Reviews (page 7 of 8)
3/10
To slow for me and the mix feels very old (because it is). Not bad in any way but not something I would choose to listen to again.
There are two famous songs from this album, and there is probably a reason for that. The title track and Season of the Witch are both great folk/pop tunes. But the rest hasn’t really stood the test of time and I found the other eight tracks to be quite boring.
Did not know he was Scottish. Unfortunately this does not gain him any extra points. A couple of good tracks - particularly Season of the Witch. Unfortunately I really dislike the title track - with the guitar really giving me a head ache - which makes it a 2 for me.
Not my favourite of this sorts of 60s music
Meh
A bit too far out for me.
no van, donovan
When this popped up, the label that immediately came to mind was 'hippie-dippie' and sure enough, reading a review of this that is exactly the label the reviewer used. This is the epitome of the dreamy, far out, psychedelic 60s and it is not the slice of music from the 60s that I prefer. The title track is a classic, but there's not much else here that I really enjoyed listening to. Donovan has his place in music history and I respect that. I think my appreciation stops about there.
Man was this boring. I just don't find psychedelic music interesting; maybe you have to do drugs to enjoy it?
Boring
Did not enjoy this one sadly. Very very boring and his voice grated on me 2 ⭐️
4,5/10 Pas vraiment mémorable
Great psychadelic rock album. Thematically flows well, but not sure if I will be pulled back to listen to it. Def some songs to add on playlists
One hit
5/10 Like the arrangements, but the songwriting is meh.
can go back to only hearing donovan in movies, thanks
Fucking Donovan.
I like the title song but was bored by the rest, except maybe season of the witch.
Very slow at the beginning of the album. Bert's Blues stood out to me.
meh
Yea this is pretty shite. Maybe 2 tracks pulling this out of the gutter. Wanted to skip most though.
Some good songs but quite a bit of filler.
Donovan exists in my consciousness entirely thanks to the constant references by Trevor and Simon on Saturday morning tv and even then this didn’t really extend beyond jennifer juniper. Given this Donovan is solely hippy shit in my mind, so was surprised how much i enjoyed Sunshine Superman (the track). Beyond this we revert back to the hippy dippy shit i expected until Season of the Witch, which is the one track i already knew. Whilst it’s a higher standard than most of the tracks the subsequent cover versions have definitely lifted it up.
Not expecting to be familiar with anything by Donovan, I was pleasantly surprised by track one - which I both recognised and enjoyed. Sadly, that was the only track I enjoyed - or that really registered with me. The rest was just that 60s psychedelic-y type thing that’s not my bag.
Saccharine sixties swill. My reaction? Picture John Belushi going medieval on the guitar playing guy on the stairs of the frat party.
A couple of decent songs (title track and Season of the Witch) and a whole bunch of hippie-dippy nonsense. I figured this was the result of visiting India with the Beatles, but nope it was before all that.
First time listening to true hippy music. Not my vibe
I’d give it a 2.5 if I could. Very strange, but had some decent songs.
"They're strange....so strange..." Listened to B4? No Tracks Already Saved on Spotify: 2 - Sunshine Superman, Season of the Witch Standout Tracks: Sunshine Superman, Season of the Witch, Celeste (50/100)
Peaked where it started, unlikely to go back
Won't listen to it again
The title track is much much better than anything else on the album, which otherwise sounds almost like a parody of itself, except if it were a parody, it would be better. I think I heard Donovan yawn on the 2nd or 3rd track.
Season of the Witch is a good song
Psychedelic aura to this album, but certainly listenable. Some monotony. It would’ve been nice if he’d mixed it up a bit.
Season of the Witch is amazing. The rest of this album is pretty whatever to cheesy. It gets one extra star for Season of the Witch.
Great opener. The rest is interesting but not a compelling listen.
This is oldies. Not for me.
Wetter than Dawn French out for a walk. Couple songs of bite then back to damp.
two great songs and mostly yawns.
This was dangerously close to becoming a 1, but the end of Bert's Blues and Season of the Witch saved it. Doesn't push it above a 2 though, too much of this is 60's psychedelic nonsense. George Harrison, I love you, but you did tremendous damage to music by introducing the west to the sitar.
This is so very much the 60s. Sunshine Superman is pretty good, and I was surprised by how much I liked it. Then it all went downhill. Renaissance faire lyrics with what sounded like only bass and sitar for music. I don't guess the music was all that bad, but for almost every track? Too much. The lyrics were definitely not my thing, though.
I can see a parent playing this album to get their kid to sleep, then having a few drinks after, or maybe being played at an opium den.
It took until Season of the Witch for things to get going but it just wasn’t enough
Started to get bored pretty quickly
Pfoe, wat een ontzettend zaad album is dit zeg... De zang is ver-schrikkelijk, ik ben vast en zeker niet intelligent genoeg voor de teksten en instrumentaal..? Ik begrijp dat het uit 1966 komt, dat is ook echt wel ziek hoor, maar het klinkt gewoon echt niet goed. Donovan komt ontzettend zeikerig over met het fluitsterzingen van hem. Uitzondering is Season of the witch, dat klinkt wel iets beter maar niet dat ik denk "Wauw dit gaat hard! Blij dat ik dit luister! " Nee, dit is totaal niet mijn vibe, ontzettend saai album, blij dat het niet zo lang duurt. Compleet een half uur later eigenlijk al alles aan dit abum vergeten. Misschien ook beter zo. Enige reden dat het geen 1 krijgt is omdat ik niet elke seconde me doodergerde. Het was meer dat het aan stond maar ik echt niets er van onthouden heb.
A little too minstrely for me. Interesting psychedelia, though.
Not very accessible
It's solid background music. Didn't hurt but didn't love it. 4.8/10
Felt like an Austin Powers skit that turned mushy and weak.
One good song (Season of the Witch) The rest is very meh 60s psych rock.
60s music that would have been good in the 60s. Today not so much
this album was not very good to me. it was very odd. i liked that each song was different but it just didn’t do it for me. classic season of the witch, and title track redeems it for me. also if they do a movie about donovan, kristen stewart should play him just based off the cover of this one album.
Pretty okay. Not gonna win any awards but inoffensive
I think a lot of folk might not be for me
Donovan wrote some beautiful and timeless songs for children that I still listen to, sometimes - but not for this album. These sings sound very dated, and though I like 60s music generally, these are not the best.
Not as good as I thought it would be
Sunshine Superman Season of the Witch
There are two good songs, the rest is too far out for me, man.
Not for me, too old
Other than Season of the Witch (which is bagnin) this album is everything that sucked about the psychedelic 60s. It’s a boring white guy trying on musical costumes because he’s hip.
Very 60s but not overwhelming in any direction. It was just ok, season of the witch stays on my Halloween playlist
First song (title track) is a blast from the past. Track 2 is not good. Ok every song has many tropes of 60s British music I don’t like - sitar, bingos, harpsichord, tangerine eyes.
2/5
Listening to this album you can clearly tell the time period it was released in. It is straddling the trad folk of the time while also being influenced by the psyche pop released in the late 60s. Despite this, I found it quite a boring listen. Nothing wrong with it, just a very middling listen for me.
Jesus Christ this was boring as shit
Way too lame vocally and way too old fashioned for me.
Decent song to start then a massive downhill slide. Little bit of a recovery towards the end but overall a miss for me.
Hmm
Not my thing. But I understand. The Beatles did this along with many others for a song or two, but this guy went full bore with this. Season of the Witch is a banger, sounds kind of like Lynyrd Skynyrd in a weird way. There's a spot on the rolling stone 500 for a compilation of pysidelic rock, this would be better.
2.3
This dude tweaking
Leeeeento, y nada interesante. No me gustó para nada.
2/5 for season of the witch - classic. Rest of the stuff was meh
After having a fairly decent few albums on this list, it really stood out that this one sucked. It was so boring and all whimsical, and not in a good way that made it endearing and enjoyable. Turns out I struggle to enjoy stuff from the 60s
All right, has the 'season of the witch', but I dont feel very drawn to it.
The album didn't sound bad, but it just didn't do anything for me. Didn't hold my interest.
просто не зацепило
Ouch. Kind of unpleasant, except for Season of the Witch.
point2.
Nothing special - music blended together and even the imagery in the lyrics couldn’t save it.
It's ok.
Irgendwie nichts hängengeblieben, aber ein paar Songs waren ganz okay. Besser als das Cover denken lässt.
Hippie dippie flower power bullshit
Really hated the majority of this. Couple of ok tracks save it from being a 1/5. Just. Season of the Witch and Celeste are the best tracks. Most of it sounds horrible.
Legend of a Girl Child Linda killed this album for me. Otherwise it was a solid 3.
I know a few of Donovan's songs, but only "Season of the Witch" is on this album (the use of "Hurdy Gurdy Man" in David Fincher's Zodiac is perfect, but alas, it's not on this album). A lot of the psychedelic music from the 60's on this list has been really hit or miss with me, so I have no idea how this will land with me. Time to get after it! Well, unfortunately, this album wasn't really my cup of tea. "Season of the Witch" was really great, and the title track was fine, but the rest of the album was mostly 'renaissance-faire-meets-Summer-of-Love,' which wore me down over the course of the album. I think Donovan is a good songwriter, and the album was pleasant enough to listen to, but it was just kind of boring to me. Donovan showed some more traditional folk rock chops on "Season the Witch," but that was really the only song that fell into that category. I wish I had enjoyed this album, because Donovan does have some songs in his broader catalog that I enjoy, but this album wasn't for me.
Couple of good songs. Title song the best
This is #day121 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... what a big fucking yawn this album evokes. Two songs in, I was already dozing off. As I've mentioned before, I'm fine with some folk rock now and then, I do like Nick Drake, but this was such a dragging bore... Although I found the instrumentation interesting for a time, it's the 60s, so, what can you expect? This is a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day122.
The title track is fun and catchy, and he sounds like a lovely happy, hippy person. I'm afraid, overall, it failed to transport me away to those happy places however.
Hasn't aged well.... in my opinion!
I swear, if I hear another british guy from the 60’s who uses an overload of sitar, it will be one too many. The only reason this doesn’t get a 1, are the title track and “season of the witch”, the rest is drab
OK, we get it. In the 60s you did a lot of drugs and it made you enjoy the sitar at odd times. Weird, jangly folk tunes
Psychedelic rock really feels like a product of its time and I struggle to appreciate it
Other than the title track and “Season of the Witch” I didn’t find much I liked on this record other than a bunch of meh. I’m chalking up my ambivalence to this being one of those albums that you needed to be there at the time to fully appreciate it. https://open.substack.com/pub/richcain/p/project-1001-sunshine-superman-by?r=4ztyq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
It was okay? Nothing crazy but equal to himself
This album was not for me. It was like folk with a lot of Indian motifs in there and it did not hold my attention. Standouts: Legend of a Girl Child Linda and Celeste.
Not really my thing. Had a few songs I didn't dislike, but overall nothing really grabbed my interest.
Campy lyrics with a generic 60s sound
Not much that I like on this album. Lots of sitar music and it's like Donovan is on the cusp of the hippie psychedelic scene, but he's Scottish. 1.5/5 = 2 stars.
Thought it would be ok when I recognized the first song. Boy was I wrong.
um what?
Sunshine Superman has some decent moments, notably the first and last track, but for the most part it's middling 60s psychedelia that doesn't really hit the spot. I like his voice, but I don't much like the arrangements or the musical consistency of the album. 2/5.
You know it’s ‘60s stoner rock as soon as that sitar starts playing. I have always been familiar with and enjoyed Sunshine Superman. But as I was listening to the rest I thought I needed to get some drugs to listen to the rest. Then I wanted to get some drugs to avoid hearing the rest. Celeste was pretty good, but everything in between was just too period (Stoney) specific to make a constant listen.
Not bad but not for me Ynn
I’ll always have a soft spot for Donovan as my dad used to sing Mellow Yellow to me when I was a baby But this is fairly insipid stuff
Quite Spinal Tap in their embryonic days as hippies but ok.
OK? I guess? I wouldn't say it belongs here though. 4/10
I wasn't very into it. Will I listen to again: 0%
Some catchy songs. Pretty chill album.
Honestly, I have like no feelings on this album.
ahhoz képest, hogy Donovan a szegény ember Bob Dylanjeként ismert, ez az album most a szegény ember korai, pszichedelikus pink floydja volt 🤣 still shit though.
I bet this one would be decent if it wasn't so boring
It’s quite alright. It’s kind of the same as much of what also was around at that time - I just not as good - but maybe a few more listens will do the trick
2.5
I thought I was gonna like it but I didn’t. Donovan’s voice annoys me and none of the songs really caught my attention, I was mostly bored. Luckily it’s short. I kinda liked Bert’s blues and Season of the witch. The rest was a bit too sameish. 2/5
a little... old
I did own a compilation CD back in the day with some Donovon on it, and I haven't heard it in years, I love the title track. Legend of Girl Child Linda not so much. Lots and lots of sitar Bert's Blues is pretty good Love Seasons of the Witch The Trip is pretty good too, the Fat Angel is pretty groovy maybe a 2 for this album, not my favorite but some hidden gems in there and 2 tracks I love.
Title track and Season of the Witch are the highlights. Most of the rest is a snooze-fest.
I mean it’s great for the times and just fine by today’s standards. A lot more folk fantasy with woodwinds and sitar than I expected. Incongruous sounds that I didn’t love together but all the same it was I’m sure groundbreaking.
More 1960s jangle pop. 2.5
p121. 1967. 2 stars. 60's hippy-trippy nonsense, saved from a one star review by a couple of good tunes. I imagine that at the time, with a decent summer, a tab of LSD and a liberated hippy chick, this would have been fabulous. As it is, it's as faded as meadow wildflowers in autumn.
kinda get why cartman hates hippies sm now 5/10
J'avais entendu du Donovan dans les années 80 ('Mee Mee I Love you' passait à la radio souvent à l'époque, je trouvais ce morceau marrant - mes gouts ont évolué depuis !). Cet album est bien différent, mais n'a rien de bien marquant, si ce n'est quelques parties de sitar. => 2/5
Bit boring
this was just not it for me. I did enjoy the instrumentals in Three King Fishers, and Season of the Witch seemed a lot more cohesive than the rest, but overall it just seemed too melancholy and too psychadelic for me.
It was just normal 70s rocky, bluesy music, but then they added the sitars and lost me…
Another miss
This has one good song on it
Enjoyed the first song, rest of the album was very boring.
There was a couple of ok songs on here , but the rest was just boring
2 good songs surrounded by okay songs
For some reason I didn't hate it like I wanted to.
I'd heard a bunch of these tracks but never internalized the name Donovan before. The popular songs are kinda fun. The rest is pretty hippy dippy meh.
Thoughts before listening: 60s psychedelic folk rock. Or something like that. I know that Donovan gets mentioned a lot but I don't really know much about him. Review: "Season of the Witch" is an amazing song and is pretty much the blueprint for 60s psychedelic rock. I found the rest of the album to be a bit boring though. Even the title track, which is one that I've always thought of as a big famous 60s hit, was too repetitive to really draw my attention. I was surprised that I didn't actually recognize the song, so maybe it's title is more iconic of the era than the actual song. 2-stars
Wow. Really not for me. Too Austin Powers to take seriously
Definitely a revolutionary album for it's time and I'm sure it was a great addition to psychedelic landscape. However, it doesn't hold up very well. By no means is it a bad album, just kind of blase besides for a couple of hits. 5/10 (2.5/5)
Idk just not for me. Found it boring
2.5
Good example how old is not the same as classic. This is just old. It's not bad, but nothing about this record feels essential to me. Favorite song: sunshine superman.
First ever listen: season of the witch cool bluesy song with Jimmy Page riffs…
Couple of genuinely good songs on here, but it's mostly really dated and kinda boring.
When I say I dislike psychedelia, this is what I’m talking about. It’s not expansive experimentation with depth and good songwriting, it’s just overcrowded kitsch. Rambling nonsense lyrics, ~unique~ instrumentation (who knew a sitar could sound so obnoxious?), and just a general “everything plus the kitchen sink” energy to each arrangement here. Even the best songs suffer because of it. And yes, the best songs are the singles — “Sunshine Superman” and “Season of the Witch” — which suggests a bigger critique, that Donovan is a singles artist, maybe even a would-be one-hit-wonder who happened to hit a lucky streak thanks to right place/right time. And yeah, that’s what I expect from “Hurdy Gurdy Man.” It’s not the worst thing ever, but tolerable is not a compliment. Easily my least favorite psychedelic record so far, and very obviously inessential unless you adore this era of music.
not bad but supremely boringggg
More like "SuperMEH" amiright?
A load of tree hugging hippy crap.
There's a couple songs on here I'm familiar with. I like those. I was never able to give my full attention to this, but did listen several times with it in the background. It never grabbed my attention, but if the strength in this is really clever lyrics and word play then I missed it.
Sunshine Superman is the third album by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It's a psychedelic folk rock album featuring the titular hit single that took the US by storm in 1966. This is Donovan's most successful album and it was a chart-topper in the US and the UK. If you enjoy the folksy, trippy, hippy songs from the 60's, than this is the album for you. It contains great pop melodies along with some folk songs and the beginnings of Donovan's psychedelia experimentation. This was a well produced album and I'd recommend it.
Bit medieval panto for my liking
Yeah yeah now go play The Age of Aggression or something
Very 60s drug hippie sounding. Influences of Indian music, jazz on one track, and green sleeves type music. Did not catch my interest though.
Too weird for me
The 2 songs I'd heard before are good. No eye-openers otherwise. Not a fan of the minstrel songs. Very dated.
I was disappointed by this one. The two famous songs (Sunshine Superman and Season of the Witch) are clear standouts. Of the deep cuts there wasn't really anything I'm excited to return to. A lot of fart-y sitar-sounding whatever songs. Love Donovan, but this album was too sleepy for me.
started ok. then trying to share an insider's view on the 60s pop scene by... singing about medieval times. buddy. get it together. parts of this without harpsichord sound are quite good, all driven by the bass. nearly all of it also has something obnoxious. the lyrics and vocal phrasing on Season of the Witch are bad, and bad enough to detract from a song about nothing. just when you think Donovan might have got the renaissance fair out of his system & moved on, "Guinevere of the royal court of Arthurrrr". buddy. fuck off. there could have been a 60s pop album by Donovan that was alright. it's not this one. music: hated. (⌐■_■)
Maybe it’s because I’ve heard two dozen albums by his peers so far, but I was listening thinking “I thought I liked Donovan!” Season of the Witch a great song at least.
The hits (first song on each side) are decent enough, but the filler is too Kum-ba-yah folky for me.
Boring, like a wannabe acid trip. Very dated 60’s.
Yeah nope
Had higher hopes for this record. It seems like I haven't got a record that's punched me in the face in a while. Everything is so slow and sleepy. I guess I can't expect anything too crazy from 1964 but I mean c'mon. I guess I can't hold this lull in records against this album specifically, but I don't know. How many singer songwriters does 1001 need? I feel like 500 of these records are just that...
could i write poetry to this? n
Outside of "Sunshine Superman" and "Season of the Witch", this album is pretty much a "Meh..." for me.
Boooooo
A few killer tracks A few more head scratching tracks Songs YES album NO
It was alright, but maybe just by today’s standards. Some of the songs were just too long. If this didn’t somehow influence Sgt. Pepper I’d be surprised.
2 good songs 2 good stars
Bah, rollo. Cantautor, folk, 60's. Sin más.
Sunshine Superman & Season of the Witch completely carry this album, the rest is decent listening too.
I didn't care for this that much. Not much to say
Meh, just 60s hippy stuff. Good and all but quite forgettable
I went in having mostly only heard Season of the Witch- which is a great track. The album was overall better than I was expecting, but a full album of psychedelia is a bit much for me.
C'était correct, Season of the witch est géniale mais le reste m'a pas tant allumé.
beat, s.s., 1966 -> 2
Good lord so twee!
The songs were okay but it didnt really hook me. I found his style of writing sometimes to be a little Syd-Barretish, which is fun but not always my favorite style.
There definitely seems to be a sub genre of 60s singer songwriters with trippy album covers that have their face in the middle. Pretty sure they all vaguely sound like this with varying levels of psychedelia. This one was a bit more straightforward and bland compared to the others. It has the sort of hippy sound youd expect but it didn't really take it to any interesting places. Alright background music but wouldn't want to hear more, I stopped after the original tracklisting.
"So that's who wrote that song!" - me after hearing Sunshine Superman here for the first time. I was ready to write this album off after track two or three thinking it was some protentious run of the mill 60's folk nonsense - it kind of is, but I can hear the origins of Beck, Mica P Hinson, and other prog-post-folk artits in Donovan's work. Bert's Blues makes me wonder what the relationship between The Beatles and Donovan was - it could of been an influence on the The Beatles, but I might be mistaken. This album does bang on about wizards and crows and silence and Camelot and jesters in a way that only a stinky hippy in the late 60's could possibly connect with, yet it does explore and drift in directions than those you wouldn't initially expect. I doubt I'll relisten often (or at all) but its a curious and interesting album.
2/5. Someone who is really trying their best to be a Paul Simon, but just doesn’t have the pipes for it. I did like the Jefferson Airplane reference and figure I’d rather listen to them.
I remember dad listening to Donovan when I was a kid so I was expecting some nostalgic feels, but I didn't dig Sunshine Superman as much as I thought I would.
Favorite Track: Ferris Wheel I did not find the appeal for this album. The one song I did find some enjoyment out of was the fourth track on the album titled 'Ferris Wheel' It is not the worst album I have heard by any means, but I still can't say I enjoyed it sadly. 2.0/5.0
I've heard better of this style.
This playlist wasn’t anything too special to me, it was decent music, but just a little weird. Probably wouldn’t listen to most of the songs on here, I’ll give it some slack because it’s an older album that might not be my type.
Initial Thoughts: Oh brother, another album from the 60's... Gonna try not to think about the era and listen with no bias. Final Thoughts: Do I just not like this era? I'm really starting to think that. I mean, the album was OKAY. Season of the Witch was hands down the best song, but even then it was my favorite. I'm usually a fan a psychedelic, but I think I realized that I like synth psychadelic. Either way, I can appreciate the talent, but this wasnt for me.
"Sunshine Superman" & Season Of The Witch" are excellent. The rest follow the trippy, hippy thing with diminishing results.
Sunshine Superman // Bert’s Blues // Season of the Witch // Celeste 2/5
A couple of good tunes, but some were the kind of sappy, folksy love songs that I find boring.
1st song good rest very meh
Not for me. Found it a bit dull. Maybe someone more interesting could make a few of the songs more enjoyable.
Wasn’t really giving to this, some OK songs
Pretty slow, annoying voice, discordant vocals and instruments at times. If someone put it on I wouldn't complain but I wouldn't enjoy it.
2 stars. donovan is a mid artist except for happiness runs.
Just listen to the 3 really good songs
Plenty of Sunshine Superman and Season of the Witch awareness but I've never listened to this album all the way through. It is what you might expect from hearing both of these songs except with the hippy dial turned up even more. The album sounds cliché now but I'm sure minds were absolutely blown at the time.
Meh album, pensei que seria melhor. A vibe nao me atrai de todo.
Ei häirinnyt mutta en mä tiedä mikä tässä olis pitänyt olla niin cool 2/5
Ei mikään lempparipsyke tää, vähän tylsä. 2/5
It's very gentle, 60's hippy-folk. It all feels quite painfully sincere and nice. It's not necessarily bad, it's just quite boring in my opinion.
So... Much ... Sitar
There were some surprise songs that I actually liked, and some that I had to skip. You can hear that it is an old album. The music is simple with a lot (or even too much) repetition of instruments and phrases. Opening song was the nicest. Not something I will listen to after this however.
Couple of bangers but most of it was a bit dull.
Psychedelic '60s folk pop. Not something I'd listen to again
Largely fine, couple of big hits....some predictable cheesy hippy tropes. Meh.
Vähän tylsähköä, mutta ihan letkeätä. Menis kesällä taustamusiikkina ehkä
Meh. I enjoyed Season of the Witch and Mellow Yellow, however, didn't take care for this album. 2/5
Encore un nouvel album de psychédéliqueries publié par un parfait inconnu dans les années 60. Ne sont pas les Beau Brummels qui veulent.
Mira que me gusta el folk y la psicodelia de esos años pero el disco no termina de romper excepto por "Season of the witch". Entiendo que hay que escucharlo alguna vez en la vida pero no creo que sea algo imprescindible.
Decent only a couple of standout tracks
This really bores me. Standard 60 psych pop with a healthy splattering of sitars and Indian aesthetics. Not for me
A bit too hippie for me
Boring, weird, problematic at points. Not quite bad enough for 1 ⭐, but just barely scrapes a second one.
A few really good psych-rock songs but they were overshadowed by too many bland songs and medieval-style ballads
Hippy. I dig. Peace man.
если честно, скучновато тут вроде очень неплохая лирика, но музыкально жутко затянуто есть отдельные интересные моменты, но нудность убивает всё
Довольно неплохая лирика, но иногда звучит все слишком нудно + гудеж постоянный у гитарки надоедает
Only a couple of songs that were popular.
I'm familiar with a few of these tracks. I really love "Season Of The Witch" -- that one clicks in well with me. The rest mostly sound too much like the time to me. I do get the importance of this album and some of his other work, but overall it doesn't do much for me.
It would be excellent if listening in the 60s during autumn while on LSD.
Second time with this album, and there's just not much interesting here still. The titular single is a Trojan horse for the rest of the album, as it sounds nothing like anything else on here at all. Favorite track: The Trip
I'm glad I didn't listen to this driving home; I might have fallen asleep and killed somebody.
Hippy nonsense
Wrote a longer review on the tube in to work but it seemingly didn’t save. Psuedo-cosmic drivel with a couple of the tunes having a bit more oomph (Season & Supergirl). I bet he wowed the ‘crowds’ at parties. At least he chose guitar rather than bongos.
Bah, rollo. Cantautor, folk, 60's. Sin más.
Foppish fake flower power. With two decent hits.
*sigh* This album is another one of those pretentious mid 60's hippie folk/pop albums that take themselves way too seriously. It's not a total trainwreck, but there is nothing making me want to listen for more than a few minutes. That some of the songs are rooted in the while-men-playing-the-blues traditon doesn't help. 2/5
There are some interesting arrangements and instruments used, though the majority of this is monumentally boring. I don't particularly care for the hits from this album, and there's little for me to want to listen to again.
One hit wonder. Not deserving of this list
Pleasant enough but not very snazzy
Has a vibe, but not my bop. It was a bit hard to listen throuh
This CD is fine, but it's very poorly produced. He's straight-up getting audio clipping on the vocals on "Sunshine Superman", where it damn near ruins the song, and then slightly less distractingly on "Bert's Blues". It doesn't seem like an intentional choice - certainly it doesn't suit or improve those songs - and if so, that's a total novice mistake. The mix is also super-inconsistent from track-to-track - I'm gonna leave "Sunshine Superman" out of this because I think it's so totally botched, but compare how loud the vocals and orchestral instruments are in the mix on "Legend of a Girl Child Linda" against how quiet they are in the mix on "Ferris Wheel" (an otherwise similar light ballad) and "The Trip". Again, I don't think this is an intentional artistic decision, I think it's a mistake. And you could say, that's just how it is, but as a listening experience it's jarring, distracting, and unpleasant - you want to get lost in the music, not be jolted awake and then two minutes later have to struggle to hear. They also get pretty crummy instrumental sound on a few tracks - like seriously what is making that crackle in the background of "Season of the Witch"? That noise appears throughout the song in the background on the 2- and 3-and beats, and I think it's a really shitty-sounding guitar, but I honestly don't know. The guitar and drum sound is weak and thin on a couple other tracks as well. And on several songs here's super-heavy electric bass with no kick drum behind it - e.g. "Ferris Wheel", where's there's no kit at all, or "Season of the Witch" and "The Trip" where there's a kit but either he's not using the kick or it's been totally mixed out - maybe they were going for that, and they kind of get in the pocket on "The Trip", but overall it just sounds thin and out-of-sync. This isn't necessarily Donovan's fault, and this was recorded in 1966 - technology was worse back then, and that's some excuse. But overall this CD sounds more like The Troggs than e.g. contemporary Beatles recordings. Much of that is the actual production, but Donovan is pretty limited as a composer as well - "Bert's Blues" and "The Trip" are basic and kind of weak, and I'm not a huge fan of the vaguely-Eastern stuff either ("Three King Fishers" / "The Fat Angel") - the Beatles at least had the decency to limit the vaguely-Eastern tracks to one per album. And Donovan's got a nice voice, partly limited by the production, but there's just a curious lack of backing vocals anywhere on the record - there's basically none anywhere, and he's not really making up for it with instrumental depth. I didn't outright dislike it though, I'm more just frustrated at how poorly put together it is.
Two hits are alright but again too much hippy bullshit for me
Nice, but by Guinevere I was pretty bored Album cover: 4/5 very nice
Maybe with acid?
Overwhelmingly dull and pointless apart from a couple tracks. Favorite track: Bert's Blues
I liked the music for the first few songs but his voice is rough. Reminds me of a church singer. I got tired of it by the end but it was a short album. Favorite song was season of the witch
Season of the Witch is one of my favorite 60s songs. The rest of the album is either way too flower children or just sort of sounds like slowed down early Beatles.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 2/5
Bland
es como los bitles cuando fueron a la india pero sin la salsa
2 great songs.
Too. Much. Folk.
This feels like an artist in transition, whose footing in both folk and psychedelia is somewhat unsure as they find their new place. I feel like 'Ferris Wheel' shows what a really good balance would sound like, which also carries with it aspects of what I enjoyed from Nick Drake's work. On the whole though, I wasn't all that into 'Sunshine Superman'.
Great sound, but post-Beatles it just didn’t feel the best at things it was doing
Meh
Het begon wel lekker relaxed, maar ik vind het op een gegeven moment ook wel een beetje saai worden.
A bit dated for my liking but an enjoyable album. Nothing I found I felt like skipping. Don't think I'll return to it soon though.
aggressively psychedelic. not my vibe at all
An okay album that has heavy 60s psychedelic pop sound. The lead song on the album is pretty good but the rest of the album is much different. It’s pretty simple pop music besides the psychedelic stuff. Nothing too exciting. 5.1/10
Best Song: Season of the Witch. I like songs that slowly build like his one does. Plus it has a cool title. Worst Song: Legend of a Girl Named Linda. I'm sure there's a delightful little story hidden in this ballad, just as I'm sure the lead singer had a +1 with girls named "Linda" for the rest of his life. Doesn't mean I want to hear it though. Overall: Going in, I knew only two of the songs, although I didn't know who had performed them. Coming out, I understand why I knew only those two, as the remainder were a bunch of dry duds. I do respect the audacity of having a song called "Guinevere" be immediately followed by "Fat Angel".
forgettable early psychedelia
Every song sounded the same. One went on forever. Nothing added to a playlist, title track came close but didn't.
Early psychedelia tinged with sitars and tablas. You can practically smell the daffodils, marigolds, weed, and unwashed hippy feet.
Starts well then fades quickly and becomes very dull
Dylan wannabe and the man who seems to have written all The Beatles music - according to himself. It's a pot luck of folk rock, folk and basic sixties cod-psychedelia. It's a pot luck of tunes as well. Best Tracks: Sunshine Superman, Season of the Witch; The Trip
I just found this one a bit too slow
Hippies! Was ok, 15 songs was about 10 too many though
I can see how this was likely pretty influential but I didn’t find it the most listenable. Some cool sounds and songs though. Liked ‘season of the witch’
A little boring.
La première pièce est excellente. Le reste n'est pas mauvais, mais j'aurais préféré la vibe de la première.
Bah, rollo. Cantautor, folk, 60's. Sin más.
Flott lög í plötu sem heldur ekki nægilega vel. Ágætis hlustun í feðraorlofinu en dóttir mín varð pirruð í mestu sækódelíunni.
Sunshine Superman and Season of the Witch are great. Thr rest is kind of droning
Eh
Not really a fan of this. Thought it was a bit boring.
Not my cup of herbal tea. Pleasant though.
Its not bad per se, but its definitely of its era and a bit of a chore nowadays
Folksy 60s music is just not my bag.
Didn't like.
Sometimes I wish I could see the entire 1001 and some breakdowns of the total. Of all the albums released in 1966, this makes the cut, which gets me thinking about what albums didn't. Back in my undergrad days, the girl who broke my heart was an absolute militant Donovan fan. Woe betide anyone who didn't take this seriously. 'Sunshine Superman' is fine as are 'Bert's Blues' and 'Celeste' , but then there's a lot of hey nonny nonny. And at times he sounds a bit like Matt Berry singing something from The Mighty Boosh/House of Fools/Toast, etc, which makes it hard to take seriously
Some okay pysch-folk, maybe a 2.5? Been a bit of a dry patch on the 1001 lately
Interesting that the album that supposedly started flower power and the hippy revolution and influenced so many, now sounds tame by comparison to many albums that came after of a similar type. I usually like this genre, but didn’t particularly like this one. Too middle of the road for me.
what?
Hippy dullness, but with some kooky quirks.
Once again, I find myself in unfamiliar territory. I'm not a big fan of psych, unless it's more on the rock side. This is more folky than rock. I don't think it's bad, but it's not making an impression on me this time around.
Some cool sounds and a couple of memorable hits, nothing that magical for me though
More sitar-y than that album that was entirely sitar, somehow. Had high hopes as Donovan created some of the grooviest tracks of the swinging 60s; bit disappointed he didn't tap into those vibes for the whole album. Too much of a free spirit, I guess. 2.5
The good: Sunshine Superman, Season of the Witch The average: Bert's Blues The bad: everything else
Super hippy 60's music. Not for me.
Note to anyone listening: use the stereo version. It's night and day: the mono version I found had distortion and clipping all over the place, whereas the stereo version has so much more clarity and gives the arrangements room to breathe. With that in mind... it's still a bang average album. History seems to want to paint a picture that everything released in the mid-60s was limitless, groundbreaking, as psychedelics kicked the doors down and revealed a landscape of possibilities. A lot of it was, of course... but a lot of it was probably also something like this. My impression listening to this was that Donovan was surrounded by talent and inspiration, but could only soak up so much of it. His voice is plain and unadorned, and doesn't do much for the material. The excellent "Season of the Witch" is an exception, where Donovan suddenly sings like his words mean something, with energy and emotion. It's as though the engineers said to him: "This one will be the single and will make or break you, put your back into it for god's sake." I'd have liked to hear more of his signature finger-picked guitar work: instead, texture takes the front seat and more focus is on shaping mythical, mystic songs to float on water. This isn't always a bad thing, as most of my favourite parts of the record were the ripples flowing around Donovan, including some lovely baroque touches. Harpsichords and flutes abound, and the orchestra comes into its own in several tracks. "Legend of A Girl Child Linda" has some really nice orchestration, and "Ferris Wheel" and "Celeste" are the prettiest offerings. "Bert's Blues" and "The Trip" give some musical variation, but nothing that jumps out too much. Donovan's lyrics are too literal for me, not enough of the abstract and too many medieval references thrown in as though its a shortcut to create the mood he's after. Finally, the decision to insert a pregnant pause after every single phrase in "Guinevere" is a terrible one as it puts a frustrating halt on the song every time. There's something very quaint and optimistic about this record: it's more introspective than the psychedelic freak-outs to come, and arguably also less interesting. Everything about it screams 1960s: the trippy, flower-laden cover. Intermittent sitar and tabla to simulate psychedelia. The fact that someone could be called Linda and be a beautiful young woman, rather than a retired secretary with back pain. It's all aged where Donovan's closest peers (Beatles and Dylan) haven't, and this is mainly on account of the musical and lyrical gulf separating them. Listening to this album fifty-five years on exposes just how vast that was: I don't want to hold that against Donovan too much, but comparisons are inevitable if everyone's reaching for the same tune.
It's just too slow for me personally three songs in. Almost every song is too slow and it makes the album feel boring. The singing is ok and lyrics aren't horrible but it just feels bland besides Bert's blues and season of the witch.
So me good tunes but not enough to save it from the duff ones
2 stars. Worst two tracks are in the beginning, but definitely improves. Much higher energy than some other psych rock on this list. With that said, I likely won’t return to this music
ehhh... A case where the singles are unsurprisingly and not excitingly the best songs on the album ("Sunshine Superman" and "Season of the Witch" are good...although it's possible I'm having some confirmation bias since these are the songs I know) - the rest is ... well, painfully dated. I guess there's nothing wrong with that but rather than a group of good songs it sounds more like a pastiche of what the late 60s were supposed to sound like. Yay here's some psychedelia ... I could picture many of these as background music to any Austin Powers movie. Also the lack of stereo knocks it down a bit more in listenability for me. 3/10 2 stars.
This was OK, the first song is one of my favourites from the 60's, the rest of the album didnt live up to it though.
Surprisingly likeable if a bit dated.
Much of it sounded like a music from a kids tv show or a music teacher making music up off the cuff. A couple of good tracks though.
The pronunciation sounds retro 1. The fade out is kind of weird 2. I really like this. It sounds like a lullaby. It’s a very simple melody. 3. This sounds like ye olde fleet foxes. 4. The Samson line is clever 5. All these melodies are really simple. This song is kinda all over the place. The instruments are pretty. 6. I wonder if this song is the first time this phrase was used. I can see the chorus of this being used in tv shows and movies. 7. Drink me/wonderland lyric is clever. I kind of like this. I can’t deny that it’s interesting. 8. His lyrics are interesting but he really should have gotten some help with his melodies. They’re all so simple and repetitive and almost nothing has a hook. 9. This is really boring. ngl. 10. Last one yay. This has some pretty instrumentals Like - I just can’t get past how slow and simple and repetitive the melodies were. I can’t see myself returning to this and I’m confused as to how it got so popular that it made this list. This just really isn’t for me Favorite Song: Legend of a Girl Child Linda
one okay single
I know I'm supposed to like this because Donovan is psychedelic royalty, but... meh.
Not that I've paid a lot of attention, but Donovan always struck me as an artist with a handful of great singles going for him and not a whole lot else. Sunshine Superman does nothing to change that impression. Actually, I don't consider the leadoff tune, Sunshine Superman to be all that great. Basically, it's a simple blues form with a descending melody line--nothing special. Donovan blesses the tune with an uncharacteristically gutsy performance, but the lead guitar break is execrable, and the song's claim to be a forerunner of psychedelic is overblown. I'm not even sure what that's based on. Most of the rest of the album is winsome folky trash. I mean, the aggressive bass playing and thin overlay of sitar helps, but can't really disguise the wimpy nature of these tunes. Frankly, it really annoys me when something like Sunshine Superman is held up as a great sixties album, especially by an old fart like me. How on earth is anyone without an AARP card going to take us seriously if we champion garbage like this?
Sounds like something out of Austin Powers
Maybe when it was new it was more impressive, but the whole thing blurs into a generic mess for me.
While there were some enjoyable songs and sections, I definitely enjoy the more established psychedelia that came about from 67 onwards.
Meh
Groovy baby.
Meh.
I can smell this album from 50 years in the future
Eh. It's just alright.
Don't know that I'd go out of my way to listen to this super 60's-feeling album unless I was in the mood for that specific genre
- like im at children recital but the child is talented
terrible fome, se supone que fue como influyente dentro de lo que es la música psicodélica pero no sé, no es lo mío y le daría un 1 de no ser porque un tema me gustó harto