Reviews (page 5 of 7)
I liked this a lot more than I expected. Excellent musicians and really good song writing. I liked that pushes the edge of experimental music rather than breaking the bounds. Some experimental music just gets too far out there. Not necessarily a bad thing, just that it becomes less enjoyable as listening music and more of studying music, if that makes sense.
Yeah this was interesting
The United States of America is a new band and new music for me. My best guess at classifying this music is Psychodelic ¿Folk? Psychedelia is interesting to me more often than not. "Coming Down", "Love Song for the Dead Ché", "Stranded in Time" got my attention and could attract a second listen. I wasn't sure what to do with some of the oddities like "I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar". I did not like "The American Metaphysical Circus", but that was because it was two (¿or three?) songs being played at once and I don't like that much noise. ¿Did I like the album? I'm not sure. ¿Did I dislike the album? No. (2.5 rounding up to 3)
Na bist du die sind schräg. Progressiv! Oder einfach nur Drogen?Eh geil, aber unruhig macht mich das schon. Die ganzen Instrumente im Hintergrund sind irre... Bin total hin und her gerissen zwischen voll interessant und kaum auszuhalten. The Mars Volta der 60er...und Drogen
Geil experimentell, von Zirkus bis Jefferson Airplane alles dabei, teilweise voll dicht und bunt, am ende aber bissl beliebig und ohne roten faden
eclectic
Of the experimental sounds of the 60s, this one didn't grab me at the same level
Weird, but nice..... But weird
Who gave these cats a record contract?? That's what I want to know. It is THOROUGHLY weird, but thankfully vibes with my specific brand of attention- and hyperactivity-related deficits. I will be returning to this a few times. I feel like they took Sgt Pepper's a few steps into another dimension. Also sounds GREAT for being recorded and mixed 50 years ago. The bass, drums and voice are clear and deep. Could really do without the pipe organ cameos tho. Circus music doesn't belong anywhere.
Respect for that experimental content.
It's difficult to listen to this and appreciate how it sounded in the context of the time. Hearing it now, it doesn't sound particularly unusual or ground breaking, but it's enjoyable nonetheless
This is pretty weird. Impressively weird for 1968. Like the previous album by Grizzly Bear, it stays just the right side of weird to be more fun an interesting than it is annoying. 2.5/5.
Interesting group…. Was OK
In a word: quirky. Apparently this was the only album made by the band, and what an album it is. Mostly quite psychedelic, with plenty of tinges of folk and Americana. The lyrics are pretty interesting too, putting the utopian American lifestyle under scrutiny in a much different way than our previous album from Curtis Mayfield. Where it doesn't work for me is stuff like the off-key, wonky carnival music. It serves a purpose, but it makes listening less enjoyable. I made the mistake of listening to a one hour version with ten bonus tracks, so the length bugged me but it makes sense that the album proper is less than 40 minutes. I would've enjoyed that more, but still a surprisingly good album. Favorite tracks: Hard Coming Love, I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife, Osamu's Birthday, Where Is Yesterday. Album art: Nothing very interesting. Band photos in the shape of a vinyl record? As if to say "We Are Musicians." Doesn't do enough to denote how weird the album is. 3.5/5
Better than other psychedelic rock. I zoned out for a period of time while listening to the album. 2.5
about 250 ugs
Psych rock needs to be really good for me to enjoy it. It wasn't bad, but great for the tech limitations.
3/5 - Interesting, but not for me
Trippy, fun little record.
A very good album, shame there isn’t more from them.
Not sure
Kind of a mess. But, it's supposed to be, after all, the cost of one admission is your mind. I'm not sure if the price was right though. Standouts: American Metaphysical Circus - It's an interesting mess of a song. I Won't Leave My Wooden Life For You. Full of unnecessary sound effects. Could have been on the Dr. Demento playlist. Stranded in Time. The most Beatle song on the album. Not bad though.
Moments in here, will give this a more intense listen as it is not an easy background album
It's a bit rough around the edges, but some cool early electronic/psychadelic music
Not available on my end
strange but compelling. sometimes sounded like foxygen, sometimes like the dead kennedys, sometimes like a little boy playing the fife. not the best running music
Old timey JPEGmafia
Yeah, not bad. Suffers a fair bit from the rather quaint production job, which was seemingly "reverb up to 11", the musicianship doesn't quite match ambition. However, there's definitely some craft and charm to this quirky little curio. I really liked the female vocals, almost offhand and diffident in delivery. A couple of songs stick, most faded almost as soon as the album stopped, but a pleasant trip whilst it lasted.
I get it but not my thing
First off: WTF with this band name and album title. And the song titles seem SUPER heavy handed. These folks had to have been on a shit ton of drugs. Didn't love this one, but I didn't hate it either.
Count on the avant-garde to keep it weird. Not hearing the legendarily subversive screed I was promised here. Killer Mike voice: I’m glad Che’s dead. 5/10
3.5/5 kind of dreamy, kind of psychedelic. some better than others
If I had to sum this album up in one word that word would be “drugs.” If I had to sum it up in four words those words would be “a lot of drugs.” Odd bird that it is, I still enjoyed a wide swath of it. Way, way too long for its own good (see above) and not something I’m likely to return to. But if you told me this album influenced a whole slew of musicians that I like a lot I would not be surprised in the least. Because all musicians are drug addicts.
molto hippy primi elettronici anni 70
Weeeeeeeird album. Velvet Underground but weirder.
Interesting
I somehow thought it was president of the united states haah Not a bad bang tho, they only have that album
"You can never come down" is definitely worth a listen - v funky baseline and lyrically great also. "Do you follow me" definitely touched a nerve with me, especially the 'do you wanna feel real' line.
Would give this a half star if it was an option. I could hear a lot of similarities to other bands I like in this. Also a lot of weirdness I did t really like.
headache
No standouts
To be fair, I just wasn’t in the mood.
Didn’t love this one. With a name like this was expecting a patriotic album for the 4th but apparently not
I was headed towards making this a 1 when I first started listening to it. It’s like this band wanted to be Jefferson Airplane and came up woefully short. Frankly, I don’t know what this album is doing on here, as there are plenty of better psychedelic rock albums out there. I will say though that Coming Down redeemed this a bit for me. A very good track. 2 stars.
Elements of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, early Fairport Convention, and even a bit of King Crimson mix around here and interact in interesting ways. Unfortunately, there is way too much shrill electronic noise, swirling circus music, and other sounds that get in the way of enjoying what is actually pretty good music. There's potential here; it's just smothered under too much avant-gardeness, which makes it actively unpleasant to listen to far too much of the time.
I only listened to this yesterday. But feel like I didn't.
Hat mir leider nicht so gut gefallen, fand es irgendwie inkonsequent in seiner Gestaltung? Habe es aber auch auf Boxen, nicht mit Kopfhörern angehört…
You would think this would be some super politically charged punk but really it’s just some annoying early electronic.
jag vill inte lyssna på mer 60-tal!
This was an extremely weird album. I did not enjoy it, but it was more interesting than some of the things I’ve had to listen to.
This one starts off rough. It takes a long time to find its footing, and the opening stretch is so experimental that it comes across as more harsh than enjoyable. There are interesting ideas buried in there, but the album makes you work pretty hard to get to them. To its credit, it does improve as it goes along. Once the songs become a little more structured and the experimentation feels like it's serving the music rather than dominating it, I found myself enjoying it more. Unfortunately, by that point the album had already spent a lot of time testing my patience, and it ultimately overstays its welcome. I'll keep saying it: experimental psychedelic rock is just not my thing. I've run into enough albums from this corner of the late '60s to know that I have a hard time being completely impartial when judging them. I can appreciate the creativity, the willingness to push boundaries, and the influence these records had on future artists, but appreciation and enjoyment are two different things.
I’ve had enough of this
Late 60’s psychedelia at its finest.
Ok 2/5
another first listen. sometimes i think maybe im too harsh on 60s psych and then i will sit down and listen to a 60s psych album and i remember why i hold so much disdain for it. at least its short. favorite tracks: Where Is Yesterday, Love Song for the Dead Che, Stranded in Time
Nope, detta gillade jag inte. Tråkigt och flummigt på ett mindre kul sätt. Samma sak genom hela albumet. Orkade inte ens lyssna på alla låtar. Kul historia att de var ett av de första psykedeliska banden (aldrig hört talas om dem förut).
Eh
This was fine, but I really just wanted it to be over.
Pretty impressive for '68 but I think the recording equipment really stumps how good this could've sounded. Some moments I felt like my ears were about to explode with how ear-piercing the instrumentation was. Although, there were some good ideas here. I didn't outright hate it but if it were recorded in the modern times it definetly would've blown up in the indie scene. Great bass lines all-around and the vocals didn't seem out of place. Favourite tracks: Hard Coming Love, The Garden of Earthly Delights, Stranded In Time 2/5
A few of the tracks were OK but most of it was too weird. An OK album.
If I am ever kidnapped by clowns for experimental testing, this is the album that I’m taking with me.
Eh, not really my thing at all. Cool backstory behind the album, and definitely avant garde. But I don't think I'll ever listen to this again.
it started off actually listenable
Most annoying beginning of an album ever.
Didn’t care for it much but glad I listened to it. It was unique and interesting, but I didn’t like most of the tracks.
Lots of caliope duckwalk BS on here and it's way long. No thanks.
Has not stood the test of time. Stopped listening after 5 songs, it was just annoying.
I enjoyed Stranded in Time, and there were a couple of other moments that I thought were cool but overall I didn't find much to like. Psychedelic rock remains my least favorite genre.
Some interesting sounds. The distorted bass gives this a unique feel, and the lyrics are poignant. Kind of a mess production- and composition-wise though.
A lot. This album was a lot. I see the vision in the music, but the frequent use of high pitch/ overriding noise made several songs unlistenable (opening of track 2-had to skip whole song)
From the opening circus music, I felt like it was album of satire, sadly it was not.
This was incredibly dumb. Just because it's weird and *artsy* doesn't mean it's good. Just a bunch of wack carnival sounds with some lyrics overtop that I didn't care about. The delivery for much of it was pretty robotic and bland.
sounded like the Spinal Tap version of psych rock....
6/10 - My journey with this album is just as weird as this album is. At first I didn't like it. Then I thought I didn't like it. Then I noticed that something was there. Then I realized I might like it? Then I got tired of it Fav Tracks: Where is Yesterday, The Garden Of Earthly Delights, Coming Down Heard before? ---–- ❌ Saved a Song? ----- ✅ Saved Album? --–-- ❌ Will Listen Again? -- ✅ Album Cover ------- For as weird as this album is, it's insulting how mundane the album cover is. It deserves better
the united states of cringe
Why is this on the 1001?
Sounds like an album featuring a different band on each track.You don't know whether you're going to get a 60s tastic track to swing your pants to, or some utter trash. The sort of album that playlists were invented for. 2*
Interesting as a boundary-pushing album, but not the most overall appealing to listen to. Would have been fascinating to see what else the band could have come up with had they stayed together longer. Top tracks: Hard Coming Love, Coming Down
Its not bad, just ok
Really? Their one and only album from 1968 made the list of the greatest must hear albums of all time? Really? This album has a handful of listens after 57 years, zero hits and no legacy that I'm aware of. Who decided to give her the microphone? First mistake. Apparently they were "revolutionary" and blended psychedelia & avant-garde (avant-garde is the kiss of death in my book). This sucked, big time. The music, the screeching instruments, the weirdness and especially the vocals were all unenjoyable for me. 2 stars and that's generous. The first track was so dated, dreary and poorly sung I just couldn't get through it.
Why the fuck should we care about a band that released one stupid boring album? GTFOH.
What a weird album. By no means enjoyable but I’m sort of glad it exists. Whether this was ever heard by enough future artists to become influential is debatable, but there are clearly some ideas that are ahead of their time in this recording. I hear something akin to the relationship Sonic Youth and a slew of noise bands have with dissonance and atonal sound. The use of electronics and synth tones has to have been groundbreaking for the time. I guess “avant garde” is the moniker that fits. But the songs are only half serious, and never really gel into an enjoyable listen. The version of the album that is linked here is greatly expanded and I actually found that the alternate versions and takes of some of the material unintentionally added a little more intentionality to the collective statement of the album that did it good.
Interesting late 60s experiment. Songs aren’t great, but they tried (I guess).
This band is a worse version of "Jefferson Airplane" with some Beatles mixed in. The track "Stranded in Time" is an especially shameless Beatles ripoff.
It was... okay. I struggled to finish it. It had a couple songs that were alright on it, but I can't even remember the names two days later. So.
One of the weirdest albums I’ve heard ever. Did not like it. The whole avant garde thing never really appealed to me and this is no exception.
Obnoxious but I didn't hate it
just not really an enjoyable listen for me 2 stars
Psychedelia and a whiny voice. A disastrous combination.
Weird but NOT fun or interesting way. Dnf
Psychedelic and experimental. But an enjoyable listen? Not really. 2.4/5.
Better than fucking Pink Floyd at least
Getting rid of mental institutions was a mistake
Not a fan
I did not like this.it wasn't offensively bad but i was glad when it finished. Middle of the road 60's psych folk that is played well but holds no value or interest to me.
This was weird. Very meh, but I've listened to worst.
Questionable. Good for a quiet listen on a substance. Really hits you over the head
It is like being trapped inside a 1960s laboratory where scientists are trying to turn bad poetry into robot music; it is definitely a weird trip, but mostly it is just very confusing and annoying.
The opening song with several instruments playing different songs at the same time instantly made me want to turn this off. Fortunately the album didn't continue in the same way. At the same time it isn't a very good album as far as I am concerned. The mixing isn't something that sounds very good, the songs aren't very catchy, and the singing isn't my style. Its from a different time and to me it didn't stand the test of the times after.
Too many spacey sound effects. Started off like The Doors with a female singer and too much dissonance. Hard to get through.
Ehh. A lot of these became grating quickly.
Feels like it’s deliberately inaccessible. Every now and then even they get bored of the experimental stuff and do a more normal song that are the highs of the album. But doesn’t make up for the rest of it. Side note. Seemingly every time I decide to try to listen to an album generated for me with my wife in the car it’s something bonkers like this.
A little too experimental 60’s for me
WTF was Columbia Records thinking!?! Throw every song the band has and see if anything sticks? Well nothing did but this WAS an influential album only because of the experimental instrumentation. Could had been a much better album if they cut 15 tracks off it. I will say, "The American Metaphysical Circus" is the perfect anthem for today or, as one reviewer stated, "What clowns play before they kill you". Fits either way.
Yup
I just couldnt get through it. Mixing random experimental sounds doesnt make an experimental album.
Firmly in the camp of "influential but not very good." Glad this exists, glad I'm done listening to it.
Uff, schwer anzuhören
Really interesting, at first. I love the sense of drama. I love the go-go sound (though i’m not sure the singer is up to the challenge). I love the experimentation and the way they mix it up. But, in the end, it’s too weird— most of the experiments don’t land. After awhile the experimentation started to grate on my nerves. A 2. Too bad, because there’s talent and vision there.
So, I can appreciate what they’re doing and the early use of synths. I just don't really enjoy the overall experience of listening to this.
I wanted to like this album but it’s kinda meh. Pretty unfocused in its delivery but I appreciate the innovation nonetheless. A really good example of an album one should listen to before they die but not necessarily a great album in it of itself. Favorite track: nothing stands out, but Hard Coming Love I suppose
One to come back to
Not good.
I just didn't get this at all. Is this why circus's and psychedelia so intwined or is it a product of that? Anyway, I knew right from the first 30 seconds this wasn't for me, and it wasn't.
The original track listing stops at “The American Way Of Love” and so will this review. And honestly, thank god. I couldn’t stand this album it made no sense to me.
Jag skiter i om de var först eller tidiga med elektronisk musik. Det är inte bra. Det är bitvis plågsamt. Här å där ok. Vill egentligen straffa men 1 kanske är för taskigt. Men fy fan. Det här var mest jobbigt.
4/10
Pretty run of the mill psychedelic 60s stuff
The only studio album from The United States of America (geez, they thought long and hard to come up with that band name!) is a dizzying excursion in psychedelic rock with revolutionary electronic elements, endless experiments and politically-charged lyrics. The album rides a very delicate line between revolutionary and ridiculous, with plenty of rather unique instrumentation being mixed in with rather strange passages you'd expect more from a Frank Zappa album. This is a real weird record, and I can't make heads or tails of it. Given this is the only opportunity The United States of America had to put out an album (they were together less than two years), it's rather fascinating that they went with such a varied and bizarre record. It's more a collection of interesting ideas rather than solid songs, and while the experiments are quite ahead of their time in places, many other psychedelic rock bands presented these experiments with greater focus and vision. Best songs: Hard Coming Love, The Garden of Earthly Delights, Where is Yesterday
Psychedelic tropes that meander and dissipate without much of an impression
Way too pshycodelic / out there for me Some of the rhythm was decent
This just sounds like noise
Spent most of the runtime wondering what the hell I was listening to.
At one point the sounds hurt my ears so bad that I felt like I was being tortured… it was the second song in.
When I first saw this album popped up on the list, I was stoked but then I saw that "Presidents" was missing. Although this was not the one I was hoping for, it was still pretty cool. The USA gets out there on this record. A bit of acid went a long way in the 60s and the psychedelic rock was abounding with space age sounds and instrument exploration. I did not like the lead lady on vocals for most of it but the last 2 songs were good, "Mouse" being top track. Got a bit too noisy here and there, particularly on "Hard Coming Love." The short lived band is like a weirder, watered down Jefferson Airplane but they put out something descent here at 2.43 stars.
Felt kind of like a little lost as an album. Some Beatles influence plus space sounds didn't exactly do it for me.
This was pretty ok. Some tracks I enjoyed more than others. For the most part it felt like a compilation of a variety of bands. If you told me I played the wrong thing and what I heard was an album called "the psychedelic sounds of the 60s", I would believe you.
Okay I won’t leave my wooden wife is fire and I understood why it’s on there twice but the rest is soooooo average.
Kinda crazy that this came out in the 60s. Sounded ahead of its time in a way but unfortunately not in a way that sounded good:(
I thought this was terrible. Not surprised they only had one album
Somehow I didn’t hate it enough to give it a 1
There’s parts of this they simply can’t have thought was fire 💔
Riiiiight….
Album #41: The United States of America Genre (W): Psychedelic rock, art rock, experimental rock, psychedelic pop, electronic rock Singles: The Garden of Earthly Delights / Love Song for the Dead Ché, Hard Coming Love I have listened to this album once before. Thoughts: Even though I’ve listened to this album once, it’s a strange album. The intro track is stuff straight out of a fever dream. This whole album sounds like a hellish nightmare. What am I listening to? Music from a circus in Dante’s Inferno? Favorite songs: Where is Yesterday?, Coming Down,
Struggled with this one
Possibly the second greatest album about USA since Houmous & Chutney’s ‘U.S.Say What?’ 2.3 3/17 Cloud Song
Drosd
Funny album/band name. I appreciate when bands are willing to try weird stuff out, but most of this was cacophonous to me. I think it's interesting that the first half of the album is more popular, at least according to Spotify, when it was the second half that I enjoyed more. Obviously, I have to respect that this was an early forerunner for what rock would later become, but I didn't particular enjoy actually listening to it. Maybe I missed the rhythm, or didn't understand the lyrics (saw that the writer was known for their leftist views); whatever the case, this was tough for me to get through.
Prog (derogatory), annoying electric organ noise (not laudatory).
At least it was interesting to listen to.
I imagine this album is what an acid trip feels like
This just isn't for me
I don't know. Was it great? no. Was there is interesting stuff going on? Kinda
erm, what's up with the title?
I imagine these guys thought this was pretty deep back in 1968.
Got boring real quick.
meh
Mmm...maybe after a few more plays this album would grow on me. But as it is, it seems like one of those cases where an album was "under-appreciated" on release - so it became a "lost album" to the critics.
2-
Not for me sadly.
Important it may be, boring it most certainly is. I could forgive it if it wasn't so fucking long.
Not for me
Chaos from the start. There are so many different sounds and vocals on this record it was fun to try to keep track.
I can see how this is an important album with new ideas, but it sounds too much like noise to me.
Some songs are so whimsical like 'i wont leave my wooden wife for you, sugar' and in it, there's an instrument i can't make out.
This is ahead of it's time. Like the evolution of Sargent Pepper's, but like most psychedelic music, I don't enjoy listening to it. I'm sure there are many great themes in the lyrics, and the unique and genre-defying sounds flow into something clever and interesting, but I'm solidly in the camp of I like music that's nice to listen to.
Intensely annoying, proggy-rococo psyche-jazz nooding. Twenty tracks of it, each of which feels about eight minutes longer than its predecessor 😬. Its whole aura frankly gives me the creeps. Relentlessly ghastly.
Boring not good 60s shit
Worth listening to, very interesting but not good :/
I can't tell what's worse: the album or the country
Some of it was alright but some just got on my nerves
Nah. I wasn't offended, this however didn't do much for me.
Eh
At first I was horrified then I got into it but towards the end I just wanted it to stop
After Hoobastank, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, and The The, I didn't think band names could get any worse. This doesn't get any worse, but it does get close. It kind of sounds like a hypothetical dystopian country. I think the lesson here is, just because you're a band and the year is 1967, you don't *have* to be experimental. Especially if your constituent band members kind of suck. The opener, The American Metaphysical Circus, is an immediate worry for me, since it features substandard drumming and even worse vocals. That falsetto is just plain bad. Hard Coming Love is better – though the proto-punk out-of-tune guitar wailing and monkeys pounding various organ keys are pretty grating. Again the singing isn't great, but at least it doesn't show up until halfway through the 5-minute song. And the drumming is significantly better here, easily carrying the song's energy. Cloud Song is *much* better than either of the previous two tracks. The falsetto is actually pleasant here, and the backing synths(?) are strange but beautiful. The Garden Of Earthly Delights reminds me of something ABBA might make if they'd existed in the 60s, and it's equally strong as the previous track. After this near-objective peak in quality, the next few tracks are Syd Barret-esque psychedelic pop, which is fine, but I'd like to see something that aged a little better. A fun bluesy melody in Coming Down delivered by the "good" version of the falsetto works decently well here. The female vocalist does better in the next track, Love Song For The Dead Che, which is another pretty track reminiscent of Cloud Song from side 1. Stranded In Time is like an ELO track without any good instruments (or indeed any instruments at all). Still passable, though, unlike the horrifically confusing conglomerate of noises at the end. The lyric "How much fun it's been" did not need to be repeated 10 times in a row. 2/5 Key tracks: Cloud Song, The Garden Of Earthly Delights, Love Song For The Dead Che
Very interesting start. Jazzy but not jazz instruments. It’s very dated. Vocals are ok at best. Background track is trash. Low expectations considering Apple Music says this is the most popular song. Good guitar and bass on hard coming love, but way over produced. Vocals are off too. Too loud. Cloud song is pretty cool. It’s funny because there’s some really dated elements to this album but also some parts that were ahead of its time. Earthly delights is fine. I like the production in this one alot better but still a little too much going on at parts. Wooden wife is very 60s. Fun but not my style. A lot going on. Where is yesterday is a very interesting switch up. I like this one. Love the fade into coming down. By far the best song/production so far. Simple guitar/bass that work so well in tandem. Dead Che is a little too slow for me. Good production though. Stranded in time is fine. I like the singing parts. Music is mid. Pt 1 couldn’t be any more different than the previous two songs aside from there being way too much going on. Tuba (I think) is unnecessary. Good guitar solo. Switch up at 2 mins is crazy. What an interesting song. I think I like this song as a whole a lot. Great closer, leaves me wanting more. 2.4 stars for the original album. Bonus tracks: osamus birthday was fine. Nothing special. No love to give is more on brand. Over produced but good aspects. Wooden wife alt version is really good. I like it better than the album version. You can never come down is pretty good. Definitely catchy. Perry peur is very wimsical. Good keys. Good song writing on tailored man. Sound is a little off again tho. A lot of these bonus tracks are starting to sound the same. I get why they didn’t make the base album. Alternate version of circus is way too much. Had to skip to mouse which I actually thought was really fun. Heresy too is fun. Overall not the best but not the worst. Sticking with 2.4.
some songs were rly good but idk, maybe it needs another listen 5/10
It's like the Beatles if you somehow did more drugs
I really like "Coming Down", great psychadelic/experimental rock. Other than that, I felt like I was being chased by a clown on meth.
Pretty unique psychedelic record. It looks to be very influential for its time. Personally I didn’t care for it.
One must adore the willingness to experiment and bring in a political stance under something that sounds very psychedelic. Much psychedelic rock was always a bit too inward-focused. This here makes fun of capitalism like it should if you will. But I think the band should've worked a bit more on the stuff. A good concept that is hardly listenable I find.
1. Long as hell pour pas grand chose 2.Un peu mieux, ca bouge, mais bon.. 3.La définition de faire du son bizarre pr soit meme, next 4.Bon 5.Cest les beatles ? mieux, mieux, mieux. 6. Début curieux, ensuite ca va 7. Vite que ca s'arrête 8.Mieux mieux ! Bon morceau 9.OSEF ahhh 10.Insupportable à certains moments, sympa à d'autre, mitigé Dans l'ensemble, c'est bof bof bof. C'est un peu ma limite dans le psych/bizarre. Quand j'ai l'impression que les artistes jouent des truc de barjo mais uniquement pour eux (cf. pas les beatles, pas pink floyd, pas Electric Prunes, pas Genesis etc). Ca transmet pas grand chose je trouve. 2/5
Just didn't click for me
Just because it's from the sixties doesn't mean it's good
fine
- This was tagged as 'Psychedelic Rock'. There is plenty of psychedelic. There is not much rock. - I'm not completely opposed to weird but I struggled to find too many hooks to grab onto. When they pick up a relatively straightforward structure and go for it, it's decent, but they just keep pissing about. - Didn't hate it but not going to seek it out again after today.
I don't know what this weird hippy shit is but I kinda dig it. You have to accept that this can & will be incredibly absurd or just sound like Jefferson Airplane or a cheap Beatles knock-off. That Wooden Wife song is so weird & absurd. i sense a bit of satire here but I think I may be over thinking Hippy Music. Its unique, I'll give it thst. 2.5
I found this album interesting, albeit very tedious. It's as innovative as it is overly indulgent. I can't tell if they're overly clever, or if there was a singular "vision." Either way, it's not for me. 4/10
Extperimenteller Bullshit ohne musikalische Talente.
Meh.
Interesting...I'm just not interested
This was all over the place. But that’s what you get with psych folk.
Maybe Psychedelic music was huge in the UK...I feel there are a lot on this list that are incredibly redundant. 1.5/5
Kinda weird for the sake of being weird.
It’s fine in small doses. But this album is just too goddamn long
Weird AF, sounds like you got halfway through listening to folk and then dropped something psychedelic. Musicianship is a little sloppy and can get a bit too self-consciously concepty. Some of it's not bad some of it is embarassing. The medieval stuff needs to go into the bin.
I could hear some pretty solid music back there and maybe in the right context I'd like this better. But the zaniness of it felt a bit grating and distracting for me.
I thought was the 90s group going into it, I was wrong.
There were brief moments that saved this from being a 1. Definitely rough overall, but occasionally had its moments.
Wow ok, that was different than what I expected. It was strange. With the way my day went I'm not sure this album really worked for me, but it was kind of interesting. I'll probably never listen to it again, but I appreciate the experimental aspect of it. Favorite songs: Love Song for the Dead Che, Cloud Song
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.
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.
No need for this. Saved only by a few fun trippy grooves sprinkled throughout.
shit
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.
I’ll give it a 2 for trying something “interesting”
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
1 stern
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
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
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.
Pretty woeful. Bits of song submerged in a sea of funny noises
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.
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.
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
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.
There is a reason I’ve never heard of this band. Maybe it was groundbreaking but it’s freaking weird.
A few Interesting musical ideas that never rise above caked on hippie pretension and un insightful platitudes
I don't think I'm musically smart enough to like this!
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
this was crazy
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
this album sounds like the creators of the it’s a small world theme song dropped some acid and just fucking ran with it
Did not age well
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.
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?
3/10
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.
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.
Didn’t interest me
What? CW-ass album.
I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would
frankly boring, no good ideas
This felt like a parody of itself. Tried real hard.
Sounds like Peter, Paul, and Mary took a bad trip!
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.
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.
Its a diverse album and from a distinctive era of music, i couldnt really get into it though
1.7
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.
Viel instrumental, musikalisch eher roh. Ganz ok. 2/5
Nah dog this aint for me The female vocals were nice, the rest not so much
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
4/10…psychedelic rock
Just cause it's experimental doesn't mean it's good.
Just not into the old psychedelic stuff and this is particularly trash...
Love Song For The Dead Che //
Not a favourite by any means. I get the experimental part of it but it doesn’t do anything for me.
While interesting, I just couldn’t get into it. I can understand its place in music history, I just can give it more than two stars.
Weird, not in a charming way.
Garbage…60s psychedelia at its worst
Psychedelic Rock, loopy and experimental. Some weird noisy shit in the background, trippy. Grating vocal. Fucking hate this.
Disclaimer: I only did the original 10 tracks and none of the added ones from the remaster. This album tries to do a lot and tries to be super wacky experimental and quirky. It actually succeeds often but the flops are rough and make the entire project fall apart. Didn't get much of the lyrics and don't care to look it up.
Don’t like the vocal effects, just kinda boring
It’s good but laser beams are my least favorite instrument so that kinda ruins it for me.
The early form of psychedelic music, where discordant noises trump actual music all to often - it's all a bit free jazz for me in parts, not something I'm going to be coming back to.
I want to like it! Did not finish
Album cover says it all, looks more like five scientists conducting an experiment than a rock 'n' roll band. Almost every song is a car crash of genres, mashed together to...parody them? Is this a critique of American traditional music? Of sunshine pop? Of musicals? Of psychedelia? Just as soon as the band settles into a groove, it often gets sidetracked by some weirdo digression into discordant noise, such as on the first two-thirds of "Cloud Song" (which surprisingly has a lovely outro). I mean, do they even *like* the music that they are playing? The whole album is about as pleasant as twisting the radio dial for 37 minutes straight. Had the band dialed down the nuttiness (like they do on the relatively straightforward "Love Song for the Dead Ché") the album might have been a more musically appealing vehicle for their anti-establishment sentiments. These people are obviously accomplished musicians, just imagine what they could have accomplished if they had chosen to use their talents for good instead of evil.
328/1001 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
2.5/5. One of the albums that I’m glad I fell asleep to and didn’t have to listen to but still technically did.
I think the avant-garde is the most important aspect of any artistic medium, so I can't completely dismiss this. But maybe I didn't take enough acid to fully appreciate it that day.
Thought I’d like this better.
falls under the category of things i’m not really cool enough to like
sonically this was enjoyable, but also what the fuck??????
I had listen to it, but somehow did not write a review, so here it is: it did not stand out, experimental music
I'm really starting to question the credibility of whoever wrote this book. We've had a lot of stinkers the last few days. This isn't the worst I've heard, but it's not good. 1.7/5
This started off as a pretty solid 2.0 for me, but the more I listened, the more I started to appreciate its presence on the list. It's not as much about the music as it is about the experimentation happening. That being said, the album still only makes it to a 2.4999 star rating, so it's getting rounded to 2 stars. I supposed I'm glad to know that this exists—that these one-time studio artists' work isn't entirely forgotten by the universe—but I don't think I'll ever revisit it.
Well this was weird, right from the opening nursery rhyme through until the Coming Down junkie final track. The late 60's were some seriously fucked up times. You wouldn't sit down of an evening and choose to listen to this to raise the spirits. It made even less sense at 9am on a Tuesday morning. Wikipedia tells me this is the only release from the band. I wonder why?
Early on listening to this, I was all set to give this one star, but as I continued to listen, I didn’t mind it as much. Even so, this one gets a generous two stars. Just some real weird sh*t.
Was not what I expected and I didn’t enjoy it.
A couple good songs, and I like the lead vocalist’s voice. Very original. But the style of music is just mostly not for me.
This album felt like turning an FM radio dial around slowly while driving through an unfamiliar area, and occasionally tuning into a faint, crackly station that is warning of an imminent apocalypse - then immediately tuning out and back in to a random station, and feeling unsure as to whether you just misheard the apocalyptic warnings that briefly came through your stereo. Haunting and uncomfortable to listen to but definitely effective in it’s efforts to set a mood. Doesn’t mean I loved the listen though…
There were little snippets of things I liked in here (Coming Down was pretty good and sounded a bit like a Stereolab predecessor), but on the whole this was an unfocused mess and I found it annoying.
2.3/5
I really don't know what to make of this. People are saying it's groundbreaking and ahead of its time but this type of stuff was not that rare by 1968. 1. The stupidest name for a band 2. All over the place 3. Influences on their sleeve (Beatles, J. Airplane, Beefheart to name a few) 4. Those songs that sound like elves in the woods can go. But I think I get why people would have liked it in 1968. I on the other hand am bored with this type of stuff in 2025. Seriously though, who names themselves that? There are some bad names for bands (Europe, Toto, Foreigner, The Music [seriously?], Kansas, America, The Band, Alabama, Eagles of Death Metal, Them Crooked Vultures) but this is just the stupidest I've ever heard!
You probably need to be on drugs to enjoy this. Even then I’m not sure.
This was rough. At least they are doing their own thing instead of all the other psych bands from these couple years, but it's too experimental for me. I dont really care for the sedated singing or the cacophony that is the first song. And i didn't want to listen to an hour of this. Also, that's a dumb band name. I'll probably pick something like I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar, because it captures the strangeness of this album.
2 Well, this isn’t a searchable band name at all. I came into this all excited to hear Peaches and Lump, but nope, wrong, much worse band. Cool ass album cover though, I’ll give it that. Anyway, I did manage to read that this album is allegedly a symbol of 1960s counterculture what with it mostly being a satirization of contemporary America (hence the name), so I was pretty jazzed to hear some punk-esc diatribes regarding the failings of our government, a topic sadly probably even more relevant in 2025. And maybe that is all buried in there, but… seriously, what the fuck is this? I have nothing against psychedelia, but holy cow, these hippies must have had a hell of a bad trip - and then tried to make us all experience it as well. Nope, no sir, not me, get me off this ride. I don’t even know where to begin with this because, truthfully, I’m not even sure I’ve fully recovered from it yet. For the most part, everything just kind of flows together, because acid trip, I guess? There aren’t really any strong moments to be found as there are just kind of things that happen. Like, there’s some carnival music, some flute action, hell, half the time it sounded overmodulated… idk man, idk. So, with that, I went ahead and listened to this thing again like four or five times. Given its nature, that kind of makes me feel a bit like a drug addict, but I actually think my appreciation went up just a touch because of it. The American Metaphysical Circus actually won me over as an opening track in time, and I even grew somewhat fond of I Won’t Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar, goofy as it is. Though, I would describe it as goofy in a way meaning that I enjoyed hearing it within the context of this album but wouldn’t ever seek it out on its own again. Regardless of any mild appreciation developed, this album is just kind of weird, and mostly not in a good way - I think I’ll stick with my punk rock to get my political angst out.
Some tracks I like. Some tracks I didn't like. And some were very American...