Reviews (page 7 of 8)
I think the first song was awesome, and then as the album wore on it didn't have the same feeling
A unique 90s indie rock band like no other, following up on the success of noise rock bands like Dinosaur Jr, cranking up the distortion and lazy vibes yet still being insanely catchy and groovy. Malkmus has one of the most distinct and versatile vocals and isn't afraid to show his talents in this record, from loud screaming to the softest most sincere speech. It's a hugely experimental album. You have your pop hits dispersed throughout, like "Summer Babe", "Zurich is Stained", and "Here", but most of the tracks are just wild ideas of what you could do with the noise pop genre, and yet it all works. I admit it may take some time to get used to it due to how abrasive it is. I've listened to this album countless times over the past two years. It's wild and fun and at no point did I feel bored. It has an entrancing, fitting intro and outro to pull in audiences and leave them satisfied. The songs are coherent, with reoccurring motifs such as the variation on the formula between "Fame Throwa" and "Jackals." This album is clearly not for everyone. It's a hard sound to get used to, but I'm glad I acquired it. I remember playing this album on a 4-hour ride back home, and the driver had to wake me up to change it cause it was too atonal and distracting him. If you like this, check out the rest of their discography. Often I listen to an album and think of it as the best of what the artist has to offer. But in this case, it's a sign of things to come.
🤙
I wanted to like this more. Just not as good as some contemporaries. (Manic StrPreachers, Pulp). Just ok indie rock
OK
Sludgy and disquieting. An interesting debut.
Part Pixies, Sonic Youth, and the Fall, and somehow much less than the sum of its parts. Imagine being in the studio thinking “sure those vocals sound awful - let’s keep them”. The three aforementioned bands are among my favorite, so I’m no stranger to riotous noise. But I’ve always felt out of the loop for Pavement.
Good album, miss this style of rock.
Why is there more than one Pavement album on this list? This one is at least better than their other album that I've reviewed, "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain". Favourite songs: Trigger Cut/Wounded Kite at :17, Summer Babe, In the Mouth a Desert, Zurich is Stained Least favourite songs: No Life Singed Her, Conduit For Sale!, Chelsey's Little Wrists, Loretta's Scars, Here, Two States, Fame Throwa, "Jackals, False Grails: The Lonesome Era" 3/5
I wanted to love this: from what I've listened to Pavement are a good band. They have a somewhat distinct sound which I somewhat enjoy, liken it in my mind to a rocky almost grungy sound. Tbh that's just pure indie rock for you but it's still good. I wouldn't say I was blown away by what I heard but the strength in sound was enjoyable.
3.5. Might be higher. Might be lower. This one I need to listen to again. I was a huge fan of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, so this should be a slam dunk for me. But wasn't. Of course, I was listening to that album around when it came out, and maybe just the slacker 90s ethics spoke directly to me at the time. Everything kind of tossed off, sloppy, cool for its lack of care. I'm a different person now though. Anyway, this album is D\deliberately offkilter, imprecise tunings. Non genred songs. Two chord strummers where, due to the odd tuning, the guitar player has no idea what two chords they are. There are hints of shoegaze in a couple of songs, but this feels mostly original. This album does not feel overburdened by its own ambition. Effortless singing and playing in not the traditional sense of "effortless". So yes, I think I like it, in an opposite-of-dream-theater kind of way. But maybe I will like it more on repeated listens. I seem to remember that I had this album, but it never grabbed me. I feel like its reputation is that of the best Pavement album. Not to me. Not yet
They picked a great name for this band. Because this album does feel like hitting a rock on your skateboard and skidding your legs, arms, and face on the pavement of a parking lot. And I mean that in a good way. It's raw, unadulterated. and simple fun. It sounds rough around the edges and has a very lo-fi feel, as if it were recorded in Stephens mom's garage. This album doesn't feel like it's meant to be played on a good pair of headphones, but blasted on a speaker during a backyard cookout. There is a very bright and upbeat feeling to every song. The recording is loose and playful, but not to a point where it feels like the musicians don't know what they are doing. My issue with this album is that these things are all great, but as a debut, this album doesn't really do anything super groundbreaking. This isn't really a record with that kind of goal though. Maybe it's an issue with me, but half this album's track list is rather average. Nothing starts to hit until "Loretta's Scars", and aside from "Here", everything after that song is really great. But the first seven songs don't do anything particularly special to make me remember them. This album is just very backloaded, which is okay, but it means the album is only half as good as it could be. The text on this album's cover looks as if it were carved into the side of a tree. And I think that imagery is perfect for Pavement's debut.
Pretty good album. I was pleasantly surprised. A great listen from start to finish.
Indie rock.
Good 90s alternative that sounds very influential.
Confused
As someone who listens primarily to post-hardcore/emo - this album definitely sounds like early influence.
4 stars
I got so bored listening to this, nothing really grabs me and as soon as it ended I pretty much forgot everything about it. I am shocked at how revered it is for something so bland. Its a 2 because its not Serge
Very nice and perfect background music, has some passionate songs but never too over the top. Helping me focus for physics!
I love pavement. This stuff excites me, it's raw, creative, fun, doesn't take itself seriously, but has some seriously good vibes. Sure, they're not expert musicians but that's part of the appeal. bands often get boring the more they perfect their craft, I find joy on these young imperfect bands who reach and miss for something, but create something fresh in the process. 4.5
Some of the guitar riffs were awesome. I liked the beat/tempo of most of the songs. The vocals and lyrics weren't noteworthy in any way.
don't how electric guitar heavy this is, which makes it sound too noisy. not my preferred style but they did have some good riffs
It’s ok
Above average. 3/5
2.5
The good parts are really good, the bad parts are a mess. There are quite a few good parts, but also quite a few bad parts. I like it, but I can imagine it's not for everyone. I like it a lot better than Malkmus' other SIlver Jews that I reviewed before. Favorite song: Conduit for sale.
Wow. Why exactly was this popular? Abrasive yet uninteresting. The lyrics are edgy nonsense too.
I really like indie rock and noisy music, so I don't know why I can't take Pavement. They sound like a headache to me, which is weird because I can listen to stuff like Sonic Youth, Lightning Bolt or even Einstürzende Neubauten no problem.
i don't like pavement. only giving two stars bc the instrumentation is good. vocal style is not my thing at all, and the lyrics are just bullshit. maybe after listening to hundreds of more albums on this list i'll find something to appreciate in the whiny slacker-rock genre
A glorious mess of an album that always satisfies. Each new listen reveals new charms. However it ain't Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain nor Brighten The Corners so I can't give it 5. 4.5 stars
Really solid
Not a bad rock album
I was dimly aware of Pavement, somewhere between an American version of The Fall and The Velvet Underground. Some of the songs here could have been on a Fall album without seeming out of place at all, which is a good thing in my personal opinion. As the album progressed I heard echoes of The Pixies, even a little shoegaze here and there. Really enjoyed this.
Compared to the other Pavement album in the list, I enjoyed this immensely. Great stuff.
I liked this album more than I expected to, but comparisons to The Fall are way off me. The Fall were far better.
Didn't need to listen, as these songs are pretty much imprinted on my soul. Such an amazing album by one of my all time favorite bands. 5/5
4.5
Oh dear. It's emo rock.
I honestly did not like how this sounded
i can see why ppl like this but nothing really stuck out here
Pavement's Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain was one of my first 25 albums on this list, and at the time, I gave it two stars. I eventually went back and listened to it again, because I couldn't remember why I didn't like it that much, and over the past few months, I've listened to it probably a half a dozen times, and it's really grown on me, so I was really happy to get Slanted And Enchanted today. I really enjoyed Slanted and Enchanted, mostly for the same reasons that Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain has managed to grow on me: great guitar parts and Stephen Malkmus's vocals. Pavement's lyrics are a little too abstract for my liking, but their overall sound more than makes up for that. I wish I had something more enlightening to say about why I enjoyed this album, but the fact is that I just enjoy listening to Pavement.
Teases, but ultimately fails to deliver.
The bored vocals sort of remind of Cake but I actually like the way it plays here where I find Cake really hard to get through outside their biggest tracks. The unpolished and messy sound makes it feel like a high end garage band, which I say as a plus.
Enjoyed the first listen through, but the second and third weren't as captiving. Really though it would go the other way. Bit lo-fi, bit pixie-ish, other bands in there also. Might revisit if I'm ever in the right mood for more lo-fi
Liked the instruments in some but not the voice in any, sounded out of tune. Here was ok.
Love Pavement me. The band that influenced every decent indie band since the 90s. Their later stuff is more ‘polished’ but they absolutely nail the balance between that noise / scuzzy / slacker sound and belting tunes on this record. This is one of them perfect records for me where if a total newcomer said ‘what is indie rock?’ then I’d direct them to this. If I were putting together a supergroup, Stephen Malkmus would probably front the band. Legend.
Aware of pavement as a very influential band on all the stuff I like but never really listened to them. This was alright, reminded me of sonic youth, pixies and other low fi indie bands where I feel theres a really good band there but for whatever reason it doesn't grab me. Think it's probably just a little too thrown together, the more polished stuff might be more up my street.
I found this really boring and bland. Totally forgettable.
Listening to this album made me think I could have been a singer because the guy on this album is dreadful. It made listening to the whole album very difficult. There are some decent songs on here but the singers voice was too grating for me. Highlights: Summer Babe Trigger Cut
Sounds really familiar, but don't think I've heard them before.... Some of it is very similar to Sonic youth, but then there's dinosaur junior in there too. Enjoyed it. Some tracks more than others. Highlights are: No life singed her In the mouth a desert Zurich is stained Here Not as good as Sonic youth or dinosaur junior, but I did enjoy the sound. 3.5 but feeling generous
So, for starters, this is a band that could never have existed without the Velvet Underground. I'll also compare it to Wilco, but with vocals that aren't as tuneful, and tunes that aren't as well written. This isn't bad, in fact, I love both of those bands, but it does feel a bit derivative listening to it now in 2023.
Its ok 3/5
It had its moments of potential but they were too few and too buried amongst just noise that annoyed me.
Yea not bad
Cool to listen to a Pavement album, I've wanted to for a minute. The overall vibe was nice, some of the lyrics were cool, few standouts though. BT - Trigger Cut - Loretta's Scars - Here - Perfume V
HL: "In the Mouth a Desert", "Here", "Zurich is Stained", "Loretta's Scars" The best songs outweigh the worst ones (I counted 3 tracks I actively disliked) It's amiable enough that I understand why others love it, but the super-dry (like an overboiled egg) guitar sound isn't my favourite thing in the world. Idk- it might grow on me too, too early to say. 2.75/5, aka 3 stars July 5, 2023
wow, i just got a flashback to how dreary these were the first time around 😂
'Here' was my favourite track, solid album
Då har eg hørt da og
A lanky American Fall
Sorry Leonard….. ja feela int de tillräckligt!! Banger dock!!
Banger album, even though after half a dozen listen I still can barely recall some of the songs. No offense!
Älskar denna skiva... jag älskar låtarna, stämningen, hur de spelar, hur härligt slarvigt allt är, alla lyrics som fastnar i huvudet som maskar...
5/10
Could not stay focused
It's good. Nothing different, really. NIce sound.
A lo-fi, college production that seems earnest and original. There's a number of songs that really carry well, Trigger Cut, Here, and Two States. Unfortunately, there's a pretty good portion that is more experimental or odd and makes me want to push through it quicker. Definitely an interesting listen.
I'm glad it was only 39 minutes of junk
Not terrible but not amazing either
Unimpressed and hard to remember anything
I don't get it.
Christgau says this is the best band of the decade. Um no.
PREFS : Summer Babe (Winter Version), Trigger Cut/Wounded Kite at :17, No Life Singed Her, In the Mouth a Desert, Conduit For Sale!, Zurich is Stained, Loretta's Scars, Here, Two States, Perfume-V, Fame Throwa, Jackals, False Grails: The Lonesome Era MOINS PREF : Chesley's Little Wrists
The Zurich song was alright
This was fine. Nothing stood out to me.
I've heard of Pavement and was expecting something more industrial. Again this reminded me some mid-90's grunge-like pop (Weezer) or even a bit of Joy Division.
Too discordant for me
nä det här var väl inget vidare
Pavement still aren’t completely clicking for me, as much as they seem to tick a lot of the right boxes. That said, I got more out of this than Crooked Rain x2. In The Mouth A Desert really hit the spot, and so did a couple of others. I would listen to this one again. It’s decent enough after two plays through but I reckon it has more to reveal. 3 / 3.5
the singer from Cake sings some tongue-in-cheek irreverence, ft. jumbled, fuzzy, atonal, and out of tune indie rock. It's just a bit too grating for me. 2/5
Indie rock. Ni fu ni fa.
It has taken me a bit more than 30 years to realise what a great album this is. Not as experimental as Wowee and not as brilliant as Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, but definitely following shortly after those two.
Very first song, Summer Babe, was very good and I was excited to get introduced to a new artist for the gym tonight. Not so. After a great start, I thought the album become pretty generic. There was nothing terrible about this album, but after Summer Babe, I didn't find anything that clicked with me. I liked the song Here, but really after that, I can't say anything got me excited to dive into these guys further. I did find the repetition of I'm trying, in Conduit for Sale, pretty annoying. Especially when started yelling it.....There's only one song with a continuous repetition of the same line that is any good, that I can think of off the top off my head and that is But, Honestly. Great song. Maybe my personal favorite from the Foo. BTW, they released another new song today (5/25/23). Looking forward to the new album due out on June 2nd. Anyway, best way to describe this album is decent, but unremarkable. Not sure I would revisit or check out other stuff unless brought to my attention. a 2.5 for me, but will score a 2 because i don't know if he was trying or not. Get it? Conduit for Sale song. Forget about it..... 2 2.5
There's a DIY aspect to this album that I hate. This would be a pretty solid album if they just tightened the screws a bit. I have a feeling that the DIYness is the allure to it. I can see hipsters are telling their weird friends: "these guys sound kinda bad! You'll love it". There are some pretty okay songs but I really think these guys can do better. 3
3.5 I know these guys are indie rock legends, but before this I only knew them for Cut Your Hair (which was on the Jackass Number Two soundtrack for some reason). While that song’s not on this album, a lot of enjoyable stuff is - there’s something about frontman Stephen Malkmus’ style of half-singing/half-talking I dig and feel gives a distinct sound to the group. So, as someone who generally enjoys classic alternative rock and unique vocals, I thought this was going to become a quick new favorite of mine, but ultimately I found it to be more good than it is great. I started noticing a little bit more nuance in the songwriting when I gave a second listen, with Conduit for Sale! jumping out as punk-esque favorite and Here jumping out as a mellow favorite, but still, even after a further third listening, I don’t feel like I have much else to say. A lot of this runs together, and while nothing is unenjoyable or boring, there’s not a ton that’s remarkable either. I have nothing bad to say though, so I would say this is a strong 3.5. It’s sad that these were one of those groups whose critical acclaim never quite translated into commercial success, but I’m pretty sure they had a song go viral on TikTok a couple years back, so they have that going for them. Also, this album totally had random moments where the music totally cut out, right? I’m not going crazy? Right?
3.6 - I don’t catch the same buzz off this slacker rock. At best, I think they do a good job of tempering some of the indie rock motifs of their time. There’s a little noisy fuzz guitar reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine on “Loretta’s Scars”, jagged guitar soundscapes like Sonic Youth, and drily delivered poetry similar to Silver Jews. Unfortunately the sum doesn’t nearly live up to the parts.
Kinda jangly and whiney and annoying at times. But decent at other times. IDK what to think of Pavement. I don't hate them but I definitely don't like them. They're like a 2.5 but I'll give them the 3 here.
Cracking album, really nice raw 90s indie sound to it
Debuutalbum van de Amerikaanse indierockband Pavement. Album wordt gezien als een mijlpaal binnen het indie genre. Tracklist bestaat uit korte maar krachtige nummers die aardig klinken; verder niet bijzonder noemenswaardig. leukste nummer: Here De titel "Slanted and Enchanted" is van een cartoon van Silver Jews (dat bestond uit o.a. Pavement leden) frontman David Berman. De cover art zelf is een aangepaste versie van het album "Keyboard Kapers".
Meh.
meh
Would you like to know how the 90s sound? This is it.
Zurich is Stained is the best song. What diaper music. A 8 year old could make better sounds.
they stopped trying halfway through. in the mouth a desert was good.
The whole album sounds like it was recorded with an Elmo microphone.
I’m generally favourable towards Malkmus and friends but this album is a bit mediocrely poor.
Not Pavement’s strongest, but still holds a special place in my heart. And you know what? I get to rate things my way!
Well, this was a bit of a disappointment after Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. None of the great melodies, and although influential, Pavement's debut clearly sounds like a band trying to find themselves.
How the hell did Pavement go directly from this to Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain? I actually had to go back and listen the other album, just to be sure I wasn’t temporarily deaf when handing it a 4/5 when it showed up on this list earlier. I wasn’t though. Slanted And Enchanted just isn’t good.
Pavement is a band that I’ve discovered through this list and has also grown on me a fair bit. I never thought much of the first albums I got of theirs but now I can at the very least appreciate them. This album wasn’t as good as the one with stop breathing on it but it was still alright. High high 3
Pavement is great. But this isn’t my favorite Pavement album.
Seems like an important album for the genre, but it's a bit to 'lazy' for me (not meant in a derogatory way). Probably won't really listen to it again.
Music is good. Vocals are a little whiny and all over the place.
I’m trying, I’m trying, I’m trying, I’m trying to like this album
Pretty good!!
Not for me too annoying
Sorry I tried just not getting into Pavement
Such a fun album. I have such fond memories of first hearing Trigger Cut and excitedly waiting for them to first tour Australia. I missed out on tickets at first but the venue they were originally didn't get it's licence. So I ended up seeing the play 3 of the 4 nights they played Sydney. At the final show Gary Young their original drummer greeted everyone as they entered. Those nights were a confluence of love, lust, laughter and broken hearts with a healthy dose of me being a jerk. This album resonates with me because it is the perfect song track of those ne'er-do-well days
Great album that still sounds fresh today.
Oh, I do love Pavement. The kind of sloppy sound and indecipherable lyrics are sneakily also tuneful and brilliant. I never tire of this record.
I really like Pavement. This album isn't as quirky or as smoothed out as some of there other albums. I enjoy raw and slightly more punk sound.
Such a great album. This is one that I revist often and will continue to do so. Noisy, lo-fi, punk-ish, and great.
Made in 1992 and sounds like 1992 - the kind of music someone who wishes they were in a band would like. Good drummer. Alternative indie cool boy music .... I am sure the smart lyrics would make a guy smile. But you missed your window with me and there is nothing that speaks to me... I was probably into Cake. But this feels garage noisy distortion. No joy or melody for me.... Music for a Sydney SoCal 90's Kegger?
Life's too short. A weird hybrid of Jesus and the Mary Chain and The Cure. Seriously, out of all of the gazzilions of pop records released since the 1940's, I needed to listen to this before I cark it?
Woeful, just woeful. Apparently a couple of well known critics thought they were the best band of the 1990s. WTF??? I had to skip through most of these tracks, they were so bad.
Look, I know that Pavement are regarded as important & influential & all that other stuff. But they’re not a band I’ve ever listened to. I just gave this album a couple of listens & quite enjoyed it, but the first thing I noticed was that Malkmus’s voice reminded me of John McCrea, the lead singer of Cake. Now there are a few big differences between these 2 bands - one is that Cake are not at all regarded as important or influential. The other is that Cake had Number 1 singles & platinum albums, which Pavement were never going to do. So does it make me a bad person that I’d rather listen to Cake? Gee, I don’t know. I know that they were one of the few bands that my 10-year-old son & I were able to bond over at the time that Fashion Nugget was all over the radio & just before he was infected with the hip-hop virus. Anyway, I still enjoyed this Pavement album. Summer Babe’s a great opener. I love the dialogue in the background of Conduit For Sale! And I really enjoyed it when they got rocky in Two States. Three stars.
I really wanted to like this. I always _wanted_ to like Pavement. But I just don't hear the tunes. I liked Cut Your Hair (bought the 7"), but everything else I've ever heard from them leaves me kinda 'meh'. I know many fans and critics really dug them, like they were the second coming of whatever, but I never heard it. They sounded like a 1000 shitty bands (and I mean that in a good way. I like a shitty band) that played at the Sandringham Hotel in the late 80s/early 90s. I just didn't get excited by them as much as the hype would lead me to expect. Maybe you needed to see them live? I am grateful for the impetus to listen to this album all the way through (and I listened to it twice), but I cannot for the life of me remember a single thing I heard.
Vraiment sauvé par "Here"
fashion faux pas
eh not really my thing
Not very "musical" in my opinion. Definitely different, which they get a plus for, but not that enjoyable to me personally.
Not for me
22nd March 2023 Listened on the drive to the office. Showcase at the cinema then drive back for Rita dress. If the velvet underground and the strokes had a live child it would be these guys. 3.5 if I could.
This band sounds like working at Revs
Not perfect, but solidly enjoyable. Best tracks: In the Mouth A Desert, Conduit For Sale, Zürich is Stained, Flame Throwa, and Our Singer.
Not very good at all very emo and bad. Also can’t even hear any lyrics over the instrumental. Not as bad as shitty nehna cherry or whatever her dumb shit name is
This one definitely kept my attention the entire time. It was raw, dirty, and downright gritty in places and I really liked it. Do I think there was some filler? Yes. Do i think some songs could’ve been fleshed out a bit better? Also yes, but it was fun overall and definitely deserves a spin.
Pavement provides an excellent alternative to grunge in the early 90s rock scene with their unique sound.
Struggled with this one, very loud to me. Hard to get into.
Standouts: Summer Babe Others: In the Mouth of a Desert, Here, Two States, Our Singer Rating:
14 songs in 40 minutes, short, sharp, not sweet. Fave track Summer Babe (Winter Version).
Hmmmm, this has a lot of what I like about Pavement, but it's still no "Wowee Zowee". Benefits from a nostalgia bump as Pavement were one of the first indie rock bands I properly got in to, and I do enjoy Malkmus' schtick. Fave track - "Summer Babe (Winter Version)" is excellent.
It kind of reminded me of Weezer, but with a worse lead singer - he sang-talked too many songs. If all the songs were like "Here" I probably would have rated this album higher
I wasn't familiar with Pavement until long after their time had passed, but in retrospect they were probably one of my favorite bands' favorite bands. This album is insanely good, and has held up really well over time.
Okay I liked this a lot and wish I had gotten into them more earlier
Such a game changer for alternative rock. Angular and dissonant yet catchy as hell. It’s a formula that in my opinion they didn’t perfect until Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, but the raucous energy of this debut is pretty special. There are also some incredibly tender moments, with Here being an obvious highlight and contrasting with the chaos of Conduit for Sale! and Fame Throwa
Très belle production, son très typique indie rock qui était clairement parmi les précurseurs de ce son. Mais manque un petit quelque chose côté composition pour vraiment m'accrocher.
Early 90’s nostalgic
Background music for a grainy video of a 13 year old in Etnies doing 8 shuv it variations
Great rough punk rock album!
I know alit of folks hold Pavement in high regard. There’s some witty lyrics, but I can’t appreciate the music or singing behind it. Pavement continues to elude me.
Literally any other Stephen Malkmus album is better than this one. He’s one of my all time faves, but this is trash
Such raw sound! I feel the emotion. Cool aesthetic for sure. Only Trigger Cut really stood out, but still very pleasant. Four Stars
OK
Was expecting to like this, but found it quite irritating...could just be my mood. Though some music has the ability to pull me out of a funk, this drove me deeper.
2.5 stars. Grungy and shoegazey, the singer's monotone made it tougher for me to get into. Standout is "Summer Babe"
Your jokes are always bad
Nice. Sounds like a slick version of Sonic Youth.
Not great, not terrible. Maybe they should have found an actual vocalist. Best track: Here
Like the instruments not really the vocals. Don’t think this is really my genre but i respect it.
This is good. I'll bet it was super new-sounding in 1992. Now I've heard a lot like it, but in 1992, there's probably nothing like this. 4/5
For whatever reason, back in the day I disregarded Pavement as the kind of indie rock I had no use for. After spinning this album a few times, I don’t understand why, it’s great! Maybe their later stuff is a little more tame? Will discover soon. B+
not for me
amazing album
a weak 3, forgettable
I'd rather grind my teeth on pavement than listen to Pavement. This guy can't sing.
Bah
Fits right in with Sonic Youth, Cracker, early Pixies, and Television. Even a bit of Primus (sans bass). Malkus’ voice works with the low fi production.
2/5 Ugh. That was unpleasant. It made me feel uncomfortable and anxious. So dissonant and off-key. At first, I thought it was going to be like The Presidents of the United States, but it quickly got worse. Do Not Recommend.
Urgh. This was painful. The music was poor to average and the singing was awful. Not a fan. And initially I had high hopes...
It was fine.
Spent a lot of time with this record in my teens. It hasn’t aged very well to my ears. 2.49
Slacker rock always slaps
It was good. I know people who are big fans but not really me.
quite the same song all the album long. And a little bit boring
Nice listen, very 90s, 3.5
3.5 Apathetic indie vocals over either jangly guitars or "Jesus and Mary Chain" style fuzzed-out pop. Not bad overall.
Pretty grungy. Would listen to a different album of theirs
Melvins, Car Seat Headrest, Yo La Tengo, The Shins are just some of the slacker-rock/stoner-rock bands that deserve a spot on the list over this shitty band, with their allergic to melody singer. Instead Pavement gets TWO FUCKING albums? Another lazy entry from the editors.
Don't let the revisionist reviews fool you, this is the essential pavement album and that has nothing to do with its relative quality to Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain or Wowee Zowee, they are pretty damn close. It's just that Slanted and Enchanted is everything indie in the 90s promised to be, and Stephen Malkmus is its prophet.
Superb. L
Was not impressed by the lyrics and felt too screamo for me. Then it felt too slow as well
Not so much for me
Cool for the genre
A bit crazy, a bit unhinged at times, but not to the point of being unlistenable by any means, at least in my opinion. Very raw and kinda punk-ish, and honestly I like it. Nothing too memorable to me but yeah, just a good album. Favourite: Here
Zürich is stained is interesting just for the title alone. Other than that the singing is drowned out and that's quite annoying, it's your typical 90s indie rock. I get it, the boys are sad and disillusioned. I keep just hearing Daisy and the Scout's "Sad Boys": You stand in the middle of the avenue just waiting; I can’t be the one to always push you back to pavement. Production 1/5 Fun 0.5/5 Nostalgia 2/5 Musicality 2/5 Singing 2/5
My fave Pavement
I was a die-hard Pavement fan back in the day - they sounded so different, so fresh, and really launched the whole lo-fi indie rock sound of the 90s and early oughts. Their fuzzy guitar and clever vocals strongly influenced my music taste for two decades or more. This holds up pretty well on relistening, although Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is the better album in terms of cohesive sound and lack of filler. This earlier effort is less polished, but that's a good thing in this genre. I don't love every song, but it's full of good songs.
Just bad - songs aren't great and singing may be worse. 4/10.
90s indie lo-fi classic, Here is one of the best songs ever written.
AMAZING album!
I skipped over this band as a kid, nothing they played ever caught my attention. I loved Sonic Youth, Pixies, and Dinosaur Jr. but something about Pavement didn't blow my hair back. This album didn't change that fact.
This wasnt great. But it wasnt horrible.
Before seeing them live I would have given this a 2. But having the pleasure of seeing them recently, I get it. Such a good band.
This shit was straight ass and if I could give it less than one I would I got some feelings toward pavement. Those feelings are their shit is ass
Sounds like generic indie rock and therefore of limited interest to me
This was definitely an album of highs and lows, but overall I thought it was pretty great. The production was a bit rubbish, but the performances were brilliant. Didn't like the vocals much just a bit too nasal but the lyrics were great. Sort of an album of contradictions but I think that's part of the joy. A great record.
This album was decent. I wasn’t a big fan of a few songs, which is what is keeping this from being five stars, but the rest is really good. I especially enjoy the lyrics, they didn’t seem to be as rhythmic as most lyrics are, and I like that!
Too 90s for me.
I’m sure someone likes this. The style and mood are something I should like, but there are no songs.
I remember when these guys first came around the UK press called them an American Fall which annoyed M E Smith and S Malkmus. They are pleasingly different. Uneven chaotic songs with curious lyrics. A lot of it works but it will repel those that need more polish in their production. Perhaps not as good as the tighter follow up but it knows a tune. It is however too erratic at times
college rock
I felt that there was some kind of inside joke to this band that I was not in on. I mean, I had heard "Stereo" a few times, which made me think they didn't take themselves too seriously. I just don't what to make of this. It reminds me of NIrvana, but at the same time with someone who had a bit more refined vocals. I want to say the music seems more varied, but by doing so it lost its focus. It became like it was all over the place and I didn't get the point (or was it that I didn't get the joke?). There weren't really any songs with hummable melodies, which would make it tough to go to one of their concerts, I would think. Not really a lot of singalong moments. So yeah, a bit of a head-scratcher for me. Maybe I need to listen to it again. At least it's under 40 minutes, so it's not plausible to do a relisten. Maybe.
It's just too much sound and distortion to handle. I feel it's always the same for me with bands like Pavement (e.g., Fugazi, At the Drive-In). I hear one song on its own and think oh that's cool. And then I go to listen to more of their work and it just piles on, very much the same, and feels a little bland. They do some unique experimentation and respect for that. But it felt like a slog to get through the album. And unlike when I hear one song of theirs out of the blue, after listening to the whole album I don't want to go searching for more.
I’m trying, I’m trying, I’m trying, I’m trying, I’m trying, I’m trying, I’m trying, I’m trying, I’m trying, to get into this album. I want to say that the album had its moments but even on the second listen I just couldn’t connect with the album at all. The guy’s voice sounded like a bad impression of Lou Reed on the track “Here” until he started taking it up an octave. That didn’t help much though. I’m sure there’s a type of indie music lover whose favorite album I just insulted and I’m sorry for that so feel free to insult my favorite Rush album to feel better.
Very very nice record with a lot of interesting tracks. Probably one of the most important albums of the early 90s.
This holds up great.
I used to like Pavement a lot more. Maybe I just don't care for this album as much as I thought?
Reiner Punkrock ist wirklich nicht meins.
It starts off great then it gets unlikable and wired 3/5.
legalzinho mas umas atordoantes
It remains interesting all the way through without ever getting memorable
Sounds like a bunch of people who knew nothing about music were forced to make an album together. Not completely hot garbage, but pretty damn close. 2/5
no lo terminé tampoco, irresponsable
Brilliant, but not quite as good as their follow up (which I had yesterday!). Still solidly 5 🌟 though - and a new favourite band for me after 2 albums in 2 days
It’s ass
Indierock med lidt mere kant, ikke min stil
This was a standard grunge album of the early 90’s. Nothing outstanding but nothing bad either
Not for me thanks
So of it's time...could be a handful of other bands from the early 90s, all much of a muchness but all really good too. Very much my era and area
Some guy on tiktok said this was one of the top 5 albums of the 90s... Very very incorrect
If you looked up "90s Alternative" in the dictionary, this should come up. And if the Wikipedia Page for literally "Alternative Rock" counts, it does! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_rock
One of my favorites. Found it in college and have listened to the album regularly since. Always makes me want to start a band
I fucking love this album, and I loved it from the first time that I listened to it. It's the first album I think of when someone uses the term "Indie rock." It's lofi, but somehow that makes it work better. The low production quality never gets in the way of the music, but it lets the ingenuity and songwriting craft of the band shine through. I'd recommend listening to the extended version of this album (Luxe and Reduxe). 1992 was a seminal year in rock, and this album is easily one of the top 5 albums of that year 5/5
Indie rock. Ni fu ni fa.
Bah.
Ik herken precies een vleugje Pixies. Al zij het met een andere toonaard van zang. Geen slecht album
sonic youth + smashing pumpkins + garage
The sound kind of reminded me of Lou Reed. But not as good
J'adore le côté grunge et bordélique de Pavement ! C'est pas mon album préfèré d'eux mais il reste très bien. 4,5/5
Great and disjointed
Summer Babe - Winter Version- 2/10 Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite At :17- 1/10 No Life Singed Her- 1/10 In The Mouth A Desert- 2/10 Conduit For Sale!- 1/10 Zurich Is Stained- 6/10 Chesley's Little Wrists- 3/10 Loretta's Scars- 2/10 Here- 4/10 Two States- 1/10 Perfume-V- 1/10 Fame Throwa- 1/10 Jackals, False Grails: The Lonesome Era- 2/10 Our Singer- 1/10
first listen very fun
Not bad not bad
A lot going on here, almost to the point that it’s overwhelming
I have never heard of this band before. While I can see some potential and the early formation of the early 90s sound, I am not a fan of this album much at all.
Alternates between meh and slightly unpleasant. Didn't find anything enjoyable here. Are there any "hits" from this? Nothing sounded familiar. Or like anything I'd ever want to hear again.
90s and grungy so yea
Not my thing at all
Do not recall, still waiting, feeling a little nerves. Overall positive
Hade sina stunder, helt klart.
not our fave, here wasn’t terrible…
Nope. Not for me. This is neither one thing or the other (and not in a good way). It tries to ROCK but fails on account of being too wet and winey. It's too distorted and fuzzy to be a pleasant indie listen. It doesn't seem innovative or creative. I also hate the vocal. I genuinely can't see the point of this or any circumstance where someone would want to listen to this over a much better alternative. It annoyed me. Rating: 1.5/5 Playlist track: Here Date listened: 18/08/22
J'ai écouté l'album en deux partie. Première partie un peu punk/rock assez déjanté. Deuxième partie, vers la fin, ca derape complètement. Ce n'est pas quelque chose que je déteste, au contraire. 3.20
7/10. Liked it, didn't love it.
Good ol slacker stoner core. 7/10
Has ever an album title better captured its contents? “Summer Girl” and “Zurich” are very good, "Here" about as earnest and tender as SM can do, and the discordant and spicy "Loretta’s Scars” nearly sublime (in right listening environment). The tossed-off vibe is here both a weakness and strength (as it would be for what followed). Far too much ("No Life," "Conduit," Chelsey's") seems no better than throwaway half-jokes, even by loose slacker standards. I suspect they never thought this would take off the way it did and were thus conflicted (mainly about how seriously to take themselves and their audience) for the rest of their career. Do they think they should have tried harder here? One wonders, as one does also about what might have been. Should they have leaned darker and become more like a US version of the Fall or a softer-edged Fugazi? Or, stuck to the silliness ala Camper Van Beethoven or the Dead Milkmen? Might Pavement best be viewed as the precise midpoint between such clusters? And who’s more effective in the end – Pavement or Silver Jews? (One prefers the latter.)
This has a lot of that rough Sonic Youth energy to it, but for whatever reason is much more compelling to me. I still don't love the occasional wailing vocals though.
Enjoyable. Somewhat up my alley
The vocals sounded like a high school garage band.
I like Pavement, but I feel like this is a weaker album compared to Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, which tends to have all the major bangers (and which Google autoplayed for me after this was done, really driving home the contrast). I'd say this is a true 3.5, but I'll round up cause I like the band in general.
Didn't really like it at first, but it grew on me as I listened. Quite enjoyable.
Best Song: No Life Singed Her. On the border of punk, provides some much needed energy to the album. Worst Song: In The Mouth A Desert. Sounds like a high school band whose members listen exclusively to Weezer. Overall: I have to assume that this was influential for later and greater bands, because nothing here seems particularly interesting to me. Just that plain, droning noisiness that takes few risks and accomplishes little. Songs to be angsty in the 90s to.
It’s an album
4.5
Ooooo I created logo-indie for the masses oooooo
in theory, this is a lot of what i like. i.. just don't like it. any of it. gonna have to disagree with sh; this is not a "perfect record"
Love the vibe. This is a good album. A band I have listened to here and there over the years and always enjoyed, somehow never got super into them but glad I get to keep rediscovering them
never heard this before. pretty classic punk sound - out of tune guitars and singer that is laid back and can't really sing or hold a note. i like it, but it isn't a GREAT album.
Meh.
Was good, not too spectacular
I don't know, man. I mean, it's alright. I enjoyed a lot of it. It was super out in left field for an album released in '92 and that's pretty cool, I guess. But it's really noisy, isn't it? And not always in that, "we're punk and can't be bothered to worry about tone so just suck it up and deal, you wankers" kind of way. It's often noisy in a, "I have no idea how to guitar" kind of way. And that's frustrating after a while. It's not BAD bad like many albums on this list. It's not so bad that I'm constantly reminded that I'm listening to it because I have to. It's just annoying enough that I forgot that there was a reason I was listening to it and found myself reaching for the controls to listen to something else before remembering that I needed to finish the album.
Look at the album cover. That is how this album sounds. A mess of sounds that make for unenjoyable listening.
I dug this. Some great tunes and authentic performances. The singing and playing is not flawless by any stretch, and that’s the charm of it.
Not my style, grunge.
Liked it.
Nothing so much different from ordinary independent 90's rock with the addition of a little bit more screaming. Probably it was kind of revolutionary for 1992. Nothing so bad, but not memorable!
Rock sucio, un poco de grunge, no me ha disgustado. Es un estilo con el que me siento identificado. Algún tema, a otra velocidad
The kings of all slackers make their debut appearance. Songs rattle and nearly fall apart but somehow they manage to keep going. Not their best album, but a fucking great start. Best Tracks: Summer Babe (Winter Version); In The Mouth a Desert; Here*
mmm, molto emo/ragazzo indie
So my last album was EVOL by Sonic Youth, and now I've got Pavement, a band that I largely consider to just be an inferior, rural version of Sonic Youth. They're less tuneful, the production is worse, and the Velvet Underground pedigree is just that much more watered down. Pavement exist in a shaky grey area where they aren't heavy enough or poppy enough to appeal to to me one way or the other. It's all just a sloppy grey mess with no dynamics. I have no idea why this band is so highly regarded, nothing stands out to me.
decent alt rock punk rock album
Question: What do you get when the singer for the Violent Femmes tries to sound like Beck but instead ends up doing a piss-poor job of sounding like Lou Reed instead? Answer: This crap.
Indie rock when indie rock was good. All of the comparisons to current bands gets lost on the fact that this style of music was relatively unheard of, with the exception of Pixies, which is blown away by Pavement. 3.5/5.
It is indie rock. The album is just there as none of the music really moved the dial, but that's indie rock. It has a little bit of a grunge feeling to it too but that adds up given the 1992 release. I have no desire to listen to the album again.
A bit raw and unpolished for my taste. See where it could have a draw for many, just not for me. D
Alright, seemed like classic 90s rock but with a particularly off singer.
4/20/22
Got through it ok. It was ok
On another list. Awesome record.
Just OK. Sounded like the an average 90's alternative band...nothing special to me.
Nothing stuck
FIVE STARS One of the coolest albums ever made in the long history of rock. Revisiting it today was a pleasure I didn't *fully* expect, since I've probably listened to it a thousand times already. But it's still working, after all these years. At first, the thin lo-fi sound caught me off-guard, after so many glossy, so called "well-produced" records on the list. But quickly, I remembered why I love this record (and this band) so much. It's smart, melodic, rough, lively, cute, wry, funny, sad, bittersweet, nonsensical, dumb and bright all at the same time. "Summer Babe", " In The Mouth A Desert", "Loretta's Scars", and "Here" are instant indie classic. Funny how, now that I know music history a little better, I can spot a few winks towards other legendary rock bands from the past. "Conduit For Sale!" draws on the Velvet's "The Murder Mystery" for instance, as someone rightly stated here in this group. But those influences don't take away Pavement's own very specific talent. Slacker genius at its best here. Harder to pull off than most people think... Number of albums left to review or just listen to: more than 900, I've temporarily lost count here Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: approximately a half so far (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: a quarter Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): the last quarter But who caaaaaaares... even those rejects are somehow redeemed by Pavement's take on "success". In the end, what we all are is being like lame stand-up comedians on the stage of life, both grotesque and sublime. See the legendary opening lines of "here": "I was dressed for success / but success it never comes / And I'm the only one who laughs / at your jokes when they are so bad / And the jokes are always bad / But they're not as bad as this / Come join me in the sun..." and so on... Behind that thin layer of cynicism and the absurd, Pavement are most of all romantics, in the tradition of the Kinks and, once again, The Velvet Underground. So they deserve to be "here" with them.
Wowee Zowee! This is an old favourite. The secret of Pavement is that their slacker sound and appearance clearly takes a lot more hard work. It takes dedication to be this awkward and angular and still sound THIS GOOD. They go on to release even better albums though!
I love me some fuzz but this was largely background noise with some occasional ear pleasing hooks. Bless ‘em
If me and my friends decided to become a novelty band that only wrote and performed songs that were meant to parody the absolute forgettable dreck that is Gen-X music in a mocking and dismissive manner, this is the album that we would write.
Boring droning drivel. Are bad vibrations, going through the air because of rubbish music, the reason for all the shitty things that happen in the world? E.g. every time this album gets played someone gets closer to inventing an even more evil pesticide or invents another stupid product that we don't need. Someone should correlate world events to when albums get released :-(
Shite
Rating: 6/10
Ehhh... liked a couple of songs but this really didn't do anything for me at all.
nahh
Not a fan
Well ... the book says this album sounds "raw". Actually, the sound quality may work as a demo, but not for a finished product. At all. The same is true for the singing, production and song selection. How this made the list is beyond me. 1/5
Great band great album
I really wanted to like this. I always wanted to like Pavement. But I just don't hear the tunes. I liked Cut Your Hair, but everything else leaves me kinda 'meh'. I know many fans and critics really dug them, like they were the second coming of whatever, but I never heard it. They sounded like a 1000 shitty bands (and I mean that in a good way. I like a shitty band) that played at the Sandringham Hotel in the late 80s/early 90s. I just didn't get excited by them. Maybe you needed to see them live? I am grateful for the impetus to listen to this album all the way through (and I listened to it twice), but I cannot for the life of me remember a single thing I heard.
Ok
Liked this a lot more than I remember liking Pavement way back when.
Some interesting songs
good this one.
Hands tied, face down on the pavement, I was clearly in trouble, the game was up. A summer spent in the Cotswolds with the family sounded like the wholesome slice of recuperation I so desperately needed after another long season at Chelsea. We arrived to our hired cottage Wednesday morning, the smell of freshly mowed lawn in the air and a cool summer breeze tickling my brow. My heart was brimming with anticipation and I couldn't wait to get started. Marjorie and the girls headed down to the beach to set up camp for the day. I stayed behind as I said I needed a massive shit and didn't want them to be overpowered with my unbearable stench. Once the coast was clear, I began. I could barely contain my excitement as I unzipped my rucksack. There they were, still in their plastic wrappers. Perfect. Ready. I had always had a fondness for puppets as a child. The older and creepier the puppet, the better as far as I was concerned. I couldn't go to a Punch and Judy show without getting a raging stiffy in my shorts. Over the years my fascination grew more fierce, as did my dick. I found myself at more and more kids' birthday parties, but ultimately the questions and accusations from parents got a bit too much, so I had to force myself to stay away. I wasn't interested in their brats, it was the puppets, but who would believe me? Of course I would have the occasional lapse and find myself wanking in a nearby forest. As I peeled back the wrappers and touched the polished wooden faces for the first time, I knew these puppets were special. I came instantly. By the time I cleaned myself up I knew i had to get to the beach before the family started asking questions, especially my youngest Rhiannon, she was a real cunt like that. In my haste I must have left the front door open as I furiously headed to the beach. A mistake that would come to haunt me. After what felt like an eternity building sandcastles and paragliding, we returned home to find that our cottage had been ransacked. My sweet puppets, they were gone. My heart sank. I was inconsolable at the loss and also at the amount of sand in and around my foreskin. I left the cottage in a rage, determined to find the culprits that had ruined my life. It had been 6 hours searching park's and wastelands looking for clues when finally I saw something in the distance. It was either a dead child or to my horror, a crumpled, decapitated puppet. The knot in my stomach twisted as I approached. My biggest fear was realised. I sank to my knees. The next hour is a complete mystery to me. I must have blacked out, terrorised to my core. I awoke shaking, covered in blood and semen on a slowly rotating roundabout. My trousers were round my ankles and I was wearing no shoes ot jacket. I could hear sirens approaching rapidly. I knew I had done something bad. I ran.
Slanted and Enchated, my God Pavement, you are really spoiling us. You usually expect one, but both is really quite special. What a day.
It's sidewalk you nonces.
Pavement, basically, created a sound that defined a generation. You're never really sure if they're playing too fast, too slow? Doesn't matter because it all works so wonderfully. Stephen Malkmus' voice can be a bit of a...thing, but I couldn't imagine this band any other way. A perfect mess of a band. This album gets 4 stars only cause I, personally, think Crooked Rain is the better album.
This is one of those bands I was never into and wonder why. Until I revisit them. Too noisy for me.
Nerve grating guitars, spotty rhythm, and sub-par vocals - what’s to like? Not much here. Giving it a two, because there were a few bass riffs I enjoyed.
Heard glimpses of emo, and that was the best part. The rest was meh. Feeling generous with a 3.
Rocks a bit.
Not bad, actually.
Great songs, good flow. Pavement at its best.