In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

This was... fine. I know psychedelic rock had to start from somewhere and it was nice to hear some of the origins. What's giving this the one star rating to me, though, is the 17-minute song at the end. This is the second album I've gotten through this project that's done this and I really don't enjoy it. It's hard to have a song go on that long and for it to not just... drone. There were also these weird sounds at the 11-minute and 14-minute marks that sounded almost like someone was taking a razor blade to a guitar string or drilling something. It was just unpleasant and not in an avant garde way but in a... difficult to listen to way. I'm glad this one is over.

One good song, and it's way better remixed as a Nas beat.

1. uuant - 1 2. flouuerz - 1 3. mirage - 1 4. termination - 1 5. happy - 0 6. vida - 2

I did not enjoy this.

One song is not enough to save this album. The songs are all the same (even their hit).

wtf

Not great.

Nope

I'll take the Incredible String Band over Iron Butterfly anytime. Iconic does not equate to enjoyable.

"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" seems to be very promising if you listen to many of the reviews about the album, especially the title track. Unfortunately, this greatness is only in theory. When you listen to the album, you realize two things: 1. There are a zillion albums in the same genre that are better than this one. 2. The singer clearly starts off imitating Elvis Presley and ends up realizing that he failed at it. Nothing against Doug Ingle, but the work presented here is not at all "wow" and the title track seems to never end. Disappointed, but not surprised.

Really disappointed with this album. Terrible mix that desperately needs a remaster. I usually love side-long tracks, but this album doesnt really have much to say. Corny lyrics and a dated sound also really hamper the album. Nothing really positive to say.

Il y a des semaines, dans ce projet un peu fou des "1001 albums", où l'on tombe sur des pépites, des oeuvres qui redéfinissent une vie d'écoute, des disques qui vous attrapent par le col et ne vous lâchent plus. Et puis, il y a des semaines comme celle-ci. Des semaines où la liste vous impose une sorte de devoir de mémoire, une plongée dans un monument historique dont tout le monde connaît le nom, mais que peu de gens ont réellement visité de la cave au grenier. Cette semaine, le monument en question s'appelle "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". Et autant vous le dire tout de suite, la visite a été... laborieuse. L'année de toutes les folies. Hendrix redessine la carte de la guitare électrique, les Beatles se déchirent en beauté sur l'Album Blanc, les Stones invoquent le Diable. C'est le chaos, l'explosion, la révolution sonique. Et au milieu de tout ça, débarquent quatre Californiens sous le nom improbable d'Iron Butterfly. Un nom qui, à lui seul, résume le paradoxe de l'époque : la lourdeur du métal qui s'annonce et la légèreté psychédélique des rêves opiacés. Sur le papier, ça a de la gueule. Dans les faits, c'est une autre paire de manches. Soyons clairs, cet album est l'exemple le plus parfait, le plus caricatural, de l'arnaque du "one-track album". Un disque qui n'existe et ne survit dans la mémoire collective que par la grâce (ou la faute, c'est selon) d'un seul et unique morceau. Un putain de long morceau. Un mastodonte de plus de dix-sept minutes qui a phagocyté tout le reste, qui a dévoré la face B, la carrière du groupe, et probablement l'envie de millions d'auditeurs de retourner un jour le vinyle. Ce morceau, c'est évidemment "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". La légende, que tout disquaire qui se respecte a racontée mille fois, veut que le titre soit une déformation avinée de "In the Garden of Eden". C'est plausible. Quand on écoute ce Léviathan sonore, on imagine sans peine le chanteur Doug Ingle, la bouche pâteuse, tentant d'articuler sa vision mystique à un batteur déjà parti dans un autre monde. Le riff d'orgue est iconique, un truc lourd, menaçant, qui tourne en boucle jusqu'à l'hypnose, ou l'ennui mortel. C'est l'alpha et l'oméga du rock lourd, le chaînon manquant entre le psychédélisme et ce qui deviendra plus tard le hard rock, puis le metal. Historiquement, c'est indéniable. Mais putain, qu'est-ce que c'est long. Et puis, il y a LE solo de batterie. Ce passage est devenu une blague à lui tout seul. C'est le moment où, à l'époque, on avait le temps de rouler un joint, d'aller pisser, de se faire un café, de discuter de la guerre du Vietnam et de revenir juste à temps pour la reprise du riff principal. C'est le symbole de tous les excès d'une époque qui pensait que "plus c'est long, plus c'est bon". Eh bien non. Parfois, plus c'est long, plus c'est juste chiant. Ce solo est une épreuve, un test d'endurance. Si vous survivez à ça, vous pouvez survivre à n'importe quel solo de prog des années 70. Le plus triste dans cette histoire, c'est la face A. Parce qu'il y a une face A, oui, je vous assure. On y trouve une poignée de morceaux qui, pris individuellement, sont de sympathiques pépites de rock psychédélique un peu brut de décoffrage. On sent l'énergie, l'envie d'en découdre. C'est efficace, ça sonne comme une version énervée des Doors qui aurait abusé des mauvais acides. Des titres comme "Most Anything You Want" ou "Are You Happy?" sont des prototypes intéressants, des ébauches de ce que le hard rock allait devenir. Le problème, c'est qu'ils ne font pas le poids. Ils sont condamnés à n'être que la première partie insignifiante d'un spectacle dont tout le monde attend la tête d'affiche monstrueuse. Qui se souvient de la première partie de King Kong ? Personne. On est tous là pour voir le gorille géant. Et c'est exactement ça, cet album. Une poignée de chansons compétentes et agréables qui se font écraser, pulvériser, par le monolithe sonore qui occupe toute la seconde face. En tant qu'album, en tant qu'oeuvre cohérente, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" est un échec. C'est un 45 tours boursouflé. Une anomalie. Un disque qui a marqué l'histoire, certes, mais pour de mauvaises raisons. Il a ouvert la porte à une certaine idée de la démesure, du remplissage, de l'étirement artificiel d'une idée. Quand je tenais ce disque entre mes mains à la boutique, c'était toujours pour la même raison : un client, souvent jeune, qui avait entendu parler de "ce morceau super long avec un solo de batterie de malade". Personne ne m'a jamais demandé "tu as le premier Iron Butterfly pour la face A ?". Jamais. Alors oui, il fallait l'écouter pour le projet. C'est une case cochée sur la liste. Mais est-ce que je le réécouterai en entier un jour ? Sûrement pas. Je garderai le titre éponyme dans une playlist "curiosités historiques", entre un obscur morceau de Krautrock et un délire de Zappa. Pour le reste, le papillon a beau être de fer, ses ailes ont bien mal vieilli. C'est un artefact, une pièce de musée qui témoigne d'une époque où tout était permis, même le pire. Et pour ça, je suppose, il mérite une forme de respect. Mais pas plus d'un point sur cinq. Faut pas déconner non plus.

This is one of those albums that has no redeeming qualities at all. Vocal sounds like fake Elvis Presley, songs are really neutered of all excitment, and even long guitar solos on b side are completely boring. I guess it's not known for a reason.

I really can't take this list seriously. This is another on the list that is only on here for a single song, which are not worth listening to in order to get to, and even when you get to it, it's... 17 minutes? That's how you make a less than 40 minutes feel like an eternity.

Is every album from 1968 on the list —————————————- 201 hippie albums from’ ‘68 —————————————-

A stumble and a fall

Well it turns out circus prog with a kind of proto pearl jam 90's rock vocals is not for me. 1.4

Not for me.

this is really bolstered by one long song could i write poetry to this? n

Too much prog but I enjoyed that one riff

Mid. Only one good song, the others sound too similar.

This sounds like rock and/or roll (also shit)

No

Not for me. 1/5

Not for me

Everyone listens to this for the title track, but I really want to talk about the first side. What is there to talk about? NOTHING. There is not one thing I remember about the first side other than it was forgettable and that there was generic psychedelic and a slow song, I think. I don’t even remember the names of any of these songs. They’re just meant to pad space before the title track, which is what everybody bought this for. It’s like including a movie that’s mostly boring with one really good scene in the 1001 Movies list. And unlike there, they can just put it on the 1001 Songs! I really hate this album’s inclusion. Only 15% of ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’ is actually enjoyable, anyway.

I listened to this album once 20 years ago. Now I remember why I only listened to it once. Over rated. Horrible album - it literally has ONE good song on it and it's the LAST SONG. And that ONE good song - goes on for SEVENTEEN MINUTES. EXCESSIVE AND UNNECESSARY Everything on this album is repetitive and mind-numbing. Skip fest.

I don't know if it's how this album is mixed or what, but it's really grating on the ears. I couldn't even finish it.

This is like weird medieval psychedelic rock. Flowers and Beads was good, but the rest is hard for me to enjoy. I don't know what the hell that last song was trying to be...

no

Fuck right off with this stuff. This style of music has aged terribly, it's so corny and limp. 1.5/5

not my vibe! next pls

I probably don't need to listen to this again. But Christian may have biased my opinion with his outright hatred for this album.

Iron Butterfly faff about, puffed with air, gawping at pretty colours. On the last song, they figure out a decent riff, and sing and prance around it with all the vim of a waffle.

So of it's time. Weird rock mix of Bowie and The Beatles. 6 songs and only 36 minutes - thank God!

Classic 60s sound. Not my thing.

Never heard of this band or album before. I don't think I will. Not a fan.

This was disappointing. It's like a watered down version of the Doors (and I don't even really like the Doors all that much). An-a-gadda has that cool lick, but otherwise, it ain't much of a song. I remember thinking it was cool growing up because someone said that it was really supposed to be "In the Garden of Eden" but he was so drunk when they recorded it that he couldn't say it correctly. BUT - he annunciates every other word it the song with no problem, so I assume that was BS.

get this shite off now

1 star for a boring 17 minute song

A well-known 60s album but I did not know it apart from the title song, which must have been a giveaway for the Incredible Bongo Band. The title song is based on a great riff and I can see that this album works in certain settings. But this album represents all the bad elements of 60s popular music. It is an exercise in ugliness.

Hmph. wiry. not into it.

Trendy 60s psychedelic snooze fest

really boring. did not age well.

Not for me.

Had to turn off my track 3. Crap version of the Doors/Kinks.

Good evening dickheads! Let me tell you all a little thing about this record. It fuckin' sucks, man! My daughter could make better music, and she's dead.

elvis got duped into buying fake lsd and had a good ish time.

Who thought this was a good idea?

30 mins of filler + inagaddadavida. And inagaddadavita isn’t that good. Ok it has a great riff and some good organ. Still.

not my thing i guess

Standard 60s psychedelic. Nothing memorable after the first 5 tracks, and then they hit a classic riff on the last track and spoil it by stretching it out for half the album.

nope

I thought I'd like this album but it was rather disappointing. The title track was good, but the rest of the songs were not good at all. 1/5 stars for this album.

Always loved the title track. Skip over the other songs. The end.

meh

Pop-proggers' take on The Doors and Cream, and my headache has never been worse. I don't know whether they did too few or too many drugs making this. It's repetitive, clashing, circus-like, boring and generally an awful album with an egosentric vocalist who thinks his voice is it, when it really is not

bland

Maybe a slew of 60's prog-rock has put me off a bit in the last few albums. Musically tired, lyrically just boring.

eh that one song is enough

LOL awful