Reviews (page 6 of 8)
Noisy, lo-fi-ish, rocking and interesting. A bit of an assault on the senses. Maybe not great background music for doing tasks.
experimental like sonic youth. 2.5
I thought I would like this more. I in the past had listen to the opening track in the past and loved it but unfortunately this album has vary few songs on that level. The production and song writing rarely feel great at the same time. Both of witch have their moments but over all the production is just too much. Not that I hate this album it does have some great highs but overall it just felt like I was confused
I put these albums on while I'm working and sometimes wonder why I'm in a bad mood before noticing, oh, it's this fucking music. MBV did it wayyyyyy better
Sold rock album but nothing stands out to me.
Bruyant et brouillon, experimental, pas ma came
Pas trop ma came
So much distortion I could barely make it out
Nah.
Ah, the granddaddy of shoegaze
was genuinely just a whole bunch of noise. I don’t wanna seem ignorant at all cause I don’t like building off of first impressions but god this first listen I was not able to enjoy this album. not that good
Had they had a decent producer and mixing engineer, this would've maybe been a 3.5/5 album. As it is, it's crap and it's barely a 2/5
Not bad in general, but fuck, my ears hurt now :(
I liked a couple of the songs, but the loud guitar feedback got to be a lot. People with tinnitus beware!
Really didn't like it as much as i thought i would based on Just Like Honey. Sad
Ok
Interesting, but I'll probably never listen to it again.
I mean, nothing wow to me but "Just Like Honey"
I have to honestly say this is not for me. I heard about this band recently when reading an oral history of Lollapalooza and appreciated the way they discussed their alignment (or misalignment) with the festival in the 90s. I can also see the way this influences future subgenres, but listening was kind of a chore (though I did listen to all of it). Maybe if I had encountered it as a teenager it would hold enough meaning, but it doesn't for me at this point.
Man these guitars are screechy. Why does the recording sound so bad? Like this actually gave me a headache to listen to, which is unfortunate because I feel like this album would actually be enjoyable if it was at all tolerable to listen to.
album #37 ok, initially i was going to rate this 3/5. however, on sitting with it and realising i remember barely any of it despite 3 listens....well. you know. this album has some really good tracks, but the middle just blurs together in a way that feels quite empty. i wanted to like it, it has a lot of elements i adore, but it simply did not click for me. ꩜ favourite track(s): just like honey, the hardest walk ꩜ least favourite track(s): in a hole ꩜ album rating: ★★☆☆☆ ꩜ number of albums left to review: 1,052 ꩜ number of albums from the list that i agree with being on the list: 23 ꩜ albums from the list that I would consider on my list: 9 ꩜ albums from the list I won't include on my list: 28
What a bunch of noise
The background noise drove me crazy.
It was fine from the start, but got worse until the end
I don’t understand the appeal of having the entire melody drowned out by white noise. It sounds like they have 100 tvs with no reception in the studio with them at all times. I guess it’s supposed to make the otherwise straightforward pop-rock more interesting? Not for me. 1.9
I wish I could have understood the lyrics; I think I would have liked this better.
You pick: - Resurrection rock. - If Phil Spector chose noise instead of murder. - My apologies to tinnitus. - Shop teacher: "What? Sounds good to me".
I imagine some people really like this and I completely respect that. For me it felt sort of like an angry static background music.
Art rock sucks.
This is kind of a strange record. It might have been groundbreaking at the time, but I couldn’t get used to the guitar feedback and reverb drum tones throughout the album. The vocals are a bit monotone as well. If it didn’t sound like it was recorded in a vast hallway — I would’ve rated it a point higher. 2.0/5.0
Just overrated. Mundane muddy chores to listen to.
Meh.
The guitars are like the snare on St. Anger by Metallica. Just annoying enough to distract from everything else going on. There are some great parts hidden behind that wall of fuzz and reverb. I just wish I could here them better and more clearly.
Meh... What else can I say? I would have to make myself come up with something. Just went nowhere and had nothing of meaning to me.
It just gets worse and worse. The distortion is way too much. I
This band definitely have a sound, every song that kicked in I thought was the one I vaguely knew, and even now I'm not sure which one it was, if any. Is it shoegaze? Feels shoegaze adjacent. Problem with making a wall of sound is all the walls start to look the same. I kind like the actual sound in small doses but it's hard to find variety in it. The noise doesn't sound as big here as say MBV either, so it doesn't hit you in the same way. 2.5 but more a 2 I think, can just about see why people might be keen but it's not for me.
I've been back to the previous album of theirs we had on the list a few times and i really like it now, so was looking forward to this. I think there is a limit to the amount of distortion and noise you can add before it just becomes annoying, and I think this album surpasses it on many occasions! The distortion levels are too damn high! I did enjoy bits of this, my favourite was "some candy talking", which I think has much less distortion and sounds more like their next album... Apparently that track was on their next album too strangely. Shame, because their next album is much better 2.5
Most of the album was pretty innocuous and many of the songs sounded the same. At first, I thought the worse song was, "In A Hole", but then "You Trip Me Up" started, and it started with a note that just made my back teeth ache, so I've changed my mind and now the worst song is, "You Trip Me Up'.
They sounded almost as bored and indifferent as I felt listening to this.
more noise from the 80s
Jonkinlaista räminää ja kaikuefektiä brittipopin jalanjäljissä
Maybe I need more than a couple of listens to get into this.
Trodde jeg kom til å like denne bedre enn jeg gjorde. Liker vanligvis at ting låter litt stygt, men når låtene ikke er gode nok så blir det dessverre litt slitsomt å høre på. Dette er tilfellet her, hvor låtene er litt kjedelige i bånn.
Det er noen tøffe sanger her, men mixen låter ho drit.
Noise Rock! A genre I had never heard of, but made perfect sense once this album started. The distortion made it pretty meh. Seems like it was pretty revolutionary at the time. But I didn’t find it very compelling. 4/10 Acceptable
High hopes, faded
A couple of the tracks were OK, just OK. A bit whiney, emo, shouty, loud and noisy for me
Jesus. Mary and Joseph that's a lot of distortion. Stone Roses but distorted beyond being listenable.
I think I like the concept of this group in my contemporary history more than their actual input. They feel like punky gothy background music suitable for a shift washing dishes at a cool diner. I'm down but I don't precisely yearn for the experience...again.
I think I’m too old for this kind of music. I mean there’s a few songs I will take and add it to the playlist but man this sounds of just the screeching static. I was like all right I’m kind of over. It could barely hear some of the lyrics. Some of the time. Definitely probably be better if I was depressed it screams. It wasn’t a phase mom it’s a lifestyle.
Too much overdrive and too much feedback overpower not enough vocals. "The sound IS the music" group can't hear anymore because tinnitus set in with this album. I'm sure there's a garage band with 50 dollar guitars that could sound better.
Just Like Honey is a great opening track that still holds up really well. The rest of this is just too buzzy / noisy / dissonant for me. It feels like somebody is idly strumming a guitar whose strings are way too loose. Not unpleasant, but not my type of thing.
I wasn't a fan of this band in the 80s
more 80s slop
If you can endure the numbing amount of feedback, this one is for you!
Not for me
Jag kanske är bränd men efter två lyssningar är det inget som fastnar för mig. Kanske skulle behövt en tredje. Dom måste ha varit före sin tid? Det är ju iaf ball.
It has its moments, but they are few & far between. It's a challenging listen, and may be an album that rewards those that give it more eartime. But from just this initial listen, it mostly didn't hit the mark.
1.73
Solid and noisy and didn't grab me.
It's noisy. In that good way. But never really clicked for me, even though I can see the throughlines. High 2s.
I tried to like it, I can understand the aesthetics of noise and the production choises but... The songs themselves suck, they're plain and repetitive, with almost nothing happening beneath the wall of noise. Sometimes they start to sound promising but never develop or go anywhere. 2/5
Jeg setter pris på støyen, men ikke så mye mer.
This is just a very weird album of pretty much nothing going on. I guess there is an audience that enjoys it, given the relatively high number of listens. I think that this would've been fine back in the day, possibly just as a background listen, but now it's just a bit meh, unless it's a background song.
Boring.
I was previously familiar with the artist but not this album. I think it is one of those whose historical importance and influence is greater than the listenability. Despite being influential and kicking off an entire genre, I feel it is not super interesting to listen to. It mostly seems like noise for the sake of noise, on top of relatively uninteresting tunes. I can appreciate it but don't see myself listening again.
"Psychocandy" by The Jesus And Mary Chain was a completely new experience for me, as I had never heard the band or this album before. The overall sound is very punk-ish, with that constant wall of guitar feedback being the most defining element. It is kind of cool at first, but since it is present in pretty much every song, it quickly became a bit too much for me. One song like that works well, but across a whole album it felt over the top. Also there is much too much reverb - it's all over the place. I was also never much of a new wave or post-punk fan to begin with, so this style does not really click with me. That said, I do have to give them credit for the variety on the record. There is more going on here than I initially expected, even if it did not fully win me over. I could see myself giving it another listen at some point, but probably not anytime soon.
I want to like this album, but it just doesn't sound good. I don't mean that it's bad musically, or the lyrics are bad, but the mixing and sound quality is just atrocious. The poor recording and lo-fi sound just makes it difficult to enjoy this album or listen to it critically.
Another British post punk album. It was okay at times, but really overbearing as well. 2.5/5 Probably won’t listen again
Litt uinspirerande, men går bra
This album feels dirty and gritty and I'm not sure I like it. Also all the mumble singing is driving me crazy, I get that you are edgy but does that mean I can't hear your lyrics!
Eh, not my cup of tea
Not for me
The feedback hurts my ears
Just like honey is great. The rest of it got very tedious.
This was an album. It contained music.
Too droney
Distortion much. A little okay but this was just constant static noise. Nope.
< the Beatles No thank you. Started out perfectly ignorable, became annoying
Too repetitive
This is the second day in a row that I get bands that don't appeal to me at all right now. In fact, if you didn't tell me they were different groups, I would tell you that I'm tired of listening to a single, wretched 50 track album... Alright, that's slightly harsh. This album is marginally better than yesterday. On a 5 star scale, it's still 1 star. On a 10 star, it would be 2.
Man, I wanted to like this, just to much noise. So disappointing, since I'm sure there's a gem in there. 2/5
Kitchen sink album. Not in the “it has everything” way, I mean the “hold on I can’t hear anything because the kitchen sink is blasting” way.
# Playlist Track - Just Like Honey # Notes - First time I heard this I though it was so jarring and grating that I couldn't even quite finish it. - There are way too many moments, like in "In a Hole" and "Taste of Cindy" where random noise, feedback and distortions eat up the whole song. - It gets a bit better if you're using headphones, as you can still kind of listen to the sound beneath the noise. It is still very annoying, anyway. - And it keeps happening over and over! So much that it feels like a cheap trick to sound "edgy".
First time and last time. I thought the album started out well but I was soon just tired of the music
I appreciate the decision to go with a raw, distorted sound, but I was hoping the singer would introduce some variation to counter it
I didn't feel like this album is something special. Not a bad one tho 2/5
2.0 - Weak
It was fine but too much grunge is too much
the songs are hit or miss. did i say hit or miss? I meant mid or miss.
not impressed, lots of mud 2/5
Not for me.
I was not a fan
Boring. Noise. Meh.
Had this on in the background whilst working. It left no impression whatsoever.
This is a low 2 for me. Don't like this type of vocals at all. Musically it was decent.
Commitment to noise was fun, lots of grain and fuzz, no memorable songs or song structures, fits a mood but I don't know when I would return 2/5
Sowing seeds konne vært av fontaines D.C. Alt i alt for kjedelig for meg, ingenting som fenga. Beste sang: Sowing seeds
I really dislike this band. Not for me, and no really catchy songs.
Might be slightly better than the last album that came up in 2023 but not by a big margin. Not a fan
A garbled mess.
Didn’t ever care for the singles. I’m not a Goth teenager
I would have liked this album a lot more if there hadn't been this much haze. I love myself some shoegaze, but the level it was taken to on some of the songs on this album just wasn't for me.
Bored
I get what they were doing and its more accessible than it was when it 1st came out, but its fatiguing
I respect the sound, but for me the songs blended together too much. The intense distortion and monotone vocals got old for me after awhile.
I yearn for an album that’s shorter than an hour and actually tries to be music
it's nice. i'm sure if I paid more attention to it, I'd pick out the subtleties. but as I'm working its kind of a wash of sound. I think i owuld probably like it if I mellowed out and paid attention to it. on a road trip i think i'd fall asleep. after I finished psycho candy, a track from JAMC from Automatic came on and it was night and day. vocals more up front in the mix, faster tempo, more prominant beat and guitar.
I was only half listening to this, and glad it was over speakers and not headphones. I didn’t mind some the songs, minus all the distortion, but even then it was just ok. I can think of several people in high school who would have dug this, but I wasn’t even in the same realm of music as this in 1985.
All the gripes about two banging Elvis Costelo albums has brought the wrath of the 1001 album gods upon us. I feel like the one guy in Sodom that was reading a book in the corner when the fire and brimstone started raining down. Not a fan of depressing, err I mean introspective, goth. Some of the more palatable songs sounded like the Romones on Prozac with guitar feedback, which I think they added just to jar people awake. Don't like the album, but respect the impact they had on the genre.
This was a really rough listen. I'm trying to see some of the good here, because there are good songs here, but they're buried under a wall of noise comprised of half distortion/fuzz tones that are cranked way too high, and half feedback.
Pre: heard a few songs on radio bit that's it Post: liked it at times but was too much for the work shift I was having, over all to chaotic and noisey industrial rock with echo and the bunny man flavour
These guys should’ve gotten paid overtime for working so hard to keep punk alive this far into the 80s. They could’ve used the extra cash to buy new speakers to replace all those they ruined with the over-the-top reverb and distortion that makes so many of these otherwise cool songs unlistenable.
Way too much distortion on nearly every track. It's like when I got my first Boss DS1, cranked the distortion knob wayyyy too far over, and had no idea how horrible it sounded.
British punk
We zijn halverwege de jaren '80, dus dan weet je wel ongeveer in welk hoekje(s) we dit moeten zoeken. De new wave is niet ver weg, maar ook de postpunk niet. Ze staan weer in een veel te grote fabriekshal of in een te kleine badkamer, waardoor het allemaal dof klinkt en met teveel galm. Ik snap niet zo goed waarom dit de trend was in die tijd. Dit was een van de grondleggers van de schoenenstaarmuziek en zoals zo vaak moet er aan die grondleggers nog tyfusveel gepolijst worden, voordat er wat moois uitkomt. Ik hoor onder die laag galm dat er best mooie liedjes in zouden kunnen zitten, maar de productie staat me simpelweg tegen. Doe me hier een moderne interpretatie van en ik zou het heel gaaf kunnen vinden denk ik. Voor nu vind ik het eigenlijk vrij kut.
So forgettable 2/5
Too much noise for my liking. It had its moments though, and I liked “Sowing Seeds” and one or two other songs. Overall, not for me.
Feels dated, feels like honey is a classic though
Probably was wild in '85
It’s like listening to cool 90s alt rock but through the shittiest speakers ever. I don’t understand this level of distortion on melodic music. Rly don’t get it at all.
4.29
Wanted to enjoy this more as they are really good live, but the album just didn't really do anything for me
Bland. Nothing memorable. Id throw it into stoner noise as a category.
I get the importance of this album. It forms the sonic bridge between 70s Velvet Underground and 90s grunge. But as a listening experience, it wasn't my favorite.
I was intrigued with this. Heard the name previously but never really listened to their music. Quite dark and noisy in places which surprised me (god knows why it did!) and definitely territory that I wouldn’t have ventured into had it not been for this list. It didn’t sound of its time either, and could have been released today. Interesting, and with depth.
Ho sentito solo metà album e non è per niente il mio genere. Non l’ho finito neanche ciao
mood ok, sonorità anche interessanti in alcuni casi, ma non mi convince la costante presenza di rumore di sottofondo da azienda siderurgica metalmeccanica. Canzoni interessanti Some Candy Talking(ca nn se capit se sta nell'album o meno) e Sowing Seeds.
Pretty average shoegaze album did not enjoy the more noisy parts. Favourite Just Like Honey
Boring post-punk with a few good moments, but really not much to see here. 2.0/5.0: Disappointing
No Standouts
Could be called early grunge, but the didn't hit with the others for some reason. Having heard Nevermind so recently, my theory is that The J&MC is too monolithic and distorted. All these songs sound similar and ...thin.
Ok so F my ears i guess why don’t you.
Maybe I'm missing something with this album. It's just really bleh to me. It didn't sound great like they tried being too cute and instead of awesome it came out more, why. I've heard other stuff by them and enjoyed it. So it's a bummer this one fell so flat for me.
White noise: the album!
This album isn’t bad, but someone in the band decided to periodically put a belt sander to some sheet metal in the middle of every song. I don’t get turned off by noise rock often, but I found myself needing to turn this down to avoid literally hurting my ears. The Velvet Underground-esque grooves are enough to save it from the dust bin.
I wanted to like this, cuz I was actually getting into a lot of these songs and then for some of them, a massive noise wall would destroy my poor earbuds and my ears along with them. It was only a few songs like that, but yikes DO NOT listen to this album with earbuds.
Not my cup of tea at all. Just seemed like noise.
You can probably trace genres like Britpop and Shoegaze to this album which is quite a mix of sounds. Just Like Honey works for me and Never Understand would be good if the tinnitus guitars were removed so a mixed bag really. Wanted to like more but got a bit fed up with it.
Fifa-rock. Mye distortion, hele tida. 2,5/5
Great Lo-Fi comes from bands who want to capture their spirit and believe that studio gimmickry interferes. This is more Anti-Fi; the use of studio gimmickry to create a conscientiously shitty sound. And Dear God the early 80s solid state effects produced such shitty sounds - the aluminum taste of the overdrives and the mud of those reverbs is just horrible. The pretentiousness of the Anti-Fi could be forgiven if the songs were worth listening to. There are some interesting melodic ideas here. But nothing approaching a great song.
Just like honey is a classic, but all the rest sounds too fuzzie for me. 2 stars
The lofi vibes of this album ranged from being really appealing to painful. But landed more on the latter.
Perhaps slightly better than Darklands but still more of the same. I like the drone and noise aspect but the vocals and lyrical content are just annoying.
I’m sure it’s for someone, but it wasn’t for me.
Just boring to me had me yearning to listen to other artists. 2.5
I thought my AirPods were messed up because of the sound quality. Did not enjoy this other than “Just like honey”.
borderline unlistenable
Þetta var alls ekki skemmtilegt stöff. Mjög hrátt og meira eins og bílskúrsband að semja sín fyrstu lög. Ég var ekki hrifinn og vildi helst bara klára þessa plötu, sem öll hljómar eins, sem fyrst.
Meh. Not for me
Ok
meh. not the biggest fan and it's the kind of band that the emo kids from South Park would listen to.
This noise rock isn’t for me. Tries to emulate the 60s distortion revolution but instead comes across as too punky to mix well. Much prefer the shoegaze of the 90s to this, a genre which was evidently still in its gestation period with this one.
2 stars from me, I love the type of rock that albums like this surely inspired. This was ahead of it's time for 1980s definitely. But I do find it even a bit rough for this noisier type of early hardcore. A bit too raw for my taste.
2.2 1x
This is probably a better album than I’m giving it credit for but the production made it hard to listen to. Probably needs repeated listening but there’s always the next album.
Sounds almost identical to the stone roses. It's ok but I'm not going to go out of my way to listen to them again.
..
personally not wild about the screeching sfx and fuzz guitar to the max on some of the tracks. Its a vibe for someone, just not me. It was better over an external speaker vs phone speaker or headphones
Feels like I've just nipped out of the student union for a cigarette
está bien. no es de mi estilo pero me gustaron algunas canciones
This is rough to listen to, and I would have to be in a very special mood or at a party to listen to this. The guitar is way too screamy for my taste.
Crisse, c'était l'idée à qui d'enregistrer dans une caverne? Pour ma part, je préférais être dans la caverne (possiblement une autre), très très creux sous terre, en fait le plus loin possible de ces énergumènes, pour enfin avoir la paix.
Before there were mumble rappers, there were mumble rockers I guess. Bold choices like TV static, whispers over feedback, and a few actually nice ambient-esque tracks.
I can appreciate how new this sound was but there seemed like no variation besides a few songs, just couldn’t get going with it
Good beats, but the guitar was ass and hurt my ears, couldn’t even finish it.
Yeah this one wasn’t for me.
I’m convinced that somewhere here is a really great album.. Just Like Honey and Sowing Seeds especially are really awesome tracks… However. moments like In A Hole, with its ear piercing fuzz that covers literally everything, brings this experience right back down to earth, and completely limits the potential of the record. I see this album probably went for a similar feel as my bloody valentine, or Slowdive, but the execution was poor and the stylistic choices ended up backfiring and being to the detriment of the album.
This sounds somewhere between Joy Division and The Stone Roses, without the good bits of either. Not a fan of the screechy fuzzy static noise present on most tracks either. The songs would be a lot better without it.
Well dang. I thought this was going to be one I'd really enjoy. I did not. There was way too much fuzzy, distorted guitar feedback. A couple of songs were great, but way too many were overwhelmed by the noise to really enjoy the album.
I love the feedback laden into the pop songs, but the drums are so low in the mix that it sounds like they were recorded from another room, and the vocals take near the same approach in every song. The pace never seems to change- even faster songs sound like they’re stuck in more. I scanned a couple of their later albums- they get better. There’s something here, but I’d never want to listen to this album again.
4.5/10
I like J&MC. I remember the cancelled gigs and rock and roll lifestyle. I like Darklands and particularly Honey's Dead. They themselves would probably agree though that they are fairly limited musicians with a particular blueprint for a song, which is usually quite sweet and tender lyrically (even if it is about drugs), so when that particular song is played alongside a buzzsaw for the entire album it loses something for me.
ah yes, music for clearing out a bar at 2am i skipped most of this, not really for me but the ones i could stomach i half liked. im sure some of you like it and that's okay
They sound really “cool”
It turns out that there is a limit to how much distortion, reverb & feedback I can handle. This album pushes it too far over the limit for me. Some tracks are completely unlistenable because it just drowns out whatever else is happening. It’s a shame as there are some beautiful melodies when they choose to let them out. Later albums get the balance right, but this? Nope.
2,25
Alternates from attempts at more hardcore music to sleepy attempts at being Joy Division. 2/5
Can i please have some distortion in my distortion?? Certainly not to listen to on your way to work
Awful
Psychocandy is often praised for its influence and boldness, but as a listening experience, it’s a tough sell. The album buries its pop sensibilities under a relentless wall of distortion, feedback, and static — what the band likely saw as avant-garde now feels more like self-sabotage. Songs are drenched in noise to the point where melodies struggle to breathe. It’s like trying to enjoy a great song through an AM radio station that’s just out of range — you think there’s something good underneath, but the interference wears you down. The combination of sweet vocal lines with ear-piercing feedback is jarring, and not always in an interesting way. Credit where it’s due: they were doing something different. But different doesn’t always mean enjoyable. This might be a landmark in noise-pop, but that doesn’t make it easy — or pleasant — to sit through.
Their distinct sound sounds awful.
There is some good on here but the abrasive production just ruins it. You'll get some nice, chill, and almost ethereal song then you get hit with some songs that sound like nails against the chalkboard. Them going in-between nice and soft music to the abrasive almost rage inducing makes me want to vomit, it's sickening. Top 2: Just Like Honey and Cut Dead(Best) Worst: Taste The Floor, In A Hole (fuck this song), and Never Understand 2.00-2.25/5
This feels squarely in the “influential at the time but hasn’t aged well” category. Feels like the Stone Roses buried under a wall of noise. I dunno, it’s not horrible it just doesn’t feel like something I’ll ever go back to.
This is awful and I like this band in general. The distortion ruins it. What is the point of having the other instruments. Some songs don't have it too loud so that's why it gets to a 2
Not a fan of the vocals
mah
It sounded unlistenably bad but the first song was ok
Ella is incredible, but this one is 4 discs too long.
While I can appreciate what The Jesus and Mary Chain brought to music, I don't really like it.
Look, I really wanted to like Psychocandy but when the production is just this bad, i gotta dock major points from this album. I am no stranger to noise rock as i have listened to many of those types of albums through this project but i have never seen them have production that is this low quality. Its a real shame too because there are things i like about this album. There are some decent ideas with the guitars and the vocals and it is a good thing this album isn't very long so it never got unbearable to listen to but i can not get over this production. This album isn't horrible but i just am having a really tough time recommending this to even noise rock fans since the production here is so bad and makes awful ringing noises and when there are just far better albums like this. Best Song: Just Like Honey Worst Song: It's So Hard
80’er indierock, ok melodier, lidt irreterende lyd
for me this was completely forgettable
It was alright, not much of something I'll remember.
There was something in the first half, albeit with the tinge of a cover band. Then it leapt into self-indulgent eternity. I wonder if they ever got out of their own way (tho not enough to seek out more!)
I had heard a few songs from this album before. They're good but the style makes it all sound really similar. I thought I'd like this more than I ended up with.
Having heard Just Like Honey before and really liking it, I thought I would like the rest more than I did. I tend to like some noise based music, but this was making me very anxious. There are some interesting songs inside, but I don't have the energy to find them anymore.
The dynamic of the sound of this music is so confusing. The background guitars are screeching and constant and overwhelming. The vocals? Underwhelming. Like even the lyrics match the instrumental like this should be hard and loud and badass, talking about girls and riding motorcycles but then the vocals are so soft and quiet? It doesn’t go well together.
Honestly this did not live up to our expectations.
Starts off like any other average 80s alt rock album, but Taste the floor has white noise covering the whole song making it hard to hear, and several other songs are similarly noisy because of the amount of feedback used. It’s a good album to include on this list because the experimental, borderline psychedelic sound influenced shoegaze, but it’s not a good album by itself.
The reverb and sustained fx pedals was a little too unbearable. I don’t mind this band, just this combination.
Not for me, and will be the lowest score I've given so far!
Meh, kinda flavorless.
Needs more distortion lmao.
I really, really enjoy "Darklands" but The Jesus And Mary Chain's "Psychocandy" is simply too abrasive on the ears. Would rank higher but there's a line drawn b/w experimental and disruptive, and the gritty reverb crosses that line. ⚠ Would not recommend to sensitive ears and/or people with tinnitus. That goes for all shoegaze albums. Proceed with care.
I feel like this had potential but really missed the mark. Wasn’t a fan of this one
Didn’t make me wanna burst my ear drums but not good
This has potential. If they had dialed the static and guitar feedback down like 70% and unmuffled the singer, the stuff underneath wasn't bad. But as it stands, some of the songs were hard to listen to. Also, I'm pretty sure Mimi won an album by this band ~30 years ago in a church raffle and had no idea it wasn't religious music.
This album was underwhelming. Too much distortion and reverb for my liking. This feels like a filler album.
Did the distortion knob get stuck on 11 for this album? It's overbearing and ridiculously annoying for most of the album. For the tracks where you're not getting sonically abused by that the standard 80s pop songs are OK.
Así como La Beriso es Callejeros sin gracia ni acordes, esto es The Cure sin gracia ni acordes. Lo la men to Nota:1.8
When they recorded this album did they double check that the guitars were plugged in properly.
The best thing I listened to today, which isn’t saying much. High 2.
You have to have a certain level of commitment to the band to join them in their exploration and exploitation of sound, dissonance, distortion, etc., and I realize that I cannot join Jesus and the Mary Chain as they engage in their work/art. Sadly, I believe there was a time in my life where I certainly would have. Glad I listened, but I cautiously wait for their next album.
Highlight: Just Like Honey In a nutshell: needs more noise. The beginnings of shoegaze can be seen here. Maybe there is some audio-osmosis going on because I think Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr were playing around with noise rock around this time. Overall: 4/10
2.5
mmm demasiado ruido, demasiada repetición, demasiada distorsión.
Nothing to see here but incessant, irritating noise.
Bit of a let down to be honest. There were a couple of good tracks but In A Hole was just unpleasant to listen to.
15/1089 - Not my style of music for sure but the guitar playing is good (voice is not since it keeps the same quality for the entire record). It makes sense why it was influential.
Man, did they record this with a static TV blaring in the background? It started off fine, but Taste The Floor was hard to listen. Hated the mumbling vocals there. The following song was less intense, but then the fuzz returns in a bad way with In A Hole. Sowing Seeds was probably my favorite track of the album. This album isn't all bad, but some of the songs here are brutally bad, at least in my book. It's enough to knock it down to a 2.
Hard to distinguish one song from another, a reasonably decent idea for a song stretched across an entire album
Meh. I’m all for blending scuzzy noise and dreamy melodies as a concept, and if these guys were the first to do it then that’s something, I guess. But the actual songs are so average, and so samey. I gave TJAMC the benefit of the doubt on my Darklands review, but not this time.
I feel like I've heard music from The Jesus and Mary Chain that I liked more than this? But maybe I'm thinking of a different band. This wasn't awful, but I'm not a huge fan of noise rock. I can see the value in something like this being on the list, but I didn't like it all that much.
Was never really a fan of this band
Another group I have heard of but knew nothing about. Did not really hear anything extraordinary. Punk-ish groove.
I found this largely unlistenable, its got too much just noise and it was a struggle to vibe with
Indie Rock with blown out guitars which give a dry brightness, providing a fuzzy texture that swallows up most other contrasts in the middle while the songs themselves are simple, happy and poppy, almost 1950s bubblegum. Unfortunate combination for me.
Too much noise and whining from the singer for me. Just all sounded like one melted together song
I enjoyed this honestly a lot more than I expected. I didn’t really know what to expect but it was a fine album. Probably not something I’d go back to but I can see why people love it. Really probably a 3.5. The instrumentation is great.
Too noisy for my taste
This album wasn't new to me. While there are some good tracks on here, the soundscape definitely gets a bit much, leading to listener fatigue, and possible headaches. Catchy pop melodies underlay a carpet of fuzz that tends to overwhelm most tracks.
Too much flavour for my bland self. This sucks, this ain't for me. I need to clean my ears after this one
Okay album.
Mostly slow and sad with some good Pop touches.
There is good music under all the ridiculous noise.
If they were trying to make it sound like shit they were successful. Occasionally, I heard some potential in a song, but it never lasted.
Felt like I nearly vibed with this but just never got there
Remember when dark and discordant was a thing? Then you might like this! Otherwise, not much to recommend.
There's a lot of punk here, but there's also a lot of early shoegaze. The middle ground is interesting, but not pleasant.
Thought i would like it, but it really wasn't my taste.
whew there is a shit ton of feedback on these tracks. I guess its sorta like a poppy/distortion laden The Cure? Almost every track is just a wall of noise at some points, like they recorded guitar over tv static. None of the songs are particularly good or stand out, I guess they catch the mid 80's fairly well, just replace the synth with noise, feedback and distortion.
Not for me
I love some distortion, but Christ and his mother... too much. It's like someone wanted to recreate a 60s Garage album and forgot to turn the distortion down, then smatter in some Gothic New Wave. Hard work this one.
I am tired of 1980s Brit pop-punk
It was very 'eh' like mashed potatoes, if it sounded like the constant droning of a chainsaw.
Not for me. I'm really starting to see how particular I am about 80s music. It was a good era but I'm not feeling this album.
Just Like Honey was pretty good, I did enjoy that song. Also found these OK: - The Hardest Walk - Taste of Cindy - Some Candy Talking (reminds me of Velvet Underground) - Sowing Seeds I do like a trashy, distorted guitar sound, but this is a bit much. Plus a lot of the songs sounded very much alike. I had to skip a few songs where the background distortion was so crunchy. Going with a 2 for this album
Maybe getting old lol but kinda noisy
I feel like these were really talented songwriters that felt too cool to sound nice.
sorry not sorry
meh
A fascinating lesson in the materiality of music. I buy "reasonably priced" everyday earbuds, and I drive them into the ground. I'm aware that the ones I'm using are on their last legs at the moment, but they've still been acceptable for getting the sense of a song. Except not for this album. The feedback and distortion sounded unlistenably tinny; I was constantly getting on the JBL app to try a different EQ setting just so the album didn't sound like the static-y fringes of a radio station's signal. To be fair, I got home and listened again on my better headphones. With these, the fuzz did start to take on more shapes and layers, and the feedback, while still piercing, was less unbalanced. I could start to parse a little bit of what was going on. But it's still not for me. It struck me as repetitive and monotone; nothing was able to cut through the fuzz and grab me. Maybe this would be an album that rewards careful listening and study, but frankly, the message I got was "listen or don't; it's all the same to us." So, I'm moving on. 2.5, rounding down.
kinda unpleasant tbh
This wouldn’t be so bad if half the songs didn’t have insufferable screeching/white noise. 2.
This album feels like walking through fog. The fuzz and distortion are heavy, but it doesn’t quite land. It’s like listening to The Velvet Underground but without the warmth or charm. The vocals hide behind the noise, never really pushing through. It’s an interesting vibe, but it lacks depth. You could get lost in it, but I’m not sure you’d want to.
Ok. Best I can do…
I found this to be nearly good, which made it worse to me. It's fine, probably even good, but I found it pretty irritating, especially when it just seemed like it was noisy
I hate shoegaze for the most part. This album should be called 'Music to induce headaches'.
I think they need more reverb. .... This band also had the worst snare drum sound outside of an 808 in pop/rock history. From the literal first measure of the album I can't get by it. My music tastes changed a ton since the 80s and I like most of what I'd thought I hated back then but this one I just can't - the songs are not bad at the core yet wholly unremarkable so of course the band was all about the sound, which is frankly terrible. Zzzzz.... there were/are so many other better retro 80s alt-rock artists. Pass. 3/10 2 stars.
Second Jesus and the Mary Chain album. Didn’t enjoy the music. The fact that it Wikipaedia notes it was influential in shoegaze is not surprising. 2/5.
Ugh
Compressed fever dream. Favourite track: Something's Wrong.
It just turned into nothingness and I feel like I have said that a lot recently regarding albums
At first I was like "okay a lot of distortion but there's some catchy hooks and lyrics buried underneath, I can get behind this". Then after about the ninth song I was like "okay guys it's just the same schtick over and over again". Each song sounds very much the same which is disappointing. That's probably my biggest complaint is just the repetitiveness of the album. Also using crazy fuzz on every single song just kinda dulls your overall use of it, too much of a good thing and all that. Really disappointed me beginning was pretty strong.
this wasn't horrible, but I wouldn't seek it out to listen to again either. too much distortion/feedback & mumbling vocals
Bad
Man... this was just a very unspectacular album. I do get the connection to shoegaze of the 90's, but there was just nothing that would make me want to listen to this album again.
**Not what I’d prefer, but endured
It was solid but didn't really click with me.
Interesting to see that this came out in 1985. Definitely ahead of its time. But I didn’t care for it, too much noise. High 2.
4/10 - I do not really remember it all that much. I was grinding the whole time. It seemed sort of just like noise but not noise music. It was just not great and not that memorable
Another love it or hate it. I understand the overdrive is nauseating for a lot of people. The songs ar really mid. Didn't hate it but will not listen to it again.
Just a bit meh really
Kinda lame.
The songs themselves sound nice... but it's like I'm trying to listen to something I might like, but someone keeps being obnoxious and covering it up with horrible noise, so I can't even hear what's underneath. I guess that was the point, but... it's not for me.
2.5
How on earth did they end up on the soundtrack of a John Hughes film? Didn’t like it then. Can see its merits now but still don’t like it.
2.4 - After the first song it's just a lesser version of the first song
Ok so hear me out. Just Like Honey is an all-timer, a powerful shoegaze precursor. But the rest of the album is mostly just muck. Cut Dead is EXACTLY THE SAME SONG. The drums are identical, the structure is identical, it feels like a total slap in the face. But ok, we'll let that one slide, let's see what the rest of the album has to offer... Some Candy Talking... IS THE EXACT SAME SONG TOO! Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, I'll write a grumpy review of your album on the internet. SOWING SEEDS ARE YOU FUCLKING SERRIOUS WTFFFFFFFF ITS ALL THE SAME SONG?!±!!!!!£R!££!RR!£R Fave Tracks: Just Like Honey, i like the energy on Never Understand, You Trip Me Up 2/5 (this is probably harsh but they really pissed me off with the recycling of Just Like Honey)
Honestly right after I finished listening to the album and I couldn't remember a single thing about it other than distortion. It happened, and it was unremarkable
Did not particularly enjoy and was glad when it ended. Charitable 2
The songs are not terrible. I even remembered a couple of them. However, the performance is bad. If you wanna play loud, you gotta sing loud. Or no one will hear you. So this sounds very unrealistic. Production sounds like a bad demo. Favorite song: the hardest walk.
IDK. Sometiimes when you heard one Jesus and Mary chain album you've heard em all.
Just okay.
some nice songs but I spent most of the time waiting for it to be over. 2.4 stars as there are some lovely basslines and some of the songs hit well.
Very meh. Sinks into the background.
Second day in a row I get some mediocre noisy music. 2.5/5
Couldn’t find
Psychocandy didn't leave me with many thoughts or emotions. It wasn't as garbage as other albums with a noise genre, but there was something lacking. Unsurprisingly it is a debut album, so perhaps I need to cool my expectations. There was more to the music than just noise, at least. The first song, "Just Like Honey," started strong, but the rest of the album was downhill.
Not enjoying this. Was hard to get through some tracks like In a Hole and Never Understand which are just noisy. At least most of the time there's a song underneath the noise and feedback, but this still isn't likely one I'll listen to again. Favorites: Just Like Honey, The Hardest Walk. Tempted to give 1 star because some of it's so obnoxious, but I'll be kind and round up. * 1/2
Bought this on record (not bloody vinyl) rather than tape in 85. Proving to be quite a sensible decision, as it is near mint from never being played. Thanks Q magazine, or NME, or whoever it was who told me this was the new coming. Couple of decent songs, but not what a boy obsessed with Tears for Fears was ready for. Was, and is, music for hipsters wearing black
Not listened to much TJAMC stuff before. Liked the slower quieter tracks. The rockier tracks not so much. I was listening on a speaker in bathroom. My wife at one point asked what the funny noise was. She thought I’d left my electric toothbrush on. See what she means such is the overuse of distortion. Sounds like it was recorded in a cave or pedestrian underpass. This makes it an album you cannot listen to comfortably from start to finish. Turn down the treble please! 2/5 11/6/24
Enjoyed some of it but there were a lot of tracks with high pitched noise that just took the pleasure away
Soundimusiikiksi yllättävän välittävää. Silti liian riippuvaista siitä, tykkääkö kiertävistä sähkölaitteista. 2+
I guess this is one of those albums that was really influential in the time and place of it's release. I found it to be thoroughly bland and static. I didn't hate any of it, but it was underwhelming.
Reeevvveerrrbbbb
Hmmmm. I love a noise band, take Low for instance, they are one of my favourite, but I just can't handle the treble focused guitar noise from bands like this.
Indie rock. Tostón monótono. Un 2.
Hmmm. Garbage? Great? Dull, certainly.