Reviews (page 4 of 8)
Um disquinho bacana de música psicodélica. Vale pela curiosidade, mas tem pouco a acrescentar.
Some good stuff and some meh
Forgive it for being 1967; no criticism of the band or rmusic. It has its place in history. But the test do you have to listen to it? Try a wee bit but it's one of thousands of this type of stuff and far from the best.
There are definitely some interesting sounds here that remind me of The Zombies, The Kinks, and The Beach Boys. It doesn't hit all of what it could be, but I think it is an interesting experiment and has some fun songs and nice compositions.
Good album with lots of interesting and unexpected sounds and arrangements A tad too long for my punk rock attention span but I dug it
I don’t have room in my life for this. I’m too old to even pretend that I can give it a chance.
I liked the tracks where it all got going a bit, but too much of it was just a bit too, er, mind-expanding for me.
I will say it again and it is common with this list:How on earth did i miss that one out?Beautiful phychedelia with electronic creativity,great guitars and fretless bass.Drums were exceptional as well.I also really loved the vocals in every song.So many influences are well combined here:Can,John Cage,Beatles,even some electronic Schultze ones at times. The songs now: The American Metaphysical Circus,experimental cacophony with a circus march on time intro,progresses with outworldly synth astral modulations and beautiful female vocals with a psychedelic rock carpet.The vocals modulate as well through vocoders. Hard Coming Love is an uptempo psychedelic rock with experiments in the guitars in frequencies that might annoy you,and when they do,female vocals comes in and the thing smoothes out.Synth usage here is sparse when needed,more like fxs/bridges. Cloud Song is a more electronic heavy song which is a bliss for me.The vocals here are heavenly.Violin and harp involved makes it float.One of my favourites.Bjork must have been influenced by this one for sure. The Garden Of Earthy Delights, is pure astral psychedelia.Everything works perfectly as a whole here.There is a structure and perfect vocals.Also favourite. In I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You,Sugar, i feel like it's a blues song made out of electronics and guitar parts of Can.Beatle-tastic vocals.Circus march at it's ending. Where Is Yesterday starts with heavy choir chanting,the choir harmonises -some guitar delays and feedbacks interfears at times-. Coming Down is a great song in a more experimental fashion with a lot of turns.Very interesting.Great drumming,bass and guitar here.Also a favourite. Love Song For The Dead Che, as communists, i guess this was their tribute.Some accordion involved.Beautiful song with more organic sounds.Beautiful,siren singing. Stranded Time feels like a Beatles song from the beginning.Great changes of tempos.short and sweet. The American Way Of Love: Part I- Metaphor For An Olderman/Part II- California Good-Time..nice American bar song that progresses exprerimentally after harsh guitar solos,comes back in a Beach Boys fashion and ends up again in a dynamic experimental fashion.So much going on in this one especially towards the end.Yep Circus closing again,some vocal repeating and Hollywood strings. Osamu's Birthday(alternate version) has some Chinese creepy notes and John Cage's kinda foley.Chinese fashioned percussion as well.Quite dark.There was no other original version in this album though. No Love To Give is an uptempo phychedelic number with great vocals.nice distant guitar solo ending up experimental.The drumming changed almost in a jungle tempo. I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You,Sugar(2),female vocals alternate version.Good but i prefer the first one. You Can Never Come Down,proper funky psychedelia.Great female vocals and catchy lyrics. Perry Pier,strong Beatles vibes here again but with female singing.Dreamy atmosphere.Organ really adds to that 60's phychedelia. Tailor Man,great song again,feels warm with great guitar playing ,a beautiful phychedelic distillment.The drums are also exceptional here.The female vocals -as always- great. Do You Follow Me,another great song,i'm really hooked by the lyrics and the singing.It has a nice dynamic without being loud nor experimental.Brilliant. The American Metaphysical Circus (Alternate Version),it's a darker,more experimental repetition,i prefer the first better.It kinda creeps you out a bit.This one and Osamu's Birthday were my least favourites. Mouse(The Garden Of Earthly Delights)is a bit more twisted than the first especially in refrain parts with vocoder delays.Again, i prefer the first version. Heresy(coming Down),is probably the alternate version of Coming Down.Again i prefer the first one. Overall is a fantastic album that i first discovered here,and as most people say at their ratings,too bad it was the only one from this band. 5/5
1. circuz -1.5 2. love - 1 3. cloud - 1.5 4.garden -1.5 5. Sugar -1 6. Yesterday - 1.5 7. Down - 1 8. Dead - 1.5 9. Time - 1.5 10. American - 1 11. Birthday -1 12. Give- 0 13. Wife - 1.5 14. Never -1.5 15. Perry - 1.5 16. Tailor - 1 17. Follow -1
There were moments in this that set pretty high marks for cool stuff I’ve heard in bad psychedelic records since I started on this list. But it was still a bad psychedelic record and it was still a slog to get to those moments. It is what it is.
For anyone into experimental and 60s psychedelic music, this is definitely one of those top tier albums when it comes to forward thinking and innovation. While there are plenty of traditional instruments, the band really pushed the envelope by incorporating cutting edge electronic equipment like synthesizers and modulators. The production is where the real experimentation shines, with electronic effects, tape manipulation, layering, and anything else they could think of at the time.
No need for this. Saved only by a few fun trippy grooves sprinkled throughout.
Psychedelic and trippy. That’s all there is to say about this. Must be a one hit wonder. Maybe not even a hit. Yeah baby yeah!
Shite enough
It’s an intriguing listen and interesting from the perspective of being an obscure artifact of the hippie era. It does feel a little like a “let’s take drugs and see what happens” vibe and I think for most of the album the listener would benefit from being on these same drugs. I was not on any drugs and found it okay, but very obviously outclassed by the major psychedelic records of the era (Odessey and Oracle, Sgt. Peppers, etc.).
Not at all for me.
Very cool. The more avant-garde songs got weird but they didn't overstay their welcome.
Funky. Different from everything else I’ve had so far, and I’m surprised I’ve never heard of them.
stupid and an hour too long
An album full of ideas, ideals and hippie philosophy. Some might say " a radical psychedelic critique of American society that builds to a finale which synthesizes everything that came before", but could also be described as a fascinating mess.
Discordant and angry, subversive and challenging and any other host of adjectival couplets I can think of. Members of this group would work on, of all things, Sesame Street. And when I think about it, it makes perfect sense. Sesame Street was sort of subversive. Targeting the poor and the underprivileged, Sesame aimed to educate and used the tool of the elites, advertising, to do just that. It worked. For a while.
Ehh
10/10
If you ever listened to the Beatles and thought, “I wish they had way less talent, and horrible production, and circus music,” then do I have the album for you…
shit
Proto-Stereolab, pretty cool
A truly psychedelic experimental album that I wanted to enjoy, but ultimately the songs never come together. Dorothy Moskowitz's vocals are dreadful. They never feel expressive of anything. Most bearable: "Where is Yesterday" Increasingly this list feels like a waste of time.
This sounded a bit all over the place to the point I think I must've missed something. Gave it two listens and don't know what that is.
I tried and had hoped there was something here. It is slightly better on headphones. Maybe I'll try again someday. I'm down for a challenge.
Love the experimenting with a lot of different sounds. I dont think I’ll be returning, but I’m glad I listened. There’s better 60s psychedelic out there
More wacky 60s shit
Well this was a weird one. The rock parts were better than the circus parts. Honestly wasn't quite sure what to make of this. I understand the... Need?.. For an artists to express themselves on their own terms because if they can't... Well then it's not art is it? That being said, I feel that the clown noises didn't exactly jive with the very cool and well composed rock. Psych piecess of the album. It was interesting to say the least. Highlights include "garden of earthly delights", stranded in time "," tailor man"
You are directly immersed in a hippie haze, you hair are long, the substance you are inhaling is making you feel good, people lost appeal for clothes, social boundaries are melting, you sense a hint of future with these weird electronic sounds, you are a rebel without a cause and you like it
Didn’t hear all of it but inoffensive
Pretty interesting/great in parts, but balanced with some really obnoxious parts.
I’ll give it a 2 for trying something “interesting”
weird but interesting
1.5 Not a big Psychedelic rock fan in general but add the circus element into this and it's just not aging well. I think at the turn of the 70's there was a lot of experimentation (and not just with LSD) going on in music and this was considered creative and influential. I just don't see me listening to it again (listened twice to see if it grew on me, it didn't. I think this is the 'way out there' music that takes a long time to grow on you without chemical aid)
(68/100)
This is not for everyone, but it is for me! What a trip. Anticipates the remix era, prog rock, etc. Very quirky, yet flows naturally. Who were those guys?! 4.2
Trippy esk music. A few songs I would listen to again. Experimental music.
Noisy, but I can hear the influences. Not bad. Won’t listen again. Liked the bluesy parts
Not trying to be snide but I have no idea how this album made the list. It was awful from the first cut to the last. Not surprised I never heard of them. Cross this one off the list.
1 stern
Psychedelic electronic, leftist, musical
Another 60s psychedelic band I have strangely not heard of considering how much I appreciate the genre. First song had too much experimental sound. The band are known for excluding guitars and using, uncommon for the time, electronic instrumentation. However, by track two the wonderful melodies were shining through with the instrumentation enhancing, rather than obscuring the songs. I was torn between 3 and 4 but as I am not sure I will listen again, 3 stars.
This is what I was hoping for when I signed up for this! I’ve never heard of this band before, never mind heard them. And they’re 100% right up my alley! Loving the early electronic stuff, the editing, the analog synths. I can hear the precursor of Stereolab in some songs, or Loose Fur, noise music. I can picture these guys in a university teaching my cohort how to program synths (that’s not a “dig”, it’s a good thing). Loved this one.
Very weird, though I'm not sure if it was in a good way or a bad way. At times it felt like I was floating through space, at others like I was stuck at a carnival (sidenote- why do carnival themes pop up so often on these albums?). This kind of music with a bunch of almost random stuff happening at once isn't really something I often like. I didn't hate it, but really didn't enjoy it very much either outside of a few solid tracks. I think some drugs would've helped. I can see why it's on here given the style and year it came out, but not sure it really stand out as good outside of that. I think it'll stay on my mind for a while, though. Overall: 2.25/5
i feel like i hear a lot of psych rock and i never really understand why its considered to be psychedelic. this shit is definitely deserving of the title. really odd production and mixing all other the project and I love it. so otherworldly, really ironic when you consider the title. loved it
I can't.
After getting over the fact this wasn't the Presidents, lots of the psychedelic stuff was great. Use of synth was welcome and novel for the time. I'm the end the slow tracks and some of the variation dragged things. And any time a man sang.
There were some interesting bits here and there. It got very beatlesy at at least one point. The use of synths in the otherwise fairly hippy poppy tracks was kind cool. But overall I was really drawn in much. It was fine I guess.
A chaotic art-school experiment where every knob is turned and every idea is a bad one. The Garden of Earthly Delights was almost listenable, only because I kept hoping the background lasers would take out the singer.
1 Star (2/15)
Not my music. ★
Not a fan of psych rock. May be ground-breaking, but I don't think it's any good.
wild ride
Who even is this band and why the fuck is this album on the list?! Ugh, why am I even surprised anymore.
not as good as I remember
Some interesting sounds here
I can appreciate what they were doing, and how they were participating in the pysch scene. I genuinely think some of the songs are good.
This album was really pushing boundaries, in many ways. A psychedelic rock album that intentionally abandoned the guitar in favor of a plethora of instruments that were not being widely used by rock bands at the time (electric harpsichord, violin, piano) all mixed and distorted in ways that were unique and in some ways prescient to music that would follow later. United States of America is weird, but in a good way. It works. Joe Byrd, who is responsible for much of the overall production of the record, had formal music training and a familiarity with many different genres, which we can hear weaved together throughout the album. Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the gorgeous vocals of Dorothy Muskowitz. Many people have credited this album as the first prog rock release. Whether or not this is true to is hard to imagine an album that better capture the counter culture of its time. The fact that an album like this, with commie-loving lyrics, enjoyed some commercial success, despite being so avant-garde, speaks volumes about the importance and influence of underground culture at the time. I’ve always appreciated unique and interesting music, which is probably why I tend to like albums of this list with a wide variance of reviews from listeners. This album isn’t an exception and was a joyful discovery. I fully intent to check out Byrd’s later work, The American Metaphysical Circus.
I found "Do you follow me" to be an excellent song and liked the lyrics of a number of the songs. The music itself however, was uneven at best. I found it interesting overall, so I think it is worth having on the list.
I know this is a weak-ass review, but the truth is I got bored. I listened to the whole thing, but just felt bored and confused - which sucks, because I usually find avant garde stuff interesting. Meh.
While I'm a psych-lover, this record frequently too avant garde for my tastes. The obnoxiously shrill mixes (on the version I listened to, at least) make listening an unsettling experience at times too. All of which is a shame, because this LP is inventive throughout and, in the moments where the songwriting is given space to breathe amid the cacophony of experimental soundscapes and carnival caper ambience, there is some decent stuff going on. I can see why this is hailed as a landmark psych record, but for me it feels like the songs exist purely to showcase the experimentation, rather than the songs being supported and enhanced by all of the studio antics. As I said, it is not all bad, the songs that are allowed to play out in a more traditional format are decent enough, they are just too few and far between.
Hard to believe this came out the same year as The Beatles' "White Album" and Van Morisson's "Astral Weeks". This sounds way ahead of its time. I got Country Joe's "Electric Music for the Mind and Body" a few days ago, and I'd MUCH rather listen to The United States of Ameria. That said, I prob won't be listening to this again any time soon. It's a little too difficult for a casual listen. 3 stars.
Pretty woeful. Bits of song submerged in a sea of funny noises
#720. They're so focused on just how psychedelic they can make it, they forgot to make it good. 2/5: it isn't
Very interesting stuff. I liked it.
As a piece of sociopolitical commentary about America in the late 1960s, I found this work to be the equivalent of the Velvet Underground without the creative influences of Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Moe Tucker, and Andy Warhol, or the musical “Hair,” without the cohesive story arc. In short, I didn’t find it very interesting at all.
While one probably needs to be on drugs to fully grasp what this group was laying down, this is psychedelia that seems to know what it’s doing. Very intriguing, but not something I would ever go back to.
Definitely seemed to be ahead of its time. I kinda like it. Interesting that there aren't any guitars on the album, as there were times I could have sworn I heard some. 3.5* and it's an odd round-up, as I don't see myself coming back to it again.
Hadn't ever heard of this before. It was bonkers but there was a bit too much of it to really get a strong opinion after just one listen
HOoooooOOOO weee my guy, now this is some fireeeeeeeee
It's okay. Not great. Has some interesting moments, but certainly not an album I'll ever need to listen to again.
I'm not sure I was on the right drugs for this one.
Un peu de mal à accrocher au début et puis finalement vraiment pas mal.
Gostei mais ou menos. Um som mais psicodélico, entendo ser de época, mas barulhento demais para meu gosto pessoal.
I started out thinking this was rather good... a bit like Velvet Underground with Nico. It ended up grating rather badly
Easily my favo(u)rite of the batch of obscure US 67/68 albums so far..great humo(u)r and nice sound experimentation/collages, some of which reminded me a little of UK kids TV shows - Magic roundabout and I think Ivor (or was it Thomas)....
Never heard of this band, uniquely interesting, and more listenable than most psychedelia of the era. Not that I’d be racing to listen to it again, but a decent discovery all the same
I’ve never heard of this band or album before, but that guy on the bottom left on the album cover looks a bit like Thurston Moore. I wonder what his story is. But the bigger question is, will I enjoy this album? Before I started this project, I would have emphatically said that I love sixties psychedelic rock. And I think that’s because I imagined that most of it sounded like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” or “Incense and Peppermints.” But as I’ve learned these last few years, that’s not really the case, and I really haven’t enjoyed many of the psychedelic albums on this list. I have no idea what to expect from this album, but I’m interested to find out what’s in store. Unfortunately, this album wasn’t really my speed, because a lot of it was just too weird for my liking. Musically, I found this album to be a bit all over the place. Some songs were cacophonous and chaotic, others were slower and more melodic. It felt like whiplash, how quickly this album would move between these two sounds. I enjoyed the slower and more melodic songs quite a bit more than the more experimental songs on this album, but even the best songs on this album were just okay. Some of the songs on this album would have elements that I enjoyed, like the vocals, or the electronic elements, but rarely would all the elements combine to create something that I enjoyed. The vocals were pretty consistently good, but I wasn’t really into the lyrics that often. I appreciate the band’s ability to get creative with their electronic elements, but most of the time, the end result wasn’t my speed. “Where Is Yesterday” was probably my favorite song on the album. I enjoyed the vocal chanting, the backing vocals, and the deeper bass sound of the music. Other than that song though, this isn’t an album I’d come back to.
I don't know how I love Pink Floyd yet found this so bizarre and cacophonous. Stopped listening halfway through. There were not enough drugs to finish the ride.
There is a reason I’ve never heard of this band. Maybe it was groundbreaking but it’s freaking weird.
I don’t know what this is supposed to to be
Some songs are a bit too experimental even for me, so Pinja must hate them. Lol. But behind that weirdness is actually a very talented band. There's great rhythm sections all over this record and the arrangements are actually quite pretty and catchy despite the quirkyness. Also I can't believe this came out in the 60's, very ahead of its time.
It had some good moments, but perhaps too experimental for me. I was also trying to finish my assignment and this was blasting loudly in my ear so I got a little overwhelmed by the noise hence also a lower rating (sorry).
Interesting, but almost not interesting enough. I’m sure this was mind blowing in the 60s, but the intrigue doesn’t hold up for me.
A few Interesting musical ideas that never rise above caked on hippie pretension and un insightful platitudes
Sorry - the magic mushrooms are out of stock at my local dealer ;-)
1001 Albums Challenge (7/1001) 1. The American Metaphysical Circus (5/5) 2. Hard Coming Love (5/5) 3. Cloud Song (5/5) 4. The Garden of Earthly Delights (5/5) 5. I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar (5/5) 6. Where Is Yesterday (5/5) 7. Coming Down (5/5) 8. Love Song for the Dead Ché (5/5) 9. Stranded in Time (5/5) 10. The American Way of Love (5/5) Total (5/5)
This was a fun re-listen
Okay. Fine.
Completely unbridled creativity. I love insane and weird music because that’s where you always find the musicians with the biggest imaginations. I see the left-wing lyrics often get praised, but one of the most evocative political statements on the album is wordless. The record opens with traditional patriotic American songs playing over each other, creating a hellish soundscape. 4/5
Oh yea, another experimental psychedelic album from the 60s. The songs the woman sang on were mostly good. Some were even great. But the album as a whole is not something I’ll ever listen to again.
Interesting album similar to small faces late 60s psychedelic progue rock
I don't think I'm musically smart enough to like this!
Sombre et inquiétant. Leurs expérimentations diffèrent de celles que j'ai entendues dans ces années, plus solennelles, presque mystiques, dans la parcimonie plutôt que dans la débauche des sens.
Possibly an important historical document. Now turn it off.
I'm not sure I can say I really enjoyed this album, but I'm really glad it was included in the collection, because it's always interesting (to me at least) to get an attempt to do something a bit different. I like their early use of electronic music (sorry, electronic sounds), mixed with very academic-inspired leftist lyrics, and suffused with what I've always imagined "psychedelic rock" is supposed to sound like, all played by a fairly average-sounding band that didn't last very long after the album was released. They didn't exactly succeed in hitting any of their targets, I think, but they get an A for effort/intent. And I love it that there's an adaptation of Winnie-the-Pooh's "Cloud song" nestled amongst various diatribes against American capitalism. Living the USA dream!
I liked getting this album--this is why I stick with this project no matter how many PJ Harvey albums there are. Lots of fun listening and kudos to the band for delivering on their vision.
I'm surprised I had not heard of this band
Was not aware of the existence of this artist or their one album. The Presidents of The United States of America (peaches and what not) but not just The United States of America. Bold choice for a band name and eponymous release. Anyhow. Very psychedelic vibe, Jefferson Airplane meets, I don’t know, maybe the Byrds. Interesting, but not particularly notable to me listening in 2025. Apparently an early example of use of electronic instruments and no guitar, but it was sort of floating out there while I was listening and never pulled me in 100%.
Meh
You remember that guy in college? The one who thought he was a total legend and would come into the student bar with a traffic cone on his head saying “Look at me! I’m crazy!”, then he did too much acid whilst listening to Sgt Peppers and dropped out to go and live on a mushroom farm in Wales. This album is the audio equivalent of that guy. They couldn’t afford $20,000 for Moog synthesisers so they built their own out of cobbled together oscillators and the result sounds like being attacked by a swarm of bees whilst wearing a metal bucket on your head. There are some more traditional psychedelic/prog songs on there with lots of audio tricks that probably sounded clever in 1968 but the result now is just about unlistenable and triggered my tinnitus. The band broke up shortly after releasing their one and only album, and for all anybody knows are still living on a mushroom farm in Wales.
Reading about the album, I was quite excited. And in the end, I didn't find it neither exciting nor really experimental/inventive. I was expecting more, more psychedelia, more crazy ideas, more fun. It's OK, but other albums striked me as much more important in the genre than this one?
this was crazy
Somehow this falls into a music uncanny valley. It almost sounds like music, but it isn't.
I liked this much more than I anticipated. It was sufficiently weird yet fun in a quirky way.
This would have blown my little mind if I hear it when it came out. Still pretty sick but looses some impact with the modern landscape. Its psychedelic. Its bold. It tries a ton of different things and nails it all. With the female vocals it almost reminds me of some Jefferson airplane if they did some more drugs. Its just a great time even today though. And the production on this is crazy for the time. I had to look it up, but he worked with herbie Hancock and id say that tracks pretty damn well. I had fun. Its no the president's of the united states of America but I got a nice lump going on for this album. Gross. But anyway great record that should be listened to more. Give it a whirl with your wood wife
I have listened to this a few times over a few days to really give it a chance as there are sonically a few interesting things going on that were ahead of the curve for an album recorded in 67. Unfortunately the songs themselves are a little derivative beatles pastiches.
The United States of America On the one hand I like the experimentalism of this and its early forays into electronic sounds, on the other hand it didn’t particularly grab me as a whole musical experience, which is often the case with psychedelia of this vintage - the whimsicality doesn't always age well, despite how progressive and exciting it must have been and how influential it might have been subsequently. The opening track is the exactly the kind of track I don’t enjoy, psychedelia plus circus music is not my favourite combo, and a fair few tracks do pass by in a bit of a nondescript blur. But Hard Coming Love is good for the most part, a nice bass sound and groove and I like her vocals. Cloud Song has a decent dreamlike atmosphere. I’m aware of I Wouldn't Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar from a psychedelia compilation I nicked off my parents, but it’s not necessarily my favourite of the genre. Coming Down is probably my favourite track, some great bass and a nice contrast between the music and her vocals, and in parts it sounds a bit like those early 2000s Nouvelle Vague albums. The closing suite is another of those types of songs I’m not keen on, especially as I don’t like the male vocals as much as the female vocals, and there is a bit too much circus clown stuff happening. A bit of a mixed bag, and even if I didn’t enjoy it all, it is at least an interesting album with a few nice highlights and a degree of charm to it, and it probably sits a little above some other albums in this field. I’d probably give it another listen in the right mood, so I think it sneaks a 3. 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲 Playlist submission: Coming Down
These mid to late 60s psychedelic albums are really testing my patience. Oftentimes this one sounds like a one-man-band falling down the stairs. 'The American Metaphysical Circus' - just the name smacks of trying too hard to be whackily psychedelic. It feels like a particularly cynical imitation of 'Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite', but without the melodic chops. "The cost of one admission is your mind" and then a load of circus noise. 'Where is Yesterday' displays real talent for harmony, and the opening choral passage is impressive. This isn't drenched in Wurlitzer and clown horns and manages to escape the dated trappings of the period. 'Love Song for the Dead Che', is a rather enchanting Nico-style chanson, it's sounds very much like The Waeve. 'The Garden of Earthly Delights' really works as a spaced out, Jefferson Airplane-type affair. And the bass works very well here to propel the track with gusto. The female vocalists has a very direct tone, no histrionics and it's the best feature of the album. Where the she gets on the mic, the songs find a certain ambience, and some lovely melancholia that feels the polar opposite of the circus and oompah stuff. An album of just that would've done very nicely.
"The United States Of America" might have been released in 1968, but it perfectly represents the current state of the actual United States... trashy and chaotic, just like this terrible album.
Interesting and eclectic.
Interesting
Meh …. Yeah. That’s all I got.
An uncomfortable listen which keeps you off balance this album is an interesting mix of electronic sounds and Jefferson Airplane-like psychedelia - singer Dorothy Moskewitz even sounds like Grace Slick at times - but the whole is like everyone involved, players, singers and engineers, were on a bad trip. There is pop music, Avantgarde strings, Latin masses, horror movie scores, oompah marching bands, fairground calliopes; the lot seemingly having intentional pitch issues, all a little ‘off key”. I didn’t ’enjoy’ this but would give it another listen. Just not now…
Groupe inconnu. Original pour l'époque, en particulier les instruments électroniques. Je suis allé au bout par curiosité, mais sans vraiment accrocher. =>2/5
I’m sure this would be best enjoyed off your face at a happening. As a stand alone record it does not work.
abysmal
Unusual and sometimes noisy!
This was surprisingly entertaining. There were parts I did not like, but other parts I really did. The mix of vocals from man and women was appreciated. The album was too long though.
Anyone seen "Mandy"?
My least favorite area in Disneyland is the Alice in Wonderland teacups. Not because of how nausea inducing they are, but because of my deep seated hatred of the calliope. So when this album started with a cacophony of discordant calliope, I felt I had landed myself in the deepest layer of Hell. Which is quite fitting when you consider the current state of the bands namesake. I was happy that they used it sparingly after. But a side effect of this list having so many god damn lates 60s psychedelic rock albums is that I can't appreciate them anymore. So the rest of the album was fine. It is probably better if you haven't been burned out by this authors weird obsession with the genre.
Almost gave it two stars for its experimentation and pioneering use of synths but my God is this awful.
It was nice. Nothing spectacular.
I've discovered through this project that I like hippy music much more than I thought I did. However this album is a bit much, even for me...
This is an interesting artifact. It wasn't to my tastes.
Странная фигня
Really just not my type of music
I can see why this was big in the 60s/70s while you were tripping or just hanging out. I definitely do not want to listen to it ever again.
Cool production and instrumentation. Performances are all solid. Songwriting is a bit lacking, making it kind of a slog to get through. Garden of Earthly Delights is a highlight. I was relieved to see i was listen to the deluxe edition, and the album wasn't actually 20 tracks long
what a revolutionary album for the time. it's very experimental and pushes the bounds of sampling and effects for the time. that's all the positives i can say for this album. it is far from properly listenable, i could not imagine listening to this album again without it giving me a headache haha. i see it more as a piece of art rather then like... actual music, even though there are songs which have the conventional music flow haha.
I was initially scared of the amount of experimental undertones this album had in its first minute; however, it wasn't too bad. Not my taste, especially as the album isn't grounded and feels like it floats around with nothing special that would make it good.
Never heard of this group before, but this is pretty good for psychedelic rock. Sometimes there's a little too much going on for my tastes, but some of the songs really clicked for me, like Garden of Earthly Delights and Love Song for the Dead Che. 3/5
I've listened to this album before and it's very good. It seems like it would be pretty out there in 1968. I wonder what they would have made if they kept at it. 3.75/5
~What the f@ those guys in a little plastic box recording songs while travelling trough space-time
This reminded me of Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, and a little Led Zepplin. Very unique sound and feel.
A bit 'doors' like, a bit random, a bit meandering. very 60's
The garden of earthly delights Stranded in time The American way of love Discordant but in an enjoyable way sometimes
Circus sounds. Very 60s kinda psych rock I think? Enjoyable, but probably won't listen again. 6/10
Really did not enjoy this one. Did not like the vocalist nor the psychadelic sound scapes which really annoyed me. Clearly an important album with how it uses production and eletronic effects all the way back in 1968 but that does not mean I enjoyed it. No stand out tracks.to me.
Had a really good time with this. This seems like it would’ve been a blast live.
That goofy ass circus sounding song started the album off poorly, in my opinion, but I dug the 60’s acid / psych sound for the most part. I can see this being big with avant-garde artsy types like Andy Warhol and his crew of drugged out weirdos. 3.5⭐️ rounding up because I like drugs and weirdos
Never heard of these folks....love the psychedelia of it.
This is one of those albums that needs to hit you on the right day, when you have time to lay back, chill and “experience” it. Unfortunately for me, I got this on an extremely busy Tuesday when I had no time for anything except work and chores around the house. Under other circumstances the psychedelic avante garde nature of their experimental would probably be cool and different. But to me today, it was confusing and I didn’t connect. I should give it another go when I’m in the right mindset. 3⭐️
I'm sure this is fine, but im a long long way into this project now, and im really not in the mood for wanky shit with nothing about it. I've become jaded and honestly despite my reviews of areosmith albums on this list I'd rather just listen to Jaded for 40 mins than this It just feels so try hard. Things that are fine but with weird sound affects over the top because im assuming they heard revolver and thought, we'll just make something weird!!. This will be five 2* in a row, which makes everything a bit daunting, im pretty sure there is going to be a lot more of this kind of thing in the last 200, and that just makes the whole thing feel like a task instead of enjoyment
Much better than expected, trippy hippy 60s folk
I thought this was interesting for a once through, but wouldn't come back for more. The 60s has been perhaps the most consistently interesting decade to explore through the list.
An experimental rock record that actually means it. There’s no shiny guitar licks or sprawling arrangements with “psych rock” slapped on it here. This is actually bona fide weird 60s shit. LSD is a hell of a drug. Tons of ideas and textures here. I’m impressed it holds together as well as it does. The engineering choices are really interesting as well. That being said, there are definitely pages from The Beatles playbook here. Kind of a curiosity. I’ll have to revisit it to really get my teeth in there.
The opening track was honestly off-putting, but it became better after that. The strangeness of the music was sort of mesmerizing at times, but it’s probably not an album I would regularly reach for.
At its best when it's being weird, which is unfortunately not all the time, because sometimes it's being a Jefferson Airplane clone with charged lyrics. I wonder if time has dulled its edge, since a lot of the stuff happening here is no longer no and exciting (save the opening track, which is fucking WILD and genius). That said, it's very good and the only reason I'm not giving it a 5 star is because, at its worst, it sounds a little too stuck in 1968 for something that's supposed to be so avant-garde. Hater hat, though, because otherwise this is a real gem. I'd call it forgotten because I've never heard of it, but there's a whole list of albums I've never heard of so not sure about that.
Not my thing.
This was twisted and sinister. I felt I was hearing a horror film. I did not enjoy it but I recognize it should be good in the genre of they are able to produce in me those emotions and atmospheres.
good
Beautiful proto-prog.
this album sounds like the creators of the it’s a small world theme song dropped some acid and just fucking ran with it
Heroin music, but not the good kind.
Im not sure what this is. Avant Garde? I do know I loved it.
kinda cool
Did not age well
It was interesting, I can see the goodness of it but it's not my taste.
After the initial shock, this album grows on you. This is firmly in the psychedelic department all the way through, and heavily influenced by The Beatles' White album and Sgt. Pepper, without reaching their level, but with enough ideas to hold its own. 3/5
- ne man, ich kann das nicht. Mag vielleicht revolutionär gewesen sein, aber dieser avantgardistische Bums macht mir einfach bisher absolut keinen Spaß - anstrengend und gerade heute bin ich dafür absolut nicht in Stimmung. Habe mir die meistgehörten Tracks angehört. Einer davon war okay-ish, aber ansonsten einfach nur eine Qual 1 – Konnte ich gar nichts mit anfangen 😬 Hat mich nicht angesprochen, kein Zugang gefunden – weder musikalisch noch emotional. Eher Qual als Genuss.
Curious album for me
For what you’d expect to be yet another one of those ‘foundational’ albums - one that preceded presumably better, more developed music - it holds its own, and then some. You can check a lot of boxes here. Late 60s, vague talk of injustice, rights of man, and of course its status as the only album that The United States of America ever released. A great name, if you ask me. Well, this was before a lot of band names were already taken, so you might as well have a cool one. You’ll be lulled by expected psychedelic whimsy in the opening track, and of course the tracks with the most whimsical titles, especially I Won’t Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar. It’s quick to step in and out of the whimsy and to enter the simply insane, too. At points the music will jolt you back into focus, where you’ll probably utter “what the fuck?”, or something of that similar dumbfounded expletive nature. You could call this proto-a-lot-of-rock, as whilst it isn’t among the first rock records by any means, it certainly inspired a lot of the real greats of the 70s and onward. Nowhere near as well-known as, say, The Velvet Underground & Nico, but every bit as confident.
One of the worst names a band could have. Surprisingly a great album despite their lack of imagination in creating a band name. There’s some really innovative 60s sounds in here that consistently had me bobbing my head. The lead singers voice is angelic and a time capsule of that 60s era vocalization. My only negative, other than the band name, was that the second half of the album had a bunch of repeats? I phrase that as a question because I am unsure if they were different takes of the same song or not and I am too lazy to do a complete analysis. 7/10
Uhhh..... First "song" was horrendous but USA saved itself with some of the later songs... barely. I feel like this was some shit slapped together in a college studio that was not meant to go far but somehow did.
18k monthly listeners on Spotify for a reason. This is terrible.
1968 was a different time, wasn't it? Without being indoctrinated as a flower child, I would not have been a fan of this back then, and I'm certainly not a big fan now. Also, that's the best they could come up with for a band name?
The really abstract circus-like sound collages were too much for me and the tracks featuring this were an exercise in patience and really drug this album down. Otherwise, enjoyed this very sixties eclectic mix of styles.
ciekawa pozycja, bo jest to jedyny album bandu the united states of america, rzuca on wyzwanie rokowaniu tworzac albumik bez uzycia gitary, wiec 37 minut plyty jest przepelnione awangardowym brzmieniem dziwnych instrumentow i elektroniki, a to przeciez rok 68, gdzie syntezatory dopiero raczkowaly, poza tym sporo wnosza wokale pani dorothy moskowitz, ktora jest tutaj glownym glosem, a jej zmiennosc barwy jest tak duza, ze z kawalka na kawalek potrafi brzmiec calkiem inaczej, wiec ladnie poczarowane w efektach zeby takie brzmienie wokalne uzyskac, nie wiem czy nazywac album psychodelicznym, ale ma w sobie cos tripowego, bo jak inaczej nazywac album na ktorym po kawalku o groomowaniu uczennicy wchodzi kolejny zaczynajacy sie chorkami koscielnymi po lacinie, no i jest to kolejna pozycja na liscie ktora idzie w lewym kierunku mocy, stad tez pewnie prowokacyjna nazwa krazla/bandu, bo pan byrd byl chyba sympatkiem hamerykanskiej partii komunistycznej, co tez slychac na love songu for the dead che czy troche subtelniej na stranded in time, a pewnie na innych trakach tez mozna sie doszukac skrawkow ideologicznych z lewej strony, ale tak czy inaczej byl to dziwnie przyjemny odsluch, nie bylo czuc braku gitary, ktora niemal sie materializuje na zamykajacym krazek the american way of love w jej pierszych dwoch minutach, na plejke dodam wspomniany stranded in time oraz i wont leave my wooden wife for you, sugar
3/10
Je m'en suis sortis vivant, mais pas indemne. Je suis 100% pour l'expérimentation musicale, tant que j'ai pas à l'écouter. En vrai, il y a des moments nices, mais tsé, à quelle prix? Ça mérite un 3 de participation, mais je ni retourne pas de ci-tôt
Not the worst psychedelic music out there, however track 1 really wants to play all of the circus sounds at once.
Pomp and circusstance...electro-whirligigs are birds in flight...impulse incentivizes instrumentation...it's the United States of America...and not entirely terrible, thanks largely to Moskowitz's Slick-like vocals, but certainly an overly long electric kool-aid acid mess...fitting, no?
Not my thing very hippie
Kind of a snooze. If the lyrics were political it was hard to tell with how soft the vocals were. Nothing stood out. High 2.
As 1968 psychedelic as it gets. Fine but don't need to listen again.
Trippy but not particularly exciting or memorable for me. I could see why someone loves or hates this but I felt neither. Maybe I needed to listen more closely.
This starts off sounding eery, like the effects make it so the sounds feel like they are coming from somewhere beyond the speaker in my laptop. I can imagine this would be wild with stereospeakers. That being said, I'm not sure the first song is entirely good, but certainly psychedelic, in a way that many bands from this era with that label don't achieve. Second song is a better track, and with the same echo-like effect, and something that sounds like tracks played backwards. Maybe slide guitar reversed? Hard to tell. Some moments get pretty goofy--like on too many mushrooms goofy. Wooden Wife is a good example, and the first track on the album. I'll definitely have to go back and listen to this under the influence at some point. With Where is Yesterday, the album hits its strongest song yet, and Coming Down is solid as well. Definitely Jefferson Airplane vibes here with the female/male harmony. In fact, that comparison comes in and out throughout the album. It's kind of like they took what Surrealistic Pillow accomplished and tried to push it further, with mixed results unfortunately. The high points are right there on that wavelength though. There are some more circus tracks after that, and plenty of marching band music, skipable stuff really that screams of "too many drugs" rather than the right amount of drugs. 3/5
Better than Coldplay
Was that samplings?
It's hard to remain objective when an album is this annoying. Anyways, this is a cool album to talk about, less so to listen to (for me). LSD and sonic experimentation go together like smoking weed and doing laundry.
When it's not just noise, the songwriting was actually okay
***An ok album, easy listening
A lot of interesting concepts, and they definitely had a particular point of view. Great addition to this list.
Loved the blend of sounds. Feels like the album tries to embody the “melting pot” motto with how many different tempos it combines
Nice.
Bad acid trip involving killer clowns and homicidal acrobatic weirdos.
This is definitely a weird album, but not so weird that it's altogether unlistenable. However, it also doesn't really lean far enough into its weirdness to be worth one's time listening to it, instead it sort of meanders around in its own avant-garde way and comes out the end having not had much to say at all.
Ništa genijalno ali ipak zanimljivo. Ima bolje i gore dijelove, poprilično izrazite. Bolji imaju odličnih ideja. Gori su poprilično dosadni uprkos izrazitoj psihedeliji.
what. the first minute of the first song sounds like if you stitched a marching band and a circus together. and the rest sounds mostly like a normal psych song. and i dont know why but everything on this album sound diferent from each other. so weird. so when people asked me "where were you when we were getting high?", i can say "well... here?" 3/5
Psychedelic, experimental, and creative ... but the lyrics are sometimes too hyper-focused on the issues of that era. As a result, it feels that the band spends more time trying to make political statements than they do creating and exploring an interesting melody.
Experimental psychedelic rock. I get it, it might've been ground breaking and pushing boundaries and the precursor to lots of cool music, but that doesn't mean I necessarily enjoyed it. It just felt all over the place to me. There were some things I felt that worked, but the rest just dind't connect for me. That's not to say I think it's bad, I think it's well made music, it just isn't for me. Standouts: Hard Coming Love, Coming Down Rating: 3/5
Relatively enjoyable late 60s psychedelic rock. Looking album though. Would get a higher rating if listened to while on acid.
60s sci fi, proto prog rock, mixed with typical 60's flower child vibes. Really interesting listen, but likely not going to revisit this.
Really annoying music. Sounds like some college students got their hands on their parents equipment and pressed "record" without any practice.
I do not like prog. I also don't like the American version of prog (no idea why these are separate categories) - avant-garde.
Good and bad in equal measure but also bonkers in places.
I really enjoyed that! Plenty of nonsense, but a few really good tracks that make me wonder why I have never heard of them before. The singer’s voice is perfect for the music and like all the best 60s stuff the music seems timeless.
Two quirky west coast 60s albums in a week, what’s not to like. Less ‘fun’ than the Prunes, but equally varied. As is always the way with more experimental albums, you only really remember the songs that are less so. But it’s entertaining to hear the electronic bits and random noises, even if for obvious reasons they are not slick in the mix. Decent singer as well. I have listened to this in the past, and it didn’t leave much in the memory. Doubt this listen will either, but would happily come back again.
A mix of psychedelia, experimental and proto-prog that, at first listen whilst trying to get my head around parts of my new job, went completely over my head and at over an hour, went on for ages! I've come back to it again just to see what I'd missed and realised that I'd been listening to a load of bonus tracks and the album is actually a very palatable 37 mins. With the headspace too, it's quite enchanting too and I was amazed to read that they have no guitarist, instead using _"strings, keyboards and electronics, including primitive synthesizers, and various audio processors"_ to create their sound. This comes alongside soundscapes and effects evoking sci-fi, low-key horror and the circus. It feels very ahead of it's time, that being 1968 and it's perhaps no surprise given the lukewarm reception of the album at the time, and the apparent infighting, that this was their only album and they would split, or from the sounds of it, more like slowly crumble to nothing.... great shame!
Not my style
Didn’t interest me
What? CW-ass album.
I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would
Disclaimer: Clowns were hurt in the making of this album Positives: I understand what the band were trying to do with this album. It's definitely out of the box and very creative. Negatives: The first song is very creepy. I get the feeling of impending doom from the rest of the album. It tries very hard to be creative but misses the mark. Just when you think it's getting good it beers wildly off course. Also why are there so many clown horns?
Could we please have all the members of the band play the same song at the same time?!?
Consider this along the lines of 1960’s Mothers of Invention, but less humor. It’s experimental, culturally conscious, experimental again, and psychedelic. If your platform contains all the bonus tracks, listen to the alternate version of “I Won’t Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar.” That is worth the foray into this material. Also enjoyed “You Can Never Come Down.” Anyway, 4/5 because there’s plenty of room left in my heart for more experimental, psychedelic 60s rock.
It is very strange to listen to an incredibly experimental album from a band that regularly experimented with mind-altering, recreational chemicals - or at least the genre named for the general result of those chemicals. Regardless, this album navigates the fine line of experiment and good art deftly. While it is not as accessible or groovy as the more popular psychedelic rock bands, it is quite good. In fact, it got better and better as it went along. This is a good listen!
frankly boring, no good ideas
every song is either moderately terrifying or i forgot about it as soon as it ended. not a 1/10 because it isnt really boring, but i would never listen again. 2/10
I love weird leftist shit
An album so of its own breed that you wonder how every album can’t be this kind of unique listening experience.
que trem bom vei fui total no preconceito e sai maravilhado.
esse eh o tipo de coisa que eu esperava encontrar na lista hein. psicodelia do fim dos anos 60 sem guitarra nenhuma, só sons elétricos e um baixão fretless!!! lembra um pouco velvet underground, mas fazer o quê. achei top demais. possivelmente ficarei obcecado por uns dias!!
This is what Jefferson airplane thought they were doing 4.5*
Lots of skill checks daft tracks (including track 1) to see if you still want to go ahead and listen, but aside from these it’s an interesting trippy 60s listen. Pretty sure I heard a sample of the Billy Boys though which I’d never have expected in a million expectations
This is funky. It's cool. Not an every day listening, but that's fine. Like if the Mamas and the Papas met Flower Travelin Band at Jefferson Starship.
Wild psychedelia with... checks notes... a calliope! Some slide-whistle shows up here and there too. I don't know what the fuck this is but I'm not hating on it.
This felt like a parody of itself. Tried real hard.
Sounds like Peter, Paul, and Mary took a bad trip!
muy raro, medio experimental y rock?
Imagine the music that would be played while a clown hacks you to death with a candy cane shaped into a axe and that's what it sounds like Update: This album caused a migraine
Truly interesting and innovative for the time.
Fuckin weird and kinda loved it.
4/5
Many parts of this were actually painful. And by that I mean I literally got a headache listening to it.
It’s like an author who has a fantastic story idea but who isn't a very good writer. It’s interesting for what it inspired in more capable hands, but it’s not very fun to listen to.
1.5
I actually really liked this a good bit, but not bowled over by it. I think it's influential, in as much as it's still kind of the ground level of electronic music as a means . There's actually no guitars on this album except for the electronic fretless base, which I guess doing the only guitar like sounds in there. I find the canopy rather interesting, even though the songs aren't necessarily there. I hear a good bit Airplane, Floyd, and VU influence, with a touch of the Beatles. But as I said, other than "Hard Come Loving", and to me the very Beatlesque track on here "Stranded In Time", I find the music pretty much lesser versions of pop songs of 66 & 67, yet still quite palatable. I do despise, however, the fact that they ended the album with a musique concrète piece "Love Is All", but at least that predates "Revolution #9" by a good six months or more, and much shorter. All in all, I think Silver Apples would probably be a better example of late 60s electronic music in the late than this. (7.6) ★★★½
Too carnevalesque for my taste. 3 stars
I'm not too crazy about the United States of America. Parts of it were alright, but then the rest of it is just like psychedelic circus music. It's like they learned all the wrong lessons from the Beatles. Some nice fuzz bass helps it a little, but I don't think the songs are that good. 2.5 stars.
The Poo-nited States Of Poo-merica. There must be 15 other Beach Boy albums, a few other Lovin’ Spoonful and at least 1 more Jefferson Airplane album from the 60s that are worthier for inclusion than this bleh, inessential hipsy dipsy craptrap.
Its a diverse album and from a distinctive era of music, i couldnt really get into it though
Che esto me encantó. Es super flashero y adelantado a su época. Definitivamente lo volveré a escuchar. Nota: 4.0
Beatles copycat psychedelic music but not the best
I kind of wish it was weirder, like this album really could have benefited from some Frank Zappa vocals. I think it’s a thing where the whole is greater than the sum of its part, but a lot of the parts fucking suck. The drummer is just bad. I can’t tell if his drums just sound bad or if he’s not technically skilled. Also Garden of Earthly Delight is such a great example of a shitty ass 1960s song. Like it’s the best song on the album, but SOMEONE went to art school and needs to flex their nerd knowledge. Ergot, lemonous, choleric, and carrion are all words that don’t need to be in the same song you dork. Anyway, this is fine. Every now and then they do something I enjoy.
Was pretty good.
1.7
Clown music fits the USA theme i guess
Avant garde psychedelic music with some slight jazz influences is certainly a mash up. Can't say I'm a fan. Psychedelic music is already a genre I'm not crazy about, but the sloppy avant garde angle isn't helping. Mostly its fine when it's just treading in a mostly psychedelic area, otherwise its a tougher listen. Songs like I Wouldn't Trade My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar, and The American Metaphysical Circus are not great. Stuff like Hard Coming Love and Cloud Song are decent enough. I will say, when it doesn't sound like a clown trying to make psychedelic music, the vibes are some of the most interesting in psychedelic music (Where Is Yesterday). This record being an hour long is tough though. Not really my thing overall.
The United States of America was an LA-based band that recorded only one, self-titled album. The band's work is an early example of progressive rock; they used a range of instruments and very early versions of electronic effects in compositions that are closer to experimental jazz than anything found in most "rock" bands. Singer Dorothy Moskowitz's vocals add a distant, almost cold, sense to the band's work. The band was critically acclaimed, but found very little commercial success, and broke up soon after the release of their album. These are interesting, challenging songs, with an impressive range of instrumentation and sound effects. The band's avant-garde version of rock is a development in 60s psychedelic rock towards the prog rock sounds of the 70s.
Kokeellinen ja aikaansa edellä, vaikkakin ei ihan itselle nappaa. Hieman turhan pitkä myös.
Psychedelic rock with an art rock theme, political circus music gives way to Sgt. Pepper. I really liked The Garden Of Earthly Delights, Coming Down, and Stranded In Time, but a lot of the rest of the album gets bogged down in the theme (common with art rock in my opinion) and is less enjoyable while being more weird. If this album was cut in half I'd probably like it much more.
This album started out a little bit too experimental for my taste, and I almost abandoned it early, but I stuck it out and it got better as it went on. The layering of instruments on top of the main groove felt a little awkward at times, but the vocals were pleasant and the music was interesting and unique. Not one I'd revisit, but glad I listened.
Viel instrumental, musikalisch eher roh. Ganz ok. 2/5
Trippy... might give it another listen while exploring my inner mind 🍄
I get the 60s psychedelic thing. This was just noise
I couldn't even make it through this album - I don't think I took enough LSD this morning to appreciate this one.
Pretty weird. Pretty cool.
So weird, so eclectic, so ahead of their time. There are some horrible tracks here, but 4-7 + 9 are really good psychedelic pop songs. Best tracks: Where is Yesterday and Stranded in Time
On the extreme end of psychedelic 60s, sometimes a little too out there but it has some pretty engaging moments.
Very experimental, she has a beautiful voice. I actually knew a song off the album, falls right into my 60s psychedelic phase. It's definitely an acquired taste but good.
This was so weird. I thought it was going to be the PRESIDENTS of the USA so when the music started I was in for a big surprise. Not a good one
This is one I’m going to have to come back to fully… one of those albums that should be listened to in full to be truly appreciated before one makes a full opinion of it. What I did hear is of its time period (especially the stereo mixing where the drums are all coming out of one side of the stereo picture) but still worth it.
A bit of a mess but some good stuff in there. I don't think I'd consider this essential listening though.
Nah dog this aint for me The female vocals were nice, the rest not so much
This album left me confused and a bit scared honestly.
There are some interesting moments on this record, mostly the weirder psychedelic moments. Otherwise its a bit boring. I think this music would have been pretty groundbreaking for its time given the use of electronic sounds, but that kind of style has a long way to go from here before its halfway interesting for me.
I appreciate it was probably ahead of its time but not for me.
Someone listened to too much Sgt. Pepper. A few neat songs but otherwise weird and it hurt my ears.
Not the best, didn't like the dissonant sounds
Thought provoking and interesting sounds.
4/10…psychedelic rock
Almost unlistenable to me. Strange, disjointed and hokey.
Monumental trip (in a good way).
No thanks
Very weird, physadekic, groovy,experimental. I did not expect to like it but it was really good
These guys can taste the snozzberries. They've caught the dragon. The Pink Elephant goes to these guys for his hookups. You think a simple 1 to 5 number scale would work for an album like this? They're so beyond numbers they CAN even.
It was alright
Just cause it's experimental doesn't mean it's good.
Improved as it went on.
Some brilliant ideas that don't come together.
The 60s. Wow.
This album was quite bizarre. I sort of felt like I was going on a weird trip whilst listening to it. It's very abstract, not something you listen to with other people for sing-along stuff that's for sure. Overall it was interesting to listen to.
Hot Mess.
Sounds like what would come out if you had an AI create an album based on "60's psychedelic rock, female vocalist, political themes, American Sgt Pepper." I guess the impressive thing is that it sounds like that, but was made long before albums were made that way. Interesting to hear how non-Beatles groups were creating derivatives of that sound, but I didn't have enough acid to get into this one.
A few ok moments but mostly garbage, none of which I would ever choose to listen to
I wasn't expecting much as soon as this album began, but for experimental psychedelic music it could have been much worse. Listenable.
Straight link from this to Stereolab, surely?
3.4 2x solid but nothing noteworthy.
Most of this wasn’t too bad but some of it was really bad. They should’ve picked the one with that millions of peaches, peaches for me song on it.
If watery diarrhea was music, it would be this shit. It’s experimental yet somehow derivative at the same time. I’d much rather stub my toe than listen to this again.
A PROPER psychedelic freakout
Awful
Crazily jam-packed album. So many songs were actually three songs, even if they were only a few minutes. I really liked the classical themes, as well as the imagery a lot of the lyrics conjured up. Very weird sounds at times, but overall a nice experimental album.
Really crazy, hated the first 10 or so minutes but eventually got it. Gotta keep reminding myself its from 1968, very cool!
I had no idea what to expect. Never heard of this album. I thought it was good. Reminded me of early Jefferson Airplane.
Not for me at all. Too out there. sounded like music from a scary circus
The top top top tier of psych. Fuzzy, atmospheric, full of epic hooks and things to fire your imagination from any genre you can imagine and some that you can’t. It doesn’t get any better.
liked this one a lot. interesting and experimental, amusing lyrics. good stuff
Interesting, quirky. Not really my thing but I enjoyed the oddness of it all anyway.
So, my wife said this sounds like the music that plays when a clown comes round to murder you and we were both like "Rock on, baby!".
Just not into the old psychedelic stuff and this is particularly trash...
What was this album supposed to be?
Absolute garbage. As someone in the comments said: "this is the music that is playing when a clown comes to murder you". Truly painful to listen to. These pricks couldn't make music to save their life ... Favorite songs: Stranded in Time Least favorite songs: The American Metaphysical Circus, Hard Coming Love, Cloud Song, The Garden of Earthly Delights, The American Way of Love, Osamu's Birthday, No Love to Give, Tailor Man, Coming Down...and others.....I lost interest. It's all garbage... 1/5
Love Song For The Dead Che //