S.F. Sorrow

Thoroughly enjoyed their sound. Like an early The Who

Some great moments. Possibly a 4.

FUN

Prety decent prog rock album, not as good as pink floyd but not bad

I enjoyed the sound of this one. Felt very on par with a Beatles record. I read this was the first rock opera, though I couldn't really follow the story line if so. But it sounded good

On RYM i gave this a 5. This app trally needs decimals. Great album and the best example of 60's psychadelia I can think off. Piper at the gates of dawn done right. Exciting stuff.

Surprised how much I liked this. Good stuff

A remarkable album. If The Who claim that Tommy was created uninfluenced and completely independently, they must have been living under a rock and unaware of their scene. I didn't know the album until today. The sound reminds me of the early songs by Pink Floyd, perhaps not quite as wacky. A great album. 4/5

7.5/10

Me fait beaucoup penser aux Beatles, dans les harmonies et les arrangements orientalisants, mais prend une tangente plus affirmée, un rock plus lourd vers la fin.

Not a band I’ve listened to previously. Really enjoyed it.

Sounds like an assortment of Who, Beach Boys, the Beatles, and Pink Floyd psychedelic period songs rolled into S.F. Sorrow's rock opera, which is both rewarding and self-indulgent. A lot to wade through, but there are a lot of standout tracks, some really good rockers that keep it interesting despite the "concept" and thin story-line. A bit overlong and probably underrated and worth a listen, even if it's just once, but it's a good idea to explore this more to get the most out of this interesting record.

bit of it's time, however if this had been a Beatles album it would be remembered as a classic

i think is album is more important for its concept than it is for being a truly great album. don't get me wrong, i did enjoy it and it is up my alley. i think upon multiple listens, i could really get to liking it, but to me upon first listen, it feels like it's more notable for being "the first rock opera" than the actual quality of the music. either way, there were some cool psych-tinged moments on here and there wasn't a bad song in the mix.

I have never heard of these guys. No clue what to expect. I do love albums with a story, which this one does. Interesting psych-rock instrumentals throughout. Definitely one that I will be revisiting and a band I will be looking into more. 4/5

Me esperaba bajona y joder, bien. Me ha recordado a los Beatles bastante (esto es algo bueno, que conste).

Good psychadelic album. Quite US influenced but Sgt Pepper certainly in there.

But if everything in here. Sounds at times like The Beatles, The Who, Pink Floyd, even Black Sabbath in one track. A decent rock opera.

This album has a lot going for it. It's a little ahead of its time and as such I'll round up from 3.5 to 4. Musically, though I would only give it 3 stars, but given that it's musically ahead of its time and that it was one of (if not *the*) first rock opera, I would give this 3.5 stars. Since I can't give 1/2 stars, I have to choose how to round. I feel like part of the 1001 project is to not only present great albums but also to present influential albums or albums that have some historical interest. This fits that, so I'm rounding up from 3.5 to 4 stars, even though in a vacuum, I would give this 3 stars.

apparently this is one of the first rock operas ever made, and it's pretty solid. while it definitely has the standard sound that's usually heard on these types of albums from this era it does it in a really good way. there's good psychedelic and then there's the really pretentious stuff and thankfully this is the former. some of the percussion lines are killer.

Another Beatles-esque band I’ve never heard of. Aside from a few early hiccups with the left/right split in the audio, this was a really solid collection of songs. I think I’d prefer if they’d chosen to take the overall feel of the album in a more lighthearted direction, since I think that would suit their style better. But I enjoyed the listen regardless.

Weird, wild and (mostly) wonderful. One's reminded of much that worked well in the '60s and rich vein of creativity that psychedelia enabled. "Trust" might be best cut. Fully deserves to be better known and full credit to editors for doing their part to make us all more aware.

I love a good rock opera.

The channel separation was extremely unusual, but I liked how adventurous it was.

It's best tracks sound like lost Beatles cuts, which was a very pleasant surprise! I will be returning to this album for certain, a wonderful surprise. Maybe it's a few tracks too long, but for surprisingly long stretches it feels just right.

Sounded very much like weird beatles era. Stand-out: Baron Saturday, Trust

Good find

Wow, this was a treat. I can't believe this was my first listen. I'm sorry, Pretty Things, that you were so ahead of your time. I wonder how much they influenced the Beatles? or maybe vice versa. Regardless, I really enjoyed it.

I'm amazed I've never actually encountered Pretty Things before. This was a legitimately awesome piece of music. A real 60s gem.

This one surprised me. Highly creative and innovative, each track offers some new idea that works and fits in the storyline of what is considering the first concept album. It's primarily acid rock, featuring a mix of baroque pop, folk, and proto-metal, and clearly inspired by The Kinks, The Beatles, The Yardbirds, and Cream. For 1968, the production is very disappointing. It sounds poor, but at least uses quiet ambiance and studio techniques well to create psychedelic effects. As with a lot of 60s rock albums, it abuses stereo mixing poorly, with some instruments only being audible in one ear. Additionally, some parts are pretty gimmicky and dated for its time, like the silly voiceovers, or the space rock distortion demonstration on "Well of Destiny". It's a bit of a hard listen, and probably not something to put on in the background. And even if I were tripping to it, I'd have to mentally prepare for the uncomfortable parts. But it is very fun, diverse, and creative, and of course highly innovative for its time. Favorites: Bracelets Of Fingers, Balloon Burning, Death, Baron Saturday

Well this is what I’m here for! Amazing music that I’d never heard of before! Have to welcome multiverse Beatles into the regular rotation

37/1001

Despite these weird experiments with stereo, it is really nice album.

I know this is supposed to be a "rock opera", but I didn't really follow the story. That said, it was very well produced, but it sound like they were trying to make a Beatles album, with the Kinks thrown in for a slighted harder edge. I did like it though.

This was just ok for me. Interesting historically as maybe the first rock opera, but I could not really follow the story (I also didn't really try to). Sounds heavily influenced by the Beatles but moving towards some of the harder rock sounds that would become more common towards the end of that decade. The drummer is great.

Pretty good, and way less pretentious than most 60’s and 70’s rock operas. There are some songs on here that aren’t that good (‘Loneliest Person’ is definitely very sympathy-inducing and sad), but the good songs make up for most of it.

Pretty good 60’s psyche! I appreciate that it’s the first rock opera / early concept album. But mostly I just dig the range of sounds and freak outs. Also the Beatles-like jams like She Says Good Morning. Good stuff. Easy 4/5

This album gives me very similar vibes to one of my favorite albums of all time, Pink Floyd's The Wall. It doesn't feel quite as polished however. I'm gonna need more than a day to fully absorb this one I think. For now it's getting a 4/5 from me. Good, interesting, compelling, but a little screechy at times.

Cooler 60er Rock. Warum wird das nicht im Radio gespielt?

I've always really enjoyed the early Pretty Things singles like Midnight to Six, they have a rawness and soul that even the early Stones records don't have. But SF Sorrow has always sounded too kitschy and faux mind-bending for my tastes. In listening again it's better than I remember, and still has lots of ummph to it for a "psychedelic" record. It's not top-tier for me, but it was a very enjoyable listen. I'll definitely give this some more spins in the future.

A psych masterpiece. Claims that it is or isn't the first concept album are irrelevant; it is simply a fantastic, unified piece of work.

Not sure if I get the concept side but nice enough listen

This is how you do a freakbeat psych-rock opera. This is the recipe!

I've always wanted to like this album but until today, whenever I tried to listen to it, I would always wind up bailing after two or three songs in. On paper, this should've been an easy home run for me: 60s garage rock (check), whimsical psychedelia (check), songs that suddenly change course (check). But for whatever reason, their brand of this music just never worked for me. Until today. And really, it wasn't until I got to the second side. There the songs are more conventional, but still wild and inventive. The song "Trust" was what roped me in, and I stayed roped in until that last phenomenal song, "Walking Through My Dreams." Then I went back and started the album over. I still think side 2 is better, but side 1 started to grow on me. Like, I finally clicked in with their sound. Is this a 5-star album? Maybe, but i'm not ready to go there. But it is a hearty 4. Very glad I listened to this one.

Highly enjoyable early rock-opera. A child of its time.

Good lyrics. Did remind me of the British Invasion.

Good album for listening to in the background, I liked Balloon Burning and I See You.

not bad 6.5/10

I liked this. Trippy, folky, musical. Kind of surprised I've never heard of these guys.

It's a nice enough album to be honest

Extremely cool record one hadn't known -- good work, editors. Of course the Who will say it was no influence, but the Tommy influences are obvious (Townsend's "Christmas" takes much from the lovely "Trust"). And it aspects of both The Wall and the Final Cut could be traced back to elements here. But forgetting all that, there's consistent and ample high quality throughout. "Baron Saturday" would fit on the White Album and "Talking About the Good Times" could be an outtake from Sgt. Peppers. "I See You" soars thoughtfully and "Walking Through My Dreams" woulda/coulda/shoulda been a hit. "Private Sorrow" is a seminal piece of alt.folk, whether it knew it or not. "Balloon Burning" is alt-ingly appealing, too, with terrifically intense and sustained soloing – kids today would call it "fire." And by rock opera standards, they keep the ambition in check, moderating the application of oddball effects, offbeat instrumentations or sudden reverses of mood/tone. It's true to psychedelic principles – giving a generally kaleidoscopic feel, say – without overdoing them or making them seem silly or trendy. And thank God this was pre-prog or these cats might have gone dangerously around that bend. There's seriousness of intent but also a willingness to let it rip (see, "Defecting Grey"). One doesn't think much of the lyrics or feel motivated to figure them out; but Lester Bangs really ought to have known better. Lots of records that want to be undiscovered classics only get half of the formula right; this one nails both sides of the equation.

It's if The Doors and The Beatles mashed into one. It's one of those albums that makes me appreciate the 1001 albums project. I never would've listened to this on my own, I doubt I'll listen to this too many times in the future, but I'm glad I got a chance to hear this!

4.0

Crazy this was like a year after Sgt Peppers and still borrowed so heavily from it. But I love Sgt Peppers so no complaints here. Okay maybe one - I know it was new exciting technology at the time but talk about abusing the PAN switch

Cool little Beatles-like concept album here. Lots of great tracks on this thing.

Like early Floyd with hints of late Beatles. Good psychedelic fun

I don't really have the words to write a good review, as I'm tired, but this album is pretty cool. It has a somewhat dark sound and the concept is neat. There's a few stand out songs that made the listen very enjoyable and I expect the other tracks to grow on me over time. My favourite song was Bracelets of Fingers.

11/8/23. Never heard of this band or album, but very Sgt. Peppers or Beatles like. The track list takes you on a good ride with unpredictable sounds and rhythms, would listen again!

All here for it: honestly I thought this would be truly just pure shit but I have been proven wrong. Sounds like one of the later Beatles records with the random sounds and psychodelia involved in a large majority of the songs. The album was a kinda underrated slapper and I can definitely see myself revisiting this another time.

This grew on me. Weirder in the back half in the best possible way.

Psychedelic rock, good album

I'll say that I did not like this album at first, since the opening song is a bit grating. However, it won me over as it went. There's so many elements here that would be present in later rock operas and concept albums. It also has that 60s psychedelic sound, which makes it feel very much transitional as an album. Definitely of its time, but previewing some musical movements to come. Somewhere between the late Beatles period and the prog period of Pink Floyd sits this album 4/5

Well this was an interesting album. I never would have heard it if it wasn’t for this service. Reminds me of what the Beatles would have sounded like if they David Gilmour writing their songs.

Predates Tommy as one of the first rock operas-and while not as influential as the latter work, S.F. Sorrow is still unafraid to experiment with lyrics and instrumentation to create a slightly unsettling and dreamy listening experience. Very good.

Actually really liked this! I love their sound.

Innattendu, mais cool. Du psychédélique que je ne connaissais pas du tout, c'est toujours bienvenu.

It was slow to start, but once it got going it was pretty sweet 4

I enjoyed this quite a bit, much more than expected. It’s a little generic for the time period, but it was fun.

It's a rather marvellous LP that I've always found endearing. The Pretty Things picked up the thread already spun by the Beatles' *Sgt. Pepper* to create the first "rock opera" of sorts--and almost nobody listened to it at the time, apparently. Jeeze, what a waste! The first side of the album is extraordinary, and justifies this record being filed next to a masterpiece such as The Zombies' *Odessey and Oracle*. "SF Sorrow Is Born" is a catchy opener. "Bracelet of Fingers" a dreamy experimental gem. "Private Sorrow" and its musings about war has many weird but infectious hooks. And "Balloon Burning" is a scorching psychedelic rocker. Unfortunately, The Pretty Things--literally--lose the plot AND momentum they had on the second part of their story. The tale becomes unfocused through lengthy "dream sections". And appropriately enough, the music meanders once in a while, as good as many moments in it still are. When "Loneliest Person" surges out of the speakers--a sour, short melancholic capper played on an acoustic guitar--you realize that the album is actually over, and it's as if something was missing from the second half of the tale. Maybe that's the point, though, since "SF Sorrow"'s story is about an alienated character with no real purpose in life, dying in an ultimate state of regret about his whole existence. Not sure this "meta" aspect was fully intended by the band, though... At the end of this Spotify version, you can find the singles The Pretty Things recorded around the same time, and among those cuts, "Talkin' About The Good Times" and "Walking Through My Dreams" are absolute gems, worthy of the best Kinks and Beatles songs. Had the band managed to include those stellar tunes in the album's tracklisting (let's say for a double-album), *SF Sorrow* could have become a 5-star LP. This is not what happened, sadly. And so all we have left are "what ifs?", once again aptly resonating with the contents of the record's "story". At least this album is now recognized for the groundbreaking endeavor that it was. And even at the time, it seems that the right people paid attention to it. You can bet your boots that Pete Townshend drew inspiration from *SF Sorrow* for The Who's *Tommy*. And I also have a sneaking suspicion that the description of a "Balloon Burning" in the song of the same name--a striking image for sure, inspired by a famous historical event--was not lost on Jimmy Page and Robert Plant when they decided to find a new moniker for their "New Yardbirds" project. It's all there, in the top-right corner of that album cover, look! A "prophetic" album for sure. 4/5 for the purposes of this list, which translates to a 9/10 grade for more general purposes (5 + 4). Number of albums left to review: 477 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 248 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 118 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 155

Never heard anything from this band till today. But, the description had me very intrigued. And on first listen, I’m hooked. This band, or at least on this album, goes for a kind of mash between The Who and early Pink Floyd material. And it is absolutely brilliant, all great stuff, especially musically. I need to check out more from them. 8,5 out of 10

Very cool. Albums and bands like this are the reason I'm doing this list.

Pretty good. Might even be 5 star.

Enjoyable

Well this was a band I had definitely never heard of, so I went into this not knowing what to expect. It was reminiscent of early Pink Floyd, but with more guitar in place, plus a touch of the Beatles and other pop/psychedelic bands of the 1960s. There weren't any stand-out tracks on a single play through, but nothing too awful either. It's hard to rate, probably somewhere between a 3 and a 4.

Yeah, good Rock. Nice and tightly wound with a good throughline.

a decent mash up of decent sounds from the 60s.

Another great psych album. Keep them coming Bob

Thoroughly enjoyed, and appreciate the common thread / storyline. I like the experimentation and the psychedelia of it too. Big cred for being the first rock opera, even if Tommy ended up being released first. Side note, as a huge Ty Segall fan I was hearing extreme similarities between the first two tracks and some of Ty's music. Apparently not a coincidence, as he has cited this as one of his favorite albums.

I appreciate the concept and the experimentation, but it is marred by recording/mixing flaws and absolutely wonky stereo panning. Otherwise solid psychedelia.

"S.F. Sorrow" is the fourth album by English rock band The Pretty Things. It is one of the first rock operas as it follows the main character, Sebastian F. Sorrow, from birth, and through love, war, tagedy, madness and disillusionment with old age. It is based on a short story by singer Phil May. The music styles noted are pyschedelic rock and pop and experimental rock. Yeah, their music sounded like a lot of other bands around that time. All pretty good ones. The album was poorly promoted especially in the US. In fact, many thought it copied The Who's rock opera "Tommy" although it was released before that album. Acoustic guitar and a sitar open up "S.F. Sorrow is Born." Pyschedelic pop as the vocals keep repeating S.F. Sorrow is born. Great vocals and harmonization throughout this album. Self explanatory by the title and he also starts working at a factory at a young age. S.F. goes into the infantry and war (WWI?) In "Private Sorrow." Guitar, flute, horns and marching drums. Spoken word also. The sounds of gunfire. Unfortunately, tragedy after the war hits in "Balloon Burning" as his girlfriend is flying to meet him in a balloon and, well, the title describes it. Psychedelic, grinding, repetitive guitar. An eerie feeling along with the vocals. More in the rock category. The album gets even a more little eerie and evil in "Baron Saturday." A pounding and driving song and a percussion jam. S.F. in a state of depression meets Baron and he goes through an underworld trip. An acoustic guitar similar to "Pinball Wizard" opens "Old Man Going." The song goes hard with the guitar. Sort of deep, vocals similar to "Aqualung." Our guy has essentially cut the world off. Not a happy ending in "Loneliest Person" as he identifies as the loneliest man in the world. Although, the music is Summer of Love-esque but sad. I enjoyed this album quite a bit. At times, they sounded like The Beatles, Queen, early Pink Floyd, The Who and The Moody Blues. Definitely, of its time. I would need to listen to more by The Pretty Things to get a better grasped of their identity. The layered vocals and harmonization itself make this album worth a listen.

When I saw the cover of the album I was given today, I had no idea what I was in for. The cover art looks like something thrown together by a 4 year old, and the band name wasn't ringing any bells either. Upon further research, I learned that this album is considered to be the first "rock opera", coming before famous works such as "The Wall", or "Tommy". It just was a bit ahead of its time, and didn't make the waves that the others did in the 70's. The Pretty Things sound like a mix of Jethro Tull, The Who, and the Beach Boys (not in instrumentation, but in the way that they sometimes harmonize their vocals in a high register). All of that while doing the amount of drugs that Syd Barrett's era of Pink Floyd did. 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 culminates with Sorrow's slip into madness with the instrumental 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 spins 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 most glorious of ways. Favorite songs: Old Man Going, She Says Good Morning, S.F. Sorrow is Born, Private Sorrow, I See You, Loneliest Person Least favorite songs: Balloon Burning 4/5

Great album. I like psych rock. Going to need to listen to this more times to pick everything up.

Hmm, a bit weird. A bit like the wall/Tommy but not really as good as either Ok I guess

Strong start! This is like a Beatles competitor that I haven't heard. Unfortunately it's a rock opera. It tells a story of SF Sorrow. It means it's going to get weird. This was a fun album. It did get super weird in certain spots, but overall I enjoyed it.

I had to pause the challenge once again as I feel that this album requires many more listens than I can give it in a day. That said, I always get mixed  The Pretty Things with The Kinks; this album's and Arthur's similarities in subject matter don't help either. But I'm getting there! I like the fact that The Pretty Things were louder and rowdier than many of their peers at the time, and on S. F. Sorrow we still have a sample of that on Balloon Burning, but almost everywhere else this is an end of the 60s, psychedelic, British record. And a very good at that. I am intrigued by this period's bands who were really loud and turned psychedelic, and that goes also for their American garage counterparts: there was no internet at the time, and still that seemed to be the trend on both sides of the pond. Anyway, back to S. F. Sorrow, by Baron Saturday the experiment sounds as if it were on the brink of collapse. I don't know if it was the single but it should have been! I read that the album was recorded at Abbey Road; this makes sense! I also read that this album is regarded as the inspiration for many other concept albums to come, but I don't think that that is its sole merit. Private Sorrow has a folk-y, almost medieval thing to it and it must be the precursor of that 70s flute guy. Mr Evasion borders Hawkwind territory, especially towards the end,while Talkin' About The Good Times bears some middle East influences.  A lot going on in this one and it's maybe a bit overlong, but still a fascinating record. 

A case study in The Sound of the British Invasion. I need to spend more time with it but dig what I’ve heard.

Thought this one was interesting, and a nice surprise as I had never heard of this band before. Kinda rough to listen to at times because of the hard panning.

I wish I knew more music words to better describe this. Pleasantly surprised with this one, but there's something holding it back in some of the tunes.

OOoh a very nice start with the sitar. Lovely sounds! Very distinctively from the 60s from the start which is a very good thing for me. Never heard of the Pretty Things. So far I am enjoying the vocals. Ooooh one of the first ever rock operas?? Excellent. Strapping in for a wonderful story then. Getting a lot of Beatles and Beach Boys influences but also this is creative and interesting in its own right I think. A nice discovery.

Cool psych rock. Some songs in the second half really caught my ear with the experimental yet pleasing sounds. Will certainly listen to again.

Really cool album with a super interesting concept. Music was great; loved the psychedelic Beatles vibes.

loved this on first listen, what a cool discovery hidden gem. seems like the missing link between early pink floyd and T. Rex. Whimsical psychedelic brit pop meets garage-y glam punk. looking forward to revisiting.

Wow, never heard of this band or this album, but what a hidden gem this was. The compositions are very intricate, production came across as lo-fi upon first listen, but actually it all works well. Watched part of the 1998 live performance of this with the story told along with it, these guys were impressive musicians even in their 50s. Can see how this may have influenced some of the neo-psychedelic bands of recent times like Ty Segall and Oh Sees. Great stuff.

I had never heard of this band or album before but this had a lot of really good stand alone songs within a concept album. I thought the production seemed a little fuzzy even as I was listening in a lossless format but it seemed to add to the psychedelic texture so I ended up getting used to it and even liking the aesthetic. I intend to revisit this one.

I really enjoyed the psychedelia and melancholy, and anti-war messaging of this album. Not all bangers but a lot if surprisingly enjoyable tracks.

As much as I am pretty much done with Prog and it's getting harder and harder to listen to bands i don't already know...this was fantastic

Really enjoyed this. A little try-hard in places, but otherwise dreamy and fun.

first listen great stuff

I was astonished by this one. I have never heard about this band, and something so special like this album is exactly one of the reasons I keep coming to this site every day for almost 600 days. It's not perfect, but it captures the best part of the Beatles-like formula with the ascending psychedelic of the 60s/70s and creates this incredible album. It's better than "Tommy."

I am surprised by how much I liked this - I had never even heard of this band before 🫣 was a good commute listen, I’d happily return to it.

Yea I like this sound. I can clearly see its influence in King Gizzard, and its a cool rock opera sound. Defecting Gray is H E A V Y but is a bonus track.

British psychedelia. Precursor to Tommy. Pink Floyd, Beatles too. Why weren’t they successful?

solid, gritty, and inventive

8/17, 47%

If I had to compare this to Tommy, I'd go with this album. Not a fan of rock operas overall, but this is much more listenable to me. Perhaps it's due to bias against the Who and their sound, but overall this album is better. 4 stars.

4.5/5 it’s good and old. Plays mono. But it’s just not hooking me

Pretty good, since I'm in such good holiday spirit on Xmas eve (observed) I'll round up to 4 here

Some of it is bad Beatles, some of it is awesome tho

Tremendo disco, joya perdida de los 60.

Yeah, what The Beatles would have sounded like if they were The Who. Alternatively, what The Who would have sounded like if they were The Beatles. The main songs which are obviously ripped by Tommy is The Journey, and I See You. However there's a fair bit which sounds like offcuts from the Sgt Pepper sessions, just with more drugs. No surprise given that's where the producer had just been, but man it shines through pretty loud on half the album. That's not to say it's not great, because it is. As a fan of Syd Barrett, Robyn Hitchcock and obviously the Beatles, I was going to enjoy this. Once again, I can't review this fairly because I'm too familiar with stuff it influenced and not familiar with itself. However Piper at the Gates preceded this and I hear Syd's influence a lot here also. Superb in places, would listen again.

4,5 det var lowkey ret godt. Lidt en krydsning af noget Stooges/80’er rock/Beach Boys Titelnummeret var godt

Really interesting album

Well damn. I got "Tommy" a couple of albums ago and was sort of disappointed in the quality but gave it an extra star for being "the first rock opera". Turns out this was out first and, in my opinion, it was better. Still not very good though, but I guess I can't rank it lower than "Tommy". 4.1 stars.

quite enjoyable

That is so much better than Tommy! Some wonderfully offbeat moments by a band that also did some great Stones-like stuff earlier in their career.

Great start, a little meandering in the middle, and ends strongly enough. A really nice surprise.

Another band I have never heard of. A quick look online shows them to be a 60s psychedelic rock band, compared to The Beatles if they were born in Kent and were less successful. Excited to have a listen! Favourite after listening: S.F. Sorrow Is Born, Loneliest Person Overall: 8/10 I’m finding that I enjoy 60s music a lot more than I initially thought. This album is a rock opera about the life of a man called S.F. Sorrow, but is much less bombastic than other rock operas that I am more familiar with (such as Bat Out Of Hell). It is quite a strange album at time, as would be expected from a band described as psychedelic, but is still very much enjoyable. When the album finished, I had it playing again from the top within 10 minutes. Would recommend for people who enjoy the stranger genres in music.

Really enjoyed this, very experimental sounding psych rock with in my mind clear beatles influence. Have to listen again now knowing it’s all one story.

Pretty good album. The through line is not as definite, but it’s basically the first concept album so I can’t ask too much of it. Also the hard left right pan is a just a bit distracting

Blindsided by this. Groundbreaking. Years before other bands did anything remotely similar. Don't care immensely about the concept and singing perhaps not as musical as I'd like. (4 at least and will likely increase)

Pretty cool 60's rock, very interesting to hear an early concept album and also realize no one believes The Who denying it was an influence hahaha. 3 musically, 4.5/5 culturally

Really cool album! Apparently one of the first ever rock operas, predating the Who's Tommy (and apparently the Who dispute that their album was influenced by this one). I'll give the title to these guys for being both first and better, the Who can suck a few eggs. Yeah, I'm still bitter about all the Who albums. Musically, this one was very cool. Lots of fantastic instrumentation and melodies, and the narrative opera piece is a nice bonus because, frankly, I have a hard time catching lyrics like that on a first listen so it'd have to come to me later. Still, plenty on here worth revisiting, I really dug it. Favorite tracks: SF Sorrow is Born, She Says Good Morning, Private Sorrow, I See You, Old Man Going. Album art: Really love this one. Never seen it before, but the art style is captivating. Would not have guessed in a million years that this was the '60s, I would've assumed (and kinda did assume) it was some punk band from the '80s. Love the little splashes of color amid the mostly black and white art. Just a really great, memorable cover. 4/5

Reading the description and listening to the opening track, I had extremely high hopes for this album. I love a rock opera and the first song has all the right features: coherent introductory narrative, interesting instrumentation, singable tune. The rest was enjoyable but not quite up to the level promised at the beginning. There were moments I was reminded of The Beatles, The Who (obviously), Yes, Pink Floyd, and even The Beach Boys. Definitely worth listening on headphones for some nice stereo. Glad to know of it as a piece of rock history.

I have never heard of this group or this, the first Rock Opera! A real surprise there… It’s hard to believe that The Who’s Tommy wasn’t influenced by this. But I don't think that takes anything away from Tommy any more than any other artist is influenced by the genre in which they work. As for the album itself, I liked it. The music great 60s stuff. I did listen to this a few times and followed along to the lyrics and started to enjoy this more. This seems like one of those really important records that this project has brought to my attention and I’m very glad for that. I'm a fan of rock operas and this is the daddy of ‘em all!

No clue but rather modern looking cover art for the 60’s… On the first song S.F sorrow is born in a rather folk meets psychedelic way. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was influenced by the Beatles as sgt peppers would’ve been out by this time. Yeah bracelets on fingers definitely joining in with the other big things of the 60’s it starts off with group singing backed by sitar then has these verses that sound just like psychedelic era Beatles. I like she says good morning solid rocker with a great fuzzy little guitar solo half way that gives the song a bit more personality. Private sorrow is the first song that I actually think sounds like what it should be it’s a little psychedelic army jig actually surprised by how unique this one is. Balloon burning has a cool guitar riff and it’s certainly one of the funniest ( well instrumentally) but it just feels like trend hopping of the psychedelic sound of the time. Death ends side one it’s this gloomy little thing, I think without the sitar’s it would Actually sound better ( don’t get me wrong I love the sound of the sitar) but for the 60’s there’s too much of it. The verses of baron Saturday are like what being for the benefit of mr kite would be like without all the cool instrumentation then the chorus takes a u turn and it’s now this piano based rocker with an Indian drum solo. Cool! This album is just dipped in Indian psychedelic music and it does feel that way on The journey but at least the acoustic guitar is a nice touch. I see you is a great stomping rocker kinda sounds like it could’ve been lead single and the stereo bouncing in the ears is awesome son this one! ( maybe remove the bit at the end though). Well of destiny is a short slow interlude, great stereo sounds on the ears but nothing much else ( kinda scary). Trust feels just a bit off beat which I love, it’s also great that this album has a truly acoustic pop song with no sitars. Kinda what I wanted to hear. The penultimate track old man going builds up so amazingly the song is kinda proof of how metal came out of psychedelia like the verses they’re just so metal. The album ends with loneliest person and it’s a shortie alright, very folky too and the saddest lyrics on the album. It’s a good album very good indeed but I already have better, more popular albums that fill the role of these songs so for that it’s a low 4/5.

I have no idea what this album will be like going in. Excited though, the album cover is very cool. S.F. Sorrow is a cool introduction song. The mix on it is fascinating to me, with respect to how the stereo effect works. Very peppy and fun. I love Bracelets Of Fingers, it's really cool from the get-go. The vocals are really selling this song for me, especially towards the end. She Says Good Morning is pretty standard, nothing too crazy in my opinion. I like it. The vocals are again really fun! Feels a bit proto-punk but I might be losing my mind. I LOVE the winds on Private Sorrow. The whole opening is stellar. Favorite song so far. Balloon Burning's less a favorite, I think the vocals are a bit less great on this one. I do enjoy the guitar work a lot though, especially around the middle and towards the end. I love Death - what a funky song. The opening and then the muted vocals really work wonders to set up a cool atmosphere. Whatever percussion element keeps beating intermittently wraps up everything in a nice bow. The drum fill on Baron Saturday is really neat. A very cool and interesting song instrumentally. Absolutely in love with it. The Journey's got a nice juicy bass part. I appreciate that. The vocals on I See You have such a really cool effect on them. I LOVE it. The other parts of the song aren't as cool as the vocals, but overall the song is fun. Well Of Destiny is weird in just the way I appreciate. Trust is pretty standard for this album as far as I can tell. It's good! But nothing that makes it stand out for me that much. Old Man Going's opening is very fun, and the vocals are really fun. I love how different the vocals sound on each song, and this is certainly a very obvious difference from some of the other songs. A much more acoustic song, Loneliest Person is a bit boring in my opinion, but it's also super short which works in it's favor. I like the instruments on Defecting Grey a LOT, especially with the backwards part. Very cool song, and absolutely SICK guitars once it really hits its groove. It's going to be hard to pick a favorite from this album! This reminds me a lot of the cover of Hotel California by The Moog Cookbook in how it keeps shifting. Mr. Evasion's intro is super fun. I don't have many thoughts about the rest of the song, but it's fun. Talkin' About The Good Times is cool. Not much to say about it. The closing song, Walking Through My Dreams, is really funky. I like the instrumentation on it a lot. It's a good wrap-up for this pseudo-rock-opera.

Never heard of them before, pleasantly surprised

It was pretty cool. Very atmospheric and some songs really hit like “Baron Saturday” but like overall eh. Might have to check it out again later

J'avais envie pour cette critique de faire hurler mon rival de toujours et pire ennemi eltrapeze (celui-ci a accordé la note de deux sur cinq à cet album). Contrairement à ce qu'il dit dans sa critique, j'ai trouvé ce disque extrêmement plaisant, et, avec ce quatre sur cinq, le mets au même niveau que d'autres albums parmi lesquels on trouve Abbey Road. D'autre part, je voulais vous partager la mésaventure qu'il m'est arrivée hier soir. Comme vous le savez, je viole l'un des commandements de Robert lors de soirées karaoké hebdomadaires, mais à l'exception de ce moment précis, je continue de respecter son décalogue à la lettre. Ce qui m'amène à vous parler de la situation délicate d'hier soir. Alors que je jouais de la guitare en compagnie d'un père de famille très sympathique autour d'un barbecue, celui-ci joua soudain quelques accords puis me demanda : « Tu connais ça ? » La mélodie ne me disait rien. « Non c'est quoi ? » répondis-je. « C'est les Pink Floyds » dit-il alors fièrement. « ... de quel album ? » lui lançai-je alors l'air inquiet avant qu'il ne réponde ce que je redoutais le plus : « C'est dans Wish You Were Here. » Problème : cet album n'a pas encore été généré et je n'ai donc pas le droit de l'écouter. « Arrête de jouer... » dis-je d'abord gentiment. « Pourquoi ? » me demanda-t-il d'un air amusé. « Arrête de jouer ou je t'en colle une » finis-je par m'impatienter. Vous vous en doutez, la soirée se termina en bagarre générale dont je sortis vainqueur.

My co-judge said that it reminded her of the Beatles and I agree. It's interesting that the Producer of Rubber Soul and the first 3 Pink Floyd albums produced this, because the harmonies at times remind me of mid-sixties Beatles and the electronic soundscape tangents remind me of early PF. I didn't realize that this LP was (the first) Rock Opera until I had listened to most of it and even though Pete Townsend denies it's influence on Tommy, there are definite similarities, especially the way the LP closes out. I'm not usually a fan of psychedelic rock, and the first few songs which I listened to while multi-tasking confirmed this, but the sequence of 3 songs that started with Private Sorrow really caught my attention. They were definitely pushing the boundaries in 1968.

There is a definite influence here of a number of things: Cream, Pink Floyd's first album, Sgt. Pepper. The band really wears all of them very heavily on their sleeve, but somehow makes them all their own. I liked the songs each individually, but was not convinced of the actual story until I read Wikipedia. I think the Who did a better job with rock operas and had a more cohesive story. Maybe because they did it on a double album as opposed to a single album? I don't know. The music itself has a lot of good stuff going for it, I think I had heard of these guys before (with a band member called Twink you would think I would have).v SO I really did enjoy it for what it was. There are only a few live performances of this, with narration to pull the whole story together. I may go hunt that down on youtube orr something to hear all of that and maybe I will be more convinced of the story. As it is, I'd give a 3.6 which rounds up to a 4.

This is a pretty weird one and it seems all over the place - but in this case, that's a good thing. Usually I like my music a bit more coherent, but The Pretty Things seem to really have hit some sweet spots with this one. Just the right amount of psychedelic, just the right amount of folk, vocals just not weird enough to still be cool.

I wasn't following the story too much, the only thing I got out of it was that "Girl died in a balloon, guy gets depressed", but I still enjoyed it a lot. It's very obviously inspired by the Beatles, but it's from 1968 so that's basically a given. Don't know if this is Spotify's fault, but some of the songs were a bit wonky quality with some fuzziness in the background. Favorite songs: S.F. Sorrow is Born, Balloon Burning, Baron Saturday, Loneliest Person

I had never heard this before. I did enjoy it. It sounds very Beatles-esque.

Awesome for the sound engineering. Will keep this handy for when I test drive a new car. If it sounds wrong, that car will be wrong

No conocía nada de The Pretty Things pero lo que escuché me gustó. Este disco está catalogado como rock psicodélico y rock experimental. La psicodelia está buena y lo experimental no le quita lo entretenido. No le puse atención a toda la historia que lo hace álbum concepto. Las mejores son Bracelets of Fingers y Loneliest Person.

Muy interesante disco y aunque The Who lo niegue, muy interesante influencia a sus Rock Operas. También innegable que esta se queda corta en comparación a Tommy en cuanto a la calidad de la música. Me gustaron las voces y los temas extraños y hasta oscuros de las canciones; quizá lo que le falta es un tanto de variedad que haga mantener la atención a lo largo de todo el disco.

Amazingly, this is the first time I've listened to this album. It sounds like so many other late 60s albums - but I suspect this was the album that invented that sound.

Sounds like The Beatles and Beach Boys Like the psyadelic stuff V.good

Very Beatles-y, but not in a bad mimicking way. They tip strength in the psychedelic rock better than the fab 4, albeit not as catchy

pretty decent.

Nice rock opera. Reminds me of the late Beatles and even Pink Floyd sometimes. Will definitely listen to it again!

To me, this is the definition of an album "you must hear before you die". This album was just fun... And, although I'm going to pre-empt the significant number of people who will mention the similarities and idea taken from The Beatles, once you delve into the history of the members the album takes on a life of its own. One of the more interesting links being the members' connections to The Rolling Stones for example. I just had heaps of fun listening to this album and managed a good 3 listens over the past 24 hours with each listen becoming more and more enjoyable. Added to my ever-growing high rotation playlist!

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: She says good morning, Balloon burning, Baron Saturday,

How have I never heard of them? Wonderful.

Very cool, similar to The Wall. Need another listen

lots of beatles vibes but still stands on its own. classic late 60s psych vibes

Have to keep forgetting that it sounds so much like a slightly more murderous Beatles.

Very enjoyable psych rock album! Had not heard of this before so it was a great discovery.

Surprised I haven't heard of the band before, great album. Better than a lot of more popular rock/pysch rock from the 60s that's more famous imo

Enjoyed it. Not normally a fan of the ‘concept’ album per se but this works for me, I guess because the songs stand out in their own right. A Beatlesy vibe to it too which is fine by me

Mooie rock! Misschien zelfs 5 sterren waard.

8/10. I can see why people think this inspired Tommy. Certainly the albums start similarly enough, but this one manages to be even more depressing, which is an achievement in itself. I'm never as much a fan of Rock Operas that can't tell their stories too well with lyrics alone, but that doesn't entirely apply here because I am pretty sure the story is more just a series of unfortunate events with no strong connective tissue.

Has the grandiose story of all rock operas along with all the quirks in production and music that tends to follow with it. There were certainly compelling musical moments on this album but overall the production was too inconsistent and the vocals were too dubious to keep me from wanting to return to this. 7

really dig this group, some nice classic rock sounds with some beatles-like psychedelic nature

Yeah, ok, the first rock opera! Pretty psychedelic sounding, some obvious proggy elements - I enjoyed it, especially on a second listen. Would like to hear a version with Arthur Brown reciting the chunks of text between tracks - that'd be great! Fave track - "Death", I think? "Private Sorrow" was great too...

Un mix entre les Beatles et les Who. Parfois inégal sur le long de l'album.

4

Beatles vibes

Very enjoyable. A bit different but I like it

5/5

Some small twinges of late stage Beatles in here

Ambitious, you can definitely tell how influential this album was

"I wanna listen to Tommy" "We have Tommy at home"

With the exception of Tommy I generally run a mile when the words Rock and Opera are mentioned. So it's a massive compliment when I say that I enjoyed a fair bit of this. Innovative (hard to argue Townshend wasn't influenced, and I can hear early Quo and Sabbath) as well as great listening. But there's also quite a bit of noodly stuff that's much harder to digest. It's on the listen later queue and I might revise my view. But until that happens it's a slightly stingy 3*.

Brit rock, with some mid-east influences

I think I appreciate this album more than I actually enjoyed. It just didn't fully grab me. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. It is creative and sometimes engaging, but most of it seemed dated. Overall, it was an okay listen.

It was OK. I liked Old Man Going and Loneliest Person the best. Would probably enjoy more with multiple listens and paying a bit more attention.

This album was a cross between rock and psychedelia and had some Beatles sensibilities. Also, a lot of panning was going on, which I'm guessing was interesting for its time. I thought it was quite a journey to listen to, sometimes a weird one (as is the case with psychedelia). My favorite song was "Loneliest Person", a mourning acoustic ballad that ended the album well.

A solid listen but kinda sounded like a blend of every 60s album of the same genre. Not a bad thing just doesn’t stand out.

Released in late 1968, "S.F. Sorrow" by The Pretty Things is a pioneering work that follows the life of its titular character, Sebastian F. Sorrow, from birth through adulthood to a lonely old age. It is a bleak narrative, systematically covering his early life and labour, the horrors of war, personal tragedy, and his eventual descent into madness and isolation. It's widely considered to be the first "Rock Opera". Despite its late-sixties origins, the album contains the unmistakable DNA of mid-nineties Britpop. Tracks like 'I See You' and 'She Says Good Morning' prefigure the sound of Blur, the latter track being anchored by a brilliant, propulsive bassline that feels incredibly forward-thinking. However, unlike some of its contemporaries from this period, the album does sound somewhat dated in its production values. Once you look past the sonic limitations, it reveals itself as a highly enjoyable and adventurous piece of work, even if it does not quite execute its lofty aspirations to their fullest extent. The dated studio experimentation is one of the main factors holding it back; the sonic collage of "Well of Destiny", for example, halts the momentum. Furthermore, whilst the song-writing is undeniably ambitious in its undertaking, it is not consistently memorable. There are no truly essential tunes here - or, at least, none that stuck me in that manner. The physical presentation, however, remains stunning. The high-contrast artwork is very much of the period and was designed by frontman and lyricist Phil May, who remarkably also penned the original short story that forms the concept of the album. Three stars. Side one 1 "S. F. Sorrow Is Born" (3/5) 2 "Bracelets of Fingers" (3/5) 3 "She Says Good Morning" (4/5) 4 "Private Sorrow" (3/5) 5 "Balloon Burning" (3/5) 6 "Death" (3/5) Side two 7 "Baron Saturday" (4/5) 8 "The Journey" (3/5) 9 "I See You" (4/5) 10 "Well of Destiny" (2/5) 11 "Trust" (3/5) 12 "Old Man Going" (3/5) 13 "Loneliest Person" (3/5) Total - 41 Average - 3.15 353/1001 189/353 albums reviewed were new to me.

Cool overall. Very of its time

I liked this enough. Sounds like all of the groups from England of the time at the same time

I have run across the song Private Sorrow before but never knew where it came from or the context. This album deserves to be better known than it is.

Ok but very dated.

60's sound, somewhere between the beatles, the quo, and pink floyd

I couldn't follow the narrative beyond about the first five tracks. Then it began to feel like a parody of itself. Still listenable though.

I guess?

I gather people draw comparisons between this and The Who's Tommy, which came later and is also a "rock opera". I can see the resemblance, in particular the way "Old Man Going" starts reminds me of the title track in Tommy. Musically this album has parts that remind me more of The Beatles. The last track (Walking Through My Dreams) semi hooked me.

I sort of wonder that, if this was just an instrumental album, I would have bumped it up to a 4. So many songs started with thinking "this sounds sort of cool" only to have the Sgt Pepper's Wannabe Hwart Club Band"-style vocals kick in a second later and break the spell.

Kind of odd but not bad.

Not really what I expected but I enjoyed it

Genetic 60s rock

I am obsessed with the idea of a rock opera so listening to the first one tickled me. As for the sound, sgt. pepper called, he wants his sound back

This is a respectable piece of work but honestly nothing about it especially stands out for me. It’s very late 60s so it sounds like a combination of a lot of their contemporaries without much to distinguish them in my opinion. It’s certainly a vibe but not one I’m especially in the mood for. Maybe this would hit different on another day.

Not deeply offensive but the nothing really stuck out to me. The closer was cute and intimate but ultimately feels like a limp ending to Rock's First OperaTM.

As far as Beatles knock-offs go, these lot were pretty good. High 3

Kinda like the Beatles but not really.

ja. wieder rock. wieder gut. nichts was mi volle catched. vllt bin i grad nit in da richtigen mood um gscheid a album zu bewerten. aber finds einf… mid? 3/5

What if the Beatles had no charisma?

Typical psychedelic 60’s hippy tunes. Tones like fuzzy guitar, flute, dead drum sound typical of the decade. Nice vocal harmonies, above average song writing.

Trippy hippy stuff. Good music but pales in comparison to similar albums at similar times.

aka The Rolling Beach Beatles, with the Genesis of a good album, but wrapped in pretension.

St Pepper's Lonely Prototype Band

Los Beatles inspiraron muchos grupos y álbumes fantásticos, este no es uno de ellos. Lo disfruté, es bueno, pero en un punto sentí que llevaba una hora en la misma canción y no de buena forma

A little out there but entertaining and didn’t run too long for being the first rock opera album. Standout is “Defecting Grey”

At times, a really great example of a narrative album, lost itself for me in the final third. A lot of Floyd, Beatles and Who in there for me; influencing or influenced by I'm not sure. Worth a listen though.

Esse é, definitivamente, um daqueles álbuns que está na lista que é apenas pra você saber que ele existe e possivelmente inspirou muitos outros que estão por vir. Dito isso, achei interessante.

It was not memorable. I feel like I keep thinking this since the middle of the week, AITA ?

Unremarkable

Mi piace molto l’idea ma non hitta troppo, devo ascoltare Tommy per confrontare

Being such an early example of the genre, it's not surprising that it's rough around the edges. It's got charm and it has moments where it clicks. They should've moved the sound engineer far away from the "pan" feature on the mixing desk, though.

I hadn't heard of The Pretty Things before (I don't think!) Enjoying the first track. A very 1968 sounds. Hearing a lot of The Beatles influence in Track Two (Fly to the Moon). I kinda wish I had've discovered this album like 15 years earlier when I was a little more into this style of music. Grateful to have come across it though. Cool to know it was the first rock opera though - I dig that kinda creative story-tewling

This was sent to me by my bio-dad a few years ago. I remember hearing it the first time and I didn't have a strong opinion, but I liked that it's one of the first concept albums ever. I thought a re-listen would stir more emotion out of me, but to be honest, this is just.. fine.

The first rock opera? What have you wrought?

Day858 - if i had a nickel for every late sixties british album here’s the thing, i didn’t hate it but just give me the beatles next time

Decent psychedelic music, but a little boring.

Well I gotta say if it were not for the Beatles and particularly George Harrison, this album would not exist. Other than a couple blue songs, psychedelic music weaves its way through the entire album. It’s a fun album to listen to although it gets a bit repetitive near the hour mark. Oddly my favorite song was Death, unlike the other songs, it was slow and dark almost like a hymn.

Lo escuché en Stereo y me cago en mi madre qué horror En mono es MUCHÍSIMO más disfrutable Me ha gustado mucho, igual son 3'5 por alguna canción que me sobra

There was a time in my life when I am sure I would have thought this album is better than I do now. I'm now older and find psychedelic stuff that sounds like Syd Barrett exhausting and corny. And sitars too. Knowing this came out in 68 is like ... we get it man, the stones and the Beatles have already used the sitar on hit records. It's done. I gotta add that I didn't find there was much in the way of hooks here either.

Pretty good. Reminded me a bit of CSNY mixed with Genesis.

Not bad

2026.05.05.-06.

Enjoyed this lovely example of 60s music but not sure it's worthy of being in the 1001 albums list.

Didn't wow me but it was pleasant enough.

Wow album cover! Not a clue. Okay wow, Wikipedia says this is known as one of the first rock operas to exist, so I’m essentially presold. And reading that this wasn’t properly marketed as a rock opera has me livid.

If you are into late 60's incense and peppermint british psychedelic rock then this is probably a cool album to know. It didn't especially grab me. It has it's moments.

Listened Before? N Well done psychedelic concept album. Nothing special other than being first, though. It was okay. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Bracelets of Fingers

It’s surprising how strong this sounds, especially for something so unknown. It makes you wonder why it never gained more recognition. Maybe the lack of standout singles held it back. Still it’s impressive to hear the start of what is clearly Rock Opera. At the same time, it’s hard to pinpoint when I’d choose this over bands like the Beatles, The Kinks, or The Who, since it sits quite close to their sound. Really interesting in an historical context but maybe not something I’m going to come back to in the near future.

6/10

This was a good listen, got kinda tired of it at points though

Cool project. I do feel like ive heard alot of this before in every other bands of this time. Sprinkle of beatles, some who, dash of the stones. They do some cool things with mixing and mastering. Using both channels but sometimes there are some painful flaws. Only a time or 2 but its still there. Hard to forget. Honestly that's the part that stuck out the most. Os the mixing. Its not bad and not amazing. Thought for sure this would be a 4 but it dont think it reaches thay high sadly. Still worth a listen. And id bet there are a million people who would see it differently than me. Give it a spin and find out.

Deserves a re-listen (note to self !)

Strange one this. Great in places. Awful in other's. The lyrics are pretty poor however the ambition to try something different is be applauded. Probably needs a few more listens

poor mans kinks to start with. Ray davies without the talent. It should have been good but it became a bit banal late 60's pop trying to stay relevant.

This album feels like the twenty or so minutes just before sunset at an outdoor music festival. A bit playful, a hint of the bedlam that's to come; the dual energy that's slow and melodic while also intense.

Like it 3/5

60’s Rock ⭐️Walking Through My Dreams

It was fine.

Bonus points for being pioneers, but I’m glad to have missed the rock opera era.

1. Defecting Grey 2. Mr. Evasion 3. She Says Good Morning The first half of the album was kinda slow but I really like the tempo on some of the later songs with the guitar interludes.

Sounds like classic rock. Nothing specific stood out, but the subs did vaguely remind me of some other things

If I had to rank every album on this list, I feel like this one would end up right around the exact middle. Some fantastic moments but something is keeping me from loving it. 3.5/5

This one got off to a great start. For the first half of it I was loving it and thinking it’s gonna be a 4 or potentially even a 5 star. Second half it fell off a cliff though. It wasn’t like there was anything terrible or anything. It just didn’t hold my attention and I had basically tuned out by the end. Bit of a shame after such a good opening. Top Track - She Says Good Morning

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

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!

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 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.

Better on headphones

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 ✧

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.

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.

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 got The Who vibes from these guys solid 3.5/5

niiice

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.

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.

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

Weer een nieuwe naam voor mij - leuke jaren 60 muziek

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?

Floydian.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Geht so

These guys really like panning

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.

Never heard of this group, interesting

Meh

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

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