Reviews (page 7 of 8)
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
Not my thing.
I understand the want to make weird music, experiment with sound and make avant-garde music, but I felt a serious lack of musical flow and correlation between songs in this album. Felt like a lot of random noise that my ears didn't like very much.
No me gustó en lo más mínimo. Sólo me pareció divertido que samplearon algunas marchas. Después, nada.
I'm in a bad mood and this album is making it worse. My God it's horrible. Make it stop
Album is way too long, not horrible songs but just way too long
You're not Jefferson Airplane, you're rubbish. The atonality, production values and disinterested vocals really bored me so much I found myself skipping through this fairly short album
I guess pure psychedelic music is just not for me.
Malo
A fascist superpower.
No
This sounded like the Disneyland Electric Parade from hell.
Nuke us off the face of the planet.
Ah, so this is why the world hates America.
wtf is goin on
Funky but not my style
“Challenging” is often used as a euphemism for “sucks”.
Wow. This is not great. I'm three songs in and I want to quit...I'm half way through and all I can think is that these "musicians" know nothing about creating music that people want to listen to...And why is there always a minute or more of just random instrumental that sounds awful. No. Just no. I can see it's appeal as a psychedelic rock album, but it's definitely not for me.
The Good: We get to listen to the peaches song! The Bad: We’ve confused this band with another… The Ugly: Album name = Band name… Listened to it… wasted my time… 1*
Hot mess. Who picks this stuff?
This was too long and kind of boring to listen to
No sé ni cómo explicarlo
lol no
This is what experimental sounds like without any artistic vision. Or maybe you just need to be high to listen to this and get it. 2/3 terrible and annoying, 1/3 bad and somewhat annoying. 1.5
Not for me. 1/5
I did not enjoy thid
Painful. No. Please, God, no.
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
If anything, this list has made me realize how awful 60's psychedelic rock is
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.
Drugs have been a driving force of so many great albums. This is not one of those albums.
rotten
A little too psychedelic and experimental for me
this is god awful. how the fuck did this make it on the list
now it getting replicate at thiis point im bored and tried of this
This is album #9 for me on the 1001 albums list. And it might be the first one I don’t listen to all the way through. Not in the mood for psychedelic music today and it sounds like a drug-fueled trip with obnoxious self important hippie losers. I can now see why 1960’s parents didn’t trust America’s teenagers. Ouch. 1 star
This may have been trippy and thought provoking at one time but it's so dated and not worth a listen now. It's almost catchy at times and then there's a decision made mid-song that veers right that makes it not a pleasurable listen on every track. Trying too hard.
This is not a good start and also not the band I want to listen to on Canada v. USA day. It's giving American Sargent Peppers. I'm gonna need to DNF this guy.
It felt like I was listening to this for 4 hours and wasted precious music time
I could hardly stand to listen to most of this. Too weird and whispery. Just no.
really was looking forward to this band. I never heard of from an era that I usually like but this was unlistenable and boring.
Is this even music? 1/5
That was the worst trash I ever had to listen to. I already had a very bad presentiment bcoz of name of album and artist but my expectations even fell behind. A sad day for my ears
Genuinely awful. Psychedelic rock, her voice isn’t bad at all but the production is absolutely dog shit
I respect the hell out of this album. I’m glad it exists. It caused me physical pain to listen to it though and I couldn’t recommend it to anyone.
Noisy and distracting. Hard to hear the lyrics. 1 star
Awful album in my opinion.
No thank you The first half of the album especially difficult to get through. It wasn't necessarily grating, just bad. I was feeling slightly more generous about this album and then we got to the alternate american metaphysical circus. HORRID. One star for that alone Songs added to playlist: - I Wouldn't Leave My Wooden Wife For You - Do You Follow Me
Maybe this tracked better in 1968? It didn't age well for me in 2026. They're trying too hard to be cute and avant-garde at the expense of the music. 1.5/5
Absolutely no. this album is also just too fucking awful. just like the orange toddler.
Not really my cup of tea.
Meandering and boring.
If something can be "too creative" this album is that.
One hour of pure psychadelic garbage. 1 star or F-.
???
A brutal listen. Pseudo-intellectual 60s psych nonsense.
What on earth is this weird experimental noise
What on Earth? Couldn't finish. No wonder it was their only album.
It was kind of interesting but not in a good way. It killed my ears, and I felt like there was something or someone coming for me. A bit unsettling. And past this, the music was just bland.
I did not like this. If I could have gave zero stars I would have. 1/5 didn’t finish the album 2/5 didn’t keep the album 3/5 kept it and will listen when songs randomly show up on shuffle 4/5 kept it and will listen to it again front to back on my phone 5/5 buying the vinyl
This sounds like someone's attempt to make awful music in as many different styles as possible.
I spent the first couple songs thinking I was listening to the band that delivered us "Peaches" and then realized that 1) the year was 68 2) this is an equally stupidly named band just much earlier. Not sure I need to listen to a full album of either of these patriotic groups. Def don't need this one. I can stretch to see how cool and psychedelic their songs were/are but to my sensitive ears it's just noise. Definitely didn't help me focus at work.
I admire the artistry, especially for the 60s. But damn, I’d rather listen to anything else.
This was experimental in the 60’s. The experiment failed!
Thisbis just not for me. I had never heard of this band before and I can tell itbisbpretty much from the 60s, but this avant garde experimentation is so so bad. It looks like a bunch of union students just playing random notes and writing very shallow lyrics criticising their parents. There was potential, but it was wasted. 1/5 I just can't stand this vibe
If anyone ever needs to torture me for information just make me listen to this album again. I’ll break immediately
This blows
Weird…
< The Beatles No... just... no.
I don’t have room in my life for this. I’m too old to even pretend that I can give it a chance.
Shite enough
Not at all for me.
stupid and an hour too long
A truly psychedelic experimental album that I wanted to enjoy, but ultimately the songs never come together. Dorothy Moskowitz's vocals are dreadful. They never feel expressive of anything. Most bearable: "Where is Yesterday" Increasingly this list feels like a waste of time.
More wacky 60s shit
Not trying to be snide but I have no idea how this album made the list. It was awful from the first cut to the last. Not surprised I never heard of them. Cross this one off the list.
I can't.
A chaotic art-school experiment where every knob is turned and every idea is a bad one. The Garden of Earthly Delights was almost listenable, only because I kept hoping the background lasers would take out the singer.
1 Star (2/15)
Not my music. ★
I don't know how I love Pink Floyd yet found this so bizarre and cacophonous. Stopped listening halfway through. There were not enough drugs to finish the ride.
I don’t know what this is supposed to to be
It had some good moments, but perhaps too experimental for me. I was also trying to finish my assignment and this was blasting loudly in my ear so I got a little overwhelmed by the noise hence also a lower rating (sorry).
Sorry - the magic mushrooms are out of stock at my local dealer ;-)
Possibly an important historical document. Now turn it off.
You remember that guy in college? The one who thought he was a total legend and would come into the student bar with a traffic cone on his head saying “Look at me! I’m crazy!”, then he did too much acid whilst listening to Sgt Peppers and dropped out to go and live on a mushroom farm in Wales. This album is the audio equivalent of that guy. They couldn’t afford $20,000 for Moog synthesisers so they built their own out of cobbled together oscillators and the result sounds like being attacked by a swarm of bees whilst wearing a metal bucket on your head. There are some more traditional psychedelic/prog songs on there with lots of audio tricks that probably sounded clever in 1968 but the result now is just about unlistenable and triggered my tinnitus. The band broke up shortly after releasing their one and only album, and for all anybody knows are still living on a mushroom farm in Wales.
Somehow this falls into a music uncanny valley. It almost sounds like music, but it isn't.
"The United States Of America" might have been released in 1968, but it perfectly represents the current state of the actual United States... trashy and chaotic, just like this terrible album.
abysmal
Unusual and sometimes noisy!
Almost gave it two stars for its experimentation and pioneering use of synths but my God is this awful.
Really just not my type of music
Circus sounds. Very 60s kinda psych rock I think? Enjoyable, but probably won't listen again. 6/10
Really did not enjoy this one. Did not like the vocalist nor the psychadelic sound scapes which really annoyed me. Clearly an important album with how it uses production and eletronic effects all the way back in 1968 but that does not mean I enjoyed it. No stand out tracks.to me.
Not my thing.
Heroin music, but not the good kind.
- ne man, ich kann das nicht. Mag vielleicht revolutionär gewesen sein, aber dieser avantgardistische Bums macht mir einfach bisher absolut keinen Spaß - anstrengend und gerade heute bin ich dafür absolut nicht in Stimmung. Habe mir die meistgehörten Tracks angehört. Einer davon war okay-ish, aber ansonsten einfach nur eine Qual 1 – Konnte ich gar nichts mit anfangen 😬 Hat mich nicht angesprochen, kein Zugang gefunden – weder musikalisch noch emotional. Eher Qual als Genuss.
18k monthly listeners on Spotify for a reason. This is terrible.
Bad acid trip involving killer clowns and homicidal acrobatic weirdos.
Really annoying music. Sounds like some college students got their hands on their parents equipment and pressed "record" without any practice.
I do not like prog. I also don't like the American version of prog (no idea why these are separate categories) - avant-garde.
Not my style
Disclaimer: Clowns were hurt in the making of this album Positives: I understand what the band were trying to do with this album. It's definitely out of the box and very creative. Negatives: The first song is very creepy. I get the feeling of impending doom from the rest of the album. It tries very hard to be creative but misses the mark. Just when you think it's getting good it beers wildly off course. Also why are there so many clown horns?
Could we please have all the members of the band play the same song at the same time?!?
every song is either moderately terrifying or i forgot about it as soon as it ended. not a 1/10 because it isnt really boring, but i would never listen again. 2/10
Imagine the music that would be played while a clown hacks you to death with a candy cane shaped into a axe and that's what it sounds like Update: This album caused a migraine
The Poo-nited States Of Poo-merica. There must be 15 other Beach Boy albums, a few other Lovin’ Spoonful and at least 1 more Jefferson Airplane album from the 60s that are worthier for inclusion than this bleh, inessential hipsy dipsy craptrap.
I couldn't even make it through this album - I don't think I took enough LSD this morning to appreciate this one.
No thanks
If watery diarrhea was music, it would be this shit. It’s experimental yet somehow derivative at the same time. I’d much rather stub my toe than listen to this again.
Awful
Not for me at all. Too out there. sounded like music from a scary circus
Absolute garbage. As someone in the comments said: "this is the music that is playing when a clown comes to murder you". Truly painful to listen to. These pricks couldn't make music to save their life ... Favorite songs: Stranded in Time Least favorite songs: The American Metaphysical Circus, Hard Coming Love, Cloud Song, The Garden of Earthly Delights, The American Way of Love, Osamu's Birthday, No Love to Give, Tailor Man, Coming Down...and others.....I lost interest. It's all garbage... 1/5
This is a joke. Right?
Never heard of them. Then I realized perhaps I have but immediately turned it off. Not good still…
don’t listen to it right after waking up while handling two pots and one pan at once 1/5 🧃
20 tracks of nonsense
Good lord.
What was that
Terrible. I think they named themselves "The United States of America" because then you feel guilty saying you hate "The United States of America". Hated it.
Strange band, strange music.
I really wasn’t into this Sufjan Stevens record.
Literally clown music. It’s truly one of my most hated thus far. Every 60’s psychedelic record this list gives me is worse than the previous.
Fuck this goofy shit
Shit
how dare they call this the United States of America when its so BAD LOL More like united band of people who lost their hearing
I do not like this. It’s giving me a headache.
Did not like this album and couldn’t understand why each song had multiple bad versions.
sort of like if jefferson airplane did more drugs and was worse at making music
It's like they made a full album out of the ending part of A Day in the Life
I didn’t like this
Straight ass, im curious tho how many drugs were done over the course of making this album.
experimental, a bit Jefferson Airplane. Not my bag.
You shouldn’t have to be on acid to listen to an album
Why?
I kept trying to find the good in this, and I kept coming up empty. I guess we can just call it "experimental" rather than explicitly bad, but this was more distracting than interesting to me. The normalish stuff just sounded like mediocre 60's music, and the weird stuff sounded like...fuck, artsy fartsy grad students at the circus or something. I'll give them this: they accomplished what they set out to do. Bully for you if you like this particular brand of weird, but it ain't for me. This is like a Captain Beefheart record. This was painful to get through, so it's gotta get a 1. 1.4
😑🙄😑🙄😑🙄😑🙄😑🙄
Pretty dire.
The first track made me think I had at least three radio stations playing at once. Nightmarish. I suppose it is adventurous. But a really unpleasant listen.
Terrible
No thanks
The population in the USA in 1968 was about 200 million people. Sounds like half of them played an instrument in this band of their own choosing. Thankfully they kept the amount of people singing to a small handful, but on the flipside of that… sounds like the half of the population that didnt play instruments got to decide the lyrics. Just a load of nonsense sounds to me, no cohesion with sound or what the fuck they’re on about.
There's nothing there
Not my kind of thing. Some of it just sounds bad. I get that they're experimenting, but I can't imagine having a good time listening to this. It's just unpleasant.
Having one of the worst work weeks in a long time, I put off putting in reviews last week thinking everything I was hearing was the result of bad vibes. Turns out, my review for this album would not have changed. I guess this reminded me a little bit of Jefferson Airplane, but those guys are shitty too. A way too long album with what sounded like circus music piped in every 3rd song is not my idea of a good time. Shit, they called this psychedelic rock, but I'm guessing that would be one bad acid trip. Especially the circus stuff. There were parts in there that weren't terrible, but this album a big no for me. 1.5
Oh man I thought this was the PRESIDENTS of the United States of America. My disappointment is immeasurable and this album shall suffer my wrath. 1
I'm pretty sure I know why this band only had one album. Experimental music, that failed. Horrible album.
Awful tuneless waste of time
Hated this so much.
For me it was an irritating mush mash of sounds. No my cup of tea. Sorry !
Sonically interesting but li found it to be lacking in connecting that with the lyrics. It could be that the actual meaning of the lyrics were the known to this far after the release but I had hoped that the “…approach reflecting an anti-establishment, leftist political stance” would have been more clear. I can see how it influenced some music down the line but that was not enforced my own subjective enjoyment.
I hated this so much. There was nothing likable about it dawg. Trying to draw while listening to this was a nightmare I could not focus in the slightest. It was just an amalgamation of random fucking shit. Like this is the epitome of experimental, what are you guys DOING.
I thought I liked psychedelic music, and maybe I do, but I couldn't make it through this. I don't know what you have to be on to make this sound good, but being sober wasn't cutting it. A few songs have genuinely enjoyable sections -- sort of a Beatles meets Pink Floyd vibe if I can be overly reductive and basic for a moment -- but most of them are really repetitive with long sections of what sounds like a circus melting and screaming.
Maybe being in LSD would help this album out, but I doubt it.