Ogden's Nut Gone Flake

Gets progressively more annoying.

Truly terrible. It's like Pink Floyd meets Monty Python.

Reminded me a lot of The Beatles in that quirky way. Very British sounding. Perfectly pleasant, if a bit odd, background music.

The front half (or the first side of the album) stands up as some really great psychedelia from the 60s and the second half delves into a more progressive rock format with several songs coming together to make a long "medley" and tell a story. Using a bit of backwards logic, the front half has a bit of a Tame Impala sound, only except some of the mix isn't as perfect as other contemporary artists and artists of the 60s. Personally, I think there's a lot of heart to this album, and I will be coming back to this on a regular basis. Highlights: 1, 2, 5, and 6 (and 7-12 for those who want a combination of Yes and 13th Floor Elevators). Right after I wrote this, I went into the stereo versions. I should have started with them in hindsight, but sometimes mono can be cool for older stuff. I was already going to rate this a five, but I can't wait to listen through it again.

The album starts off okay, a reasonably decent instrumental to kick us off followed by Afterglow (Of Your Love) which is great. The next track is filler, feels a lot longer than two and a half minutes (partially because it does that thing where it fades out and fades back in again). Then Rene, a song about a prostitute at the docks which if you'd told me was from a Monty Python sketch I would've 100% believed you... at least until it spends a couple of minutes at the end in a long, drawn out, instrumental finish. Song of a Baker is better, great guitar in this. Lazy Sunday is next, this is the one that is miles ahead in the Spotify listening numbers, but it's like Madness trying to do prog rock. Kinda catchy, but not great. Then we change tack completely. I had a quick google and this is the other side of the album, which I guess gives them an excuse for a stylistic change. Lots of narration, and the worst of prog rock weirdness. It's a gibberish fairy tale about someone looking for the other half of the moon, consulting a fly and a tramp. There's the odd interesting instrumental bit, but it's 50% narrative and just strange. Just about squeaks a 2 for me on the strength of the first couple of tracks.

man, that was amazing. super cool, especially for 1968

Surprisingly good. Definitely not something I would have searched out on my own.

Good... It was a bit much at times though. I think the wackiness sometimes surpassed the actual quality of the music, and relied too heavily on Unwin's unintelligible narration for the second half. Enjoyable and fun - just not great

This is my fucking shit Such s fun concept for the second half; incredibly both vocally and instrumentally; timeless classic

Fuckin British people. Sigh.

I can see why they never hit in America

Silly at times but pretty catchy. Singer's pretty good too. Not something I'd add to the rotation, but I didn't mind it either.

Wow, this one really lives up to the name. Never heard it before and I admire their commitment. For those who like the Bonzo Dog Band, this one is even "better"!

I really enjoyed the album. I'm a sucker for weird psychedelic experimentation. However, this album is probably one of the weaker psychedelic albums I've heard. I got strong AiW vibes from the album, especially with the narrator coming in and out on the second side. It opened strongly with the title track. Nice transition from Afterglow to Long Agos and Worlds Apart. My favorite tracks are Long Agos and Worlds Apart, Lazy Sunday, and Journey. Would definitely trip to this.

I feel for Ogdens nut. Getting a couple Glyn Johns produced records recently. Not mad about it. The title track was great. Sonically all around your head with sick drums. This started out really sick and was trending for a high 4, but fell off a bit. Still solid.

I usually enjoy weird psychedelic shit like this, and I’ve enjoyed parts of it, but I’m struggling to stay interested in this one. It’s not bad, but I keep tuning out.

No. 190/1001 Ogden's Nut Gone Flake 3/5 Afterglow 4/5 Long Agos And Worlds Apart 4/5 Rene 3/5 Song of a Baker 4/5 Lazy Sunday 4/5 Happiness Stan 3/5 Rollin' Over 4/5 The Hungry Intruder 4/5 The Journey 2/5 Mad John 3/5 HappyDaysToyTown 3/5 Average: 3,42 Really enjoyed the first half. Sadly the second half fell off a bit for me a bit.

The title track sounds pretty modern. Some good music here, although the (affected?) cockney delivery is a bit grating, and I could have done without the Stanley Unwin bits. A bit overly English twee.

Listening to today's album, I ended up playing both the mono and stereo mixes of the first side. Basically, there was some small talk in the group about the general difference between the two kinds, and I figured it'd only be right to give them each a shot. In short: they're both fine. Generally for albums released in the 1960s, I tend towards the mono mixes, since the ones in stereo were usually an afterthought, but they both do the job fine. I understand the remark from one of my colleagues that the mono mix is a bit muddy, but, personally, it sounded just fine to me. Kinda made the songs sound a bit more powerful, honestly. And boy howdy, I'm glad I got so familiar with side one, 'cuz that shit's great. Amazing psychedelia that rocks like hell, front to nearly the back. My group hasn't gotten far enough in the list yet to be sick of 60's psychedelia, and I'm glad we aren't, 'cuz I'd've hated to throw this aside just because we got a bunch of mediocre ones. And this stuff's actually not even just psychedelia; there's a whole lot of garage rock and even some proto-punk tones in here, which is for sure probably why I like it so much. Like, seriously, draw some attention to "Son Of A Baker" and the guitar thing it has going on there. Goodness! There's only one song I wasn't all for, "Lazy Sunday" (it's nearly a bit too cheeky for my tastes), but regardless, I feel like I could give this whole album a 5 just for this first side alone. But then there's the second, and... Look, I like a bit of narrative in my stories. I love concept albums and even a bit of musical theater. And, heck, even the songs on this side are pretty good. Nothing **quite** on the level of the first, but nothing that'd drop the album down a point (and even still, I'd put it back up just for some of its organ sounds). It's—wuff, it's just the narration. It's just... Dumb. With all of its made-up British words, sounding like it's meant to be read to young lil' lads n' lassies. And, I mean, I regularly engage with young peoples' media, but this sounds like it's for **young** people. Kindergarteners or preschoolers, really. I mean, I'll put it like this: I have a lot of love and respect for BLUE'S CLUES as **the** show of shows I watched growing up, but even on my most nostalgic days, I don't think I'd go out of my way to rewatch any of it. (I **am** an **adult**, after all—I watched THE IRISHMAN and nearly fell asleep!) I'd be a real dummy to mark this album just for a little bit of narration on the second side, though. In the grand scheme of the record, it's more a nitpick than anything else. The music here is still incredibly stellar. Like I said, my group luckily hasn't gone too far that this would be lost in the shuffle aside a billion "Who gives a shit?" albums from this decade, although I still wanna believe even if we were, I'd still be able to recognize this material as stand out. At the very least, it's the best album I've ever heard packaged in a metal tin—yeah, that's right, PIL's catching another stray. How about that, eh? Now **that's** nut-gone, innit?

Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake not only showcases the Small Faces' underappreciated brilliance but also serves as an inspirational precursor to bands like Blur and The Jam. Often dismissed as a novelty album, it defies expectations with stellar R&B tracks like Rolling Over. Stanley Unwin's narration adds a whimsical charm, setting the stage for the creative storytelling seen in later acts. This album, and the Small Faces as a whole, deserve recognition for their innovative sound, paving the way for the musical influences felt by subsequent bands in the British music scene. NUMBER OF BANGERS - 6 STAND OUT TRACK - Afterglow (Of Your Love)

Great first track.

Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake Despite being a big fan of Small Faces for numerous reasons they never really managed to make one consistently good, solid album and their discography is a bit all over this place with UK and US versions mashing things together. And this one is a funny one too, one side feeling a bit like a collection of r’n’b-blues-psychedelia and music hall odds and sods (albeit with some excellent songs), and then the other side a fairy tale concept album, (again with some great songs). But I always wished they’d either done the whole album around the concept of Happiness Stan and incorporated things like Long Ago and Worlds Apart, Song of a Baker, Lazy Sunday and Afterglow into it, or done an album of standalone tracks with those songs and Rollin’ Over I love Ronnie’s bass sound on the title track and it’s an excellent swirling bluesy psychedelic instrumental. Afterglow is superb, up there with Tin Soldier as a brilliantly strained r’n’b/rock’n’roll song. Long Ago and Worlds Apart is a nicely atmospheric psychedelic jam with some r’n’b touches. Rene takes the cockney knees up of Lazy Sunday too far, it’s not a pleasant listen. Song of a Baker is one of those great punchy, muscularly soulful SF rock songs and surely the template for much of Moseley Shoals. Lazy Sunday I oscillate on, sometimes I find it charming and at other times too trite. I love the Stanley Unwin interlocutions, and the story Happiness Stan is a classic bit of 60s psychedelic concept and it’s nicely told via Stanley Unwin and the suite of songs. Happiness Stan itself is the kind of easily parodied 60s track, but the remaining tracks are great. Rollin’ Over is an excellent, grooving track and The Hungry Intruder is nice in a pseudo-fantastical way with some nice flute. The Journey is fine, but Mad John is excellent in a dramatic semi-folky way before more Cockney knees up on the last track. Overall a bit of a mixed bag, a slightly mismatched collection of songs and themes masquerading as an album, but it has some really excellent songs in Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake, Afterglow, Long Agos and Worlds Apart, Song of a Baker, Rollin’ Over and Mad John and a pleasingly 60s concept on the 2nd side. Between 3 and 4 again, and again I’ll tip into 4, mainly for sentimental reasons. 🔩🔩🔩🔩 Playlist submission: Afterglow Fun fact, I once had an email correspondence with Ian McLagan after he put his email address in the back of his autobiography back in the early 2000s. Simpler times

After a real knock-out of an opening track, the band reveal themselves to be a troop of jolly gnomes with a real affinity for psychedelics, folk tales and the Kinks. The unabashed whimsy that follows has the potential to kindle even the most jaded of hearts.

Well maybe I was in a bad mood or something but the first few seconds of this album made me brace up - but it quickly won me over - besides having a few songs I was familiar with (particularly ‘Lazy Sunday’) I had never heard this one before. Which made the experience all the more enjoyable as while the first half is a bona fide good record section - when the narration starts it’s a delight - on paper it sounds like a bad idea but it actually makes this record special. The songs intertwine an absurdist fairy tale and you’re left actually wanting more. Quite a fun one this album.

Really enjoyed this one! Definitely on the ‘to buy’ list now! Love a bit of psychedelic rock! Mad for it!

What a deeply weird record! This was a really fun album to listen to, especially following a fairly safe outing like Urban Hymns. I have to admire an artist that goes out of their way to make something so strange with such commitment. And it wouldn't work if they didn't have the songs and musicianship to match. Lost half a point because I found the narration on side two kind of grating as it wore on. 3.5/5 Favourite tracks: "Afterglow" and "Lazy Afternoon"

This is actually a very playful and lovely record. First disc is just ok 60s rock, but Big fan of Disc 2 and the Tale of Happiness Stan.

Side B was REALLY something!

Probably not something I'll revisit, but also surprised at how much I'm enjoying it.

Weird but good. Trippy

why is shit moving round my head get out of my head get out of my head get out of my head get out of my head get out of my head get out of my head get out of my head get out of my head unironically shit was fire until bro got his quirky mood on... shit just got weird it peaked at lazy sunday and then the flies got involved.... 3.1/5

I'm not gonna lie, the first track had me thinking this was gonna be run of the mill three outta five stuff, but by the third track I knew I was mistaken. The lead vocalist has simply put the bristishest accent, soundin like Pinky almost at points. The bass was funkin. The guitar was rippin. The skits were scattin. Great 60s album.

This album was great. It felt like a medieval fantasy twist on Pink Floyd. Guess that's the best way I can describe it. Such a unique sound that I enjoyed a lot. I'm not usually a big fan of dialogue skits in songs, but the ones presented in this album were good. Genuinely don't feel like I could compare this to anything to which I've ever listened. Great experience.

Never heard of this and it was very cool! :) :)

9/10

Hammer Album. Ich hab mich ab dem ersten Song darin verliebt. Man merkt den Geist der Zeit. Dreckige Gitarren Sounds, das Experimentieren mit starken Stereo Effekten, schäppernde Drums und kraftvolle Gesänge. Das ganze gemischt mit dem hippi-trippy Zeitgeist, der sich bei Mad John oder The Journey in Form eines Narrators zeigt. Dieses Album werde ich mir bestimmt auf Platte kaufen.

Wieder ein Gute-Laune-Album. Definitiv trippy und psychedelisch mit einer witzigen Geschichte als Konzept. Die Sounds laden zum Tagträumen ein. Die Musik erinnert mich an einen schönen Sommertag, wenn man Urlaub hat und absolut nichts zu tun. Man kann einfach in den Tag hinein leben. Genau dann sollte man dieses Album hören! „Afterglow of your love“ ist mein Favorit, aber die Wahl war schwierig! „Song of a Baker“ ist auch großartig. :) verdiente 5/5

VERY DANK

Classic

Great, upbeat album. Loved the vocals and how well suited the different singing styles were to each song. Guitars and drums on this record were great

I knew Ian so it’s a solid5

Very nice!

Delightfully silly. like he best soundtrack ever for a children's show. Still catchy and pretty.

My prayers were answered with this album appearing on my list after a long period of mediocre ones been served up. The first thing I’ll say about this album is that I will be forever regretful that I never bought it on release when it was offered in the round tin box format. In fact I never bought it all until recently on CD when I decided that it was a must have album of significant historical music value. Despite not having the album myself for many years I liked and was familiar with its contents. Importantly the Small Faces in this configuration were made up of four very talented musicians who were in the late 60’s were pushing the boundaries of music. Sadly two of these died very young. Ronnie Lane died of MS like my own brother so I know what he went through and feel a connection there. Steve Marriot was to me the UK’s Roger McGuinn super cool looking and someone a young lad like me would idolise. As for the music on this album I can understand how it divides people. Whilst there some big hits on it and well known the second side in particular throws up a lot of challenges. The album deserves a lot of repeated listening to discover a lot of its beauty. I think I might have been influenced in liking this album due to the appearance of Stanley Unwin on it. My dad loved Stanley who was one of his favourite comics and I can still see him now, laughing at his comical use of the English language. I think you need to be of a certain age to understand and appreciate this but I’m so glad for my dads sake that Stanley is immortalised on this album and because of this he will come to the attention of future generations. This album included my favourite track Song of a Baker and I remember them playing this on a BBC2 programme called Colour Me Pop. This was such a strong performance of that song. So much so that it is often repeated as an example of what was so good about UK rock in the late 60’s. A great album by a great group who showed their greatness by morphing into the supergroup Humble Pie and of course been at the start of Rod Sewart’s career. 5/5 18/12/24

Classic album of a great band despite the spoken word passages.

Het begint best veelbelovend, maar al vrij gauw merk je een bepaalde schijtlolligheid en dan is het de vraag hoeveel het in de weg gaat staan van de muziek. We hebben orgeltjes, wah-wah pedalen, de wonderlijke jaren '60, mensen die hun instrumenten prima beheersen, smaakvolle drumfills, een liefdevolle dwarsfluit... Alle ingrediënten voor een lekkere plaat zijn dus aanwezig. Maar dat hele 'we hebben drie keer geblowd en nu vinden we onszelf tering grappig' vind ik wel nadelig. Ik merk dat ze ermee wegkomen omdat de muziek tot aan het einde enorm interessant blijft. 'Song of a Baker' heeft een lekkere gitaarsolo en ook bij 'Happiness Stan' kun je buiten het gelul om enorm genieten van een stukje muzikaal geweld. En zo gebeuren er wel meer toffe muzikale dingen. Het helpt ook dat het qua productie enorm lekker klinkt, met name de instrumenten. Gelukkig gaan ze qua lolligheid niet veel verder dan een soort Monty Python modus en wordt het dus geen totale Zappaesque shitshow waar je totaal uitgeput raakt door de vele effecten. Een stukje Beatles hoor ik er als niet-Beatles-expert ook wel in terug, evenals een vleugje Led en een vleugje Zeppelin. Helemaal op het einde een soort Young Ones Living Doll prototype. Ik ga een bizarre keuze maken: Ik vind de muziek zo tof dat ik ondanks het schijtlollige gelul toch een 5 ga uitdelen. Ik kan er op één of andere manier tegen vandaag, ondanks of dankzij het gebrek aan slaap vannacht.

Sick

This is the most English album (and English, not British) probably ever made. Maybe only The Kinks could rival that. I don't expect anyone outside England to understand what the hell is going on with this - from the light pop of Lazy Sunday to the great Stanley Unwin. It's delightful, bonkers and a pleasure to listen to. If you are English.

I like to think there are some old mods out there who agree with me that the Small Faces were well ahead of The Who at this point. Not as flashy or gimmicky visually. No smashed instruments, no flailing arms or swinging microphones but a much better singer and much better songs. Even their English psyche whimsy is better. Such a shame they didn't last.

Just some pretty damn good psychedelia altogether. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

I’m at a 4.5, and I enjoyed this enough that I’ll bump it up to a 5. This is pretty good, but it does feel like two distinct albums sort of merged into one. That’s not a bad thing, but they’re so tonally different from each other and it makes for a really interesting experience. The first half is pretty traditional, and you won’t get many complaints for me – it’s pretty solid rock that leans into a bit of prog and does it rather well. The only track from the first half that I wasn’t feeling as much was “Rene,” and it’s partially in the lyrics. It’s not a bad track though, and it’s a fun listen with a really good instrumental to close out. I’d say all the instrumentals on the first half are pretty good – the psychedelic intro title track, the 70s rock vibes of “Afterglow” (a little ahead of schedule for 1968), the sort of space-y feel to “Long Agos and Worlds Apart”, the electric guitar that drives “Song of a Baker”, and the rather goofy happy tone of “Lazy Sunday”. They all clicked for me, and they had a really nice variance. If I had to give the first half of the album a rating by itself, it’s a pretty strong 4. The storybook portion of this album is gonna be what divides people – for my money though, I found it charming. I’ve been playing The Plucky Squire, so my brain is a little attuned towards “silly goofy storybook tale,” and I thought the instrumentation and lyrics throughout were rather nice. I loved the spoken monologues between certain songs – it gave it an audiobook feel, and his voice felt comforting during it. I could totally see this entire half being adapted into a real book, or some kind of made-for-TV 30 minute special. It’s charming, and while it’s rather obvious in its plot, for some reason, it just gave me a nostalgic kind of vibe. It may sound weird, but just on the strength of its execution, I’d give the back half a 5. Obviously, that balances out to a 4.5, but if I enjoyed this much of the album, I’d be remiss to not give it the bump. This is a rather fast 38 minutes, and while it’s not for everyone (trust me, someone will find the back half immensely boring, or think some of the first half tracks drag a little), it hits just right for me. I’m happy this is on the list – these are the sorts of albums I like. Pretty nice 5.

A gem that captures the fell of it's time.

cool psychedelic rock

This is a great 1968 psychedelic album, and a bit of a game of two halves. The second side is a bit weird, and I'm in the camp that thinks Stanley Unwin's narration benefits the record.

Another great new discovery for me. Peak 60s psychedelic rock. In the rotation

The album that made Stanley Unwin a star

Kinda loved this. Was just so insanely charming!

surprisingly, never heard this, or any other Small Faces album before. Great example of late 60s London music.

Mjög skemmtilegt, enskt á góðan hátt og mjög flott sjöundatugar sound. Marriot og Lane eru fínir söngvarar og hljóðfæraleikur allur til fyrirmyndar. Hef svo sem heyrt áður en er nú á fimmtu hlustun. Held ég hendi í fullt hús.

Loved it!!!

Listened to the mono versions, 2018 remaster at work. I actually like this. Pretty standard, British invasion, ever so slightly psychedelic. Songs that stood out: Lazy Sunday

One of the best Psych album of all Time , with a mix of heavy guitare, orchestrations and distorsion, always love IT a lot,

Really unique psychedelic sound. I really felt like I was in a field with a bunch of hippies.

Loved the bass on this one

Never heard of these guys before, but this album is right up my alley. In terms of folky, British psychedelic rock this is at the top of the game. It doesn't suffer from the common psychedelic music issue of jarring dissonance and comes with a whimsy all it's own. The narration on the second half is a gem in itself. A true shame the lyrics to this album aren't available on Spotify.

Rip Bert, released from his lumbago at last.

Weirdest thing I think I’ve ever heard in this genre. Loved the weird guy telling stories between songs. Felt like listening to Lydia telling a story or a Spag Cool guitar fx and riffage Giving 5 cos my mind is melted Recognised the neighbours song

Enjoyed Awesome

What a fun album! Interesting music and an early stab at a concept album.

wildddd I love it. Sounds like an acid trip

I thought this would be more dusty 60s rock that is only relevant as a step in the development of the genre, but the album actually holds up very well. To me, it illustrates the transition between stuff like the Beatles and 70s hard rock with its more involved guitar melodies. And "Lazy Sunday" is one of the absolute classics from the era.

Just a lot of fun honestly, every song on this album was a great listen. Not to be all, "I was born in the wrong generation," but could you imagine an album like this being released today, with just people talking nonsense over half the songs? I couldn't

A classic record from the Small Faces and I'm glad I own a vinyl copy. Apart from the narrator cutting in and out of the music, the music is excellent and though there are only a couple minor hits on it, it's consistently solid with strong songs. I must hear or at least, must see, as the album jacket is very cool!

How has this album almost been lost in musical history, but so many of its peers are still revered. This is absolutely amazing and should be a standard of the style of the time. Before listening to this album I honestly only knew the single, and that's by far the worst song on the album.

A great album of storytelling that uses many musical elements.

How the hell do I not know about this band? This is great. I was going to go on about how the band, and the drummer in particular, had some influence by The Who (and in a good way), then I read that the drummer is Kenney Jones, who replaced Keith Moon after he died (they were apparently at the same party that Moon died after). But, what a wild ride. Love the music, playing, singing, hilarious interstitials. I'm going to dig into this band. Somehow they missed the boat of the British Invasion. Too bad. This is good stuff.

Are you all sitting comftybold two square on your botty? Then I'll begin... God bless Stanley Unwin. I had a strong free association urge to go listen to Nilsson's The Point after this finished. So I did.

This is very much my shit and I don't know why I hadn't heard it before (beyond a couple of well-known tracks).

What a fun album The poetry was a trip, the music vintage Small Faces

When I’d listened to this before I’d thought it was unbearably twee but it’s actually pretty rough around the edges Works brilliantly as a cohesive body and was fantastic start to finish

A brilliantly innovative album.

holy shit, every song is a 10/10 honestly, this album is too good for this 5 star scale, jesus christ, I love this

One of the best albums ever. One of the best intros ever and Stanley Unwin's narration makes the whole second half a joy. Every track is a summery classic, and Steve Marriott is an amazing frontman - I love singing in a natural accent. I loved it before, and listening today I love it even more.

So good, could've been released yesterday and I wouldn't have known the difference (except for the wild stereo mix which I love to hear in albums of this time). Heaps of comedic writing, doesn't take it's self too seriously and the loose concept is engaging.

Never listened to this in its entirety before. I should have done. It's brilliant.

I cannot believe this band has existed for 50 years and I never heard them. This belongs up there with any of the baroque pop that was being produced in the 60s.

Never heard this 60’s psychedelic album, I was missing out.

An all time classic. Still as good as it used to be.

What a fantastic, quirky album. I must admit that I only really knew a couple of Small Faces tracks before this, and I'm a bit surprised that I'd not delved deeper previously as I have a lot of Faces in my collection and there are very well-known, strong links between the two bands.

drei bis vier Lazy Sunday

(I uh, like them more than the Beetles. By like, a lot.)

Great album. I didn't listen to it back then and I don't know why. Probably because it wasn’t given much airplay in the U.S. I was too lazy back then. What a shame.

Peter Quill would love this album.

Can't believe i never heard of this

The Beatles vibes. Soulful, psychedelic sound. This would be cool to listen to while high. Fun and energetic. Quirky, odd storytelling. Typically British, which I love.

The lows are LOW the highs are fantastic.

Pretty Solid 60's rock. sad I never knew about these guys prior really well produced and played and some catchy songs. A little anachronistic but the charm is that it feels like all the best parts of that decade's psychedelic and pop / folk rock

I had no idea what to expect on this one, and I have to say I really liked it. Great listen, and the concept story was certainly something different.

I liked the music, not sure the concept on side 2 really worked though.

huh, ok these boys swung for the fences. Lot a respect and a fair amount of enjoyment. Love the experiments and the jabberwocky ass made up language fairy tail b-side. This one will likely need a bit more exploration before it clicks much, but I'm glad I heard it.