Reviews (page 6 of 7)
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.
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
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.
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.
Liked the vibe in their first song, but then the rest all just felt similar and unremarkable to me. I was also in a bad mood, so not sure if that contributed, but they sound similar to other psychedelic-type rock artists from the 60s. If I am going to reach for something with this energy, I'd reach for The Beatles.
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
Back to back Rock operas..unlike The Wall/Tommy they had the common decency to keep it down to a single album but still a tough listen, the production didn't help here.
It was ok. But that's all. There are too much records sounding the same.
I feel like the concept of this rock opera is stronger than the opera.
Sympathisch, psychedelisch, durchgeknallt - aber auch ziemlich anstrengend. Weitestgehend Neuland für mich. 2/5 (5/10)
Two stars for song writing and musicianship which is there but the aggressive mixing of stereo separation and panning effects is hard to get on board with.
This psyche band have been on my to listen list for eternity, and finally I have at long last. It wasn't too bad if you ignore the fact that it is a rock opera with some crappy story. Instrumentally it was excellent in places but over all it was a bit underwhelming.
Apparently this was the first known rock opera, which would explain why some of it was good and other parts of it were grating noise that I could barely get through (looking at you Well of Destiny). Do they actually think people want to listen to that? And then there's Old Man Going, which made me look at my phone to make sure I didn't somehow jump to a Black Sabbath album. So many songs had promise and then just switched to something weird halfway through. Oh well.
Okay, even if The Who copied from this album, they made a much better version anyway. The opening song on S. F. Sorrow was good, but the rest is just like a big opera filler. Disappointing album, very boring.
felt very, very familiar 🤔
it was fine. apparently it was extremely edgy in its time. it sounded like any other 60s rock.
rarete, exageradisimo el paneo
We’re only ~10% into the list at this point and we’ve gotten so much psychedelic rock 😩😩😩😩😩 No thanks
I can hear the Beatles and The Who, but Pink Floyd? No ma’am. Had I been a fan in the 70’s, I probably would’ve enjoyed this more. Now it sounds dated and overindulgent. And the bands that some say are followers of these lads are far better.
Didn't do anything for me. I get the eclectic and experimental sounds but I was annoyed with the different sounds coming through on each speaker. I was wearing earbuds and it was more disorienting than anything. Not bad music, just not anything that spoke to me
It might be because I didn't pay too much attention while listening to this, but it didn't grab me.
Concept albums are tough in this format. That said I listened to Tommy from the Who right after and liked it a lot more
boring
Some pretty interesting production ideas on here, even though the overall products quality is really rough. Couple of good songs, but very often sounds derivative of the Beatles. Didn't hate it as much as some of the other early psychedelia on this list.
60’s psychedelic Brit, sounds like a more tripped out Beatles, not really my thing, too hard to follow
Meh. Heard too much of the Beatles but I suppose nothing is made in a vacuum. Great '60s sound though.
Mediocre version of the Beatles
The opening riff of this album was so cool and the rest of it was a let down.
I'll be real, I don't know if it was just because I was oddly tired today or this album actually really didn't hit me that well... But, wow, I did not really feel this thing at all. And it's like, I was honestly a little excited for this thing. This is pretty much the first rock opera ever! I love a little bit of story connecting a whole buncha songs together! This shoulda been right up my alley. And yet, I'unno — besides the awful 60's stereo mixing that made me hafta put my phone on mono, I needa remember I'm not very much a "lyrics first" girl anyway, so leaving me with just the music... Yep! That's sure 60's psych rock! Like, please, believe me, I get that I didn't exactly listen to this the "right way," and it's more than possible I was just too tired to appreciate this thing right. Even giving all of those benefits, though, gawd, this thing just washed the hell over me. I just didn't terribly enjoy it too much. I can recognize its historical importance, but... Ah, whatever. I don't care. I'm gonna go take a nap.
Trying to hard to be like The Beatles, don’t quite get there.
No en kyllä osannut kuunnella tätä rockoopperana, vaikka nyt jälkikäteen tajuan, että eka biisihän antoi ohjeen siihen. Muuten basic 68-levy siinä että kuulostaa vähän Beatlesilta.
En tiedä millä tavalla tämä on rock-ooppera, enkä haluakaan tietää, mutta pidin paikoin levyn melodisesta sisällöstä. Se yksi kitarakuvio toimi.
Wasn't expecting to like this much at all, but I'm somewhat pleasantly surprised to find that it's not completely terrible. The album art, however, is. Additionally, it's a bit tiresome to listen to some of this reverb-laden early psych for very long, let alone an hour. Of course, there's the obligatory sitar. That said, the writing seems pretty good for a band that is mostly forgotten. The arrangements are decent and there's some breadth to the sound throughout. I won't come back to this, but I can understand why some would enjoy it.
Nothing stood out or leapt out here. The album art was more interesting than the album itself here!
Occasionally interesting, but hour-long-psychedelic-rock-album-from-1966-that's-also-a-rock-opera is an impossible bar to clear.
I think I’ve had my fill of rock operas for a bit. This one sounds pretty good but I couldn’t (and didn’t really find myself wanting to) follow the narrative. The mid period Beatles guitar tones were the best part of the album in my opinion. 2.4
Well, that's that.
On par with the music of that time but it was just okay.
Ja dit is dus een vrij standaard rock album. Ik word hier niet echt warm of koud van, dat ik denk "Goh, blij dat ik dit gehoord heb zeg" Het is allemaal super psychedelisch, en ik heb hier gewoon nog niet genoeg psychedelica voor gedaan om dit echt te kunnen waarderen. Ik vind de blend tussen de super trippy muziek en dan weer het wat hardere rock werk wel echt hilarisch, beste nummer daarvoor is Defecting Grey, sowieso mijn favoriete nummer van het album, omdat het tenminste echt iets anders doet. Dat nummer voelt echt als een bad trip in een nummer ofzo, met het continue herhalende "Sitting alone in a bench with you" en dan opeens weer een hard rock stuk erover heen. Waarom word dit niet veel vaker gedaan op dit album? Leun gewoon volle bak op rare shit en dit album was veel interessanter geweest, nu is het voornamelijk 13 in een dozijn rock shit en heb ik me echt dood verveeld. Jammer. FAVO: She says good morning, Defecting Grey
Not for me thanks
The album makes one confront the annoyingness of this list project's title: "Must hear" and "die" are hyperbole, and you do not in fact need to hear this album. It sounds like 1968 psychedelic rock. It has some moments. There is no standout track. For a better look at the genre/period, I suggest playing this album with the sound down, then turning it up when Apple Music goes on to Autoplay Similar Music. Pete Townshend's legacy is not threatened by this little thing. Saying someone was born in track #1 does not an opera make.
Whilst I appreciate the ambition and experimentation behind the rock opera that is “S.F Sorrow” I don’t think that this is one of the better psychedelic rock albums of the 60’s. The opening tracks on the album sit firmly in the sgt peppers era Beatles style, but just nowhere near as good and lacking the catchy sound or intricate songwriting. Other than “She says good morning” which is an early highlight, with a great sounding guitar and almost gritty sound. “Bracelets of fingers” is the worst offender of being a worse sounding Beatles track whilst the opener “S.F sorrow is born” is just okay. “Private sorrow” is passable but not very interesting. The next track “Balloon Burning” is much more interesting with a nice guitar sound and a good solo. The drums sound great and the track has a good fast-paced almost punk like energy. The vocals here also hit better. “Death” is a fairly boring song, where the instrumental just isn’t interesting enough to pull the track along. Thankfully, “Baron Saturday” is much better giving the experimental sound a more ‘accessible’ touch with a nice drum solo. “The Journey” and “I see you” also keep up a good run on the album full of really nice guitar parts whilst keeping the experimental elements. The latter fades into “Well of destiny” which is a forgettable instrumental track. “Trust” picks things back up again as a fairly standard but nice tune. “Old man going” brings a raw rock energy with trippy sounds and unique vocals which make it a good & interesting track. “Loneliest person” is one of the more standard sounding songs on the album, but it does a decent job, and it’s appreciated for its simplicity. “Defecting grey” is a weird tune which changes between these slow hypnotic passages and into heavier rock sounds. Whilst I do like the sound of the rockier parts, the changes between the sounds is just too jarring and even though I appreciate the uniqueness of what they were going for the track just isn’t listenable for me. “Mr evasion” does a good job of the more simple rock sound and “Talkin’ about the good times” is a good psychedelic rock track. The album ends on a high with “Walking through my dreams” which is, in my opinion, the psychedelic Beatles-y sound done right. Whilst I appreciate the ambition of what they were going for on this album, and I don’t deny the possible influence it had on albums going forward, I can’t see myself revisiting this one. It has some good psychedelic rock tracks which I like that come through with a raw energy and power, but as a full album has too many misses and bad executions. It pales in comparison to the albums that the likes of The Beatles, The Doors & Pink Floyd were making around the time in a similar style and instead of listening to this album you could just listen to those guys do it better. 2/5.
It was decently enjoyable and seems ahead of it’s time for when it was released, but I couldn’t shake the feeling this was just discount Beatles/Rolling stones. And I’d rather just go for the real thing.
Felt so random
++: S. F. Sorrow Is Born, The Journey, Well of Destiny +: Private Sorrow, Baron Saturday, I See You, Trust +-: She Says Good Morning, Balloon Burning, Death, Old Man Going, Loneliest Person -: Bracelets of Fingers 4,5/10
Deutsche Beatles, aber mit Fokus auf all dem, was ich an den Beatles nicht mag
Not for me
S.F. Sorrow is Born Defecting Grey Talkin' About the Good Times
The Beatles if they weren't great songwriters.
I could maybe see this having some influence back in the 60s but had not aged that well and Lordy is it long.
2 star. Pleasant but not remarkable.
I think I messed up by listening to this one while grading assignments instead of just relaxing and listening to the storytelling. The music reminded me of The Beatles from time to time, but besides that, nothing ever really grabbed my attention. Maybe one day I’ll give it another shot in a better environment.
WARNING L ................................................ R Holy ................................................ shit. Do ................................................ not try ................................................ to listen ................................................ to this ................................................ album with ................................................ only one ................................................ headphone on. ................................................ You will ................................................ only hear ................................................ half the ................................................ album.
no thoughts. like what is this list even about
they’re no cream but they aren’t horrid either now are they
Too much like the Beatles 🧐
Reminds me of the Beatles... just less melodic and with a few screechingly painful sections.
Ok, so maybe the first rock opera. But this did not hold my interest musically.
First rock opera vs first concept album? Who gives a fuck?
Why listen to this when you could instead watch the part of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox story about his psychedelic album?
Who decided that rock operas were a good thing? All over the place, cacophonic. Giving a two because at least they had a vision...
I think this was conceived as something bigger than it actually turned out to be. I appreciate the scope but it still doesn't do much for me. Supposedly the inspiration for Pete Townsend to create "Tommy", but I don't see the connection.
Well, this album "was recorded between December 1967 and September 1968 at the Abbey Road Studios, while Pink Floyd were working on A Saucerful of Secrets (also produced by Norman Smith) and the Beatles worked on their 1968 self-titled album." On first listening, track 1 sounds like the Beatles, but the album quickly veers into early Floyd. It's listenable, but I don't think I'll be going back to it. If I want to listen to Floyd/Beatles, I'll listen to them - not to some sound-alike band. It really is like second-rate Floyd, mostly.
This is a tough one to rate because I found it very interesting in a lot of ways, and borderline obnoxious in many other ways. I strongly disliked the production value of this album, and disliked most of the vocals as well. But there were some wildly creative ideas coming to life within these songs, and it’s hard not to appreciate that. It’s like a 2.5, not quite a 3.
Im always so interested when its an album form the 60's that has like 1 million plays per song or less. Like, did this just get added, or is it really a deep pick? Anyways, I had to wait until the weekend to listen to this, because in true 60's fashion the vocals and some instruments were panned completely to one ear. Can't one-ear listen at work. As for the album itself, it sadly fades into 60's pastiche around song 8ish. There's even an indian-psych-inspired track! Truly the complete late 60's rock package. For this, I must reluctantly give it a 2 out of 5, there isnt much that's very distinct about this album that isnt already done many times over or many times better by many other groups. My highlight is probably "Bracelets of Fingers"
Could be interesting but the production is just so bad
The sound is not dynamic enough for me. The whole production is a bit messy. Some interesting nuggets but not enough to really draw me in.
- und nochmal moody, aber teilweise hat es mich nicht so richtig gecatched
Not my speed.
It’s a rock opera
If it rocked out more, I would have liked it. But it tries too hard to sound like the Beatles and like most bands of the era, not succeeding. Very much stuck in the 60s which isn't my favourite sound.
Ok, I guess. Sound like a beatles rip off.
Sounds like the Beatles but worse
Sounds like modern time bards
Item plops Block broken Block breaking < Footsteps < Eerie sound >
the beatles if they werent bad
Like the beatles if they were even less good than their already-hyped selves.
It was fine but then again, i didnt like it, so not fine and kinda boring, and all the buildups were flat I think. maybe it was because I was at work and bored, but I wont give it a second chance, ive got better things to do, like drinking milk and coffee
Psicodelia y ópera rock de fines de los 60. He escuchado mejores combinaciones, la verdad.
hippy vibes - seemed more like Sgt Pepper than Rolling Stones and I'd heard these guys were meant to be more aligned to the stones, was fine but didn't really pick out much of note and had a level of expectation so felt a touch let down overall
4/10 - It's a 60s album so it sounds like the Beatles. Especially bracelets of fingers, aren't those just rings?. Some of the songs are just really bad, i.e. well of destiny and baron saturday.
I couldn't find anything compelling about this album.
Deutsche Beatles, aber mit Fokus auf all dem, was ich an den Beatles nicht mag
Not for me.
What is with the opera rock in the late 60’s and early 70’s?
I just don’t think psychedelic rock is my thing. I don’t think rock operas are my thing. I tried to keep an open mind while listening to this, but I just didn’t feel it.
As rock operas go.. I prefer Tommy.
Fine, but forgettable.
Has some good songs, but a tad bit too long and gets all over the place. Favorite track: S.F. Sorrow is born other picks: private sorrow, baron saturday, death, journey
Another generic 60s album. It's inoffensive but I could definitely have lived a contented life without hearing this album before I died. Sounds like a Beatles b-sides album.
One of those (again) that’s historically/culturally notable but not terribly interesting musically.
I don't really know how I feel about this album. There was nothing that I particularly liked and I think what I'm learning from listening to this (and a few other previous albums) is that I'm just not a fan of psychedelic rock. It's not that I hated the album, I just didn't find anything that I particularly enjoyed. 2/5
Couldn't get into it.
Eh. Easy-to-forget psych record that maybe unfortunately got buried by its contemporaries. Regardless of whether The Who “stole” the idea for Tommy, Tommy is leagues beyond this album. Sorry.
Kind of reminds me of late-Beatles era. But not really memorable.
I see the take psychadelic rock and I wince. This is painful. Why are they doing silly voices and singing about nonsense ffs.
Was vibing to a few of the songs. Sounds a lot like late era Beatles.
2.5 / 5 - Bracelet of fingers stood out.
"In 1969, the band opted to mime recordings from the album for a television performance because they, along with the mixing engineer, had taken LSD before they were to go on the air"
Groupe totalement inconnu. Album assez original, avec quelques morceaux remarquables comme : Balloon Burning Old Man Going Mais je n'ai pas vraiment accroché sur le reste. =>2/5
I want to hate this more than I do for some reason. It may be because I never heard of this band or this record even though for a 60's records it's pretty experimental. It may be because there are other bands from the era or other bands in the future (king crimson and jethro tull on the prog/folk side, The Byrds, 13th floor elevators for more psychedelics, Frank Zappa/Captain Beefheart for just being weird) that got more acclaim and I truthfully like better. That being said, these guys rock pretty hard and have some interesting ideas plastered all over the record. Wild riffs on Balloon Burning, Bracelets of Fingers has weird production and cool instrumentation. I don't know if I see myself revisiting this anytime soon but it's a more solid/varied 60's rock record with a pretty stupid name.
Wailing guitars, hippie shake. All par for the course here. It's one of those classic psychedelic rock albums that wasn't loved enough to make the band a household name in spite of it being their 8th(!) album. This is okay.
Surprised to find a 60s psychedelic band that I had never heard of before in The Pretty Things. But pretty much nothing here felt like it warranted a classic rock legacy. "Balloon Burning" was the best on "S.F. Sorrow," with a breakneck fuzzy lead guitar that seemed ahead of its time. But I also didn't realize that this was a rock opera/concept album until reading about it afterwards, maybe because all psychedelic rock feels weird and operatic and about who-knows-what acid trip fever dream?
Lots of sorrow to go around here. Album title: S. F. Sorrow; song titles: S. F. Sorrow Is Born and Private Sorrow; and the greatest sorrow of all: my sorrow for having suffered through the whole album.
Wasn't particularly invested in this album. I didn't connect with the story being told at all. It feels disingenuous to call this a "rock opera" - it's just a concept album, and a rather flat one at that. Some decent moments, but nothing that noteworthy. Top tracks: Death, Loneliest Person
A psychedelic rock opera. It all sounds a bit dated now.
Noteworthy songs - 808080808 Magical Dream - Kinda catchy synth, but the rest is bland. Ancodia - Good background noise. Cobra Bora - Actually kind of cool, reminds me of Bomberman Hero. Pacific 202 - N64 vibes, but melody isn't great. Donkey Doctor - Nothing too special, weird ending. 808080808 - Really cool beginning. A little slow in the middle but stays interesting enough. Sunrise - Nothing remarkable. The Fat Shadow - Eerie. Very short.
Interesting, but after song 2, it didn't seem like like my cup of tea.
..
This was alright. Nothing too crazy or exciting here.
It's like the Beatles but in rock opera form and it's fine. 4/10
Psychedelic rock psychedelic pop. Sin más.
Can't stand the mixing in this, it just sounds so bad
Baron Saturday was a fantastic song. Everything else was middling at best, but nothing particularly bad. If Narduar actually made music, I'd imagine it would sound something like this. toot-tu-tah loo-too
I don't know what the F this is supposed to be. Early Rock Opera? If so - needs some major help. To include its description with Tommy, the Who, Beatles, Pink Floyd - is not cool. Move on!
Had a hard time paying attention to this one. Nothing really grabbed me and everything was pretty boring. 2/5 Won’t listen again
Cutrate Beatles?
Pre-listening thoughts: oh Christ a rock opera. I’m a little terrified of this I’m not going to lie. Hoping the story will captivate me. I’ve also never heard of this band before. I feel like I’m saying that a lot! Post/during listening thoughts: the album cover scared me! Ahhh! Why does the audio do that in Bracelets of Fingers it makes me mad. Some of the production is incredibly 60s (and just plain bad). Balloon Burning sounds like something from that Magazine record, Real Life. Sort of a Shot By Both Sides kind of track. There’s actually a lot sonically that reminds me of that album in a weird way (Deflecting Grey reminds me of Beautician in the Sky) but I dont like this one as much. To me this album is missing the weird character that Magazine album has. Plus some of the panning/audio choices are worse here imo. It would absolutely take me multiple listens to grasp any sort of story going on here. I’m the type of listener where it has to sonically grab me before lyrics are even a factor (unless the lyrics are very obviously terrible). Why does the audio keep tweaking?! I don’t like Well of Destiny or songs like it where it’s just sort of soundscapey style instrumentals and noises out of tune. Makes me feel like I’m having a panic attack. This is an okay listen and I’m sure influential to the Pink Floyd/Who sort of music but idk if this is a necessity before I die 5/10 DID I NEED TO HEAR THIS BEFORE I DIE: no Fav tracks: Balloon Burning, Baron Saturday, Trust Least fav tracks: Old Man Going, Well of Destiny, Deflecting Grey
Lots of fun and exciting sounds but goddamn do I hate this motherfucker's voice
It was pretty good. I mean id be proud of it if I'd created it... But a handful of songs were enough for me. I hope I haven't missed a belter
Alt rock. Seems heavily influenced by Sgt Peppers etc
Turns out rock opera narrative stuff isn't my bag. I enjoy that this annoyed the who. The quality is fine but I'm not ever going to revisit
Man, that was pretentious. Perilously close to one-star territory. Why do I care about this protagonist?
It was fine.
Was not overly compelled by the story of Mr. Sorrow
Didn't do much for me. It's like a blend of 60s Brit rock and Beatles worship but with all of the wrong elements, I couldn't help listening thinking that this is a subpar effort at emulating another band. I just went back and re-listened to the highest play count songs to see if I missed something. "Baron Saturday" is the highest so I went there first, and my opinion hasn't really changed. The vocal parts start to get cool in the middle with that rough and raw chorus at 00:45 and again at 1:21 and then it almost suddenly drops into an unexpected and unwanted? bongo jam. 2/5; I think I'd like it more if it wasn't presented to me as an album I must hear in my lifetime.
S.F. Sorrow: A Psychedelic Stumble The Pretty Things’ S.F. Sorrow is a bold attempt at a psychedelic rock opera, but it ultimately falls short of its ambitions. While the album’s concept is intriguing, the execution often feels muddled and uneven. The band's experimentation with sound and structure is commendable, but the songs lack memorable hooks or choruses. While there are moments of psychedelic brilliance, they are too few and far between. The narrative, delivered primarily through liner notes rather than the music itself, is confusing and difficult to follow. Ultimately, S.F. Sorrow is a fascinating historical document rather than a truly enjoyable listening experience. It’s a record that rewards patience and multiple listens, but casual fans will likely find themselves drifting off.
Psychedelic rock hardly ever sounds good and, spoiler alert: this didn't either. It's actually kind of incredible how music from this era was either incredible or downright terrible - no in-between. 4/10.
Passable, but not much more I can add
Fairly uninteresting, alright as background music but even then didn't really grab me all that much
Psychedelic, rock opera feel
No
I always have a little bit of an itch to play these albums through one headphone and pump up the volume so I can do other things while listening. Definitely do not do that here. There were a lot of cool little parts in here, but overall I was bored to a little annoyed by the end of almost every track. Not much more to say than that.
5th rate Beatles
A couple of decent songs buried under a tonne of garbage
At first i thought this was gonna be another rolling stones-esque slog, but the psychadelic boat ride it became meant i actually enjoyed parts of it. Don't think id listen again so it gets a 2 but very close to 3 stars
I prefer the Bowie version
Psychedelic rock psychedelic pop. Sin más.
I'm probably being unfair as I wasn't able to concentrate on this fully, but it didn't really grab me
You can tell these guys loved the Beatles. It's not bad, but if I was in the mood for the like, Sgt. Pepper is just going on instead.
I listened to it twice through, and forgot it was on after about the second or third song. So I have no lasting impression of this. It didn’t make me want to turn it off, but clearly it didn’t get to a three star rating.
Apparently the author of this book loved any music that came out of 1968. That's great. I don't. But now my Spotify thinks I do. 2/5
When I was listening I was telling myself this was a pale imitation of The Who. Afterwards I read the history and realized the Who were a better version of Pretty Things. Never for a mind did I think S F Sorrow was a “rock opera” like Tommy. When you listen to Tommy you understand the story, with Pretty Things I had no clue it was anything but bad unrelated tracks. So did the Who take from this? Yup, most likely so. But hey Edison didn’t invent the light bulb either, but he gets the credit because he perfected it. Same with The Who and Rock Opera.
Yuck. 2.11
Alright.
Didn’t really listen to this properly but I mostly hated what I heard of it.
Just another bit of hippy dribbling.
Trust // 2.5/5