Chelsea Girl

1

We all piled on Rebecca black for having no talent but Nico makes the list of albums You Must Listen To Or Else You'll Die? At least RB's song was catchy and she paid for being famous with money rather than blow jobs. A goat being vivisectioned would be more melodic and in key. If I could give this zero stars I would, Nico is the fucking worst.

1

Fuck off flute

5

Alright, I'll say it. I'm a sucker for this dark, pretentious, avant bullshit. I like the instruments, I like the vocals, I like the production. This is fanfuckingtastic.

1

It's painful, in so many ways. It goes beyond interesting and weird into the awful.

1

Nauseatingly bad. Two more albums this bad and I’m quitting this list.

1

You call it ‘artistic’...I call it ‘dog in pain’. Not gonna lie. This was one tough listen. It literally could be used as a form of torture. I could just imagine a Russian spy opting to spill the beans in preference to being subjected to another tune from Nico. Someone please tell this woman she cannot sing, for everyone else’s sake. The out of tune droning with the comical flute playing in the background had me Googling if this album was in fact a parody. Unfortunately it is not and it is very real. Apparently real enough to be selected into this list and that’s embarrassing. The only reason anyone would ever choose this album is because they are insecure and think selecting the shameful piece of noise would somehow elevate their coolness by the ‘in’ crowd. Hopefully Nico was locked up and institutionalised after this and they threw away her key. -100 Stars!

1

not a fan of her voice. I'm guessing this is held in high regard due to her Warhol / Velvet Underground association? First one in awhile I opened Spotify to see how much was left...

1

It sounds medieval and boring. In addition to being grating, the singer's voice doesn't fit the backing instruments at all, and the audio tracks sound like they were unmixed or at the very least mixed extremely poorly. Nothing in this album meshes, and I don't understand why this would be on this list.

5

Don't deny the greatness. Don't deny the sadness. Don't deny the beauty.

2

Needs an injection of The Velvet Underground. It's nice, but a bit boring. The kind of thing Iris Law listens to on the tube I'd imagine. 🦢 Chelsea rent girl, Chelsea rent girl, whoooaaa whooooaaa

1

Absolute shit. Production is awful - guitars quiet and muddy with terrible tone. Would have been better without strings and flutes. Bad lyrics, worked into even worse melodies. Not as smart as it thinks it is. Ended up skipping through a lot as I couldn't take it any more. Pretentious wank.

1

Did not connect with any of that.

1

🤮🤢😷☠️💩💩💩💩

1

It is rare that I can't make it through a full album even it's not my thing. Nico's voice makes me want to cut my ears off.

1

Just Painful, it was difficult to finish this album.

1

Oufff. No thank you

1

This was horrible. Not my genre, awful voice, weird sounding pieces in between. Never again please.

1

Well friends, that was painful. Vocals are flat, monotone and boring. Some of the instrumentals would have been good as background music, but then Nico starts singing again. And what was that noise about 2/3 of the way through "It Was A Pleasure Then"? I've tried to avoid giving out 1's as a rule, but I think this one deserves it.

1

Bottom of the list fire me

1

It's so bad that even Nico herself refuses to listen to it. Wondering if this album was included in the 1001 as an example of good intentions gone horribly wrong?

5

Great album. Love her voice and the instrumentation is beautiful. Like getting a Velvet Underground record with just Nico vocals!

4

This album was interesting for several reasons. Nico's deep and untrained voice has a way of cutting through the often lush instrumentation that lends it an air of mystery and sadness. This is truly an enigmatic album, songs written by men sung by a woman who nobody really seemed to know. I was a bit tired of it by the end, but I believe this album deserves a few more listens.

3

I love Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground so much that I have an automatic soft spot for Nico, but I'm not sure it quite carries a full album for me. I kind of liked the flutey compositions that I take it she hated. Sort of interested to hear some of the later stuff she had more control on.

1

fuck off nazi cunt

1

Nope

1

Not my kind of music

1

Headache machine

1

Fucking horrible. I turned it off after 20 minutes cause it was too boring. These Days is still a jam tho

1

Oof. I hated this. Some pretty instrumentation on some songs, but not all, and her voice was terrible. Songs were also slow and sad. Not a fan. Song I didn’t hate as much: “Somewhere There’s a Feather.”

1

Like being punched in the head by the sound of boredom.

1

Did one track feature Kurt Zouma and his cat?

5

The instrumentation is lovely and Nico's vocals sound raw and authentic. No autotune here. Deliciously soothing.

4

8/10. What if Leonard Cohen was a girl?

4

Look, I like violins as much as the next person--maybe even more--but damn these overdubs (like they're trying to make every song sound like "Eleanor Motherfucking Rigby"). They're so tacked on, not matching Nico's voice at all, which sounds like she's pulling her jaw back into her throat. And then just listen to "Winter Song": the power is right there in the (rather frightening) lyrics. We don't need a flute to tell us "this is a pastoral song, in case you couldn't figure it out". RYM ranks "It Was a Pleasure Then" as the worst track on the album, but I think it's the best because it's not got those damn overdubs. Everything is more real--the music, the vocals. It's pretty VU at its heart, too, what with the short bursts of howling feedback and the minimalist experimental vibe threatening to explode into a welcome cacophony that never comes. Nope. Bring the flautist and string quartet back in. Break's over!

4

strangely haunting and beautiful music. Her voice is unique and I am sure the style was fresh when this was released in 1967. 4/5

4

Enjoyed it, but still not fully on board with Nico's vocals.

4

The story behind the production makes better than total sense when you hear it, that's for certain. But somehow the disjoint circles all the way around and brings Chelsea Girl together somehow. Irreverently, this makes me think of the Shaggs or Björk forced to work with certain session musicians. More than a touch of odd, here.

4

The other members of VU help Nico with her own debut, and it's full of beautiful folk tunes with lush classical arrangements, sorrowful retrospective lyrics, and a deep emotional voice. It's dreamy and entrancing with the mesmerizing guitars and bright bursts of flutes and Caleb's viola. We starts with a few emotional pop tracks. Then we reach the avant-garde dissonant "It Was a Pleasure Then" which I actually like, especially Nick's angelic vocals. It's a homage to the VU's debut. Following that is my favorite (after "These Days"), a 7.5 minute depressing story about the lives of her fellow acolytes of Warhol. Great chorus, and the flutes and viola work best here. Next two tracks are vibrant and happy. "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" is mythical. I really like the harp instrument. Flute is excessive here. "Eulogy to Lenny Bruce" is a minimalist finale, probably what Nico wanted for the rest of the tracks, but it is a bit dull and forgettable. Nico wasn't a fan of this album cause the studio replaced the drums and extra guitars for flutes. I'm curious what it'd sound like with percussion, but I think the lack of it adds a mythical sound to it. The flutes do feel over-the-top and take the spotlight too much, feeling unnecessary at times. But there are moments where I felt the flutes do work in her favor. Finally, the production is dated, with bad studio mixing, which makes for a dumb speaker situation. But if you're high and put on headphones or set up your room just right, it could make for an immersive experience. I really like most tracks, with a good variety and each standing out. I could definitely see how they could improve though. Very curious to hear more like this.

3

This was going to be 2 stars, but I recognized that some of these songs have been in Wes Anderson movies. Giving them some context, and associating them with a time and place really allowed me to appreciate these songs more. They are certainly 'of an era'. They're the kind of thing you'd put on when someone broke up with you, or if you were having a very specifically-themed party.

3

Et bien moi j'ai beaucoup apprecié cet album, et d'ailleurs j'en profite pour dire à rob que je l'emmerde.

3

Very calm and ethereal

3

I like the music well enough, a kind of low-key folk rock with some pleasing baroque flourishes. The songs are pretty great. 'These Days', 'It Was a Pleasure Then' and 'Eulogy to Lenny Bruce' stand out in particular as moving, eery numbers. Let's face facts, it's Nico's voice that will divide audiences. I found it winningly and affectedly unmusical about a quarter of the time, utterly bemusing for the rest. It's got character, it is instantly recognisable and occasionally it meets the music at such an angle that it becomes a thing of oblique beauty. Not very often, though.

2

Honestly just... dull. The arrangements were okay, even interesting sometimes. The songwriting was passable. But man, Nico herself just does absolutely nothing for me. She was bearable on that Velvet Underground record, but here she has nothing to support her. Also, apparently she is super duper racist, so I am glad I didn't care for her music lol.

2

First Listen. At first, I didn't like it much. But, as the day went on I started enjoying it more and more. This is definitely different than what I was expecting. I like her when she sang with the Velvet Underground - and that was what I was expecting. This album definitely sound like the 1967, flower-power, peace-and-love scene, and I thought she would have more of that Berlin rock sound. After getting used to the sound, I started liking it more and found myself singing along a couple of times. I'll give it a strong 2/5 for now. It might be a 3/5 next time I hear it.

1

lo peor que he oído en mi vida

1

J'aurais envie d'écrire une joke, mais l'album me laisse tellement indifférent que j'ai rien de drôle à dire. SKIPPPPP

1

pas inéressé

1

She tires me pretty soon. Nice instrumentation though.

1

nope. Sound like someone is singing in the kitchen to themselves, kind of amateur

1

Moany and repetitive

1

Dreary, one-note. The only reason it’s not forgettable is because of how annoying Nico’s voice is over 10 songs.

1

An album that really hits all the notes on boring music from the sixties. An album that drags on for an eternity that has absolutely nothing to say.

1

I think this algorithm is fucking with me. They gave me this after I went about panning Velvet Underground. This is a slight improvement altho the German accent makes it seem almost satirical. Getting some nice Beatles vibes off the melodies and chord progressions but generally I found it a painful process trying to just get thru it. Had to listen to it one song at a time with breaks in between.

1

Awful. Sounded like Joni Mitchel, if she were terrible.

1

She sounds bunged up and posh. I sound bunged up and posh sometimes too, but I'm not sure it's something to aspire to.

1

Nico has talent... if talent is defined as an ability to sing every other note flat. Awful to listen to.

1

It was a folk album. I did not care for Velvet Underground and I did not care this album even though it is a solo album. Lyrically unnoteworthy. Nothing about it was good. I ending up skipping through some of the songs because I just wanted it to end.

1

Manages boredom and irritation. "It was a pleasure then" is a collection of cacophony. Did those great songwriters (Dylan, Jackson, Hardin) write bad songs, or did she wreck them? After listening to some other versions, the answer is that Nico can't sing

1

Just how old is Jackson Browne? Was he signed by Columbia when he was 4? How is it that These Days pops up on an album made in 1967, about 6 years before he recorded it? This odd record has so many cultural intersections, The Velvets and Jackson writing most of the songs and poor Tom Wilson having to do the impossible and "produce" this. To think he went from Highway 61 Revisited to Nico. Andy Warhol wreaked havoc on popular culture, and for Nico alone he stands condemned. If the climate change activists really want to make their case they should throw Campbell's soup over his Campbell's Soup paintings and then stick Nico album covers all over the soup, what a fitting finale that would be. Nico, dead on arrival. She'd be the Schrodinger's Cat of popular music, except Andy opened the box. Imagine wandering into a New York coffeehouse and sitting down to Nico in 1967, what price a cup of joe? The Wikipedia notes on this are hilarious, that she cried because Tom put strings and a flute on this record and denied her drums. I can't begin to contemplate what he was trying to do to cover up her appalling drone. There are some fine arrangements here in a desperate search for someone who can actually sing. I will never forgive her for the rendition of These Days (ditto I'll Keep it with Mine). I had to immediately play Glen Campbell's (oh aye, there's a Campbell's theme here) brilliant 2008 version, where, with the onset of Alzheimer's looming large, he so perfectly captured the pain of a four year old Jackson Browne lamenting day of yore. Nico needs to be deleted, thrown into the dustbin of history.

1

The blueprint for this album was laid out by Nico's performance on 'Femme Fatale' off of the Velvet's banana album; a lush and gorgeous instrumental that had all the life sucked out of it by her drowsy and uninteresting vocals. On Chelsea Girl, that same process is repeated 10 times in what is a 45 minute snooze-fest that perfectly encapsulates Nico's mediocrity as an artist. It is utterly remarkable how many listeners gloss over just how tone deaf Nico truly is. Each track sounds like she recorded the vocals before even hearing any instrumentals. Her vocal range and register are as wallpaper and monotone as one could imagine, yet this album has been lauded by critics as a timeless masterpiece. Not only did this album fail to push any boundaries, it hardly got out of centre field. The only redeemable quality going for this record are its arrangements and production. For the 10 to 15 seconds before Nico's voice puts me to sleep, the instrumentals are whimsical and pleasant on the ears, with the clear intention for a strong vocalist to realise the potential of each song. Nico squanders that potential time and time again, that said it would've made for some nice lobby music as an instrumental album. Nico was essentially handed these beautiful instrumentals on a silver platter, to which she adds absolutely nothing of note. In the same year as the Beach Boys release Pet Sounds; an album filled with diverse arrangements, ingenious songwriting and adventurous vocal melodies, it is one of the great mysteries as to how this album has remained relevant over half a century later.

1

Bloody racket

1

No. Please God no. Nooooooooooo! Awful

meh, a forgettable album

5

Melancholic, Orchestra,

5

C’est cool!

5

such an easy listen. very nice.

5

4.7 + Love.

5

🦇

5

Šta reći o ovom albumu osim da je blizu savršenstva? Zvuči jednostavno, ali je ovaj album mi puno znači i definitivno mi je top 5 albuma koje si moram, al moram pustiti kada dođe jesensko vrijeme. Zanemarivši njen privatni život, bila je vrsna umjetnica. Dakle ovo je album koji mi je jako blizu čiste petice, i zato vjerujem da će dobiti peticu jer ono, 90% albuma je odličan. Odlične stvari na ovom albumu od 10 pjesama: "The Fairest of the Seasons, These Days, Little Sister, Winter Song, Chelsea Girls, I'll Keep It With Mine (mislim da je ovo cover od gospodina Dylana koji je oooodlično izvršen), Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams, Somewhere There's a Feather, a pjesme poput It Was a Pleasure Then i Eulogy to Lenny Bruce su groweri, i dobre stvari, ali ako već moram neke slabije malo izabrati, to bi bile te.

5

Nico's vocals are absolutely splendid! This album is so gorgeous, I could listen to it 100 times over.

5

Uniquely beautiful, occasionally disturbing

5

I listened to this a LOT in the early 2000s, it was one of my friends favourites - so I'm really familiar with it, it's lovely to hear it again. beautiful guitars, lovely wistful production and an unmistakable voice.

5

Could not have listened to this on a more perfect day

5

Vitonen, koska haluaisin olla Nico. Levy on haikea, tyylikäs, nostalginen, ja kyllä, vähän tylsä - mutta sen on tarkoituskin olla, eli tässä tapauksesssa tylsyys on vain plussaa. Kuvastaa jotain yleistä inhimillistä apatian kokemusta.

5

Melancólico. Voz oscura.

5

cool

4

Closer to a 3.7

4

Petée bien raide la Nico

4

Chelsea Girls is an album that shows it's beauty in a subtle way. It captures the intimacy of somebody playing music for you (and you specifically) in a small room. This Aussie gives it four bags of Freddo Frogs out of five.

4

wtf i listened to this on my own before it was recommended

4

Like

4

Very interesting vibe!

4

Nice. Liked: These Days

4

Ja Nico i više niko

4

She’s got a unique voice, and the strings pair really well with it. A little like Joanna Newsom. Second half of the album didn’t do much for me though

4

hey Nico say clown! jk but this album is very pwetty

4

Eigenlijk best leuk

4

I'm kind of a sucker for anything related to sixties counterculture/New York/Warhol/Greenwich Village. This isn't up to the standards of the debut Velvet Underground album, but it's interesting and never dull. I can see why Nico wasn't happy with the production. In some songs the strings and flutes add a nice feel, but the album could use some drums as well. 4 stars.

4

Very sparse but beautiful.

4

Vackra tjunes

4

Psycho folk. Non perfect vocals

4

Great voice, a bit eccentric

4

Interesting album. Chelsea girls is a banger

4

Very sparse, very pretty.

4

Yet another incredible Chelsea performance

4

Beautiful music, probably wouldn't re listen often

4

Have not listened to much of her solo stuff. What stands out is her haunting voice, it adds a mystical quality to the music. Unfortunately the same voice that charms me, grates on me before the end of the album.

4

This album is a total mood, and I quite enjoyed it. It has a couple of songs on it that I listen to frequently, but this is the first time I heard it all the way through. Had I known it was a part baroque folk, part stealth Velvet Underground album, I would have gotten around to it sooner. I see why Nico disapproved of the string and flute overdubs, because the arrangements aren't particularly well timed to her vocals. I quite agree when it comes to the flute, which is superfluous and doesn't really add anything to the album. I do think the strings in particular are suited to Nico's voice though. John Cale's viola, as always, is a gift. The rambling, noisy distortions of "It Was a Pleasure Then" were jarring, but actually really welcome. That song really cuts through the softer aspect of some of the other songs and it perfectly showcases the great musical chemistry of Reed-Cale-Morrison. "These Days" and "I'll Keep It With Mine" are pure perfection. Fave Songs: These Days, I'll Keep It With Mine, The Fairest of the Seasons, Somewhere There's a Feather, It Was a Pleasure Then

4

pangalbum

4

Interesting, but I don't feel it adds much to her output with The Velvet Underground.