Bummed

Just not my kind of music, unappealing vocals and some repetitive music

OPzich okeish

Every British. Very 80’s.

I feel like I need to be in a shared flat, with no job and 6 other dudes to vibe with this completely.

I think by-and-large this group has not really enjoyed this kind of 80’s synth-infused proto-U2 mumble rock. Like, it’s fine but there is literally nothing inspiring about this to me.

Distinctly 80's vibes. A little weird how like half of this album is the same two songs in different variations. Nothing groundbreaking to me but alright. 3.5

Bummed Happy Mondays definitely feel like a vibes band, a superb best of/greatest hits band rather than an albums band, so I’ve never really dived into their catalog, apart from listening to Thrills, Pills and Bellyaches a few times. I do love a lot of their songs though. Mad Cyril, Wrote for Luck and Lazyitis I’m pretty familiar with from the best of. Mad Cyril is very good, but Wrote for Luck I love, great groove, excellent song. Lazyitis is great as well, I guess they had to credit Lennon and McCartneyfor the nick. I’d never really made the connection before but I hear a lot of Talking Heads in this, which makes sense, both coming at a kind of white funk from a punk/new wave/diy angle. Country Song in particular feels very inspired by TH, I presume by The Big Country from More Songs about Buildings and Food. Just read Country Song was originally titled Some Cunt from Preston, as rhyming slang for Country and Western. Superb. The sound/production really grew on me with repeated listens. It sounds a bit smudged and spacey on first listen but I realised it really compliments the songs and the overall of vibe of wooziness and blurring of funk, punk, pop and house music. I do love his lyrics, they are very funny. Non sequiturs and dry observations mixed with a sense of humour is a great combo. It may be a bit patchy in places and feels like it might fall apart any second, but It’s such a fun listen, it’s got such a winning energy and that precariousness actually works in it’s favour, a bit like Exile era Stones. 4 may be high but its such an enjoyable listen it feels churlish to be parsimonious. Great stuff. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not bad

Fake The Cure, quite boring, I didn't like it. There's no need to say much more than that.

Stupidly enough I only listened to their Pills Thrills and Bellyaches, 100s of times. This one is almost as brilliant. Love the Manchester scene.

Decent madchester stuff

Helt kova

I have never heard of this band, this album, of this "Madchester" genre--and for good reason, it's all shit innit? Probably a time and a place, but this seems pretty inconsequential to me. No interest in ever revisiting.

'Yeah it's alright' kind of album

Day 10 of listening to 1001 albums everyday, one album at a time. I’ll start with saying I usually give an album a benefit of the doubt and try understand where it is coming from. Or maybe even put myself in the time period and this album coming out during then. However none of those thoughts help bring this album anywhere close to actually being good. The writing and vocals are obnoxious and awful. The only thing that keeps from giving this album a one is the constant good psychedelic funk. However it is unfortunate that the lead singer voice over it sounds horrible and doesn’t allow for that music actually come through. Even during a 6 minute track where it’s suppose to let the music breathe they decided to add his vocals and it ruins it. I don’t like this album and truly don’t get the point of some of these lyrics. Some are meant to be like they’re writing stuff to make people mad but it more comes annoying than anything. To some it the best way I can, I am bummed a band called Happy Mondays made feel so awful on Wednesday.

Is "Wrote for Luck" a great song? Yes, it is. Does it justify a whole album? Not really. It would work wonderfully as an EP, but that's not how things were done at the time. The other songs just bleed into each other way too much. Lazyitis is also a good song though.

Want to like this more than I actually do in reality. Remixes routinely better than originals. Too long, too noodley. Joke title is the cleverest bit about it.

Meh. It was fine but not anything earth-shattering for me

Great 80's brit pop. Somewhat nostalgic sounds with Beatles tunes and an INXS feel to it all.

4/5. Ethereal and drug-filled, these songs create a great atmosphere. It feels like I am falling through a dream but it's not scary, but there is an existential dread through it all despite the upbeat major chords. Although it kind of flows all together, the jamming riffs and repetitive drums drowned in reverb and acid makes it actually sounds unique amongst the British rock-alikes. It's a good album to listen to front to back filling your ears with ecstasy. Best Song: Moving In With, Wrote For Luck, Country Song

Very thin sound and the vocals are pretty bad.

Some indy rock in the sound of the 80ies. should be #1900 (of the 1001 list)

Le début de l'album me plaisait, mais j'ai vite trouvé que ça devenait redondant et un peu unidimensionnel. C'est loin d'être un mauvais album, mais j'oubliais un peu qu'il jouait. 5/10

Interesting start, really got my attention - but then it fell off, and I didn't really notice the rest of the album.

Might have been influential, but the folks who came after just did it better. Would have been a 1 but a song or two was just okay. 2/5

I kinda like Kinky Afro from this band, but that's not on this album. Not really feeling this project. 2.5/5

This was an interesting listen. Another band I never heard of and probably should have. Fan of the era and would have probably followed for awhile.

Bleh. All started to sound the same

This is a new wave pick for sunny days or dark afternoons

I found this really boring actually. Really average rock with some guy shouting inanely as “singing”. Listens: 2 Fave Track: Rave On Rating: 2

Some catchy moments, but really hard to get past the loud brashness of the music. Chaotic in a bad way unfortunately. The singer has an awful nasally inflection as well. Overall not a very enjoyable listen

Too derivative

It’s a not a bad record - better than I thought it would be - but I struggle to remember much of it, let alone love it.

This is one of my favourite album covers from the entire list. I recall liking their other album on the list. This was decent. I probably wouldn’t listen to it again but it was pleasant enough! Considering this is album #666 for me, I was hoping to get something a little more metal than a band called Happy Mondays, haha. Oh well.

* I hated this. Deeply unimpressed. Zero stars if I could Don’t know this one. Let’s go! Ok so first ‘ecstasy’ fueled album. Not necessarily a draw for me Not listening to the deluxe album. Sticking with the original 10 tracks. Dumb Spotify not offering older versions Two songs in, this isn’t doing much for me yet This is shit. 1 star. Drugs are bad m’kay Brain Dead - this is Rick’s Schwifty voice, shit on the floor ‘Wrote for luck’ best song on album. Actually listenable. Do it better is repetitive garbage Best part of the last song is this is now over. This was absolute shit. Maybe influenced later bands. I don’t care to look into this further. I really cannot appreciate this. This was bad enough that I am not putting on more music. I’m just annoyed by sound now. Good riddance

Damn, I had high hopes for this one when seeing "madchester" and "psychedelia" as the listed genres. But it was certainly not the high-energy burst of sonic energy I expected. If anything, it was sort of boring and aged, particularly the production. Some of the tracks caught my attention at points, and there was certainly potential. But at no point did it ever fully crystalize. Honestly, I think I'd like it more on second go, stripped of my expectations. But alas.

I didn’t know if the Madchester acid-infused confection of 80sness. It feels like it straddles the decades perfectly and has a catchiness mixed with edge.

party people gonna party

Sto a fa la review che mi so un po' rotta. Rock un po' psichedelico, piacevole ma non per me. Giustamente un po' ripetitivo, da qualche parte ho letto che il genere chiama madchester. Sicuramente importante musicalmente, ma non troppo per me.

bloody drag to listen to. it wasnt the absolute worst but it was close

More generic British 80s glam music.

I’ve always loved the Madchester sound, and whenever I listen to these guys, I just feel like dancing <3 To hell with the haters

"First album written on ecstacy", but far from the best surely. Way to much echo/reverb placed on Shaun's vocals to find them enjoyable, and a real lack of catchy tunes. Sounds like a "had to be there" album. Not bad, but not offering much to the table 35 years later.

Lekker hoor, wel beetje achtergrond muziek. Deuntjes blijven lang hetzelfde, maar prima tijdens het studeren

Oi we're in Manchester lads Soort gekke mix tussen Joy Division, Talking Heads en the Smiths Hou wel van new wave/post-punk dus prima

spacey Ken deze hele band ook niet Ja nice ik ben fan skrrtttt

Couldn’t finish it, got really bored.

It was alright. I would still like to do a deeper dive on them

New to me. Sounded like alot of 1980's danceable rock. Yawn, for me.

0.5 just awful. Horrible mix, awful vocals

Я послушал этот альбом сегодня вечером, с 9 до 10 часов. Я гулял по освещенным улицам города и изначально мое настроение было не очень хорошее, но я взял себе банку пива и хорошо прогулялся, слушая его. Весь этот альбом - будто ты сидишь за столиком около сцены и медленно попиваешь, слушая расслабленно-возбужденных музыкантов. Погружение в магию звуков, сливающихся воедино невероятным потоком, истинное наслаждение. Больше всего мне понравились эти песни: Hallelujah, создающая атмосферу всепоглащающего клуба, country song, каа прекрасное начало альбома, сразу цепляющая, moving in with, продолжающая дарить опьяняющее наслаждение и lazyitis, сыгранная с использованием, мне кажется, ситары, риф которой запомнится мне надолго и прямо сейчас играющий в голове. Мне просто хорошо, я прекрасно провел время благодаря этому альбому.

I listened to this a few times because I felt like I was missing something... seems up my alley, but fell flat. I got excited as the last tune "Lazyitis" started because it felt like it was going somewhere different, but then I realized it was just "Ticket to Ride"... oh well.

Pretty meh. Some was okay but overall it all sounded pretty much the same.

Maximalist sound with middle school lyrics.

I was suprised that it was kind of fun and silly at the start but after i while i dind't care. could be my problem

zzzzzzzzzzzz

המוזיקה לא טובה... אבל עדיין שמיעה.

It's OK. I'm not getting anything here that would be memorable for the rest of my life. Maybe if I listened to it a few more hundred times?

The music a bit of a blurry din. Its as if the lead singer doesn't realize how microphone's work and is trying to sing his lyrics really loudly. The bass is overdelivered, but there is a cool beat and danceable rhythm through much of it. There was nothing that I loved, but it was an interesting listen.

Listened a couple days ago and can’t remember how I feel about it tbh so there’s that

Background music for me, but it becomes a bit more interesting back there because of the experimental sounds and vocals I hear.

A bit before my time to be in 'the scene' and they've never hugely appealed to me, but this was pretty enjoyable. 3.5.

Pretty bummed that this is included in the list. Nothing spectacular here.

I don’t get psychedelic funk, clearly

fun 80s band

2.5

It's not bad

Je ne sais pas pourquoi, cet album ne m'a pas plu. Quelque chose dans la voix qui me faisait penser à tous les autres groupes de l'époque. Écouté à plusieurs reprises et je n'ai jamais accroché.

Not for me

This kind of music is just too cheesy for me. Reminiscent of a lot of bad 80s music. I couldn’t finish this record. It’s not a one star, but damn close.

kinda overhated, it's pretty decent

Would not want to listen to this again. And it was way too long.

too weird for me

Definitely not my cup of tea... But I do like the bass lines of most of the songs. 3/5

Notable track: Mad Cyril

Un álbum de música ochentera mediocre. Si bien experimenta un poco con la psicodelia, adelantándose por unos meses a lo que podría ser el Madchester, la composición repetitiva y la producción gigantesca característica de estas bandas "post-The Cure" no le favorece en nada a este proyecto de Happy Mondays. Si bien no soy familiar con el resto del catálogo de la banda, escuchando este disco como "puerta de entrada", no me dan ganas de seguirlos escuchando.

Not for me

Budget REM. I liked the Underworldish track second from last.

I don‘t know. Sounds like they summon old times and coat the mediocre songwriting by overlayering every instrument with reverb to the max.

First time listen and I liked it. Reminded me of Simple Minds in the 1980s

Heard of this band but not that impressed. I don't think I remember anything about the album after having just listened to it.

Boring, meaningless, sounds like the worst of the 80's combined. Not my cup of tea.

It was 80s. And boring. Like pieces of other 80s bands and songs stitched together, but without the interesting parts. The singer sometimes reminded me of Ian Astbury of The Cult but with less expression. All in all quite forgettable

Enjoyable Madchester album, though only a few highlights.

Like a weaker INXS or Cure. Also did thry steal the melody to Ticket to Ride on Lazyitis? Just kind of dull music lol

Red volvo gem in there

Skipped through most of it. I mean, what did I expect from an album with a cover like that?!

Interesting album. Unsure whether to like or dislike this album. Two listens to this album and no earworms.

I've not heard this album described as Brit-pop and that surprises me a bit. The description on Wikipedia and on this site made me think I was going to hear acid-techno pop music, but this is basically a trebled-up James. This was better than I had expected, yet it also felt like generic Brit-pop that was before its time. I'm not sure if this is a must-hear album, though if you accidentally hear it then your life isn't going to be changed for the better or worse.

I went into this with zero expectations. Into the first couple of songs I wasn't digging it, but after a while it strangely started to grow one me. It has a bit of "The Top" era The Cure in it along with some of The Fall's snark. Infectious in an indescribable way.

Enjoyed it

<Boom Boom Boom Boom> <Husky Drawl/Whisper> Blah Blah Blah. Oakenfold's remix of WFL is the only reason that I have submitted myself to this swamp of murk. Ok. Not fair. "Hallelujah" is epic. Come to think of it. "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" is not quite the same as "1001 Absolutely Spiffiing Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Other than if existential despair is your leitmotif... ,

Reinhören, mehr aber auch nicht. Passt schon wieder nicht!

4/10 nothing special but not terrible

Moving in with Fat lady wrestlers Hallelujah Rave on Very interesting to listen to. Great album to multi task too or back ground music. Got boring in the end. Def couldn’t sit down and listen to the album alone

elevator music for teenagers

Wasn't familiar with this, but a solid album. Reminded me a lot of the Cure.

A drug-fueled mess of an album. Totally boring.

The Smiths, but boring

Not as aggressively awful as some of the others, but annoying enough that I was glad when it was over.

Bisschen viel geleiert

kind of a bop

Ja

Hayek lang wel

Uiteraard niet 2u lang geluisterd maar wel oke ofzo, niets bijzonders

I didn’t not like it. Couldn’t pick out a best song as they all sounded pretty similar. (maybe Rave On?) No standouts, no filler; seemed pretty middle of the road. Not sure why it made the 1001 list. Comes in at (2.5*s)

Pretty good

It’s no Stone Roses. Or even The Cure. But at all times, part of it tried to be. I think I’m not not that into the whole Madchester thing. But I felt like there were a lot of Danny Boyle moments on the record. Panicked when Spotify told me it was 2 hours but then noticed that was the Deluxe Reissue or whatever, with 12 different Hallelujah remixes. Phew, I think.

Maybe I was just not in the mood but this just seemed really anxty. Not sure if that's a real word

Kanske behöver en om lyssning egentligen

I’m sure there is context for this one but I can’t be bothered. Songs have no real structure, they kinda just happen. On paper I should like this album with its new wave influence, but absolutely nothing stands out. It’s not too offensive, just a slog.

80s (disco-)rock that not hooks me any more. Not a single rememberable song.

First song is extra terrible. After that it becomes more British 80's pop, like the Cure. Not my thing.

Weird, bit in a really good way. The music NFS lyrics are unique

Didn't like it much

3,5

I just can't get into these guys ..... it's probably a failing on my part .....

Meh. How this album scores a spot on a list of albums you must hear before you die is beyond me. 2/5

Did not like this at all.

Messy, monotonous, atonal, and mixed as if to sound like it's playing on a cheap laptop in another room.

Enjoyable enough, especially with my low expectations after reading the reviews. Not great, not terrible, but I didn't hate it!

Pretty good. I like the guitar work. Nothing flashy, but some cool, Edge-like textures and sounds. The intro to Rave On is one of my favorite moments on the album. That may be mostly due to the absence of vocals. I don’t care for the snotty, yelling/whining delivery of the vocalist. It’s not enough to alienate me from the album, but I don’t dig his shit.

I’ve still listened to Kid Rock during this project. So this isn’t the worst thing. But it is fucking awful.

Today I learned the term "Madchester" I've never heard of this group, but this was a cool collection of dancey low-fi new wave. Apparently they were very into Ecstasy, good for them! I could see myself putting this on for a dance sesh or something. These are consistent energetic tunes but nothing really grabbed me today.

Ok

Interesting listen, I enjoyed several of the songs and was intrigued by the mixture of "samples" or riffs from popular music like The Beatles and other much larger groups. Thourougly intrigued indeed. Good stuff.

favourite song: wrote for luck really enjoyed this but certainly not my favourite happy mondays album

I may have blacked out as soon as this album started and came to with what I assumed was the same song still playing 30 minutes later.

This Mad Chester fella need to be locked up

Trash

This really scratched an itch for new wave-influenced music with a funk bent. I think I’m also partial to slightly out of tune British rock singers

Ja flinke achtergrondmuziek kon hier niet veel mee..

Lekker Brits, ik ga dit wat vaker luisteren

STOP AUB MET DIE BRITSE ROCK

cool rock, reminds me of inxs kinda. would probably listen again. lazyitis very cool

so almost a 5!!

The Spice Boys at their finest. Like listening to the cider swiggers outside the bus station.

I like laidback groovy music, but Shaun Ryder makes the Happy Mondays hell on earth. There is nothing wrong with singing a bit off-key and off-rhythm, but this is a mess. The instrumentation is also messy. This record sounds like the recording of some drunk guys from a local pub rehearsing.

Bummed

Eh not bad but nothing hitting. Can't say i'll even revisit

A few of the songs sounded ok, but didn't help the singer was out of tune. A bit of a noisy mess really.

There were a couple tracks here I could see getting into in this album, they've got that solid new wave/dance-rock feel to them that I could see being something I would enjoy out and about. However, the album seemed to get aggressively more British with each track, and not in a good way. We're talking the most annoying acts from Britpop assuredly took influence from this album, and didn't realize that iconic whine was something that is grating on the ears. Some of the instrumentals are fine, its all very fine, but after a while it just was all blending into the same thing, with little to make it stick out.

Did not like it at all

2.5/5

Good

I first discovered Happy Mondays about a year and a half ago from this list with the album "Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches." It's become one of my favorites from 1001 Albums and as a result I started listening to this album too. I love the energy of this album. It's perfect for hyping yourself up before you go out or for rocking out while cooking. The music has such a cool style -- a little dance-y, a little druggy, a little chaotic, the drums are reverbed to the the max and the leader singer sounds absolutely wasted on every song -- I can't get enough of it. All of the layers in the songs make them sound huge. This is music that fills a room. I love the Beatles interpolation on "Lazyitis” too. 4.5

This was an alright listen. I didn't love it but I didn't dislike it. Kind of right in the middle. I do like the consistent "pushing-forward" kind of beats and slurred vocal parts. It's a pretty unique sound. I can imagine this was a cool record in the 1980's. right down the middle 3/5.

New-to-me band. Very long collector's edition album. Got through most of it. Okay.

cool

englischer rock, mit anfangs gutem drive - aber mit der zeit eintönig. in der remastered-version sind dann in der 2. hälfte viele mixes mit acid/house-touch .. ah, wird einfach nicht besser. geht bei mir in „1001 second choices“.

Nicht gekannt, nichts verpasst!

Not great :(

Don’t know what to think about this at ALL. If any of you didn’t read the Wikipedia for this one, do that! It’s HILARIOUS. Someone should make a movie about this. A label trying desperately to keep the band away from their favorite drug, ecstasy, ships them off to a very remote studio with an army base nearby. The band befriends the soldiers, gives them ecstasy, rave culture spontaneously starts on this army base, people get arrested, it’s a great time. What is this album though? Well, it’s exactly what the description sounds like. A live album made on ecstasy. None of the lyrics or melodies are at all memorable, everything is drenched in this oppressive reverb and delay, the tracks are so repetitive as to be hypnotizing. But there’s so much spirit and fun in it, and just enough about the tracks themselves that feels hypnotic, not quite right, dreamlike, that it gives you a double-take. Like, what am I even listening to right now? It doesn’t really scan as belonging to any genre that I’ve heard. It’s just very… confusing. I’m confused! I don’t necessarily love it, but I’m also kind of attracted to it. Maybe this is how love starts. Certainly, most bands I’ve grown to love start this way, being something I can’t understand but nonetheless draws me in. Alas, the 1001 Albums keep pumping out, and I must move to more familiar territory. Still, a little confused and intrigued by what I just heard. 3/5

I Really enjoyed pills and thrills, this one just isn’t as good, and therefore probably doesn’t need to be on the list.

Pee Wee's Funhouse vibes with too many songs

Nothing special about this 2*

This strikes me as extremely run of the mill and uninspired music. Not one enjoyable song.

naja...

Very fun album but I thought it was alright

Didn't care for it.

I’m glad I listened to this LP but it didn’t do much for me. I found the vocals to be pretty bland and not great melodies throughout. Not sure why this is included in 1001 Albums to listen to before you die!

I've never heard of this band and now I know why. Pretty BUMMED this album even made this list. It sounded like they recorded this underwater. Very mediocre and forgettable. Dare I say some of the tunes/cadence/riffs sound like they were "borrowed" from other songs by other artists (who incidentally do it much better). I will never listen to this band again.

I usually like a heavy English rock group but I could barely understand the lead singer. Instruments were too bogged down and melded together so it felt like just background noise. Not really into the sound although can see the influence this album had.

What a treat. I dug the punky acid rock sound. Had a sense of early shoegaze noise at certain points. I get the sense HM would be a blast to see live. Can't believe it's Shaun Ryder (Gorillaz Dare) on lead. Love it. 3.0 stars. Interested in checking out some other hits and remixes from Happy Mondays.

no thank you

Meh

Solid Album. Nothing that made me do backflips or threw up either. 2.5/5

Funk psicodélico. Ni fu ni fa.

No están mal, pero un poco dolor de cabeza. Les daré un 3.

I did not enjoy a single thing from here in the slightest

Album still sounds fine, clearly more guitar than house, perhaps it is a bit hard to judge the music knowing there are some superior remixes out there. Probably Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches is a bit better but it depends on one's mood. In any case: solid album.

For the most part rather ugly music with moaning vocals.

Too long

Rating: 5/10 Meh.

This one was terrible. I could've lived happy without hearing the awful production with all the reverb and atrocious singing. I hope the person that mixed this album was inexperienced or had a really bad day. No one could make it intentionally this dreadful.

Hmmm the first song is called “Country Song”…. But it’s not. Let’s see what this is all about. Never heard of these guys but I’m quite enjoying it. Definitely has that 80s sound. Britt 80s.

Sounds Pink Floyd-ish.

I should love this. All the elements are there. Instead I find it a little insipid and boring. Nothing really grabs me. It sounds like the sort of thing played in a movie scene of a rad 80's party where you don't want to take focus away from what the characters are doing.

Fun as a retro piece. Gave me an excuse to read about techniques for gated reverb on drums. Creatively mostly flat.

Well, well, well. We meet again, Madchester. I've listened to a few albums from this fairly niche movement before, and I quite liked them. The debut album from The Stone Roses in particular stood out to me as a truly great album. So how does Bummed by Happy Mondays compare? Not well. I did not care for this album. The sound is pretty decent. It's somewhat repetitive, but I wouldn't say it was too repetitive, even if it was kind bordering that edge. The singing was okay at times, but also was just kind of dumb at others. The lyrics don't make much sense to me. I couldn't really gather what most songs were about, and when I could, it was about drugs or sex. I just wasn't interested in this one. Apparently this band has another album on this list, so I'm not excited for that. However, apparently that album is better than this one, so I'll try to remain optimistic whenever that comes up. For now though, this album gets a 2/5 for being uninteresting.

Very brit. Forgettable.

I like the atmosphere on this. It's got a manic energy to it, and there's some interesting things going on musically. I like the psychedelic guitars. It's quite unique. 3.5 rounded down.

Did not care for this too much at all. The songs themselves are okay but quickly forgettable. Except for Rave On because of how different it sounds comparstive to everything else, and I'm not sure if thats good or bad. Reminded me a little of Fine Young Cannibals without any hits.

Musically this album was really cool and unique. Vocally i hated it. This particular English accent is so awful in music. Sounds like a drunk yelling in my ear down at the pub

Niet alles wordt mooier van xtc, laten we het daar op houden. Ik ben er zonder kleerscheuren doorheen gekomen maar ik heb geen seconde genoten.

Production sounded exceptionally well on the Sennheisers (remastered version). A consistent theme was finding the beats very fun but carrying the uninspiring vocals that didn’t quite fit the psychedelia. A boldish take is that The Strokes on these instrumentals would be great. But once again I am wondering how disproportionately the island of Great Britain appears on the list. 6/10

Jeah

I’ll be honest I gave up on this. Can’t believe this came out in 2007, I don’t remember it but it must’ve sounded so dated and out of place. HM were pretty irrelevant by then

The production is a bit messy, but love it. The sound of a band on the way forward

I listened through all of the Happy Mondays discography just earlier this year. I mostly found it disappointing, because I think their albums are just a "time and place" thing that really doesn't hold up today. "Bummed" is fine, and it is fine to put on in the background. However, any significance I feel lies in how it fits in historically and the impact it had on bands that did much better things that do still hold up.

2.5/5

Meh , wasn’t feeling it in a Sunday First listen

Very cool experimental moments

Not sure if I like this Ok it picks up in the middle! Sounds a little like 80’s post-punk stuff. Like early Cure meets the Sugarcubes. I can see the club appeal. Not necessarily my thing but I’ll give it a 3/5.

I enjoyed watching *24-Hour Party People* a lot. It was a film that was both hilarious and well-documented. But OK, once you had that good laugh at the movie version of the band, are you supposed to automatically become a fan of them? Some characters in the Sopranos make me laugh as well. Does that mean I should try to join the mafia? Let's just say that if I can appreciate the Happy Mondays "saga"--filled with drugs, stupid moves, and picturesque characters--that doesn't necessarily mean I'm a fan of their music. I even think that this band is probably one of the most overrated acts that has ever come out of Britain during the eighties. And I'm gonna tell you why now. I don't know if *Bummed* is their worst or "best" album, but frankly, why should I care? Everything supposedly "important" the Happy Mondays released is just a cheesefest sonically speaking anyway, not to mention a total bore songwriting-wise. Ecstasy-induced vocal meanderings over terribly linear tracks is not my idea of what a good song should sound like. And it's not my idea of a good time either, even if I'm in a quote-unquote "party mood". Worse, the nonsensical "arrangements" in those tracks make everything sound even *more* grating. And don't get me started on those horrid eighties gated drums... Now about the supposed critical status of this album, a little bit of translation for ya:  Writing for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis said "almost 20 years on, Bummed sounds extraordinary, but wildly abstruse". Petridis has good taste, generally speaking, but here he's being overly polite. What he really means by "extraordinary" is that the album doesn't make a shred of sense. And what he means by "abstruse" is just that : "abstruse". Priya Elan of NME felt the album "actually dated best" out of all of the band's releases, despite Hannett's "raw production show[ing] the Madchester sound in its infancy" Translation: *Bummed* is not as *downright horrible* as other HM albums but it's still horrid nonetheless. "Dating best" within a discography doesn't necessarily mean "dating WELL". All Music's Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised Hannett's production as "all smeared colors and harsh edges". Translation : it's a formless blob. He wrote that "decadence has rarely sounded as dangerous as it did in the hands of the Mondays". Er... Stephen, ever heard of a band called The Stooges? Or The Velvet Underground, maybe? It's probably a bit "niche" for you, i'll grant you that... Then Stephen describes the sound of the album as "stiff psychedelic funk". Is "stiff" your idea of a good time, Steve? And does such adjective go along well with the words "psychedelic" and "funk"? Later, Erlewine mentions  Ryder "spitting out rhymes", and then expanded on this, calling the album the "result of [a] copious intake of ecstasy". Okaaaay, then. Stephen's idea of a good time is to be bothered by a random drunk on X spitting on him at a dive bar. But to each their own, I guess. 🤷‍♂️ In other words, the critics know it's a pile of shit, but they sugarcoat it the best they can. In response, I can only show scorn at their obvious hypocrisy. 1 star for the purposes if this list, which translates to something around 3/10 or s/10 for more gneral purposes. (1+ whatever...). Next, *please*. Number of albums left to review: less than 400 (I've temporarily lost count here) Number of albums I'll include in my own list: half so far, approximately Number of albums I *might*  include: a quarter, approximately. Number of albums I'll never include: another quarter (including this one - many others are more important to me).

Next 5 Songs played by my Spotify Algorithm: Julian Cope: An Elegant Chaos Dexy's Midnight Runners: Tell Me When The Light Turns The Auteurs - Lenny Valentino The Stone Roses - Fool's Gold James - Sit Down

Woof. This was my second, and thankfully last Happy Mondays album on the list. I can't think of a single positive thing to say about this album. I didn't care for the vocals, lyrics, or music on this album. Nothing about this stood out to me at all, and it was a chore to get through. I'm really curious as to how either Happy Mondays album made it on this list.

3 stars

I could have died happy never having hearing this. How it made this list I have no idea

A cool psy funk/acid house album but with a distinctive British flavour. After reading about how the album was created with the help of being ecstasy fueled, it all begins to fall into place. Yet it doesn't diminish the sound that they created, by their own admission, likely the first album that was solely created on the drug. Best: Wrote for Luck Worst: Hallelujah

It’s Ok

I don’t care.

MH 1990, aðeins fyrir mína tíð. Missti alveg af þessu og veit ekkert hvernig ég hefði tekið á málinu sem stjórnandi á þessum tíma. Söngurinn er meh, en seiðandi taktur og endurtekin stef eru góð. Afar mikið reverb og smá echo skapa merkilega mikið pláss í lögunum. Bland í poka, en oft gaman.

Not my gig

Just not a fan of this type of music.

Another one that had to grow on me, but it's still not going to get over the "7 out of 10" hump, and I'm rounding down. I might revisit one or two songs on occasion. Maybe.

Happier Fridays, the album was ok (2.5/5)

Not my speed

Good tunes. It reminded me of INXS throughout it. It doesn't end how it started.

1.5

Wouldn’t revisit it.

Solid post new wave, pre shoe gazer.

It did not get my appreciation as much as I thought it would. Some songs were ok, but the rest is just early 90s indie rock. Maybe if Andrew weatherall would have present this to me something would change.

Not terrible just boring.

Este hubiera venido bien ayer, que era lunes.

I dropped out before the first song finished. This is rough.

Boring

Repetitief, ook de zangstijl steekt wat tegen

Weer fijne doorsnee jaren '80. Ik ga dit niet voor mijn plezier opzetten.

Makes me want to try ecstacy.

A big surprise how much I enjoyed this god damn!! I loved all the dance elements to this and ended up listening to all the bonus tracks and remixes on the deluxe version. also introduced me to paul oakenfold properly which is awesome, only knew him from a The Streets song reference lol

Really really really really a lot of nothing. Boring and nondescript. I will never listen to this again.

pretty bland to be honest. never outwardly bad though

2-

This is the first time in awhile that I actively disliked an album. No real interesting hooks at all, the singer's voice is annoying and mumbly, and he has this distinctively 80s sound that I don't like. I guess this was a big album for some sub-sub-genre or another, but I'm not getting it. I'll be passing on listening to the full 2 hour collector's edition on Spotify. Lazyitis (the last song) is somewhat decent, and I like the cover art. That's the pros. Favorite song: Lazyitis

Meh

I liked this more than I remember liking it.

Not bad, not great. Sounded pretty 80's. A little repetitive at times but "Wrote for Luck" is a solid tune.

Average. Everything sounded the same. Too long.

About as a good as a “Brit pop that didn’t make it big in the US” album will get if I had to guess. Pretty catchy.

Funky 80s-pop. There are elements which are enjoyable: basslines, catchy chorus, and solid drum beats. However, there are also elements which I do not gravitate towards, the generic 80s reverb and washed out vocals, synth pop. Overall, this is reminiscent of 80s RHCP, funny enough, and I can’t say it’s terrible. Just had its moment in the sun.

Loved the music, very upbeat and you could tell the musicians were enjoying themselves. The singing got old really quickly though. Yet another album on here where I really enjoy the music but the lead singer runs it into the ground...

Happy Mondays are an intriguing band, probably nothing sounded like them at the time. I like the repetitive psychedelic grooves of this album, but they can also be a slog at times. 3.5

Maybe an example of the background being more interesting than the product. I knew nothing about "Madchester," nor did I realise how much influence it had on early 90's britpop only to be overshadowed by shoegaze and grunge. This is lazy psychedelic dance rock built on the strength of new wave where my only point of reference was The Cure, Talking Heads, New Order, and the song 'How Soon Is Now'. The latter being more related than I realized. Anyway, with the use of ecstasy, these guys were completely somewhere else which in my opinion was a detriment. Compare this to their first album which is more tight and focused. And yet, Bummed has some strong material which I found oddly alluring despite being marred by weird production and off putting vocals. A 3.5 rating?

It was alright.

I could tell I was gonna hate this within the first 10 seconds and the feeling never went away

Being at the center of the universe always helps and, in the case of Happy Mondays, Manchester in 1988 was just the perfect place to be bummed. They just so happen to not only be on time but also rather early to the party and it shows with how uproarious and delightfully delirious the album sounds. This can take you by surprise if you let it, because it is awfully fun to have happen. Favorites: Moving in With, Mad Cyril, Fat Lady Wrestlers, Performance, Brain Dead, Wrote for Luck, Bring a Friend.

Meh, not wild about it. One of those albums I listen to and will never remember.

I always liked the Happy Mondays and this album has their distinctive style. It’s my kind of music and refreshingly different to lots of albums we’ve heard. I’m going 4* !!

Yeah was alright.

dont look at the score, i had to delete an accidental rreview

Classic 80's tracks. A solid album of tunes, but no single track stands out. Dubbed an "ecstasy-fuelled" album by their manager, according to Wikipedia, it is not the kind of drug fuelled sound I am used to. An interesting glimpse into 80's culture that in my opinion has not taught me anything new.

Meh.

Droney

Me aburrió. Hay cantidad de álbumes así, post-puk new wave monótonos.

I could do without this album.

A good album, but slightly disappointed and was expecting more interesting/chaotic tracks.

Listened Before? N Meh, didn't really stand out to me. It was ok mid-80s british pop rock. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Wrote for Luck

I am “bummed” with this album. It just really wasn’t anything special or interesting. It was a little annoying at times but just boring. Bring on better ones!!!

The pervasive commentary around this album seems to focus squarely on how drugged out the entire band were at all times. Which after listening in one sitting...definitely tracks. Just look at the perfect album cover - that *is* the album. It's really not terrible, but more disappointing - each song has some sort of melodic bent which would seem to be right in my wheelhouse but none of them go anywhere. It all just plays out as a ~38 minute* uniform stoned uptempo not very dynamic compressed dance rock rave. If that's your thing, hit it. 4/10 2 stars *I couldn't bring myself to for the 2 hour collector's edition which is all that Apple Music offers. That ecstasy trip is way too long for me.

Not huge on the vocals. The sound is weird and hard to nail down, but I like the production. It’s the sort of thing I would like, but this doesn’t fully click with me for some reason. I’ll probably revisit at some point. Best song: Lazyitis

Madchester. I think you have to be stoned to enjoy this. Very much of it's time.... can see why people enjoy it but I cannot relate to or connect with it on any level. Boring

Feels like the 90s but they were doing their thing in 88..... Not my favourite music but they developed a sound I guess.

HALLELUJAH

I sense some potential in there, maybe, if not for the oppressive 80s-ness of it all. Gah, those generic drum and key sounds!

Some good tracks but overall it's just okay.

also have never heard of this band or album! -love a good british band -country song is very weird -it feels like a song trying to make fun of a country song which is funny -these lyrics are WACKY -i do like mad cyril -its all very ooooo and ahhhhhh 80’s music, not bad but not my favorite -this is a 2 star album for me just because its not really my thing and i wouldn’t listen to it again

Not sure if it is the production or something, but many of the tracks sound noisy. If it wasn't for that, this could be a nice alternative album with touches of new wave and 70s rock. It has a few good dance songs as well.

eh, not much to say tbh

Really good rocking album. 4 stars.

More interesting than a lot of 80s pop.

Enjoyable enough, a few tracks had me tapping my foot. but in the genre it will rank quite mid as there are a lot more albums reaching within and giving deep emotions but this was just pleasant.

Bad 80s, don't care that it's a deep cut from an influential act, it's crap.

Not sure this is worthy of the list, tbh - it's interesting from a historical perspective, as it shows what they were doing before they made the more Britpoppy stuff that was much better, but it's not an album you need to hear before you die, is it? It's way more 80s than their later stuff (understandably), but it sounds like a slightly tuneless, less tidy Pet Shop Boys album. 2/5. 

You had to be there, I guess.

a little strange

The high point of Happy Mondays’ music is their distinct charismatic lyrics, otherwise, a lot of the project would sound kinda like a sonic mess…but in some cases that actually does work.

Pretty good. I'd listen again.

Not my cup of tea

This is a very odd album. Like I seriously don’t know how to feel about it. I’ll start by saying that Bummed is not a bad album but I can’t really tell if I like it. It’s this odd mix of psychedelic music and this blend of indie rock and dance music. It’s generally a good sound. I think that it doesn’t stand out that much and is just okay but I don’t dislike it. The lyrics are very cryptic and nonsensical. They also rarely follow any rhyme scheme and the vocals themselves are kind of bad in my opinion. For dance music, the vocals have no groove and the guy singing the lyrics sounds like he’s stoned out of his mind. Maybe that’s part of the appeal but I don’t really know how to feel about them. I think that goes for the whole album, I just don’t know how to feel. I normally love oddball and abrasive music but I don’t feel as though this music is all that abrasive. Sure, it’s odd, but it’s not like unimaginably odd. It just sounds different. Now, that can be a good thing. But I feel here they were just different to be different. Nothing more, nothing less. This album just didn’t hook me at all and even though I love psychedelic music, I have to give this album a 5/10.

Replacement level rock.

Drunken hooting over lumpy funk workouts. It should be noticed that the most famous member of the band neither played or sung on any of the records. He had the right idea. Dreadful.

Surprisingly good. I didn’t have high expectations after the opening track, which isn’t the worst thing in the world, but a definite mess. It only got better from there, though, culminating in the great songs ‘Do It Better’ and ‘Lazyitis’. At those high points especially, it’s got such a layered sound and production. A nice, dense album overall.

I'd never heard of these guys so I was excited to listen to something new, but it just wasn't very good.

Uber 80s pop, not really my thing

Aight

Meh

It isn't bad. Some of the songs are starting to sound pretty good. 3/5

I kinda liked it, but not overly. It was an easy listen and good background vibes. 3.5

Kinda post punk, kinda funky, kinda psychedelic Pretty enjoyable for a lot of it

This takes me back to the good ol' days!

Unremarkable garage-pop lo-fi

This was a fun listening experience. I knew around half of the tracks really well from a "best of" album I owned in the 90s. The other half were almost entirely new to me. I can see why some people would be annoyed by the production, Shaun's vocals, or even the fact this music is very much "of it's time". None of these are problems for me in the slightest. I've always liked the stream of consciousness lyrics that Mr Ryder comes up with, the strange combination of alt-rock, psychedelia, and dance music. It was far from a perfect album, probably somewhere between a 3 and a 4 stars, but I'm going to hike it up to 4 stars for how original this was at the time.

I am completely convinced that I would have had much more success on the dance-floor, if this kind of music was playing at clubs in my teens.

I’ve rarely seen a more fitting album title. It seems like no one in Happy Mondays is able to write even decent song. Luckily they are all, at best, mediocre instrumentalists, so even if they had written a good song it would probably go to waste. I’m just glad they didn’t decide to butcher any Beatles-songs. *cue closing track*

This album doesn’t really hold up that well. Maybe it was fun in the 80s rave scene, but now it feels pretty generic. No strong feelings one way or another

it’s disappointing how such an interesting backstory can result in such a boring album. this is replacement level 80s pop.

A band progressing to their ultimate destination the magnificent Pills, Thrills & Bellyaches. Bummed is part of that journey and there were moments of true magic. This record got the indie boys to see the dance floor, and a whole scene was beginning to take shape. The Madchester Rave On EP a year later would raise some of these songs to the next level.

Nope... forgettable

I never really think of their albums when I think of the band. Prefer to listen to greatest hits. Nice to relisten. WFL any lazyitis the standouts.

Fine, but nothing special here.

7/10 fun album, easily forgettable, but still pretty good

Mediocre 80s

I’ve kept coming back to this album for more than 30 years. It’s a complete mess from start to finish and sounds like it was recorded in a club toilet. But it’s also great in its own shambolic way. Shaun Ryder sings out of tune like no one’s listening and there’s something of the everyman in that, he’s not trying to be a rock star. He’s also a great lyricist. The way he uses the rhythms of ordinary (often sweary) language to express meaning and match the melody is extraordinary. For example, the lines from ‘Wrote For Luck’ about his lack of education: ‘I’ve not been trained, I can sit and stand and beg and roll over, I don’t read I just guess’. Ryder isn’t book smart and he can barely sing, but he’s very good with words. He was awarded the NME Godlike Genius award in 2000, and I know they give the award every year but there really is something preternaturally gifted about Shaun Ryder that justifies the genius label. Best song: Wrote For Luck

I listened to this album 3 times. I like the beats, it’s just indie/ experimental enough, the balance is good, I just can’t get myself to like it as a whole

Very bland. Everything’s got a a very washed out sound and blends together into an amorphous blob of an album. Saw it in a different comment: ecstasy is not a drug that makes good music

Weaker than Pills Thrills

6/10. Blah, at least I listened on a Monday

Liked this a bit better than I remember liking Pills 'n Thrills. I think it was more upbeat? 6/10

I got late to the Happy Mondays party. I listened to them for the first time around 2016; their music grabbed me instantaneously. I watched the movie/documentary "24 hours party people," and the rest is history. Bummed is Happy Mondays at its core. It may be super dated, but the album brings great and stoned vibes that make your limbs move. Performance, Wrote for Luck, Brain Dead and Fat Lady Wrestlers are a must in this album. Press play and enjoy mate!