Paris 1919

Goofy English shit. Fella sounds a bit like Ringo.

Cale > Reed :)

The brain behind Velvet. Brilliant guy.

I listened to this years ago but mostly knew it by reputation, which I can say is well-earned. There's some Velvet Underground in this record's DNA, but it's mostly a dramatic evolution, with orchestrations that compliment the songwriting. A few really excellent tracks, especially "Andalucia" and "Half Past France." Maybe not as enthusiastic a 5 as other records I've given that rating to, but it's more of a grower, which is fine.

This was fine. I didn't hate it. Didn't love it. Largely forgettable.

Cruise ship lower decks lounge music. At best.

At least with Kale you get the feeling you’re doing something good for your body, even if you don’t enjoy it. Unlike this Cale.

I didn't have any witticisms or ironic comments come to mind while listening. I just rrally love this album now

One of John Cale's very finest solo efforts, Paris 1919 is also among his most accessible records, one which grows in depth and resonance with each successive listen. A consciously literary work -- the songs even bear titles like "Child's Christmas in Wales," "Macbeth," and "Graham Greene" -- Paris 1919 is close in spirit to a collection of short stories; the songs are richly poetic, enigmatic period pieces strongly evocative of their time and place. Chris Thomas' production is appropriately lush and sweeping, with many tracks set to orchestral accompaniment; indeed, there's little here to suggest either Cale's noisy, abrasive past or the chaos about to resurface in his subsequent work -- for better or worse, his music never achieved a similar beauty again.

Though this is not my personal favorite John Cale album (that would be "Fear"), I am going to give this a 5 because I'm pretty sure this will be John Cale's only solo appearance on the list. This is a beautiful album and I find his voice oddly comforting.

Another day, and another randomly generated album selected for me from the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Todays selection is an album titled Paris 1919 by former Velvet Underground band member John Cale. I’m going to cut to the chase. After having this album in my possession for 24 hours, while being obviously well produced, written, engineered and performed, its mostly forgettable to me, but not completely. There are two extremely good songs on Paris 1919 and I’ll focus on those. This is just my honest opinion. Child’s Christmas in Wales, the album opener, is very warm and welcoming, if it was meant to set the tone for the rest of the experience, it failed. Most following tracks are, to me personally, too slow and sappy. I don’t mind slow and sappy at all, just make it catchy and memorable. As I drudged through about fifty percent of Paris 1919, I was smacked right in the face with the epic title track, Paris 1919. The deep bass of the strings are all it took to hook me. The horns closely following reeled me in closer. I have no idea what this song is about lyrically, seems based on historic events of countries I’ve never visited. Paris maybe? When John Cole sings “you’re a ghost la la - la la la la la” I get a little release of dopamine. So simple, yet so catchy especially in his cadence. Other notable songs are Graham Greene, Half Past France and Antartica Starts here. I totally don’t know what they are about but they sound nice. While the overall production of Paris 1919 is obviously top tier, the only songs I would add to a playlist would be Childs Christmas In Wales and most definitely the title song, Paris 1919. Please share your thoughts, opinions and memories below!

A playful and incredibly cordial flash of gallic beauty from a true artist. Cale has laundered the Velvet Underground from his system on this record and not so much recorded an album, but painted a musical picture. John Squire once recorded an album based around the paintings of Edward Hopper. It was a bold idea, more miss than hit, but a commendable effort. Paris 1919 seems to achieve Squire's aim almost accidentally. It's short, but any longer and it wouldn't have worked. This isn't something that takes you on a journey - plenty of records do - but instead it takes you out for coffee. If Dark Side Of The Moon, for example, whisks you away into the psychedelic catacombs of your mind, then Paris 1919 treats you to croissants in a delightful little cafe on the banks of the Seine under the romantic stewardship of the Eiffel Tower. C'est merveilleux.

Pretty solid album. Started a little slow but ended up enjoying it more than I expected to. My player started shuffling through a 2nd time after the first listen and I 1) didn't realize it and 2) liked it even more the further I got, so this might be one that really builds with additional listens. 3.5/5

It's fine. There's the odd moment here and there where it's bordering on good, but overall, it's fine, it's listenable, not horrible, not fabulous.

Paris 1919 by John Cale (1973) Of the three key members of The Velvet Underground (John Cale, Lou Reed, and Nico [1965-1967]), John Cale was the most inscrutable. But on the post-Underground album Paris 1919, John Cale approaches scrutability. If nothing else, the record demonstrated that he actually had musical talent, even if his lyrics remained on the obscure side. With an almost pop sound, utilizing sensible but creative melodies, and backed by the UCLA Symphony Orchestra, Paris 1919 is listenable, even if Cale’s voice leaves much to be desired (I’m being generous on that last bit). From the wacky faux-reggae “Graham Greene” to the almost folk rock anthem “Half Past France” to the delicately pretty and cool “Andalucia”, the musical chops are there, but they seem almost desperate to achieve meaning. The allusions to the overall theme of the album are oh so slight. It takes work to understand, and it’s not quite worth it. The album does prompt some historical reflection, which is a plus. The ‘Paris’ of Paris 1919 was of course the post-WWI Paris, recovering but victorious after the Triple Entente (Britain, France, and Russia) defeated the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) and providing the setting for the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The conference was marked by the victors’ idealism and hopefulness that sought an international path forward after the “war to end all wars”. Sadly (and due in no small part to the arrogant and vain naïveté of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson), the resulting Treaty of Versailles would be a colossal failure, ensuring the rise of German nationalism and the horrors of WWII just 20 years later. Cale’s lyrics on the title track “Paris 1919” make reference to this ephemeral buoyancy, but they remain indeterminate, so they represent a missed opportunity. But the music captures the mood—the foolishness of those who put bright heads together confident of securing the avoidance of war. As the wise man said, “When will they ever learn?” (Pete Seeger/Joe Hickerson, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” [1955/1960]) An even wiser man said (in 1950), “No one has yet explained how war prevents war. Nor has anyone been able to explain away the fact that war begets the conditions that beget further war.” That ‘even wiser man’ was the American Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. He should know. 2/5

It's just kinda there.

Meh… sounds like badly jerked-over Beatles tunes, but less interesting.

This is art.

The music was strong. The instrumentation was expansive giving the album a symphonic feel. There was also a strong sense of melody and whimsy. I only know John Cale through his work his work with the Velvet Underground but though this was very different, this art pop stands very well on its own.

Didn't vibe with it but also it didn't put me off it was just kinda there.

Middle of the road. Not boring, but doesn't really stand out either.

Not feeling this at all. No real good reason. Maybe I'm just not that into Avante Garde.

this is boring and I can't understand what he is singing.

Absolute waste of time. This was almost unlistenable and even then, it was boring beyond belief. I somehow made it through and I was so angry the whole time that I was forcing myself to finish it.

Classic John Cale album. Hard to see why anyone would give fewer than 5 stars for it.

What a surprise this album was. His mellow voice, slightly spiritual sounding, on top of a unique guitar and strings blend, with every song making you feel something. Also, such a cool selection of song names.

Kind of sounds like a really good Ringo album

Paris 1919 - string accomp. as per Eleanor rigby

Loved it, dense and powerful orchestration, historical lyrical storytelling, nice arc to the album

I enjoyed this. A Child's Christmas in Whales and Antarctica Starts Here stand out. Artsy, innovative - doesn't always hit the mark for me but never boring. Good listen.

John Cale, the founder of Velvet Underground, doing a collection of fun catchy pop songs. Nothing out of place. The majority being baroque pop, one of my favorite genres (especially from that era) with a heavy wall of sound, incorporating strings like an orchestra. Different styles here and there like the bluegrass "Macbeth" or psychedelic folk "Hanky Panky Nohow" that never test the boundaries of our comfort zone. Beautiful writing reminiscent of 19th to early-20th century literature. He gets pretty artsy at times, most dramatically in the bridge title track, which draws your attention while still being pleasing and accessible. Has a very British sound, with vocals and writing reminding me of the mods, especially the Kinks. Closer is a satisfying exit. Length and pacing are just right. Favorites: The Endless Plain of Fortune, Andalucia, Paris 1919

My familiarity with John Cale prior to today was mostly limited to his work in The Velvet Underground, so this turned out to be an unexpectedly straightforward and accessible rock album to listen to. Highly enjoyable art-rock, with beautiful orchestration. I need to check out more of Cale’s solo work.

I can appreciate that he's got good song-writing skills and has street cred being that he was one of the founders of the Velvet Underground, but this really did not resonate with me.

To be fair, this dude didn't stand a chance, following right on the heals of the ArchAndroid from yesterday. So much energy! So much variety! Yesterday, of course. Not today. This is bland AF. It's vanilla ice cream with no sprinkles. It's a pan-fried burger with no toppings. It's a unicorn with no horn that just walks around eating grass, just like a regular ole horse. This tracks with my experience with the 70s on 7 on SiriusXM. The music from this time period is either amazing, sing out loud while driving awesome - or total and utter crap. Like change the channel to anything - EVEN THE BLEND - crap. This is the latter - hard pass, but thanks for trying.

This has to be one of the most boring albums I've ever had the misfortune of listening to, no contest. Total snooze-fest. The only reason this doesn't completely fail is because there's nothing TECHNICALLY wrong with other than it being utterly devoid of energy, attitude, or interest. Just another of those head-scratcher, "WHY is this on the list?!" records.

"Paris 1919" is an art pop solo album by the Velvet Underground's John Cale. Full of literary allegories and the UCLA Symphony Orchestra, this album received high remarks for its poetic songwriting and idiosyncracity. However, this album is an unremarkable, utter snooze.

Nothing here is overly offensive to the ears -but def nothing to excite me. Perfect for an elevator.

Another bland 70's album... not really sure why this is on the list. There are a dime a dozen albums like this that sound leagues better and more interesting. Nothing here really stands out. This dude can't sing, the songs all sound the same, and the melodies are really lazy. The only thing going for this album is that the strings sound good at some parts. I can tell I am going to forget about this album in 2-3 days. High 2.

Another one I just didn't get on with. Shame, I like Velvet Underground too.

Ja, ik ga het gewoon doen: "na 1 nummer begon het me al aardig de Cale uit te hangen" (sorry)

Generally not a fan of this kind of music, but I'm always willing to give a chance for the albums. This one is just quite bad though. As soon as I heard the first song, I knew the vibes were bad and this was not for me. I personally hate his tone, the vocals and melodies are bad, lyrics are weird, and the whole record is just a giant mess of boring pop-rock stuff with some ballads filled with weird and downright annoying instrumentals. 'Macbeth' and 'Paris 1919' are the only half-decent songs on this, but still not nearly enough to save this absolute ship wreck. Very little to like here for me, never listening to this again.

One of my favourite albums.

Another absolute masterpiece. This has been a good run of albums

Fabulous!!

Great album! All compositions are powerfully connected by the concept, while each one is different. Feel free to listen to this album in its entirety. Cale opened to me this uniqe genre as barocco-pop

Honestly one of my favourite ever albums. I always think of it as underrated so I was pleasantly surprised it made the list. It's a shame he never went back to this style with his later more experimental stuff

kinda unsurprising because i love the Velvet Underground, but man was this a good album

Cale at his most approachable, one of my favourite albums.

The perfect album to go with my morning tea.

Liked this, but feel I need to listen to it several times get deeper into it. John Cale's voice moves from understated to absurd, but always fascinating.

meh

Absolute perfection. Bliss. Incredible. The title track is genuinely one of the most gorgeous compositions ever put to record. Now THIS is symphonic rock at it's finest. VU alum >>>

Very nice collection of beautiful songs. Cale's singing is a bit wobbly at times, but in this case I can live with that.

Everything John Cale touches seems to be wonderful. Loved this album. 4.5/5, rounding up to 5.

For the longest time, I thought JJ and John Cale were the same person. But they couldn't be more different. This is great, building and surging nicely, and definitely an influence on Belle and Sebastien.

"Paris 1919" is the third solo studio album by Welsh musician John Cale. The album was a shift in his more experimental music toward an orchestral-influenced style as with the contemporary pop rock. His band included Little Feat's Lowell George (guitars) and Richie Hayword (drums), The Crusaders' Wilton Felder (bass, sax) and the UCLA symphony orchestra. Lyrics explore various aspects of early 20th century Western European culture and history. The album title (and song) " Paris 1919" refers to Paris Peace Conference (Treaty of Versailles) which resulted in the partitioning of Europe and assignment of unilateral war reparations and contributed to the rise of the Third Reich. Piano begins "Child's Christmas in Wales," in both a happy and sad sounding pop song. A busy song. Great vocals. A droning guitar bridge. Based on a Dylan Thomas poem. The strings appear in "Hanky Panky Nohow." It's softer, slower. A chorus. I love the way there's no rush in this song. The modernization of life. The strings give a darker edge to "The Endless Pain of Fortune." Dramatic. It's about settlers in 1910 South Africa searching for diamonds and gold. The influence of Lowell George is really heard in the beautiful "Andalucia." The slide guitar. Hey, this is country rock. Cale's emotional delivery. Dire Straits had to be huge fans of John Cale. A person from Andalucia, Spain. A lover? Ominous strings begin "Paris 1919," the most baroque of these songs. Layered and urgent vocals and chorus. Is Cale comparing his life the disastrous results of The Treaty of Versailles? "Half Past France" slows it down a bit from the previous songs. Piano. Slide guitar. This sounds a lot like Brian Eno at that time. No surprise Cale and Eno worked together. The album ends with a soulful song in "Antartica Starts Here." Cale whispering the album to a close. This is a fantastic album. I was completely blown away. It's beautiful sounding with the strings. Great variety as each song changes styles slightly and is worth listening on their own. Pop, baroque, country rock, soul and glam rock. I'm always a sucker for songs with dual meanings and he does this here with the historical lyrics and comparing to his current personal situation or not maybe. I cannot recommend this album any higher.

I loved everything about this album. It just hit the right note for what I was in the mood for today. "Hanky Panky Nohow" and "Paris 1919" really stood out for me. His voice is a bit of Ray Davies and Ringo Starr. The songwriting had a touch of Harry Nilsson (or vice versa). This was a great album

Brilliant

10/10 I forgot that this guy was in the Velvet Underground and was completely blown away by how beautiful and imaginative this album is but now that I know, it should obviously come as no surprise that he’s such a genius

Was a lovely listen on the way to work this morning. Apparently it had been around but Bagelbutt and Otrops failed to tell me.

What I'm learning about myself is that I enjoy the members of the Velvet Underground solo much more than I do together. There wasn't a track on this album that wasn't both enjoyable and memorable. Great lyrics like "her schoolhouse mind has windows now." Excellent orchestral pop taking up where the Beatles left off and creating something new. No notes

I loved this album. Being familiar with the title track I wasn’t sure what to expect from the rest of the album but it delivered big time. Beautiful symphonies! This kind of album is what this list was made for

Having never heard of John Cale I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not well versed in orchestral music but he uses it wonderfully without it overpowering his vocals. The title track especially blends it together well. This entry stands out from the rest of its peers in the early 70's experimental rock genre (if thats what you call it) coming out of the UK. Really enjoyed this one.

brilliant.

This is a very cozy album, it makes you want to listen to it in the evening with a cup of tea, a cigarette in your mouth, and the soft light of a lamp.

Extraordinary. A true hidden classic. The first four tracks are excellent and fully engaging and then ends very strong indeed. Beautifully conceived, skillfully executed.

Ooo I was excited for this one, but also a little apprehensive based on this title/album cover. But I know my boy, John Cale of Velvet Underground fame, is a musical innovator and creative genius. So I put my trust in him. And I am not disappointed at all! I am loving this album! The first track was very peppy and uptempo, it immediately put me into a happy, excited mood of anticipatory eagerness for every coming track. This is such a joyful and delightful journey, I wish I could hear it again for the first time! It's a gift I want to keep unwrapping. I can't even describe how much I love the intentional dissonance between the musicality and the thematic lyrical content; this is absolutely delicious and I have savoured every bite. John Cale is criminally underrated, I'm in awe of him. This is a masterful exploration of his solo talents and I'll be spending a lot more of my time with it. Adding into regular listening rotation!

What a phenomenal surprise this was! Incredible album filled with interesting and very enjoyable songs. After each song I kept thinking damn, that’s good! Then the next one would be even better. The second half of this was some of the best music I’ve listened to on this project. Super terrific!

An absolute delight!

Nice!

Wonderful songs. I enjoyed them more and more as I listened more carefully.

What a great album. Hat’s off to John Cale for being one of the masterminds of the Velvet Underground but then also being a genius in his own completely different realm. Such an original voice and fun theatric songs… love it!

Gorgeous, an album filled with little avant-pop gems that’s complex enough to keep returning to again and again

I like the voices. It's a nice album Fav songs: The endless plain of fortune Andalucia :=]

I was not expecting to like it this much, but the tracks felt very unique despite their names.

At first I liked this. And then it really started growing on me! I remember Cale’s voice from Songs for Drella that my dad played a lot for a short period of time when I was a kid. I never understood that album but it was a comforting album. The album is so awesome. One of my favorite discoveries from the list. This has a great flow and variety to it. I think a surprise 4.5+

Not at all what I was expecting. I'm a fan of his work with Velvet Underground, but not really listened to his solo material. Thought it would be more experimental. Not complaining, this is another belter.

Reminds me of so many things

Wow! Wow wow wow. I love it when baroque/art pop sticks the landing. I can’t believe this is from 1973. It’s just as unique as Eno’s Another Green World which came a few years later. The title track is one of the best chorus medleys and executions I’ve ever heard. Like, even when the next song started playing, the “you’re a ghost lalalalalalalalala” just kept on going in my head. It’s the end of the day, I listened to this album 3 times today at work, and still, I have that chorus stuck in my head. Great concept, incredibly catchy from start to finish, succinct enough. Perfect. This might be a softer 5/5 than some of my true longtime favorites, but I cannot deny this album what it truly deserves

4.5 - Great album, not sure if because the beatles were coming up next but I actually heard a lot of them in this album

Perfect melodic song writing. Different enough to stand out, simple enough for familiarity. Beautiful.

I needed two tries to get this record. But now while listening to it for the second time I think it’s a masterpiece.

This is one of my heart albums. It is in the best of the best category. The title song is so good along with all the other songs. I squealed when I saw that this is the album of the day. Listening to it again some of these songs really got me. Half Past France: "We're so far away" (thinking about death) Andalucia: "When you'd made up your mind not to come, And I couldn't persuade you, Or wait till tomorrow -- or pass the time" Ah-may-zing

A masterpiece, perfectly blending his calssical/art song/lieder instincts with crisp, mature and sophisticated pop songs – sophisticated in both sense of conception and execution, in lyric material (literary, avant-garde) and structure. Tone is mostly melancholic with some winsome whimsy here and there. One's personal faves are "Hanky Panky Nohow" and "The Endless Plain" and "Antartica" and the stately-joyous title cut, but the others also offer rich and singular pleasures. This may be Cale at his most mainstream, but it's also chamber pop for people who like actual chamber music.

Absolute masterpiece. If you've never heard it, check it out and you will hopefully understand why it's held in such high regard.

Never heard this before.... unusual but at the same time catchy!

Nice smooth like it

Loved this album. I have never heard any of these songs before. Had a great band and vocals. I would buy this album.

Very relaxing! I enjoyed it.

A pretty fun pop album, it really grew on me after a second listen.

Weirdly good and it led to a few other great songs

Macbeth can do one but it's a solid 4 from me.

Had never heard of him before. Pleasant

Child's Christmas In Wales: interessante, come primo impatto m'ha fatto molto anni '70 ma non in modo negativo. L'arrangiamento mi è piaciuto e il pezzetto col tempo dispari m'ha un po' conquistato. Hanky Panky Nohow: Wtf?? Parte come un pezzo un po' folkeggiante anni 70 ma il testo è totalmente fuori di testa. Il "ritornello" m'è piaciuto e trovo molto azzeccata la durata del brano che più lungo avrebbe perso d'impatto. "There's a law for everything And for Elephants that sing to keep The cows that agriculture won't allow". Ok..? The Endless Plain Of Fortune: Ammazza figo questo, l'orchestrazione m'è piaciuta un sacco. Parte un po' modaiolo anni 70 e invece quando iniziano ad entrare gli ottoni e gli archi diventa un pezzo totalmente diverso da quello che me aspettavo. Bello! Andalucia: L'ho dovuta sentì 3 volte perché non riusciva a catturarmi in nessun modo. Forse bisognerebbe sentì il testo che non ho sentito bene, però m'è sembrato un pezzo folk ballad tipico dell'epoca senza particolari pregi. Machbeth: Figa, l'influenza un po' country rock m'è piaciuta. Non è niente di super originale ma pure la transizione strana in quella sorta di bridge m'è piaciuta. Sta pure nel punto giusto dell'album. Paris 1919: Ho visto che è la title track e che è la più ascoltata quindi ero un po' prevenuto, però invece m'è piaciuta. Orecchiabile ma comunque con elementi stilosi e il bridge orchestrato con gli uccellini e il cambio d'atmosfera l'ho trovato geniale. Graham Greene: Carino il piano scordato però non m'ha detto molto. Half Past France: Niente di sconvolgente e forse un po' più legato agli anni, però m'è piaciuto. Antarctica Starts Here: Nonostante il Rhodes per come è suonato fa un po' David Bowie (e quindi buuu), comunque l'ho trovato un pezzo molto poco anni '70 e pure originale. Forse avrei voluto che ci fosse un po' di più di questo spirito pure negli altri pezzi. Complessivamente: Molto interessante, figlio dei suoi tempi da una parte ma anche con una visione artistica che secondo me regge ancora oggi e c'ha ancora qualcosa da dì. Secondo me se sente che s'è trattenuto un po' e voleva fa un disco più vendibile (tipo appunto considerando i pezzi più sbroccati) ma comunque se sente che c'è una mano esperta sia a livello compositivo che di arrangiamento. Probabilmente ci vorrebbe più di un ascolto e penso che qui i testi siano abbastanza importanti ma non ho prestato sempre attenzione. Quando l'ho fatto però c'erano sempre frasi abbastanza surreali che mi sembravano aggiungere all'atmosfera del pezzo/disco.

Fantastic album, you can see why he went on to do soundtracks etc. Loved the variation of it. Favourites were Hanky Panky Nohow (best song title ever), The Endless Plain of Fortune, Macbeth and Paris 1919. Some really inspiring stuff in there. Highlight was the strings.

There's no bloat on here, just a short snappy album. Little not to like tbh. I like the opening track especially.

Con John Cale è stato subito amore (cuoricino su spotify per Child's Christmas in Wales). Mi ha trasmesso naturalezza e semplicità ma a tratti anche nostalgia (de che? boh!). Ha i suoi momenti geniali sia come testi sia come musica. Machbeth ha un po' interrotto la magia e ci sono rimasto un po' male, ma John Cale è tipo un di quelle persone che ti piacciono a prescindere. Non arriverebbe a 4 (3.75), ma mi ha fatto sentire meglio. Glielo devo. 4

Second half very good. Very weird

This is a fascinating album that I have never heard before. This is one of those albums that you just need to sit down and enjoy in its entirety. Will definitely put this into rotation. Favorite Tracks: "Paris 1919" "Child's Christmas in Wales"