Calenture

What a snoozer.

This hits like the music playing on the radio in an older relative’s car.

a little too tasteful for my taste

Kind of a chore not for me. It's spent too much time trying to sound big

I just wasn't into it. It just felt really cheesy and self-righteous. Not necessarily terrible musically. I just didn't care about any of the songs

This album wasn't good. From the very first song, my main impression was of over-the-top cheese. As songs ticked by, I formed a theory that every song on this album has one of three uses: 1. Drunken karaoke where some rando hit the wrong song button. 2. 90's movie montage background music (think of the cliche "running to the airport to try and confess your love") 3. Horribly cheesy 80's music videos in black and white with the singer appearing to be really angsty, looking off in the distance. To make it 100% obvious, none of these scenarios are things that a musical group should aspire to.

Why is this on the list and INXS - Kick isn't? It's far superior in every way to this bland effort.

A highly beige and irritating listen... Did not like this at all

eugh, really nonsense. I HATED his voice, it was so bland

Not sure if they were trying too hard, but I just didn’t get into this album. Flickers of great music but overall just mediocre. 2.5/5

01) Bury Me Deep in Love - 6,5 02) Kelly's Blues - 6,0 03) Trick of the Light - 6,5 04) Hometown Farewell Kiss - 6,0 05) Unmade Love - 5,5 06) Open for You - 5,5 07) Holy Water - 6,5 08) Blinder by the Hour - 5,5 09) Vagabond Holes - 5,5 10) Jerdacuttup Man - 5,0 11) Calenture - 5,0 12) Save What You Can - 5,5 TOTAL: 5,75 (58/100) Current ranking: 153/176 I guarantee you that we had better albums in Ex Yugoslavia only in 1987. Nothing is exciting or new on this album.

Heavy sigh... Yet another late 80's, band. Not UK this time, but Australia. I mean, it's not bad. It's just not good. A bit overproduced, a bit overbown.... And ultimately BORING 2/5

I didn't hate this, there was just nothing remarkable about it that makes me think it warrants a spot on the list. Like within a year I will have forgotten I listened to this.

It was ok

Kinda boring tbh. 1.5/5.0: Bad

Very emotional, but in an annoying, whiny, melodramatic way and too derivative to be interesting. 2/5

i usually try to have an open mind, especially when i'm presented with an artist i've never heard before. i was excited to listen to this one based on the genres given on wikipedia, but unfortunately i was a bit disappointed in this one. although i think the songwriting was fairly intriguing and the lead singer's voice was very strong, i can't get past the production on this one. i imagine if this album was produced more like a folk-y album, and not an 80s pop album, i would have liked it more. the production feels dated and not in a fun or good way, and doesn't feel like it fits the songs or the album. it took me several pauses within listening to listen through this one. sorry, not a huge fan!

The first time I saw this album's cover, there was just this vibe about it. Like it was going to become the new album I bring up whenever I make some of the inclusions on this list. "CALENTURE got on this list, but not something or other?" That sort of deal. Listening to the album certainly didn't dispel that feeling. And the thing is, actually, that I don't even really think this album is... **Entirely** bad. It's got moments here and there—check those Irish-sounding instruments on "Jerdacuttup Man", not to mention how its opening sounds like Pink Floyd's "Echoes". I think that stuff's neat. It's just all so few and far between is all, which really highlights how oppressively, suffocatingly "FI-I-I-I-INE" the rest of the album is. I just can't hear what makes this thing so special, and as a result it's so hard to give a shit about it. While I was writing this review, even, I got so bored re-listening to the first side that I didn't even let it finish. What would I even gain? It's not like letting "Open For You" play out a second time would change my mind. In conclusion, to be fair, this album's got more going for it than others I've found to be slogs—TIMELESS, MAXINQUAYE—but, yeah, it's definitely going to be one of my new punching bags. Sorry, Australia. Maybe give me some AC/DC or INXS or whatever next time.

It’s a 2.5 that I cannot possibly bring myself to round up to a 3… but it’s not that terrible. It’s just boring. There’s genuinely some good soundscapes here, and I’d say the vocal performance only ever dips to a real low by “Vagabond Holes,” but this album just feels like the equivalent of just getting a vanilla ice cream when there’s so many other flavors and toppings available. Most of the songs are fine to listen to, but when you look at the lyrics, the concepts of each song sort of fall apart with lyrics that are either too contrived or too outdated and “safe” for 1987, let alone 2024. Instrumentally, I think the mixing on this album is all over the place, and in terms of production, these are trying so desperately hard to sound important and bombastic with this rich variety of instruments, and it just falls flat because as a listener, it’s incredibly easy to tell where they’re just trying too hard. The problem, of course, is that they’ve tried just enough to exist within the limbo of “good enough to listen to, not good enough to care,” and that is the cardinal sin any album can fall into. If I were going by a 10… I dunno, a 5.5, maybe? Decent listen, but instantly forgettable, hence the 2.

Just plain…not exactly ground breaking

No idea why this was included

it was ok.

Fits right in with this era and genre but doesn't do much for me. Fine. 2.5

This wasn't great, but I made it through. Weird choice for the list.

Couldn’t finish it. I made it to song 5 and dreaded listening to the rest.

Gave it a couple spins. Nope. Bad.

it's like 80s pirate music? not sure about this one. again, not the worst thing on the list... and has some potentially catchy tunes. Not the style of music I would get into today, but I could see modern bands covering some of this and it sounding good.

Boring, nothing special. I was waiting for it to end.

Too long to be 3

Best Song: Holy Water. Just a real joyous chorus. Those church bells almost swing the whole production into "Hallmark-movie-cheesiness" levels, but it just manages to toe the line. Worst Song: Open for You. Sounds like a song from a children's album that's trying to teach me about how doors work. Overall: Pretty stock-standard alt-rock. You've got your occasional catchy chorus amidst a whole whack of forgettable tracks. Slightly below medium music.

Wake me up when he’s done, please.

Not for me!

Never did like Spandau Ballet, OMD, or Thompson Twins...& now not a fan of The Triffids either! The Church and Nick Cave do the Aussie new wave thing much better.

The 80s cheese was too much for me

Incredibly heavy. Who likes this?

Very boring..not unlistenable hence 2 stars, but not great!

Very middle of the road. It's not bad, it's not great. A bit repetitive. Was going to give it a 3/5 but it went on so long I lost interest and it's really got to be a 2.

Very replaceable. Like echo and the bunny men without any edge.

Has the drama of the Cure but none of the incredible songwriting. Everything I heard was just fine. There's not a whole lot of Australian bands on the list so it's a shame when the experience just sort of passes me by with barely any impression.

it's quite generic and the lyrics at times are rather uninspired, though by far not as unlistenable as the reviews suggest. however, recently, I got into the work of their fellow Aussie and Nick Cave's old friend and collaborator Rowland S. Howard, and now that I know how good Aussie music released in the 80s and 90s sounded like, I can't be too generous with my rating for this album either

This is standard 1980s fair. Nothing really exciting about it. Most of the songs just sort of fly by and make little to no impact on me. Very interchangeable in both sound and influence.

Wasn’t for me. Kind of boring and repetitive.

Mid British rock with weird lyrics 4.5/10

So average. Nothing stood out, no songs I'd want to revisit, but also not necessarily awful sounding. Just a boring album. 3/10

A bit of James and crowded house vibes but not catchy enough

Every song to me was in the B- to B+ range, and the whole didn't outperform the sun of its parts

Pop music isn’t exactly known for its lyrics but that can be hidden behind hooks and infectious melodies. This band brings the lyrics front and centre but they’re dopey and sometimes overwrought. The music is fine. But I’m never coming back to this. 2/5

Boring and generic. I already don't remember anything about it.

not really my thing- i can understand why it would be considered a hidden gem, though really i still think there are albums that could've taken its place on this list. lyrically meh, sonically kind of fun. i think i remember scott and scott talking about david mccomb on u talking u2 to me the other day so that makes me want to respect them more. i like eighties melodramatic pop but this is just blah. 5/10 fav tracks: a trick of the light

No Go

not like bad but eminently forgettable

Meatloaf from lidl. Nothing particularly interesting, until it got worse as it went on. The instrumental piano song at the end was really out of place. Stand-out: Bury Me Deep In Love

Favorites: Jerdacuttup Man, Calenture, Save What You Can. Different vocals and sound.

Tried to be Springsteen but bad. Too many songs.

I felt like I was listening to Echo and the Bunnymen but a not-good version of that. This isn't my thing, two stars.

I kept listening thinking it was gonna grow on me, but it never happened.

Australia must have been a post-apocalyptic Mad Max musical wasteland in the mid- to late-80’s

I expected to like this album more than I do; I am a fan of the previous album 'In The Pines', but the best song on 'Calenture' is an update on a song from 'In The Pines'.

How did this get on the list? Obviously never heard of this group and didn't really need to. I will finish the album so for that it gets a 2

Decent singing voices, some of the songs were easy to listen to, others not so much.

This seems to be quite a big genre and this is harmless enough, but the poetry is incredibly basic

Not a band or album I've heard or previously. I was expecting one (or more) of the tracks to trigger a memory, but it never happened. It's what I imagine AI would generate if you asked it create a bland 1980's sounding album. Pretty boring if you ask me, but I made it all the way through - so it gets 2 stars!

Bruce Willis' album The Return of Bruno charted higher than this. I'm not saying the US is the be-all and end-all of a good music judge, but it's usually a good watermark.

Pass.

Bland

A lot more enjoyable than the average rating implies, but remarkably inessential nonetheless.

A bit boring

Very 1980s. I never liked the production sound of the 80s, the drum machines, the way the snare drum always sounds. This album while not too poppy, isn't that remarkable either. I'm not sure how or why this album made the list. It just sounds like the most generic soft rock from the 1980s.

So this was a decent album with a couple tracks I really liked, though the song about the cromagnon mummy gave big indie basement band energy. Still, 2 hours is too long for any album to be. Favorite track was vagabond holes

meh

Way too long. I like that they switch off vocalists though and nice instrumentals 2.1

It's like 80's music but also lo-fi? Kind of shoegaze-y. I could listen to it but didn't find it memorable/find joy in it. More like 1.5 stars.

De martin Scorsese onder de muziek. Best wel vermakelijk maar veelste lang

Leuk album met best wat goeie nummers, maar het leek wat te lang. Het voelde ook een beetje onsamenhangend, alsof de nummers niet op 1 album thuishoorde…

Competent but fatally overwrought. Way too much reverb, just so that you know it was made in the 80s. Many blame Peter Gabriel for this studio sound. Nothing compelling.

Didn't really leave an impression, 4/10

Don't think there's anything particularly wrong with this record, it's just so far away from elements I enjoy. It took me four distinct listens to get through it. The lyrics have some pretty interesting turns of phrase, but otherwise it was one note for mine. Fave track: Everything You Touch Turns to Time

Calm

Not for me but I bet Andy scores it higher

I don’t know why this should be so interesting. There are way more interesting records from the end of the 80s.

Didn't enjoy it. Cliche 80s sound.

Okay songs. Okay band. Okay singer. Okay album.

Not my type of music. Waay too dramatic for me

This album does not do much of anything for me. I'm really not a fan of the production, though I find it hard to pinpoint the issues there. I mainly find the album boring and uninspired. I was surprised to see that "Bury Me Deep in Love" was one of their more popular songs because I really didn't enjoy it as an album opener. I find the lyrics mediocre and way to forward in the mix. I didn't hate this album but I didn't feel strongly about any of the songs as standouts either, but there were a few that were OK. Standout Tracks: A Trick of the Light, Save What You Can

Sounds alright. Its inclusion on this list confuses me.

hot mess of nothing good et inspirant. 4/10

Who does this guy sound like?? It's driving me crazy. I wasn't moved by most of this, but really quite liked "Unmade Love." If the whole album was that song on repeat it'd be getting a much higher score for me. Or if it just had more songs that had a similar energy and darker tone to them I'd be here for it. As is, it's really that one song and the instrumental title track that stood out. Too bad, because I can see the potential here for something more interesting than what the album delivered.

Why

Alku oli ihan lupaava, mut vähä lässähti. Tämmöstä klassista rokken rollia

Too long

The singer has the most sterotypical 80s voice This album started out sounding like it was going to be a typical love album. But then it introduced a bunch of cool instruments and sounds. I can't tell if I like this album, it is pretty weird. Think it's a 2.5 but im going to have to round down.

BORING 80's music blahhhhhhhh some cool instrumentals though.

This album sounds like it created purely for radio airtime in the 80s. Nothing original, or different from whatever sounds were trendy at the time. Tacky and boring 😴😴😴😴

Pretty boring and seems so similar to other bands of the day. It has no business being here but it's not really 1 star bad, close, but not quite.

Perhaps the most boring album yet

2.5

One of those albums that's just an absolute slog - nothing about the execution (instrumental or vocal) is terrible (in fact I found myself bopping along to a few tracks), but the constant beatdown of cheesy synth timbres and lackluster songwriting grates after the better part of an hour.

Sweeping, grand, orchestral. Somewhere between The Smiths, Modest Mouse, and Suede. Didn't really grip me. Favorite track: "Vagabond Holes"

Vähän tuommoinen Tears For Fears fiilis tulee, ei oikein mun juttu. Folkkipoppia vai huh? Jerdacuttup Man paras koska siinä eniten sitä folkkia on. Ja Calenture ihan hyvä piano outro sille. Muuten aika meh.

6th July 2023 Listened way late due to seeing Bruce in Hyde Park! Not memorable but not terrible. 2.5 if I could.

Honestly just boring.

Dit is niet waarmee je wilt worden geconfronteerd op een verder prrrrrrrima vrijdag!

Dit zegt me niet zoveel en maakte ook niet zoveel indruk.

Als ik al in een lichtelijk geirriteerde staat ben, dan moet je niet met dit soort kak aan komen zetten.

Tsja. Beetje slappe hap en het eerste nummer is nogal songfestivalesque.

Was not particularly a fan - no songs stuck out for me, and the tunes sounded mostly like an inferior Roxy Music clone.

1.5/5

Never heard of these guys. Rather generic '80s new wave type of album. Sonically similar to a lot of others we've had. Very long, lots of tracks on this one. I tried to chop off all the deluxe tracks but I think I missed a few. "Bad News" is not on the core album. It's not bad, a few songs I'm keeping. But boy does it become hard to distinguish these bands. Favorite tracks: A Trick of the Light, Jerdacuttup Man, Bad News Always Reminds Me of You. Album art: Just a guy's face in a strange sepia filter. Extremely moody. Boring. 2.5/5

Sounds like church music

Very 80s vibe here. The first song is great, but not sure about the rest of this. Nothing really clicked for me here.

Þunglyndislegt ástralskt popp. Fær góða dóma en ég tengi ekki.

I don't see why this album is on this list... It's just so mediocre

I was hoping this would be as good as The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, but it was not, in fact, as good as The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham.

Just mid Rock honestly. Nothing special here.

80 Aussie post punk band that never really made it big. This later album doesn't really have any punk in it.s Its a tad over produced but earnest and sincere but not really doing anything for me. Strikes me as a bit of an oddity on this list.

Like someone trying to explain New Wave and Goth five years after it happened to someone living in a cave.

? People listen to this haha

Based on it being on this album, I'll assume this was influential on other albums. But, having not heard this on release, it seems 80s bland to me.

Boring shite for the most part but there is a track that's quote fun at the end. Though if I listened to that one in isolation it might further prove the boredom I was inflicted with at that point.

Oof. Unremarkable musicianship, mediocre lyrics, and cheesy vocals. Nope.

I just could not get into this. Definitely not my bag.

muy sods stereo, 6/10, nada esplendido

Trying to be weird and funky in the 60s, no thanks

Ik ga dit een 2 geven. En niet eens omdat ik er heel veel last of onvreugde aan beleefde, maar dit is zo ontzettend nietszeggend. Je kunt dit gerust missen. 13 in een dozijn. Als ik een hoogtepunt moet kiezen dan kies ik track 10: Jerdacuttup Man. Klinkt piratenachtig. Geen echte dieptepunten, behalve dat dit album een plek inneemt in de lijst.

Ok, but completely forgettable

Interesting voice and a few nice tracks, but mostly found the album incredibly 80s and not in the good ways. Corny and melodramatic

For transparency, I'm rewriting my review. When I pulled up the album on Spotify, it said '2005', and I thought ' frickin how?'. From the album cover to the music itself, it screamed 80's. Confusion ensued. I'm really happy I did my 'research' because I was about to say "this album is out of place for 2005. What were they thinking?'. That said, this album is alright. Maybe my love of punk, and overtime learning punk was in response to rock shifting towards this kind of sound, gave me a bit of a negative view off the bat. It's fun, it's upbeat, but it's just not for me. Maybe another album with a similar style and sound will sway me to think otherwise, but for now, I cannot. Holy Water was kind of fun. Had this album been the first I listened to in this quest, it would get a 3. However, now I'm a little more seasoned I suppose. 2.

I pretty much knew when I first put this album on that I was not going to enjoy it. It is just so so so unbelievably cheesy. A Dollar Store bargain bin version of Echo & The Bunnymen. The lyrics remind me of a dentist office waiting room. Lines like "We used to take turns crying all night but oh that was so long ago", "I left the door open for you and you can walk through and through and through and it will always be open for you", and "With your lips for food. and your skin for sheets // Your eyes for light, and your blood for heat // And your two white arms for an overcoat" just make me hurt inside. Musically it is really not compelling at all. Things like the "shoo-shoo-op"s in "Hometown Farewell Kiss", the weird dissonance in "Blinder by the Hour" feel so forced. I mean the name of the songs give you all you need to know about this album. It's just cliches on top of cliches. The only songs I remotely enjoyed were "Jerdacuttup Man" as it at least showed that there is _something_ there musically speaking what with this Dylan-esque lyrical delivery backed by some sort of Celtic vibe and "Love the Fever" as it kind of danced the line between '80s and '90s which is cool to hear. Honestly, I feel embarrassed listening to this. The musicians at least tried so I'll give it a 2/5.

Incredibly generic, bland, new wave (although Wikipedia calls it "folk rock"?) that is not worth listening to. I guess if you really feel like you have to you could listen to just the first song and you will basically understand the whole album.

Wholly uneventful. Seriously, nothing happened during this album. It started and stopped in the exact same place. I was checking my watch over and over to see how much longer I was going to have to listen to this. Boring, tiresome, and just a bad time.

This was incredibly boring for me. Musically it did not connect with me at all. A lot of the album kind of struck me like some Christian pop which always feels empty to me.

Not my era and just not very good

Boring

Alkoi kivasti, mutta ei ihan kantanut loppuun saakka. Tykkäsin tyylistä, mutta jotain koukkuja olisi kaivannut lisää.

Kädenlämpöistä auringonlasku-hempeily-pop-rockia. En innostunut, 2/5.

White boy music from the 1980s that I have literally never heard of? WHERE DO I SIGN UP? But really - this is utterly tepid. If it were any more middle-of-the-road it'd have cats eyes. This is the biggest "Huh?" in just over a year of doing 1,001 albums. It isn't terrible, but it sure isn't good.

Canciones un tanto monótonas y con el mismo tono y enfoque. Disco pausado. No he encontrado ningún punto que me guste especialmente

Wasn't hard to listen to, but not really anything special either. Started off with what felt a bit like a Christian rock anthem, and then it was less engaging thereafter

Can say nothing better than the reviewer that says "I'm not even sure this album was in the 1001 top albums of 1987." 2/5.

If you think that “The Triffids” is a great band name, then you will think think the music is great too! You could definitely judge this album by its cover…. That “hometown” song was the best I guess. Am I on a hidden camera?

Eh. It had that 80s feel to it but not in a good way.

Meh. Too pop. Not for me at all

This wasn't great. All sounds the same and nothing stood out. Way too long an album for something so mediocre/forgettable. 5/10.

Detta skjønte eg ingenting av. Høres ut som masse ting som eg egentlig like, men samtidig ikkje??? Fikk sånn uncanny valley-følelse

I did not care about this

It's fine. It's like if The Smiths made sub par music while still having Morrissey on vocals. Could skip this one. 2.5/5

Okej.

Meh...

Rubbish 80’s rock, not sure why this made the list. But not quiet bad enough for the bottom rating.

not for me

"50 Or So Albums You Should Listen To Before You Die And Then An Unending Parade Of Mediocre White Men"

Decent thai, decent hang, mediocre work, spending money

Didn’t finish

Why?

T3B 1. Unmade Love 2. Jerdacuttup Man 3. Open for You

Nothing special, just an standard soft rock album. I think they are not so bad, but all the songs are just mediocre. Not special enough to be on the list in my opinion. Favourite song: - Vagabond holes

I like a good bit of Aussie pop/rock from this era but this album was bland. It didn't have incredible songwriting like INXS, Crowded House or Icehouse, a standout singer a la Barnesy/Farnesy, or even a Diesel-level guitarist. It wasn't bad, I could easily enough listen to it again, but it was... remarkably unremarkable. I couldn't even say it deserves a place among second-tier stuff like Dragon and 1927. Guess there's a reason Electric Blue still gets daily radio play but I'd never heard of the Triffids. 2/5.

Escutado, e esquecido.

It's alright, only liked a few songs though.

Meh

Never had heard of this band before. But overall is was just unremarkable 80s pop. Probably would never listen again nor really care to hear any singles. 1.5/5

Normal

Vraiment pas mon style, un peu trop egale pour moi, un mix rock pop synthetize que j’aime pas vraiment mais ca secoute en fond comme si il ny avait rien. 2.60

Getting go-betweens ad less flattering Crowded house vibes. Maybe a bit a the the. Super clean but poorly dated production. Some good bits but far too clean for my liking. Mehh not for me!

Nope

I listened to this a week or two ago and I can't remember a damn thing to say. Must have been memorable....

05/12/2022 Pretty average 80's lite-rock. Album length is crazy.

Loved the review which stated this wasn’t in the top 1001 of 1987. This is no REM U2 Waterboys or INXS or Elvis Costello or …. or …. Cover art 2/5

If rock and roll was breakfast food, "Calenture" by The Triffids would be unsweetened oatmeal. Sure, it'll do the job but it's not going to be interesting and you're going to be thinking about bacon the whole time. I can't imagine anyone actually wanting to listen to this. But then, some people actually choose to eat plain oatmeal so I guess there's no accounting for taste.

A bit too soft for me. Post-punk is really hit or miss.

2.8 - "Unique" and "different" don't necessarily mean "good." Not that this record is irredeemably offensive - there are at least some interesting elements. But overall I just find it strange, and a waste of my time. Perhaps the most judicious thing would be to say I simply don't like it and move on. But since I took the time to give it a spin I'll name a few gripes. First, it's got a treble-heavy mix that just sounds weak and wispy. Second, I just couldn't get past David MacCombs' voice. It's actually a powerful baritone but I'm constantly distracted by the effete way he pronounces "s" sounds. Third, the songs explore some strange and pretentious subjects like spirituality and the afterlife. Resulting songs like "Holy Water" and "Jerdacuttup Man" are utterly ridiculous. Listening to this record, I'm somehow reminded of bad dinner theater.

Another dull poppy thing

its alright folk rock but i dont get why this is on the list or what special about it

Not for Me. The Cure-like?

MOR stuff here. Vocals a little to prominent for my taste

“Vagabond Holes” is an alright song and an excellent song name. Otherwise album forgettable + way too goddamn long

Bleh

Some wild lyrics

Hasn’t aged well.

Only listened to one track and that was enough.

Not great.

Not for me

How is this on the list? Obscure Aussie Jangle pop from the 90's? I guess the author has a soft spot. I don't

Intensely boring.

Very 1980s vocal style (Lloyd Cole-y), not unpleasant but no stand-out songs- all same standard. Just an average band. Again, the same question keeps cropping up: why is this on the list. I can turn on the radio randomly and hear music like this. Why is this in anyway special? It's not actively bad, so I suppose that's a step up from the avalanche of dross that makes up at least half of this list.

No idea why an album like this makes the list. Random 80s theatrical dreck. Almost was comical.

First impression: So 80s sounding. Something about the drums specifically just scream 80s. Really curious why this drum sound so strongly evokes this era of music - is it a massive amount of reverb? First 4 songs were quite rough for me. Was about to give up on this record until "Unmade Love" - which was a bit better with a hard driving rhythm some noisier guitar work. But I think this was an outlier because I didn't much care for the rest of the album after that. Very 80's sound, some pretty cheezy songs/lyrics (this Christmas one at the end being the worst), and some vague theme of religion (allmusic practically calls them a christian band) add up to a bad formula for me.

An uninspiring album.

Not great

Remarkably boring

Had not heard of this band or heard their music (not that I recall, but as they had a hit or two in the late 80s, I probably heard those on the radio and just don't recall). The lead vocalist's voice is strong and clear, and they play well. The sound is very familiar to me as a lot of pop bands in the mid to late 80s sounded like this. It's a good representation of that sound. Nothing wrong with the album, just didn't engage me. Everything kind of blurred together as one long song with different sections rather than distinct tracks.

Another one that wasn't really for me. Sounded almost like a tears for fears but without many of the redeeming qualities. Moving on!

From British mediocrity to Australian mediocrity this book has it all

This book sucks man

My theory is that all of Australia mistakenly believed that the Cult was banned from the country and that all of the critics responsible for this list mistakenly believed that the Triffids were British, meeting the book's criteria by default. There are times where the lyricism pulls the band from the brink of generic, largely thanks to the album's loose themes of illusion and isolation giving a slightly different complexion to the same old rote love songs, but I still can't shake the feeling that I've heard this all plenty of times before. I'm thinking I might be a little too harsh on this one, but cut me a break: a fucking bug flew into my mouth during the first track and probably colored some of my score here. Key Tracks: Trick of the Light, Vagabond Holes, Jerdacuttup Man

I learned too late in life that there was actually a really cool music scene in australia in the 80s so I was pretty excited to hear a band I hadn't heard before. So that didn't work out.

I could barely finish this one. Not for me.

2.75. There are better ways to scratch this itch. It’s fun to think about which 3 bands you’d mash together for this sound. Simple Minds/ABC/Deep Blue Something

Oh lord... Tasapaksua huttua ja vitutti kuunnella loppuun asti.

Ei oikeestaan mitään ihmeellistä sanottavaa, peruskakkonen

I listened to this a week or two ago and I can't remember a damn thing to say. Must have been memorable....

That corny 80's reverb-for-days drum sound, cheesy keys, emotive vocals with lame lyrics. Gave it a few tracks (then skipped through a bit of the other songs) to see if there was good stuff lurking in there but, alas, there was none to be found. In terms of other bands from that era doing those kind of songs with that kind of instrumentation and that kind of production, they're a dime a dozen. Don't know how this album made the list, but glad to have listened. There are always treasures to be found in bands & songs you haven't heard before. This wasn't one of them.

no, 80's just... no... again, dated, cheesy, unmemorable and all that

Vagabond holes was good but the rest was pretty boring

Pretty unmemorable

maybe a good album, but my first and second listen didn't do anything for me.

Hmm, långt. Jag gillar ändå stora delar av albumet, men det var en märklig upplevelse. Jag lyssnade i flera olika vågor vilket kanske inte har gynnat albumet i mina öron. Uppdelat i två diskar, varav den senare är demos men det var inte precis samma låtar som på disk 1 så jag lyssnade ändå igenom det. Men gällande soundet är det ändå mycket som funkar. Sångarens röst är kraftfull på rätt sätt, det blandas in lite roliga instrument som inte hör till det absolut vanligaste, lite fina stråkar som sitter fint exempelvis. Vid andra omständigheter som hade lett till en genomlyssning i ett svep hade kanske kunnat gjort denna till en 3:a men som lyssningen blev nu räcker det inte riktigt till. Bäst: "Blinder by T!he hour"

Rätt standard 80-tals album, inte mycket att hurra över. A Trick of the Light var rätt bra dock

It was okay. Tried to get into but never did. Never heard of this band.

Not my style.

Kommt an mich nicht ran

Melodic tunes, but just a bit boring.

Boring inoffensive middle of the road pop.

I don't like this at all. It's soooo boring.

just all my least favorite conventions of 80s music. sounds very cheesy, lyrics are so over the top and the vocal style is a bit annoying. a couple of them bang though if you don't listen too hard.

Didn't find anything special about this tbh, standard 80s soft rock as far as I can tell

Too sugary for me. Not a fan.

Sounded like a poor mans version of Morrissey

Nope. Just not for me.

yawn

Favs - Vagabond Holes - Rehersal Demo, Jerdacuttup Man - Rehersal Demo. Okay - Baby Can I Walk You Home, Region Unknown. Wouldn’t listen to the rest again.

Hmmm. Not really impressed.

Soft 80s heartbreak

Good enough. Pleasant

Dated, boring, way too long. Did not finish.

Listened once, album length was daunting, NEED TO RELISTEN!

Australsk folk-pop, tematisk, violin

Think I'd rather be stung by a Triffid.

Didn’t like this effort, nothing really happening here.

🎵bury me deep in🎵- nope. 18 seconds in. I might come back and give this a fairer shake another time. No promises

nah

rated Jerdacuttup man, but it couldn’t save this album for me, just too wishy-washy. Like jangle pop written by management consultants. Okay at best

Det er lett å forstå hvorfor verden ikke husker The Triffids. De har forsøkt å blande låtskrivinga til The The med atmosphæren til Echo and the Bunnymen, og oppriktigheten til U2. Resultatet er ikke bra. Into the dumpster it goes.

Based on the first track alone I was fully prepared to give this 1 star. Almost all music of this era suffered some of the production sins of gated reverb drums and digital chorus etc but even the underlying song was just unsalvageable. Most of the album continued this way until the last few tracks it kind of settled into something borderline listenable albeit not memorable. It almost brought me to 2-star territory but no now I'm remembering the bury me in love track again.

This is not exceptional or interesting in any way, not even how uninsteresting and unexceptional it is. Why is it here?

Overall: 2/10 This was so bland and boring and not worth listening to at all. Just a nothing of an album. Fav Song: Kelly's Blues

Nick Cave impressionist makes the most boring album in existence. A sad day to be called Cal :(

Why is this on this list?

There is a word my daughter employs often which best describes this album: Cringe. Oh boy, generic 80s ?soft rock with the most awkward lyrics I've heard in a while. I was listening to it in the car and turned the volume way down so nobody passing would hear as this was embarrassingly bad. Not sure why this is in this list, maybe they have a niche/cult following?

This is that white noise type of album that I find really boring. A couple of decent ones but not enough to make this album memorable in any way unfortunately

fav songs: none why is this album on this list? 05/100

The worst kind of 80s music sound.

Not even worth the time to write this review.

I was rooting for these fellas, they seemed nice. All album long I thought: the next song is going to be good. But alas… no.

Dreadful

Awful 80s slop. Stopped listening cuz it sounded like a bad Eurovision group from the 80s made an album

I knew when I heard the first track that I wasn't going to like this, and yet, with more listens, I disliked it even more than I thought. This album is.. indie? jangle? folk?. At least it is clear that it is pop. Either way, this record is absolutely devoid of feelings. I found everything here to be extremely dull, forgettable, uninteresting, pretentious and mostly not catchy at all. There is, in addition, a clear intent to be big and grandiose with the use of an orchestra type of instrumentation but I don't think it works at all. Only thing I can say I liked a little bit are the choruses in "Vagabond Holes", which is a bit catchy. Still just a mere moment in one of the twelve painful songs that are here. What a tedious experience. Absolutely forgettable.

I did not enjoy this at all. It was way too long. Honestly, I found it very boring, nothing about it spoke to me. The music was generic 80s to me. It wasn’t unlistenable, but I did not enjoy it. 1.5/5

boooring don't know how to explain it, but it's the kind of an album that gets stuck in your car - you get used to it, you may like it or consider important to you, but it would never happen if you weren't stuck with it by force

Why is this on the list it is not good

Cheesy and not in a good way. Last song, Save What You Can, might have been the best but still toss.

Shite

Shite

Shrug. What was the point in that then? Never get that time back...

Shite

Not good

what is this? no thanks.

Such bad. Very loudness. Many dumb. Wow. This album has the lyric phase "hometown city" and the song title "Unmade Love". Like with all the Leonard Cohen reviews, I am assured that the writing is brilliant. The book contains the text, "Lyrically, his poetry (for it surely is)...". Like that, with the adverb, and the parentheses. Please, more critics from the music world and fewer from the writing world. I bailed around the same time I bailed on Ute Lemper. I wish I couldn't tell how bad this is.

Did not enjoy this. Cheesy 80s rock.

Trop années 80 pour moi...

Whole album sounded like bad karaoke

This veered between songs of no interest and songs that were really bad. Hardly bothered the top 40 in their native Australia. Why is it on the list???

1 hr and 45 mins too long. It wasn’t even good ambient background music because I was rolling my eyes at the dumb lyrics (vagabond holes?)

This is just not good. Sorry. It wasn’t bad per se. Just not good. At least it made it to #32 on the Australian charts though.

This was thoroughly unenjoyable. My phone tells me that unenjoyable is not a word. Well, this album proves otherwise.

★½

Un moment donné faut faire des choix, c'est pas vrai que la mémoire collective a besoin de tout retenir.

I literally hate it

Really did not like this at all.

I listened to the first 5 songs then gave up. I didn’t like this album and thought it was really boring and uninteresting. There’s much better music out there with a similar vibe.

I had never heard of this band before which is surprising since I followed music really closely in the 80s. Now I know why. This album sucked. Amateurish songs, weak vocals, totally forgettable.

I feel like I am mistakingly listening to a mockumentory. It is everything I wish to forget about the 80s.

I'm not saying it's morally right, but 2000's folk would call this gay

Mostly just washed over me unfortunately. I'm sure there's more to it than I was hearing, but it just kind of felt like generic 80s cheese

I’ve never seen a picture of anyone in this band, but they must be incredibly attractive. That’s the only conceivable way they got a record deal because this album is hot garbage. It’s comically bad. The songwriting is unbelievably pretentious and juvenile. It’s cringy. How is it possible that no one told them how terrible this was? It almost feels like a joke. Did Will Ferrell write the songs as a Saturday Night Live sketch that never made it to air? Seriously - Do you remember the times? Does it ever cross your mind? How you had no key But the door was always open for you. Yes, I left the door open for you And you can walk through and through and through And it will always be open for you. Oh, and in case you couldn’t tell from this lyrical gem, if you ever miss the title of a song, don’t worry, because they’re gonna repeat it like 50 fucking times in every song. I was actually pissed at Australia for allowing this to happen, until I remembered they also gave us good albums from Men at Work, Crowded House, INXS and AC/DC around the same time, so I’ll let it slide … this time.

eerste nummer voorspelde het al.. na het tweed begon ik zo luid te snurken dat dit album vanaf nu verboden is door mijn vrouw

Just awful 80s blandness

Abbruuuuuuch 🧘‍♂️

I’ve called a lot of albums on this list bland, but this might be the album that has its picture next to bland in the dictionary. Holy shit is this one just lifeless and lacking any personality. I gave up about halfway through because the music was making me so bored I was losing any motivation to do anything.

Hmm… bland. Only got half way through

platonic ideal of an album to discover from this list. it wasn't good, but it was unknown and sometimes that's enough over 1000 albums

Never heard of them and now I see why …..

wtf????

Nothing of value here

Sounds like Irish folk music that was influenced by 80s goth pop. Truly awful.

Forgettable after three songs, and get wrecked for trying to get me listening to 17.

Couldn’t listen to entire album. truly awful

This album was extremely refreshing and reassuring to me in a weird way. You see, I assumed new wave was one of my favorite niche genres because I love almost all the music I’ve heard from it and the vast majority of new wave albums that come up on this list are stellar. But this reassured me that I don’t mindlessly love new wave. This shows that there can be bad new wave music that makes no impact on me and feels like a boy band breakaway vanity album. Seriously this album is totally skippable and you won’t miss anything.

What...on...Earth. I am nearly 100 albums in and listening to an album a day has absolutely made me more curious and open to new and different music. And this just isn't good. They are capable musicians and I can understand why someone would enjoy this. But speaking more critically, it is highly derivative and unoriginal musically, and the lyrics are really uncompelling to me as well. This is not a terrible album, per se. In the context of 1001 albums to listen to, I frankly think it is terrible.

Cheesy but not in a fun way.

Couldn't finish it, not for me

Oh... Oh this sucked. Terrible cliche 80s studio production on top of weak songwriting. Bad, just bad.

This has been the worst album so far on the list. You can go into a random bar in a random town and hear a better band than this.

Didn't really enjoy this, felt like a very minor entry from the 80's, nothing particularly exciting about any of it and found it a bit of a slog

So innocuous that it became noxious

I'm sorry, I couldn't make it through this one. If there's something great on this album past track 8, let me know. But this is scattered in all the worst ways. But mainly it's like some overdone, horribly 80's sounding Lion King soundtrack without Elton John's talent. Why did this make the list? I'm going to now go listen to Faith No More's Angel Dust, which didn't make this list, is 10 times more deserving of being on this list, and doesn't remind me of Simba.

Kinda schlocky and not in a good way. Bad news always reminds me of you was my fave, but not enough to rate highly.

Cheesy 80's pop rock.

I believe this has been the most mediocre record this 1001 album generator has shown me.

"1001 albums to hear before you die" nah bro I could've lived without hearing this. I feel like this is what U2 is to people who don't like U2.