Bummed

i really liked this!! it reminded me a bit of the fall album which i also really liked. idk this was just kinda weird and catchy and fun. i listened while i did a puzzle and it was amazing

Fine, but not really for me. I can’t help but think if I caught this album in a different mood that I might really like it. There isn’t anything I disliked really, just didn’t connect with it.

This was alright. Maybe one or two four star songs. Not enough to get it over the hump.

Great production and grooves but the sounds on Bummed are not as exciting and as fresh as they were on the first Mondays album. I was also waiting for the banger single to come up but it never did.

I WILL TAKE HAPPY MONDAYS ANY DAY OF THE WEEK

Very tinny sound! Very strange because that was not the sound of 1988. Not sure if they just had a crap production team. Very generic, monotone vocalist, lack of range makes for very little musical movement. It was a huge relief to know that the original album is only 37 minutes long, so I could ignore the rest of the 2 hour collectors addition on Spotify. Many of the songs feel like an eternity on their own. Was inclined to give it three stars at first but as the album went on, and the tingly jangly guitar went in and on, it worked its way lower.

I like Happy Mondays but thus was meh

It's fine, but we really really didn't need more than 1 Happy Mondays album on this list.

Very out there for the times, but sounds very typical 80's. It kind of bridges the gap between psychedelic rock/dark wave/funk/post-punk. These guys were clearly doing a lot of drugs.

Decent.

Now you’re clever.

Best Frankie Goes to Hollywood x Kate Bush mash-up I've heard for a while

I liked the other Happy Mondays album on this list, so was excited to listen to this one. Definitely didn't like this one anywhere near as much.

Boring

The apogee of the Mondays - weird, wobbly, paranoid, slippery, spaced out and spacious. Amazing that they built a stadium-filling career on this difficult music. On the expanded edition, the many luxurious 12" mixes open up the sound and give it all space to expand and take over.

Alright album. Some good songs. Nothing to get excited about. Stand out song - Rave On and Kilamenjaro

Ok

What? I already had a Happy Mondays album. I get having one for historical significance but do we really need two? I have the other one three stars for significance but the music is crap. This one is even worse.

Good stuff

Forgettable.

Pretty good post-punk

I don't know whether I would have payed much attention to this after first listen if it hadn't been for Pills n Thrills, which is a groundbreaking UK indie album. I wasn't grabbed by this, it seemed a bit of a shambles and the original production was "terrible". Though the remix is slightly better it's still far too reverbed and sparce. This could have been so much better with decent production. But it is a great album, it's got all the groundwork of Pills without the polish. They were a band fusing dance and indie and guitars and attitude and they had a singer that sounds like a rock singer but has the most incredible way with words. The late 80s/early 90s golden era of British indie was my university days and this band were absoultely pivotal to that. It was, though, one of those albums that when it came up I thought "the Yanks are going to absolutely hate this" so British and so of a moment this is. Oh, and Wrote for Luck is one of the greatest songs ever released and on the back of this The Mondays came out with Hallelujah. Double Double good.

Very British and very boring. I like the album art though.

Какая же фигня.

Surprisingly pretty enjoyable. Never have heard of this band. I like the contradiction between album name and band name. Remind me a bit of those generic 80s rock bands where the guitar plays more of a background roll, which isn't my favorite. But this was ok.

Do I want to listen to a whole album by the Mondays? Not especially it turns out

this is not for me and especially not for me because its so long 2/5 could not make it through the whole thing, especially when it started to replay songs

Quite liked this would like to listen again more attentively 7/10

This band very badly wants to be The Cure. Sadly for my ears, they are not The Cure. Sidenote: the version that pops up in Apple Music is some extended version that's 2.5 hours long and, well, no. I looked on Wikipedia and the original release was ten songs, so that's what I listened to, and that's what's getting reviewed. I don't need to listen to a bunch of remixes and B-sides.

I know this album is almost 40 years old, but the portrait on the cover really looks like Elon Musk.

I wasn't particularly interested in the album. The music is a bit flat and clattery. The singer's voice, which reminded me a bit of a young Mick Jagger, is a little too shrill and is emphasized too much by the instruments. 2 hours playing time is far too long for me. 2/5

Never really loved Happy Mondays. Does Shawn Ryder have the worst singing voice in pop? Pills and Bellyaches deserves a place on the list but not x2. This one didn’t really hold my interest at all.

Cool post punky stuff.

I still don't know exactly what to make of the Mondays. There are moments when I think that the mesh of sounds they created is like nothing else I've heard, and that they might just have been touched by genius. More often, though, this sounds like incoherent ranting over a muddy, messy sludge, made by a bunch of pilled-up chancers.

Yup, they were on drugs alright.

I'm pretty bummed about having to listen to this today.

I should like the Happy Mondays, but u just can't. I'm British and of that generation and am intimately familiar with their hits, but never got it. They seem like such a vibes band only really famous because they caught the culture of the time. In this case it was taking drugs and being dick heads. This album offers nothing to change my mind and shaun ryders voice is fucking awful

Мне очень нравится название группы. Мне ОЧЕНЬ нравится обложка. Мне совсем не нравится музыка (при том, что это мои жанры). Я бы сказал, что по итогу я очень даже bummed. Лучшая песня - Bring a Friend.

I wrote for luck They sent me you I sent for juice You gave me poison I order a line You form a queue

6.5/10. It's not considerably memorable. It's also somewhat boring.

Lyssnade bara till Lazyitis (originalet). Det var varken bra eller dåligt. Inte helt förtjust i soundet. Men ändå rätt lattjo. En rätt typiskt 3a. Kommer nog aldrig lyssnat igen.

Lyssnat igenom flera gånger nu och tycker den är helt okej utan sticka ut utöver de två singlarna som är rätt bra. Kan inte direkt säga att den växte med flera genomlyssningar heller. Stabil trea.

80s English rock - a little flat with vocals being more of a forced shout than actually singing. It was okay.

Don't really get the Mondays (or Baggy, if that is what this is). Consider me a Stone Roses guy. 2.5/5

Love the album art!

Some good, not great funkiness in spots but the atonal singing is a turn off.

Period defining

This was different but somewhat enjoyable. 80s British can be a genre I don't always love but this was fine enough to have in the background and nod along to. 5.25/10 (2.625/5)

a fun little album that had some interesting elements from different styles - felt almost like a dancier Talking Heads.

Electronic hell on earth…..

Good album. Fun to listen to but not really sure that this is one of 1000 best albums

Another one right down the middle. Sailing straight on through with no real ripples up or down. 2.5

Enjoyable - don't think I've listened to this in full before, and it's aged well.

Eh. They sound like a bad version of Pavement if Pavement played slightly ore poppy but play through a tube

Sooo boring

2.5

This is absolutely the type of album I would expect British dudes on ecstasy to make, and for British people on ecstasy to enjoy.

I have a soft spot for factory records after watching 24hr Party People

Etwas abgedrehter Rock mit Funk-Anleihen 2/5

4 stars

Disappointing. Too same-y throughout.

Probably need to give this another listen with the lyrics and such. What stuck with me was nice and sardonic sounding. Anyway there's music for dancing and it doesn't always venn too much with music for listening, and this kinda felt like it was veering that way.

Wow, another unremarkable British alt/punk album. Incredible. I hope this list has a few dozen more albums that sound the exact same and are entirely forgettable.

Like talking head

Tasting notes include The Clash, INXS, Peter Gabriel/Genesis, and do i detect a whiff of LCD Soundsystem? But this doesn’t hold a candle to any of those artists. I could not get through this album, but that might be partially due to my current setting — if i was dancing at a party, club, concert, I’d might appreciate this sound. But, listening to it closely for musical entertainment, as a whole album, straight through — no thanks. (1). [note — this listening experience stuck with me in a bad way, so i had to come back to downgrade.it to a 1).

This makes me want to skip forward and not listen to all 9 songs, but the latest track wasnt too bad. Although it was a total ripoff of the Ticket to ride melody/chorus. Jumbled up trainwreck right here y'all. More metal please! We need a good Judas Priest album for shits sake!

Sounds like a Duran Duran cover band on The Cure night at a local dive bar.

It's basic 80's pop I guess. It's not that offensive, but it sounds like so many other albums on this list.

Never really transcends or fully takes off though "Lazyitis" and ""Brain Dead" are pretty strong. "Hallelujah" is much better in club mix. Blatant rip-offs of Beatles and O'jays, (though latter could generously be called a sample, one supposes) are a bit much, too, and show limits of what these guys could do, which seems like not much relative to their accolades, obviously. Production is pretty terrible too – among the worst on the list. The remaster sounds flat and distant and muddle all at once – could the originals have been any worse, really? Editors seem to knock Stone Roses to glorify these guys -- come on, now. Rounding up because God loves a drunk (or at least looked out for these ones).

While I like Happy Mondays, I'll freely admit that this was not my favorite record of them. Too long perhaps? Maybe I'm getting too old. Three or four decades ago I'd have loved the extremely long 12" remix versions of their songs.

79/100. A good-sounding alternative rock record. Nothing groundbreaking, but definitely a fun listen.

This is what new wave sounds like to people who don't like new wave

An important blueprint for future drug filled jaunts with better production and fuller sound. I'd call it Alt Rock or plain psychedelia before referring to this as funk, but the mix of genres blends into the trippy aspect of it all 2.5/5

Upbeat and dancey, but a fairly guitar driven sound most of the time, with almost punk vocals. I quite like this.

3/5

Yeah I didn't mind this, but I won't go looking for it again.

There's no need for two Happy Mondays' albums. Pills and Thrills... is enough. This is just a poorer version of that. Slurred vocals, tinny production and messy songs. The sounds of minds that haven't been skullfucked from too many drugs yet. Best Tracks: Country Song; Wrote For Luck; Lazyitis

Bummed I had to listen to this Best Song: N/A Rating: 2/10 1 Stars

Like this genre of music, but I wasn’t really feeling this album and lost interest halfway through.

Bummed this wasn’t better.

Nothing special. Can't say I liked it all that much. Wouldn't protest to it on the radio but nothing at all stood out as good.

This band is in my top 3 all-time favorite musical entities. If you find this to be utter garbage, allow me to explain. Happy Monday's represent the messy halfway point between the punk movement and full on-90's rave culture. Combining elements of post-punk, psychedelia, and the disco roots of electronic music, they belligerently caterwauled their way to the top of the zeitgeist. They represent the decadence of complete disconnection, which they fed into and nurtured through heavy cocktail of ecstasy, heroin, alcohol, and really whatever else they could get their hands on. I can't help but be charmed by them however, I mean what other band gives the most indulgent member of their friend group a couple of un-microphoned maracas and makes him an official band member? All because he's fun to be around and dances like a complete psycho? Happy Monday's, thats who. We're all on a nosedive, these blokes represent a subsection of the population who realize it, and are laughing with their pants off, all the way down. Their keyboard player couldn't play keyboards, their singer couldn't sing, their maraca player didn't do shit except get himself and everyone around him out of their minds on harder and harder drugs. The thing is, is that people that are really high like a good groove, and the Monday's were savvy enough to land on one thunderously good groove after the next. You add onto that the lyrical nihilism of Shaun William Ryder and you have the ingredients for what the Monday's did best: anthems for the alienated. It didn't matter that he couldn't sing, in fact, it was better that he couldn't. He gave a voice the those that were pushed to the breaking point by polite society and just wanted to yell. "Bummed" does not reach the caliber of their cultural high water mark, which goes to "Pills, Thrills, & Bellyaches", but it'll do you one better- it's got "Wrote For Luck" on it, one of their best and most quintessential songs. Reading Ryder's autobiography, he's revealed it's one of his proudest moments as a songwriter. For all the uneducated, across the tracks, utterly shitfaced buffoonery this man is known for, he's actually quite clever. And as history has shown us again and again, turn your nose up high enough and the underestimated ones find their way to the top.

'Although our music and our drugs stayed the same.' Sorta how I feel about this one - while I can admire Shaun Ryder's lyrics (at times), and the music has an edge (certainly Stones-influenced, more sixties than you'd initially figure), there's little variety here. If there's a joke, I don't quite get it; if it's about capturing a scene (rave culture), I'm not taken there. And it's weird when I don't know why: 'We're all food, your cake / We're all the food, your weirdo's cream.' I know what to do with impressionism, with the strange and the grotesque, but I don't know what to do with that. Nor do I want to. I do like the more straightforward stuff ('Country Song,' 'Wrote for Luck,' 'Lazyitis') tho - it negotiates The Stones well enough. But mostly, I’m a bit bored, a bit wanting more, or less.

Happy Mondays may have been my favourite band for a short while in the early 90s, but that was basically down to pills and thrills plus Hallelujah from this. I was very young and I'd never heard this record. Not even sure I knew an earlier album existed. I'd seen Madchester Rave On 12"s knocking about people's older brother's record collection, that's it. Standing out with it's multicoloured lettering on a black background. Had a great time listening to the club remixes afterwards. If you're listening to the Hallelujah with the high pitched Hallelujah sting in it, you're listening to the banger. Although the album version with the scrawling guitar solo is pretty ace too. Oh yeah, and the re-released dance remix of Wrote For Luck (wfl) ohoh, ho. Yeah that was a banger. The Vince Clarke one. Probably had that on one of those Indie top 20 vinyls. For all intents and purposes, The Mondays WERE Madchester. Hailing as they did, not from Manchester but nearby Salford, my manor. So there's a heavy dose of nostalgia there for me. Great to hear such a different sound from them. Yep, Talking Heads, yep, The Fall, yep, lots of drugs. The actual record ends with Lazy itis, but I don't care, I'm including Rave On EP. Thumbs up.

Apparently you have to take a lot of drugs to enjoy this. Nasty looking cover, nasty sounding singer, nasty lyrics. They wanted to put more reverb on this recording, but had already used the entire UK supply for this record.

never really been a happy mondays bunny, always sounds like it's been badly mixed

Seeing the artist name, album title and cover, I excitedly prepared a night's worth of ex, a full bottle of lube and my favorite bum plug. Waited for Monday to roll around, called in sick to work, threw on "Country Song", and... this isn't bumming music... no one is getting bummed to this... it sure as hell isn't happy.. Song after song after song, the realization started to set in, that I grossly misinterpreted the theme of this album. I switched to Lady Gaga, Depeche Mode, Madonna, even Prince, anything to save the mood. But it was too late. The room stunk of limp synthesizer chords, winy British inflections and self-pity. My day was ruined. Dejected, I headed off to work. On my way, I lubed up the stairs in front of the old lady's house down the street, gave my happy pills to some school children, and left my bum plug on a drinking fountain in front of the center for the blind. This album ruined my day, and I was determined to ruin someone else's. Listen to it, and it will ruin yours.

Pure genius. It combines genres from country to dance and indie rock, with quasi non-sensical lyrics. It shouldn’t work and yet it does. This is proof that musical training isn’t necessary, especially when drugs are available. Shame they were such fuck ups…

Funky, funny, 80s, a worthwhile distraction, though I wouldn't call it worldclass

Not quite

# Playlist Track - Lazyitis # Notes - Yet another British album that I think is kind of annoying. lol. - Not a bad one, but not super interesting either. Weirdly mixed and with 80ish vibes muddy vocals. - I dig the Beatles reference in "Lazyitis"

Fav song: Hallelujah (club mix) “I first saw Happy Monday at the battle of the bands at the Hacienda. They came in last place. I signed them anyway.” This is a band that make great singles but fill their albums with slop. It’s probably great on a dancefloor in the 90’s when you’re all pilled up though, can’t den that. Shaun Ryder is just absolutely dreadful but suits the music perfectly in his weird way. The production isn’t great, lots of washed out reverb without a lot of changes to the dimensions of it between songs makes the whole album sound like it was recorded in a disabled toilets one song after another. All this in mind, I HEAVILY respect Happy Mondays. They never try to be anything other than what they are and they don’t ever pretend to be anything else.

2.75 Best songs were the ones without vocals. Singer sounded like he was on a different song than the band most of the time.

If someone deemed this album an essential listen, they must not have very high standards.... Boring, monotonous, uninspiring.

I have never really got into Happy Mondays apart from the singles that everyone knows. Have listened to this a few times and its not really doing that much for me. Whilst many of the tracks have a decent groove I struggle a little with Shaun Ryders vocal shoutings.. Listened about 3 times and struggled to pick a track that stands out. Feels quite baggy and messy.

3/5. We enjoyed but it's not their best work and it wasn't anything standout.

I didn't really care for this one. Would not seek it out again.

I really enjoyed this album, although after awhile all the song's started to sound very similar. I did enjoy most songs and I think this album is great background noise as I am doing something, but there aren't many songs here that I will be adding to me usual rotation and I probably won't be checking out the rest of their content. Actually a 2.75. Liked Songs: "Moving In With" , "Mad Cyril" , "Fat Lady Wrestlers" , "Performance" , "Wrote for Luck" , "Lazyitis" , "Clap Your Hands" , "Boom"

This isn't a bad album. It just isn't a great one. I didn't not like it, but most of the songs blended together for me and I struggle to pick out particular parts that I may have enjoyed. 2.25

Cheesy 80s

Impressed that the band managed to record this at all given their reported drug-addled state during recording. On the plus side, recording and production quality was pretty good. Other than that, not sure what all the hullabaloo surrounding this band is all about. 37 minutes later, I found myself relieved it was over.

Bummed is exactly what I am after listening to this. What a depressing voice.

That was definitely the waviest of new wave.

Bien

This is surely not one of the 1001 best albums.

Sounds like the Smiths

I know of Happy Mondays from the film 24 Hour Party people. Great movie, but just because the film says they re geniuses doesn't make it so. Okay sure I suppose it is a good example of Madchester sound, but I could never get into them. This album is very same sounding throughout and not a fan of the singer (Maybe Shaun?) It's of the moment for sure but the moment has passed.

Never heard this before. What a fucking ugly cover. Apparently this is the result when you record an album while taking ecstasy constantly for the sessions. Meandering, sloppy, an unremarkable.

I just couldn't find any redeeming qualities with this album.

They lost me at "Penny Penny, Cocky Locky, Goosey Loosey, Turkey Lurky, Tricky Licky, Ducky Lucky" and it was difficult to come back from that. A few good songs and a few bad songs. There were interesting rhythm and funk vibes that unfortunately got lost in the sauce. Hit and miss 80's music.

I'd never heard of this band. Despite being "ecstasy-fuelled" "psychadelic funk" it was better than I expected, although the alternative versions on the extended album we listened to were even better.

Liked some of the songs, but not a lot of variety.

Not my kinda music.

Fucking awful

Felt pretty average, nothing exciting. Not bad as background music

3.5

As expected this was horrible

Not impressed, though I am usually unimpressed by 80s rock. Quite boring , except ‘rave on’ 1.5

I threw this on in the background and before I even realized it was through the original track list. Have to say that I loved closing track Lazyitis dripped in Sitar. Bring a Friend is a highlight of the second half for me -- really digging the big, crowded room vibe brought about by warm thumpy bass and scratched funk-guitar in the background. Fat Lady Wrestlers has an element to the chorus that feels really really familiar. Sort of like I Can Change by LCD Soundsystem. Really like this song. This was a very fine album. Something that I've been able to listen to 3 times in a row without getting tired of it. At its best it reminds me a little bit (vaguely) of XTC in its psych-popiness. At its worst (looking at you Moving In With) it is kind of annoying. This is a middling to high 3 for me.

I did not need to listen to this album before I died.

Had some pretty cool funk and guitar aspects. Singer was a bit bland. But overall an enjoyable album in the high 3 range. Madchester is an awesome name for a genre for bands from Manchester

Was pretty excited after the first song and then the second song kinda sucked ass. The rest have some good instrumentation but Do It Better also sucks. Lazyitis is a jam with that sitar. Also has some Beatles lyrics from Ticket to Ride. This was a forgettable 3.

I could defend this album more if it was half as long, but it just wasn't good enough to justify

Well now this was a bit of a surprise. I actually liked it. Didn't expect to, but yeah it was very good especially Mad Cyril and Rave On. I certainly would baulk at parting with money for it. Definitely worth a 4

Hmmmm. Not quite sure why this made the list. Compared to the other Mondays stuff, or even Black Grape, it’s unremarkable. It funks along nicely in parts but really doesn’t hit any highs where you just want to turn it up and/or dance (even in a 54 y/o dad dance head nod kind of way). As a foot note, how on earth has Shaun Ryder carved out his own mini National Treasure status these days? Ah, look, it’s Mad Uncle Shaun with his lovely new teeth on the telly again.

1988 what a great year for discovering new music, with the Happy Mondays being one of the acts. I remember playing this to my unsuspecting colleagues, I loved it, they hated it, they loved Metal. They said nothing would come of the crap I listened to. A few years later I was redeemed. Well luckily for the world, Vince Clarke liked them enough to really launch their career with the remix of ‘Wrote for Luck’ and the rest is history. This is my favourite Mondays LP by a long way. A true masterpiece of Manchester sound. ‘Performance’ is a one hell of a song, but the album as a whole is pretty much perfect.

“Rock band does ecstasy and makes a psychedelic record” is such a trope but it almost always hits. This is a great example. I love how rough it is. It feels like constrained chaos.

A bit of a let down compared to Bellyaches but some occasional decent songs. Seems a bit unfair to complain that the Happy Mondays are messy but I did expect more from this one tbh. 18/11/24

I'm old and I'm gonna make it everyone else's problem -Author of the list, probably

it was shoegaze at points and then i liked it and then it sounded like the british music that I hate at other points and then I disliked it

I don't understand why this album gets all the hate. I mean yeah it does sound really dated, and 80s dated is not the best. But I rather liked it. Not world-changing in any way, but it was a good sort of 80s indie, would-be-psychedelic pop rock. I didn't feel the need to listen to the entire 2+ hour collector’s edition that was all that was available on Spotify, but the 10 songs on the original release made a fun album to hear this morning. I think I'd probably buy this record if ever came across it in the shop, however unlikely that would be... 3.5/5 but rounding down because 4 is too much.

some good ones but too long

Blind album and artist. I was not happy to hear this album. It sounded awful and sounded like bogged down 80s with an awful singer. I spent more timing questioning whether I should actually skip a song than enjoying it

Hard to explain, kinda dancey, but also kinda laggy/slackery. Vocals are very British with a declamatory style similar to David Byrne. Highlights: "Mad Cyril" (some interesting guitar parts), "Performance" (good groove)

It went from very good to very bad. Bottom line is this is good rave or dance party music, but hard to listen otherwise.

3.25

Love the Mondays

Feel like I just woke up drunk in a seedy part of London. This is dirty and raw, not a clean production at all, and I kind of liked it but definitely didn't love it. Nothing in it really stuck in my mind after listening, but I enjoyed it as I went. As for alt rock of the late 80s, I definitley had a better time with other albums on this list, like Hüsker Dü. My favorite from this is Performance.

This stuff was never really my thing, but I can understand how a bunch of 16-25 year old kids all hopped up on Beer, Ecstasy, and hormones all doing their thing to this until the sun comes up.

I wanted to like this. It's ok, his voice is frequently pitchy and annoying.

I had no expectations, but it was actually quite enjoyable.

Ik begin die 80s sound nu wel eventjes beu te worden. 2.4

Okay album. Preferred the mixed versions at the end of the album

Competent modern psych. Fun but kind of fleeting.

It's bland but enjoyable.

Mad

I don't think I've heard this band. I'm sure I would have passed right over this album if I saw it in the record store. The cover reminds me of Billie Holiday, just close up done in chalk. Solid late 80's new wave.

Ok

Not bad, for the most part. But the best tracks were pretty much the same as Echo & the Bunnymen or any other of a number of bands from that era. Really nothing new or interesting enough to warrant a “must hear.”

Rhythm was fine, but the vocal and lyrics were juvenile.

I liked it okay.

This is pretty OK. Music's sort interesting, but I don't care for the singing.

Solid album. I guess this is what people raved to in the 80s. I heard some Oasis in this. There's another album from this genre by the band Flowered Up that I really liked. Otherwise I really don't know much about this whole scene.

A couple songs were okay but for the most part this was a bummer and way too long. Favorite songs were: 7. Wrote For Luck 10. Lazyitis 3/10

This felt like like a more one note, less interesting version of The Cure circa Head on the Door. Didn't do much for me. Album cover: (C+) I do not like it, but it I can't accuse it of being boring.

This one kinda passed me by. I do not have too much to say, I didn't really like it. 4/10

Did not enjoy this. Annoying vocals.

I have neutral feelings about this album. Very forgettable because it made me feel nothing

I expected to enjoy this a lot more than I actually did. It was too much of the same thing, really. And there is only so much Shaun Ryder’s caterwauling that I can deal with. I’ll keep this review short because I’m sleepy. The general message here is that it isn’t awful, but it’s closer to bad than good to my ears.

This one was alright, sounded very 80's and kept a good vibe throughout.

Decent production, but standard commercial 80's pop-rock.

Some interesting lyrics. The music is OK. I don’t find anything overly interesting about it though. Even for 1988.

Генерично, нещо не ме грабнаха. може да е от настроението

Boy, Manchester really sends their best don't they? With all due respect to all you Mancs out there reading this, but fuck this, fuck Morrissey, fuck the Smiths, and fuck City.

No

Never again

Not unpleasant, but seemed like one long song. I suspect this is more interesting at a rave than on a treadmill.

Whatever this genre is, I could do without.

2.4.

I am really surprised by how much I enjoyed this album. It was like Devo on ecstasy. Personal enjoyment: 4/5 Relevance to this list: 3/5

Not for me

This is not nearly as good as their debut. The style here is too weird and not that catchy compared to the previous album. But still… it’s eighties Music from GB. Gotta love it

Any time I’ve tried to listen to the Happy Mondays I end up thinking the same thing: 1) Hey this isn’t so bad, 2) No, why did you add those synth sounds and why do they sound so terrible?!

Right away, I'm bummed. Why is this on here? 1* I will go by the wikipedia tracklist and refuse to sit through 2 hours of this crap. Was lazyitis trying to replicate the Beatles?

Man this album left me BUMMED. It's like all of the 80s music stereotypes rolled into one album. 3/10

This album is just pretty damn boring. Enough said.

Likably loose and raffish, vaguely Stones-like in that sense, with some plus-pleasurable moments and vibes, but no songs that take off or fully captivate. Much better – hookier, more compelling – was to come. Rounding up for that reason, to a very soft 4.

I sort of get why the Happy Mondays are a thing. It's sort of indie, but it's taken a bag of Ecstacy and went to a house night. Once. But Shaun sounds off his cake even when sober ... so a really long, one paced album of him singing while actually of his cake isn't high on my list of things to listen to.

Another boring, basic and British album that doesn't need to be on the list. One or two songs stood out a little but not enough for me to even check the song titles. Except Rave On, that one has some nice sample potential

3.1 1x collector's edition (2h) catchup 10/10 in LAX awaiting flight to ATL

3.5 totally fine.

Meh. I've heard some of these songs in clubs, but honestly, it's not my thing. There was better Brit alterative at the time.

Kind of boring

Eh. Beatles + Pink Floyd + 80s. Too long for me at 2 hrs. 2.5/5

good Brit pop sound, reminded me of Tears for fears overall.

This is the second album by the Happy Mondays on this list. My review on the first (Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches) included the words "boring, uninterresting and mediocre" and a rating of 3 stars. Unfortunately all those words are applicable to this album too, with the additional word "irritating" so this only gets 2 stars.

Sounds like a worse version of stuff that I should like. Enjoyed some tracks though.

Not for me at all, I didn't think the Happy Mondays were this boring?

Tooo reverby, tooo jangly, not direct enough to be catchy and not particularly groovy either. Fave track: Clap Your Hands

Never gave this band much of a listen before but their style and sound fits in pretty well with stuff I usually have on rotation. Three and a half stars. Fave track: Mad Cyril

I don't believe it took that many drugs to do this.

Interesting..

Well I can tell you one thing, I was definitely bummed after listening to this album. Another Brit bias pick that is underwhelming and made my Thursday morning unhappy. I don’t even know what to say about this album. It was so middling, that it just kind of formed one long track. Nothing stood out, it just felt like an album that happened and I’ll never think of again.

This was okay at first but felt like a lot of the same. Like I'm at a rave or something.

Almost a 3, but never quite gets there.

it's alright

Happy Mondays have always basically been Drugs: the band. Bummed is just another example of that. Absolutely fantastic shaking of the maracas though.

I really wasn't looking forward to this album, as the Wikipedia uses what is becoming my least favorite descriptors: "English rock." Oh, and they discovered house music and ecstasy before recording? At this point you don't really need to listen to the album, you can already hear the goofy, self-indulgent-yet-utterly-milquetoast songs. "Bummed" is a great title, because you will feel this way listening to it.

Ein Werk des fü frühen Britpop, das gekonnt Elemente von The Cure und New Order integriert. Der Stil ist unverkennbar und versprüht den Charme der späten 80er Jahre. Trotz dieser stilistischen Stärken fehlt es dem Album jedoch an herausragenden Songs, die wirklich im Gedächtnis bleiben. Insgesamt bleibt “Bummed” eine ordentliche Platte, die solide Musik bietet, aber nicht über das angenehme Mittelmaß hinausgeht

Firmly middle of the road. 2.5 stars

Definitely didn’t hate this but it was nothing special to me, I generally like new wave but nothing about this album stood out besides the mixing being weird

Bummed - Happy Mondays (1988) Ácido em Madchester. A cena de Manchester surgiu nos anos 80 e foi chamada de Madchester, que basicamente era a efervescência da música underground da cidade que deu origem à uma profusão de bandas, com destaque ao Happy Mondays e Stone Roses. O movimento tinha sua musicalidade pautada na mistura entre indie rock, acid house, psicodelia e pop dos anos 60, e o resultado é intrigante, mas nada de que seja fantástico e único. Por fim, não é um tipo de música que é inaudível ou ofensiva aos ouvidos, mas também não cativa, uma ou outra música vai chamar mais a atenção, mas no geral é bem na média. Melhores músicas: Moving In With, Performance, Brain Dead, Bring A Friend, Rave On. Piores músicas: Country Song 2.5/5

I liked their other album more. This was fine.

Yeah this is junk, not even halfway through and I know this is gonna be a 1/5. Album cover isn't even good. Way too repetitive and uninteresting, worst of England.

Meh, not my thing today apparently.

Kinda ok. Kinda forgettable. Actually, now I've listened and thought back, quite forgettable. What was it I listened to again? 1 star

Didn't like that. Am I crazy or did this sound like The Cure minus everything that makes The Cure great? Anyway, this was bland.

This is #day34 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... it's all about the vibe here. Happy Mondays... Even though I prefer Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (the 2020 UK & EU vinyl reissue slams hard, by the way), I find Bummed to be an essential document of the Madchester era. It's nothing short of psychedelic, funky, ecstasy-driven sonic sluggishness. Agreed, it's not The Stone Roses or New Order circa Technique (and it shouldn't be), but there's something about the laid-back, goofy nature of this record that you can't resist. Can you? I'm giving it a 4 out of 5. Looking forward to #day35.

It's fine, but I couldn't really dig my teeth into it.

Something about this album just didn't click for me. Maybe it's the repetition in the instrumentals? The vocals aren't my favorite either.

I wouldn't say that I particularly enjoyed this one, it was a bit weird, but in the boring way. I'm really not much for the "drug" genres, acid-house, psychedelia, stoner rock etc. This music seems to fall in multiple of those kinds of categories and I just don't enjoy that very much Standouts - 2/5

Not the happy Mondays best by any mark but a solid trot through their usual sort of sound. Absolute standout from Hallelujah but there’s your Oakenfold/Weatherall influence. I’d rather listen to PTaB or Black Grape tbh.

I deserve a rating of 5 myself for listening to this for as long as I did. I made it halfway through before my brain screamed that it was no longer bearable. I cannot stand Ryder's voice. Whoever originally let him get in front of a mic and make sound should be slapped about the face. Whoever told him it sounded good and he should definitely be a frontman should also be slapped about the face. The man sounds like he's in pain. My ears have been assaulted.

It's hard to separate Happy Mondays' music from the lore surrounding the band, particularly the infamous stories around their fourth album, which helped bankrupt Factory Records. Based on Bummed, it's puzzling how they even made it to a fourth release, or how their much sharper, lauded third album followed just two years later. Normally, I'm drawn to leftfield releases, but Bummed feels like it's pushing boundaries simply for the sake of it. The production is disjointed, the jangly guitar choices are grating, and Shaun Ryder’s vocals—typically a highlight—lack the impact you’d expect. This sounds like a band throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, and that chaotic approach is evident throughout. Ultimately, Bummed is an unfocused experiment best left behind. Give it a miss.

Like much of the madchester scene, this band feels like 1) their live show doesn’t fully translate to record and 2) you had to be there. Druggy, dancey, funky, punky, trancey. They cram a lot into these songs, several of which are busy and cluttered which sometimes works, but not always. It grows on you as you fall into the repeating grooves, but it just doesn’t fully translate for a guy on his couch in the US whose ecstasy and ketamine days are 10+ years behind. Shaun Ryder is a legend. Bez is a legend. But legendary performances doesn’t mean all the songs are well-written or memorable, and a good groove and some trippy noises can only take you so far. At the end of the day, I’ve checked out the Happy Mondays several times but never really stuck with en. Cool ideas, legendary live performances, ok albums.

This album sucked. Not sure what I was supposed to get out if it, but it was too long, had redundant, annoying 80s background sounds and lyrics that were just boring/inaudible. Will not listen again.

Pure shite, as I always suspected.

Not as good as "Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches", unfortunately. I understand its cultural importance and what it meant, but it just doesn't mean those things to me.

Nice to hear their stuff before they fell into comedy parody. It’s a 2.5 but round up to 3.

A pleasant buzz but I kinda zoned out after 45 minutes.

It's no "Pill Thrills" but you can see the origins of that success. The tunes are not that memorable.

good primitive Madchester sound

Good, kind of monotonous background music. I felt the same way about this album as I do the My Bloody Valentine albums. Is that valid? Worth noting that I wasn't frustrated seeing this as yet another UK rock album on the list, so that's something.

i was interested in the sound but it got redundant. was going to be a 3 but as a whole body of work it was a 2 for me.

It’s not had, definitely some interesting songs, I like the use of some of the non traditional instruments. I was beginning to think it was a little repetitive until I realized there are quite a few remixes or alternate versions of some of the same songs.

Interesting stuff - one I’d go back and give a few more spins. Not a band I’d listened to before.

This wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great either!

pretty solid album here. in my opinion, it sort of starts off slow but does pick up towards and through the second half. at times it reminds me a little bit of REM and similar bands from that era. definitely has a college rock feel to it. solid production and solid instrumentation. i sort of wish i was wowed by it a bit more but i can see it as an album i would be interested in returning to at some point.

Wow more mediocre UK shit

Didn’t convert me into a psychedelic music fan but wasn’t too bad.

I love 80s music, but this album is like many others from the dacade: lots of (sonic) style, but hardly any substance. 2/5

Meh

Really? Another Happy Mondays album? This, too, is pretty shite. Even though it might annoy me a little less than their follow-up, as it's at least more homed in to a vibe: aimlessly drifting through a warehouse rave, when another pill kicks in you maybe shouldn't have taken while this is playing from shomewhere ovver theerre? the music phasing in and out just as your vision turns into a film projector that falls out of sync. Yeah, THEN this could be a cool soundtrack. Doesn't mean it belongs on a record. [...] (now with that being written there, maybe it does. Belong on a record. Filed under: Haze)

This album does not so much sound like a fever dream, but a full on fever, sweaty and delirious.

Yes, I'm definitely bummed that today's entry is yet another mid British '80s synth pop thingy.

I’ve just never really vibed with Happy Mondays. There are some nice grooves here and there but the songs go nowhere, the vocals are just weak and messy, and the mixing on this is god awful. Not bad enough for a 1 but it’s a pretty low 2

The guitar and especially the bass in this album is great and definitely the highlight! Everything else is not quite as good but still quality. Definitely an 80s feel with this album and it works well. Enjoyed and would listen to again.

Чувак просто кричит слова под музыку. Херня какая-то.

He sounds drunk. Some of the songs feel like they go on forever, yet non of h them reach the five minute mark. The whole album feels the same, though it doesn’t reach forty minutes. Not good. Instrumentation is fine, unremarkable. Production doesn’t pique my interest. Very bored by the whole thing. 2/5

This one didn't catch me but I didn't hate it either.

Booooooooooored. 2/5

Bummed is the second studio album by Happy Mondays, originally released in November 1988. Apparently the band was off their tits on drugs during the recording sessions for this album. Like so bad that their producer had to hire session musicians to finish the album. Now I know there have been masterpiece albums made while the band was on drugs. This is unfortunately not one of them. The record reflects the band's state at the time - messy. The vocals are often strained and grating at times. It's like they've got one foot in punk and the other in pop. The 80s clichés are strong in the instrumentals. overall a below-average 80s british pop record. Interesting backstory, but nothing to write home about.

i didn’t have particularly high expectations going into this album, having skimmed through the wikipedia page, but i was pleasantly surprised. it’s psychedelic sound, with prominent vocals, and simple yet effective riffs appealed to me, with each track being quite different from the one before. this early happy mondays work is, to me, quite different than any other britpop band releasing music at the time, something which i find quite refreshing. although i personally enjoy this sound a lot, i can imagine it’s possibly a “love or hate” situation, and only works for some people

Proof that horrible vocals can destroy an okay record. At times the songwriting on this is pretty interesting, and although its usually less than mediocre, the musicianship could have been saved by a sincere singer that actually bothered developing his craft. The 80s were such a brilliant decade for music — how the hell did this make it on here!

Very 80s, some interesting songs. But not really my cup of tea!

Terribly boring, every song sounded the same and the only hooks I remember are the ones that were markedly worse/annoying.

not even as good as that happy mondays record that isn’t very good

Didn't know them. Wish it stayed that way.

Groupe totalement inconnu. Mixage pas terrible, la guitare semble très loin. Les morceaux sont terriblement répétitifs et ennuyeux. =>1/5

Favorite Track: Lazyitis

Pretty cool!

Su voz me resultó muy molesta.

poor

It's no Pill & Thrills, a far superior album

honestly hated it. Couldn't wait to stop listening. Just a cacophony of uninteresting noise.

I love the Happy Mondays but prior to their album Pills n Thrills n Bellyaches their best material was not on albums because it was other people's remixes of their singles. This is a very interesting album to a potential academic studying the "Manchester" scene but I don't think it shows the Mondays at their studio best. It does make me wish I was tripping balls at the Hacienda, though.

The only song by the Happy Mondays I know I've heard before is "24 hour party people", from their earlier debut album, so it's nice to get a different slice of this band. A middling-to-OK album overall, I'd say, but either poorly mixed or just intentionally very muddy; I'm honestly not sure why this album was included in the collection *as well as* their subsequent album. There's not a lot of variety, at least to me, which is a bit disappointing, but I suppose a bit predictable. I didn't realize until I read the Wikipedia entry that the album was inspired by both ecstasy (the drug, that is) and a 1970 film "Performance", although that latter fact explains all the obscure and random voice samples throughout many of the songs. It feels like the sort of album that only works for some people, and I'm not one of them. But to their credit, as I listened to the album I was frequently reminded of the books "Vurt" and "Nymphomation", which I enjoyed, and perhaps not coincidentally are set in Manchester (and I now just discovered there are two other books in the Vurt universe...). I was really tempted to give this a rare 2-star rating, but felt badly for them. :)

They sound like they're capable of making good music, just not on this album. The first song was offensive, the rest just not that good, though I appreciate how they can maintain a groove.

Fed!

Ret fed, føles stilistisk ret unikt (også ved siden af de der andre baggy Manchester bands, der er ikke helt lige så meget tramp over det her som fx Primal Scream eller senere Happy Mondays)

Meget fed! Kan godt lide den lidt "sleazy" tilgang til vokalen. Lyder lidt som om at Iceage har taget inspiration herfra.

É como se o Clash e o New Order tivessem um filho.

What ecstasy does to a mf. More mellow than I was expecting.

some good tracks but felt a bit boring at times, decent overall, mad cyril was my favourite

more british 80s-90s

It was ok.

The problem with ecstasy is that it convinces untalented people that they're making good music.

This list has been teaching me a lot about Madchester ... I did not care for this album but it was interesting to learn about the place this non-electronic band had within the history of electronic music. Weird album though.

happy mondays on bummed bravely asks the question "what if a mancunian smoker did a bob dylan impression while he was already doing a david byrne impression" and the answer is "it would be annoying most of the time"

This was fine. I don't really know what else to say. Not groundbreaking, not bad, not exceptionally good.

deja vu as hell for me

Oops! I forgot everything about this album twelve hours after listening to it. I did add a song to a playlist and I clearly didn't have any major complaints.

some really good songs on here mad cyril and wrote for luck being two of my favourites i cant get enough of the huge drum sounds of the 80s they really do make some songs for me nothing more to mention really i dont think i will listen to the album again but i may come back to some songs i think the album averages out to 3 stars for me but i could easily have put it at 2 or 4 if it were or werent for small details within the album

This was...fine.

The whole disc plays like a John Hughes soundtrack, so it was easy to listen to and get lost with. Not much to say really, it was a fun, decent listen that I wouldn’t have heard without this project, and that’s coming from someone who has always enjoyed the 80s as a genre (well the “new wave” pop stuff anyway). It’s hard to believe that I’m still finding “new” stuff after all this time!

This actually ruined my Monday.

Unhappy Mondays is a more appropriate name for this group, and Bummed is how I feel after listening to them drone on and on. Apparently a lot drugs were used during the recording of this album, and under the influence of drugs is probably the best way to listen to this album.

Largely boring. Wrote for Luck and Hallelujah are good. The rest of it is shite.

Idc 2.5

Bam! Nice one oida!

Enjoyed the vibe, even if it was a little generic.

I was surprised by this. Musically it's fascinating... like Duran Duran hired the dude from Television to sing. If the lead singer had ANY other delivery I mightve enjoyed more than a few tracks.

Sums up every downside of both the 80s and this list. Absolutely painful listen, first one in 447 albums that I couldn't bother to finish.

HL: “Mad Cyril”, “Brain Dead”, “Lazy-Itis”, "Hallelujah (Club remix)" (BONUS) I'll just paste this from the last Mondays: 'File this under my “big dumb fun” albums' (November 2023) Because as much as I want to love the psychedelic haze and bass-heavy grooves, it just goes in one ear & out the other. In fact, Bummed does that more efficiently than Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches. Even though I tend to get down with the new wave & Britpop picks, Happy Mondays, though caught somewhat in the middle of those genres, doesn't intrigue me all that much. But it doesn't bother me either

I love the 80s vibe and enjoyed the songs but didn't listen to all the remixes. I may check out some of their others stuff.

Not something that I really like

Bummed takes all the tropes of pop, rock, and new wave, and while the end result is pretty standard '80s music, it's not corny or generic. It was better than I thought it would be, essentially. I particularly enjoyed the instrumental tracks.

groovy

Better than I thought but…. 2.3

Got bored, started listening to more Hozier instead

Grand, 2.5

This album was far from a “Bummer”. I’m surprised I’ve never heard of them before. It’s like The Cure, The Clash & Depeche Mode had a menage a’tres resulting in a love child called Happy Monday! Key songs for me are Wrote for Luck and Mad Cyril. This is a listen again!

This sounded like a bunch of other alternative 80s music that I missed back in the day. Nothing new or exciting here to be found. Solid for sure but I know I won't be back here anytime soon.

Good psychedelic stuff here. Hard for me to really get into it, but otherwise enjoyed it. Favorite Song: Mad Cyril Rating: 3.0/5

Not the worst thing I've heard by far, but I do question it's inclusion on the list. It sounds like a ravishing groovy time was had by all, both the band and their fans. Some harmless good fun, with plenty of energy and enthusiasm. I just feel "bummed" I don't get it most of the time, but probably worth a listen at least once.

Excellent stuff

I was "bummed" to have to listen to this, and turned it off by "Lazyitis" which just sounded like incoherent mumbling to me.

-It’s like The Smiths if they were slightly more deranged and went on a party drug bender -Some of these lyrics are genuinely hilarious and baffling to me but I fw them -Not a huge fan of all the music but it gets a lot of points for creativity -Favorites are Moving In With, Bring A Friend, and Lazyitis

Lazyitis mi pareva carina.

Not a fan Didn’t like the singers voice