Solid Air

enunciate 2.5

Haven't liked much both the lyrics and the singer

just not my vibe

As one who likes to judge books by their covers... this cover made me think "I'm going to hate this." After the mumble-fest title track, I was ready to give this 1* and just accept the fact I was going to be in pain for the next 30 minutes. "Over the Hill" though, surprised me. It was a simple, well constructed folk song, and I was thinking the album was turning a corner. The thing is, whenever Martyn tries to go jazzy... he breaks out this weird vocal delivery that is plain terrible. Most of the rest of the album fell into this pit for me. The one notable exception is when he broke out the 70's funk on "Dreams By the Sea". That track was exceptional. Two tracks I liked, 7 tracks I really couldn't get into. It wasn't unlistenable, so I give it 2 stars.

I haven't been this confused since Cocteau Twins (but at least there we had top-notch ambience to fall back on). Look, I'm probably the last person that should be critical of someone else's mumbling, but I'm also not a singer asking others to listen to and, presumably, pay for my work. The music, itself, is passable. I'm just not sure I can separate the instrumentation from the vocals - or should even have to try. The whole product is what the whole product is. If this had been purely instrumental (or vocally performed by someone competent), I'd have probably landed around a 3, but John Martyn's wounded moan and lack of enunciation butcher the experience. This escapes failure - but just barely... and mostly because I'm simply tired of handing out 1s.

Nice voice. Just wasn’t my vibe.

The only profound thought I had about this album is that he sounds like a discount doors cover band singer at times. The rest left so little impression on me, it's almost impressive.

It's like the blandest attempt at funk, or interesting folk, or jazz rock.

white guy blues, ehh

This mostly just feels like a Nick Drake wannabe who’s missing the precision of Tom Waits. Don't get me wrong, the atmosphere is solid, that smoky, late-night mix of folk, jazz, and blues is sometimes my thing. The instrumentation is great, especially the guitar, the double bass, and the sax, which create a really cool, hypnotic vibe. The title track, in particular, is perfect for a late night listen. But man, the moment he starts singing, the whole thing falls apart for me. Instead of someone haunting like Drake or a storyteller like Waits, it just sounds like he’s slurring and mumbling through the whole record. Half the time I couldn't even tell what he was saying, and it just drags down some otherwise really pretty arrangements.

Sort of a winey voice ruins it for me.

There were a couple that were decent vibes. A bit of a fan of Solid Air and Over the Hill had a couple decent portions. But overall? Meh

Not really my type of music, cool though

This guys singing is so irritating learn to say words properly you sound like you have sand in your mouth

#972. I know I've whined about this so much already that you're surely tired of hearing it, but this list is very much not the 1001 best albums out there, it's just one random boomer's dream record collection. He probably should have ran it by someone before he published the book. Just like if you let my Millenial friend Chuck make a list of 1001 albums, there'd probably be at least 164 2000s butt rock albums on there- but Breaking Benjamin, Staind, Hoobastank, Nickleback, and 3 Days Grace have no place on a list like this any more that John Martyn, Brian Eno, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, or Morrissey do. So, so, so much uninteresting nonsense here. 2/5: boring boomer rock

One or two good songs, but descends into parody by the end. Reminds me of some of my least favorite bits of Donovan -- trying too hard to sound like a soul musician.

2,5

boring

J’ai trouvé ça plutôt répétitif

Honestly there are some interesting songs in here, particularly the first one. But nothing really stood out. It was all very mellow however and a pleasant listen.

I bet John got a lot of sex in the 70s, but never once brought his partner to orgasm.

aah british folk. er singt uuhuere amerikanischs englisch. find d text irgendwie uuuhuere nervig. hm. hä. de schluss vo i'd rather be the devil (jo obvio traumjob) isch mega weird. okeee s wird besser, ich hanen am afang glaub afoch nöd vertreit. may you never isch guuet.

5/10 Bastante aburrido, no es malo del todo pero no tiene nada que me llame la atención

Dreary

Blah. 2.5

Not really for me. Too depressing.

Too yacht-rocky, I'm really not a fan of his singing style Best Song: May You Never Rating: 4/10 Stars: 2

I like the couple songs that are blues-y but the rest was a little strange to me.

The guitar playing was kinda good but everything else is a bit on the lamer side

It's certainly a more chilled album with interesting parts. I found Dreams by the Sea to be the highlight of the album which had nice jazz elements, the rest was just too folky for my taste. This is definitely someones cup of tea, but it ain't mine.

It had a blues/folk sound, but also some funk/disco elements thrown in. I didn't like it.

En artist jag aldrig hört talas om tidigare. Inte riktigt min musik; fint men också lite tråkigt. Sista låten I'd rather be the devil är dock fantastisk. Om hela albumet hade varit låtar av det slaget hade det varit en solklar 5:a. Nu blir någonstans mellan en 2:a och 3:a. Lite för stillsamt för min smak.

2/5

Remarkably unremarkable

A sort of laidback meandering guitar and vocals kind of album. Not really my thing.

I wanted to like this more given some of the other players on it who were/are some of the most well known in Brit folk circuit. But alas, the solid turned to gas pretty quickly. I just couldn’t get past his vocal delivery. All I could think about was the scene in Talladega Nights where Ricky Bobby says to Jean Girard: “I don’t understand a thing you just said. You sound like a dog with peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth.”

Goodness this was all over the place. First 3 songs had me like 🥱, then I’d rather be the devil had me like 🤔and the rest I was just kind like 😕. 1.75

Isn't horrible but just comes up short.

A lot of acoustic guitar plinking and plunking and not much substance.

It’s not bad but I don’t know why I’d ever listen to this one again I listened to this album like 6 hours ago and I already forgot everything about it other than the first song being elevator music. Absolutely nothing offensive in this one but it’s definitely on the boring side. There’s some alright parts for sure and my opinion kinda seesawed for each successive track I heard It’s exceedingly generic, from the dudes name to the album name to the tracks and lyrics. I bet I’d give this a 3 on a day where I was more bored but a 2 feels more right today

Very nice

at least one really good song. kinda all over the place in terms of style. Fav song: Over the Hill

It's a nice sounding record, but didn't strike me as anything amazing

Ninguna canción que destacar Tranquilo de fondo

Mid 2 stars

I didn’t get much out of it. Couple tracks were ok, but a lot of them felt like the LaCroix of music. Like, they know what music is, and created something that’s only kind of close, but obviously not quite there

The first song led me to think this was gonna be a real stinker. I ended up liking the second song more but the damage had been done and there wasnt enough good to offset the bad

2 out of 5 Some songs were actually ok. Rest were too soft rock for me.

When I was a kid they used to sell these 70s mellow listening comps on TV. There were songs from James Taylor, Bread, The Carpenters, Looking Glass, etc. Many of the songs from those commercials sound just like the songs on this record.

Couldn't get through the whole thing. Just wasn't my kind of music.

Some unique compositions with unexpected instruments, but otherwise not terribly memorable. I’d consider listening to it again, but I’d probably remember it as much on that listen, which is to say, barely at all.

i was bored

Luckily the instruments saved this from being one star

Too boring and too much mumbling. 2.5

A little too esoteric

nice

me gustaron 2 temas aprox, medio random igual no es malo

honestly forgot it was on after I hit play.

Kinda like 70s Jack Johnson, which is to say, not too interesting to me.

Another white noise solo guitar album

Some nice folk songs and then some meandering slop.

Some songs were quite nice and mellow easily listening but some were a bit… warbly? The way he sang was a bit weird at times.

His singing was a bit slurry, but not terrible. I kind of liked this album.

I found this interesting at times but overall extremely grating. The title track in particular set my teeth on edge.

can’t hear clearly what he’s singing about, certainly not my vibe

Soft rock schmooze

So I guess he used to be a little bit more bearable before 'One World'

A bit too easy listening for me.

Not a huge fannnn 👎🏼

This sounds like what I’ve heard talented buskers play in the train stations. Now i wish I’d given them a few extra bucks because they were better than this without the benefit of a studio. This artist’s voice is too affected for my taste. A 2.

Moderately interesting music, awful singer

Music for the background where you won’t have to devote any mental energy as it is so mellow as to become ambient with whatever environment you are in. This is essentially music for libraries. You’re not going to crank the shit out of this. Drink your tea. Read a book. Title says it all: solid air. Take a nap. 2/5

Probably a2.

I don't get it. . . There's obvious musical talent here. Someone went to the trouble to write lyrics - only to have the singer slur and mumble through them. Was actually surprised when "The Easy Blues" started playing and I could understand and appreciate the lyrics; however, that changed to a completely different song about 2:16. The lyric execution is so bad, so distracting, that I have no reason to come back to this even though the music is, sometimes, worth listening to in isolation. Just a notch above experimental.

Levyssä ei sinänsä mitään vikaa, ei vaan oo mun juttu. Tykkäsin laulajan rouheammasta laulusta, sitä tosin oli vähän. Soitto oli 70-lukulaista progeen vivahtavaa.

Solid Air drifts slow Warm voice, but songs fade away— Half-clouded sunrise.

idk man

por mais que eu não tenha curtido tanto, é incrível como esse álbum parece TÃO atual. não sei se foi o excelente trabalho de remasterização ou ele já é assim msm, mas parece que eu estava ouvindo um álbum de 2010, não de 1973. a produção brilhou aí!

2.5 - Didn't dislike it but it never fully grabbed my attention

Not much there for me.

Nicht so meins

Some songs reminded me of Michael Hedges exploring guitar combinations.

First song seemed like all mumbles and mostly annoyed me. Things cleared up after that it was alright. Nothing especially rememberable aside from song about jelly

Might have pushed it to a 3 if he hadn’t mumbled the entirety of the lyrics

The guitar effects were cool, but overall it's pretty forgettable.

Pretty much like the other John Martyn album. Interesting, but nothing that moves me. 2.5/5

A little too low-key for me. Nothing to return to in the future. Not bad, just not appealing.

meh

I mildly hate this guy

Almost forgot to rate. I do enjoy that first song but that was it, thought I'd like this more but it's more like a 2.8, almost a 3.

I quite like the album cover, and I'd never heard of the guy before, so I daftly allowed myself to get a bit excited to listen to this. I like the jazzy influences that are peppered throughout, but that's about it for the highlights. You can add as many different aspects from different genres as you want, but if you're making a folk rock album, it's going to be boring like all the other folk rock albums. Makes it worse that his voice sounds like shite

Don't Want To Know: what a fucking banger everything else: john don't sing with your mouth full, it's rude as hell

A bit of pre-thereal strikes the list again. Varied and fun here and there, but nothing caught my attention too severely.

First song did not do it for me but the rest was ok.

Yeah, so that's an album. I used to think I had a mumbling problem. Turns out I'm just a rock star. Very different stuff on this one. He mentions it's fuelled by cocaine and mary-jane ... you can kind of tell.

Nice, then boring, then tiresome.

Unbearably boring.

stop mumbling!

Forgettable

It’s alright

dad music, heard this one so many times as a kid. probably liked it more now than i ever did then

2/5 Never heard of John Martyn before plus I don't enjoy singer/songwriter acoustic music. This album seems forgettable, although pretty chill if being used as background music. There's not a single song that sticks out for me here. I'd rather listen to Clapton, America or Cat Stevens, all of them made considerably better music.

okay this is not for me either LMFAO omg jk he started saying "i don't wanna know bout evil i wanna know bout love" and i really felt that damn.... jk this is not good again... jk dreams by the sea is good again. this is giving me whiplash

I won't lie, I struggled to get through the first song. This almost felty comedic with Martyn seemingly babbling nonsense over airy, easy listening production.

Boooooorrrrrrriiiiiiinnnnnngggggg

Sonically, this was very enjoyable - great production and instrumentation. Yet, I had to restart it 3 times because I kept getting distracted/more interested in listening to other music. :/

First track sounds like Eric Clapton if he was trying to perform a song while eating a bowl of oatmeal.

The first song wasn't my vibe and the singers voice got really whiny at places but then a more up tempo songs was second and i was really digging it. Then the tempo slowed down again but the singer used a much lower voice as he continued for a few songs. Then back to the start. This album sure was a rollercoaster of ups and downs. A few really good songs, a bunch good songs, and then a some that just dragged my rating way down by how much I dislike them.

Idiot spelled Martin wrong

2.3.

Atmosphärisch, aber überbewertet. Die Mischung aus Folk, Jazz und Blues wirkt stellenweise ziellos. Die Stimme und Echoplex-Effekte sind Geschmackssache. Emotional, ja – aber nicht jeder findet Zugang.

Мимо кассы.

By the fourth track, John Martyn's voice was getting on my nerves so much that I stopped listening to the album. I don't think we're going to be friends. 2/5

2,3/5

Hit and Miss, with many more misses than hits. Didn't really care too much for the straight folk stuff, but the Jazz and Blues influenced songs weren't bad.

No big hitters, but it wasn't unbearable.

Tepid.

Thought I’d like more, maybe we’ll stick better on more listens

Meh. I only really enjoyed this in so far as it was the album immediately after throbbing gristle… Mostly, I think this album is meandering and simply OK..

Right about now the funk soul brother, check it out now the funk soul brother!

Boring

2 - just feels like it’s trying too hard

I wasnt familiar with John Martyn going into this album. It's not really my cup of tea, both in tone and subject matter. The instrumentation was skillful, but I didnt really get any hits I was looking for. Overall- not bad, but not for me. Probably around a 2.5/5

The vocals were distractingly bad. The musicianship and writing deserved better vocals.

Not for me…

This album felt all over the place for me.

It was alright.

se tiver mais um dia de folk nesse site eu vo ficar louco CHEGA

Viitteitä hyvä mausta. Valitettavasti myös viitteitä halusta välittää kuulijoille transsendenttejä kokemuksia.

ehhh

Experimental folk, some of it works, some is just weird. 2

2.5 stars

This album just did nothing for me. It isn't bad per se, but very forgettable.

It's respectful of Nick Drake, but it's definitely not Nick Drake. Appreciation the acknowledgement, but I don't know why it's a top 1000.

Drunk rambling over elevator music doesn’t deserve one spot on this list, let alone two.

Hated the vocals, and the coffee-table-jazz and blues influenced singer/songwriter-music didn’t do much to rectify the situation.

Bang average. Absolutely bang average. Would struggle to remember a single note of this album in an hour.

This didn't do much for me on an initial listen, so I listened to it again, and it still didn't do much for me. I dunno, I'm generally a fan of a lot of types of music, but this felt listless... I suspect people who like it think that it's soulful, but it doesn't have much energy.

I don't know if it's because of the remastering, but the mixdown was odd. Several instruments were far too present in the foreground. Then his voice was somewhere in the middle. This bothered me more than his vocalization or folk/jazz fusion, which I didn't particularly like.

I’ve previously spotted a genre of music best described as albums to be played during dinner parties in the 80s. Well, this album sounds like the sort of thing that would be played at *those* sort of parties in the 1970s. You know, the ones with men with droopy moustaches and flares, and women in inappropriate kaftans, where they all put their car keys in a bowl at the end of the night. This is weirdly bonkers semi improvised jazz/funk/folk that makes no sense whatsoever.

Over the hill is my favorite on here. The rest was kind of schizophrenic.

Probably not bad if I was alone with a woman but I’m not so ……

John Martyn's "Solid Air" is fundamentally a folk album, infused with elements of jazz, blues, and ethereal rock, characterized by extended instrumental passages. While the album has a decent assortment of songs, showcasing impressive guitar performances and a variety of rhythms and tempos, it is ultimately somewhat bland. I would not choose to listen this album again, not due to its overall quality, but rather because it is just not that interesting.

I'm reminded of a scene in the movie adaptation of Scott Pilgrim vs the Word a lot of times while listened to this. Which scene? The part where Brandon Roth's character says "sounds like someone want's to get... funky."

Not really my jam, it’s fine, but that’s about it. Skilled musicians, but overall it’s not very memorable for me.

It's fine? The musicianship is good, though parts of this album do sound similar to early Steely Dan (which is just as bad as later Steely Dan). My biggest issue was the dude's voice. I don't know if it was the cadence or just the sound, but I didn't like it when he was singing. I won't be back to hear this one again.

Not for me. I listened to the entire album, but I couldn't tell you a single thing about any individual song.

Some cool tracks but his mumbling/slurring ruined some for me

1.5 a whole lotta mumbling nothing for me, not bad for some really chill melodic stuff but just kinda boring overall

A bit too odd for me.

Crazy to me that this person managed to get multiple albums in the 1001 album list -- not that they're bad just surprising. Maybe a bias towards 70's artists. Anyway, I didn't like this one as much as the other: 2.5 stars

Low key feel

Eh

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.

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. ⭐️ ⭐️

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Not a bad album at all, but none of it resonated with me and was quite forgettable

hmmmmm......???? not sure

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Two good songs

"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.

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.

Mostly in offensive

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

Meh. Nice enough voice, bit bland overall.

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.

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.

Ganz nett... da ist "May You Never" im Original drauf!

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.

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.

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.

I don´t really like the instrumentals and the vocals are bad. Do not recommend this most people. 2/10

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".

Not sure why this album is on the list. It just did very little for me. This guy sure loved some jelly.

Not for me

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.

Interessant.

Not great.

Solid album.

The folky parts were good but I didn't like the more experimental bits. Middling 2.

2.5

Meh. I understand why it's here and enjoyed it okay, but not my jam.

Some interesting instrumental stuff, but was not a fan of the indistinct, mumbled singing.

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.

I really love the song Don’t Want to Know, but hated his up and down singing throughout the rest of the album

Didnt like this. Not sure why but it just didnt click for me. Nothing jumped out and it was quite boring

Nette Stimme und auch sonst ganz ok. Aber was macht es besonders? 2,4

The definition of an okay, unremarkable album.

Forgettable

If someone told me this was a favorite of theirs, I would run very far away.

Not bad, but didn’t really connect with me.

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.

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.

Ois voinut keikahtaa kolmoseenkin.

Not a fan of the guys voice

Nah

Yawn fine

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)

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

Sad slow and kinda snoozefest

2.5/5

It’s okay. He needs to articulate. This reminds me of live Colorado coffee shop music and that’s the only reason it didn’t get a 1. 🙃

The first 80% of this album was SO boring. By the time a few semi-interesting songs showed up at the end it was too late. Good one to doze off to…

Eh, not that interesting for my tastes.

72/1001 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑

Blind album and artist. My 2 top songs are also his most played on Spotify. But they are meh, didnt blow me away, and not something seek out. As the youts say... Mid. And the rest of the album was not up to par and bring the album down.

It’s pretty good though I don’t know how often I’d look for it. The sounds reminds me of Jack Johnson meets Mumford &Sons and Nile Rodgers. Over the Hill is my key track. It kind of feels disjointed

I didn't get much from this

This sounds like something that spotify would put on my discover weekly.

Personally did not enjoy this puppy. I respect the vision but it just didn’t tickle my cojones in the right spot. In my opinion, the best Track was May You Never. Whole album had a cool mix of elements from different genres, but I wasn’t a fan of the style of singing. Would go hard in a late night coffee shop for sure.

I was ready to give this album a 1 at first. A very slow start in my opinion with some interesting vocal choices. Not a big fan of the whole moaning mumbling moodiness he’s going for. However was pleasantly surprised by the second half with Dreams by the Sea definitely being a highlight. I enjoy the jazzier parts of the album and less the bluesy. Will definitely revisit that one song but outside of that will most likely not be listening to much John Martyn in the future. If I could give it a 2.9 i would but i didn’t enjoy it enough to justify a 3.

Aika basic-rallatteluu

don't want to know dreams by the sea

Eh

It was kind of... uninteresting? It wasn't bad by any means but none of the songs blew me away or perked my ears. 3/5 I guess..

I didn't really enjoy this album, even though the music and instruments was good.

Boring

Some guitar work is interesting, but nothing else is.

Almost skipped entirely during the first track, I'm glad I gave it a chance but ultimately skipped 50% of the album. Just not something I'll come back to, added 1 track to 1001 experience playlist

not a fan of the slappy guitar style but it had a good vibe

Folky, ethereal , trippy 70’s era album that is all over the place. First time listening to this artist. I did save the catchy “Over the Hill” and “May you Never “ to my song list.

- Never heard of this before - Thought it was alright, probably wouldn't listen again

I did not like his voice it’s too mumbly but also kinda nice?? Idk not my vibe too much

Not a bad album. It was nice and chill, but I'm starting to think this list is just a platform for obscure British music.

Not bad just kind of boring

Auto-Play on YouTube Music is broken. This album was alright but I definitely didn't want to hear it twice. Interesting introduction but I doubt I'll ever listen again.

Boring.

Wasn't familiar prior to this listen. Started off slow but the album grew on me a bit. Fun singer/songwriter album with some cool guitar licks. Not exactly my tastes but an okay listen.

There’s some interesting stuff on this album, but the singing is very mumbly and that’s pretty annoying. Over all pretty slow and boring too. 2/5

Folk interessante, bom vocal, mas sem melodias memoráveis.

Great guitarist but I don’t feel his vibe

Very over rated album to be honest, I have tried and tried to hear the genius but also..

This album was ok but didn't resonate with me. Perhaps another listen will do something but I didnt love any of the tracks

This one isnt really hitting for me

Har lyst til å lika da pga albumcoveret e så sinnsjukt fett, men ehhhh. Blei for øvrig overraska at da va fra 1973 og ikkje 2013

Lots of try too hard wankfest. Even when he comes out with a truly excellent piece of funk he souls it with that irritating put on vocal.

We've had three John Martyn albums here and they're all the same; moody mumbling vocals with some okayish Bluesy threads running through it. One album would've been enough.

🤷‍♂️

2/5 Best: Don't Want to Know Worst: I'd Rather Be the Devil

I wonder if Mumble Rap came from this guy. He's not super easy to understand.

Geeze. Mumble much? There's some real solid guitar, keys, and bass work here but, overall, it's a jumbled, mumbled mess. Unnecessary saxophones and vibraphones knocked a star off the rating real fast. The lyrics didn't help either. I can only take so much of the pseudo-deep, wandering stoner vibe. I was really glad it was over when it was over.

No good

British people shouldn't be allowed to do Blues music

Too folk-ish for my liking

Sounds like elevator music being sung along with; very jazzy. Martyn has a decent, airy voice that isn’t terrible to listen to, accompanied by a variety of well played instruments. “Dreams by the Sea” had a Shaft-like bass line that was an interesting change up from previous tracks. But also, I nearly didn’t notice when the album had finished on Spotify and swapped over to Cat Stevens…I’d kind of tuned out on listening. This album wouldn’t have been a first choice album for me, but if you’re wanting a jazzy, soulful listen, this might be for you.

Aside from Over the Hill and The Man in The Station, very forgettable songwriting. A very soft album, and the various attempt to strike a harder sound (like on I'd Rather Be The Devil) come off as toothless. A style like this relies on catchy, powerful melodies. This does not have that. Many of the songs sound familiar, but not in a good way.

Don’t know what to say about this one. It’s ok. Instantly forgettable though.

the main problem i have with this album is that it’s too schizophrenic. is it soft gentle folk a la james taylor? is it psychedelic rock? is it bluesy? it tries to be all of these and succeeds at being none of these. it would actually be more listenable if it could pick one and stick with it. oh, and the fact that mr. martyn tends to have a serious case of mush mouth. case in point, on the title track, pretty much the only decipherable lyrics are the words “solid air”. however, that might be forgivable if he sang that way in every song… not even that is consistent. some songs you can understand the lyrics. twas a pretty frustrating listen, but that’s ok since it is now over.

Track 1 The air is more solid than his pronunciation. Mumbles McGuitar over here. Track 2 Better. Words and more upbeat. Track 3 Emotive slosh mouth. I don't hate it. Track 4 He tried to get more rocky here. Reminiscent of Jim Morrison. Not bad at the start but it kinda fell flat about half way through and just stayed there. Track 5 Yikes Track 6 Man. This is not good. Track 7 I dunno. My ear drums fell asleep and I gave up about here.

Quite samey throughout, alright for a 2or 3*

Probably could've done with more listens. If I get a chance I'll revisit.

Just because you can play the guitar real good doesn't mean you should also sing.

Bits of this are quite nice, good for a bit of sampling, but sometimes the vocals go full Tom Waits and I suffered.

'Solid Air.' Mumbling, that's the first thing that hits me. Then... more mumbling. Okay, what the fuck, is this a joke? Who is this guy and why is this album listed? It's got some smooth instrumentals, but that's it. Second song is better. More enunciation. Louder. I thought things would stay good, or at least tolerable. Then 'I'd Rather Be The Devil' came on and we were back to step one with the mumbling and moaning. I don't want to put in this much effort to listening. There's also not great falsetto. Just a mash-up of things I don't enjoy.

2, acoustisch, iets te traag

Thiz dudez inziztenze on zinging like thiz was zuch a turnoff. The muzic was often cool, though.

Snore! I’m not remotely interested in this album after listening to it.

Mumble jazz folk, not for me.

Dreary. John Martyn could sap the energy out of a 10 year olds birthday party....... at Disneyland. Like many a drunkard could do.

- again, just not my style

I don't think I've yet been as torn with a rating as with this album! I HATED the first song and then LOVED the second and continued to oscillate between the two emotions for the length of the album. The music was great but everytime he started doing that mush-mouth, lazy singing style I wanted to plug my ears. Ultimately I think it boils down to inconsistency

Some interesting sounds. Not sure I would pull this out to listen again.

Tried 3 different times to listen to this. Nothing bad about it just didn’t grip me in ANY way.

Do not really like much of the vocals here, but did enjoy bits of the instrumentals.

I listened to this twice and can't remember anything from it.

I got a little bored, but it's decent background music. There's a song or two that brings in some more interesting musical parts. John's a chiller.

Not for me. Honestly I got bored while listening and my attention drifted away. Can't rate more than this

This album is uneven. The opening track is a muddy slog. The next song, aptly named Over The Hill, is somewhat better, and it's up and down the rest of the way. The funky vibe on the first half of I'd Rather Be The Devil is fun. There are bright spots in many of the songs, but diction sure isn't one of them. Considering the album as a whole my primary reaction is irritation.

Just ok. Didn't do much for me, honestly. I wouldn't choose to listen again. 2.49/5

I stopped listening pretty early into this. Didn’t give it a fair shake but it just didn’t keep me interested.

I didn't listen to the whole thing but what I heard was pretty but boring.

A conventional acoustic album that doesn't do much to reinvent the wheel, but instead focuses on noodling on different hooks and music motifs. Overall, this is easy listening personified, but there is no sticking power with the music or lyrics.

I never realized Jack Johnson knew jazz chords.

The first mumble rapper.

Solid Air? .. more like Solid Fart.

De man met zijn gitaar. Doet hij niet slecht, maar is wel een beetje saai. **

One of those albums that I listened to and was mostly unaware that I had.