Lost In The Dream

I've always found this band to be very MOR. It's like they were specifically designed for boomers who are in the "why dont they make REAL music anymore" camp. Being influenced by Bob Dylan, Springsteen, Tom Petty, etc is fine and all, but I'd question whether this is original enough to be included in this book. "Burning", for ex, is way too reminiscent of Dancing in the Dark. The first two songs are quite good though, and the production is great. Just unoriginal and very repetitive.

I listened to this, and my first thought was that this is just some old '80s MOR Don Henley bullshit. Looked at the reviews and found I was not alone. It's not bad, it's just not interesting, and there certainly doesn't need to be an hour of it - every track could be 25% shorter and nothing would be lost, and then this would clock in at a far more reasonable 45 minutes.

You know how sometimes something comes up and you think why have I never listened to them more? And then you listen and there is the answer. Kept thinking this sounds like Springsteen, who I’m not a great fan of, but without the occasional banger. And it’s a bit like Arcade Fire but without the appeal. This just trundled by unengagingly

++: Under the Pressure, Red Eyes, The Haunting Idle +: An Ocean in Between the Waves, Disappearing, Eyes to the Wind, Burning, In Reverse +-: Suffering, Lost In the Dream 7,7/10

The least shocking record I have ever heard. I can respect the artistry and mature songcraft/sound design but it could not speak to me personally any less than it did.

Looks like this is the best this band has to offer, and it's not much. Derivative as can be, inde elevator music. Pales in comparison to their peers.

probably not good

I swear it's all the same guitar and the same rhythm.

Uninspired, uninteresting, bland, and boring. This album is very generic sounding rock music, and not much else.

I like An Ocean In Between The Waves. Overall though it isn't that interesting for me unfortunately.

Maybe if I gave it another listen I'd like this more but this was just like a combination of Arcade Fire. M. Ward, Eagles but make it 2000s (even though this came out in 2014?), Tom Petty, but worse.

Rock on sleeping drugs

a little too lite, a little too late.

Not in my edition of the book! 2014. 2 stars. The aural equivalent of a hipster non-alcoholic craft beer.

nothing really happened

Might make good background music for a low key party where guests don’t want their conversation interrupted. The monotonous rhythm tracks, plain vanilla vocals and heavily processed guitar and keyboards will help it fade into the backdrop. I counted 18 musicians and 16 studio members in the Wikipedia article - for an “indie” album. Really?? With that staff I would have hoped you’d find something creative to showcase. But maybe I expect too much. Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t dislike it. But on a bucket list of must-listen albums this is a head scratcher.

dude rock (derogatory)

Stop this. No more generic sad men please. Please.

NoThe bad but not my style at all

Easy listening soft rock for millennials. Art is supposed to make you feel something, all this makes me feel is bored. The soundscape stuff has the most interesting ideas on the album, but it's short lived and completely displaced by this derivative soft rock nonsense.

Never heard of this band before, at least, not that I can recall hearing of them before... and that kind of settles that. Not that the album is bad, it has it's merits, and I'm sure that there are plenty of people who will place this album in their top 10 all time, but those persons probably were born after 1999... There's no point in dragging most of these songs out for so damn long. And the singer has nothing to do with Dylan. And stop comparing this with '80s music, the only '80s relation is the sound of the snare drum, and at times a slight The Waterboys vibe, however, just by mentioning this, I feel like I've blasphemed as The Waterboys are sooooooooooo much better than this. 2 ** for the effort

Not particularly notable.

Sounds like what would happen if Arcade Fire decided to cover some Coldplay songs. Great news if you are a fan of Coldplay. Not so great if you prefer the other.

Fairly boring music that all sounded the same to me

Very boring and monotonous. Not a great soundtrack for driving through the mess of Catania streets

Nee. Das seichte Geeiere war nicht nach meinem Geschmack.

This was supposed to be right up my lane....it isn't. Some songs aren't bad. 1.8/5

When a rest is required, I go here.

Not for me

absolute snoozefest

i was enjoying this album for maybe 3-4 tracks, and then i realized all the songs sound the same. add that to their meandering sound, i honestly grew drowsy while listening to their music and not in a good way. wish i could have enjoyed it more :(

I found it very difficult to emotionally connect with this album. I’m not sure if it was the flat vocals or the largely bland instrumentation. The sound mix also seemed quite muted, which I’d imagine was an intentional choice but it kind of just threw a wet blanket over everything for me. There are some nice sections of guitar riffs that come through cleaner but they’re about the only highlights. Good for rainy day background music that you largely want to ignore. Listened to: walking in Prospect Park. Favorite tracks: An Ocean in Between the Waves

I'm reminded of a phrase I used to say alot in the 2000's: "I've heard of them but I haven't heard them." This project hits you first with the imagery of the album cover which imprints expectations on the content, but I suppose it's fair since it's basically the same as flipping through records at the music store. From the cover alone, it looks a bit depressing and isolated; let's see what the music offers. Oddly, this sounds like it's targetted towards the middle-aged. Maybe it's the breathy Don Henley/Bruce Hornsby/Bob Dylan vocals, but this seems to purposely steer away from the bright pop "who cares about tomorrow??" of modern music (of their time) and go straight into serious and boring adult-contemporary. Holding that last note for a full minute on "Under the Pressure" tells me they are wanting to do something epic and grandiose--and the soundscape is good--but it's just not . . . exciting, and I blame the drummer. Phil Collins once said your band can only be as great as your drummer; you can have a crappy band with a great drummer, but you'll never have a great band without a great drummer. Time proved him correct. I feel if maybe this drummer played slightly ahead of the beat and approached his playing as if writing a programmed drum part (with more intricate hi-hat rhythms and some ghost strokes on the snare), he would add more momentum and interest to keep the suspended synth notes moving. Consistently, it's just bass snare bass snare (save "Disappearing", but that is just the mixing engineer adding some delay to the bass and snare in an effort to save humanity from this tired beat!). "Red Eyes" and "An Ocean In Between The Waves" picks up the tempo a bit, but the formula is the same song after song. I actually like the sparse audition-for-a-movie-soundtrack of "The Haunting Idle." At least it breaks from the norm. They can clearly create atmosphere, but they generally don't do anything with it. "Burning" is the best thing on here, smartly placed after "The Haunting Idle" which automatically benefits from the stark change of pace with its driving Arcade-Fire-playing-"Born To Run" beat and more 80's-sounding synths. Not bad, but not much more than background music to me. The band name, album name, and the song titles are all thought-provoking and evocative, but Lost In The Dream is an all-you-can-eat buffet of a mediocre meatloaf without any apps, sides, or desserts. Another would-be 3 that I dock an additional point for undeservedly being on this list.

This is what it would sound like if Paul Simon (Rhythm of the Saints era) was to sing over Tom Petty's Heartbreakers, but with more of an atmospheric/ cinematic feel. Overall cool sounds but not enough diversity of songs for me. The songs started to feel a bit repetitive. The thing about that Paul Simon album is he gave you a little bit of everything on it. I remember Quincy Jones talking about producing Thriller and saying basically that nobody can really know if they are going to write a hit album or not, you just try to write strong songs and give people some variety to listen to. I feel like this War On Drugs album just kind of kept giving me a lot of the same on each song.

I liked the first song, I just didn’t need to listen to it for an hour. Turned out to be a loooooong, boring lump that all sounded the same.

This sounds like the Eagles if they were even more boring.

If you still live in your hometown and have nostalgic associations with Springsteen, Dylan, Tom Petty, and all other heartland rock, then you’ll enjoy this well-made, immaculately-produced pastiche album. But be warned, it’s a lot of pastiche, with songs that drag past the 5-minute mark and really test your adoration for what essentially equates to a studio cover band. If this was 30 minutes long, I might be giving it a little more praise, even as pastiche. But at 60 minutes, it is the definition of exhausting. It’s nothing new, and unless you’re a production nerd, I can’t imagine what the appeal here is compared to its own influences. Its presence on this list doesn’t really make sense either – just include more of those classics, or new albums that present new sounds. It’s okay for what it is, but I knew that after the 3 minute mark, and then I stopped caring.

Underwhelming Psychedelic Rock. At its best it sounds like Ambient.

The war on entertaining music

Every song sounds the same.

..(.

It’s not for me

Started off as a dull razorlight and just got worse from there. Low 2.

Pretty boring.

Sounds... fine. But doesn't do anything for me.

I would argue this band could use the influence of drugs instead of waging war on them. This was an hour of boring, repetitive fluff. Shitty version of Ryan Adams with a Bob Dylan impersonator singing mixed with some soundscape noises.

Really slow and boring. It felt a bit self-important which I can’t stand. I mean this in the rudest way possible, but it sounds like a forgettable 80s movie soundtrack.

I’ve heard of this band, but I had never listened to any of their stuff. I could definitely listen to it again, although I wouldn’t run out and buy the album.

Poor Man's Dylan. No really memorable songs.

Interesting - loved some tracks

Released in 2014, this wasn't quite what I expected. This had a Bob Dylan feel (minus the voice). Overall it was meh.

This album starts off with a dollar store Don Henley and ends with dollar store Arcade Fire. I’ll give them an additional star for proving they can actually change the drums since they were exactly the same for the bulk of this album.

2/5. I think it needed more atmosphere.

Tråkigt!

to have such a killer name but be so milquetoast musically. could i write poetry to this? n

This album could be used to calibrate the machine that determines the exact middle of the road.

Waste of a great band name.

It was fine just a bit boring to me.

Tom Petty already exists

I would listen to this if it was only a track or two. But 10 tracks were a bit too much and a bit too melancholic and samey for me.

The war on drugs is a losing battle but this album gets a win. I definitely felt lost in a dream, especially during the end sequences on much of the songs. I get influences of Neil Young and Dylan. It's a slow burn and wouldn't necessarily play any songs individually again but a good project album for the band.

Oh, this album is just so disappointing... Don't get me wrong. It's not terrible (hence the 2 stars). The lyrics are pretty thought-provoking, and the sound is high-quality (particularly where synths are involved - mixing is fun and immersive). Some of the tracks are pretty good on account of their catchiness, including Red Eyes and Lost In The Dream. The primary mistake made by The War On Drugs is a failure to deliver anything exciting, energetic, or (sonically) volatile. Nearly every track sounds exactly the same for the entire 7 minutes, and at least half of the tracks bear the additional burden of sounding identical to each other. This isn't helped by the fact that the drumming is extremely standard and uninteresting (one-a-two-a-three-a-four-a- throughout every song). The vocals aren't anything particularly interesting either. They're perhaps Dylan- or Petty-esque, especially in the title track, but this only accentuates the difference between those bands and The War On Drugs in terms of how good the rest of the music is. Oof. The album also fails to justify the long track runtime on all of their longer songs. In general, these songs drag quite a lot, increasing the length of what should've been a 40-minute album (or less, if you remove the duplicate tracks) to roughly an hour. If the band was trying to create a slew of "epics", a la In The Court Of The Crimson King, they didn't succeed. Key tracks: Under The Pressure, Red Eyes, Lost In The Dream

Technically excellent, but not really my style.

I had liked a couple of songs of theirs in the past but this was soooo beige. It all sounded the same! Not at all engaging

Meh

What's that Lassie? A Don Henley soundalike me lacking Don's way with a hook has fallen down a well? Shall we just leave him there? Other choices they could have from 2014 to name just a few: Sharon Van Etten (broadly similar but can write a tune), Sleaford Mods, Run the Jewels, Scott Walker & Sunn O))), etc

this shouldn't be on the list. nothing for me here

boring.

very similar to Young the Giant. I can't really make out what the vocalist is saying because of all that echo. Total miss for me. I didn't have the attention span to sit through more than a few tracks. I'm declaring war on the war on drugs.

That poor drummer playing the same beat over and over song to song. I found this really boring but can see why people like the vibe. Zzzzz

C- Under The Pressure 2 Red Eyes 2 Suffering 2 An Ocean In Between The Waves 2 Disappearing 2 Eyes To The Wind 2 The Haunting Idle 2 Burning 2 Lost In The Dream 2 In Reverse 3 Exceptionally boring. Not bad, per se, but boring.

Not my tempo or voice. I’m not sue if I just heard any music at all.

Again, meh

A great background album. The jams were repetitive.

als das album damals erschien und die singles an allerlei ecken mit indie-vorliebe zu hören war, spülte sich der sound dermaßen weich durch meine gehörgange, dass wenig hängen blieben. heute fallen mir neben einigen guten songs insbesondere zu beginn (under pressure, disappearing) vor allen dingen die referenzen an die ausufernder rockkapellen voriger jahrzehnte deutlicher auf. big band als indie rock habe ich aber bei calexico, arcade fire und anderen in weitaus spannender in erinnerung.

Literally disappeared into the background while I was working. Not bad, but certainly not good enough to be on a list like this. 2.4.

reminds me of that song by espin a little. Decent background but not my type of music. 2

It's hard for me to explain but I feel like the vocals don't match the production on each song. Regardless this album is too one-dimensional. I feel like if I heard this at 18 I would've really liked it, but my music taste is different now.

Almost big-red-chaired it when the vocal first came in. Stuck with it and… it was ok. I’ll probably never listen again.

Too long and monotonous for its own good. Their sound in itself is fine for two songs or so, being a combination '60s folk rock vocals and instrumentals that sound a bit like The Killers. The problem is that nearly every song sounds the same, which is an issue when the record pushes one hour. It also feels too reliant on its older musical influences, because barely anything of value was added by the indie sound. An indie-Americana record sounds great in theory, but this was not a very strong or varied application of it. Red Eyes was a good song, but everything else was pretty bland.

Had to listen a second time as it didn't register, fairly more.

Monotonous, depressing, sounded as if recorded in a tunnel.

Harmless enough and fine as background music but not particularly memorable. Hints of Jackson Browne and Wallflowers but pretty forgettable the minute the album was over.

Got really bored around halfway through but finished. Realized I had listened to this before and bailed halfway through that time. If you like the atmospheric guitar work, check out William Tyler (you don't have to suffer through Dylan/Petty-ish vocals because there are no vocals).

They sound like they're trying to be Springsteen so bad but end up just being Sting. I'm not sure why they felt the need to extend each song past 7 or 8 minutes but it was a total snoozefest.

Every song sounded similar. Flashes of Bob Dylan and JCM.

Je sais que j'ai déjà écouté ce groupe mais cet album m'a pas spécialement plu ou déplu. Des fois ça m'a rappelé U2 2.5?

This isn't anything unique. It's rather like a dull version of Tom Petty.

Another just fine album.

Wasn't really feeling it, I just think there's more interesting stuff of the same genre and era

Lost in the Dream by The War on Drugs attempts to channel the spirit of 80s rock but falls short due to excessively long songs, derivative sound reminiscent of Chris Rea, and a vocal delivery that feels forced in its attempt to emulate Bob Dylan. While there are moments of interest in its production, the album's shortcomings outweigh its strengths, making it a mixed listening experience overall. NUMBER OF BANGERS - 1 STAND OUT TRACK - Red Eyes

This is one of those Legendary Indie Vibe Albums that I could never get into, probably because it sounds too much like a 00s band trying to record an 80s Don Henley album. (Also, there was one song that I skipped and then the next song started and it sounded literally exactly the same.)

This reminded me of a band from the 90s, Hothouse Flowers? But with less energy. Irish band if I recall. I preferred HHF.

Eh.

Songs seemed like chill vibes but these songs were like 2 minutes too long for me to get into them. Maybe another day

Just not very interesting to me.

It's okay. I get why people like it, but I wouldn't listen again. For me, songs seemed too long and a bit boring. Fave song 'Eyes to the Wind'. 2/5

Bob Dylan vibes. Not bad, not my favorite.

It was not that bad, but i expected something deeper.

This is way too Bruce Springsteen adult contemporary for me in songwriting, singing and instrumentation, except it was recorded more recently.

Background music and not in the cool Muzak way

pretty standard tbf

I can understand the appeal but for me it's stuck in an awkward middle zone where it's not rocking enough to make it entertaining, nor is it moody enough to make it past the surface level. Kurt Vile would go on to make a better version of this.

This one was rough. Bad arcade fire, boring, and dated. I did not need this

Nice sound, but not overwhelming and will probably age. Not my cup of tea. More of the same.

The only thing more boring than Springsteen is a Springsteen knock off. The songs are all dull and never go anywhere.

Easy enough to listen to, but I found it pretty dull and derivative.

Mostly forgettable outside of a couple of standout songs in Suffering and Eyes To The Wind, I was not impressed by this album. Oftentimes, it felt as though the structures of the songs simply weren’t enough to warrant the typical 5 minute plus runtimes. The instrumentals would trudge along using the same beat with little to no dynamics for measure upon measure. It appears to take strong influences from Tom Petty and Bob Dylan, but despite their unenthusiastic efforts, this band isn’t nearly as interesting as either. I will say, for background or road trip music, you could do worse. However, on the whole, it’s just not worth the time for critical listening. Meh. 3.5/10

It's all a bit dad-rock, gentle fist pump while sipping a cup of tea for me. Since others have pointed out the drums thing, it's really bothering me. It must be the most dull band to play in as a drummer. Even though there's plenty of layers of sound to the whole thing it still somehow feels really anaemic. And it's just so bloody boring, christ.

Saavat silloin tällöin musiikillisen idean tai kehittävät grooven, jonka tahtiin Jaggerkin voisi heiluttaa persettään. Mutta mitään biiseistä ei tarvitse kuunnella loppuun, sillä puolivälin jälkeen tietää, ettei niissä ole tulossa mitään uutta. Ja jos tulee, vika ei ole kuulijassa.

Generic. Nothing memorable on here at all. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t good.

Boring. This band seem to think swaddling entirely mid indie rock in swatches of reverb and synth washes equals an interesting listening experience. About the only thing I liked was hearing the singer, in real time, calibrating how much Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen or Bob Seger he wants in the mix. Just a tasteful soupçon here and there, sweet listener!

This is such a cool name for a band, and such a disappointing one for a band that sounds like this. I don't hate it, but it totally reminds me of that one non-folksy Ryan Adams album, except he's a better singer. (I think? Do I care?) But, man, this would be such a killer name for a hardcore band...

boring

It was ehhhh. Felt like one really long song.

Inoffensive but very boring.

A fairly boring album that didn’t have any real high points for me. While I can hear what they’re doing and why people might enjoy it. It just isn’t for me.

Another of those bands that people seem to have huge admiration for, but I totally fail to understand why. Springsteenesque Americana that has been passed through a pale-and-interesting Instagram filter does nothing for me. Having said that, I enjoyed this a bit more than I expected.

Eh

Quel ennui... Il y a toujours à peu près 20 secondes où on se dit que ça pourrait être sympa, puis on se dit qu'en fait nan c'est la même chanson qu'avant et que cela va être la même chose pendant beaucoup trop longtemps comme un grand verre d'eau tiède dilué. Alors pourquoi par "Red eyes" pour garder un écantillon représentatif, mais je passe mon chemin.

Just okay.

I’ve always liked Red Eye. It’s a nice sound but every song kind of sounds the same.

Passionately unremarkable music that somehow manages to leave the impression of crying in one's sleep.

good LORD this was a long album

20/100 Based on this scale: 1 star - 0 to 19 2 stars - 20 to 39 3 stars - 40 to 59 4 stars - 60 to 79 5 stars - 80 to 100 This starts off sounding like a tribute to Tom Petty. Then, it gets more boring.

Boring.

Meh

It didn't make me want to put a screwdriver in my ear, but I really had to force myself to finish this one. I'm sure it's great in some circles, but I don't belong to any of them.

If "meh" was an LP, this would be it

Meeeeeeh

I gave this album a shot when it came out. It never caught on with me. It still doesn't. It sounds like a boring version of Kurt Vile.

I bought this album and then I sold this album. Never cared for it, not a fan for some reason.

Extremely mid

Love the first song. Then they all sound the same. Same drum line, same chord progressions, just different tempos. Saw them live and it was the most boring show ever.

Not offensive to listen to, quite bland and meandering. Not to my taste but can appreciate the craft.

The instrumental start to the first track was promising, but then the singing started. The singer is somehow managing to mimic Bob Dylan and Springsteen at the same time and oooof, that does not work for me. Can't tell exactly why I hated this album so much. Went back and forth for me between "inoffensive" and "want to turn this off" but the vocals ultimately killed it for me. And the length. And the samey-sameness of the songs. I love some fuzzed-out non-structured albums, perhaps it was just really wrong vibes for a rainy Sunday morning? IDK. Tempted to give it 1 star, only giving it 2 for the song "Burning" which stood out from the morass.

of course these men also did a podcast about themselves it just sounds to me like a lot of other music that I'm like "yeah this is fine" and then I find out the group has a rabid following in their local tristate area and all of their fans think they're revolutionizing the rock scene rather than saying "yeah the guitar is fun and the vibes are chill, it's nice to drink a beer to." the venue probably sells PBR tallboys for like six dollars. it is walking distance from an inexplicably fancy bowling alley and four establishments selling very bad wings I actually did enjoy some of some of the tracks as a "doing stuff with music on" vibe. Burning was fun, for example. low points were when it seemed like the vocalist was trying to sound like Bob Dylan or Don Henley

Nostalgic, pleasant, but blurs together. Lots of comparisons to Dylan/Henley. I know they’re an indie fave but I don’t get the hype. Good background music, and I like “I Don’t Live Here Anymore” which receives heavy college radio play, but that’s about it.

Beautiful production and the guy's voice is pretty nice, but I sound the song writing a bit lacklustre. Favourite songs: Red Eyes, Disappearing.

Générique

As my mom says, "I was bored to tears." Songs are all pretty similar.

I don’t get the appeal. It’s boring as fuck.

nu inteleg ce cauta in lista asta

Eh this is my 2nd time trying this album out. Snore. Chill + too slow.

Drums are a bit overly simplistic. Vocals are alright, guitars are more ambient than forward driving. Definitely no Cage the Elephant but it's not bad in the first song. Not particularly a fan of songs that just drone on for 5 minutes doing nothing. Overall, it feels more shoegazey than Indie.

Under The Pressure // Suffering //

This washed over me completely, I barely noticed it. I probably owe them another listen but Spotify wrapped is coming up soon and I need to prioritise getting the embarrassing stuff out my top 5 so I have no time for redos.

Maybe I’ll try it again, but everything feels the same

God, what a snoozer!

Nothing of note in here. No idea why it's on this list.

If I wanted to listen to Springsteen, I’d listen to Springsteen

It's trying way too hard to be music that I don't like. Most of the songs sound the same and it gets old by the end too.

I had not ever listened to this band and just assumed I wouldn't like them. After listening I can't say that that was a completely accurate assumption, but I mean this is about what I expected. I get why people love this stuff, it sounds like an amalgamation of Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen to me, with some Paul Simon thrown in there. Just straight boring heartland rock tropes. Not for me at all, but it's pleasant and very safe and non-confrontational.

We lost the war. Kinda drags on for every track, could be tightened up a bit (2.5/5)

Nah

This had a quality to it, and it was enjoyable. It reminded me of Springsteen a bit. The difference is that not one single song was memorable. They all sounded the same.

Decent to listen to, dare I say in the background? Certainly not inspiring me to see them live, but quite relaxing and nice to have on while I'm working.

Aggressively meh

Onhan tuossa menoa ja meisinkiä, mutta ei putoa mulle. Ei jatkoon.

Muniinpuhaltelua vuodelta 2014. Mitä tällanen tekee tällasella listalla? No ei se paska silti ollut

This totally went by without anything of note for me, background inoffensive music and nothing more

I had enough 80s rock in the 80s. This one isn't particularly memorable. I could tell from the description I wouldn't like this one; Neil and Bruce are definitely not my favorite artists from the 80s and I do not generally relate to Americana.

Jesus. No.

I genuinely do not remember anything about this album. If it's that forgettable, it can't be that good.

It’s not bad. Sort of reminds me of the arcade fire. I might revisit this though

Sound like any 1 of a hundred albums.

just simply kinda boring. every song sounds quite similar, which gets especially annoying when the sound is just simply dull. cant ever really see myself going back to this, even if its not necessarily bad

This sounded to me like a really boring Dire Straits album. Nothing really to hate (except the Haunting Idle, ugh), just kind of dull.

I like Red Eyes but otherwise pretty same same throughout.

C’est pas mauvais, c’est juste vraaaaiment slowbine, au point où on se fait chier.

This is the most boring form of pseudo-intellectual rock I've listened to in a while. It isn't bad. It is just boring and been done a hundred times earlier on this list. This sounds like the kind of music my dentist would have on while performing a cleaning on my teeth.

Rock impressions of country music. I am not particularly fond of this type of music, it wasn't in any way interesting, but for sure it was a bit frustrating. I think the title of third song on this album encapsulates my feeling towards this band and "Lost In The Dream" record.

A nice chill album, but other than An Ocean In Between The Waves, the tracks didn't really make an impression on me.

Lite enahanda

It's the climax of the indie trash Wes Anderson-wannabe movie debut, and the paid-in-exposure actors look across the ocean wistfully. They mutter something pretentious and this album plays in its entirety as they stare into the lens. Credits roll. Boring.

Wasn't for me. Big "The Boss" vibes, which isn't my thing. 2/5

Pretty lame

War on drugs- I like the synth pop/ folk rock sound. I think the songs needed stronger hooks or just more hooks in general. It’s all kinda wish washy with tons of reverb and after a while it lacks dynamics. I wanted a stronger sounding vocal too- a little too breathy. Too much lead guitar that just sounds like noodling with tons of reverb- I think less with more intentional sounding parts would serve the songs better. 2.5

Pointless and boring but I liked it more than the doves. The songs don’t really go anywhere and the vocals are so weak. The vibe is ok at times but I feel like the vocals and songwriting really bring the whole thing down.

Whoever plays guitar on this…I hate them.

The War On Drugs Spotify description: "The history of rock ’n’ roll is a story of splintering. Stop here for 10 seconds, and think: How many niches can you name without even trying, without having to pause for just a split second? They seem infinite and, already the better part of a century since rock’s bastard birth, still ceaseless, each new form defined by the mainframe’s perpetuity of flux. But over the last 15 years, The War on Drugs have steadily emerged as one of the mightiest counterweights to this endless division, reconnecting rock’s manifold hyphenates with an ardor and ease that suggest they were never split far apart in the first place..." The album isn't bad. But holy shit what a load of bollocks. Minus one star for that is fair I reckon.

Pretty dull, can’t remember anything about it now

Overrated and boring 2/5

I could possibly like this if some of the tracks weren't so unnecessarily long. Sorry, but 6, 7, 8 minute long songs need to be as fucking radically awesome as Bohemian Rhapsody if you're going to ask for my ears. Lame ass hipster guitar noodling isn't gunna cut it. There's some okay stuff here. I don't hate it, but it hasn't made a lasting impression because it sounds like every American Indie record from the early-mid 2010's. I can't tell the sonic difference between this or whatever else came out at this time that I mostly ignored.

I don’t get the hype here. It’s boring, slow, indie but without any of the meaningful lyrics or themes that other bands of their type have.

For the exception of 1.5 songs, unbelievably boring

Just okay, pretty boring

More like The Snore on Drugs. This really isn't all that bad, but my god it is so fucking boring to listen to.

I wanted to like this album, but something just isn’t hitting for me. Maybe you have to be in the right somber, haunting mindset. I don’t think I’ll listen again.

too boring

Like Travis but slower and with none of the soul

Forgettable, someone trying to be Bob Dylan but with dire straits as a backing band.

country music

Not really a fan, but didn't hate it.

"Middle of the road"-muziek is het eerste wat in me opkomt. Het heeft wel wat catchy deuntjes, maar het blijft ook een beetje saaiiig. **

A guaranteed cure for insomnia. Red Eyes has some life to it at least.

Can barely remember how this sounded now, it was a bit 80s I think? And there was a constant drum loop in a lot of the songs? Can't have been remarkable but I remember it has about an hour runtime so can't have been too offensive. Guess I'll give it a two.

Mostly inoffensive indie rock, I hear and I assume it's trying to sell me a Honda accord as it weaves its way around a non descript California coastline road. Parts sounded heavily like Bob Dylan and I don't have the benefit of being able to turn off any hearing aids so I had to slog through those ones for sure. Overall nice but I won't be back.

In twenty years, will we still remember Hipster Americana? This feels like a mix/evolution of Dylan, Springsteen, and pop, with 80's reference making for a catchy band name. I like listening to a random album each day but I also hate that I can't see what else is on the list. There are some good songs on here but what I really want to know is whether or not this was chosen over St. Vincent or FKA Twigs — both of whom also released albums in 2014.

I did not *have* to hear this.

Scale: 1: Dissapointing 2: Didn't enjoy 3: Decent 4: Enjoyed 5: Would listen again (My first impression if not mentioned otherwise in a comment) Under the Pressure: 1.5/5, if a song is 9 minutes long it should have at least some variety Red Eyes: 3.5/5, pretty ok Suffering: 1/5, nope An Ocean in Between the Waves: 1.5/5, idk Disappearing: 1.5/5 idk Eyes to the Wind: 1/5, everything sounds the same The Haunting Idle: Interlude?/5 Burning: 3/5, fine Lost in the Dream: 2/5, yeah In Reverse:1.5/5, boring Overall: 1.83/5, dont like it, boring and monotonous

I was bored with this. I knew I'd hate it the moment I saw a photo of the band that popped up on the Spotify app on my firestick. This is really nothing impressive at all and yet I don't think it quite deserves a 1, but I considered it.

a few good atmosphiric songs but it was just so blend

I remember when they released their first album and everyone was banging on about how good they were. I thought it dull with no soul, an opinion I stand with today.

Pleasant ‘80s corporate rock/dad rock sounding background music. I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to it.

doesn't sound bad, just bland. Feels like I've listened to these melodies previously, but in a more interestingly-made format

It's fine. Kinda dull. Prefer Kurt vial and the evaporators.

Kinda boring. Songs are ok and like the sound but super boring and dreary tunes

This album just felt… half-baked. Like an unfurnished apartment. I needed more than this. Not sure what kind of statement they were trying to make but.. it doesn’t speak to me.

It’s not bad. Just nothing that really got me going. Nothing stuck out. I may revisit this in the future. Listened to this in the car, at home, and finished at work. Not sure if I gave it it’s do. I’ll put this as a 2, with no adds, but may add later.

Very mellow, groove-rock. Some indie-soundong stuff

2.5 Never heard of them before. Seems like a decent album. I look forward to listening to it more

Under the pressure is fine, but like many others have said, they use the same drum beat throughout and every song sounds the same. The lead vocalist sounds so much like Dylan, but that’s strike because I hate Dylan’s voice.

Started well but didn't really go anywhere I enjoyed

I don't hate it, just where's the passion?

Meh. 3/10.

Some of the songs were okay but it did drag on a bit, in my opinion. Couldn't really keep my interest. Favourite: An Ocean In Between The Waves

This kind of uneventful indie-pop (dream pop?) never has any business going as long as it inevitably always does. All songs indistinguishable from one another, the "tard beat" going non-stop the whole album (that really simple indie boom-tish drumbeat I imagine the drummer doing while smiling vacantly, fresh from a lobotomy), guitars and singing DRENCHED in reverb and chorus to the point the entire thing might be out of tune but there's no way to tell. Realistically though, it was almost pleasantly inoffensive - just far too long. If this was 30min, it'd be a 3. Buuuuut it was a full hour. 2/5.

ah, the band that 6Music wants to shove down your throat. they occasionally do some nice psych stuff but on the whole they sound far too much like bruce fucking springsteen to be listenable.

This aIbum came out in 2014. It is essentially 80s indie music with hints of Bruce Springsteen and some Tom Petty. It isn't great. I made it through it and there is no need relisten to it.

Indieheads loves this band but I just don’t get it. The melodic ideas are tepid at best, and without any strong rhythmic structure the whole thing is an aqueous, chorus and reverb-drenched hour without much form or flow. Stronger drum presence in the mix would elevate things slightly, but there just needs to be more compelling and grounded leads in this thing for it to be a palatable listen.

definitely the whitest band i´ve ever heard.

First 2 songs are great. Rest is boring and same-ish. Burning is just Young Turks by Rod Stewart.

Background noise. Nothing grabbed my attention.

Requires a very specific mood for me to fully enjoy it. I really liked 'In Reverse'. The songs are too long. 2.5/5

Was literally listening to Red Eyes when the generator picked this album as the first one to listen to. I think that's a sign I gotta do it. This isn't a bad album. However, Red Eyes is the best of them and the rest of the songs kinda feel like variations on a theme that are never allowed to be their own thing. Kinda Future Islands kinda Springsteen kinda dull. It's a 2/5 ba-by

Pop un tanto blandengue y falto de chispa. Canciones un tanto anodinas. Excesivamente relajado para lo que suponía

I don't know why this annoyed me so much. It seemed pleasant enough, but then I realized the songs were just longer versions of Don Henley or Dire Straits or something.

Apart from a couple of saved songs, I didnt like this much at all! I found it depressing to listen to, and a little grating on the ear.

I think there were some good bits -- An Ocean In Between The Waves and Red Eyes were both standouts but the rest didn't really do anything for me. Competent but boring. Production and instrumentation are good but I don't care for the vocals at all. It's not bad but I'd never intentionally listen to it again. 43/100 gecs

This is fine, but I'm giving it 2 stars because it was a bit boring and didn't need to be on this list.

Lost in the Dream was an ok prog-rock/Americana album, however I feel it was let down by the Americana that came through. It was an easy listen albeit with one that was filled with half an album full of songs that were over 6 mins each. Best: The Haunting Idle Worst: Eyes to the Wind

I forgot I was listening to this

Interesting and enjoyable. Not really familiar with it yet. I think I'd like it more after I hear it a few more times. 2.5/5 for now

2/5 naaah

Ma che cosa significa tutto questo? Boh, canzoni lunghe, un buon sottofondo niente di più

Meh

ekki ég

Mark Kozelek is right. I don't even like Sun Kil Moon, but this is some pretty bland beer commercial rock right here. What an embarrassment for a list of supposedly essential music.

Nothing special ok as background

I had some fun listening to it, but why so long songs? and why so much experimentalism even when the best part is the "classical" one?

Good, not very memorable, wouldn't really listen to much of this 2.5/5

שמעתי את ההתחלה היא הייתה מעולה אבל לא המשכתי לצערי

Liked this one…. Many different styles for each song

Snooooooooooze. This is almost the same as listening to nothing. No value added over the simple unadorned passing of time. Why even make music if this is all you’ve got in your head? Just be an accountant or something

Not my thing

Awful

Boring as fuck.

Thought my headphones were broken when I first hit play. The album never got better than that.

Ei

There is clearly a genre that the author of this list enjoys, and he's made it abundantly clear that everyone needs to listen to this crap.

Don’t you just hate it when the first song is actually pretty damn good, but then the rest of the album sort of sucks? I don’t know, I’m just not with this Old Navy 2014 Nissan Altima type music. The ideas are bright at the beginning, but the more you listen, the more they appear bland. I honestly got frustrated hearing the same type of rhythm, chord changes and that most of the songs ran longer than five minutes. That’s 5 - 8 minutes of too much reverb for me to withstand. You could say I am hypocritical because I adore where Tame Impala and Beach House were at this point, but I would argue that those songs don’t remind me of any other artists. When I hear them, I hear something new but when I hear this, I can’t stop thinking “BRUCE”. That and just the overall repetition of similar ideas makes my fuckin’ head hurt. If you like this, that’s cool. A lot of people do, but I have absolutely no plans to come back to this except maybe the first song. If anything else, the ambient interlude was very refreshing (3/10, 1/5 on this scale)

Boring

Again, why is such an album on the list? If I would not know that this was done by humans, I would say this is generic AI slop. 1/5

Millennial Bob Dylan in the stylings of the most vapid indie pop possible.

This was so painfully boring. Not for me at all

Not a big fan of this genre of rock.

Noiosissimo. Ma tutte le canzoni sono identiche. Stessa batteria, stessi accordi, stesso ritmo

Boring.

Thanks to advances in modern science, we can now make Springsteen 80% more bland, boring, and unenjoyable.

Garbage

Boring

This is one of the worst albums I have had some 370 albums in. Bland. Boring. Lazy.

Boring.

Oh boy this is like Bob Dylan and Tom Petty as boring mall muzak.

For a band with ‘war’ and ‘drugs’ in their name, this was some of the most vanilla shit I’ve ever heard.

DNF

It’s like the lead singer was told he could do a really good Bob Dylan impersonation but everyone in the room was drunk when he did it, but then he latched on to that idea so much that he got a group of people who had heard music a few times to play in a band with him while he sings generic lines like “I can feel the with under my overalls” in a Bob Dylan voice, but now that everyone else is sober they don’t have the heart to tell him it isn’t that good of an impression, so instead they suggest that they call themselves “the war on drugs” and they all think that’s pretty cool cause one of them did cocaine once and so they keep playing music but the lead guy never drops the Bob Dylan voice for the rest of time. Music made for dads on a boat.

Sooo drab. Do people really enjoy this bland generic crap? There is no feling in this and it makes me feel nothing except bored.

Keech.

Before I even spin this: fuck off, you really think an album from 2014 belongs here already eh? Ok I'm 30 seconds in and it sounds like bog-standard 80s bubblegum. I don't need to hear this before I die, I've already heard shit just like it. Ohhhh no track 2 sounds like track 1, just double-time. Wow, we've got arena-rock cliches in the vocals and synths, complete with boot-thut drums and too much reverb. I know! Why don't we try to extend this shit out past 8 minutes with some open 5th swells on the synth? Nah, that's not enough, we'd better get the vocalist somewhere in the mix, but you can't really tell where because he's doing that hipster mumble thing and there's delay on his channel, and then both signals go to the reverb. Wow, I made it to track 3. It's been 15 minutes of the same thing, and finally it sounds different! This one slowed things down a bit and tightened up the mix, maybe it'll be a kinda intimate change. Wait, why is there still delay on buddy's vocals? Is it because we think delay on everything is cool, or we can't understand what he's singing anyway, or because our engineer is as crappy as the album itself and just forgot to do something different? Now the guitar solo is way too loud and not EQed properly, and the character of the song has been betrayed. Or has it? It IS called "Suffering", after all, which I'm also doing. Fuck this shit I'm out!

This album was boring. I couldn’t finish it. I had some friends try to listen and somehow I got through more of it. It felt like AI music. Kinda surprised it made it to this list.

Besviken. Som dire straits blandat med Bruce Springsteen fast mer generic

Didn’t enjoy this

Extremely boring and repetitive, every time I expected something to get interesting I’d be let down. I couldn’t even finish it I was bored from the first song.

Eh

AWFUL

Not my type of music, nothing stood out

too long

кринж

Would not listen to again

Not to sound old here, but I remember when indie rock bands didn’t write music meant to be used in advertising campaigns.

The majority of rock music during the 2010s was awful and this is no exception.

Just went in one ear and out the other.

Shocked that this is on the list, absolutely NOT shocked that it got removed from the list. The only explanation I can give for the drums is that they really didn't like their drummer, so they were thinking that, perhaps if they made the drums as generic, identical, and fucking soulless on every single track, they could replace him with literally anybody else. This is throwaway music that will likely be relegated to the Macy's changing rooms of time, god willing. 1.3/5, several instances of "Oh, it's a new song?!" Literally only enjoyed the ambient instrumental track.

boooooring. didn’t finish

It started great, but went downhill FAST. It's very repetitive. 1,45/5

Not for me.

Softifuck

Great music for an elevator

Insanely boring

Dreary

Lowkey murky.

This album sounds like generic Gap shopping music. There’s nothing remarkable about it. The songs are entirely too long and self-indulgent. It’s like a train chugging along a track to absolutely nowhere. The singer kinda sounds like a baby Bob Dylan, and that’s no good for me. It’s easily one of the most boring albums I’ve ever had the displeasure of listening to. Finding poignancy on this album feels as futile as the actual war on drugs.

1. Pressure -1.5 2. Red - 1 3. Suffering -1.5 4. Ocean - 1.5 5. Disappearing - 2 6. Eyes - 1 7. Haunting - 2 8. burning - 1.5 9. Dream - 1 10. Reverse - 1.5

Hmmm.. maybe some drugs would make your music better...

painfully generic. This kind of album is not one I hoped to listen to on this 1001 albums journey, stopped at around 24 mins in and started listening to Enter The WUTANG 36 CHAMBERS. 1 out of 5 stars

pas nadat plaat was uitgekomen, bleek dat alle bandleden eigenlijk in coma lagen...

These are my only notes: Singer sounds like Paul Simon Boring indie pop maudlin

bad