Reviews (page 7 of 8)
I liked her voice. And that's the end of the list of things I liked. So, she's recorded a 1988 album of Kurt Weill songs. Those are well done, and are performed truer to the original compositions than the weird one on this album.
not great
No
It's v dramatic
Nick cave, Elvis Costello, Tom waits are featured songwriters. May as well give up now.
Oh god I hated it. I have the feeling it's just on the list because it has some Elvis Costello covers on it. But it really shouldn't.
An elevator in a hotel lobby crashed into an interpretive dance group and said "let's collaborate and sell it to some corporates who want to get some artistic cred".
Oh man. It's a treasure trove for 1001 heads. Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits and moody blonde women in one neat little package?? What did we do to deserve this. I thought this was an art house film soundtrack. I don't even know what "art house" means, but it is one of the funnier genres I can conjure up. Is "Jurassic World 3D" an Art House movie? Probably. I never saw it. The top review for this record says more than I ever could (in a more entertaining way) about the dismal mediocrity this record inflicts upon the public. Although, the blast radius really only extends out to people who wrote or entertain the foolishness held within the book we're all enduring. This album is ludicrously bad. The feigned depth is so very unlikeable. There are people who have interesting, absurdist takes, and then there is Ute Lemper and her band of pretentious prisoners. She sounds like she wasn't told "NO" as a child, and thus we're forced to endure this talentless hack croon through 57 god damn minutes of amateur cabaret. Oooh wow! A song about sex work?? Ground-breaking. May the Shenzen warehouses containing the last unsold copies of this dreck collapse under mysterious circumstances. 0 HIGHLIGHTS: Teach your children a modicum of humility. For all of our sake. GENRE: Mom had too much wine again
This was quite confusing to me, sounded more like a soundtrack for an art film than a cohesive music album. Unfortunately it’s a record that was a chore to finish and I dread listening again to see what I missed.. 1.5/5
This was just so bland, why is it here? I had to keep fighting the urge to hit skip on every song. It's like they took James Bond music and tried to make it as beige as possible. 1*
This album is an impressive recording with great vocals and songwriting. That being said, I do not understand its direction and that makes it a challenging listen. I likely will never listen to this again.
What a peculiar list of credits. Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits... And to be frank, this music sounds nothing like any of them (at least not those I'm familiar with). It also sounds aggressively retrograde for something released in Y2K. Remember, this is the same year Radiohead's Kid A was released. Compare a track like Everything In Its Right Place or Idioteque to the majestic, beautiful, but ultimately extremely dated, strings and vocals of Little Water Song. Then we get a string of bad songs, mostly for the level of hamminess and bad lyricism overshadowing any potentially decent musical ideas. The first good track after the opener is Streets of Berlin, followed by the similarly passable The Part You Throw Away. Both get a little sappy, but don't actively work towards their own detriment, so that's something. The next "great" song, though – and easily the strongest on the record – is the monumental, finale-like You Were Meant For Me. Great textural build-up and classic high-tension chord progression. Speaking of the opening track, I normally don't pay much heed to lyrics, but I had to do a double take for one of them: "For under here, my pretty breasts are piled high / With stones, and I cannot breathe / And tiny little fishes enter me". Yeah. I can't say this is particularly relatable. And this isn't a one-off lyrical gaffe. The following track, The Case Continues, ery much lives up to its name with some of the suspicious lines: "Why did the blood stained sheets / That burned turn quite so cold? / My only crime was passion, wild and uncontrolled / If sex were an Olympic sport, we'd've won the gold". A couple of songs later: "I got the brain, and she supplied the breast" These might be the most unintentionally bad lyrics I've heard during this project. Or maybe they're intentionally bad and I'm missing something that makes up for it, some star factor, a catchy riff or chord progression... anything. But no, everything is just faux-drama with horrifically clumsy poetry, a nostalgia(?)-conjuring production style, and a dense, waxy layer of camp that (from past experience) clearly only works in small quantities. Another reviewer put it best: "A performance hammier than a telenovela set on a pig farm, wrapped in spun-sugar arrangements so saccharine they made my teeth melt." The 11-minute track at the end is stupid, indulgent, misguided, unnecessary. Coupled with all the other wasted time on the album, and even moments like the relatively brilliant You Were Meant For Me can't save it. 1/5 Key tracks: Little Water Song, You Were Meant For Me
One of the worst rated album of this website. Is it really that bad ? Yes The lyrics are first draft, the album is overproduced as hell, the songs are uninteresting, painfully boring and the album doesnt have anything new to offer after the 2nd track and just keeps repeating itself for a fucking hour. And I cannot stand her voice. It sounds like shes trying so hard to have a cool low voice, im-not-like-other-female-singers shit. Its miserable, stop, do all of us a favor and stop music forever. All skips, no hits/10
People who worship Scott Walker shouldn't make records.
Di k like
She sounds like she's singing Disney show tunes
Holy crap. I tried being open minded and understanding, but this album was shockingly bad. I laughed out loud several times in spite of myself. Actually, there are some strong instrumental moments, but those are immediately ruined by the most dramatic and extra vocals and lyrics you could imagine. Absolute solid 1/5.
This album was painful to get through. I knew I was in trouble whenever the first track contained singing that I could only describe as Bjork-esque, but she didn’t sing like that on the rest of the album. Instead, the singing was like a musical theatre performance that I had never seen but everyone thinks is so good. Her singing was so dramatic and overpowering that it overshadowed anything good that might have been going on elsewhere. Outside of just her singing, the album is a collection of Robert Dimery’s all-star cast: Nick Cave, Elvis Costello among the names I recognized as having multiple albums on the 1001. I did not like any part of this.
Unmitigated bumwater. The names in this - Cave, Waits, Hannon, Costello - should not be producing bad backing tracks for an abominable vocal style. It was like the worst cruise ship cabaret you could ever imagine, sung with piercing clarity into your ears. Very small congrats to Project Sponsor Elvis Costello for writing the only vaguely acceptable track.
A sort of Andrew Lloyd Weber / Meatloaf / ABBA love child. The more you listen the worse it gets.
L'un des pires albums que j'ai écouté du site. Production value au top et une brochette de stars mais pour quoi? Des textes ridicules pseudo intello de comédie musicale/cabaret ringarde. Dommage parce que la musique sans les paroles ou si on arrive a en faire abstraction est plutôt agréable.
No. 166 Thoroughly did not enjoy it.
Podľa mňa to medzi týmito albumami vôbec nemá byť. 0
I couldn’t finish this album… it sounds like nobody really cared about what was happening, but the pay was good so they slapped something “good enough” together. Like, it’s passable at a glance, but when you listen to it it’s lacking the intangible “soul” that most of the albums on this project have put into them.
Hey chat gpt, make me an album of sad sack alternative songs in the style of that song from "Frozen".
Punishing Ears.
This is just not it. 1/5
This album made me question if I like music.
In the nicest way possible - I really did not enjoy this one. To be honest I couldn’t even finish it.
I could have skipped this album entirely.
This feels like the soundtrack to a musical and not a good one. The songs aren't particularly catchy or vibrant, they are just consistently over-dramatic & cringe. The vocals are borderline painful to listen to and the instrumentals don't capture my attention either, they feel too polished and lack depth at moments where I was hoping for something a bit more interesting. The record definitely tries to capture some atmospheric tone but for me it doesn't hit the mark at all.
Comically bad
Yuck. Never needed to hear this and certainly never need to hear it again. No reason to be on this list at all.
Schmaltzy and over the top. I couldn’t finish this.
All of that talent and still sucked that hard. Quite impressive
It made sense when I discovered she was German. Absolute dogshit, but if I were a theater kid I'd probably eat this up like alfredo pasta at Olive Garden.
I can see the artistry in this album, but it just doesn't sound great. I feel that way about pretty much all cabaret, to be fair, so this particular album isn't necessarily a poor example of the genre.
letztes album for pause bis august gehrts wieder los? gleich Hendrik Lamar
Like listening to your least favorite aunt do shitty karaoke to show tunes
That was just plain fucking awful and beggers belief on how this gets included on the list, woeful!! 1 star
Wow! What a stacked lineup on each track. Sounded Operatic. Was curious to hear each track and then thought i won’t remember them at all
Horrible
Are you still talking about....
With most albums I dislike, I can at least understand why they are on this list even if the are not to my taste. This album is the exception.
Sounds like something you’d hear in the doctor's office at a Renn Faire.
I'm stacking this up with show tunes and chanson, while it's too grandiose to be schlager/iskelmä, it has lots of qualities in common. This is music that I need more visual support (read up on aphantasia) for it to work as it was probably intended to work. I already know I'm not going to listen to this ever again, but I'm also not disliking it. Again, it's just not music for me.
I didn't know this album, so tried to listen with an open mind. That closed quite quickly. Some potentially interesting collaborations even though I've never really got the Divine Comedy, but didn't work for me.
What are you doing Divine Comedy. There is a reason this only got to 104 in the album charts. A punishing listen
Approached with some dread because I'm not a fan of musical theatre and I'm not a Divine Comedy fan. Possibly the only respect in which the album met expectations. Failed even to provide a lift on a wet, misty and cold spring day. Wanted to give a bonus * because the song writers are (mostly) stellar. But on reflection that just shows how dreadful the performance really is. 1*
this sounds like a multimillion dollar Hollywood production trying an art house film. or like an AI generated Bond soundtrack
J’ai l’impression d’écouter une comédie musicale allemande, très tragédien Bof bof
interesting, diferent
The vocals are grating. Lyrically, there's on the nose, then there's whatever this is. Not even some of the greatest musicians and songwriters of a generation could salvage this.
Nope, not for me.
Not at all my jam. Guess it’s good singing? Felt like a long James Bond movie intro that somehow took all those songs and made them sound exactly the same.
I wasn't a huge fan of this. Like Broadway show tunes (which I can enjoy) but without a plot.
2/10
It’s not horrible but it doesn’t have any redeeming qualities either. It’s just the most boring over dramatic show tunes style music but without the show tunes. Usually one star is truly despicable stuff but what’s more despicable than boring art?
look it's got great production value and it gets adjacent to music i think i like once in a while but it just never felt like more than a chore for me to listen through the last song started right as the emergency brakes were activated in the tunnel on my train trying to get to work so i really just wasn't in a good place for this to hit with me
I can’t believe artists I respect would be a part of this trainwreck.
I gave it a fair try to listen to it, but it's definitely not my speed. It's fine. She's a good singer, and the music is decent lounge music. I just don't care a lick about it, tbh.
Must admit I skipped around through this one a little, I just didn’t enjoy it. I never really like this cabaret kind of stuff I guess. I can hear the Nick Cave and so forth at times which I did like more but I didn’t particularly like her voice or delivery either. I don’t know, maybe partly the wrong mood too but just not for me. (1.5 stars)
I think that they accidentally put this album on this list instead of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear to Hasten Death list where it belongs.
no
The theatrics, drama and ballad-y nature were not for me. This was tough to listen to because I just couldn't take it seriously.
What is this doing here.
Overindulgent and cheesy in only the way a bad musical can be. So I'm surprised it's not a musical soundtrack. The combination of voice, lyrics, the delivery of the lyrics, and the huge amount of instruments behind the vocals is terrible, although I can't exactly point to which part is terrible (except possibly the lyrics). I've been fighting turning this off through the entire album.
i tried to listen to this, but it appears to be an album of stock / advertising music? not good.
Ballads are just not my thing.
Even the Wiki page cannot really tell me why I should listen to this… like if there is not enough suffering in the world.
Not for me
Vond vooral de bangers die ik al kende erg leuk en “Humble Mumble”. En vette afspeel-visual
DNF
What could the lore behind this album possibly be. What is going on. I'm confused and intrigued. I'm really into whatever's going on. I would not have guessed this is from the 2000s. It feels like an artist of old making ballads with fade outs and everything. But it also feels like someone is trying to get that sound and kind've missing the mark a little. It feels theatrical. I would've guessed a theatre kid made this, not a German. But I'm enjoying it, don't get me wrong, I just don't know in what context I would listen to this casually. I perhaps don't believe I am the target audience for this, but I can appreciate it all the same. I will not be listening to these songs on the regular. Do these songs have a narrative? Like is the album a story? Because if so this is going waaaay over my head. It's just so dramatic. Like this should be a jukebox musical or something I wanna see a visual representation of this. Why are we screaming holy moly. What are we talking about right now dog. I'm very confused. None of these songs ended up making it onto my playlists. Also, the last song did not end on a high note unfortunately. Favourite: The Case Continues Least favourite: Die Dreigroschenoper
Not my style
Wtf is this shit
Blood Money is one of my favorite albums ever. Her version of The Part that You Throw Away is a fucking crime. It’s absolutely fucking terrible
I genuinely didn't think it could get worse than Velvet Underground. I was wrong. Another 0/10 that I have to give a 1/10.
too weird and instrumental/orchestral. can't do it
Feel like several half cooked songs
It’s punishment in musical form. I will go to great lengths to never listen to this again
This wasn't for me
Holy hell, what? I guess the collaborators on this got it included? Because everything else about this is crap
I suffered through this album. It seemed like an indulgent musical theatre album set to expire random sexual themes of Ute’s life…. I have no idea. I just know that I was not the target audience
Not for me.
Nope... this was just bad
Jak ścieżka dźwiękowa z musicalu, którego nie chcę ogladać.
I was certainly punished listening to this 1 ⭐️
One of the worst albums on the entire list. Nick Cave, The Divine Comedy, Tom Waits, all in collaboration with a lounge-singer reject? It's like someone had a premonition in 2005 and put this album in to bother me, personally. Negative infinity stars.
Sounds like show tunes I don’t like show tunes
Fuck this shit. I was so happy I was on the last song and then realized it was ten minutes long.
The lyrics on this sound like they were google translated from some other language to English.
Stunningly bad. Not a single redeeming quality. A stain on the face of this otherwise fun experience.
I didn't know what this was going in, and the tracklist and dozens of album artists didn't clarify things. Sounds like a cabaret of a bunch of songs which were rejected as James Bond themes, which very quickly grew into a question of endurance. I would definitely have skipped a lot of these tracks if I allowed myself that as part of this project. That said, I didn't mind too much until the 11-minute final track, Scope J., which managed to reduce this to a one-star review almost by itself, the straw that broke my back.
girl what…. 1.5
Long et chiant
Kinda adds kindle to me wondering what the criteria is for an albums’s inclusion of the book. Already a bad take when they don’t include classical music and movie scores but then this is included? Just a baffling inclusion and makes me question who the 1001 albums is meant for, especially after the last few albums.
Almost unbearably boring
New vote for worst album on this thing
What the hell is going on in this album cover?
Nope. I think I can see how this one could land in some circles. Unfortunately for me, my circle is well outside that landing zone. Very dramatic arrangements, artistic storytelling, and just not my thing. Makes me feel like I'm listening to the soundtrack for a musical. Couple moments where straight up sounds like someone stepped on a cat's tail.
I’m not a fan of this, enough said.
Eh, no thanks. Not something that I found interesting nor something I'd go back to.
Um, hard pass. After listening to the first song all the way through, I had to skip through the rest. Ute's voice was a bright spot but everything else was not.
This was not my style at all
Dreadful whiny mundane album.
She should be in musicals. Maybe she is. I don't care.
I don't know who she is. I don't know what this is. And I have no earthly idea why I 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 listen to it. Just a load of weird atmospheric sort-of vocal jazz that feels like a shit movie soundtrack. Punishing Kiss? My arse.
Boring and long, though some of the orchestration is pretty.
This one took me awhile to review. I absolutely did not like it on my first listen, but then I saw collaborators like Tom Waits, Nick Cave and Elvis Costello, among others, I thought that I must be missing something. After several further listens, my initial impressions haven’t changed much. Essentially, this is a collection of dark musical tunes. While Limpur has a good voice, it just doesn’t work with this material. In fact, I think it works against the mood the songs were intended to convey. I appreciate experimental music, but sometimes experiments fail as this one did. My overall impression was that Punishing Kiss was an album that couldn’t figure out what it was trying to accomplish or convey. I’m sure some will like it, but it was not for me. Definitely not something I needed to listen to before I die. 2/10, I think this might be my first one star, only because I forced myself to listen to it so many times because I was convinced I just didn't get it.
Boring
Very operatic. Impressive guests like elvis costello n Tom waits. Probably great as a musical drama on stage. But didn't feel very lyrically clever, musically engaging or outstanding even as a postwar Berlin thing. As an album I reckon there should be stuff like this in the 1001. Not convinced about this example though could do a lot better or if not drop this . Costello and Waits certainly can. Persuaded me to generally be harsher as a critic. 1 star
I honestly think there should be a zero score do that me and many others could give this album its true score
Yuck
Punishing listen. 'The Case Continues' may be the most cringe song I've ever heard. It made me embarrassed for the singer. Then 'Die Dreigrosschenoper' started and suddenly there was another contender. It sounds like the soundtrack to a penny dreadful musical where Miss Havisham fights Dracula.
She can sing, but who in their right mind is going to sit down and think, oh, I need to listen to this album right now. I can see the influence from Nick Cave and Tom Waits on this album and that's not a good thing. The last song was punishing to listen to. 1/5
Marginally better than Tom Waits.
I don’t know what that wanted to be, but I know what it was - really bad.
Not a fan.
1 out of 5 This was not for me.
A truly punishing listen. It's essentially a generic version of a Disney Movie soundtrack. Favorite Track: "Couldn't You Keep That To Yourself".
Good god!
How did this make the list? There is barely any plays for it on spotify. Sadly I added one to that list.
Second day in a row I say "why is this here?"
Wtf was this?
Legitimately terrible album. Somewhere between the outro music for a bad kids movie and the musical number from an original high-school stage production about vampire hairdressers
Oh, ha ha! The album generator trolled me, giving me an album that wasn't actually on the list just to make me suffer! There's no way this was actually on the 1001 album list. Right?...Right? Oh, I see. Standout track: I was going to say "The Case Continues" because I liked its 5/4 time signature, but then I got to this disqualifying lyric: If sex were an Olympic sport, we'd've won the gold Oh well, on to the next!
Cabaret should stay in cabaret.
Who is this for? I can’t think of anyone I’ve ever met who would enjoy this.
No
creepy
C-tier musical garbage. Too artsy to bother with basic shit like rhyme schemes. If there's any sense of structure to the track, it was written - and almost certainly performed better - by someone else.
this was very boring in all honesty, not got much else to say about it
Not for me
Are you fucking shitting me? I genuinely have no idea what criteria was used for this list. Some of these entries seem pulled from a hat.
Ute Lemper obviously knows someone who made this list. She has a good voice, but there is no need for me to go back and listen to this ever again.
I'm struggling to put into words how much I disliked this album so I think I'll just say a polite "No thank you" and move on.
I was suffering while listening to that one
Absolute crap.
So far most albums in the list were either brilliant, or at least enjoyable and the few that were not had some idea behind them that made them stand out. But this was just none of that. It was annoying, terrible songs with poor singing and nothing unique about it. The first time I regretted the decision I will listen 100% to each album. One star.
1,4/5
Get a life dude.
Oof. This strange cabaret lounge overly theatrical crooner style is really not for me.
I think she was trying to make this album boring, because there's absolutely no way anyone would make this thinking there is anything of merit. In which case, 10/10 for execution.
dødkedelig!
Horrible
The first album I had to turn off. The first two songs were alright but it went downhill extremely quickly.
Very stale
I feel like this something I would like but her voice just isn’t for me- I could see other people loving this tho
Brb gonna go jump off a bridge
This isn't a good record. It starts pretty decent, but goes down in quality very quickly. It's overlong, way too dramatic, the lyrics are occasionally awful and cringey, and her overly dramatic singing gets old very fast. The production is decent, there are some good songs but others are a mess. "Punishing Kiss" sounds cartoonish around the middle, and "Scope J" was absolutely awful, an attempt at a 10-minute grandiose anthem that falls flat in its face. A note apart for Ute Lemper's singings, which is so exaggerated and overly dramatic it ends up being annoying. She can definitely sing, but she should've definitely toned it down a bit. The lyrics can be awful too, the whole "sex olympics" line from "The Case Continues" is so bad it's funny. Overall, I'd only keep "Little Water Song", which is delicate and has a beautiful string section. I wish the album had been more like this. "Tango Ballad" is absolutely awful, the singing is unbearable. The singing on "Split" is also pretty bad too, particularly Lemper towards the end. And again, "Scope J" was awful. Overall, this feels like it'd be the soundtrack to a bad musical. When I started listening to it I was pretty surprised by the low rating it had here, since the opener was pretty decent. But I was wrong. I'd give it 2 stars for the effort, but honestly I disliked it strongly and don't feel like Lemper's singing deserves an extra star, so 1 it is.
No va
Ugh, this was bad. It was made in 2000? It sounds dated in the worst way - not nostalgic or retro in any good way, just try-hard and overly emotive. Will not ever listen to again. 1/5
This dark cabaret stuff was a favourite of several annoyingly pretentious people I used to know so I'm predisposed not to like it, but this was genuinely difficult to get through regardless. Ute Lemper seems to be a very talented performer and I usually really like The Divine Comedy, Nick Cave and several of the others involved with this album, but the music itself just feels rambling and self indulgent.
Was all punishing and certainly no kiss. Weird kind of shit ballads but not even power ballads. Poor mans Whitney. I thought the song ‘split’ was going to change it with the first 20 seconds but alas it turned into drivel. Past its sell by
Weird theatrical existentialism. Just too arty and weird for me. It felt more like someone shouting at me than singing and I think it opened up emotional wounds that Steve MacManaman first inflicted. Also googled her and she's not even fit, looks like a stereotypical grunty Wimbledon finalist.
Basically, your mum sings the soundtrack to an imaginary Bond movie, but the music is produced by Disney and the lyrics written by Ken Russell. It's a marriage made in hell. The undoubtedly talented Neil Hannon indulges in all of the worst of his nudge-nudge wink-wink traits, while Costello's sophisticated melodic pop sense is the collection's only redeeming feature - if you can bear the treatment. The production just sounds messy... theatrical arrangements often seem to be occupying a totally different sonic space to Lemper's (not particularly brilliant) vocals, rather than complimenting them. Sample lyric: "If sex were an Olympic sport, we would have won the gold." Jesus.
This album was shockingly awful, like there's so many talented names on this thing but then Ute Lemper's singing just sounds like she's badly improvising the lyrics, and the way she belts them out makes me wonder if she's tone deaf and has no sense of rhythm.
Did not finish
Malisimo le puedo dar 0?
Started off interesting ended up grating
que bosta meu deus
Listen to this a few years ago, don't intend to again. Terrible
Not a very fun first album to listen to... Very over dramatic, I really dont like her singing voice, dont like the lyrics, really just not enjoyable at all. This is my first album of this challenge so its only up from here I guess... Split was okay, but the rest was just boring, annoying and bothersome to listen to
Shitty Disney music? That's an album I must listen to? Miss me with this crap.
UTE OF SOZARCH FAME?? wnl die credits gsehnd nachere musigkritik-orgie uus dass bi little water song de nick cave sini finger im spiel gha het, isch so klar gsi wie euse sieg nächst wuchenend geg aurora uiuiuiui dreigroschenoper findi het sehr schlecht galteret mitem corny ass gitarre solo bin wahrsch chli vorihgno aber finds leider echt langwilig und für das isch ihri stimm jz au nöd insane? de schluss vo you were meant for me findi actually no cool, das epische passt seeehr guet! ich loses nomal will ich de rest sehr langeilig gfunde han, aber vlt mussi chli besser zuelose ahh okay sehr chanson aber sehr cool!! NEIII 11 MINUTEEEE ok de ahfang isch aber sehr cool und dissonant hä eisch iwie 11 min eifh zwei teil wo sich abwechslet? die letschte 2 lieder hani jz rig no cool gfunde aber joa also eig wär das für mich es 2, will ichs ganze zwar sehr langwilig gfunde han, aber glaub sochli d überlegig/kunst dehinder chan schätze ABER ich wett nöd akzeptiere, dass nick cave und elvis costello druff staht und mier weg dem de gaggi münd lose, fy (sorry ute du chasch nüt defür)
Oof. Ute's voice was fine, she's clearly talented. But chamber pop and the Divine Comedy are both not my thing, so this gets dragged down by their involvement. Some of the songs are really bad.
This album was really weird. It was tough to get through. Felt like I was in a lounge.
Pretentious and annoying. I couldn't finish it. Did anyone let her know you can name yourself literally anything as an artist?
Rating: 1 Notable songs: n/a Can assure you this wasnt in the top 1001 most influential albums.
Yeah don’t get this one either…..
Posh bollocks. Went down well at Glyndebourne, no doubt. This album is absolutely terrible. The singing sounds unrelated to the music in places and insists on being grammatically correct, as if dull story were being told. It is overly orchestrated and sounds starchy and contrived.
Well that was dramatic! (and somewhat depressing) Despite the talent involved I had to stop listening as felt like continuously being nagged.
Not a fan. Hard to get through an hour of it. Standout song: Tango Ballad
First album I haven’t listened to all the way through - not for me.
Boring and incredibly melodramatic. Uninteresting songs insisting upon themselves makes this an album that feels stuffy and hollow. No real substance, and entirely skippable
Weird cabaret style music. The voices were also quite irritating at times.
Did not like this.
Among the many things I have learned about music is this fact: I do not, in any form, like German cabaret. At all.
Punishing, indeed. I know there are fans for this kind of anti-pop, minor chord, and overly dramatic and orchestral “chanson” stylings. I’m just not one of them.
Nope. Someone is taking the piss.
Garbage
"It's a no from me dawg" I can see what others are saying about the bond music theme, except this is just worse- both less interesting and vocally it feels like a choir teacher trying to show her students her talented and serious she is. Which, speaking from my own choral experience, never impressed me. There's no way all of this is done with sincerity... The "If sex were an Olympic sport we'd have won the gold" bar on the case continues is an outright meme.
Incrível como ter todo mundo que eu gosto em um disco ainda consegue produzir algo tão tedioso
Well... this was certainly... different. I can't say it was the worst thing this challenge has thrown at us, but it was quite possibly the most pointless. Who is the intended audience for this? The lyrics don't speak to "every man", and the music isn't for casual or even background listening. It's like a Broadway soundtrack without the plot. Very confusing. And, probably more than any other album we've heard thus far, NOT something that needed to be listened to before death. I will say, however, that other than the last track (which I mercifully ended at the 2/3rds mark), the overall orchestration and Ute's voice are strong, but does that REALLY matter at the end of the day? I mean, the bassoon's a great instrument, but if you're just using it to fish out lint from behind the dryer, you're squandering the potential of its true function. Sadly, this is yet another 1 for me. I know... I'm a monster...
Oh cool its temu Bjork.
Holy shit this is shit. The lyrics are shit. The singing is so over the top. The music itself is reaching for something it will NEVER achieve. This thing is an hour long turd. Dear God
Patti Smith really influenced a lot of trash.
Fucking dreadful
for real???
This is not James Bond. It’s Austin Powers. Waste of time.
This was utter butchery of music. Awful lyrics, dreadful over-dramatic singing that somehow managed to remain bland throughout. Wretched backing music that sounded like it came from the bargain bin of B movies. I was actually surprised by how this somehow managed to get even worse as time dragged on, even though it already seemed to be setting the standard for the worst music possible. Turns out there are extra levels of badness that I had never thought possible. Why is it that everything touched by Elvis Costello sounds like utter shite? I feel zero regrets in awarding this 1 star, as it truly is awful.
First two are fairly meandery. Not a fan of her voice. LOVE the continuous unexpected chords on 'used to LIVE' in Die Dreigroschenoper. I like the accordion on The Part You Throw Away. You Were Meant For Me is the best one. It has an epic scale. Actually a tortuous experience sitting through Scope J.
Yet again, Elvis Costello, I have to listen to a song by you albeit sung by someone else. This album is the very essence of a slightly faux-edgy but very pretentious upper white middle class wine, cheese, and hors d'oeuvres party. I shall see myself out while I speak to Reginald Longbottom and his dear wife Dorothy about days of yore.
Not for me.
Sounds like a movie soundtrack to a movie your family makes you watch on movie night
The original cast recording of Andrew Lloyd Weber's least successful musical. This better not fuck up my algorithms
"He provided tne brains, she peovided the breasts"??? Awful, i couldnt finish.
How did this make this list? Her voice is quite nice but the overall sound and delivery is like a parody at an awards show
Oh nick cave here we go again fucking scary album 1
Not for me.
I had never heard of Ute Lemper before, so I had no idea what to expect from Punishing Kiss. The album has a distinct German Gainsbourg vibe with a touch of Bond soundtrack flair. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me. It feels raunchy but ultimately unimpressive and cabaret—definitely not something I’d revisit. Favorite song: If I had to pick one, Passionate Fight would be my choice. Least favourite song: every track Album artwork: She’s undeniably stunning.
01) Little Water Song - 5,5 02) The Case Continues - 7,0 03) Passionate Fight - 6,5 04) Tango Ballad - 6,0 05) Couldn't You Keep That to Yourself - 5,5 06) Streets of Berlin - 5,5 07) The Part You Throw Away - 5,0 08) Split - 5,5 09) Punishing Kiss - 1,0 (not found on YouTube) 10) Purple Avenue - 5,0 11) You Were Meant For Me - 5,5 12) Scope J - 1,0 TOTAL: 4,92 (49/100) Current ranking: 446/468 Second day in a row that the album isn't on my streaming platform. There's no playlist on YouTube either, so you have to search for each song individually. The good news is that you can find them all (except for one). Unfortunately, that's also the bad news. What you find is a combination of not-so-exciting cabaret songs, sung by some German woman (I'm sure people in Germany know her, I've never heard of her) and produced by The Divine Comedy (who themselves aren't very exciting on their own albums). The result is... well, this. I was confident I would give it two stars but the last song ruined everything. One star for you Ute!
I have said it countless times and I suspect I will have to say it at least 20 more times before we are done. I hate this genre of "Woman that sings with lots of vibrato and she sounds moody and mysterious" because it always sounds like shit
More of a punishing listen than kiss, there are some bright spots in the first few songs, Split and Purple Avenue, but generally Lemper’s singing is so grating and the songs are all over the place. This would probably be the first thing that comes to mind when someone says “nails on a chalkboard”.
Maybe I’m just in a bad mood but, Jesus wept this was awful.
Uh. Is this supposed to be good? I looked up Ute Lemper and apparently she is widely considered to be amazing, but man. It was physically painful for me to listen to this. I guess I can see it working if I was actually watching her perform in a musical or something, but this? Nope. Not at all.
Im Plattenladen würde ich vorbeigehen, hier auch.
Not my vibe.
Shite
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Please make it stop.
Complete dogshit
dogshit
Hard to tell when one song stopped and another started.
This did nothing for me.
Lol
No thanks.
Cannot play this album on Spotify and couldn't find this album on YouTube music. So, :shrug:
I did not need to listen to this before I died!
Would rather listen to Joe Mangel's Ute. Absolute sh*te
I'm confused. There was so much work, talent and great muscianship put into this and I found it painful to listen to. Maybe it's a grower?
I didn’t make it the whole way through. Fucking hated it.
Yeah the covers bring something new to the songs... if new is not wanting to hear those songs in this format ever again
Punishing piss
Like the nick cave and Elvis Costello Collab, not my favourite album however
no começo eu tava gostando mas depois ficou catastrófico, nada encaixava, a vibe é a mesma em todas as músicas, parece que todas as músicas foram gravadas em uma única segunda feira chuvosa de manhã.
I was actually surprised by how bad this album is. Dated, too long, cabaret bullshit. This is the stuff theater kids love to talk your ear off about and with some of these lyrics, it was hard to take it seriously. I started wondering if it was a big, elaborate joke I was missing. The title track is actually one of the worst songs on it. Ute has an interesting voice and this could have been so much better but instead it was divine bullshit. 0.75.
Punishing album. Thought it would be good based on the credits but it was way too up its own butt. Too many cooks in the kitchen I guess. First track is bizarre and makes sense that Nick Cave helped write it. Hated the ones featuring Hannon. The whole thing is like bad theater. Kate Bush does it better...0.75.
The lineup of artists involved in this is certainly intriguing, however it really failed to stick the landing. It's an eclectic mix of showtunes, art rock, experimental noise and skippable bullshit. Seems like it could/should have been something more with all the collaboration involved but instead it deservedly ended up as a forgotten project that probably shouldn't be bothered with. 1.31 stars
No way
#379. What is happening with Al Gore's rhythm? I've been given Dagmar Krause, Joanna Newsom, and now this all to listen to in only a week's span. What is happening? Am I being punished, Mr. Gore? This album is awful. It certainly makes me feel like I'm being punished. This is CIA black site torture type music. It's says right there on the cover Songs by: Elvis Costello, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and Scott Walker. Aka "The Worst Artists from this List Crew," and boy did they live up to their terrible reputation here. 1/5: yikes
I'm not sure what this is meant to be, but, it's not for me.
Less than elevator music-level dreck. She's got a nice voice though.
Excuse me, no.
Bro why is elevator music on this list
Prva misao: hoću li stvarno sat vremena ovog slušati? Baš sam curious oko world ratinga i komentara. Većina pjesama mi zvuči kao (ne baš dobar) soundtrack ili glazba za predstavu. Ne kužim point, čak ni kad znam kontekst. Kakvo mučenje u pm. Morat ću odustati. Kratko mi je bilo zabavno dok sam čitala komentare world ratinga jer je bilo funny i čim sam vratila punu pažnju na ovo me obuzela lagana anksioznost. Još jedan kratko zabavni trenutak mi je Streets of Berlin zbog tematike i riječi. Ali pjesma je užas. Bolje da sam prepustila to mašti i zabrijavala da je dobra stvar. Izdržala sam 7 pjesama. Dosta, brate. Ute, Ute, ideš na mute! 1/5 ili 1/10.
Prvu pjesmu nisam uspio preslušati. Probam opet kad budem bio na antidepresivima. Ok, druga pjesma mi već otkriva da bi ovo mogao biti wannabe Patti Smith na njemački način. Preskačem. Treća pjesma, već se pitam koliko je dobra ideja bila počet slušati ove albume i tko to bira? Ili je možda u meni problem? Mislim da sam otvoren, a zapravo sam možda ograničen kao balkon. Bilo kako bilo, prebacujemo i ovo smeće od pjesme, idemo vidjeti šta kaže četvrta pjesma Jao eeeeeeeeeeee daj aaaaaajdeeeeeee tko te stavi na listu btj. Ovo meni zvuči kao da je neka izdavačka kuća okupila hrpu snobova i dala im da snime neki polu mjuzikal komad smeća nakon čega su to plasirali na radio stanice i pumpali stream time samo da umjetno nabiju ovo na vrhove nekih lista. I dare you da mi nađeš jednu osobu koja ovo voli, a da je ujedno zanimljiva. Ovo mi zvuči kao album koji bi najgori ljudi s mog posla slušali, ono švabe koji podržavaju pravo Izraela "da se brani" tip osobe. Nisu nikad probali droge jer su one jako loše, ali su jednom zapalili joint kad su bili u Amsterdamu i nije im se baš svidjelo tip osobe. Proletjeti ću kroz ovaj album brže nego domobrani kroz Knin I dok preskačem pjesme, naravno da ovaj album ima 12 pjesama, jer sve su tako jebeno dobre da će ljudi jednostavno tražiti još koju. I da, slušam ovo ja YouTubeu jer neću da mi kalja spotifaj. Znaš da je album smeće ako se ne smije komentirati.. Ma jebote, ona samo pjeva o tome kako ne može voljeti nikoga dulje od dana, kako je živjela u javnoj kući, pa onda o nasilju nad ženama koje je napravio jedan telefonski poziv usred noći. Men se čini da si ti drolja sestro, a tu glumiš neku sveticu kad ti čoek kaze preko telefona da neće više imati posla s tobom. Evo kasnije opet neke pjesme gdje ju muškarac optužuje da se kurvala, a ona govori da se osjećala usamljeno pa da se morala kurvat da joj bude lakše i da je naravno on kriv za kurvarluk. I evoga, dolazimo do naslovne pjesme, punishing kiss. Bas me zanima o čemu će ovo biti. .. Nikad nećemo saznati jer je ovo jebeno neslušljivo. Išao sam ju guglati jer me zanimalo kako se ubila ženska. As it turns out, još uvijek je živa. Riba je glumica koja je glumila u Cabaret i mjuziklima. Figures. Dajem ruku u vatru da je ovaj album uopće snimljen zbog njenih poznanstava iz glumačkog svijeta. Da ovo nikada ne bi vidjelo svijetlo dana da nije opako pogurana. Mah 1/10 1/5
2/10 Ne znam da li je ovo napravljeno za neki mjuzikl ili je samo slucajno album od neke Njemacke glumice koji zvuci tako, nisam imao zelje istraziti. Mjuzikli (i opere) mi nikako ne sjedaju, a ovo bi jedino mozda ubacio u neki film na Hallmarku, cije filmove nikad nisam bas volio. Mislim da bi cak Pierce Brosnan i film Mamma Mia bolje legli od ovog. Ma zapravo ne bi, oduvijek mi je ovakva muzika bila tortura i odbrojavao bi sekunde da prodje, samo sto bi gledao bivseg Bonda kako plese i pjeva pa bi me mozda i nasmijalo. Purple Avenue mi jedina donekle prolazi jer je stvar od Tom Waitsa, kojeg volim, i jer sam vec istraumatiziran na samom kraju albuma. Lyricsi su joj vanplanetarno grozni od pocetka do kraja, a muzika bi mozda i bila podnosljiva na trenutke da ona ne otvara usta. Ovako nema spasa. Znam da postoje gore stvari od ovog (kad recimo Yoko Ono otvara usta) pa ce biti velikodusna dvica. I to upravo idem obaviti na wc nakon ovog.
No, just no. I didn't like this at all. Maybe *maybe* I would have liked this more in the context of a musical or something, but this is a nothingburger for me. It's sad, because the collaborators are all people I like (except the Divine Comedy guys. fuck those guys) 1/5
There was some interesting arrangements and quite a list of collaborators. But it was still a load of crap. Sounds like a musical.
sucked. not my jam at all. 1.5/5
I made it a whopping 5:02 into this album before I pulled the plug
This has been one of those rare times I just had to white knuckle through. When I felt I couldn't listen any longer, the hilarious reviews on here kept me going. Technically there isn't anything to critique, really. I mean, she has a good voice, I just don't like it. I love Tom Waits. Nick Cave. Musicals. Cabaret. Why don't I like this? I don't know, but I've earned the right to a little melodrama after that, and I have to say my beautiful sunset walk tonight deserved better.
Is this a joke? It feels like a joke.. You can hear the heavy influence of each featured artist in each song. Which might sound cool, but not at the expense of losing your own sound. Not that Ute Lemper seems to have any sound I particularly want to hear, so maybe it *is* a good thing.
A collection of excellent songs completely messed up. A covers album is never going to get a very high rating by me, but this is an especially bad one. On the plus side, Ute Lemper can sing (technically - I personally don't like her cabaret style at all). She seems to go for a different sound for every song, sometimes going for a classical sauce (\"let's thrown in some violins and some harp, oh but we have a drumkit lying around too\"), sometimes more poppy or acoustic... I have disliked all the arrangements, and there is no vision on the album. I initially wanted to give it a 2 because at least she has a good (my :-)) taste for composers, and she can sing, but then most buskers I have recently heard can sing, too, so a 1 it will be. Bad. No idea why this is in the list.
Wasn't able to get through this one.
What is this?!
I hated this so much. Muzak at its finest, I wish I could get back the time spent listening to this absolute rubbish. Album you must listen to? Yeah nah this album could disappear off the face of the earth and nothing of value would be lost
Popmusiikin Suuret Taiteilijat kokoontuvat paisuttamaan romanttisia fantasioitaan. Juuri niin epäkiinnostavaa kuin luulisi.
This sucked. I knew after :15 it wasn't for me
Something about this enraged me. Itched my internal annoyance scale. I hated this. Completely primal I can’t explain why sorry.
This was very hard work. Only saved marginally by Purple Avenue
Unbearable
This once again shows, that I just don‘t like musicals.
I question the mental state of those who have given this 5 stars. I feel this is what you play when you dine with Hannibal Lecter.
<Cutting insult of how bad this record is/>
Big theater kid energy. Like listening to a musical soundtrack for something you've never wanted to watch.
WTF is this? It's not good, it doesn't bring anything to the table that I HAD to hear, and did I mention it's bad? Few albums have left me as confused as to why they're on the list as this one.
Ute Lemper is a German singer. Her backing band for this whole album was The Divine Comedy, so that should tell you all you need to know about this album. It's weird, poppy music. It should be better, because Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and Scott Walker all wrote songs for the album, but The Divine Comedy's shitty poppy influences drug this album down hard. This whole album sounds like a Disney movie soundtrack. Really boring. Or like, James Bond intro music. An hour long James Bond intro. Uuugghhh. Favourite songs: Die Dreigroschenoper: Tango Ballad Least favourite songs: Scope J., Streets of Berlin, The Part You Throw Away... And others. The whole album kept almost putting me to sleep. 1/5
Who is this for? Musical theatre vibes to canned music.
Barely felt like I listened to it it was just not good
Talk about a punishing kiss, someone singing both Nick Cave and Tom Waits. I need someone to tell me why we have this album on here, not only is it not worth a listen (I'd rather listen to Kids Bop) but it shouldn't be on this list.
This has a Tom waits song on it so I thought I’d take this as a chance to apologize for giving bone machine a 4, but I’ll save that for one of his own. Is this really bad… Honestly I need to give out more 1s sooooooo
The back story and cast list made this sound interesting, if not amazing. But it's basically the German Elaine Paige. Brecht never sounded so banal.
Punishing listen, more like. Far too bombastic. It fails to achieve the ambition it so clearly wants. Apologies, but I've neveer understood the joke of Divine Comedy. They are a joke, right?
When I saw that this record involved the Divine Comedy I rolled my eyes and knew that I was gonna be in for a bad time. The rest of Ute Lemper's collaborators weren't any better, it's as if the 'nightmare blunt rotation' meme made its way to music-making. It's cool that you guys can sing dramatically but my goodness. As the last seconds of the last track (which was 10 whole minutes, like a final piece of torture from Lemper), trickled down, I breathed a sigh of relief and prayed that Ute Lemper would never make another apperance on this list.
Verzameling covers verpakt in een soort van musicalsetting. Als iemand dan ongelooflijk goed kan zingen, kan ik er soort van nog wel naar luisteren. Maar haar accent is niet perfect en ze heeft een scherp randje. Het is een soort Duitse kruising tussen Bette Midler en Grace Jones ofzo. Ik begrijp ook niet wat dit in deze snoblijst doet. Of is dit het allerbeste wat de musicalwereld te bieden heeft? Ik geloof er niks van. Volstrekt onnodig dit. En ik vind er ook weinig aan. Ik zou er misschien best een 2 voor kunnen geven, maar ik geef een strafpunt omdat dit wel in de snoblijst staat en Mezzanine niet.
Not at all enjoyable to listen to. Just awful
It's not even worth talking about sadly. I know we're supposed to be expanding our horizons here but some are just really bad choices.
Boy oh boy did I totally hate this.
Bored
No thanks. 1/5
I really tried.
Not a super huge fan of this one. I can appreciate it’s well done, it’s just not my style. It feels like something I’d hear in a coffee shop in a hotel lobby.
First listen Saved 2/12 Top track: The Case Continues
It's like she's trying to be Bjork and Joanna Newsom at the same time, and failing at both.
1.5 min in and I'm already hating :( This is like if Phantom of the Opera was bad and sexual? 1/5 would not listen again
Punishing Kiss had all the makings of a thrilling musical endeavour, boasting a line-up of esteemed songwriters whose work I deeply admire. However, upon delving into the album, I encountered a rough listening experience. The heavy influence of Edith Piaf's style dominated the sound, diverging sharply from my personal musical preferences. Despite the evident polish in production and commendable musicianship, each track seemed to blend into the next, lacking the distinctiveness I had anticipated. Devotees of Edith Piaf and aficionados of traditional French chanson may find solace in this album's nostalgic embrace. However, for those seeking a departure from such stylings, Punishing Kiss may fall short of expectations. NUMBER OF BANGERS - 0 STAND OUT TRACK - None
"If sex was an Olympic sport / We'd have won the gold" is where I noped out.
This reminds me of the worst Bond songs. But worse.
Musical theater crossover? Ughhhhh no thank you.
I had to stop before the lobotomy took full hold.
taka troche muzyka filmowa, babka spiewa w musicalach, w Chicago miala "All that Jazz" ktorego w tym albumie nawet nie ma, nie wiem dlaczego niby ktos mialby tego albumu sluchac
Not my cup of tea
holy fuck
What the fuck is an Ute Lemper? What the fuck is this music?
3 songs by Elvis Costello (6 albums on this list) 2 songs by Nick Cave (4 albums on this list) 1 song by Tom Waits (5 albums on this list) I suspect Ute Lemper is really behind this book, and she sneakily inserted her own mediocre album in to the list. I WILL get to the bottom of this. The case continues... 🔎
If I could give this 0 stars, I would
I hate this kind of sensual female singer, triggers my PTSD. Listens: 1 “Fave” Track: The Case Continues Rating: 1
no thanks. 1/5
Divine Comedy aside, real stacked crew of collaborators on here that did not end up making an album that I liked whatsoever. Glad Tom Waits and Nick Cave had fun I guess.
Painful getting through this, which I couldn't.
Not at all likeable.
Gear: Dunu SA6 Mix: anwesend Musik: lächerlich überdramatische Vocals garniert mit der Instrumentierung eines drittklassigen James Bond-Films aus dem Giftschrank (soll da bitte bleiben) Wertung: 🎭(🎭)/5
Remember when Jan wrote that song for Hunter on The Office? This is that, but an entire album.
Ridiculously awful. Each song worse than the last. I now know what a 1 sounds like. Wish I could rate 0 though.
You know that kill bill 2 movie where she gets buried alive and uses her 1 inch punch against the inner coffin and eventually escapes after hours of relentless grueling effort …
I could not get through this one. A lot of skipping through parts of songs. Definitely not my type of music.
Not a fan....at all!