Reviews (page 5 of 9)
Low key feel
Eh
Very easy listen for me. I'm a big folk guy.
Nick Drake is better.
No es un cantante muy conocido, tampoco Nick Drake ( a quien dedica el disco) y eso son palabras mayores. Este, su cuarto disco, es el más reconocido de una trayectoria serpenteante. Para escuchar con calma y dejarse llevar. Solid air marca la pauta, sonidos folkies, voz grave y toques jazz. Se anima con Over the hill y Don´t want to know en la línea que seguirán Becker y Fagen. I´d rather be the devil es una muy interesante versión de Skip James con un final brillante. El resto de temas mantienen esas coordenadas (excelente The man in the station) y configuran un disco agradable que en mi opinión no está entre los 1000 mejores de la historia pero que es mejor que algunos de los que están en este listado.
Better than the other album on this list but still not something I will revisit
Very grand folk with elements of blues, jazz, rock. A lot going on. Requires more listens. 6.3/10
When it comes to folk I much prefer American folk, it has more of an edge to it. British seems very dancing round the maypole or so I thought until listening to this, an emotional and stylish album, especially track five which is very shine on you crazy diamond it style, and predates it. This is a good addition to my listening experience. By Polymath.
Raspy country music
Solid album. I didn't see anything really that blew me away, but I did enjoy listening.
This one gets a 2.5 Some of it is cool and has good guitar. But most of it is meh. I liked one song the rest was not great. I don’t like his voice. When he does the raspy thing… it sounds very forced. If I was rating this just on guitar, it’d get a 3, but his singing ruins a lot of the songs. ⭐️ ⭐️
this was a spectacularly boring album except for the last song: I'd Rather Be the Devil (Devil Got My Woman) which was pretty fun. but the rest... yikes. 1.5/5 stars.
2025-02-16
The guitar work really sold me on this album. Martyn's voice took me a minute to get used to, but once I did I found it meshed well with the instrumentals. No bad songs on this album, just songs I feel don't match the standard set by the best tracks.
quite enjoyed this, in particular Easy Blues. Not quite a 4/5 probably a 3.5 with further listens.
Jazz blues folk funk rock It's got a bit of it all here Great album from the legendary John Martyn. I do prefer some of his later folkier stuff though tbh hence a 4. But it's a high 4.
Never heard of this guy. Really enjoyed it. Before doing this challenge I didn't even know there existed such a thing as British Folk Music. And now it's probably the third album from the genre and I loved them all. My favorite parts were the ones with the jazzy elements but I also liked all of the more traditional folk tunes. The lyrics seem to be the stream of consciousness which doesn't really bother me and it goes really well with his mumbling-singing style. I'll be definitely looking out to check out more from his catalogue.
Šta reći za ovo, nije mi grozno, ne zvuči nešto preloše, samo mi je užasno dosadno, ne radi mi ništa. Dreams By The Sea mi je bila oke, eto. Čini mi se da možda na ovom projektu ima malo previše tih soft albuma kantautorskog djira, nije mi to napeto. 2/5, 3/10
Loved the folk song from Over the Hill, wish the rest of the album was similar since that was an awesome song
I…just kind of nothing-ed this. I didn’t love his voice, but it wasn’t terrible. I felt like the songs were okay. I dunno. Just not my jam? 2/5
I really wanted to like it because he's nick drakes bestie... but at just isn't as good. Like it aint bad at all. But it can't compare sorry. Some good tracks though, but also some I didn't love
Love the jazzy vibe, the bass is front and centre
Not digging this. I don't like his delivery, the music itself is a little jazzier than I like. It's not folky, it's just weird.
Not available in my places
Solid air OST perfetta per camminare sotto la pioggia
I really liked a couple of the songs.
Enjoyable. 3
Dull music. Uninspired sentiment. Had moments when it threatened to be interesting with something funky or jazzy, but the terrible singing and bog standard acoustic guitar kept it all well within the parameters of a typical boring folk slog.
Also a great album
Surprisingly amazing. Seamless listened through 2.5 times, and continuously added most of the album to my personal library. Wasn't sure what to expect, but the album was full of great folk songs each with their own kick.
Very fine and nothing wrong with this album, some neat trippy songs and great folky track. Just nothing truly stood out for me to push it past a 3. Great variety though.
This record's appearance marks the second attempt by the editors of 1001 albums to hear before you die to raise my awareness of John Martyn. Like last time, this is fine but ultimately not for me. The next edition they should cede one of the album slots to a more recent artist. They'll have to do a John Martyn showdown and pick which one stays. And Me? I can't decided which is more important — they're all a little too much the same to my ear so far and I lack the cultural context to know if one is a landmark record compared to the other. It's strange how music that relies on some common forms can still feel so distant and removed from your experience.
Love how much direction it moves in, but I can’t say every song resonated with me. Some are way more experimental than others.
Not a bad album at all, but none of it resonated with me and was quite forgettable
Favorite Track: Over The Hill
I liked Over the Hill, probably because I am! The other songs were so-so.
His voice took a second to get used to, such little annunciation. But the vibe is heavy. A sad type of calm for most of it.
I didn’t care much for the opening/title track. But the rest of it grew on me and it finished strong.
Solid album of blues. Loved his vocal inflections, from sandpaper to butter; and the electric and bass violin held it together.
I did not know what to expect here and was pleasantly surprised. I like the mix of folk and jazz. About halfway through I was seriously considering giving this 5 stars but if fell off just slightly. Would listen again.
Although it was hard to tell if the lyrics were English at times, I enjoyed this album. Quite groovy, baby.
hmmmmm......???? not sure
this was nice
Never was a fan of this type of electronica.
I'm pretty sure that I have never heard of John Martyn or this album before today but I think it is excellent. Very chill folk, trance, electronic sort of vibe. The singing isn't my favorite part but the music is great with some really creative stuff considering the time it came out.
Not a fan of how in the middle of his songs he re-imagines how it should be played, so it always feels like 2 songs in one. I had high hopes for this album because he used the talents of Fairport Convention on a few of the songs, but it felt Unfinished. Folk rock, but a lot like Nick Drake.... Fucking weird, almost psychadelic folk. As a matter of fact, the song Solid Air is based on Nick Drake. It's an awful song. The highs on this album were high, but the lows were awful. Favourite songs: May You Never, The Easy Blues, Over the Hill Least favourite songs: Solid Air, I'd Rather Be the Devil (Devil Got My Woman) 2/5
Singer-songwriters were never gonna easily be my friend. Especially not once I read a line somewhere that said something to the effect of "Singer-songwriters are poets pretending to be musicians." 'Coz that's just it, isn't it? With these types, what's important are the words, with the actual instrumentals backing them often not being much more than a bed for them. That's not to say there aren't singer-songwriter types who don't aim to do more with the melodies than act as breaks between segments of poetry, like Bob Dylan's harmonica solos, but more often than not... Yeah, that's how they really come across to me. Even though I've liked my fair share of them, I still always kinda groan a little whenever I see an album labelled as such, 'coz how they make music is completely antithetical to how I enjoy music. I've stated this many times before: I'm melody first. I don't often pay attention to lyrics 'coz I'm typically bad at understanding poetry. So, a genre of music that places **all** of the emphasis on the lyrics... Heck, even more than rap, 'coz at least there there can be hot beats. The most you can often hope for with these 60's and 70's singer-songwriters is a **lot** of acoustic guitar. How's this one fair, though? How does it fit into my perception of singer-songwriters? To begin with, of course I didn't pay too much attention to lyrics. Not even the title track, which is a tribute to Nick Drake (which I did feel a bit bad about, but, y'know, I are what I is). Although, without actively reading the lyrics, I'm not sure how many I would be able to gather by myself anyway. Like, I can completely hear the criticism I heard about his kind of "mumbly" delivery. Y'know, the kind of "serious, sensitive" kind of deal. I wouldn't go so far as to call it "baby talk" like that one review did, but I wouldn't exactly give this guy high points for diction. Listening to it as another instrument, though — well, I've probably heard better, but for what he's doing, it's not bad. It can be pretty nice in some spots. (I do like the bits of lyrics I heard about jelly, though.) What really got me, though... So, I was talking about how in this genre instrumentation is basically being an after-thought, right? That is absolutely not the case here. There's a lot of tracks where the instrumentation is just, ahh, so good. So good. It's not every track; some of them fall back into acoustic strumming, or diversions into Da Blues. But the tracks that **do** go above, into jazzier sounds? Goodness me. Like, even if I didn't pay attention to the **lyrics** of the title track, the **music** was enough to carry me through. I'm especially impressed knowing that the song wasn't written with an arrangement in mind, so this is just them jamming out. It's darn good stuff. And then you got a lot of the stuff going on over at the end of "Dreams By The Sea"? Like, that may be the single prettiest moment on the whole album, I think, beyond how the rest of the song is way funkier than I would've expected from a singer-songwriter album. So, once again, I judged a book by its cover and was actually pretty happy with its contents once I took a look inside. It's a recurring thing, 'coz as much as I wanna claim that genres don't really mean much to me... Well, as you can tell. Made all the funnier once you actually go and look at this album's genres on Wikipedia, and none of them are actually "singer-songwriter"; I just saw John himself describe that way and extrapolated from there. I may as well have taken issue with how he's Scottish for how much it should mean. (And for the record, this website classifies this album as such, but I didn't see it until I was almost done writing this review.) Let's quickly bring this to a close. This is a 4 from me — possibly rounded up from a 3.5 depending on how much the songs that're more strictly folk bounced off of me, but a 4 nonetheless. I just think the jazzy and psychedelic excursions are just that good, and well surpass my typical negative expectations for this kind of music. Will it mean that in the future I'll be kinder towards singer-songwriter albums? Probably not. But at least this one's on my good side, and, hey, it ain't nothing. I hope John's resting in peace.
Gives me vibes of Nick Drake, but with more of a bluesy tinge to it, which is a pretty damn good combo in my book. 4.5 bumped up to 5.
I’m at a 5. I normally harp on lyrics a bit – the lyrics on this album are pretty good, don’t get me wrong, but about halfway into this one, I kinda decided to just throw them out and let the soundscape and his vocals carry me the rest of the way. Thankfully, his voice is so clear that I got most of the lyrics anyway, but… man, this is a great sounding album, and the lyrics enhance it even further. For 1973, I’m struck by how modern this feels – obviously the mixing & the remasters help a bit, but in terms of structure & production, you could easily convince me this is an album from say, 2018, and I’d probably believe you if you gaslit me enough. I dunno, I just really liked this – I’m reminded of everything from John Mayer (acoustic wise) to U2 (some of the production & structure) to Stevie Wonder (in terms of the backing synths to add a bit of flavor), and I’m sure there’s a world of other things I could point to, but I’m a little mesmerized by how much I enjoyed this to think of them all. This does, appropriately, feel like a more upbeat version of Nick Drake’s general style, and the first track being a tribute to him makes all the more sense. Past that, though, this is the sort of stuff I wish Nick Drake did do – take the songwriting talent and ability to pull the most of them with the vocals, and blend them with more contemporary instrumentation to create something that feels a bit beyond its years. I think this type of music fits right into my sensibilities, and I think it’s absolutely worth giving a 5.
Every now and again this list turns up an album by an artist I’ve never heard of, in a genre I don’t particularly like, that is a genuinely fantastic listen. This is one such time.
He was hard to understand in 85% of the songs! The ones I could understand, I really liked.
If this had some deeper value to it, it went over my head. Overall found it very boring. Like some of the blues songs, but felt mostly like meandering experimental tracks. Raspy voice. Not much that I enjoy.
Solid chill vibe background music. Nothing stood out, but I didn't thin of FF or changing it once.
New to me, and I liked it. It alternates between bluesy, rocky, jammy, funky, soulful grooves. Easy to listen to while working.
First impression of the first song - wow this is different and I can't decide if I like it. The vocals are weird. 2 minutes in, this is great, I hope the rest of the album follows suit. Kind of disappointed with Over The Hill as it sort of transitioned from a really cool and unique style to straight up standard folk. Hopefully it reverts to the latter, we shall see. Well shit. It kind of goes back and forth a little, maybe swinging in the 'typical folk' direction more so than I'd like. Sometimes even swinging back and forth in the same song which is kind of interesting. I do really like this album, even with the typical folk stuff. I feel like there is enough here to make the album unique and something I'd want to listen to again and it does make me want to look up some of his other music. 4/5.
Never heard of this dude, sounds like some acoustic jams? Wow holy shit this dude swallows his words. Yeah he really just mumbles throughout the whole album. Yeah I didn't like this much, it was all pretty droney, largely because of his voice.
Starts out kind of slow and bring. Then it actually gets better when it gets more experimental, but not enough to elevate the album above "Okay in the background" for me. 2.5/5
This was actually better than I was expecting but admittedly my expectation levels were pretty low.
Marginally better than yesterday’s full fest but still largely uninspiring.
While technically it’s very accomplished and varied, it feels utterly utterly joyless. Somehow, and I suspect influenced by being a wife beater (yet another one on this list), he has managed to bring an air of miserableness, even when it’s attempting to be upbeat, which really makes you want the thing to end as quickly as possible. Also, he often sings like he’s got a mouthful of food on the go, needs to learn some manners. Joyless, and rude.
Bonafide Classic and deserved of a big spliff. JM is a bit of a genius and could listen to this all day..
Perfectly fine. But will likely not listen to this one again.
I have to agree with the comments about the unintelligible singing in some of the songs. I didn’t get it. Some other decent folk songs that would be fine background music.
So great! Lovely being swept along by this.
fav tracks- solid air, dont want to know, go down easy, dreams by the sea, the man in the station moody, passionate in the way you get walking down a long street, warm instruments in a cold tone, early synths punctuate feelings of distance, melancholy drips from the lyrics. his voice is scratchy but/and/yet soothing.
Really good Album. Never heard of him before and I was very surprised by the quality overall of the concept album. I dont love his voice thats it. The slow folk songs although not my preference thay make a diference in setting the tone and help the albums flow. Pink floydish songs are really good
Not as tuneful and ethereal or haunting as Nick Drake. Not quite as virtuosic as Bert Jansch. He’s contemplative and moody about life and love and, it would seem, a cult figure for a reason. Title cut is good and there are some strong contemplative and borderline lovely moments (e.g., "May You Never"). And seems a stretch to include two of JM's records. One World is probably the worthier choice. Still, this is interesting and largely worth knowing, so rounding up, somewhat begrudgingly. Good for a winter day under the lava lamp.
Sometimes an album matches a day and i got this on a Sunday where i had some time. I found there to be a lot of interesting stuff here. There is a hit single, a nick drake-esque softness and then a pile of jazz noodlings. The guitar and vocal are good and i managed to get a couple of listens through without boredom
Lekkere door de akoestische gitaar gedreven muziek, het doet een beetje denken aan Jack Johnson, maar dan in de jaren zeventig met een experimentje of wat funk hier en daar. Geen idee wie die John Martyn is/was, maar ik vond het een prettige ontdekking.
Het eerste nummer, de titeltrack, heeft voor John grote waarde. Ik gun het hem. Maar bij mij krijgt hij de boodschap niet binnen. Waarschijnlijk door het gevoel (dat hij wil overbrengen) articuleert hij bijzonder. Het kost mij moeite om het te verstaan, waardoor de boodschap verloren gaat. Ik merk dat ik geen zin meer heb in de rest. Het wordt gevolgd door twee erg saaie nummers. Dus ik heb wat te overwinnen om door te zetten. Dat lukt mij uiteindelijk, al kost me dat het vierde nummer. Maar die komt aan het eind in de live-uitvoering terug, dus dat is in te halen. Daarna volgt eigenlijk een heel aardig album. Dreams bij the sea heeft een lijntje van bas uit de filmmuziek. Het biedt precies de juiste sfeer en is mooi door te pakken als het nummer nog meer naar de jazz schiet. Easy Blues heet waarschijnlijk Easy omdat dit wel vaker gedaan is. Maar zo doe je jezelf tekort John. Er zijn maar weinig mensen die hun stem zo kunnen gebruiken. Ik middel alles uit naar 3 sterren.
Voor deze albumlijst had ik nog nooit van Fairport Convention gehoord, en nu ken ik straks allerlei spinoffs, collabs of soloplaten van deze (in NL niet) legendarische band. Aan het album van deze voor mij onbekende singer-songwriter werkten bijv leden van Fairport Convention mee. Early 70s, singer-songwriter, dus het zit zeker in het straatje van de bekende singer-songwriters. Hij mengt hier ook bluesnummers tussendoor op zijn akoestische gitaar. En zelfs funky soul a la Isaac Hayes met Dreams by the Sea. Martyn mompelzingt ietwat, maar dat geeft niet, het past vaak bij het tempo van de nummers, die afwisselend traag en dan weer uptempo zijn. De psychedelische rocksong met I'd rather be the devil vind ik echt een outlier tov de rest van het album. Gek genoeg is hiervan dan nog een live uitvoering toegevoegd als bonus op de remaster. Rare keuze op een verder prachtig album.
很lazy
Mellow all over. I liked the sonic textures of the record, Martyn does an excellent job at conbining different genres of music into a complete whole, whilst the album still keeps its folk roots. The songwriting was good, but did become monotone sometimes, when the vocals are added. Overall I can appreciate the record but its not something that blew me away, it missed a certain power to it. Favorite song: Over the hill. Overal score: 6.9/10
I think for me this album falls into the same category as a fair few albums on this list. It didn’t blow me away but I didn’t hate it. It was just fine.
I only liked 1 song-don’t think I’m in the mood for this today
Another bland middle of the road record. Some tracks are extremely boring so I subtracted 1 star
Ein schönes Album mit Jazz-Elementen neben Folk und Rock. Hier wird etwas mehr geboten als nur 3 Minuten.
Awfull
3.5/7 but 4 stars for convenience.
Really good
Stuff like this is why I signed up for this site. Never heard of this guy before. Absolutely loving it. It's jazzy, folksy and a little weird.
I kind of liked it.
Couldn't wait for it to be over. The singing is so annoying, almost like he's trying to be someone else? I don't know but this is hardly impressive and shouldn't have been considered for the 1001 list. 4/10.
My confession is that I do not like jazz. And this has a lot of jazzy piano and rifts. I did not enjoy this. Also I feel like he mumbles a lot - for example, on Solid Air I am not even sure what he is saying a lot of the time. Over The Hill Was descent.
Luv it already lived it
-wow this was an interesting listen. he has such a unique voice and it absolutely made the songs in my opinion, especially the first one. felt like drifting aimlessly through the sky in the evening somewhere in the countryside -enjoyed most of the songs but some of them did feel a little long ig -Favorites are Solid Air, Don’t Want To Know, and I’d Rather Be The Devil
Most of this was a three for me, but the last song I'd Rather be the Devil, was fire. I could listen to that all day.
I like this vibe. Especially liked I'd Rather Be the Devil (live version), Man in the Station, Over the Hill. I didn't especially like Easy Blues. He's just going on and on about how his jelly is so good. I guess I'm just not really into jelly rolls as much as some people. :P
The first half of this album is incredible. Great vibe despite the mumbles. Side two is good, but gets a smidge uninspiring in a few spots. All in all this is a fantastic find!
It’s hard to pinpoint a genre for this. It’s dreamy and folksy and bluesy and a little trippy. The blend of sounds works really well, and I very much enjoyed listening. He’s a little mumbly at times, but that kind of adds to the dreaminess of it. Also like how he lets a lot of the songs breathe at the end. It all felt like a warm bath for my ears.
Overall: 8/10 Folk music with an incredible voice and some experimental tracks. I found myself mesmerized for most of the runtime. Excellent for relaxing late at night. Fav Song: Go Down Easy Least Fav Song: Don't Want to Know
It was alright
Didn’t really enjoy this. I think I just don’t like this style of folk. Couple of parts of songs like the end of Don’t Want to Know were ok. Didn’t like his voice either and the way he mumbled.
I don't have strong feelings on this one. I guess it would be fine as background music, but I didn't really care enough about it after a few songs.
4 sterne
Fine enough. Not stand out. The end of it sounded really like Tom Watts but otherwise it was average.
Not for me. 1/5
I'm not into the slower, more relaxed album but this does have pockets of excitement and is clearly a great example of what it is. Not for me but would be happy to hear again if someone else had it on
Two good songs
Songs like Dreams By The Sea are way up my alley. Jazzy, laid back with a smooth sax solo. May You Never takes me right out with it's creepy acoustic "cafe in a college town" vibes. Mixed bag of an album for sure.
great album
Something very original and eerie about this
I love Solid Air, John Martyn’s voice and guitar, the jazz folk feel, the upright bass. It meanders and take detours and the journey is rich and rewarding. The songs are uniformly excellent but the echoplex tour de force that is Martyn’s cover of Skip James’s “Rather Be the Devil” is breaktaking. Every time.
Beautiful folk rock. Strong melodies. Standout "Over The Hill" great tune.
"I'd Rather be the Devil" is an incredible track, from an artist / album that I'd not heard of before. I can only assume that if the entire album was at this level, then *everyone* would have heard of John Martyn. But it's not, so they haven't.
Acoustic Sade.
This might be the most confounding record I’ve heard so far– both on this list, and in my life. I absolutely LOVE just about 50% of it, but I also absolutely HATE the other 50%!!! The best parts are the folk songs, by a goddamn mile. Sure, they’re very derivative of Nick Drake, fair complaint. However, I think the lyrics are poetic, and, more importantly, the guitar is phenomenal. In a weird way, I can make an ancestral tree tying John Martyn to Mk.Gee (who was my #2 most listened to artist this year); they both have the same playing style and it creates the exact same ✨ethereal busker✨ vibe. I find songs like “Go Down Easy” or “Don’t Want to Know” to be heart-wrenching and amazing, and I really love that sound in guitar-based music, regardless of genre. I also like the more ‘60s folk vibe of “May You Never,” with the percussive playing, and while it’s not my favorite or something I’ll return to, “Over The Hill” is pretty good, too. However, I hate “The Easy Blues,” which sounds cliché and also features some strangely bad singing (more on that in a second). While Martyn clearly feels the most comfortable as a Man and His Guitar™️ act, though, the other half of the record is like….a weird jazz fusion folk record? And it sounds as annoying and as pretentious as that genre description sounds. The worst offender is “I’d Rather Be The Devil,” which I find rambling and nearly unlistenable. Meanwhile, a song like “Solid Air” and “Dreams By the Sea” are bad, mainly because of his atrocious, “deep” singing vocals. I don’t get why he’s putting on this voice, especially when we know he can sing normally, based on the other cuts here, but it is painful to listen to. The jazz noodling on these cuts doesn’t help, either. The standout here, though, “The Man In The Station,” seems to accomplish what Martyn aimed to do with this record, and seamlessly blends together the folk guitar aficionado with the jazz fusion backing band, and does so in a way that feels earnest and earned. Lord knows, then, why he decided to keep these two aesthetics separated like oil and vinegar on the rest of Solid Air, but here, it works, and it’s worth the pay off. But that’s the thing: 9 tracks, 4 hits, 4 misses, and 1 shoulder shrug. How do you rate that? How do you digest that when the hits are mind-blowing and the misses are unlistenable? I’d say the issue is that Martyn clearly needed to choose a lane and stay in it, but that’s not entirely true for either the folk I mostly loved (“The Easy Blues”) or the jazz I mostly hated (“The Man In The Station”). It’s not even like this album will grow on me, because I do truly loathe some of the songs here. In the end, it’s a split, which is unfortunate, because there is a world where I could call Solid Air a favorite record if it was more cohesive and if Martyn accepted his own strengths. Then again, there’s also a world where I hate Solid Air, if Martyn leaned into his demons and made a pretentious jazz fusion record. I guess I should be thankful that that didn’t happen.
More funk than folk, but still not overly compelling. "I'd Rather Be the Devil (Devil Got My Woman)" was a solid track, but the rest were underwhelming.
Album 608 of 1001 John Martyn -Solid Air (1973) Rating : 3 / 5 I enjoyed it but can't claim it to be a "masterpiece" like other reviews I've seen. A very chill album. Nothing that is going to get you hyped up, for sure. It blends folk, jazz, blues, and rock, creating a "unique and immersive soundscape".
I have my issues with this list of albums, but I am quite delighted by the folk music it has shown me, particularly from the UK. This is no exception. Beautiful album, albeit a bit of a mixed bag, stylistically, from song to song, but still tied nicely together with immaculate vibes. Great.
Nice, pleasant listening album.
the nick drake influence is all over this, nice album that doesn’t overstay its welcome
This is the first time I listened to this. Musically it's not bad, but the lyrics are repetitive and the vocals are lacking. It's ok.
Never heard of John Martyn? You're not alone. I don't think he left a lasting impression. Certainly nothing ground breaking here. Interesting. Not bad, even quite good at times. Genre diverse, but that's ok. I definitely zoned out at times. I'd listen again, but not often. Three airy but not solid stars.
A clear predecessor to Talk Talk, Phil Collins, Lewis and James Blake. Had me in a chokehold until the last jelly tracks. Are my problems with the album problems with British music in general? Wonder how he learned the blues.
really liked "I'd rather be the devil" otherwise was a perfectly listenable album, enjoyed parts of it and other bits I zoned out for
Jazzrock, 1973 -> 3
Jazz folk. I like jazz. I like folk. But this combo was OK at best.
Mostly in offensive
Kind of liked this one. Surprised by the different styles of music on here. 3/5 Might listen again
Vocally it was just some old geezer mumbling, I didn't enjoy that aspect at all. However, musically there were some very nice tracks. It was very difficult to put a genre on it - could pick out some influences from folk, rock, jazz.
Folksy stoner slurs his way through a very good album. Noted the length before listening (and that it was the same album twice) so broke it into two sessions. Enjoyed the first session; good guitar work and interesting lyrics. Liked the alt version (second listen) even more - but that was maybe because I was familiar with the songs. May You Never is the song I liked the most; upbeat. Overall, Solid Air is a little slow and a little long. Don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much if one time through - comes in at (3.8*s)
This album has a lot to offer and I really liked the whole experience. This is probably one of my better discoveries from the list, I'd def play it again. A folksy jazz man experiments with funk and different effects while being completely stoned. Yep, it's my in my vibe house. I like almost every track. High 3.45 ::with claps::.
Solid Air is a Solid Album. Martyn got me with his smooth folky tunes. Folk is not certainly not my go to but this album added some funk and blues to the style that I appreciated. "Over the Hill" is top and has been added to my playlist. I liked this enough to check the alternate versions and those are even good (some better). I think it's nice the title track was dedicated to a friend of his that passed but it was actually my least favourite. If I'm in the mood for some chill music... I'd throw this album back on...2.85.
Overall a mixed bag and pretty "meh". It wasn't actively bad but I can't say I liked it either. Pretty forgettable once it finished up. 1.59 stars
like nick drake but for people who’ve never experienced depression. fire album cover tho highlights: solid air, over the hill, the man in the station (jan 10 2025)
Meh. Nice enough voice, bit bland overall.
Swings between good and bad with every song
fell asleep halfway through and woke up 35 min later went back to listen to what I missed and honestly they weren't that good
Couldn't take his weird singing, mumbling and odd vocalizings. The music was passable.
Why does drivel like this make the list? Too many ageing hippies who think this stuff is relevant to anyone. Hated it.
Honestly I love it. I usually don't get much out of these random singer/songwriter albums but damn is this a nice listen. The opening title track is incredible with wistful jazzy bits and then each track after is just nice and simple and catchy. Really surprised by this one! 9/10
good tunes to listen to at night
When this album started I was like oh no, I really wanted to like some good old folk music but this isn’t great but as the album went on it grew on me, the songs, his voice and all by the end I was glad I persevered with it.
Mixed. Solid air is an excellent track, but the movement between genres means that as an album it’s not very coherent.
This is kind of great, real breezy listen. Was over before I knew it. Reminds me of a mix between Father John Misty and Tom Waits.
Some fun jams on here. I loved the instrumentation. Interesting mix of genres. I enjoyed the songs that leaned more into the jazz/blues. I'm not a huge fan of the vocals. They feel like they fall in this awkward spot where they don't punch hard enough to sell the blues style but they aren't eloquent enough to sell the folk style. Favorite song was Dreams by the Sea. 3.5 rounded down to a 3
Meandering lyrics among eclectic instrumental pieces with a moody feel. Not bad. Not great. Meh.
This is well done in some ways and all over the map. I did a double take on the jelly roll song. Skillful playing without a doubt and nice to hear experimentation but nothing about this grabs me enough to come back.
This sucks. Easy listening Jim Morrison. Whatever this is trying to do you can find better versions.
A completely inoffensive album, nothing else to write about
Ganz nett... da ist "May You Never" im Original drauf!
I enjoyed this. At times his enunciation was mushy and slurred and like most artists, there were one or two songs that weren't my favorites but I liked this and thought it had nice variety and cohesiveness. I'd happily listen to this again.
Previously rated: One World (2/5) ************************ There were two notable things about this. One, lyrics mentioning cocaine and mary-jane. Two, one of the songs sounded kind of the the Shaft theme song. Otherwise, very unmemorable stuff. Edit: Adding the "previously rated" header now as I had no memory of listening to someone called John Martyn. I called it super boring and forgettable, so not much has changed.
I've never heard of John Martyn before, but this album cover definitely gives off a vibe that I like, and based on what I've read about this album, I think I'm going to enjoy it. Let's fire it up! I enjoyed this album quite a bit. It felt like a folk album, but with a lot more experimentation in the arrangements. I read that the title track was dedicated to the memory of Nick Drake, and that makes sense, because this album's overall mood and sound reminded me of Nick Drake quite a bit, but without feeling derivative. I really enjoyed the piano and clavinet playing on this album, and the guitar playing was really good too. "Over the Hill" and "May You Never" were my favorite songs on the album, but other than "The Easy Blues," there wasn't really anything that I didn't enjoy. This was a really enjoyable album, and I liked listening to how John Martyn put his own stamp on early seventies folk music.
Do you like jass music? Then this album is for you. I don't like this album its pretty bad. The lyrics aren't good, the guy voice sucks, and I don't like their beat. I would not recommend this album it sucks.
I thought this album was ok. It's music was alright, it didn't really stick with me. Its lyrics were kind of mush to me, so I couldn't really like it. overall its a ok album, I don't think you will miss much not listening to this album.
i give it 1 out 5 because its boring and i dont like it for first songs dosent hype me up. and for rest songs they really dont hype me up.
have you ever heard a song and didn't like it that's what I thought of the album Solid air I don't understand what he is really saying and only could hear a word or 2 and it sounds like he is speaking gibberish and the instruments aren't bad but they really don't make it any interesting this song is bad and I don't recommend listening to it
i think he is sort of expressing his condition he has in a poetic way. i understand why people like this, but im not one of them. i don't hate it, but i just wouldn't listen to it.
Do you like music where you can't understand the lyrics? Then this is the album for you! I don't like anything about this album. I can't understand anything he is singing. I don't like the background music, I don't even like the lyrics. That is why I recommend you DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM!
Do you like Blues? Then this is the album for you! In my opinion, I don't like this album. But if you like Jazz or Blues, I think you would. I like the music in the background though.
I don´t really like the instrumentals and the vocals are bad. Do not recommend this most people. 2/10
I struggled to rate this, although I definitely did enjoy it. There were many reasons to not give it the full 5 stars, the mumbling/ weird vocals in some parts and there were weaker songs near the end. However, it still felt like it should be a five star album somehow.
Not my cup of tea.
I had apparently previously listened to another album from this artist as part of this list, but I have very little recollection of doing so. This is pretty out there, with traditional jazz sounds being accompanied by interesting instrumental choices such as the use of the mandolin, autoharp, and different types of electric pianos among others. However, Martyn's delivery is pretty unwelcoming and doesn't really complete the musical picture here. File this under: "Immediately forgotten after listening".
This was pretty cool - too jazzy to go into regular rotation for me, but I'm glad it was on this list as I really liked the guitars and would likely have never come across it otherwise
Not bad. Different. Never heard. Spa like. But in the right setting… like a lazy sun-drenched afternoon on the veranda, overlooking the unsettled Hawaiian surf, palm trees high above, pressing into warm trade winds like reporters covering hurricanes, eyes weary yet fighting the nap that will not be denied … well then, this album is just about right.
Eww no
Not sure why this album is on the list. It just did very little for me. This guy sure loved some jelly.
He didn’t sound along with his music like the 70’s it felt more current
I really struggled with what to give this album. I think I'm going with a 4. After the first song I was like wow this is getting a 1 but then the second song hit and the one after and I was like wow this guy can actually sing he just chose not to on the first song. This cycle kinda repeated a couple times. On the tracks where John mumble, slurs his way through the lyrics it's not great, kinda painful. On the ones where he actually sings it's quite lovely. The instruments sound really nice and I absolutely loved that aspect of this album. That's kinda the only reason this album is getting a 4 is because of that.
this was not bad-was nice, low key background music. nice acoustic & vocals, kinda tuned out lyrics...... a solidly "ok" listen, but won't seek out to hear again.
Not for me
This was decent enough. There were times where I thought it was going to be genuinely good, but it never quite got there. A high three.
Vibraphone is a nice touch over the acoustic guitar on Solid Air. Song has a groove to it. Over The Hill is a fine folk rock song about what seems to be a conflicted man leaving someone (a mistress?). Verse to verse he speaks to his love of sweet cocaine and Mary Jane, but wants to go home and see his family. And yet he's leaving someone in disgrace... I'd Rather be the Devil strays a way from the path of the album thus far. More funk-forward and experimental sounding. I really enjoy Go Down Easy -- reminds me of Nick Drake. Dreams By the Sea resurrects the funky atmosphere of I'd Rather be the Devil, complete with \"Shaft\" style high-hat work, keys, and sax. Low-key jam. This was solid -- I'll come back for another listen, but first impression is high 3 - low 4. Second pass through this was really enjoyable, but I preferred his other album on the list a bit more. Going high 3 here.
Little jazzy which I liked, but there really wasn't anything special about this album at all. I listened to 4 more songs after the album ended before I realized. Singer didn't do it for me. 2-3 territory, but I'm feeling spiteful for no reason.
Really nice funky jazzy bluesy songs much like John Martyn's last album that we listened to. This one sounded much more straight forward in a way that it mainly stuck to one genre. His voice goes very well with the guitar picking and sometimes washboard noises that came in. I hate to compare this to his last album but I think I liked that one more with some variety in it. This is still an extremely solid 4 and is now solidifying my thought that I need to dive into some more John Martyn
This is more of what I was expecting with that last acid folk album. Great sounds, but also a chill ass voice. I can dig it. Also love the first song that was dedicated to Nick Drake even before he died.
Interessant.
Not great.
I played this a couple of times actually (and even watched an old concert of Martyn that happened to go out on BBC2 the other day) and I still don't quite know what to make of it. And maybe that's the problem. I like the vibe; the sort of experimental, jazzy approach to the serious-seventies-man-with-guitar trope. But there is quite a bit of stuff that's too noodle-y for me and there's too much pretend blues-y stuff at the edges and with that in mind I can't really tell if I find the actual songs contained within pretty and convincing enough.
Solid album.
Fine.
The folky parts were good but I didn't like the more experimental bits. Middling 2.
2.5
Pleasant listening and an interesting mashup of styles. I heard some Zeppelin, some Pink Floyd, and even some Nuno Bettencourt. Some interesting guitar licks. The Elvis mumble-singing got on my nerves a bit, but I appreciated this original effort.
When this is good it's really good. But a handful of the songs on this are just sort of stupid. It has high highs in the genre of 70s singer-songwriter, but I found myself a bit annoyed with the album by the end of my listening.
buen disco en un año con excepcionales lps. No consiguió ser escuchado por ser bastante espartano.
chill, nice vibe. road trip sort of vibe.
Never heard of John Martyn before. This is really enjoyable. Lots of different styles going on with this album and they all work pretty well. Glad to have heard this and I'll check out the rest of his catalog.
I was high listening to this and it wasn’t chill
Meh. I understand why it's here and enjoyed it okay, but not my jam.
As I reach the end, I really just appreciated sub-40 minute albums. This helped me enjoy this a lot more than I might have before. Short and sweet. Still pretty mid.
chill album with good musicianship defn got a nick drake vibe even before i read there was a song written for him.
Alright album
Meh. I dont hate it, but I'm not likely to ever listen to it again, you know? 3/5
Aijaijaijaij millasta soosia korviin kiitoksia
This is excellent. I had never heard anything by John Martyn before. A lot of folk - even the good stuff - can be repetitive. There was good variation here, while at the same time sounding like a cohesive album.
Some interesting instrumental stuff, but was not a fan of the indistinct, mumbled singing.
Yes this was pretty good! John Martyn is growing on me more and more. Recognised a couple as well. Soothing and earthy
Yeah pretty good I guess. Was nice and relaxing and had a lot of depth. Can't said I'd be rushing to listen again but certainly liked it
Best artist and album discover so far. Really really nice.
Dramatic
Country music that's quite alright. Not my type though.
Azt hiszem, én magam lepődtem meg a legjobban, hogy a Dreams by the Sea-t ismertem, csak épp nem ebben a verzióban. Amúgy egészen jó ez az album. Kellemesen el tudom hallgatni, pont estére kiváló.
jó szóval nem tudtam erről semmit, és úgy kezdem el hallgatni hogy fogalmam se volt mit kapok. én ezt a műfajt imádom, ez az album gyönyörű és szuper kifinomult, és hallatszik, hogy a csávó abszolút képzett zeneileg. négy és felet adnék, mert vmiért the vibes are not vibing, DE akarok adni ennek egy esélyt egy chill hétvégi délutánon egy bögre teával a kanapémon, szóval megadom neki az ötöst előlegbe.
I thought I'd like this more than I do. I love Solid Air and his voice is incredible but in the end, it's just a good blues album. Nothing particularly remarkable about it except for the fact that it can slot neatly into the blues cannon despite it being made many years later and by a white guy. Still, a nice listen.
I had no idea what I was in for here, and I absolutely hated the first track. The vocal style seems to be different on the rest of the album though, and it turns out to be a pretty diverse and interesting 40 minutes. Not something I'll listen to often, but not everything on this list has to be.
Very interesting blend of genres. The jazz, blues, and folk influence ménagerie together to create a Scottish Maine lighthouse soup vibe. It's the windy, chill brother of John Denver perhaps. Favorites include Over the Hill, Don't Want to Know, Dreams by the Sea, and the Man in the Station.
Great sound and a great album. Whoever was playing the guitar needs a raise. The whole thing feels groovy but also relaxing. Favorites were Over The Hill, I'd Rather Be The Devil, and Dreams By The Sea.
This one was completely new to me and I had never heard of this artist before. I am pleasantly surprised. That was a very enjoyable listen and I will definitely be returning to it again. His voice is really good and the blending of folk and blues styles works really well. Favorites were Don’t Want To Know, Dreams By The Sea, May You Never, and The Man In The Station.
Crazy that John Martyn has not one, but two snoozefests on the list. I think I enjoyed this a tad more than One World, but come on.
I’ve already had One World by Martyn on this list - a boring album with a phenomenal closing track. So I’m honestly surprised to see, that he’s got more albums on this list. Solid Air is more bluesy than One World and I don’t really get the point of that. I found him way more interesting, when he experienced with ambient music.
Interesting listen. I did not know John Martyn before today, and it was alright background guitar-driven music.
Bin überrascht, hatte ich schon per default in die 70er Jahre kennt kein Schwein Singer/Songwriter 1* Ecke sortiert. Aber das Album ist wirklich originell und abwechslungsreich. Manchmal gibts hier auch positive Überraschungen.
Boring.
Like the acoustic guitar and the rhythms. Feels good. Soft vocals add to the authenticity of it, in my opinion.
This is my Pink Moon. Best Songs: Solid Air, Dreams By The Sea, May You Never, The Man In The Station Worst Songs: NA
Achei ok
I had never heard of this artist before and when I saw the words “British folk singer-songwriter” in the Wikipedia excerpt, I was seriously dreading listening to this. I figured I was in for another Donovan-type album, but this was surprisingly enjoyable. Reminded me a lot of Nick Drake but - and I am loathe to say this about a British folk singer-songwriter - kind of funky. I guess it is more jazzy than funky, but I swear I heard echos of Curtis Mayfield’s Super Fly soundtrack in “Dreams by the Sea”. I am glad to have heard this for the first time and I am planning to check out more music by this artist.
I actually love the melodies and music, but John Martyn has to be the laziest singer I've ever heard. He's got some serious mush mouth at times and his lyrics are completely incomprehensible. Pretty great other than that.
I liked it more than I expected, but there were still many moments I wasn't too keen on. The guitar and singing style is overall good. However, I don't think I'd listen again. Highlights: Over The Hill Dreams By The Sea
I honestly don't know how to feel about this album. There's such a unique aesthetic for a very unique mood captured here, but I found some of the music and writing here way too bare. The double-bass dominant tracks are jazzy and hypnotic (especially on the opening title track), but this one instrumental palate dominates the album and grows tiresome at certain points. You occasionally get more traditionally leaning folk cuts and sometimes the music explodes and picks up with these funkier bits like on 'The Man in The Station', but generally the mood here is constant and very warm. The slurred and soulful vocals do however perfectly complement all the music here, it's a match made in heaven and very well done. While I may sound negative, I'm well aware that I'll need a few more listens to fully absorb this album's intricacies and to grow and appreciate the writing here. There are some genuinely great moments here like the ominous and almost ambient leanings closing out 'Id Rather Be the Devil' and I think 'May You Never' is a genuinely perfect folk song. Also, this entire album just does not sound like it was released in 1973 at all - so that's gotta be worth something.
Solid Air was smooth., Over the Hill was a nice almost country twang at the start to the guitar, and then a little more folksy. The last few tracks diverged a bit. (Devil Got My Woman, etc.)
hmmm, in between a 2 and 3 for me, but since there were some nice acoustic songs in there so I'll round up
What a mellow experience. My heart rate slowed and stressed melted away.
Skip…Skip…Skip… 2/10 for one good song
Dill just does nothing for me
I really love the song Don’t Want to Know, but hated his up and down singing throughout the rest of the album
A great chill album. A feel similar to Air and Zero 7.
Didnt like this. Not sure why but it just didnt click for me. Nothing jumped out and it was quite boring
A lot going on here.
Love this album! Got it on vinyl. It came up in some list of albums if I like Nick Drake. At first I thought the vocals were a bit much but this album really is great sounding, catch songs, nice psychedelic breaks, folky stuff, a song for Nick Drake. 4.5+
Lewis put me on to this guy I thank you Lewis Nearly nudged a 5 but just missed Nope just got it
Was split between 4 and 5, but just had to be 5
Loved! Will keep on rotation!
This didn’t leave much of an impression, to be honest. I did enjoy solid air but not much else
These are new sounds to me, and I'm surprised this was released in the 70s (feel like it's not the first time I say this). I had 'The Man In The Station" saved previously and was pleasantly surprised to find similar-sounding tracks with enough differences to keep it interesting. 4.5
Nice
Good folk rock
Nette Stimme und auch sonst ganz ok. Aber was macht es besonders? 2,4
Its a lot better than I thought it would be
Not my everyday go-to type of music but it’s very nice. I enjoyed some of the songs more than others.
"Solid Air" is the fourth studio by Scottish singer-songwriter John Martyn. Folk rock, folk jazz and folk pyschedelic. Yes, yes and yes. This album was recorded over eight days with contributions by bassist Danny Thompson and members of Fairport Convention. Martyn sang lead vocals and played acoustic and electric guitars and keyboards. The album was produced by Martyn and John Wood. It also received favorable reviews. The self-titled "Solid Air" begins with an acoustic guitar, bass and piano. Martyn's haunting, longing vocals come in. Piercing vibraphone keys and a Tony Coe sax solo at the end. A song that was dedicated to Nick Drake who shortly die after the albums'release. "Over the Hill" is more uplifting with an acoustic guitar strumming and those contributions with Richard Thompson on mandolin, Simon Nicol on auto harp and Sue Draheim on the violin. It's folksy rock. "Don't Want to Know" has slow and fast spots and fits in both the folk blues and jazz genres. A lone acoustic guitar with a hand also hitting the side of guitar is the instrument of choice in "May You Never." This is straight-forward folk and Martyn with his voice really reminds me of Cat Stephens. The collected band actually gets the rock going in "The Man in the Station." It's another beautiful song. This is an excellent album. It's kind of a rare combination of equal parts folk, blues, jazz and rock. And even one funky song. Martyn's voice is superb and very understated. The one time he's not, on the closer "The Easy Blues," he does his best Tom Waits. There's not a weak song here and no filler. This is an album that mostly everyone should enjoy.
mjög fín!
Musical dna. Beyond criticism for me. For all the talk of Eric, Jeff, Jimmy, Rory, Peter and Pete, the acoustic guys were cutting just as much edge. And in fact Page was deeply influenced by this sort of stuff. Incredibly brilliant stuff.
If I judged an album by its cover, it's say it's going to be spacey and out there. And it is. Psychedelic Folk Impressionistic ? Interesting. Performance ART style of music. Imagine it live. Would be glorious to drop into THAT room. I will be back for more.... Great new album and artist is never heard of. Feels alive and live and catchy. I assume this is regarded as a high end and very special cool local blues and roots band.
Pretty sure I’ve already recounted how I got the phone call mid-morning from a mate studying at Sydney Uni, telling me to leave work (at the Immigration Dept in Sydney)& get my arse to the Union Theatre (now The Footbridge Theatre) at Sydney Uni, to catch a free lunchtime concert by John Martyn. To this day, that concert - just Martyn with guitars that had more wires & effects pedals connected to them than I’d ever seen before - was one of the most amazing I’ve ever witnessed. He walked onstage looking so hungover - his drinking & drug abuse were legendary - but his performance was mind-blowing. I love this record - I’ve listened to it a half-dozen times in the last few days & it always thrills me. It opens with the title track, which is such a highlight. He wrote it as a tribute to his mate, Nick Drake, who would die a year later of a drug overdose. His vocals on that track are sublime & the sax, Danny Thompson’s double bass & Tristan Fry’s vibes (he was a timpanist on The Beatles “A Day In The Life)are all major contributors to the track. Other highlights are OverThe Hill, on which Richard Thompson contributes mandolin; Rabbit Bundrick’s beautifully restrained keyboards on Don’t Want To Know; & very 70’s Go Down Easy. But above all, May You Never - one of the greatest ballads written in the 70’s. Throughout, despite the great musicianship, it is Martyn’s unique voice that stars. The only slightly limp track is the closer - The Easy Blues. I’d say John might have been eager to get to the pub. His right leg was amputated below the leg in 2006 & he was only 60 when he died in 2009. His first wife & musical partner, Beverly Martyn, in her autobiography, accused him of bouts of domestic violence. Didn’t stop him getting an OBE just before he died. Really.
This is possibly the most laid-back album I have ever heard. Smooth, jazzy, mellow without being mere wallpaper. The mixture of jazz, folk, blues and a little bit of rock is wonderful. I knew the title track already from a chill out compilation cd that came attached to the cover of those expensive UK music mags (Q or Mojo or Uncut) that I used to buy in the late 90s and early 2000s. They were a pretty great way to be introduced to new music, especially when the disc was thematically curated (chill out! The roots of hip hop! Songs that inspired REM!). So I first heard the song Solid Air squeezed between Nick Drake (makes sense) and Groove Armada (but more of a stretch). Listening to this whole album I am surprised at how much each song has its own identity. I listened to this three times through in a trot. This goes onto my want list. Was it massively influential? Possibly not, but a great, great record
Almost too tasteful, but thick grooves here. Music for the good stuff, sex, dreaming, taking long walks etc.
This sentence made me throw up in my mouth a bit... "Solid Air is the fourth studio album by Scottish folk singer-songwriter John Martyn, released in February 1973". Everything about that screams RUN! RUN NOW! PURE SHITE! I was mostly right. Dreams by the Sea and the "Jelly Roll" part of The Easy Blues are good. As for the rest... well you know... RUN! RUN NOW! PURE SHITE!
Y otro desconocido más. El folk no es mi género, desde luego.
The definition of an okay, unremarkable album.
Folk-rock, almost jazz at times - a masterpiece. The title track is moody and brilliant, "I'd Rather Be the Devil" (a version of the Skip James song "Devil Got My Woman") is funky and definitely "out there", while his signature song "May You Never" was later covered by Eric Clapton.
I actually found a British album I liked. Jokes aside though, this album had some very interesting experimental tracks, and the jazz influence combines oddly well with English folk.
Very good.
Forgettable
If someone told me this was a favorite of theirs, I would run very far away.
Just OK...nothing special.
Never heard the album or heard of the artist before. Pretty good album, if a little inconsistent. "I'm the only man bakin' jelly and I keep my devil down"
Not bad, but didn’t really connect with me.
A guy who finally seems to be getting the recognition and appreciation he deserves, and who was a huge influence on at least two distinct movements of singer-songwriters. The album is very good, without ever quite ascending to great, but considering it was 1973(!) when it was out, it is an achievement that it still doesn't sound dated or stale at all. A nice story behind it too - a tribute to a friend who was still alive to hear it. I'm not sure whether to give the Scottish bonus point - he was born in Surrey, but spent half his childhood in Scotland. Giving 1/2 star for 1/2 Scottish makes this a solid 4 for me!
A 3 but not quite a 4 3.5? Worth a few listens 👍🏻
Nice and dreamy
I think he is very talented, but this really isn't something that I personally enjoyed that much.
Barely better than his first album on here. Actually, not really. Very dull. Amazing he gets two listings and others get none.
I have a soft spot for this type of music and choosing to ignore that alternative cuts made it better. Not all that memorable, really sleepy and ambient.
ok i guess
The title track would be a good jazz number if Martyn didn’t mumble his way through the whole thing. It’s apparent he can do it from the other songs, why fuck this one up? It’s otherwise a good song! He does the same thing in “man in the station”. This album seems a bit divided about what it wants to do. It’s kinda jazz/lounge and kinda folk. I actually like the former but I could really do without the latter. I figured the whole album would sound like “Over the Hill” and I’m glad it doesn’t. Once you get over the first two songs which are the prime examples of the two styles, it does start to fit together a bit better. Beth Orton does a cover with “don’t wanna know about evil” with William Orbit that is way better than this one, but I feel that way about many covers of 70s singer/songwriter tunes. It’s a good song regardless. This isn’t a bad listen but I doubt I’ll put anything on it on a playlist other than the first track for drugs purposes. I was expecting a lot worse.
This was poisoned before listening by sharing a name with one of my least favorite people. I also hated it.
Mumbly, droning, dull singing-songwriting. This is the sound of one of the forgettable background musicians in Inside Llewyn Davis, except for the excellent reverberting live version of I'd Rather Be The Devil at the end of the album. Apart from that, I couldn't wait for this album to be over.
July 8th, 2024 HL: title track, "Over the Hill", "May You Never", "I'd Rather Be the Devil" Pleasant folky album, didn't stir me as much as his other one on this list (album #768), but I'd like to revisit this in the future (maybe when the leaves start changing) The upright bass player- Danny Thompson according to the liner notes- really stood out for me tonight for some reason. He also plays on One World, as well as Rod Stewart's Every Picture Tells a Story and the Incredible String Band's The 5000 Spirits, two other folky albums I enjoy.
inoffensive music from the 70s
Flashes of brilliance lost in a sea of terrible lyrics and vocals of a guy that sounds like he either just woke up or is on heavy opiates. Either way, there was no soul in most of this. The backing band saved it in the parts where it teetered into listenability. I wouldn’t ever listen to this again and I almost stopped listening multiple times.
I like it. Chill.
I like the vibe, laid back, jazzy, singing in his own language. Enunciating mostly the vowels makes for interesting vocalese. Means I focus on the voice, not the words. I like that, and I like his voice and preformance. I'm not usually a fan of singer/songwriters with a guitar. But he makes really great use of percussion, electronica and the quieter side of instrumentation. I got sort of bored at the end, but I'll bet his live performances were really great. 4 stars for being so different and interesting.
This album felt a bit all over the place in terms of quality, some songs I could see myself jamming out to whilst others left me underwhelmed. Definitely a bit of a mixed bag.
High 3
Sounded weirdly modern, even though its from 1972. I would believe it if someone told me it came out in 1992 or 2002.
Love it. 4*
Alright album but not a lot there to keep me interested. Easy to listen to soft rock.
Calming album with some odd flourishes here and there with John's voice and delivery being pretty unique and pleasing even if I did not always connect with it. I might need to revisit this one on a different day, allowing it to sink in a little more. For now, as far as ratings go, it sits in a weird spot between a high 3 and low 4.
Ois voinut keikahtaa kolmoseenkin.
No expectations going in. Liked it quite a bit coming out. Some wonderful songwriting here. Good playing. Really like his voice. Not sure how often I'll revisit this, but it's certainly good to chill with. Unexpected bangers: I'd Rather Be The Devil, Dreams by the Sea, Don't Want to Know. Also, as Spotify continued, it hit me with a couple of additional Scott Walker tracks that were better than "Scott 2" by a mile.
This is completely new to me! It is insanely rare I'm unaware of an artist or band. Wow. First song is a great acoustic jazz, Floydian-keyboard song. Hmm. Very interesting. This is a very cool, eclectic album, that is hard to explain. Way more Floydian than I thought it would be. It also has a small hint of Krautrock, but is certainly in the mellowish acoustic rock of this time period. What the heck?! Some trippy funk!?!?! This this is wonderfully crazy, but cohesive. Wow.
By the second track, I said, out loud, "I like this at lot"
Not a fan of the guys voice
straight vibes baby
Nah
Perfectly chill. Can’t believe I’ve never done across the artist or album
Yawn fine
This was a cool album. In the last song, I asked the question of is that a theremin which is fun. Listened to at the airport on an early Monday morning
Really liked it. Folk, blues, psychedelic rock, jazz combined in a really appealing way.
It's a "mixed bag", as many reviews topping this section point out. The good (moving folk tunes "Over The Hill" or "Go Down Easy" ; the more-mundane-yet-decent "May You Never") and the groundbreaking (the instrumentation of "Solid Air", the airy, experimental conclusion of "I'd Rather Be The Devil"--sounding like nothing else in 1973) are mixed with the inconsequential,("The Man In The Station", which goes nowhere fast ; "Dreams By The Sea", immediately forgettable ; "The Easy Blues", lively but a little empty) and the utterly bad, bordering on muzak, such as "Solid Air"', once again, along with main song "I'd Rather Be The Devil", which are either hackneyed or awkward as compositions... Odd how this tracklisting neither rhymes nor reasons. And this lack of cohesivemess is worsened by one key feature for the jazzy / bluesy cuts. John Martyn was a very skilled guitar player and singer-songwiter--a treat for the folk tunes. Yet for the jazzier tracks, he took on a different persona, inexplicably. And on those tracks, he sings as if he had a potato in his mouth. The result come off as overaffected, and it's mind-boggling to consider no one was in a position to advise Martyn against this very strange choice for his vocal performance. Mixing folk music and jazzy flavours is a delicate endeavor. You need a voice of your own, both figuratively and literally speaking. Joni Mitchelll had such voice. John Martyn had a potato. Number of albums left to review: 165 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 361 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 211 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 268 (including this one)
Not my style
Oooh! Unexpected jazz/blues elements with modern folk stylistics; how surprising, polished and confident. Quite enjoyable!
Interesting music, but the mostly mumble vocals are not to my liking. 2.0
“Can we get Nick Drake?” “We have Nick Drake at home.” Nick Drake at home: Solid Air by John Martyn
This ain’t it 🤣
High 2. Liked it more than I thought I would
1. A smooth combination of country and jazz. 2. As a whole, the album isn't that good but there are tracks that do standout from the rest. 3. Not recommended for people who likes vocals. 4. For people who want to chill listening to different kinds of instruments.
Some fine ideas in here but for the love of god what is this man saying? 2.5
Not bad, real mumble-core shit. Playboi Carti ancestor type shit.
Nog eens !
A bit boring to me. I didn't understand what makes it something in the 1001 albums list.
Very chill. A little jazzy and a little bluesy. Good for a Tuesday morning.
Never heard of this artist or album. I was surprised at how un-Folk it was, strong 70s vibe, and nod towards Nick Drake. Enjoyed it, not sure if I need to return. Most interesting track was probably Dreams by the Sea
Sad slow and kinda snoozefest
2.5/5