Reviews (page 2 of 8)
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Not too much to say about this one. It's a fun psychedelic trip. Not bad, but also nothing extraordinary.
Blahhhhhhhhhhhhh
Largely uninteresting—both lyrically and in sound. And then the album keeps going off the rails with all the dang talking! There has to be genuinely better English psychedelia, eh?
Exceptionally good album. Has more punch and rock style than the hippie stuff from that era. Also resulting in Faces with Ron Wood and Rod Steward, learned this at least!
Yet another St Peppers knockoff. They each have their own little twist. This one sounds like it was written by a bunch of dungeon and dragon nerds. Everything has its cheap copy I suppose.
It's ok. Somewhat trippy.
Interesting fun and psychedelic. I feel I needed a bit of something to help make the story flow a bit more for me. But glad it is in the list for something new to me.
A slightly odd grabbag of songs - you can hear proto-punk and cockney knees-up at the same time as warming up to post-Yellow Submarine. I felt like it's an album best listened to intoxicated, but I'm sure they'd say the same so no complaints there. Too variable in quality to quite be a 4, but an extremely solid 3. Whatever else I'd say about it, it felt fresh and surprised me. I like that.
No, no, no. Concept albums are not for me, weak vocals annoy me, twee Englishness is an abomination and the skits were a waste kf time
good but why the pointless jibber jabber
This isn't mixed very well, the singing is so muddled.
Less talking. This was unnecessary.
It's an interesting mix that's not exactly for me. Happydaystoytown is Monty Python before Monty Python existed
Pleasant
This was a decent album and I wasn't expecting it at all lol
I’m Sure it’s really funny if you are stoned.
Way too long, 3 disc version way too repetitive, and the talking was not for me
An odd album. Not necessarily bad but definitely odd.
i wish i could put the gif of the little girl with the face of like what the fuck as a review
ehh
If this was just the titled track on repeat for 40 minutes, it'd be a 5. The rest of the album is absolute dribble. Some cool guitar parts and drumming here and there but fuck me that's it for this album. Weird side 2 concept and annoying vocal phrasing. Barely scrapes a 2 because of the title track
When they start narrating shit at you, you know this is gonna be pretentious.
The first half of the album is quite good late 60's psychedelic rock music. The latter half is a strange yellow submarine-esque child's programme with bizarre skits. The story isn't even all that good and the skits are interspersed so as to be unskippable. If you have ever been annoyed by this phenomenon in hip hop, it should at least get the same treatment here.
Great experience! I was initially concerned by the narration, which sounds as if C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien took a buttload of LSD and formed a band, but it grew on me! Enjoyable overall!
Oh boy, another 60s album. Fuck this noise.
A little too much English whimsy for my tastes.
Eh
If there is one sound in music, nay, in life that is entirely intolerable, it is full on Cockney speech. Hearing that makes any normal human break out in the most logical or rage and start smashing shit. To hear it in the midst of a song is even worse. This album has many painfully long instances of this, and it drags down what is a perfectly fine slice of late 60s Beatles copycatism.
The first half was better than the second, but it was fun nonetheless
There were a couple legitimately good songs at the beginning, then it devolves into mostly some guy rambling on about fuck knows what. I'm gonna need a complete detox from the British accent after this
Un album bastante interesante. La segunda parte puede volverse algo rara debido a la narración entre canciones, pero eso no las vuelve malas canciones.
What the England
you can't deny this is the funniest name of an album ever...
alright folk rock
Decent, not their best but I enjoyed most of it
4 - music was OK British 60’s psychedelic but the cockney spoken word deducts a point
Not great, I don't really get it
A pretty decent 70's rock record with psychadelic influences. I think main thing that lets it down is the old recording tech that not even the remaster seems to help with. I listened on a good pair of headphones and the mix was just weird. I really don't like it when the drums are all in one ear, and that was on the versions labeled "stereo" so I know it's intentional. Really odd choices, but maybe that's me. As far as the music goes, I thought it was actually pretty good. Even the ridiculous cockney voice in Lazy Sunday was more fun that annoying. They aren't the most talented bunch but they're certainly competent. They went off the deep end with the weird saga of spoken word stuff at the end, but it went with the music. Not bad.
The whimsical fairy-tale of Happiness Stan dominates the second side of the record while the first side shows the varied sound of this band. If one gets over the first-listen “WTF” of the fairy-tale story-suite concept thing and doesn’t take it too seriously, it’s a fun little thing although the narration gets a bit tedious with his weird play on language ("Unwinese"). It’s a good album and has been ranked highly on all-time lists.
Wouldn't it be nice, to have more decent songs in?
Way better than Pink Floyd
She Ogden on my Flake until I Nut Gone on Small Faces. I’m sorry. I actually think this is okay but it’s so funny reading the description about them being the best band that never crossed over to America, and then you hear the thick Oliver Twist ass accent on Lazy Sunday and it’s like oh okay that’s why they never did.
Already love it.
Side one is exactly what you might want from a band that recently discovered their psychedelic side; the songs manage to combine everything that was good about this band by adding additional elements that make the record sound vaguely "trippy." The songs idiosyncratically British but give you a pretty great sense of time and place, and they're catchy. They're also pretty muscular, especially compared to other music in this vein from the era. And they are just psychedelic enough for it to sound relatively "cutting edge." But for me, the second side just doesn't work as well; the songs aren't quite as strong as the first side and I really don't know that the story concept has dated very well over the years. It's a novel idea but it's not why I listen to rock music, and if I'm going to listen to something else, I want that something else to work seamlessly. This does not. But, that being said, this is a good set of fairly unique songs, played well by a pretty great band. Try to ignore the spoken word bits.
Afterglow caught my attention. Love that dirty organ and pure vocals. Bass player is solid foundation. Long agos has a nice groove, and claps which can be either awesome (like here) or too much. Decrescendo and Crescendo at the end is such a great move I wonder if this was done with the mixer or the band. Towards the end we get a hard left turn into the beatiful absurd story of Stan, a Fly, it was a wild ride! 4
This album has some really good songs mixed in between mixing that doesn't let me hear the singer or anything other than a distorted guitar. In parts it feels much more modern than I would expect from 1968 and then you get to a song that sounds exactly like the cliche portrayal of the 60s. I had a fun time listening through it since I really didn't know what to expect for each new song. For me its a one time experience though, not something I would come back to.
Legal !!! Me lembrou um pouco os Beatles
Just wild
This was fine in the background, didn't really move me though.
Enjoying the hard rock (for the time) notes and the jams. I like how they intertwined other songs into Song of a Baker, like a variation of Wild Thing. I hear the 2nd side is on a theme all it's own, the whole fist side was enjoyable. Not a fan of the intros to songs on the second side. Actually it is completely annoying and I had to skip past the last one, which went on and on. The expanded and deluxe edition tracks are, to me, to be avoided. The album with just the original tracks is far superior. The only thing to recommend some of the added tracks is that they don't have the monologues attached. I feel like this record worked it's way to above average and then back down again.
Good. Sounded kinda like early 70's classic rock. I'll pull this out again.
oh well. This sounds really dated today.
Good first half but a little too silly for me by the end
58 days since a hip hop album. I’ve grown fairly tired of this whole project, so I have some dissatisfaction to overcome for each album suggestion. But I actually really enjoyed this one. A little silly in a very good way. And some parts of it really rip. Glad to have listened!
blah blah blah epic organ
I’m partial to the Small Faces and this is a fun album, but I do prefer it when Steve Marriott ditches his “one of Monty Python in a headscarf” voices and slips back into his full-throated rock voice.
This was a fun British psychedelic album, filled with early analog studio effects and soulful music hall influences. Other than that, not much else to say.
It was a struggle to stay interested in this album as it progressed, and despite a couple of solid tracks I can't say I massively enjoyed it. It felt like a diluted, slightly odd version of the Beatles. The songwriting was just a bit silly at points and the overall delivery felt way too cheesy / over thought. The monologues towards the end made no sense and were horrific too.
Not a fan. Village green but worse. Was close to giving up
I really liked this and am surprised I'd never heard of it. The cover art reminds me of something my dad would have had. I think maybe I just like the weirder English stuff more than he did.
1 keeper in 7 (14%). Happiness Stan is too long but now we can get into an argument about how long is too long in the context of an entire album. What does it matter if an entire vinyl side is presented in one full go? Messes my track-based math up pretty good but that’s my problem, not yours. Math says 1. Experience says 2.
Sonido interesante y realmente agradable
673/1001 2026.08.05 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
wtf this was so sick, so weird at times but so fun
My only Mod references up to this point are the Mod revival band The Jam, who had an album here that I really enjoyed. This seems like a more classic take on the sound, however, similar to The Kinks, who I also really like. The opening psychedelic instrumental into the pretty catchy and feel-good 'Afterglow' certainly grabbed me right off the bat. It's such an incredible song with a very gradual build and explosive chorus. The whole album is just as catchy, I'd say, and equally as British, especially when we hit the songs 'Rene' and 'Song of a Baker '- just a super playful and cheeky take on the Britpop of the time. I'm sure a lot of it went over my head (especially the second-side story I didn't fully follow); I'm not British after all. But I can appreciate this album musically at least; it's certainly ambitious and anything but stagnant and still. Each song feels like a very different take on this style. "Happiness Stan' I liked quite a bit; it had that sort of menacing classical feel of some early psychedelic Kinks songs, and the second part when the organ comes in was epic. 'Rollin' Over' was pretty great too, with a classic Stones feel with these heavy, crushing, and bluesy guitars. Again, just such a singular track here; nothing else on this album is like it. 'Mad John' had a British folk feel to it that goes over exceptionally well. The second side does have these spoken-word pieces that open up or close up every song. I'm usually not a fan of these things being at the beginning of songs (would rather them be their own interludes), but I was fine with it here; this entire second side felt like a medley that's obviously telling one long story, so a spoken word piece connecting the songs and providing additional context wasn't egregious. Small Faces, a band I'd never heard of but am glad I have now, are just about everything I love about this trippy, "throw everything at the wall" '60s mentality I enjoyed on so many of the Kinks' records. They manage to be both catchy and experimental, a perfect balance.
type of album you have to listen in one time. good concept
There are some aspects of this I like, but ultimately the verdict is a Nah from me. Too much nonsense and literal gobbledygook. 2/5
Nuts.
Eh, always worth applauding something that tries to be different, but it just didn't work for me. While Lazy Sunday is a classic, the whole album just felt too silly and whimsical for my taste, and a lot of lyrics haven't aged well. Add to that the weird stereo kix that hurts my ears, and the whole polari nonsense of side two, and i've absolutely no desire to go back to this. At least Afterglow is pleasant enough. A strong 2/weak 3.
Surreal, very very surreal. Some good prog like tunes on here but I can’t get away from the whole “novelty” feel, not least in his very put-on cockney geezer singing accent. The narrating of a surreal fairy tale in the second half of the album is gently amusing but not something I really want on repeat.
I enjoyed this album it’s a pleasant listen. The mixture of humour and good rock and roll riffs is enjoyable. The opening instrumental track is really good - especially the mixing in the drums. I suspect the narrations could great on people but I enjoyed this creative approach to the album and I really like the use of fuzz on the guitar and bass in this album. I can see why they were so big in the UK but maybe didn’t translate to the US.
[I wrote a review of this album that seems to have been erased! I'll do my best to recreate it....] Psychedelic rock. Good. Jimi Hendrix should've played on it. The spoken-word bits of the single B-side track are kind of silly but - the music is strong enough to cancel it out. FOUR STARS
A fun discovery for me, might be a band I'd like to hear more from
So this is the 500 greatest albums of all time plus 501 of some random English albums?
Has some interesting music parts, but then becomes a bit too nonsensical. Album really loses focus after a while. 2/5 Won't listen again
This is a quirky little album and unfortunately I couldn’t hear much of the narration between each song because I was listening in a loud environment. Perhaps I’ll listen again some day but the songs weren’t good enough for that to happen any time soon.
Very British, and quite unusual. The music is pretty solid, and quite varied. Having a faux Micheal Paling doing some story telling between the tracks in a medley is certainly a choice, but I'm all for it.
I'm not British enough for this.
That album was not recorded by a sober crew I tell you what.
Not for me
Only knew Lazy Sunday but overall enjoyable! (3.5)
A little bit too odd for my taste - agree with other comments that this feels like monty python music.
Apart from the first tune, the instrumentals title track, this album seems to wind me up more than anything else. The exaggerated Cockney accent of the most well known Lazy Sunday makes it sound like Norman Wisdom's singing it, there's nothing resembling a decent tune on the B-side and the narration by Stanley Unwin is, to use his language, fucking-a-diddly teedioseeus, or something like that. There's a song about a prostitute that's pretty similar to Lazy Sunday and I suppose the Song Of A Baker is about drugs. Afterglow's not bad, but this is just a bit of nonsense really. A low 2 stars.
Pleasantly surprising rather darling. Some really nice tunes in the first side and utter clownery on the second.
Best wel een beetje erg irritant, stomme vlieg
Waarom heeft niemand het over de verschrikkelijke productie op deze plaat? Dit klinkt alsof de nummers 40 keer geript zijn van Youtube en weer opnieuw zijn geupload. Sommige gitaren en orgeltjes staan te hard, vocals en lead gitaar te zacht en overal zitten een soort houtje-touwtje ruk effecten overheen. Echt een verschrikking om naar te luisteren. Daarnaast is het psychedelische rock uit Engeland nummer 50, dus mijn geduld is snel op.
This is fun. Some better than avg psych plus some prog-ish bits & a side of silliness. I’m inclined towards 3 & a quarter
gta v theme
1.67
I thought I liked Psychedelic music but this list has helped me realize I’ve only ever listened to the really good psychedelic music that is worth remembering. This shit sucks and is insanely annoying. And insanely annoyingly British.
I don't know
I've been trying to find the first song on this album for so long after hearing it on the GTA V radio so this album started off great. Then it went downhill with the weirdness but still not terrible.
Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake - 3.5/5 After Glow - 4/5 Long Agos and Worlds Apart - 3.5/5 Rene - 3.5/5 Song of a Baker - 3.5/5 Lazy Sunday - 3.5/5 Happiness Stan - 3.5/5 Rollin' Over - 3.5/5 The Hungry Intruder - 3.5/5 The Journey - 3/5 Mad John - 3/5 Happy Days Toy Town - 3/5 This certainly is a tale of two sides. The first sounds a lot like the britpop movement to come nearly 30 years later, which is surprising for how similar some of those songs sound to Oasis, as an example. The second side is more of a whimsical tale of something I'm not really sure what happens. It's a bit all over the place and definitely seems worse than the first side. There are some things here to appreciate, but I didn't really like the concept on the B side. Overall: 3/5 Favorites: After Glow
something
Never Really got into Small Faces. It is a very late 60s British rock album. It is very difficult to discern them from what else was happening at that time. Songs like Lazy Sunday Afternoon (and a few others) are the types of songs that influenced the resurgence of "British first" that dominated britpop in the mid 90s, so from that point you see the influence that the band would have had on these artists. The album kind of deteriorated a bit at the end. The journey was good once you got past that talky nonsense. on the whole, It was okay, but I cannot see myself listening to this again. Mad John was the standout track (without the talking). 3 stars
I would have rated it higher IF there would not have been so much talking.
Пародия на queen или их кумиры. Практически ничем не выделяющийся альбом кроме своеобразной похожести с Queen. В них есть странная стыдливая нотка гламурности или я путаю стыд и лицемерие. В целом не очень интересно обсуждать альбом неинтересная обложка, сумбурная какофония из смеси глэма, поп и рока и ничего из этого не показано в хорошем свете. Оценка 2/10
Wow. A psychedelic concept album full of 60's Brit pop, mental childish narration, and old musical hall theatre, it's bloody great.
The irritating Stanley Holloway. Who thought that would be a good idea ?
Melko hyvää brittirockia 60-luvulta. Tätä kuunnellessa tuli mieleen The Whon ensimmäiset levyt ja The Kinks.
Weird.
V British, but in a kind of good way. Some cool tracks on here for sure. Need to learn more about who they are, I know they're really important to British music but why? Also the little story book stuff is funny and weird
sweet
Eh. Just not for me
Blind album and artist. Its like if the Beatles took their normal amount of psychadelics in the form of shrooms, but they were not washed, muddy, and eaten raw from the ground. Dirty and gross, but will still get you high. 3.
Bizarre, creative, classic Small Faces album.
I have no idea what this was, nor do I understand why it's an essential album, but I'm not complaining about it. I had a good time observing just where in the hell this was going and trying to figure out what it is ⭐⭐⭐.49
achei ruim, é isso ai nem tem mto o que falar pq é ruim
pior que achei a primeira metade até ok. já a segunda eu achei bem ruimzinha viu, não eh das melhoras nao... nao eh ruim, tem seu público. mas não sou eu nao
Album #122: Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake - Small Faces Genre (W): Psychedelia Singles: Lazy Sunday, Afterglow of Your Love, Mad John I have listened to this album once before. Thoughts?: It starts off whimsical enough, but then it starts to drag when nothing else is really explored. It feels like weirdness for the sake of weirdness, and that’s not really good. Favorite songs: Afterglow (of Your Love), Rene
JL : 3, title track
Didn't care for it at first, but it grew on me. A lot of feel good here, even kazoos! Also, there is a story being told along the way, but i was working at the same time so i didn't pick up on it. Might be worth a re-listen.
Funky vintage Brit rock record. Has some cool elements and sounds throughout and I dig the instrumentation and sequencing. I like this one.
Nope
Another psychedelic album great. Not
I thought it’s a Zappa parody first, but they truly meant it.
it sounds muddy? 3.29
Sounds a little discombobulated. Tried not to compare them to The Beatles, couldn't help it. Very random titles.
did really like the first half of the album, very nice psychedelic stuff. i agree it gets very monty python esque towards the end, and it’s a shame because i love monty python, i just don’t think this style of songwriting and especially singing style works very well in this kind of song
You have to imagine Damon Albarn and company like this album a lot. The first half is really interesting, great songwriting, but the second half is a little too stupidly conceptual for me to fully love, which is a shame, because I like a lot of the stuff on here!!
Not my favourite. Side One was OK. Side Two finished with a whimper. Unlikely to revisit.
never heard of them before. surprisingly good. But the 2nd half was a chore.
Just not great. A little interesting, I guess, but so much other music from that era that I would rather listen to, sample, study... 2.
Had some good songs but far too many misses.
This is a psychedelic adventure, if nothing else. It's a British version of Captain Beefhart And His Magic Band. It's a zany little story too. Favorite Track: "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake".
If the Kinks didn’t exist or if the Beatles hadn’t made Sgt. Pepper’s before this maybe this would be seen as something substantially different from other late 1960s British rock, but since those things had happened I don’t know why this is on the list. Some of the music isn’t bad but the meandering stories in contrived ye oldey English are just annoying.
At the start I was going to say don't judge a book by its cover, but it got weird quick. Not a bad weird though
Damn like an early ween-y beatles album, I can see the precursor to britpop a lil but more wacky and off to the side, pretty cool for '65
I didn’t hate this as much as everyone else seems to. And I actually think I enjoyed side A more than side B
Short album and very of its time. I quite enjoyed it. It starts off really strong with the beautiful build up of the first song, partially love it because it was the GTA V trailer song. After that it doesn’t really reach said high, but it stays enjoyable throughout. Lazy Sunday was good as well, as well as some other songs but I can’t really recall which. Just a good combination of lots of things that were in vogue in the 60’s, without sounding like a cliché.
This was an interesting listen. Very much a mix of Blues and traditional British music. I'm not sure how I feel about it entirely but I'm here for it every once in awhile.
i liked it
An ok album. Sometimes fun. Wondering why it made the list, but it was fine
Something from a different era. I could imagine hippies listening to this .
Honestly anything before the 70s i dont think i will like but ill keep giving them a try. I just havent found one i enjoyed
I really hate the name and cover art for this album. I would never in a million years be attracted enough by either to peruse this music. Putting it on, initially I reprimanded myself for judging a book by its cover. It wasn’t ever quite my thing, but I could see why it could be important to one group or another. I could envision a bunch of hippies smoking roaches around a campfire with this on in the background. Then, we get to the b-side, and all the trust Small Faces had built with me flew out the window. What the hell is this really? A children’s story read in unintelligible sloppy cockney English with accompanying music? Maybe this was cute for someone, but it was miserable for me. It immediately drained this back to a one in my eyes, and one of the happiest moments of my life was knowing the album had ended.
Fattar inte riktigt poängen men får betyg för att det ändå är habil blues. En trea
Delightfully British hippy dippy. Reminds me of Cream at their silliest.
This album takes the British whimsy of the Kinks and cranks it up a bit with a more psychedelic, hard rocking edge. The first half is full of crisp, psychedelic tones, though the recording quality saps the music and the vocals of a bit of their power. Despite that, its still a nice set of pop tunes. The second half doesn't change much musically, but it narrates a story of a man talking to a fly and meeting Mad John in an intentionally over-the-top British accent. It walks the line of being endearing and infuriating, but I think it mostly succeeds at being the former. It doesn't feel entirely necessary given the songs haven't changed, but it gives the side more character. This isn't the best psychedelic pop from its era, but its certainly memorable despite not having any can't-miss songs.
Interesting album with some nice production, not quite what you would expect based on other Small Faces albums 4*
not bad, some tidy tracks
it's not the worst psychedelic rock I've ever heard
Very 60’s, a psychedelic attempt, whimsy with some rock edges. Not aged well.
This was good fun
*1968. British rock. *There’s some good stuff in the first few tracks that sounds like folky Beatles, but it quickly becomes too progressive and weird for me. Monty python is mentioned multiple times in the reviews for good reason. Also like when the Beatles do too many drugs and albums go off the rails. RATING -5.5/10
I think I preferred their mod phase.
Another damn psychedelic album?!?! Although I'm liking the title track so far, feels like a precursor to RJD2. I was on board until Rene. British bands decided after the Beatles that it was better to be a little goofy than too serious. Sometimes it works, other times...not so much. I like this better than some other psychedelic records and then they add in some old man fireside chat and derail the whole thing. Rollin' Over is standard blues-driven psychedelic rock. The story segments ruin this album. HappyDaysToyTown is just the icing on this stupid, goofy cake. Awesome, one more stab at story time.
Unlike Britpop that came 15 years later, this is excellent British music. Where else can you hear a Jimi Hendrix intro, heavily Britished rapping, and a Kinks inspired song about British suburbia? In this album. All clouded in a haze of psychedelia and whimsy.
A few of the songs were really pretty good, but there were a lot of very strange songs.
A couple fun and catchy songs but quickly descended into chaos. Had to knock it down to a 2 after that 19 minute children’s song. Shame because it was actually seeming kind of promising.
Needs more listens to shine, but I enjoyed my first pass
Oh my this was amazing! I loved the whimsical psychedelic story telling. Some people have mentioned it’s a bit Monty Python and it is a bit bonkers but that just adds to the charm. Will definitely be listening again.
Not very interesting, lots of talking
The Small Faces were a lot more goofy than I had imagined them being. I can see why they did not catch on in the United States, because some of what their sound is "British humor" that doesn't always translate well to America. The last half of this album has spoken introductions, etc and it's a bit off-putting considering the first half of the album is very serious. My favorite tracks: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake Afterglow (Of Your Love) Long Ago and Worlds Apart Lazy Sunday Happy Days Toy Town
This album is not bad but painfully British like damn this is real beans on toast ass music.
it started out okay i guess but it was too much by the end. very annoying
Campy, 60’s psychedelic kind of, but also sort of irritating.
2.5
I hate this kind of twee hammed up Britishness. So irritating.
lovely
A fun little journey into late 60s UK. This sounds like something Austin Powers's cousin Phil would play on repeat.
I dont have a rating for it It sounds good, like a rabbit hole you can get into Just not my type of hole i want to get in
One interesting song and an awful lot of piffle.
Somewhat hokey, mediocre psych-rock with a few standout tracks.
This was some good fun.
If this was abridged it would be brilliant
I did not enjoy this.
Liked this album a lot. Especially the second half.
Olipa melkosta erikoisuutta. Kanavilla kikkailua, joka oli vähä jopa jännää kun autossa kuunteli. Ehkä joskus kokeilen tätä luurien kautta, jospa se voisi avata musaa hitusen enemmän.
Melkosta tsaikedeliaa ja hassuttelua. Musiikki itsessään aivan jees mutta ihme hölmöilyä ja tarinankerrontaa. Ei oma huumori riittäny täysin
A little strange, but okay
Back in the early 2000s, I stumbled upon a reviewer and musician (probably no longer alive) called "MurrayTheCat" who wrote tons of very enthusiastic reviews on classical music, jazz, and rock from the 60s and 70s. I discovered so many bands thanks to this guy, and the Small Faces was one of them. I love the hits from the band to this day, but they are sounding more and more dated. This album doesn't seem to coincide with the list's purpose anymore. I enjoy how British it is - absurd, irreverent, carnival-esque at times, with lots of whimsy. The narration doesn't really bother me - Stanley Unwin should have his place in Anglophone culture along Tolkien for his command with language and witticisms. The music? Not bad - I enjoy the old mono mix with a good stereo system (oozes with texture) - the lyrics and vocals hooks? Silly. The packaging was cool at the time though useless, using a tin can format which constantly slid off shelves and was expensive to produce. I find concept albums difficult to nail overall - but they definitely gave this a shot and though it doesn't go anywhere, it still holds up in its own way. I'd give this a 2.5 now for the effort, and for nostalgia, and I kept discovering more esoteric psychedelic through bands like the Small Faces, but it's not really anything I have the urge to listen to again.
Weird as hell but the first half is great.
Wow but not in a good way.
Too tired to be dealing with this annoying absurdist bullshit.
A fun, very British, album that I will likely never listen to again. Glad I heard it once, though.
I just didn't get it.
I fear there might be too few rock, prog and psych albums from the 60 and 70s on this list! Only perhaps 200/300 of the 1001. Geographical imperfections side, this was a rollicking romp. I was liking it a lot. Pop, psych and style. And then, side 2... What in the fresh hell is this? It's exactly what I dislike about early prog, the rambling nonsense, crap story telling and whimsical warbling.
Eww, that's perverted.
It got a little stranger as it went on. Psychedelic music at times has this really cartoonish quality about it and this was one of those times.
This certainly got stranger as it went on. Despite a lot of gobbledygook that was happening, I enjoyed the energy and weirdness of it all. And Happy Days Toy Town was kind of amazing.
This started out ok and ended up being possibly the most annoying album I've ever heard. I do not want to hear this cockney geezer telling me a story ever again.
More of a singles band I think but this is a fun listen. Afterglow and Lazy Sunday are the standout stonkers. Definitely a game of two halves - side one has a more conventional structure, while the flipside descends into some pretty far out conceptual shenanigans. I like it but I can see why the overall grades might suffer.
what just happened?? the first half was amazing and then out of nowhere it just turned really bad
El funk y psicodélico me llaman mucho la atención. Es un álbum muy interesante. Las preferidas: Afterglow (Of Your Love), Long Agos and Worlds Apart, Rene, Happiness Stan y Mad John.
Extraño, es un álbum conceptual pero no entendí un pingo del concepto porque no leí las letras pero más o menos me fui guiando por la voz MUY británica del narrador, tiene varios temas buenos y bastante interesantes, hasta con trazas de proto rock progresivo, pero a lo último se vuelve soso y muy en joda, volviéndose más un cuento narrado que un álbum.
This is good and I don’t hate it. I don’t know if I’d seek it out again. This seems monotonous now. There is probably a joke here that was funny at the time and it’s now lost to time.
I'd imagine Stanley Unwin is a thoroughly baffling prospect to anyone who didn't grow up in the UK with him as a regular presence on children's TV. A true British eccentric, I always found his shtick - basically, speaking his own made-up language all the time - intriguing and entertaining. I get that other opinions are available. Luckily, Small Faces are probably at the height of their rock 'n' soul powers here, and even if you don't buy into the comedy narration concept on side two, this is brilliant stuff. Slightly bonkers and of its time, but rightly considered a noteworthy entry into the psychedelic canon. Not for everyone, I'm sure, but I can't help but warm to its quirkiness.
this platform never seems to run out of psychedelia. this is the third and final release by the small faces, and i guess it's their most popular! the title of the album is about tobacco. let's see, what can i say about this one... it's very british psychedelia, from the singing style to the absurdist nature and storytelling. yes, i'm meaning it when i say storytelling, because the entire second side of this record is an odd little story about a bloke named happiness stan, who trots across the land and searches for the other half of the moon. it's creative but i feel like sometimes it gets a little too... too weird and whimsical at times, with some of the lyrics and ESPECIALLY the narration too... i'm a druggie, i love absurd nonsense but i lose interest juuuuust a bit whenever i hear the accented narrator go like "oh well stanny wanny shmannie wibbly dibbly wobbled over to the totherdy-other side of the mountain, twas a big mountain he happened to see, oh-ho-ho, yes, twas big!" and he giggles at his wordplay and makes sounds into the microphone.
There's already a review on here that hits the spot. I shall just tweak it slightly. Pink Floyd meets Only Fools and Horses.
I was half asleep listening to this which made it even better lol. the most fun i had listening to a psychedelic album. 4.5\5
The most important thing this 1001 albums project has done for me is to demytholigoze the 60s.
I like this quite a bit. It rocks. What in the 18+ minute epic "Happiness Stan" happened at the end. It was straight up psych rock at it's storytelling finest. I would play this song on a jukebox if it had it.
Nice
I'm cool off this
Je préfère en conformation différente l'album suivant: First Step (avec Rod Stewart et Ronnie Wood - pas dans la famille de China...).
Les tites faces. Nice dans Afterglow, vers la fin il y a un riff quasiment identique au Medley de Abbey Road (celui de Carry that Weight qui se fond dans The End). D'ailleurs le style me fait quand même penser à Sgt Pepper/Abbey Road, surtout au niveau du drum, impressionnant! Faut croire que j'aime beaucoup Glyn Johns au mixing (Let it Be Naked... incroyable). Les bouts parlés sont un peu tannants. Je sais pas c'est quoi l'histoire qu'ils essayent de nous conter, mais je suis pas ben ben fan de l'opéra rock récemment. Et mon intérêt décroît plus l'album avance...
On a deja entendu cet album au moins 5 fois, non?
Mom, can we stop by the record store and get some Beatles? No. We have Beatles at home.
I like the psychedelia of it all, but that side B with the British narrator was a little out there.
I learned about the band’s importance in British rock history. While some of the songs didn’t leave a particularly strong impression on me, Song of a Baker was easily my favorite track. Its riff and guitar solo felt timeless, and I could hear the roots of so much later British rock in it. The album’s closing Happiness Stan was a harder listen for me, though.
if this list wasn’t overflowing with crap from the late 60s i might’ve enjoyed this more, but i’m so so so tired of anything and everything that sounds like this
Well, I didn’t hate it but I sure didn’t love it. Some of the songs where tough and then others just felt like a complete different set of musicians made them.
Very Sgt Pepper — enjoyable and quirky Playlist add: "Long Agos and Worlds Apart"
Not my style. ★★
Love the title track which led the first GTAV trailer, Lazy Sunday and Afterglow also top tier. Narration in the second half stops it from being a 5
This definitely passed the psychedelic test. Weird panning choices, music you might hear in a fantasy or medieval movie, the spoken word storytelling on the B-side, worship of blues music, you can really hear all the drugs they took that led to the creation of this album. And hat's off to the Englishness energy this album gives me off. That sun never shines here/It's always raining but still sounding delightful energy. It's alright, there's just nothing really exciting that makes me want to give this another listen. Highlight Song/s: "Song of a Baker"
29/05/2026 Once again, into that generation of samey music. Shame, I had high hopes. Spotify listeners: 453.1k
I actually really enjoyed this when he wasn’t rambling unintelligibly about mad John
The Faces before Rod Stewart is a win
(24/100)
вайбы the beach boys или beatles. ничего инновационного не услышал, но приятненько
1. flake - 1 2. glouu - 1 3. apart - 1 4. rene - 0 5. baker - 1 6. lazy - 0 7. ztan - 1 8. over - 1 9. hungry - 1 10. journey - 1 11. john - 1 12. happy - 1
This album was a wild ride. The first have gets off like a shotgun and really fills the space. They we progressively have to listen to more and more weird asides between songs which lost me. Overall though the music was strong with the Faces trying to dabble in harder music and psychedelia.
Nice enough, probably warranted a closer listen than I was able to give it. I found the second half with additional narration a bit offputting.
What an absolutely unique album.
What a strange album name. But absolutely a hidden gem. There’s so much about this album that I like. I thought the riffs and melodies were incredible, very creative, fun. I really liked them. There are some lows though in here as well. But I feel like the highs completely outweigh the lows.
Lazy Sunday is corny as all hell. This album started kinda cool and then became very British pastoral in a way I don't particularly like. The spoken word passages just feel weird for me. 2.9/5
Not sure what I just listened to but it jibes with my love of early Pink Floyd and Kinks (Village Green). Story guitar rock that makes you sway with your arms around the people next to you. A lost art.
It was too British
better than The Wall. too annoyed by classic rock musical theatre to consider giving this 3 stars.
I have heard enough English concept albums for many lifetimes. I am also downgrading yesterday’s review of The Wall to a 2
Lowkey phantasmagoric.
eigenlijk saai
I’m sure at the time this was a pretty unique record. I thought Steve Marriott’s vocals were pretty solid and having first heard this record in my late teens after I had discovered the Jam, Buzzcocks, Damned, Sex Pistols and Stranglers and the nascent punk rock underground this type of sound was quickly left behind. Punk rock was a contact sport and this was not. I’d always considered Small Faces as being the lite version of The Who without the personality and Keith Moon. The playing on this record is precise and competent but the songs are rather lifeless. Afterglow is a good track and stands out from the very diverse but uneven side one. Side 2 is a novel idea but again Who lite. 3/5
kinda boring
A little too weird for psychedelic for me. I will stick with Pink Floyd when I want that style of music. These guys were about to become the faces though. The band that would launch one my favorites, Rod Stewart
Enjoyed this, very listenable. A bit of 60s weirdness and the experiments in stereo don't always work, but it's decent.
Ok
Ein Album wie ein überwürzter Eintopf: viel psychedelisches Gipsy-Flirren, aber kaum der rauchige Whisky‑Biss, der die Small Faces sonst so charmant macht. Die erste Seite hat noch ein paar funkelnde Momente, doch die zweite versinkt im Märchennebel – ein Konzept, das mehr kichert als trägt. Am Ende bleibt ein bunter Trip, der sich selbst zu sehr gefällt und dabei vergisst, wirklich zu grooven.
I much prefer the Faces once Rod Stewart joined
There’s something trippy and cool here. Afterglow is definitely the best song. The singer just makes it too campy. Some good grooves on side B, but his delivery makes me feel like Tolkien is reading me a bed time story
Glad to learn about who they are/who was original members but not for me
Movano, Gerstetten - Heidenheim, Deutschland. Gute Platte!
Concept albums often leave me cold, and concept albums with weird narration definitely leave me cold…. But this album overcomes all those issues for me… yes even the silly voices on Sunday afternoon. Why? Because everything is just high quality. The psychedelia is actually psychedelic and the songs carry their weirdness well… and of course stevie Marriott is one of the great British soul voices
Delightfully odd
The music is alright, but by the end, the schtick gets annoying. Don't have much more to say on this one.
This album feels like a social experiment
Are you all sitty comftybold two-square on your botty? Then I’ll begin this little brain spout of the musicy-most… It’s not my first time sampling the delights of ONGF. I imagine if it is for you, it’s going to pretty hard to digest.
Little too goofy and whimsical. Some really cool sounds, especially for that time, and a unique experience, but the story through the back half is a bit tiresome. Favorite song was the version of The Journey without the yapping.
It's a good style of music. Thought 'Rene' was really good. Still, it seems like a somewhat self-indulgent exploration of Englishness. Didn't care for 'Lazy Sunday' or the second half of the album. I felt like their whimsy was trying too hard to be post-modernist while simultaneously staying within reach of plausible deniability. ("We trolled you! Ha! Ha!") Apparently this is a concept album. I don't think there was a lot of concept here.
Wanted to hate this, but unfortunately I like stupid shit.
I get that this had its moment, that it was somehow really important back then... but it’s just not for me; it’s the kind of album I wouldn’t mind never having heard 2/5 Because I wanted it to end, but, seriously, there are much worse albums on this list, so giving it a 1 would be an overreaction
Should have been as popular as the Beatles or the Stones? Heck no.
Inglaterra
The music is great and I actually thought the narration in the second half was kinda funny and not annoying so somehow I’m giving this a 4
Ok - this is more my thing. Fanstic bit of paych. Can tell it’s the year after Pepper….but it’s moved on from there. Starts strong and fades a bit, but overall I enjoyed it. 3
Silly and not in a good way
Tin soldier, I liked but the rest was a bit dodgy.
It’s alright but the production is whack. It probably sounded good 50 years ago
Yeah this is fun! Incredibly British, very whimsical.
Another English band I've never heard of, but this was a joy to discover. What confused me about this album was that, a majority of the songs are very British, if not extremely British, but a couple songs sounded like American rock, like the first track, but especially on "rolling over," it was as if they chose to sing like artists of the American rock and blues tradition just for that one song (also, it sounds like Foxy Lady). It's no surprise that those were my two favorite tracks; I just can't bring myself to love the singing in this style of English music, and the silliness can annoy me, although it's hard to deny the quality of instrumentation. The mix on this record was also very of the time, with some "interesting" panning, but it didn't bother me much. There was a moment where the drums panned very rapidly which can be jarring, but also kind of cool, and I remember something similar happening on a previous album. I also very much enjoyed the intermittent narration using language that was half gibberish. Whoever wrote that has some serious skill. I can appreciate that, but then when the music is too silly, I guess that gets to me.
So British! And, somewhat less so: so late 60s! Seems more like a novelty record, than a (musically) serious candidate for one of the top albums of all time (although, since we still haven't quite yet reached 100 albums listened to, I have a better sense now that 1,001 albums is actually a LOT of albums). Anyway, I *did* mostly like it - and so it's definitely (at least) a 3, for me. But I don't quite think I can give it a 4, although it's close (I have a soft spot for quirky British). So, 3 stars, for me.
It's very... English I enjoyed the second side. It's a trip. The narration seems to be inspired by Finnegans Wake The bassline on "Song of a Baker" seems inspired by the one on Jimi Hendrix's "Hey Joe" and "Rollin' Over" sounds like "Foxy" I think I enjoyed the whimsy more than the music
This was going to get a 3 but what was all that talking during about. Not for me
I don't want Ogden's nut anywhere near my face.
***A good, easy listening album
Some moments of greatness in there mixed with Monty Python-esque sketches. They should get rid of the lead singer and hire Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck. i think that would make a much better band
Small Faces, the English band famous for “Itchykoo Park”, and the precursor to Faces, released this concept album in 1968. Side one is a collection of differing tunes, while side two consists of six tracks and tells the fairy tale about Stan and the missing half of the moon. The music is very 1960s, and is pretty well done.
Some of these album titles make me feel like I'm having a stroke. A stroke of bad luck, because I don't want to listen to anybody's Nut Gone Flake, celebrated or not!! This is a wacky album. Apparently, a concept album. It's giving Monty Python (or at least is equally funny to me). Who isn't a Happiness Stan, though. "Life is just a bowl of All-Bran / You wake up every morning and it's there" is a silly lyric because All-Bran doesn't grow on trees! you gotta go buy it. Lots of interesting language stuff, but I think it's intentional, which makes it less interesting. Overall assessment: I guess it's fine.
strange as the title suggests. Essentially a document that describes a time way gone by. But reasonably forgotten since.
Some of the guitar work on here was really cool.
Fun weird little album, title song is by far the best song on the album though
This album encompasses the music of the late 60s british era perfectly. Where as there are more commercial british albums of this time (Sgt Pepper, Are You Experienced etc), none sound as english as this. You have a lot of different styles, Hard Rock, Soul, R&B, Music Hall and it is all wrapped together in a Psychedelic haze. Their aren't any stand out hits (should have included the kickass "Tin Soldier"), but the songs are all solid and work well with each other. This is especially considering how the 2nd side is a weird british fairytale about a man finding the moon. high 4/5
Hauska tarina ja biisitkin ihan kuunneltevia!
I already don't like interludes on hip hop albums, and they're even worse in other music genres. I'm getting real tired of '60s British bands that sound like shitty Beatles.
This holds up better on a re-listen than I thought it would.
So many albums on here are lauded as masterpieces and I just don’t understand why. I love Lazy Sunday, but nothing else comes close to it. I like Afterglow and Steve Marriot’s voice is great, but nothing else really engages me.
Again dated, but still good music, enjoyed Lazy Sunday and even enjoyed the tale on second side (of the vinyl). Perfect narrator (probably need to be a certain age to remember him).
This was the most aggressively British thing I've ever heard; holy SMOKES. Impossible to not picture Burt the chimney sweep while listening to this. Also, I refuse to believe this was only 38 minutes long.
Almost too English but not quite. Somewhere between the Beatles, the Stones and Chaucer.
alright
Listened While making Dinner. The music itself was pretty interesting but not super amazing. 1960s England is an interesting time to think back to and this album charting number 1 for weeks in England when it came out helped me imagine what it might’ve been like. Over all pretty cool I enjoy weird story telling crud every once in a while. Good album favorite song was probably Track 4: Rene.
I liked it. Wish the weird voices would stop.
Ok. Another ok album to make sure I haven’t missed any ok albums before I die. Going down to 2 for the last Song.
Not notable, not irritating, 2.5
Nothing really of note here. The first time I turned my head was a song that sounded like a Hendrix ripoff but is it a proper 60’s British band without ripping off a Black musician?
Casi una obra de teatro…que teatrales pueden ser los ingleses
The journy - שיר מושלם. אני חייב להאזין לאלבום הזה שוב ולנסות להבין את הסיפור שמסופר בין השירים נכון לעכשיו, 9.3 מתוך 10
59/100. Extremely British, capturing a whimsical and surreal energy typical of the late 1960s psychedelic scene. While it is a very creative and ambitious project, it often feels a bit too whimsical for its own good, which can make it a difficult listen if you are not in the right headspace. The second half shifts into a narrated fairy tale that leans heavily into quirky humor.
a glorious, warm, journey into sound, playful psychedelia from an East End boozer
Inoffensive
This is ok to listen to once. The last song should have been cut in several different ones. That would be better for some really good party of it.
Beatles like rock, slow, not to much change from one song to another. Kinda repetitive.
I can see why this is bashed by a lot of American reviewers; it is a VERY British record. But I love it. Every one of the rockers on the first side is stellar and the convoluted narrative on the second side is such a wonderful slice of psychedelic whimsy as Happiness Stan searches for the other half of the moon.
I am a sucker for concept albums but this one just didn't hit for me.
Guess you had to be there. Lame
2.5
All I knew about the Small Faces was that Rod Stewart was with them for a while but when I saw this was their last album I knew he probably wouldn't be involved. This was fine, but I certainly wouldn't call it essential. Kind of generic-sounding late-'60s British psychedelia. Apple Music lumped all of side 2 together into one song. I liked the second part of it (called "Rollin' Over" in the Wikipedia track listing.) The spoken-word interludes were a little strange, but that's late-'60s British psychedelia for ya! I would probably give this a 2.5.
Tô curtindo, ta sendo gostoso, me lembra beatles mais despojado. Cara de fato, até o vocal parece mto um beatles da vida, e várias das músicas de guardiões da galaxia com rem do paul mcartney e da linda. Gostei bastante, bastante guitarra com efeito e instrumental de violão. GOSTEI PRA KRL. Aliás, voltei no album anterior e continuo achando uma bosta.
The instrumental was really good. There are some kickass parts of some of the songs. But overall, the talking bits broke the momentum and got annoying. It’s so UK-centric that, to outsiders, it feels like listening to an inside joke you don’t quite understand.
Great beginning to the album with an instrumental song.
without a doubt, this is the most British album I've come across for this challenge so far. you've really got it all here as far as English psych rock! straightforward pop rock tunes with a high degree of instrumental eclecticism; ample nods to dancehall music; that quintessential pastoral vibe; an extended suite on the B-side narrated by Stanley Unwin speaking in his own made-up language about a guy who goes on a journey to find the dark side of the moon, but learns the true meaning of life instead. y'know, all the classic hallmarks of this scene. lead singer Steve Marriott's voice is a compelling one, and I like his guitar tones quite a bit too. I also respect the conceptual angle of the second side but, let's face it, it's ungodly tacky, and Unwin's one bit gets tiring extremely quickly. there's a few choice cuts to be found on side A, but as far as full-lengths go, there's plenty of British psych I find more interesting. decent 5/10.
3 - good album
Pink floyd on a budget
Ok……. It’s decent music. Does the quality of it set it apart from much of the music of the era? Not to me, no.
As an album, it's okay; I liked the instrumental and the noisier stuff, but I couldn't really be bothered to follow the story/concept. I had an educational time whilst listening, though, learning all about Steve Marriott's childhood appearances in Oliver!, the band strops, Led Zep stealing Whole Lotta Love (and finally learning that Willie Dixon wrote it all along). So in other words, I wasn't concentrating on this album properly, let alone following all the fly stuff, but I was having a nice time learning new things. Thanks, 1001 :) (Always wondered, in the 80s, why Lazy Sunday was such an odd song. No-one told me it was part of a concept album 😆)