Reviews (page 6 of 7)
No está mal, pero es demasiado jipi para mi gusto. Y larguísimo.
Points for at lyde anderledes end det meste på listen, men nok ikke noget jeg kommer til at finde frem igen. Sjove sang titler. Stor 2’er
🤷
hard to find, kinda weird
20 songs of lava lamps, swirling lights, and Austin Powers look-a-likes dancing on Shag carpet and spinning beds...
this album made me feel like I was high while riding a ferris wheel at a very creepy fairground. the tracks did not really get any better, I just felt like I needed to be looking over my shoulder at all times to check a killer clown wasn't coming to get me??? I didn't mind The Garden of Earthly Delight, that one was quite alright.
I get the impression this was a product of lots of drugs in the 60s, and I think you'd need an equal amount of drugs to enjoy most of the songs on this album. This is the music equivalent of that bloke who put a urinal in an art gallery and people loved it - I get that it's supposed to be psychadelic and trippy and all over the place but it does make you wonder if the whole thing was a big satirical joke. Some of the more coherent songs like Do You Follow Me I enjoyed and I am glad to have listened to the album even if it wasn't the most enjoyable experience for me personally. Fav song: Do You Follow Me
Fine. Not my thing. I get the relevance of this one. 2/5
Not great bob
Never heard of this group. So, cool, a new experience. 1st song fires up. It sounds like a really bad cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, meh, it's not that good. OK, let's try the next song... hmm, interesting in parts, but again, it's sounds like they're trying too hard to be "psychedelic" with weird sounds and senseless lyrics. Alright, seems the whole album is filled with it. I like it when groups experiment with different sounds, electronics, and whatever, but in the late 60's the technology just wasn't there to make it sound good. Hard no on this album. 2/5 (I give them a bit of props for messing around with electronic sounds before Kraftwerk mastered it)
Off the bat, I take issue with this band's name. "The United States Of America" — I'm sorry, but that just sounds incredibly pretentious and up-their-own-ass. It comes across to me way too much like the kind of name someone slaps on their art to make it sound deeper and more important than it actually is; like they're making such **the** definitive statement about America that it can't be titled anything else. I mean, it'd be one thing if this band was making "A Horse With No Name" or "Peaches", but this is Serious, Important Experimental Music™ with Serious, Important Commentary™ and radical left politics! I needa take this as seriously as its name suggests I should! And to be clear, I love me some radical left politics. Just look at how much I dig Rage Against The Machine, Dead Kennedys, Chumbawamba and The Clash. Like, I realize, I'm aware, this is just me taking way too much issue with aesthetics — ultimately, whatever the band calls themselves doesn't really matter. But it's not exactly irrelevant to how I was coming into this album, y'know? Besides, how much I like or don't like someone's politics often doesn't impact on how I feel about the actual music itself. If they're egregious enough, sure, but I'm not gonna act like I don't still listen to and enjoy some people who believe some things I just can't agree with — just look at Frank Zappa, for instance. By that same token, I don't hafta **like** music just because I agree with politically, and... Well, I'm not gonna say I completely hate this music, but it's not like I'm terribly impressed by it. Like, to begin with, experimental music has never been my bag, so that's already a point against this album. At best, it's something I put up with because I like the rest of the music so much. To bring up Frank Zappa again, I'm never gonna say my favorite part of any of his albums are the atonal sound collages. So the stuff here, like the multiple with the five American standards being played over one another — I mean, sure? But especially in 2025, I'm not sitting back in my chair like, "Wow! What a noise!" Then there's all the parts that aren't experimental, and, y'know, I'd be lying if I said there weren't parts I enjoy, mostly on side two. "Love Song For The Dead Ché" is a nice instrumental. The strings on "Stranded In Time" are pretty lovely. And there's quite a few moments all over "The American Way Of Love" I dig, especially that electric violin that sounds a lot like it came from HOT RATS (oh, wow, Frank Zappa again). But besides that, it's mostly light psychedelia that doesn't sound too unique from stuff I've heard on other albums. I just can't hear what I'm supposed to be so impressed by. So... I'unno. Ultimately, I'm not left very enthusiastic about this project. I might even say I'm **un**enthusiastic. I mean, given that the longest paragraph in this review was the one where I bitched about their name — what does **that** tell yah, huh? Like, all it comes down to for me is the arbitrary idea of whether or not they've "earned" the name; if they can back it up musically. Green Day does, I think, and that's why I don't have issue with AMERICAN IDIOT — nor, for that matter, Rage Against The Machine calling themselves Rage Against The Machine. But this, to me, slides closer to... I mean, it's not **as** egregious as Madona's AMERICAN LIFE or CSNY's AMERICAN DREAM; I didn't dislike it **that much**, or even really much at all. But still, this is closer to those on the spectrum than not, so... I'unno. I'm feeling a 2, honestly. It's probably more a 3, but I really don't care enough to bump it up that extra point. "This is my United States of whatever," I suppose.
I think it's interesting that there are no guitars on the album. Underground music is tricky, having music be subversive and all. The problem is, if it doesn't have a groove or anything to it, it seems to weird. To paraphrase Spinal Tap, "there's a fine line between weird and good". I just didn't think the band crossed that line to have music that was any good. NEXT.
I really dislike psychedelic rock. That first track, The American Metaphysical Circus, was an assault on my senses with its calliope of instruments to start, its distortion and feedback, and far off sounding vocals. Like everything I hate about The Velvet Underground with none of what I like. Hard Coming Love was just as bad, though with that more abrasive screechy guitar sound of psychedelic rock and campy sound otherwise. I resisted the urge to skip through just about every track. But ugh. Side 2 was a little better (Where Is Yesterday was ambitious, Stranded in Time reminded me of Elanor Rigby with the violin), but not by much.
2/5
Not sure about this one.
2.5. When it's good, it's good. The problem is when it's not, it's the kind of music that makes me feel like I need to take breaks in between songs.
Got better towards the end, but too many time it sounded bad. Like 2 bands trying to play over top of each other
United States of America. More 60s psychedelic adjacent stuff? Fuck off. I swear everything recently is also specifically from 1968, so that year can do one to. This isn't anything we've not had before, it successfully avoids some of the worst of the genre but that's a low bar to clear, doesn't do anything interesting, 2.
This is pants. Seems to be trying too hard to be weird and quirky, succeeds in that (to an extent, it sounds weird and quirky in a very similar way to the other fifty million weird and quirky albums we've had) but at the cost of making anything half decent. Yet another 60s folk-psychedelia offering, this one doesn't bring anything interesting and won't be listened to again. 2/5.
This album was quite a trip. Every time I started getting into it, it came in with overused sound effects or something that I just found off putting and it took me back out. The parts I did like had a Jefferson Airplane type of quality.
hard pass on this
Often weird, occasionally actually unpleasant to listen to.
messy
This felt like if you were making a movie about the music of the 60s but somehow couldn't get the rights to any of the big songs you wanted so you pulled together a group to make song *similar to* the obvious choices. Some Beatles, some Simon and Garfunkel, a dash of Doors, some Jefferson Airplane? But sounding kind of bad? Truly not for me.
Was not the vibe.
Sigh. I'm at a point where you could tell me this psychedelic rock album is literally the greatest album in the world. You could tell me there are religions that consider this album their messiah; that upon listening, women become pregnant and men's muscles instantly grow...and I still wouldn't care.
Hard Coming Love wasn't bad (had a weird falling down a rabbit hole sound). The second half just became a little too much, and for me their message got muddled into all the weird sounds and musical tangents. Their message and meaning was good and I appreciate the lefty lyrics, but it just gets so mixed into a circusy acid trip that I am no longer paying attention to what they are saying.
Wasn’t expecting to hear calliope music today?
I quit early in the first track when it sounded like John Philip Sousa urgently defiling a calliope. I mean it can only go down hill from there.
Really weird and not a great road trip album, which is how I listened to it. Also way too long. Maybe if I gave it more attention I'd like it better. 4/10
Well that was something
01) The American Metaphysical Circus - 5,0 02) Hard Coming Love - 5,5 03) Cloud Song - 5,0 04) The Garden of Earthly Delights - 6,5 05) I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar - 5,5 06) Where Is Yesterday - 6,5 07) Coming Down - 6,0 08) Love Song for the Dead Ché - 5,5 09) Stranded in Time - 5,0 10) The American Way of Love - 1,0 TOTAL: 5,15 (52/100) Current ranking: 343/372 Ok, I admit that the sound is avant-garde for that time, but that doesn't mean it's anything particularly good. The sound effects can be irritating, the melody got lost somewhere in the excessive desire to be different, and I am especially irritated by these various circus like sounds.
This album gave me a very patriotic first impression but then it was just awfully out-of-tune sounds in the beginning of the first song (very much like the current state of that country right now, or in the past several years, the main issue being clown being leaders in this whole thing). Then the songs became relatively alright, but were very weird, sometimes circus-sounding (which again - perfectly matching the name) and then things turned a bit chill, it was all over the place. Overall, not too bad, I am sure people on drugs would mainly enjoy this in the late 60s and early 70s before more intense music started getting released.
psychedelic fun. lots of different sounds mixed together.
This was hard to listen to but there are some interesting aspects to the music. It was disjointed and not very coherent to my mind. Overall, can't recommend.
This is a little strange. Also hate the band name
This was interesting. Some songs were really odd and some weren’t too bad. Not for me. Weird 60s early rock songs.
Not my jam really
Fav: The Garden Of Earthly Delights Least Fav: The American Metaphysical Circus I’m scared
Tha comedy doesn't quite work, I'm not surprised that there was no second album. Some tracks were ok but I doubt I'll give this another listen.
Yeah, hmmm, contrived to be bonkers, and I imagine at the time it sounded novel, but it's a bit tired now. According to the internet, the lyrics are good, but I didn't really make them out.
Only God knows how much I tried to like this, alas, I did not.
Dorothy Moskowitz cannot carry a tune.
Won me over and then it lost me
It was alright but it was very long for the kind of music
吵得要死
Some songs are too chaotic for me, other are far too boring...but at the same time I was excited what comes next. But at the and of the day I didn't really enjoy it.
Weird but talented
Not my sound overall, although I loved clouds.
Why do I crave a corn dog and smell elephant shit after listening to this?
These guys did a ton of psychedelics
No es para mí, pero estoy seguro que hay quienes lo aprecian.
Not my kind of thing unfortunately.
A little tepid for my tastes. Didn’t love this
i thought this was The Presidents of the United States of America and was soooo excited ...
Alternativ rock, eksperimenterende, mærkelige lyde blandet med almindelig rock
Day249 - what did i just listen to. i can just hear the parents tell kids to turn down this noise
Possibly influential. Not for me.
Some kinda interesting 60’s lsd experimental music stuff it sounds like but they are able to maintain they thought and focus with each track. Nothing here really caught my attention.
bland
Erm, never heard of this lot but could hear early Grace Slick and Marianne Faithfull. Couldn’t hear a coherent through-line. Interesting but not compelling.
This album didn’t seem to have a cohesive through line. It was a hodgepodge that was pretty annoying most of the time. I did like the song about the wooden wife.
Yeah I don't know. I admire the spirit behind this but not the execution. It often felt like the singer was imposed upon the music as opposed to the two reinforcing each other. Some cool moments, but overall, this fell flat.
These guys got the OG username of USA hey. Terribly boring with bits of interesting weirdness. Not enough to keep my attention though.
Interesting idea, but falls short.
I have never tried psychedelic drugs, so maybe I'm missing something! Clearly an influential album but every time it got a good groove going it would spiral into some weird nonsense.
Not bad but wont be listening again
I’m still Coming Down from this one. Feels like I was Stranded In Time.
Nearly listened to the extended version tracks, checked just as I was nearly finished the last one. Also fell for thinking the release year of the extended version (2008) was the actual year. Was very impressed of how authentically 60s it sounded! Now I know it's actually of that time, it's very much in keeping with experimental pop rock of the time, reminiscent of the Beatles, the kinks and others of the times. Maybe a bit more forward thinking, bit doorsy in places. Does a lot of adding to random noises to songs which is the worst type of experimental. Probably would appeal to fans of the genre but not me really.
These guys must have enjoyed quite a few psychedelics! Didn't mind it, but not quite my thing. Sounded of it's time. Likely won't be back, but ok 2.5
Of all the bandwagon jumping late 60s psychedelic albums I've heard on this list, this gets the award for trying to copy the most acts. The Mothers, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Doors, Jeffersson... they are just trying to sound like everyone and sounding worse than everyone. I think this is the kind of album you'd buy after seeing the band live when you were off your face and thought they were amazing, then got it home and thought... yeah this is actually bollocks. I do quite like the random insertion of Hollywood strings and music that sounds like it's from a 50s soap commercial, but then that's just copying The Who. Again, this one is not in the pantheon for good reason. Interesting though and worth being on the list to show that in any great wave there are always the hangers-on.
There were 2 decent songs and a few moments, but I don't do drugs and you need to be in a different place to get this.
Late 60's Psychodelia that forked off into a weird tone of strange vocals and synths. Not too pleasing on the ears. 2.5/5
Kind of boring. Could have easily cut some of the songs on the album. 2/5 Probably won’t listen again
Sometimes is sounds like older Bond movie music, sometimes it's kind of like the Beatles. Really different from anything I have heard before. Not sure I need to hear it again but it was worth listening to.
After a listen, it’s not for me. Folky and psychedelic, the music never pulls me in. It’s weird, but not in a way that I enjoy. 2/5.
Experimental for sure. Never heard this before. It’s work to listen when melodies are absent. 2.5.
Experimental, high pitched, and unfun
The United States of America is a vivid capsule of the late 1960s, merging psychedelic rock with avant-garde electronics. Each track offers a kaleidoscopic journey with unconventional structures and surreal lyrics. Joseph Byrd's male vocals provide a grounded presence, while Dorothy Moskowitz's haunting female vocals add an ethereal layer that can feel disjointed. The avant-garde nature often feels like it demands an altered state of mind to fully appreciate its experimental depths. The complexity can be overwhelming, making it a challenging listen for those unaccustomed to such an unorthodox approach. This quality, however, makes the album a remarkable piece of its era, pushing the boundaries of rock music. It captures the spirit of experimentation and the search for new musical frontiers. For those embracing its eccentricities, The United States of America offers a unique and rewarding auditory experience. NUMBER OF BANGERS - 0 STAND OUT TRACK - None
Maybe if I was tripping. 2
The 60s man. There are still a million bands making music like this today online, but they wouldn't be considered mainstream enough to get any serious consideration or airplay. It's worth a listen if you dig that 60s vibe.
hard work
No
Nahhh
I had never heard of this and was excited to listen. I was disappointed. I’ve heard way better psychedelic music from the 60s. This reminded me of Velvet Underground and Jefferson Airplane, but worse.
OK so I just saw that there's only 10 songs (not 20 like there is on YouTube). That's a W for my time, however this album wasn't too bad. A mixed bag with some interesting Psychedelic ideas and hard rock aspects, but then some stuff that's a bit far. Fav songs: The first couple of tracks
Hmm, I don’t like it. I’m not really interested in music that cares more about making a statement than being music. It’s a dreamscape soundtrack, but not in a good way. The female vocalist was decent, though. 2.3
Never heard of this band. And after listening, that doesn’t surprise me. The recording itself was very poor. But there was nothing remarkable here for me.
Bordering on irritating, which is what I reserve one star ratings for. Some jangly guitar parts and sweet harmonies makes it a one-and-a-half, and thus the weakest two stars of the first 150 records on this project.
It has it's moments but mostly sounds like a band goofing off with their new casio keyboard settings
Ergens in het begin krijg ik een sterke punk-associatie. Natuurlijk, het is heel andere muziek en er wordt gezongen. Maar ze lijken wel erg hun best te doen om hun eigen muziek te verpesten. Geen idee waar ze mee over de snaren wrijven. Maar het lijkt geen strijkstok. Zo gek wordt het gelukkig niet meer. Maar de band is wel continue op ontdekkingsreis. Met rare geluiden en elkaar raar opvolgende fragmenten. Soms pakt het goed uit. Maar zoals wel vaker in deze lijst; het was wel fijn geweest als ze zelf die selectie hadden gemaakt.
Had ik het gisteren over vergeetbare boomermuziek, krijgen we vandaag een band waar ik nog nooit van heb gehoord. Ik heb wel van de Presidents of the United States of America gehoord. Die maakten vrolijke 90s gitaarmuziek. Anyway, ik laat me verrassen, maar ben voorbereid op het ergste. De eerste tonen zijn van een draaiorgel, dat belooft veel goeds. Het eerste nummer is sowieso rijkelijk versierd met vage geluiden, waarbij je ongetwijfeld een flinke dosis Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds voor moet hebben genomen. Het heeft ergens wel wat weg van Jefferson Airplane die de Beatles na doen. Het tweede nummer doet gewoon pijn aan mijn oren. Het lijkt wel alsof alle instrumenten expres vals moeten klinken. En zo gaat het maar door, het is één grote wazige bende. Op het moment dat er een soort van ritme in begint te komen, dan klinkt het op zich best aardig. Maar ze hebben een onbedwingbare behoefte om de muziek te verdrinken in een golf aan wazigheid. En dat is niet een golf waar ik vrolijk op mee surf. Geef me dan maar the Presidents of the USA, die ga ik nu lekker opzetten. Dit album krijgt een wazige 2.
5/10 Interesting, but not particularly pretty. As if you took a Jefferson Airplane album and then randomly reshuffled all the notes. Highlights: The Garden of Earthly Delights The American Way of Love
This is the debut, eponymous, and only album from "The United States of America." Dating back to the late 60's, this album is credited for being revolutionary for their psychedelic, experimental rock, and for being an early adapter of electronica. Many tracks contain absolutely distasteful and disturbingly distorted clown music which undermine the musicianship within the album.
No. 2.
Listened Before? N Super interesting slice of musical history. A bit noisy for me but I like the themes and the story of the band/record. Too bad they didn't last a bit longer, because they probably could've refined their sound into something great. Added to Library? Songs added to playlist: The Garden Of Earthly Delights
What in the Yoko Ono is this? I'm not against a bit of psychedelic sound in the right dose but that was definitely too much.
Jesus Christ there's more psychedelic rock on here?! Isn't there enough already? Whatever. I don't like this album very much. I think that "The United States of America" is both a terrible album and band name. That's the name of a country not a band. Anyway, as far as music is concerned, this is annoying. I was able to respect this album for having a female lead vocalist, which led to the album standing out in comparison to its competition, but then she just stops singing about halfway through and suddenly it turns into every other psychedelic rock album ever. There's some parts that are just really noisy for no particular reason. While it does fortunately lean closer to something like Frank Zappa than something like Throbbing Gristle, I still think the album's bad, just not as bad as the latter. Still, not as good as the former. Also, the writing is just kind of okay. I've seen multiple people on this site compare this album to both Sgt. Pepper's and Os Mutantes. This album is nothing in comparison to those albums. I really like those albums, this one is just kind of annoying. At least the strings are good. High 2/5. It's at least better than the other 2/5s on account of the fact that I'm considering a revisit of this album in the future when I'm in a better headspace.
Would I want to listen to this again? Probably not, but to be honest, it was actually super interesting of an album
I was intrigued by this for the first two songs but it the avant garde sounds layered the over the contemporaneously popular psychedelia and blues sounds of 1968 just didn’t do it for me as the album progressed.
It's cool, I get it. Just kinda meh for me.
fasharteh. damn this shit is so ..freaky. kinda mitski like tbh idk. noisy. maybe give another listen tho
What in the ungodly hell bunch of hippies experimenting with strong acid and playing instuments randomly is this. Although solid, 20 songs is a bit much even more when its a repetitive tune. 14 would have been better. Not great other bands from this era ara much better. Didnt dislike it but not top 1,000 for sure.
Perhaps if I was "medicated" with some of the special medicine from the 60s.
This is what ADHD sounds like
This was a bit too strange for me - one of those albums that's probably more important than it is listenable.
Listen if I only made one album in my life it would be to get rich being a sellout or to make a ton of garbled nonsense like this. Just stretch out Revolution 9 to a whole album and here ya go. Its pretty grating, to say the least, if psychadelic experimentation is your thing this might be for you.
Weird and annoying. Mostly annoying. Is this album on here as a prank? A joke? A yuck’em up?
Whimsical yes, but not comfy listening.
2 stars. clearly influential and groundbreaking but not especially interesting to listen to - navel gaze-y
I listened to the entire thing... it just isn't for me. 2/5
Wow. They really captured the theme of the first song. Sounds someone ran over a carousel with a steamroller... Then I had flashbacks of the final scene of Animal House... Then we're taken into Hard Coming Love. What? Definitely does not age well. Why does Stranded in Time have a Beatles feel to it?
La psicodelia no es lo mío.
A couple of nice melodies drowned in an incoherent swamp.
Odd and probably requires multiple listens
I can not fathom the amount of drugs consumed while creating this album.
You've had what you thought were some normal garlic mushrooms on toast, and you've gone on a waltzer. Wait. Those weren't normal mushrooms at all! 37 minutes later you exit the waltzer, confused, scared but maybe a little exhilarated. This album is that, and it's definitely worth somewhere between 0.1 and 5.0
i normally like music from this era. late 60’s psychedelic rock. eclectic, but not really in a good way, this album felt disjointed and schizophrenic. didn’t really enjoy this one.
Some good but mostly just weird. Not very memorable besides the “weird”.
2.5 it was quite a trip! Sometimes it was normal music, and sometimes I felt like I was at the circus or really high or in a horror movie or all three at the same time
Pretty uninspiring 60s psychadelica. Not sure how this made it on here.
A one way ticket to the asylum.
Nope.
Most likely revolutionary at the time, but it did not hit for me.
Weird 60s experimental hippie stuff. Don't have much to say about it to be honest. S'alright.
Glad to have listened to this (once).
I appreciate what they were trying to do and love to see a female-fronted rock group, but unfortunately, it was not my style and hard for me to get through.
After Duck Stab, I knew exactly what to expect when reading the opening song title, "The American Metaphysical Circus". In the end, it wasn't too bad. But nothing particularly enjoyable about it either. ⭐️⭐️
Fucking weird, it really didn’t click with me to be perfectly honest but I did like it on some level so 2/5?
I understand that this is supposed to be one of those albums that ushered in a new sound or genre or recording process, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.
It was interesting, not my favorite but still alright.
Ehh definitely aiming high for something but didn't work. Interesting for the time period for sure.
Interesting. I liked the first few songs but I do not feel inclined to add anything into my normal rotation. The middle of the album gets creepy and on my nerves. Last part of the album is BORINGGG. The United States of America starts off strong but then falls flat pretty fast. Started off pleasantly surprised by the album but quickly shifted to just waiting for it to end.
2 because it was rad how it was made and the creativity but it’s just weird and not in such a good way for me
Demasiada psicodelia, en general no es un género que aprecie.
Maybe a bit too out there for my taste
The word "experimental" is always a bad sign, but parts of this weren't nearly as bad as expected.
Seemed pretty good
I went on quite a journey with this album. At first I hated it. Then there was a run of songs I found enjoyable. Then I hated it again. I probably need to relisten at some point but for now I’m rating it 2.5/5
Broke my “don’t look up the albums” rule for this one after the first song and I’m glad I did! Original ten tracks are only 37:07. Whew. Some parts were pretty and some songs were straight up unlistenable
They should have made the entire album their female vocalist and whoever (if the writer was separate) wrote her songs those 2 or so songs were good the rest? Insufferable twee stuff.
Man, the start made me think this was going to be a one star. It picked up slightly later but I still didn't really enjoy it. The mixing wasn't great and it just felt pretentious. The spot of sunshine was "The Garden Of Earthly Delights" which was a good song, if only the mixing was better and the "space-noises" were removed from the track...... Weak 2. Also the band name is pretty terrible.
That's not my taste in musik.
Fell asleep because it was so boring.
A very odd album. I can't say I like it, but I don't hate it. Some interesting instrument choices, but the noise/circus elements are not appealing. Lyrics and vocals are lacking for sure. Fav tracks: The Garden Of Earthly Delights, Stranded In Time
Nothing special
I'm sure this was a major technical achievement at the time, but still can't shake the feeling it's a good album buried under layers of midway carnival sounds.
Na
Nothing special for me, but I can appreciate it probably was at the time.
A mess. All over the place. Like a very chaotic LSD trip. No thanks
one of the cool things about 60s music was the unbridled excitement and innovation, one of the sad things about that is how silly and boring it can be
Erg raar expiremenreel album wat een beetje wanna be pinkfloyd wilt zijn totaal niet mijn ding
Niet mijn ding, veels te experimenteel
Clown music
Meh.
Not my sort of thing
Interesting album. Never heard of this band before. I liked almost all of the fast songs that the female lead singer sang, but everything else was pretty hard to listen to. Felt like they were trying to capitalize on the psychedelic movement of the 60s but I'm not sure if it worked for the most part. 2.5 stars
While I can understand the ideas behind the album, it just wasn't for me.
Experimental 60s pop. Very Sergeant Pepper but without the melodies.
The generator gave me three five star albums in a row, all completely different, all from the 70's. Couldn't last forever. You know and album from 1967 or 1968 is never far off. Sure the late 60's had some good stuff. But, even just based on this list, a lot of it was pretty terrible. Pretty freakin' terrible.
As a series of formal experiments, this album should be intriguing. As an album I actually want to listen to, not so much. Musically, it's an album in search of sound. Or, rather, it's an album that rejects the idea that there should even be a cohesive sound. This makes for a pretty joyless listen. The band is certainly capable enough, and there are some interesting musical threads being explored. But it feels more like an intellectual exercise than anything particularly entertaining. The vocals frequently clash with whatever is happening behind them, when they aren't just outright bad (looking at you, "Wooden Wife"). The band's supposed attempts at making a political statement are murky at best. I'll give United States of America credit for the fact that some of their lyrics are genuinely eloquent. But this is still 2 star territory at best. Fave Songs: Where Is Yesterday, Stranded in Time, Cloud Song
Look, if you start and end your album with demented circus music, you can't score higher than a 2.5. Them's the rules. 2.5/5
Why....: this just has no place on this album. Feels like a shit american copy of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band but for some reason they just made one of the worst things known to man. Copying and doing a darker twist on the alum sounds cool but this was just lacking, idk if that was even their goal. It's a bit like going to the circus and the performance is just a clown and then it's over. Shit but not the worst thing to sentence myself to.
Er zaten nog een paar wel enigszins aardige tracks tussen, maar in het geheel genomen was dit natuurlijk gewoon hippie gezever.
Weird
I could only hear one song on this album. But I'm kinda glad. I'm a little bit over these 70s albums
Listening to this album, not on shrooms, is like watching a 3D movie without the 3D glasses. You can sort of tel what’s going on, with intermittent moments of clarity, but everything jumbled and confusing.
This didn’t do much for my aversion to psychedelic rock. However, I read one reviewer who mentioned Stereolab having similar sounds, and it put some of these songs into different perspective for me. Still, it’s just a 2 for me.
I get why people would like this sound but I also get why there was only one album. It feels like way too many tracks and they are not terribly consistent throughout.
Aptly-named band because this sent my head absolutely west - enjoyed most of it but HATED the nightmare-fuel clown music bits.
This didn't really fo much for me until the last 2 songs (Stranded In Time & The American Way Of Love). Then I had to go back and listen to the whole thing again with the bonus tracks. I was mostly right with my first impression. On the expanded version, I liked tracks 9 through 20 more than I liked the original eight.
Really quite odd. Of its time for the late 60s I guess!!
Un album de très mauvaise qualité. Rien d'étonnant quand on sait qu'aux Etats-Unis, les frites sont généralement beaucoup plus grasses que celles que l'on consomme en Europe. Je n'ai malheureusement aucun moyen de le prouver.
Mais c'est quoi cette merde encore on en peut plus Robert reveille toi par pitié
2+
I found this nearly unbearable to listen to, although I will say it's not boring at least? It's a whole lot of musical talent but aimed towards making something really horrifically awful sounding. You have to admire the skill with which they achieve this goal, I guess? It's like 2 or 4? I don't even know, but since I could barely get through the album I'm going with 2.
I don’t know. Not the worst, not the best, not for me. Bit too folky, but too psychedelic.
A couple of the songs on the B side are okay, but other artists and other albums that do the same style just do it better than whatever they're doing here.
It’s an album that I didn’t expect to be as old as it was, but that was a fun surprise. The album seemed like it was full of songs that could populate a soundtrack for any period piece set in the late 60s or early 70s. However, it also was easy to lose track of songs and realize the album still wasn’t done yet…and it would be nice if it was. It was a fun listen for what it was worth and not the worst thing I’ve ever heard. Having a song pop up here or there wouldn’t be the worst, but I’m not sure if I’d want to listen to this album again anytime soon.
Gah this was not something I liked like at all. I think because they’re some of the first to do the electronic stuff that’s impressive but I was not liking anything else.
I liked/like the idea of this far more than the actual album. It's too bad as there are some cool effects that must have been out of this world for 1968, and they're applied well in each song for the most part, but the songs kinda don't go anywhere. None of them are bad! Just few are memorable or catchy. The vocals aren't annoying so much as they are just terribly basic, almost like they were a guide vocal and meant to be overdubbed by ... better vocalists. Despite that, it's an interesting historical listen and not off-putting or offensive to listen to but maybe a better producer could have corralled a lot of these excellent ideas into better songs - it's just not something I'd likely actively care to listen to again. I feel a little bad not raising this to a 3 since you can tell they were groundbreaking, but since it was a little tiring getting through how does a 2 and a pat on the back sound instead? Favourite song: "Stranded In Time" - very of-the-era (Beatles/Zombies) yet progressive. 5/10 2 stars
Dear The United States of America, Thank you for your effort. However, upon listening to your eponymous album, we do have a few critical notes for you. Firstly, your band name is stupid and confusing and needs to be changed. Secondly, we urge you to fire your lead player immediately. He's not playing the same song as the rest of you on any of these tracks. The rhythm section is nice and tight but he's off in left field playing God knows what. The resulting album is a discordant, noisy mess. The only times when your songs start to feel somewhat coherent are the times when he stops playing. It's a problem. Fix those two items and I believe you might have something compelling on your hands. Until then, we will have to reject your application for the position of "good rock band" and ask that you not contact us again. Sincerely, People who like music.
didn't really get it
Music needs a dose of experimentation, but it’s possible to go overboard. Just did not understand what the band wanted the listener to feel.
It ended up sounding like generic psychedelic 60s music.
I could get to the end but I really didn't enjoy it at all!
Boh, hippie che si chiamano The United States Of America e fanno un album che si chiama The United States Of America?
Not my jam.
Very different, sadly not my kind of different
A few songs are catchy.
I can appreciate the experimental spirit here, and definitely appreciate an LP outside the usual fare this project spits out. The album in question, though, lacks any defining traits other than ‘vague circus music’ and pushes way too far into avant-garde for my tastes. Wish I could enjoy this one a bit more but it just wasn’t there for me.
„Groooße Kunst“…
2.5 Weird sound. The first song on the album is pretty good, the rest....eh.
4/10 not really for me i guess
Not really rock enough for me. I like her voice. Stranded in time is a pretty good song, with an excellent string arrangement. but the collages and synth wibbles all over everything are just really annoying. I can see what they were maybe aiming at, but the technology just wasn't there yet to do anything other than sci-fi movie soundtrack noises. The free-association lyrics and willfully 'quirky' arrangements with incongruous jump-cuts are also distracting - 'The American Way of Love' is a really extreme example of this.
meh.
pff euh niet heel lekker als achtergrond muziek bij lezen. Had goeie ups and downs, maar is m niet voor mij
Tough to get through
in europe we have this thing called smegma, it forms when you dont clean under the foreskin in long time, i was wondering why americans dont talk about it....AMERIKKA... ON... kommentaaria... siellä ja täällä... libtardit taas riehuu studiossa, ei mennä vittu TÖIHIN vaan vingutetaan sitä kitaraa siellä saatanan pilvipalatsissa... sano että sykedeelinen...haista vittu jos luulet näin. ok albumi. paras biisi... ööh... the american metaphysical circus
Terrible name for a band.
Truly psychedelic. Wow. What a wall of noise. Like a bad trip.
Прослушано! Нудятина откровенная
Sorry, but no. These are the songs that play when people get murdered on American Horror Story. Each song depicts a different cause of death, from a creepy stalking incident in some abandoned house that ends in you getting your throat slit, to an intense meat grinder accident where you stand absolutely no chance. Speaking from a more musical perspective (as much as I can with an album like this), how can this record sound so annoying yet so bland at the same time? It is a mystery.
Not for me.
Pulot.
Listened to it 4 times over 2 days and I just can't get into it. I get it, it just really doesn't hold my attention and I don't really find it all too nice to listen to. Their 'normal' parts are bland, their 'strange' parts are just that.
There are flashes of brilliance on this but most of it sounds like a parody of the music of the time period.
Imagine if you went back in time to the 1960s and took some 1960s drugs and then went to a 1960s circus. That's this album. At times it's nearly good enough to be "a bad beatles album". Nearly.
Psychedelic chaos. None of the songs were particularly memorable.
Top 3 Songs: 1 - Cloud Song (3) 2 - Do You Follow Me (17) 3 - Stranded in Time (8)
Some catchy riffs and themes as well as some clever lyrics, but overall, I found there was just too much bizarre stuff going on across most of the tracks: electronic sounds, radio clips, and so on. The result was jarring, distracting, and annoying.
Not very good at all.
Mostly too weird and experimental for me. Liked "No Love to Give", "You Can Never Come Down",
Its pretty standard hippy fare
Muutamat biisit oli oikeesti siistei. Jätti kuitenkin fiiliksen, että tähän on tungettu joka ikinen idea mitä orkesteri on keksinyt ja latistaa kokonaisuutta.
Hämmentävä. Välillä vaikutti hyvältä, mut sit ihmeellistä sirkuspilipalisekoilua. Jollain huvittavalla tavalla kertoo jenkkien meiningistä
Experimental composition? Oookay. 20 Songs of it? Yeesh. Some of the melodies sound like the harmony, with the principle note removed. That was a thing at the time, and this uses it in spades. I enjoyed Garden of Earthly Delights, but most of the rest was pretty tedious.
I think I really wanted to like this album a lot more than I did. But at times I thought it was really samey, or at the very least kind of annoying. I found myself wanting to skip whole songs, which doesn't happen all that often.
On one hand, it's too experimental (or just -mental, in that good old fashioned drugs infused way). On the other, it is somewhat interesting to listen to, given it's rather extraordinary (not in the good sense of the word, but simply in not being your ordinary run of the mill). Also, as befits the land of freedom and copyrights, I wasn't able to access many of the tracks.
They almost made some really good music
Seems like a random collection of song to me. So many of the tracks were just odd and I couldn't get into it. However did like "Stranded in Time"
One of the few in this project that I have turned off before the end
Psychedelic rock from the late 60s, what a surprise. This shit is such a chore to listen to. 2/5.
This is a strange one. It's very psychedelic tinged and arty. Not exactly something I'm all that into.
Trippy.
I imagine that those Berkeley students lost their shit completely when this landed in 68, with its trippy weirdness and electro wobbling. It does feel really dated. I'm glad I've listened to it but it isn't something I'd come back to in a hurry.
anstrengend... und irgendwie hört sichs zwischendurch voll an wie beatles. Die ruhigeren Nummern gefallen mir besser
Abwechslungsreich und speziell. Zum Teil ganz cool zB mit den Swing Elementen, zum Teil zu weird für mich mit Zirkusmusik und so…
Weird album and it was kind of all over rhe place. It wasn't that good.
Look, I haven’t used LSD in like 25 years. My brain don’t work like that no more. Plus, random circus music is my least fav. It’s a no for me, dawg.
This ain’t my cup of tea😕😕
It was ok. Wouldn’t necessarily turn it off.
Everything I said about Jah Wobble applies to this album, too, but even more, I think. Anyone could write this. It's not horrible, it's just nothing. There's no talent behind this that I can see. Practically random music. Choose a key, write some chords on pieces of paper then pick them out of a bowl. Get a competent guitarist to play them repeatedly in a variety of ways in the order they came out. Speak earnest sounding nonsense over it. There's your top 1001 album.
Couldn't listen beyond the first three or 4 tracks....
Weird
Nisam u potpunosti slušao, pustio sam si dok sam Čakovečke i Vitalkine smjese tovario u skladište. Vjerujem da je bolje nego što sam čuo, ali eto ovako.
There's an old (probably British) saying that "If you've never heard of the band or album before, there's a good chance it doesn't belong on this damn list". I don't care if the UK is pandering to us with this USA named band but I'm good, I have enough to deal with with all the less than mediocre UK bands to deal with the United States of America. Every song felt like it was on the precipice of something better but it never came. I did enjoy the lyrics on Coming Down but not enough to save this album.
Blues-y psydadelic weirdness, kinda catchy tho.
Clearly ahead of their time, but a little too experimental for my liking. It generally does not sound that good from 2021 ears.
Very rough, the experimental aspect is fine, it just sounds bad. If you take away the electronic parts, you have a decent albums so that's what saves it from a 1
Too hippy
Very 60s psychedelic space rock. Of its time. Bit boring.
N/A
Liked the jams. Went a little long sometimes but was an alright listen
Bah, crap
Ok, they're good musicians and are being all experimental and avant garde but it wasn't that enjoyable to listen to.
Weird, sinister, hillbilly rock. Perfect for metal bands to rip samples from.
A mix between Pink Floyd and the Beatles. Some songs I like some songs I disliked.
Nope. Made me feel crazy, and not in a good way.
As previously mentioned, it gave me whiplash. I did end up staring one song to keep on a future playlist, so not all bad.
I wanted to like this. I did not. It tries to hard to be inventive but ends up just sounding childish.
Don’t even remember
First song stressful. I like more songs than I dislike. Kinda chaotic layering. Love female vocals. It’s like super soft grooving and then madness head banging. Too long.
Ugh I really didn't like this album. I mostly found the experimentation grating and annoying. Maybe part of it is that I'm stressed about homework so I don't need this noisey music because it's making me even more stressed out but I just didn't vibe with it. There are some songs that save it but whenever the circus music comes in I'm like "here we go again." I also hate the sound effects on the second I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar. That being said, it's not like the entire album is bad. There are a few good songs and even though I don't appreicate all of the noise it's just a preference and I don't think this album is objectively bad or anything. Some of the wind and string parts are pretty cool. Generally, I find it either annoying or boring. One note: this album must have been the extended version or something and most of the songs that I hated were the bonus tracks. So the normal album is not quite as bad but still not my cup of tea. Favorite Songs: The Garden of Earthly Delights, I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You (the 1st one), Stranded In Time Least Favorite Songs: Osamu's Birthday, I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You (the 2nd one), The American Metaphysical Circus - Alternate Version Light 4/10
didn't like
"The Garden of Earthly Delights" y hard coming love. Muy psicodélico que me aburre algo me suena todo igual
First time hearing these guys, gotta giving them credit for pushing the envelope here. Quite experimental for its time, with musique concrète influences from Stockhausen and early Zappa. I also hear some Stereolab in some tracks. Although very interesting, overall its not very engaging and I can't say I loved any particular song or would seek it out again.
Had a couple cool songs that reminded me of beach boys mixed with jefferson airplane but also a lot of noise. 2.4
I like how in the American way of love pt 1 they sample the billy boys at 5:30
avant guard all the way. Way weird mix of Jefferson Airplane, early pink floyd. Way hard to listen to though
Rock psicodélico. Un poco coñazo.
Weird. 5/10
I hated every second
It's not bad at all, with a few songs like "Garden of Earthly Delights" and "Stranded in Time" being stand-outs. Definitely pretty interesting
Felt like either a parody on a critique of life in America, wasn't that enjoyable to listen to.
rock psyche, late 60s
I did not enjoy thid
347/1089 immediately starts off very annoying and obnoxious… suits the album/band name at least just deeply annoying all the way through to me sorry 15/100
“What we did,” said Liddy, “was recruit a bunch of young kids, made a band and got ‘em high as hell. The songs sounded like the hippy shit they like. But the lyrics are right-coded, John Birch stuff. We’re getting right under their skin and they don’t know the fucking difference! We’ll have the whole generation singing Nixon’s praises!” A Liddy aide burst in. “Sir, the drugs worked too well. They were too young, their brains got cooked! They’re singing the most insipid, braindead words, random phrases that sound like nothing, and they can’t even play their instruments! Radio won’t touch it! We’ve failed.” Liddy stared. “WE failed?” He drew out his lighter and flicked it. “YOU failed, Ennis. Come here.” Mesmerized, terrified, Ennis walked slowly forward, unable to resist. He hoped he wouldn’t scream so loudly this time.
einfach nur miserabel
I really disliked this, was not what I was expecting
No conocia el album, menos la banda, de hecho este es su unico album por lo que vi, y sinceramente no me agradó. La voz principal no me gusta, le da una esencia como rara a las canciones, me da cosa, las instrumentales de algunas canciones igual salvan un poco pero la voz no ayuda, y tampoco es una instrumental muy sobresaliente. Hay otra voz que es mas bonita pero igualmente siento que hay poca esnecia en las canciones, y no me hacen decir "quiero escucharla de nuevo", ademas que son 20 canciones y 1 hora de album, no podria escuchar todo por completo porque quisiera y menos si me obligan. Tal vez podria destacar algunas, pero como 2 de 20, y eso no es nada, facil diría que me gustaron solo por algunas partes y no por la cancion entera. No me gustó, con suerte podria llegar al dos.
Rose: Bad. Didn’t like it. Matt: obnoxious
This was so fucking weird. And sometimes a little too weird for me (Actual for a large portion it was). This is like a 1.5 and I hope to never listen to this again. This was also SOOO long and I was counting down the time. There were MOMENTS in a lot of the songs and those I have highlighted below lol Liked Songs: "Hard Coming Love" , "The Garden Of Earthly Delights" , "Coming Down" , "Stranded In Time" , "No Love To Give" , "You Can Never Come Down" , "Do You Follow Me"
Wow, this was bad.
I'm like 70% sure they use this to torture prisoners of war Best Song: N/A Rating: 1.5/10 Stars: 1
The wiki article says it’s their only album. Thank goodness.
dreadful
Rubbish
Utter shite, can’t believe there are people trying to to act like it’s some sort of genius.
I hated this one.
I can’t do this to myself
1968. Approach reflecting an anti-establishment, leftist political stance. Album got popular after the band broke up after it's release.
At least for duration of two songs this album felt nice....
I feel sorry for my ears.
awful, unlistenable dribble.
Not a fan of this one
Zero coherence, zero enjoyment, zero thought.
What a horrible day to have ears, this is rough
What did I just listen to???
Stop recommending me bs
Annoying
HUH?
I just cannot
Hippy dippy music with a lot of cacophony and several songs were off key and painful; a few songs were okay but overall did not enjoy.
Not for me
I could not get past the second song, it physically hurt my eardrums with the screech
# Album Name: The United States Of America # Artist: The United States Of America # Rating: 1/5 # Comments: Didnt enjoy this. No idea why its on # Top Tunes: # Would I listen to it again? no
Right out the gate I kind of hate this. Chaotic and grating noises. Pass the shrooms and buckle up, I ‘spose. I might puff, puff, but I’m definitely passing on this album. Har har har.
Like fingernails on a blackboard.