S.F. Sorrow

An interesting album, one that I wished I liked more! It has so much that I like, but I don't think it has clicked yet. Maybe I'll come back to it and realise that it is better than I thought. Favourites: S.F. Sorrow is Born Mr. Evasion Walking Through My Dreams

This just sounds like a tame version of so many better British bands at the time. There's not much interesting here outside of a couple of songs, with the rest of it being mostly forgettable.

eh. generous 3.

Everything about this says I should like it. There are some definite good tracks, but some of it fell flat for me and was a little on the irritating side.

Whenever it wasn't trying to be the Beatles, it was pretty fun. More distorted nonsense, please!

Kind of like the Beetles if they weren’t famous and full of themselves, and if they really loved left/right localization

Quite enjoyed this, lots of interesting recognisable noises that I suspect have been sampled in other hits.

sf sorrow is born! hah. this is so 60's and probably would be good if the floyd or the beatles didn't exist... big sgt pepper vibes. what a time to be alive. I enjoyed

60s psych record

A Phenocopy of every other British rock band of the 60s

I'm torn on what to say. Other reviews, both professional and user, describe this as "We have Tommy at home." and that's not wrong. If you compare S.F Sorrow to Tommy it falls short. It's not as big and grandiose. It didn't get made into other media. The story telling is more abstract. But. It is also wonderfully psychedelic album, with a neat stereo mix, and a ton of fun sound experimentation. I loved it. Never heard it before this and am glad I have now.

I saw that this was a concept album and I was worried… It was better than expected musically and the vague notion I had of the narrative wasn’t nonsense. I still don’t like concept albums as it requires you to follow a narrative thread; if I wanted to do that I would be following 1001 audiobooks to listen to before you die.

I’m glad I listened to it, even if this is one I’m not likely to revisit in a hurry. Concept album lite, this at least doesn’t go too heavy on the concept at the expense of the music. Some occasionally decent flourishes during it, but suffered quite a lot from a washed out sound. Not sure if it was a stylistic choice or just the equipment available at the time, I found myself wanting more punch and clarity from it.

Loved this album a few years ago when I first learned about it and how it was a heavily influence on the psychedelic rock scene and rock operas... But I can't give it the 5 stars I want to give it because it sounds weak in comparison to what the production could be.

Better on headphones

A few songs reminded me a tad of simon & garfunkel, as well as ledzep

Really enjoyed

Increíble álbum de rock psicodélico con mucha influencia de rock opera así como también toques garageros en ciertas partes. No me parece perfecto ya que algunos temas tienden a alargarse de más, pero eso no hace que sean malas canciones para nada. Un fuerte 9 a mí parecer, increíble

I was raised in the 80s on the Beatles, as my mon had been a huge fan in the 60s. Reading that Pretty Things had Beatle-esque and Who-like vibes was intriguing, but before I listened, I thought there was no way I'd like this because I'd never heard of them. Now that I have listened, I have no idea why more people haven't heard of them! This is great!! It's a strong concept album that unfortunately happens to be the victim of poor recording, but the harmonies - much like the Beatles- are tight and there are many bright spots in the overall album. Listen to the beginning few notes of "The Journey" , "Old Man Going" , and "Mr. Evasion" and try to tell me that The Who didn't "borrow" this when writing Tommy. Bet ya' can't .... Favorite songs are "Trust" and "Loneliest Person", but there's a lot to celebrate here. Just a shame this group wasn't more well-known.

If this is the first "Rock Opera", then it should also serve as a cautionary tale. It is far too easy to let bombast turn to bloat when using the genre to tell a story. "Tommy", "The Wall", "The Downward Spiral", "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway", "American Idiot", and many others were just much better albums, even if the libretto was just as confusing. The music itself is well-performed Psychedelia, but lacks a uniting theme to serve the story.

Ambitious for its time, and you can hear that. It’s uneven, but there’s enough imagination here to make it worth sitting through.

Never heard of these guys, like The Beatles

Great album.

I turned on mono mix for my own sanity. Other than the sins they committed with the stereo mix, the album was a fun time.

It was very reminiscent of the Beatles. Wasn't for me

Really thought we would stay strong like the first song but it just fell off

British Classic Rock …had some members of the Stones….considered harder than main stream. Influenced Pete Townsend. Mid to late 60’s …really nothing popped for me

This was quite interesting, including its backstory as the pre-Tommy original rock opera. The psychedelic music is, in places, a bit harder and more angular than you often hear. The dark-themed sci-fi fantasy lyrics didn’t do much for me, but they’re at least coherent.

Similar to other psychadelic/experimental rock of the late 1960's, for example Well of Destiny could easily be a Pink Floyd track (and in fact David Gilmour did play on a version of the album at one point). I wasn't able to concentrate on the lyrics to see how well it fits with being the first (potentially) rock opera. Overall not too bad - if you like psychadelia.

You'll never have me believe that the sound engineer wasn't under LSD when mixing this. Great music otherwise

Album #46, The Pretty Things, S.F. Sorrow ⭐⭐ Yeah, this didn’t do it for me at all. Let me preface this by saying this is probably my favourite era of music. I love 60s rock. I love Canterbury stuff. And I’d never heard this before, except I actually had Baron Saturday in a playlist at some point. I must have liked it once, but every time it comes on now I just think, what the fuck is this, and turn it off. There feels like there’s a good album in here musically, but the mix is dreadful. It has some of the worst 60s psychedelic tropes in how it’s put together. The hard panning is brutal. Drums in one ear, guitar in the other, and it just kills any sense of power or intensity. I honestly think this would sound much better in mono. I get that stereo was still a novelty at the time, but it’s completely overdone here. The mix is also wildly inconsistent. Vocals too low, bass too loud, and then it flips the other way on the next track. I don’t need things to sound pristine or polished, I love lo-fi music, but bad mixing and poor decisions really annoy me. When you compare it to what bands like The Beatles, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, or Small Faces were doing around the same time with psychedelic and conceptual records, this just sounds miles worse. It’s a bad sounding album. There are a few good songs. Balloon Burning, Death, and The Loneliest Person are all decent, but outside of that I didn’t really enjoy much of it. I get that it’s considered the first rock opera, which is important historically, but rock opera isn’t really my thing anyway. Maybe it was groundbreaking at the time, but on a first listen I didn’t really grasp the concept, and I don’t have much interest in going back to it. It’s probably the worst album I’ve heard so far on the list.

Psychedelic rock opera by a Beatles soundalike. There’s a weird, distracting panning effect. The cards were stacked against this one from the start. It’s just not my thing. The best I can say is that there were some interesting experimental sounds. “Death” was kind of cool. Favorites: Death, Loneliest Person 2.5

Unoriginal

A worse Beatles

Defecting Grey and Baron Saturday are both pretty good, but overall this is just fine. I get it's like a rock opera sorta thing, but it's just fine.

It's a surprise that The Pretty Things aren't remembered the same way that other bands of that era are. It feels to me like the kind of psychadelic rock that inspired and was inspired by other bands. That's not a criticism, that's praise. This is supposed to be a concept album. From what I heard the narrative thread is loose, but the musicianship tight. Recommended.

I mean it was fine but nothing great

Dated

The same whimsical psychedelic style as all the other English bands from this year. Sing songy vocals straight from a nursery rhyme, quirky arrangements (flutes!) and melodies that all these bands have referencing medieval folk, magic mushroom imagery, and oh God, the album has a concept. These bands all simultaneously learned all the tricks to sound trippy, dialled them up to 11 for 2 years and thankfully got sick of it and/or fried out on acid - it's an interesting novelty artifact, but such a boring sound 60 years later. There are some cool fuzz guitar bits though and the parts where the vocals stop and the instruments freak out are fun (balloon burning, the journey, defecating grey).

my life doesn't matter in any way at all

This album actually started off promising, but quickly fell off as each song went by, until I was relieved that it was over. I've never heard of this band or album, and now I kind of know why.

Hard to get the full concept/rock opera out of it when not listening fully actively and tracking the lyrics. It's kind of a low 3 for me, I could see myself liking it more if I dove in deep, but I gave it a lot of chances and it only grew a bit. Cool vibe and some really interesting stuff in the songs.

Good

Psychedelia meets British folk meets pop meets rock and roll and it all sounds really good. Not a bad song on this album. These guys should have been much bigger in the states than they were

Overall: 8/10 This was a strange little album! It felt Beatles-esque at times. It's also a rock opera, I didn't have time to look up It's story or anything but it seemed interesting enough. Fav Song: Trust

If this list hadn’t already introduced me to so many ‘60s psych records, half of which are more brilliant than this and half of which are worse, I’d be more excited by this. As it is, it’s a charming middle of the road ‘60s psych record that just so happens to have a claim as the first rock opera. Not bad.

first half sounds like a bad version of the Beatles. they redeemed themselves in the second half.

Never even heard of this but it performs phenomenally well on first listen, deep psychedelia evocative of Syd Barret era Pink Floyd with heavy guitars and lots of Eastern instrumentation.

Some echoes of the Beatles and Rolling Stones but no song that really interested me. First album so far that I just wanted to turn off because I couldn't get into it.

It’s not bad. I enjoyed it while putzing around the house. Would I seek it out, nope. It sounds ok but very much music of its time.

Liked this one a lot - Drifts from 60s psychedelia to proto-Sabbath, to proto-Krautrock.

the lads done good, i like it

Un álbum que cuenta una historia simple, tiene etapas muy marcadas, es disfrutable, interesantes cambios aunque un poco raros. Mis canciones favoritas son Ballón Burning, The Journey, Walking through My dreams ✧

This was awesome

top 3 - Trust, S.F. Sorrow IS Born, Bracelets Of Fingers. It’s nice but didn’t leave a big impression on me. Sort of piqued my interest, I will check out another album (maybe ‘Parachute’) made by them sometime in the future.

A really interesting album, and I'm glad I listened to it. While nothing really stood out to me, it was coherent and interesting the whole way through despite it being 17 tracks (all of them mercifully a sensible length, unlike some albums in this genre). I'd definitely listen again in future.

Shocked I've never heard this before. I would have eaten this up in my younger days. Pretty cool.

Naja, es gibt schon ein paar gute Songs, aber das ist ein Fall von 'Gute Idee, schlechte Ausführung' Ich kenne viele Künstler, die Concept-Albums machen, ein paar davonn sogar meine Lieblingsalben, aber naja.. Ich mag das Genre der ersten paar Songs, aber sonst ist es auch nicht so für mich. In letzter Zeit sind wenige dieser Alben gut.

Nicht meins...

Best psychedelic beatles album that I never heard of. But honestly, I'm surprised I never heard of them. This might be one of the best psychedelic rock albums I've heard though a few clunkers keep it from being a 4

I can appreciate what they’re trying to do with the rock opera but it just falls flat. Obnoxious production techniques throughout. (Why does it so often have parts panned over completely into one channel?) Once you get past the production, you’re left with a band that sounds like The Beatles bought off of Temu.

I got The Who vibes from these guys solid 3.5/5

This is so far sounding very Beatles-like. Also I'm listening on headphones and "Bracelets of Fingers" is making me go a little crazy because the sound keeps switching between my left and right ear. Honestly the Beatles are cool and they have a lot of good songs, but I'm not the biggggggest fan of their sound, so it follows I'm not the biggest fan of this sound. Some of the songs are really good though, when they diverge from that Brit-pop sound. The distortions are kinda cool sometimes, but can be a bit much other times, like on I see you. The audio through my headphones is weird in this album, halfway through it kicked in with a really full sound and then backed off and kind of cut out for a second. I have a feeling that maybe this isn't a song to listen to on headphones. The constant back and forth of sound is kind of giving me mental whiplash if that's possible. I genuinely wish I could give half stars on this thing because I wish I could give this one a 2.5, but I feel like I should round up because there are some songs that are quite pleasant on here. The ones I actually liked were "Private sorrow", "Death", and "Loneliest person".

niiice

Not for me

An ambitious psychedelic rock opera/concept album recorded in the late 60s at Abbey Road studios? No, not that one. Or that one. The Pretty Things actually have a good claim to having released the world’s first rock opera, but unfortunately for them their record company didn’t know how to promote it. Given the number of studio tricks they used (aided by Norman Smith who engineered Sgt Peppers and produced Piper at the Gates of Dawn), there was no possibility of playing it live. They did try a performance with them miming to tapes, but apparently they were all off their heads on LSD and it sounded hilariously bad. There are a couple of nice psychedelic rock sections in this but the story is not easy to follow and the lyrics don’t rise much above the level of ‘Flying to the moon, on a spoon’. Yet another historical curiosity rather than an essential listen.

I just want to start this review by acknowledging something that I would be remiss to not mention. The drummer of this band used to call himself Twink. That was his actual stage name and I find that hilarious. I'm imagining a live show now where they say something like "Now here's Twink!!" and everyone cheers. Okay, on to the album. S.F. Sorrow is a pretty neat album. It's considered one of the first rock operas ever, which is super interesting and definitely gives it a reason for inclusion on a list like this. How does it hold up? I'd say it holds up fairly well. It's not perfect. The mixing especially is pretty dated, but I think it's still worth a listen. The premise is respectable, what with its themes of death and war and love and such. The actual music is alright. It's fairly Beatles-esque, but it occasionally has the quirky artistry of something like Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, which actually makes sense seeing as this album shares a producer with The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. That's a fun fact. I do think that the album is fairly average in regards to the music though. The writing is pretty good. It communicates the themes and story pretty well. Overall, I find S.F. Sorrow to be a bit of a novelty, but not a pointless one. It's the kind of thing that you could get REALLY into if you wanted to, but could also just move on from if it doesn't grip you. I fall into the latter category, but I can see why one would end up in the former. So yeah, S.F. Sorrow is good. High 3/5.

Did not like the beginning but it improved a lot as it went on. 4 stars or B-.

Semi-OK

very 60s. Some good bits from that era and some surprisingly catchup songs/Riffs. Ok for a listen but wont rush to listen to again.

There's a lot I like about this album, which makes it disappointing that I don't really like this album. There's a lot of cool psychedelic and prog things going on here, but somehow the whole concept never really gels into something cohesive or interesting. The lyrics are pretty weak, and unfortunately that's a big (although common) knock against a rock opera or concept album, since they rely so much upon their story. Favorite track: "Old Man Going"

Oh, an album that is a rock opera. Yippee! This isn't pretentious at all. So this was a very influential album, but let's be clear, this album DID NOT inspire Pete Townsend to write "Tommy." Sure, there are parts of this that sound somewhat like "Tommy" and this came out before "Tommy", but it is a total coincidence. Okay, so this is a story about a boy who is born, misunderstood and feels like a cast off from society. All coincidence and Pete Townsend only had original ideas for "Tommy." The original drummer quit halfway through recording and he seemed to have the right idea. It may not be that bad. The music sounds like what would happen if the Beatles tried to write a concept album based on a story the Who came up with and only used instrumentation that sounds like Pink Floyd. In general, I like a concept/story album if the songs can be taken out of the context of the record and still (a) make sense and/or (b) have musical value without the context of the narrative. S.F. Sorrow does not succeed on either account, as a song about an exploding balloon isn't exactly a universal feeling I can enjoy while flipping stations on the radio. This one got a bit tedious for me.

Nice little melting pot of ideas from every sixties band you know

Favorite track(s): Bracelets of Fingers, Balloon Burning, Trust, Old Man Going A most honorable mention to the non-album single Defecting Grey

Oooh yes! C’est un des rares albums que je suis surpris de voir sur la liste, vue que Robert semble allergique aux BANGERS. J’ai jamais vraiment compris ce qui se passe dans la partie opéra de l’opéra-rock, mais la partie rock me décoiffe suffisamment

Weer een nieuwe naam voor mij - leuke jaren 60 muziek

Ben het vergeten, dus zal niet super geweest zijn

just an overly long, not very good beatles album

Honestly couldn’t finish it very boring. It’s not bad music just sounds like Beatles but worse.

Knackered after big trip and tattoos but I will definitely listen to this soon! I'm gonna give it like what I think I'd rate it against Tommy I guess?

Bored sadly

Floydian.

About a 2.5. It was fine. I love Psych Rock music, but there’s this very specific period from 65-69 where it feels like all these bands heard Rubber Soul and Revolver by the Beatles and tried to emulate the most psych parts of those albums on every song.

An interesting album although I don't think I'll be adding it to my regular playlist.

(3) it is an original piece and the first rock opera but it’s not my cup of tea.

2.7

Beatles-like psychedelia, but they went beyond with a whole story. Some parts sound heavy for its time, and I appreciate the ambitious production (like they're scoring for a modern King Arthur), but it's not something I'd put on repeat often (3.5).

Cool concept but the execution missed for me.

Really good early psych

Pink Floyd: “hey dude can I copy your homework?” Pretty Things: “yeah sure, just make sure to change it a little” This was easily my favorite album I’ve discovered on this journey so far, how the hell does no one talk about this one? Literally the first ever rock opera album, which laid the blueprint for so many other top albums of all time. But it’s more than just a blueprint, it’s actually a good collection of music! I feel like the problem I have with the rock operas I’ve listened to is that half the songs just kinda sound unexciting (which is ok if you’re telling a story), but I genuinely enjoyed every song except for 2 on here. Yeah it’s a little unpolished, yeah it’s not the most technical, yeah it doesn’t have a true standout, but that was a damn good album. This was exactly what I was hoping for with this exercise and I’ll definitely listen to this one later this week

Its like if Tommy wasn't cringe I must admit I was listening to this while working so while I didn't get the full picture of the story, I can say that there were some good rocking tracks in there. The guitar had this energy to it that I feel like I've been missing for a while. And the tracks had a good variety between them where it never got too boring.

Unremarkable album.

Plenty of variety in this one, a few songs are weird though. Well of Destiny made me question what I was listening to and it might have lowered by a point for me. Overall, good vibes and I like the instrumentation.

When I saw the cover of the album I was given today, I had no idea what I was in for and admittedly, I was a little nervous. The cover art looks like something thrown together by a 4 year old, and the band name wasn't ringing any bells. This is a concept album in that it follows some dude named S.F. Sorrow right through life, with the album starting with his birth, moving into his adolescence, he gets drafted into the war, a bunch of his friends die in the war, he makes it home as a shell of a man, slowly slips into madness, falls in love, and on and on, ending with his death. As the record proceeds, it ends with Sorrow's slip into madness with the track Well of Destiny. The way they record and play their instruments during this song really hits that fact home. Overall, this is a phenomenal album! It is one that you really have sit down with the liner notes and just listen to. All of the metaphors that the singer uses makes this album into a truly beautiful masterpiece. It is every bit as good as Tommy or The Wall, just perhaps a little bit less refined. I will 100% listen again. This is a weird album in the best way possible. Did I need to hear this before I die? Absolutely

60s vibes. I imaging this is what it feels like to listen to the Beatles for the first time, in the 2020s 7/10

A really enjoyable album. It mixes quintessential sounds of the 60s with a Beatles undercurrent, but throws in some tonal and tempo shifts with rock and some vocals that feels much more 70s. Having never heard the music before, glad to have this brought to my attention on 1001.

Notable songs and mentions to kick it off: "Old Man Going" - Is a great example of progressive rock track for its time. Had a little Black Sabeth vibe to it... "Defecting Guy" - Interesting heavy rock example with a mega dose of physcadelic. Quite brilliantly mental. "Death" - Lovely Sitar section. Sorrowful and mellow atmosphere. I find I listen to this with interest as never heard it and feels like I am exploring something new and interesting. It has so many sub plots and interests. The styles are varied and the techniques used are evolving throughout. There’s an obvious connection to The Beatles here (they existed in a similar musical space), capturing the essence of what made them great. The Beatles were at their best IMO when they strayed off the beaten path, experimenting with strange instruments and leaning into the 'whacky' side of their creativity. I discovered this band just 48 hours ago, and I'm already fully immersed in their sound. Despite some potential quality inconsistencies with the audio, the overall experience was powerful enough that it didn't matter.

This album was immediately intriguing. It sort of sounds like the Beatles, but perhaps a bit more interesting. It soon had me thinking of Sgt. Pepper (which at least purported to be a concept album) and I see that they are fairly close contemporaries. Discovering the album's links to Pipers at the Gates of Dawn didn't surprise me, in fact the sound could be characterised as a cross between Beatles and early Floyd. As the album progresses, there is some real musical variety. It seems to start you off in the mundane, but swiftly transports you into psychedelia. Listening to 'Private Sorrow', I pictured being plucked from a dreary British Terraced street and whisked into the world of a fantasy novel. On a closer inspection of the lyrics I see that this is, in fact, tinged with tragedy. Pretentious? Maybe, but this is an intriguing album that seems to sit bang in the middle of sixties British, psychedelic experimentalism. You can hear sparks throughout it that will later develop into bigger and brighter things. They really achieved a lot in the sixties, didn't they?

Album was fine, nothing particularly eye catching to me. Sounds like an album from the 60s, at the beginning of the album I really wasn’t digging it. It slowly grew on me as the album went on. I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to S.F Sorrow again but for what it was, it’s fine!

It's like a less good Tommy.

Great album. Really surprised how much I enjoyed it.

This was probably pretty experimental and out there at the time. For me it wasn't bad, some songs were better than others. But it kind of sounded like off-brand beatles unfortunately

Honestly. Stop it. This would only be included on a top album list by that pretentious guy who doesn't like "popular music" and thinks being obscure makes it somehow better.

2.5

Listened in the car and while walking in the mall. Imagine The Beatles making a rock opera record. Now imagine it much worse, with much less talented musicians, cringe lyrics, with the worst production you've ever heard (even for the time), and worst of all, it's boring. I don't know what it was with British rock bands at the time but for some reason they thought they were at the pinnacle of musical expression enough to start claiming they've made rock "operas" when they've just boring, forgettable slop. Terrible.

Metal before metal. Punk before punk. Concept album before the concept of concept albums. Rock opera before the rock opera. Radiohead before Radiohead. But not as good.

In general, I am not a fan of these overwrought, head-up-its-ass 60s psych rock “masterpieces” (and I’m sure if I go back I’ve used identical wording on another review). There were a few songs during this long journey where I was like “hmm I can get into this, maybe” but not enough to where I’d ever revisit this again.

Didn’t really catch the story but the music was good. Interesting psychedelic rock with some nice hard rocking parts.

I really liked the sound of this! It has that flowy, psychedelic 60s thing I enjoy. I wish I had more time to relisten - kinda torn between a 3 and a 4, so let's call it 3.5.

This was pretty elite. Super curious about the lore for this one, if I could I’d give this 4.5. Super psychedelic but not annoyingly so, very well done

I did a little reading on this before listening and was very excited to really lean into this album. I first tried listening to this with headphones but found with the extreme stereo left-right mix it made it really difficult to listen to. I switched to speakers but got too preoccupied with other things to be able to focus in on the lyrics and hear the story of this album. So, background music wise this sounded great, a diverse psychedelic album full of different sounds, poppy bits, experimental bits and all sorts of dynamics but nothing stood out as revolutionary. I do feel like I missed out on the lyrical journey this is known for, I will try this out again and see if this changes my initial impression.

As someone who has spent a lot of time listening to psychedelic rock, I can’t believe I’d never heard of this band! This sounds like the version of the Wall that Pink Floyd would have wrote if Syd Barrett was still in the band. Or maybe what The Who’s Tommy would have sounded like if the Beatles had written it. And to top it off there’s some straight up early Black Sabbath-esque heavy metal added to the mix.

Not for me

It's like the Beatles but not good

Where has this album been all this time? Fantastic psych rock! 8/10

Overlooked 60s psychedelia from the pretty things, bracelets of fingers and the title track are great as well as baron Saturday.

Я може вчора був в поганому настрої, але здалось, що не дуже добре зістарилось. Ще й все дуже претензійно.

Не люблю таке, і взагалі щось тяжко йде мені "рок" музика 60х.

necesito saber si el flaco spinetta se inspiro en este disco para hacer almendra, alguien que me preste una ouija? obviamente me encanto

Not too bad if you think of it as an homage to the Kinks and Beatles with an occasional nod to the Who thrown in. Luckily, I like all of those bands.

More interesting the first time through than the second. Unfortunately, the story (in album liner) is not clear in the songs themselves. Worth hearing once.

Wicked Beatles-ey. Fiercely meh, though, for me.

not sure why this is on the list could've gone my life without listening to this one

Ehh tried it a few times and couldn't get myself to finish it

Pretty good. I wasn't aware of this band before. Shane they didn't get the acclaim they deserved.

I should have like this in theory, but it just didn’t sit right with me. Sounded like generic Beatles meets generic Who. There were a few good songs but I also skipped quite a few about halfway through.

Sounds a lot like a knock off Beatles group. The music was actually good and I enjoyed the variety of instruments in the songs. I’m riding the middle with this album as no real complaints, but nothing amazing either.

60s psychedelic rock … I’m here for this for the most part. It feels too long in places, and gets weary by the end, but it’s a pretty solid effort otherwise.

I'm a sucker for a good concept album. I'm not certain this qualifies as good, but it certainly isn't bad. I read the notes so I could follow the story and it was pretty cool, how could it not be with a trans-Atlantic balloon journey, even if it did end in tragedy. Music was very much a Beatle knock off, but not too mad about that. It was enjoyable and trippy, fit the story line nicely. For the creativity and innovation alone I'd give them 3 stars for the effort, add that I absolutely enjoyed the ride and that makes it firm and fair 3 stars.

Stereo on headphones is rough but after listening to a mono recording it was pretty charming. Really cool songs and enough variety to keep me interested throughout the entire album

A pretty decent listen, i liked it but i didnt think it was anything super special, a solid 3 stars

stereo sound was invented specifically so that the mixing engineer on this record could twiddle knobs to his hearts desire good music though

Musically this was fine. The songs themselves were ok at best. The biggest issue for me was the engineering. Too much panning, it drove me nuts and was painful to listen to at times because of it. Would not listen to again or recommend personally. 2.5/5

I know everyone makes the comparison to Sgt. Pepper's, with a sprinkling of Pink Floyd and the Who or what have you, but it really is apparent. I thought it was a nice enough listen. It's very familiar and of that time. There were some notable bits that stood out to me, in particular the moments of deep, layered FAT guitar. But it started to feel overlong by the end.

This is quality psychedelic rock music. 5

You know, this should be right up there with great rock operas. Which is not a genre I appreciate, actually.

Alors je m'attendais à rien, je me suis même dit ça va être compliqué, mais au final j'ai beaucoup aimé notamment Loneliest Person très très cool

Pas vraiment mauvais mais rien de très intéressant à en tirer...

It’s ok

Very enjoyable! ★★★★

Something weird about psych rock is that the first-rate bands are all really good all the time, and the third-rate bands all tend to have at least one really good song, but the second-rate bands just tend to be disappointing. Unfortunately, Pretty Things are one of the second-rate bands. They've got all the right elements going on here, but they just can't put it together!

Never heard of this band or album before it was suggested by the generator. It says it came out in 1968 and I sure believe that. I feel I was not properly inebriated enough for this album. It had it's moments, my favorite being Old Man Going. This is something one of my more free spirited uncles would probably have been listening to at UT in the late 60s.

Amazing actually, psych at its peak. A little more involved than what the beatles did to be honest. Nice production as well. “Death” has some great fitting vibes!

Some nice musical variety but nothing stand out for me

A delightful, psychadelic rock opera.

this one is cool! touches of Beatles, Pink Floyd..A lot of songs, all are beautiful and extremely good recording and production . I can hear White Stripes also here and there.

Old rock/boy band. Kinda sounds like the beatles.

They have a lot to answer for, inventing rock opera. If I could give this a zero, I would.

Suppose these folks listened to the Beatles? Wish I’d known of them in ‘68 - Jr. High me would have given them 5 stars

Geht so

These guys really like panning

The person who thought that pans between left and right ear will sound cool was fucking deaf or smth. There are some good songs, but they aren't memorable.

Good 60's rock. A bit dated, but if your in the mood or an old hippie...

The Beatles if they were into edging. 5/10

It’s a full album coping Blue Jay Way. That being said, it’s not too bad.

It was pretty good. It had a Sergeant Peppers and early Pink Floyd vibe. Psychedelic.

That rocked

Such a fun and enchanting album. Pretty incredible that these guys did not get more popular.

Never heard of this group, interesting

"S.F.Sorrow" is just a poor Beatles knockoff -- fun, but aimless and seemingly scattershot. It's as if The Pretty Things hired the Beatles' recording engineer but not the producer. Oh, wait ... that's exactly what The Pretty Things did.

Meh

didnt find it very interesting, also didnt hate it. like a low 3

REALLY interesting. I feel like there's so much average 60s music, but I think this is far from that. It says this is one of the first rock operas, which I guess could be true, but it doesn't really sound like what you would call one, maybe that's just the name people used for concept albums before they were called that. The tremolo thing in the second song (and in general) is really interesting, not sure I've ever heard something that well done and modern sounding. I guess there's a lot of comparisons in some of the interesting production choices between this and the Mothers of Invention album. There's loads of extra instruments, which are great, like sitars and extra percussion. I feel like parts are quite like the Beatles (as most 60s music was), but I think these guys expand upon it a bit. I suppose some parts are a bit like 60s Pink Floyd, like the defecting grey song, which is incredible. There's also loads of catchy melodies and stuff. Favourite songs: all but: she says good morning and old man going. Overall around 8/10

Alright, I was not expecting this. Pretty solid psychedelic jam with a very weird story.

I really liked this album absolutely love psychedelic rock

Good. I can see the influence in a lot of music that follows.

Nope.

Meh. Not my thing. Tapped my foot once or twice. Wouldn't listen again

Elegant, psychedelic, super interesting. Feels very very ahead of its time. It gives me the impression of being a pioneering album (and band).

p146. 1968. 3 stars. Mildly pretentious prototype 60s rock opera. Came cold to this and was pleasantly surprised - decent lyrics and harmonies. There is a direct line from this to Tommy and The Wall. All it is missing are standout tracks.

I love the psychedelic parts of this album, it’s my favorite genre and these people sound interesting, but THE ALBUM JUST DRAGGED I WANTED IT TO END AFTER LIKE THE 10th SONG 😭

While interesting, and ambitious, I think the sound would greatly enjoy a clean up from a remaster, cause it sounds drowned out and it is too bad. It's not a fair criticism to the album, but it really bothered me. It also has problem in it self (too long and sometimes too wide of range) but overall I was impressed, and it is the kind of rare find that makes this list intersting

"General Inzanity, an evil robot general takes control of America in the year 2007, and starts cracking down on rockers. One rocker named “the Rebel” writes a song that inspires people to rise up against General Inzanity." "General Inzanity arrests the Rebel, and sentences him to hard labor, pushing rocks from a quarry up a mountain to build the general a new lair. A group of rebel fighters show up to help the hero, but are trapped on the mountain by a robot army, when the Rebel gets the idea to roll boulders down the mountain to ram into the robots. He rolls a rock to save rock and roll." -from Bob's Burgers. Firsts tend to lend itself to parody quite often. Hence the reason why I'm reminded of a Bob's Burgers episode where Bob takes Gene to Lazer light show of his favorite prog Rock band, Zentipede. The episode pokes fun at such bands as Rush, Pink Floyd, etc. This album feels like that but not poking fun. Just lifting the sounds of their Era but they TOTALLY are not doing that at all. -wink- Mostly just a half assed rock opera that apes their peers. I didn't care about the story. But they do do an admiral job of copying better bands. "Let My People Rock" -more Bob's Burgers. 2.5

More 60s psychedelic, drug fuelled, bollocks. Not a fan.

Really enjoyed

This is bonkers and I love it! Again another album I can’t believe I’ve never heard of before. I will listen to this again that’s for sure.

It sounds fine in parts, I just have less than no interest in listening to proto-Tommy, I want good songs first and an overarching album story second, not the other way around And it feels too cheesy to take seriously but that's probably just a natural problem of its age It's not bad I just want to be as far away from it as possible

Cross between the Beatles and the Byrds with a pinch of the Dead in there too

4.0 - Very Good

So I certainly have opinions on this one. This album is very akin to Revolver era Beatles, some songs especially really connect to that period for me, but with the expression of Sgt Pepper. Certainly the comparisons are easy to make but this album definitely lacks that certain something that made the Beatles so special... you know outside of the multiple album run up and pre-emptive critical acclaim. But I did anticipate that I would like this album a lot, based on all the comparisons but I really have to agree with the critics here. Also worth saying I've never really listened to the Who so the Tommy comparisons go over my head. I think I appreciate what the album tried to do more than like the album itself. The music is solid, but it's a step down from, as I said, Revolver and even Rubber Soul era Beatles, and is definitely not in league with Sgt Pepper levels of writing. The story it tells flows well, but it lacks the sort of timeless metaphors and catchy hooks retrospectively. At the time however? This should have certainly caused more buzz, it's a shame it was so overlooked. Really good ideas just a couple years too late to really ride the wave. Best songs: Loneliest Person Worst songs: N/A Rank compared to everything else so far: 36/45 (below Coat of my Colors, above Destroyer)

i enjoyed this album, gave major Beatles vibes

Not bad

This was a thoroughly pleasant listen! Even with the hard stereo panning typical of late 60s music, the songwriting and sound design had me hooked. There's lots here to love. I will need to relisten next week though, cause I could barely hear any of the vocals since my right ear is currently blocked </3

Yikes. Not for me.

Very interesting concept with some ideas that sound way ahead of their time. They're also somehow the first Beatles "soundalike" I've heard that actually manages to pull it off, all while adding their own unique twist. I'd be quite tempted to come back to it in the future, since I couldn't catch everything they were trying to do on one listen. For today, I was engaged the whole way through with a couple of fantastic songs standing out. It's almost a 4! Standouts: She Says Good Morning • Balloon Burning • Defecting Grey • Mr Evasion

Solid with a lot of super cool and interesting sounds and ideas. Since it's a rock opera I have to say the premise doesn't necessarily come across and it definitely requires some serious legwork to get it all. I also felt that it ended on an anticlimax. This may be taboo to say, but it really just made me want to listen to Tommy.

I'm beating a dead horse with some of these reviews. Another 60's record with some innovative sounds, but largely not much to say in terms of a complete record.

3 seems right.

4/5 + I am a sucker for rock operas and psychadelic rock, so sonically i felt right at home + It can get really experimental, noisy and rhythmically complex, but still maintains a very easy listening experience + Really high highs... - ... and pretty low lows - im listening with headphones and i really hated the overabundance of stereo effects, sometimes it was very cool but a lot of times i was just annoyed - the songs constantly change drastically, which enhances the album experience, but i wish i could have some parts of some songs for a playlist Fav: S.F. Sorrow Is Born, Balloon Burning, Death, Baron Saturday, Trust, Loneliest Person Least Fav: Private Sorrow, Well of Destiny

Favorite Track: Bracelets Of Fingers

They sound like the Beatles but have none of the substance. All the songs sound like Beatles rip offs

weird and very 1968. 12/31/2025

Just another London Bluesrock band. There where far better at this Time in London. Just have a look at all musicians around Alexis Korner .....

boring

Psychedelic rock opera, eh?

3.6 At first I thought it was just going to be another Beatles rip-off, but there are some interesting ideas in here. Rock Operas really not my thing, but fair play for giving it a go, and luckily it doesn't actually feel like one - wouldn't be immediately obvious. Some good tracks in here also - Old Man Going seems a lot more metallic than songs such as Helter Skelter which were said to give birth to the genre. Some weak points in here, and the fidelity isn't superb which isn't unexpected given the age. 4 bonus tracks I cut completely as quality just too bad. Still, after about 50 albums from 60s rock groups of very similar substance this stands up as one of the better ones.

Very 60s. Washed over me a bit but could have something to it.

A decent listen, and typical of British 60's psych rock, but little point in revisiting if you also like The Beatles and/or Floyd. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ❌️ Psychedelic ★★★☆☆ (6/10) Total reviewed : 182 Already owned : 40 Purchased : 6 Buy : 6 Nope : 130

It’s interesting that there are still bands from the 60s that I haven’t heard of. This was a fun listen.

Just didn’t do it for me

I had this on in the background while I did some chores and I can't remember a single thing about it other than it sounded like wishy-washy hippie stuff. Very little impact on me.

1. born - 1.5 2. fingerz -0 3. morning - 0 4. Sorrow - 1 5. Balloon - 1 6. Death - 0 7. Baron - 0 8. Journey -1 9. See -0 10.destiny - 1 11. Trust - 1 12. Man -1.5 13.person - 1.5 14. Grey -0 15. Evasion - 0 16. Good - 1 17. Dreams - 1

Rockoper, 1968 -> 2

I honestly really, really enjoyed this, both in sound and in concept

That guitar riff in "Balloon Burning" really drove me crazy, and not in a good way. The rest of the song is great, with really strong harmonies in the chorus, but that AWWOOOOWOOOO thing is just too much and kind of takes over the track. The guitar work across the album is still the main strength. It is a great mix of Psychedelic rock and Rock Opera and it still feels strong today. The album cover is amazing too, full of detail, faces, bombs, and things you keep noticing the longer you look at it. The best song by far is "S.F. Sorrow Is Born." It has a bigger Rock Opera feeling than the others and it really sets the tone. In general, the songs that lean more into the Rock Opera side feel more creative than the ones that go fully Psychedelic. "Old Man Going" gave me Black Sabbath mixed with Led Zepplin vibes and I loved it! Overall, it is a great album with powerful guitar work, great atmosphere, and real personality. 8/10.

It was okay but I really didn’t like it. It wasn’t for the same reasons that I’ve deadpanned other albums I didn’t care for. This one just didn’t do anything for me & I’d be okay not having listened to it.

This is the only album by this group in the 1,001. I suspect it’s in there only/mostly because it’s touted as the first “rock opera”. This album is OK, but a much better album is their next release, Parachute, which had low-medium rotation when we played cards in high school. That’s well worth a listen. Weirdly, both albums are listed on Apple Music under “Compilations” (with bonus tracks) but not in the regular album discography.

Hot take- The Who are just okay, and Tommy isn’t their best album. Whew, now that that’s off my chest, I guess I’ll repeat what every review here says about S.F. Sorrow. This is the missing link between Sgt. Peppers and Tommy. So much of Peppers is here, including a song where everyone says good morning. The timbre of the vocals seem to intentionally imitate Lennon’s. But for how much The Pretty Things ripped off the Beatles, The Who ripped off The Pretty Things. I’m not just talking in structure either. One of these tracks begins with an acoustic chord assault which tossed me right into Pinball Wizard. The Who even ripped off having a song about children at Christmas time. So, with the influences and influenced discussed, what else does S.F Sorrow offer? Does it stand alone enough to be worthy of this 1001 list? In my opinion, I’d say absolutely. I’m all here for this! Under the current albums like S.F. Sorrow are why I’m here. I can’t wait to put this on again and again. It’s like a missing Beatles album, in quality and style. Hard to believe I’d never heard of The Pretty Things before.

Before today, I’d never heard of The Pretty Things, so S.F. Sorrow was a complete discovery and a very enjoyable one. This is a seriously cool album. It has strong echoes of the late psychedelic era of The Beatles, but with a rougher, noisier edge. It’s an easy and fun listen, full of fuzz, experimentation, and swirling ideas. You can tell how ahead of its time this must have sounded when it was released. What really stands out is how creative and cohesive it feels. The songs flow naturally, and the band fully lean into the strange and experimental without losing the thread. It’s the kind of album that rewards repeat listens, and one I’ll definitely come back to. Favourite tracks: Bracelets of Fingers and She Says Good Morning, both capture the album’s psychedelic charm perfectly Least favourite tracks: None, everything here feels worth listening to Album artwork: A very cool cover that fits the trippy late 60s vibe perfectly Overall, S.F. Sorrow was a genuine surprise, creative, psychedelic, and far more enjoyable than I expected

Sounds like they were listening to all of the Beatles' psychedelic stuff from Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour before recording this one. Good album.

You can’t convince me this isn’t the B side of Sgt Pepper by the Beatles. Seriously though, very good album and enjoyable to listen too, but yeah, VERY Beatles-ish

This album walked so Tommy and The Wall could run! It’s a shame that it isn’t as well known and respected as those later works. Psychedelic and catchy and the first rock opera. That’s my jam. The stereo panning is a bit much but that's my only real complaint. 4⭐️

Basically Sgt Pepper if it was a little less exciting. Still a solid psychedelic rock album, felt like an alternate universe Beatles. Fav: The Journey Least fav: Baron Saturday

hello george john paul & ringo

Listened before: No This is right up my alley. I just love British psych rock. I could listen to this all day. My only criticism is that the mix is pretty thin and treble heavy. After reading some of the other reviews on here, I'm glad I listened in mono. Fav Song: Baron Saturday Least Fav Song: dunno liked them all Listened to it again in the afternoon. Holds up!! Went from a 4 to a 5. I’m a sucker for this stuff

Interesting really

Meh

i like the stereo. it’s giving me beatles vibes. otherwise average

It’s sort of like a band saying, hey, look at all the stuff these other bands are doing. We can do it! And they do. And it’s fine. And then no one remembers it at all

Se supone que es el primer álbum conceptual, ópera rock, antecedente de todas las cosas, pero sobre todo suena bien, muy bien. SF Sorrow is born es beat del bueno. Bracelets of fingers es una golosina psicodélica. Balloon burning es otro buen tema. Baron Saturday es aún mejor o The Journey, todo un viaje. Trust es otra de las mejores. Mr Evasion, Defecting Grey, no bajan el pie del acelerador. El álbum entra como la seda, hay de todo pero todo muy bueno.

More Brit mediocrity from the 60’s. Can’t believe I sat through an hour of this shit.

Tragic story, strong psychedelic feel - pretty good listen

Beatles lite

Very modern sounding for 1968. Obvious influences of the time, but what musicians didn't experience that.

What a surprising album - I love a good concept/rock opera album, and this really hit the spot

conceptual!

Maybe if I had known that this was a rock opera telling a story I would have listened more closely. But I don’t think even that would drown out the constant thoughts of “this is just the Beatles, but worse.”

Decent 80s rock with a Beatles vibe. Pretty good overall, but there were some weird synthy moments in some songs that I did not like.

Read about this record for years. Better than I thought. I'd listen again.

Felt like a Beatles record on their more psychedelic kicks. Songwriting wasn’t up to that same standard, but I’m into that sort of thing so it was an enjoyable listen.

Really good, and not heard it before. Heavy Beatles vibes, but there’s some other stuff going on here that’s pretty unique

Like discovering a secret Beatles/Zombies/early Floyd album. Really liked this one.

😒

A couple bangers but mostly forgettable. In the running for best artwork so far

Solid album. It's easy to see why this fell into obscurity. No hit songs at a time when the UK had some pretty heavy hitters going. Like a lot of albums on this list, if you give it a few listens you can see why it was included. I enjoyed this a lot.

I started off less than impressed, but by the end I liked a few tracks. Not going to go down as one of the best/most interesting rock operas of all time, but an interesting timepiece. 2.5/5 -> 3/5

Nice funky background music

One of the first concept albums. Details the Crazy story that is the life of S.F. Sorrow. Fantasy sci fi rock and roll. Worth a listen.

Not a big fan of some of these 60s rock albums, this one being no exception

A genuine welcome surprise as I have missed this in my musical explorations.

cool record. Psychedelic rock is a bit hit or miss for me. Sometimes it gets a bit much, but this was nice.

One of the first concept albums. A great album, better than Tommy by The Who

I couldn’t get past the beginning of the third song. The lyrics are so cheesy, the quoting of the Beatles is so shameless and low quality. I would give this a one but I didn’t listen to it all the way through.

A psychedelic concept album from the 60s. While I enjoyed the album, the psych rock genre was definitely the “it” genre at the time that many rock bands were emulating, so sometimes these 60s albums can sound redundant, especially when accompanied by flat voices. But this one at least has a different take on the genre by making a psychedelic rock opera.

This is a fantastic psychedelic trip. Liked Songs Added: She Says Good Morning Balloon Burning Baron Saturday Walking Through My Dreams

Decent early Brutus psych. Interesting attempt of a concept album. Can hear the influence to Tommy.

Can't say much about the concept part of the album, as the songs didn't really kept me listening. The music is pretty much standard late '60s psych rock. Didn't do much for me, but it wasn't bad.

7/10

The ducts at work are rattling extra hard this year making a lot of noise and sometimes while listening to this album I preferred the ducts.

This was goos. Good concept, and well executed, and should have been far bigger.

Didn't do a lot for me. But still good if your into this kinda thing.

An average, boring slog.

Têm seus momentos. Achei mais interessante o bate boca por trás desse disco do que o conteúdo do álbum em si. A briga entre ele e Tommy para saber quem foi o primeiro álbum de Rock Ópera. Não tenho cavalos nessa corrida porque honestamente nem curto tanto o conceito de Rock Óperas. Enfim, não me importo com a história nem com os personagens do disco, apenas com a música, e como mencionei no começo da review, ele tem seus momentos. Algumas canções são verdadeiramente boas, e outras passam sem causar nenhuma impressão particular. Parece que partes desse disco simplesmente acontecem e você fica parado em indiferença. Mas poderia ser bem pior. O álbum tem um ótimo ritmo e não perde tempo. A história é compacta. Não achei ele tão experimental assim, parece bem básico quando o assunto é Rock psicodélico dos anos 60. Mas apesar da falta de inovação, a banda toca bem. Todos cumprem seus respectivos papéis. Nada aqui vai te marcar profundamente, mas não é sinal que o disco seja ruim. Às vezes acho que sou bonzinho demais com minhas notas. Mas tudo bem. Tenho um viés forte pra Rock dos anos 60. 4/5

Interesting concept album, not terrible but also I get why it's not as well remembered as Tommy or Quadrophenia. The main riff in "Balloon Burning" kinda sounds like the riff in Zeppelin's "Kashmir."

Really trying to be Revolver

Pretty good psychedelic rock album. Both whimsical and heavy at times. It definitely sounds dated, but is an interesting addition from a band I hadn't hear of before.

It’s actually pretty damned good. Lots of sounds I don’t expect to hear in a 60s album. At some point a they sound like a Beatles rip-off, and some times they sound like a mid-2000s classic rock resurgence band in the vein of The Vines or The Strokes. It’s criminal we don’t have half stars for this project. This is a solid album, 3.5 stars.

Often cited as the first true rock opera, S. F. Sorrow isn’t just historically interesting—it’s a fascinating document of a band punching well above their commercial weight. Knowing they brought in Norman Smith (fresh off work with both The Beatles and early Pink Floyd) explains a lot: the production has that unmistakable late-’60s studio bloom—layered vocals, LSD-like guitar textures, and a kind of optimistic melancholy that sits right between Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Sgt. Pepper. Stylistically, it’s very much a product of its era, but in the best way: kaleidoscopic, imaginative, occasionally bizarre, and always melodic. The narrative is loose and strange in that late-’60s “concept album as literature” way, but the record works even if you ignore the storyline entirely. It’s just a deeply listenable psychedelic rock album with more ambition than most bands of the time dared to attempt. Not every moment is towering, but it’s absolutely worth throwing on, letting it wash over you, and appreciating how much future “rock opera” DNA starts right here.

Interesting. Obvious some inspiration for Tommy, but a good listen.

Ok so this must have been these guys "We've got to make a Sargent Peppers".

Gooi de Beatles, de Kinks en de Stones in de blender, druk op de aan-knop, en dit is wat je krijgt. Gaandeweg het album wordt het steeds belachelijker hoeveel clichés ze op een hoop weten te vegen. In die zin is het ook significant in welk jaar dit uitkwam: 1968. Een jaar nadat de groten de grenzen van wat popmuziek is hadden verlegd, kachelden deze gasten achter de trends aan. En o ja, het schijnt de eerste rock opera te wezen, althans, dat vonden de heren zelf. Ik heb er in ieder geval niks van gemerkt.

Typisch jaren '60 geluid. Het is speels en wisselt af. Helaas geldt die afwisseling ook voor het kwaliteitsniveau. Het is zeker niet altijd raak. Minpunten voor de overtreffende trap van de lange lettergrepen soms. She eee eee eee eee says good morning. Is dit nu serieus bedoeld? Of nemen ze de Beatles op de hak? 2,5 ster

Ik kan me voorstellen dat er in het verleden echt veel van dit soort muziek is gemaakt, waar we nu weinig weet meer van hebben. Of je moet een boomer zijn of een voorliefde voor muziek uit die periode hebben. Het is Beatlesque (we tellen gewoon door), maar ik hoor ook elementen van de Kinks of the Who. Het is met name folkloristisch en psychedelisch. Niet alle nummers zijn van dezelfde kwaliteit en ik kan me voorstellen dat het geluid niet altijd even lekker is om op een koptelefoon of oortjes te horen. Want het is nu soms al wel aan de schelle kant. Ik vind dit best geinig, ondanks dat het wel wat gedateerd klinkt. Mocht ik nog twijfelen tussen een 3 en een 4, dan bedenk ik me dat ik dit zeer waarschijnlijk nooit meer zelf zomaar op zal zetten. Ik had ook niet veel zin om de bonustracks nog uit te luisteren (die niet op de wiki-pagina staan?). Dus het zal moeten belanden in de grote vergaarbak met vergeetbare albums ben ik bang. En daar is maar 1 cijfer voor.

A lot of the reviews compared this to Tommy. As an album, I prefered S.F Sorrow. It doesn't have a song as good as Pinball Wizard on it, but it's a more consistently decent bit of work.

2.5 for me

so much sicker than i was expecting, would like to listen again but every time i tuned in frfr i was hearing different and really interesting sounds, like a mega early olivia tremor control Fav song: Balloon Burning

This one was like being trapped in a lava lamp with a narrator who won’t lower his voice. There were a couple groovy moments that were little flashes of “Yellow Submarine meets Austin Powers” ... but they just made the rest of the album feel even more overcooked.

not bad. i enjoyed most of it, but i probably wouldn't come back to this other than a track or two. standout track: talking about the good times

Boring

Pure psycodelic 60's. The Beatles had way more influence that we imagined. A treasure.

Strong start, went off the rails as the album progressed. Still lots of fun.

297/1089 - Went in one ear then out the other. This is probably unfair since I listened to a lot of 60s music (without paying attention to dates) before listening to this album so I'm unsure what influenced what exactly but the album really sounds derivitive and generic.

Very cool sound and album story

Sounds like Queen, The Who, the Beatles, and a little Oasis all mashed up into one concept album. It even had a couple songs that sounded like proto-punk, which were the most interesting ones. All the songs were tied together in a rock opera style. It was fine, but nothing I'd want to revisit in the future. 3/5

At first I was like we have st.peppers lonely hearts club band at home but a few stand outs were ballon burning and o suppose death off the title alone but it wasn’t at ghoulish as you would believe but overall it wasn’t like bad…like a 7.5

I'm a sucker for Psych rock and this is very much that. Deflecting Grey is one of the greatest songs of the 60's and the rest of the album is pretty nice too. Not really a memorable listen, there aren't many memorable songs outside of Deflecting Grey, which wasn't even on the original album. Cool that it's a concept album, but I have no idea what it's about.

Album 952 of 1089 Pretty Things - S.F. Sorrow (1968) Rating : 3 / 5 This one takes the form of a rock opera, tracing the life of a single character “from rural birth to Prodigal’s Oliver Twist freakout.” I’ll admit, it’s hard to fully absorb a concept album like this on just one listen — there’s a lot happening lyrically and musically. Even so, it’s a solid listen. The music itself stands up well, with moments that reminded me of The Who, both in tone and structure. The vocals are strong and the musicianship is tight - you can tell they knew what they were doing. While I can’t say it immediately grabbed me the way some other albums have, it’s right there in that comfortable middle ground: enjoyable, well-made, and worthy of another spin down the road. I can easily see how this album might reveal more layers with time. It’s ambitious without being overblown, and there’s a real sense that they were pushing creative boundaries for their era.

Reminds me of the Beatles

Mixed review. Some songs were fun. First half of the album was pretty decent. Then it started to meander and was too long. Sort of lost its train.

Ok

I do not see myself going back to this album, it might have inspired Tommy, but I dont feel like this is a cohesive experience as The Who's album. Panning shit from left to right does not make a very interesting listen.

***An ok album. Easy listening

Never heard of these guys and really enjoyed it. Refreshing to hear 60s rock lyrics that aren't about gooning on girls.

A chaotic Beatles cosplay musical.

i already don't remember this

Pretty interesting pysch!

It’s good music, but as far as rock operas it’s no tommy

Dug this album. California hippie sounding. Psychedelic sounds of the canyon. Will dig more into their discography.

I felt the album was kind of boring, and didn’t feel special in any way. Nothing was really bad, but it never caught my interest.

The music is good, the format is weird for me.

Pretty good psychedelic rock album but nothing outstanding. It’s decently consistent through, so it was enjoyable all the way through. 7/10

Enjoyable 60’s psychedelic/prog rock

Bland.

I quite liked this album. They reminded me of the Beatles a bit.

The first try at a rock opera, is more of an error.

like a decent but leaving more to be desired sequel of magical mystery tour

Good album 💿 d not heard before

Very Beatlesesque.

Interesting I've never heard of this. Very similar to Sgt Peppers, Lola and Tommy, but came before the latter 2. Seems to be the first ever rock opera. No songs stood out as big hits and vocals were hard to understand to follow the story. But I still really like this gritty late-60's brit art rock.

Good music? Yes. Would I choose to listen again? No.