Reviews (page 7 of 7)
Very mild campfire acoustics, slight country vibe
I feel like you need to be in a certain type of mood to enjoy this album and I just wasn't really in that mood.
I don’t have much to say against this album, other than it just really didn’t click with me. Like everything about it was okay. And honestly I was waiting for it to be over. 2.5
Wasn't unbearable, but at best it's background music
Being a good Canadian, I really wanted to love The Trinity Sessions. Timmins’ voice is hauntingly beautiful, but the album is just too slow, there is nothing dynamic on it at all 5.1/10 5.9/10
Boring
Cowboys? Not sure. Junkies? Definitely. 1/5 as I was not high.
Very slow. If there had been a tad bit more to it, it might have been pretty great
Inoffensive, just not for me. 2/5
Beautiful songs but just too slow for me. Throw in a banger sometime. Below average as a full album
I really liked the intimacy of the recording for this, but after a few songs it just got very repetitive and was too dreary to enjoy that much
Not really my kind of music.
Boring
Could have lived unlimited lives without ever having to listen to this
Blue Moon vind ik wel leuk, verder een beetje saai Would not buy
I wanted to be generous to this album. I just was bored by it. It’s way too slow. It’s not that I mind slow music. I’m a big fan of slow core so that doesn’t bother me at all really. I was just bored. I kept waiting for anything interesting to happen, there’s no hooks, nothing catchy going on nothing. Even ambient music has more interesting things going on and that’s not a knock on ambient music. I’ll listen to music for airports over and over again for the rest of my life. I’ll never listen this album again. The most interesting thing about this album isn’t even their song and it’s not even a cover that I want to hear again The album is an hour long, but it felt like two, and that was with skipping quite a few of the tracks halfway through. I’m getting tired of writing the question why did I need to hear this before I die?
Another album that is slower than molasses. Dear god I'm falling asleep. Not my jam.
Like many here, knew and loved the Sweet Jane cover but didn’t know anything else. All a bit one tempo for my liking.
Pretty fkin boring.
pace and voice make all sounds feel long and same
Eh. I was not impressed
Definitely not what I was expecting.
I thought the haunted feeling of songs like I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry and Walking After Midnight would appeal to me and I wanted to like this one more than I do.
All cowboy, no junkie. Whoever made this list loves them some slow country/folk. I guess this is good at what it’s going for but I feel like I just listened to this lady hold a note for an hour with the occasional harmonica interjection. Snore.
Wasn’t bad it’s just like who tf listens to this
Not great
Meh overall, not what I like
Their cover of Sweet Jane sums Cowboy Junkies. Its superficially quite nice but has no soul at all
The first track is kinda fun but this entire album creeps by at a dull 60bpm. It really just goes on and on and it’s fine but like why are they so bored with their own music
The music was a bit too hokey, and the vocals a bit too breathy and somber, for my taste.
Not good
Soooooooo boring
This album gave me anaemia
Don’t have a lot to say about this one. Not really my sound.
Too slow for my taste.
Meh
Nothing too exciting here, it was quite pleasant but that's all. Would have thought that Fairport Convention would have been a better bet. But perhaps the compilers were American.
Taking music to a new level of mellow. I really did like her vocals, and the bluesy guitar vibe. I’d happily listen to any single track on this album, but the whole album was just too one paced for me. Background mood music. A 2 star rating because I’d listen to this before any of the shite I’ve rated as 1 star, but can’t see myself buying it, or listening to it again.
I remember reading about this band and this album in the NME back in 1988 and I was equally intrigued and put off by the 'alternative country' tag given to it. After all these years I've finally listened to it. AND.... it was okish. I don't mind a bit of slow, but it was pretty much the same all the way through, but not in a disastrously boring way. I assume the compiler of the book is an avid lover of the harmonica with two albums on the trot featuring this noise, but I don't want to keep labouring a point regarding my lack of love for this object. Quite liked the use of the accordion and guitar work with a pleasant enough vocal. Sweet Jane was by far the better cover than the other cringey effort. A middle 2
Though the way it was recorded is pretty dang cool, the results themselves really aren't anything special for me.
Boring. The exact opposite of the Black Eyed Man album. Hang in there peeps...CJ gets better.
I would enjoy this a lot more love than as an album. I lose the beauty of what’s here because I get bored. Margo Timmons does have a sweet voice though. They need to amp it up for me.
Nothing too offensive, just boring
A sorry excuse for an album. Alt-country continues to disappoint. 4/10
Sounds okay on initial listening but very samey after a few songs. 2.5 stars.
I’m sorry but removed from its 80s alt country beginning context, this album is a bunch of deeply unoriginal covers. I feel like the impetus behind its notoriety is simply the place and way it was recorded. Like they had the idea to record it in a church into one microphone and everybody kept patting each other on the back about the concept, despite the end result being a very ho-him, unremarkable. All the press and writing about this album seems focused on trying to convince you that the mojo inherent to its production is enough to make this record more than it is. Maybe I’m just not the right receiver for the message. Nothing ever felt very interesting on this record. Very safe arrangements of very safe cover choices. Boring/10
There were elements I liked and I was really giving with it for the first couple tracks, but ultimately it ended up feeling very same-y and one dimensional. I think that owes to the recording process. Reading up on it this record was recorded live around a single microphone, which is such a cool vibe but I feel hurts this album because of the lack of dynamic changes in the songs. Most of them are roughly the same tempo and style. Every track has every instrument and vocal at the same volume and position in the mix. It really drives what begins as a chill ambient vibe into the ground. I really did want to like this because of my initial impression of “this sounds kind of like the band that plays at the bar in Twin Peaks” and because of my fascination with the recording process , but it ultimately fell flat for me. That being said, I’d still take a track out of context now and again to get that chill vibe. I’d just probably prefer to listen to the original version of one of the many covers if given the choice.
Laid back and gently unassuming. Incredibly boring. I'm sure there's some great stuff going on here, but it's really not for me. I have heard many albums from this list that are outside my comfort zone and I learned to love, but this is just an hour of dullness. I guess it would make good atmospheric music for something where the music was entirely in the background, but it's not something I would ever choose to listen to again. As the album progressed it felt more and more like it was slipping away from me, shyly trying to hide itself, almost as if the volume on my headset was being turned down lower and lower. I was reminded of that game kids play where they make quieter and quieter noises in turn, until it's almost impossible to distinguish between the noise and utter silence. Having an hour of silence might have been preferable here. I was thinking 1 star, but they cover Sweet Jane and that's got to be worth a star maybe. God it's an awful cover though, it sucked all the life out of that poor song. I think 2 stars for the astounding levels of tiredness I felt listening to this. I might have found the perfect music to put myself to sleep with?
Miellyttävää kuunneltavaa, kaunista. Tuntuu silti, ettei ole syvempää sisältöä. Tuntuu puuttuvan muu tunne kuin sellainen perus mukavuus pienellä country-haikeudella. Useampi kuuntelukerta taidetaan vaatia.
I really thought I was going to like that album so much more than I did. I only knew Sweet Jane, which is a really solid track. But the rest all kind of sounded the same. Slow, plodding folk sounding vocals with a little twang to back it up. Might have been good on a head full of mushrooms...
Te rustig en te saai... bij Cowboy Junkies dacht ik eigenlijk ook hele andere muziek.
Niet veel van meegekregen.
Ik begon enthousiast, maar vond het al snel slappe hap.
Nothing unpleasant, just totally empty in texture.
Back in 1988 this album caused quite a stir and was widely praised by hipsters and also audiophiles due to its high quality recording in a church and slow-core production values. Most notable was Margo Timmins haunting voice. This album sounded very fresh back then because no other band at the time sounded like this and their cover of Sweet Jane was also really popular then also. Fast forward 35 years however, and it fails to stir any excitement remotely close to when it first came out.
Probably the most apt band name ever. A bunch of cowboys up to their asses in heroin, that's what they sound like. Atmospheric, dilatant, with a touch of country music you won't find anywhere else. A real rara avis
2/5 Best: I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry Worst: Postcard Blues
I have a passionate hate for country: alright this wasn't the worst album I have ever listened to but it was by no means good at all. I just wanted to turn it off as soon as the first song started playing. Luckily this album wasn't lvl 1000000 country but instead a little bit tamed down but I still just didn't enjoy it and I don't think I could even if I played it on repeat.
Didn’t make a impression
Interesting Album but not for me
gezellig maar niet wauw
really slow and melancholic inspired by the style of blues but not necessarily the the sound 2.5
That was a drag to get through. I can only picture being at this concert fighting back my head dragging back and choking on my own druel.
“The Trinity Session was like a whisper that cut through the noise -- and it was compelling. It stood out in the midst of the flash and bombast that came to define the late 80's.” Well give me the flash and bombast cause this was melodramatic horse shit 😂🖕🏻
Plain
This isn't bad, it just really isn't for me. I'm less into the soft spoken love and jesus songs and more into the songs about getting shitfaced and yelling at cops. The bluesy songs hit pretty fucking nicely though ("I Don't Get It" being a notable one).
Melkosta läpsyttelyä kunnolla lyömisen sijaan. Tälle saattaisi olla oma aika ja paikkansa, mutta en kyllä nyt keksi milloin ja missä.
Menettelevä paketti
Oh god it's a FAMILY BAND! and they're Canadian but sound like they come from deepest Ireland! For almost an hour! This can go in the fucking BIN! 2/5.
Honestly, not an album I could really enjoy. Vocals were beautiful and there is some great musicianship, but overall it feel flat. It was much too slow, and not enough variation between songs for such a slow album. Some of the mixing wasn't to my taste, specifically one song where the harmonica came in way to hot with no tamed high end and I had to pull my headphones off due to the shrill sound.
Que negócio ruim… música pra depressivo cult. Sinceramente não sei como isso tem público e como veio parar aqui. Horripilante.
Well that was depressing. Sweet Jane is an epic song … when sung by Lou Reed. The Cowboys made it dreary and dull.
Well, bloody hell. Having just written a whole reflection on listening as openly and without prejudice as possible in the previous review, I get this thrown at me. The album had barely been playing for two minutes when I thought: I already know. And then there is the awkward fact that “Sweet Jane” is by far the best track on the album. So what made me reach a verdict quite so quickly? No, this isn't prejudice. It is simply very obvious what I think of this. I actually gave it a proper chance. I listened to it on the train from Amsterdam to the station down here in the south, wearing my good headphones. I let the sound wash over me. And I have to say: the recording quality — or rather, the lack of it — isn't even the problem. Quite the opposite. The recording is genuinely beautiful, and probably the album's greatest achievement, especially considering it was made in the eighties. No, the biggest problem is Margo Timmins. There is indeed no screaming, no vocal acrobatics, no singing-herself-into-a-three-octave-fit. There is whisper-singing. Gadverdamme. Do readers still remember the phenomenon? If you are much younger than me, probably not. In the eighties, those infamous Dutch 06-lines appeared: telephone numbers for all sorts of commercial services, before 06 numbers became synonymous with mobile phones. The most notorious were the sex lines. A rather sad phenomenon, really. Naturally, a friend and I called one from a phone booth when we were about twelve, just to find out what actually happened. I don't remember anymore, and our coins disappeared pretty quickly, but it certainly wasn't spectacular. What I mainly associate those lines with is women whispering in deliberately sexy voices: “Oh, it's so big…” or something along those lines. Which obviously wouldn't have been very convincing if they couldn't actually see the caller's penis. But then again, judging by the number of people who apparently went bankrupt calling these things, intelligence was not necessarily a prerequisite. And to my astonishment, there is now a phenomenon that reminds me of it: ASMR. The excellent Dutch science podcast Onbehaarde Apen once devoted an episode to it. They played some examples, including a woman whispering about… well, I have absolutely no idea what she was talking about. At some point she was cutting paper with scissors or something. Apparently this sort of thing relaxes some people. With me, it produces almost exactly the opposite reaction. Why don't you just talk normally? People who listen to this stuff would probably be better off getting absolutely shit-faced. Well, that is essentially how Margo Timmins sings. It is a kind of whispering. She never really sings out. So no, there aren't three octaves flying past in a single word, but instead there is something that gets on my nerves to an extreme degree. And is this actually her normal voice? It isn't falsetto, but it isn't really a normal singing voice either. It sits somewhere in an extremely high register and, combined with the whispering, becomes this strange sonic phenomenon that seems specifically designed to irritate well-meaning people. It is fucking awful. And the music? Well, the sparseness is actually fine. The thing I like most by far is the understated electric guitar in the left channel, holding the whole thing together for much of the album with the occasional tiny accent. But come on, people. “Blue Moon”, renamed “Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)”, is already a questionable proposition. But their treatment of Hank Williams's beautiful “I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry” is bordering on musical vandalism. People, people. This is not good. Things do improve somewhat as the album progresses. The music comes a little more to life, and every now and then Timmins even says a word at a normal volume. But this simply cannot be. For context, the Cowboy Junkies are a Canadian alt-country band from Toronto, built around the Timmins family. Margo sings, brothers Michael and Peter play guitar and drums, and there was formerly another brother, John, on guitar, alongside bassist Alan Anton. Curiously, Wikipedia says the band was formed in Toronto, while all four permanent members were born in Montreal, which is in a different province. Anyway. I'm also not entirely convinced by the alternative country label. I'd reserve that for considerably more adventurous acts such as Lucinda Williams, Whiskeytown — with Ryan Adams — or even Wilco. This is really more like syrupy country. There is, however, one thing the Great Menace got absolutely right in its attempt to predict my opinion of this album: “Sweet Jane” is by far, and I mean by far, the best song here. And interestingly, it is also by far the most-streamed track. It is one of those melodies that is almost impossible to get out of your head. But that has considerably more to do with Lou Reed's composition than with Margo Timmins's whispering. Finally, for the sake of completeness: The Trinity Session is famous for being recorded in a church in Toronto, with the musicians gathered around a single microphone. Kudos.
Bland
Is it just me or does anybody get this album? Because I just don’t get it. It’s coming across as though it should be dreamy rock music but actually is dreary boring one cord nightmares. I will say the last two tracks felt dark and quite sexual in a way and my ears did prick for a moment. More so with ‘postcard blues’ which was my favourite track. I also am a sucker for a female vocal and actually even though it was crap music I wasn’t getting I enjoyed listening to her droning on in during some Of the tracks. But the rest of the album never got going at all- especially the ‘blue moon’ shit which is my worst track! 2.5/10
Cowboy Junkies To quote one of their song titles back at them.... I Don't Get It. I like my Americana to be gritty or vulnerable or unhinged or funny or anything that reflects its roots. This had none of that. In fact the entire listen was a whole lot of nothing. A drone of a voice with zero emotion, boring lifeless playing, covers that drained anything genuine out of the original. I absolutely hated listening to this from the first track to the last. Best Track - the opener Worst Track - that awful Blue Moon cover 0.5/10
Man....depressing.
ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz
o lord. literally anyone can get on this list.
Oooh, Trinity Sessions is one 53 minute snoozefest. The cover of Sweet Jane is the best song, followed by Working On A Building. The rest of the album seemed like one long song. L = (1.0*s) I fell asleep, but then Sweet Jane roasted me for one song, then I went back to sleep. J = (1.75*s) this one made the list because of the one microphone in the middle of the Trinity Church.
This sounds like music that would play during a slower scene in a murder mystery film, like a dinner scene in a fancy restaurant or something. Except that scene actually lasts 90% of the runtime of the film and makes the whole thing the most boring and pointless thing you've ever seen. Like just a song or two is fine, but a whole album of this is just so unnecessary, every song sounds exactly the same and they are all equally boring. I guess this is fine as background music, but even then you want at least a little bit of diversity even for music you aren't fully focusing on.
Very sad quite boring but has a nice tinge to it 1.5 stars
not for me
Just kinda boring
Avoid!!!
enraged me so much 🤬
No thank you, I'll pass on that
What an incredibly boring album.
Fell asleep several times. The lead singer's voice is pretty, but the music is SLOOOOOW. Makes you think of the sloth in Zootopia. Definitely not something I will ever listen to again.
just dull, "Sweet Jane" was decent 1.5
What is this album of slow, boring covers? If they are best known for covering Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane", why not just assign us Loaded? What is the point of including this on the list?
Too bland for my taste.
tak sie swietnie bawie zr nestem na 2 piosence i albo zaraz usne albo to wylacze ciezko bylo
Not my thing at all.
great to fall asleep to
Gähnende Langeweile! Der pure Horror in der Auswahl ach so grandioser Alben geht weiter.
Boring
Probably great live but found this one dull
No lo escucharía de vuelta. Salvo por la versión alternativa de sweet Jane.
Another one I don't understand the appeal of...
Drit
Wow this was bad. Droning, boring, and uninspired. A downer both musically and lyrically. I don’t use this term lightly, but the singer’s voice is actually offensive. I’m offended.
a mesma música em loop por 53min to fora
Boring.
Джордж сраный ковбой
Yeehaw
1.5
It was, just, slow.
bad.
This was not good
Absolutely not my type of music
Just a slow, plodding, boring experience. The main singer had a nice voice, but that's pretty much it. Not worth your time or mine.
Another reason to shit on the US: country music.
Below average
Cocktail country. Very bland,
- nope - 0 nummers toegevoegd aan MMMM - 0 nummer al toegevoegd aan MMMM
This is very dull. It's sort of jazz-y slow country. But the songs are quite dreary (and the selection of songs they cover very uninspired, even their version of Sweet Jane is boring) and the main attraction seems to be the polite guitar noodling in the background. The only thing worse than regular guitar noodling is polite guitar noodling. Barely made it to the end of the record.
This might be a literal antithesis to Cowboys from Hell, which were released at about the same time
Eh. Haven't heard. Not bad, but really got to be in the mood to enjoy/vibe with it.
What a yawn fest. This is the kind of stuff that needs to be excised from this list.
No life in this music.
I did not like this. There’s not much going on and I can’t imagine a scenario where I’d want to listen to this again.
Hjelpes
Well I'm glad that's over it was making me sleepy and angry in equal measure. File under dull.
if I wrapped my head in a sheet soaked with maple syrup, and locked myself in the trunk of a car, that might approximate the experience of listening to this drivel. These chodes are so far up their own asses it's exhausting.
So boring
This is background music, not to set the vibe or anything, but the kind you put on just so that the room isn't so awkward. This is forgettable, mild music with no special qualities as far as I can tell. I am legitimately curious why the writers thought this album was good/influential enough to merit being in this book. 1/5
Meh
Not for me. Slow, boring, lame.
Their ability to extrude absolute tedium out of so many great songs is extraordinary. It is profoundly discomfiting; arousing the same dull but constant emotional ache that comes from staring at hotel art. Even its ending brought no joy; only disappointment in myself for having listened through to the end, in a “what are you doing with your life??” sort of way.
Country + boring = no thank you
Ömsom country vilket inte är min stil och ömsom tråkig generisk typ pop…
This sounds exactly how I thought I would. One of the hardest albums for me to get through. Personal enjoyment: 1/5 Relevance to this list: 2/5
I had to zone-out of the music or I would have fell asleep.
Fairly boring.
My favourite moment of this record is the opening a capella song, which suggests a straight up, very earnest traditional folk album. What you get instead is a series of extremely mid-tempo, extremely boring contemporary folk songs. Nicely produced, nicely performed, but there's little to no flavour. I've seen people rave about the Velvet Underground cover... I just don't see it. A worse and more boring version to my ears. The songs all meld into one by the end. The most I can say is its - quite "nice".
Not my cup of tea.
Perhaps I expected something a bit more intense from a band calling themselves Cowboy Junkies. This shit was a real snooze fest, and Misguided Angel sounds like the damn Blue Bell Ice Cream jingle 😒. Sweet Jane was the only decent track, and that was a cover.
This one kinda makes me wanna rip my eyeballs out. 52 minutes? Nah.
That was so lame. And I really thought it had potential. What a boring collection of songs.
Not for me. 1/5
# 432 - 10/03/2025 - Zzzzz. BORED. An extremely slow folk album that makes you reconsider whether there are as many as 1,001 albums you must listen to before you die….SNORE!
Congratulations to the producer of this album on having potentially the easiest job of all time
1.5 super boring
Slow, depressing, boring. The vocals are skilled, the project just didn't grab me today.
Boring, boring, boring.. oh there's the hit... Boring, boring, done.
Täydellistä chilling and wibing kamaa seuraavaksi heh...
Really didn't care for this. Not my thing. Too slow. 1/5
Pretty vocals -- but yowza -- the rest of it just isn't my thing.
Terribly depressing album. Not your usual country album.
Tough listen
One of the dullest records on the list. The best song was a cover of a great song and they even managed to make that dull. Shite.
Really, really dreary. I didn't enjoy the vocals at all, and this is one of the most forgettable albums on the list.
There’s a song on here called “I don’t get it” and I think that sums it up. Lynn called it “twangy Portishead.”
Just not my sound
Surprising I listened all the way through, it was easy enough background,.. although tuning in it really was not my thing. The singer did my head in, the covers were off beat.
I'm not going to say I hated it, I just didn't like it. It was so slow. There's no catch. It was slow and nothing else. There wasn't one song I liked. 1/5
Didn't listen to the whole album because this shit is SOFT.... but the Sweet Jane cover is kinda cool I guess
slow and boring, that fucking harmonica was hell
mazzy star if they were boring
I did not need to hear this before I die. Maybe it was stellar for the time or something but I did not enjoy this and can't see myself listening again.
Not at all what i expected which just brings the rating down honestly. Terrible
how are you gonna name yourself "cowboy junkies" then do this
This was recorded in the church behind the Eaton Center. That's where they filmed The Silent Partner with Christopher Plummer and Elliott Gould. At least the Eaton Center has that.
Leiser Country/ Folk. - schon wieder- nicht meins.
nominative determination. the only people who will listen to this shite are cowboys or junkies.
Fuck off then. Let's just end this list.
Not interesting
Nah
#8. I had never heard of this before, and now I guess I know why. I honestly have no idea why this would possibly be on a list of 1001 albums that should be listened to, except for maybe to learn the lesson that you can't truly appreciate the good without experiencing the bad. I can imagine some Mumford and Son hipster twirling his mustache and telling his friends about this over a warm IPA, but for me it gets a nope out of ten. The girl's voice is good, but when the best part of your album is a handful of pretty weak covers, I simply cannot find a way to be even a little bit interested. 1/5: terrible Song added to playlist: 200 More Miles I've created a playlist on Spotify that consists of the best and/or my favorite song from each of the albums in this book. This list can be found here if you are interested: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7MAXDGLWlwLkFLb8veGfkA?si=FqkQQPgZTFWG0jAUJXLFZA&utm_source=copy-link
Niet mijn muziek
Several covers that IMHO don’t do justice to the originals. Not a lot of interesting melody or energy. The idea here is that the singers very enchanting and beautiful voice will carry the album, but it just doesn’t do it for me.
Hjelpes
First listen Saved 0/12
Just another one of these shitty forgotten albums that clogs this list. Brings nothing to the table. Completely average, boring, unremarkable pile of crud. Bargain bin-core.
Cowboy music for babies too scared of horses
Gääääähn. Nö.
Oh my Jesus, this album sucks. It's actively giving me a headache as I am listening to it! Ugh, why is this album on the list?? Why would you want to listen to some whiny almost yodelling type music? It blows my mind! Best: Sweet Jane Worst: Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)
Luulevat, että kauneutta voi esittää sellaisenaan. Samalla biisinteko jää minimiin.
No thank you!
Not for mw
Completely dull Great songs turned boring Great for lullaby's bad for literally anything else