S.F. Sorrow

Rock psicodélico sesentero. Ni fu ni fa.

Good. Wanted to like it more than I did.

Physchadelic - alright

Never heard of this band before. Surprised since they aren't terrible, but definitely aren't amazing. I agree with a lot of the other comments about the comparisons to the Beatles. I'd say this is an interesting historical curiosity that deserves a listen since it is considered the first rock opera, but beyond that better musicians did the concept better.

Mix of Sgt. Peppers and Revolver but also Wes Anderson-approved

like an off-brand beatles..

3.5

Thought I was listening to The Beatles or The Who in some parts. Quite enjoyed the rock opera story of it. Listening to the album on my earphones I wish the mono and stereo mix wasn't so jarring, that might have been an artistic choice but didn't work for me.

I think this album deserves kudos as the first example of a rock opera. I think it's a shame that there isn't at least one track that is an all out banger to ensure it had a wider audience.

meh

Psych with a but of proto heavy metal thrown in.

Would have loved to listen to this on vinyl while a stoned teenager

i didnt really get the concept part of it but individual songs were good

Ok. Better than expected 60s pop rock. Like the rock opera angle. 3.49

3.5

Not bad sixties psychedelia - didn't mind it

Restarted it at around 9 pm. Gonna listen to it after a couple sips. Heard it for a bit. Wasn't all that.

I probably should have noted that the last four tracks I listened to were bonus tracks, and that it wasn't just my attention wandering that made me lose track of the story here. However, after listening to it twice, there were still lots of surprises when I read the storyline on Wikipedia. ("Oh, I thought HE died in the war and I was trying to figure out why we still had half the album to go!") Mind you, this was a far less ludicrous story for a rock opera than The Who's Tommy, but I think Tommy had much more engaging music. Sorry, The Pretty Things. Not that it wasn't interesting. I had a real dialogue with myself about it, too. "I like what they're doing here, and how the songs each have a different feel." But then time crawled slowly and my mind wandered and two more songs slipped by without making a mark in my consciousness. "Oh, but I really want to like this! They got such a crummy deal in 1968 and I want to make up for it! This oozes a real creative effort!" I fully support this album being on this list. It is good, but it's more about its rightful part in music history than because it's great.

When the album started, I thought it had some real promise. It wasn't bad, and it definitely had a 60s sound that was kind cool at times...but it didn't really keep my attention.

Not bad

Seems pretty adventurous for when it came out

Glad I listened but I couldn’t seem to get into this one as much as other rock operas such as Tommy, Arthur or Berlin. Not one I’d come back to.

This sounds as if The Beatles and the Stones decided to make a new band and do drugs together. Very 60s, very British, but yet, strikingly unique. A little too much for my liking, the rapid changes and the “noises” are a bit hard to listen to. But they are clearly ahead of their time.

Decent late 60s rock but besides the fact that this was probably one of the first concept albums, it's nothing remarkable

L'ego des types qui font un album d'une heure dans les années 60

bien pendant 10 minutes

Meh.

Never heard of them before but the parallels between them and the Beatles are pretty clear. So far the Beatles are the better band, but I am enjoying this album so far. Overall decent music.

I feel like I went from bluegrass to psychedelic space rock to alternative.

At times this album crackles with surprisingly modern alternative-rock energy. Other times, it trips over itself entertaining the pretentious, drug-fueld excesses of so many '60s epics. Much of it is just typical British Invasion, though the Pretty Things' deep blues influence often conjures surprising notes of Black Sabbath. A true rock opera, bearing all the cliches that entails, it is a little too long to hold my rapt attention, but it is infrequently brilliant.

Ok

Ok, early examply of rock opera, some nice psychedelic sounds, but overall a bit meh. Faves: Baron Saturday, Walking Through My Dreams

Great album, never heard it before but I’ll revisit it.

Groovy.

Hippie. Didn't know the band before.

Yllättävän hyvä uusi tuttavuus

3-, various sounds and vibes, I don't feel tired even though album was pretty long, I enjoyed it and I will probably listen to it again

Ok

I had an awareness of this band for two reasons. First, I heard the claim that the album gave Pete the rock opera idea that resulted in Tommy. That claim was rubbish. Pete had composed A Quick One, While He's Away, a mini rock opera that was released two years earlier and moreover  on Rael (the last song on The Who Sell Out released in 1967) one of the musical themes from Tommy appears around the 3 1/2 minute mark. Both these facts show that Pete was all over the idea of rock operas and specifically Tommy long before SF Sorrow came along. The second reason I was aware of The Pretty Boys was that Bowie covered a couple of their songs on his Pin Ups LP, which was an album that comprised covers of the songs that influenced him in the early days - I'm one of the few who had that one. SF Sorrow is OK. It's quite a change from their previous albums and I prefer their earlier stuff which, btw,  is the stuff Bowie covered. I doubt there will be another album by these brothers on the 1001 so I won't rate it below 3 given the influence the band's earlier music had on HIM. 

The obvious comparisons here are Tommy and Sgt Peppers. I see that this album predates Tommy but was released just a year after Sgt Peppers, but nevertheless it’s a pretty impressive and an ambitious proto-rock opera. I’ve never heard this album before so it was a nice surprise. It doesn’t have the complexity of the Beatles but I think it could be a grower.

I love a good concept album, especially a rock opera. Too bad I found this one boring and disjointed. I enjoyed the opening track so I thought the album had promise. But the transition between tracks didn't seem to provide a good rhythm. I sort of expected a building rise and fall or maybe a couple of sequences but it felt like the mood was constantly changing. Why not get rid of track 2 and go straight from track 1 to 3 (both upbeat)? Why have a somewhat upbeat track 4 (Private Sorrow) that cuts bleak at the end and then go back to a frantic track 5 (Balloon Burning), only to plummet again for track 6 (Death)? I know they're trying to follow a story but tracks 4-6 are all bleak so why not harmonize across them better? I actually liked Balloon Burning, it just felt misplaced. Track 7 (Baron Saturday) wasn't bad but again it took an abrupt turn from the mood of track 6. I wouldn't care so much if this wasn't a concept album but it is. No flow. I sort of stopped paying attention after track 8 but track 12 (Old Man Going) was pretty good. Still, it was a bit weirdly sandwiched between the tempos of track 11 (Trust) and 13 (Loneliest Person). I more enjoyed learning about the album and the story they tried to portray than the listening itself. Poor execution saved by ambitious intentions.

Interesting late 60s sound. You can hear the same context/period as eg. The Beatles's Sgt Pepper's...

Hats off to the first notable rock opera, which Tommy and The Wall both nod to whether they admit it or not. Bit of a downer but that's opera, doc.

Good harmonies

I wasn’t in the mood for this album so don’t feel it got the best side of me. Can certainly hear it’s influence in other music.

Coole 60s sound en met de juiste twist. Jammer alleen dat ik een principiële hekel heb aan albums langer duren dan 45 minuten.

Best leuk, vooral Beatles en beetje Stones. Maar niet zo sterk als beide bands

Ik had hier nog nooit van gehoord, maar dit vond ik erg leuk! Heel erg die 60's Beatles vibe, met nog een wat scherper randje. Ga ik nog eens vaker luisteren.

Led Zep light

Some of it I liked and some of it I found grating.

Beetje een beatles geluid, maar wat experimenteler

Not bad

folksy psychedelic rock jam sessions

Bendito álbum, lo subestime demasiado antes de escucharlo

3.5 | Ni idea de su existencia hasta ahora. De entrada por lo que veo su lugar en la lista no estaría en disputa; es la base para que cosas como Tommy, The Wall o Bat Out of Hell. Por otro lado a título personal me debato bastante entre sentir si el disco es brillante o demasiado repetitivo. Tiene un sonido atmosférico, con rock pop en capas y tintes psicodélicos que permea todo el disco, instrumentación buena y una estructura interesante; pero esos sonidos interesantes tiene a repetirlos demasiado al grado que pasan más allá de poder defenderlos como el "sonido" del disco o incluso un leitmotiv. Agradable de escuchar, a ratos engancha y a otros ratos medio marea. Quizá lo más interesante fue escuchar ciertas formas y estilos que realmente parecián pedacitos de canciones de Tommy. Me agrada haber conocido el disco, interesante pedazo de historia y vale la pena la escucha.

Interesante. Cultura general

Cross between Beatles and animal collective. Would listen again, but I'm not sure on what occasion!

An interesting LP that starts out as Beatles-lite only to morph into more experimental and involved psych work on the back half.

7/10

Reading the entry for this, the book gives this album a lot of credit for being the first (or at least an early example of a) concept album. It may have been a huge inspiration on Tommy, but as far as standing on its own as an album... it's okay. It's fine.

Interesting piece of musical history - don't know if it's much more than that.

11/14 Gray-toned psychedelic rock. Standout Tracks: S.F. Sorrow Is Born, Bracelets Of Fingers, Balloon Burning, Death, Loneliest Person

Thank you, 1001 albums, for making me listening to another record that I had meant to get around to for ages, but never listened too. And it's 1967/8 at Abbey Rd Studios. Norman Smith (producer/engineer) really had a sound going at the time, and this is strongly reminiscent of contemporaneous albums by the Beatles and Pink Floyd, also with strong involvement from Smith at Abbey Rd. Experimental for the time, but still tuneful and often surprisingly heavy (old Man Going). A lost treasure. Favourite track: Baron Saturday.

Odd. Very odd. Story / lyrics interesting (which does not mean good), music varies with the story. Concept albums have come a long way!

This album was average, nothing really stood out to me and I didn't like some of the songs at all.

okish 60s wurble.

they honestly sounded a lot like the Beatles to me. i was excited for a ROCK opera but it really wasn’t and it didn’t tell a story. it was fine, just nothing incredible.

3.8 - Definitely defied my expectations - I was feeling a little burnt out on music from 1968. At 17 tracks, this album is long but doesn't drag. Most songs feel composed but there's enough slack to give a sense of spontaneity. This one's stronger as a unified piece than as a vehicle to deliver hits, which probably explains why it came to be wholly unfamiliar. Worth a second listen down the road.

Rimelig god psychedelic. Rock-opera. Vildt lyddesign!

godkendt psychrockalbum

Psykedelisk 60’er rock, stemningsfyldt, svingende

As a whole, I found the album to be a pleasant listen but looking back, I can’t really recall any individual song.

this album sounds like a deepfake trained on all the rock music from 1968. it sounds the part but is just meandering and halfhearted. get paid I guess

Not a bad album. Felt like it had a lot of different elements from the 60s in this between the psychedelic/guitar riffs/trippy lyrics. Feel like this was a pretty underrated album. 7.4/10

decent rock album, the fact it tells a story is noticeable even when you don't pay attention and overal its an alright gimmick

Not my cup of tea.

Noice as

Thought I was listening to lost Beatles songs! Great musical journey.

Importanti

Rock setentista sem empolgar.

Solid, trippy psychedelic sounds from the 60s. I will listen again. I liked it 3.5 stars

Pretty cool concept album. I definitely hear The Beatles and The Who in here. Apparently one of the first concept rock operas. "Tommy" emerged from this? "Baron Saturday" "Mr Evasion" "Private Sorrow" "S.F. Sorrow is Born" are standouts.

Is it reductive to compare every British rock group to the Beatles? Probably. But that is the chief sound I'm getting from the first two songs. Some take a significantly stronger slant towards psychedelic rock, not complaining. Good record to set a specific "vibe" - think it works well to listen in the background versus needing rapt attention from the audience.

60's Psychedelia. These guys wish they were the Beatles, but they really aren't. Not actually awful, but I'm surprised this has made a top 1000 list.

Meh not bad but not good

Los coros de Trust me hicieron acordar a algunas cosas de los Beatles. Estuvo bien 3/5

One song in, had to look to Wikipedia to learn more about this. It feels like it should be on a special list of, say, 100 weird albums that were hugely influential or otherwise served as turning points in music". Honestly, much of what I'm hearing feels like it was done elsewhere and I don't know whether the other stuff references this or the other way around. There's a quality of pastiche that is interesting. It feels like it's probably not a widely know album for good reasons, but it's still an interesting one to learn about. But, yeah, the more I listen.. it's good. Not one I'd necessarily turn to, but not one I'd turn off either.

I'm not big on psychedelic music. It was ok.

Defecting Grey is fucking hilarious. I See You is great. Trust is my favorite. Second half much better than the first. Outro of Talkin About the Good Times is nasty perfect. Excessive use of stereo hurts it, but those were the times.

This was a new band and new music for me. "S.F. Sorrow Is Born" was my favorite track, which I'd listen to again. I heard hints of the Beatles, the Kinks and Pink Floyd in a few of songs. "Old Man Going" reminded me of some of the psychodelic music I'm familiar with from the 60s. The album was okay.

Rock opera. Great lyrics. Interesting to read how this album influenced future, more popular rock operas.

deffo not my type of music. I'm three songs down and I know. However I can tell its good music. like although its not my type of music I can acknowledge its good music. so props to it!!!

Not bad but is there anything remarkable?

Album estilo rock clásico/psicodélico de los '60. Interesante y agradable de escuchar, pero no es algo que haya enganchado en exceso.

Good vibe but also kinda feels like a knock off beetles

.

It was alright but I wouldn’t seek them out. ***

60s.fine.

Ihan ok brittirokkia. Wikipedian mukaan tämä oli pioneeri rock-oopperoiden alalla. Ei tullut kuitenkaan tarinaa kuunneltua sillä korvalla. Peruskolmonen riittänee tälle.

There are a few tracks I liked esp at the beginning, but this somehow felt like it just dragged on even though it wasn’t that long , and as is standard for rock operas, the mixing is just awful. 6/10

Reminded me of The Beatles at times, pretty easy to listen to, though nothing that exciting or special. Some of the audio mixing at the beginning was distractingly bad, but it got better over time.

Beatles-esque concept album. not my fav.

Sounds good but that's not my cup of tea.

De stereo mix is heel afleidend. Verder wel mooi rustige rock.

A good back up in case the Beatles don’t show

I too have listened to the Beatles

Rock

Meh

It was ok.

Very psychedelic and 60s-esque. Clearly heavily influenced by Pet Sounds and the Beatles - but not quite as good! Reminds me of Tommy a little bit in that there is clearly a story, but the music all sort of blends together for me.

decent psychadelic rock

Nice pleasant rock. 3.5

First rock opera and it's fine. A little long, has it's moments but also quite a bit of filler making it just fine.

Some of it was very good, just dragged on a bit

Most of it just sounds like a Beatles facsimile, but a couple of these rock pretty hard.

This is very Beatles-esque, but they do it very well. I assume in the late 60s there were probably a bunch of bands with a similar sound. This is supposedly the first rock opera album, and that aspect of the album works really well, there's a nice progression throughout. I don't understand how I haven't heard this before, there are some great tunes here, and lots of unique and new sounds. I really enjoyed this.

Interesting rock opera that apparently beat Tommy to the punch. Deserves a more extended listen on my part.

VERY 60's. Kinda Beatles like

Pretty cool

At the time I’m sure this must’ve been compared to The Beatles but it holds up

- initially reminded me of The Beatles - later gave me Rolling Stones type vibes - overall very classic rock sounding - I didn't hate listening to this album, but I do not see myself reaching for it anytime soon - it just didn't speak to me

3.5/5. I liked this album, nothing really stuck out to me though.

Nothing much to write home about. A lot of B songs with a 60's vibe. Did not hook me.

Unexciting psychedelia. It might have improved if I'd paid attention to the story.

A bit more inventive and engaging than most of the 60s crapfest of “interesting” bands, but too long by 20 minutes and too eye-rolling otherwise

Jangly, of its era. Not a re-listen for me

Ir okay, bet ļoti skaidrs, ka 60os visi bija high gan taisot, gan klausoties mūziku, un varbūt tieši tādēļ man grūti asociēties ar šiem albumiem vai iedot augstāku vērtējumu par 2, kamēr sēžu no rīta ofisā pie excel🦧

ļoti meh, daudzi šim līdzīgi abumi jau šeit ir

S.F Sorrow is born

Interesting. Over the course of the project I’ve discovered a loathing for Psychedelic Rock. Some fun elements. Sounds like the speakers were completely blown, and to make up for that the mix is to the extreme left and right of the soundscape. Bordering on unlistenable at times. I gave Tommy 2, I’ll grant the Pretty Things same marks. 2/5.

I listened to the start of this album, and sorta liked it... but then it just goes on and on -- there's a reason all the best albums of this genre go on for half the length, because I couldn't pinpoint anything memorable beyond the first few songs. A poor mans Kinks.

Not great

Yeah this was not enjoyable

Never heard of this before. I don’t like these sounds/style.

Another shitty Beatles rip off, what's new

I think I might enjoy this more if was mixed differently, the stereo aspect is so distracting. The music would prob be a 3 if it wasn’t like that.

Usually am a big fan of the music of this era but I found this album to be quite uninteresting I guess, probs why I had never heard of it until now.

Beatles derived

macht mir etwas sorrow.

Rock Oper ok, aber halt verstaubt

2,7

A Beatles cover band?

Antes de escuchar el disco no me importaban quienes eran estos tipos, y después de escucharlos puedo decir que ahora tampoco.

Would have enjoyed it more if I didn't know the Beatles existed

A total reinvention for the band, produced by Norman Smith (who'd engineered the Beatles and overseen Piper at the Gates of dawn) and seen as the first rock opera on record. The music contains a lot of harmony harmony vocals over minimalist riffs and is lyrically very much of the time - sub Beatles in places - but even after reading a wikipedia synopsis, do I know what it's actually about? No. However, what is really lacking in this record, AND probably why it was a flop at the time, is good tunes to match what was out at the time. More Satanic Majesties and Ogden's nut gone flake than Sgt. Pepper and Disraeli gears. Sadly not as good as I was expecting.

Another one bites the dust.

Didn’t stand out

Greta Van Fleet presents: The Beatles

Eh… whatever. I love it when they use stereo as a 3 track thing omg it’s so cool hahahahhahahahhahahahaha. It’s just so nothing with glimpses of interest every 10 mins, but nothing to make it stand out amongst this list.

my friends dad was the keyboard player. never really like the album much though :D

a sort of Beatles-esk group, some psychedelic stuff. Just OK, there were a few songs I especially enjoyed (trust, private sorrow) but overall nothing memorable

Inoffensive psychedelia although the concept part was a little lost on me as I wasn't listening too closely to the lyrics. Not my thing though, and not musically outstanding enough to pull my attention despite it not being my favourite genre

Well - I had to stop this around song 6. BUT - I picked it up from there the next day. It didn't help. I had NO idea this was a ground-breaking 'concept' album. It just didn't work for me. Musically - it's a no.

Annoying Beatles clone.

Sadly it didn’t really work for me.

i wasn't very locked in on this tbh but it was mid. it just did not engage me. not bad. but maybe it gets knocked down because i feel like it. Sorry

bleh

Nope

Lucy in the sky without diamonds.

It was okay - I liked it had some different instruments which added to some interesting sounds. Seemed it also played with dynamics as well. That being said I just didn’t like the actual songs and so struggled with it.

The pretty things was the collective noun for Len Houmous’ wives 8-14 in the 60s. 2.4 15/17 Mr Evasion

It was fine. It was a concept album, but I didn’t pay attention enough to get the story. It was very 60’s and sometimes almost Beatlesque.

I didn’t enjoy this one. Nothing really stand out at all.

Good

boring

Generic 60s British Invasion music.

An interesting listen, reminding me of early Pink Floyd. It may have predated Tommy, but I don't think it reaches the level of The Who's creation, not that I hold that up as a shining pinnacle of musicality. At the halfway point the album seems to take a turn, with a lot more psychedelic and repetitive sounds and verses, which I am not enjoying. I think this is supposed to be the war\pain portion, so perhaps that is intentional and artistic as well as being annoying.

Very much torn between giving a reasonably good mark for (a) some decent psych-rock and (b) being a genuinely genre changing creation. However, (c) it allowed the birth of a LOT of shit concept albums.

worse version of the kinks

Not horrible but won't listen to this again.

rock opera verspricht leider nöd soooo meega guets. ersti 3 stuck sind seehr spooti 60er aber au nüt meega speziells. und viel vode story chumi ehrlichgseit nöd mit über. oooooke finds huere ass bis etz kei ahnig. schint kreativ bahnbrechend gsi z sii abet musikalisch zum lose?? nööööd so spannend. baron saturday tönt wie en uuuhuere schlechte beatles song.

Influenced by The Beatles much? This is like E sides of the SGT. Pepper album that were never meant to be to be heard from outsiders. There are songs on this album that make you say to yourself “this would be good with a little of this” or “take that out” and that’s coming from a person who is a hell of a Lyricist but can’t produce shite.

Of its time. Interesting musically but they tried so hard to make it far out that they forgot to make it enjoyable to listen to. Too much psychedelic woo woo for me and not enough substance.

Interesting concept, not my cup of tea.

Yet another one of those late 60s albums. This one is fine but nothing stands out or is memorable

Парни грызли жопу за звание первой рок оперы

no me gustó mucho

So they weren't commercially successful in their day and they are largely forgetton about now? As far as 60's psychedelic rock goes this is pretty standard and I'm not overly surprised.

An interesting look at one of the first "rock operas". It's an interesting album that tells a complete story, but unfortunately it pales in almost every way to Tommy.

Fecking hell, another hour of monotone 60s folk music.

< the Beatles This just doesn't really work for me

This is a hot mess of an album. It felt like Sgt. Peppers with about three more sheets of acid and less structure. This is what happens when you try to write the first rock opera on the fly with no money. The story is hard to track through the songs, and if you research the story, it still doesn't make sense. Those of us in this current streaming environment don't have the benefit of having the libretto that was included in the original LP release, so you don't have that to read while you're listening. Dimery, I didn't need to hear this, even though it shaped Tommy and Sgt. Pepper and everything produced by Coheed and Cambria. My Rating: 2/5, mostly because Dimery exposed us to it.

Some fun guitar stuff but pretty much annoying

Psycadelic rock again...but not fantastic, just blah

I can appreciate their pioneering in the rock opera genre and it was certainly creative. I didn’t really like it though. It was pretty wackadoo.

Mostly a poor Beatles knockoff. I see what it's *trying* to do, but it fails. The Beatles without gorgeous and flowing melodies. Pink Floyd without the swell and instrumentation. The Who without songwriting. The mixing and production is terrible. Instruments are frequently panned hard to one side or the other without clear purpose. It was painfully distracting in headphones, and even awkward on a car stereo. Frequently descends into chaotic faffery. Discordant, competing cacophonies in each ear frequently left me skipping the last third of tracks for the sake of comfort.

Quite modern sounding for being from made in '68! Found there to be way too many songs for my liking. Can't say I have very strong opinions on this album other than that. Overall it was a pretty decent run, but nothing that really stood out. Strong 2.

This is one of, if not the first, rock operas ever recorded. While the concept would become synonymous with long overwrought albums, this one is just a normal psych rock album with a story. That story is quite overwrought, though maybe difficult to follow through the lyrics. The album's strength is the psychedelic feel it achieves. The vocals are whimsical, sounds pan from side to side, and the instruments - woodwinds on "Private Sorrow," piano on "Trust," a long drum solo on "Baron Saturday" - are varied. The songwriting doesn't quite keep up though. There are some twists and turns, but they often feel abrupt and many of the choruses blur together. Definitely not a bad album, but it's hard to separate it from other psych rock of the time.

Sounded like off brand Beatles kinda. Unremarkable

Best Track - "Private Sorrow"

Mid

2.5

More panning on this album than a restaurant specializing in fried eggs, and the average Robert Christgau review, combined.

Very similar to tommy. Rock operas are meh for me

Ouch, un sous rolling stones, ça va être dur C’est vraiment super chiant, 5 chansons in et rien qui ressort, et j’ai passé le titre phare Il y a des petits moments éparses intéressants Putain la production est cata j’ai l’impression que les écouteurs marchent mal Trust est pas mal par exemple ! Old man going commence très bien En fait j’aime pas le chanteur quoi Globalement je vais pas mentir j’a pas aimé

Sounds like the Beatles and every other band from the 60s

Not the worst I've heard, but I'm falling asleep here.

4/10

I grew up in home without the Beatles but if you put this album on blindly, I would immediately guess this was the Beatles. I said it the other day, this project is showing me that when it comes to 60’s era rock music, I much prefer the darker, more eastern influenced psychedelic rock like The Doors less popular material than the more upbeat, jangly pop sound produced by bands like this. It’s just not interesting enough to put on even sometimes. 2/5

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.

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.

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

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

A worse Beatles

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).

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.

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

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.

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.

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".

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.

Semi-OK

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.

Ben het vergeten, dus zal niet super geweest zijn

just an overly long, not very good beatles album

Bored sadly

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.

Unremarkable album.

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.

2.5

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.

It's like the Beatles but not good

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.

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

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.

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

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!

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

"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.

Yikes. Not for me.

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.

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

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.

Rockoper, 1968 -> 2

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.

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

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.”

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

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.

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

2.5 for me

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.

Boring

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.

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.

A chaotic Beatles cosplay musical.

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.

Bland.

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

Very Beatlesesque.

Didn’t get into it at all

I feel like this album probably gets labelled "ahead of its time" alot. There are a few tracks where this feels like a good thing (Balloon burning and a couple of proto-thrash tracks) but there's a lot more where the experimental mixing is just a bit nauseating and 'ahead of its time' scans better as 'pissing about ' (although I suppose they wouldn't have been listening through headphones). The mixing might seem more compelling if it wasn't sandwiched between bog standard psych tweeness but on the whole it lacks stylistic cohesion. An interesting, if not entirely enjoyable, listen.

fine

Cool experimentation... but it just meanders and meanders and meanders and keeps meandering in a way I truly do not care for. I like experimental psychedelic things but this is the bad execution of that.

I don't particularly like the Beatles, and these guys quite clearly want to be the Beatles.

Weird mixing ruined the experience of the album for me, decent psychedelic rock/pop

not a fan of rock operas so i found this a bit boring

There were some gems in this record. Sadly, there was a lot of gunk here, too. Favourite Track(s): Balloon Burning, Defecting Grey Least Favourite Track(s): Well of Destiny

Kirkland Signature Sgt. Peppers

Bon encore un groupe de rock un peu hippie de la fin des années 60, ça s'écoute et y'a des originalités intéressantes mais bon c'était quand même un peu long (56min !) et répétitif.

Plutôt oubliable 2/5

Nah

pretty forgettable start to the album, Balloon Burning is a banger and makes me want to move at high speed. I listened to the album and looked at the year it came out and thought "I bet this was recorded at Abbey Road" and it fuckin was. the crazy echoey drum break on Baron Saturday makes me want to play Donkey Kong Country and I'm not sure why

Started off good but then got a little weird

This band has a very similar vibe to The Beatles, but they don't possess the charm that The Beatles does. The album tries to be a jack of all trades but is a master of none. The instruments are fantastic. Not a tremendous fan of the vocals and none of the songs really stood out. It was a bit of a slog to get through.

Uninteresting

S.F. Sorrow resides in the vicinity of Sgt. Pepper's, early Floyd, and late-60s Kinks. It's not in the same neighborhood, mind you. It's on the outskirts of town, across the railroad tracks. The fact that it is allegedly the first "rock opera" earns no bonus points from me. Though I do kind of dig Baron Saturday. By the way, at some point, the album was reissued with four bonus tracks. It seems most streaming services have this version. You only have to listen to the first 13 songs to hear the album immortalized on the 1001 list. I really hope I can reach just one person with this message.

the main thought i had listening to this album is "oh! interesting!" one of the first rock operas? interesting! it was widely panned upon release but was later rehabilitated for it's place in music history? interesting! unfortunately, the final product is a little meh. highlights - balloon burning, death, baron saturday, old man going

Bien

Its solid but does come off as a bit pretentious, which has morphed into a bit of corniness in spots

I found it interesting at first but maybe a little unfocused for me. I couldn't really stick with it through the record

j'adore comment c'est chanté it's giving beatles mais avais-je vraiment besoin d'entendre ça avant de mourir ?

If I was still playing DnD I would have loved this I think. This album art rocks though. Not a big rock opera man myself though.

Već se ne sjećam ni sekunde ovog albuma. To će reći da je nespektakularan u najmanju ruku. Pošto je Tommy vrlo sličan album, ovo možda trun više volim.

Entirely unremarkable. 2 stars.

Real back in the day

Not that good. Not that bad

i saw the words "rock opera" and knew this wasn't going to be fun

Notable as one of the first examples of a rock opera. TBH i doubt i would have even noticed it was supposed to be that had I note read it. I found this a bit boring

Interesting to hear apparently the first rock opera. They're just not for me.

A couple good songs, but too long and a bit boring.

Ahead of then consumed by its time.

I don't think i'll ever revisit this. it's good but i feel like it was done by others better.

Like a crazed Beatles. Hard to listen too. Should be off the list replaced with something more modern