Queen Of Denmark

This album really grabbed me in a way that I wasn’t quite expecting. John Grant certainly has a knack for a catchy lyric and after listening to this three times today I find myself singing along with lines like “I feel just Sigourney Weaver when she had to kill those aliens” and “I wanted to change the world but I could not even change my underwear” There are lots of deeply personal insights here about John Grant’s experience of growing up as a gay man in the midwest and songs like the title track and “JC Hates Faggots” are devastating in their brutal honesty. The music is mostly simple piano and synth accompaniments with some arrangements reminding me of Scissor Sisters in places. The only thing that I wasn’t sure about was a hard turn into some discordant Kraftwerk style euro-pop on the last couple of tracks with a cod German accent. Other than that, this is definitely going into my favourites list.

A deeply weird, uneven, and difficult album. There's something deeply kitsch about it: he's deploying these quite tired or mawkish or embarrassing musical forms fairly sincerely and with an odd devotion, but he always undercuts their apparent sincerity with some daft lyric, some gear shift that doesn't quite sit right, or something that feels hauntingly out of time period or emotional register. The result is honestly quite disorienting. Sometimes I do find it very beautiful, and we get this Kundera-esque doubled experience of appreciating the beauty of these old aesthetics and feeling them somehow redeemed by his beautiful baritone voice, while also being reminded of their excess, their ridiculousness, and perhaps of the ridiculousness of our own emotions at the same time. So my first response to much of the first half of the album is to laugh, but not because it's purely funny. It's funny and sad whip-lashingly simultaneously and excessively, which is painful, and perhaps funny by a second order precisely because it's an emotion I recognise quite distinctly from my own experience but have never been able fully to articulate or make someone else feel. But it's far too long and repetitive in parts, even if that length is part of the album's deliberate excess, and some of the tracks are simply poor. Supernatural Defibrillator is annoying and lyrically weak in what feels like a knowing way, but without any of the emotional payoff of, say, Sigourney Weaver. The speaker of SW seems to be wrestling to articulate an experience of lonely grief and anger which can only find expression, perhaps owing to a kind of childish frustration, in a delightfully camp simile. In SD, by contrast, the clichéd expressions of love and wild distorted guitars suggest little more than a nudging and winking 'isn't glam rock fun?' energy, a kind of boring pastiche for which I have little time.

Not that Grant

An absolute ass-wiper. The music is okay by itself but the songwriting killed it for me. Every song has some super cliche lyric that thinks it's much smarter than it is. For example "When I got out of my bed this morning, // I noticed that it didn't have a right side."

Just sounds like a fairly good singer songwriter, piano led album in that indie pop vein that became so prelevant at the time. In that it leans into that melodrama off Broadway one man show that was so the thing. The styling that is, not to diminish the content. Though from the outside looking in it does feel a little heavy handed at times. Though like I said about the majority of gangsta rap I have no point of reference with it, and here I have no context what being a gay man in Midwest America is. My main issue is musically It’s just too long, too much everything I have vibe and lacks clear editorial restraint, as in there is a better, tighter 40 minute album in there somewhere. He has a talent, a good ear for lyrical melody. Though nothing particularly new or outstanding. 2 or 3 Star (2 as it ended) On a side note to myself. Nearly 700 plus albums in, I had hoped this would give me lots of new interesting music, and maybe it's to late for me age wise as there have been few. Started so will finish, but today wouldn't recommend to anyone to do it. And as a redundant comment, this list is well, redundant there isn't a 1001 list, not a universal one, there are maybe a few hundred that should be heard to have a general understanding of popular music. The rest is preference.

What a wacky and wild project to have on the 1001 albums to hear before you die list. I am not familiar with John Grant in any shape or form, so I was going into this album completely blind and it was definitely an album of all time. This debut album from John Grant really throws a lot at the wall from different sounds in the Folk Pop genre to even some Piano pieces and some very bold lyrics like on track 9. For a debut album this scattered it does come together somewhat nicely with the exception of a few tracks, but I never felt like anything was truly a standout to myself. I bet with time John Grant has grown into a much more interesting artist, but this was really average all things considered and it left me wanting a lot more from it but never got anywhere near what I desired.

songwriting was good, lyrics not so much

Review - I immediately want to be snarky and refer to this guy as "when mom says you have Father John Misty at home". However he is actually good. I love a singer songwriter getting to do whatever they want. Synth heavy songs, lush orchestral songs, folky songs. I imagine there were a lot of studio musicians on this. It's definitely a bit patchy. There were some real duds on this album but I respect the ambition a lot. And the good songs were great. Very strong start to the album that sort of tailed off. I think I'd listen again, and I'll look into this guy more. Score - 7.5/10 Need to listen? YES

Decent in moments, but the over-the-top melodrama and childish lyrics really took me out of this album. Indie pop has to thread a delicate line to truly standout, and unfortunately this album falls short of that mark. Top tracks: Marz, It's Easier

An album where it’s best to work backwards in the tracklisting to understand the artist. The closing title track is clear as day a tortured soul working out the internal and external chaos he’s feeling. A very grandiose display of despair and the symptoms of turmoil. Unfortunately, that doesn’t give him the right to consult the list of bad gamer words on “Jesus Hates Faggots”. He really just rips a list of em. It left a bad enough taste in my mouth to bump this thing down a star. The rest of the first half of the album is a little exercise in various singer/songwriter techniques, or drawings of inspiration from a handful of the greats. I liked the stark simplicity of “Silver Platter Club”. As was the case with Randy Newman, just because you’re being a smart as about a point you have doesn’t give you an excuse to say that word, or in this case, THOSE words

I don’t have any prior knowledge of this artist, so I found it hard to gauge his sincerity. I don’t have a problem with goofy, pretend sincerity—I am a Ween fan after all—but I hate to think I’m misreading it and he’s actually sincere. Anyway, I’ll give it three stars and come back to it when I know more. Added to my liked list: Sigourney Weaver and Chicken Bones.

Fantastic sound and lyrics. Deadpan but sweeping and electric.

This wasn't my favorite album or particularly good in my opinion. 300 albums in though so I thought I'd get something memorable. And even though I'll never listen to this again that's still pretty memorable

I loved it, and then again N word and that is too bad cause it really turned me off. So it looses two stars for that, and I know the point he is making on JC Hate F, but I don't think it's interesting or necessary. Overall, I found it clever, interesting, funny and well written. Sigourney Weaver is just plain great, more songs just like that in my life. It's kind of giving Father John Misty (the good years) and I'm here for the gay version. It's catchy, and it's a great times making music from yesteryear but make it relevant in more modern times. Nothing mind blowing there, but I did laugh and was singing along. Also I was floored by what came after the title track, and I found them very strange. I followed that intuition and those 4 songs are not on the vinyl to my knowledge so they kind of are bonus track? I won't be too harsh on those, but yeah, Supernatural Defibrillator is horrible.

Mediocre

this wasnt bad, not nearly as bad as the album cover hinted at. Some nice enough tracks but it was too long. Lyrics were something else. I was reminded of Carloe Bayer Sager or Gilbert O'Sullivan for most, chucj in a bit of early Pink Floyd for good measure. An interesting listen

Well there's worse than this, but it went on too long. I had a snooze in the middle but it was still playing when I got back up. If I can snooze to it, it's not too bad. It reminded me of the token slow song by early 2000s rock bands with a bit of added weirdness. His voice was all a bit too samey to really enjoy it overall. Preferred the bonus tracks when it turned into weird German Eurovision shit. The rest should have been more like that.

This is great

A Pleasant Surprise!

Terrible album cover, but the music is pretty good. Didn’t like the song where he said every slur under the sun though.

I really enjoyed the folk aspects of this album, but it felt like towards the end it just couldn't keep up the highs of first handful of songs.

John Grant sings like he's starring in a Broadway show nobody else showed up for. The songs are funny, sad, theatrical, bitter, and surprisingly catchy. It runs a little longer than it needs to, but Grant's personality carries it through. Half the time he's delivering emotional confessions, half the time he's making jokes at his own expense, and somehow both work. One of the more memorable singer-songwriter albums I've heard on this journey. My Rating: 4/5 crowns

Really surprised at how much I love this album! I have only listened to Pale Green Ghosts, which is very electronic, so this is not what I expected at all. Very interesting to see Midlake's involvement too, I wasn't aware of that link. I really like the songwriting and instrumentation on here. The lyrics remind me a bit of Harry Nilson and Father John Misty. The only negative I was hoping to list is that it's a bit too long, and the last few songs could be dropped. But today, on like my 4th listen, I found out that everything after the title track are bonus tracks! So I think this gets a 9/10 from me after that adjustment.

This wasn't to my taste at all and might be one of the weakest albums so far. So ballady ugh.

a bit weird and disjointed, had some great bits

Really it’s a 3.5 but ima bump it up cause it was good surprise in how much I enjoyed it.

I've never heard of John Grant or The Czars before this! I do have quite a soft spot for modern indie folk, especially when it incorporates elements of more textured genres like chamber pop, paired with simple but emotionally affecting lyrics. I greatly enjoyed the album's uplifting romantic moments as well, centred around growing up gay under a brutal and religious conservative culture. "Caramel" was truly beautiful and a clever call-back to "Marz"! Unfortunately, all that went out the window when he started dropping slurs (like the n-word) willy-nilly. Dude, there were so many different ways you could've communicated your point. Maybe I'm being sensitive, but it just came across as tone-deaf and needlessly shocking.

Not bad, there were some entertaining songs, but I'm fine w/ not listening to this album again.

This was better than I expected. At least lyrically interesting if not musically challenging, and certainly worth listening to. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ❌️ ★★★☆☆(6/10) Total reviewed : 454 Already owned : 99 Purchased : 25 To buy : 3 Nope : 327

I thought this was incredibly boring in the first half, but ended up paying more attention in the second.

Terrible.

Pretty quirky, seemingly weaving through earnestness and silliness. That kind of took me out of things a little bit, though. Nothing against the songcraft, just kind of made for an uneven listen.

Didn't expected to go this hard, I liked the lyrics and the sound

This didn't really do it for me. The instrumentation was fine and vocals as well, there also sweet melodic parts but overall it didn't stick at all. I think I totally could without hearing this again, just I find it a bit mind-numbing is all. Highlight Song/s: "TC and Honeybear", "Marz" and "Jesus"

-1 point for heresy

Fikk ikke helt taket på dette, men var greit nok å ha på i bakgrunnen.

Kan hende I e litt snill her, men ble så sinnsykt positivt overraska over det her. Dritbra!

Wow.. Har hørt en og annen låt med han før, men den her tok meg med storm. Helt egen stil på teksten og jeg ble sugd inn i plata der jeg stod og malte.

Har fått litt her og der fra Discovery Weekly. Her va det kvalitet hele veien. OBS! Plata e ferdig etter Queen of Denmark.

Boring, pretentious and uninteresting. Fits right in with the other shitty albums on this list.

Never had heard of this guy or his previous band The Czars. It's pretty good songwriting-focused indie pop. Maybe a little melodramatic for me.

I quite like a bit of John Grant - I quite liked his band, the Czars too. I've never fully embraced what he does but listening to this has reminded me that he has a great voice and an ear for an unusual and often quite cathartic tune. I remember hearing him interviewed on the radio once and he came across as hugely likeable, intelligent and interesting. But as far as this specific record goes, well, it's quite good, but not essential. Not to these ears, at least.

This album was lovely, somewhere in the neighborhood of Beck, Bo Burnham, Fun, and maybe Belle and Sebastian. The songs flow like a lazy river, with lyrics jumping from melancholy, twee, and heartbreaking, to suddenly darkly funny. One song is kind of about Sigourney Weaver, while another tells the story of the singer’s troubled youth with a litany of slurs. Overall, I loved it (except that one part).

Liked this a lot more than I thought i would. Some of the lyrics are ridiculous.

Det var fint. Hverken mere eller mindre.

Var det sådan her det ville lyde hvis Father John Misty lavede et Pink Floyd coveralbum? Okay! Efter titeltrack’et skifter det fuldstændig retning. Så er vi lige pludselig i Kraftwerk-land og videre til uptempo elektrorock. Men det er så også ekstranumre. Jeg lukker den efter Queen of Denmark. Virkelig fedt album

5- / 10

swag

lindas rolas, pero de repente aburre....

Pleasant discovery. Enjoyed this very much.

Interesting album, but it was hard to listen after the 3rd song

A few tracks in, I was ready to put this down as a solid folky 3.5. But here we are at the end and I think this deserves the full 5. Songs really pick up in what you could roughly call the second quarter, with heavy sounding but lyrically drole Sigourney Weaver and Silver Platter Club leading the way. The skewering of evangelicals JC Hates Faggots is also a highlight. Even the odd faux-Krautrock Supernatural Defibrillator had its charms. Well worth your time for an eclectic indie album.

A very good, very eclectic album. We get beautiful folky ballads like ‘TC and Honeybear’, the title track, and ‘Where Dreams Go to Die’ (perhaps my overall favourite track), alongside soft rock numbers like ‘Chicken Bones’, ‘It’s Easier’ and ‘Outer Space’, plus some very different tracks like the synth-driven anti-evangelical ‘Jesus Hates Faggots’, and even the vaguely music hall-sounding ‘Silver Platter Club’. Musically I think it’s borderline 5 stars. The melodies are particularly strong. However, the lyrical silliness on several tracks including ‘Marz’ and ‘Sigourney Weaver’ was enough to those songs’ detriment for me to cement a 4-star rating instead.

Loved it.

7/10… chamber psych / sgr-sgwrtr / *2010

Not sure what happened here, weird and sometimes funny collection of ballads. Largely it was fine, I don't think I'll listen to it again. Where the dreams go to die was the highlight.

hey. wow. was really liking some of this at the start, was excited to get some weird shit up in this jawn. Then the slurs started. I still liked it unfortunately. Highlights TC and honey bear (fav) Marz Sigourney Weaver Leopard and Lamb Queen of Denmark

Alien reference - automatic five And ok I really really liked this. It feels very calm at times and very weird at others. and I like his voice a lot. The lyrics are interesting (to say the least) but I think it tells an important and vulnerable story. I knew within the first five seconds that this would probably be getting a five

Enjoyed this quite a bit. big fan of the instrumentals and what the album was trying to share. some things at the beginning sounded the same, but overall good listen.

I think Jesus does hate all those people, he told me specifically It’s a weird inclusion on this list but I actually came to enjoy it a lot. The electro pop/contemporary folk elements were enjoyable and I found the instrumentation to be the best part of the experience. The lyrics did rub me the wrong way (not the slurs part though, that was fine) in the way that they were so transparent. There was no attempt at layering his feelings behind any metaphor or anything and so it felt very confessional. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not my thing. I like obtuse metaphors.

The compositions may come as a bit standard, but the super clear sound and passionate performances make this quite enjoyable singer-songwriter. This is one of those albums where the lyrics have a lot of weight, being very dramatic, emotional and personal. Best example is "JC Hates F*****s", a song containing very strong language to represent an extreme version of the artist's father hate towards the singer for being homosexual. So not only is this song very striking, but also very emotionally effective. Now, I wish I could say the rest of the songs impacted me as much, but thinking about it, only this one really resonated with me. So basically, what I like about the album is how pleasant it sounds. The guy has a very soft voice and the overall production is crystal clear. The melodies and chord progressions are beautiful, but they never reach a level of wonderfulness that impresses me, and most often, they come as ordinary. In the end I have to say that I do enjoy it because the sound quality is that good and the performances do a great effort to sell the conventional song writing. I also can see the lyrics being a very strong point of the album for other people, but for me, they mostly don't really speak to me.

I saw him live last year, having not known anything about him in advance and he was phenomenal, intelligent, versatile, moving from electric music to singer songwriter, from lighthearted to sincere, from cynical to sentimental. Afterwards I listened to some of his albums, including this one, and they’re all great. One of the most underrated musicians around, if he comes to your city, go and see him.

Day 50 For the first big milestone, I'm torn. It's Easier and Outer Space seemed to set up a stronger second half but hey, y'know what Grant thought would be funny? To throw in a bunch of slurs the very track after! Fuck off Fav track: Outer Space

(7/1089) I don't even know to say about it. It just sounds bad and boring. I don't like this album. Favorite: Outer Space Least favorite: That's the Good News 2/10

This year i have seen both John Grant and Midlake so obviously this is going to appeal! Objectively an odd mix of styles in this album but iit works for me.

When I first saw this album cover, I knew it was familiar to me somehow - it wasn't until I got to "Chicken Bones" that I realized I have been listening to John Grant for going on a decade now. That song was always so random, and this whole album is off-kilter and religion-oriented in a way that reminded me a lot of Father John Misty (I think fans of his music should certainly give this a try). For some reason, I didn't have much of an issue this time with the lyrics, as I think they are weird and stupid on purpose. I really thought I would hate this, but I ended up really enjoying it by the end. 3.5/5 rounded up Favorite tracks: Sigourney Weaver, Chicken Bones, Caramel

It was pretty good, but then the slurs ruined it entirely for me

good album die ersten 2 songs waren nichts für mich sonst war es gut

"Outer Space" on my personal life playlist. It's catchy sounding, absurd lyrics besides. 3.5 if possible.

Not as bad as I thought it would be but probably won’t listen again

Weird

Love the dark weirdness of this. 3.5

Wake me up when September ends (c) Greenday

I quite liked this in the main but some tracks not do much. He remains an artist I’m still not sure about

Really nice voice. Quite slow overall but some good storytelling.

Interesting. I was unaware of Grant prior to this but will be from now on. So influential, yes

Interesting. Will listen at least a second time. 70s sound. Postmodern lyrics?

Surprisingly good

In this century of musical abundance it is very easy to not really take something in. I definitely listened to this at the time because it got so many rave reviews but it didn't really make an impression and I moved on. So today it was great to give it a proper chance and I have to say I regret missing out all these years. It reminds me a little of Randy Newman in how the music can seem simple and maybe a bit cheesy at times but the lyrics are full of sharp barbs and commentary.

Maybe 3 1/2

i'm confused about his vision but it didn't piss me off so that's good Would I listen again: eh Deserves to be on this list: i have never heard of this album before now. how is it on the list 3.0

this was actually way better than I expected

Another one I am not too crazy about.

2.12

Didn't pay much attention to the lyrics. The music was just fine

John Grant’s Queen of Denmark is a mixed bag that shines brightest when its lush instrumentation matches its lyrical eccentricities, even if a handful of tracks fall flat. Anchored by excellent audio quality and pristine mixing, the album highlights include "Where Dreams Go to Die," which brilliantly pairs eerie background violins with a beautiful hook, and "Silver Platter Club," which delivers an infectious tune reminiscent of "Lemon Tree" crossed with "Hey There Delilah." While tracks like "TC and Honeybear" create an effective, engaging tension and "Jesus Hates Faggots" lands with punchy impact, songs like "Sigourney Weaver," "Chicken Bones," and "Outer Space" ultimately feel weird or forgettable. It’s an uneven listening experience overall, but the standout production and strong individual cuts make it worth a spin.

This thing is awesome

Better than Coldplay

My initial gut feeling was correct. Chicken Bone from Cowboy Bebop is a good song. The songs on this album so far fall into one bucket of soft inoffensive background music with some pop culture references. Same tempo same kind of lyrics. Maybe the people recommending breaking the hiatus should be taken out back and talked to? Throw in a bunch of words and add a social issue boom you have yourself a song. Arrogance? Oh yea. Rootbeer, newspaper, pencil, dick, losing my mind mental health crisis and Jesus what cereal would he eat cause third time back is the charm. Leopard and Lamb was a nice listen. 2. Sorry, other people have done this so much better. Can't say this is a good example of its genre or worth your time.

This album destroyed me in the best way possible.

Melancholy and heavy, but never feels dragging or whiny. An overall enjoyable listen. 4/5.

a boring mess like seriously i was so bored during this that i got to the song fireflies and it deadass made me want to listen to owl city instead so i did 4/10

Look, I'm gonna start out by talking about the song "Jesus Hates Faggots". I understand what John is saying in these lyrics and I agree with his overall point. I understand why, as a gay man, he would take back the title slur, and I understand how Jesus and religion are used to abuse and denigrate all sorts of non-white-straight-folks. I just don't think that gives him clearance to drop so many other slurs toward marginalized groups he's not a part of. Is it effective? I mean, sure, yeah. Is it ethical? Well... I don't personally think so, but I understand what he's going for here. With that song being my primary criticism of this album, I do want to say that I overall found this to be a really captivating listen. I found myself noticing so many touchstones from previous eras of singer-songwriter craft, from the soft rock of the 70s to the indie explosion of the mid/late 2000s. John is able to capture all of these sounds and influences and mold them into something that feels uniquely him. I hadn't heard of his previous band The Czars before listening to this, but I'll check it out. I really enjoyed this overall. Will definitely, happily listen to more of his work.

Beatles de Wish, ok mais bon

This is what Father John Misty sounds like to people that don’t like Father John Misty

I mean I get it, but it kinda sucks. It's more "wacky modern folk" than emotional outpouring

oh waiter more sad gay singer songwriter songs pleaseee

I guess I didn't hate it. Probably won't listen to it again.

Jag hade den spelbar på årslistan och jag trodde nog den skulle åldrats sämre. Det rätt ojämnt men det finns ett gäng låtar som fortfarande verkligen berör mig. Midlake kompar och man spelar sådär känsligt som Midlake ofta gör. Mittentrea

Fy fan vad tråkigt. I klass med Rufus Wainwright. Det har sagts innan, men när det gäller att plocka album från millennieskiftet och framåt har 1001-redaktionen väldigt dålig känsla för vad som ska komma att definiera tidsepoken. Det här kommer ingen om 25 år säga ha haft någon betydelse, om ens i dag.