Ogden's Nut Gone Flake

5/10

Historically, I haven't been drawn to Steve Marriott. Neither the Small Faces nor Humble Pie ever resonated with me, even though they both fit in with other stuff I love. Who knows why. All that to say, I really enjoyed side A of this record. Just about every track is excellent and interesting. The title track, Afterglow, and Renee are all standouts. Then we get to Side B and it morphs into a children's record about an idiot who doesn't understand how the Moon works. I'm guessing this had something to do with why this was their last record as Small Faces and Rod and Ronnie came in to form the (imo) superior Faces

Not bad, but not good. 3/5

Interesting name for an album

That was some goofy fun for my bike ride to work

A fun and quirky Britishism that's kind of like dollar store The Who in that way.

Didn't find the Album.

The intro/title track to this album was pretty good. There’s nothing like a good instrumental intro. afterglow of your love was good as well. I enjoyed the acoustic guitar. Long agos and worlds apart was slightly basic, but was alright. Rene had some really cool moments that I enjoyed. Song of a baker was alright, and lazy Sunday made me laugh. That’s the most British thing I’ve heard in a while. Happiness Stan reminded me of the Oompa Loompa songs. The Hungry intruder was quite enjoyable , but I’m finding it slightly off putting how often Stan is now mentioned. I quite enjoyed Journey, and then Mad John, which was very strange, but what else am I to expect from this album at this point. The closer was exactly what I’d expect; the unexpected. Overall, a fun, weird, twisty turny album. 3/5 ⭐️ 97/1089

4.5/5

Not terrible, just... unnecessary

Good start, weird remainder

Memories...memories...

Jaren 60 vibes 🤩 meezingfeest!

Tof

It all sounds fine, but I didn't hear any truly psychedelic sound; I guess the LSD was too weak

When I read that this album was the last studio album by the band I got my hopes up. It was my dearest wish that this was an album so great the band broke up after realizing they would never reach these heights again. Sadly, it's not that.

has potential if I listen more, mess with the style

This was fun. A little silly. I think some of the negative reviewers need a little whimsy in their lives because they sound like they have gigantic sticks up their asses.

Rock from the 60s does have a certain vibe going for them. Favorite track: lazy Sunday other picks: song of a baker, long agos and worlds apart

OK

S’whatever

actually kinda good, the story stuff is real weird though

Musically, a good (if one of many examples of this) 60s rock album with psychedelic influences. The first half rattles along nicely. The second half is made bizarre by a series of narrations about ‘Happiness Stan’, which sound like the kind of thing Gen Z pay Nigel Farage to read on cameo. I found them so odd that I couldn’t really focus on the music!

A tale of two sides. Side one is a pretty decent slice of late-60s British psychedelia, with some good tracks (particularly the title track, ‘Afterglow’, ‘Rene’ and ‘Lazy Sunday’). Side two takes a turn for the increasingly strange as we delve into the bizarre tale of ‘Happiness Stan’, featuring extensive narration. I found this pretty charming, though I can see why it would put some people off, and it’s certainly weaker musically. The whole album is very whimsical and silly, and I’m glad it exists, even if I doubt I’ll listen to side two very often. Enough for 3 stars.

A handful of great singles (Afterglow, Lazy Sunday, Rolling over) with some filler and a pretty much failed attempt at turning this into a concept album. I like the fact that they use humor and don't seem to take themselves too seriously.

Better than Coldplay

weird 3

Classic British psych pop.

8/10 Best songs: Rene, Song of a Baker, Rollin' Over, Mad John If there's one thing I've learned since I started this project, it's that I have a serious soft spot for '60s psychedelic rock. Side one of this album is an excellent, rather emblematic example of the genre. It's 60s down to its bones, with glorious guitar solos, quirky lyrics and vocals, and all-around enjoyable vibes. Side two embraces the batshit crazy, aiming for somewhere between twee and too-high-to-function. The songs themselves work for me, but the ongoing narration by Stanley Unwin, while interesting, slows onward progression tremendously. That being said, I do like this side as well - the songs are no worse than those of the first side. I'm left wondering: does the narrative framing ruin the album or not? I'm not sure.

I am not sure what this album is. A concept album in the middle of something else? I listened to it twice. I think I like it?

Who's that guy complaining that this is like Pink Floyd meets Monty Python, as if that isn't the funniest thing ever? People need more joy in their lives 😔

Très très bon album. Pour 1968, je trouve que l'album a une patte vraiment excellente, selon moi bien empreinte aux grands disques sortis peu de temps avant comme Sergent Pepper et peut être Velvet Underground And Nico, mais l'album parvient aussi à se former un réel bagage de sonorités psychédélique rock dans la première partie du projet vraiment intéressant. La seconde partie qui se concentre sur le coté "album à thème" avec les descriptions de Happiness Stan est franchement incroyable ! Tout y était super, que ce soit les guitares parfois extrêmement puissantes et saturées, les ambiances méditatives, l'ending beaucoup plus festif, les choeurs entrainants, franchement tout y était super j'ai beaucoup apprécié.

It’s a very British album. Fun if you’re open to the humor.

this is horrible, wtf man Will I listen to again: 0%

Listen, maybe it’s because I’m stoned, but this was amazing. I don’t care that it’s weird, all over the place stylistically, and even has spoken word moments. This is the exact kind of weird 60s psychedelic stuff that made that time period in music so magical. Catchy riffs and weird concepts along with subpar production by today’s standards, and it hits all the marks. I know most folks will hate this, but it’s truly phenomenal.

Listened to this twice. Really enjoyed the jams and wanted to pay more attention the second time around. Fun and different. I am guessing most will not like it, but it hits all the areas I like.

Weird combination of genres. Not a fan of the result.

An interesting but not that interesting classic/60s psychedelic rock concept album. The songs we overall were bland and none stood out over the other. It felt generic (as a listener 60 years later).

The groove is cool, the lyrics are bit simple. This album is just ok.

Why do I want to hear these long ass generic 70s albums. How many are there?

Blimey! The whimsical gobblewock's gone widdershins with this insufferable noodlywank codswallop. Pretentious twaddle flibberflabber shite. Christ almighty.

Ok 2/5

This is weird. 60's British humor. Like, let's take all the Monty Python songs and try to make a cohesive story out of them, but still keep it silly. It didn't work. My rating: 1/5. But above Kid Rock.

An album of two halves, one better than the other and neither of them great. The first half has some ok tracks, notably Song of a Baker, and then there’s The-Kinks-annoying-younger-brother-does-Sunny-Afternoon of Lazy Sunday, which is a British staple. The second half has every British boomer’s favourite ‘comedy’ ‘genius’, Stanley Unwin, doing his bollocks wordplay alongside a juvenile pseudo prog fairytale. Shite. There’s some clear influence from Hendrix (the Hey Joe bass line makes an appearance, as does the Foxy Lady riff) but that’s not enough to save it.

3- Stars (7/15)

lol definitely an odd album?? i liked the first couple songs and then it started getting weirder…

Left me slightly confused

Boring

Just a pleasant and kinda quirky British psych rock/pop album. A few solid tunes and a few fine ones that ultimately end up forgettable. The opening/title track is an amazing start, it’s completely absorbing psychedelia that still sounds fresh today (and sounds reminiscent of InnerSpeaker-era Tame Impala).

Man… This album is just a rollercoaster of emotions. Not good emotions unfortunately. Pretty bad overall I’d say. So, I hadn’t heard of Small Faces before, but looking at the band members, every one of them went on to be pretty successful, and I recognize most of them as well. Pre listen, I’m seeing that the genre is Psychedelic Rock and wondering how it can go so catastrophically wrong for a 60’s album in that genre to warrant falling below a 3 star review on the site. After the first song, what would ultimately end up being by FAR my favorite on the album, “Ogden's Nut Gone Flake”, I’m actually a bit pissed off at the reviewers. That song was incredible. What a classic, great, killer psychedelic intro. No lyrics, but spoiler alert, it helps the song out immensely knowing what’s to come later. Next song, also pretty good. What’s up?? Why is the album rated so low?? Something must go unbelievably wrong later. From here on, they really start the songs with lyrics and never ending filler. They start to lose me, and then they start to actually make me mad. I’ll save you the long winded breakdown of each song, but it’s not until well through the middle point of the album when you start to understand why this is a concept album. There are songs like “Happiness Stan” that have moments of greatness in them but are overwhelmingly overshadowed by the concept, which is essentially a British guy telling us some inane story about Stan getting food or finding the moon or something. I don’t know and I’m not even going to bother googling it to find out. I don’t care. When the narrator starts talking, it ruins the song. I don’t care if the rest of the song is good, I never want to hear someone this stereotypically British again in my life. I would assume they’re taking the piss, but that doesn’t excuse how much I dislike every song talking about Stan and his yummy wummy treato wheeto’s going down his tum tum tummy. Water torture. At first I didn’t understand the hatred for this album, but now I do. And it’s frustrating. It has moments where it could be a 4 star album, but SEVERAL moments where it’s a 1. For that reason, I’m gonna put it dead in the middle and give it a 3.3/5. The instrumentation is so good. I love this genre. If this wasn’t a concept album, I can’t help but wonder if it would be better. Whatever. I’m not going to find out. This is the only album Small Faces has on here, and may very well be the last I bother checking out. This was not it. Their own bio on Spotify states they’re like the biggest band to not be successful in the USA. After these insanity breeding lyrics, I don’t see how they possibly could be popular here. What a disappointment this was. Still not the worst thing I’ve ever heard, far from it in fact. Not even bad enough to warrant a 2, but that just makes it ever the more disappointing. Surely you could have picked something better than this. It’s their only concept album, and I’d imagine the others can’t possibly be as insufferable as this was at times. Don’t know, but I digress. Next album please. Get me out of this demented story time pronto.

Interesting, almost felt a little Monty Python with the spoken interludes.

Fucking Yellow Submarine ass wannabe shite

# In-Depth Review: *Ogden's Nut Gone Flake* by Small Faces Released in May 1968, *Ogden's Nut Gone Flake* represents both the creative zenith and the beginning of the end for Small Faces. This quasi-concept album spent six weeks at #1 on the UK charts but failed completely in America, becoming a cult classic that influenced generations while remaining criminally underappreciated outside Britain . ## The Concept and Structure The album is famously divided into two distinct halves. **Side One** consists of standalone songs showcasing the band's versatility, while **Side Two** presents a musical fairy tale about "Happiness Stan," a naive character who embarks on a quest to find the missing half of the moon . The concept originated during a boating trip on the Thames when bassist Ronnie Lane, observing a half-phase moon, wondered where the other half had gone. Under the influence of "various mindbending stimulants," Lane and vocalist/guitarist Steve Marriott conceived the tale of Stan, who discovers through his journey that life is simply "a bowl of All-Bran" . Narrating Stan's adventures is Professor Stanley Unwin, a British comedian famous for his "Unwinese" gobbledegook—a nonsensical language that somehow conveys meaning through sound and rhythm. The band originally wanted Spike Milligan, but Unwin's jolly grandfather persona proved perfect for the child-like whimsy of the tale . ## Musical Analysis ### Side One: The Pop-Rock Masterclass The album opens with the **title track**, an instrumental reworking of their 1965 single "I've Got Mine." Transformed through phasing, energetic panning, and reverb, it features thunderous bass from Lane, altered Hammond organ by Ian McLagan, and sweeping woodwinds including cello. It serves not as a grand "ta-da!" opener but as a subtle invitation that piques curiosity . **"Afterglow (Of Your Love)"** begins with deliberate self-parody—a mock coffee-house version with cheesy vocals—before exploding into one of Marriott's most passionate R&B performances. McLagan's keyboards (organ and modified harpsichord) and the massive drum sound from Kenney Jones create what one critic called "one of the sonically biggest songs you'll ever hear" . **"Long Agos and Worlds Apart"** (sung by McLagan) combines melodic rock with bluesy laid-back elements, featuring complex yet coherent composition in just over two-and-a-half minutes. The bass line, left clear and untouched by effects, could stand alone as a solo track . **"Rene"** showcases Marriott's thick Cockney accent in a music hall-style narrative about a dockside prostitute with "international influence." The song shifts from tongue-in-cheek verses to pour-another-pint singalong choruses, featuring one of Marriott's most memorable guitar solos and the brilliantly absurd line: "Romping with a stoker from the coast of Kuala Lumpur" . **"Song of a Baker"** represents proto-heavy metal, with Marriott's burning lead guitar and Jones' barbaric drum bash. Lane's understated vocals prevent the song from becoming "over the top," creating a track that would influence the heavy rock movement of the early 1970s . **"Lazy Sunday"** closes Side One with what Marriott considered a novelty song (he was furious when Immediate released it as a single). Yet it's a masterpiece of kitchen-sink arrangement—bells, rolling waves, sound effects, and frenetic vocals shifting between music hall bash and Sunday afternoon stillness . ### Side Two: The Happiness Stan Suite The fairy tale unfolds across six interconnected tracks. **"Happiness Stan"** opens with dreamy harp and harpsichord, establishing the quaint, drawing-room atmosphere before shifting to heavier rock when Stan discovers "black has stolen half the moon away" . **"Rollin' Over"** provides the joyous rocker energy as Stan begins his quest, followed by **"The Hungry Intruder,"** where Stan meets a polite fly (in a landscape on his shepherd's pie tray) who becomes his companion. The theatrical dialogue is superbly performed, transforming Marriott's natural Cockney into something genuinely touching . **"The Journey"** takes the pair on a psychedelic trip to find Mad John, featuring booming bass, drum pummel, and a cool guitar feedback freakout . **"Mad John"** presents the hermit as a "wise one who loved all the haters," delivering the album's philosophical core without ponderous heaviness . The suite concludes with **"Happy Days Toy Town,"** returning to cockney music hall style with the revelation that life is simply there to be enjoyed—"ever since you saw it, there ain't no one can take it away" . ## Lyrical Themes The lyrics operate on multiple levels. Side One offers character studies ranging from the working-class dockside ("Rene") to existential contentment ("Lazy Sunday"). Side Two presents a deliberately naive philosophy—Stan seeks cosmic answers only to discover that the moon wasn't missing, merely changing phases, and that wisdom lies in accepting life's simple pleasures . The album embraces what critics have called "child-like" rather than "childish" sensibilities. There's no attempt to load the fairy tale with heavy adult meaning; instead, the commitment to playfulness and imagination becomes its own form of profundity . ## Production and Innovation Produced by Marriott and Lane with engineering by Glyn Johns, the album showcases innovative techniques for 1968. The phasing effects on the title track, the massive drum sounds throughout, and the seamless integration of orchestral elements (strings, harp, woodwinds) with rock instrumentation demonstrate studio ambition matching the Beatles' *Sgt. Pepper* . The iconic packaging—a round sleeve designed to resemble an 1899 tobacco tin that unfolds into four circles—was revolutionary. It remains one of the most distinctive album covers in rock history, though the original cardboard versions were notoriously fragile . ## Influence and Legacy *Ogden's* arrived months before The Pretty Things' *S.F. Sorrow* and The Kinks' *Village Green Preservation Society*, establishing it as one of the first true concept albums post-*Sgt. Pepper* . It occupies territory similar to Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd—"slightly sinister childhood whimsy"—while maintaining the East End music hall tradition . The album influenced the heavy rock movement (particularly through "Song of a Baker"), the development of British folk-rock, and the theatrical possibilities of rock music. Stanley Unwin's absurdist narration reportedly influenced John Lennon's own experimental lyrics and poetry . Despite its UK success, the album's failure in America—due to the band's inability to tour there following a drug bust and manager Don Arden's reluctance to lose control of them—prevented Small Faces from achieving the global status of The Who or The Rolling Stones . ## Pros and Cons ### Pros - **Musical diversity**: Seamlessly blends R&B, psychedelia, music hall, heavy rock, and fairy tale narrative without sounding disjointed - **Vocal performances**: Marriott's soulful R&B voice ranks among the greatest in British rock history, while Lane's understated vocals provide perfect contrast - **Innovative production**: Glyn Johns' engineering and the band's production choices created a massive, detailed sound that holds up decades later - **Commitment to concept**: The Happiness Stan tale never winks at the audience or undermines its own whimsy; the band fully commits to the fairy tale format - **Side One strength**: From the opening instrumental through "Afterglow," "Rene," and "Song of a Baker," the first half contains no weak tracks - **Iconic packaging**: The tobacco tin design remains one of rock's most creative visual statements ### Cons - **Unwin's narration divides listeners**: While some find his "Unwinese" charming and playful, others find it interrupts the musical flow. As one critic noted, "he crimped The Small Faces' style" and "put the kibosh on what might have been one sublime number" - **Side Two inconsistency**: The songs in the Happiness Stan suite, while effective, aren't as fully developed as Side One's standalone tracks. "Happiness Stan" itself features a "twee first half" that some listeners find grating - **Concept limitations**: The fairy tale concept, while charming, is admittedly "half-baked" and "not much of an idea"—it provides just enough spine to carry the album but doesn't bear deep analysis - **No American breakthrough**: The album's complete US failure (except among cult collectors) limited its global impact and contributed to the band's eventual dissolution - **Pressure of success**: The album's six-week chart reign ironically increased internal pressures that led to Marriott's departure within a year and the band's breakup ## Conclusion *Ogden's Nut Gone Flake* captures a band at its creative peak while hinting at the tensions that would destroy it. It succeeds not because its concept is profound, but because Small Faces committed fully to the joy of creation—mixing Cockney knees-up with heavy rock, fairy tale whimsy with soulful passion. Like the moon Happiness Stan sought, the album reveals that sometimes what you're looking for was there all along, simply waiting to be appreciated . For listeners willing to surrender to its peculiar logic and thick London accents, it remains one of the most rewarding and genuinely fun albums of the 1960s—a testament to an era when pop and rock could still exist together, when experimentation felt like play rather than pretension, and when a song about a giant fly could sit comfortably alongside proto-heavy metal and music hall singalongs .

They almost had something good with Mad John but then went and ruined it with the speaking parts. Very tiresome album.

Heard Before? Only a couple of songs. Notes: - the whole concept album schtick was completely lost on me with this one. i was absolutely not in the mood for the narration. - so many great drum sounds. - production as a whole stood out, even in a crowded era for innovation. - songwriting was fine; "Lazy Sunday" was a lot of fun. Verdict: Irritating concept album with some fun songs and fantastic production. Listen Again? Maybe when I'm in a more tolerant mood. But seriously, that narration is annoying.

I have so many questions for whoever's fault this is

An unsettling combination of The Phantom Tollbooth, A Clockwork Orange, and The Who's Tommy

Entertaining and weird but felt more novelty than a new one for the roster.

Delightful. Folk revival flavours, witty and strange, good psych tracks. Will listen again.

Du psyché correct typique des années 60.

Pretty cool! Never heard this before

Mooie ontdekking, kende maar 1 nummer ervan. De remaster wel opgezocht en goed bevonden. Rock-'n-roll!

Groovy baby...

норм

Dang! What a super psychedelic album. I’m honestly pretty shocked that these dudes didn’t make it big in the states. I guess they were overshadowed by The Stones, The Who and The Beatles. As far as I know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard any of this music besides the first song, which is a banger. I definitely need to listen to it again here soon, but I really enjoyed it. Some very British narration stuff that can be annoying, but probably enjoyable if you’re on acid. Or scary, idk. I may experiment with that one day.

I think this album looses some of its appeal when listening through Spotify (or other similar methods). The album starts out great, the first half (side) is some good, but mediocre, psychedelic rock. Then halfway through (where you’d flip the vinyl) it turns into a weird concept-rock-opera album, like Rocky Raccon by The Beatles but for half a record. It was a jarring change of pace/music and I’m not into it.

It’s got some real fun parts, very British all around, maybe not 100% solid all the way though but it can be a fun little romp.

Interesting, trippy, not something I would normally listen to but I enjoyed it.

4 stars

Opening song blasted me with GTA V nostalgia but unfortunately that was the peak for me. I enjoyed some stuff but no stand outs.

This is fun. I like finding psychedelic 60's bands that do something different like this. Probably one I would come back to again. 3/5

Enjoyed this one. The front half moreso than the back half. The narrative thing on the b-side was distracting and unnecessary, imo. But still, overall a good album. 3.49/5

Ogden's Nut Gone Flake is certainly an interesting concept album. The first half mainly claims to take inspiration from quite a few music styles (but let's be real here, most of it just sounds like The Beatles, you just can't escape that sound if you are a psych-rock band in the 1960s). The second half though, is based on an original fairy tale about a boy named Happiness Stan which track one from that half is named after. I did find a lot of these fairy tale segments quite interesting and the music was generally enjoyable too. I guess one main problem with this album would be the production, I get that this was probably the best they could do in 1968 but the overly fuzzy sound makes it a bit more difficult to fully enjoy. However, this album was interesting enough for me to like it. Best Song: Song of a Baker Worst Song: Happydaystoytown

*thumbs up!*

Outside of the spoken word this really kicks ass

Some really excellent jams in here but by the end I couldn't really sit with whatever story was being told. I took a pee break and didn't bother to pause when I left the room.

Okay album. Did not need the 20 minute rambling of the last song.

this was so odd - what was the deal with the fly

La última canción es bastante interesante, me gustó la experiencia. Pero el resto del álbum no me llamó especialmente la atención.

the album cover goes SO hard. giving it votes just for that. music is fine. its just background stuff for me, i hate how the older 60's music is remastered to include some instrumentals and vocals on one side and the rest on the other side. it drives me crazy. idk man they just sound like a beatles knockoff lol. did not care for the speaking parts of this album. their accents are great tho. song of a baker and lazy sunday were my favorite songs. 4/10

Before Rod Stewart was a household name and even before he joined a small indie group called Faces, there was the band that came before that with Small Faces. This album was originally meant to be this group's final release but has since been rectified due to the band reforming back together again in 1975. I do appreciate this album for the first half of its' 38 minute runtime having some meaningful and honestly very interesting Psychedelic Pop tracks, but man does Happiness Stan really hold down this project and make what originally came off as very thoughtful feel childish and accidental. If I am listening to an album like this I don't want to be bombarded with multiple monologuing sections breaking up my music, I want to hear the fucking music and not some whimsical Lord of the Rings rip-off by a group that I have never heard of before, okay? This project lowkey pissed me off because it ruined such a nice thing and for no reason other than "experimentation," like is it that hard to realize you have something good going for yourself and you don't need to throw it away with a made-up children's story to "spice up your album?" I am too frustrated to write any more here....

Unusual, that. A different time.

I will not include discs 2 and 3 of the deluxe edition in this review. It's been a while since I listened to Small Faces. I only heard a few of their singles, like "Itchycoo Park" and "Tin Soldier". They enjoyed a brief period of success as a psychedelic group before splitting up into Faces and Humble Pie. I figured an album from them would be a treat at the very least, but this particular one struck oddly. Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake opened strong with the instrumental title track, a trippy piece centered on a wah-wah-modified Hammond organ as the accompanying strings kicked in. From there, a smattering of strong rockers and soul ballads filled the first half of the record. The intense passion of "Afterglow of Your Love" with the heavy organ and guitar playing, the jaunty haze and stomp-clap before the drums kicked in on "Long Agos and Worlds Apart", and the straightforward hard rocker "Song of a Baker" were all pretty good numbers. I'll admit that I'm not into Steve Marriott's thick Cockney accent singing on "Rene" and "Lazy Sunday", but I cannot deny the certain charm of these baroque pub tunes. I generally vibed well with the first half of this record. Then, it got weird. The second half of this record can be described as a loose fairy tale around a boy named Happiness Stan who goes on a whimsical journey to find the missing half of the moon. The most generous analysis I can give is that the story could be viewed from the boy's perspective, who probably hadn't been taught about the lunar phases, and used his imagination to try to fill in the gaps. It would have been nice if the narrator or the character of Mad John had sat down at the end to explain to the child how the moon works, having seen it change after a week had gone by. No, instead, the story and album end with a jovial song about life that, at best, felt rather incongruent with the rest of the story. In fact, the whole presentation of this narrative felt rather odd, as narration from British comedic actor Stanley Unwin was juxtaposed between baroque pop and rock tunes in a very stilted fashion, complete with even more Cockney singing from Steve on a few tracks. Probably the only song in this half that I genuinely liked was "Rollin' Over", as a straightforward rocker about going on one's way that works well outside of the loose narrative. If only more songs in the second half were like that. I feel conflicted with Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake. It is a case of two different-sounding halves - one that's a decent collection of psychedelic soul and rock tunes, the other a tale of fantasy that really could have used another draft. Both halves could have been fleshed out into their own individual albums, but together, it's a bit of a mess. Go through each half separately and make what you will.

Middle of the road British white men in the 60s play R&B again................ but this time they make it "quirky". Which is just so much worse.

Knock-off psychedelia and artless imitations of Ivor Cutler

Es geht so.

Not bad. 3.5/5

Eh goofy

Folk rock

Side 1 is made up of some really strong 60s psychedelic pop and rock, especially lazy Sunday and afterglow. Side 2 goes off the deep end which will not be to everyone's tastes but we think it really encapsulates the whimsical side of the era and makes the album stand out from a lot of other albums of the time. Absolute classic and the small faces strongest work.

Interesting to hear as I def didn’t know them, appreciated the curated psychedelia

What a surprise, feels like the progenitor to a lot of 70s prog that I really adore.

It started very strongly with that first track, but quickly fell apart for me.

Trippy

This was some good fun to listen to, but I really wish there wasn’t loads of talking in it that really hindered my ability to enjoy the experience as a whole. I would have loved to give this a 4

Really fun and quirky without being too weird. I do like a bit of psychedelic rock and this was a great example of that. I'd never heard of these guys but I went and listened to some of their other songs after this.

Felt like a weird crossover between Mary Poppins and Blur's Parklife but not necessarily a bad thing.

Weird but fun. He has a very pleasant reading voice but not really sure we it was added in here

Bit silly, really. The ramblings of what's his name are just annoying. "Lazy Sunday" is fine, but even that is nothing special.

First album I have in a long time. I like the sound of this album more that the music. 3 Heard before? Yes Owned: Yes 49/215 (22%) Will I get: Already have

Psychedelic british rock from the 60s, clearly influenced by the Beatles, but with its own turns and quirks. The B side turns into a small prog rock story that tastes of Peter Gabriel's Genesis. I found it joyous.

The first half of ‘Ogden's Nut Gone Flake’ is about as good as ’60s psychedelic pop/rock gets. The second half, featuring Stanley Unwin’s surreal spoken-word interludes, feels disruptive at first but ultimately proves more charming than jarring. Overall, the album is a playful, inventive, quintessentially British record and one of the better psychedelic rock albums of the ’60s.

I didnt really enjoy this album much. It’s not bad it’s just not my taste in music. The theatrical parts of certain songs were cool to hear but other than that I didn’t really take any interest in these songs besides the first one. Fav song is Ogden's Nut Gone Flake, least fav is HappyDaysToyTown.

Really enjoyed the psychedelic vibe of Odgens nut gone flake and the other first 4 songs. The second half of the album is a bit boring with the voice a bit annoying me. Was really close to give it a 4. Top songs: Odgen.. Afterglow Long ago... Rollin over 3.5

A bit of an insane album, meaning some good moments and some pretty rough moments. I'll remember it whenever I through Arkesden though. 2.5.

Nah that’s not for me

started good, got bad, got good again, got horrible, got decent at the end.

Yes, I like this band and of course, I have this album.

This is a flawed gem. I love it. It has a working class sneering quality to it. The Small Faces do all the cool rock things: leslie speakers, dramatic organ parts, big guitar chords. Their secret weapon is of course Steve Marriott’s voice. As a kid I daydreamed about singing like that. Not all of the songs hold up but I enjoy listening to them.

Super weird, but in a fun way. Very late 60s Beatles vibes. The last track is truly bananas. I liked it.

Light, playful, and full of charm—an easy album to enjoy. Added to my Tidal album list. Nice start.

Yeah it got weird at times, but man these guys smoked when they were playing. Couldn’t make much sense of the fairy tale, but it was kinda neat to hear a rock Peter and the Wolf

What a surprising album! This was not only excellent, but I was not expecting the second half to be a mini concept album complete with narration. This was so far ahead of its time.

Yeah, what the fuck. Offensively British Hippies rambling something about a man in the woods with some psych rock interludes. 2.5/5

alright

I was feeling guilty because I thought Rod Stewart was part of Faces and the Small Faces. Turns out I don’t need to worry about dragging this trash album because precious bean Rod Stewart was nowhere near this album since he was only part of the Faces. I can understand, somewhat, the Small Faces were trying to accomplish with their concept album. But they come across as annoying with how often they use spoken word—to the point that it’s cringe how hard they’re trying. The genre is psychedelic but it’s not very good. A lot of the album just sounds out of tune. And the vocals were not enjoyable. All this allowed me to understand that Rod Stewart saved the Small Faces when they became Faces.

Wasn't promising from the album title. Wasn't promising from the album cover art. Wasn't promising upon listening. As I near the end of this project, the garbage I encounter on the project becomes more and more frustrating because it has become more and more evident how many very necessary albums were snubbed by this project so that albums like this British Beatles-wannabe nonsense could be included instead.

she is round!

Noen ganger blir det åpenbart kor mye kontekst du mangle for å eventuelt sette pris på nokka, og det her e et sånt tilfelle. Ikke vet æ ka greia va, men det e sikkert gøy for dem som like det?

393/1089 - It's psychedelic music. Skits took me out of it more than usual.

Nice variety of sounds and styles. The nonsensical narration between tracks on back half of the album is a fun addition to the concept album/rock opera idea.

Weird but at least not boring.

What in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is going on here? The band is very solid. The singing could be better. The random interludes are funny, but I'm not sure if that was the intent. Nothing much to hate, but not much to love either. Definitely isn't boring. There's a cool story. The sound quality is possibly the worst I've heard so far though. Altogether I'm glad it exists, but I might not be making to many revisits.

Started off strong with the first track, but lost me on the spoken parts.

Good

I've been putting this album off for a long time just because of album cover. It was such a bad chouce. But it really surprised me. I enjoyed it I loved that talking story like element and yeah another summer album in winter but I hope I'll come back to this one when the right time comes.

Title track was awesome, got worse from there

I wasn't aware that there was as band that out britished the Kinks, but here we are. I dug this!

Best Song: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake. If only the whole album had been this tight instrumental style. Worst Song: Rollin' Over. After a non-sensical verbal intro, we're left with a totally stock-standard rock song. Overall: After the first track, I was really hoping this would be a fully instrumental album. Not that the vocals were bad per se, but they brought the whole project down into the realm of ordinary 60s rock. The back half of the album also exemplifies the worst, most self-indulgent parts of psychedelia, which mistakes random quirkiness for transformative creativity.

A 60's psychedelic banger. Love the classic panning you hear on those kinds of albums. Something I love that records do are fun and connected transitions, which this album subtly nails on some of the tracks. Some songs on it are so British that it's almost Australian however. The monologues are fun, but can go on for a while. Few filler very good.

They nailed weird! I love psychedelic music but you never know what you’ll get with this genre. This is honestly feels a little like country/folky which is weird mixed but I guess that’s what you look for. First real listen to small faces not bad.

Das ist überraschend „hart“ und intensiv, für eine Beat-Rock-Pop-Band aus der Zeit. Das Schlagzeugspiel und die Orgel die immer wieder reinhaut gefällt mir sehr gut. Gerade bei den ersten Songs. Die zweite Hälfte mit der abgedrehten Story hätte ich nicht gebraucht. Aber gute 3,4.

Hmm. At first panicked seeing this was 2+ hours long then realized same album, various formats. I listened to Stereo version. The first few songs started out alright. In fact many of the songs on the album are interesting. And then the unnecessary messing around with the stereo effect kicks in; the narrative confusing; and the overall styling begins to feel a bit obnoxious. 2/5

Ništa spec, okej zvuče. Ocena za ovaj album je 3,25/5

Whogdens what do what? Listening to the whole album hurt here. Few good songs. As a whole album it’s insufferable hippie nonsense.

I didn't hate this album, and I thought the insane lyrics at the end were kind of fun, but I struggle to see how this album deserves to make this list.

Was ok. I enjoyed. 3.1

01) Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake - 7,0 02) Afterglow - 9,0 03) Long Agos and Worlds Apart - 7,0 04) Rene - 7,0 05) Song of a Baker - 7,5 06) Lazy Sunday - 8,5 07) Happiness Stan - 7,0 08) Rollin' Over - 7,0 09) The Hungry Intruder - 6,5 10) The Journey - 6,0 11) Mad John - 6,0 12) HappyDaysToyTown - 5,0 TOTAL: 6,96 (70/100) Current ranking: 477/812

It was interesting...I liked the music parts but the talking parts, not so much

First half was okey, nothing ground breaking. 2/5 The second half is annoying... 1/5

Kinda odd, but not terrible. The last song was long and weird.

Enjoyed parts of it and then thought I was in a Monty Python sketch.

Pretty annoying.

Started out strong, but got simultaneously progressively stranger, more annoying, and still, somehow, less memorable. Gets a 3 on the strength of side A and some specific songs.

Favourite Songs: Ogden's Nut Gone Flake

Fav: Afterglow Least Fav: Rene Dunno what he was rambling on about but it was peak

Cool stuff

Total late 60’s psychedelic pop mod! Some really great music to be found. Definitely of it’s time but really inventive and great fun to listen to. 4

This had so much promise until the 2nd half Monty Python’athon

Приятный, расслабляющий, но не стал для меня чем-то особенным. Можно послушать в охотку

Interesting classic rock, with a bit of a twist. Some strange lyrics but good and groovy background music

Interesting I’ve never heard of this one 2.5

Me encantó la mezcla de estilos y que la segunda parte incluya la narración de un cuento de hadas.

i checked rym because i had listened to this years ago and saw two stars staring back at me. i still find it rather obnoxious and extremely cloudy-sounding, but points for being so British that it reminded me of living in Cardiff (look, i was surrounded by English students). deserves to be one of the 1001? ehh, i respect it but i don't like it. and i don't think that respect transfers to appreciation and importance. no.

Pretty creative and fun. I like the organs and classic rock sound.

Only one listen. Might be better with more listening

I really appreciate that this was a 1968 record. It feels a bit ahead of its time. With that being said, the production is a little difficult for me to listen to. It was hurting my ears. I like silly concept albums and psychedelia but this one was probably too silly. I probably won't ever revisit this.

This was really weird. I like the psych and blues elements. I didn't really care of the concept album. I am biased towards this style of music, it definitely draws me in, so I definitely enjoyed this. But it was kind of weird and probably not something I'd ever revisit.

3/12 songs added I mean the instrumental is really nice but for certain songs I don't enjoy the pirate vibes

Not my thing and I want to keep my nuts

not for me

1968. Definitely a whacky trip of an album. Definitely has a place in music hx but it is very dated to its time.

Side one? Absolute belter. Swagger, hooks, psychedelic crunch, and groove. It’s loose, loud, and cool — the sound of the band firing on all cylinders. Side two? The Stanley Unwin Show. What was meant to be a whimsical fairy tale now plays like someone’s grandad doing a comedy turn you’re too polite to interrupt. Unwin was always a one-trick pony, popular in the days when you (Unwin, Norman Collier, Freddie Davies et al) could build a 'comedy' career on one joke . The songs are still good, but they keep getting ambushed by wobbly-voiced nonsense that may have been quirky in 1968 but feels like hard work now. So in summary... Side one - classic. 4 Side two - practically unplayable. 2

still not anything new from the last 30 albums

Really excellent album. Starts out like a Creedence-inspired Southern Rock instrumental but quickly turns into the most Brittish, Beatles-esque, it's mod rock. Really cool listen! The album builds as you go, so "Msd John" and "HappyDaysToyTown" ended up being my favorite.

They're a good band. There's a few songs here that are a little too English music hall sounds that are pretty annoying. I didn't care for the narration. It was too precious and detracted from good songs like Son of a Baker

L'intro était sympa mais je trouve que la suite de l'album n'a plus la même énergie.

just a nice rock album. good cover

Didn’t get through for unrelated reasons but what I heard was fine. I’d like to come back at some point to see if I missed anything.

Have not listened to them much but most of the band are rock legends. Good stuff

2.0 (38:27. 12 tracks (two different genres), third studio, 1968) psychedelia (and Prog "fairy tale" Rock) OK I thought as I relistened to it in Stereo I had been too harsh at 2.0 but no same as first time the shit degrades fast with the Happiness Stan fairy tale concept stuff. The Small Faces have the chops to make a great album but the Prog Rock regression is just bad. The album starts a solid 3 but they are lucky near the end I didn't 1 them. I've never understood what happened to the Brits in late 60's that so much drug use and psychedelic rock was required so while walking with this Winnie-the-Pooh made up language non-sense (on the whole B side) I thought about what happened 20-30 years early to the youth of England and . . . oooooh epiphany 1940 was the height of German Lutfwaffle sooo fuck you Hitler - you fucked up so much shit. All this psychedelic music and return to childhood stuff is literally the kids wanting their youth back? At any rate people sometimes argue Prog Rock has all the elements necessary to create Punk (my genre) but yeah white flour, sugar, eggs, milk and butter (baking soda and flavoring) are all that are needed to make cake but I don't want to eat a bowl of flour or a bowl of any of them alone. The album highlights the weakness of the list that's it's just too England-centric. So many strong albums left off the list (especially 2000 - 2025) and too much British shit from the late 60's, as you're making room for new stuff start dumping some of this stuff as it's overrepresented

6/10 Favorite: Afterglow

Loved some of it and kinda hated some of it too

Insanely ahead of it's time. Sounds like it could be from the 70s/80s easily. Some heaters in here but probably won't revisit. just a neat historical thing.

wow. what a journey. That was so so awesome. The spoken word sections were delightful and there were so many cool effects and instrumentals. I think this is a great example of making music with the album as the end product and not a collection of singles packaged as an album, ya know?

I love and respect steve marriott but the faces with rod stewart and ronnie wood >>>>> the small faces any day

im tired of this, grampa

Started out great but then what the fuck. This would've been a 5 if the whole album was like the first few. A point off for all the yapping and a point off for getting annoying :(

It's OK. Al lot of the same old, same old

i will NOT judge if you like it. i quite liked the songs long agos and worlds apart, mad john and song of a baker, but the rest isn’t really mine.

Very '60s. Not my taste. Toy Dolls fans: original Lazy Sunday (Afternoon) can be found here.

No tame impala without this

A lot to dislike here. Relentless skits, goofy songs, very occasional and misleading snatches of almost-compelling guitar. Like if Lovely Rita represented the Beatles' greatest musical accomplishment. Don't waste my time.

This crosses the threshold into “incoherently British.” I liked the first few tracks fine enough, even though I couldn’t understand a single lyric - but the bubbles and squeak looney toons at the end completely lost me.

I have never heard of this band before so I am excited to listen to this. The album is two hours long though so I will only be listening to the first disc. Track 1 has elements that remind me of electronica, along with some that remind me of prog rock. I think this will be an interesting album. After looking up the band, I see that this band later forms into the Faces, with Rod Stewart who's album I listened to earlier this month. I like track 2 a lot, it seems like a very romantic song. I like track 4 a lot, it sounds kind of similar to Oasis in the group sung melodies. Honestly, I am feeling a little bored with this album. The last four tracks are the least listened to on the album, so I am half convinced to not even bother listening to them. I think I have pretty much made up my mind about this being a two star album anyway.

Reminds me of the Beatles

Temp

Music overall is quite decent, definitely very 60s... Lyrics are strange, obviously kinda comedic. There's a decent amount going on in the songs, nice variety of instruments, good vocals. I'm listening to the "Stereo" version and they've obviously had some fun playing with that aspect, lots of panning sounds and instruments throughout. The second half of the album introduces this weird storytelling aspect between each song, with made up jibberish words. It's creative, but I'm not a fan. Definitely prefer the first half of the album as a result. Highlights: Quite liked main vocals in "Afterglow". Low 3. Could listen to bits of it again, probably wouldn't sit through the whole album a second time.

Based on the amount of effort put into the stereo version, I assume that's the version they want me to listen to. Unfortunately its most impactful moments were more uncomfortable to listen to than interesting. I like the British novelty aspect on some tracks, ones that ended up being my favourite like "Rene" and "Lazy Sunday", even if it seems absurdist at some points it gives the the album some soul when otherwise it would just be dropped into the pile of 60s Beatles-inspired-psych-pop stuff that was so abundant. The narration was also enjoyable and helped make it unique but the songs in the 2nd half didn't interest me enough sonically to warrant caring about it. I'll be generous and give it a low 3

Standouts: - Rene - big fan of the psychedelic guitars in the 2nd half of this - The journey - Same story as above Generally found this album a bit dull but it had some fun psychedelic jams. The random narration in the 2nd half was jarring and I wasn't interested. In general the 2nd half was worse. Low 3

What the hell did I just listen to? The first half was ok, but the weird spoken word bits on the second half totally ruined the vibe

Interesting album, immediately recognised the title track from the first GTA5 trailer. Spoken word gobbledygook started to become grating around the fifth track they did it

Really fucking weird, not necessarily in a bad way. First half is a normal album and then the second half is a musical narrated by a guy who is currently having a stroke. Really difficult to decide what I think about this album, not sure I’ll be back but it really was an experience. 3.5

Not much to say, but I did not hate it while I was working

🥇afterglow (of your love) 🥈ogden’s nut gone flake 🥉lazy sunday HM: rene, rollin over

It's a fun album. Gave me off-brand Beatles.

Cool pallette of sounds

????? Why ????? What makes this an album I must listen to? If you like it fine, but this is far from a must listen. Another 2.

Favorite songs: Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, Afterglow (Of Your Love) Happiness Stan needs the spoken word interludes cut. The deluxe version of the album divides Happiness Stan into individual tracks, which makes it easier to skip the spoken parts.

Tried this countless times never got on but here I go again (Whitesnake)

Small Faces – Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake is a vibrant discovery that highlights a growing appreciation for the rock genre's storytelling potential. The album shines during its "cinematic" second half, where the whimsical narrative creates a fun and engaging atmosphere. The run of tracks from the psychedelic title opener through the "great" energy of "René" and "Song of a Baker" showcases a band at their creative peak. However, while the musicianship is high, the 1968 production can feel a bit "overwhelming" at times—the heavy use of studio effects and intense vocal layers occasionally clutter the listening experience. It is an enjoyable, "thought-provoking" piece of psychedelic history that serves as a solid bridge between raw soul and theatrical rock.

No. 76 Silly at times but pretty catchy. Definitely not something I would have searched out on my own.

Didn't care for it. Sounds like a muppets song compilation

So good! Fun. Inventive.

Not everyone has a concept album in them. I always heard that this was a great album and I like the Small Faces but this was far too music hall for me.

I appreciate the energy, and this is way better than the American versions that would follow, but it's a rollercoaster - here and there I got caught up in it, but two minutes later I'd be looking for the exit.

That's another "hell, no" from me.

Homegrown British culture does not have a lot to recommend it.

I am so tired of british people

I think this was good enough for me to want to revisit it in the future. I knew Lazy Sunday already, but there's a few other songs I liked as well.

Just the band’s name and the album title alone … yep, this sucks.

The copy of the book I have (the 2018 version) says that this album remains the pinnacle of British 60's pop. That's amazing. What a thing to put to a page. I think this album is another in a long list of albums that is much more interesting to talk about than to hear. I fear I may never think of this album again, but it wasn't unpleasant. How do you rate an album like that?

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.

This may be the most late 60s album I think I've ever heard. It's a fair bit kooky as these concept albums can be, but I rather enjoyed it.

The Album isn't for me. Songs are ok, but nothing special. And the spoken word bits are really annoying. Fav: Lazy Sunday

Not bad, but not great either. The title track is great though.

Ik vind dit echt een heerlijk album, lekker afwisselend, af en toe lekker praat stem erdoorheen, chille muziek, niet te mainstream maar gewoon winnen

This album started out somewhat strong with the first few songs, but it progressively got much goofier. I feel like most would agree that this works to its detriment, and I would agree with that sentiment. However, I think that it, in some ways, the "Britishness of it all" is made more enjoyable due to this tone shift. It just comes far too suddenly. I would have preferred for the entire album to be this way or for it to follow the trend of the first few tracks. Overall, it's not bad just not my favorite.

This may make my top 10,000, but it’s a stretch

Music’s completely boring and worth a 0, gets a star for introducing me to the hilarious Stanley Unwin.

Aight

Low bar coming in since so many people were shitting on it. I found it a nice classic rock album

Starts off bad then continues to get worse.

I have listened to this album way more times than I should. Sometimes I think that maybe there's something in there for me to like or that can grow over time, but there isn't. This thing sounds like a way more British version of 'The Beatles' but with bad production and more generic. It still is psychedelic pop, so there are a handful of moments that I think were decent, but in general, there's nothing interesting. Also, the second half is supposed to be a concept composition, telling the story of a man searching for the moon, but there's one big problem. It has an incredibly obnoxious narrator telling the tale in a very quirky way, and it won't shut up... I begged him to do so like if it could work. So yes, this was quite bad.

Not bad. A bit weird, but decently put together.

This all got a bit strange and lost me along the way.

Is it possible to give a negative one-star for the second half of the album? The first couple of songs, which contain some really solid work, save this from dreaded one-star territory. But this album faded faster than an older Mike Tyson.

Pretty decent “60’s psychedelic rock but obnoxious elements like random bird sounds, songs that fade out then fade back in, and ultimately the ridiculous storytelling in “Happiness Stan” knock this down to 2-stars

Interesting take on British Rock- I was suprises I hadent heard of them before

from an album fronted by rod stewart to the previous incarnation of a band he would go on to front...conceptual continuity!!!! the main thing this delightful record makes me think about is that where american psychedelia tended to be darker and more transgressive and more Adult, for lack of a better word, british psychedelia is very backwards-looking and infused with childhood. ig its a little funny to think ab given the tobacco case packaging, but this is one of the more potent examples ive come across. a skill honed here is Songs You Feel Like You Remember, Sort Of. cute and good, and p creative too, even including a big heavy rocker that totally swerves around kitschiness and is just rly convincing somehow.

I swear I've heard this exact sound from 5 other bands on this list, just this one has a narrator with an extremely thick accent. Really all I thought during the runtime of the album was "that guy has a funny voice" and "I'd really rather be listening to The Who right now." I would love to listen to a whole audiobook of the spoken word parts extended really far, though. The funny part is that I have absolutely no idea what he's saying half the time, his voice just sounds neat. That being said, the music itself is completely unnoteworthy. Sounds like every other psych rock band from the late 60s.

competent playing, but the vocals and songwriting arent all too inspiring

"Why did I moved here? I guess it was the weather..."

The instrumental opening is brilliant, I’m fond of “Lazy Sunday” from childhood, the second half’s daft, a period curiosity that showcases the most irritating strand of English whimsy, and I’m perversely pleased to now have in mind a response to the question “how silly could the Mainstream in the Sixties get?” The rockers on the first side sound gorgeous, which bumps this up.

Pretty dreadful given this came out mid-1968, considering what The Beatles and Hendrix had already released by that point. I don't mind the (semi-charming) Unwinese drivel, but the "story" itself would embarrass a toddler and the music throughout is basic as hell. Some real Lionel Bart-ass shit that gives psychedelia a bad name.

The leader in the clubhouse for most outstanding album title, this is a psychedelic rock concept album. At times weird, at times rockin’, and at times technically brilliant, I had a good time listening to this album. The title track is a great instrumental song, but ‘Afterglow’ and ‘Rollin’ Over’ were also favorites. I could have done without the spoken word intros on each song on the back half of the album, but it’s only a minor inconvenience. I’d love to give this a 3.5, but I can’t so it’s gonna get bumped up to a low 4/5.

2.5

< mit Rod Stewart. Lazy Sunday und Rollin Over schlockt aber. Wenn das die Top 801 Alben gewesen wären, hätte ich mich nicht damit beschäftigen müssen.

Phantastischer Fiebertraum. Viele Ideen. Aber kommt irgendwie zusammen. Dubdidubamdei... 🪇🪗

Spätestens bei Lazy Sunday hatte ich einen sehr weaken weak spot für das Ganze. Trotzdem reicht's nicht für mehr als ne 3. Aber dass das 1968 geil war, glaube ich.

Once again, the 1001 has surprised me with an album that I’ve never heard of, especially considering I thought I had heard of at least 90% of the classic rock albums out there. This album is very English conglomeration of quite a few different influences, from the Allman Brothers, to The Moody Blues, to touch the Beatles, and even some Steppenwolf mixed in. There were some interesting songs on here like Song of a Baker, and I think my favorite one was Rolling Over with that deep blues based rock jam. It wasn’t quite as clean as you’d find with the Beatles nor is raunchy you’d get with the stones. I’m honestly surprised this album hasn’t been more remembered. It was a pretty good listen.

Random thoughts: * I kinda hated this one the first time listening. Those spoken interludes were super annoying and kind of distracted me from the music. * I listened a second time and actually listened to the spoken interludes and realized it was a psychedelic children's story by some British dudes. It was pretty interesting. * The music was pretty good and is again a sign of the explosion of music in the late 60s. That was a real turning point for modern music. * I probably won't go back here unless I want to trip out to crazy story but respect for doing something so interesting.

I liked the variance between the psychedelic title track and the cockney silliness of Lazy Sunday, but the spoken word tracks were a put-off. Small Faces are one of those bands where their singles were fantastic but the rest is a bit too strange.

First impression. LED Zeppelin mixed with the who. Instrumentally I can hear Zeppelin with less talent. There’s also splashes of the laughing gnome era of David Bowie. I don’t hate this at all but it’s yet another album confusing me as to why it’s on this list. I’m not a better person after listening to it. I’m not inspired either. I wish I was. There’s also this talking in it that makes you feel like you’re listening to an audio book of the wind and the willows. I hate that book. Shame

Sånn passe, litt for britisk

Really enjoyed the bizarreness of what is essentially psychedelic cockney knees-up music, which is something I've never heard before and probably never will again. Deserves to be on the list for its uniqueness alone. I thought the spoken word actually fit the music well, but I totally get being annoyed by it. 4.0/5.0: Great

enjoyable listen marred by spoken word narration

Not for me

Easy pleasy Story teller Toe tapper

Good Songs on the beggining...Bad endings... Okish... 2 1/2 stars.

Favorite track(s): Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake, Rene, Song of a Baker

While considered a classic, it seems to be criminally overlooked. The Small Faces at their best were just as ferocious as The Who and as bluesy as The Stones.

3/10

😐

Really enjoyed this to start with, but got more annoying with each song. Think the drugs must have kicked in by the end of the recording 3 ⭐️

6/10 Enjoyed the 1st half, but the talking bits, mimicking Clockwork Orange's Nadsat dialogue, with it's weird mix of cockney and classic British turns of phrase. Increasingly frustrating, the album dropped from a solid 4 to a 3. Shame really

V/rv

It was a cool album, i like the dude talking in a weird way. 3.6/5

Bouncy, fun, and psychedelic. Also I seem to be the only one who remembers that the title track was used in the trailer for GTA 5. A really dumb way to discover music, but here we are I guess

“Afterglow” is good, the rest sounds like Moody Blues wannabe crossed with the crappier aspects of psychedelic rock.

Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake (as the title implies) is a flakey experience. Side A is silly mod rock with Lazy Sunday being the top song, followed by the title cut. Side B (the better of the two) is a strange combination of psychedelic rock and spoken word telling a weird story is Stan and a fly. Never heard any of these songs on the radio, so it was all new to me even though it’s from nearly 60 years ago. (2.2*s) Makes the 1001 Must Hear List for weirdness.

Quite an odd record but I like it. Side A is a collection of good psychedelic rock tunes with "Rene" and "Lazy Sunday" starting to trip out a bit. Flip to Side B after the LSD kicks in and the Journey begins as you follow Stan on a wild adventure to find the missing half of the moon. The narration in Unwinese is great and I got a kick out of the whole affair. I'd like a mash up of this and The Who's Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy so Happy Jack and Stan could join forces and the Fly could meet up with Boris the Spider. What a weird and fun one from the list...3.13 stars.

Pretty cool example of some British psychedelia. It's not quite as out there or musically diverse as some of other contemporary psych acts, but the English accents give it a bit of swagger. Side B of the album is a mix of rock and minstrel-like narration telling a little fairy tale which is a welcome change of pace and pretty original. Love the album styling of designing it around a giant tobacco tin which may have contributed to this one making the list. Would be a pretty cool collector's item to get a hold of. I didn't think much of it when it started but I'll admit it hooked me by the end of it. There's a certain charm in the journey they take you through on side B. Nice entry by otherwise previously unknown Small Faces. 3.05 stars

This is such a mixed bag that even some of the songs, like Rene, have split personalities. Side 1 is mostly great, especially the title track and Song of a Baker (some real psychedelic rock). Then side 2 is a wholly separate narrated concept album, that sounds like both a surreal episode of Bagpuss written by Anthony Burgess, as well as a precursor of prog (while still occasionally throwing up some great rock - see Rollin' Over). So I'm confidently giving this 2, 3, 4 and 5 stars simultaneously, and it's not my fault if the app can't deal with that.

Album review 021 Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake by The Small Faces (1968) Rating 4/5 It must be at least 20 years since I last took time to listen to Ogdens’ Nut gone Flake and, sitting down to give it a whirl, I expected some dated 60’s whimsy with annoying interludes and had a 3/5 rating ready to go. Thankfully, my pre-conceptions were only half-right; certainly it’s late-60’s Brit whimsy and may be an acquired taste, but there is some really good stuff here. Side one is a pretty straightforward set, whereas side two is built around the non-sensical story of Happiness Stan going on a quest to find out where half of the moon has disappeared to and is assisted on his journey by a hungry little fly. With the partial exception of the first half of Rene and HappyDaysToyTown, Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake is a delight, thoroughly enjoyed it and certainly won’t be waiting another two decades to listen again.

Surprise, it's more Rod Stewart. Wait, that's not Rod Stewart?

I hadn't heard the Small Faces before - it was an enjoyable album and I'd listen to it again. Don't love quite enough to buy a vinyl copy of the album...yet.

Few good tracks and a lot of nonsense

As a fan of progressive rock, I was hoping this would be my jam, but alas it was not. The music is wacky, verging very closely to the novelty album, which I am not sure I would include on a list like this. Not great, not bad. Just sort meh.

Concept album. But it seems to me that there are much more interesting solutions. From The Who to The Beatles. In addition, the recording quality is poor, there is a lot of noise

Decent songs but the interludes were not good...

Such a mixed bag album. There's points where's there a good run of tracks and one is vibing hard to the tracks, only to immediately have a string questionable boring tracks. I did enjoy the theming of the tracks though

For what this album is, this album is quite fun and quirky, but it is definitely a product of its time. For this style of Psychedelic Rock, it is one of the better albums when released (though not quite up to the heights of The Doors and Hendrix).

12/2/25. Interesting! Never heard of this band and dig their sound. This album flows nicely, and enjoyed the narration in the second half. Another good example of psychedelic rock from this era, and can add to my personal reference.

Groovy! Det är det här jag hade viljat höra från The Beatles!

Cool, this was fun to listen to, and there were a couple of nice bluesy songs, but not enough to enter the repeat list.

Side a is a 3.5, side b is a 2.5

Some more weird shit. Another album that's a bit all over the place. Some of the songs we're okay.

Killer opening track. Music with balls. A new discovery for me

Considered forward thinking in its time, but felt dated now. Good songs and musicianship but feels whimsical in today’s cynical world.

nuda

psicodelia caotica voz molona umpa loompa

Not worth a listen.

Not there best

If I could give this negative stars I would

Meh. This didn’t make an impact on me.

Pretty average

3/5

Really liked Afterglow!! I liked the first half but didn’t really like the narration in the second half.

The beginning was ok, I guess. Then it just got goofy.

I had some hope with this one. Front half of the album had some cool moments, but questionable production and mixing choices made it hard to fully listen (hard pans of drums in one side, only to be swept to the other; other instruments being panned as well). But then what seemed to be Dr. Seuss as narrator kicked in for the back half. I’m all for concept albums, but for a band who wanted to be taken seriously, expecting listeners to buy in on Happiness Stan, half-moons and large flys…is…well…

Somebody found the pan dial… overall this was fun. I think you have to consider its era, otherwise it’s slightly absurd. But I liked it enough.

Sounded like that late 60s. It was a fine listen. A little unique but honestly didn’t really stand out after a couple attempts to get through. 2.75

Dang, I really liked the first half of this album. Not feeling the Happiness Stan song/concept. Some decent parts of it but felt a bit disjointed with the voiceovers. First half is a strong 4 IMO. Last song brings it down to the 3-range. 3.25/5

Felt like it was designed to annoy me specifically. 1.5/5

2.5

Solid. The spoken word/skit parts should have been rap's red flag warning....

I honestly had higher hopes for this album based on the first couple of songs. I was not a fan of the narration that popped up. Also, some of the musical choices just didn't fall nicely on my ears.

Now what the hell was this.

Decent 2,5