S.F. Sorrow

Psychedelic concept album. Not bad, worth a more careful listen sometime to absorb more of the story. Sounds like early Pink Floyd at times.

Best Song: Loneliest Person. The lyrics were cute and clever. Worst Song: Private Sorrow. The kind of song that just sounds like someone trying to be subversive in the sixties. Overall: Early progressive music can sometimes come off feeling "wacky" as the artists throw dozens of disparate ideas at the wall to see what sticks. That is absolutely what is happening here. Despite this ostensibly being a rock opera, there is absolutely no musical cohesion to tie the whole album together. No idea sticks around long enough to make much of an impact.

I mean, it's OK although sometimes comes across as sub Beatles. Apparently this is their magnum opus but sounded a bit dated an unmemorable. After the album finished, Spotify fired up its general 60's follow up tracks and tbh I was enjoying them more. No doubt it was a 4 back in its day, now...

Alright Beatles ish vibes. Didn't kick my balls.

Not my thing 💩

I'd never heard of this before... and it's difficult to form a connection with an album like this (one that is totally fresh to you) in just one day. My first impressions are that it sounded like a kind of alternate universe psychedelic-era Beatles, not quite as polished. Some good songs though: Baron Saturday and The Journey being favourites. I've given this a low score, but I suspect it would grow on me... so it has been saved in my Keepers playlists for future work.

Standout tracks: Baron Saturday Defecting Grey I See You Mr Evasion You can hear the influnce they had on Bowie. Their later stuff sounds more up my street so might check that out. I did like the Spoitify follow-on tracks more though... Groovy baby.

klingt wie die schlechten Songs von den Beatles

Actually really liked this! I love their sound.

If ' Tommy' took any influence from this it would have been ‘well that’s not what to do’. ‘Tommy’ (which wasn’t Townshend's first attempt at a rock opera btw) has catchy tunes and a sense of humour. This has neither. Not worth listening to. 1.5 rounded down

Some cool sounds and ideas. Fascinating to hear what else was being recorded at Abbey Road at the same time as the White Album and A Saucerful of Secrets. But the songs just don’t grab me.

I really enjoyed this. Only gave it one listen. And I’d never heard it before. It’s much more acoustic than The Pretty Things that I grew up with (Rosalyn, Don’t Bring Me Down). But there’s something very classy , very Moody Blues about it. The Journey sounds so like a Beatles song of that time.

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 (although there are quite a few records on this list of this ilk). Favourite track: Baron Saturday.

Enjoyed this one I think it is a grower It could be something I come back to I will give it a 3/5 but with time it could sit higher. First track is good. I did lose slight interest in the album as it went on, but that's more of a reflection of me than the album High 3/5

This album has some interesting ideas but not enough to really keep me interested through the length of it.

I’m too young to appreciate thiy

Sometimes I wonder if the Beatles are actually that good, or if their reputation makes them unassailable. Then I hear a band that sounds like them, who while decent, don’t come close to the Beatles. This is one of those bands. Pretty good songs, I really liked the drumming. But it didn’t rise above “pretty good.”

Very 1960s. Hippy-dippy psychadelia etc. It's very much of its time - so in context, it would have been a fine example of the genre. I just don't like it.

Like the Beatles but not.

Was not into this. Interesting concept. 2/5

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

Est-ce que c'est plutôt du sous-Beatles, du sous-The Who ou du sous-Pink Floyd ? En tout cas pas très emballé, ça manque clairement du petit je-ne-sais-quoi qui aurait rendu ça mieux.

Tedious Beatles wannabes. 2/5

Grand

Cool and interesting!

Odd. Very odd. Story / lyrics interesting (which does not always mean good), music varies with the story. Concept albums have come a long way! 3 🌟

I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, not having heard of the band let alone the album. It was ok and not even all that dated for a 1960s record. Even the artwork made the album difficult to place.

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

The first two songs kind of get in there, but there is no follow-up. 2.5/5.

I didn't know what to expect heading into this album, but it was pretty middle of the road for me. There were some things that I thought worked well; the overarching rock opera element and story were interesting, and I enjoyed some parts of the instrumentation. Overall though, this album kind of dragged on for me. Plus, it felt like someone told these guys to make an album that sounded like The Beatles. I really felt like this sound was completely borrowed. It's one thing to draw on influences of a band, but something else entirely to try to duplicate their sound. It's cool that this was one of the first rock operas, but this album was just okay in my book.

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

I could appreciate the psychedelic 60s sounds of this album, and the creativity behind it, but it's not one that I'll be listening to again.

60s drug plinkety wafts

so amazing

Pretty nice psych-rock record from the era of the Beatles. Not sure I’ll be revisiting it soon, but I’m not mad at either. Tough to be in the same space and time as the Beats. 3 stars!

3++

I wasn't expecting much, but this was really excellent. It may not be the most adventurous work of its time, but one thing I will say for this album is that it's a very accessible entry into psychedelic and proto-prog that never gets too weird or heavy handed. It's also just a well made album that's not particularly bogged down by the concept, which can be an issue with concept albums/rock operas. Fave Songs: Trust, Baron Saturday, I See You, The Journey, Balloon Burning, Old Man Going, Death, Well of Destiny

Sounded Beatles like, but not as good

First listen Saved 6/13 Top track: S.F. Sorrow Is Born

What if you listened to a Beatles album not by the Beatles?

Sitar-forward, tinny harmonizing, it's an English psychedelic band from the 60s ladies and germs! fuck outta here.

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

In de categorie ‘vergeten psych bangers’ is dit er absoluut één. Nog nooit van de band of het album gehoord, maar Jezus wat is dit leuk. Beatles/Pink Floyd achtig maar toch uniek. Het wordt een 5

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

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

Nicely enjoyable

Way ahead of their time, and should have been as popular as The Who.

Very 60's, very British and part of the pop-rock quirky concept trend at the time. Quite musically accomplished and clearly spoken, it's not really my thing but I can appreciate it's place in music history.

Some interest here, but it didn't succeed in carrying much of a narrative for me and no songs thay really grabbed me.

60's tunes. ok. nothing special

Pretty good. Might even be 5 star.

I can definitely see the similarity to Tommy. While maybe you can say that it's unfair that The Who probably ripped them off a bit, at least The Who took the concept and made it a classic album. These songs are just "meh".

Enjoyable

Decent but forgettable

O.O scuffed

The best song is 'Loneliest Person' because it sounds nothing like the rest of the album.

Constant odd audio coming in and out. Maybe they thought it was cutting edge at the time? Shit though.

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

I'm always a sucker for a rock opera, and not only was this the first, it was an excellent one at that!

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

*sigh*

Pretty awesome for 68; lots of depth and experimentation without sacrificing good musicality

SF Sorrow is born-quite annoying chorus effect, this is fine if a little overblown Bracelets of Fingers- Ahh, the old panning effects, but this is fine overall, I like the refrain 👍 She says good morning- good 4 u i guess Private Sorrow- this was fine, whatever Balloon Burning- finally a little energy, at least in the guitars 👍 Death- decently atmospheric.. surely this is quite early on in the album tho lol 👍 Baron Saturday- kinda hate everything about this The Journey- the set up to a better song next I See You- guitar shines more on this one and vocal effect is something? Well Of Destiny- doesn’t really count as a song init Old Man Going- 👍 Loneliest person i was never gonna like this lol 2/5

10/10 fantastic psych-pop for 1968 very fun and creative

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

Like pulverising 47 ducks

12th June 2023 Listened half on Monday and half on Tuesday. Worked from home and played Hogwarts legacy in the evening. Like the strange forgotten stoner brother of the Beatles and the Stones. 2.5 if I could.

The shitty beatles

If this is a concept album, it’s pretty loose. Or at least it seems that way to me. That’s not a detraction, by the way. It’s just the style of the album...there are moments where the psychedelic overtone of the music pulls the art out of its narrative and just does its own thing. It’s like a writer using fancy speech tags instead of just using “said”. A stylistic choice.

Produced by a guy who worked on Sgt Pepper and cited as the main influence for Tommy? That alone would interest me, but this album is just fantastic on its own. Psychedelic and catchy AND a rock opera. I love it. The stereo panning is a bit much at many points so I definitely prefer mono but that's my only real complaint.

Maybe the worst mixing I’ve ever heard on an album.

v Beatles-y

Wild stufff

Another great psych album. Keep them coming Bob

Steven F Minecraft

Genuine 1968 San Francisco sound with plenty of flower power, peace, love, groovy-ness all over it. Never heard it before but it didn't suck entirely.

Pretty fun, matched my taste well and would honestly listen again

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

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

Completely competent psych-rock. Apparently one of the earliest rock operas but I would have never known unless I read up on it. Not bad but it was mostly background music.

Fine 60s psych album.

Never heard of this band before but sounds very familiar like early pink Floyd . I enjoyed it .

This seems like something that I might like more on a re-listen.

It was cool and had some good material in a genre that I like.

Rock psicodélico sesentero. Ni fu ni fa.

One of my favorite psychedelic rock albums ever, and beat The Who to the punch in the rock opera field , so in my opinion this should only be more praised. Not to mention the varying genres that blow my mind for 1968. I mean, these dudes sounded like Black Sabbath for one track two years before Sabbath had an album out, and no one seems to care. Why?

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

They really liked their crazy instruments back in the 60s didn't they? Psychedelics. Yeah... Maddening. Some parts sound like Beatles. Some parts sound like beetle dung. Ugh.

This was pretty interesting and quite varied. It definitely had the late 60's psychedelic influence, but harmonies and styles reminded me of the beatles (sgt. peppers) at times, as well as early decca-era bowie and 60's pink floyd. bracelets of fingers, trust, loneliest person were highlights for me... but it also goes pretty weird in some spots.

After a promising start, any gritty psychedelia sloughs off completely by the end. Concept-wise, easily better than most contemporaries.

When I saw the cover of the album I was given today, I had no idea what I was in for. The cover art looks like something thrown together by a 4 year old, and the band name wasn't ringing any bells either. Upon further research, I learned that this album is considered to be the first "rock opera", coming before famous works such as "The Wall", or "Tommy". It just was a bit ahead of its time, and didn't make the waves that the others did in the 70's. The Pretty Things sound like a mix of Jethro Tull, The Who, and the Beach Boys (not in instrumentation, but in the way that they sometimes harmonize their vocals in a high register). All of that while doing the amount of drugs that Syd Barrett's era of Pink Floyd did. This is a concept album in that it follows some dude named S.F. Sorrow right through life, with the album starting with his birth, moving into his adolescence, he gets drafted into the war, a bunch of his friends die in the war, he makes it home as a shell of a man, slowly slips into madness, falls in love, and on and on, ending with his death. As the record proceeds, it culminates with Sorrow's slip into madness with the instrumental track Well of Destiny. The way they record and play their instruments during this song really hits that fact home. Overall, this is a phenomenal album! It is one that you really have sit down with the liner notes and just listen to. All of the metaphors that the singer uses spins this album into a truly beautiful masterpiece. It is every bit as good as Tommy or The Wall, just perhaps a little bit less refined. I will 100% listen again. This is a weird album in the most glorious of ways. Favorite songs: Old Man Going, She Says Good Morning, S.F. Sorrow is Born, Private Sorrow, I See You, Loneliest Person Least favorite songs: Balloon Burning 4/5

Meh, nothing special here at all.

This was weird and I liked it. I especially liked Bracelet of Fingers and Trust. Some of the songs are just too weird though.

Mmm. Meh. Sounds like 1968 I guess. Wouldn’t listen again, but wouldn’t be bugged if it were on in the background

Interesting album! Baron Saturday is so weird, and I’m not sure why, but I liked it. I don’t know that I’d seek this album to listen to again, so 3 stars.

They sound like The Beatles and idk how to feel about that? Is it cool? Is it weird? Who was influenced by who?

Probably needs another listen, it was alright though

Too Beatles-y

This album has an interesting place in history. It’s one of if not the first concept albums. It sounds like all the sounds of the decade together.

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

I’m with Lester Bangs on this one. Over-produced (for the time) and under-cooked. I can see how LSD was the fulcrum on which this album was balanced.

Unpopular opinion, but I liked this more than Tommy. Whoops. I think it's more daring in the way that it's arranged and I like the psych rock feel more. There! Saved tracks: Bracelets of Fingers, Balloon Burning, Death, Baron Saturday, Old Man Going, Mr. Evasion, Walking Through My Dreams

Enjoyable

Rock opera. Hade kanske gillat det mer om jag lyssnat lite mer noggrant och läst texterna men nu blir det för konstigt.

Ganska likt Beatles men den psykedeliska stereo-mixen gjorde det nästan olyssningsbart...

Not bad, but suffers from the pacing and confusion issues all rock operas have

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

As a big classic rock guy, I'm surprised that I wasn't already familiar with this album. I've heard of the band Pretty Things, mostly because I was really into Procol Harum and when going through the stacks at the record store Pretty Things would always be right in front of them. But never really listened to them before. This album sounds a bit dated, but interesting nonetheless. I thought it was funny that The Who claims not to have been influenced by this album when producing their own "rock opera", because the whole time I was listening I was thinking how much it reminded me of The Who. 3 stars.

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

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

It was kind of crazy. Psychedelic the Beatles then early metal all in one song I'm what has to be an experimental concept album. I honestly don't know what to make of it but I kinda liked it?

The more I hear of 60s psychedelic rock the less the unique the beatles seem. Maybe these are all imitators...but maybe they're all just sorta the same.

So I can see (hear) how this album influenced a lot of other bands work in the late 60s and 70s and maybe even the 80s, but that doesnt make it "good". Its overwrought and the lyrics are boring and unappealing. All of the albums which were influenced by this are better than the original work itself. All in all, I'd rather be listening to the Moody Blues. 2/5

Exceptional, revelatory, excellent. How had I never heard of this?

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

Eh

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

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

Boy, some people really tried to be like the Beatles in the 60s, didn't they.

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

Great stuff! Enjoyable 60s psych rock. Wonder why I don't really know the Pretty Things - seems so in line with lots of 60s rock I grew up listening to. 17 songs felt like a lot to take in - I'm finding it hard to pick out particular ones that resonated with me - but overall was some great background to variosu things I did this week

Not bad at all, quite enjoyed it. Never heard of the band but it fit with a lot of other stuff I like

Yeah this was a no from me. I liked some of the beginning songs in a vague sort of way, but it quickly begun feeling like an interminable slog of rote 60s psychedelia that I, as a non-drug user, will never be able to understand or enjoy. Some of the songs were dreadful, notably Defecting Grey, which made me want to drown myself rather than finish listening to. It was followed by three similarly bad songs which I truly HATED listening to. Concept albums are cool and all… but I need the music to be enjoyable to care about the concept. A 1 might be harsh but it’s how I felt by the end so I think it’s deserved.

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

Normally, I love this kind of music, and although there were a couple songs that I liked, I ended up finding most to be unenjoyable noise.

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

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

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

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

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

Bad psychedelics

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

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

first listen great stuff

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

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

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

First of all, the stereo mix on this is SO WEIRD and not in a good way. It's tough to listen to on headphones, as the music is popping from ear to the other and doing all sorts of strange things. Very distracting and unpleasant. As far as the music, it's sort of the Beatles plus the Who - there are some fun catchy tunes in the middle (I liked "Private Sorrow"), but overall it's really not my thing. Apparently this is the first "concept album" and inspired other albums that I like better? So I can appreciate its place on the list but it's not my thing. 2.5/5 but I'm rounding this one down for the horrible production/stereo mix, which was just painful to me.

The first half of this was really interesting - a lot of great ideas and sounds that seem quite ahead of their time. Even though not all of it worked, there was enough ambition there to give a 3 or maybe a 4 too. Unfortunately the album just seemed to tail off towards the end, and the last few tracks were nowhere near as exciting

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

Its 60s psych rock for sure. Im at a lose for stars

Similar to beatles but worse

Very meh and slow

2.5

It was an alright album. I was not familiar with the band or any of the songs.

solid, gritty, and inventive

another Beatles knock off this one take a lot from sgt pepper era beatles 2.5

It was ok

This was my first introduction to The Pretty Things, I thought it was pretty good. The instrumentation was my favourite aspect of this album, I can be a sucker for psychedelic music. There’s nothing offensively bad about the vocals, I just find this style of delivery a bit annoying, same issue I have with The Beatles so I can’t fully get into this one. Really great music here nonetheless, 3.5 stars.

Aardig, maar vond het niks aparts

So this band borrowed from the Beatles, influenced the Who, basically created the idea of a concept album, and no one knows who they are? Music was fine, production was surprising given it is from the 60s. The lyrics though...I have never heard such utter nonsense.

8/17, 47%

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

The wiki blurb said that many people though that the who was inspired by this band but I saw more of that kinks album about wartime Britain. That said, this album did give me the same indifferent feeling as the who.

It might be the first concept album ever but it's late sixties beat psychedelia and the tunes are Europa League.

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

It might not be fair but this gives me "discount Beatles" vibes.

I guess I’m just not a psychedelic rock fan. It wasn’t “bad”, but it isn’t something I would ever choose to put on. The beginning half seemed to drag on for a long time and blend into one really dull song. Favorite is Track 15: Mr. Evasion.

The album primarily suffers from things that are present from the 60’s. For one, the songs feel oddly slow-paced, making them a slog to get through. They just drag on and on. The songs also are plagued by terrible, weird, and confusing mixing. The songs are just so annoying to listen to due to these issues. There is a semblance of a good rock album underneath the problems, but every song feels papery and without substance, mainly due to the horrible mixing. I would’ve rated it higher because it’s on the edge of being good. Alas, here we are.

This is just a lamer Piper at The Gates of Dawn. It might be sacrilege to compare the two, but this is just really lame compared to that album. The mix is pretty bad, and it's all around not for me. A lot of this is just annoying. Very disappointing.

Alkoi lupaavasti: kiinnostuin tarinallisuudesta ja voimakkaan läsnäolevasta brittisaundista. Alkoi kuitenkin puuduttaa melko nopeasti, ei ollut riittävästi vaihtelua ja levy oli kuitenkin piiiiiiiitkä. Muutama ihanahko biisi välissä.

En ole rokkioopperoiden suuri fani enkä ihan tässäkään jaksanut kokonaan tarinaa seurata tai ymmärtää alusta loppuun. Onhan tää aika tällasta poukkoilua ja aika ennalta arvaamatonta. Tai ainakin koittaa olla niin ennalta arvaamatonta kun nyt kuuskyt luvun psykerokki voi olla. On tässä sitä Tommy-henkeä havaittavissa, mutta ei tää kyllä niin hyvä oo kun The Whon eepos, joka varmaan tulee kuunneltavaksemme ennemmin tai myöhemmin. Omituisesti panoroitu levy. Mua vähän häiritsee se että monessa biisissä melkeen koko backline on vasemmalla ja oikella laulu, soolot ja klapit — jotenki härön kuulosta. Pari ihan tiukkaa stygeä löytyy. Annan tälle ehkä toisen mahiksen myöhemmin. 3/5

Eipä herättänyt kummoisia tuntoja. En bändiä juuri tunne, mutta aika geneeriseltä 60-luvun psykeltä kuulosti. Toki ymmärrän vuosiluvun perusteella, että oli varmaan eturintamassa.

Vähän tuntuu että tää psykedeelinen rock-ooppera on Briteissä jo oma genrensä. Ihan hauskaa musiikillisesti, tosin ei mitään ihmeellistä, enkä ehkä niin paljoa syttynyt teksteille. Jotkut biisit kyllä jees! Sanoisin et 3/5, voi ajan myötä ehkä noustakin.

El suposat pare dels discos conceptuals, que influenciaria poc després el naixement de 'Tommy'. Passa per ser un disc a descobrir, d'una banda injustament tractada. NI una cosa ni l'altra. Té els seus moments, però 'Tommy' i la majoria dels tants que vindrien després van millorar en molt la proposta de The Pretty Things, i el reconeixement a cada un en aquest cas és l'adequat

It’s a rock opera. Bit jumpy. Good sound but not something you wanna sit down and listen to.

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

no real stand outs or anything special

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

Tremendo disco, joya perdida de los 60.

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

Not bad, but not great

This album was like when you make pancakes or something, right? And you put in a little too much salt and little too little sugar or something? It has all the pancake ingredients, but it doesn't taste right. It's not satisfying or enjoyable, but it smells pretty good? Anyway.

The best. By which I mean, I consider SF Sorrow the pinnacle of British psychedelia and comfortably in my top ten albums of all time. Sure, parts of it are in thrall to the Beatles, but the range, invention, ambition and imagination on display mitigates against the odd bit of borrowing. Highlights? The entire thing. It operates as an undivided whole. Sadness, madness, poignancy, absurdity - it's all here.

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

No

I liked it and I didn’t. Idk 3.5

Rock psicodélico sesentero. Ni fu ni fa.

Psychedelic rock psychedelic pop. Sin más.

Not a fan here, Sorry

Really interesting album

Good. Wanted to like it more than I did.

Physchadelic - alright

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

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.

That was strange. Psychodelia from a group that I associate with heavier blues type rock. An early concept album, perhaps one of the first to tell the story of a life. This does not compensate though for the musical weakness of the album. A lot of mediocre composition and nothing really memorable. Fairly innocuous psychodelic pop of the period.

quite enjoyable

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

weird.

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

like an off-brand beatles..

3.5

Very Beatlesy, quite liked it to start but it dragged after the first half

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

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.

Never heard of these before. Very Beatlesy. I liked the first 2 tracks but the rest didn't really grab me. I like the "sound" of it though kinda

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

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.

it got worse and worse as i kept listening. basically a rip off beatles-sounding band. perhaps the first song could be described as decent but it got progessively worse after that. no thanks :( BAD!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3.5

Not bad sixties psychedelia - didn't mind it

Good time, little long

Not special, not terrible.

This was a big old bucket of not very much. Sounds ahead of its time, but not in a particularly interesting or exciting way. There's a lot of talk in the reviews and wikipedia about similarities to The Who's Tommy - by all accounts Tommy is a lot better. This doesn't really have any memorable tracks, the story of the album isn't particularly clear and it just all sounds a bit beige. 2/5

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

Interesting art work on cover. Felt like I was listening to a Beatles 💿 Wonder what patents were infringed upon when putting this together

An eh album for an week full of ok albums.

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

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.

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

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

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.

It’s like a satire of psychedelia.

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

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.

Bland, late sixties "concept" album in which a myriad of excuses seem to be made about why it didn't sell well. I'll tell you why it didn't sell - it's shit; it's boring; it's like being stuck in the corner of a party with some numpty who wants to tell you about the fucking awful quasi-philosophical novel they're writing as they've glanced at Pynchon and Foster-Wallace. Best Tracks: She Says Good Morning; Baron Saturday; Trust

Pete Townsend states that this album did not influence Tommy, but I’m very skeptical. Not only that, but the storyline here shares a lot with Pink Floyd’s the Wall which came out 12 years after SF Sorrow. This album seems right place right time but doesn’t seem to have the influence that Sgt. Pepper or Tommy have. After listening to it, I really am not sure why. This album is musically very interesting and combines psychedelia with proto punk, possibly proto metal, and various experimental soundscapes. Sonically, this album pushes the limits to the point where the Pretty Things had to mime the album during a live performance because it was too complex to recreate live. I’ll keep thinking about this album for a while.

Bit trippy. Don't think enjoyable.

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

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

Some nifty late 60s Beatlesqye/Who-et tracks, but not my favourite kind of psychedelia. Good to learn about another 60s Brit band that is not so well known.

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

Deteriorated as I listened

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

Groovy.

Never heard of them before, pleasantly surprised

Heavily indebted to the Beatles and Beach Boys. With all due respect, I think if this didn't have the claim of "first ever rock opera", it wouldn't have made the list. Favorite tracks: "Balloon Burning", "I See You"

While I have been known to like bands coming of similar backgrounds during that same era, I find this album rather uninspiring.

Hippie. Didn't know the band before.

Nyt ei kolahtanut ja raskaan päivän jälkeen en kyllä muista levystä juuri mitään...

Yllättävän hyvä uusi tuttavuus

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

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

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

Ce matin, un phénomène surnaturel s'est produit. En effet, au moment même où je terminais cet album, j'avais déjà oublié ce qu'il contenait.

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. 

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

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 really enjoyed listening to this album; the only comment I have is that the songs don't have a common style. I've been definitely missing out on The Pretty Things and many other 60s bands, which I am finding out about thanks to this list. The bands that an average person like me knows about are the ones that made hit songs still recognized today, like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. But when it comes to albums, these guys are way better than the Beatles.

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

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.

For ten weeks now, number three stood empty Nobody thought there would be Family laughter behind the windows Or a Christmas tree Then a couple from up north Sorrow and his wife arrived Before the sun had left the streets They were living inside

I wrote a very in depth review of this and forgot to save it. Psychedelic rock opera with a wild stereo mix

S.F. Sorrow is a mix of early Pink Floyd with late Beatles, but the result is just one more band doing psychedelic rock in the late 1960s. "Baron Saturday", the album highlight, is a good combination of those references.

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

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

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

I 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.

Voor mij iets te pop-psychedelisch. Blijkbaar een rock-opera (bron:wiki), dus dat verklaard voor mij dat ik al snel kriegelig werd..

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.

Zoals de kolonel in Sjors en Sjimmie altijd zegt: Bareuh.

Led Zep light

Brilliant psychedelic concept album - totally inspired Tommy and The Wall.

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

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

2.4 - Somewhat unremarkable - no song really stood out to me, despite my general affinity for the genre.

Beetje een beatles geluid, maar wat experimenteler

Not bad

folksy psychedelic rock jam sessions

Bendito álbum, lo subestime demasiado antes de escucharlo

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

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.

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

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

Interesante. Cultura general

Nice 5/5

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.

The nostalgia value is strong, and it's pretty easy to consider the sergeant pepper vibes and saucerful of secrets vibes. Unfortunately, for me these comparisons put Pretty Things in an unfair position because it becomes glaring that they're simply not as good as the other bands they influenced and we're influenced by - nowhere near it. Personally it comes down to the lyrics and vocals (musically I think they can keep up, but if your front man only has one tone of voice to bring to the table or makes it difficult to show your diverse ability as a group). The style of lyrics would be fine for one iconic song, but across a whole album you realise the words are just so simplistic and often clichéd or forced while the beatles and the stones were exactly in this period moving away from this sort of canned shit, and Pink Floyd never did it.

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

Couldn't finish it. Got half way, and it started to grate on my nerves. Might be among the first rock operas but I still didn't enjoy it. Didn't add, obviously.

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.

Sounds like a mixture of the Stones, Beatles, Pink Floyd and the Doors. Some alright stuff but nothing stands out.