kind of weird that that happened. I can't recall another album where I just became uncritical of a song in the middle of it and didn't even notice. That's just the power this album can have if you let it, I suppose. Heck, even the times it sounded like parody didn't bother me too much. I guess just because I figured I wasn't supposed to take them too seriously. I mean, come on, you can't have something like "The Minotaur Song" or the multiple false endings on "A Very Cellular Song" and expect me to think they wanted me to be stone-faced serious. For most of it, sure, but as if they can't be a little goofy sometimes. "A Very Cellular Song" has kazoo on it, for goodness sake. And I know one review pointed to that as if it was the end of the world, but let's be real here. I mean, if I can let Pink Floyd get away with it on "Corporal Clegg", I can lend The Incredible String Band the same grace. Like, I just kind of marvel at the influence and ambition on this. I mean, if you were to tell me a bunch of Scots made acid folk, I wouldn't even know what to expect. Bagpipes, maybe? But then you have all of this medieval folk and Indian raga and takes at spiritualism and all of these instruments ... I am impressed, frankly. For real, I gotta give these guys props. I'unno how professionally rehearsed these guys were or weren't, but I wouldn't have been able to tell if they weren't (and like it mattered in the moment, anyway). And seriously, Robin Williamson has a lovely voice. Mike Heron's, meanwhile, isn't quite up to the same snuff, but it's honestly pretty minor. Speaking of things that're pretty minor, if I could have one true complaint about this album, looking at it from outside its energy, it's that I do think this could have been cut down a little. Mostly on side 2, of course. This thing's nearly 50 minutes, and that **is** pushing it a little. Even as entranced as I was by it, I couldn't help but notice that it was **still** going. But it's something that I imagine I could learn to deal with on subsequent re-listens. Yeah, honestly, I would consider relistening to this thing; I truly did like it a lot. It's one of the most unique albums I've heard on this list, and certainly one of the most unique folk albums. In its bizarreness, it is **certainly** not for everyone, but for those lucky few who can tune in to it ... yeah, goodness. And in either case, it absolutely does **not** deserve to be one of the bottom 10 rated albums on this website. Frankly, this is the kind rating that makes me wonder about a chunk of the userbase: like, is this really the bar for a bottom 10? Something that's just a little more strange than usual? It's hardly fair to this album, and iIt deserves far better than what it's gotten here. I mean, we're really putting this in spitting distance of Kid Rock? I don't think so. So, Incredible String Band, at least you have one more defender on your side. And I'd be happy, any day, to sing your praises. You are truly the exception down here — and I say keep shining through the darkness. Incredible indeed.
Apparently, this album is one of the lowest rated ones on the whole site, which seems like a weird call. I dug this one. Solid 4 Stars.
I’m personally at a 4, but for the sake of the site, I’m gonna give this a 5 because you’re all fucking cowards. *This* is the 8th worst album on the site? This weird, medieval-influenced piece of avantgarde music with incredibly loose lyrics, strange sitar work, oddly long held monotone notes, and plucky guitars & harmonica that all feel like they’re on the verge of collapse at any given moment? OK, if I wrote it like that, I might actually get it a little bit, but… that’s different from listening to it. Giving this album a chance reveals a very strange effect, one that I can’t fully explain, but one that I can mentally comprehend: these tracks all start off with some coherence, before the blend of his longer held notes & the off-kilter rhythm to the instrumentals sort of makes you lose your place & your focus, sweeping you into its weird pacing. While you’re scrambling to find your place & your own rhythm, the loose lyricism present here, with vague allusions that the mind can sort of conjure yet not really comprehend, lingers in the air, since his vocals have a constant presence. This album, through that sense of induced confusion, forces you to interact with it in the exact way that the Incredible String Band intended because of its avant-garde nature; sure, it’s not the most melodically pleasing or the most orthodox style, but I’ll be damned if it’s not strangely compelling, if not hypnotic at times. I mean, I really can’t tell you a *single* thing about the meaning of these tracks, or if they connect in any kind of fashion other than the soundscape that loosely unites them. I also don’t know if it really matters. This album feels like an instrumental album, but with lyrics written after the fact & vocals taking the place of something else. I think if you can meet this album where it’s at by allowing them to take control, the weird hypnosis of it all will click a lot better than if you try to engage with this as an album meant to be comprehended. This is an album where you *feel* these tracks out, with whatever little of the lyrics you catch meant to supplement the trance of the soundscape. For my tastes, something about it clicked. I can’t really explain why, and normally, I would be more frustrated by that inability to grasp it, but for some reason, that gut feeling is acting as a positive. I *like* this album. I dunno, maybe the “acid” part of acid folk is carrying a bit more weight here than I thought, but regardless, it’s a very intentionally designed 49 minutes. If it clicks, it clicks, and if it doesn’t, then it doesn’t. I understand the 2.15 to a degree, but I think it’s entirely formed out of cowardice towards the strange. I think it’s an album that manages to find an incredible sense of freedom for its time just by being so different. Granted, I don’t really hear how the fuck Led Zeppelin modeled their debut after this at all, but more power to the Incredible String Band for having some kind of influence on them. Apparently, Paul McCartney really liked this album too? If the musicians got “it”, whatever that “it” is, then I think I’m justified in giving this a 4. For the sake of the site, just to try and pull this average out of a bottom 10 hell, I’m gonna give it a 5.