Reviews (page 8 of 8)
I really dug the ska vibe. The music was nice and bouncy….but lawwwwwwd this album was long AND repetitive. I mean, I dug it for the first third and then I had to check to make sure that I wasn’t listening to it on repeat. I’d like to give it a 2.5, maybe a 2.75, but these is ruthless times. It’s a 2 for me dawg.
Tough! I hear that emotion, and a couple of tracks really pulled me in. But it’s not an album I’m going to toss on unless it’s background to a party, and even then probably not? The voice would edge into whiny too many times. Not enough mix in the mix… just not enough. But E for effort.
A lot of jazz notes happening here. A lot of horns... Not a lot of vocals? Huh. "Seven Days Too Long" - No means no, Dexys Midnight Runners.
not for me but not terrible
Kuuntelinkohan loppuun… joutu niin pätkissä kuunnella, että ei oikein mitään muistikuvaa tästä. Taisi paikoin olla ihan kivaa settiä, mut mitään ”oho”-fiiliksiä ei syntyny
It is an ok album. Nothing is really memorable on it. The group's best song (Come On Eileen) apparently is on another album. You can skip this one.
Nah this ain’t me
Op zich wel gezellig, maar kan er verder niet zoveel mee
Vleesch nog visch. Normaal hou ik wel van blazers, maar in deze band klinkt het echt alsof ze hun laatste adem aan het uitblazen zijn. Ongeinspireerd getoeter.
The vocals were pretty bad, the music was sometimes not so bad...Sometimes. Overall I would've been fine if all I had ever known from this band was Come on Eileen.
I know this band can bring the energy just from 'Come on Eileen' alone – this LP instead just sounds limpid and flat, even the brass/string sections sound as if they're just reading the sheet without much enthusiasm.
If Kevin Rowland didn't murder every song on this album with his 'singing' voice, I probably would've liked it more as the actual band and the tunes are generally decent.
I fail to see why this album made it into this list
Täysin vieras nimi itselleni, mutta tämä yllätti vähintään puolipositiivisesti vaikkei genre olekaan ihan itselleni ominaisin. Letkeätä torvien törinää ja tarttuvia sävellyksiä. Ei tosiaankaan mitään erityisen hienoa tai älykästä musiikkia, mutta kyllä tämän pariin kertaan läpi kuunteli ilman suurempia tuskia.
I don't think it's bad. But the sort of weird shakey over the top vocals don't really do it for me. It's all a bit much at times.
Liatened through twice and really not for me, its all a bit sincere. Its also hard to place where it falls, its 'not quite' music.. its not awful by any means just not for me.
Monotonous in a not good way for me. Singular in ways that don't suit - brassy and whiny. Vocals just not good.
Some good sounds. Unlikely to revisit.
2/5 Annoying vocalist, decent music. Not an album i wanna listen to again.
Unintelligible British underground
It was alright. 0RS
It has a lot of the annoying singing parts from Come On Eileen and not enough of anything else I like to overcome it... and you weren’t kidding about the extensive horn use
Not my jam. Not into his vocals and the incessant horns. Their best with Come on Eileen was yet to come.
I strongly considered giving this a one, but it was a very unique album that sounded like a weird mashup of pop, ska, and soul. I'd add 'Geno' to a playlist but otherwise I'm not interested in revisiting.
The only redeeming thing about this album was the horn section, and I usually hate horns used in this way. The singing and song writing are putrid.
Meh
it wasn't that good :(
not my THANGGG
Could not get past the vocal delivery, so whiney and melodramatic. Also found the instrumentation rather irritating. Had to struggle through this one a bit.
Is ok. This album lands perfectly in the middle of the scale as I neither like it nor dislike it. Love Pt. 1 (Poem) is the highlightest of highlights as it's the only one I can say I actively liked.
Este álbum me sonó como a The Cure mezclado con Los Fabulosos Cadillacs (escuchen "Igual a Quien"). Not my cup of tea either
Not as much fun as I expected
Would have been a better album if it didn’t sound like the singer hit puberty while recording.
Not as good as the other Dexy's album. Too much trumpet, not enough revelry.
Die Mucke ist stellenweise mehr als ok, aber WAS SOLL DIESER BESCHISSENE GESANGSSTIL?! Ich kannte bislang nur 'Come On Eileen‘, jetzt weiß ich, was mich an der Band so nervt. 2 Sterne.
Not a fan-- thanks, but no thanks.
Some of the songs sound okay and then the big blaring horns come in and ruin them. Some of the songs don't even sounds okay before the big blaring horns come in and ruin them.
Not the worst thing I have heard so far, but I am starting to wonder why so many 1-hit wonders are being included.
Must be fun to play...not my music.
Weird. Almost cool, but not.
This is so bad. So muddy. The horns sound out of tune. It plods along. I’m so upset that anything this poorly made is on the list. Suppose it could get two stars but they have other albums on the list and this put me in a bad mood so I’m not going to be generous.
Now I see why they only had the one hit (Come on, Eileen). It's no longer a wonder. Wailing, plaintive lead singer. Backing music sounds like SNL's house band.
No redeeming qualities. Terrible vocals, boring “melodies”, and I assume the lyrics were bad too but I couldn’t really make them out. Not a fun time.
Putrid. Hate the vocal delivery. All of it. Horns are cheese. Lyrics are unsophisticated. I will never purposefully listen to this again. Actively dislike all of it. Some of tracks are really really irritating.
Nope, not for me. Horns? yuck. Snarky singing/songwriting? Double yuck. I've never liked these guys and the main guy especially. Overrated. But better than ABBA. There's always that.
eh
Future Edit: The day I was listening to this was a really awful day and I specifically put this record on to distract from things slightly falling apart around me and that’s not this records FAULT obviously. What I will say though is that although this record certainly wasn’t responsible it didn’t exactly help either HAHAHAA… like at all. I’m sorry but it just didn’t. Listening to this man wailing on and on was the cherry on top of a very sad little cake. God his voice is just awful. It’s so bad. He gets away with it on Come On Eileen which wasn’t even on this record so that wasn’t there to save me - bad bad bad. The instrumentation is there ! It’s ok ! Not really for me but perhaps I could love this album if they had a different front man. Dear God what a bad little voice Jane. Also the track where he starts out whispering made me want to kill everyone and myself - I’m joking but dear GOD - his voice is how I imagine a trout would sing if it was suspended between land and sea gasping for air forever. I’ve edited this review in the future as I couldn’t bring myself to listen to this in full the first time with everything else going on and I may be healing from the events of 11/July/2026 in my personal life but there are some wounds that never heal and this God awful album shall bleed forever white blood cells be gone AGHHHHHHHH so yep as you’ve probably gathered I didn’t love this one.
Soow deze kon ik echt ff nie hebben vandaag
Ass
I hated this record so much. Incredibly cheesy. Felt like a 1980s version of the band FUN. Of all of the bands that we hit on the list so far that I was already aware of, this is the one I think has taken the biggest dive. This thing sucked. Unbearable.
.....nah.
I have a strong feeling about this record: hate.
Nah
I was waiting for the album to be great
Meh
good
This album has a lot of good parts, but those long instrumentals are dragging it down in my mind.
it's challenging to listen to singing like this for an hour
No thank you
The first song of this album starts with some radio samplings and then the horns and drums enter followed by... Goofy??? Holly hell, these vocals are insufferable and they are the same through the whole album. I usually like some extravagant singing, but this was too much for my taste. The four times I listened to this was miserable. Ok, but there is more than the vocals... except that everything else was also incredibly uninteresting to me. The rhythms are super standard and the horns weren't doing anything of my liking, so there isn't anything worth saving from this album for me. If I have to describe the record a little more, it is basically New Wave and Blue-Eyed Soul mixing mid and slow tempos, but I think in general the songs are very similar. This was an unbearable and annoying experience for me.
an ok album
I really get what Kevin Roland is trying to do but I’m not convinced they really pull it off. The whole concept of channeling what we call northern soul in the UK is a good one and when it’s done well it’s incredibly exciting. It’s not that I mind the lo fi diy punk ethos per se; it’s just not the soul authenticity it pretends to be (those Stax backing musicians were known for being tight as a drum) but it has a charm if it’s own. The glaring problem is that Rowland’s vocal delivery is UNBELIEVABLY annoying, mannered and try-hard distinctive and it gets in the way of the songs. It was a common problem in the late 70s and early 80s but this is a particularly egregious example. I want to like this album but I just can’t get past the voice.
If there is a good thing about this album its the snippets of Purple’s Smoke On The Water before been drowned out by the dross of Dexy’s Midnight Runners. Music used by DJ’s to get a party going after the buffet and upon which I head for the bar. 1/5 28/11/25
★½
- For a band so chock full of horns and said to be some sort of blue-eyed soul band, they had absolutely no idea of what it is to "swing". In fact, I was shocked at just how much the music just plodded along, the rhythm section just hit. ting. on. ev. er. y. beat. ....... and then we get to the singing ... which somehow reminded me of that British thing that Morrissey does that just annoys the piss out of me ... this just did not hold up. -
Another band that deserved one entry at most. Dull sounding production and not really notable.
Can't get jiggy with this
Lyrics are all about being trodden on. I like a more upbeat feeling.
….i was hoping for more
Geno and that's it.
Well - I found one good song on here, number 3, 'The Teams That Meet in Caffs' (whatever THAT means). It has NO VOCALS! The horns are great throughout, but when that guy sings ... fuggetaboutit. And Then there's another disc??? No way. Not listening. Can't make me. It sucks.
I kinda find this guy's voice annoying. I have the same sentiment towards the B-52s
Nah
Music - 3/5, vocals - 0/5
a lot of chaff, come on Geno, more chaff no thanks exactly the same feedback as given for their other album on this list, to be fair, this one was better, but the bar was very low "there there my dear" was alright, helped that it was the end of the album, this could have easily been an ep and would have been better 2
A few moments but mostly ones that made me think of other bands I'd rather be listening to. Far too much saxophone. Did not enjoy this one.
1.burn - 1 2. light - 0 3. meet - 1.5 4. looking - 1.5 5. geno - 1 6. zeven - 0 7. help - 1.5 8. living - 0 9. keep - 1 10. love - 1 11. there - 0
British 💔
‘Lads on tour' 80s pop? No thank you. This sounds like a major-key-only tribute band to The Cure playing cover songs with whiny vocals at a minor-league hockey game in Dayton, Ohio. And they didn't even have the decency to include Come On Eileen. Hard pass. 1 star represents how I feel about this particular slice of the 80s.
What do you get if you take an aura-less Cure and add an astonishing amount of horns? This musical abattoir.
It's not their fault they're British
shit and pisscore
sorry, can’t stand his voice
Bad
ANOTHER Dexy's Midnight Runners album?!? What in the Arcade Fire is going on here? How does one of the most notorious one-hit wonders of all time deserve not one, not two, but THREE records on this list? Clearly our master and overlord, Mr. Dimery, is the world's biggest Dexy's Midnight Runners fan. I'll bet he walks up to random people wearing overalls and asks if they can even name three Dexy's songs. I'll bet he sleeps next to a pillow with Kevin Rowland's face on it. I'll bet Mr. Dimery's password is something like "Dexys4EVA" or "RDlovesDMR". I'll bet that I never listen to them again.
Not impressed.
Man, I've seen people complain about Dexys being on the list because there's too many of their albums included... I'm complaining about this being on the list because it was awful to listen to.
Not my thing, just very slow and I don't like the singers voice.
no.
Just when you think there cannot possibly be more horns.... there they are again.
I don't understand the appeal. I think something is lost in translation as it goes across the atlantic. No matter how many times I hear he is a genius will convince me that this is good.
i listened to like half of this. his voice really only works on a novelty level for the length of ONE song (i.e. “come on eileen”). again, too many horns!!!
I really didn’t like this and stopped about halfway through because I got the gist. I usually love the incorporation of horns into most kinds of music, but these are so artificial sounding and also don’t have any added dynamics to make them interesting. It sounds like someone playing with consistent strong force on a keyboard set to the “horns” sound effect. It reminds me a lot of the style of accompaniment that was playing at my Hasidic friend’s wedding.
A third Dexys album, none of which are the one with Come on Eileen?? How?
>listened to one song >british >turned it off
I hated this album a lot. It shouldn't have been conceived. All songs on this album are on varying levels of bad. I can't believe I had to listen to "SftYSR" last night. This week has been catastrophic. I'll give "Searching for the Young Soul Rebels" a rare 1 star rating.
Nope. 1
I'm already sick of one hit wonders with entire albums on this list, and this one doesn't even have their hit on it! Turns out they were big in the UK before that one, but that does not a must-hear album make. This guy's whiny voice is on another level. His voice breaks on just about every syllable and it's not endearing. And his voice isn't good otherwise. I wouldn't get back together with someone crying at me like that either. And then he has the balls to do an entire song in falsetto that made even MY throat hurt. Otherwise, this just seems like an album full of barstool sing-alongs, which is exhausting.
Listenable for nostalgia purposes. I don’t need to hear this again.
Annoying
Come on Eileen, this sucks!
Last I checked this band is a one hit wonder and their one hit isn’t on this album. 1 star out of protest for this album being dumb. Realistically it’s probably a 2
Someone needs to let the demon out of this boss throat.
Uuum
not great Bob
Here's me at a Dexys Midnight Runners concert: 'PLAY COME ON EILEEN AND GET THE FUCK OFF THE STAGE" Save Ferris did it better.
Not my thing but really it's the vocals preventing me from enjoying this record. The music itself is pretty impressive, the rhythms are catchy enough that this band shouldn't've been a one hit wonder. Oh well, added the one track with no vocals to the 1001 Experience Playlist
Shouldn't be on the list
Such an annoying punchable voice. Beyond irritating. They have three albums on this list. Why? Grating beyond belief.
Fucking seriously!?! “Too-rah-yay” was my album yesterday. There do not need to be 4 Dexy albums on this list. One star out of spite.
I thought dexys midnight runners were great on the young ones. This album though? meh. Also, am I wrong or are there multiple dexys albums on this stupid list? 1/5
i really fucking hate 70s and 80s british pop vocalists. i just hate british vocalists in general but this specific brand of british vocalist is really the cream of the shit-flavored crop. i'm sorry, there is some GREAT sax, organ and general instrumentation on this album but this oingo boingo ass mother fucker going yOu CaN't ShUt YoUr MoUtH completely ruins any enjoyment of the album i possibly could have had.
Why is this literal one hit wonder band included on a list of 1001 albums you MUST listen to? Is it for contrast, so that there are some lows to balance the highs against? This is the auditory equivalent of porridge made with water and nothing else. It really is damning that 3/5 of the top listened to tracks from Dexy’s Midnight Runners are just variations of “Come on Eileen”, a song that itself is just “okay”. I was already begging for this to be over by the third song so I could go and listen to literally anything else. The brass sections make me think I’m listening to ska music, but at least ska has that weird manic energy going on while the guys in cheap suits do weird dance moves. This is just slow, boring, and the lead singer sounds like he has a traumatic brain injury. It’s like a guy with Down’s syndrome trying to imitate Bryan Ferry. I just cannot imagine any scenario where I would go out of my way to listen to this.
Holy shit this SUCKS. This is worse than the Police by FAR at least the white boy reggae had some charm to it. This is just a fucking an English dude having a moan about everything like holy fuck. Nails on a blackboard bad, I thought am I over reacting? And listened to about half of it again before I gave up. Wish I stood firm on my gut feeling because I will not get back the 20 minutes I spent on the re-listen let alone the original listen. Refugee looking mother fuckers on the album cover are fleeing the fucking ravaged war zone that is this fucking album. I would rather listen to a FULL friendlyjordies podcast ep than this again it is that fucking bad. Truly ass, 1/5 (I miss Bon Jovi already).
This is terrible, why does the dude singing sounds like he's always very drunk?
The goofy vocals, horns and organ were too much for me.
Achei bem enjoadinho
Meh
I have never liked this band. I HATE their hit.
hate that stupid trumpet or whatever it is
I now see why they are a one hit wonder.
An album from Dexys with no 'Come on Eileen'! Honestly, nothing here grabs me :(
Don't get this album at all. I listened to it sober, bad. got drunk, still bad. got high even worse. I choked myself with a belt, as I was blacking out it something sounded ok.
I cannot abide this singers vocals. Oh my god I want to kick in my speakers. The music is fine but jesus, that singing!
I didn’t like this album. I give it 1.5 stars
They have songs other than Come On Eileen? I guess not.
Didnt listen to the whole thing. Im not in the mood + its boring
awful. just terrible. if i never hear it again it will be too soon.
Them again. I don’t drink enough to tolerate this bullshit. The author is just fanboying with this.
This is obviously not my style, but it sounded like a bad “madness” album to me.
This album sucks. They label it punk, and that's just so fucking wrong.
I guess I see what they were going for here? They're trying to mix the new-wave sound with an American-influenced "soul" sound, reminiscent of late-60s soul acts. This is especially evident in the overload of horns used on the album, which often are overdone and seem lifeless in contrast to American soul music. Also, to create good soul music, you gotta have soul! The lead singer's voice is nowhere near soulful.
Dexy is such a little bitch. The record sounds like an old panda doing a fanny fart in a cave. I can't get even get an inch of an erection out of it.
can't get into it all, like joke singing
Too heavy on the horns. This didn't do a damn thing for me.
Fell flat for me.
I gave it a listen and it just doesn't do much for me, sorry.
When the “singers” voice wasn’t being overpowered by the brass instruments you could barely understand him. Definitely a product of its time, and it’s a time in music that I really cannot stand.
Hardly got through it.
This fucking sucks, the vocals are annoying and the songs are boring, and even the horns fail to add something that sounds interesting
Jaa. Torvia. Ihan erikoista, mutta oispa saanut muustakin sisällöstä kiinni.
An album from a one-hit wonder, and it doesn't even have the hit. Apparently this is the first of 3 Dexys albums on this list! Overkill much? Anyways, the music is alright, kinda upbeat, it's nice that they went with a horn section, but the horns just sound so flat on most of the songs, like, they're missing that spunk. And the vocals, I realize the whiny crying type voice was all the rage in the 80's (ala The Cure, Soft Cell, etc.), it just, one or two songs are fine, but do you have to fucking weep over every song? Even the upbeat ones? I'll wait for one of their other albums where the band comes into their own a bit more to properly appraise them, I really struggle to see what makes this a must listen.
Not their best compared to their commercial success.
This guy's voice is the worst. It's like somebody dared him to use the most ridiculous delivery possible and play it straight, and he followed through, the madman. Also the saxophone player is out of tune half the time. Best track: The Teams That Meet in Caffs
Ja, dat was 'm dan ook weer niet voor mij...
I feel like the lead vocalist's sound is an inside joke that I'm just not in on. I mean listen to "Tell Me When My Light Turns Green" or "I'm Just Looking" and help me understand what is going on. It's like the first time I heard "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" from "The Darkness" and I struggled to understand if it was authentic or satire. Looking over my difference in taste for the vocalist, tracks like "The Teams That Meet in Caffs" gave me a chance to consider the band on it's own. As a unit, they sound good. Not necessarily great, but good. I think they would probably sound great as a part of the background din of a pub, but the vibe didn't translate to recording in my opinion. In the end, I couldn't bring myself to finish the album. My only assumption as to why this is on the list would be because of the impact the album had in it's historical context. Given this is the 2nd album by this band that I've come across in the list, I'm a bit concerned. Especially given I've yet to see entire genres (i.e. classical, world music) represented. I can't really fathom how this one is on the list at all.
the only listenable track is the instrumental "the team that meet in caffs" reaally annoying album
Friggin‘ lame 1.0
Not really for me.
1:49 for a one hit wonder that doesn't contain the hit? Nope
Think I made it to the 4th track. All I could manage. Hateful
Wow. What is this even? Please miss me with this. Absolutely hated it.
The other Dexys album didn't irritate me this much.. His voice is intensely annoying, all the instruments sound out of tune, its just a hot mess
Trash
Not for me
Big brass band combined with rock, not my cup of tea.