Reviews (page 2 of 8)
A very solid psychadelic album. Worth owning.
I'm sure that this blew everyone's mind when it came out and it certainly is an audio postcard from 60 years ago. Several songs are pretty good but some are not.
Very groovy man. If I took some mushrooms and put this album on I think I would see some amazing visuals. Too bad I don't do drugs. 6/10 Top song... Sunshine superman
Fine. Nice vibe about it.
I don't find his vocal style very compelling on the quiet/chill songs. Feels dispassionate and not idiosyncratic enough to hook me. Season of the Witch + Sunshine Superman are amazing and he sings more actively on those. Instrumentals are fun, folky and psychy. Between 2 and 3 for me.
Perfect ambience for a tavern
Not bad. Honestly anything would have been welcome after the awful album from yesterday. This one is fine and inoffensive to the ears. 2.5
Чудесный альбом 60х. В меру банальный, но иногда может удивить или преподнести несколько красивых и запоминающихся треков.
I really enjoyed the opening track. Was cool to see in the credits that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones played on it, although the Bobby Orr on drums wasn't Bobby Orr #4 the NHL Hall of Famer. Track 2 was a real let down, but the rest of the album had a couple of ood tracks and some enjoyable filler. 3.5* rounded down to 3*
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck i love psychedelic folk
"Fat Angel" is unintentionally hilarious and was done better by Flight of the Conchords on "The Prince of Parties." I get why this album is included - Donovan and this album were an important part of the story of popular music in the 1960s. And "Sunshine Superman" and "Season of the Witch" are still really good tunes. But a lot of the rest of this is laughable and reminds me of that scene in Dont Look Back.
not bad, quite nice
3.5
Feels like this could be the Beatles
Psych rock 1966. It sounds okay. 2.4
the lamest style of psychadelic music. so slow and boring. your sitar and shitty bongos dont impress me
A excellent album from a master songwriter with a beautiful unique voice. Love his vibrato. 4 very good songs on here.
A few good songs. I like the psychedelic stuff but not so much the medieval fantasy shit
The psychedelic Dylan of Maryhill.
It was ok, but not really my thing
It was fine I guess
It's a very interesting album. I feel like this guy has a lot of cool stories but putting them into these songs makes them a little boring. Still, pretty good.
It's okay.
Eh
Pretty cool. I swear the song Sunshine Superman sounds like In-A-Gadda-Davida. Is it just me? Need to maybe listen to this one some more. Is it poppy psychedelic folk rock or is it a little deeper? This one might rank higher if I got more familiar with it.
Elsker musik fra 60’erne og donovans udgivelse her var vidst lidt forsinket, så det er misforstået til at komme ud på samme tid hvor der blev udgivet en masse psykedelisk og det ligesom blev defineret, men i virkeligheden er det faktisk en frontløber ift genren. Så sådan lidt proto agtig? Der er en masse forskellige instrumenter, bla sitar som jeg elsker og orgel også. Der har været mange collabs med bl.a. jimmi page hvilket er rimelig cool. Synes det var et godt album
really good
Me estaba gustando y le iba a dar 3. Pero las últimas canciones me la bajaron un poco. Así que va 2. Pero igual me gustó.
It was ok. There were a few songs that didn’t make me fall asleep
Very different than his greatest hits.
Har hørt litt på da tidligare, uten å bli hekta. Men heilt adekvat chillemusikk
Довольно средненький альбом гитарного рока/баллад. В принципе неплохо, есть пара песен, но не очень примечательно.
Agree with others, feels like an amalgamation of what the 60s sounded like. Like a beige average. 2*
Flower power on a record.
This is the prototype of classic Psychedelic Rock 'N Roll, which is more than I expected from a singer who goes by Donovan. The biggest flaw here is there aren't any songs that really grab my attention. I recommend just cruising around while having this play as background music. Favorite Track: "Sunshine Superman".
First thing I noticed was that the album is found in Halloween playlists on Apple music, which is maybe my least favorite subgenre of music. Few songs in and I'm not enjoying. Rating: 3/10 Redeemable song: Season of the Witch
I liked it. It’s nice and mellow
I already knew and enjoy Donovan so while this wasn’t new it was nice to listen to the whole album.
The psychedelic/folk vibe really gets me, plus all the folklore references. Very cool!
Slow start after the first song some skips for me. I don't think I'd seek it out again.
I know Season of the Witch, of course. And I recognize Sunshine Superman. This isn't my usual type of music and I was leaning towards a 3, but the quirky lyrics, bouncing between Arthurian legends and DC Comics, push it up to 4 for me.
I’d heard once that Donovan was marketed as a “Scottish Bob Dylan.” Not exactly a fair comparison. But aside from a couple of tracks this was pretty forgettable. “Season of the Witch,” and the title track earn a rounding-up from 2.5*.
Donovan’s rock/folk rock is great; the folk songs are hit or miss. “The Trip” is one of his best.
24/07/2026 Sorry Donovan, this really isn't the gravy, and not for me. Spotify listeners: 1.3 million
Okay
There is a lot of charm to be found in this album. The harpsichord is a great instrument to use in story telling songs as it raises intrigue and mystery, and it is used well here. There are Eastern influences, but I mostly love how some of the instrumentation in the songs reminds me of children's TV shows from back in the day - Legend of a Girl Child Linda took me back to The Clangers of all things! The most well known track to me was the title track. Other favourites included Season of the Witch and the beguiling Guinevere - sometimes repetition isn't such a bad thing. It's all hippy-ish and nice and full of drugs and, er, seagulls, apparently. And sure, the songs are a bit repetitive and similar sounding, but I felt chilled and happy at the end of this and that's worth a lot. A high and worthy 3 stars.
Nice
its great when u want u listen slowmo
Luckily this was a pretty good album. If we did half stars it would be a 3.5. The title track is brilliant and I really enjoyed Season Of The Witch. It dropped off a bit for me after that though. There wasn’t a bad track but nothing overly stood out. Top Track - Sunshine Superman
Great artist. Didn't connect with his music but the album is well written, melodies invite you to disconnect.
Funky and calming, I like
This is the kind of album that makes me pause this project periodically. There's so much below average boomer nostalgia hippie crap on here. You're telling me, Dimery, that I needed to hear this album in its entirety before I die? Why!? The first track was the only one from the album to break into the mainstream, and it's because it's the only track worth anything (and it's average, at best, compared to other offerings at the time). Though boring and unworthy, it's not completely irredeemable, however, and so I'll give it 2 stars.
The first half of this is really good, but I did find the second half, namely the last 4 songs, got a bit boring as it went quite slow. The overall vibe though is really nice, and Season of the Witch is an amazing song. Other than that, I can only really see myself coming back to that ans the first 3 songs. Definitely glad to have heard this though, it's useful in my broader contextual understanding of this era of music and another step towards me getting folk-ier stuff more.
Muy sesentero pero un disquito muy agradable, tiene temones.
Donovan's folky meanderings take on a more psychedelic flavour from here on in, with some eastern influences and an electric band on some of the tracks. Season of The Witch has always been my favourite Donovan song.
I've never quite got on with Donovan. It doesn't feel to me as though he has a strong voice of his own, and the psychedelic imagery just feels twee and silly and a bit po-faced.
The opening tracks on both sides (and both versions0 do the heavy lifting but still a charming album. Donovan will tell you he invented psychedelia and thaught it to the Beatles. But Donovan lies, I went to Googe Street recently and it was pissing down.
Damn, I might be a Donovan fan. If it weren't for Legend of a child named Linda and Guinevere it might be a 5 star album for me. Interesting factoid. In The Fat Angel he sings "Fly Jefferson Airplane, get you there on time". I wondered if the band got their name from the lyric. Found someone on Reddit saying the band was named after a dog and the lyric is also referencing the same dog (which was hanging out at the studio he was recording at)
Oh yay more generic art rock
I got Fabio from a bygone era vibes
Good sounds from the 60s!
Two standout tracks. The rest were boring “singer-songwriter” songs.
This wasn't great. Super weird and these were like...stories, but uninteresting? I also didnt love his voice. Super monotone. The songwriting instruments were interested. Actual rating...1.5 Liked Songs: "Sunshine Superman" , "Ferris Wheel" , "Season of the Witch" , "The Trip" , "Celeste" > I didn't really like any of these songs, but they had aspects I liked.
Me sorprendió para bien, muy interesante sonido y linda voz.
Ok. Is this one really necessary? I guess I get that he was big at a pivotal time. Seems like a whole album is a bit much. Dig that one tune tho. It certainly gives the vibes of the time
Super boring album that I feel like I genuinely dislike due to there being no willingness to experiment. 1/5
Weird uneven album.
Oh wow, this man is VERY good looking... I loved this, I was engaged the whole way through! 4/5
that was just painful time to finish the album
I really enjoyed the first half of this album by the end I started falling off a bit. The production is also a bit over the place with some songs sounding quite polished and then other songs sounding really dated. Still a good album though.
fails to resonate with me as exceptional, although I do appreciate Donovan - maybe 3or 4 tracks that's it
A buried angst. It slowly pushes outward to the light.
I don't hate it as much as a i want to but that doesn't make it good. I am however conflicted because I try to be fair and not let the public beat down Donovan suffered at the hands of Bob Dylan I'm Don't look back color my feelings as both an artist and a man. But I just can't.
Kind of good?!
Songs like Sunshine Superman and Season of the Witch are so iconic that he deserves to have a reputation on the hits alone. This album goes a bit wide on the quality at times but it's worth a listen.
Intetesting compositions. Sunshine Superman and Season of the Witch are so good. This could have benefited from better production. There just seems like there is much more potential than what is in this album. A good example for the 1960s.
Bell bottoms appeared adorning my legs and found hash on my person. Fantastically cool voice.
Two bona fide bangers but the rest is impressively dull
Never heard of it. Cool to learn about its influence on psychadelia
Rigtig fed. Stor 4'er.
I liked the other songs better than the hits Superman and Witch.
I *really* wanted to like this more, primarily because I was hoping for/expecting a whole album of stuff like the title track and "Season of the Witch," both of which are in the Sixties canon for good reason (and because I've seen *that* scene in David Fincher's *Zodiac* set to "Hurdy Gurdy Man"). So I was a bit disappointed by how tentative Donovan sounds on much of this; the slower acoustic tracks feel unsure rather than contemplative like he's going for. Part of the problem may be that stuff like "Three King Fishers" is the sort of thing Lou Reed and John Cale would rough up so gloriously on *Velvet Underground & Nico*; having heard that, I'm bored by this. And at the same time Donovan sometimes doesn't lean hard *enough* into the England, In All Its Englishness stuff; "Bert's Blues" is a step in the right direction, with a harpsichord (?) solo that comes out of nowhere courtesy of John Cameron, but a few of the other tracks feel like he's going for something he can't quite articulate. The whole thing is worth a listen, and I recognize its historical importance, but I felt a little let down overall.
File this under “good music that I don’t personally like”
Sunshine Superman titular track is good; Bert's Blues gave me a bit of hope with a smidgen of saxophone. Sitars, sitars everywhere. Great haircut. OK, as the forerunner of the psychedelic rock to come, one of the ones that started the movement fusing jazz, rock, eastern music. He references Jefferson Airplane in the Fat Angel and I was just thinking that group strikes me as more monumental in the movement. 3 for me. Not terrible, nothing I would ever listen to as a whole again.
Ojämnt, men röten är fantastisk och när låtarna är raka singer-song-writer-bitar är det väldigt bra. En fyra
(2/5) A languid, sluggish psychedelic/folk/hippie rock album. The hits, "Sunshine Superman" and "Season of the Witch" I was familiar with already and are truly the highlights, but aside from the slightly upbeat "The Trip", there's not much else on offer here. Really, really boring. Enjoy the hits and drop the rest..
I'd heard and enjoyed the singles Sunshine Superman and Season of the Witch before, but was pleasantly surprised by how well the rest of the album held up. While it did sag in places (the combination of Legend of a Girl and Three King Fishers worked hard to lull me to sleep), there were enough memorable riffs and toe tapping variety to revisit the highlights for a second helping later in the day. It's a 3.5 that I'd have rounded up if it had just a bit more oompf.
136. Sunshine Superman - Donovan (1966) 7.8.26 Variety: 4 Adequacy: 5 Listenability: 5 Uniqueness: 4 Emotionality: 3 = 4.2 rounded down to a 4 "My songs are merely dreams visiting my mind/ We talk a while by a crooked stile" I mainly know Donovan with through his big hits, so at least two of these I'm very familiar with ( the other two big ones I know well - "Mellow Yellow" and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" are not present here). I've read that he was often called the British Bob Dylan, and this was partly an attempt to break out of those comparisons. It's also an early-ish inspiration for the whole hippie/ flower vibe, and incorporated a whole bunch of Southeast Asian instruments and sounds. Looking forward to hearing more of his stuff as I consider this to be a decent sized hole in my rock education. THE TRACKS Side one "Sunshine Superman" - Just as damn catchy as ever. I'll probably have this stuck in my head for a few days. This is one of his, along with "Mello Yellow" that did actually get plenty of radio play, even by the 80s when I would have started hearing it. It's also been used in a ton of movies and tv shows, often as shorthand for the swinging 60s. Don't think I knew he was from across the pond for some time. Instrumentally there's a lot going on here, from the FAT bass ( later read this was John Paul Jones!) and the sitar ( I think?), to the whiny guitar ( Jimmy Page!) accent at the end of all the lines in the verses. The effect is a thick, layered sound that's just memorable as heck. Top tier pop rock from a decade where the competition was vicious. Even if he never did anything else, this would be enough for a spot in the pantheon. "Legend of a Girl Child Linda" - Our man turns down the coolness by a factor of 10 or so and we get a an almost medieval ballad-inspired fairy tale that presages that big hippy feel. Donovan's phrasing on here is much more interesting and unexpected with all of the ups and downs. He's swerving here and presenting something maybe a bit sadder and darker than the material suggests. Could see this inspiring a ton of those late 70s fantasy musical cartoons like The Hobbit and The Last Unicorn. "Three King Fishers" - A strong Indian raga influence here, and pretty sure he beat both the Beatles and the Stones to the punch. This works really well over top of his medieval bard vibe. It's not overdone either, and used to great effect to establish a mellow atmosphere. This makes me want to light up some incense and relax in on a giant bean bag chair. "Ferris Wheel" - More Indian instrumentation here, but the feel is much more traditionally in the pop-folk tradition. A beautiful bit of Twee Pop a couple of decades early. I could see Belle and Sebastian or Camera Obscura or the like covering this. The most notable cover I see is a very lovely one by the classical-jazz fusion guitarist Gábor Szabó off his 1968 Dreams album that is well worth your time - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH7zIBzD-HE "Bert's Blues" - A jazzy tale of romantic troubles that dips into the philosophical/ mythical before veering once again into a harpsichord led bit of folksiness. "Hey you got your Paris 1919 in my Moondance!" "You got your Moondance in my Paris 1919!" A bit more all over the place than previous tracks, but I dig it, man, especially when the full on jazzy lounge song rises up at the end. Side two "Season of the Witch" - Another stone cold psychedelic classic. A perrenial Halloween playlist selection for the title alone, the lyrics are a little more obscure, and somehow maybe funnier than I would have ever gathered hearing this as a kid. Donavan even noticably puts on a bit of a posh accent in spots. Possibly an even bigger needle drop track than the opener, especially in more modern times. The whole thing is one big hook. Psych pop perfection. "The Trip" - The most Dylan-esque track on here, with even a shout out to Bob himself. There are also some similarities to the Mamas and the Papa's "Creeque Alley" in it's jaunty, biographical story song structure, chronicling a drug fueled trip through L.A., and peppered with a pseudo-mystical and Alice in Wonderland drug references. Fun stuff, and well put together, but does not quite meet the high melodic bar that's been established by this point, and can't help but suffer in comparison. Adds a nice bit of variety though. "Guinevere" - The title alone signals a dive back into medieval bard mode. This one's a bit more impressionist, and we don't get much of a narrative at all but it's very pretty nonetheless. The sitar and tabla drums are the star here. "The Fat Angel" - I guess this is not the ode to a drug dealing Cupid as I thought, but instead an ode to Mama Cass ( see the previous reference) and the Jefferson Airplane, and mind expanding experiences Donavan apparently had hanging out in the Southern California music and drug scene. It's ok. Nothing special. "Celeste" - This almost has a Lou Reed-ish quality to it, and feels just ever so slightly ahead of its time in the arrangement though "Sunday Morning" I think would come out just a year later. I could see this also being a big influence on later twee pop acts. HIGHLIGHTS - "Sunshine Superman" - "Legend of a Girl Child Linda" - "Three King Fishers" - "Ferris Wheel" - "Bert's Blues" - "Season of the Witch" - "Celeste" MIDLIGHTS - "The Trip" - "Guinevere" - "The Fat Angel" LOWLIGHTS - FINAL THOUGHTS Really glad I finally listened to this one, and aside from a handful of middling tracks this was by and large a success. Didn't shit the bed on a ingle track, and nothing too embarrassing considering the time period and trippy flower power lyrics. I can imagine a LOT of terrible wannabe music was inspired by this though. This definitely makes me want to go back into his discography and see what led here, and then how he developed later on. He seems like one of those guys that bever really had mush of a career after the implosion of the whole hippy movement. At least over here. I see he kept putting albums out though, well into the 2000s, os maybe I'm wrong. The only one I recognize ( by its distinctively simple cover) is Neutronica, an album I once owned but never listened to. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" is my favorite song by the man, so will be listening to that as a digestif. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - FURTHER LISTENING -The Notorious Byrd Brothers by the Byrds - Surrealistic Pillow by Jefferson Airplane - Odessey and Oracle by The Zombies - Astral Weeks by Van Morrison - Dreams by Gábor Szabó
In 1966 Donovan was doing his best to revive the style of the 12th century troubadours. That was the feeling I got from this album. While the hits explored psychedelic rock the remainder of the album was a wash in medieval love songs and folk music. It made a fine entry into the early Flower Power catalog. It also served as a kinda proto-Led Zeppelin introduction (at least their more folk music entries) with the title track participation from Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. I ended up loving this sound. Was not familiar with Donovan, though I had heard "Sunshine Superman" and "Season of the Witch" before. I guess the name of the artist never stuck with me. This is certainly one that I plan to come back to when called. 4/5
3.5/5 http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/donovan/sunshine-superman/ Upon first listen, it started out quite interesting, but lost my attention quite fast. Maybe it would benefit from repeated listenings, but I don't know if it adds much to the other stuff from that era I already like.
Have guitar, learn cords, get a whiny voice and make folk music. I've heard worse, thanks to this list, I've heard a lot worse, so 2.0 it is.
Besides Sunshine Superman and Season of the Witch, this album is just kind of bland. Not much really happens, it's like psychedelic ambient music (with vocals). Mid 3.
Twee tunes for the folky folk
2026.07.05.
It's... good? It's by no means special, but a solid record.
Me gusto
Malo
Who doesn’t like a bit of psychedelic folk? Well, probably quite a few people, but I love it. Fairytale lyrics, hummable melodies and a great vocal delivery. 4
I can’t believe this guy was ever compared to Bob Dylan, I can understand why he got so mad about it now.
Nie geweet wat om te verwag nie maar dis 'n lekker casual listen
Wow, I don't want to diss a performer who gives us "Sunshine Superman" and "Season of the Witch" on this album. But those tracks are clearly the high points . . . and it's not even close! The rest of the songs are not hard to listen to, but a half a century has made them sound like overly serious parodies of the Flower Power era. Often lyrically naive and musically repetitive, there's a reason every track other than the two mentioned above has completely faded from our collective memory.
Okay
This album's so boring that it feels longer than it actually is. Unlike the last album I reviewed, "Sunshine Superman" sounds quite good. The title track has to be my favourite. It's also the first song on "Sunshine Superman, after that, there's nothing worth listening to. I hope I get one good album before the end of June. 2 stars for "Sunshine Superman".
There are two distinct styles of music on this album. One is a set of "olde" English renaissance folk tunes and the other set is of 60's psychedelia. I much prefer the psychedelic songs. Sunshine Superman and Season Of The Witch are the highlights.
Didn't expect to like this as much as I did. Really great songwriting. Soft but not dragging or sleepy. Just perfectly soft and pleasant. I had a sweet and comforting time hearing this. Plush
Tämähän on yks lemppareita ja kaikki kuulostaa hauskalta tässä ja Donovanin sanoissa on vielä järkeä ja painajaisissani olen jälleen 14.
a couple of decent tunes saving this from a 1 star
Not terrible at all
The title track was great but the rest of the album felt way longer than it actually was. Highlight-Sunshine Superman
Enjoyable
I do like a lot of Donovan but surprised some odd songs in here that were far too dippy for me. 3.5
Tykkäsin! Enemmän mun tyylinen 60-luku tällä kertaa. Ei semmonen että kuuntelisin uusiksi ihan heti mutta oli hymyilyttävää ja hyvän polveilevaa.
just didn't like this very much. 2.5
I am curious if other people my age (eldest end of gen z) grew up knowing Donovan or if it's just because I knew a donovan growing up. anyway, sunshine superman: good. season of the witch: VERY good. the other songs: largely meh/mixed but i appreciate that the soundscape of this album is pretty consistent
High highs (Season of the Witch) and low lows (Legend of a Girl Child Linda)
I don’t really like this sort of music. I’m also not familiar with Donovan.
I like some psychedelic stuff, but honestly I just found this boring
Familiar with this one! I appreciate Donovan for his experimentation with sound, styles, and instrumentation. It doesn't always land for me- this album was a mixed bag with some hits and some songs that dragged. Overall good though
Enjoyed a handful of songs but overall this type of music is generally not my favorite. Season of the witch Sunshine superman Berts blues
Folk muito prazeroso de ouvir. Ótima experiência. Instrumentos e sons extras muito legais. Kawanoaudio Horaiko.
The musical equivalent of watching an old family video where everyone looks really high. It's like he couldn't decide if he wanted to be a flower child or a bluesman. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - Sunshine Superman - Season of the Witch - The Trip
"Season of the Witch" is basically the only interesting thing here for me. The rest of it is just blah. 60s psychedelic pop or whatever that does absolutely nothing for me. It's boring.
Mun ennakkoluulot kannen perusteella oli, että nyt on luvassa jotain ryönästä kukkavoimaa. Kukkavoimaa tosiaan oli tarjolla, mutta ryönäsestä jäi kauas! Tää levy oli täynnä hienoja biisejä ja tunnelmia ja tykkäsin erityisesti jälkipuolella löytyvistä keskiaikasävyistä. En oikein vielä kahdenkaan kuuntelun jälkeen tiedä että onko tää kolmonen vai nelonen, mut hyvä tää oli joka tapauksessa – joskaan ei ihan Zombiesin, Beach Boysin tai Beatlesin tasonen hippimestariteos.
Tässä oli jotain tosi erityistä ja lumoavaa. Suorastaan hypnoottista paikoitellen!
Kiinnostava albumi! Voi olla että kuuntelu mutkaista tietä valmiiksi huonovointisena vaikutti kyllä cocktailiin kielteisesti 🫣 Et toisessa hetkessä trippi ois voinut kääntyä neloseksikin! Season of the Witch oli kova! (Jälkikäteen vasta selvis et siitähän Lana Del Raylla versio jonka oonki kuullu hiljattain - tykkäsin kyllä äkkiseltään alkuperäisestä enemmän. Ilahdutti myös että Guinevere johdatti yhtäkkiä Camelottiin ✨
Älyttömän hyvä levy! Menee vakikuunteluun! Ihanaaa plimps plomps ja vähän sitaria siellä ahh. 4,5
Love, take notes!!!! just tämmöstä flower-poweria enemmän!!! niin hyvä meininki, upea kansi ja upea musiikki, niin hyvää kesältä maistuvaa. osuu niin minun folkkisydämeen :')
I like the first song, I find the style and cadence unique and captivating but the rest doesn’t make me feel the same way.
I really enjoyed this.
2.8 A decent song or two, but a bit too much sitar for my tastes
I don't know much about this guy, but I feel like I would hate him in person in the 60s
its ok i guess i enjoyed some of the fairytale type concept but overall it wasnt a very memorable experience 6/10 Favourite: Season of the Witch Least Favourite: The Fat Angel
Some fantastic work here, even the ‘filler’ stuff is good. Sunshine Superman and Season of the Witch being the top picks
Donc, Donovan… je connaissais Mellow Yellow et c’est tout. C’était un album qui fait vraiment très années 60, avec beaucoup d’arrangements avec des instruments à cordes et aussi du sitar discrètement placé çà et là. C’était vraiment chouette, mais pas sûr que j’y mettrais plus de 3 sur 5. Peut-être avec plus d’écoutes, mais c’est pas le genre de la maison !
Nothing really memorable here except the Season of the Witch. The rest of the album is quite Beatlesy with Sitar, Harpsichord ! Not particularly enjoyable album. The second half of the album is much more enjoyable but still...
Pleasant at times, liked the blend of psychedelic with raga. 2.5
temu beatles hippy rockpop
Such a fine pop album. Great voice. Great arrangements. Interesting instrument choices. Excellent instrumental performances. Doesn't overstay its welcome. You can hear why he inspired The Beatles. Far more enjoyable than Bob Dylan, and in my opinion, a much stronger songwriter. Donovan wrote this album to convey his undying love to his muse, and it worked. She married him 1970. How can you fault an album that achieved its success with the only audience that mattered? Favorites: "Sunshine Superman", "Ferris Wheel", "Bert's Blues", "Season of the Witch"
It's weird, but boring weird.....kind of the same repetitive patterns in different keys adding instruments and stuff, not my favorite
Day887 - season of the witch and sunshine superman are just great songs and this would be a number one album in about any other year but 1966
Anashexardo.
I have always been a Donovan fan and Sunshine Superman, Season of the Witch, and The Trip are all great songs so 5 stars or A- is my rating.
T’was just a matter of time until Donovan popped up. At one point Donovan was accused of copying Bob Dylan’s style, and that is evident in “The Trip”. The rest of the album is folk/pop/psychedelic (standard Donovan). Lots of sitar. Side note: Wikipedia mentions that in 2011 Donovan performed this album from start to finish at the Royal Albert Hall. Not quite good enough for four stars, but still decent.
It's okay. I have heard some of these songs before, mostly in The Simpsons*. 60s scene-setting, but not in an annoying way. With the exception of - Lowlight: 'Ferris Wheel' (horrible squeaking noises) *I finally bookmarked this lovely website, which is more useful than Wiki on such matters: https://www.simpsonsarchive.com/guides/music.html
Very of it’s time, it was alright but not something I would return to.
Folky and calm. Not bad at all. Although I did not like the screeching metal sound in the Ferris Wheel song. Yikes!
Started out strong with the title track, but then track 2 was so bad it ruined any good will the album had. There were a couple other really good songs, and a whole lot of very of-their-time filler tracks. Overall, just the low end of okay. 2 1/2 stars.
More great classics I love that I had forgotten about. Good stuff.
habs in der früh ghört und bin die ganze zeit eingschlafen, beim zweiten hören bissi durchgeskipped aber all in all scho gut. also i kanns nit definieren was es is, so funk wrsl.. ok psychedelic folk sagt wiki.. naja, nit schlecht. würd sogar sagen 4/5, weil es is mehr als a solide 3… bert‘s blues gfallt ma und es sind immerwieder so random instrumente und so also scho cool so..
I remember I think I was 11 years old
Very interesting album. Has a consistent vibe and if I’d call it something it'd be Acid Folk.
This list is just… so filled with this nothing burger 60’s pysch rock… I don’t get why this is here
idk what I would have expected from a 60s folk Psychedelic Rock album. Yeah... this ain't my thing.
This isn't terrible, but I can't imagine I'll ever want to listen to it again, over most of the other music on this list from the 60s
The glaze for this album goes crazy -- I definitely see the influence and importance though. Did this album singlehandedly create flower power, psychedelic rock, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band? No freaking way. But it's definitely a pioneer. Some true bangers on here, and some very odd attempted-Eastern duds. Fave tracks: - Sunshine Superman - Bert's Blue's - Season of the Witch - The Trip - Celeste
He has a lovely voice and I didn’t realize Season of the Witch was a cover. Overall, the album felt a bit repetitive if I’m honest. Though I may have been having post vacation blues.
Wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did. Exactly why I started this project to listen to things I'd normally never pickup.
Lowkey ik dacht dat dit een veel leuker en psychedelischer album ging zijn, beetje teleurgesteld (3)
Have not started listening yet but I think this may be a bit of an insane jump from Kid A. We'll see. Yeah a little bit of a vibe switch but I can get behind it. Ok yeah. I like this. Yeah ok good music, solid, but is it that influential. Oh this initiated the psychedelic revolution? Really? This doesn't quite sound psychedelic to me. I guess I don't know much about the genre but what is psychedelic about this except the album cover. It's kinda just folky pop. Idk. I suppose anythings psychedelic when you're a hippie on acid in the 60s. I gotta put myself into that mindset. I mean great song. Yeah I suppose it's quite hippie. I like this. I would play this music to my child so they have some niche songs they can brag to their friends their parents played them in their adolescence. No blackbird singing in the dead of night here, we listen to the legend of a girl child named Linda in this household. very fun, I like the different instruments, sounds like it would be in a vintage cartoon. Aww wait Donovans kinda a cutie patootie. I like this guy. Why's he lowkey getting oriental with it. I suppose that's to be expected with a white hippie guy. They can't really help it. Sounds like something that would play in Gilmore Girls kinda. I really like it. Classic folky pop to play in chill moments. Listen I love ldr but her cover has nothing on the original this is so good and twangy. Ooh. Loving this album. I was a little dubious initially but I'm really loving this. Is he playing a sitar?? What tf is that instrument in the background of every song. Well okay all these songs were written on an acid trip but what tf is that man. Fusion of Celtic folk and Indian music right. Naturally. Tis a sitar indeed. Imagine one of your friends writes a song about you and the album gains international recognition but it's called the Fat Angel. Bro. This sitar is kinda annoying it's a little out of place at time. I aspire to live my life in the clouds as much as this guy did. Evidently it was the acid but god what I would give to have wrote music and been famous in the 60s and 70s. What a life. Favourite: Season of the Witch Least favourite: Sunshine Superman/The Fat Angel
- I've heard the title track and "Season of the Witch" in various places over the years, but everything else is much folkier and medieval-sounding than I expected. it's interesting that the British folk that became popular in the mid- to late 60s included instruments that were very much not British in origin (e.g., sitars), although I suppose you could make a point that the instruments from places the U.K. colonized are just as much a part of the its folklore as anything else - the mix of instruments in "Bert's Blues" at the end was very interesting and unexpected - even though "Season of the Witch" is just two seventh chords back and forth, it has a mystical quality in the verses that takes it squarely out of the rugged, straightforward blues sound of other bands of the time, like the Rolling Stones - it came out more than a decade later, but the "I really want to know" lyric from "The Trip" immediately called to mind the Who's "Who Are You" chorus (and hearing "what goes on" was hard not to associate with the Beatles' track that came out a year prior to this album) - Donovan has a great voice for both folk tunes and psychedelic rock, for what it's worth
It was pretty good, but after listening to it on repeat all day the song started getting annoying LOL. Great sound though. 4/5
listened before
i covered “season of the witch” with one of my former bands. hated it. this second song is very sweet :)
Season of the Witch.
I think this album cured my depression. Well, maybe thats a bit pf an exaggeration, but I can absolutely see it blowing some minds back when it first came out.
Some good songs, but most are just early raga rock which was gaining prominence at the time in the psychodelic bands.
Really interesting and smooth
It captures psychedelia before it hardened into cliché. It still feels curious, elegant, and slightly improvised, like a gifted songwriter discovering how far he can stretch pop without snapping it.
Well... overall, there are a couple of great songs. He has a pleasant voice and singing style. But overall, it feels like total psychedelia. For its time, it was definitely a 100% hit.
Sunshine Superman and season of the witch are the best
Right up my ally. Love Donovan
Interesting, and sporadically good foray into 60s psych folk, but never great as an album, and there's a lot from the year that has aged far better.
from the limited amount of him that i knew of, i kinda thought that he was a JV Dylan. this showed he was more than that. but why did everyone from this era have to have a Hobbit style song??
Really boring in parts, kinda hypnotic in others. About as 60's as it gets. 5/10
Sunshine Superman - 3/5 Legend of a Girl Child Linda - 4/5 Three King Fishers - 3/5 Ferris Wheel - 3/5 Bert's Blues - 3.5/5 Season of the Witch - 4/5 The Trip - 4.5/5 Guinevere - 4/5 The Fat Angel - 3/5 Celeste - 3/5
..
So whimsical 🔮🪄🎱
Familiar with Donovan from Season of the Witch, rest of the album did not particularly strike any chords with me.
Donovan does do some pretty catchy songs… but some of them just keep going way too long.
This was a great album. I knew 2 songs from here. I liked the one about lucifers legion. Funny how such an upbeat happy tune can have satanic lyrics. I love the Season of the Witch and the first one Sunshine Superman.
Season of the Witch is an old favorite of mine, the rest of the album doesn’t quite spark joy in the same way.
more weird and wonderful rock music from the '60s. this guy started out with more traditional folk rock at the start of his discography, but this is the record where he branches out and gets a little crazy-go-nuts. far out, if you will. fitting for the genre, you got your folksy acoustic songs paired with just about every of-the-time cliché you could imagine. harpsichords, weird sitars, the kind of unapologetically 60s music that makes you want to put a flower in your hair and play a tambourine. i have a preference to the dreamier and more straightforward tracks versus the ones that make you feel like a naked woodland creature who overdosed, but i'd say this album is pretty solid overall. at least if this sound is your thing, which to me it is. it may differ for other people.
When he bothers to have hooks it's not terrible, but otherwise, no.
I looked. I was 37 seconds in when I decided that this was probably going to be a good album. And I did. I really, really enjoyed the entire album. Until listening to *Sunshine Superman*, I had never heard of Donovan Leitch, but wow--he is a super important person in music history. And talented. I'm glad he came up early in my 1001AG (#47?) because this album is the framework for the 60s psychedelic era. I doubt he set out to change music history forever, but can you imagine being that person?
Pretty cool for it's time, I guess. A little too hippy dippy for me, but that goes with the territory.
Meh
I got into this album on the 1st song, which I knew. But didn’t know it was D…..loved the Indian sitar songs, took me back to my parents in the 1960s, amazed to see he’s still alive🙌
I don't get the hype this album received. It might be that in time it's eclipsed by so many other artists that it doesn't generate the same emotion as when it came out, but I don't feel the need to listen to it again
bof
Some good songs but most feel repetitive.
Donovan is just okay for me. This was fine,but not inspiring.
was fûr ein gesäusel
Ja dieser Minnengesang.
My rating 2.5. Not my bag.
Ok
Mit Sunshine Superman vollzog der schottische Singer-Songwriter Donovan – bürgerlich Donovan Phillips Leitch – einen der eindrücklichsten stilistischen Wandel seiner Generation: weg vom akkustischen Folk-Protestsänger, hin zu einem Pionier des Psychedelic Folk. Aufgenommen in zwei der damals bedeutendsten Studios – den Abbey Road Studios in London sowie den Columbia Studios in Hollywood –, vereint das Album die Intimität britischer Folk-Tradition mit dem experimentierfreudigen Klanggeist des amerikanischen Westküstensounds. Produzent Mickie Most und Arrangeur John Cameron schufen dabei ein Klangbild, das Sitar, Cembalo und Bass-Läufe von Jimmy Page zu einer eigenwilligen, luftig-schwingenden Textur verwob. Das Eröffnungs- und Titelstück „Sunshine Superman" lieferte Donovan seinen einzigen Nummer-eins-Hit in den USA und blieb dort über ein halbes Jahr in den Charts. Daneben entfaltet das Album eine erstaunliche innere Vielfalt: „Season of the Witch" schleicht dunkel und hypnotisch dahin, während „Celeste" und „Legend of a Girl Child Linda" märchenhafte Verlorenheit beschwören, die eher nach Tolkien als nach Swinging London klingt. Dass Donovans Veröffentlichungen in Großbritannien durch einen Verlagsstreit über ein Jahr blockiert waren, hat seine künstlerische Wirkung kaum gemindert – wohl aber dazu beigetragen, dass das Album oft als amerikanisches Phänomen wahrgenommen wurde und in der Heimat des Künstlers bis heute unterschätzt geblieben ist. Die britische Ausgabe von 1967 auf Pye Records kompiliert Tracks aus Sunshine Superman und seinem Nachfolger Mellow Yellow – ein editorischer Kompromiss, der dem Werk eine gewisse Hybridnatur verleiht, seinen Zauber aber kaum trübt. Auch wenn die Begeisterung für das Mittelalterlich-Phantastische in manchen Stücken an Grenzen stößt, ist Sunshine Superman im Kern ein Album von echter Erfindungskraft: einer der ersten kohärenten Ausbrüche psychedelischer Ästhetik in der Popgeschichte, aufgenommen, bevor das Wort selbst zum Schlagwort geworden war. Ein Werk, das klanglich seiner Zeit weit voraus war und erst im Rückblick die volle Anerkennung erhält, die es verdient.
Solid 60s psychedelic pop. 3/5.
Donovan’s albums have always struck me as disjointed. There are invariably layers of extra production cluttering the mix - sitars, orchestral strings, harpsichords, additional percussion, and more. The overall impression is of an artist who set out to make an early-60s British folk record in the vein of Dylan, only to have the label get their hands on it. You can almost hear the notes being passed down: make this one feel more like Revolver, give this track a Stones edge, polish this one up for radio. The result is an album that never quite settles into its own identity.
Bert's Blues!
🎧I’m giving this a 3 pretty much entirely on the strength of Sunshine Superman and Season of the Witch.
It’s fine, I like the 60s sound which bumps this up a notch maybe.
Oh, I don't know. It's obviously hippy nonsense, but I can't help liking it. At least a little bit... Although he did name his children things like Astrella and Nebula, poor sods. Harmless I guess, but I bet they had the piss ripped out of them at school 😔
kinda nice. tbf, i wasnt really in the mood today.
Perfectly 1960’s sounding album, almost too on the nose. This cover art is the style people now replicate when they’re really trying to portray that 60s flower power energy.
Two really great songs. But honestly, that's about it.
This was ok got kind of boring in places.
Even if Sunshine Superman was groundbreaking in 1966, it doesn’t really stand out to me. It just feels like another entry in the book’s long stretch of late-60s psychedelic rock—where artists drop some acid, throw on a very loud paisley shirt, and add a sitar or a harpsichord to a handful of tracks. Most of it barely earns a passing grade in my book, though I did recognize a couple of songs—which at least suggests it left some kind of cultural footprint.
This is just fine. It's nothing extraordinary. Typical 60's psychedelia.
3/5
Great 60's folk album. Definitely worth the listen. It incorporates traditional Indian music, and folk-rock. It is definitely a classic album that will definitely be worth your time.
Donovan has enough good songs in his catalog to fill up a "best of" compilation, but any of his releases are bloated with so much inexcusable hippy bullshit. "The jingle jangle jester rides his stallion. Seagulls fly across my eyes forever." This is why you lost the culture war.
This was cool! I like psych and blues elements. I like how he tied in traditional English folk throughout. This was definitely an influence on 2000s indie, The Decemberists came to mine.
Number: 116 Date: 04/29/2026 Artist: Donovan Album: Sunshine Superman Year: 1966 Genre: Psychedelic Folk Rock Familiarity: Well-versed (4) Rating: 4 Before: ======= I already know there are probaly a few 4 or 5's but not sure about the whole album. I have 3 tracks on my best of 1966 list and when making that I'm sure that I at least skimmed trough the whole album. During: ======= 5 Sunshine Superman 3 Legend Of A Girl Child Linda 3 Three King Fishers 4 Ferris Wheel 4 Bert's Blues 5 Season Of The Witch 4 The Trip 3 Guinevere 3 The Fat Angel 3 Celeste ----------------------------------------------------- 3.68 WEIGHTED AVERAGE (accounts for song lengths) After : ======= 2 my personal rating 5 suitability for this list 4 impact ----------------------------------------------- 3.7 composite rating
Singer-Songwriter aus den 60ern
An album where the singles have almost no connection to the rest. It feels like 2 projects slapdashed together
Mostly bad but a few tunes on this.
I tried with this but it did not hit me. I felt like it was very cliché psychedelic, almost what you'd find in a satirical or parody film. I didn't find it interesting all compared to other 60s psychedelic music or alternative 60s. I can hear the mix of folk and rock with pop, hated the ye olde English lyrics. I do appreciate that it's supposed to be a less cynical vibe but nothing for me at all. Not sure why it's in this list but I guess it'd all subjective anyway.
Super psychedelic. Makes me think of Austin Powers. Some classics on here but it also is easy to see how it became a bit of a parody.
First song was great! Others were okay.
No private session used for Spotify. I was hoping for more Sunshine Superman and less mythical sitar folk, that is not what this album was.
Pull up a wench and knock back a flagon of ale, traveller. Tomorrow we walk into Mordor, but tonight, let's watch the sitar bards and smoke pipeweed with the wizards.
Great 60's psych album. Isn't as weird or silly as some 60's psych albums tend to be. Great lyrics, guitar work, and vibes
Very odd Scots-Irish hippy chamber-pop Indian-tinged fantasia - but I guess we already knew that. Must have been slightly ahead of the curve in 1966. It's alright. Worth the listen.
Before this, I only knew Donovan as the guy that taught John Lennon the special type of finger-picking style used on Dear Prudence. Now I know him as the guy that taught John Lennon the special type of finger-picking style used on Dear Prudence who also wrote a few good songs. This album should be right up my alley, it combines a lot of my favorite genres and it’s from my favorite period of music, but a good few songs feel pretty weak and nothing else is particularly incredible. 3/5
Fun, weird, four
Yes and no. Sometimes cuts in a groovy way and then switches to a weird renaissance festival vibe. 1969 was a trip.
Very peculiar album. Is this a folk album? is it rock? What about the indian elements or the psychedelic moments? I, personally, didn't see this come together cohesively and wasn't a fan. There were a couple of points in the album that sounded very Beatles-like, I wonder if Donovan was inspired by them. Favorite tracks: Season of the Witch
You've Got To Pick Up Every Stitch 1001 Albums Generator 276 (4/23/2026) I really love Donovan's style when it comes to rock, and I think that the more medieval sounding psychedelic folk tunes are pretty cool, although I wish the album was more rock and less folk as opposed to the other way around, since some of the folk tunes can be a bit boring. There's also some raga influence on some of the songs here, which is a mixed bag. However, the good songs are really fantastic, and there's more good than bad. 3.5/5, rounded up to 4. Favs: Sunshine Superman Season of the Witch Celeste Least Fav: Guinevere
Rad album, love everything I've heard by Donovan (which isn't a ton). Season of the Witch and Sunshine Superman are standouts, but the whole album is pretty great. I'd never listened to Donovan much beyond the Greatest Hits album, but I really enjoy everything that I do listen to.
Donovan, swing your pants. It's as if whiny indie was invented in the 1960s.
Rate: 7.5/10
A few great songs. 3.5
*Solid folk album for its time
Pretty good
monotonous
Time hasn't really been kind to Donovan. He really was cutting edge for a while, but had the bad luck to be peers with Dylan and the Beatles. My first introduction to him was watching a video of Dylan playing a song to him and Donovan visibly realising they just aren't in the same league. But judging this on its own merits, it's a solid effort. Some elements are dated, and perhaps overused, but underlying this are some songs that are genuinely really good. Bit of a margin call but I think that this deserves a 5 if you judge it without the baggage
Very nice. Tracks 'Sunshine Superman' and 'Legend Of A Girl Child Linda' are perfect.
Some great tracks on there but most are just ok.
Listened previously. Expectations: High - Verdict: Great - Donovan gets a bit of stick from some circles but this is a fantastic album. The title track is really fun, Legend Of A Girl Child Linda is beautiful. Bert's Blues is a great track. Season Of The Witch is incredible and The Trip is also really good. I forgot just how good this album is actually.
Not my cup of LSD laced tea.
Kitschy & corny but still beautiful
Enjoyed it
Gear: Grado Hemp Artwork: 👨🦱⚜️🎨 Production: 🕰️📏😐 Music: 😒🎻🍂 Rating: 🦸♂️🦸♂️/5
That one song and then a lot of hippy dippy stuff 3/5
Wow such an ipressive debut from a 19 year old Donovan
I did not listen to this whole album; it was a little to psychodelia for my liking
Solid album. Interesting that it came out before Pet Sounds and Revovler. Good songs and lyrics. Probably some of Donovan’s best works. Pretty eclectic musically.
That sounded like a parody of psychedelic music... It was pretty good.
A pretty good folk album. Maybe it could grow to be a 4 overtime but right now it’s a high 3. 3.4/5
Highlights: Sunshine Superman, Bert's Blues, Season of the Witch, The Trip Decent uber early psychedelia record. The sound is kinda folk, but with a hint of hindu. Very mellow vocals, which are not my favorite. I guess the highlights were outliers in that regard. The Trip especially with its very southern sound. For some reason he mentions a lot of his contemporaries in the lyrics. Overall I expected a bit more going off of the descriptions I read, but it wasn't bad. However I'll stick to the highlights, it didn't feel like such an essential record unless you are really into psychedelia.
Pleasant enough to listen to. Some iconic hooks and riffs in there that I wasn't expecting.
I surprisingly enjoyed this a fair deal more than The Hurdy Gurdy Man, the other Donovan album I've heard (which may or may not be on this list), despite that album having the absolute heaters that are the title track and Get Thy Bearings. This one sells its folky atmosphere a lot better to me, plus it has two heaters of its own opening the B-side, Season of the Witch and The Trip! Great slice of 60s psych-folk.
I expected the pinnacle of 60s slop from my little reading I did about this album. I was pleasantly surprised. The first couple songs were definitely extremely 60s, then some sitar outta nowhere, then Season of the Witch which is a BANGER. Some mixing of genres, idk, it was at least interesting.
The instrumental palette keeps this from being true 60slop, as the arrangements stay mostly pretty fresh and interesting. The dude couldn't sound duller when he's singing though. I was considering a 3 until the medieval jester joint + The Fat Angel, which truly just suck. Standouts: Three King Fishers • Ferris Wheel • Season Of The Witch
Everything I know about Donovan is against my will. I'm not sure why I dislike this so much. It isn't the genre; Odyssey and Oracle is a favorite of mine. The title track, Season of the Witch and Bert's Blues are great. I think it's just a little too much psychedelic noodling.
cool psych rock. lacks an umph as a contemporary of pet sounds and revolver but it's interesting in its own way. 3.5
Gator needs his hat you punk ass bitch.
Straight up wizard music
It's a nice album of 60s folky stuff, occasionally drifting to the court/king/queen/knight etc. flavour of fantasy. Easy to listen to, will never choose to put it on again
BOOYAH
Взагалі нічим не запам'ятався, проте і притензій до музики у мене немає. Просто мелодійні та помірні композиції
A couple of good songs, but mostly kind of typical 60s music.
Sword and sorcery, flower power, trippy, eastern baroque precursor to the summer of love. And quite obviously so. Definitely some good stuff on here... Season Of The Witch (which I'd never heard before but it seems well known?) and Sunshine Superman are standouts. Legend Of A Girl Child Linda is an overlong dirge. So yes there's good and bad, but this is mainly good. 3½
This is some real hippie shit. The second song is almost 7 minutes long and about a princess, a castle and a sword. When listening to Sunshine Superman, the level of flower child is at a 10 and it doesn't go to 11. I see why this album is in the book, just because Donovan is your stereotypical 60's folk singer. I'm still pissed about Nick Drake having every note he ever put to tape in this book and not happy about Tim Buckley having three damn albums in here as well. I think the hippie folk-singer genre has been covered sufficiently now. Donovan deserves to be in this book more than those two deserve to have three albums. I think this just is not my kind of music over a full album. I have no issue hearing folk-rock when I am not subjected to an entire album's worth of it. This album deserves a spot in the book because Donovan was influential. It doesn't mean I have to give this album a higher rating though. My favorite tracks: Superman Sunshine Bert's Blues Season of the Witch The Trip
👍🏻
Decent. I liked the variety. But nothing stood out to me
Very hippy coded. Pretty boring to me though. Actually quite hard to finish.
Es markiert einen deutlichen stilistischen Wandel hin zu psychedelischen Klangfarben, raga‑inspirierten Arrangements und poppigeren Strukturen. Das Album erschien 1966 und gilt als eines der frühesten Beispiele für Psychedelia im Mainstream‑Pop, unterstützt durch Produzent Mickie Most und eine erweiterte Instrumentierung, darunter Sitar und experimentelle Studioarrangements. Der Titelsong – zugleich Donovans einziger US‑Nummer‑1‑Hit – ist bis heute ein strahlender Klassiker des Genres, getragen von seinem warmen Gesang und der markanten Gitarrenfigur. Auch Stücke wie Season of the Witch zeigen mystische Stimmungen mit eingängigen Melodien zu verbinden. Allerdings wirkt das Album in seiner Gesamtheit etwas unausgewogen: Neben starken, atmosphärischen Tracks finden sich Passagen, die weniger zünden oder sich zu sehr in träumerischer Leichtigkeit verlieren. Die Experimentierfreude ist spürbar, aber nicht immer treffsicher.
The Good: We get a superhero! The Bad: Turns out that sunshine superman can’t fly… The Ugly: I am sure there is something to comment here… just can’t come up with it… Maybe Donovan should have stuck to his previous job; being a waiter? Almost skipped through most of the songs on this album… almost… though I should’ve. Did not need to listen to this before dying.. but I read the bio, so that is a bonus… I guess? 2*
Good, but this is one of those albums where one song is significantly better than the rest of the album. Favorite track: Season of the Witch
Another very “cool” album but I can see why the songs that got popular did. I also understand why people got Hight while listening to this.
3.5/5
There’s a lot of psychedelic, pop, folk on here. Plus some Indian music. It’s cool, just a little dated.
Sunshine Superman is a good song but I've listened to it so much it has become a chore. Everything else was a fucking snoozefest holy hell. This is my entire review: BOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRIIIIIINGGGGG
Season of the Witch is an eternal banger but basically everything else here is a sitar sleeping aid. Highlights: Season of the Witch
Pretty boring but there are some ok tracks in the back half
Incoming recurring rant, yet another excellent reason the list should have considered Greatest Hits collections. Many artists have great singles but no great album. Donovan is one of them. The title track and Season of the Witch are excellent. The rest ranges from “fine” to “soundtrack to a middle school renaissance festival”. It's not terrible, but it's also not really very good. But it has two great tracks
This is super 60's, psychedelic, tamborines and groove beats... Yet it is ... truly great! The lyrics have meaning and the Indian stuff ... In a way it is easy to understand why it is aged as it is, but simultaneously it is sort of equally also timeless. Mmm... this is really... I like this a lot. Worth the listen but DO expect it to BE very 60's, but also DO expect to NOT be disappointed!
Great album. The Asian style instruments aren't really my thing though
This is a 2.5 for me. I liked some of the songs. It was interesting to me that there was such a wide variety of instruments (sitar, oboe, Hammond organ, clarinet, cello, etc). However some of the songs were so boring. “Legend of a Girl Child Linda” is the most boring song I ever heard in my whole life. It’s almost 7 minutes long and was a slog to get through. There’s some medieval sounding songs/themes, and I’m not a huge fan of that (like “Legend of…” and “Guinevere”). I only really liked “Sunshine Superman”, “Bert’s Blues” and “Three King Fishers”. Everything else was bland.
Correcto
3.4 2x good and a few great tracks saved
I like the psychedelic tracks more than the folk tracks. Fortunately almost all of them are psychedelic and a pure pleasure to listen to. I added “Season of the Witch” to my Generator playlist.
Meh. I didn’t love. A couple of the songs grew but can’t say I’m a new found fan of Donovan. Will come back to this
He's got a couple of tunes I like.
Wow! I’ve only ever heard of one of these songs and it was the Lana Del Ray cover of “Season of the Witch” that gets popular every September/October lol. Overall, a big fan. There were a couple songs that were a bit too… religious christmas song sounding and I wasn’t so into that. But the rest of it was fun and great to listen to. Season: Early Autumn Favorite Song: Sunshine Superman
Truly there's like 2.5 songs preventing me from putting it at a 5, that being said, I enjoyed the rest of the album quite a bit. The first song was my favorite but the album felt like it had rhytmic flow to it, where there would be an equally good song two away. It was holistically a nice expereince. now the bad Legend of child girl linda sounded way too much like a modern church song, which is unfortunate because im certain he both does it better and did it first. ALSO i did NOT know he sang season of the witch originally, and to be honest that shoots it up on the unrelated but but always present cool scale.
Great record. Some might say it sounds dated but. I think it captures that era perfectly.
Feels fairly dated. Some good songs, but too many are just meh.
#311/1001. I used to like Donovan a lot, back then when I was a hippie so much that it hurts. Now those days are gone, thanks to cosmic unity for that. A few good songs remain and a lot of new age hooplah.
You can hear that it was influential. Sits at the crossroads of lots of 60s musical trends.
3.5
Donovan was backed by Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. Wonder what happened to those guys. Hope they did something bigger.
No dynamic range on this album.
Deze knakker heeft het woord 'HIPPIE' met grote letters op zijn voorhoofd staan. Indiase klanken, check. Clavecimbel, check. Kleurige hoes met veel bloemen en dito pakje: check. Zweverige teksten over prinsessen en tovenaars, in satijnen gewaden in verafgelegen kasteeltorens, check. Er zit gelukkig ook wel iets van blues en zelfs rock in, zodat we iets meer pit krijgen dan bijvoorbeeld bij Fairport Convention. Zo'n titelnummer klinkt als een soort eenpersoons-Beatles, vervolgens lijkt het weer op Nick Drake, dan wordt het weer folkig of begint het zelfs op Bob Dylan te lijken (maar dan wel zuiver gezongen). Kortom, het is meer een staalkaart van wat de jaren zestig zoal te bieden hadden dan een statement van een artiest die een eigen stijl heeft gevonden. En toch, meneertje Donovan heeft het songschrijven en -brengen goed genoeg onder te knie om niet clichématig te worden of in herhaling te vallen. Ik ben geen fan van die koning Arthur-nummers, maar verder kan ik hier best goed naar luisteren.
Ik ga stuk. Nee, niet omdat het grappig is. De man trekt mij helemaal leeg. Aan het begin van elke kant zet hij mij op het verkeerde been. Om de rest van het album telkens hetzelfde trucje met de zeurende lange lettergrepen aan het eind van de zin toe te passen.
Ik had hier vooraf weinig van verwacht, gezien de flowerpower hoes en het feit dat het onbekende muziek uit 1966 is. Maar ik vind het onverwacht leuk en goed. Het doet me denken aan Searching for Sugarman, een soort nostalgie naar vroeger, toen alles nog pais en vree was. Met prima liedjes, die afwisselen tussen sfeervol en dromerig en tussen rustig en net iets steviger. Ondanks dat het bijzonder gedateerd is, heb ik het de volgende dag gewoon nog een keer kunnen luisteren en met net zoveel plezier. Dat is toch erg knap. 5 sterren is te gortig, maar een hele dikke 4 sterren zijn op zijn plaats.
Love the psychedelic vibes
not bad, decent
Heard a lot of Four Leaves Left on here. Liked those bits. Didn’t like the more psych-y bits. 4 stars overall